40d Talk:Giant eagle

Size

More dangerous than Carp? Oooh...we need a King of the beasts page just to debate the most evil of creatures.--Draco18s 12:11, 2 November 2007 (EDT)

Are we sure that a giant eagle really gives 10 bones, and 10 meat? The thing must be the size of an elephant. That's more like a Roc, not an eagle.

Well, that *is* basically what a Roc is. No one said how big 'giant' is. I wouldn't be surprised if giant eagles could eventually pick up and drop dwarves. --Edward 02:30, 31 December 2007 (EST)

Actually, there were real Giant Eagles before but they went extinct. They had a wingspan of 2.6m to 3m, according to Wikipedia. But then again, this would be a mythological Giant Eagle, so I guess it could be any size. Oh, and checking the coding on the thing, it's size is a little under 2/3 that of an Elephant, which for a bit of guidance, is on average about 3 meters tall.Plasma 18:52, 12 June 2008 (EDT)

Yes and no. There were animals called "giant eagles" (aka Haast's Eagle), but they weighed in at around 25 pounds (11kg) w/ a wingspan of maybe 9 ft (upwards of 3 m.) A DF GE has a "size" of 10, which puts it on a par with a camel or polar bear. This is a fantasy game, people - fantasy! (And the wiki link is comedy - comedy!)--Albedo 19:28, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

Trapping an eagle

I have a couple of those GEs hovering in the middle of the map, any chance i could catch one? --Digger 12:09, 25 February 2008 (EST)

I'd doubt it. You'd have to be pretty damn lucky to trap a flying creature in a cage on the ground. The only way you could do it would be to lure it into a corridor, as it means it won't be able to fly. Plasma 18:52, 12 June 2008 (EDT)

It's easily possible with a bunch of cage traps. I caught one recently (I believe it was swooping in to kill a mountain goat, though I can't be sure). I modified it to be trainable, and now I have a war giant eagle. I hardly have to fight goblin ambushes anymore, and as long as they don't have crossbows the thing never gets hurt. :DMilskidasith 18:50, 8 November 2008 (EST)

IF it's coded to swoop on wild animals (dunno if the predator token acts like that), you might be able to set up restraints with bound Hoary Marmots or other less valuable wildlife and surround them with cage traps- so the GE would get caged when swooping on the animal. I may test this later... --170.140.59.100 16:59, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

The trick is to get it down to ground level. So, use bait animals, restrained (maybe up high where they'll be found more easily?) but put a roof over all tiles adjacent to that the animal's range of movement, so the eagle has to come down to that level. If those tiles are trapped, you've trapped the eagle. (Use of walls to limit access means you'll have fewer tiles to trap.) This method works, but there's no guarantee when (or if) a high-flying eagle will descend, or where.--Albedo 19:28, 1 November 2009 (UTC)

Dangerous???

After this wiki page, I was really scared when at some point a zombie giant eagle occured and marched straight into my fortress. in the end, my untrained woodcutter slaughtered it and had to stay in bed for half a week due to minor injuries. The second zombie giant eagle was killed by a single skilled wrestler (very agile, so he was the first to arrive) without armour and without getting injured. Is the information on the page really correct? Or should it rather be "dangerous for non-military dwarves"? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Qwertyu (talk•contribs)

more so since sending peasants as recruits into the fray and see them die is not a proof that a creature is so especially dangerous. --Koltom 03:22, 10 March 2008 (EDT)

Giant Eagles are so powerful because they use swift hit-and-run attacks, darting out of the sky to attack it's target, and return back to the sky, making it very hard to fight normally. Not only would a zombie Giant Eagle be much slower (and perhaps be on the ground too, I don't know), but having one stuck inside your fortress means that it can't fly at all. Plasma 18:52, 12 June 2008 (EDT)

Wait a second though. He said "marched straight into my fortress" as in not flying... as in nothing more than a plain zombie... Go figure that a walking bird that's meant to fly isn't dangerous! Personally, I doubt a flying GE would ever enter a fortress. Normal (or otherwise flying, do skel-GEs fly?) Giant Eagles are very dangerous *because* they fly. They easily avoid any dwarves that would be a danger to it, while picking off any peasant that goes outdoors. I haven't heard much talk about them since the z-level ranged attacks were fixed, (didn't use to shoot between z-levels for a bit after z's were implemented,) so perhaps the fact that they fly isn't a big problem if you've got a supply of bolts and a decent marksdwarf. But I could be wrong on both accounts, who knows? Proof is always welcome of either way! --Edward 05:07, 10 March 2008 (EDT)

Well, parts of my fortress needed a roof, that's how it entered. But don't attack undead everything? So if you send your military dwarves, it should attack them instead of some poor peasants, correct? Besides, especially the Zombie GE is so slow that even my exhausted half-time fighters (They had just practiced their wrestling with a group of skeletal hoary marmots) could outcrouch it, so I cannot imagine that it would make such an incredible killer even if it spent more time flying. -- Qwertyu 10:30, 10 March 2008 (CET)

Oh, but you haven't seen a skeletal eagle--the time I saw it, it was horrific...I brought six dogs with me to a terrifying mountain, and I was busy digging out a fort next to the volcano nearby. Then, I saw "______ cancels store item in stockpile: Interrupted by Skeletal giant eagle."

My god, that scared the hell out of me, and rightfully so. It SLAUGHTERED my six dogs with about what looked like one hit each (about a fourth of a second each kill) and then seemed to guard the wagon which had my supplies and about 20 more tin bars (I'd hauled about a third of them). It then came back later on to harrass the Solen building the water pumping system--which, for that matter, froze up later on.

EDIT: Yes, skeletal GEs fly.

...Man, that fort was...odd. ~ Midna 12:11, 23 May 2008 (EDT)

I had just started out in a calm area and looked on the unit list and saw a giant eagle, I couldn't stop my hunter from going after it and he was unfortunatley killed by it. Afterwards it was considered legend (I guess) and named Woodchoke. --DUMBELLS 15:09, 25 May 2008 (EDT)

Ah, I remember I had a similar situation. Only replaced "six dogs" with "six dwarves". Owch. And, in case you're wondering, the seventh dwarf didn't escape, he just got mauled by a Skeletal Mountain Goat. Plasma 18:46, 12 June 2008 (EDT)

As others have said, the thing that makes giant eagles dangerous is their flight. At least you can generally keep your dwarves away from elephants or place traps to keep them away from your dwarves. It's probably almost impossible to stop a giant eagle with a trap, and you can't even keep track of its position because civilian dwarves don't seem to be scared by it till it drops to their Z-level - if it's flying around six levels above that road you're building, none of your dwarves will sound the alarm until it swoops down out of nowhere to eviscerate a peasant. It's probably not anywhere near as tough as an elephant in melee combat (a single war dog, though mortally wounded in the process, managed to knock one out long enough for me to notice and send a dwarf to finish it off), but the psychological torment more than makes up for it - it's silent and deadly. Topping it all off is that while marksdwarves make short work of it, marksdwarves are just about the only thing that can kill it on your terms. If you don't have any, you have to just have to wait around and hope it attacks someone strong enough to take it out. Gelmax 01:48, 16 July 2008 (EDT)

When I saw a Skeletal Giant Eagle appear, due to the article I was terrified. Needless to say, they are no where near as dangerous as they are made out to be. 2 semi-trained marksdwarves and a recruit marksdwarf were able to kill it with only one loss. I don't think the article is doing any favors to new players by encouraging them to abandon their fortress at the sight of one. --Aristoi 15:31, 13 August 2008 (EDT)

When I encountered one in Adventure mode as a professional Hammerer i was pretty scared but I killed it in one hit!! Hoborobo 15:38, 13 August 2008 (EDT)

BTW: Wouldn't there be an option to bring it down with just some recruits? As an idea: Two waves: One consisting of wrestling recruits (say 2-3), the other one consisting of your somewhat skilled miners, and an axe carrier (if you have one). It comes down to engage the first three dwarves, the second group should be able to tear it apart, especially due to the axe. Worked nicely with a giant bat (however, this was killed even by a lone axedwarf). Qwertyu 07:27, 31 August 2008 (EDT)

I had a Giant Eagle (non-undead, thankfully) hanging out on the north end of the map on my current fortress (v0.28.181.40c). Fearing for my dorfs, I kept them inside for the better part of the next year after it arrived. The following summer, I forced the human caravan to arrive on the west end of the map, but their Guild Representative spawned literally twenty tiles away from the GE. The weird thing is that the GE fled from the unarmed, unskilled Guild Rep. It hasn't been seen since. Thrawn 13:58, 30 August 2008 (EDT)

Well, many of the dangerous living creatures do not attack automatically, but only sometimes. Fire imps also flee from your dwarves most of the time, but you should not count on it. Qwertyu 07:27, 31 August 2008 (EDT)

DO NOT BE FOOLED. Skeletal Giant Eagles are flying death machines, it luckily left my dwarves alone for a few years, then one day decided to kill my hunter. My hunter managed to injure it, but was torn to shreds (10 dwarf chunks!). -OmegaX

As far as the dwarf chunks, that is due to how the GE attacks where it bites for 1-6, latches on, and tears off a chunk, meaning the Eagle had to bite at least 10 times to kill your hunter. It seems most anyting with this Bite attack as the sole attack can do considerable damage.--Stryc9fuego 14:02, 20 October 2008 (EDT)

On my current fortress, things were starting off FAR too well: Bauxite, Magma, tons of iron, lumber, AND flux material all on the same map? Too good to be true. Then the giant skeletal eagle appeared. It managed to enter my fort by flying through my (currently under construction) aquaduct and fly up through the well and enter my fort. Luckly about a dozen dogs were on hand when it popped out and shredded it. --Toloran 19:58, 14 December 2008 (EST)

... They're pretty dangerous if you come across one on Embark. Haha. Jevon

Initially Hostile?

Right now I have a Giant Eagle in my base. Will it kill guys right now (should I call an all-below), or will it just mind its own business unless I provoke it somehow? --Erathoniel 20:44, 5 November 2008 (EST)

What do you mean, "in your base?" If it's just on the map, there's no need to worry. If the eagle is likely to move past a dwarf, that could be a problem. --RomeoFalling 21:40, 5 November 2008 (EST)

It was inside a walled compound, flying around and giving me a nightmare. However, it left without any killing being done, and was killed by a psychotic trader guard axedwarf who proceeded to spend the next of the season chasing a one-humped camel with upper spine injuries. --Erathoniel 14:57, 7 November 2008 (EST)

I had a Giant eagle for 5 years before he eventually ran into a cage trap, and he never killed or hurt any of my dwarves (in fact, he even never hurt anything). My dwarves, who strongly rely on woodcutting, were always outside, so if he was really agressive, he wouldn't have let them live peacefully for 5 years.. Now I've tamed it, and there's no problems with the other creatures. Timst 06:13, 8 November 2008 (EST)

Dropped into water?

What happens if a giant eagle drops a dwarf into water (and the dwarf can swim). Will the dwarf die, be unconcious and drown, or simply swim away? Milskidasith 13:09, 11 November 2008 (EST)

Having played on a map with seven elevation waterfalls and water two elevations deep, it seems that falling from great heights causes dwarves to fall straight through the water and hit solid rock. I never saw them drown, the death message was always 'collided with an obstacle'.--Navian 13:29, 11 November 2008 (EST)

Weird... I was thinking it would be the other way around, since I had a couple of goblin masters get launched into my channel by my bridge (and crushed my champion. Note to self: Pressure plate atom smashers are not a good idea if you have invaluable melee dwarves and/or can't remember which lever prevents lifts the bridge disconnecting your fort from the outside). They flew up a couple Z levels and landed in the water, stunned but unharmed. But I suppose more Z levels than two is a different story. Milskidasith 14:00, 11 November 2008 (EST)

Not really that dangerous

My hunter (novice wrestler, ambusher, skilled marksdwarf, dabbling hammerdwarf, dabbling armorwearer) just killed one faster than i could say mississippi, or, rather, wait don't go there, and has not a single scratch. And that with deer bone bolts too. --Höhlenschreck 23:32, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

There is a LOT of randomness in combat. One anecdote does not change the fact that, on average, compared to other DF animals, GE's are dangerous.--Albedo 23:54, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

The biggest problem with GEs, is that they're nearly un-meleeable. The same dwarf without any ammo probably would have been ripped to shreds, and the GE would be the one untouched. -Edward 00:46, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

I agree, but who lets dwarfs hunt unsupervised and with melee weapons/out of bolts in an unsafe biome? unless he wants to have fun ;) --Höhlenschreck 10:19, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

Anyone new to this game and this wiki - which gets us back to making it clear that GE's can be dangerous. This site is not for "those who know" to show off that they know - it's to introduce the new and intermediate player to the various unknowns in the game. This is the user's manual. Personal preference is up to each player, after they achieve their own feel for the game.--Albedo 14:05, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

As has been said further above and here again, i too think people are exaggerating, come really ill prepared, or have particular bad luck (->randomness, yes, but the other way round). Neither the normal nor the undead variety are that dangerous, the fact aside that they do attack instead of run and, in case of the latter, are, well, undead.. If a player picks a terrifying site then he wants terrifying, even if hes new. In any case he should go through the fun experience, not just abandon fortress. --Confused 23:17, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Which is exactly why it was changed from "abandon it" to "may want to consider abandoning it". If a player is up for a challenge, they'll cowboy up, and if not, they'll turn tail and run. But if a newbie is frustrated at the fact that it's harder to kill a skeagle than many other critters (and it is), they'll find their experience confirmed - that "it's not just them" - and they can proceed from there.--Albedo 14:09, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Savage?

They may occur in savage mountain areas...

GE's have the [SAVAGE] creature token - doesn't that mean they ONLY show up in savage biomes? (Despite how the comment in the creature token article reads) --Albedo 22:02, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

I changed "They are usually found in savage mountain areas" to "They may occur in savage mountain areas." Indeed [SAVAGE] [BIOME_MOUNTAIN] limits them to savage mountain biomes, but as always they may still never show up. So how do we phrase that unambiguously? How bout "They can occur only in savage mountain areas." ? --Old Ancient 19:59, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

Use in defense

The article makes it sound like tamed Giant Eagles will fly around outside your base and attack hostiles. In my case, though, it just sits in my meeting areas, like any other tamed animal. Is there a way to make it so that they'll be useful in defense (besides chaining them near the entrance, which seems like kind of a waste), or was someone assuming that a GE would behave the same tamed as it does wild? If it's the latter, that part be removed. -- King of the Internet 18:39, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

See what happens if you make a "meeting area" in the sky above your fortress. Will it show up there? --May Cause Drowsiness 23:36, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

Tested the meeting area on a different flying creature: Meeting areas seem to not work in the sky