Questions about Moats - FULLY ANSWERED

[Merrihell]

1. Does a moat need to have water at the bottom?
2. How wide does a moat need to be so the mobs cannot jump across it?
3. Do you still need a fence if you have a deep moat?

[I-Chi]

1. No. I think the idea is to utilize enemies' inability to climb.
2. Not wide. Bigger problem is e.g. troll's range, and ranged attacks in general. Most enemies can't jump. As long as the AI can't find a path, melee enemies will usually give up. If there's a path, even if it's via water, they will swim.
3. See (2).

["Fascinating!"]

-Water not needed, just the tall dirt wall the moat creates.
-Mobs won't jump. They also won't walk off of platforms that reach over.
-No fences are needed with tall enough dirt walls/moats

[Merrihell]

Originally posted by "Fascinating!":

-Water not needed, just the tall dirt wall the moat creates.
-Mobs won't jump. They also won't walk off of platforms that reach over.
-No fences are needed with tall enough dirt walls/moats

Great, many thanks

[Maelstrom]

Once you get the hang of it you can defend your base entirely with careful landscaping. Hoe is OP in this game.

[daggaz]

Water doesn't have anything to do with it, in fact. You can build a fort on a rock out in the ocean and mobs will gladly swim (or walk on the bottom) out to kill you regardless of how deep the water gets. All they need is a way in to the water and a way out on your side. The trench the moat is in destroys this pathing, with or without water, assuming the sides are steep enough.

[BGratz]

The moad must be made in a way the troll melee range cant hit your relevant base parts

[Superguy]

The moat needs to be deep enough that nothing can climb out so about 3-4 digs. Width needs to be wide enough so the troll swing melee can't hit anything. Bonemass throws his minions at you and will throw over the moat but probably not over a high enough wall, I think.

[OnlyZuul]

Good advice for you in this thread. The hoe and pick are your best friends when comes to building a defensible camp.

[Pyrrhus]

You could create a narrow slope as path from bottom using pickaxe so you have a way to get out. Troll cannot walk on narrow slopes. For smaller hostiles, you also could create a few small cliffs on narrow slope that you can jump over. Hostiles cannot jump. I've created a huge crater from mining copper, trolls and others have got trapped there making em easy targets.

[BGratz]

The pen is atatckable
The moat arround the centerbuilding is exaggerated
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2414276865

[jonnin]

you can run up most hoe made walls even if you cannot walk up them. You can slide back down them taking 0 or < 10 damage.

[Merrihell]

Thank you to everyone for your help.
I read all the responses and decided the moat I had dug would be okay.
Then the Forest Moved ....... and all those tedious hours I spent digging that moat paid off! Not one single mob got into my compound YEY!
Now I guess I need to also make it Troll-proof as I gather from your comments, Trolls may turn up even though it’s in the Meadows.