Originally posted by Draconifors:

Originally posted by redgreen999:

I believe the more trolls you kill, the more trolls you get during the raid.

I also believe this.

I had my current world's only troll raid when I already had a very good knife that killed trolls in mere seconds. I ended up getting six trolls during the raid, when it's always been two or three in the past when I've killed them slower.


And to complete the answer to the OP's last question: no, your base cannot be raided while you're away.
The raids will only spawn where you are, if their conditions are met there.

I don't have a moat around my base, and even when I had stakewall instead of stone walls around it nothing ever managed to break through the wall.
Key is to leave the base instantly when a raid starts, as it takes a few moments for the mobs to show up.
("Cold wind from the mountains" I would expect is an exception to that last bit. I've not had it yet in this world.)

just to clarify, 2 trolls come during the ground shaking event. if you kill one another will take it's place only if the raid is still occurring. raids last 2 mins, so you could potentially get as many trolls as you can kill during that time. the number of trolls is not dependent on the number of trolls you've killed -outside- the raid event (which is how i read the comment, and not necessarily how the comment was meant).
also to clarify, if a raid occurs at a 'base' and you then leave that area, the raid pauses. it can go on indefinitely, until you return to the area and the 2 mins run out. if players are far enough away then the mobs will 'freeze' in time... meaning they won't wreck your stuff. but if you are still too close those mobs can remain active. this is how mobs in general work, they 'activate' based on your proximity. so if you leave your base, say for instance by portalling to the other side of the map, you can potentially halt an event.
events occur based on certain conditions: bosses you've defeated, structures in your vicinity, and amount of time since the last raid (checked every 45 min).