So hail doesn't do damage anymore?

[CrimsonStrider]

The update just came out on switch. It seems like hail doesn't cause damage anymore. Is this the case?

If so, do people see this as a positive change? I liked the hail threat and I see this as a step backwards.

[Guihhza]

It having no direct negative effect on the player feels VERY weird to me.

When a Lunar Hail starts out of nowhere my only reaction is "oh okay sure". If I get caught unprepared by Acid Rain I feel like I have to stop whatever I am doing and leave the caves. I wish Lunar Hail make me feel something similar. Maybe not something so grave that makes me want to hide in the caves but at least something I have to worry about.

[Lovens]

I agree and I don't understand why this change was necessary at all. All we asked for was so the hail only damages players but not mobs. When that change was applied, hail was in the right place and an ok threat - not too innovative, but a mild danger you could avoid, and it was short too. I liked that I could avoid it under a giant tree so I would always grow lots of big trees around my base and go there to do something. I'd harvest figs or lureplants or catch wobsters. If lunar hail caught me during a boss fight, I would deploy an umbrella, but if I forgot one then the fight got an extra challenge of dodging the hail and it was a neat way to spice things up. 

I know a lot of people said that it was nothing new and essentially just a surface earthquake but to think of it, with the introduction of the cave protection pillars we see earthquakes less. In my world I covered the entire base, ruins and the wilds with those pillars, as well as my cave boss arenas. So after I opened cave rifts I pretty much stopped experiencing earthquakes at all, so it was neat to have them upstairs but in a different form. 

The new lunar hail looks beautiful when it builds up on the stuff but it's not a survival threat anymore and can be easily ignored. 

Edited August 31, 2025 by Lovens

[Captain_Rage]

Klei could have kept the old hail as a variant / rare variant.

[Cruvimaster]

7 hours ago, CrimsonStrider said:

If so, do people see this as a positive change? I liked the hail threat and I see this as a step backwards.

It would be cool to take this damage during the fight against WARBOT and SCION and see the characters lose the fight for this reason.

[Edible Coal]

klei did say there will be more events and variations to this....

 

but this is klei... and they made tons of empty promises

[Dwight34]

7 hours ago, Guihhza said:

It having no direct negative effect on the player feels VERY weird to me.

When a Lunar Hail starts out of nowhere my only reaction is "oh okay sure". If I get caught unprepared by Acid Rain I feel like I have to stop whatever I am doing and leave the caves. I wish Lunar Hail make me feel something similar. Maybe not something so grave that makes me want to hide in the caves but at least something I have to worry about.

The surface is very easy mode, except for the annoyance of brightshades, meanwhile the caves are hell. If either needed to become easier, I would have said the caves. Though the issue with both surface and cave is that most post-rift new stuff is more tedious than difficult. Praying that Klei makes the rocks from earthquakes naturally despawn, because they're literally just clutter at a point in the game you already have infinite rocks.

Edited August 31, 2025 by Dwight34

[CrimsonStrider]

1 hour ago, Cruvimaster said:

It would be cool to take this damage during the fight against WARBOT and SCION and see the characters lose the fight for this reason.

I did the fight multiple times prior to the update with hail turned up on my world and it never caused an issue. Very easy to drop an umbrala even with crappy console mechanics, or have 1-2 umbralas already turned on

Edited August 31, 2025 by CrimsonStrider

[DezLamb86]

Lunar hail was not a threat in a fun or interactive way before. It was just annoying. I would like it if the mutated birds were hostile or lunar treeguards spawned or something. Also I find it strange how lunar rain cancels whatever time is left of regular rain when it happens

[Keknutui]

39 minutes ago, DezLamb86 said:

Lunar hail was not a threat in a fun or interactive way before. It was just annoying. I would like it if the mutated birds were hostile or lunar treeguards spawned or something. Also I find it strange how lunar rain cancels whatever time is left of regular rain when it happens

The developers said that they will be able to attack players, but this will be released in beta of the next update.

[Ridley]

I never quite liked how the hail didn't interact with mobs. Now there is this creepy cool atmosphere to the hail that I really enjoy. Feels like a more realized weather event now that it lingers like snow and rain.

[Cruvimaster]

1 hour ago, CrimsonStrider said:

Very easy to drop an umbrala even with crappy console mechanics, or have 1-2 umbralas already turned on

Let's remember that Lunar Hail was designed to damage characters and monsters, but the community started complaining that pet mobs were dying in bases. It's strange to see the player not take damage, but it's just as strange to see the mob next to the player not take damage.

[Well-met]

this may change in the future if time permits

[Swiyss]

24 minutes ago, Cruvimaster said:

Let's remember that Lunar Hail was designed to damage characters and monsters, but the community started complaining that pet mobs were dying in bases. It's strange to see the player not take damage, but it's just as strange to see the mob next to the player not take damage.

Yeah I remembered about this post as well! What would be cool is if we get some kind of more interactive dodging while the debri is falling like something more similar to a mini-game instead of just a regular earthquake. Like for example, one bigger debri would fall and then shatter in 4 exact directions, but it would be big enough so that we can see and dodge it in an angle, this would definitely spice up some fights for those who dare not bring and umbralla. Also would be pretty cool if the regular rain would get some slight changes from then on, like *some* debris here and there (very rarely) and *some* moongleams (also very rarely) showing up and flying through just as an fx, purely for aesthetics. I also think that they could definitely add some fx on the sandstorm, just mildly there.

I was playing yesterday and passed through a waterlogged biome, and I saw those light rays coming from the sun into the shadows of those giant trees, alongside the little leaves on top, and I thought "why didn't Klei decided to add some of those light rays with lunar hail?". It would look so beautiful to sort of see some light blue rays from the sun/moon infecting some areas of the world, and maybe lighting up a random part of the world. Another cool feature that I thought about was "what if clouds would show up as shadows, indicating the coming of rain/lunar hail?". Lunar hail also has to last longer but have different phases to it to make it seem more natural and less of an event that disrupts regular rain randomly.

[Mike23Ua]

Klei needs to take a page from old 80’s and 90’s cartoons, maybe early 2000’s..

Shows like TMNT, Mighty Max, Ed, Edd & Eddy, Courage the Cowardly Dog etc..

Have an event where strange alien substances fall from the sky? Check! Have Plants & Wildlife be attracted to & want to eat this stuff? Not check.. but since it piles up on stuff now.. seems like an obvious next step.

Finally, have mobs that eat this stuff have cool animations of going from normal variant to zombified/possessed Moon Variant? Oh heck yes please sign me up for that!

And for anyone who disagrees please watch the animated cartoon movie Zooacolaypse. 🫶🏻

[Swiyss]

1 minute ago, Mike23Ua said:

Finally, have mobs that eat this stuff have cool animations of going from normal variant to zombified/possessed Moon Variant? Oh heck yes please sign me up for that!

That's kind of what the new beta added, the zombified bird. Although I am REALLY confused as to why a brightshade gestalt would be the one to enter that bird, and then just, not be aggressive for some reason. It only eats infused glass and that's it..

[Edible Coal]

18 hours ago, Mike23Ua said:

Klei needs to take a page from old 80’s and 90’s cartoons, maybe early 2000’s..

Shows like TMNT, Mighty Max, Ed, Edd & Eddy, Courage the Cowardly Dog etc..

Have an event where strange alien substances fall from the sky? Check! Have Plants & Wildlife be attracted to & want to eat this stuff? Not check.. but since it piles up on stuff now.. seems like an obvious next step.

Finally, have mobs that eat this stuff have cool animations of going from normal variant to zombified/possessed Moon Variant? Oh heck yes please sign me up for that!

And for anyone who disagrees please watch the animated cartoon movie Zooacolaypse. 🫶🏻

remember, dst players hate things going out of controll, so this wont work

[Edible Coal]

On 8/31/2025 at 6:07 PM, Lovens said:

I agree and I don't understand why this change was necessary at all. All we asked for was so the hail only damages players but not mobs. When that change was applied, hail was in the right place and an ok threat - not too innovative, but a mild danger you could avoid, and it was short too. I liked that I could avoid it under a giant tree so I would always grow lots of big trees around my base and go there to do something. I'd harvest figs or lureplants or catch wobsters. If lunar hail caught me during a boss fight, I would deploy an umbrella, but if I forgot one then the fight got an extra challenge of dodging the hail and it was a neat way to spice things up. 

I know a lot of people said that it was nothing new and essentially just a surface earthquake but to think of it, with the introduction of the cave protection pillars we see earthquakes less. In my world I covered the entire base, ruins and the wilds with those pillars, as well as my cave boss arenas. So after I opened cave rifts I pretty much stopped experiencing earthquakes at all, so it was neat to have them upstairs but in a different form. 

The new lunar hail looks beautiful when it builds up on the stuff but it's not a survival threat anymore and can be easily ignored. 

is was due to performance issue mainly

[Cruvimaster]

If lunar hail worked the way it really should, that is, dealing damage to characters, mobs, and structures, we would have a topic similar to this one:

https://forums.kleientertainment.com/forums/topic/167361-moonstorms-are-too-destructive-and-compared-with-the-beta-volt-goat-chaud-froid-and-the-electrification-circuit-now-cause-fires-as-well-and-i%E2%80%99m-totally-not-enjoying-and-i-think-it-is-not-good-idea-the-mechanic-where-electric-shocks-cause-fire-at-base/

Those who liked lunar hail did so because of the absurd ease of avoiding it with a simple Umbralla. It’s just nostalgia with a false sense that it was a survival element. Real survival would be returning to base and finding everything destroyed by the crystals (chests, fences etc.). But no one wants that.

[Edible Coal]

17 minutes ago, Cruvimaster said:

If lunar hail worked the way it really should, that is, dealing damage to characters, mobs, and structures, we would have a topic similar to this one:

https://forums.kleientertainment.com/forums/topic/167361-moonstorms-are-too-destructive-and-compared-with-the-beta-volt-goat-chaud-froid-and-the-electrification-circuit-now-cause-fires-as-well-and-i%E2%80%99m-totally-not-enjoying-and-i-think-it-is-not-good-idea-the-mechanic-where-electric-shocks-cause-fire-at-base/

Those who liked lunar hail did so because of the absurd ease of avoiding it with a simple Umbralla. It’s just nostalgia with a false sense that it was a survival element. Real survival would be returning to base and finding everything destroyed by the crystals (chests, fences etc.). But no one wants that.

wrong, if we apply that logic then does that mean rain is also not a survival element because rain equipment exsist? Umbralla force you to fight within the small bubble even if you can open one, i think it can work if the hail has ramp up and only start falling debits when is at its max strength

[CrimsonStrider]

23 hours ago, Cruvimaster said:

Let's remember that Lunar Hail was designed to damage characters and monsters, but the community started complaining that pet mobs were dying in bases. It's strange to see the player not take damage, but it's just as strange to see the mob next to the player not take damage.

There's a lot that we could say is "strange" like how a walrus tooth helps us walk faster. 

My point is that hail has been an ongoing threat, especially when you're new to a world and don't have an umbralla or armor. You can die very quickly and suddenly.

Once you have armor, it's basically a surface earthquake. Once you have an umbralla, you're immune. But both require you to be on your toes because you can die very quickly. 

It's sad to see it no longer be a threat. My friend still calls out hail when we play and I'm like "doesn't matter anymore". It was more fun when it did matter, at least for me.

It's an especially nice deterrent against fair weather griefers.

I like the buildup. It looks nice. I like the mutated birds. It's cool and perhaps foreshadowing something. I'm sad to see the damage gone though. 

Edited September 1, 2025 by CrimsonStrider

[Cruvimaster]

1 hour ago, Edible Coal said:

wrong, if we apply that logic then does that mean rain is also not a survival element because rain equipment exsist? Umbralla force you to fight within the small bubble even if you can open one, i think it can work if the hail has ramp up and only start falling debits when is at its max strength

Bad argument, my friend. Rain is an element that affects all mobs and structures, giving them a wet effect. A lightning strike from the rain can destroy your base. Frog rain harms the player, but frogs also damage other mobs, potentially stopping goats from respawning, for example. In fact, many survivalists disable frog rain in their settings.

Rain has the potential to affect players, mobs, and structures. Rail only affected the player. My logic holds.

[kroban]

On 8/31/2025 at 10:08 AM, Cruvimaster said:

It would be cool to take this damage during the fight against WARBOT and SCION and see the characters lose the fight for this reason.

Thats...why Umbralla exists tho? I had this happen to me and its just Umbralla>Activate and done. You can also die of overheating/freezing during the fight, should Klei just sweep those mechanics for that reason or what?

Edited September 1, 2025 by kroban

[Cruvimaster]

28 minutes ago, kroban said:

Thats...why Umbralla exists tho?

It's strange that you don't know the reason for this item's existence, or even believe it was only used for lunar hail...

...Let me teach you how to use it then...

It can be used for acid rain in the underworld, it can be used on the surface as an umbrella (strange, isn't it!?), you can place it on the ground during the rain and fight a boss (Moose/Goose, for example) without sacrificing a slot for a helmet or armor (Eyebrella or Rain Coat), and you can put it on a boat and sail peacefully in the spring.

No need to thank me. Cheers!

[Mike23Ua]

13k views for thread titled: Moongleams too destructive, electric damage shouldn’t start fires.

907 views for thread: Lunar Hail doesn’t do damage anymore?

The proof is in the pudding, for this game franchise apparently people prefer things to only harm the player and dare never effect any other part of the game Mobs, Bases they’re all off limits apparently. 🤷🏻‍♂️