Falling Rocks and Hazard Defense
Falling hazards are both a calamity system and a den-defense system. The mechanics include weighted rock spawning, runner hit checks, dodge/shield counters, turret destruction rewards, and special den projectile objects.
| Falling Rock Formula | Falling rocks use a weighted five-rock table. Stronger rock types become more likely as calamity strength increases. |
|---|---|
| Calamity Trigger Effects | Each calamity trigger raises calamity level, starts an 8-second calamity window, runs the chosen event, and can reveal a den if the den-reveal upgrade succeeds. |
| Falling/Hazard Objects | 8 |
Hazard Objects
Section titled “Hazard Objects”| Object | HP / Damage | Radius / Gravity / Spin | Used By |
|---|---|---|---|
| Falling Rock | HP: 0 Damage: 0 | Explosion Radius: 0 Grav: 0 Spin Speed: Random speed between 200-1200. Spawn Immunity Timer: 1.3 | - |
| Falling Boulder | HP: 5 Damage: 1.5 | Explosion Radius: 5 Grav: 82 | Troll Cave (attack) Mithril Vein (hit/attack) |
| Falling Energy | HP: 4 Damage: 1.6 | Explosion Radius: 6 Grav: 84 Spin Speed: Random speed between 1200-1400. | Ancient Vault (hit/attack) |
| Falling Meat | HP: 3 Damage: 1.3 | Explosion Radius: 4 Grav: 82 | Troll Cave (hit) |
| Falling Goblin | HP: 1 Damage: 0.7 | Explosion Radius: 3 Grav: 82 | Goblin Den (hit) |
| Falling Bone | HP: 1 Damage: 0.6 | Explosion Radius: 2 Grav: 82 | Dark Castle (hit/attack) |
| Boulder | HP: 100 Damage: 0 | Explosion Radius: 22 Grav: 110 Spin Speed: Random speed between 400-600. | - |
| Boulder Small | HP: 100 Damage: 0 | Explosion Radius: 14 Grav: 110 Spin Speed: Random speed between 400-600. | - |
Hit, Dodge, Shield, and Loot Rewards
Section titled “Hit, Dodge, Shield, and Loot Rewards”| Mechanic | Player Meaning | Related Systems |
|---|---|---|
| Rock selection | Calamities choose from a weighted falling-rock table; stronger rock variants become more common as calamity strength rises. | Calamity System |
| Runner hits | Falling hazards can stun or damage runners unless dodge, shield, or immunity effects prevent the hit. | Runner and hazard stats |
| Shield counters | Shield-granting artifacts and upgrades are the most direct way to keep haulers moving through rock-heavy calamities. | Artifacts and prestige |
| Turret cleanup | Anti-rock turrets and rocket/cannon effects can destroy falling rocks before they reach workers. | Ballistics and artillery |
| Reward side effects | Some artifacts turn rock destruction or runner hits into gem, speed, shield, or PP-style rewards. | Artifact effects |
Relevant Counters and Rewards
Section titled “Relevant Counters and Rewards”| Entry | Type / Building | Effect / Use |
|---|---|---|
| Tome Of Calamity | Artifact | Collect: Immediately triggers 5 calamities. Passive: Whenever you trigger a calamity, all dwarves permanently gain +0.15% damage. |
| Calamity Totem | Artifact | A mystical totem that emboldens dwarves in times of disaster. Passive: Whenever a calamity triggers, all dwarves get their cooldown set to 20% of max. |
| Aegis Medallion | Artifact | Pinned to the chest of those who never drop a load. Passive: Whenever a Runner reaches his maximum carrying capacity, he gains a magical shield that protects him from falling rocks for 15-30 seconds. |
| Divine Slapping Gloves | Artifact | Passive: If you wake up a runner by slapping, he gets a shield for 15-30 seconds. |
| Dragon's Egg | Artifact | Collect: +7 PP and triggers the Rain of Gems calamity 7 times. Passive: Required to access the Great World Spire. |
| Eye Of Calamity | Artifact | Collect: Trigger 10 calamities. Passive: All dwarves have +20% calamity damage multiplier. Whenever you trigger a calamity, all dwarves get 25% cooldown reduction for 6-12 seconds. |
| Falling Star Ornament | Artifact | Collect: A golden star falls from the sky. Passive: Whenever a falling rock is destroyed by a turret, it has increased chance of dropping gems. |
| Quickbeer Dispenser | Artifact | A dose of magical ale is dispensed to the returning runner. Passive: Whenever a Runner delivers a payload, he has a 20% chance to gain +50% speed, +100% gathering speed and +30% dodge for 12-16 seconds. |
| Gemstorm Idol | Artifact | Passive: Whenever you collect an artifact, there is a 70% chance to trigger a Rain of Gems calamity. |
| Golden Crane | Artifact | Passive: Runners get +10% dodge. |
| Hermes Sandals | Artifact | Passive: Whenever a Runner dodges a falling rock, he gets +1% Speed permanently, up to maximum of 30%. |
| Greyglitter Dowsing Amulet | Artifact | Mythically rare magic, able to detect mithril veins deep below layers of rock. Passive: All dwarves get +4 mithril luck. |
| Oxheart Ward | Artifact | Passive: The Ox-Lung Lager now also shields runners for 15-30 seconds. |
| Red Bull | Artifact | Passive: Bulldozers gain +16 max HP. Whenever they are hit by a falling rock, they gain stacking +20% speed for 10 seconds. |
| Rocket Boots | Artifact | Passive: +30% speed. Tiny chance at any point for the rockets to malfunction and send the dwarf flying. |
| Shabu's Humour | Artifact | Passive: Whenever a runner is stunned by a falling rock, there's a tiny chance he explodes in a shower of gems and is yeeted into space! |
| Shield of Olaf | Artifact | Passive: Whenever a runner stops resting or gets hit by a rock, there's a 15% chance he gets a shield that lasts 15-30 seconds. |
| Sorcerous Spyglass | Artifact | Passive: Ballistas and turrets get +10% flat accuracy. |
| Steamskate Boots | Artifact | Passive: Runners get +18% speed, but -4% dodge and +12% resting time. |
| Air Strike | Artillery Hall | Cannonballs have a chance to call an air strike on the mountain. Chance is increased by +1% per nuclear research tier and +0.15% per gyrocopter. |
| Bullet Ballin | Artillery Hall | Shoots a massive rocket out of Artillery Hall, which must be guided by your cursor. The rocket destroys all falling rocks in its path, but takes damage in the process. |
| Boulderbane Runes | Artillery Hall | Cannonballs now have 60% chance to collide with falling rocks and deal 2 to rock collision damage to them. The chance is increased by 4% per cannonball size. |
| Nuke | Artillery Hall | Drops a nuke upon the earth. Blows everything into heavens and destroys all falling rocks. Deals damage to the mountain and all dens equal to 30,000 + 0.25-1% of the mountain's max health. |
| Massive Balls | Artillery Hall | Duke Cannons get bonus cannonball size and bonus damage. Cannonball size increases the collision box, which helps with hitting dens and falling rocks. It also increases the chance of damaging falling rocks. |
| Nuclear Research | Artillery Hall | Tier 1 unlocks Nuke ritual. Tier 2 unlocks Airstrike upgrade. Tier 3 unlocks Dance Of the Ballins ritual. Tier 4 triples the damage of airstrike rockets. |
| Great Duke Cannon | Artillery Hall | A massive cannon that shoots elephant-sized cannonballs. The impact shakes the mountain like a small meteor. |
| Anti-Rock Turret | Ballistics Workshop | Shoots laser bolts at falling rocks, with accuracy as dubious as a coin flip. Prioritizes rocks closest to the ground or itself. |
| Falling Pinatas | Ballistics Workshop | In general whenever any falling rock is destroyed by anything, it has a tiny chance of containing gold or gems. But now, whenever a turret destroys a falling rock, that chance is increased by +pinatas value. |