What makes raids bigger ?

[Shurp]

Well, all I know is after every tribal invasion there's a pile of bodies around each exploded turret...

...oh, that reminds me, exploding turrets are also great for turning packs of manhunting wargs into hamburger.  Fine Dinners for all!

[quxzcover]

1) i have over 80 colonists and over 300 defensive structures. my current non tribal raids are about 20 guys. tribals are about 120 guys. kill boxes are the only way with this unless i want to place 80 guys around my fort just to have some of them die, compared to kill box. and having to place 80 guys every 2-3 in game days. also turrets get costly when youve minded out your map from steel. (3rd biggest size map)

2) if you place sandbags around a turret, tribals cant run away fast enough, especially when  theres 60+ on one turret, since they all take the same pathing. same pathing = impossible to defend against without explosives.

3) the more you build = the bigger the raids = more loot = better chance against raids. i usually dont care about raids. and sappers do nothing against me and my mountain colony because insanity lances are cheap compared to what i have at this point, and all you have to do is send the grenadier into a frenzy and they act like normal raiders.

[jzero]

Does anyone know definitively whether it is based just on colony wealth or if other variables are used in the calculation?  Esp. # of colonists and # of turrets.  My colony on the ice sheet has 5 of each and I'm wondering whether it is worthwhile to increase either or just continue accumulating plasteel for my interstellar pogo stick.

to sum it up without the intricacies of math. PROGRESS = BIG RAIDS

[Shurp]

Yes, it's easy to killbox in a mountain fortress.  I recommend playing on flat terrain for a greater challenge.  Of course, like you say, tribals become insane in that case -- which is why it's worthwhile to patch up the survivors and set them loose so you have good relations with them before their raids get insanely huge.

[praguepride]

Does anyone know if dramatically reducing your wealth will reduce raid sizes? I haven't played past catastrophic raids where my colony actually survived but I was thinking that by making unfavorable trades (like buying stuff when it's overpriced like medicine usually is at $50 per unlike the $10 per from a combat trader) if you could bring those 20 man raids DOWN?

[Shurp]

I've never tried it but it should work.  Don't forget to deconstruct your structures and sell the raw materials at a loss.

Actually, the easiest thing to do is to sell anything you have, buy it back immediately, sell it again immediately, etc., wiping out your cash stockpile so you effectively give everything away.

[erdrik]

I've never tried it but it should work.  Don't forget to deconstruct your structures and sell the raw materials at a loss.

Actually, the easiest thing to do is to sell anything you have, buy it back immediately, sell it again immediately, etc., wiping out your cash stockpile so you effectively give everything away.

Does silver count as your wealth if its not in a home zone/area?

[giannikampa]

AFAIK your wealth is calculated on your colonists (numerosity and outfits), your buildings, furnitures and your goods, these are considered as yours if they are in stockpiles. I always tend to not haul/collect silver, iron, gold, plasteel etc in stockpiles: as soon as I understand wich beacon gets the drops of resources from traders I delete the stockpile, drops will still go there. Colonist will go there to grab resources needed for crafting/building but I don't allow those anywere in stockpiles so haulers won't haul them. Not so sure if alpha 12 has changed this mechanic of calculating tho.


Homezone does not matter in this