Experience

xTATTEREDx  · +FINE+  · *SUPERIOR*  · ≡EXCEPTIONAL≡  · ☼MASTERWORK☼

v50.14 · v0.47.05 This article is about the current version of DF. Note that some content may still need to be updated. More Info · V

Experience is a number which describes how much a dwarf has practiced a skill. As a dwarf uses a skill, they slowly gain experience. After gaining sufficient experience, the dwarf's skill level will advance, and they will earn a new title describing their increased ability to use that skill. The effects of this experience gain vary from skill to skill -- for some skills the dwarf will complete their work faster, for others the dwarf will produce a higher-quality product, and for a small number of skills the gain will have no effect.

Experience earned per job

Most civilian skills give 30 XP per use, or more if the skill invoked processing a stack of items. Four exceptions to this rule are smoothing, carving fortifications, engraving and mining, which each give only 10 XP per use. Military skills have variable increases, with more XP gained from real combat than from training. By looking at a dwarf's thoughts and preferences, thoughts of skill increases can be found, whether it's learning a skill or teaching it:

She felt satisfied at work. She felt satisfied upon improving mining.
He felt satisfied after teaching striking.

Reported Experience

In Adventure mode the game reports exact experience. However, in Fortress mode, a dwarf's exact amount of experience is never shown. To glean a general sense of how experienced a dwarf is, compare the dwarf's title and skill level with the table below. The title and skill level are shown when viewing the dwarf, pressing g, and then either c, b, or m.

Lvl Title XP 0 None/Dabbling * 1 1 Novice 500 2 Adequate 1100 3 Competent 1800 4 Skilled 2600 5 Proficient ** 3500 6 Talented 4500

Lvl Title XP 7 Adept 5600 8 Expert 6800 9 Professional 8100 10 Accomplished 9500 11 Great † 11000 12 Master 12600 13 High Master 14300

Lvl Title XP 14 Grand Master 16100 15 Legendary 18000 16 Legendary+1 ‡ 20000 17 Legendary+2 ‡ 22100 18 Legendary+3 ‡ 24300 19 Legendary+4 ‡ 26600 20 Legendary+5 ‡ 29000

So, with most skills, getting an unskilled dwarf to Novice (Level 1) will take 17 tasks, to get to Proficient (Level 5, the highest for a starting dwarf) will take 117 tasks total, and to get to Legendary will take 600 tasks total (without the right mood). It will take 484 additional tasks to skill a starting Level 5 dwarf up to Legendary.

Notes:

* Dwarves with no skill experience are referred to as "not <skill>" during embark. After embark, skills with 0 experience will not be displayed when viewing a dwarf. Upon getting any experience, but before achieving "Novice", dwarf skills are listed as "Dabbling". For the purposes of a strange mood, skills with 0 experience are a lower level than Dabbling.

** This is the highest skill level possible for one of your starting dwarves.

† Once soldiers reach this level in a weapon skill, they will become a hero and no longer complain about long patrol duty.

‡ These levels are not shown in-game, but they do have an effect. An ordinary legendary dwarf produces a significant proportion of superior quality goods while a legendary+5 dwarf is guaranteed at least exceptional quality, barring effects like tiredness and hunger. After 31,600 experience the levels are unlabelled but continue to be displayed as Legendary. There appears to be no upper limit to experience levels.

Loss of Experience

Experience can only be lost when a dwarf goes many months without using a skill, resulting in the skill becoming rusty. The initial stages of rust are reversible, but advanced stages result in permanent loss of experience.