Barriers

Barriers are landscaping buildings used to contain and limit Contaminated Terrain created near fluid bodies of Badwater and to manage the effects of Badtides. They are placed on tiles to stop Contaminated Terrain from spreading underneath them, creating a physical border between contaminated tiles and safe land.

Contaminated Terrain quickly kills plants and causes severe damage when it reaches groves of long-growing trees such as Oaks or Maples, which can survive drought but not even a single day of contamination. A single barrier tile stops Contaminated Terrain from occupying the tile under the barrier itself, but because Contaminated Terrain spreads around obstacles, individual barriers do not provide reliable protection for adjacent land unless they form a continuous barrier. The barrier must be built continuously along the perimeter of the area to be protected; any hole in a defensive line allows contamination to spread outward through the gap to seven blocks from the contamination source. Diagonal placement of barriers is required to close diagonal gaps that would otherwise allow contamination to bypass the line.

There are factional differences in barrier types. The Iron Teeth version of the barrier also blocks irrigation, so placing an Iron Teeth barrier between irrigated land and its water source will interrupt irrigation. When using an irrigation-blocking barrier, maintain a pure water source (unblocked) behind the barrier if continued irrigation of the protected land is required.

Paths cannot be constructed on the Contamination Barrier itself. To allow passage across a line of barriers while maintaining a continuous barrier below, the simplest method is to build a Platform above the row of barrier tiles and place Stairs on each side to access the platform.

• Continuous placement is required: single barriers stop contamination only under their tile; form unbroken lines to protect land.
• Close diagonal gaps: place barriers diagonally where needed to prevent diagonal spread.
• Holes permit long-range spread: a break in the line lets contamination reach up to seven blocks from its source.
• Iron Teeth barriers block irrigation: provide an alternate pure water source behind the barrier if irrigation must continue.
• Paths cannot be placed on barrier tiles: use an elevated Platform with Stairs to allow crossing without creating a gap.
• Barriers are primarily used against Contaminated Terrain and Badtides and are part of landscaping defenses rather than irrigation infrastructure.