Author: tunnelrat <rxfoster gmail>     Reply to Message
Date: 9/27/2011 11:51:58 AM
Subject: Creeper shit...

I have noticed that like 70% of deaths on the server are from the pickle jihad.

A couple of things...

*1* This SHOULD go without saying, but you should be at full health pretty much 99.999% of the time. You shouldn't travel at ALL at night without armor on, unless you are butt as naked or just don't care (with your hands in the air). Carry food? So simpo (you can buy food at Lakeside right now, there will be more foodatoriums elsewhere in the future)

2. Prevent their spawning. LIGHT UP EVERYTHING. Mobs cannot spawn in well lit areas (when in doubt, torch it up. Mobs can also not spawn on water, half blocks, (stairs?), or glass/ice, and maybe wool. Spawns have to happen on "earth blocks" so... take that for what it is worth. If your entire complex is lit up properly, but you have any opening to an area that is not, you need to block it off. I have had things spawn in full light because of this b/s.

3. Creepers can't see through glass. Like any other mob, they WILL track you through anything once they have locked on to you (if they are within 16 blocks, and have LOS to you at any point, they will hump a wall until you walk outside. This makes a nice treat when the 4 of them that have become your paparazzi are waiting for you around a corner.) Use glass instead of open windows on ground floors.

4. Carry a bow. You'll be able to buy arrows in the Merchant District soon (really cheap). Fight them at a distance if you aren't confident in your swordsmanship.

5. Creepers, like any other mob, spawn in groups of 3-4 (maybe 5 sometimes). Before you engage a creeper (that you have time to react/choose the terms of engagement) look for his buddies. If there are things around him, they are probably behind those. If you see a single creeper, the distance between him and his buddies is dependent upon how long ago his group spawned. If you are moving quickly, and no one else is around, the groups should be pretty close together. Either way, unless someone or something has killed them, they ARE around.

The best bet here, unless you are a Noldor Warrior, is to just avoid them, bearing in mind that by circumnavigating a solo creeper you need to be looking out for his litter mates.


6. Overland travel at night/morning - Don't ever stop moving. If you find something you want/want to harvest, take a look around first. If you don't have a clear view of the area, are those 6 pumpkins worth running back here to get your shit? As you run, stick to open areas as much as possible. Stay WELL away from trees. Pickles are like Ents, they like to tend the trees. Stay away from sheer mountains at night as well, since the pickle jihad is trained in orbital insertions. Creepers don't burn in sunlight, and they don't despawn until like noon (sun directly overhead for those playing at home) So, bear this in mind before you haul ass as soon as the undead are joan of arc style. Of lesser importance, when trying to get from point A to point B, avoid cave openings and overhangs with a lot of shadow under them.

Another no-brainer, watch out for canyons/holes. Not only will these make you take hurt, I think there is malicious code in the game that makes sure that a creeper red hat lady breakfast club is meeting at any given time in the bottom of chasms to make sure you're dead-dead, not just mostly dead.

7. Build creeper defenses. If you are getting your ass knocked in at your home base, look here:

http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Creeper#Anti-Creeper_Fortifications

I wrote this shit up the other day because of reading some of the idiocy out there while searching for plugin updates and the Endermen blocking mod.

Also, creepers make sound on some block types. If you are mining, fill in floor holes with gravel instead of cobble. Any warning is better than no warning.

Another good plan, in areas you are inhabiting, is to make liberal use of water. Anything entering a water block will splash, and water absorbs blast damage to blocks (we MAY re-enable creeper block damage once we have all the worldguards set up, but that's not likely right now)

8. Get good at sprinting. With sprint (assuming you aren't starving anyway) creepers should be a lot easier to get away from. I can't tell you how many times I see a pickle go hugs not drugs someone, and as SOON as the person hears the SSSSSSS they TURN AROUND IN A CIRCLE.... "Hey, every time before now, that sound immediately proceeds "Respawn - Quit" appearing... but, I should check to make sure anyway". Fucking MOVE. It doesn't matter where, if you can't SEE the creeper, then moving in that direction HAS to be a better plan (assuming it's not lava, another favorite means of death).

I am not 100% sure, but I think creeper damage is dependent upon range to player on detonation. This could be completely wrong, or it could have changed over the different updates. I usually run and jump right before they blow up, which pushes you away... I THINK this makes you take less damage (unless you get power blasted off a cliff or something obviously)

9. Creepers only do entity damage. Entities are any of that floating shit (dropped blocks/items) and the player entity itself. This means that chained creeper explosions will destroy anything on the ground. It's pretty rare to be killed by one creeper and then have your stuff blown up by a subsequent blast, since the first creeper will almost always kill any other close enough to be on countdown.

HOWEVER, the hardest I have ever raged was when a magical creeper and his buddy got into a lit building surrounded by water. It was like an 8x8 filled with chests at a build site. The first creeper went off, blowing the shit out of the chest(s), and the second had a walk-off home run, wiping out dozens of diamonds, and hundreds of iron, coal, stone, etc...

Keep this in mind, as ANY chest you put down needs to be completely secure to prevent this.

10. When in a confined space, placing a block between you and a creeper is instant win. In fact, if you are paranoid while mining, or whatever, simply block the tunnel behind you... no more sneaky sneaky. Using a water bucket will push creepers away from you (and sometimes off cliffs, which is win). A bucket of lava, assuming you don't play in it, is a great way to sanitize any area.
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