How can i defend my base? Towers? Shoot from window?

[viranto]

At the beginning, is the only way with sandbags? Can i not build things like a tower? Or shoot from a window? Must i always say my pawns that they should leave the safe building and fight outside? Normaly you would defence youre base from the inside. Is this somehow possible?

[Khan Boyzitbig of Mercia]

Not in vanilla as such beyond using held open doors, mods however offer many options in this regard.

Proper towers are impossible due to the game not having z-axis layers (or at least not enough of them).

[M.K.]

Not available in Vanilla Rimworld

But there are several mods that provide Embrasures.
Not so sure how balanced and stable these are, as one very often sees a post in this forum complaining about embrasures, walls, zones and pathfinding biting at each other.

In vanilla, what work quite a bit better than just sandbags, is to use the cover provided by a nice strong wall end. Even if it is just a 1x1 pillar, it provides the same firing ability and much stronger cover than standing behind a sandbag.
Of course, pillars+sandbags are even better, and achieve what you are looking for, mostly.

[Sayla Massochist]

Vanilla defenses tend to lean towards traps and automated turrets being what you should heavily rely on. There are mods that add embrasures, manned turrets, barbed wire, and so on that greatly expand how you can design your base defenses.

If for some reason you are really against mods then what most people do is set up kill zones. You maze enemies through hallways and such filled with traps while using long ranged weapons to continually shoot them as they step over IED's and/or spring traps. I personally use different mods that add defense related stuff because the optimal vanilla strategies seem so "metagame"ish to me.

[Morkonan]

Originally posted by viranto:

At the beginning, is the only way with sandbags?

No, of course not. :)

Can i not build things like a tower?

Rimworld is flatland... There is no "Y" axis. (Or "z" or whatever orientation Unity uses for "up.") You can shoot over certain obstructions, incurring a penalty, but you can't shoot over obstructions that provide "full cover." (More on that below.)

Or shoot from a window?

There aren't any "windows" in vanilla Rimworld. There are mods for that, of course.

Must i always say my pawns that they should leave the safe building and fight outside?

No. Doorways are decent cover in a pinch, though.

Normaly you would defence youre base from the inside. Is this somehow possible?

Yes.

A quick rundown on things you can do can be found here:

https://rimworldwiki.com/wiki/Defense_tactics

The wiki is your friend! :)

First, you have a number of defensive installations you can install:

Deadfall Traps - Made from materials of your choice, these are very economical solutions for stopping/injuring enemies that are likely to move through a specific area. Best used in groups in a staggered tile placement and in situations where you've built walls that force the enemy through a "choke-point" so they must move through your traps in order to attack you.

IEDs - Improvised Explosive Devices in different flavors. These are static area-effect explosive mines. They can be expensive, but they often to fatal damage to anything in their blast radius. Generally, they're "special case" use items, like when a player has an advanced base that is likely to be raided by very strong enemies like Mechanoids.

Turrets - Automated turret emplacements that require power and provide effective area-denial capability. There are several types and they are all intended to be static defenses, but they are movable. Several turrets with overlapping fields of fire are capable of taking out even the nastiest enemies.

Walls - Yes. A "Wall" is a defensive installation. Building a wall around your base and limiting access to one or more carefully controlled points of entry, so that friendly traders and allies can enter, is something that can greatly improve the chances your colony will survive Raids. Combining a wall around your base, a limited access point with traps and covered by Turrets is a standard defensive tactic. Adding a "maze" near that entrance that is filled with traps and that enemies must negotiate is also recommended.

Doors - Enemies can not use doors. And, they can't even see them unless they see a colonist or friendly visitor going through a door. Even then, they'll have to break it down in order to gain entry through it.

Mortars - These are static, but movable, weapons that can fire three different types of shells. (High Explosive, EMP, Firefoam) They have a minimum range and can not be used against targets inside this range. They are area effect weapons, meant to be fired at a general area where the enemy is and not at specific targets. They can be very effective, but they are not very accurate. (If you want to install mortars, install at least two or three of them and be sure you have pawns capable of fighting that will man them during a Raid/attack as well as enough ammo for each. Have a minimum of 3 to 5 shells per Mortar at all times stocked on shelves near the Mortar emplacement.)

Maze - Combining a "Maze" of built walls that enemies have to move through with doors in it that friendly units can use to quickly move through it without having to walk over the traps in the maze is common. (Friendly visitors/traders will not activate traps, but their pack animals might. Your pawns have a small chance to activate your own traps while resetting them or if they have to move directly over them.) A wall around one's base with one or two mazes leading to open "kill zones" covered by turrets and defensive positions with good cover is the standard sort of Rimworld defense. (You can safely scatter doors that provide easy access through the wall for your and ally pawns. As long as they're not used while enemies are on the map, they won't know about them. It's common to make these exterior doors out of strong materials, "just in case.")

A thick wall, made of two or more wall segments, is better than a thin wall. Stone, preferably granite if you can get enough of it, is the best material to use. Adding a secondary curtain wall around the primary wall can slow raiders down a great deal. Putting traps and turrets between those walls will ensure that the enemy can not reach your pawns without being injured.

Trained Animals - Many players train animals to be used to attack enemies. Wargs and Boars are likely the best for this, with boars being easier to manage. But, many animals can be trained for "Release." Some can't. Even the ones that can't be trained to Release can be creatively used for defense since many animals will seek to defend themselves when attacked and Raiders tend to attack trained animals or otherwise injure them with stray fire.

Cover - Rimworld has "Cover" mechanics. This means that a colonist (or any pawn) can gain a defensive bonus if they are near/beside something that can provide cover. Pawns can also fire "around" things that provide "full cover" like a wall segment. Combining sandbags and wall segments is the best way to provide cover for multiple colonists firing at an enemy.

x_x_x_x_x_x

Imagine that line of characters is a combination of Sandbags "_" and Wall segments "x." Every position behind those objects is one from which a pawn can fire upon the enemy. Pawns behind the "x" Wall segments will fire around the walls and over the sandbags and pawns next to them. Pawns behind the sandbags gain cover from them, but not as much cover as the ones behind the walls. These "cover" mechanics are cumulative, to a certain extent - Enemies firing diagonally across several cover-offering obstructions will be less likely to hit your colonists. (To a point.)

Knowing the above, a "doorway" is an effective defensive position. "Corner" wall segments are effective defensive positions. A colonist standing next to a rock that lies between them and the enemy is a somewhat effective defensive position. (At least it is when compared to no cover.)

Look over the wiki and keep the above things in mind, especially where suggestions deal with "Cover" mechanics. Having effective firing positions in a defensive installation specifically crafted by you for that purpose is the best way to defend against the enemy using your colonists.

Traps, Doors, and Intel - Enemies aren't very smart, but they're not complete idiots. Tribal Factions will not avoid turrets, but all other factions will try to avoid turrets when attacking your base. If they can't, the Raid might contain "Sappers" that will attempt to dig through walls/blocks in order to get to the interior of your base. They will also try to avoid turrets. A "layered" defense is the best sort of defense and having certain weapons matters a great deal.

Remember - Enemies can only "see" doors if they see a pawn using that particular door.

Enemies will remember trap locations if one of their faction escapes off the map.

Note: Rimworld is pretty complex when it comes down to its combat model and cover mechanics. Don't forget that aside from all of the above, your colonists can also wear various forms of armor. Melee specialists, armed with an appropriate weapon and a Shield Belt as well as some decent protection from armor, can make very fearsome foes, too. When a pawn is in combat at "melee range" they use the equipped weapon in melee. That means, for instance, that a pawn wielding a deadly rifle is effectively neutralized and in grave danger when confronted with a melee specialist armed with a very nasty club and armored head-to-toe in very good armor. If that melee specialist has a Shield Belt as well, it means it's fairly safe from most ranged attacks for at least a short while. Don't neglect "Melee" options when you can create an advantage for yourself.

[kevinshow]

I tend to try to attack from two different directions, so that even if one direction is covered, another one may not be.

The other thing I learned is that spike traps are very helpful.

Use them liberarlly around the perimeter of your base until you get better defenses or better strategies.

Eg, 1-3 spike traps at the beginning of a new colony can stop that single raider or mad animal that you normally are just crossing your fingers for that you get him before he gets you. This includes your new colonist who may have a ranged weapon but he still can't hit for nothing as the melee raider closes in on him.

So multiply that times whatever you want, to realize that many spike traps can get entire raids of people, as well as herds of mad animals.

[Morkonan]

Originally posted by navorskatie:

..
So multiply that times whatever you want, to realize that many spike traps can get entire raids of people, as well as herds of mad animals.

One of the best things about traps is that they're doing work your colonists can't, since they're busy shooting at enemies. And, they'll often be doing that before your enemies even get in range. What that means is that along with injuries and "downed" enemies, the assault will be lighter and it's much more likely you'll get them to flee since they've left some members behind in your pile of traps. :)

Trap "Intel" really isn't that terrible, either. They know about the traps that they saw were tripped during the attack, but not the ones that weren't. A few changes, here and there, and they won't really know where they are for the next time.

[Spack Jarrow]

Bags have only partial cover (50%) , walls are a much better alternative. My setup when I'm not building a "killbox", which is basically a maze full of traps.

is a formation of walls in V shape with sand bags filling in spaces inbetween

They're a good way to slow down the enemy. Walls give additional 25% cover.

The V shape has also a function, when walls are placed in line , it is hard for pawns to support one another , they tend to do more harm that help. There's also a slight line of sight problem.

V shaped defenses remedy these issues a little.

[M.K.]

Originally posted by Spack Jarrow:

Bags have only partial cover (50%)

I agree with your post as a whole, just small errata: Sandbag is 65% naturally, it is the best of the non-obstructive cover options. But even a humble dining room chair provides 35% cover.

[Spack Jarrow]

Originally posted by M.K.:

Originally posted by Spack Jarrow:

Bags have only partial cover (50%)

I agree with your post as a whole, just small errata: Sandbag is 65% naturally, it is the best of the non-obstructive cover options. But even a humble dining room chair provides 35% cover.

got it mixed up with x-com there I think Lol

[Sugar Show]

WALL: Build great, GREAT WALL.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1934099132

DOORS:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1975281770

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1975282366

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1975284201

PASSAGE:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1973926983

MINES:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1901839789

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1901833052

[Spitz the Sheikah]

FYI there is a windows mod that allows for building, of course, windows. They can be used like sandbags for the purposes of cover while shooting, but have the bonus of being any material, built into structures, and not ugly