Originally posted by SomKilla:

https://www.reddit.com/r/valheim/comments/lyndrc/a_troll_fell_gown_our_town_trench_we_now_have_a/

It's nice to look down on trolls.....for a change.

In over a thousand hours of play I have never had a troll cross one of my moats. They can throw stones and lean forward to swipe with their logs, but they can't jump or climb.

Oh, I've seen that. Annoying as hell. But that's not a moat. Excavated moats have high, steep walls that trolls can't climb or jump (the maximum depth that you can excavate is more than 25 feet in some places), while if the slope of a beach is gentle enough, they can walk up it.

when choosing a spot to build a main base choose high ground its makes building a moat 10x easier

That is not a proper moat... its a stream you have dug that exits into the sea. Therefore the troll can get through still, along with anything else really. Troll head is above land, so it is not deep or wide enough yet. Thanks for posting picture though.
To defend against that situation, need to dig wider, and deeper. Even then its a pain building near water edge. Sure it looks good, but not enough depth for a good moat. You are also going to need a wall, either a wood, or a raised one.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2559324974

troll standing in a body of water, in between my base and the forest, chases me and destroys my house and then cross another body of water to another black forest.

can't make this up and no one believes it lmao

Originally posted by Kindred™ ©:

trolls cross moats fyi

If you have 1 inch of water, in a 20 foot deep trench...no troll is going to get through that.

Getting down to water level is for aesthetics, really. Like it has been mentioned the key is depth to the trench. Water is an after thought.

But my opinion is that Moats/trenches are over powered and render the raids mostly pointless. Same goes for earthen walls.

The basic theory is that enemies can't climb steep slopes.

You don't even need a classic "moat" or ditch. You can even build out in the open on top of a hill and just cut away at the slope to create a sharp drop off. It really does not need to be that tall either. Chest deep would probably be enough as long as the incline was sharp enough.

In over a thousand hours of play I have never had a troll cross one of my moats. They can throw stones and lean forward to swipe with their logs, but they can't jump or climb.

you know why i said this? cus they were in the open ocean walking around under the water, chasing me on my boat. so

Oh, I've seen that. Annoying as hell. But that's not a moat. Excavated moats have high, steep walls that trolls can't climb or jump (the maximum depth that you can excavate is more than 25 feet in some places), while if the slope of a beach is gentle enough, they can walk up it.

Originally posted by Kindred™ ©:

you know why i said this? cus they were in the open ocean walking around under the water, chasing me on my boat. so

I feel like if you had read it was clarified what "moat" was really in reference to. Which isn't a ditch filled with water but a ditch w/out water. This is why they said "no troll has crossed moats" because you are thinking of an actual moat; not what a moat means in reference to defense in this game.

trolls cross moats fyi

I have had no experience of a troll crossing one of my moats. So I guess it depends on the moat you dig.

Originally posted by SomKilla:

https://www.reddit.com/r/valheim/comments/lyndrc/a_troll_fell_gown_our_town_trench_we_now_have_a/

It's nice to look down on trolls.....for a change.

when choosing a spot to build a main base choose high ground its makes building a moat 10x easier

Originally posted by CON$ENT:

when choosing a spot to build a main base choose high ground its makes building a moat 10x easier

The power of to level digging chez.

https://www.reddit.com/r/valheim/comments/lyndrc/a_troll_fell_gown_our_town_trench_we_now_have_a/

"Moat" actually means "ditch." It's actually better to do it away from water so you can go deeper. Both edges need to be steep/deep enough that you can't easily jump out of it. The outer edge needs to be several square widths away (maybe 4 or 5? not sure of the exact length) from your structures and gardens to avoid a troll's AOE ground slam. That will stop them from walking in. They may throw rocks if things are too close to the edge. It won't do anything for enemies that fly.

Leave a small gap in your bridge so they don't come in that way. If the gap is small enough you can still walk across while also breaking their pathing.