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Fire imp

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Revision as of 16:04, 26 July 2014 by Talvieno (talk | contribs) (Changed quality rating from "Fine" to "Exceptional" using the rating script)
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Fire imp
i
Urist likes fire imps for their terrifying features.
Portrait

No portrait

Biome

  • Underground Depth: 0-4
Attributes

· Genderless · Fire immune · Humanoid

Cannot be tamed 
Size
Max: 6,000 cm3

Age
Adult at: Birth
Max age: Immortal
Butchering returns

(Value multiplier ×3)

Food items

Raw materials

This article is about the current version of DF.
Note that some content may still need to be updated.

A small humanoid surrounded by fire which they can hurl at their enemies.
Admired for its terrifying features.

Fire imps are small demonic creatures straight from the magma sea. They are able to spit small firebolts and can ignite whole landscapes. Trying to drown them is futile because they don't breathe. Take measures when you spot some in a near magmapipe.

In an amusing example of the intricacies of Dwarf Fortress, Fire imps can not get fevers. It makes sense when you know what a fever is (higher body temperature, by a few degrees), and the fact that fire imps are extremely resistant to high temperatures. This is not likely to affect gameplay unless you are playing with dwarves modded to breathe fever-causing gas.

Fire imps are glass cannons (a dog can take care of them most of the time), but resist heat much more than most creatures, only taking damage at 15000 °U . This makes them immune to fire and magma (obviously), but not dragonfire.

It is possible for fire imps (and other magma creatures) to travel to the surface, via a volcano. If you are building near a volcano and your dorfs get set on fire for no apparent reason, look around for a fire imp in the volcano. You can try channeling to the surface of the magma and baiting it or just dump water on it from above.

Defense Strategies

To avoid unwanted fun when dealing with Fire Imps and other nasty Magma-dwelling creatures, you can have a narrow channel leading between your source and the point you want to send it to, then put in a Magma-safe grate or set of bars (fortifications are useless when submerged, as creatures can swim through them). Beware, though, that magma men and fire men can and will destroy such barriers.

A safer, but more complicated way to do this is having a floor grate cover the magma intake point and getting magma from it through a pump. Due to building destroying mechanics, floor grates can't be destroyed from below. Pumps can take magma from a grated source. The pump and grate should obviously be magma-safe. Also, the pump should be powered, not manually operated - a dwarf operating the pump would be in line of fire should an imp find itself under the grate.