Winona Catapult Projectile

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

Overview

This prefab defines the visual and gameplay behavior of a Winona catapult projectile in DST. Upon impact with the ground, it triggers area-of-effect (AOE) combat attacks against nearby entities, destroys collapsible terrain features (e.g., trees, stumps, rocks), spawns trap vines (for mega variants), tosses nearby inventory items into the air, and optionally handles ocean fishing or kelp destruction. It supports three elemental types (shadow, lunar, hybrid), normal and mega variants, and configurable AOE radius and level.

The component logic is embedded directly in the prefab factory (fn()) rather than as a reusable component. It uses the complexprojectile, combat, planardamage, and damagetypebonus components internally to implement its behavior.

Usage example

This prefab is instantiated internally by the winona_catapult item via its complexprojectile logic. It is not intended for direct manual instantiation by modders. However, its public API methods can be invoked on a spawned instance:

local proj = SpawnPrefab("winona_catapult_projectile")
proj:SetElementalRock("lunar", true)  -- set to mega lunar variant
proj:SetAoeRadius(5, 3)               -- set radius and AOE level
-- physics/flight is handled automatically by complexprojectile component

Dependencies & tags

Components used: complexprojectile, combat, planardamage, damagetypebonus
Tags added: FX, NOCLICK, notarget, projectile, complexprojectile, toughworker (only for mega lunar/hybrid impacts)
Tags filtered in AOE logic: INLIMBO, ghost, playerghost, FX, DECOR, notarget, companion, shadowminion, wall, player, structure, sign, statue, sculpture, smashable, NPC_workable, fly, invisible, noattack, locomotor, _inventoryitem, trap_vines, NOBLOCK, character, walkableperipheral, oceanfishable, wave, intense, stump

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
AOE_RADIUS	number	TUNING.WINONA_CATAPULT_AOE_RADIUS	Radius (in tiles) of the AOE effect on impact.
AOE_LEVEL	number	0	AOE power level (0–3); affects trap count and placement rings.
mega	boolean	false	Whether the projectile is the "mega" variant (enhanced AOE effects).
hideanim	net_bool	false	Networked bool controlling visibility of the projectile mesh (used for FX).
element	net_tinybyte	0	Networked index into ELEMENTS = {"shadow", "lunar", "hybrid"}.
aoebase	net_tinybyte	0	Networked value representing AOE state for client-side FX.
caster	entity or nil	nil	Optional player/caster reference, used for ally checks during combat.

Main functions

SetElementalRock(element, mega)

• Description: Configures the elemental type and mega status of the projectile before launch. Must be called before impact to affect the AOE effects.
• Parameters:
  element (string) — one of "shadow", "lunar", "hybrid", or nil/false for default ("dirt").
  mega (boolean) — whether this is the mega variant (enables extra trap/toss effects).
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: No error checking; silently ignores invalid element names (defaults to "shadow" index 1 via table inversion).

SetAoeRadius(radius, level)

• Description: Sets the radius (and AOE level) used for combat range and entity searches during impact.
• Parameters:
  radius (number) — AOE radius in tiles.
  level (number) — AOE level (0–3); used to determine trap placement rings.
• Returns: Nothing.

DoAOEAttack(inst, x, z, attacker, caster, element, mega)

• Description: Internal helper that executes combat hits on entities within the projectile's AOE. Handles ally filtering, PV[P rules, and damage type bonuses. Uses the projectile (or optional attacker) as the combat source.
• Parameters:
  inst (entity) — the projectile instance.
  x, z (numbers) — impact coordinates.
  attacker (entity or nil) — optional external attacker (e.g., player) to draw aggro.
  caster (entity or nil) — reference entity used for ally checking.
  element (string) — elemental type.
  mega (boolean) — mega flag.
• Returns: Nothing (side effect only: entity attacks).
• Error states: Skips invalid, invisible, or non-targetable entities.

DoAOEWork(inst, x, z, isocean)

• Description: Destroys or clears workable objects (e.g., trees, rocks, kelp) and picks vegetation within the AOE. Handles special kelp/root drop logic and lunarhailbuildup cleanup.
• Parameters:
  inst (entity) — projectile instance.
  x, z (numbers) — impact coordinates.
  isocean (boolean) — whether impact occurred on ocean.
• Returns: Nothing.

TossItems(inst, x, z, isocean)

• Description: Finds nearby inventory items (with _inventoryitem tag) and launches them upward with physics and optional ocean landing states.
• Parameters:
  inst (entity) — projectile instance.
  x, z (numbers) — impact coordinates.
  isocean (boolean) — if true, marks items as "not landed" for water floating logic.
• Returns: Nothing.

DoOceanFishing(inst, x, z)

• Description: Handles ocean-specific impact: kills fish, spawns loot, creates waterspout FX, and triggers waves.
• Parameters:
  inst (entity) — projectile instance.
  x, z (numbers) — impact coordinates.
• Returns: Nothing.

SpawnAOETrap(inst, x, z, attacker, caster)

• Description: Spawns trap vines in concentric rings for mega variants. Supports levels 1–3 (ring counts increase with level).
• Parameters:
  inst (entity) — projectile instance.
  x, z (numbers) — impact coordinates.
  attacker, caster (entities or nil) — passed to trap prefabs.
• Returns: Nothing.

Events & listeners

• Listens to:
  animover — fires inst.Remove to delete the projectile entity and FX after animation finishes.
  hideanimdirty — removes FX animation (animent) when hideanim becomes true.
  elementdirty — updates FX animation/sprites based on current element value (client-side only).
• Pushes: None (all events are internal/asset-based, not game-logic events).