Lightninggoat

Based on game build 714014 | Last updated: 2026-03-05

Overview

The lightninggoat prefab defines the behavior for the Lightning Goat creature in DST. It handles state transitions (especially charging and discharging), combat interactions (including electric retaliation when charged), herd membership, and dynamic lighting effects. Key interactions include responding to attacks (charging on electric stimuli), discharging after a fixed number of cycles, and sharing aggro with nearby charged lightning goats.

Usage example

local inst = CreateEntity()
inst:AddTag("lightninggoat")
-- The full initialization is handled by Prefab("lightninggoat", fn, ...)
-- Typical modding usage includes:
inst.components.health:SetMaxHealth(200)
inst.components.combat:SetDefaultDamage(50)

Dependencies & tags

Components used: health, combat, sleeper, lootdropper, inspectable, knownlocations, herdmember, timer, saltlicker, locomotor, animstate, transform, soundemitter, dynamicshadow, light, network
Tags added: lightninggoat, animal, lightningrod, herdmember, saltlicker, charged, electricdamageimmune (temporarily added on charge)

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
charged	boolean	false	Whether the goat is currently charged and emitting electricity.
chargeleft	number	nil	Number of world cycles remaining before discharge; set on charge.
setcharged	function	setcharged (local)	Public reference to the charge function, exposed to allow external triggers (e.g., lightningstrike).

Main functions

setcharged(inst, instant)

• Description: Activates the goat's charged state: adds electric immunity and charged tags, enables lighting, plays the shocked animation, and starts a countdown (default 3 cycles) before discharge. Must be called on the master simulation.
• Parameters:
  inst (Entity instance) – the lightning goat entity.
  instant (boolean) – if true, skips the "shocked" transition animation and applies the charged look immediately.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: Returns early with no effect if the entity is dead (health:IsDead()).

discharge(inst)

• Description: Deactivates the charged state: removes tags, stops lighting, resets loot table to default, and triggers the "discharge" state graph animation.
• Parameters:
  inst (Entity instance) – the lightning goat entity.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnAttacked(inst, data)

• Description: Handles incoming damage. If the goat is not charged and receives electric stimuli, it triggers setcharged. If already charged, it deals electric damage to the attacker (unless insulated or projectile-based). Also engages combat with the attacker and shares aggro with nearby charged lightning goats within range.
• Parameters:
  inst (Entity instance) – the lightning goat entity.
  data (table) – combat attack data containing attacker, stimuli, weapon, and other combat info.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnElectrocute(inst)

• Description: Event callback for "electrocute" events. Triggers setcharged(inst) to forcibly charge the goat.
• Parameters:
  inst (Entity instance) – the lightning goat entity.
• Returns: Nothing.

Events & listeners

• Listens to:
  attacked – handled by OnAttacked.
  electrocute – handled by OnElectrocute.
  lightningstrike – handled by setcharged.
  spawnedforhunt – handled by onspawnedforhunt (triggers a world lightning strike).
  timerdone, enterlimbo, exitlimbo, gotosleep, onwakeup, freeze, unfreeze, death – managed internally by saltlicker via SetUp.
• Pushes: None.

Save/Load Integration

• inst.OnSave = OnSave(inst, data) – saves charged and chargeleft if the goat is charged.
• inst.OnLoad = OnLoad(inst, data) – restores charged state and charge count on load using setcharged(inst, true).

Key Tuning Constants Used

• LIGHTNING_GOAT_HEALTH, LIGHTNING_GOAT_DAMAGE, LIGHTNING_GOAT_ATTACK_RANGE, LIGHTNING_GOAT_ATTACK_PERIOD
• LIGHTNING_GOAT_WALK_SPEED, LIGHTNING_GOAT_RUN_SPEED
• LIGHTNING_GOAT_TARGET_DIST, LIGHTNING_GOAT_CHASE_DIST
• SALTLICK_LIGHTNINGGOAT_USES, ELECTRIC_DAMAGE_MULT, ELECTRIC_WET_DAMAGE_MULT