40d Talk:Sea lamprey

Just in case anyone was wondering, these things are harmless. This is useful information to people like me, who enjoy wrestling fish in adventure mode. --Smartmo 04:07, 1 May 2009 (UTC)

Harmless my ass. I just lost 12 dwarves including a legendary miner to one Sea Lamprey.--173.26.114.20 07:34, 14 February 2010 (UTC)

Seconded. Lost my skilled fisherman to one. And it wasn't just a case of "Oops, the dwarf fell in and drowned." It ripped off his arm and left half a dozen dwarf chunks in its wake. RedKing 22:13, 27 February 2010 (UTC)

Combat has a lot of randomizers in it. It's mathematically possible for a kitten to one-shot a dragon. With thousands of users each having dozens of games with hundreds of combats each with scores of attacks - weird things will happen, just expect them. If a non-swimmer ends up in the water, they can panic - meaning they aren't defending themselves at first. Add the [ATTACKFLAG_CANLATCH] and [SPECIALATTACK_SUCK_BLOOD:25:50] tags, and you have a recipe for potential disaster no matter what the odds.

That said, one of the biggest constants in combat and damage is size vs. size. So, typically, a size 6 dwarf should be able to rule over most any size 3 creature, no problem. Also, "wrestling" must be matched by "wrestling" - and if the lamprey can't wrestle, it's game over. So it makes sense (in the game, if not by any RL standards) that a novice wrestler (and one in Adventure Mode!) might dominate while a legendary miner often loses, especially if the creature is low on internal organs for that piercing pick to target. --Albedo 23:38, 25 February 2010 (UTC)

• nods knowingly* Still, they don't lie when they call these 'predatory' - i've often had an adventurer dragged into the river chased by one or two of these. Not dangerous, unless there happens to be a carp group following you. --85.12.64.150 12:01, 12 March 2010 (UTC) (User:Libelnon)

As a side note, "carp" are not predatory - it's been demonstrated that the typical time they attack is when they feel cornered, and that's usually when they're in murky pools and can't run. When in a river, they usually avoid combat - but that's another part of combat that seems random. Wild deer will also try to flee, but will (rarely) attack, etc. - same with Carp. The "Predatory" tag, however, means they will seek likely targets. Note that any predators (for instance, hunting cats like cougar, tiger, etc) will flee from a larger group, and/or often if a dwarf seems aggressive or dangerous - try Activating and armouring up a dwarf, and chasing down a lion or something - it will often decline to cooperate.--Albedo 13:16, 12 March 2010 (UTC)

Really? Because I've often been attacked by sea lampreys when walking beside rivers, not normally near pools. --85.12.64.150 12:01, 12 March 2010 (UTC) (User:Libelnon)

In Adventurer mode, if I jump into a river, all of the carp/pike/gar/sturgeons/etc. will swim away, but any sea lampreys will swim toward me and immediately attack, so they are definitely predatory. --Quietust 12:43, 26 March 2010 (UTC)