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Briar root
BriarRoot 4x4
The root of a smitemaster's poblems
Element ID 39
Layer Items
First appears DROD 3.0
Is brain visible Yes

Briar growth
BriarGrowth 4x4
The growing problem
Element ID 41
Layer Items
First appears DROD 3.0
Is brain visible Yes

Withered briar
WitheredBriar 4x4
Keep off the grass
Element ID 40
Layer Items
First appears DROD 3.0
Is brain visible Yes

For the DROD RPG element, see Briar (RPG).

Briar is a versatile and very dangerous natural hazard found both Above and Beneath. Briar was introduced in The City Beneath.

Behavior[]

Screen Shot 04-30-15 at 12

A patch of briar with a root in the center

Briar prevents movement of any kind by any creature, but is not otherwise dangerous. Briar comes in two forms: mature briar, which is dark in color; and immature briar, which is smaller and redder. However, if a patch of briar is connected to a briar root, the patch will grow outward at a steady pace. Every turn, the briar root will turn one tile of immature briar within the briar patch into mature briar. When the patch contains no immature briar, it will grow one tile outward in every direction, creating new immature briar in these new locations. This process is repeated until the briar patch consumes everything it possibly can.

If there are multiple roots in a single patch, multiple tiles of immature briar will be converted to mature briar per turn. Multiple roots can also allow a briar patch to mature and grow again in a single turn. This makes briar especially perilous, since a patch with multiple roots can grow through a narrow corridor many tiles per turn faster than the player can run.

Clicking on a briar tile will highlight all the immature briar tiles in the patch. Clicking on a briar root will show how many turns are left until the next growth cycle.

Interactions[]

See the interactions page for a list of all interactions for this element.

When briar grows, it cannot grow over walls or over pits, but it will kill or destroy nearly everything else. The list of exceptions to this rule is quite short:

  • Briar will not grow over hot tiles but is otherwise unaffected by them. If a piece of briar rests atop a hot tile, it will treat the hot tile as if it did not exist.
  • Briar will grow into but is instantly destroyed by active fire traps.
  • Briar cannot grow against force arrows.
  • Briar can grow onto powder kegs but this will detonate them.
  • Briar cannot grow into fluff.
  • Briar will grow around rattlesnakes, serpents, and adders but cannot directly damage them. However, since serpents treat briar as an obstacle, a growing briar patch is very likely to trap and kill a serpent anyway.
  • Briar can grow into a puff and kill it, but the puff will destroy that briar as well. Briar can also be destroyed if a puff is guided into it. If a tile of briar is above water or shallow water when it is destroyed by a puff, thin ice will form at that location.
  • Briar will grow around rock giants but cannot harm them.
  • Briar cannot damage gentryii heads or chains, but can grow past a chain if one is angled diagonally.

Despite briar's apparent nigh-invulnerability, it can be dealt with by dropping it into pit, destroying it with explosions, or hacking at it with the pickaxe. In addition, briar tiles adjacent to a pit revert to their immature state if the briar patch grows, thus slowing down its rate of expansion dramatically.

If briar grows over a pressure plate, it will activate it, rather than destroy it. However, if the pressure plate is already depressed, the briar will continue to hold it down without activating it.

Trivia[]

  • Prior to DROD 5.0, immature briar was not placeable in the editor.
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