Dwarf Fortress Wiki - User contributions [en]

Dwarven atom smasher

2018-08-25T15:01:56Z

DracMonster: /* Smashing against the ground */

{{Quality|Exceptional|18:39, 30 December 2014 (UTC)}}
{{projects}}{{av}}
[[Image:DwarfSMASH.PNG|thumb|An atom smasher. Take care so there are <s>no dwarves</s> elves underneath when you trigger the bridge.]]

The '''Dwarven Atom Smasher''' is a nickname for a [[Bridge|drawbridge]] in [[Garbage Disposal|waste disposal]] or militarily-significant applications. It [[exploit]]s the implementation of drawbridges to utterly destroy any objects and most creatures in its target area. A <abbr title="Dwarven atom smasher">DAS</abbr> works fine as a trash compactor to smash [[stone]], [[item]]s, [[water|fluid]]s and [[goblin]]s straight into oblivion.

== Smashing against the ground ==
In this design, a drawbridge is built to come down on at least one tile of solid ground. The drawbridge is raised, the targets are placed (or move of their own volition) into position on that ground, and then the drawbridge is lowered, erasing the targets from existence. Most commonly, a garbage dump [[activity zone]] is used in order to place items beneath the drawbridge (as stockpiles cannot be placed on top of existing buildings), but other methods such as flowing [[water]] have been used with varying degrees of success.

[[Sand]] or [[dye]] in [[bag]]s don't get erased while the bag does, creating a small pile of sand or dye on the ground. Similarly, [[contaminant]]s (e.g. [[blood]], [[vomit]]) are not erased when a bridge descends on them. [[Legendary artifact]]s subject to atom smashing won't be destroyed, but will receive a "Hidden" flag which will make them invisible and unusable for the rest of the playthrough. This same flag causes them to respawn unharmed in a random location on the site if the fortress is retired and subsequently [[Reclaim fortress mode|reclaimed]], or if it's visited in [[adventurer mode]].

It is a good idea to make the tile(s) a restricted [[Traffic]] area to discourage your dwarves from casually sauntering into the kill zone.

== Smashing upon closing ==
In this design, a very compact drawbridge (as little as one tile long) is used, and the target area is the one-tile wide anchoring area, where the bridge will close. This often uses walls, locked doors, or other solid objects, leaving the targets nowhere to go. The drawbridge is lowered, the targets are placed (or move of their own volition) into position on the tile(s) that the drawbridge will occupy when closing, and then the drawbridge is raised, squashing the targets flat.

== Immune creatures ==
A DAS will not work on exceptionally large creatures. Creatures with a size over 1,200,000 (e.g. an [[elephant]], [[bronze colossus]], etc.) will prevent a drawbridge from raising if they are standing on it and cause a drawbridge to immediately deconstruct if it is lowered upon the creature. See the [[List of creatures by adult size#bridge|list of creatures by adult size]] for a complete listing of creatures immune to bridges.

== See also ==

* [https://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/2mb3k4/building_bridges_and_atom_smashers_a_guide_by/ Building Bridges and Atom Smashers: A Guide by Mechanixm]

[[Category:DF2014:Game mechanics]]
[[Ru:Dwarven atom smasher]]

Dwarven atom smasher

2018-08-25T15:01:30Z

DracMonster: /* Smashing upon closing */ Oops wrong section.

{{Quality|Exceptional|18:39, 30 December 2014 (UTC)}}
{{projects}}{{av}}
[[Image:DwarfSMASH.PNG|thumb|An atom smasher. Take care so there are <s>no dwarves</s> elves underneath when you trigger the bridge.]]

The '''Dwarven Atom Smasher''' is a nickname for a [[Bridge|drawbridge]] in [[Garbage Disposal|waste disposal]] or militarily-significant applications. It [[exploit]]s the implementation of drawbridges to utterly destroy any objects and most creatures in its target area. A <abbr title="Dwarven atom smasher">DAS</abbr> works fine as a trash compactor to smash [[stone]], [[item]]s, [[water|fluid]]s and [[goblin]]s straight into oblivion.

== Smashing against the ground ==
In this design, a drawbridge is built to come down on at least one tile of solid ground. The drawbridge is raised, the targets are placed (or move of their own volition) into position on that ground, and then the drawbridge is lowered, erasing the targets from existence. Most commonly, a garbage dump [[activity zone]] is used in order to place items beneath the drawbridge (as stockpiles cannot be placed on top of existing buildings), but other methods such as flowing [[water]] have been used with varying degrees of success.

[[Sand]] or [[dye]] in [[bag]]s don't get erased while the bag does, creating a small pile of sand or dye on the ground. Similarly, [[contaminant]]s (e.g. [[blood]], [[vomit]]) are not erased when a bridge descends on them. [[Legendary artifact]]s subject to atom smashing won't be destroyed, but will receive a "Hidden" flag which will make them invisible and unusable for the rest of the playthrough. This same flag causes them to respawn unharmed in a random location on the site if the fortress is retired and subsequently [[Reclaim fortress mode|reclaimed]], or if it's visited in [[adventurer mode]].

== Smashing upon closing ==
In this design, a very compact drawbridge (as little as one tile long) is used, and the target area is the one-tile wide anchoring area, where the bridge will close. This often uses walls, locked doors, or other solid objects, leaving the targets nowhere to go. The drawbridge is lowered, the targets are placed (or move of their own volition) into position on the tile(s) that the drawbridge will occupy when closing, and then the drawbridge is raised, squashing the targets flat.

== Immune creatures ==
A DAS will not work on exceptionally large creatures. Creatures with a size over 1,200,000 (e.g. an [[elephant]], [[bronze colossus]], etc.) will prevent a drawbridge from raising if they are standing on it and cause a drawbridge to immediately deconstruct if it is lowered upon the creature. See the [[List of creatures by adult size#bridge|list of creatures by adult size]] for a complete listing of creatures immune to bridges.

== See also ==

* [https://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/2mb3k4/building_bridges_and_atom_smashers_a_guide_by/ Building Bridges and Atom Smashers: A Guide by Mechanixm]

[[Category:DF2014:Game mechanics]]
[[Ru:Dwarven atom smasher]]

Dwarven atom smasher

2018-08-25T14:59:51Z

DracMonster: /* Smashing upon closing */

{{Quality|Exceptional|18:39, 30 December 2014 (UTC)}}
{{projects}}{{av}}
[[Image:DwarfSMASH.PNG|thumb|An atom smasher. Take care so there are <s>no dwarves</s> elves underneath when you trigger the bridge.]]

The '''Dwarven Atom Smasher''' is a nickname for a [[Bridge|drawbridge]] in [[Garbage Disposal|waste disposal]] or militarily-significant applications. It [[exploit]]s the implementation of drawbridges to utterly destroy any objects and most creatures in its target area. A <abbr title="Dwarven atom smasher">DAS</abbr> works fine as a trash compactor to smash [[stone]], [[item]]s, [[water|fluid]]s and [[goblin]]s straight into oblivion.

== Smashing against the ground ==
In this design, a drawbridge is built to come down on at least one tile of solid ground. The drawbridge is raised, the targets are placed (or move of their own volition) into position on that ground, and then the drawbridge is lowered, erasing the targets from existence. Most commonly, a garbage dump [[activity zone]] is used in order to place items beneath the drawbridge (as stockpiles cannot be placed on top of existing buildings), but other methods such as flowing [[water]] have been used with varying degrees of success.

[[Sand]] or [[dye]] in [[bag]]s don't get erased while the bag does, creating a small pile of sand or dye on the ground. Similarly, [[contaminant]]s (e.g. [[blood]], [[vomit]]) are not erased when a bridge descends on them. [[Legendary artifact]]s subject to atom smashing won't be destroyed, but will receive a "Hidden" flag which will make them invisible and unusable for the rest of the playthrough. This same flag causes them to respawn unharmed in a random location on the site if the fortress is retired and subsequently [[Reclaim fortress mode|reclaimed]], or if it's visited in [[adventurer mode]].

== Smashing upon closing ==
In this design, a very compact drawbridge (as little as one tile long) is used, and the target area is the one-tile wide anchoring area, where the bridge will close. This often uses walls, locked doors, or other solid objects, leaving the targets nowhere to go. The drawbridge is lowered, the targets are placed (or move of their own volition) into position on the tile(s) that the drawbridge will occupy when closing, and then the drawbridge is raised, squashing the targets flat.

It is a good idea to make the tile(s) a restricted [[Traffic]] area to discourage your dwarves from casually sauntering into the kill zone.

== Immune creatures ==
A DAS will not work on exceptionally large creatures. Creatures with a size over 1,200,000 (e.g. an [[elephant]], [[bronze colossus]], etc.) will prevent a drawbridge from raising if they are standing on it and cause a drawbridge to immediately deconstruct if it is lowered upon the creature. See the [[List of creatures by adult size#bridge|list of creatures by adult size]] for a complete listing of creatures immune to bridges.

== See also ==

* [https://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/2mb3k4/building_bridges_and_atom_smashers_a_guide_by/ Building Bridges and Atom Smashers: A Guide by Mechanixm]

[[Category:DF2014:Game mechanics]]
[[Ru:Dwarven atom smasher]]

Keeping your dwarves unstressed

2018-08-25T14:43:00Z

DracMonster: /* Specific Dwarves */

{{Quality|Fine|12:20, 1 February 2015 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

Some tips on how to keep your [[Dwarf|dwarves]] [[stress]]-free, thus reducing the chances of [[tantrum]]s, [[depression]]s and [[oblivious]]ness:

==General Tips==
* It is more important to keep your dwarves free from negative thoughts than it is to overwhelm them with positive thoughts. Showering Urist McFisherdwarf with ☼jaguar meat roast☼s does not mean a happy dwarf if Urist keeps dwelling over his grouchiness at being caught in the rain.
* If other dwarves are already under a great deal of stress (especially those with a high [[Personality trait|ANGER_PROPENSITY]]) may lash out and severely injure or kill others; a corpse in your dining room will lead to horrified thoughts from any dwarf taking a quick booze stop. Make sure to destress these dwarves first, or, if lacking the ability to do so, lock them in their own room or experiment with [[Magma|radical cures]].

==Specific Dwarves==
* Using a tool such as [[Utilities#Dwarf Therapist|Dwarf Therapist]], you can sort dwarves by stress level. There you can hold the mouse over the stress square to see the reasons why the dwarves are stressed and address them. Look up their preferences and assign the dwarves jobs that match their preferences, and build stuff they like especially in their rooms.
* Dwarves that are highly prone to stress, i.e. a high [[Personality trait|STRESS_VULNERABILITY]] trait, are not suitable for the military or as [[nobles]]. You will have to remove them from these duties and in extreme cases isolate them with burrows to insulate them from [[Thought|stress-inducing stimuli]]. You might be able to get away with giving high-stress dwarves a "vacation" or demote them for example from a Captain to a mere soldier. Also don't give high-stress dwarves the Refuse Hauling labor, since they often handle dead bodies.
* Dwarves who have to go outside for extended periods of time (like [[Fisherdwarf|fisherdwarves]] who work near the local [[lake]] or [[river]]) become stressed due to constant exposure to [[rain]] and long periods away from fun (not [[Fun|that kind]]) and their friends. You can give these workers their own little vacation by disabling their labors and letting them spend some time inside at the [[tavern]] until they regain their composure. Let an unstressed dwarf take care of the job for a while.

==Food and Drink==
* Make the community [[dining room]] your non-[[noble]] dwarves dine in high [[room#quality|quality]]. You can increase its quality by making the room bigger, putting in more [[chair]]s and [[throne]]s, [[smoothing]] and [[engraving]] it, and putting in valuable [[furniture]] like [[gold]] [[statue]]s.
* [[Embark]] with or train up a [[cook]], so your dwarves can enjoy high [[quality]] [[food|meals]].
* Make sure you never run out of [[booze]], since a sober dwarf is a stressed dwarf.
** Make sure to have at least two different kinds of booze on hand, since dwarves will get bored if there's no variety in their drinks.
** Try to have all different varieties of booze on hand, since dwarves get a happy thought when they drink their [[preference|preferred]] booze.

==Living Quarters==
* Give your dwarves individual [[bedroom]]s rather than making them live in a communal [[dormitory]]. Not only will they get a good thought from sleeping in their own bedroom, they'll get good thoughts from admiring the furniture they own. Even a minimalist bedroom - a 1x1 grid containing only a bed, within a communal dormitory - helps significantly.
* Give then a bedroom to sleep in anyway, as dwarves do not enjoy sleeping on the ground.
* Improve the bedrooms by making them of respectable size, smoothing/engraving the ground, and adding basic furniture such as coffers.
* If you still wish to use a communal bedroom to protect your dwarves from [[vampire]]s, designate each bed as a room itself. This way dwarves can keep an eye on each other and still have their own rooms.
** Overlapping the bedrooms will reduce the overall value of each "room" but a high enough overall room value can overcome this.
** You can also make the shared suites large enough that the bedroom designations do not overlap.
** Overlapping won't create an additional reduction in value after a certain point; it is quite easy to give everyone a royal-bedroom this way.
* Make the Noble’s rooms better than other rooms. They have the insane ability to tell if the peasantry has slept better than them and it makes them unhappy.

==Fortress Improvements==
* Place highly valuable [[furniture]], if possible artifacts, in a high traffic area of your fort, since dwarves get a positive thought if they pass right next to or over expensive furniture.
* Dwarves who [[cave adaptation|spend most of their time underground]] will become stressed when exposed to sunlight. If the dwarves who need to work outside aren't already regularly exposed to sunlight, put some combination of these high traffic areas on the surface:
** [[activity zone#Meeting Area|Meeting area]] or [[sculpture garden|Statue garden]] - Won't catch dwarves that never idle.
** [[Dining room]] - Will need to ensure nobles that have private dining rooms have another means.
** [[Booze]] stockpile - Requires a custom stockpile but otherwise very reliable.
** Note that dwarves don't like to be out in rain or snow, regardless. Build a roof to protect them from it.
* Keep at least a few [[cat]]s around to hunt down irritating [[vermin]]. [[Pasture]] some in with your food stockpiles. Note that this will create vermin remains, which need to be hauled to a refuse stockpile or dumped. Alternatively, use a [[trapper]] or two.
* Put a [[cage]] in a high traffic area (like the meeting area) and stuff it full of (non-[[pasture|grazing]]) tame animals so your dwarves can enjoy seeing their [[preferences|favorite]] type of animal.
** The [[elf|elven]] [[caravan]]s bring random animals, and you can request specific domestic animals from the dwarven caravan.
** You can use [[cage trap]]s to capture wild animals, [[Animal trainer|train them]].
** You can raid sites for tame animals. Elven, goblin, and kobold sites often have exotic creatures.
* Create a [[waterfall]] or [[mist|mist generator]] in a location all dwarves frequent regularly.
* Keep your fortress clean and avoid [[miasma]], or at least confine it to your refuse stockpile if it is underground.
* Keep your refuse stockpile somewhere infrequently traveled, enclosed by doors so that dwarves do not see dead bodies, especially those of sentient creatures.

==Miscellaneous==
* Keep your dwarves [[clothes|clothed]]. A naked dwarf is a stressed dwarf. Specifically, they will need something to cover the upper body, such as a shirt, something to cover the lower body, such as trousers, and something on each foot, such as a sock or shoe.
* If a dwarf dies, [[coffin|bury him]] or [[memorial|engrave a memorial in his name]]. This will prevent even more stress for his friends, and [[ghost]]s to haunt your dwarves or your FPS.
* [[Pasture]] all dwarf [[pet]]s somewhere safe. Wandering pets are likely to die from goblins or construction accidents.
* Instead of [[Dwarven atom smasher|vaporising]] old dwarven clothes, rather sell them to the caravan. Otherwise every destroyed masterpiece sock will stress its creator.
* Be careful with cooking masterpiece dishes. Dwarves tend to drop their ☼dog intestines roast☼ somewhere, and if it withers the cook becomes agitated.
{{Category|Thoughts}}

Soap

2018-07-27T12:44:45Z

DracMonster: /* Manufacture */ Lye bug warning.

{{Quality|Superior|02:43, 19 August 2014 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

'''Soap''' is a particularly useful type of [[bar]] used for [[clean self|personal cleaning]], which increases happiness ("recently took a soapy bath") and lowers the chances of an [[Health care|infection]] in case they are [[wound]]ed, and for cleaning [[wound]]s in [[hospital]]s, preventing infections from developing. It is thus a vital commodity in dwarven [[health care]], and one not traded in [[caravan]]s: you're going to have to make some soap yourself. Since soap is considered to be a bar it can be used to make [[constructions]] and [[workshop]]s.

== Manufacture ==

Soap is made of two components, [[lye]] and fat (either [[tallow]] or [[oil]]), and requires a dedicated workshop, the [[soap maker's workshop]]. It has a somewhat complicated production process; lye must be produced at an [[ashery]] from [[ash]], which in turn must be created at a [[wood furnace]] from [[wood]] logs that must first be [[woodcutting|cut down]]. [[Tallow]] is rendered from [[fat]] from butchered [[creature|animal]]s at a [[kitchen]], requiring either [[Meat industry|livestock]] or [[hunting]] activities, while oil must be [[pressing|pressed]] from seeds or rock nuts at a [[screw press]], which first requires [[plant gathering|gathering]] up or [[farming|growing]] [[crop]] and then processing them at the [[farmer's workshop]]. One unit of tallow or oil plus one of lye creates a single bar of finished soap.

'''NOTE:''' Lye storage suffers from an ongoing bug which can render your lye inaccessible. See the [[lye]] page for information on avoiding/rectifying the problem.

{{/flowchart}}

== Hygiene ==

Dwarves do not require soap to clean [[contaminant]]s such as mud and blood from themselves - if necessary, they will use murky pools, artificial pools of water, brooks, or a [[well]]. However, using soap will often generate the happy [[thought]] "recently took a soapy bath". It is possible to construct bath-houses (rooms containing pools of water, a soap stockpile, and perhaps a few nice statues) so dwarves living deep underground need not venture to dangerous cave pools or surface brooks to clean off a little mud or bloodstain. For cleaning wounds and preventing infection after [[surgery]], however, [[hospital]]s should be kept stocked with a small amount of soap. Soap will get used up as dwarves wash themselves; the current rate seems to be 1/10 a bar per washing, so each bar lasts quite a while.

Dwarves have an internal "dirtiness" level, which gets lowered when they have a bath, lowered further when they have a soapy bath and slowly builds up over time. This "dirtiness" value is connected to the chance of getting an infection if the dwarf is injured, making soap useful as a preventative as well as treatment.

Soap is stored in bar/block stockpiles with the "soap" option enabled.

A convenient way to keep an emergency stockpile of soap is to use it as a building material for workshops or constructions such as walls. When/if you need more soap, you can deconstruct and get the soap bars back. Since soap in a hospital is reserved for hospital use, this is especially useful in case you start to produce soap before setting up a hospital.

{{Translation
| dwarven = uben
| elvish = dathe
| goblin = snubez
| human = kamven
}}

{{gamedata}}
{{Industry}}
{{Category|Healthcare}}
{{Category|Materials}}

DF2014 Talk:Quantum stockpile

2017-09-16T23:39:08Z

DracMonster:

Quite by accident, I discovered that minecarts now DO accept full barrels pots and bins. I think the entire drawbacks section no longer applies, although I want to test further before zorching it. --[[User:DracMonster|DracMonster]] ([[User talk:DracMonster|talk]]) 03:56, 16 September 2017 (UTC)

:Minecart acceptance was never the problem. Barrels, bins, etc. are assigned to a specific stockpile (the input stockpile), and, if quantum-dumped to a second stockpile, remain assigned to the first, blocking the first pile from accepting other assigned containers and triggering dwarves to return the errant containers to their proper stockpile. Thus to store 100 barrels you'd need a 100-tile input pile, and at that point the addition of a "quantum" stockpile only causes infinite hauling job spam.--[[User:Loci|Loci]] ([[User talk:Loci|talk]]) 14:29, 16 September 2017 (UTC)

::Huh. I seem to recall dwarves wouldn't load full barrels and pots onto minecarts at all, but maybe I was mistaken. At any rate, yeah they still remove them from the one-tile pile. Oh well. --[[User:DracMonster|DracMonster]] ([[User talk:DracMonster|talk]]) 23:38, 16 September 2017 (UTC)

DF2014 Talk:Quantum stockpile

2017-09-16T23:38:45Z

DracMonster:

Quite by accident, I discovered that minecarts now DO accept full barrels pots and bins. I think the entire drawbacks section no longer applies, although I want to test further before zorching it. [[User:DracMonster|DracMonster]] ([[User talk:DracMonster|talk]]) 03:56, 16 September 2017 (UTC)

:Minecart acceptance was never the problem. Barrels, bins, etc. are assigned to a specific stockpile (the input stockpile), and, if quantum-dumped to a second stockpile, remain assigned to the first, blocking the first pile from accepting other assigned containers and triggering dwarves to return the errant containers to their proper stockpile. Thus to store 100 barrels you'd need a 100-tile input pile, and at that point the addition of a "quantum" stockpile only causes infinite hauling job spam.--[[User:Loci|Loci]] ([[User talk:Loci|talk]]) 14:29, 16 September 2017 (UTC)

::Huh. I seem to recall dwarves wouldn't load full barrels and pots onto minecarts at all, but maybe I was mistaken. At any rate, yeah they still remove them from the one-tile pile. Oh well.[[User:DracMonster|DracMonster]] ([[User talk:DracMonster|talk]]) 23:38, 16 September 2017 (UTC)

DF2014 Talk:Quantum stockpile

2017-09-16T03:56:46Z

DracMonster: Created page with "Quite by accident, I discovered that minecarts now DO accept full barrels pots and bins. I think the entire drawbacks section no longer applies, although I want to test furthe..."

Cherry

2014-11-29T01:47:04Z

DracMonster:

{{Quality|unrated}}
{{Treelookup/0}}
{{av}}

'''Cherry''' is one of the many genera of trees found above ground. Like the vast majority of above ground trees, cherry [[wood]] is brown and produces brown products.

They of course produce cherries, which may be eaten raw, cooked, or brewed into Cherry Wine.

{{gamedata}}
{{Plants}}
{{Category|Surface trees}}

Pear

2014-11-29T01:43:45Z

DracMonster: Misspelling alcohol is an affront to all the dwarven gods.

{{Quality|Superior|18:31, 23 August 2014 (UTC)}}
{{Treelookup/0}}
{{av}}

'''Pear''' is one of the many genera of trees found above ground. Like the vast majority of above ground trees, pear [[wood]] is brown and produces brown products.

Pear trees can be harvested by dwarves, with the obvious result being pears. Pears can be eaten raw, cooked or brewed into perry, a type of alcohol.

{{gamedata}}
{{Plants}}
{{Category|Surface trees}}

Military design

2014-08-08T17:06:19Z

DracMonster: /* Training */

{{Migrated_article}}
{{Quality|Exceptional|20:25, 30 April 2013 (UTC)}}
{{av}}


:''This page is one of several inter-related articles on the broader topic of defending your fortress and your dwarves. '''Military design''' focuses on the training, organization and deployment of your military and how to prepare them for any situation. For a general overview of the threats that will challenge your fortress and things to consider when preparing a standard defence, see the '''[[defense guide]]'''. For tips on laying out your architecture to protect your military, see '''[[security design]]'''. For complex traps that are not a minor/optional part of a larger defensive plan (but might be adapted or plugged into one), see '''[[trap design]]'''.

The role of a military force in fortress defense can be extremely varied depending on the player's overall approach and strategy; it can be central, non-existent, or anywhere in between. One of their advantages is their mobility — they can go where no static defenses exist, to rescue or support other dwarves, or escort a caravan through unknown or deadly threats. Only military can take the fight to the enemy (doomsday devices excepted).

Unfortunately, they are also expensive to maintain compared to static traps, and can cost a lot of resources for the [[metal]], labor, as well as food, drink and accommodation for the military. Additionally, soldiers are almost constantly under high risk in their job defending the fortress, possibly draining the fortress of some otherwise useful dwarves. Finally, the military system can take a lot of time on the player's part to set up and get working. An efficient military design can offset some of these major issues.

==Training==
{{Main|training}}
The effectiveness of a given military dwarf is based primarily on three factors:
*[[Combat skill]]s
*Equipment
*Physical [[attribute]]s

Combat skill is arguably the most important factor. Combat skill training can be accomplished through instruction, sparring, actual combat, or advanced techniques (exploits). For details, see [[training]].

See [[cross-training]] for suggestions on various attribute training plans.

The [[danger room]] method is a quick and effective way of training [[shield user]], [[dodger]], and any [[weapon]] [[skill]]s. Another very effective way of training is sending the military to actively fight captured invaders or wildlife, especially with training weapons equipped so that the combat takes longer. Certain creatures, such as [[flesh ball]]s, are more suitable for combat training than others. See also [[mass pitting]].

Dwarves armed with picks use mining as their weapon skill, so an all-pick army can simply mine out tunnels to train, although they will still need to train normally to develop shield and armor skills.

===Daylight training room===
Put a [[weapon rack]], [[armor stand]] or [[archery target]] on the surface near your entrance and make it a training room by designating it as a barracks. Training dwarves will be in position if there's trouble. A major reason for training in daylight is that it also helps prevent [[cave adaptation]] in your military.

==Archery==
Archers are deadly, but vulnerable to melee — crossbows as clubs just aren't the best. Additionally, it is impractical to have archer towers every 15 tiles across the map (it is possible, but that sometimes would be tedious). Sometimes, the only option is to take it directly to the enemy. Beyond that, mixing or matching is largely up to you.

[[Fortification]]s are crucial to any archery platform, even the tallest towers. If these are built improperly or do not exist, enemy archers will return fire, causing mammoth losses to any archery squads.

===Marksdwarf training===
A couple tips/troubleshooting for training your ranged military:
* If you use archery targets, make sure you have one for each dwarf in the squad and assign each target to the squad.
* If you use live captured targets, you dwarves are most likely to shoot if they have no path to the target.
* Force your dwarves to stand next to fortifications (touching them). You can use burrows or walls for this.
* Every marksdwarf needs a quiver.
* Make plenty of ammunition and assign 100-200 bolts per dwarf to each squad, instead of the default 200 or so per squad.
* If they refuse to train, make sure to set them NOT to train, but instead to inactive. Disable all their labors and they will go to archery targets while idle.

==== Live targets ====
Building a [[goblin]] shooting range where live goblins are shot at can increase the speed of ranged training. The caged prisoners, obtained from [[cage trap]]s, are dropped down a shaft 4-5 z-levels down, enough to break their legs but hopefully no more. Then have your marksdwarves shoot the stunned and immobile goblins from 14-18 steps away. The further away you place your marksdwarves, the higher probability that they might miss, thereby prolonging their target practice. Remember to add a lever and a bridge to enable retrieving the goblin corpses and items, and cleaning up the mess you just made. The bridge should connect the platforms where the goblins stand with the floor on the middle of the room. Sometimes, it might be necessary to send in meleedwarves to finish off a goblin. Therefore, place the lever to the bridge '''outside''' the shooting range as civilian dwarves will see the goblins and run away.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
z
╔═══════════╗ z + 4
║...........║ goblins fall ╔═╦═╦═╦═╦═╗
║.+.+.[#F00]g.+.+.║ <------------- ║.║.║.║.║.║
║...........║ ║+║+║+║+║+║
║▼.........▼║ ║+++++++++║
║+++++++++++║ ║+++++++++║
║+++++++++++║
║+++++++++++║ ║D║
║+++++++++++║ ║+║ - Locked tunnel
║+++++++++++║
║+++++++++++║ z - 1
║+++++++++++║ ║+║
║+++++++++++║ ║+║
║+++++++++++║ ║+║
║+++++++++++║ ╔════╝D╚════╗
║...........║ ║+++++++++++║
║▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼║ ║▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲║
║++☺+++☺++☺+║ ╚═══════════╝
║+☺++☺++☺+++║
║+++++++++++║
╚════+++════╝
ò - Lever to bridge (not represented)
}}

==Squad management==
Ordering multiple [[squads]] around can become cumbersome after a while. It's best to set most of your dwarves to follow a good regimen of training, guarding important [[burrow]]s, and patrolling routes along the fort by programming their [[scheduling|schedules]]. By preparing a number of different alerts with different schedules, you can largely manage your military by swapping a few squads to different alerts. With the majority of your squads patrolling the fort, you're free to take one or two squads of your highest-trained soldiers out to [[thief|take]] [[snatcher|care]] [[ambush|of]] [[siege|some]] [[megabeast|business]].

Keep in mind that dwarves are bloodthirsty fiends. If a [[creature]] crosses their path, no matter the odds or whether they've been ordered to stand down, your dwarves will open pursuit and attack until either it or they are dead. Keep an eye on your dwarves, and if they're going to be in combat it's a good idea to make sure there's a few highly trained melee dwarves in the squad with them.

If trained to (near-)legendary in [[dodger|dodging]], [[fighter|fighting]] and a weapon of choice, and armored up with [[steel]] or [[adamantine|better]], one lone hero can take out several squads of goblins without a scratch. But combat always has a random element — [[losing|Fun happens]].

=== Uniforms ===

:''Note that these uniforms are designed to simply "work", but they are not the best option. See the [[armor]] article for more about this.''

Use the starter outfits in the armor article. They are maxed out protection for their material. If you ''know'' you have full suits of armor for the recruits, use replace clothes and exact matches. This lets you wear the full set without a XXCave Spider Silk RobeXX leaving your military less protected.

==== Starter Uniform ====

# Wooden/Bone crossbows with Leather quiver and Bone (or Wooden) bolts, or any Metal melee weapons (only temporarily Wooden Elf/training weapons)
# Wooden/Leather shields
# Bone helms, upgrade to Metal soon
# Bone leggings
# Bone gauntlets
# Wooden Elf-bought armor, otherwise Leather armor and add Metal mail shirts asap
# Wooden Elf-bought boots, otherwise Leather high boots or empty (civilian socks/shoes) until Metal high boots
# Fill empty slots with civilian clothes (switch replace clothing to over clothing after available items were put on)

==== Basic Uniform ====

# Metal weapon, if using crossbows Leather quiver and Metal bolts
# Wooden (for weight) or Metal (for rare shield bash) shield
# Metal mail shirt
# Metal helm
# Metal leggings
# Metal high boots
# Metal gauntlets
# Metal breast plate
# optionally Silk/Yarn dress/robe
# optionally Silk/Yarn trousers
# optionally Silk/Yarn hoods
# optionally Silk/Yarn socks
# optionally Silk/Yarn mittens

==== Best Uniform ====

# Artifact Platinum Flail, Artifact Adamantine Melee, or Artifact Bone Crossbow
# Artifact Adamantine Helm
# Artifact Adamantine Breastplate
# Artifact Adamantine Gauntlets
# Artifact Adamantine High Boots
# Artifact Leather Dress
# Artifact Leather Face Veil
# Artifact Leather Gloves
# Artifact Leather Braies
# Artifact Leather Chausees
# Artifact Leather Turban
# Artifact Adamantine Mail Shirt
# Artifact Leather Long Skirt
# Artifact Leather Hood
# Artifact Leather Cloak
# Artifact Adamantine Shield
It is possible! It does require an amount of modding (to fix the error where gauntlets and high boots do not allow even ''themselves'' based on the size and permit system) and training everybody with armor maker, weapon maker, and clothier to a level higher than any other they have, along with mass forbidding items during strange moods.

You can order your dwarves to wear more than one piece of same type, for example, three suits of mail armor and six cloaks, but that slows them down and clothing items give nearly no additional protection. The [[Armor]] article explains these possibilities in detail.

==Strategy & Tactics==
===Roughing it===
Always have your soldiers carry food. They will each need a [[backpack]] to carry it. This keeps your soldiers from wandering off to eat. You can also have them carry [[alcohol]] or [[water]] in [[waterskin]]s or [[flask]]s, though water isn't recommended for the long term, as it makes your soldiers sluggish - always remember to keep the booze stockpiles full. For an around the clock guard, have them sleep in a [[barracks]] while on duty. Hopefully the sounds of combat will wake them up before they get killed.

===Wait for my signal...===
When ganging up on dangerous [[creature]]s (such as [[megabeast]]s), keep them far, far away until all your units are in position, and try to ambush the target in an area with no other creatures. If your dwarves get too close, they'll smell blood and charge in, regardless of what you do to try and stop them. Getting all your units into position, pausing the game, and then turning them loose at once, can achieve the desired advantage of numbers against formidable opponents.

When under [[siege]] or other attack, keep the entire squad far back from the exit until they are all armed and armored, and ready to roll as a unit. Having a good lockable front gate will also avoid this.

==Animals==

[[Animal training|War animals]] can also be assigned to dwarves who go outside frequently, whether military or civilian. Then, when the dwarf encounters danger, the war animal runs at the danger while the dwarf runs away from it. Unfortunately, war animals are slower than dwarves with high [[attribute|agility]], and do not shadow the dwarf perfectly. Try to not assign more than one or two war animals to a dwarf; the loss of happiness from an assigned animal dying (assigned War/Hunting animals are pets) can lead to a [[tantrum|tantrum spiral]]. Also, war animals cannot be reassigned once they are assigned; to get around this, have the dwarf you want to be guarded train the animal themselves.

{{Military}}

{{Category|Guides}}
{{Category|Fortress defense}}
{{Category|Design}}

Mining

2014-08-08T16:36:35Z

DracMonster:

{{Migrated_article}}
{{Quality|Exceptional|21:32, 24 May 2013 (UTC)}}
{{Labor
| labor = Mining
| skill = * [[Miner]]
| tasks =
* Dig
}}
{{av}}

'''Mining''' is an essential part of building a fort in Dwarf Fortress. There are several reasons you might want to mine, such as [[exploratory mining|searching]] for various [[stone|stone types]], [[ore]]s and [[gem]]s, or simply to create the basic tunnels and [[room]]s in your fort. Mining refers to either the [[skill]] that performs mining, the [[labor]] associated with it, or simply the task or job of performing said labor. Military dwarves equipped with picks will use mining as their "weapon skill."

There are several types of jobs associated with this skill:
* '''Mining''' removes the section of the wall while preserving both the ceiling and the floor.
* '''[[Channel]]ing''' removes the section of the wall, the floor, and if possible places a ramp one level below.
* '''[[Ramp]]s''' replaces the section with an upward ramp, also removing the tile and floor one level above.
* '''[[Stairs]]''' carves out upward and/or downward stairs.

Mining can only be done in pre-existing stone or soil. Constructed [[wall]], [[stairs]] or [[ramp|ramps]] cannot be mined; these must be removed using the 'remove construction' option ({{K|d}}, {{K|n}})

== Making a dwarf a miner ==

# Specify your dwarf to be a miner via {{K|v}}iew, {{K|p}}ref, {{K|l}}abor.
# Select "Mining" using {{K|+}} or {{K|-}}, then press {{K|enter}}.
A [[miner]] also requires an available [[pick]]. A dwarf's agility and mining skill affect how quickly they mine.

Selecting the mining labor will disable the [[wood cutting]] and [[hunting]] labors, as they all involve the usage of different tools.

== Designating the area to be mined ==

# Press {{K|d}}esignate to bring up the [[Designations Menu]].
# Highlight the requested action by pressing:
#* {{K|d}} for mining
#* {{K|h}} for channeling
#* {{K|r}} for an upward ramp
#* {{K|u}} for stairs towards the upper level
#* {{K|j}} for stairs towards the lower level
#* {{K|i}} for stairs in both directions
# Move the cursor to the starting point, then press {{K|enter}}. You should see a green flashing cross symbol indicating that it's in Selection Mode.
# Move the cursor to another point to define the opposite corners of a rectangle, press {{K|enter}} again. A yellow area should now be highlighted, indicating the area to be mined. The opposite corner can also be placed on a different z-level, designating areas across z-levels for mining. Tiles can also be designated by using the mouse and left-clicking.

==Understanding digging==
Each layer in the three-dimensional Dwarf Fortress map consists of two parts: a wall-part, and a floor-part. Digging a tunnel removes the wall-part but leaves the floor-part in place. Channeling removes the floor-part as well, leaving open space above, and if a floor-part exists below, it becomes an upward ramp.


==Mineral production (profit!)==
When the wall-part is removed from a stone tile, there is a 25% chance that a single [[stone]] (also known as a boulder) will be left behind. Minerals which are found in [[vein]]s have a 33% chance of leaving ore, and minerals found in [[vein|small clusters]] (or individual tiles) have a 100% chance of leaving a stone or rough gem behind. Finally, any "deep" material (i.e. [[adamantine]] or [[slade]]) has a 100% chance of leaving a usable stone (though the latter is normally undiggable).

When tunnels are dug in soil, nothing is left from the wall-part. The floor-part will remain, if it wasn't channeled, and might be suitable for [[farming]] or [[sand]] collection.

In older versions, higher mining skill would lead to more boulders being dug out. As of v0.34.08, the standard drop rate for boulders is 25% and skill gain only decreases the amount of time it takes to mine each tile. Also as of v0.34.08, the [[mason's workshop]] creates four [[block]]s from one boulder instead of the previous one block. This means that for the purpose of constructions or buildings there is just as much stone available as before, although an extra processing step has been added. The same goes for ores, one piece of ore will produce 4 bars at a [[smelter]]. Tasks that use stone as a raw material, however, now have much fewer materials to work with (such as [[flux]] for [[steel]] production).

==Training mining==
Dwarves gain mining experience for each tile mined, be it stone, ore, gem, or soil. Soil is mined extremely quickly and is one of the fastest ways to train miners. Since the skill of mining also is used in combat, a dwarf with mining enabled that is carrying a pick will increase their mining skill through combat drills. This process is much faster than learning by digging through stone, but not nearly as fast as learning by digging through soil.

The fastest way to train mining is to first dig out upstairs, then remove the upstairs. Removing upstairs (even rock ones) is extremely quick and still provides mining experience.

==Mining warm and damp stone==
When designating any digging operation, warm and damp tiles will flash, indicating magma or water in adjacent tiles. Miners can dig these safely, provided there is an escape route ( ''"Safely"'' here implies only the short term survival of the digging dwarf, your fortress may well be flooded as a result, even many levels above the digging level, ''eventually'' killing your dwarf ).

Channeling and ramping designations involve two operations, and your dwarf will be submerged in the fluid when done. Unskilled swimmers can reach an exit ramp out of water if near enough, but magma will certainly cost your miner's life (the flow from either can knock dwarves off ledges, or, naturally, [[flood]] the fortress.)

Wall tiles ''above'' magma will flash 'warm', and designations will be cancelled even if an entirely safe tunnel is being dug. This is rather annoying when carving out rooms above the magma sea, although there is a way around it. Designating a channel two levels above the magma will mine out the warm wall immediately above the magma, and the designation won't be cancelled because it's not in the area of the warm stone.

==How to cancel a mining operation==
If you placed a designated area for mining but want to cancel the mining (for example if you approached [[Main:Digging designation canceled|damp stone]]) simply go to Designations {{K|d}} and select Remove Designation {{K|x}}. Then select the starting point of the area you want to cancel with {{K|enter}}, move to the ending point and confirm again with {{K|enter}}.

== Notes ==
To create a channel with no downward ramps, you have to mine out the area underneath the channel first, or manually designate the ramps created for removal afterwards {{K|d}} -> {{K|z}}. If you wish for these channels to be completely inaccessible from the outside, channel out the access-point (downward staircase). Another (more complicated) way of removing any access to the moat is to replace the dug out ramps with constructed ones and creating a cave-in with constructed floors. Rampless channels are an effective substitute for walls against melee enemies that cannot fly, and they can be dug out far faster than a wall can be built. However, channels offer no defense against archers or dragonbreath.

When digging upward ramps, watch out for loose stone or other items that might be on the floor above, as falling objects can injure the unfortunate miner.

== See also ==
* [[Map tile]]s – Different types of walled, floor and open spaces.
* [[Caverns]] – Large underground tunnel systems.
* [[Exploratory mining]] – Mining focused on finding valuable [[stone]].
* [[Soil]] – A list of soil types.
* [[Stone]] – A list of different types of stones and ores left behind from mining.
* [[Smoothing]] – Increase fortress value and dwarf happiness by improving the quality of your rough-stone mineshafts.

{{labors}}

Weapon

2014-08-08T16:31:45Z

DracMonster: /* Weapons as tools */

{{Migrated_article}}
{{Quality|Exceptional|21:11, 29 April 2013 (UTC)}}
{{av}}
:''This page deals entirely with manufactured weapons. For natural weapons, see [[Natural weapon]].''

A '''weapon''' in the sense described on this page is any object specifically designed to be wielded in the pursuit of bodily harm to others. In [[fortress mode]], weapons can be made at a [[metalsmith's forge]] (all metal weapons) using a single bar of metal, a [[bowyer's workshop]] (wooden and bone crossbows), or a [[craftsdwarf's workshop]] ([[obsidian]] short swords).

== Basics ==
=== Native vs. foreign ===
Weapons can be split in two categories: those that you can produce, and those that you can't. [[Weaponsmith]]s can produce seven types of native weapons at a [[metalsmith's forge]], but there are also fourteen foreign weapons that can be found in the hands of enemy combatants, or bought from trading caravans (note, however, that due to bugs, several foreign weapons currently are effectively unusable by dwarves). These may use skills your dwarves are unfamiliar with. It is impossible to buy them in bulk, and they are of variable quality and material. Like all weapons they tend to be expensive as trade good. They may be worth using when they are product of a [[strange mood]] (see strange moods, below). Since they are common for other nations, it is important to understand their properties when you have to fight enemies wielding them.

=== Types of weapons ===
{{main|Attack types}}
From another point of view there are four categories: slashing, piercing, crushing, and ranged.

Slashing weapons, like [[short sword]]s and [[battle axe]]s work by concentrating their force along a sharp blade, allowing them to make gashes in or completely sever body parts. Given the opportunity they make the quickest work of their foes. They are far less effective against armored targets, however, as armor will block most hits and convert them into weaker blunt damage.

Piercing weapons, like [[spear]]s and [[pick]]s work by concentrating their force at a point, allowing them to punch through armor and damage internal organs. They often get stuck, giving their wielder further leverage on the target.

Crushing weapons, like [[war hammer]]s and [[mace]]s, work by concentrating their force behind a large, blunt mass, putting dents in armor and breaking bones beneath their blows. These weapons are slow to kill their targets - dwarves have a habit of breaking every bone in their opponent's body before moving on to the next target - but are the most effective weapons against heavy and heavily armored foes which shrug off damage more easily.

Ranged weapons - [[crossbow]]s, [[bow]]s, and [[blowgun]]s - are effectively piercing weapons which work at a distance. When used in melee combat as a bludgeon, ranged weapons produce blunt weapon damage instead.

There exists one more kind of weapon, so-called training weapons. Training weapons are all wooden, and all made at the [[Carpenter's workshop|carpenter's workshop]]. Training axes, spears, and short swords can be constructed in dwarf fortress mode. They do little blunt impact damage, due to the poor [[material science|material properties]] of wood. They were intended for avoiding injuries to training dwarves during sparring, but are now redundant, since regular weapons no longer cause injuries during sparring. Training weapons can still be useful in [[danger room]]s and [[live training]], but it is preferable to avoid having your dwarves become "attached" to wooden weapons.

=== Types of targets ===
One can divide the types of foes you will meet into three categories. The first is organic and unarmored (or poorly armored) enemies, like [[thief|thieves]], non-sentient [[creature]]s (be it local wildlife or siege mounts), [[semi-megabeast]]s and [[megabeast]]s besides the [[bronze colossus]]. Weapons that deal slashing damage work best and quickest against these types of enemies, severing whole body parts and leaving them severely incapacitated.

The second is organic and armored enemies, like [[ambush]]ers and [[siege]]rs. The way [[armor]] works, slashing blows that are countered by a piece of armor are converted into generally less effective blunt damage; the best damage against these kinds of enemies are piercing weapons, which punch through armor and damage their internal organs, incapacitating them and allowing the wielder to finish them off. Crushing weapons work as well, although they are slower.

The third and most dangerous types of enemies are inorganic enemies (or ones that [[Giant cave spider|don't feel pain]]), which are [[titan]]s, [[forgotten beast]]s, [[bronze colossus]]es, and [[HFS|hidden fun stuff]]. These enemies ''have'' no internal organs, and depending on the material they are made of, may be very difficult to slash at (although a forgotten beast made of, for instance, mud is laughably easy to kill). Against these enemies, crushing weapons are the best, because they can chip at their foes until they collapse from cumulative damage.

=== Weapon skill ===
{{main|Combat skill#Weapon skill}}
Every type of weapon has its own associated [[military]] [[skill]]. The higher a dwarf is in his skill with a weapon, the better he will be able to use it in combat, connecting hammer blows to more advantageous sweet spots and sending spears right through enemy hearts and lungs with greater accuracy. The higher the weapon skill, the better at fighting the dwarf will be.

Once a dwarf has reached "Great" skill in a certain weapon, they become weapon lords for that specific weapon. They are listed as such on the [[status]] screen, will love fighting, and will no longer complain about long patrol duties. Weapon skill is trained in fighting enemies in combat, demonstrations, and combat drills, but if you leave your dwarves shieldless, a [[danger room]] will train their skill very, very quickly. Note that this does not quite work for marksdwarves - danger rooming ranged weapons increases their melee skill, increasing their hammerdwarf skill, although [[Cross-training|this may be the point]].

=== Attachment ===
A dwarf that has used a particular weapon for a long time will grow attached to it, equipping it whenever their uniform allows them to. This is fine if they are wielding a ☼Steel Mace☼, but a major problem if they are wielding what is meant to be a training weapon (be it a wooden axe or a copper spear). You can avoid this pitfall by not using training weapons and not forging weapons until you have real weaponsmithing underway. These events generate [[announcement]]s. If a dwarf does become attached you can easily force him to relinquish the weapon by assigning a 'specific weapon' instead in his equipment view.

In addition, dwarves that reach a certain number or level of kills with a weapon will name it. This prompts a major announcement, and usually happens after a dwarf manages to put down something significant — a forgotten beast for instance. Only the last shot counts for the [[kill list|kill]]. Once named, the weapon will appear in the artifact list, albeit in blue.

Dwarves may also become attached to shields and name them in the same way.

=== Quality and strange moods ===
The quality of a weapon has a significant (and currently poorly understood) impact on its combat performance, as well as its [[value]].
{{v0.31:Item quality/Table}}

Weaponsmithing is a moodable profession, which means that you can get [[artifact]] weapons. This is a bit of a mixed bag: although a legendary [[armorsmith]] would be more useful, it's certainly better than a legendary [[tanner]]. Artifact weapons have a 3x combat bonus and can be made out of a wide range of materials; ordinarily a [[rainbow trout]] [[bone]] spear is impossible, but a moody dwarf can create one with a single trout bone. Artifact weapons made of totally inappropriate materials are inferior to regular ones made of weapons-grade metal, although the exact balance is still under discussion.

Dwarves in strange moods are not held to producing native weapons, and in fact often don't, as the number of foreign weapons outnumbers the natives. In the case where they create a valuable and battle-worthy foreign weapon (like a steel two-handed sword), it's worth it to manually go through your dwarves to find someone who can best utilize it, and assign it to him. See the caveats of foreign weapons however, discussed below.

=== Weapons as tools ===
[[Hunter]]s use crossbows, [[Wood cutter]]s use [[battle axe]]s, and [[miner]]s use [[pick]]s. They must be in possession of these items to do their jobs, and it's as simple as that.

Wooden training axes are fully effective at chopping down trees.

Hunters gain [[marksdwarf]] skill from hunting, but wood cutters do not gain [[axedwarf]] weapon skill from cutting trees. Miners gain [[mining]] skill, which is not considered a military skill, but is used as a weapon skill when fighting with a pick. A dwarf using a weapon as a tool may opt not to use the same tool as a military weapon, instead dropping their tool to pick up another from a stockpile. Dwarves may carry only one weapon as a tool at a time; for example, woodcutters/hunters will drop their axes then go and pick up crossbows every time they begin hunting.

=== Ammunition ===
:''Main article: [[Ammunition]]''

[[Crossbow]]s and other ranged weapons require [[ammunition]] (in the case of the crossbow, [[bolt]]s). This ammunition is carried in a [[quiver]] in packs of about 25, and when they run out they will switch to using their ranged weapons as crude hammers. It's often a good idea to try to get them to retreat once they run out of ammo — crossbows are meant for shooting, not bashing.

=== Secondary weapons ===
Although it sounds like a cool idea, equipping a marksdwarf with a backup short sword just in case doesn't often work, as dwarves are just as quick to run up their foes and start bashing them with a crossbow as they are to draw their swords and do it properly.

== Weapons ==
=== Native weapons ===
{| class="wikitable" border="border"
! Type
! Size
! Attack
! [[Attack type]]
! Contact Area
! Penetration
! Velocity
! Skill Used
! Hands Used
! [[Weaponsmith|Metal]]
! [[Bowyer|Wood]]
! [[Bowyer|Bone]]
! [[Stone crafter|Obsidian]]
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="3"| [[battle axe|Battle Axe]]
|rowspan="3"| 800
| Hack || Edge || 40000 || 6000 || 1.25x
|rowspan="3"| Axe
|rowspan="3"| Singlegrasp
|rowspan="3"| Yes
|rowspan="3"| No
|rowspan="3"| No
|rowspan="3"| No
|-
| Flat slap || Blunt || 40000 || (6000) || 1.25x
|-
| Pommel strike || Blunt || 100 || (1000) || 1.0x
|-
| [[Crossbow]] (Melee)
| 400
| Bash || Blunt || 10000 || (4000) || 1.25x
| Hammer
| Singlegrasp?
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
|-
| [[Mace]]
| 800
| Bash || Blunt || 20 || (200) || 2.0x
| Mace
| Singlegrasp
| Yes
| No
| No
| No
|-
| [[Pick]] (foreign)
| 500
| Strike || Edge || 100 || 4000 || 2.0x
| Mining
| Singlegrasp
| Yes
| No
| No
| No
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="4"| [[short sword|Short Sword]]
|rowspan="4"| 300
| Slash || Edge || 20000 || 4000 || 1.25x
|rowspan="4"| [[Sword]]
|rowspan="4"| Singlegrasp
|rowspan="4"| Yes
|rowspan="4"| No
|rowspan="4"| No
|rowspan="4"| Yes
|-
| Stab || Edge || 50 || 2000 || 1.0x
|-
| Flat slap || Blunt || 20000 || (4000) || 1.25x
|-
| Pommel strike || Blunt || 100 || (1000) || 1.0x
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="2"| [[Spear]]
|rowspan="2"| 400
| Stab || Edge || 20 || 10000 || 1.0x
|rowspan="2"| Spear
|rowspan="2"| Singlegrasp
|rowspan="2"| Yes
|rowspan="2"| No
|rowspan="2"| No
|rowspan="2"| No
|-
| Shaft bash || Blunt || 10000 || (6000) || 1.25x
|-
| [[war hammer|War Hammer]]
| 400
| Bash || Blunt || 10 || (200) || 2.0x
| Hammer
| Singlegrasp
| Yes
| No
| No
| No
|}

Note that although the [[pick]] is a foreign weapon, it can be produced by dwarves and is therefore considered native.

=== Details ===
*If you find your dwarves wearing more than one weapon -- or any unwanted [[armor]], for that matter -- one way to get rid of them is to dump the weapon from their {{k|v}}-{{k|i}} inventory screen. This does not always work, as they might re-equip the item. Another option is to remove any weapons and/or shields listed on their military equip screen. This too does not always work. At least "left-handedness" seems to not pose a problem. If you cancel the work by {{k|v}}-{{k|p}} and selecting a job that needs a tool they will sometimes put it back in the pile. Example: Miners use picks, cancel their mining job and they will put the pick away AFTER you ordered it to be dumped.
* Using weapons is much more effective than unarmed combat -- an untrained swordsdwarf with an [[iron]] weapon can defeat a grand master [[wrestler]], provided neither is wearing armor.
** Larger weapons with more heft tend to do more damage. How damage is calculated is currently not fully understood, and this is an area requiring more research.
* The size for a weapon is its volume in cm3.
* Attacks of type EDGE will either slice or pierce their target, depending on the contact area and penetration depth, while BLUNT attacks tend to damage internal organs without necessarily causing significant damage to outer layers.
* The contact area represents the area of contact of the weapon, and the penetration determines how deep the attack goes (and is apparently ignored entirely for BLUNT attacks -- indicated by numbers in parentheses). Large contact areas combined with low penetration represent slashing attacks, while small contact areas with high penetration behave as piercing attacks.
* The velocity seems to adjust the amount of actual force used during the attack (otherwise based on the size of the weapon, the material from which the weapon is made, and the strength of the wielder) - for example, war hammers have a 2x velocity multiplier, presumably to model the fact that the hammer's mass is concentrated at the tip which, when combined with a long handle, permits swinging it harder than a weapon whose mass is evenly distributed (such as a sword).
* Crossbows can be made of metal, wood, and bone. Metal crossbows are made by a [[weaponsmith]] at a [[forge]], while wood and bone crossbows are made by a [[bowyer]] at a bowyer's workshop. The material of a crossbow does not affect its firing ability, only its melee damage. A dwarf's marksmanship skill is only affected by the core [[item quality|quality]] of the bow. This may be a consideration when deciding which dwarf you want outfitting your marksdwarves: a [[experience|legendary]] bowyer is a better choice than a proficient weaponsmith.
* Dwarves will never select a pick for a weapon if allowed "individual choice." You must specify picks as part of their uniform or on the individual equip screen if you wish to utilize them as weapons.

=== Training weapons ===
All [[training weapon]]s must be made of [[wood]] at the [[carpenter's workshop]].

{| class="wikitable" border="border"
|-
! Type
! Size
! Attack
! [[Attack type]]
! Contact Area
! Penetration
! Velocity
! Skill Used
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="3"| Training Axe
|rowspan="3"| 800
| Hack || Blunt || 30000 || (6000) || 1.25x
|rowspan="3"| Axe
|-
| Flat slap || Blunt || 30000 || (6000) || 1.25x
|-
| Pommel strike || Blunt || 100 || (1000) || 1.0x
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="4"| Training Sword
|rowspan="4"| 300
| Slash || Blunt || 20000 || (4000) || 1.25x
|rowspan="4"| Sword
|-
| Stab || Blunt || 50 || (2000) || 1.0x
|-
| Flat slap || Blunt || 20000 || (4000) || 1.25x
|-
| Pommel strike || Blunt || 100 || (1000) || 1.0x
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="2"| Training Spear
|rowspan="2"| 400
| Stab || Blunt || 200 || (10000) || 1.0x
|rowspan="2"| Spear
|-
| Shaft bash || Blunt || 10000 || (6000) || 1.25x
|}

=== Foreign weapons ===
Using any multigrasp weapon in a single hand (i.e. with a shield in the other hand) gives you a disability to hit. Do not equip two-handed swords with a shield, for instance.

In Adventurer Mode, however, it is possible to wield a two-handed sword, or any multigrasp weapon in one hand, without penalty (allowing for the simultaneous use of a shield) if your character passes the one-handed check for single-handing a multigrasp weapon. For example, if you create a Human character, and manage to spawn into a world with a "broad body" or a "tall body" in the character description, you will be able to single-hand any multigrasp weapon (and will be forced to, much like you are forced to single-hand any singlegrasp weapon), which allows for the simultaneous, disability-free use of a shield, thus making your damage and defensive capabilities much higher than they would be with a singlegrasp weapon and shield. Note that upping Strength to Superior (and eventually Superhuman) will make all attacks more likely to deal extra damage, making cutting off the limbs of your enemies much easier.

{| class="wikitable" border="border"
|-
! Type
! Size
! Attack
! [[Attack type]]
! Contact Area
! Penetration
! Velocity
! Skill Used
! Used by
! Hands Used
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="4"| [[two-handed sword|2H Sword]]
|rowspan="4"| 900
| Slash || Edge || 100000 || 8000 || 1.25x
|rowspan="4"| Sword
|rowspan="4"| [[Goblin]], [[Human]]
|rowspan="4"| Multigrasp
|-
| Stab || Edge || 50 || 4000 || 1.0x
|-
| Flat slap || Blunt || 100000 || (8000) || 1.25x
|-
| Pommel strike || Blunt || 100 || (1000) || 1.0x
|- valign="top"
| [[Blowgun]] (Melee)
| 150
| Bash || Blunt || 10000 || (4000) || 1.25x
| Sword
| Subterranean animal peoples
| Singlegrasp?
|- valign="top"
| [[Bow]] (Melee)
| 300
| Bash || Blunt || 10000 || (4000) || 1.25x
| Sword
| [[Elf]], Goblin, Human, [[Kobold]]
| Singlegrasp?
|- valign="top"
| [[Flail]]
| 500
| Bash || Blunt || 200 || (4000) || 2.5x
| Mace
| Goblin, Human
| Singlegrasp
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="3"| [[great axe|Great Axe]]
|rowspan="3"| 1300
| Hack || Edge || 60000 || 8000 || 1.25x
|rowspan="3"| Axe
|rowspan="3"| Goblin, Human
|rowspan="3"| Multigrasp
|-
| Flat slap || Blunt || 60000 || (8000) || 1.25x
|-
| Pommel strike || Blunt || 100 || (1000) || 1.0x
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="3"| [[Halberd]]
|rowspan="3"| 1200
| Slash || Edge || 20000 || 8000 || 1.25x
|rowspan="3"| Axe
|rowspan="3"| Goblin, Human
|rowspan="3"| Multigrasp
|-
| Stab || Edge || 50 || 2000 || 1.0x
|-
| Shaft bash || Blunt || 20000 || (6000) || 1.25x
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="3"| [[Dagger]] (Large)
|rowspan="3"| 200
| Slash || Edge || 1000 || 800 || 1.25x
|rowspan="3"| Dagger
|rowspan="3"| Goblin, Kobold
|rowspan="3"| Singlegrasp
|-
| Stab || Edge || 5 || 1000 || 1.0x
|-
| Pommel strike || Blunt || 20 || (600) || 1.0x
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="4"| [[long sword|Long Sword]]
|rowspan="4"| 700
| Slash || Edge || 60000 || 6000 || 1.25x
|rowspan="4"| Sword
|rowspan="4"| Elf, Goblin, Human
|rowspan="4"| Singlegrasp
|-
| Stab || Edge || 50 || 3000 || 1.0x
|-
| Flat slap || Blunt || 60000 || (6000) || 1.25x
|-
| Pommel strike || Blunt || 100 || (1000) || 1.0x
|- valign="top"
| [[Maul]]
| 1300
| Bash || Blunt || 100 || (6000) || 2.0x
| Hammer
| Goblin, Human
| Multigrasp
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="2"| [[Morningstar]]
|rowspan="2"| 500
| Bash || Edge || 10 || 500 || 2.0x
|rowspan="2"| Mace
|rowspan="2"| Goblin, Human
|rowspan="2"| Singlegrasp
|-
| Pommel strike || Blunt || 50 || (1000) || 1.0x
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="2"| [[pike (weapon)|Pike]]
|rowspan="2"| 800
| Stab || Edge || 20 || 12000 || 1.0x
|rowspan="2"| Pike
|rowspan="2"| Goblin, Human
|rowspan="2"| Multigrasp
|-
| Shaft bash || Blunt || 10000 || (6000) || 1.25x
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="4"| [[Scimitar]]
|rowspan="4"| 300
| Slash || Edge || 20000 || 4000 || 1.25x
|rowspan="4"| Sword
|rowspan="4"| Goblin, Human
|rowspan="4"| Singlegrasp
|-
| Stab || Edge || 50 || 2000 || 1.0x
|-
| Flat slap || Blunt || 20000 || (4000) || 1.25x
|-
| Pommel strike || Blunt || 50 || (1000) || 1.0x
|- valign="top"
| [[Scourge]]
| 300
| Lash || Edge || 10 || 50 || 2.0x
| Whip
| Goblin
| Singlegrasp
|- valign="top"
| [[Whip]]
| 100
| Lash || Blunt || 1 || (10) || 5.0x
| Whip
| Goblin, Human
| Singlegrasp
|}

== Size==

Weapons have a minimum size to use at all, and a minimum size to use one-handed. Adult dwarves vary in size between 33750 and 93750 (average 60000) based on their height and broadness.

Unfortunately this is currently bugged in Fortress mode.{{Bug|0005812}} 'One-handed' vs. 'two-handed' checks are performed correctly, but 'can wield' vs. 'can't wield' ignores height and broadness modifiers. So Dwarves in Fortress mode will never equip two-handed swords, great axes, halberds, mauls, or pikes. Other weapons have a minimum wielding size of less than 60000, and are wielded one-handed if the individual dwarf is large enough. See [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=119068.msg3790913#msg3790913 this] forum post.

The following table shows approximately how many dwarves ''should be'' able to use each weapon one or two handed (see [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=101379.msg3029579#msg3029579 this forum post] for details), with all fractional numbers being approximate. While there are seven categories each for height and broadness, the number used is chosen randomly from within each category.

Where the size checking bug affects weapon wielding for dwarves, correct approximate figures are given in brackets.
{| class="wikitable" border="border"
|-
! Type
! Min Size
(Two-Handed)
! Min Size
(One-Handed)
! Dwarves
Can't Wield
! Dwarves Wield
Two-Handed
! Dwarves Wield
One-Handed
|- valign="top"
| [[battle axe|Battle Axe]]
| 42500
| 47500
| 1/49 (0)
| 10/49 (11/49)
| 38/49
|- valign="top"
| [[Crossbow]] (Melee)
| 15000
| 0
| -
| -
| 49/49
|- valign="top"
| [[Mace]]
| 32500
| 37500
| -
| 1/49
| 48/49
|- valign="top"
| [[Pick]]
| 42500
| 47500
| 1/49 (0)
| 10/49 (11/49)
| 38/49
|- valign="top"
| [[short sword|Short Sword]]
| 32500
| 37500
| -
| 1/49
| 48/49
|- valign="top"
| [[Spear]]
| 5000
| 47500
| -
| 11/49
| 38/49
|- valign="top"
| [[war hammer|War Hammer]]
| 32500
| 37500
| -
| 1/49
| 48/49
|- valign="top"
| Training Axe
| 42500
| 47500
| 1/49 (0)
| 10/49 (11/49)
| 38/49
|- valign="top"
| Training Sword
| 32500
| 37500
| -
| 1/49
| 48/49
|- valign="top"
| Training Spear
| 42500
| 47500
| 1/49 (0)
| 10/49 (11/49)
| 38/49
|- valign="top"
| [[two-handed sword|2H Sword]]
| 62500
| 77500
| 32/49 (ALL)
| 14/49 (0)
| 3/49 (0)
|- valign="top"
| [[Blowgun]] (Melee)
| 15000
| 0
| -
| -
| 49/49
|- valign="top"
| [[Bow]] (Melee)
| 15000
| 0
| -
| -
| 49/49
|- valign="top"
| [[Flail]]
| 42500
| 47500
| 1/49 (0)
| 10/49 (11/49)
| 38/49
|- valign="top"
| [[great axe|Great Axe]]
| 62500
| 77500
| 32/49 (ALL)
| 14/49 (0)
| 3/49 (0)
|- valign="top"
| [[Halberd]]
| 62500
| 77500
| 32/49 (ALL)
| 14/49 (0)
| 3/49 (0)
|- valign="top"
| [[Dagger]] (Large)
| 5000
| 27500
| -
| -
| 49/49
|- valign="top"
| [[long sword|Long Sword]]
| 52500
| 57500
| 11/49 (0)
| 7/49 (18/49)
| 31/49
|- valign="top"
| [[Maul]]
| 62500
| 77500
| 32/49 (ALL)
| 14/49 (0)
| 3/49 (0)
|- valign="top"
| [[Morningstar]]
| 32500
| 37500
| -
| 1/49
| 48/49
|- valign="top"
| [[pike (weapon)|Pike]]
| 62500
| 77500
| 32/49 (ALL)
| 14/49 (0)
| 3/49 (0)
|- valign="top"
| [[Scimitar]]
| 32500
| 37500
| -
| 1/49
| 48/49
|- valign="top"
| [[Scourge]]
| 22500
| 27500
| -
| -
| 49/49
|- valign="top"
| [[Whip]]
| 22500
| 27500
| -
| -
| 49/49
|}

==Material==
{{v0.31 material metal table head}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Adamantine|color={{Tile|/|3:1}}3:3:1|source=[[Raw adamantine]]|notes= |soliddensity=0.200|mp=25000|val=300|valinc=+50|impactyield=5000|impactfracture=5000|impactelasticity=0|shearyield=5000|shearfracture=5000|shearelasticity=0
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Steel|color={{Tile|/|0:1}}0:7:1|source=[[Iron]] + [[Pig iron]] + [[flux]] stone + [[fuel]] '''!'''|notes= |soliddensity=7.85|val=30|valinc=+20|mp=12718|impactyield=1505|impactfracture=2520|impactelasticity=940|shearyield=430|shearfracture=720|shearelasticity=215
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Bismuth bronze|color={{Tile|/|6:1}}6:6:1|source=2 [[Copper]] + 1 [[Tin]] + 1 [[Bismuth]] '''!'''|notes= |soliddensity=8.25|val=6|valinc=+4|mp=11868|impactyield=602|impactfracture=843|impactelasticity=547|shearyield=172|shearfracture=241|shearelasticity=156
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Bronze|color={{Tile|/|6:0}}6:4:0|source=[[Tin]] + [[Copper]]|notes= |soliddensity=8.25|val=5|valinc=+3|mp=11868|impactyield=602|impactfracture=843|impactelasticity=547|shearyield=172|shearfracture=241|shearelasticity=156
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Iron|color={{Tile|/|0:1}}0:7:1|source=[[Hematite]], [[Limonite]], [[Magnetite]]|notes= |soliddensity=7.85|mp=12768|val=10|valinc=+2|impactyield=542|impactfracture=1080|impactelasticity=319|shearyield=155|shearfracture=310|shearelasticity=189
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Copper|color={{Tile|/|6:0}}6:4:0|source=[[Native copper]], [[Malachite]], [[Tetrahedrite]]|notes= |soliddensity=8.93|mp=11952|val=2|valinc=+0, +0, -1*|impactyield=245|impactfracture=770|impactelasticity=175|shearyield=70|shearfracture=220|shearelasticity=145
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Silver|color={{Tile|/|7:1}}7:7:1|source=[[Native silver]], [[Horn silver]], [[Galena]] (50%), [[Tetrahedrite]] (20%) |notes= |soliddensity=10.49|mp=11731|val=10|valinc=+0, +0, +5*, +7*|impactyield=350|impactfracture=595|impactelasticity=350|shearyield=100|shearfracture=170|shearelasticity=333
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Platinum|color={{Tile|/|7:1}}7:7:1|source=[[Native platinum]]|notes= Only available as Artifact Weapons.|soliddensity=21.4|mp=13182|val=40|valinc=+?, +?, +?, +?|impactyield=350|impactfracture=700|impactelasticity=152|shearyield=100|shearfracture=200|shearelasticity=164
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Bone|color={{Tile|/|7:1}}7:7:1|source=Creatures|notes= |soliddensity=0.50|mp=NONE(burn at 10250)|val=1|valinc=+?, +?, +?, +?|impactyield=200|impactfracture=200|impactelasticity=100|shearyield=115|shearfracture=130|shearelasticity=100
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Wood|color={{Tile|/|6:0}}7:7:1|source=Trees|notes= |soliddensity=0.50|mp=NONE(burn at 10250)|val=1|valinc=+?, +?, +?, +?|impactyield=10|impactfracture=10|impactelasticity=1000|shearyield=40|shearfracture=40|shearelasticity=1000
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Shell|color={{Tile|/|2:0}}7:7:1|source=Creatures|notes= Only available as Artifact Weapons.|soliddensity=0.50|mp=NONE(burn at 10250)|val=1|valinc=+?, +?, +?, +?|impactyield=200|impactfracture=200|impactelasticity=100|shearyield=115|shearfracture=130|shearelasticity=100
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Leather|color={{Tile|/|2:0}}7:7:1|source=Creatures|notes= Material data added for comparison.|soliddensity=0.50|mp=NONE(burn at 10250)|val=1|valinc=+?, +?, +?, +?|impactyield=10|impactfracture=10|impactelasticity=50000|shearyield=25|shearfracture=25|shearelasticity=50000
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Obsidian|color={{Tile|/|0:1}}7:7:1|source=Lava|notes= Only available for Short Swords.|soliddensity=2.67|mp=13600|val=3|valinc=+0|impactyield=120|impactfracture=120|impactelasticity=100|shearyield=15|shearfracture=15|shearelasticity=100
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Crystal glass|color={{Tile|/|7:1}}7:7:1|source=Sand|notes= Only available as Trap Components.|soliddensity=2.6|mp=13600|val=10|valinc=+0|impactyield=1000|impactfracture=1000|impactelasticity=2222|shearyield=33|shearfracture=33|shearelasticity=113
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Clear glass|color={{Tile|/|3:0}}7:7:1|source=Sand|notes= Only available as Trap Components.|soliddensity=2.6|mp=13600|val=5|valinc=+0|impactyield=1000|impactfracture=1000|impactelasticity=2222|shearyield=33|shearfracture=33|shearelasticity=113
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Green glass|color={{Tile|/|2:0}}7:7:1|source=Sand|notes= Only available as Trap Components.|soliddensity=2.6|mp=13600|val=2|valinc=+0|impactyield=1000|impactfracture=1000|impactelasticity=2222|shearyield=33|shearfracture=33|shearelasticity=113
}}

|}

*''Combat information'' is used internally by the game to determine the combat properties of weapons and armor made from this metal:
**'''Density''': Used in conjunction with other factors - heavier weapons (higher numbers) hit with more force, light weapons tend to have less penetration. Value shown here is g/cm3, which is the raw value divided by 103
**'''Impact yield''': Used for blunt-force combat; ''higher'' is better. This is the raw value divided by 103 (i.e., kPa).
**'''Impact fracture''': Used for blunt-force combat; ''higher'' is better. This is the raw value divided by 103 (i.e., kPa).
**'''Impact elasticity''' (or '''strain at yield'''): Used for blunt-force combat; ''lower'' is better. This is the raw value.
**'''Shear yield''': Used for cutting calculations in combat; ''higher'' is better. This is the raw value divided by 103 (i.e., kPa).
**'''Shear fracture''': Used for cutting calculations in combat; ''higher'' is better. This is the raw value divided by 103 (i.e., kPa).
**'''Shear elasticity''' (or '''strain at yield'''): Used for cutting calculations in combat; ''lower'' is better. This is the raw value.

*General Term Explanations (From Wikipedia)
**'''Yield Strength''' - The stress at which material strain changes from elastic deformation to plastic deformation, causing it to deform permanently.
**'''Fracture Strength''' - The stress coordinate on the stress-strain curve at the point of rupture.
**'''Stress''' - Force per area = F/A
**'''Strain''' - Deformation of a solid due to stress = Stress/Young's Modulus

=== Explanation ===
* '''Yield Strength''' is the amount of stress required to permanently deform (bend) a material (plastic deformation).
* '''Fracture Strength''' is the amount of stress required to permanently break (rupture) a material.
* '''Elasticity''' or '''Strain at yield''' is the amount of deformation (bending) that occurs at the yield point.

=== Implications ===
Yield strength combined with strain at yield can tell what a material will do under stress (be it from a hammer, axe, or arrow); higher yield means that it takes more stress to deform, while lower strain at yield means that it will deform less when stress is applied.

== Combat testing ==
In regards to edged weaponry: [[Adamantine]] and [[steel]] take first and second place respectively, with [[iron]] the third best material in the game, matched by the [[bronze]]s. Beyond that is [[copper]], the second worst material, and [[silver]] is the worst weapon material available (and due to the existence of training weapons, not even useful in that regard).

Additionally, with regards to blunt weapons almost all of the non-adamantine materials perform equally well, with a very slight edge towards steel and silver. Here is the thread with the details: [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=53571.0].

Keep in mind with how unbelievably complicated this system is nothing should be taken as word of law yet.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#999999"
!
! Best
! Better
! Good
! Fair
! Poor
! Terrible
! Notes
|-
| Armor
| Adamantine
| Steel
| Iron
| Bronze, Bismuth Bronze
| Copper
|
|
|-
| Edged Weapons
| Adamantine
| Steel
| Iron
| Bronze, Bismuth Bronze
| Copper
| Silver
| For piercing iron armor, copper is better than bronze. For piercing copper or bronze armor, bronze is better than copper.
|-
| Ammunition
| Steel, Iron, Bronze, Bismuth Bronze, Copper, Silver
|
| Adamantine
|
|
|
| Adamantine bolts deflect off of adamantine armor, but otherwise their performance is on par with bolts made out of other metals.
|-
| Blunt Weapons
| Platinum
| Steel, Silver
| Copper, Bismuth Bronze, Bronze, Iron
|
|
| Adamantine
| All six standard weapon metals perform nearly identically. Steel has a slightly higher rate of critical wounds, while silver is slightly more likely to penetrate armor. Platinum (only available as [[artifact]] weapons) has twice the density of silver and several other improved properties, making it the best metal for impact weapons, though very limited in production. Adamantine's light weight makes it a terrible choice for blunt weapons, roughly the same as making a weapon out of cork.
|}

Cross referencing this table with the table at the top of this section seems to indicate that low densities, high impact fractures, and high shear fractures contribute to the killing power of edged weapons.

===Analysis===

Testing of weapons (15 dwarves vs. 15 dwarves combats) in the [[object testing arena]] shows that the best dwarven-made weapon against humanoids is the silver war hammer {{version|0.31.12}}.

Even in 15×(steel armor+silver war hammer) versus 15×(adamantine armor+adamantine battle axe) matches, hammerdwarves won with less than 50% casualties (mostly one-strike kills). However, when the dwarves in question were without armor or only wearing leather/cloth, the result was inverted — axedwarves won with less than 50% casualties. In battles against megabeasts, 6 silver hammerdwarves were barely able to scratch a [[bronze colossus]] (attacks were glancing away) due to bronze being a better "weapon" material.

This is because silver has the highest solid density of all materials that can regularly be made into weapons by dwarves. Tests show that indeed [[gold]] and [[platinum]] (increasingly dense) do increasing amounts of damage, and that war hammers remain the tool of choice, however they can only be produced by a moody dwarf (and a very lucky one at that).

For more on ranged ammunition see the forum thread [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=116151.0 Dwarven Research: A Comparison Study on the Effectiveness of Bolts vs Armors].

More arena tests are available in the [[Main:Military testing|Military testing]] article.

There is a bug with melee weapon momentum that causes certain weapons to swing faster than they should do, giving them greater performance. This bug is based on the weight of the weapon, with weapons weighing just under a whole number getting the greatest benefit. Two major beneficiaries of this weight bug are copper whips and iron or steel picks.

==Bugs==
*Equipping weapons/armor on military is erratic{{Bug|535}}
*'One-handed' vs. 'two-handed' checks are performed correctly, but 'can wield' vs. 'can't wield' ignores height and broadness modifiers, so dwarves in Fortress mode cannot equip two-handed swords, great axes, halberds, mauls, or pikes.{{bug|5812}}

==See also==
* [[User:Shinziril#Weapons_and_Armor|Outstanding research]] on weapons and armor by Shinziril

{{Weapons}}
{{Industry}}
{{Category|Weapons}}

Weapon

2014-08-08T16:14:41Z

DracMonster: /* Details */

{{Migrated_article}}
{{Quality|Exceptional|21:11, 29 April 2013 (UTC)}}
{{av}}
:''This page deals entirely with manufactured weapons. For natural weapons, see [[Natural weapon]].''

A '''weapon''' in the sense described on this page is any object specifically designed to be wielded in the pursuit of bodily harm to others. In [[fortress mode]], weapons can be made at a [[metalsmith's forge]] (all metal weapons) using a single bar of metal, a [[bowyer's workshop]] (wooden and bone crossbows), or a [[craftsdwarf's workshop]] ([[obsidian]] short swords).

== Basics ==
=== Native vs. foreign ===
Weapons can be split in two categories: those that you can produce, and those that you can't. [[Weaponsmith]]s can produce seven types of native weapons at a [[metalsmith's forge]], but there are also fourteen foreign weapons that can be found in the hands of enemy combatants, or bought from trading caravans (note, however, that due to bugs, several foreign weapons currently are effectively unusable by dwarves). These may use skills your dwarves are unfamiliar with. It is impossible to buy them in bulk, and they are of variable quality and material. Like all weapons they tend to be expensive as trade good. They may be worth using when they are product of a [[strange mood]] (see strange moods, below). Since they are common for other nations, it is important to understand their properties when you have to fight enemies wielding them.

=== Types of weapons ===
{{main|Attack types}}
From another point of view there are four categories: slashing, piercing, crushing, and ranged.

Slashing weapons, like [[short sword]]s and [[battle axe]]s work by concentrating their force along a sharp blade, allowing them to make gashes in or completely sever body parts. Given the opportunity they make the quickest work of their foes. They are far less effective against armored targets, however, as armor will block most hits and convert them into weaker blunt damage.

Piercing weapons, like [[spear]]s and [[pick]]s work by concentrating their force at a point, allowing them to punch through armor and damage internal organs. They often get stuck, giving their wielder further leverage on the target.

Crushing weapons, like [[war hammer]]s and [[mace]]s, work by concentrating their force behind a large, blunt mass, putting dents in armor and breaking bones beneath their blows. These weapons are slow to kill their targets - dwarves have a habit of breaking every bone in their opponent's body before moving on to the next target - but are the most effective weapons against heavy and heavily armored foes which shrug off damage more easily.

Ranged weapons - [[crossbow]]s, [[bow]]s, and [[blowgun]]s - are effectively piercing weapons which work at a distance. When used in melee combat as a bludgeon, ranged weapons produce blunt weapon damage instead.

There exists one more kind of weapon, so-called training weapons. Training weapons are all wooden, and all made at the [[Carpenter's workshop|carpenter's workshop]]. Training axes, spears, and short swords can be constructed in dwarf fortress mode. They do little blunt impact damage, due to the poor [[material science|material properties]] of wood. They were intended for avoiding injuries to training dwarves during sparring, but are now redundant, since regular weapons no longer cause injuries during sparring. Training weapons can still be useful in [[danger room]]s and [[live training]], but it is preferable to avoid having your dwarves become "attached" to wooden weapons.

=== Types of targets ===
One can divide the types of foes you will meet into three categories. The first is organic and unarmored (or poorly armored) enemies, like [[thief|thieves]], non-sentient [[creature]]s (be it local wildlife or siege mounts), [[semi-megabeast]]s and [[megabeast]]s besides the [[bronze colossus]]. Weapons that deal slashing damage work best and quickest against these types of enemies, severing whole body parts and leaving them severely incapacitated.

The second is organic and armored enemies, like [[ambush]]ers and [[siege]]rs. The way [[armor]] works, slashing blows that are countered by a piece of armor are converted into generally less effective blunt damage; the best damage against these kinds of enemies are piercing weapons, which punch through armor and damage their internal organs, incapacitating them and allowing the wielder to finish them off. Crushing weapons work as well, although they are slower.

The third and most dangerous types of enemies are inorganic enemies (or ones that [[Giant cave spider|don't feel pain]]), which are [[titan]]s, [[forgotten beast]]s, [[bronze colossus]]es, and [[HFS|hidden fun stuff]]. These enemies ''have'' no internal organs, and depending on the material they are made of, may be very difficult to slash at (although a forgotten beast made of, for instance, mud is laughably easy to kill). Against these enemies, crushing weapons are the best, because they can chip at their foes until they collapse from cumulative damage.

=== Weapon skill ===
{{main|Combat skill#Weapon skill}}
Every type of weapon has its own associated [[military]] [[skill]]. The higher a dwarf is in his skill with a weapon, the better he will be able to use it in combat, connecting hammer blows to more advantageous sweet spots and sending spears right through enemy hearts and lungs with greater accuracy. The higher the weapon skill, the better at fighting the dwarf will be.

Once a dwarf has reached "Great" skill in a certain weapon, they become weapon lords for that specific weapon. They are listed as such on the [[status]] screen, will love fighting, and will no longer complain about long patrol duties. Weapon skill is trained in fighting enemies in combat, demonstrations, and combat drills, but if you leave your dwarves shieldless, a [[danger room]] will train their skill very, very quickly. Note that this does not quite work for marksdwarves - danger rooming ranged weapons increases their melee skill, increasing their hammerdwarf skill, although [[Cross-training|this may be the point]].

=== Attachment ===
A dwarf that has used a particular weapon for a long time will grow attached to it, equipping it whenever their uniform allows them to. This is fine if they are wielding a ☼Steel Mace☼, but a major problem if they are wielding what is meant to be a training weapon (be it a wooden axe or a copper spear). You can avoid this pitfall by not using training weapons and not forging weapons until you have real weaponsmithing underway. These events generate [[announcement]]s. If a dwarf does become attached you can easily force him to relinquish the weapon by assigning a 'specific weapon' instead in his equipment view.

In addition, dwarves that reach a certain number or level of kills with a weapon will name it. This prompts a major announcement, and usually happens after a dwarf manages to put down something significant — a forgotten beast for instance. Only the last shot counts for the [[kill list|kill]]. Once named, the weapon will appear in the artifact list, albeit in blue.

Dwarves may also become attached to shields and name them in the same way.

=== Quality and strange moods ===
The quality of a weapon has a significant (and currently poorly understood) impact on its combat performance, as well as its [[value]].
{{v0.31:Item quality/Table}}

Weaponsmithing is a moodable profession, which means that you can get [[artifact]] weapons. This is a bit of a mixed bag: although a legendary [[armorsmith]] would be more useful, it's certainly better than a legendary [[tanner]]. Artifact weapons have a 3x combat bonus and can be made out of a wide range of materials; ordinarily a [[rainbow trout]] [[bone]] spear is impossible, but a moody dwarf can create one with a single trout bone. Artifact weapons made of totally inappropriate materials are inferior to regular ones made of weapons-grade metal, although the exact balance is still under discussion.

Dwarves in strange moods are not held to producing native weapons, and in fact often don't, as the number of foreign weapons outnumbers the natives. In the case where they create a valuable and battle-worthy foreign weapon (like a steel two-handed sword), it's worth it to manually go through your dwarves to find someone who can best utilize it, and assign it to him. See the caveats of foreign weapons however, discussed below.

=== Weapons as tools ===
[[Hunter]]s use crossbows, [[Wood cutter]]s use [[battle axe]]s, and [[miner]]s use [[pick]]s. They must be in possession of these items to do their jobs, and it's as simple as that.

Hunters gain [[marksdwarf]] skill from hunting, but wood cutters do not gain [[axedwarf]] weapon skill from cutting trees. Miners gain [[mining]] skill, which is not considered a military skill, but is used as a weapon skill when fighting with a pick. A dwarf using a weapon as a tool may opt not to use the same tool as a military weapon, instead dropping their tool to pick up another from a stockpile. Dwarves may carry only one weapon as a tool at a time; for example, woodcutters/hunters will drop their axes then go and pick up crossbows every time they begin hunting.

=== Ammunition ===
:''Main article: [[Ammunition]]''

[[Crossbow]]s and other ranged weapons require [[ammunition]] (in the case of the crossbow, [[bolt]]s). This ammunition is carried in a [[quiver]] in packs of about 25, and when they run out they will switch to using their ranged weapons as crude hammers. It's often a good idea to try to get them to retreat once they run out of ammo — crossbows are meant for shooting, not bashing.

=== Secondary weapons ===
Although it sounds like a cool idea, equipping a marksdwarf with a backup short sword just in case doesn't often work, as dwarves are just as quick to run up their foes and start bashing them with a crossbow as they are to draw their swords and do it properly.

== Weapons ==
=== Native weapons ===
{| class="wikitable" border="border"
! Type
! Size
! Attack
! [[Attack type]]
! Contact Area
! Penetration
! Velocity
! Skill Used
! Hands Used
! [[Weaponsmith|Metal]]
! [[Bowyer|Wood]]
! [[Bowyer|Bone]]
! [[Stone crafter|Obsidian]]
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="3"| [[battle axe|Battle Axe]]
|rowspan="3"| 800
| Hack || Edge || 40000 || 6000 || 1.25x
|rowspan="3"| Axe
|rowspan="3"| Singlegrasp
|rowspan="3"| Yes
|rowspan="3"| No
|rowspan="3"| No
|rowspan="3"| No
|-
| Flat slap || Blunt || 40000 || (6000) || 1.25x
|-
| Pommel strike || Blunt || 100 || (1000) || 1.0x
|-
| [[Crossbow]] (Melee)
| 400
| Bash || Blunt || 10000 || (4000) || 1.25x
| Hammer
| Singlegrasp?
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| No
|-
| [[Mace]]
| 800
| Bash || Blunt || 20 || (200) || 2.0x
| Mace
| Singlegrasp
| Yes
| No
| No
| No
|-
| [[Pick]] (foreign)
| 500
| Strike || Edge || 100 || 4000 || 2.0x
| Mining
| Singlegrasp
| Yes
| No
| No
| No
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="4"| [[short sword|Short Sword]]
|rowspan="4"| 300
| Slash || Edge || 20000 || 4000 || 1.25x
|rowspan="4"| [[Sword]]
|rowspan="4"| Singlegrasp
|rowspan="4"| Yes
|rowspan="4"| No
|rowspan="4"| No
|rowspan="4"| Yes
|-
| Stab || Edge || 50 || 2000 || 1.0x
|-
| Flat slap || Blunt || 20000 || (4000) || 1.25x
|-
| Pommel strike || Blunt || 100 || (1000) || 1.0x
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="2"| [[Spear]]
|rowspan="2"| 400
| Stab || Edge || 20 || 10000 || 1.0x
|rowspan="2"| Spear
|rowspan="2"| Singlegrasp
|rowspan="2"| Yes
|rowspan="2"| No
|rowspan="2"| No
|rowspan="2"| No
|-
| Shaft bash || Blunt || 10000 || (6000) || 1.25x
|-
| [[war hammer|War Hammer]]
| 400
| Bash || Blunt || 10 || (200) || 2.0x
| Hammer
| Singlegrasp
| Yes
| No
| No
| No
|}

Note that although the [[pick]] is a foreign weapon, it can be produced by dwarves and is therefore considered native.

=== Details ===
*If you find your dwarves wearing more than one weapon -- or any unwanted [[armor]], for that matter -- one way to get rid of them is to dump the weapon from their {{k|v}}-{{k|i}} inventory screen. This does not always work, as they might re-equip the item. Another option is to remove any weapons and/or shields listed on their military equip screen. This too does not always work. At least "left-handedness" seems to not pose a problem. If you cancel the work by {{k|v}}-{{k|p}} and selecting a job that needs a tool they will sometimes put it back in the pile. Example: Miners use picks, cancel their mining job and they will put the pick away AFTER you ordered it to be dumped.
* Using weapons is much more effective than unarmed combat -- an untrained swordsdwarf with an [[iron]] weapon can defeat a grand master [[wrestler]], provided neither is wearing armor.
** Larger weapons with more heft tend to do more damage. How damage is calculated is currently not fully understood, and this is an area requiring more research.
* The size for a weapon is its volume in cm3.
* Attacks of type EDGE will either slice or pierce their target, depending on the contact area and penetration depth, while BLUNT attacks tend to damage internal organs without necessarily causing significant damage to outer layers.
* The contact area represents the area of contact of the weapon, and the penetration determines how deep the attack goes (and is apparently ignored entirely for BLUNT attacks -- indicated by numbers in parentheses). Large contact areas combined with low penetration represent slashing attacks, while small contact areas with high penetration behave as piercing attacks.
* The velocity seems to adjust the amount of actual force used during the attack (otherwise based on the size of the weapon, the material from which the weapon is made, and the strength of the wielder) - for example, war hammers have a 2x velocity multiplier, presumably to model the fact that the hammer's mass is concentrated at the tip which, when combined with a long handle, permits swinging it harder than a weapon whose mass is evenly distributed (such as a sword).
* Crossbows can be made of metal, wood, and bone. Metal crossbows are made by a [[weaponsmith]] at a [[forge]], while wood and bone crossbows are made by a [[bowyer]] at a bowyer's workshop. The material of a crossbow does not affect its firing ability, only its melee damage. A dwarf's marksmanship skill is only affected by the core [[item quality|quality]] of the bow. This may be a consideration when deciding which dwarf you want outfitting your marksdwarves: a [[experience|legendary]] bowyer is a better choice than a proficient weaponsmith.
* Dwarves will never select a pick for a weapon if allowed "individual choice." You must specify picks as part of their uniform or on the individual equip screen if you wish to utilize them as weapons.

=== Training weapons ===
All [[training weapon]]s must be made of [[wood]] at the [[carpenter's workshop]].

{| class="wikitable" border="border"
|-
! Type
! Size
! Attack
! [[Attack type]]
! Contact Area
! Penetration
! Velocity
! Skill Used
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="3"| Training Axe
|rowspan="3"| 800
| Hack || Blunt || 30000 || (6000) || 1.25x
|rowspan="3"| Axe
|-
| Flat slap || Blunt || 30000 || (6000) || 1.25x
|-
| Pommel strike || Blunt || 100 || (1000) || 1.0x
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="4"| Training Sword
|rowspan="4"| 300
| Slash || Blunt || 20000 || (4000) || 1.25x
|rowspan="4"| Sword
|-
| Stab || Blunt || 50 || (2000) || 1.0x
|-
| Flat slap || Blunt || 20000 || (4000) || 1.25x
|-
| Pommel strike || Blunt || 100 || (1000) || 1.0x
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="2"| Training Spear
|rowspan="2"| 400
| Stab || Blunt || 200 || (10000) || 1.0x
|rowspan="2"| Spear
|-
| Shaft bash || Blunt || 10000 || (6000) || 1.25x
|}

=== Foreign weapons ===
Using any multigrasp weapon in a single hand (i.e. with a shield in the other hand) gives you a disability to hit. Do not equip two-handed swords with a shield, for instance.

In Adventurer Mode, however, it is possible to wield a two-handed sword, or any multigrasp weapon in one hand, without penalty (allowing for the simultaneous use of a shield) if your character passes the one-handed check for single-handing a multigrasp weapon. For example, if you create a Human character, and manage to spawn into a world with a "broad body" or a "tall body" in the character description, you will be able to single-hand any multigrasp weapon (and will be forced to, much like you are forced to single-hand any singlegrasp weapon), which allows for the simultaneous, disability-free use of a shield, thus making your damage and defensive capabilities much higher than they would be with a singlegrasp weapon and shield. Note that upping Strength to Superior (and eventually Superhuman) will make all attacks more likely to deal extra damage, making cutting off the limbs of your enemies much easier.

{| class="wikitable" border="border"
|-
! Type
! Size
! Attack
! [[Attack type]]
! Contact Area
! Penetration
! Velocity
! Skill Used
! Used by
! Hands Used
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="4"| [[two-handed sword|2H Sword]]
|rowspan="4"| 900
| Slash || Edge || 100000 || 8000 || 1.25x
|rowspan="4"| Sword
|rowspan="4"| [[Goblin]], [[Human]]
|rowspan="4"| Multigrasp
|-
| Stab || Edge || 50 || 4000 || 1.0x
|-
| Flat slap || Blunt || 100000 || (8000) || 1.25x
|-
| Pommel strike || Blunt || 100 || (1000) || 1.0x
|- valign="top"
| [[Blowgun]] (Melee)
| 150
| Bash || Blunt || 10000 || (4000) || 1.25x
| Sword
| Subterranean animal peoples
| Singlegrasp?
|- valign="top"
| [[Bow]] (Melee)
| 300
| Bash || Blunt || 10000 || (4000) || 1.25x
| Sword
| [[Elf]], Goblin, Human, [[Kobold]]
| Singlegrasp?
|- valign="top"
| [[Flail]]
| 500
| Bash || Blunt || 200 || (4000) || 2.5x
| Mace
| Goblin, Human
| Singlegrasp
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="3"| [[great axe|Great Axe]]
|rowspan="3"| 1300
| Hack || Edge || 60000 || 8000 || 1.25x
|rowspan="3"| Axe
|rowspan="3"| Goblin, Human
|rowspan="3"| Multigrasp
|-
| Flat slap || Blunt || 60000 || (8000) || 1.25x
|-
| Pommel strike || Blunt || 100 || (1000) || 1.0x
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="3"| [[Halberd]]
|rowspan="3"| 1200
| Slash || Edge || 20000 || 8000 || 1.25x
|rowspan="3"| Axe
|rowspan="3"| Goblin, Human
|rowspan="3"| Multigrasp
|-
| Stab || Edge || 50 || 2000 || 1.0x
|-
| Shaft bash || Blunt || 20000 || (6000) || 1.25x
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="3"| [[Dagger]] (Large)
|rowspan="3"| 200
| Slash || Edge || 1000 || 800 || 1.25x
|rowspan="3"| Dagger
|rowspan="3"| Goblin, Kobold
|rowspan="3"| Singlegrasp
|-
| Stab || Edge || 5 || 1000 || 1.0x
|-
| Pommel strike || Blunt || 20 || (600) || 1.0x
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="4"| [[long sword|Long Sword]]
|rowspan="4"| 700
| Slash || Edge || 60000 || 6000 || 1.25x
|rowspan="4"| Sword
|rowspan="4"| Elf, Goblin, Human
|rowspan="4"| Singlegrasp
|-
| Stab || Edge || 50 || 3000 || 1.0x
|-
| Flat slap || Blunt || 60000 || (6000) || 1.25x
|-
| Pommel strike || Blunt || 100 || (1000) || 1.0x
|- valign="top"
| [[Maul]]
| 1300
| Bash || Blunt || 100 || (6000) || 2.0x
| Hammer
| Goblin, Human
| Multigrasp
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="2"| [[Morningstar]]
|rowspan="2"| 500
| Bash || Edge || 10 || 500 || 2.0x
|rowspan="2"| Mace
|rowspan="2"| Goblin, Human
|rowspan="2"| Singlegrasp
|-
| Pommel strike || Blunt || 50 || (1000) || 1.0x
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="2"| [[pike (weapon)|Pike]]
|rowspan="2"| 800
| Stab || Edge || 20 || 12000 || 1.0x
|rowspan="2"| Pike
|rowspan="2"| Goblin, Human
|rowspan="2"| Multigrasp
|-
| Shaft bash || Blunt || 10000 || (6000) || 1.25x
|- valign="top"
|rowspan="4"| [[Scimitar]]
|rowspan="4"| 300
| Slash || Edge || 20000 || 4000 || 1.25x
|rowspan="4"| Sword
|rowspan="4"| Goblin, Human
|rowspan="4"| Singlegrasp
|-
| Stab || Edge || 50 || 2000 || 1.0x
|-
| Flat slap || Blunt || 20000 || (4000) || 1.25x
|-
| Pommel strike || Blunt || 50 || (1000) || 1.0x
|- valign="top"
| [[Scourge]]
| 300
| Lash || Edge || 10 || 50 || 2.0x
| Whip
| Goblin
| Singlegrasp
|- valign="top"
| [[Whip]]
| 100
| Lash || Blunt || 1 || (10) || 5.0x
| Whip
| Goblin, Human
| Singlegrasp
|}

== Size==

Weapons have a minimum size to use at all, and a minimum size to use one-handed. Adult dwarves vary in size between 33750 and 93750 (average 60000) based on their height and broadness.

Unfortunately this is currently bugged in Fortress mode.{{Bug|0005812}} 'One-handed' vs. 'two-handed' checks are performed correctly, but 'can wield' vs. 'can't wield' ignores height and broadness modifiers. So Dwarves in Fortress mode will never equip two-handed swords, great axes, halberds, mauls, or pikes. Other weapons have a minimum wielding size of less than 60000, and are wielded one-handed if the individual dwarf is large enough. See [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=119068.msg3790913#msg3790913 this] forum post.

The following table shows approximately how many dwarves ''should be'' able to use each weapon one or two handed (see [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=101379.msg3029579#msg3029579 this forum post] for details), with all fractional numbers being approximate. While there are seven categories each for height and broadness, the number used is chosen randomly from within each category.

Where the size checking bug affects weapon wielding for dwarves, correct approximate figures are given in brackets.
{| class="wikitable" border="border"
|-
! Type
! Min Size
(Two-Handed)
! Min Size
(One-Handed)
! Dwarves
Can't Wield
! Dwarves Wield
Two-Handed
! Dwarves Wield
One-Handed
|- valign="top"
| [[battle axe|Battle Axe]]
| 42500
| 47500
| 1/49 (0)
| 10/49 (11/49)
| 38/49
|- valign="top"
| [[Crossbow]] (Melee)
| 15000
| 0
| -
| -
| 49/49
|- valign="top"
| [[Mace]]
| 32500
| 37500
| -
| 1/49
| 48/49
|- valign="top"
| [[Pick]]
| 42500
| 47500
| 1/49 (0)
| 10/49 (11/49)
| 38/49
|- valign="top"
| [[short sword|Short Sword]]
| 32500
| 37500
| -
| 1/49
| 48/49
|- valign="top"
| [[Spear]]
| 5000
| 47500
| -
| 11/49
| 38/49
|- valign="top"
| [[war hammer|War Hammer]]
| 32500
| 37500
| -
| 1/49
| 48/49
|- valign="top"
| Training Axe
| 42500
| 47500
| 1/49 (0)
| 10/49 (11/49)
| 38/49
|- valign="top"
| Training Sword
| 32500
| 37500
| -
| 1/49
| 48/49
|- valign="top"
| Training Spear
| 42500
| 47500
| 1/49 (0)
| 10/49 (11/49)
| 38/49
|- valign="top"
| [[two-handed sword|2H Sword]]
| 62500
| 77500
| 32/49 (ALL)
| 14/49 (0)
| 3/49 (0)
|- valign="top"
| [[Blowgun]] (Melee)
| 15000
| 0
| -
| -
| 49/49
|- valign="top"
| [[Bow]] (Melee)
| 15000
| 0
| -
| -
| 49/49
|- valign="top"
| [[Flail]]
| 42500
| 47500
| 1/49 (0)
| 10/49 (11/49)
| 38/49
|- valign="top"
| [[great axe|Great Axe]]
| 62500
| 77500
| 32/49 (ALL)
| 14/49 (0)
| 3/49 (0)
|- valign="top"
| [[Halberd]]
| 62500
| 77500
| 32/49 (ALL)
| 14/49 (0)
| 3/49 (0)
|- valign="top"
| [[Dagger]] (Large)
| 5000
| 27500
| -
| -
| 49/49
|- valign="top"
| [[long sword|Long Sword]]
| 52500
| 57500
| 11/49 (0)
| 7/49 (18/49)
| 31/49
|- valign="top"
| [[Maul]]
| 62500
| 77500
| 32/49 (ALL)
| 14/49 (0)
| 3/49 (0)
|- valign="top"
| [[Morningstar]]
| 32500
| 37500
| -
| 1/49
| 48/49
|- valign="top"
| [[pike (weapon)|Pike]]
| 62500
| 77500
| 32/49 (ALL)
| 14/49 (0)
| 3/49 (0)
|- valign="top"
| [[Scimitar]]
| 32500
| 37500
| -
| 1/49
| 48/49
|- valign="top"
| [[Scourge]]
| 22500
| 27500
| -
| -
| 49/49
|- valign="top"
| [[Whip]]
| 22500
| 27500
| -
| -
| 49/49
|}

==Material==
{{v0.31 material metal table head}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Adamantine|color={{Tile|/|3:1}}3:3:1|source=[[Raw adamantine]]|notes= |soliddensity=0.200|mp=25000|val=300|valinc=+50|impactyield=5000|impactfracture=5000|impactelasticity=0|shearyield=5000|shearfracture=5000|shearelasticity=0
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Steel|color={{Tile|/|0:1}}0:7:1|source=[[Iron]] + [[Pig iron]] + [[flux]] stone + [[fuel]] '''!'''|notes= |soliddensity=7.85|val=30|valinc=+20|mp=12718|impactyield=1505|impactfracture=2520|impactelasticity=940|shearyield=430|shearfracture=720|shearelasticity=215
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Bismuth bronze|color={{Tile|/|6:1}}6:6:1|source=2 [[Copper]] + 1 [[Tin]] + 1 [[Bismuth]] '''!'''|notes= |soliddensity=8.25|val=6|valinc=+4|mp=11868|impactyield=602|impactfracture=843|impactelasticity=547|shearyield=172|shearfracture=241|shearelasticity=156
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Bronze|color={{Tile|/|6:0}}6:4:0|source=[[Tin]] + [[Copper]]|notes= |soliddensity=8.25|val=5|valinc=+3|mp=11868|impactyield=602|impactfracture=843|impactelasticity=547|shearyield=172|shearfracture=241|shearelasticity=156
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Iron|color={{Tile|/|0:1}}0:7:1|source=[[Hematite]], [[Limonite]], [[Magnetite]]|notes= |soliddensity=7.85|mp=12768|val=10|valinc=+2|impactyield=542|impactfracture=1080|impactelasticity=319|shearyield=155|shearfracture=310|shearelasticity=189
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Copper|color={{Tile|/|6:0}}6:4:0|source=[[Native copper]], [[Malachite]], [[Tetrahedrite]]|notes= |soliddensity=8.93|mp=11952|val=2|valinc=+0, +0, -1*|impactyield=245|impactfracture=770|impactelasticity=175|shearyield=70|shearfracture=220|shearelasticity=145
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Silver|color={{Tile|/|7:1}}7:7:1|source=[[Native silver]], [[Horn silver]], [[Galena]] (50%), [[Tetrahedrite]] (20%) |notes= |soliddensity=10.49|mp=11731|val=10|valinc=+0, +0, +5*, +7*|impactyield=350|impactfracture=595|impactelasticity=350|shearyield=100|shearfracture=170|shearelasticity=333
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Platinum|color={{Tile|/|7:1}}7:7:1|source=[[Native platinum]]|notes= Only available as Artifact Weapons.|soliddensity=21.4|mp=13182|val=40|valinc=+?, +?, +?, +?|impactyield=350|impactfracture=700|impactelasticity=152|shearyield=100|shearfracture=200|shearelasticity=164
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Bone|color={{Tile|/|7:1}}7:7:1|source=Creatures|notes= |soliddensity=0.50|mp=NONE(burn at 10250)|val=1|valinc=+?, +?, +?, +?|impactyield=200|impactfracture=200|impactelasticity=100|shearyield=115|shearfracture=130|shearelasticity=100
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Wood|color={{Tile|/|6:0}}7:7:1|source=Trees|notes= |soliddensity=0.50|mp=NONE(burn at 10250)|val=1|valinc=+?, +?, +?, +?|impactyield=10|impactfracture=10|impactelasticity=1000|shearyield=40|shearfracture=40|shearelasticity=1000
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Shell|color={{Tile|/|2:0}}7:7:1|source=Creatures|notes= Only available as Artifact Weapons.|soliddensity=0.50|mp=NONE(burn at 10250)|val=1|valinc=+?, +?, +?, +?|impactyield=200|impactfracture=200|impactelasticity=100|shearyield=115|shearfracture=130|shearelasticity=100
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Leather|color={{Tile|/|2:0}}7:7:1|source=Creatures|notes= Material data added for comparison.|soliddensity=0.50|mp=NONE(burn at 10250)|val=1|valinc=+?, +?, +?, +?|impactyield=10|impactfracture=10|impactelasticity=50000|shearyield=25|shearfracture=25|shearelasticity=50000
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Obsidian|color={{Tile|/|0:1}}7:7:1|source=Lava|notes= Only available for Short Swords.|soliddensity=2.67|mp=13600|val=3|valinc=+0|impactyield=120|impactfracture=120|impactelasticity=100|shearyield=15|shearfracture=15|shearelasticity=100
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Crystal glass|color={{Tile|/|7:1}}7:7:1|source=Sand|notes= Only available as Trap Components.|soliddensity=2.6|mp=13600|val=10|valinc=+0|impactyield=1000|impactfracture=1000|impactelasticity=2222|shearyield=33|shearfracture=33|shearelasticity=113
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Clear glass|color={{Tile|/|3:0}}7:7:1|source=Sand|notes= Only available as Trap Components.|soliddensity=2.6|mp=13600|val=5|valinc=+0|impactyield=1000|impactfracture=1000|impactelasticity=2222|shearyield=33|shearfracture=33|shearelasticity=113
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Green glass|color={{Tile|/|2:0}}7:7:1|source=Sand|notes= Only available as Trap Components.|soliddensity=2.6|mp=13600|val=2|valinc=+0|impactyield=1000|impactfracture=1000|impactelasticity=2222|shearyield=33|shearfracture=33|shearelasticity=113
}}

|}

*''Combat information'' is used internally by the game to determine the combat properties of weapons and armor made from this metal:
**'''Density''': Used in conjunction with other factors - heavier weapons (higher numbers) hit with more force, light weapons tend to have less penetration. Value shown here is g/cm3, which is the raw value divided by 103
**'''Impact yield''': Used for blunt-force combat; ''higher'' is better. This is the raw value divided by 103 (i.e., kPa).
**'''Impact fracture''': Used for blunt-force combat; ''higher'' is better. This is the raw value divided by 103 (i.e., kPa).
**'''Impact elasticity''' (or '''strain at yield'''): Used for blunt-force combat; ''lower'' is better. This is the raw value.
**'''Shear yield''': Used for cutting calculations in combat; ''higher'' is better. This is the raw value divided by 103 (i.e., kPa).
**'''Shear fracture''': Used for cutting calculations in combat; ''higher'' is better. This is the raw value divided by 103 (i.e., kPa).
**'''Shear elasticity''' (or '''strain at yield'''): Used for cutting calculations in combat; ''lower'' is better. This is the raw value.

*General Term Explanations (From Wikipedia)
**'''Yield Strength''' - The stress at which material strain changes from elastic deformation to plastic deformation, causing it to deform permanently.
**'''Fracture Strength''' - The stress coordinate on the stress-strain curve at the point of rupture.
**'''Stress''' - Force per area = F/A
**'''Strain''' - Deformation of a solid due to stress = Stress/Young's Modulus

=== Explanation ===
* '''Yield Strength''' is the amount of stress required to permanently deform (bend) a material (plastic deformation).
* '''Fracture Strength''' is the amount of stress required to permanently break (rupture) a material.
* '''Elasticity''' or '''Strain at yield''' is the amount of deformation (bending) that occurs at the yield point.

=== Implications ===
Yield strength combined with strain at yield can tell what a material will do under stress (be it from a hammer, axe, or arrow); higher yield means that it takes more stress to deform, while lower strain at yield means that it will deform less when stress is applied.

== Combat testing ==
In regards to edged weaponry: [[Adamantine]] and [[steel]] take first and second place respectively, with [[iron]] the third best material in the game, matched by the [[bronze]]s. Beyond that is [[copper]], the second worst material, and [[silver]] is the worst weapon material available (and due to the existence of training weapons, not even useful in that regard).

Additionally, with regards to blunt weapons almost all of the non-adamantine materials perform equally well, with a very slight edge towards steel and silver. Here is the thread with the details: [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=53571.0].

Keep in mind with how unbelievably complicated this system is nothing should be taken as word of law yet.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#999999"
!
! Best
! Better
! Good
! Fair
! Poor
! Terrible
! Notes
|-
| Armor
| Adamantine
| Steel
| Iron
| Bronze, Bismuth Bronze
| Copper
|
|
|-
| Edged Weapons
| Adamantine
| Steel
| Iron
| Bronze, Bismuth Bronze
| Copper
| Silver
| For piercing iron armor, copper is better than bronze. For piercing copper or bronze armor, bronze is better than copper.
|-
| Ammunition
| Steel, Iron, Bronze, Bismuth Bronze, Copper, Silver
|
| Adamantine
|
|
|
| Adamantine bolts deflect off of adamantine armor, but otherwise their performance is on par with bolts made out of other metals.
|-
| Blunt Weapons
| Platinum
| Steel, Silver
| Copper, Bismuth Bronze, Bronze, Iron
|
|
| Adamantine
| All six standard weapon metals perform nearly identically. Steel has a slightly higher rate of critical wounds, while silver is slightly more likely to penetrate armor. Platinum (only available as [[artifact]] weapons) has twice the density of silver and several other improved properties, making it the best metal for impact weapons, though very limited in production. Adamantine's light weight makes it a terrible choice for blunt weapons, roughly the same as making a weapon out of cork.
|}

Cross referencing this table with the table at the top of this section seems to indicate that low densities, high impact fractures, and high shear fractures contribute to the killing power of edged weapons.

===Analysis===

Testing of weapons (15 dwarves vs. 15 dwarves combats) in the [[object testing arena]] shows that the best dwarven-made weapon against humanoids is the silver war hammer {{version|0.31.12}}.

Even in 15×(steel armor+silver war hammer) versus 15×(adamantine armor+adamantine battle axe) matches, hammerdwarves won with less than 50% casualties (mostly one-strike kills). However, when the dwarves in question were without armor or only wearing leather/cloth, the result was inverted — axedwarves won with less than 50% casualties. In battles against megabeasts, 6 silver hammerdwarves were barely able to scratch a [[bronze colossus]] (attacks were glancing away) due to bronze being a better "weapon" material.

This is because silver has the highest solid density of all materials that can regularly be made into weapons by dwarves. Tests show that indeed [[gold]] and [[platinum]] (increasingly dense) do increasing amounts of damage, and that war hammers remain the tool of choice, however they can only be produced by a moody dwarf (and a very lucky one at that).

For more on ranged ammunition see the forum thread [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=116151.0 Dwarven Research: A Comparison Study on the Effectiveness of Bolts vs Armors].

More arena tests are available in the [[Main:Military testing|Military testing]] article.

There is a bug with melee weapon momentum that causes certain weapons to swing faster than they should do, giving them greater performance. This bug is based on the weight of the weapon, with weapons weighing just under a whole number getting the greatest benefit. Two major beneficiaries of this weight bug are copper whips and iron or steel picks.

==Bugs==
*Equipping weapons/armor on military is erratic{{Bug|535}}
*'One-handed' vs. 'two-handed' checks are performed correctly, but 'can wield' vs. 'can't wield' ignores height and broadness modifiers, so dwarves in Fortress mode cannot equip two-handed swords, great axes, halberds, mauls, or pikes.{{bug|5812}}

==See also==
* [[User:Shinziril#Weapons_and_Armor|Outstanding research]] on weapons and armor by Shinziril

{{Weapons}}
{{Industry}}
{{Category|Weapons}}

Health care

2014-08-08T13:41:39Z

DracMonster: /* Setting up a Hospital */

{{quality|unrated}}{{av}}

A '''hospital''' is a [[Activity zone#Hospital|zone]] designated via the [[Activity zone|zone menu]]. Hospitals use any beds, tables, traction benches, and coffers/bags that have been built within the zone. The hospital will requisition [[thread]], [[cloth]], [[splint]]s, [[crutch]]es, [[plaster powder]] (for casts), [[bucket]]s, and [[soap]] for medical use. These will be stored within the hospital's coffers/bags; you may adjust the desired quantities.

'''Doctors''' are dwarves assigned to any of the five medical labors: [[wound dresser|dressing wounds]], [[diagnostician|diagnosis]], [[surgeon|surgery]], [[bone doctor|setting bones]], and [[suturer|suturing]]. All doctors in the fortress operate under the instruction of the [[Chief medical dwarf]], an appointed [[noble]]. Doctors <strike>inflict</strike> perform medicine on a dwarf only after treatment has been prescribed by a diagnostician. Doctors do not perform any healthcare on animals, despite injured animals "requesting" diagnosis in the [[Health screen|z-health screen]].

All beds within a hospital zone are automatically hospital beds, where injured dwarves will go (or be brought) to recuperate. Tired healthy dwarves will occasionally camp there too if the hospital is close, even if they have their own bed.

==Setting up a Hospital==
* Hit {{k|i}} and set up a hospital [[zone]] in the area you plan on having your hospital. Be sure "Hospital" is highlighted. Proximity to [[water]] is a plus, since patients need to be washed and cannot drink alcohol.
* Place enough [[bed]]s in that zone to ensure you can keep all wounded dwarves in the hospital, plus a few spare that will be occupied by lazy couch-surfers.{{bug|647}} Note that normal beds or [[bedroom]]s can and will accept wounded dwarves whether or not a hospital zone exists, though hospital beds will be preferred if they are free. Doctors do not need a hospital zone, though a lack of equipment will probably limit care options.
* Build [[container]]s ({{k|b}}-{{k|h}}) to store hospital supplies. A small hospital can manage with 2 containers, a fully fledged fortress with an adventurous military may need as much as 8. Also note that some people recommend setting up custom stockpiles instead. (However, hospitals no longer vacuum up all your cloth, so this isn't mandatory anymore.)
* Build at least one [[table]] ({{k|b}}-{{k|t}}) for surgeons to perform surgery on. You may perform surgery without tables; it will be more messy.
** Place the tables right next to the beds, or you may get "cancels surgery, patient not resting" spam, as moving the sleeping patient more than one square from the bed to the table wakes up the patient. {{bug|2773}}
** Multiple dwarves may undergo simultaneous surgeries on the same table.
* Build one or more [[traction bench]]es to handle compound fractures when the dwarf requires "immobilization." Remember to check back on the <strike>victim</strike> patient after a while or they may be in the traction bench for a long, long time.{{bug|4470}} (Or be lucky; sometimes immobilization requests simply disappear with no bad consequences.)
** Each traction bench can only accommodate one dwarf at a time, and the dwarf may be there for quite some time, so plan accordingly.
* Stockpiles are not needed but can be used instead of chests and bags in the hospital zone.
* Assign a [[chief medical dwarf]] (in the [[noble]]s screen) to enable the fortress-wide [[health screen]] as well as invidual dwarves' health summary screens ({{k|v}}-{{k|z}}-{{k|h}}).
* Pick one or more dwarves to be doctors, and enable the health labor(s) on them (through {{k|v}}-{{k|p}}-{{k|l}}). Be sure the diagnosis labor is well covered. Without a diagnosis, patients cannot be treated. If they cannot be treated, they will occupy the hospital area until they die, performing no function. (Any dwarf with the Diagnosis labor enabled can diagnose dwarves, but the Chief Medical Dwarf may impact the diagnosis job creation{{verify}}. Once a patient is diagnosed, you can see on the individual health screen what procedures are needed, for example washing or suturing.)
* If you use a [[burrow]] to keep doctors near the hospital zone, ensure that this burrow covers all needed materials or you could get job cancellations because of lack of material. Thread/cloth stockpiles, and items bought from caravans (e.g. plaster early in the game) are often the most troubling.

== Skills and Injuries==
'''Doctors''' have 5 specialized skills and 2 support healthcare labors.

[[Diagnostician]] -- [[Surgeon]] -- [[Suturer]] -- [[Wound dresser]] -- [[Bone doctor]] -- Feed patients/prisoners -- [[Recovering wounded]]

Those with the '''recover wounded''' labor will attempt to bring a wounded dwarf to the hospital zone, or lacking one to the nearest unoccupied bed. Note that recovering wounded appears to be an extremely low priority task. Since immobile patients will need to be carried to a hospital before diagnosis, it may be necessary to temporarily disable all other labors on another dwarf to move them first.

A '''diagnoser''' will then identify and prescribe a treatment which any doctor (including himself) may carry out. A dwarf cannot be treated without a diagnosis. Depending on the injury a treatment labor will occur. Diagnosis is often required between procedures as well.

[[Wound|Injuries]]
:{| border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=1 style="background: black"
|-
| '''NONE: No recorded active wounds on the part.'''
|-
| '''MINOR: Any damage that doesn't have functional/structural consequences (might be heavy bleeding, though).'''
|-
| '''INHIBITED: Any muscular, structural, or functional damage, without total loss.'''
|-
| '''FUNCTION LOSS: An important function of the part is completely lost, but the part is structurally sound (or, at least partially intact). '''
|-
| '''BROKEN: The part has lost all structural integrity or muscular ability.'''
|-
| '''MISSING: The part is completely gone. '''
|}
If a chief medical dwarf is appointed you can view your fortress' health using the {{k|z}}-status key), or individually by selecting a dwarf and using {{k|w}} for wounds section.
* '''Bones''' can be set and treated by bone doctors depending on severity using thread and cloth for fractures, splints and casts, or traction benches. Grasping is often impaired during healing. The {{DFtext|Immobilization Request}} status tag is an indication that a splint or plaster cast is required. Multiple overlapping and compound fractures require a surgeon. Caused by [[attack_types#Blunt_weapons|blunt]] trauma.
*'''Skin and muscle''' can be treated by a suturer using thread and cloth. The wound will continue to bleed until sutured, severe wounds impair grasping during healing. Closed wounds will be dressed by a wound dresser. Caused by [[attack_types#Edged_weapons|slashing]] injuries.
*'''Internal Organs''' can be treated or removed by a surgeon using tables and traction benches. Repair of infected or rotten wounds is treated similarly. Caused by [[attack_types#Piercing_weapons|piercing]] injuries.

Any dwarves with the Feed patients/prisoners labor will attempt to give food or a bucket of water to a hungry or thirsty patient. By default all dwarves start with the non-doctor labors designated. These have no corresponding [[skill]]s - they do not cause experience gain, but merely are activities that can be turned on/off for each dwarf.

==Infection==
Every open wound can become infected. Infections may heal over time; however, many dwarves will die due to infection, often months after the actual wounding.

Causes of infection include:
* No cleaning of the wounds.
* Cleaning with water from a [[Water#Stagnant_Water|stagnant water]] source.
* Cleaning with [[Water#Water_laced_with_mud|water laced with mud]]. {{Verify}}
* Cleaning without [[soap]].
* <s>Bad luck</s> [[Fun]]!

== Equipment ==
=== Traction Benches ===

A '''traction bench''' is used by a [[doctor]] in a [[Hospital|hospital zone]] to immobilize a dwarf that has sustained complex or overlapping fractures.

It is constructed in the [[Mechanic's workshop]], and requires a [[table]], a [[mechanism]], and a [[rope]] or a [[chain]] to construct. The [[quality]] of each component is not reflected in the quality of the traction bench, and only the [[material]] of the table is used as the material for the bench. "Recycling" low-quality, low-value components into high-quality traction benches can provide a modest increase in [[value]]. Note that if any [[Stockpile|stockpiles]] have been linked to "Give" to the workshop, all of the resources needed to construct the traction bench must be found in the linked piles (e.g., linking only a stone stockpile may prevent access to the necessary tables/ropes/chains).

Currently there is a bug that may prevent fully healed dwarves from ever leaving the traction bench. {{bug|4470}} Removing the traction bench will free the dwarf.

Do not be hasty in removing a presumably-stuck dwarf from traction, however. Such treatment takes weeks or months to succeed and removing the dwarf prematurely will undo all the progress that has been made. If the dwarf has been in traction without being diagnosed or otherwise treated for a month and the health screen shows no scheduled treatment, they probably were forgotten and need the traction bench deconstructed to release them. Another possible way to check if a dwarf is stuck is by {{k|v}}iewing the {{k|w}}ounds of the dwarf in question. If the damaged part isn't at red, then the dwarf is stuck.

=== Casts ===

Casts are made out of [[plaster powder]] and are used to keep broken bones in their proper place until healed. To store it in a hospital, build a chest or other container inside the hospital zone. Applying a cast also requires a bucket and cloth, and a water source.

Plaster powder is produced at a [[kiln]] or [[magma kiln]] from [[gypsum]], [[alabaster]], [[selenite]], or [[satinspar]] and an empty [[bag]] by a dwarf with the furnace operator skill enabled. They can also be bought at embark for 3 points per unit; each unit comes with a free [[bag]].

=== Splints ===
Splints immobilize limbs that have sustained bone fractures. They allow the broken limb to be utilized until it is fully healed, Dwarves will be able to leave the hospital and resume their normal duties once securely splinted up since by this stage their wounds have already been cleaned, sutured and dressed. Applied by a bone doctor.

They can be made out of one [[wood]] at the [[carpenter's workshop]] or out of one metal [[bar]] at the [[metalsmith's forge]] or the [[magma forge]]. The use of splints seems to be an effective alternative to applying a plaster cast, which are also easier to obtain and prepare. Splints are categorized as [[finished goods]].

=== Other equipment===
*[[Crutch]]es {{DFtext|┬|770}} help a crippled dwarf walk again.
*[[Table]]s are used to conduct operations on.
*[[Bed]]s are used by patients to rest.
*[[Thread]] is used to suture closed wounds.
*[[Cloth]] is used to clean wounds, wash patients and dress wounds.
*[[Soap]] is used to clean wounds, sterilizing and preventing infection.
*[[Water]] is used to clean wounds, bathe patients and give drink. Patients do not drink alcohol.
*[[Bucket]]s are used to gather and hold the water for its uses.
*[[Container]]s are used to store hospital supplies.

==Tips for an Effective Hospital==
* Regularly use ({{k|i}}-{{k|H}}) to examine your hospital stockpile. Ensure your hospital is well-stocked. If you run out of materials regularly, increase the limits.
* It is possible to do without soap in the hospital stockpile. Choosing to do so, however, increases the risk of infection, which most likely will kill your dwarf. Consult the [[soap]] page to understand that industry. Bring 1 lye on embark for one bar of soap, which translates to 150 units.
* Put a well inside the hospital for maximum efficiency. Doctors need to wash regularly, and clean water reduces infection.
* Do not place chairs next to your surgery tables. A chair is an invitation for rat-roast eating freeloaders to block the medical process.
* Consider making use of [[burrow]]s to ensure your healthcare workers stay in the area.
* You may wish to consider individual rooms for each bed if you find your doctors are choosing to treat Urist McScratched over Urist McBloodFountainTheGushing. A locked door minimizes the mess and thereby infection and allows you to prioritize.
* The Chief Medical Dwarf only enables the Health status screen. The position has no in-game use. Look after your CMDs if you rely heavily on this screen, but otherwise they can be treated as any other dwarf.
** Diagnosis skill level does not affect the diagnosis, only the time it takes for the diagnosis to happen. Embarking with a dwarf skilled in diagnosis (and other medical skills) is helpful, both to speed diagnosis and to stave off skill rust when long periods of time go between injuries.
** Also helpful is enabling medical skills on all dwarves in the fortress, which allows medical jobs to be picked up immediately so long as there is an idle dwarf.
* Create "nurses" by setting dwarves to only use the Recover Wounded, Bring Food and Water labors.
** It is important not to distract doctors from treating patients (or other medical helpers such as crutch haulers, or wounded recoverers).
** "Recover wounded", "Give food" and "Give water" are low priority jobs, so it is entirely possible for a patient to starve to death, dehydrate to death, or bleed to death if no one ever gets "unbusy" enough to bring them food, water, or move them to the hospital.
** Similarly, it is important not to put your doctors at risk by recovering wounded in the middle of a battle—if they become injured, they cannot treat themselves.
* You can select nurses who enjoy helping people to give them good thoughts. This also prevents dwarves that hate bringing others food from receiving unhappy thoughts.
* When a serious injury happens, don't exit (or save) the game until the injured are in the hospital zone, especially if a dwarf is immobile. "Bring crutch" and "Recover Wounded" jobs will be lost, keeping the patient away from the hospital, and doctors will NOT go to patients, even if burrowed with them, because a diagnose job hasn't been created. Sometimes a second "crutch required" or "recover wounded" request will be generated, but often too late for the patient's full recovery. Best bet is ensure someone (not burrowed) has "recover wounded" enabled at all times; burrow doctors doing non-medical tasks immediately; hope the patient makes it to the hospital.

Dwarves will prefer to store and use the most expensive thread and cloth. Yes, that includes special "[[raw adamantine|exotic]]" strands. You may want to forbid these during medical emergencies.

==Bugs==
* For a variety of reasons, an injured dwarf may leave the hospital and/or refuse to go to the hospital. {{Bug|309}}
* Adamantine thread used for suturing. {{Bug|1346}}
* Wounded [[justice|criminals]] don't get sent to the hospital. {{Bug|3901}}
* Your dwarf may get stuck in traction, even after the wounds have healed. If this happens, simply remove the traction bench. {{Bug|4470}}
* The quality and value of a finished traction bench doesn't account for all of the inputs used to make it. {{verify}}
* Purchased plaster powder does not appear in the hospital storage. {{verify}}
* Dwarves resting in bed may be starving/dehydrated and not being taken care of, deconstructing the bed to generate a new Recover Wounded task and force them to rest properly fixes this.

{{d for dwarf}}
Soap is the only item dwarves will use to sterilize a wound. While dwarves are of course aware that humans will pour perfectly quaffable alcohol over their bloody wounds and onto the filthy ground to get the same effect, dwarves understand that some things are more precious than a single life, and face oblivion with a bit more dignity. Application of extreme heat is also well known to prevent infections and seal a wound, but dwarves consider magma the only legitimate heat source, and the non-lethal application of magma a sacrilege.

{{Category|Healthcare}}
{{Industry}}

Trading

2014-07-25T15:29:23Z

DracMonster: /* Elves */

{{Migrated_article}}
{{quality|unrated}}{{av}}

'''Trading''' in Dwarf Fortress first occurs in the first [[Calendar|autumn]] after establishing your fortress, with the arrival of the [[dwarf|Dwarven]] [[Trading#Caravans|caravan]]. Trading is a good way to acquire resources that are not available or are rare in the local area. It also allows for more freedom in selecting starting gear or purchase of additional skills for the expedition party, because items can always be obtained through trade later.

'''Trader''' is the term used at your [[trade depot]] to refer to your fortress representative when dealing with merchants in a visiting caravan ({{key|r}} - "''Trader requested at Depot"''). As a [[profession]], the term applies to visiting merchants and dwarves whose highest [[skill]] is [[Appraiser]].

== Trade Depot ==
{{Main|Trade depot}}
Building a [[trade depot]] is a pre-requisite for trade with caravans that arrive at your fortress.

While it may be convenient to build a Trade Depot outside at first, it is usually a really good idea to move it inside or build walls, bridges and other fortifications around it to protect caravans and your goods from animals (guzzlers), [[thief|thieves]] and [[goblin]]s.

Everything that is on your map belongs to you, except:
* the items that are on merchant animals and wagons
* the items that are on the trade depot (they belong to the caravan until they are moved out of it)
* items worn by non-fortress units are initially forbidden, but can be claimed via unforbidding and dumping them

==Trading Flowchart ==
{{:Trading/Flowchart}}

==Trader to depot==
Before you can begin trading, your fortress's representative trader must be at the [[trade depot]]. Select the [[trade depot]] with {{K|q}} and then {{k|r}}equest the trader. Be sure that {{k|b}} reads "Only broker may trade" if you want your [[broker]] to represent your fortress. If it reads "Anyone can trade", a random, probably unskilled dwarf will volunteer to conduct the trade. Pressing {{k|b}} will toggle this setting. Once your trader has arrived, select the depot again with {{k|q}} and enter the {{k|t}}rade menu. In the trade menu select the items to offer from the right and the desired items from the left. All caravans have a weight limit which cannot be exceeded, and the allowed additional weight is displayed in the lower right corner. If the acting trader has at least Novice or better [[Appraisal]] skill, the value of all items will be displayed. Once the proposal is ready, press {{K|t}} to propose the trade, but merchants will not agree unless they make adequate profit. Be sure to use '''trade''', not '''offer''' {{K|o}}, as this will make a gift of the selected items. The amount of acceptable profit is determined by the trader's [[Broker skills|skills]] and the merchant's mood, described below. Merchants may attempt to propose counteroffers if they do not accept the proposal, which can then be accepted, rejected, or further amended by the trader.

With more experienced traders or pleased merchants, even marginally profitable trades can be successful, and counterproposals can be rejected safely, offering the same trade again. Note however that a low profit margin for the traders may not be desirable - it has been suggested that both export and profit numbers influence the size of next years caravan and, in the case of the dwarven caravan, immigration numbers.{{Verify}}

Goods brought by caravans rarely have base quality higher than superior, and decorations on a good rarely exceed superior as well.

== Trading cue colors ==

* {{DFtext|Brown|6:0}} Items have been created (or modified) by your fortress. They can be traded away or offered as a gift.
* {{DFtext|Gray|7:0}} Items were created by another source. They can be traded, but if one of these items has been selected, the entire selection cannot be offered as a gift.
* {{DFtext|Purple|5:0}} Items are under a no-export mandate. If they are traded away it will result in disciplinary action (see [[justice]]) against the dwarf that brought the item to the depot.
* {{DFtext|Green|2:0}} Items have just been gifted to the caravan and they will not trade it back.
* {{DFtext|Red|4:0}} Items have been seized from another caravan and cannot be traded as is; you will need to decorate them or turn them into other items for them to become "valid" trading items.

Note that containers (barrels, bins, etc.) will be displayed according to the origin of the ''container'', not the contents. So a foreign barrel holding locally-produced beer will display as foreign (white). Once you {{k|v}}iew the container, the locally-made contents are displayed as local (brown).

== Merchant mood ==
If your trader has Novice or better [[Judge of intent]] skill, there will be a line added below the merchant's dialogue describing the caravan's attitude. Their attitude rises with successful trades (especially if they get lots of profit) and falls when you propose deals they don't like.

* (trader) seems ecstatic with the trading
* (trader) seems very happy about the trading
* (trader) seems pleased with the trading
* (trader) seems willing to trade (Default, at least for humans)
* (trader) seems to be rapidly losing patience
* (trader) is not going to take much more of this
* (trader) is unwilling to trade

The happier you make a merchant, the less profit margin he will demand in a trade. If merchants reach the lowest level, no further trade will be possible, and they will immediately pack up and leave your depot. Since annoyed traders are more likely to reject deals, you should be generous in initial negotiations. Skilled negotiators seem less likely to offend traders with unsuccessful deals.

An easy way to capitalize on this mood system is to perform several partial trades. First trade for a few items, offering goods twice the value of the items you ask for (e.g. offer 2000☼ for 1000☼ of his stuff). This will likely make the merchant ecstatic about trading with you. Exit the trade screen, unpause briefly, and then return to trading with a vengeance. With the merchant in such a good mood, he is more likely to counteroffer than reject a trade outright.

== Seizing items ==

Pressing {{K|s}} from the trade menu will seize the selected items of the merchant's. If you seize goods from a caravan, the merchant will respond "Take what you want. I can't stop you." and then leave immediately without the seized goods. Items cannot be seized from the dwarven caravan, and other races will not buy goods stolen from one of their caravans (then marked in red) unless they are tricked into asking for them via counteroffer, or the items are "laundered" by decoration or used to create other goods. Seizing goods will hurt diplomatic relations, but is not grounds for an automatic [[siege]].

Pressing the seize button while no goods are selected will result in the merchant interpreting your seizure as a joke. This apparently does nothing to benefit or hinder your trading.

As a side note, if you deconstruct your trade depot with a caravan in it, all the caravan's items will drop to the ground, to be readily hauled away by your Dwarves. This does not mark the items as stolen, and the caravan will leave. However, ''next'' year's caravan is partly based on the profits from the previous year - so if you are relying on that race's caravans for needed items, you're hurting yourself in the long run.{{Verify}}

Another way to steal without marking as stolen is to forbid the trade depot just before they leave, causing them to leave their goods at the depot.{{Verify}}

If you establish your hospital at the moment the first elven caravan arrives, or if you add the first coffers to it, your dwarves will take all of the cloth and thread they can carry off of the elves.

Note that the civilization attached to a particular caravan will keep track of the value of items the caravan was carrying when they set out to trade, and they will compare this value with the value of items they return home with. Regardless of what method you use to confiscate items from a caravan, even if you came to possess the goods through no fault of your own (an [[ambush]] killed the caravaners, for example) the parent civilization may decide that you stole from them and send a [[siege]] instead of a caravan the following year. It is prudent to take measures to protect caravans visiting your lands!

==Offering items==

{{key|o}} You can also give away items, as gifts to the leaders of the [[civilization]] you are trading with. This presumably helps relations between yourself and the other faction, though there is not yet a clear correlation between the value of the offerings and the improvement to relations. The exact effects of offerings on trading are unknown but it is believed due to the offerings' net trade value being counted towards the traders' profit, possibly with a modifier (possibly a multiplier of more than 1 as a bonus or less than 1 to compensate for the improved relations){{Verify}}, which in turn increases the quantity and variety of trade goods brought by next year's caravan. Also the [[King]] requires offerings to be made before his arrival. You cannot offer items that were not made at your fortress; the traders do not want your spare [[Goblinite]] clothes..

Unless you are looking for [[fun]], under no conditions should you offer or trade items which are wooden or used wood in their creation (glass, for example) to [[elves]], as this will insult the traders, and may cause them to leave or even damage relations enough to provoke a war between you and the elven civilization you traded with. They will be equally insulted by you trading back their wood-related items.

== Miscellaneous Trading Advice ==
* Thieves and thieving critters tend to follow caravans. Expect assaults and intruders.
* Be careful about asking traders to bring lots of individual lightweight items (such as meat and fish) as it can result in traders taking a very long time to unload their goods. Unless the path to your depot is extremely long, though, this is unlikely to cause significant problems.{{Verify}}
** On a similar note, if you have sold a large number of low value goods (such as all the loincloths and cloaks scrounged from a siege,) it can take a caravan ''months'' to pack it all up, to the point where they're still on the depot when the next one comes. An incoming caravan can occupy the same depot and trade with you, but if they both try to go through your entry tunnel at the same time they will become gridlocked against each other, resulting in the destruction of wagons and loss of trade opportunities.
* Create your trading depot inside your fort, preferably in the beginning. Place a 3-tile wide path (which must be free of obstructions such as stairways, traps, minecart tracks and boulders) to the entrance of the fort and position war dogs along it (chains do not block wagons); this will help to protect the traders and keep the depot close to your supplies.
* All caravans will bring extra food (meat and edible plants), wooden logs, and cloth/leather (for making clothes) if the supplies of your fortress are low enough, independent of whether or not you requested them. This does not apply in the case that the weight limit is exceeded by (other) items you requested. The supply situation, as observed by traders, is based solely on the number of unforbidden items in your fortress, stockpiled or not; thus, it is possible to trick caravans into thinking your supplies are low by [[forbid]]ding all of your relevant stocks immediately prior to their arrival.
**In order to '''avoid''' this behavior, you should make sure that, for each dwarf in your fortress, you have the following ''unforbidden'' items:
*** 5 pieces of food - meat, fish, plants, or "other" in your [[Status]] screen (even though "other" includes inedible items)
*** 1 wood log
*** 5 pieces of cloth, pieces of leather, or complete sets of [[wear|pristine]] clothing (shirt+pants+shoe)
* Define your trade depot as a burrow. When traders arrive, you can add your broker or another dwarf, perhaps one you want to train in trading, to the burrow. They will head to the depot immediately, and stay there until you remove them from the burrow.
* Each trade you make (regardless of value) will increase your trader's skills by 50, distributed among Comedian, Flatterer, Intimidator, Judge of Intent, Negotiator, and Persuader. Each skill seems to gain around 5-15 points, but the sum will always be 50. The skill gain occurs as soon as the "t" button is pressed - if the offer is rejected, the dwarf will still gain 50 points. If the same offer is subsequently accepted, no additional skill will be gained.
* Selecting "only broker may trade" ensures that you will start negotiations with a decently-skilled trader, but also requires a significant wait while your broker makes his way to the depot (possibly months if he is "[[on break]]"). Selecting "anyone can trade" will result in a poorly-trained trader arriving immediately. Once your fortress is producing enough goods to buy out the caravan, waiting for your broker is unnecessary; allowing your commoners to trade spreads out the trading skill gains and eliminates the micromanagement of trying to get your broker to the depot in a timely manner.

== Caravans ==
Each friendly race will send a caravan per year, linked to one season, which is autumn for dwarves, summer for humans, spring for elves, and winter for goblins. It is rare for your civilization to be on peaceful terms with goblins, however. In the first year, only a dwarven caravan will arrive, although it will only arrive in late autumn, about a month later than in previous versions. Caravans will only show up if that race considers the fortress site accessible (as denoted on the embark screen), with the exception of dwarves, who always arrive unless they are [[extinct]].{{verify}} Caravans appear to enter the map from a random direction which does not coincide with the relative direction of the originating [[civilization]], and they may appear from different directions or z-levels each year. Caravans may leave without trading if it takes too long to reach the trade depot. Caravans will embark on their journey back exactly one month after their arrival, whether they have succeeded in reaching the depot or not.

Note that if traders or their animals are prevented from leaving, they will eventually go [[insane]].

Also worth mention is the pathing behavior of the entire caravan. If one member of the caravan reaches a block in their chosen path (i.e. a raised drawbridge that was lowered when they entered the map) the entire caravan will re-path, instead of encountering the obstacle one by one. This behavior can be useful when attempting to free "stuck" wagons--a trader on foot encountering an obstacle will cause the stuck wagons to turn around and path to a different exit, if available.

==== [[Dwarves]] ====
:''"Greetings from the mountainhome. Your efforts are legend there. Let us trade!"''

The dwarven caravan:
* arrives in [[Calendar|autumn]].
* carries metal bars, [[leather]], weapons and armor, food and booze, and more. Dwarves alone may bring [[steel]] and steel goods. They can still bring steel (and steel goods) and [[pig iron]] bars even if they do not have access to [[iron]], but will not bring iron products.
* is heavily guarded.
* sends a liaison who will speak with the [[Expedition leader]], [[Mayor]], [[Baron]], [[Count]], or [[Duke]] to negotiate an import-export agreement (unless the [[Monarch]] is present).
* influences the number of immigrants received (if the caravan leaves intact).
* will not cause sieges when repeatedly destroyed or lost.
* is the only caravan to arrive during a fortress' first year.
* always arrives regardless of embark location unless the dwarven civilization is [[extinct]].
* cannot have its goods seized from the trade menu.
* may not arrive if your civilization lacks any notable figures.

==== [[elf|Elves]] ====
[[Image:Evil_elves.png|thumb|400px|A typical elven caravan.]]
:''"Greetings. We are enchanted by your more ethical works. We've come to trade."''

The elven caravan:
* arrives in the [[Calendar|spring]].
* carries [[cloth]], [[rope]]s, various above-ground seeds, [[plant]]s and their byproducts, [[log]]s, [[wood]]en goods & [[weapon]]s, clothing and [[armor]], and may carry tame exotic [[creature]]s.
* Is unguarded.
* does not accept some items in trade:

Elven traders do not like to be offered any tree byproducts unless they are "grown", which only elves can produce. Forbidden (dwarf-made) items include:

* [[Wood]]en items (including subterranean mushrooms such as [[tower-cap]]s)
* Items derived from wood - [[ash]] and [[charcoal]], as well as [[lye]], [[potash]], and [[pearlash]]
* Items made from clear and crystal [[glass]] (due to the [[pearlash]] used) - green glass appears to be perfectly acceptable
* Items [[decoration|decorated]] with any of the above materials
* [[Obsidian]] shortswords (since they have wooden handles)
* [[Soap]] (made with [[lye]])

Offering or trading forbidden items will cause the mood of the trader to drop rapidly, causing them to refuse to trade any more that season and leave immediately. Additionally you will be called uncouth, crude, and barbaric for not understanding their customs.

However, [[stone]] and [[metal]] items, even when [[charcoal]] is used in production, are acceptable (since the elves are unfamiliar with metalworking, and do not know that charcoal is used to make metal items). Items made from [[silk]] are acceptable, as are all non-wooden plant-derived products such as [[cloth]] and [[thread]]. Items made of bone (totems too), horn, shell or leather are acceptable, so are meat and fish. You can also transport your goods to the [[trade depot]] in a wooden [[bin]], as long as you do not try to sell the bin. Living animals are acceptable, as long as the [[cage]] or [[trap]] is not made of [[wood]].

Be especially careful with reselling decorated items from other caravans, as non-wood/glass items may have decorations of wood or clear/crystal glass. Note that items elven caravans sell ''can'' be resold to them, as the elves know that they were made in an elf-kosher way.

Because they do not utilize wagons, elven caravans have a much smaller weight limit than dwarven and human ones, making trading heavy items like furniture problematic.

:''"Once a beautiful tree, and now? It is a rude bauble, fit only for your kind."''

==== [[Human]]s ====
:''"Greetings. The craftsdwarfship of the dwarves is unparalleled. Let's make a deal!"''

The human caravan:
* arrives in [[Calendar|summer]].
* carries metal bars, sand, [[leather]], cloth, wood, food and booze, ropes, waterskins, quivers, backpacks, metal weapons and clothing and armor, cages and a few domestic animals.
* carries only large-sized clothing, which is unusable by dwarves.
* is moderately guarded.

==== [[Goblin]]s and [[Kobold]]s ====
A goblin caravan will only arrive if you mod the game, primarily because their entity lacks the [[entity token]]s needed to make use of pack animals and wagons. That, and one of the tokens (presumably babysnatcher) makes them hostile to all non-goblin civilizations. These same caveats apply to kobolds.

The goblin caravan:
*will arrive every season, four times per year
*unguarded
*brings mostly food and cloth
*does not send a liaison or a guild representative
*does not make import/export agreements

== Diplomats ==
[[Diplomat]]s may be sent by other civilizations to speak to your [[noble]] dwarves (and they ''will'' speak to those dwarves, even if they have to wait at their bedside in the hospital for months after the caravan has left). Diplomats generally appear on the map edge around the time that civilization's caravan would arrive. Meeting with a diplomat may allow you to request specific items for the next caravan to bring (at a premium price), take requests for production for the next caravan (for which the merchants will pay a premium), or sign a cease-fire to end hostilities.

Current trade agreements can be viewed through the Civilization menu ({{k|c}}). These trade agreements are cleared when a diplomat of the corresponding civilization enters the screen, so they are generally not accessible after the caravan has arrived.

In the event that your leader is replaced, killed, or taken by a [[strange mood]], the diplomat may decide to leave your fortress [[stymied|"unhappy"]]. Curiously, this will '''not''' occur if your leader is otherwise unable to perform the "conduct meeting" task. You can currently lock a diplomat in a room and he will wait years to attend the meeting your noble is constantly conducting (and all subsequent diplomats appear to wait in line for the first to finish); this behavior is presumably a bug.{{bug|3027}}

An unhappy diplomat will naturally prevent you from creating trade agreements and ending hostilities. However, it is not currently known what other effects this has on relations with that civilization. Whether the diplomat successfully met with your leader or just gave up, a diplomat who has decided to leave but is prevented from reaching the map edge will eventually go [[insane]].

== Destruction ==
If caravans are destroyed (intentionally or unintentionally), the items may remain for use. Traders caught in a [[cave-in]] will flee as if they were attacked, but will leave all the items dropped by the caravan behind. Pack animals carrying items are affected just like a normal tamed [[mule]] and must be killed in the cave-in for them to drop items on the ground. It is however much more likely that the pack animals will only be stunned or rendered unconscious, and flee shortly after recovering from the hit.

While caravans can defend themselves, they don't like being ambushed. An encounter with unfriendly creatures resulting in the death of any merchant or pack animal will cause them to retreat and forget about trading with you for the season. Repeated caravan destruction (intentional or unintentional) will strain diplomatic relations and may result in a [[siege]].

Ambushing or seizing a caravan and letting a survivor escape seems to have a more detrimental effect than simply annihilating the whole caravan.

== Caravan Delay ==
If a caravan has arrived at your trade depot and is unable to leave for about two months after they finished packing up their goods, the merchants and animals will go insane. This can result in a bunch of merchants attacking your dwarves, or just standing around moping until they starve to death. It is not known for certain if this hurts diplomatic relations, but most likely it's the same as any case where the entire caravan fails to return home.

If you have locked the caravan into your fortress to hold out against a siege, it's a good idea to station a squad of soldiers near the trade depot in case the merchants [[Insanity#Types|go berserk]]. You may also want to make the depot a restricted area to encourage civilians to go around it. Alternatively, you can design the trade depot using drawbridges, so that it can be sealed off from the rest of the fortress during a siege.

If you want the merchants to leave safely, you can build four or more tunnels to each corner of the map, connected to your fortress only by drawbridges. As long as there is no other way to enter and exit your fortress, invaders and merchants will both go towards any tunnel that you activate. You can lock the merchants into the trade depot, and then open a tunnel entrance on one side of the map to make the invaders head towards that tunnel. When they get close to it, you can close it, and then open the entrance on the other side of the map, and let the traders out of the depot. If your fortress and depot are in the middle of the map, this will give the traders quite a head-start to get away.

Merchants can leave the map from any map edge-- including underground map edges. If an unobstructed path through your fortress reaches an edge, then blocking an overland path will cause the merchants to travel underground. This can be useful, if you're suffering a prolonged siege; it can also be dangerous, if your underground regions are less secure than your surface.

Caravan guards cannot be starved, dehydrated, or driven to insanity if prevented from leaving, their employers and animals will however.

If an large amount of items is sold / offered to the caravan, it may take a while to load it all, especially if you chose to keep your precious bins and traded your items individually.

== Bugs ==

*Aggressive, untrainable creatures (captured goblins, for example) cannot be traded; when a dwarf attempts to move the caged animal to the Depot, the creature is set free.
*If your [[hospital]] isn't already stocked with the specified amount of thread/cloth, your dwarves will carry off as much from the caravan as they need to fill it. {{Bug|66}}
*Caravans show up very late in the season. {{Bug|1756}}
*One outgoing trade caravan can run into another incoming trade caravan, leading to them getting stuck in the entrance to your fortress, wagons breaking, trade failing, and other problems. Rarely, this can even happen out in the open, when they are surrounded by plenty of space to maneuver. {{Bug|5687}}
*[[Unfortunate accident|Killed]] caravan guards can't be [[slab|memorialized]] {{Bug|5755}}
*If a caravan attempts to leave in late Winter/early Spring, they may try to path over any large frozen body of water. If the water thaws while the caravan is on it, the caravan will become magically stuck in mid-air for the majority of the year (until the water refreezes). At this point, if they are still alive, they will leave the map normally.
*When merchants leave with an animal, the merchants seem to be dragging their beast of burden instead of leading it. If the animal is incapacitated but not dead, the merchant will continue to walk at the same speed, dragging the unconscious beast
*If a merchant's chosen map edge exit is guarded by a hostile creature (including those on a [[restraint]]), the merchant will wander back and forth repeatedly and eventually go insane rather than path to an alternate exit.

== Loyalty cascade ==
{{main|Faction#Loyalty cascade|l1=Faction}}
If you order your military to kill merchants from your own civilization, a bizarre result of the way loyalty is handled makes the members of your military who attacked the traders become enemies of your civilization, but members of your fort's government (dwarves of this [[faction]] are referred to as ''separatists''). As enemies, they attack your other dwarves (''citizens''), but as members of the fort, they still follow orders. Allowing citizen militia dwarves to attack the separatists will give them opposite loyalties of the separatists, (i.e. loyal to civ, not to fort), or ''loyalists'', who do '''not''' follow orders. And then, if a separatist or loyalist kill a citizen, they become enemies of the civ '''and''' fort, making them ''Renegades'', who are essentially complete enemies of the citizens.

To prevent the cascade from spreading, order the original separatists away from the fortress and let them fight amongst themselves. If the results are renegades, it is okay to allow other dwarves to kill them (by stationing them nearby). If the results are separatists/loyalists, then you will need to separate them somehow.

== Exploits ==

*Deconstructing the Depot will cause merchants to leave your fortress and abandon any goods in the Depot because items are not available until the building is fully deconstructed. However any animals they had caged will still belong to the merchants and only become friendly, you won't actually own them. According to Toady One, this is actually working as intended, and is not really an exploit or bug: "...the reckoning comes when they return with lesser value, and it has the same negative effect (it'll be listed as a disaster rather than an intentional seizing -- the depot could be destroyed, for instance -- but it counts for the same value if I remember). The overall wording could be changed and the interaction could be deepened to recognize this or that, but it's working as intended."[http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=293#c8393]

*If you wait some time (2-3 months{{verify}}), you can "claim" animals by linking a lever to the cage and opening it, the animals will be released in a tamed state. Check the {{k|u}}nit screen before releasing them; if the creatures still show as Merchant creatures, they will wander off the map when released; if they show as Tame creatures, they will stay once released.

Irrigation

2014-07-22T04:19:09Z

DracMonster:

{{Migrated_article}}
{{Quality|Masterwork|23:39, 27 April 2013 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

[[farm plot|Farming]] is only possible on [[mud]] and soil. Any terrain can be made muddy, and therefore suitable for farming, by dumping water on it. In Dwarf Fortress, 'Irrigation' is used as a fancy word for dumping water onto terrain that isn't useful for farming, in order to make it so. Once your floor is successfully muddied no further irrigation will be required, unless you somehow remove the mud (by building a [[construct]]ed floor, for instance).

Any amount of water dropped, pumped, or otherwise transported onto a tile will leave behind at least 'a dusting of mud', and this is sufficient for farming. Farm plots cannot be built on terrain with [[water depth|a water level of more than 1/7]], and more mud has no apparent effect on farm output, so it's best to use a minimum of water to irrigate.

Irrigation is especially useful in [[biome|biomes]] with little soil, and deep underground. However, no amount of irrigation will make it possible to grow surface plants in a hostile [[biome]], such as mountains. This is a matter of climate, not soil conditions.

Farm plots can be built on unsuitable ground but doing so will display a warning message. If even a one tile of the plot lacks mud or soil, the entire plot will be unusable. (However, note that when placing an outdoor farm plot, the game will always erroneously report that there is no usable mud/soil. This is a bug - if the plot is green it will function correctly.)

[[Magma]] cannot be used to irrigate, as it does not leave behind mud. It's usually best not to confuse molten rock and liquid water, although the use of both in tandem may help with schemes to irrigate [[glacier|glaciers]].

All types of [[soil]] can be farmed with no need for irrigation, even [[sand]]. Irrigation is '''''not''''' required for farming. Any soil underground can be used to farm; irrigation is only required on stone.

== Easy Irrigation ==

At its simplest, all that's required for irrigation is a water source, a drop-off point, and a dwarf with a bucket.

Very little land is required to provide all the farm field resources a fortress needs to survive and prosper, so this method should suffice in most cases. Of course, we have many other methods documented here for more ambitious sorts.

=== via Buckets===

This method relies on [[activity zone]]s, as water for irrigation can't simply be dropped on the ground, but must fall from the level above.

Step one: Designate a water source activity zone over the edge of a body of water. In a saltwater biome, a [[well]] must be constructed, instead.

Step two: Dig out or construct a drop-off point just above where you want your farms to be. This most often takes the form of a balcony, catwalk, or scaffolding. Alternately, [[mining|channel]] out a shaft and/or staircase all the way up to the surface. Water can safely fall any distance.

Step three: Designate a pit/pond area at the drop-off point, or several if you'd prefer speed over conservation of buckets. By default, these zones are pits, make sure to switch them to ponds, and to remove them once you have all the mud you need.

That's it!

=== via Murky Pool===

Most areas contain [[murky pool]]s, full of stagnant water. Though unpleasant to drink, in DF terms it's as useful as any water for irrigation. Like any other body of water, it can be used as a source for buckets, but the limited quantity also helps a simple plan to dig into or around it, and drain it out to create farmland.

The final [[water depth|water level must be less than 2/7]] in order for the water to evaporate and provide access to the muddy tiles for farming. When using this method, it's easier to use smaller pools.

There are two approaches to reducing the final water level, without using pumps. One is to leave plenty of room. If the area to be irrigated is 5-6 times the size of the pool, the water inside will evaporate on its own, even in [[temperate]] climates. The other way is to leave a route for the water to flow out. If the pool and the dug out area are separate, [[mining|channeling]] can be used to connect them with no danger of drowning.

== Complex Irrigation ==
The following methods of irrigation take longer to build, but they can be more powerful, better-looking, and, of course, much more [[fun]].

=== via Screw Pump ===
A [[screw pump]] can be used to lift water and dump it into a chamber directly next to the water source. There are many ways to go about this, but one particularly simple, easy, and safe method requires a chamber dug out or constructed next to a body of water, with an outlet to allow it to drain back to its source. If the water the pump is free to collect water to spread inside, the water is contained by barriers, and water in the area is free to drain out, nearly any size area can be irrigated quickly and without danger.

This method is most useful around rivers that pass by or through hills, or through canyons, as irrigation isn't much use on most outdoor tiles. If terrain at a higher elevation than the river isn't available nearby, water can drain through a tunnel down to the caverns or toward the edge of the map, instead. Although the edge of the map cannot be dug out, it can be smoothed and carved into fortifications. Fortifications allow water to pass through, providing easy drainage at any depth.

Here's one example of this method:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~ [#FFF]l[#FFF]e[#FFF]g[#FFF]e[#FFF]n[#FFF]d
▓...▓▓▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈ ▓ stone
▓.....[#880]%[#880]%[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~ . floor
▓...▓▓▓[#0F0].[#FFF]+[#FFF]+[#FFF]+ [#880]%[#880]% pump
▓...▓▓▓▓[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~ [#00F]≈[#00F]~ water
▓.......[#FFF]+[#FFF]+[#FFF]+ [#FFF]+ "bridge" (constructed floor tiles)
▓...▓▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~
▓▓▓▓▓[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~
}}

=== via Reservoir ===
[[File:Irrigation1.png‎|thumb|right|A reservoir system which provides enough water for 8 fields. Upper level]]
[[File:Irrigation2.png‎|thumb|right|The irrigated bottom level.]]

Water reservoirs can be used as an intermediate step in any irrigation plan. This requires a large source of [[water]] to be of much use. Using reservoirs effectively involves some calculations, a worked example is shown below.

For this example, each 7x7 farm plot needs:
:* a [[floodgate]]
:* a [[hatch cover]]
:* 4 [[mechanism]]s (for linking)
:* a [[door]]

Also needed is:
:* 2 Mechanisms for the [[lever]]s
:* at least one additional door (if you have enough time to set up a wall or floodgate as well)

Here is the pattern:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▓▓▓▓▓ ▓▓▓▓▓ [#FFF]l[#FFF]e[#FFF]g[#FFF]e[#FFF]n[#FFF]d
▓...▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓...▓ ▓ stone
▓.[#0FF]¢..[#888][#CCC]X.......[#888][#CCC]X..[#0FF]¢.▓ . floor
▓...▓▓▓▓▓.▓▓▓▓▓...▓ [#0FF]¢ floor hatch
▓▓▓▓▓▓[#FF0]1▓▓.▓ ▓▓▓▓▓▓ [#888][#CCC]X floodgate
▓[#FFF]<.[#888][#CCC]┼.▓ ▓▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈ [#00F]≈ water source
▓[#0FF]2▓▓.▓ ▓▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]~ [#888][#CCC]┼ door
▓▓▓▓.▓▓▓[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~ [#FFF]< up stairs
▓▓[#FFF][#444]▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈▓▓ [#FF0]1 -> lever 1
▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~▓▓▓ [#0FF]2 -> lever 2
▓[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]~▓▓▓
upper level, plumbing}} 
{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▓.[#FFF]t[#FFF]o.[#FFF]f[#FFF]o[#FFF]r[#FFF]t.▓ [#FFF]l[#FFF]e[#FFF]g[#FFF]e[#FFF]n[#FFF]d
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓...▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ [#880]≈ farm plot
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓...▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓ [#888]═ stockpile
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓...▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓ (customized
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓[#888]═[#888]═[#888]═▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓ for seeds)
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#888][#CCC]┼[#888]═[#888]═[#888]═[#888][#CCC]┼[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓[#888]═[#888]═[#888]═▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓▓▓▓▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓ ▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓
lower level, farms}}

After the pattern has been dug out, the tiles for each hatch are channeled out. Then, the hatch covers are placed and linked to the first lever.

Floodgates are placed and linked to the second lever. To start the irrigation, channel out the last tile to the river / murky pool. Engage the floodgate-lever to fill the reservoirs and disengage it once they're full. Finally, pull the lever for the hatches to release the water to the lower level.

This reservoir contains 70 units of water (10x7). 9 units of water are lost to the ground of the reservoir (61 left). Roughly 10 units evaporate while spreading (~51). The water should be just enough to cover the whole farm plot and evaporate quickly.

{{Farming FAQ}}
{{Category|Agriculture}}
{{Category|Guides}}

Irrigation

2014-07-22T04:16:02Z

DracMonster:

{{Migrated_article}}
{{Quality|Masterwork|23:39, 27 April 2013 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

[[farm plot|Farming]] is only possible on [[mud]] and soil. Any terrain can be made muddy, and therefore suitable for farming, by dumping water on it. In Dwarf Fortress, 'Irrigation' is used as a fancy word for dumping water onto terrain that isn't useful for farming, in order to make it so. Once your floor is successfully muddied no further irrigation will be required, unless you somehow remove the mud (by building a [[construct]]ed floor, for instance).

Any amount of water dropped, pumped, or otherwise transported onto a tile will leave behind at least 'a dusting of mud', and this is sufficient for farming. Farm plots cannot be built on terrain with [[water depth|a water level of more than 1/7]], and more mud has no apparent effect on farm output, so it's best to use a minimum of water to irrigate.

Irrigation is especially useful in [[biome|biomes]] with little soil, and deep underground. However, no amount of irrigation will make it possible to grow surface plants in a hostile [[biome]], such as mountains. This is a matter of climate, not soil conditions.

Farm plots can be built on unsuitable ground but doing so will display a warning message. If even a one tile of the plot lacks mud or soil, the entire plot will be unusable. (However, note that when placing an outdoor farm plot, the game will always report that there is no usable soil. This is a bug, and can be ignored.)

[[Magma]] cannot be used to irrigate, as it does not leave behind mud. It's usually best not to confuse molten rock and liquid water, although the use of both in tandem may help with schemes to irrigate [[glacier|glaciers]].

All types of [[soil]] can be farmed with no need for irrigation, even [[sand]]. Irrigation is '''''not''''' required for farming. Any soil underground can be used to farm; irrigation is only required on stone.

== Easy Irrigation ==

At its simplest, all that's required for irrigation is a water source, a drop-off point, and a dwarf with a bucket.

Very little land is required to provide all the farm field resources a fortress needs to survive and prosper, so this method should suffice in most cases. Of course, we have many other methods documented here for more ambitious sorts.

=== via Buckets===

This method relies on [[activity zone]]s, as water for irrigation can't simply be dropped on the ground, but must fall from the level above.

Step one: Designate a water source activity zone over the edge of a body of water. In a saltwater biome, a [[well]] must be constructed, instead.

Step two: Dig out or construct a drop-off point just above where you want your farms to be. This most often takes the form of a balcony, catwalk, or scaffolding. Alternately, [[mining|channel]] out a shaft and/or staircase all the way up to the surface. Water can safely fall any distance.

Step three: Designate a pit/pond area at the drop-off point, or several if you'd prefer speed over conservation of buckets. By default, these zones are pits, make sure to switch them to ponds, and to remove them once you have all the mud you need.

That's it!

=== via Murky Pool===

Most areas contain [[murky pool]]s, full of stagnant water. Though unpleasant to drink, in DF terms it's as useful as any water for irrigation. Like any other body of water, it can be used as a source for buckets, but the limited quantity also helps a simple plan to dig into or around it, and drain it out to create farmland.

The final [[water depth|water level must be less than 2/7]] in order for the water to evaporate and provide access to the muddy tiles for farming. When using this method, it's easier to use smaller pools.

There are two approaches to reducing the final water level, without using pumps. One is to leave plenty of room. If the area to be irrigated is 5-6 times the size of the pool, the water inside will evaporate on its own, even in [[temperate]] climates. The other way is to leave a route for the water to flow out. If the pool and the dug out area are separate, [[mining|channeling]] can be used to connect them with no danger of drowning.

== Complex Irrigation ==
The following methods of irrigation take longer to build, but they can be more powerful, better-looking, and, of course, much more [[fun]].

=== via Screw Pump ===
A [[screw pump]] can be used to lift water and dump it into a chamber directly next to the water source. There are many ways to go about this, but one particularly simple, easy, and safe method requires a chamber dug out or constructed next to a body of water, with an outlet to allow it to drain back to its source. If the water the pump is free to collect water to spread inside, the water is contained by barriers, and water in the area is free to drain out, nearly any size area can be irrigated quickly and without danger.

This method is most useful around rivers that pass by or through hills, or through canyons, as irrigation isn't much use on most outdoor tiles. If terrain at a higher elevation than the river isn't available nearby, water can drain through a tunnel down to the caverns or toward the edge of the map, instead. Although the edge of the map cannot be dug out, it can be smoothed and carved into fortifications. Fortifications allow water to pass through, providing easy drainage at any depth.

Here's one example of this method:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~ [#FFF]l[#FFF]e[#FFF]g[#FFF]e[#FFF]n[#FFF]d
▓...▓▓▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈ ▓ stone
▓.....[#880]%[#880]%[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~ . floor
▓...▓▓▓[#0F0].[#FFF]+[#FFF]+[#FFF]+ [#880]%[#880]% pump
▓...▓▓▓▓[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~ [#00F]≈[#00F]~ water
▓.......[#FFF]+[#FFF]+[#FFF]+ [#FFF]+ "bridge" (constructed floor tiles)
▓...▓▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~
▓▓▓▓▓[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~
}}

=== via Reservoir ===
[[File:Irrigation1.png‎|thumb|right|A reservoir system which provides enough water for 8 fields. Upper level]]
[[File:Irrigation2.png‎|thumb|right|The irrigated bottom level.]]

Water reservoirs can be used as an intermediate step in any irrigation plan. This requires a large source of [[water]] to be of much use. Using reservoirs effectively involves some calculations, a worked example is shown below.

For this example, each 7x7 farm plot needs:
:* a [[floodgate]]
:* a [[hatch cover]]
:* 4 [[mechanism]]s (for linking)
:* a [[door]]

Also needed is:
:* 2 Mechanisms for the [[lever]]s
:* at least one additional door (if you have enough time to set up a wall or floodgate as well)

Here is the pattern:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▓▓▓▓▓ ▓▓▓▓▓ [#FFF]l[#FFF]e[#FFF]g[#FFF]e[#FFF]n[#FFF]d
▓...▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓...▓ ▓ stone
▓.[#0FF]¢..[#888][#CCC]X.......[#888][#CCC]X..[#0FF]¢.▓ . floor
▓...▓▓▓▓▓.▓▓▓▓▓...▓ [#0FF]¢ floor hatch
▓▓▓▓▓▓[#FF0]1▓▓.▓ ▓▓▓▓▓▓ [#888][#CCC]X floodgate
▓[#FFF]<.[#888][#CCC]┼.▓ ▓▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈ [#00F]≈ water source
▓[#0FF]2▓▓.▓ ▓▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]~ [#888][#CCC]┼ door
▓▓▓▓.▓▓▓[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~ [#FFF]< up stairs
▓▓[#FFF][#444]▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈▓▓ [#FF0]1 -> lever 1
▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~▓▓▓ [#0FF]2 -> lever 2
▓[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]~▓▓▓
upper level, plumbing}} 
{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▓.[#FFF]t[#FFF]o.[#FFF]f[#FFF]o[#FFF]r[#FFF]t.▓ [#FFF]l[#FFF]e[#FFF]g[#FFF]e[#FFF]n[#FFF]d
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓...▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ [#880]≈ farm plot
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓...▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓ [#888]═ stockpile
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓...▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓ (customized
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓[#888]═[#888]═[#888]═▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓ for seeds)
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#888][#CCC]┼[#888]═[#888]═[#888]═[#888][#CCC]┼[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓[#888]═[#888]═[#888]═▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓▓▓▓▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓ ▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓
lower level, farms}}

After the pattern has been dug out, the tiles for each hatch are channeled out. Then, the hatch covers are placed and linked to the first lever.

Floodgates are placed and linked to the second lever. To start the irrigation, channel out the last tile to the river / murky pool. Engage the floodgate-lever to fill the reservoirs and disengage it once they're full. Finally, pull the lever for the hatches to release the water to the lower level.

This reservoir contains 70 units of water (10x7). 9 units of water are lost to the ground of the reservoir (61 left). Roughly 10 units evaporate while spreading (~51). The water should be just enough to cover the whole farm plot and evaporate quickly.

{{Farming FAQ}}
{{Category|Agriculture}}
{{Category|Guides}}

DF2014 Talk:Cook

2014-07-16T02:34:30Z

DracMonster: /* Food values */

{{newpage|type=cp|DracMonster}}

== Food values ==

The multiplier for prepared food seems to have been heavily reduced. My full pots of food are only worth an average of about 50 DB at the caravan.{{unsigned|DracMonster}}

:What version? In v0.40.02, prepared meals no longer receive a top-level quality modifier. That can significantly affect the value of biscuits prepared with low-value ingredients (>75% reduction is possible), but isn't really significant for lavish meals with good ingredients (roughly 12% reduction). 50 is exceptionally low--even a no-quality stack of 5 lavish meals with cheap ingredients is worth 90. Perhaps your broker is underestimating the values?--[[User:Loci|Loci]] ([[User talk:Loci|talk]]) 00:12, 16 July 2014 (UTC)

::These are pots full of lavish meals. Maybe it is my broker, but I've never seen them valued this low even with a no-skill broker, so I still kinda think there's been some other alteration to the formula. Considering how insane prepared food values could be, it wouldn't surprise me.

Cook

2014-07-15T22:57:40Z

DracMonster: /* Prepared Meal Value */ My full pots are worth a pittance now...

{{Migrated_article}}
{{quality|unrated}}
{{Skill
| color = 6:0
| skill = Cook
| profession = [[Farmer]]
| job name = [[Cooking]]
| workshop =
* [[Kitchen]]
| tasks =
* Prepare Easy Meal
* Prepare Fine Meal
* Prepare Lavish Meal
* Render Fat
| attributes =
* Agility
* Analytical Ability
* Creativity
* Kinesthetic Sense
}}
{{av}}

A '''Cook''' is a dwarf whose highest skill is in cooking. Cooks will prepare meals at the [[kitchen]] workshop using ingredients available in your fortress. They will also render [[fat]] into [[tallow]] at the kitchen. Both of these fall under the Cooking labor.

Although some kinds of [[food]] can be eaten raw, other food resources are ingredients which are only edible when cooked into a meal. Cooking thus increases the number of food sources available to your fortress. Conversely, cooking plants does not yield plant [[seed]]s, so cooking edible plants decreases your potential [[crop]]s. Eating high [[item quality|quality]] prepared food gives your dwarves happy [[thought]]s if the meal contains one of their [[preference|favorite]] foods {{Bug|4661}}. It is not precisely known how a cook's skill and the quality of ingredients affect the happiness generated by a meal, but as a general rule there's no such thing as "too good".

== Prepared Meals ==
There are three kinds of prepared meals: easy, fine, and lavish. All three of these give the same [[experience]] gain to the Cooking skill, so making easy meals maximizes experience gain; if you don't care about experience gain, preparing lavish meals saves much more stockpile space. The number of servings produced has no effect on experience gain. Prepared meals can [[wear|rot]], but will do so much more slowly than raw food, especially [[meat]].

Prepared meals are made with a varying number of ingredients:
* Easy meals require two ingredients, and are named "{last ingredient} biscuit".
* Fine meals require three ingredients, and are named "{last ingredient} stew".
* Lavish meals require four ingredients, and are named "{last ingredient} roast".

As you can see, the last ingredient added to the meal will determine its name, which in turn is determined more or less randomly by the order in which the cook grabs them. To successfully create a prepared meal, a cook must have access to the proper number of ''distinct stacks'' of ingredients when the job starts, otherwise the job will be cancelled. The same ingredient may be used for a meal multiple times, provided that ingredient is in multiple discrete stacks. The stack size of the finished prepared meal is the sum of the stack sizes of its ingredients, so a cook grabbing "turkey hen egg [14]", "plump helmets [5]" and "plump helmets [5]" would result in a stack of "plump helmet stew [24]". Prepared meals cannot be used as ingredients in other prepared meals.

Cooks may occasionally create a meal that has more than the required number of ingredients; roasts, for instance, may have 5, or, occasionally, 6 ingredients, or even rarely as many as 12. This behavior is presumably a bug, and may be related to the [[Main:Planepacked|Planepacked]] glitch and other similar bugs. It seems to occur when many stacks of the same food are available (for example, many, many quarry bush leaves) and the cook grabs multiple stacks of the same food.

Despite their large stack sizes, stacks of prepared meals can usually (though not always) fit into regular [[barrel]]s or [[pot]]s on a food stockpile.

Prepared meals are subject to quality modifiers to their base value while each individual ingredient gets a quality modifier as well, making prepared meals an extremely profitable item indeed.

=== Prepared Meal Value ===
'''NOTE:''' These multipliers seems to have been reduced greatly in the latest version. The exact amount is not known yet.

This table shows how the [[item quality|quality modifiers]] compare to other items:
{| class="wikitable" cellspacing="0" border="1" cellpadding="5"
|-
! Quality
! Meal
! Ingredient
! Value Modifier
|-
|(normal)
|(none)
|minced
|1x
|-
|<nowiki>-Well-Crafted-</nowiki>
|well-prepared
|well-minced
|2x
|-
|<nowiki>+Finely-crafted+</nowiki>
|finely-prepared
|finely minced
|3x
|-
|*Superior quality*
|superior prepared
|superiorly minced
|4x
|-
|≡Exceptional≡
|exceptional prepared
|exceptionally minced
|5x
|-
|☼Masterful☼
|masterfully prepared
|masterfully minced
|12x
|}

The value of a stack of prepared meals is equal to the prepared meal's base value of 10 times the meal's quantity modifier (finely-prepared, etc.), plus the products of each ingredient's base value and its quality modifier (well-minced, etc.), all multiplied by the stack size. So, for example: a well-prepared meal consisting of 5 finely-minced cow cheese, 3 finely-minced llama tripe, 1 finely-minced llama sweetbread, and 2 superiorly minced mussels would be "-mussel roast [11]-", worth 770☼ (for 62☼ of ingredients!). (Exact calculation: (2*10 + 3*10 + 3*2 + 3*2 + 4*2)(5 + 3 + 1 + 2).

This example can be understood as:

(well-prepared = 2) x (base value of prepared meal = 10☼)

+

(finely-minced = 3) x (value of cheese = 10☼)

+

(finely minced = 3) x (value of tripe = 2☼)

+

(finely minced = 3) x (value of sweetbread = 2☼)

+

(superiorly minced = 4) x (value of mussels = 2☼)

all multiplied by the total number of ingredients (11)

=

770☼

The individual stack sizes of the ingredients may affect your profits, but have no effect on the final meal's value. One "masterfully minced plump helmet" cooked with ten "well-minced dog meat" will have exactly the same value and description as ten "masterfully minced plump helmet" and one "well-minced dog meat".

== Boozecooking==
Booze (and other liquid ingredients) can be used as an ingredient in prepared meals, but the first ingredient stack of any prepared meal must be a solid.

== Training ==

When rendering large units of fat (for example from elephants or forgotten beasts) a dwarf gains cooking skill extremely quickly due to the dozens or hundreds of units of tallow created per task - even to the point of going from dabbling to skilled in a single task. Thus rendering fat can be used to rapidly train cooking to high levels.

== Bugs ==
* Cooks will only use liquid bases (like [[dwarven syrup]]) as a last resort, instead preferring to cook solid foods with solid foods. {{Bug|2393}} A workaround for this is to set up multiple stockpiles around the kitchen, with ''only'' the stockpile for dwarven syrup set to allow barrels. When the other cooking materials around the kitchen are '''not''' in barrels, the cooks will use the dwarven syrup along with the other foodstuffs to cook their meals.
* Cooks prefer solid ingredients stored in containers (and, even more so, ingredients stored in containers stored in containers--e.g. [[flour]], [[quarry bush]] leaves, etc.).
* Cooking with eggs creates extreme kitchen [[clutter]]. {{Bug|3994}}
* Frozen milk gets cooked into prepared meals as a solid, causing the meal to melt later. {{Bug|2787}}
* High [[quality]] cooked meals only give a happy [[thought]] if at least one of the ingredients is [[preference|preferred]] by the dwarf eating it. {{Bug|4661}}

DF2014 Talk:Cook

2014-07-15T22:55:32Z

DracMonster: /* Food values */ new section

DF2014 Talk:Kitchen

2014-07-15T21:49:49Z

DracMonster: /* Trading section */ new section

{{newpage|type=cp|DracMonster}}

== Trading section ==

Prepared food values appear to have been massively nerfed. I embarked and made several full pots for the first caravan and each was worth a pittance (about 50 DB each.) I'm holding off altering the section pending further testing.