[BASE] Mountain Design?

[Riitoken]

A while back, I started a base design where I dug into the side of a very steep mountain. The big idea was to use the mountain itself as 3 of the walls for the base.

I dug only deep enough to make enough space for a portal room. The room is made of stone and completely covered. So, I think this will work on a larger scale.

Just curious to know if anybody has tried this design before I spend hours only to discover that it can be easily raided from the top - trolls just drop down from the mountain and hulk-smash my roof.

I could build a big rock wall up top ... but then I can do that on any ground base ... so why do a lot of work to dig the mountain out?

Please advise.

[hazelrah]

my buddy and i often do this as a quick outpost in the mts. we'll dig into a rock/side of a cliff and throw down a portal. but it's really just used as a temporary outpost. build on top of a hill. you can terraform a section that is impenetrable and build up and out from there.

[Kyotsudi]

a dwarf fortress under the mountain with castle to protect

[Oakshield]

I do hope for you it's far enough from Moder's altar to avoid her attention being turned towards it.
I've made that mistake once by upgrading an old stone fortress to a temporary mountain base, had to escape there during my Moder fight and found out she's able to destroy stone walls easier as troll can.
And beds and portals are even easier.........

However, you're also able to (partially) dig out a bit under Moder's altar. And that one can't be destroyed by her.
With some squeezing you may be able to put a campfire, a bed and a portal there, good enough to be used as temporary base, but not for a permanent one.

Thorin :)

[Riitoken]

Originally posted by Oakshield:

I do hope for you it's far enough from Moder's altar to avoid her attention being turned towards it.
I've made that mistake once by upgrading an old stone fortress to a temporary mountain base, had to escape there during my Moder fight and found out she's able to destroy stone walls easier as troll can.
And beds and portals are even easier.........

However, you're also able to (partially) dig out a bit under Moder's altar. And that one can't be destroyed by her.
With some squeezing you may be able to put a campfire, a bed and a portal there, good enough to be used as temporary base, but not for a permanent one.

Thorin :)

So, as it turns out, on my lunch break, I thought I'd get in and do some crafting for a bit.

I had just (yesterday) beaten Bonemass for the first time. And of course, I forgot that this event buffs the raid level 1 degree. Well within a couple of minutes "A cold wind blows from the mountains" ... and next thing I'm getting bombed by Drakes.

I was able to shoot one, but not the second before I died (and died again, and again ... 5 times died).

The game offers no outdoor base defense against flying drakes. And there is no way to actually dig underground such that the earth is a roof.

On top of this, I did some look-ahead and the raids get even worse after beating Yagluth ... giant ants and deathsquitos that are not blocked by trenches.

I disabled all raids (in my world flags settings) ... until I find a real defense. I don't like rebuilding bases.

[Riitoken]

Originally posted by Kyotsudi:

a dwarf fortress under the mountain with castle to protect

That'd be great if it were possible.

[Oakshield]

Originally posted by Riitoken:

Originally posted by Oakshield:

I do hope for you it's far enough from Moder's altar to avoid her attention being turned towards it.
I've made that mistake once by upgrading an old stone fortress to a temporary mountain base, had to escape there during my Moder fight and found out she's able to destroy stone walls easier as troll can.
And beds and portals are even easier.........

However, you're also able to (partially) dig out a bit under Moder's altar. And that one can't be destroyed by her.
With some squeezing you may be able to put a campfire, a bed and a portal there, good enough to be used as temporary base, but not for a permanent one.

Thorin :)

So, as it turns out, on my lunch break, I thought I'd get in and do some crafting for a bit.

I had just (yesterday) beaten Bonemass for the first time. And of course, I forgot that this event buffs the raid level 1 degree. Well within a couple of minutes "A cold wind blows from the mountains" ... and next thing I'm getting bombed by Drakes.

I was able to shoot one, but not the second before I died (and died again, and again ... 5 times died).

The game offers no outdoor base defense against flying drakes. And there is no way to actually dig underground such that the earth is a roof.

On top of this, I did some look-ahead and the raids get even worse after beating Yagluth ... giant ants and deathsquitos that are not blocked by trenches.

I disabled all raids (in my world flags settings) ... until I find a real defense. I don't like rebuilding bases.

Once you get to Mistlands, you also gain some tech to build AAA.
Their only disadvantage, they're quite slow and you may need trophies to set which enemies to deal with.
Drakes can be killed by that tech, but often with the 2nd hit. Deathsquito's are too fast for it; but a Mistland monster is that slow, it can be hit multiple times.


From my own experience, however, I advise building at an island. Quite often you need to do a boat trip to get anywhere on the map in the first place; but more important; when an event triggers, it may take the baddies that long, the event ends before they reach your island.
Set your buildings up on a plateau, dig a basement to hide your crafting area, use palisades and / or stonewalls to make sure that anything that tries to climb up can't get any further and you'd be pretty safe.

I'm awar that building a plateau at islands is a lot of work; however, knowing that not a single raid has been able to get to me in my SP game (in MP I used a larger island for the base, thus got some more land for monsters to spawn at), makes it a pretty safe area.
And with not a single raid, I talk about trolls, swamp critters, wolves, greydwarves and fullings.
Drakes had a hard time getting to me and the two that did were shot down. The only real annoying raids were bats; but they're pretty weak, so batting them out of the air isn't that hard to do.

Hope this helps!

Thorin :)

[Riitoken]

Originally posted by Oakshield:

Originally posted by Riitoken:

So, as it turns out, on my lunch break, I thought I'd get in and do some crafting for a bit.

I had just (yesterday) beaten Bonemass for the first time. And of course, I forgot that this event buffs the raid level 1 degree. Well within a couple of minutes "A cold wind blows from the mountains" ... and next thing I'm getting bombed by Drakes.

I was able to shoot one, but not the second before I died (and died again, and again ... 5 times died).

The game offers no outdoor base defense against flying drakes. And there is no way to actually dig underground such that the earth is a roof.

On top of this, I did some look-ahead and the raids get even worse after beating Yagluth ... giant ants and deathsquitos that are not blocked by trenches.

I disabled all raids (in my world flags settings) ... until I find a real defense. I don't like rebuilding bases.

Once you get to Mistlands, you also gain some tech to build AAA.
Their only disadvantage, they're quite slow and you may need trophies to set which enemies to deal with.
Drakes can be killed by that tech, but often with the 2nd hit. Deathsquito's are too fast for it; but a Mistland monster is that slow, it can be hit multiple times.


From my own experience, however, I advise building at an island. Quite often you need to do a boat trip to get anywhere on the map in the first place; but more important; when an event triggers, it may take the baddies that long, the event ends before they reach your island.
Set your buildings up on a plateau, dig a basement to hide your crafting area, use palisades and / or stonewalls to make sure that anything that tries to climb up can't get any further and you'd be pretty safe.

I'm awar that building a plateau at islands is a lot of work; however, knowing that not a single raid has been able to get to me in my SP game (in MP I used a larger island for the base, thus got some more land for monsters to spawn at), makes it a pretty safe area.
And with not a single raid, I talk about trolls, swamp critters, wolves, greydwarves and fullings.
Drakes had a hard time getting to me and the two that did were shot down. The only real annoying raids were bats; but they're pretty weak, so batting them out of the air isn't that hard to do.

Hope this helps!

Thorin :)

Yesterday I found a small meadow island and raised the ground to max, then built a basic black stone base atop, with ballista's.

I then cue'd various world events, and to my surprise never saw a single monster swim or sky.

[Oakshield]

The monsters spawn outside the circle and move inward to get to you.
I have the feeling they're a lot more slow when they need to swim, and as a result won't be able to reach you within the timeframe set for you to survive.

It's one of the reasons I like island bases; they're easier to defend and by the time the raid is actually done, the monsters often hasn't even tested your defences yet.
I think the only exception to that are bats; but ballistae are too slow to deal with those.

Thorin :)

[Riitoken]

Originally posted by Oakshield:

The monsters spawn outside the circle and move inward to get to you.
I have the feeling they're a lot more slow when they need to swim, and as a result won't be able to reach you within the timeframe set for you to survive.

It's one of the reasons I like island bases; they're easier to defend and by the time the raid is actually done, the monsters often hasn't even tested your defences yet.
I think the only exception to that are bats; but ballistae are too slow to deal with those.

Thorin :)

I never saw a single creature, swim or fly.

[knighttemplar1960]

Originally posted by Riitoken:

Originally posted by Kyotsudi:

a dwarf fortress under the mountain with castle to protect

That'd be great if it were possible.

Making a base under the Elder's alter is pretty much indestructible. I haven't done that myself but there are screen shots of lots of people that have.

I only spend time in my base to sleep and (except for you are being hunted) rarely experience raids.

A livestock barn that only has a portal and single work bench is raid proof. A vegetable garden that only has a portal and a single work bench is also raid proof. The smelter and kiln will work in your absence. Just load them and go explore some more and gather up the finished products when you return.

[iamoffline1]

Originally posted by Riitoken:

Originally posted by Oakshield:

The monsters spawn outside the circle and move inward to get to you.
I have the feeling they're a lot more slow when they need to swim, and as a result won't be able to reach you within the timeframe set for you to survive.

It's one of the reasons I like island bases; they're easier to defend and by the time the raid is actually done, the monsters often hasn't even tested your defences yet.
I think the only exception to that are bats; but ballistae are too slow to deal with those.

Thorin :)

I never saw a single creature, swim or fly.

If it's just in the middle of the ocean with nothing around that would render in more detailed, nothing will spawn there. That is, as long as the parts with shallow water/ground are completely covered with base items.
But yes, if it's an island close to any shore, they might just swim or fly towards you.

[Mharr]

The big problem with this is it can't be scaled up, you can only dig a fixed distance down which on a mountainside means only being able to dig a fixed distance horizontally too. You can get a decent sized room under a conveniently placed big destructable rock or boss altar as discussed but that's your lot.