Kill Maze For Raiders

This proof-of-concept is a more complex example of Wiring. For other examples, see Wiring Examples. The purpose of this kill maze is to defend against Raiders.

Note

Quick note: an anonymous user incorrectly claimed this kill maze no longer works. This maze was tested on version 0.21.29 on May 14, 2023, and it apparently still works as of this version. Note the kill maze provides doors which funnel raiders through the maze, so they do not break the settlement wall.

Most of this page is about exploring kill maze concepts. For a practical example of a kill maze, read this section.

Note 2: As of May 16, 2023, it is confirmed that raiders will attack walls if Pathfinding is too away for their positions (Hypothesis that destroying a wall would be faster than going through doors).

Settlement Wall

In this example, a rectangular wall has been built around the entire Settlement, with the kill maze constructed against the southern wall.

• The kill maze is the only opening in the settlement wall, so no matter what direction Raiders or NPCs come from, they should be able to make their way to the kill maze and navigate it to enter and leave the settlement.
  • Note that the kill maze provides an opening for raiders (and other NPCs) to enter the settlement, which prevents them from breaking the settlement wall.
• However, sometimes they will not be able to path-find their way and will get stuck on the side or corner of the settlement wall.
  • This may happen when sending Anglers and Explorers on trips, and when wandering NPCs come to visit.
• The settlement wall should not be more complex than a rectangle, to make it easy for raiders and NPCs to make it to the southern side and the kill maze.
• Note that the NPC rooms are close to the kill maze. Since raiders target the sleeping NPCs, this can make it easier for them to find the southern opening.
• However, the rooms are too far to the east. This will cause some small percentage of raiders to get stuck on the eastern side of the settlement wall and they will need to be killed a different way.

Kill Maze

Here is a close-up of the kill maze.

• Only the left third of this maze is used. The other sections are unnecessary and make path-finding harder for both raiders and NPCs.
• NPCs can go through doors so they should have no trouble going through the maze. However, raiders will get stuck on each door.
• Therefore, each door represents a "kill box" where raiders will get constantly damaged while they work on opening the door.

Raider Path

Here is the path Raiders (and wandering NPCs) will take when entering the settlement.

• Raiders enter from the south. Each door represents a kill box. After they make it through the first door, the real traps begin.
• Flame traps and void traps should be placed first. They will do the most damage to enemies because they damage multiple enemies per activation. Arrow traps will only damage a single enemy per activation.
• The player should not enter the trapped area, but if they have a weapon that can go through walls like the Dredging Staff, they can safely do extra damage to enemies that are working on opening each door.
• The ladders seen on the diagram allow the player to easily bypass walls by going through the Caves below.
• Sometimes when raiders finally go through a door, they leave the door open. If the player is close enough, the player can close the door, forcing later raiders to again become stuck on the same door.
• Sometimes when the raiders open a door and leave it open, the "open" position will also block their progress, further slowing them down. This will depend on door orientation when the door is placed.
• If it looks like raiders will make it all the way through the maze, the player can block the opening in the settlement wall, causing the raiders to freeze or try to leave through the maze, getting further hurt.

Sensor and Timer Settings

• All sensors have the same settings. All sensors are wired together.
• This is probably too many sensors. Not all of these sensors are needed.
• Sensors only activate when hostile mobs are detected. When they activate, the green wires activate the Timer Gate.
• The sensor range is set to 4 in this example.

• The Timer Gate is activated the by green wires and activates the traps with the red wires.

Testing Lever

The testing lever is used to manually test trap operation.

Updated Kill Maze

A new version of the kill maze above was made and placed in the southeast corner of the settlement wall. A copy of this was placed in the northwest corner. The old kill maze was removed.

• Note that the kill maze is inside the settlement wall.
• Note that the kill maze provides an opening in the settlement wall for raiders (and other NPCs) to go through. This prevents raiders from breaking the settlement wall.

• This version is much more compact but still has 7 kill boxes.
• It is located very close to the settler rooms so hopefully raiders will have no difficulty finding it.
  • Note, the settler rooms are actually too close to the kill maze! This kill maze is inside the default defend zone. This is bad because when raiders attack, your settlers will rush into the kill maze to fight the raiders, hurting themselves on your traps. Make sure to remove the kill maze from the settlement defend zone. Better yet, position your settler rooms farther from the kill maze.
• The path through the maze is very straightforward, so hopefully pathfinding by mobs is easy.
• It is easily extensible.
• Hopefully putting the opening in the corner of the settlement wall will make it easy for raiders to find it no matter what direction they come from. Putting a second copy in the opposite corner of the settlement wall should make it even easier and hopefully reduce mobs getting stuck.
• Each of the traps is a flame trap pointed to the left.
• Each of the doors was placed while facing to the right.
• On the first trial of this maze (after defeating Cryo Queen but before Sage and Grit, the raiders were all killed by the second door (normal difficulty).
  • Update: After defeating Sage and Grit but before Fallen Wizard, the raiders were much tougher and made it most of the way through the maze before dying. The maze either needs to be lengthened, or the player can take an active role in the defense. For the active player, the simplest thing to do, once all the raiders are inside the kill maze, are to block off the two exits out of the kill maze, trapping the raiders. (Walls have been placed in the nearby chest for this purpose.) Alternatively, the player can attack the raiders with summons or with weapons that go through walls like the Dredging Staff or Reaper Scythe.
• Note the wires were placed to avoid the torches and doors. Otherwise, the torches and doors (which are also wiring elements) would be affected by the wiring, defeating their purpose.
• As before, the green wires activate the timer, and the red wires activate the traps.

• Same settings as before, except that sensor range has been reduced to 2.

• Same settings as before.

• As before, using the Rock Lever to test operation of the maze.

Settlement With Updated Kill Maze

This is an example of a settlement with this updated kill maze. This settlement was created and tested in May 2023, version 0.21.29.

Notes:

• There are only two openings in the settlement wall, in the northwest and southeast corners, where the two kill mazes are located.
• The settlement wall is a smooth rectangle so that raiders and NPCs have no trouble finding one of the two entrances. In this game raiders have come from all directions and have been able to find one or both entrances.
• Before the Homestone was obtained, to facilitate travel to and from this island, pairs of Ladders were placed in the north, south, east, and west walls. Only the player may use ladders, so they represent a secure way to bypass the settlement wall.