Shadow Pillar

Based on game build 714014 | Last updated: 2026-03-07

Overview

The shadow_pillar prefab and its companion prefabs (shadow_pillar_target, shadow_pillar_base_fx, shadow_pillar_spell) implement a multi-stage visual and gameplay effect used in the game to immobilize and pressure targets (typically players or bosses). The system involves:

• A shadow_pillar entity: visual FX component that animates and emits warnings before vanishing.
• A shadow_pillar_target entity: hidden entity that roots the target and monitors attacker interactions to reduce the pillar's lifetime.
• A shadow_pillar_spell entity: spawner that locates valid targets in an area and initiates pillar creation. The component relies heavily on the timer, entitytracker, rooted, health, and combat components for synchronization and logic.

Usage example

-- Spawning a shadow pillar around a target at position (x, y, z)
local target = GetPlayer() -- or any valid entity with `locomotor` tag
local x, y, z = target.Transform:GetWorldPosition()
local spell = SpawnPrefab("shadow_pillar_spell")
spell.Transform:SetPosition(x, y, z)
spell.caster = GetPlayer() -- required for PVP checks
spell.item = weapon_item -- optional weapon reference for attack event

Dependencies & tags

Components used: entitytracker, timer, rooted, health, combat, follower Tags added: NOCLICK, shadow_pillar, ignorewalkableplatforms, ignorewalkableplatformdrowning, FX, CLASSIFIED, locomotor (for spell target filtering)

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
variation	number	1	Animation variation index (1–6) for shadow_pillar visual rendering.
flipped	boolean	false	Mirrors the pillar animation horizontally.
base	prefab instance	nil	Reference to the shadow_pillar_base_fx entity parented to the pillar.
persists	boolean	false	Controls save/restore behavior for shadow_pillar; set to false on deactivation.

Main functions

SetTarget(target, hasplatform)

• Description: Assigns a target entity to the pillar, subscribes to target-related events (dispell_shadow_pillars, death, onremove, remove_shadow_pillars, reduce_shadow_pillars_time), and configures walkable platform interaction.
• Parameters: target (Entity instance) - entity to immobilize; hasplatform (boolean) - whether the target is on a platform (e.g., boat).
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: Cleans up event listeners on previous target before assigning a new one.

SetDelay(delay)

• Description: Sets or resets the initial delay timer before the pillar activates. Used during spawn and save/load to synchronize timing.
• Parameters: delay (number) - delay duration in seconds.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnSave(data)

• Description: Captures pillar state (variation, flip orientation, platform status) for serialization.
• Parameters: data (table) - output table to populate.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnLoad(inst, data)

• Description: Restores pillar state on load, including animation frame and timer re-initialization. Validates timer existence to detect corrupted save data.
• Parameters: inst (Entity instance) - current instance; data (table) - loaded data.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: Removes the entity if timer data is invalid.

OnLoadPostPass(inst, ents, data)

• Description: Completes post-load setup: reattaches target event listeners and applies platform tag if needed.
• Parameters: inst (Entity instance); ents (table of entities); data (table).
• Returns: Nothing.

Events & listeners

• Listens to: timerdone (internal handler Pillar_OnTimerDone), onsink (dispell pillar), dispell_shadow_pillars, death, onremove, remove_shadow_pillars, reduce_shadow_pillars_time, animover (on pillar deactivation).
• Pushes: attacked (on spell completion), remove_shadow_pillars (on pillar removal or target movement).
• Targets listen to (via shadow_pillar_target): attacked, blocked (for timer reduction), newstate (for flight detection), teleported, enterlimbo, death, onremove.