Boomrat

Boomrats inhabit temperate forests, temperate swamps, and arid shrublands. Be careful of their powerful fire-starting explosion whenever they die, including when they are slaughtered.

Summary[edit]

On death, boomrats explode, doing 10 Flame damage in a 1.9 tile radius. This explosion does not itself set fires nor create chemfuel puddles to burn but the Flame damage might ignite surrounding objects and pawns.

Boomrats have 90% Toxic Environment Resistance rendering them highly resistant to environmental effects such as rot stink and toxic buildup from non-attack sources.

Tactics[edit]

They are a smaller version of the boomalope and spawn in areas where the ground is mostly flammable. Like the boomalope, they are a punishment for being in an area with a long or year round growing season, and are very dangerous to settle near for a permadeath settlement as a manhunter pack of them can create a devastating fire with no hope of being stopped, that will eventually melt through steel. It is very hard for your colony to put the fire out until it rains. They will also eat your crops if given the chance.

Consider avoiding them, and keeping them healthy. Boomrats are best hunted in the rain, which will extinguish the fire. Alternatively, you can use a firefoam pop pack, tame and sell them, or slaughter them in an area with no risk of fire, such as lake, or in a room of stone floors and walls.

As attack animals[edit]

Tamed boomalopes are considered pen animals, meaning that raiders won't attack them. Boomrats, however, are not.

They can be used as an explosive weapon, especially when combined with transport pods. Load a pod with some boomrats, some stronger explosives (like mortar shells or a proper boomalope), and land it on top of stationary enemies. Sieges are prime targets, as you can set their own shells on fire.

Training[edit]

This animal can be trained as follows:

Guard:
Attack:
Rescue:
Haul:

*As of version 1.1.2610, all animals can be tamed. The percentage of likelihood of success depends on factors such as the Animals Wildness Percentage, Pawn Handling Skill, and others. More information can be found on the animals page.

Health[edit]

Part Name	Health	Quantity	Coverage^[1]	Target Chance^[2]	Subpart of	Capacity^[3]	Effect if Destroyed/Removed
Body	16	1	100%	26%	N/A^[4]	-	Death
Spine	10	1	3%	3.0%	Body	Moving	−100% Moving^[5]
Stomach	8	1	3%	3.0%	Body	Digestion	−50% Digestion
Heart	6	1	3%	3.0%	Body	Blood Pumping	Death
Lung	6	2	3%	3.0%	Body	Breathing	−50% Breathing. Death if both lost
Kidney	6	2	3%	3.0%	Body	Blood Filtration	−50% Blood Filtration. Death if both lost
Liver	8	1	3%	3.0%	Body	Digestion	Death
Neck	10	1	22%	22%	Body	Eating Talking Breathing	Death
Head	10	1	75%	9.9%	Neck	-	Death
Skull	10	1	25%	1.2375%	Head	-	Cannot be destroyed Increasing Pain based on damage.
Brain	4	1	70%	2.8875%	Skull	Consciousness	Death Damage always results in scarring.
Eye	4	2	12%	0.495%	Head	Sight	−25% Sight. −100% if both lost. Damage always results in scarring. 0% Hit Chance against Blunt damage.
Ear	4.8	2	8%	0.33%	Head	Hearing	−25% Hearing. −100% if both lost. −15 Disfigured Social penalty
Nose	4	1	10%	0.4125%	Head	-	−15 Disfigured Social penalty
AnimalJaw	4	1	10%	0.4125%	Head	Manipulation	−100% Manipulation. Can no longer use Bite attack.
Front Leg	12	2	7%	5.95%	Body	Moving	−25% Moving. −50% if both lost. Can no longer use paw attack^[6]
Front Paw	4	2	15%	1.05%	Front Leg	Moving	−25% Moving. −50% if both lost.
Rear Leg	12	2	7%	5.95%	Body	Moving	−25% Moving. −50% if both lost
Rear Paw	4	2	15%	1.05%	Rear Leg	Moving	−25% Moving. −50% if both lost

↑ Coverage determines the chance to hit this body part. It refers to the percentage of the super-part that this part covers, before its own sub-parts claim their own percentage. For example, if the base coverage of the super-part is 100%, and the coverage of the part is 20%, 20% of hits would hit the part, and 80% the super-part. If the part had its own sub-part with 50% coverage, the chances would be 10% sub-part, 10% part, 80% super part.
↑ Target Chance is the actual chance for each part to be be selected as the target when each part's coverage has been taken into account(I.E. Neck covers 7.5% of Torso but Head covers 80% of Neck so it actually has only a 1.5% chance to be selected). This is not pure hit chance, as different damage types propagate damage in different ways. See that page for details.
↑ Note that capacities can affect other capacities in turn. Only the primary effect is listed. See specific pages for details.
↑ This is the part that everything else connects to to be considered 'connected'.
↑ If Moving drops below 16% a pawn cannot move.
↑ A Scratch attack that varies from animal to animal. Each front paw allows one attack.

Gallery[edit]

Boomrat facing east
Boomrat facing north
Boomrat facing south
Boomrat decaying

Lore[edit]

The origin of the boomrat has varied over time. In the initial release of the Revival Briefing, which is now considered non-canon, they were described as originating as a biological weapon that survived and bred after wars on the worlds they now inhabit. The current version of the Revival Briefing states that they, along with the boomalope, were originally engineered as a primitive renewable fuel source. While this holds true for boomalopes, boomrats cannot and could never be milked for chemfuel in-game. Meanwhile, their current in-game description also disagrees with the current briefing and supports the now-obsolete original version, stating that their explosive tendencies are either a result of deliberate weaponization or intended as a defense mechanism.