The official wiki page for lightning rods is very small, almost a stub, I would say. I know how to craft one and its general function, but I’m trying to plan my farm and I don’t know how many to use.
- Does using more than one rod increase the chance of lightning strike?
- Does a lightning rod process lightning immediately, or is there a time that it takes before another strike can be processed?
- If a lightning rod is making or holding a battery pack, can it still attract lightning? In other words, will it still protect my farm if it is in use?
- Is it safer to use more than one rod at a time?
- What are the chances of lightning striking my trees, crops, buildings, animals, paths, fences, equipment, and how much does a lightning rod change those odds? (again, how do multiple rods play into effect)
The information I have available right now barely explains anything about lightning strikes and I just want to know how to best protect my farm, as well as make use of electric power.
The first answer
I think the way it works is that, any time lightning would hit something on your farm, it gets redirected to a free lightning rod instead. Mine are right by the farm entrance, so I’ve seen them actually get hit nearly every day I’ve had a thunderstorm.
A lightning rod only seems to be able to “hold” one strike at a time; once it’s been hit, you have to wait for the battery to be finished (and probably collect it) before it can block another. When I only had three, I was still seeing paths get destroyed; I’ve got six now, and that seems to be enough to handle a whole day.
Second answer
- As far as I know, the chance of a lightning strike occurring is independent of the presence of any Rods.
- The rod starts processing immediately, but it takes ~24 hours to complete and give you a battery.
- Each rod can only process one at a time. Although I haven’t tested it thoroughly, I’m fairly sure that you must remove the finished battery before it can process another strike.
- It is pretty well required if you want to minimize lightning damage. I generally have anywhere from 16-30 lightning rods on my farms. I’ve had 15 or more strikes out of a single storm and I like to have extra Rods in case of storms on consecutive days.
- I can’t answer the exact numbers. Lightning rods seem to have a high (but not guaranteed) chance of intercepting strikes. I don’t believe having multiple Rods changes the interception odds directly, but since a particular rod can only process 1 strike at a time, multiple are necessary to provide continued protection throughout the entire day.
Third answer
Luck is a factor in a lot of it, so you’re going to get mixed reports. Personally, I have:
- woken up to a storm and discovered all my lightning rods already holding a charge; conversely, I’ve come home after a stormy day and seen only one rod holding a charge
- discovered a fruit tree damaged by lightning: it basically roasted the tree, discharging small wisps of smoke, and the fruit turned into coal. The condition went away after about 4 days, but that’s from the day I discovered the tree in such a state
- seen a lightning rod offer up a battery completely randomly (i.e., no lightning storms for days prior). I don’t trust myself to know for sure whether this was truly random or that I just wasn’t paying attention to the rod.
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