Spike walls

[Guidsmaster]

I realize this is a really basic question, but.. Can someone explain when you would use spike walls/what to use them for? Are they meant to be a like a mostly pvp thing to deal damage to someone breaking your walls, or a kind of panic room / pve trap you can kite dinos around in?

I play single player, have never built spike walls. Usually I have a wall of tames, which eventually gets replaced by a real wall with gates, but I never really understood why I would build spike walls. Once I have walls up, nothing seems to attack the walls except maybe a giga, in which case, I imagine the spikes wouldnt help much.
Not sure how much damage they do, so its hard to say, but im guessing a spike wall would mostly be useful against the dinos that my tame wall can easily dispatch, and would be useless against anything that would get through my normal walls//tame walls. And furthermore, wouldnt they just aggro things on contact and force me to have to be repairing?

Maybe they're like a middle ground between automated defense and an actual wall?

Any screenshots/tips/answers would be appreciated!

[Peter Pan]

I like to put spikes all around my base until i can get turrets set up. I'll also set up a ring around a knocked dino im taming so it doesnt get hit by dumb dinos.

[Dracul]

Yeah most people just use them as a cheap on the spot way to keep KOed dinos from being attacked by small to medium sized aggressive dinos or to wall off a cliff/ledge to keep wild dinos from wandering over and into a base safe - few things are more annoying than enjoying the peace and quiet only to have a parasaur dive bomb you as it attempts to get the carnotaur chasing it to attack someone (you) else resulting in a messy dog pile as your bases dinos rush to your defence.

PVP wise they hurt enemy players that get too close to them but honestly they are little more than a minor irritation - you want to mess someone up with spikes lay out some kintos , I hate those things.

[margalus]

Yes, they are purely a pvp thing. The do not harm wild animals in pve.

[Serangel]

They can be used in both. They don't work well as barriers as anything large can just walk over them but they do work well combined with walls. Also keep in mind that metal spikes have the same resistance as stone so anything that can damage stone can also damage metal spikes.

They do in fact damage and kill wild dinos in pve so margalus is either trolling or uninformed. They are a good way to fend off smaller things like raptors and carnos early on in the play through. Later in the play through they aren't really all that useful. Plant X and turrets are more reliable defense than spikes. Plus being able to build large metal walls will keep anything out anyways.

I don't really recommend spikes for protecting ko'd dinos, as previously stated, anything large can walk over them, and also because if a wild like a bronto gets damage by it, it will begin to attack the wall and possible hit the ko'd dino ruining the tame. Gates are a much safer defense for protecting things you are taming.

[margalus]

Originally posted by Serangel:

They do in fact damage and kill wild dinos in pve so margalus is either trolling or uninformed. .

Nope, not trolling or uninformed. If you want to read it straight from the devs:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/346110/discussions/0/594820656472747281/#c594820656472755888

[margalus]

Originally posted by Silky Rough:

Originally posted by margalus:

Nope, not trolling or uninformed. If you want to read it straight from the devs:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/346110/discussions/0/594820656472747281/#c594820656472755888

Got me curious on the interpretation here. This was 2015.

I've always used spikes to keep animals at bay during taming and base building. Can't say I've seen a wild hurt on them so I'm guessing they are seen as an obstruction firstly, that kills a wild IF you get aggro which is pretty much the same thing anyway.

I have tried them long after that post and they did no harm to any wildlife, only to me and my tames. That is why I went looking and found this post explaining that it was designed to not harm wildlife.

[margalus]

Originally posted by Silky Rough:

Originally posted by margalus:

I have tried them long after that post and they did no harm to any wildlife, only to me and my tames. That is why I went looking and found this post explaining that it was designed to not harm wildlife.

I think you're right in that they do not harm a non threatening beats but DO if you get aggro.

So a bronto stumbling into one is no issue, a carno who aggros in range will be hurt. That's my understanding.

Nope, it was raptors that were trying to eat me, and they weren't harmed.

[Guidsmaster]

Thanks for all the replies so far! I havent tested it myself, and im not sure if its different on console or maybe on whatever server this guy plays on, but I found this video earlier today while trying to look up their use. It seems to show a guy pretty much entirely killing a 70+ rex using wood spikes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjdP5vR9Vm8

[Serangel]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1819395580

Wild Mammoth pack that walked into my spiked walls.

[Vesuvius]

That vid is 2yrs old

[Vesuvius]

This might be the default in SP?

bPassiveDefensesDamageRiderlessDinos to true allows riderless dinosaurs to take damage upon contact.

[Vesuvius]

I note that the wiki says WOOD spikes damage all by default .... Metal, only players and tames

[Serangel]

Originally posted by Silky Rough:

Originally posted by Serangel:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1819395580

Wild Mammoth pack that walked into my spiked walls.

Aggro? Can't say I've seen this happen on a non-aggro animal.

No, pretty common occurance. Mammoth and megatherium are always wandering into the spikes there. Which helps me out a lot because it lures the argents in to eat the bodies which causes them to take damage as well and they kill themselves on the spikes instead of aggroing anything inside of my base.

[Serangel]

Found the culprit.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1819404055

[Vesuvius]

Originally posted by Serangel:

Found the culprit.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1819404055

That will be that .ini option i posted