Dwarf Fortress Wiki - User contributions [en]

Friend

2017-03-12T23:23:38Z

Squirrelloid: Noticed friend status wasn't reciprocal.

{{Quality|Superior|00:48, 29 April 2013 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

Dwarves will sometimes make '''friends''', and this gives them a happy thought. The likelihood of two dwarves becoming friends increases as both spend time [[Social skill|socializing]] instead of working. But be warned, although dwarves get happy thoughts from making friends and talking with them, they will become quite sad if a friend dies. This is a common source of [[tantrum|fun]].

Note that friendship is not reciprocal. A dwarf may be friends with another dwarf who isn't even a passing acquaintance.

There are several ways of avoiding the dangers of friendship. The first and hardest option is to ensure that no one ever idles. The second is to designate a HUGE [[Activity zone#Meeting Area|meeting area]], so that idlers won't be anywhere near each other. The best way, however, is to provide everyone with a personal [[bedroom]]. When this is combined with the absence of a designated meeting area, idle dwarves will spend their time in their bedrooms, alone.

Extra care must be taken with [[soldier]]s in the same squad, for not only do they spend a lot of time together, and thus can easily socialize when they're off-duty, but they also are the most likely to die (especially if they're inexperienced recruits). This often leads to the entire squad becoming depressed over the death of a single soldier; combined with the fact that the soldiers are most likely equipped with armor and weapons, this means that [[tantrum|tantrums]] resulting from a soldier's death can be <s>catastrophic</s> fun.

{{Translation
| dwarven = babin
| elvish = ramana
| goblin = usnub
| human = oled
}}

{{Category|Relationships}}

DF2014 Talk:Relationship

2017-03-09T22:49:53Z

Squirrelloid:

Can dwarves who were once friends stop caring about each other?
I have two miners, great buddy's, until i sent one to channel out a system, and he fell out of the bottom, a 2z level drop into a cavern.

Is it safe to send the other guy in? or will it spiral?

*What are you, an elf? WHen a real dwarf doesn't know something, he'll grab his pickaxe and churn the magmapumps until he's found out! Bringing doom and destruction upon the world in the name of !!SCIENCE!! all day, every day!--[[User:Guardian of Silverybearded|Guardian of Silverybearded]] ([[User talk:Guardian of Silverybearded|talk]]) 13:45, 11 December 2014 (UTC)

------------

I'm noticing a "Friendly Terms" that is different from "Friend". Anyone know how this fits into the relationship hierarchy? --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] ([[User talk:Squirrelloid|talk]]) 22:49, 9 March 2017 (UTC)

v0.34 Talk:Military quickstart

2012-04-18T17:41:30Z

Squirrelloid:

Page says certain items like an axe, pick, etc... cannot be shared between a civilian profession that uses them and a military profession that uses them. What exactly does this mean? Do you need 2 of said item for any dwarf who switches between the two. Ie, an axedwarf will use one axe for woodchopping, but upon being drafted will *drop* said axe and go get another one to fight with? Really? (So much for my informal militia who all carried axes or picks just in case...). Could someone please say exactly what is meant by the page's statement and clarify the page? --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 17:41, 18 April 2012 (UTC)

v0.34 Talk:Military quickstart

2012-04-18T17:40:54Z

Squirrelloid: Created page with "Page says certain items like an axe, pick, etc... cannot be shared between a civilian profession that uses them and a military profession that uses them. What exactly does this ..."

User:Squirrelloid/Rontishis

2011-12-08T09:38:25Z

Squirrelloid:

From the Journal of Udil Futurebronze 
In 800 the humans of The Magical Nation were waging a vicious war on the elves of The Crow of Boards. Despite being halfway across the world, our King decided that something should be done. So I took a group of 7 dwarven combat advisors with me to teach durned elves how to fight. *Elves*. I've never been so embarassed in my life.

Did I imply this was voluntary? It wasn't.

Well, as luck would have it, our wagon broke down enroute and far from either civilization. I sent one of the advisors as a messenger back to the king, hoping he'd manage to struggle through on his own and let him know of our plight. But for the rest of us there was nothing else to do but set up camp and wait for assistance.

Our wagon was mostly sealed, supposedly containing arms and armor and treasure for our elven allies, and ordered locked until we arrived at our destination. Only on top of this was provided food and drink for our journey. But that was all irrelevant now - if we were going to survive, we were going to need tools. Hopefully there were some fine dwarven axes inside, or maybe some crossbows with steel bolts so we could hunt. And thus I ordered the wagon opened.

It was at this point I discovered that the wagon was full of alpaca. Gased and befouled, half frozen, starving, but alive.

"By Sikel's white beard, what is going on here!"

----------------------------
Starting Dwarves
<gallery>
File:Squirrelloid-Dumat Libadmeng.png
File:Squirrelloid-Eshtan Melbilshadmal.png
File:Squirrelloid-Monom Olonimsal.png
File:Squirrelloid-Olon Idlaz.png
File:Squirrelloid-Udil Zaludkilrud.png
File:Squirrelloid-Urist Tateral.png
File:Squirrelloid-Uvash Lormebzuth.png
</gallery>

Starting Area
<gallery>
File:Ragespiralled-World_Map_location.gif
File:Ragespiraled-Local 1.gif
File:Ragespiraled-Local 2.gif
File:Ragespiraled-Local 3.gif
</gallery>

Early Days
<gallery>
File:Ragespiraled-Year 1 Early Summer.png
File:Ragespiraled-Slow going through aquifer.png
</gallery>

806
<gallery>
File:Ragespiraled-806 Summer Layout.png
File:Ragespiraled-806 Summer State of Fortress.png
File:Ragespiraled-Artifact1.png
File:Ragespiraled-New Resident 806.png
File:Ragespiraled-Feb Keshshakdomas dwarf hero.png
File:Ragespiraled 806-Aftermath of battle.png
</gallery>

(Just a list of pictures at the moment because its an active thread on the forums. Will try to wikify it in its entirety eventually)

File:Ragespiraled 806-Aftermath of battle.png

2011-12-08T09:37:54Z

Squirrelloid:

File:Ragespiraled-Feb Keshshakdomas dwarf hero.png

2011-12-08T09:37:07Z

Squirrelloid:

File:Ragespiraled-New Resident 806.png

2011-12-08T09:35:31Z

Squirrelloid:

File:Ragespiraled-Artifact1.png

2011-12-08T09:34:49Z

Squirrelloid:

File:Ragespiraled-806 Summer State of Fortress.png

2011-12-08T09:34:10Z

Squirrelloid:

File:Ragespiraled-806 Summer Layout.png

2011-12-08T09:33:04Z

Squirrelloid:

File:Ragespiraled-Slow going through aquifer.png

2011-12-06T05:37:27Z

Squirrelloid:

User:Squirrelloid/Rontishis

2011-12-03T04:56:28Z

Squirrelloid:

From the Journal of Udil Futurebronze 
In 800 the humans of The Magical Nation were waging a vicious war on the elves of The Crow of Boards. Despite being halfway across the world, our King decided that something should be done. So I took a group of 7 dwarven combat advisors with me to teach durned elves how to fight. *Elves*. I've never been so embarassed in my life.

Did I imply this was voluntary? It wasn't.

Well, as luck would have it, our wagon broke down enroute and far from either civilization. I sent one of the advisors as a messenger back to the king, hoping he'd manage to struggle through on his own and let him know of our plight. But for the rest of us there was nothing else to do but set up camp and wait for assistance.

Our wagon was mostly sealed, supposedly containing arms and armor and treasure for our elven allies, and ordered locked until we arrived at our destination. Only on top of this was provided food and drink for our journey. But that was all irrelevant now - if we were going to survive, we were going to need tools. Hopefully there were some fine dwarven axes inside, or maybe some crossbows with steel bolts so we could hunt. And thus I ordered the wagon opened.

It was at this point I discovered that the wagon was full of alpaca. Gased and befouled, half frozen, starving, but alive.

"By Sikel's white beard, what is going on here!"

----------------------------
Starting Dwarves
<gallery>
File:Squirrelloid-Dumat Libadmeng.png
File:Squirrelloid-Eshtan Melbilshadmal.png
File:Squirrelloid-Monom Olonimsal.png
File:Squirrelloid-Olon Idlaz.png
File:Squirrelloid-Udil Zaludkilrud.png
File:Squirrelloid-Urist Tateral.png
File:Squirrelloid-Uvash Lormebzuth.png
</gallery>

Starting Area
<gallery>
File:Ragespiralled-World_Map_location.gif
File:Ragespiraled-Local 1.gif
File:Ragespiraled-Local 2.gif
File:Ragespiraled-Local 3.gif
File:Ragespiraled-Year 1 Early Summer.png
</gallery>

File:Ragespiraled-Year 1 Early Summer.png

2011-12-03T04:55:58Z

Squirrelloid:

User:Squirrelloid/Rontishis

2011-12-02T07:06:30Z

Squirrelloid:

File:Ragespiraled-Local 3.gif

2011-12-02T07:02:05Z

Squirrelloid:

File:Ragespiraled-Local 2.gif

2011-12-02T07:01:26Z

Squirrelloid:

File:Ragespiraled-Local 1.gif

2011-12-02T07:00:20Z

Squirrelloid:

File:Ragespiralled-World Map location.gif

2011-12-02T06:51:11Z

Squirrelloid:

User talk:Briess

2011-12-02T06:48:44Z

Squirrelloid:

{{archive|*[[User_talk:Briess/archive1|archive 1]]
*[[User_talk:Briess/archive2|archive 2]]}}

== test ==

test [[user:Emi|Emi]] [[user_talk:Emi|[T]]] 07:42, 13 November 2011 (UTC)
:issue --[[User:Briess|Briess]] 07:43, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

== Image size issues ==
Wiki tells me i can upload up to 2MB images, but then throws a 'too large' error over an ~1MB .png. (1,181KB) What's going on, or who should i be talking to? --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 06:48, 2 December 2011 (UTC)

User:Squirrelloid/Rontishis

2011-12-02T06:34:30Z

Squirrelloid:

User:Squirrelloid/Rontishis

2011-12-02T06:34:09Z

Squirrelloid:

From the Journal of Udil Futurebronze 
In 800 the humans of The Magical Nation were waging a vicious war on the elves of The Crow of Boards. Despite being halfway across the world, our King decided that something should be done. So I took a group of 7 dwarven combat advisors with me to teach durned elves how to fight. *Elves*. I've never been so embarassed in my life.

Did I imply this was voluntary? It wasn't.

Well, as luck would have it, our wagon broke down enroute and far from either civilization. I sent one of the advisors as a messenger back to the king, hoping he'd manage to struggle through on his own and let him know of our plight. But for the rest of us there was nothing else to do but set up camp and wait for assistance.

Our wagon was mostly sealed, supposedly containing arms and armor and treasure for our elven allies, and ordered locked until we arrived at our destination. Only on top of this was provided food and drink for our journey. But that was all irrelevant now - if we were going to survive, we were going to need tools. Hopefully there were some fine dwarven axes inside, or maybe some crossbows with steel bolts so we could hunt. And thus I ordered the wagon opened.

It was at this point I discovered that the wagon was full of alpaca. Gased and befouled, half frozen, starving, but alive.

"By Sikel's white beard, what is going on here!"

----------------------------
Starting Dwarves
[img]File:Squirrelloid-Dumat Libadmeng.png[/img]
File:Squirrelloid-Eshtan Melbilshadmal.png
File:Squirrelloid-Monom Olonimsal.png
File:Squirrelloid-Olon Idlaz.png
File:Squirrelloid-Udil Zaludkilrud.png
File:Squirrelloid-Urist Tateral.png
File:Squirrelloid-Uvash Lormebzuth.png

User:Squirrelloid/Rontishis

2011-12-02T06:33:46Z

Squirrelloid: Created page with "From the Journal of Udil Futurebronze In 800 the humans of The Magical Nation were waging a vicious war on the elves of The Crow of Boards. Despite being halfway across the ..."

File:Squirrelloid-Uvash Lormebzuth.png

2011-12-02T06:33:29Z

Squirrelloid:

File:Squirrelloid-Urist Tateral.png

2011-12-02T06:33:01Z

Squirrelloid:

File:Squirrelloid-Udil Zaludkilrud.png

2011-12-02T06:32:37Z

Squirrelloid:

File:Squirrelloid-Olon Idlaz.png

2011-12-02T06:32:03Z

Squirrelloid:

File:Squirrelloid-Monom Olonimsal.png

2011-12-02T06:31:37Z

Squirrelloid:

File:Squirrelloid-Eshtan Melbilshadmal.png

2011-12-02T06:31:12Z

Squirrelloid:

File:Squirrelloid-Dumat Libadmeng.png

2011-12-02T06:30:35Z

Squirrelloid:

User:Squirrelloid

2011-12-02T06:27:30Z

Squirrelloid:

[[User:Squirrelloid/Optimizing Skills|Optimizing Skills]]

==Current Fortresses (0.31.25)==
[[User:Squirrelloid/Rontishis|Rontishis]] Ragespiraled - Community Fort, lots of alpaca

==Nominally Active .40d Fortresses==
1) [[User:Squirrelloid/Udirthocit Urdim Datan|Udirthocit Urdim Datan]] (still let it run occasionally) 
2) [[User:Squirrelloid/Avalrigoth|Avalrigoth]] 
3) [[User:Squirrelloid/Nodxusta Lide Zuden|Nodxusta Lide Zuden]], ie Human Town challenge (challenge part defunct, when i run it i'm working on a clock)

==Former Notable Fortress Journals==
[[User:Squirrelloid/Morulkivish|Morulkivish]] 
[[User:Squirrelloid/Under the Sea|Under the Sea Journal]] 
[[User:Squirrelloid/BL Survival Challenge|BL Survival Challenge]] 
[[User:Squirrelloid/Omnifreeze|Master's Challenges 1: Omnifreeze]] 

==Sites of note (0.31.xx)==
[[Image:SquMassiveWaterfall1.png|400px]]

7 z-levels tall, more than a screen wide, now *that's* a waterfall.

[[Image:SquWaterfall2.png|400px]]

13 z-levels tall, and it breaches the top cavern level. Epic.

[[Image:SquWaterfallMap.png|400px]]

v0.31:Starting build

2011-04-24T15:27:42Z

Squirrelloid: /* Design Constraints: Which skills do I need, really? */ remember this is a list of skills you will *use*, not that you should invest in to start

{{quality|Exceptional|10:09, 24 April 2011 (UTC)}}{{av}}

:''This is not a tutorial, a FAQ, or a new players guide. This is a mildly advanced theoretical treatment for someone ready to take the plunge and make all the decisions about their own fortress. The following are intended for beginners:''
::*{{l|Quickstart guide}}
::*[[From Caravan to Happy Dwarves|Beginner Flowchart]]
::*[[User:Calite#Jumping_into_Dwarf_Fortress_Mode|Beginner Checklist]]
:''For an explanation of the interface for starting out, see {{l|Embark}}.''

A '''starting build''' is a personal strategy for choosing the initial supplies, equipment, and {{l|skill}}s of your initial seven dwarves when starting a new game in {{l|fortress mode}}. These skills and items which you assign to your dwarves will have a large impact on life in your new fortress, especially in its first year.

This page attempts to provide a discussion about how and why you make the choices on what you bring with you. This page is not an explanation of the mechanics of doing so, see the {{l|embark}} page for an explanation of the interface itself. This page assumes you have already made certain decisions, such as where you plan on settling, and that you are looking at the [[DF2010:Embark#Prepare_Carefully|Prepare Carefully]] screen.

One thing should be made clear - there is no "best" build, no "perfect" or "clearly superior" final mix of skills and items, if only because there isn't any one goal of play. The goals you have for a fortress will dictate which sets of items and skills are best suited to achieving that goal - in your opinion. And then there is the environment, where your dwarves will arrive, the creatures, the resources available, and so forth. Finally, some people do things solely because it is hard, and that makes it more fun for them.

__TOC__

== Components of a Starting Build ==
There are two main components of a starting build: skills and items.

Skills for your initial dwarves determine how quickly they will work early on, what industries you are guaranteed to be able to start with skilled workers later, how well you can defend your dwarves early on, and what the quality of various goods they produce will be, and possibly many other considerations. This page considers in detail how you might go about choosing skills for your starting dwarves, and examines the multiple competing perspectives from which you can make that decision.

The items that your dwarves bring with you can be tailored a number of ways. There are trade-offs to cheaper and more expensive alternatives, and reasons why you might choose either. This section explores the nature of these trade-offs and the reasons for making a decision. It also looks at optimizing goods brought in more general contexts.

Starting builds can and should vary based upon a number of other variables. {{l|location|Where you choose to settle}} will give you a fortress that supplies different raw materials and thus require different skill sets to utilize, not to mention different threats from native wildlife based on {{l|biome}}, {{l|surroundings|savagery}}, and {{l|surroundings|alignment}}. Which dwarven civilization you come from will restrict the materials with which you can start. Making choices about these variables is not part of a starting build. What you choose for skills and items because of these choices is part of your starting build, and so some general guidelines about different environments is given last.

This page does not cover the interface for accomplishing these tasks. Please see the {{l|embark}} page.

== Skill Optimization ==
With only 7 dwarves, you can't take every {{l|skill}}, so you have to balance what you do take. At this starting phase, each dwarf can only be assigned a maximum total of 10 skill levels, with no single skill starting higher than "5". Actual skill distribution is thus constrained to be something between 1 level in each of 10 skills, or 5 levels in each of two skills, or something in between. Because dwarves can {{l|experience|learn}} any and all skills once your fortress starts, these initial choices do not dictate what the dwarves can do, opening up incredible latitude to choose skills for reasons other than survival.

:''(* Note that an unskilled dwarf starts with all Skills at Level '''0'''. Adding +5 Levels is then Level '''5'''. This is true regardless of how many "points" a level costs when first buying skills at embark.)''

A brief list of considerations governing skill choice:
:* Maximizing starting skill ranks vs. generalizing and having more skills covered at lower levels.
:* Balancing multiple skills for a single dwarf, so they aren't constantly needed for two different tasks at critical periods
:* Military vs economic needs
:* Your goals vs "basic survival needs" to keep your fortress healthy and happy.
:* Speed that a skill can be trained in game
:* Demand for a skill during a game
:* Whether quality or speed are significant considerations for tasks/final product
:* Balancing the desire to create {{l|wealth}} ''(with high-value products)'' with the need to maintain {{l|thought|morale}} ''(with low-value but commonly used products, like {{l|bed}}s, which normally are made from {{l|wood}})''.
:* most importantly - ''your playstyle'' - what '''you''' think is "fun"!

==== Breadth vs. Depth ====

A dwarf with only 2 starting skills at 5 ranks each is pretty good at 2 tasks, but untrained at anything else. A dwarf with nothing higher than level 1 is passable at many tasks, but not good at anything. Each dwarf in your party is going to be somewhere along this continuum, and you'll need to choose where.

Level in a skill dictates how fast a dwarf completes a task (most of the time), and how well he completes it (if applicable). On one extreme, {{l|butchery}} has no time variance for slaughtering a tame animal, and has no quality associated with the outcome. On the other extreme, {{l|Metal industry|metalworking}} tasks can take a long time for an untrained worker to complete and their high material value means the quality multiplier has a large impact on the end value.

Dwarves who complete tasks faster can do more total {{l|job}}s within a given timeframe. The rate at which speed increases with level varies with skill, so some skills will benefit more than others.

Dwarves who make items of higher quality will contribute more to fortress wealth and may have a large impact on fortress happiness if their work is readily available to be seen by other dwarves. Items which typically contribute to happiness are low value but common public items, like beds and tables. Items which contribute the most to fortress wealth often cannot be displayed, but make useful trade goods or equipment for your military.

A dwarf highly skilled in few areas will work faster at those tasks and produce higher quality work than his more generalized counterpart. However, he will do worse at any other task he is set to.

Aside from the obvious trade off, there is another reason to prefer depth - dwarves can obviously only complete so many total jobs within a given timespan. If a dwarf is busy doing one thing, he can't simultaneously be doing something else. So a dwarf who is highly skilled in a few skills may not actually experience any disadvantage thereby if he is kept doing those things in which he specializes. The generalist dwarf, on the other hand, may be able to do many more different tasks adequately, but he can still only do one type of task at a time. A dwarf with one highly used skill (such as Mechanics or Mining) can feasibly spend all his time using only his primary skill and thus has no need to generalize. In effect, the generalist is wasting more skill points whenever he does jobs than the specialist, so long as the specialist tends to do jobs he has levels in. Specializing your initial skill investment is therefore superior if you specialize the division of labor in your fortress.

Of course, you can still only bring 7 dwarves with 10 total levels of skills each, so covering everything you want to do in 14 skills may be hard, if not impossible. A generalist or two can cover more bases that have little quality need or are otherwise fast even without a high level. The generalists real problem arises from the fact that any dwarf can do any task, and having 1 level isn't much better than having no levels. Which isn't to say there isn't a situation where a 1/1/1/1/1/5 dwarf is the right solution (indeed, the typical recommended leader/broker takes 1/1/1/1/1 in appraiser/judge of intent/negotiator/+2 social skills because none of these skills have a time or quality component), but most less-specialized dwarves are more likely to fall in the 5/3/2 or 4/3/3 end of the spectrum solely because there is a minimum investment necessary to be noticeably better than not having any levels at all.

==== Design Constraints: Which skills do I need, really? ====

The only thing that you absolutely must do in the first year is get your food supplies into a food stockpile, preferably inside, otherwise your food will rot on the ground and your dwarves will starve. Anything else you want to do can be accommodated by sufficient investment in initial food supplies and/or skills. This means the options for possible starting builds are vast because virtually any set of starting skills for your dwarves is viable (and that's before you even think about equipment, which adds more variables). So the short answer is: none.

That said, there are some skills which will be '''used''', to one extent or another, by virtually every fortress - but that doesn't mean you '''need''' or even want to invest points in them to start. You could even manipulate the fortress (see {{l|challenge}}) to completely avoid one or more of the following, but these are the skills you will find it exceptionally hard to avoid creating jobs for:
:{{l|Mining}} - to dig your fortress, and gain stone for projects. Only possible to avoid using if you're secretly an elf.
:* Inexperienced {{l|miner}}s work very slowly and are less likely to recover mined gems or valuable ores. Mining can be leveled up quite quickly by mining {{l|soil#soil|soil}}, but taking two dwarves with at least some points in mining is recommended in many cases.
:{{l|Carpentry}} - {{l|bed}}s can only be produced from {{l|wood}} (rare {{l|mood}}s aside). This skill can also be used to make {{L|bin}}s without having to have an {{L|anvil}}, use any metal {{L|bar}}s, or use any {{L|fuel}}.
:{{l|Masonry}} - to build walls and stairs, and fashion dwarven furniture from stone. Possible to work around, but incredibly hard and annoying to do.
:{{l|Grower|Growing}} - your farmers' work echoes throughout so many other tasks, it's stunning
:* While its possible to feed your fortress on nothing but caravan goods, you'll never come by enough alcohol that way, so you'll eventually need to grow crops for brewing, and dwarves will literally go crazy if forced to drink nothing but water for long periods. Thus you'll want to plan for farming eventually - not that you need to bring a highly skilled {{l|Grower}}, but it'll certainly be ''very'' helpful. Likewise, a skilled {{l|brewer}} produces higher quality {{l|alcohol}} (''though the quality is hidden!)'', which improves your dwarves' mood, as does a skilled {{l|cook}} with the foods they prepare. However, most food can be eaten raw, and so long as they are not starving there is life.
:{{l|Brewing}} - all dwarves "need alcohol to get through the working day"
:{{l|Mechanics}} - if you want traps, and most people will. Also needed for most machinery.
:{{l|Architecture|Building Designer}} - mandatory for some buildings and constructions, but skill only improves speed a tad and increases structure {{l|value}}
:{{l|Broker skills}} - most importantly {{l|appraiser}} - you will use these whenever you trade with a caravan. Because of this, a minimum of Broker skills are highly recommended to start with at the Novice (1 pt) level (especially Novice level of {{l|Appraiser}}
:{{l|Record keeper}} - Gives you access to the stocks screen and will let you accurately survey the resources of your fortress.
The very fact that you will use these skills can make many of them desirable to choose as starting skills for your dwarves. Of the above, Mining, Masonry, Growing, Brewing, Cooking, and Mechanics are generally worth considering as "highly desirable". However, '''any skill can be used untrained, and/or get trained on the job''' - it just means a slower process and/or average lower quality product than if done by a dwarf with a higher {{l|experience|skill level}}. Some of these skills (eg, Record Keeper) are rarely worth investing initial points in even though you will almost always use it. Others of them (eg, Mining, Carpentry) may or may not be worth investing points in depending on your goals or the tempo with which you want to achieve them. (Mining is easy to train so you could forgo initial investment and just train on the job. A skilled carpenter can contribute a lot to fortress mood, but won't produce much value, see the discussion of Quality below).

The difference between these skills and other skills is that other skills are optional as to whether they'll get used or not. You need to deliberately want to use them. These skills are essential to basic aspects of the game, and avoiding one requires a deliberate choice not to use it (and likely a lot of effort spent to avoid doing so). Ie, a fortress could make its wealth by smithing fine weapons, weaving quality cloth, encrusting precious stones onto furniture, or crafting quality trinkets. Or all of those. But it doesn't have a compelling reason to do any one in particular. A fortress that never designates a tile for mining, however, requires exceptional effort to achieve.

But that you can avoid even something as basic as mining *for the lifetime of your fortress* means there is no universal design constraint on which skills to start with. Ultimately the answer to "What skills do I need?" is "Whichever ''you'' want". Choosing a mixture of these commonly used skills and your desired specialized skills will make starting up your fortress easier and more efficient, but you don't need to start with any of them. Choosing to avoid some skills may force you to use some others, but nothing compels you to invest in any skill in particular.

==== Balancing military and economic needs ====

Not all embarks will require a military presence in the first year, but anyone planning an expedition to a sinister, haunted, or terrifying biome would be foolish not to be prepared for nasty dwarf-killing creatures. The solution doesn't strictly need to be military skills; quick delving and a skilled mechanic may be sufficient; but starting with a military dwarf will give you the earliest possible protection and a lot more versatility in where that protection can be applied. Whatever you choose to do, understand the risk and be prepared for it.

==== Training considerations ====

Some skills are harder to gain experience in than others - requiring valuable resources or taking an extended period of time, and thus inconvenient to train from the ground up. Investing in some of these extensively in your initial dwarves can make those industries much less painful to start. For example, metal-related skills generally eat metal bars, and thus the less time you spend training metal workers up to a decent level, the faster they'll be churning out high-quality items for you, and the fewer bars they'll waste becoming skilled. On the other hand, despite its importance, skills like mining train relatively quickly and barring extenuating circumstances (expected need to accomplish particular digging projects in the first month or you'll get mauled by a Giant for example) there's little need to actually invest your starting skills in it - they can learn on the job.

==== Quality, value, and happiness ====

{{l|Quality}} is an important part of Dwarf Fortress. Higher quality items produce better and more frequent happy thoughts and are worth more money. Valuable commodities will trade for more goods from caravans that visit. When choosing skills that produce objects of quality, the desire to produce valuable goods for trade will often conflict with the desire to produce objects that will make your dwarves happy. Built items that are frequently encountered tend to be things like furniture, especially beds, which tend to have low material values and thus low total value no matter how high the quality of the work. Further, these things tend to be inconvenient to trade. It is often best to strike a balance between dwarves who produce valuable trade goods and dwarves who produce quality items that will make your population happy - and thus be able to achieve both goals simultaneously.

Its worth noting that built furniture and worn clothing counts its value twice, once under the appropriate category and once for displayed value. If you're trying to maximize your created wealth total, a good metalsmith producing furniture from high-value metals is optimal.

==== Moodable skills ====

{{l|Strange mood}}s will create a Legendary skill of the "moodable" skill with the highest level, and moods take hold of dwarves with different professions at different rates. Some skills are "moodable" where others are not. You might choose to take certain skills solely because it opens up moods for that skill with that dwarf. Some moodable skills are more valuable than others - a legendary weaponsmith is both valuable and useful. A legendary tanner is generally a waste of a mood since tanned hides have no quality.

Because a dwarf can only have a strange mood in one skill, pairing a moodable skill with a non-moodable skill can protect the moodable skill and ensure that if the dwarf has a mood it will be in the skill you desire. See the section on combining skills below for more details on ways to pair skills.

Dwarves with no moodable skill can be allowed to do one task using a moodable skill to give them a moodable skill with no starting build investment, so moodable skill considerations should not be considered a primary reason to choose particular skills - you should also want to make use of them for other reasons.

==== Combining Skills ====
Every dwarf is going to have 2 or more {{l|skills}}. This means that even once you know which skills you want, you're going to need to pair them up before assigning them. Not all skill combinations are equally functional.

Some skills are highly time-consuming, either because the skill is in frequent demand (eg, {{l|mining}}) or because it takes a long time to do an individual job (eg, {{l|strand extraction}}). If a dwarf is spending most of their time using that skill, they aren't making much use of their other skill. Pairing two time-consuming skills together therefore tends to be a bad idea, as one or both jobs are not going to get the attention they need or deserve. Similarly, pairing a skill with time-critical jobs with a time-consuming skill also tends to be a bad idea. If your {{l|grower}} is also mining, he may not stop to plant crops one season. Or he might neglect to harvest your crops in a timely fashion and they could rot on the ground (if you only let your growers harvest). Arranging your skill combinations to avoid these situations is generally beneficial. For example, Masons, miners, growers, and any craft that your fortress will base their economy off of (glass, stonecrafts, armour, etc) will take a lot of time, so plan accordingly.

Instead, pairing relatively time-intensive tasks with less time-intensive tasks will let your dwarf accomplish all such tasks adequately. Once you get a metal industry rolling, an armorer/weaponsmith will need to make a lot fewer weapons to outfit your soldiers than he will armor components. Thus he can usefully do both jobs without hurting your productivity overly much. Similarly, a mason might also be your architect, since building designer is a very infrequently used skill.

Working at different jobs levels up specific {{l|attribute}}s. One could level up a miner until he becomes mighty and ultra-tough - and then turn him into a soldier, or retire him to haul stone. If you plan on doing so, it may not be a good idea to give this guy a second critical job that will demand a lot of time away from their focus.

Since tasks will take place in specific areas, another approach is to combine tasks into dwarves who will take care of a specific industry, or spend all their time in one generally narrow part of the fortress - the forges, or the kitchens, or outdoors, for instance. So combining Farming with cooking, rather than mining, for example, and turn on only Haul Food, not Haul Stone. Metalworkers spending their time in the forge can easily handle more than one type of metalworking skill, and are also well-situated to be furnace operators.

Similarly, you can also make the craftsmen of your finished products also responsible for the production of intermediate products from raw ingredients. This way when they run out of materials to make into finished goods they can immediately switch over to working raw products into intermediate products so they'll have more to work with later. This works better in some industries than in others. A single butcher/tanner/cook trying to process multiple animals simultaneously will likely result in rotten food, carcases, or skins. But a weaponsmith who doubles as a furnace operator can usefully ensure he has material to work with when you want him to. Later on, however, a highly skilled craftsdwarf is often better suited at sitting in their {{l|workshop}} and having others deliver raw materials to them than going out and obtaining their own raw materials themselves, but in the early game dwarf-time is limited, and a single dwarf who can work an entire production chain can do so relatively efficiently and let your other dwarves be used elsewhere.

There is no requirement that a dwarves job combination needs to look 'right' or logical. A weaponsmith will most probably not spend nearly 100% of their time creating weapons - what they do with the other part of their time may have nothing at all to do with forges or smithing. Jobs which require little time in general, or little time early even if time-intensive later, may well be paired with any time-intensive task solely to provide the dwarf with something to usefully and skillfully do with most of their time, and freed from that duty as needed for the other tasks.

Another constraint you can impose on your skill combinations is to try to limit dwarves to {{l|moodable}} skill and one non-moodable skill (or a moodable and a less desired moodable skill at lower level), so any mood will improve the desired one. For example, pairing craft skills with farming skills gives you dwarves that will perform useful food production or raw good processing services while also getting their mood in a valuable finished goods skill. Example: Clothier/Grower.

==== Which dwarf should have which skill? ====
Dwarves who craft goods they prefer, or work materials they prefer, gain a bonus to the quality of the finished work. This can inform your choice of which skills you choose, for example by choosing a weaver because you notice a preference for sheap wool yarn, or you might choose the skills you want and then try to find a suitable dwarf to use that skill. In the latter case, since all dwarves have one metal preference you might assign an armorsmithing skill to a dwarf with a preference for iron, steel, or adamantine.

The dwarf with the most social skills will end up being the {{l|Expedition leader}}, who will then become the {{l|mayor}} and start making {{l|mandate}}s. Thus you should avoid giving the most social skills to dwarfs who have {{l|preferences}} for things like {{l|adamantine}}.

Dwarves have physical and mental attributes that affect the performance of certain skills. You may wish to give a socially adept and patient dwarf the leadership/broker skills, or a dwarf who doesn't tire easily a skill which will be in frequent use like mining. You can also try to match skills to {{l|personality}}, some of which have obvious implications for their willingness to work long hours or how frequently they might take breaks.

Of course, all combined these represent a lot of possible constraints on where you assign particular skills, and it would be impossible to apply them in total to your entire desired skill load. Use these as a guide, but don't be upset if all your dwarves are anti-social psychopaths - someone still needs to be the leader, after all.

==== Other considerations ====
Migrants can and will arrive with a wide selection of decently trained skills. While it is a gamble, chances are pretty decent that migrants will arrive with a highly trained skill that is also highly desirable and would usurp the job of one of the seven starting ones. The first few migration waves are likely to give you a much better talent pool than what you can assign at embark. On the other hand, you may never get the skill you really want if you don't start with it.

Skills rust if not used and they can eventually de-level. Consider that skills which you will use years after embark are going to be rusty or even deleveled. Embark to the first caravan is long enough for a skill to start rusting, so you might want to make sure you'll use every skill you embark with before the first year ends to avoid catastrophic rusting.

Remember that you need to survive in order to accomplish any goals. Have a plan for lasting to at least the first caravan, if not one for longterm sustainability.

== Items ==

The items you choose to bring with you will need to satisfy a number of needs. Most importantly, you need to keep yourself alive - at least until the caravan arrives in the fall to resupply yourself. You probably also want to plan on some way of making a shelter, whether that be the traditional delved hall, a majestic castle, a log cabin, or something even more exotic. You may want to plan for mishaps by bringing essential medical supplies, especially those which may be hard to acquire on site. And you might bring items which will assist in creating items for trade to that first caravan, should you need anything for the skills you're planning on.

For the purposes of this article, livestock are considered items.

All embarks get the following items without paying for them: 2 animals (who pulled the wagon), and the 3 wood that make up the wagon.

=== Motivations ===

==== Survival ====

A single dwarf eats about 2x/season, and drinks about 4x/season. With 7 dwarves that's ~approximately~ 14 meals per season and 28 alcohol per season, or ~42 meals and ~84 alcohol until the end of Fall. The dwarf caravan tends to arrive in the third month of fall, so you will probably need to plan on a full 3 seasons. You are also likely to get at least one if not two small waves of migrants before the caravan arrives.

It is possible to bring enough food and drink to make it to the caravan - indeed, bringing enough food isn't especially hard (especially once you factor in slaughtering the animals who hauled your wagon. Bringing sufficient alcohol is harder, although bringing plump helmets to brew can significantly cut the cost.

The likely best way to keep your dwarves in drink is also the most labor intensive - setting up farming in the first season or two is perfectly plausible, allowing to grow your own {{l|plants}} from seeds and brew the products. (Keep in mind not all plants can be brewed - don't plant dimple cups and expect to make alcohol). In addition to the necessary seeds, starting your own farming operation is going to require some way to get the ground muddy. While sometimes simple digging can accomplish this, many times you're going to need a screw pump. Basic construction requirements are discussed under shelter.

It is possible to make all your alcohol by harvesting aboveground plants, if highly inefficient. It also only works in biomes with collectable plant life. Notably evil biomes and glaciers are unlikely to provide.

==== Shelter ====
Bar a convenient cave, you're going to have to do something for shelter. Shelter is your first defense against roving creatures, keeping them away from where your dwarves are working so they don't spam job cancellations and strew items all over the place. (As you might guess, most 'convenient caves' aren't actually that convenient, as they tend to have residents). Basic walls that allow you egress won't stop a dedicated invader, but you don't expect to see those until year 3, so you have time to develop more elaborate defenses.

Food outside will also spoil a lot faster than food inside, so making a cellar of some sort to store your food in will increase the longevity of your food supplies. The rate at which food spoils depends on ambient temperature, so the urgency of making a cellar will depend on where you settled. It might be possible to go without a cellar in a freezing biome.{{verify}} The only way you can avoid thinking about food storage in the first year is if you collect food and make alcohol as needed - ie, by using an herbalist to collect local plants - which can avoid needing to mine at all.

Delving a shelter requires mining, which means having picks to dig with. One can always bring one or more picks at embark, but its also possible to bring the supplies necessary to make them. See {{l|Starting build#Finished product or do it yourself|finished product or do it yourself}}.

An aboveground shelter can be made with stone or wood or possibly more exotic materials. Stone of course requires mining, and thus picks. Wood can be had with an axe assuming trees are present, and axes, like picks, can similarly be brought at embark or made on site. It is of course possible to bring sufficient raw materials to build walls with, but this is far less efficient than just bringing a pick or an axe, although it could make a fun challenge. Building your initial fort out of soap, while possible, is not recommended, although possibly hilariously entertaining.

==== Industry ====
Most industries require little more than materials you can collect at the site and a workshop. So long as you can get stone, you won't need to bring anything for these. However, if you want to get an industry going immediately, it does help to bring a few building materials along (or be willing to use the wood from the wagon, if only temporarily).

Some industries require fire-safe materials to build with. All stone qualifies, as does metal. Wood can be converted to a fire safe material by burning it to ashes in a wood burners workshop, but of course that workshop requires a fire-safe material. If you're mining, this condition is easy to satisfy, but if you intend to run any of these industries right away you will need to plan on bringing appropriate materials.

Some industries require plant or animal matter to work with. Clothiers ultimately need cloth, which comes from certain plants or animals. Leatherworkers need tanned skins. (And while you can get 2 off your pack animals, this isn't sufficient to run an industry). If you plan on running these types of industries you will need to have a plan for providing suitable raw materials. Hunting can cover leatherworking needs (although this requires a hunter and hunting implements), and foraging can find rope reed plants, but its usually better to bring enough appropriate animals or plant seeds to have a good shot at getting started in a predictable and sustainable way. Similarly, milking and cheese making require milkable animals, and bonecarving requires a dependable source of bones.

Metal industries require metal and an anvil. You cannot make an anvil on site without already having an anvil, so if you plan on doing any forging before the first caravan you will need to bring one with you. Metal can be brought as bars or as ores to be smelted in a smelter into bars, or can be mined yourself. You will need to provide fuel or magma to run these workshops, so bringing some coal can make the operation run smoother.

Soap requires a lot of wood consumption and a source of tallow to be done in a sustainable way. Lye can be bought at embark to skip the first steps and make soap more directly. You will still need to bring or make buckets and have an empty barrel to actually produce soap though, but fortunately this is just a matter of having sufficient wood.

Jewelers require gems. Cut gems can be brought at embark, but are too expensive to bring in quantity. Generally a jeweler requires mining to find sufficient gems or a glassworker to produce raw glass to work with.

Glassmaking and Pottery requires sand or clay and fuel - pay attention to your site report before embarking. Its hard to run a viable industry solely off imports in these cases. Like metal workshops, coal can be brought to substitute for fuel fairly efficiently.

As is probably obvious, certain industries depend on similar inputs. Planning on a set of industries which require similar complementary inputs can let you more efficiently spend your starting points at embark or more efficiently plan your digging during the first year. If you plan on a lot of fuel-dependent industries, it may be worthwhile to prioritize finding a source of magma.

=== Optimization ===

==== Container mechanics and free items ====

Many items come in containers such as barrels and bags, including food, liquids, seeds, and powders. The cost to embark with these items can be cheaper than the cost of the container itself. Each different type of item for each category will come in its own container. Furthermore, you'll get a new container after every 10th instance for food, most liquids, and seeds, and after every item of powders.{{verify}} Alcohol gets a new barrel after every 5th unit. (Food actually groups by animal type, so if you get horse tripe and horse meat they'll combine them, but they won't combine horse meat and donkey meat). Thus diversifying your initial food supply with 1 of each low-cost food item will net you a large number of barrels. Similarly its worth taking 1 of each seed you weren't planning on taking more of solely for the bags. Taking some sand or gypsum powder is also a cheap way to get bags. Lye (for soap) and milks can be brought for more barrels - and milk can be made into cheese for a low-cost embark option that becomes food.

As stockpiling and some jobs are container limited, getting as many free containers as you can will free up labor (and possibly valuable materials) that would otherwise be used making containers.

==== Finished product or do it yourself ====
Bringing raw materials and making the finished product yourself is often easier on your embark points than bringing the finished product. On the other hand, making it yourself takes time during which you aren't making use of the finished product.

The most common scenario involves {{l|Make your own weapons|forging your own metal tools and weapons}}. While not usually too much of a hardship, it can be dangerous to make your own weapons or picks if you expect possible hostile creatures. Further, you will lose time - possibly 1/4 to 1/2 the first month - if you forge your own picks.

Of special note regarding weapons is that a training battle axe is perfectly capable of chopping trees, and is made with nothing more than a carpentry workshop and a log. While the delay in acquiring one is minimal, a wood battle axe is not a good weapon, and so it loses utility for doing anything other than acquiring more wood.

You can also easily plan on making all or most of one's own booze, as plump helmets can be bought at embark and brewed at a still.

Any finished good can of course be made from raw materials that you bring, but most of them are not essential like the above, and thus you can generally wait until you find suitable resources on site or buy them from caravans.

==== Biome considerations: dude, where's my wood? ====
Some environments have a shortage of trees. While you can direct production of a lot of item types to other materials, beds need to be made out of wood. In addition, it is difficult to make barrels and bins out of non-wood materials early in the game, especially without ready magma (since otherwise you'll probably need to burn wood to make metal equivalents). If you have an aquifer it can be even worse - stone may be difficult or impossible to access easily. While you can ultimately ask for wood from your liaison and buy whatever the humans and elves happen to bring, and eventually you can create a tree farm underground, tight wood will limit storage and sleeping arrangements for at least the first year if not longer. You may wish to plan accordingly if embarking in a site with sparse or no trees.

==== Items for moods ====
When a dwarf is taken by a {{l|strange mood}}, he often needs obscure material or he will go insane and die, possibly with severe consequences to an entire fortress. Bringing along some of the harder-to-find ores ({{l|cassiterite}}, {{l|sphalerite}}, {{l|bismuthinite}}, {{l|garnierite}}), and putting those aside, forbidding their use "just in case", is spending a few points on an insurance policy. Many players also choose to bring a few items like pig tail cloth and cave spider silk just in case.

Alternately, if you're otherwise being minimalistic on gear you're bringing you can choose to bring a few valuable components to try to maximize the value of mood items. That artifact animal trap will be worth a lot more if your woodcarver grabs a blue diamond instead of moss agate.

==== Free Equipment ====

Dwarves who start with the ambusher skill as their highest non-military non-social skill will get some leather {{l|armor}}, a crossbow, a quiver and a stack of 30 to 40 metal bolts for free.

Embarking in a biome where there's snow at the moment of embarkation seems to get the same clothing items dwarves which Ambusher get, though they will not necessarily be made of leather.{{verify}}

==Site considerations==
Each fortress {{l|location}} offers particular challenges and opportunities, and can make different demands on your starting build. Your starting build may need to be adjusted depending on the {{l|region}} your fort occupies, the specific vision you have of your fortress, and what it will take to {{l|losing|stay alive}} where you're going!

The differences include what {{l|biome}}s, {{l|region}}s and likely {{l|metal}}s are present in your chosen embark site.

=== General Surroundings ===
Simply put, if your {{l|surroundings}} are {{l|evil}} or {{l|savage}}, your dwarves have a higher risk of suddenly facing personal combat before they are safely behind their defenses. Consider bringing extra weaponry, in the form of axes, picks or crossbows (see {{l|Starting_builds#Free_Equipment|free equipment}}). Hand in hand with those, consider skill mixes that include {{l|axedwarf}}, {{l|mining}} (the skill used to wield a pick), {{l|marksdwarf}}, or {{l|wrestling}} (a solid unarmed-combat skill).

The same is true if you are embarking near an exposed magma vent or an open chasm - these features can be seen on the embark map, but it's impossible to tell if they are "open" to the surface or not, until you are there in person.

Be sure to include some source of {{l|water}} on the map, preferably running {{l|water}}. Water is (almost) essential for any fortress. In Cold and Freezing climates streams and {{l|lake}}s will often be frozen year-round and your dwarves may quickly die of exposure, in Hot climates {{l|murky pool}}s will dry up, and in Dry ones rain will only rarely re-fill them, if ever. Choose Temperate or tropical zones for an easier game.

===Aquifers===
If an {{l|aquifer}} is present in the first soil or stone layers (visible on the pre-embark menu), it may bar all access to {{l|stone}} and {{l|ore}} until you find a way through the water barrier. Consider bringing some stone for building, and ore for your first basic needs. This may be critical to getting your fortress running smoothly.

=== Mountains ===
Mountains often have abundant {{l|ore}}s, but at the loss of trees and plants. In previous versions lacking {{L|cavern}}s, this was a serious drawback. In DF2010, brave pioneers can dig down into the caverns to find essentials like water, mud, and plants. However, players should be aware that above-ground crops will not grow in mountain biomes, no matter how muddy you may make the surface.

Depending on the exact layers, it's common to find exposed {{l|vein}}s of useful {{l|ore}}s that can be immediately mined for {{l|Make your own weapons|DIY}} weapons and tools.

=== Wooded/Plains ===
Flatlands with at least some trees and gatherable plants can also make for highly successful fortresses. Advantages over mountain zones include abundant trees and plants and (unless frozen) more abundant water. There are even (rare) magma vents. More water also means a high likelihood of an {{l|aquifer}} being present. Make sure to check on embark.

The greatest disadvantage is the potential lack of exposed {{l|stone}} to mine. The first level(s) below the surface is often {{l|soil}} of some type, which offers no building materials. However, soil is mined much more quickly than stone (x3-x4 faster), and expansive accommodations (rooms) can be achieved quickly even by untrained miners. You will find stone, you just have to go down a bit for it - but that's what dwarves do, isn't it?

{{l|Experience|Training}} a {{l|Miner}} from No Skill to Proficient takes less than a month (~20 days with hauling disabled) in soil, and to Legendary in just under a season after. {{version|0.31.12}} From embark, this means you should have legendary miners in early summer if you dig only in soil. Times increase slightly for each additional miner used.

=== Oceanside ===
With many features in common with some of the above locations, {{l|beach}}es are often a mix of ease intermingled with bouts of extreme difficulty. Minerals and trees are often abundant, as well as farmland and sand, but there is often no drinking water unless the biome has a flowing {{l|water}} of some sort.

By definition, the settlement will fall between (at least) two {{l|biome}}s (one land, one water), potentially hazardous if the player expects a peaceful oceanside meadow, without realizing the {{l|terrifying}} ocean is full of amphibious zombie {{l|whale}}s.

=== Desert, Glaciers, and Barren ===
Treeless (or near-treeless) {{l|biome}}s are challenging sites for a fortress: you get most of the disadvantages of a flatland site without having access to nearly as many trees and plants. However, near-lifeless zones such as {{l|glacier}}s are wonderful for players with slower computers, as there's little to burden the CPU but your dwarves and livestock. {{l|Desert}}s and barren areas often have sand; with a sufficient source of energy (preferably magma), you can build almost anything out of unlimited glass.

Hunters should be replaced with fisherdwarves and a fish cleaner (although the latter can be easily trained). Depending how much water vs. land, more starting wood and ores might be helpful. Swimming is rarely useful in Fortress mode, even at the beach, and can be trained.

==Sample starting builds==
See {{l|Sample Starting Builds}}

{{Starting FAQ}}
{{Category|Guides}}
{{Category|Fortress mode}}

v0.31 Talk:Strange mood

2011-04-24T05:26:17Z

Squirrelloid: /* Woodcrafter mood? */

== Fell/Macabre Moods ==
I never had any of the moods that required dwarves to be depressed in 40d but I have a high master milker in a fey mood asking for body parts. will commit Dorfcide for science[[User:Cpad|Cpad]]
:'''''SCIENCE!!!'''''--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 01:19, 5 April 2010 (UTC)
man dwarves are hard to shred.killed a bunch of dwarves but the only parts that came off were teeth(Note use more violence next time) and the milker just sat in the craft shop then went berserk. Interestingly a dwarves "z" screen loses all the personality info when they go insane[[User:Cpad|Cpad]]

For what it's worth, I've seen a couple moods, saved to attempt different methods of reacting to them, and have noticed that Fey and Secretive work exactly as they did in 40d, apart from dwarves now requesting more different kinds of things. Perhaps we can update the 2010 page with some of the stuff from the 40d page at this point? --[[User:AzureShadow|AzureShadow]] 02:09, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

according to the bone article bones are now counted as body parts so I'm assuming that's what he was after [[User:Cpad|Cpad]] 13:15, 7 April 2010 (UTC)

A fey dwarf of mine just grabbed a shell that was laying about. So apparently those count too. (NINJAEDIT: Yes, he was screaming for body parts and not specifically shell)[[Special:Contributions/81.225.92.197|81.225.92.197]] 13:44, 10 April 2010 (UTC)
::Yes, bone and shell as category are gone, they are now 'body parts'. Asking for them is common in a fey mood and you won't have to kill a dwarf for that. In fact, it wont even help you satisfy his needs. --[[User:Confused|Confused]]

I think most of my dwarves were unhappy about one of my starting dwarves dying, but I didn't check at the time. I've now got someone in a mood who has collected 3 large roach remains, and 1 firefly remains. She's brooding darkly, and the message is "Leave me. I need things... certain things"--[[Special:Contributions/78.151.176.4|78.151.176.4]] 15:59, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

It might be worth stating that the personal preferences of the moody dwarf seem to influence the material requirements. I had an armorsmith who had a preference for silver and wouldn't accept any of my ready metal bars. Once I smelted enough silver items she promptly got to work. Currently the page only states that the preferences affect the created item, but since the material requirements are what mostly confuse people it might be worth to spell this out explicitly. --[[User:Roblob|Roblob]] 09:08, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

From what I've seen 'till now, they only pick from stuff that's already available, but don't care if there's ''enough'' available. So if you have, say, 1 bar of silver and 10 of copper, and the dwarf needs 2 bars of silver, he'll still stand there demanding bars. --[[Special:Contributions/190.160.169.53|190.160.169.53]] 02:38, 12 October 2010 (UTC)

== Never Claiming a Workshop? ==
I have a dwarf hanging out in my dining hall in a secretive mood. He has not claimed ANY workshops, nor moved in nearly a month. He's about to go crazy, but I can't seem to even get him to a shop. Note, all workshops have been created (including fully powered magma forges/glass and non-magma equivalents) and every possible workshop is open and fully accessible. I'm not sure what to do :( His highest skill is in plant processing (13). Any suggestions for if this happens again? 00:59, 29 July 2010 69.134.0.97
:Please list all of his skills and the skill levels in them. Plant processing was not a "moodable" skill, one that can be selected as the skill that defines a strange mood, in old 40d, and I doubt that's changed. Check (t, then cursor over workshops) if any building component (marked with a <nowiki>[B]</nowiki> of any workshop is {forbidden}. And, if you have any burrows defined, be sure the moody dwarf is not a member of any of them. —[[User:0x517A5D|0x517A5D]] 03:37, 29 July 2010 (UTC)
::His only other available skill was stonecrafting at level 1. Otherwise he totally lacked any industrial skills. I triple checked the three craftsdwarf stations I had, none of them were blocked, forbidden or otherwise inaccessible. No burrows had been generated. I scrapped the game or I could have posted the files. I'll see if it happens again, I'd never had the issue before. It is more than likely that I was at fault somehow, but I just couldn't find why. [[User:Nubcake|Nubcake]] 07:16, 29 July 2010

I just had this same issue. DF2010. Guy got fey mood and also happens to be expedition leader. Dabbling grower. Skilled appraiser. Novice Organizer. Talented Record Keeper. He's set as expedition leader, manager, bookkeeper, and broker. Did what 0x517A5D said above, no dice. Hope this helps --[[User:W-dueck|w-dueck]] 04:24, 13 August 2010 (UTC)
:Did you have a craftsdwarfs workshop, which is what dwarfs with no moodable skills take?--[[User:Kwieland|Kwieland]] 06:01, 13 August 2010 (UTC)

I have this issue as well. high master armormsith, novice metal crafter, and adept pump operator. Obviously, he could take a metalsmith's forge, but he refuses to take either the conventional, or the magma versions. Just stands around at my well. [[User:Psychobones|Psychobones]] 00:05, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

== Body Parts? ==
I had a fey dorf scream for 'body parts' while four perfectly good raccoon bones stood nearby in a refuse stockpile. As the poor child was on the cusp of insanity, I slaughtered a mule and two puppies in desperation. Surprisingly, as soon as the puppy bones were made available, Urist McBonescreamer took them over to the Craftdwarf's Workshop without so much as a "how do you do". Why is there this distinction between different kinds of bone? [[Special:Contributions/81.86.135.171|81.86.135.171]] 22:34, 5 July 2010 (UTC)
quick edit: Mother of God, I've never seen anything like this. The child was only content with - I kid you not - '''''21''''' puppy bones in the end. Why so much goddamn bone? Seriously? 22:39, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

== Stopping at Nothing ==
It seems no matter what a dwarf will try to fulfill his mood. Even if his leg (and ribs) are broken he'll jump out of bed and find a workshop.--[[Special:Contributions/99.67.238.66|99.67.238.66]] 00:19, 15 June 2010 (UTC)
:Should've checked 40d first as it's confirmed that they do this in that version. I would like to know if the moody dwarves suffer the same effects of non moody dwarves with injuries while trying to find workshops (fainting, vomiting etc.).--[[Special:Contributions/99.67.238.66|99.67.238.66]] 00:24, 15 June 2010 (UTC)
== I think we need to do complete rearrange on mood materials ==

I got fey mood and dorf kept screaming for "rock bars" and logs. He picked up logs, but not rock blocks. This is either bug, or new stuff I haven't figured out yet.
--[[Special:Contributions/94.237.66.205|94.237.66.205]] 08:16, 7 April 2010 (UTC)

Rock bars means metal bars, I think. That what satisfied my fey dorf.

:I can confirm this. I had no metal bars and ordered one to be smelted (it was iron bar), mood'd dwarf rushed to pick it up and finished construction. Most likely this is just a typo (rock -> metal) and nothing complicated like import bars etc. (as in comments below) [[User:Fuco|Fuco]] 02:05, 9 August 2010 (UTC)

:Are you sure it's not charcoal (edit: I meant coke) that they want? They could easily be considered 'rock' bars. I'm going to see now, I haven't got either now that he's collected my steel bars, so can check what he wants.--[[Special:Contributions/92.29.248.178|92.29.248.178]] 15:12, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

:My fey dwarf was not satisfied by my massive stockpile of metal bars, or the large amounts of (ore and not-ore) uncut stone, or the stone blocks I demanded produced en masse. I think rock bars are actually what he is looking for, and as they cannot be produced, I was forced to lose a metalsmith in a craftsdwarf's to a berserk rage, followed by two wrestlers and a pack of dogs. Tell him that it's a typo. --[[User:Aescula|Aescula]] 03:15, 20 April 2010 (UTC)

:For me, ordinary metal bars were ignored until I made an adamantine wafer, but ymmv. --[[User:zergl|zergl]]

:On mine it's just taken an iron bar before the lazy bugger began working on his mysterious construction. --[[User:Mrchinchin25|Mrchinchin25]] 21:23, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

:: I just had a guy ask for "rock bars" and he took two steel bars from my stocks. Possible thing -- they were imported. Maybe only imported metal bars? --[[User:Waladil|Waladil]] 02:42, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

:::I can confirm, Asked for wood, rock blocks, rock bars; took fungiwood, dolomite blocks, and imported steel bars. Haven't had a second mood to try non-imports. --andrei901 21:04, 4 August 2010

:: I had a guy ask for "rock bars" and he wouldn't do anything until I realized my blocks were in my trade depot. He then took my gold bars. [

::In 0.31.06, my metalsmith interprets "rock bars" as rock block, which is rather confusing, because he also asked for "rock blocks". Item asked: Rocks, Rock bars, Rock blocks, Cut gems, Silk cloths, Metal bars. Items taken: Copper bars, Olivine blocks, Red beryls, Dacite, Giant cave spider silk cloth, Tanzanites, Dacite blocks, Wood opals. --[[User:Arkatufus|Arkatufus]] 13:44, 16 June 2010 (UTC)

::In my case "rock bars" meant iron bar as well, so it suggests metal bars. [[User:Boldwyn|Boldwyn]] 22:08, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

::I just had a fey dwarf asking for "rock bars". He wouldn't accept: rocks, rock blocks, grates, charcoal, iron bars (non-imported), electrum bars (non-imported), copper bars (bought at embark, marked ingame as imported), pig iron bars. Unfortunately he was "stricken by melancholy" just before I smelted some steel bars. v0.31.12 --[[Special:Contributions/91.193.86.67|91.193.86.67]] 10:36, 9 August 2010 (UTC)

Shame. Armoursmith only wanted one bar. If anyone else gets a chance, I'd love to see a charcoal / coke armoured wrestler take on a magma man ;P 92.29.248.178, 18:39, 11 April 2010

I had a strange mood (possessed) with 17 dwarves, so the 'at least 20 dwarves' condition should be removed. Also, the dwarf was struck with the mood right after he migrated to my fort. Right after, as in he was still 2 tiles away from the edge of the map. 78.23.137.83, 15:32, 20 April 2010 
:I can confirm, 20 dwarfs are not needed for a mood.-[[User:Mhyder|mhyder]]
:So it does appear that mood trigger conditions have changed. I'll try to do some disassembly and report what I find. —[[User:0x517A5D|0x517A5D]] 20:56, 20 April 2010 (UTC)
::(If anyone can find Truth, it's 0x5. He is personally responsible for 75%+ of the 40d info. You da man!)--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 21:05, 20 April 2010 (UTC)

Every time I have one ask for rock bars, coke, charcoal, ash, or any kind of metal bar works. (Though, one time, the dwarf used soap.)(No, I don't know, either.) So, evidently, rocjk bars just means bars of any material.

- When my dwarf asked for Rock Bars I could fix it by making some iron bars.

I'm getting *rock bars* and have everything in my fortress. Is this a confirmed bug? Never imported metal or metal bars in my fortress history and reading the above it may be related to *imported* metal bars or perhaps crafting metal bars from imported metal (which would explain why some can craft a metal bar and have it work, while others are locked to imported..) however can we get to the bottom of this? I'm not losing a man.. uh.. dwarf over the situation..

I just got a dwarf demanding body parts, rock bars, rock blocks, and rock bars in 31.25. I'm not sure whether it's due to all the rearranging of the bar/block section that's been going on, but NOTHING is satisfying the rock bars request. (He has a stack of dog bones collected already.) Tried coke, ash, potash, pearlash, metal bars of all kinds (including an aluminum metal bar and an imported pig iron bar), and at least one block of every kind of rock, metal, and clay I could gather. Nothing works.

== Saving & reloading not changing mood type ==

Thanks to a crash, I had to reload my fortress, saved about a month before a strange mood. It occurred at roughly the same time, with the same dwarf, with the same type of mood. The item was different however.-[[User:Studoku|Studoku]] 14:06, 22 April 2010 (UTC)

:I believe that's expected behavior. The mood type, if I recall, is based on happiness of the dwarf, and thus should be consistent over loads. The type of craft is determined by their highest skill, unless they have no quality-based skill, in which case it's a toss up between useless woodcrafting, near-useless stonecrafting, and sweet sweet bonecarving. --[[User:Zombiejustice|Zombiejustice]] 14:20, 22 April 2010 (UTC)
::Mood types are ''generally'' not based on happiness and also not that hardwired to the state of the fort, meaning they are likely to change on reload. There are higher probabilities for some skills to get a mood and that makes it likely the same dwarf is chosen, esp. if the fort is small. There is a chance counter running down, usually resulting in a mood in the same time window on reload. What in fact has changed is that the item produced is determined on completion now, not on start out, allowing for even more <s>exploit</s> tweaking. --[[Special:Contributions/92.202.66.218|92.202.66.218]] 16:03, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

== Body Parts ==

Just got a fey mood dwarf asking for them. -[[User:Studoku|Studoku]] 00:22, 26 April 2010 (UTC)

:He means bones or turtle shells. Get him some. --[[User:Zombiejustice|Zombiejustice]] 02:01, 26 April 2010 (UTC)

:I think the word here is "or", I have a dwarf shouting for body parts while bones pile high around him, so I'm guessing it really is Bones '''or''' shell, not either. -The Anon

:I had this happen as well - I had six mussel shells laying around, nothing. Built a Butchery, slaughtered a horse, and he immediately snapped up the 13 bones, kept screaming for body parts and logs. So I sent a poor puppy to its doom for another 4 bones, and he immediately went to work. Debnetig, a enormous horse bone corkscrew! (That just sounds so wrong.)

:Confirmed: had ample bones and no shell. Processed some turtles into shells, and the fey dwarf made a dash for them and began a construction. Edit the "Strange mood" page to represent this? --[[User:Ritesign|Ritesign]] 02:56, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

== Possible Bug ==

I'm having an issue where occasionally a dwarf won't collect items I'm 100% sure I have available, i.e. he'll get leather and then ask for more even when more is clearly there, he'll ask for bones/wood when there's a stockpile right next to him, etc. I've tried just about everything including manually dumping the needed supplies on the Craftdwarf's workshop. Nothing seems to work and since it's happened to me many times, I'm thinking bug.--[[Special:Contributions/69.149.72.106|69.149.72.106]] 05:45, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

:Dwarves in moods will continue to ask for the same list they started out asking for, regardless of which items they've already collected. They also collect them in order. So if he asks for:

*leather
*body parts
*plant cloth
*rough gems
*leather

:and he already has leather, bones, and plant cloth, he'll keep repeating the same list until rough gems are available, then go get them, then get more leather, then begin a mysterious construction.--[[User:Zombiejustice|Zombiejustice]] 12:19, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

::I may be seeing the same issue as above. I have a dwarf in a possessed mood locked in a workshop looking for:
::*rough...colour
::*stone...rock (has bauxite)
::*gems...shining (has indigo tourmalines)
::*tree...life (has palm logs)
::*bones...yes (has mule bones. I liked that mule)

::I'm unsure of the order they originally came up in, but of course I have uncut gems lying all over the place (including a store pile of cut and uncut gems about ten tiles away.)

::I'm also very new to DF, so I could be missing something. I'm going to save a copy of it as it is currently. [[User:Eddy the lip|Eddy the lip]] 19:25, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

:::He may want rough glass, instead of normal gems. Dwarves can be picky. --[[User:Zombiejustice|Zombiejustice]] 19:27, 30 April 2010 (UTC)
::::If he wanted raw glass, he should've been mumbling "raw... [green/clear/crystal]". It was only in the old 2D version where "rough gems" (and its secretive/possessed equivalents) could occasionally mean "raw glass". --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 19:54, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

::::Yeah, rough glass didn't do it. I suppose there's the possibility that he requires a specific kind of rough gem. He has a preference for moss opals (I only have jelly opals.) If I can find some, and that works, I'll post back. Otherwise, I'll have to get work on the catacombs! [[User:Eddy the lip|Eddy the lip]] 20:18, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

::::Burrows also affect moody dwarves. If you have only a rock stockpile designated for the poor guy, he's trying to find bones and gems from within that burrow (stockpile).

== Magma Workshops ==
So, I just a had a Glassmaker be possessed and be unwilling (unable?) to claim a Magma glass furnace. When I built a regular furnace, he claimed it just fine and went on about his business. Not sure if this applies to all other magma disciplines, but if you're having this problem, try building a regular one (then deconstruct it afterwards, I guess). [[User:Rodya mirov|Rodya mirov]]
: A magma forge worked for me. Just make sure it doesn't get unpowered after it has been claimed because the dwarf immediately ran amok when this happened. [[Special:Contributions/84.46.87.224|84.46.87.224]] 11:45, 9 May 2010 (UTC)

I just had the same problem with a Magma forge; I used the same anvil to build a Metalsmith's forge below the old site and the dwarf happily claimed the MS F.[[Special:Contributions/76.29.33.118|76.29.33.118]] 18:35, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

I had the same problem with magma glass furnaces. Only normal glass furnaces will work.--[[Special:Contributions/24.8.192.250|24.8.192.250]] 21:36, 14 December 2010 (UTC)

== Obsidian Farming SCIENCE ==
Someone needs to figure out definitely whether obsidian farming allows more moods.

== 'Nother Possible Bug ==
Today I was tending the fortress when my bookkeeper went into a secretive mood while on break in the dining hall. He did not claim a workshop, he did not sketch anything. He just sat there, slowly losing his mind until he finally went insane. I'm not sure what I did wrong. Right now the game is paused with the still-insane dwarf just sitting amongst all the others. I'm afraid to unpause it because I really don't want to see what's going to happen to the little bastard. [[User:PurelyAtomic|PurelyAtomic]]

::Maybe you didn't have the workshop he needed? The symptoms seem to match. --[[User:Speed112|Speed112]] 01:01, 12 May 2010 (UTC)

:Later that year a different dwarf, a Stonecrafter, was possessed. He holed himself up in his workshop and made a Claystone scepter called the Stin Shadmal. It's worth a ridiculous amount. [[User:PurelyAtomic|PurelyAtomic]] 00:57, 12 May 2010 (UTC)

== Yet another possible bug ==

My leatherworker was possessed, claimed a leather works, then wanted leather and cut gems. I tan a hide, cut about 7 or 8 gems, then about 20 minutes later, I see "Degel Zefonusan has begun a mysterious construction!". I go over, look at the items in the workshop, and find out he took 3 units of donkey leather. I think there should be some way of finding out how many of a certain thing he needs. This caused a lot of confusion for me.--[[User:Joejr50|Joejr50]] 20:18, 23 May 2010 (UTC)
: You can estimate the number of items by duration of each scream/sketch/muttering. If some particular material request shows longer than other, it means crafter needs several items of that type. But I never got requests of more than 3 items of one type. --[[User:Peregarrett|Peregarrett]] 12:12, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

== And another bug... ==

I've now had two dwarfs produce bone items from strange moods. In both cases, bone was requested (dwarfs had no skill) as well as various other goods - gems, cloth, leather, and rock - but the final artifact was a bone artifact with zero decoration. One dwarf was possessed, the other was a mysterious mood.

Anyone experience similar?--[[User:Nimblewright|Nimblewright]] 17:42, 15 August 2010 (UTC)
:Yes - in fact, it was reported 3 weeks ago on the bug tracker: {{bug|2806}} --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 18:32, 15 August 2010 (UTC)

== Fell mood murder ==

I think it requires some clarification. Does the moody dwarf attack their victim, drag them to workshop and insta-kill them or insta-kill them on the place and then drag the corpse? --[[User:Someone-else|Someone-else]] 20:22, 23 May 2010 (UTC)
:In 40d, the moody dwarf would insta-kill his victim wherever he/she was standing (without the victim even being able to defend itself, much like slaughtering), then drag the corpse to the workshop. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 20:45, 23 May 2010 (UTC)
:I also had a fell mood murder in DF2010. It seems like it uses the same game mechanics as slaughtering (instant-kill without combat mechanics). --18:46, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

::I just had a Fell mood in 31.12. The Dwarf who undertook the mood first claimed a Tanner's shop then stalked the (corpse-strewn, gradually flooding) halls of my fortress for quite a while. Eventually, he grabbed an alread-dead Dwarf's corpse and hauled it back to the Tannery. And now... I have a lovely Dwarf Bone Cage which sadly will be lost soon when my fortress finishes self-destructing in an orgy of tantrums and doomsday-level flooding. [[Special:Contributions/71.232.137.20|71.232.137.20]] 04:59, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

:::Interesting, very interesting. I thought fell moods always involved a murder. Is there any chance that the dead dwarf was alive when the mood started? —[[User:0x517A5D|0x517A5D]] 12:16, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

::::I can not rule it out; at the time, Dwarves were dropping from starvation (as the food stockpile was cut off from the upper levels by flooded intermediate levels), so the "material" might have expired after the mood started. Its noteworthy that the Dwarf with the mood spent a lot of time first sitting on the workshop (as if he was missing a material), then wandering seemingly randomly through the fort. [[Special:Contributions/71.232.137.20|71.232.137.20]] 17:26, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

:In 31.11 my Fell mood dwarf claimed a magma forge, he proceeded to mull around the area and at a whim proceeded to murder my dwarf operating a magma furnace. He dragged the corpse to my magma forge and produced a dwarf bone short sword. So as far as I can tell, he kills them on site, not at the place they intend to process the dwarf. --[[User:Knossos|Knossos]] 08:10, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

== Skills affected by artifact creation ==

My miner got a fey mood, claimed mason workshop and created hematite table, decorated with giant toad bone and tube agate. Before getting mood he had miner, carpenter and bowyer labor skills, and now he is a legendary MINER! Making stone furniture now counts as digging experience?! --[[User:Peregarrett|Peregarrett]] 12:46, 24 May 2010 (UTC)
:Oops. my fault. I always thought miner is not-moodable skill, but it was moodable even at 40d --[[User:Peregarrett|Peregarrett]] 13:48, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

== Possessed Mood Causes ==

Do we know for sure what causes Possessed moods? A few seconds after crushing twenty or so dwarves and various livestock beneath a drawbridge (great fun, lemme tell ya) a dwarf woke from his sleep due to a Possessed mood, and made an Aventurine scepter. Also, ''"On the item is an image of Zefon Stopchamber the dwarf in aventurine. Zefon Stopchamber is cringing. The artwork relates to the crushing of the dwarf Zefon Stopchamber under a drawbridge in Helmsball in the midautumn of 202."'' So, maybe Possessed moods are caused by recent deaths, or deceased friends? Just guessing here, maybe it was just coincidence, but interesting all the same. [[Special:Contributions/174.31.104.180|174.31.104.180]] 00:02, 8 June 2010 (UTC)
:Coincidence - as far as anybody knows, they're entirely random. The only moods that result from recent deaths or deceased friends are Fell/Macabre moods, and only because they happen when an unhappy dwarf enters a strange mood. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 00:18, 8 June 2010 (UTC)
:You might be on to something: I recall Toady mentioning ghosts a while ago. My newest fort also succumbed to thirst (2 miners survived) and I got 2 possessions for next two moods after migration (but due to rock bars problem it kinda didn't work out for them as I had sold my anvil for). [[Special:Contributions/90.191.16.52|90.191.16.52]] 10:39, 1 July 2010 (UTC)
:: I'm aware of the next comment (about disassembly) and do believe it - yet I got another possession in the same damn castle; 3 out of 4. Is it possible that code is compiled yet never used? Still, chance works like this too. [[Special:Contributions/90.191.16.52|90.191.16.52]] 11:43, 19 July 2010 (UTC)
:::Nope. A short glance at DF .08 with a [http://www.hex-rays.com/idapro/ disassembler that tracks code flow] shows only one path that reaches the message " has been possessed!" and it comes directly from the 0..2 random number test mentioned below. It's random, you've had slightly bad luck, but your experience is well within statistically expected results. You've essentially rolled a die four times, and gotten a 1 or 2 on three of the rolls. You might want to read about the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambler%27s_fallacy Gambler's fallacy] a.k.a. the so-called [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_averages law of averages] and the fallacy of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasty_generalization hasty generalization]. —[[User:0x517A5D|0x517A5D]] 03:41, 21 July 2010 (UTC)
:It's all a coincidence. I just disassembled the bit of the 0.31.08 strange mood that chooses mood type. It hasn't changed since the .40d days, except for excessive optimization by the compiler.
:*First, a random number between 0 and 49 is generated.
:*If that number is ''higher'' than the dwarf's current happiness scalar,
:**then a random number between 0 and 1 is generated.
:**0 results in a fell mood.
:**1 results in a macabre mood.
:*Otherwise,
:**a random number between 0 and 2 is generated.
:**0 results in a fey mood.
:**1 results in a secretive mood.
:**2 results in a possessed mood.
:Purely random. Disassembly available on request. —[[User:0x517A5D|0x517A5D]] 04:19, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

:I just had my first Possessed Dwarf and it was a bonecrafter with no workshop. Didn't take much to work out what I needed to build but could the lack of a workshop related to their profession be a factor in the equation? I know as a fact that death isn't needed for one to happen as it's the 1st mood of a new fort and not even a tame stray has died yet.
--[[Special:Contributions/124.180.132.157|124.180.132.157]] 06:07, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

== Shells ==

Mussel shells count as shells along with turtle shells and cave lobster shells. Should change the page to include them .
: Cave lobsters don't produce shells anymore. Only turtle, oyster and mussel do - see [[DF2010:Shell|shell]] page.[[User:Peregarrett|Peregarrett]] 06:50, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

== Materials in hospitals ==

What I have found is that materials a dwarf need that that only exist in containers in hospitals will not be claimed until the container is removed and the material is liberated. Need a second check on this then it might be worth putting on this page. 05:34, 17 June 2010 Bungler
:That kind of makes sense, similar to how trader's goods can't be used. Did you try setting the level of material required by the hospital to 0? Incidentally, four tildes <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> signs your talk page posts. —[[User:0x517A5D|0x517A5D]] 10:21, 17 June 2010 (UTC)

== Metal working dwarves and magma workshops... ==

I doubt that this is a bug, but i think it needs further confirmation, i had a possessed metalsmith, who claimed a magma forge the moment the channel under it filled to workable status, but due to the fact that it wasn't completely full and lava was moving, the workshop momentarily lost "power". The dwarf immediately canceled the mood and went berserk. Now, i doubt that ''every'' moody metalsmith would do that, but more just do the general insanity thing and go any of the possible moods. Can anyone confirm this with their dorfs? v31.08 here, just for reference - [[User:Vrga|Vrga]] 06:51, 3 July 2010 (UTC)
*It's always been this way, even in 40d. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 14:46, 3 July 2010 (UTC)
**didn't know that, as its not stated ''anywhere'' at all... - [[User:Vrga|Vrga]] 11:38, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

== Possessed Mood and Experience ==

So far under v31 I've had a handful of dorfs get possessed and build themselves an artifact. The wiki still says that Possessed dwarfs don't gain xp, but mine have all ended up Legendary in whatever skill they used at completion.
:Coincidence. Remember that the moodable skill with the highest experience level is the one chosen; it just happened that your possessed dwarves were already legendary. I just checked my disassembly of 0.31.06. All successful moods ''except possession'' gain 20,000 experience points; possessions go not gain anything. This is the same as its always been. —[[User:0x517A5D|0x517A5D]] 02:37, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

== Mining exp? ==

A couple times my dwarves made artifacts (not possessed) at a mason's workshop, to become legendary miners. They do not appear to have gained skill in masonry or anything else like that. --[[User:Peglegpenguin|Peglegpenguin]] 20:11, 12 August 2010 (UTC)
Yes mining is a moodable skill.It does not have a workshop so you must think of it like they made it with their picks. If I'm correct they will take either a masonry or crafsworkshop and make their artifact there.

== Population of 20+==

According to Tarn in Dwarf Talk 7, in order for a fey mood to occur you must have a population of 20 or more for the mood to occur. So I really think we should have this in the article. [[User:Sadron|Sadron]] 19:00, 14 August 2010 (UTC)
:That was specifically removed from the article because two people, Anonymous-78.23.137.83 and [[User:mhyder|mhyder]], have reported moods with less than 20 dwarves. —[[User:0x517A5D|0x517A5D]] 22:27, 14 August 2010 (UTC)
::I see, however were they able to provide evidence for it? [[User:Sadron|Sadron]] 01:51, 15 August 2010 (UTC)
:::The claims are on this page, about halfway down. No evidence was presented, nor requested. —[[User:0x517A5D|0x517A5D]] 18:29, 15 August 2010 (UTC)
I have had one with 11 dwarfs.
(I had had twenty, nine were slaughtered by goblins, (And zombies) and before more came, one went into a fey mood.)

::::Could it be that you need to BREAK a pop of 20 for one to be able to trigger? Perhaps even as specific as when the mood is brewing (before your notified) you have to have more then 20 but that stop it in the case of say a goblin slaughter...
::::--[[Special:Contributions/124.180.132.157|124.180.132.157]] 06:11, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

:::::No, that is not the case. I've just played two quick forts, and my first mood happened very quickly after the first of the two scripted immigration waves both games. I started with 14 dwarves both games.
::::: The first game was 14 + 7 = 21 Dwarves before the mood happened, 2 days after the immigrants arrived.
::::: The second game was 14 + 3 = 17 Dwarves before the mood happened, 8 days after the immigrants arrived.

:::::Could be coincidence, but I'm guessing the new trigger is either between 15 and 17 dwarves, or not related to the number of dwarves. --[[User:Naros|Naros]] 07:23, 10 April 2011 (UTC)

== Other requests ==

Right now i'm having a dorf (metal crafter) who is in a fey mood and asks for "adamantine wafers", exactly. Of course, he got it, just stopped on "body parts", which i have 200 at hand, no burrows. He's just a little bitch.
Oh, sorry, DF 31.10, [[Special:Contributions/78.140.48.35|78.140.48.35]] 08:12, 18 August 2010 (UTC)
:It happens fairly often (and even back in 40d) that a moody metalsmith will insist on a very specific metal. In most cases, that metal would be the dwarf's favorite metal, but I always observed that once I had struck raw adamantine, all moody metalsmiths would insist on using adamantine wafers. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 12:53, 18 August 2010 (UTC)

== Strange problem with moods ==

I was wondering if anyone else had this problem. I've already had 2 dwarves go insane because they couldn't get materials for an artifact. Everything they ask for is in my fort, and there are no burrow restrictions or anything forbidden. It seems to only happen when they take over a clothier's workshop (which has no restrictions on it, BTW) and ask for cloth - even though there is a huge stockpile of cloth right next to the workshop. I have a third dwarf currently doing the same thing and I actually want to save his life for once. [[Special:Contributions/98.228.196.111|98.228.196.111]] 21:39, 7 September 2010 (UTC)
: Do you have both silk and plant cloth? Both are requested as "stacked cloth" but aren't equivalent for secretive moody dwarf. Same for posessed one.[[User:Peregarrett|Peregarrett]] 06:55, 8 September 2010 (UTC)
: Also, it's possible that he wants a piece of cloth which is stored in a hospital. He can't take it out of there and so he'll go insane waiting to get it. My solution was to de-zone the hospital and unbuild all the chests inside it, allowing him to grab the cloth that he wants.--[[Special:Contributions/208.81.12.34|208.81.12.34]] 12:57, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

== Woodcrafter mood? ==

I had a woodcrafter get a secretive mood. He claimed a mechanics shop. Clearly he should have claimed a craftsdwarf shop. I checked his stats and sure enough, both woodcrafting and mechanics were proficient, among other mood skills. I don't use any other DF tools, so I couldn't see the exact experience levels. My hypothesis is one of two things. First, perhaps the skill had rusted, but that the change doesn't get reflected in their professions? Second, perhaps both were exactly the same skill level. Moods pick a random one, or pick one different from the one the title uses? Anyone seen something like this?--[[User:Kwieland|Kwieland]] 12:10, 16 September 2010 (UTC)
:Were both skills equal? Perhaps he migrated in as a proficient woodcrafter and mechanic? It may be that it only regards the level of their proficiency rather than their EXP value for it. --[[User:Eurytus|Eurytus]] 20:21, 16 September 2010 (UTC)
::In the previous major release, the skill with the most experience points was used; the level was not considered. I don't see any reason for that to have changed. I would suspect rust. Savegame? —[[User:0x517A5D|0x517A5D]] 21:24, 16 September 2010 (UTC)
:::Old, but for posterity - dwarf profession only changes when the old profession is *outleveled* by the new profession. So its perfectly possible your Woodcrafter had more xp in Mechanics, just not enough to put him a level of mechanics over his woodcrafter level and thus change his profession to Mechanic. --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 05:26, 24 April 2011 (UTC)

== Magma Forge vs. Normal Forge ==

I had a Dwarf who got the Fey mood and didnt want to claim a Workshop. I built any possible Workshop, except a Forge, since I had a Magma Forge. The Dwarf didnt accept the Magma Forge but when i disassemled it and built a Normal Metlsmiths Forge he claimed it immediately. So it seems for moody dwarfs thats not the same. -- Blue Crake 30.10.10
:Yes, this sometimes happens. Reported above, item #9. Also reported several times on the 40d Talk Strange Mood page. I'm glad you figured out the workaround. —[[User:0x517A5D|0x517A5D]] 22:40, 30 September 2010 (UTC)
I wrote that to tell, that this is the case for the forge too, not only the glassmaker. I can`t find anything about this in the mainpage of DF2010 Moods. Shouldn`t it be here as well, as long as this bug (is it a bug or rather a caveat?) exists? Needing a normal forge is kinda counterintuitive, as moody dwarfs dont use fuel anyway. Also do moody dwarfs always take nonmagma-buildings or just sometimes? --[[User:Blue Crake|Blue Crake]] 10:42, 1 October 2010 (UTC)

This seems like a bug to me, why does normal vs. magma matter? It really shouldn't. Just want to make sure this is noted as bug. – [[template:unsigned|unsigned]] comment by [[User:Pathaugen|Pathaugen]]
: It's not a bug, it's a feature. Maybe the dwarf doesn't like worrying about having his shiny artifact, or the components thereof, falling into a pool of magma through a careless elbow. Maybe the dwarf prefers working in a cooler environment. Or maybe the decision software merely selects the first type of workshop that can handle the strange mood, and it would be annoying to the developer to make it select magma workshops if you have only them, and non-magma workshops if you have only those. --[[User:DeMatt|DeMatt]] 21:38, 9 November 2010 (UTC)

:: Being alpha, it's important to note intended vs. 'for now' interworkings so there is a nice wish list of how the game can improve in the future. Sure that's how it may work because of the programming, but with that mindset, the game is done and nothing else needs to change? I just think it's healthy having discussion instead of just putting all ideas off as nonsense because that's the way it is and always should be. [[User:Pathaugen|Pathaugen]] 05:22, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

:::I thoroughly agree with DeMatt here. This wiki is about how the game ''does'' operate, not how it ''should'' operate. There's no point in putting future-development wish-lists here - those belong on the bay12games forums. [[Special:Contributions/202.156.10.234|202.156.10.234]] 02:30, 22 November 2010 (UTC)

::::Not his point, it should be listed as a known bug if it is such. As you said it is the ''alpha'' so we can expect changes, especially the removal of bugs. That way as a wiki we can keep readers informed of likely version changes. :P
::::--[[Special:Contributions/124.180.132.157|124.180.132.157]] 06:15, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

== Highest experience skill not chosen ==

I just had a dwarf have a fey mood who had 3180 xp in metalcrafting and 3000 in all the other metalworking skills. I was expecting to get a legendary blacksmith out of the deal, which I really could have used, but instead she ended up making a crossbow and being a legendary weapon smith (which I already had...) So apparently they don't always take the highest xp, perhaps its actually just picked at random amongst the highest talent level, since by level all 4 moodable skills were equal.
[[User:Barbarossa6969|Barbarossa6969]] 15:26, 21 October 2010 (UTC)

== multiple items not always displayed longer ==

Regarding the "2 seconds per item needed" rule, I've found that it doesn't always apply. I've seen certain materials displayed for the same 2 seconds as everything else, but sometimes (not always) multiples of the material are collected. I've seen it happen with (at least) wood, bone, and cloth, and usually (always?) in threes. I think it also tends to be the ''primary'' material (1st thing gathered, and the thing the artifact is eventually listed as being made from), but I'm not as sure about that. It's an important point, and might be the cause of many of the complaints of "he said he needed X, and I had plenty of X around!" (i.e. he actually needed more X-1) [[Special:Contributions/202.156.10.234|202.156.10.234]] 01:54, 22 November 2010 (UTC)

:Just had this happen again, this time with rough gems as the primary material. "rough gems" displayed the normal two seconds, two rough gems gathered, (not three). The same artifact also required 2 logs (as secondary materials, not primary) and "wood logs" was displayed the expected 4 seconds, which seems to confirm it's the primary material that does it. I'll add it to the page with a verify tag.

== Random mood crafting. ==

One of my dwarves got a possessed mood during a stage where I'm still setting up my various workshops. The only moodable skill he had was Tanning, so I built a leatherworks and tanner's shop, but he still just hung around the meeting area. I decided to ignore him and set up a craftsdwarf workshop for another reason, and suddenly this dwarf goes and claims it. Is it possible that moods, possibly just possessed moods, can choose skills that the dwarf does not have in the slightest? will update when the item is finished --[[User:Twilightdusk|Twilightdusk]] 02:58, 23 November 2010 (UTC)

:I'm thinking he's using the craftdwarf's workshop because of its "Make leather crafts" option. --[[User:Peglegpenguin|Peglegpenguin]] 03:36, 25 November 2010 (UTC)

:I have a possessed bonecrafter and I made the 'incredible' guess of what workshop (a craftdwarf's workshop) i needed to build to get the lazy sod out of bed. I'm confident it's atleast highly probable they will pick a skill they have, probability increasing with exp in that (or those) skills.
:--[[Special:Contributions/124.180.132.157|124.180.132.157]] 06:18, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

== Rock Blocks in Strange Mood ==
One of my clothesmaker dwarves decided to get a strange mood, so I afforded him all his needed materials, except for one thing: rock blocks. He most certainly asked for them, and I decided to make metal blocks, just to see if he would take them. I made an electrum block and he took it right away and began to work. I suggest stone blocks be changed to stone/metal blocks in the demands section.
--[[Special:Contributions/173.48.59.215|173.48.59.215]] 23:45, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

== Farmer + Strange Mood = Legendary Weaponsmith ==
Not complaining, but I just had a High Master Grower / Adequate Herbalist "withdraw from society...", I examined her skills to see what was coming, and not seeing any moodable skills, fully expected her to claim a craftdwarf's workshop, but was pleasantly surprised to find she had claimed a metalsmith's forge and created a golden crossbow, elevating her to legendary weaponsmith! There was nothing in her personality to explain this odd occurrence (she does however, like chestnuts for their chestnuts). This is of course contrary to what the [[Strange Mood]] page states. Perhaps the rules have changed. --[[User:Uninvited Guest|Uninvited Guest]] 21:07, 1 December 2010 (UTC)
:Perhaps she arrived with some Weaponsmith skill that completely rusted away while you had her do farming instead? --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 00:46, 2 December 2010 (UTC)
::I thought about that as well, but I didn't realize that skills actually disappeared. The [[Skills]] page does not state that but looking closer in the talk page, it appears to be true. All things considered, your theory is quite likely. Thanks. --[[User:Uninvited Guest|Uninvited Guest]] 01:28, 2 December 2010 (UTC)

== Starvation/Dehydration ==
Can a dwarf die from either while in a mood?

:No, AFAIK it's like when they Trance in combat. All need for food / water / sleep vanishes for the duration. Could be wrong. May require !!science!!.

== Dwarf not using available materials? ==

Do the materials that a dwarf in a mood wants have to be on the same z-level/in a stockpile/nearby? I had one in a fey mood who appeared to be asking for jet (at least, that's what it said when I viewed the workshop he was using with the q key), and I had ridiculous amounts of jet two levels down, but he never moved to get it and eventually just went insane. (I tried to get the other dwarves to move some up to where he was, but they didn't do anything. ><)--[[Special:Contributions/118.208.147.173|118.208.147.173]] 09:39, 21 December 2010 (UTC)
:Dwarves don't demand specific types of stones - if he didn't gather the material, you probably didn't have it at all. What '''exactly''' was the dwarf asking for (and what had the dwarf gathered so far)? --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 13:48, 21 December 2010 (UTC)
::He asked for two things: rock and body parts. He'd already got the body parts. I had plenty of other kinds of stone as well, so maybe I missed a line or something? --[[Special:Contributions/118.208.147.173|118.208.147.173]] 10:34, 22 December 2010 (UTC)

== "The type of artifact created will depend on the dwarf's highest skill." - what with soaper? ==

Yes, talented soaper. [[Special:Contributions/213.134.175.225|213.134.175.225]] 22:04, 25 December 2010 (UTC)

== Fun fact ==
Clothier dorf can pick a clothier's workshop, go pick up adamantine cloth (not normally workable at a clothier's), attempt to make a rope out of it (because you can do that at a clothier's), and wind up making an adamantine chain. —[[User:Chaos|Chaos]] 21:20, 27 December 2010 (UTC)
:Indeed - I've had that happen at least once back in 40d. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 22:01, 27 December 2010 (UTC)

==Yet Another Bone Carving Bug==
I had a possessed bone carver claim a Craftdwarf's workshop, immediately run off and grab a bone, start a mysterious construction, sit in the workshop for months, then go insane. I honestly have no idea what to think about that. —[[User:Exploratory Mushroom|Exploratory Mushroom]] 22:44, 28 December 2010 (UTC)

:Just speculation, but was the workshop cluttered? Some animals leave huge stacks of bone (e.g Jabberer can be >200), and certain animal skulls (e.g. Jabberer, again) can make a workshop **CLT** all by itself. With the length of time some artifacts take to construct, I can imagine a maximally cluttered workshop might stretch the creation time out for months [[Special:Contributions/202.156.10.234|202.156.10.234]] 22:48, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

== Clothier won't take materials ==

I have a possessed clothier who needs cloth and silk. I have both, but she just sits at the workshop and will go insane unless I figure out why she won't take the materials. They are both giant cave spider materials right next to each other up the staircase right by the workshop. I also have rope reed thread somewhere that I bought from an elven caravan, but she won't take that either. What's going on?
:There are two versions of "cloth... thread" that "possessed" Dwarves could be asking for. What they are saying is a little misleading; rather than them wanting actual thread, they are only asking for cloth. It is likely that the affected Dwarf wants ''plant fiber cloth'', '''not''' silk cloth or plant fiber thread. If you have some plant fiber cloth thread, as you said, make it into cloth and it should work. For future reference, this is a talk page about the Strange mood article, not a discussion forum. Please ask questions like this on the [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?board=7.0 Official Dwarf Fortress Forums], [http://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/ /r/dwarffortress at reddit.com],or the other Dwarf Fortress community of your choice. --[[User:Gzalzi|Gzalzi]] 14:45, 2 January 2011 (UTC)
::Oh, thanks. I asked this here because every other topic seems to be discussion, but okay... [[User:OrangePikmin|OrangePikmin]] 19:47, 3 January 2011 (UTC)
:::Yeah, they are all discussions, but they're not supposed to be. --[[User:Gzalzi|Gzalzi]] 21:13, 3 January 2011 (UTC)

== Fell Moods with different workshops? ==
Just played a round of DF and my little fortress got besieged, several dwarfes died. One dwarf then got a Fell mood and went to CARPENTER Workshop. He claimed it and went off to kill the nearest dwarf. Is it possible that the fell moods only prefer butcher- and tanner workshops, but they will work with other workshops as well? Seemed a little bit odd to me that he used a carpentry workshop...

==Do Dwarves Steal==
I had a dwarf refusing to do anything but demand rock. Which is weird in itself, as rocks are plentiful underground. Then, just as I gave her up for lost, I saw her grab a hunk of galena from the trade depot. It was in ( ), and I certainly didn't trade for it, as I have galena in the fortress. Did she grab it off a merchant? [[Special:Contributions/68.197.174.59|68.197.174.59]] 19:16, 24 March 2011 (UTC)
:I think starving dwarves will steal food from traders. So I'm not too surprised that a moody dwarf would take something that is technically fortress property. —[[User:0x517A5D|0x517A5D]] 23:49, 27 March 2011 (UTC)
::I've observed Dwarves stealing from caravans for moods on more than one occasion. It doesn't appear to happen with every mood where they're missing something, so it might have to do with the type of mood or the personality of the moody dwarf. --[[User:SethCreiyd|SethCreiyd]] 17:31, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

v0.31:Starting build

2011-04-24T03:12:26Z

Squirrelloid: More massaging intro: We can make it more concise, less redundant, and less patronizing

{{quality|Exceptional|01:37, 16 October 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

:: This is not a tutorial, a FAQ, or a new players guide. This is a mildly advanced theoretical treatment for someone ready to take the plunge and make all the decisions about their own fortress. The following other articles may satisfy what you need:
::*{{l|Quickstart guide}}
::*[[From Caravan to Happy Dwarves|Beginner Flowchart]]
::*[[User:Calite#Jumping_into_Dwarf_Fortress_Mode|Beginner Checklist]]
::For an explanation of the interface for starting out, see {{l|Embark}} 

A '''starting build''' is a personal strategy for choosing the initial supplies, equipment, and {{l|skill}}s of your initial seven dwarves when starting a new game in {{l|fortress mode}}. These skills and items which you assign to your dwarves will have a large impact on life in your new fortress, especially in its first year.

This page attempts to provide a discussion about how and why you make the choices on what you bring with you. This page is not an explanation of the mechanics of doing so, see the {{l|embark}} page for an explanation of the interface itself. This page assumes you have already made certain decisions, such as where you plan on settling, and that you are looking at the [[DF2010:Embark#Prepare_Carefully|Prepare Carefully]] screen.

One thing should be made clear - there is no "best" build, no "perfect" or "clearly superior" final mix of skills and items, if only because there isn't any one goal of play. The goals you have for a fortress will dictate which sets of items and skills are best suited to achieving that goal - in your opinion. And then there is the environment, where your dwarves will arrive, the creatures, the resources available, and so forth. Finally, some people do things solely because it is hard, and that makes it more fun for them.

__TOC__

== Components of a Starting Build ==
There are two main components of a starting build: skills and items.

Skills for your initial dwarves determine how quickly they will work early on, what industries you are guaranteed to be able to start with skilled workers later, how well you can defend your dwarves early on, and what the quality of various goods they produce will be, and possibly many other considerations. This page considers in detail how you might go about choosing skills for your starting dwarves, and examines the multiple competing perspectives from which you can make that decision.

The items that your dwarves bring with you can be tailored a number of ways. There are trade-offs to cheaper and more expensive alternatives, and reasons why you might choose either. This section explores the nature of these trade-offs and the reasons for making a decision. It also looks at optimizing goods brought in more general contexts.

Starting builds can and should vary based upon a number of other variables. {{l|location|Where you choose to settle}} will give you a fortress that supplies different raw materials and thus require different skill sets to utilize, not to mention different threats from native wildlife based on {{l|biome}}, {{l|surroundings|savagery}}, and {{l|surroundings|alignment}}. Which dwarven civilization you come from will restrict the materials with which you can start. Making choices about these variables is not part of a starting build. What you choose for skills and items because of these choices is part of your starting build, and so some general guidelines about different environments is given last.

This page does not cover the interface for accomplishing these tasks. Please see the {{l|embark}} page.

== Skill Optimization ==
With only 7 dwarves, you can't take every {{l|skill}}, so you have to balance what you do take. At this starting phase, each dwarf can only be assigned a maximum total of 10 skill levels, with no single skill starting higher than "5". Actual skill distribution is thus constrained to be something between 1 level in each of 10 skills, or 5 levels in each of two skills, or something in between. Because dwarves can {{l|experience|learn}} any and all skills once your fortress starts, these initial choices do not dictate what the dwarves can do, opening up incredible latitude to choose skills for reasons other than survival.

:''(* Note that an unskilled dwarf starts with all Skills at Level '''0'''. Adding +5 Levels is then Level '''5'''. This is true regardless of how many "points" a level costs when first buying skills at embark.)''

A brief list of considerations governing skill choice:
:* Maximizing starting skill ranks vs. generalizing and having more skills covered at lower levels.
:* Balancing multiple skills for a single dwarf, so they aren't constantly needed for two different tasks at critical periods
:* Military vs economic needs
:* Your goals vs "basic survival needs" to keep your fortress healthy and happy.
:* Speed that a skill can be trained in game
:* Demand for a skill during a game
:* Whether quality or speed are significant considerations for tasks/final product
:* Balancing the desire to create {{l|wealth}} ''(with high-value products)'' with the need to maintain {{l|thought|morale}} ''(with low-value but commonly used products, like {{l|bed}}s, which normally are made from {{l|wood}})''.
:* most importantly - ''your playstyle'' - what '''you''' think is "fun"!

==== Breadth vs. Depth ====

A dwarf with only 2 starting skills at 5 ranks each is pretty good at 2 tasks, but untrained at anything else. A dwarf with nothing higher than level 1 is passable at many tasks, but not good at anything. Each dwarf in your party is going to be somewhere along this continuum, and you'll need to choose where.

Level in a skill dictates how fast a dwarf completes a task (most of the time), and how well he completes it (if applicable). On one extreme, {{l|butchery}} has no time variance for slaughtering a tame animal, and has no quality associated with the outcome. On the other extreme, {{l|metalworking}} tasks can take a long time for an untrained worker to complete and their high material value means the quality multiplier has a large impact on the end value.

Dwarves who complete tasks faster can do more total {{l|job}}s within a given timeframe. The rate at which speed increases with level varies with skill, so some skills will benefit more than others.

Dwarves who make items of higher quality will contribute more to fortress wealth and may have a large impact on fortress happiness if their work is readily available to be seen by other dwarves. Items which typically contribute to happiness are low value but common public items, like beds and tables. Items which contribute the most to fortress wealth often cannot be displayed, but make useful trade goods or equipment for your military.

A dwarf highly skilled in few areas will work faster at those tasks and produce higher quality work than his more generalized counterpart. However, he will do worse at any other task he is set to.

Aside from the obvious trade off, there is another reason to prefer depth - dwarves can obviously only complete so many total jobs within a given timespan. If a dwarf is busy doing one thing, he can't simultaneously be doing something else. So a dwarf who is highly skilled in a few skills may not actually experience any disadvantage thereby if he is kept doing those things in which he specializes. The generalist dwarf, on the other hand, may be able to do many more different tasks adequately, but he can still only do one type of task at a time. A dwarf with one highly used skill (such as Mechanics or Mining) can feasibly spend all his time using only his primary skill and thus has no need to generalize. In effect, the generalist is wasting more skill points whenever he does jobs than the specialist, so long as the specialist tends to do jobs he has levels in. Specializing your initial skill investment is therefore superior if you specialize the division of labor in your fortress.

Of course, you can still only bring 7 dwarves with 10 total levels of skills each, so covering everything you want to do in 14 skills may be hard, if not impossible. A generalist or two can cover more bases that have little quality need or are otherwise fast even without a high level. The generalists real problem arises from the fact that any dwarf can do any task, and having 1 level isn't much better than having no levels. Which isn't to say there isn't a situation where a 1/1/1/1/1/5 dwarf is the right solution (indeed, the typical recommended leader/broker takes 1/1/1/1/1 in appraiser/judge of intent/negotiator/+2 social skills because none of these skills have a time or quality component), but most less-specialized dwarves are more likely to fall in the 5/3/2 or 4/3/3 end of the spectrum solely because there is a minimum investment necessary to be noticeably better than not having any levels at all.

==== Design Constraints: Which skills do I need, really? ====

The only thing that you absolutely must do in the first year is get your food supplies into a food stockpile, preferably inside, otherwise your food will rot on the ground and your dwarves will starve. Anything else you want to do can be accommodated by sufficient investment in initial food supplies and/or skills. This means the options for possible starting builds are vast because virtually any set of starting skills for your dwarves is viable (and that's before you even think about equipment, which adds more variables). So the short answer is: none.

That said, there are some skills which will be '''used''', to one extent or another, by virtually every fortress - but that doesn't mean you '''need''' or even want to invest points in them to start. You could even manipulate the fortress (see {{l|challenge}}) to completely avoid one or more of the following, but these are the skills you will find it exceptionally hard to avoid creating jobs for:
:{{l|Mining}} - to dig your fortress, and gain stone for projects. Only possible to avoid using if you're secretly an elf.
:* Inexperienced {{l|miner}}s work very slowly and are less likely to recover mined gems or valuable ores. Mining can be leveled up quite quickly by mining {{l|soil#soil|soil}}, but taking two dwarves with at least some points in mining is recommended in many cases.
:{{l|Carpentry}} - {{l|bed}}s can only be produced from {{l|wood}} (rare {{l|mood}}s aside). This skill can also be used to make {{L|bin}}s without having to have an {{L|anvil}}, use any metal {{L|bar}}s, or use any {{L|fuel}}.
:*Carpentry is used, but opinions differ - on one hand, wood items are just not worth that much {{l|value}}-wise ''(10's of dwarfbucks vs 100's for stone furniture or 1000's for armor or prepared foods, for instance)'', so the difference in monetary value between high-quality and no-quality is minor for wood products. However, high-quality {{l|bed}}s are one of the easiest ways to help make and keep your dwarves {{l|thought|happy}} (since every dwarf will encounter a bed regularly), so some players swear by it.
:{{l|Masonry}} - to build walls and stairs, and fashion dwarven furniture from stone. Possible to work around, but incredibly hard and annoying to do.
:{{l|Grower|Growing}} - your farmers' work echoes throughout so many other tasks, it's stunning
:* While its possible to feed your fortress on nothing but caravan goods, you'll never come by enough alcohol that way, so you'll eventually need to grow crops for brewing, and dwarves will literally go crazy if forced to drink nothing but water for long periods. Thus you'll want to plan for farming eventually - not that you need to bring a highly skilled {{l|Grower}}, but it'll certainly be ''very'' helpful. Likewise, a skilled {{l|brewer}} produces higher quality {{l|alcohol}} (''though the quality is hidden!)'', which improves your dwarves' mood, as does a skilled {{l|cook}} with the foods they prepare. However, most food can be eaten raw, and so long as they are not starving there is life.
:{{l|Brewing}} - all dwarves "need alcohol to get through the working day"
:{{l|Mechanics}} - if you want traps, and most people will. Also needed for most machinery.
:{{l|Architecture|Building Designer}} - mandatory for some buildings and constructions, but skill only improves speed a tad and increases structure {{l|value}}
:{{l|Broker skills}} - most importantly {{l|appraiser}} - a minimum of Broker skills are highly recommended to start with at the Novice (1 pt) level - it'll make your life much easier (especially Novice level of {{l|Appraiser}}, at least, as it greatly facilitates trading).
:{{L|Record keeper}} - Lets you be able to see the exact amount of things you have much faster than training one, and is necessary to view the stocks screen.

The very fact that you will use these skills often makes many of them desirable to choose as starting skills for your dwarves. Of the above, Mining, Masonry, Growing, Brewing, Cooking, and Mechanics are generally worth considering as "highly desirable". However, '''any skill can be used untrained, and/or get trained on the job''' - it just means a slower process and/or average lower quality product than if done by a dwarf with a higher {{l|experience|skill level}}.

The difference between these skills and other skills is that other skills are optional as to whether they'll get used or not. You need to deliberately want to use them. These skills are essential to basic aspects of the game, and avoiding one requires a deliberate choice not to use it (and likely a lot of effort spent to avoid doing so). Ie, a fortress could make its wealth by smithing fine weapons, weaving quality cloth, encrusting precious stones onto furniture, or crafting quality trinkets. Or all of those. But it doesn't have a compelling reason to do any one in particular. A fortress that never designates a tile for mining, however, requires exceptional effort to achieve.

But that you can avoid even something as basic as mining *for the lifetime of your fortress* means there is no universal design constraint on which skills to start with. Ultimately the answer to "What skills do I need?" is "Whichever ''you'' want". Choosing a mixture of these commonly used skills and your desired specialized skills will make starting up your fortress easier and more efficient, but you don't need to start with any of them. Choosing to avoid some skills may force you to use some others, but nothing compels you to invest in any skill in particular.

==== Balancing military and economic needs ====

Not all embarks will require a military presence in the first year, but anyone planning an expedition to a sinister, haunted, or terrifying biome would be foolish not to be prepared for nasty dwarf-killing creatures. The solution doesn't strictly need to be military skills; quick delving and a skilled mechanic may be sufficient; but starting with a military dwarf will give you the earliest possible protection and a lot more versatility in where that protection can be applied. Whatever you choose to do, understand the risk and be prepared for it.

==== Training considerations ====

Some skills are harder to gain experience in than others - requiring valuable resources or taking an extended period of time, and thus inconvenient to train from the ground up. Investing in some of these extensively in your initial dwarves can make those industries much less painful to start. For example, metal-related skills generally eat metal bars, and thus the less time you spend training metal workers up to a decent level, the faster they'll be churning out high-quality items for you, and the fewer bars they'll waste becoming skilled. On the other hand, despite its importance, skills like mining train relatively quickly and barring extenuating circumstances (expected need to accomplish particular digging projects in the first month or you'll get mauled by a Giant for example) there's little need to actually invest your starting skills in it - they can learn on the job.

==== Quality, value, and happiness ====

{{l|Quality}} is an important part of Dwarf Fortress. Higher quality items produce better and more frequent happy thoughts and are worth more money. Valuable commodities will trade for more goods from caravans that visit. When choosing skills that produce objects of quality, the desire to produce valuable goods for trade will often conflict with the desire to produce objects that will make your dwarves happy. Built items that are frequently encountered tend to be things like furniture, especially beds, which tend to have low material values and thus low total value no matter how high the quality of the work. Further, these things tend to be inconvenient to trade. It is often best to strike a balance between dwarves who produce valuable trade goods and dwarves who produce quality items that will make your population happy - and thus be able to achieve both goals simultaneously.

Its worth noting that built furniture and worn clothing counts its value twice, once under the appropriate category and once for displayed value. If you're trying to maximize your created wealth total, a good metalsmith producing furniture from high-value metals is optimal.

==== Moodable skills ====

{{l|Strange mood}}s will create a Legendary skill of the "moodable" skill with the highest level, and moods take hold of dwarves with different professions at different rates. Some skills are "moodable" where others are not. You might choose to take certain skills solely because it opens up moods for that skill with that dwarf. Some moodable skills are more valuable than others - a legendary weaponsmith is both valuable and useful. A legendary tanner is generally a waste of a mood since tanned hides have no quality.

Because a dwarf can only have a strange mood in one skill, pairing a moodable skill with a non-moodable skill can protect the moodable skill and ensure that if the dwarf has a mood it will be in the skill you desire. See the section on combining skills below for more details on ways to pair skills.

Dwarves with no moodable skill can be allowed to do one task using a moodable skill to give them a moodable skill with no starting build investment, so moodable skill considerations should not be considered a primary reason to choose particular skills - you should also want to make use of them for other reasons.

==== Combining Skills ====
Every dwarf is going to have 2 or more {{l|skills}}. This means that even once you know which skills you want, you're going to need to pair them up before assigning them. Not all skill combinations are equally functional.

Some skills are highly time-consuming, either because the skill is in frequent demand (eg, {{l|mining}}) or because it takes a long time to do an individual job (eg, {{l|strand extraction}}). If a dwarf is spending most of their time using that skill, they aren't making much use of their other skill. Pairing two time-consuming skills together therefore tends to be a bad idea, as one or both jobs are not going to get the attention they need or deserve. Similarly, pairing a skill with time-critical jobs with a time-consuming skill also tends to be a bad idea. If your {{l|grower}} is also mining, he may not stop to plant crops one season. Or he might neglect to harvest your crops in a timely fashion and they could rot on the ground (if you only let your growers harvest). Arranging your skill combinations to avoid these situations is generally beneficial. For example, Masons, miners, growers, and any craft that your fortress will base their economy off of (glass, stonecrafts, armour, etc) will take a lot of time, so plan accordingly.

Instead, pairing relatively time-intensive tasks with less time-intensive tasks will let your dwarf accomplish all such tasks adequately. Once you get a metal industry rolling, an armorer/weaponsmith will need to make a lot fewer weapons to outfit your soldiers than he will armor components. Thus he can usefully do both jobs without hurting your productivity overly much. Similarly, a mason might also be your architect, since building designer is a very infrequently used skill.

Working at different jobs levels up specific {{l|attribute}}s. One could level up a miner until he becomes mighty and ultra-tough - and then turn him into a soldier, or retire him to haul stone. If you plan on doing so, it may not be a good idea to give this guy a second critical job that will demand a lot of time away from their focus.

Since tasks will take place in specific areas, another approach is to combine tasks into dwarves who will take care of a specific industry, or spend all their time in one generally narrow part of the fortress - the forges, or the kitchens, or outdoors, for instance. So combining Farming with cooking, rather than mining, for example, and turn on only Haul Food, not Haul Stone. Metalworkers spending their time in the forge can easily handle more than one type of metalworking skill, and are also well-situated to be furnace operators.

Similarly, you can also make the craftsmen of your finished products also responsible for the production of intermediate products from raw ingredients. This way when they run out of materials to make into finished goods they can immediately switch over to working raw products into intermediate products so they'll have more to work with later. This works better in some industries than in others. A single butcher/tanner/cook trying to process multiple animals simultaneously will likely result in rotten food, carcases, or skins. But a weaponsmith who doubles as a furnace operator can usefully ensure he has material to work with when you want him to. Later on, however, a highly skilled craftsdwarf is often better suited at sitting in their {{l|workshop}} and having others deliver raw materials to them than going out and obtaining their own raw materials themselves, but in the early game dwarf-time is limited, and a single dwarf who can work an entire production chain can do so relatively efficiently and let your other dwarves be used elsewhere.

There is no requirement that a dwarves job combination needs to look 'right' or logical. A weaponsmith will most probably not spend nearly 100% of their time creating weapons - what they do with the other part of their time may have nothing at all to do with forges or smithing. Jobs which require little time in general, or little time early even if time-intensive later, may well be paired with any time-intensive task solely to provide the dwarf with something to usefully and skillfully do with most of their time, and freed from that duty as needed for the other tasks.

Another constraint you can impose on your skill combinations is to try to limit dwarves to {{l|moodable}} skill and one non-moodable skill (or a moodable and a less desired moodable skill at lower level), so any mood will improve the desired one. For example, pairing craft skills with farming skills gives you dwarves that will perform useful food production or raw good processing services while also getting their mood in a valuable finished goods skill. Example: Clothier/Grower.

==== Which dwarf should have which skill? ====
Dwarves who craft goods they prefer, or work materials they prefer, gain a bonus to the quality of the finished work. This can inform your choice of which skills you choose, for example by choosing a weaver because you notice a preference for sheap wool yarn, or you might choose the skills you want and then try to find a suitable dwarf to use that skill. In the latter case, since all dwarves have one metal preference you might assign an armorsmithing skill to a dwarf with a preference for iron, steel, or adamantine.

The dwarf with the most social skills will end up being the {{l|Expedition leader}}, who will then become the {{l|mayor}} and start making {{l|mandate}}s. Thus you should avoid giving the most social skills to dwarfs who have {{l|preferences}} for things like {{l|adamantine}}.

Dwarves have physical and mental attributes that affect the performance of certain skills. You may wish to give a socially adept and patient dwarf the leadership/broker skills, or a dwarf who doesn't tire easily a skill which will be in frequent use like mining. You can also try to match skills to {{l|personality}}, some of which have obvious implications for their willingness to work long hours or how frequently they might take breaks.

Of course, all combined these represent a lot of possible constraints on where you assign particular skills, and it would be impossible to apply them in total to your entire desired skill load. Use these as a guide, but don't be upset if all your dwarves are anti-social psychopaths - someone still needs to be the leader, after all.

==== Other considerations ====
Migrants can and will arrive with a wide selection of decently trained skills. While it is a gamble, chances are pretty decent that migrants will arrive with a highly trained skill that is also highly desirable and would usurp the job of one of the seven starting ones. The first few migration waves are likely to give you a much better talent pool than what you can assign at embark. On the other hand, you may never get the skill you really want if you don't start with it.

Skills rust if not used and they can eventually de-level. Consider that skills which you will use years after embark are going to be rusty or even deleveled. Embark to the first caravan is long enough for a skill to start rusting, so you might want to make sure you'll use every skill you embark with before the first year ends to avoid catastrophic rusting.

Remember that you need to survive in order to accomplish any goals. Have a plan for lasting to at least the first caravan, if not one for longterm sustainability.

== Items ==

The items you choose to bring with you will need to satisfy a number of needs. Most importantly, you need to keep yourself alive - at least until the caravan arrives in the fall to resupply yourself. You probably also want to plan on some way of making a shelter, whether that be the traditional delved hall, a majestic castle, a log cabin, or something even more exotic. You may want to plan for mishaps by bringing essential medical supplies, especially those which may be hard to acquire on site. And you might bring items which will assist in creating items for trade to that first caravan, should you need anything for the skills you're planning on.

For the purposes of this article, livestock are considered items.

All embarks get the following items without paying for them: 2 animals (who pulled the wagon), and the 3 wood that make up the wagon.

=== Motivations ===

==== Survival ====

A single dwarf eats about 2x/season, and drinks about 4x/season. With 7 dwarves that's ~approximately~ 14 meals per season and 28 alcohol per season, or ~42 meals and ~84 alcohol until the end of Fall. The dwarf caravan tends to arrive in the third month of fall, so you will probably need to plan on a full 3 seasons. You are also likely to get at least one if not two small waves of migrants before the caravan arrives.

It is possible to bring enough food and drink to make it to the caravan - indeed, bringing enough food isn't especially hard (especially once you factor in slaughtering the animals who hauled your wagon. Bringing sufficient alcohol is harder, although bringing plump helmets to brew can significantly cut the cost.

The likely best way to keep your dwarves in drink is also the most labor intensive - setting up farming in the first season or two is perfectly plausible, allowing to grow your own {{l|plants}} from seeds and brew the products. (Keep in mind not all plants can be brewed - don't plant dimple cups and expect to make alcohol). In addition to the necessary seeds, starting your own farming operation is going to require some way to get the ground muddy. While sometimes simple digging can accomplish this, many times you're going to need a screw pump. Basic construction requirements are discussed under shelter.

It is possible to make all your alcohol by harvesting aboveground plants, if highly inefficient. It also only works in biomes with collectable plant life. Notably evil biomes and glaciers are unlikely to provide.

==== Shelter ====
Bar a convenient cave, you're going to have to do something for shelter. Shelter is your first defense against roving creatures, keeping them away from where your dwarves are working so they don't spam job cancellations and strew items all over the place. (As you might guess, most 'convenient caves' aren't actually that convenient, as they tend to have residents). Basic walls that allow you egress won't stop a dedicated invader, but you don't expect to see those until year 3, so you have time to develop more elaborate defenses.

Food outside will also spoil a lot faster than food inside, so making a cellar of some sort to store your food in will increase the longevity of your food supplies. The rate at which food spoils depends on ambient temperature, so the urgency of making a cellar will depend on where you settled. It might be possible to go without a cellar in a freezing biome.{{verify}} The only way you can avoid thinking about food storage in the first year is if you collect food and make alcohol as needed - ie, by using an herbalist to collect local plants - which can avoid needing to mine at all.

Delving a shelter requires mining, which means having picks to dig with. One can always bring one or more picks at embark, but its also possible to bring the supplies necessary to make them. See {{l|Starting build#Finished product or do it yourself|finished product or do it yourself}}.

An aboveground shelter can be made with stone or wood or possibly more exotic materials. Stone of course requires mining, and thus picks. Wood can be had with an axe assuming trees are present, and axes, like picks, can similarly be brought at embark or made on site. It is of course possible to bring sufficient raw materials to build walls with, but this is far less efficient than just bringing a pick or an axe, although it could make a fun challenge. Building your initial fort out of soap, while possible, is not recommended, although possibly hilariously entertaining.

==== Industry ====
Most industries require little more than materials you can collect at the site and a workshop. So long as you can get stone, you won't need to bring anything for these. However, if you want to get an industry going immediately, it does help to bring a few building materials along (or be willing to use the wood from the wagon, if only temporarily).

Some industries require fire-safe materials to build with. All stone qualifies, as does metal. Wood can be converted to a fire safe material by burning it to ashes in a wood burners workshop, but of course that workshop requires a fire-safe material. If you're mining, this condition is easy to satisfy, but if you intend to run any of these industries right away you will need to plan on bringing appropriate materials.

Some industries require plant or animal matter to work with. Clothiers ultimately need cloth, which comes from certain plants or animals. Leatherworkers need tanned skins. (And while you can get 2 off your pack animals, this isn't sufficient to run an industry). If you plan on running these types of industries you will need to have a plan for providing suitable raw materials. Hunting can cover leatherworking needs (although this requires a hunter and hunting implements), and foraging can find rope reed plants, but its usually better to bring enough appropriate animals or plant seeds to have a good shot at getting started in a predictable and sustainable way. Similarly, milking and cheese making require milkable animals, and bonecarving requires a dependable source of bones.

Metal industries require metal and an anvil. You cannot make an anvil on site without already having an anvil, so if you plan on doing any forging before the first caravan you will need to bring one with you. Metal can be brought as bars or as ores to be smelted in a smelter into bars, or can be mined yourself. You will need to provide fuel or magma to run these workshops, so bringing some coal can make the operation run smoother.

Soap requires a lot of wood consumption and a source of tallow to be done in a sustainable way. Lye can be bought at embark to skip the first steps and make soap more directly. You will still need to bring or make buckets and have an empty barrel to actually produce soap though, but fortunately this is just a matter of having sufficient wood.

Jewelers require gems. Cut gems can be brought at embark, but are too expensive to bring in quantity. Generally a jeweler requires mining to find sufficient gems or a glassworker to produce raw glass to work with.

Glassmaking and Pottery requires sand or clay and fuel - pay attention to your site report before embarking. Its hard to run a viable industry solely off imports in these cases. Like metal workshops, coal can be brought to substitute for fuel fairly efficiently.

As is probably obvious, certain industries depend on similar inputs. Planning on a set of industries which require similar complementary inputs can let you more efficiently spend your starting points at embark or more efficiently plan your digging during the first year. If you plan on a lot of fuel-dependent industries, it may be worthwhile to prioritize finding a source of magma.

=== Optimization ===

==== Container mechanics and free items ====

Many items come in containers such as barrels and bags, including food, liquids, seeds, and powders. The cost to embark with these items can be cheaper than the cost of the container itself. Each different type of item for each category will come in its own container. Furthermore, you'll get a new container after every 10th instance for food, most liquids, and seeds, and after every item of powders.{{verify}} Alcohol gets a new barrel after every 5th unit. (Food actually groups by animal type, so if you get horse tripe and horse meat they'll combine them, but they won't combine horse meat and donkey meat). Thus diversifying your initial food supply with 1 of each low-cost food item will net you a large number of barrels. Similarly its worth taking 1 of each seed you weren't planning on taking more of solely for the bags. Taking some sand or gypsum powder is also a cheap way to get bags. Lye (for soap) and milks can be brought for more barrels - and milk can be made into cheese for a low-cost embark option that becomes food.

As stockpiling and some jobs are container limited, getting as many free containers as you can will free up labor (and possibly valuable materials) that would otherwise be used making containers.

==== Finished product or do it yourself ====
Bringing raw materials and making the finished product yourself is often easier on your embark points than bringing the finished product. On the other hand, making it yourself takes time during which you aren't making use of the finished product.

The most common scenario involves {{l|Make your own weapons|forging your own metal tools and weapons}}. While not usually too much of a hardship, it can be dangerous to make your own weapons or picks if you expect possible hostile creatures. Further, you will lose time - possibly 1/4 to 1/2 the first month - if you forge your own picks.

Of special note regarding weapons is that a training battle axe is perfectly capable of chopping trees, and is made with nothing more than a carpentry workshop and a log. While the delay in acquiring one is minimal, a wood battle axe is not a good weapon, and so it loses utility for doing anything other than acquiring more wood.

You can also easily plan on making all or most of one's own booze, as plump helmets can be bought at embark and brewed at a still.

Any finished good can of course be made from raw materials that you bring, but most of them are not essential like the above, and thus you can generally wait until you find suitable resources on site or buy them from caravans.

==== Biome considerations: dude, where's my wood? ====
Some environments have a shortage of trees. While you can direct production of a lot of item types to other materials, beds need to be made out of wood. In addition, it is difficult to make barrels and bins out of non-wood materials early in the game, especially without ready magma (since otherwise you'll probably need to burn wood to make metal equivalents). If you have an aquifer it can be even worse - stone may be difficult or impossible to access easily. While you can ultimately ask for wood from your liaison and buy whatever the humans and elves happen to bring, and eventually you can create a tree farm underground, tight wood will limit storage and sleeping arrangements for at least the first year if not longer. You may wish to plan accordingly if embarking in a site with sparse or no trees.

==== Items for moods ====
When a dwarf is taken by a {{l|strange mood}}, he often needs obscure material or he will go insane and die, possibly with severe consequences to an entire fortress. Bringing along some of the harder-to-find ores ({{l|cassiterite}}, {{l|sphalerite}}, {{l|bismuthinite}}, {{l|garnierite}}), and putting those aside, forbidding their use "just in case", is spending a few points on an insurance policy. Many players also choose to bring a few items like pig tail cloth and cave spider silk just in case.

Alternately, if you're otherwise being minimalistic on gear you're bringing you can choose to bring a few valuable components to try to maximize the value of mood items. That artifact animal trap will be worth a lot more if your woodcarver grabs a blue diamond instead of moss agate.

==== Free Equipment ====

Dwarves who start with the ambusher skill may get some leather {{l|armor}}, a crossbow and some bolts for free. It seems to do so when ambusher is the highest non-military non-social skill.{{verify}}







==Site considerations==
Each fortress {{l|location}} offers particular challenges and opportunities, and can make different demands on your starting build. Your starting build may need to be adjusted depending on the {{l|region}} your fort occupies, the specific vision you have of your fortress, and what it will take to {{l|losing|stay alive}} where you're going!

The differences include what {{l|biome}}s, {{l|region}}s and likely {{l|metal}}s are present in your chosen embark site.

=== General Surroundings ===
Simply put, if your {{l|surroundings}} are {{l|evil}} or {{l|savage}}, your dwarves have a higher risk of suddenly facing personal combat before they are safely behind their defenses. Consider bringing extra weaponry, in the form of axes, picks or crossbows (see {{l|Starting_builds#Free_Equipment|free equipment}}). Hand in hand with those, consider skill mixes that include {{l|axedwarf}}, {{l|mining}} (the skill used to wield a pick), {{l|marksdwarf}}, or {{l|wrestling}} (a solid unarmed-combat skill).

The same is true if you are embarking near an exposed magma vent or an open chasm - these features can be seen on the embark map, but it's impossible to tell if they are "open" to the surface or not, until you are there in person.

Be sure to include some source of {{l|water}} on the map, preferably running {{l|water}}. Water is (almost) essential for any fortress. In Cold and Freezing climates streams and {{l|lake}}s will often be frozen year-round and your dwarves may quickly die of exposure, in Hot climates {{l|murky pool}}s will dry up, and in Dry ones rain will only rarely re-fill them, if ever. Choose Temperate or tropical zones for an easier game.

===Aquifers===
If an {{l|aquifer}} is present in the first soil or stone layers (visible on the pre-embark menu), it may bar all access to {{l|stone}} and {{l|ore}} until you find a way through the water barrier. Consider bringing some stone for building, and ore for your first basic needs. This may be critical to getting your fortress running smoothly.

=== Mountains ===
Mountains often have abundant {{l|ore}}s, but at the loss of trees and plants. In previous versions lacking {{L|cavern}}s, this was a serious drawback. In DF2010, brave pioneers can dig down into the caverns to find essentials like water, mud, and plants. However, players should be aware that above-ground crops will not grow in mountain biomes, no matter how muddy you may make the surface.

Depending on the exact layers, it's common to find exposed {{l|vein}}s of useful {{l|ore}}s that can be immediately mined for {{l|Make your own weapons|DIY}} weapons and tools.

=== Wooded/Plains ===
Flatlands with at least some trees and gatherable plants can also make for highly successful fortresses. Advantages over mountain zones include abundant trees and plants and (unless frozen) more abundant water. There are even (rare) magma vents. More water also means a high likelihood of an {{l|aquifer}} being present. Make sure to check on embark.

The greatest disadvantage is the potential lack of exposed {{l|stone}} to mine. The first level(s) below the surface is often {{l|soil}} of some type, which offers no building materials. However, soil is mined much more quickly than stone (x3-x4 faster), and expansive accommodations (rooms) can be achieved quickly even by untrained miners. You will find stone, you just have to go down a bit for it - but that's what dwarves do, isn't it?

{{l|Experience|Training}} a {{l|Miner}} from No Skill to Proficient takes less than a month (~20 days with hauling disabled) in soil, and to Legendary in just under a season after. {{version|0.31.12}} From embark, this means you should have legendary miners in early summer if you dig only in soil. Times increase slightly for each additional miner used.

=== Oceanside ===
With many features in common with some of the above locations, {{l|beach}}es are often a mix of ease intermingled with bouts of extreme difficulty. Minerals and trees are often abundant, as well as farmland and sand, but there is often no drinking water unless the biome has a flowing {{l|water}} of some sort.

By definition, the settlement will fall between (at least) two {{l|biome}}s (one land, one water), potentially hazardous if the player expects a peaceful oceanside meadow, without realizing the {{l|terrifying}} ocean is full of amphibious zombie {{l|whale}}s.

=== Desert, Glaciers, and Barren ===
Treeless (or near-treeless) {{l|biome}}s are challenging sites for a fortress: you get most of the disadvantages of a flatland site without having access to nearly as many trees and plants. However, near-lifeless zones such as {{l|glacier}}s are wonderful for players with slower computers, as there's little to burden the CPU but your dwarves and livestock. {{l|Desert}}s and barren areas often have sand; with a sufficient source of energy (preferably magma), you can build almost anything out of unlimited glass.

Hunters should be replaced with fisherdwarves and a fish cleaner (although the latter can be easily trained). Depending how much water vs. land, more starting wood and ores might be helpful. Swimming is rarely useful in Fortress mode, even at the beach, and can be trained.

==Sample starting builds==
See {{l|Sample Starting Builds}}

{{Starting FAQ}}
[[Category:Guides]]

v0.31:Starting build

2011-04-24T03:02:56Z

Squirrelloid: /* Shelter */

{{quality|Exceptional|01:37, 16 October 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

:: This is not a tutorial, a FAQ, or a new players guide. This is a mildly advanced theoretical treatment for someone ready to take the plunge and make all the decisions about their own fortress. The following other articles may satisfy what you need:
::*{{l|Quickstart guide}}
::*[[From Caravan to Happy Dwarves|Beginner Flowchart]]
::*[[User:Calite#Jumping_into_Dwarf_Fortress_Mode|Beginner Checklist]]
::For an explanation of the interface for starting out, see {{l|Embark}} 

A '''starting build''' is a personal strategy for choosing the initial supplies, equipment, and {{l|skill}}s of your initial seven dwarves when starting a new game in {{l|fortress mode}}. These skills and items which you assign to your dwarves will have a large impact on life in your new fortress, especially in its first year.

This page attempts to give advice on some of the many gameplay elements which influence the flow of your game based on your goals. These include: choosing a ''fortress site'', the ''starting build'' itself, as well as ''challenge builds'' aimed at providing new or unusual challenges to advanced players. This page is not an explanation of the mechanics of doing so, see {{l|Embark}} for an explanation of the interface itself.

But one thing should be made clear - there is no "best" build, no "perfect" or "clearly superior" final mix of skills and items, if only because there isn't any one goal of play. The goals you have for a fortress will dictate which sets of items and skills are best suited to achieving that goal - in your opinion. And then there is the environment, where your dwarves will arrive, the creatures, the resources available, and so forth. Finally, some people do things solely because it is hard, and that makes it more fun for them.

Items are tied to starting skills, and starting skills are tied to the expected environment for your chosen embark, and all are tied to your preferences for playing the game - not all sites require (or invite) the same approach, and no two players would take the same approach to the same environment.

This page attempts to provide a discussion about how and why you make the choices on what you bring along.

__TOC__

== Components of a Starting Build ==
There are two main components of a starting build: skills and items.

Skills for your initial dwarves determine how quickly they will work early on, what industries you are guaranteed to be able to start with skilled workers later, how well you can defend your dwarves early on, and what the quality of various goods they produce will be, and possibly many other considerations. This page considers in detail how you might go about choosing skills for your starting dwarves, and examines the multiple competing perspectives from which you can make that decision.

The items that your dwarves bring with you can be tailored a number of ways. There are trade-offs to cheaper and more expensive alternatives, and reasons why you might choose either. This section explores the nature of these trade-offs and the reasons for making a decision. It also looks at optimizing goods brought in more general contexts.

Starting builds can and should vary based upon a number of other variables. {{l|location|Where you choose to settle}} will give you a fortress that supplies different raw materials and thus require different skill sets to utilize, not to mention different threats from native wildlife based on {{l|biome}}, {{l|surroundings|savagery}}, and {{l|surroundings|alignment}}. Which dwarven civilization you come from will restrict the materials with which you can start. Making choices about these variables is not part of a starting build. What you choose for skills and items because of these choices is part of your starting build, and so some general guidelines about different environments is given last.

This page does not cover the interface for accomplishing these tasks. Please see the {{l|embark}} page.

== Skill Optimization ==
With only 7 dwarves, you can't take every {{l|skill}}, so you have to balance what you do take. At this starting phase, each dwarf can only be assigned a maximum total of 10 skill levels, with no single skill starting higher than "5". Actual skill distribution is thus constrained to be something between 1 level in each of 10 skills, or 5 levels in each of two skills, or something in between. Because dwarves can {{l|experience|learn}} any and all skills once your fortress starts, these initial choices do not dictate what the dwarves can do, opening up incredible latitude to choose skills for reasons other than survival.

:''(* Note that an unskilled dwarf starts with all Skills at Level '''0'''. Adding +5 Levels is then Level '''5'''. This is true regardless of how many "points" a level costs when first buying skills at embark.)''

A brief list of considerations governing skill choice:
:* Maximizing starting skill ranks vs. generalizing and having more skills covered at lower levels.
:* Balancing multiple skills for a single dwarf, so they aren't constantly needed for two different tasks at critical periods
:* Military vs economic needs
:* Your goals vs "basic survival needs" to keep your fortress healthy and happy.
:* Speed that a skill can be trained in game
:* Demand for a skill during a game
:* Whether quality or speed are significant considerations for tasks/final product
:* Balancing the desire to create {{l|wealth}} ''(with high-value products)'' with the need to maintain {{l|thought|morale}} ''(with low-value but commonly used products, like {{l|bed}}s, which normally are made from {{l|wood}})''.
:* most importantly - ''your playstyle'' - what '''you''' think is "fun"!

==== Breadth vs. Depth ====

A dwarf with only 2 starting skills at 5 ranks each is pretty good at 2 tasks, but untrained at anything else. A dwarf with nothing higher than level 1 is passable at many tasks, but not good at anything. Each dwarf in your party is going to be somewhere along this continuum, and you'll need to choose where.

Level in a skill dictates how fast a dwarf completes a task (most of the time), and how well he completes it (if applicable). On one extreme, {{l|butchery}} has no time variance for slaughtering a tame animal, and has no quality associated with the outcome. On the other extreme, {{l|metalworking}} tasks can take a long time for an untrained worker to complete and their high material value means the quality multiplier has a large impact on the end value.

Dwarves who complete tasks faster can do more total {{l|job}}s within a given timeframe. The rate at which speed increases with level varies with skill, so some skills will benefit more than others.

Dwarves who make items of higher quality will contribute more to fortress wealth and may have a large impact on fortress happiness if their work is readily available to be seen by other dwarves. Items which typically contribute to happiness are low value but common public items, like beds and tables. Items which contribute the most to fortress wealth often cannot be displayed, but make useful trade goods or equipment for your military.

A dwarf highly skilled in few areas will work faster at those tasks and produce higher quality work than his more generalized counterpart. However, he will do worse at any other task he is set to.

Aside from the obvious trade off, there is another reason to prefer depth - dwarves can obviously only complete so many total jobs within a given timespan. If a dwarf is busy doing one thing, he can't simultaneously be doing something else. So a dwarf who is highly skilled in a few skills may not actually experience any disadvantage thereby if he is kept doing those things in which he specializes. The generalist dwarf, on the other hand, may be able to do many more different tasks adequately, but he can still only do one type of task at a time. A dwarf with one highly used skill (such as Mechanics or Mining) can feasibly spend all his time using only his primary skill and thus has no need to generalize. In effect, the generalist is wasting more skill points whenever he does jobs than the specialist, so long as the specialist tends to do jobs he has levels in. Specializing your initial skill investment is therefore superior if you specialize the division of labor in your fortress.

Of course, you can still only bring 7 dwarves with 10 total levels of skills each, so covering everything you want to do in 14 skills may be hard, if not impossible. A generalist or two can cover more bases that have little quality need or are otherwise fast even without a high level. The generalists real problem arises from the fact that any dwarf can do any task, and having 1 level isn't much better than having no levels. Which isn't to say there isn't a situation where a 1/1/1/1/1/5 dwarf is the right solution (indeed, the typical recommended leader/broker takes 1/1/1/1/1 in appraiser/judge of intent/negotiator/+2 social skills because none of these skills have a time or quality component), but most less-specialized dwarves are more likely to fall in the 5/3/2 or 4/3/3 end of the spectrum solely because there is a minimum investment necessary to be noticeably better than not having any levels at all.

==== Design Constraints: Which skills do I need, really? ====

The only thing that you absolutely must do in the first year is get your food supplies into a food stockpile, preferably inside, otherwise your food will rot on the ground and your dwarves will starve. Anything else you want to do can be accommodated by sufficient investment in initial food supplies and/or skills. This means the options for possible starting builds are vast because virtually any set of starting skills for your dwarves is viable (and that's before you even think about equipment, which adds more variables). So the short answer is: none.

That said, there are some skills which will be '''used''', to one extent or another, by virtually every fortress - but that doesn't mean you '''need''' or even want to invest points in them to start. You could even manipulate the fortress (see {{l|challenge}}) to completely avoid one or more of the following, but these are the skills you will find it exceptionally hard to avoid creating jobs for:
:{{l|Mining}} - to dig your fortress, and gain stone for projects. Only possible to avoid using if you're secretly an elf.
:* Inexperienced {{l|miner}}s work very slowly and are less likely to recover mined gems or valuable ores. Mining can be leveled up quite quickly by mining {{l|soil#soil|soil}}, but taking two dwarves with at least some points in mining is recommended in many cases.
:{{l|Carpentry}} - {{l|bed}}s can only be produced from {{l|wood}} (rare {{l|mood}}s aside). This skill can also be used to make {{L|bin}}s without having to have an {{L|anvil}}, use any metal {{L|bar}}s, or use any {{L|fuel}}.
:*Carpentry is used, but opinions differ - on one hand, wood items are just not worth that much {{l|value}}-wise ''(10's of dwarfbucks vs 100's for stone furniture or 1000's for armor or prepared foods, for instance)'', so the difference in monetary value between high-quality and no-quality is minor for wood products. However, high-quality {{l|bed}}s are one of the easiest ways to help make and keep your dwarves {{l|thought|happy}} (since every dwarf will encounter a bed regularly), so some players swear by it.
:{{l|Masonry}} - to build walls and stairs, and fashion dwarven furniture from stone. Possible to work around, but incredibly hard and annoying to do.
:{{l|Grower|Growing}} - your farmers' work echoes throughout so many other tasks, it's stunning
:* While its possible to feed your fortress on nothing but caravan goods, you'll never come by enough alcohol that way, so you'll eventually need to grow crops for brewing, and dwarves will literally go crazy if forced to drink nothing but water for long periods. Thus you'll want to plan for farming eventually - not that you need to bring a highly skilled {{l|Grower}}, but it'll certainly be ''very'' helpful. Likewise, a skilled {{l|brewer}} produces higher quality {{l|alcohol}} (''though the quality is hidden!)'', which improves your dwarves' mood, as does a skilled {{l|cook}} with the foods they prepare. However, most food can be eaten raw, and so long as they are not starving there is life.
:{{l|Brewing}} - all dwarves "need alcohol to get through the working day"
:{{l|Mechanics}} - if you want traps, and most people will. Also needed for most machinery.
:{{l|Architecture|Building Designer}} - mandatory for some buildings and constructions, but skill only improves speed a tad and increases structure {{l|value}}
:{{l|Broker skills}} - most importantly {{l|appraiser}} - a minimum of Broker skills are highly recommended to start with at the Novice (1 pt) level - it'll make your life much easier (especially Novice level of {{l|Appraiser}}, at least, as it greatly facilitates trading).
:{{L|Record keeper}} - Lets you be able to see the exact amount of things you have much faster than training one, and is necessary to view the stocks screen.

The very fact that you will use these skills often makes many of them desirable to choose as starting skills for your dwarves. Of the above, Mining, Masonry, Growing, Brewing, Cooking, and Mechanics are generally worth considering as "highly desirable". However, '''any skill can be used untrained, and/or get trained on the job''' - it just means a slower process and/or average lower quality product than if done by a dwarf with a higher {{l|experience|skill level}}.

The difference between these skills and other skills is that other skills are optional as to whether they'll get used or not. You need to deliberately want to use them. These skills are essential to basic aspects of the game, and avoiding one requires a deliberate choice not to use it (and likely a lot of effort spent to avoid doing so). Ie, a fortress could make its wealth by smithing fine weapons, weaving quality cloth, encrusting precious stones onto furniture, or crafting quality trinkets. Or all of those. But it doesn't have a compelling reason to do any one in particular. A fortress that never designates a tile for mining, however, requires exceptional effort to achieve.

But that you can avoid even something as basic as mining *for the lifetime of your fortress* means there is no universal design constraint on which skills to start with. Ultimately the answer to "What skills do I need?" is "Whichever ''you'' want". Choosing a mixture of these commonly used skills and your desired specialized skills will make starting up your fortress easier and more efficient, but you don't need to start with any of them. Choosing to avoid some skills may force you to use some others, but nothing compels you to invest in any skill in particular.

==== Balancing military and economic needs ====

Not all embarks will require a military presence in the first year, but anyone planning an expedition to a sinister, haunted, or terrifying biome would be foolish not to be prepared for nasty dwarf-killing creatures. The solution doesn't strictly need to be military skills; quick delving and a skilled mechanic may be sufficient; but starting with a military dwarf will give you the earliest possible protection and a lot more versatility in where that protection can be applied. Whatever you choose to do, understand the risk and be prepared for it.

==== Training considerations ====

Some skills are harder to gain experience in than others - requiring valuable resources or taking an extended period of time, and thus inconvenient to train from the ground up. Investing in some of these extensively in your initial dwarves can make those industries much less painful to start. For example, metal-related skills generally eat metal bars, and thus the less time you spend training metal workers up to a decent level, the faster they'll be churning out high-quality items for you, and the fewer bars they'll waste becoming skilled. On the other hand, despite its importance, skills like mining train relatively quickly and barring extenuating circumstances (expected need to accomplish particular digging projects in the first month or you'll get mauled by a Giant for example) there's little need to actually invest your starting skills in it - they can learn on the job.

==== Quality, value, and happiness ====

{{l|Quality}} is an important part of Dwarf Fortress. Higher quality items produce better and more frequent happy thoughts and are worth more money. Valuable commodities will trade for more goods from caravans that visit. When choosing skills that produce objects of quality, the desire to produce valuable goods for trade will often conflict with the desire to produce objects that will make your dwarves happy. Built items that are frequently encountered tend to be things like furniture, especially beds, which tend to have low material values and thus low total value no matter how high the quality of the work. Further, these things tend to be inconvenient to trade. It is often best to strike a balance between dwarves who produce valuable trade goods and dwarves who produce quality items that will make your population happy - and thus be able to achieve both goals simultaneously.

Its worth noting that built furniture and worn clothing counts its value twice, once under the appropriate category and once for displayed value. If you're trying to maximize your created wealth total, a good metalsmith producing furniture from high-value metals is optimal.

==== Moodable skills ====

{{l|Strange mood}}s will create a Legendary skill of the "moodable" skill with the highest level, and moods take hold of dwarves with different professions at different rates. Some skills are "moodable" where others are not. You might choose to take certain skills solely because it opens up moods for that skill with that dwarf. Some moodable skills are more valuable than others - a legendary weaponsmith is both valuable and useful. A legendary tanner is generally a waste of a mood since tanned hides have no quality.

Because a dwarf can only have a strange mood in one skill, pairing a moodable skill with a non-moodable skill can protect the moodable skill and ensure that if the dwarf has a mood it will be in the skill you desire. See the section on combining skills below for more details on ways to pair skills.

Dwarves with no moodable skill can be allowed to do one task using a moodable skill to give them a moodable skill with no starting build investment, so moodable skill considerations should not be considered a primary reason to choose particular skills - you should also want to make use of them for other reasons.

==== Combining Skills ====
Every dwarf is going to have 2 or more {{l|skills}}. This means that even once you know which skills you want, you're going to need to pair them up before assigning them. Not all skill combinations are equally functional.

Some skills are highly time-consuming, either because the skill is in frequent demand (eg, {{l|mining}}) or because it takes a long time to do an individual job (eg, {{l|strand extraction}}). If a dwarf is spending most of their time using that skill, they aren't making much use of their other skill. Pairing two time-consuming skills together therefore tends to be a bad idea, as one or both jobs are not going to get the attention they need or deserve. Similarly, pairing a skill with time-critical jobs with a time-consuming skill also tends to be a bad idea. If your {{l|grower}} is also mining, he may not stop to plant crops one season. Or he might neglect to harvest your crops in a timely fashion and they could rot on the ground (if you only let your growers harvest). Arranging your skill combinations to avoid these situations is generally beneficial. For example, Masons, miners, growers, and any craft that your fortress will base their economy off of (glass, stonecrafts, armour, etc) will take a lot of time, so plan accordingly.

Instead, pairing relatively time-intensive tasks with less time-intensive tasks will let your dwarf accomplish all such tasks adequately. Once you get a metal industry rolling, an armorer/weaponsmith will need to make a lot fewer weapons to outfit your soldiers than he will armor components. Thus he can usefully do both jobs without hurting your productivity overly much. Similarly, a mason might also be your architect, since building designer is a very infrequently used skill.

Working at different jobs levels up specific {{l|attribute}}s. One could level up a miner until he becomes mighty and ultra-tough - and then turn him into a soldier, or retire him to haul stone. If you plan on doing so, it may not be a good idea to give this guy a second critical job that will demand a lot of time away from their focus.

Since tasks will take place in specific areas, another approach is to combine tasks into dwarves who will take care of a specific industry, or spend all their time in one generally narrow part of the fortress - the forges, or the kitchens, or outdoors, for instance. So combining Farming with cooking, rather than mining, for example, and turn on only Haul Food, not Haul Stone. Metalworkers spending their time in the forge can easily handle more than one type of metalworking skill, and are also well-situated to be furnace operators.

Similarly, you can also make the craftsmen of your finished products also responsible for the production of intermediate products from raw ingredients. This way when they run out of materials to make into finished goods they can immediately switch over to working raw products into intermediate products so they'll have more to work with later. This works better in some industries than in others. A single butcher/tanner/cook trying to process multiple animals simultaneously will likely result in rotten food, carcases, or skins. But a weaponsmith who doubles as a furnace operator can usefully ensure he has material to work with when you want him to. Later on, however, a highly skilled craftsdwarf is often better suited at sitting in their {{l|workshop}} and having others deliver raw materials to them than going out and obtaining their own raw materials themselves, but in the early game dwarf-time is limited, and a single dwarf who can work an entire production chain can do so relatively efficiently and let your other dwarves be used elsewhere.

There is no requirement that a dwarves job combination needs to look 'right' or logical. A weaponsmith will most probably not spend nearly 100% of their time creating weapons - what they do with the other part of their time may have nothing at all to do with forges or smithing. Jobs which require little time in general, or little time early even if time-intensive later, may well be paired with any time-intensive task solely to provide the dwarf with something to usefully and skillfully do with most of their time, and freed from that duty as needed for the other tasks.

Another constraint you can impose on your skill combinations is to try to limit dwarves to {{l|moodable}} skill and one non-moodable skill (or a moodable and a less desired moodable skill at lower level), so any mood will improve the desired one. For example, pairing craft skills with farming skills gives you dwarves that will perform useful food production or raw good processing services while also getting their mood in a valuable finished goods skill. Example: Clothier/Grower.

==== Which dwarf should have which skill? ====
Dwarves who craft goods they prefer, or work materials they prefer, gain a bonus to the quality of the finished work. This can inform your choice of which skills you choose, for example by choosing a weaver because you notice a preference for sheap wool yarn, or you might choose the skills you want and then try to find a suitable dwarf to use that skill. In the latter case, since all dwarves have one metal preference you might assign an armorsmithing skill to a dwarf with a preference for iron, steel, or adamantine.

The dwarf with the most social skills will end up being the {{l|Expedition leader}}, who will then become the {{l|mayor}} and start making {{l|mandate}}s. Thus you should avoid giving the most social skills to dwarfs who have {{l|preferences}} for things like {{l|adamantine}}.

Dwarves have physical and mental attributes that affect the performance of certain skills. You may wish to give a socially adept and patient dwarf the leadership/broker skills, or a dwarf who doesn't tire easily a skill which will be in frequent use like mining. You can also try to match skills to {{l|personality}}, some of which have obvious implications for their willingness to work long hours or how frequently they might take breaks.

Of course, all combined these represent a lot of possible constraints on where you assign particular skills, and it would be impossible to apply them in total to your entire desired skill load. Use these as a guide, but don't be upset if all your dwarves are anti-social psychopaths - someone still needs to be the leader, after all.

==== Other considerations ====
Migrants can and will arrive with a wide selection of decently trained skills. While it is a gamble, chances are pretty decent that migrants will arrive with a highly trained skill that is also highly desirable and would usurp the job of one of the seven starting ones. The first few migration waves are likely to give you a much better talent pool than what you can assign at embark. On the other hand, you may never get the skill you really want if you don't start with it.

Skills rust if not used and they can eventually de-level. Consider that skills which you will use years after embark are going to be rusty or even deleveled. Embark to the first caravan is long enough for a skill to start rusting, so you might want to make sure you'll use every skill you embark with before the first year ends to avoid catastrophic rusting.

Remember that you need to survive in order to accomplish any goals. Have a plan for lasting to at least the first caravan, if not one for longterm sustainability.

== Items ==

The items you choose to bring with you will need to satisfy a number of needs. Most importantly, you need to keep yourself alive - at least until the caravan arrives in the fall to resupply yourself. You probably also want to plan on some way of making a shelter, whether that be the traditional delved hall, a majestic castle, a log cabin, or something even more exotic. You may want to plan for mishaps by bringing essential medical supplies, especially those which may be hard to acquire on site. And you might bring items which will assist in creating items for trade to that first caravan, should you need anything for the skills you're planning on.

For the purposes of this article, livestock are considered items.

All embarks get the following items without paying for them: 2 animals (who pulled the wagon), and the 3 wood that make up the wagon.

=== Motivations ===

==== Survival ====

A single dwarf eats about 2x/season, and drinks about 4x/season. With 7 dwarves that's ~approximately~ 14 meals per season and 28 alcohol per season, or ~42 meals and ~84 alcohol until the end of Fall. The dwarf caravan tends to arrive in the third month of fall, so you will probably need to plan on a full 3 seasons. You are also likely to get at least one if not two small waves of migrants before the caravan arrives.

It is possible to bring enough food and drink to make it to the caravan - indeed, bringing enough food isn't especially hard (especially once you factor in slaughtering the animals who hauled your wagon. Bringing sufficient alcohol is harder, although bringing plump helmets to brew can significantly cut the cost.

The likely best way to keep your dwarves in drink is also the most labor intensive - setting up farming in the first season or two is perfectly plausible, allowing to grow your own {{l|plants}} from seeds and brew the products. (Keep in mind not all plants can be brewed - don't plant dimple cups and expect to make alcohol). In addition to the necessary seeds, starting your own farming operation is going to require some way to get the ground muddy. While sometimes simple digging can accomplish this, many times you're going to need a screw pump. Basic construction requirements are discussed under shelter.

It is possible to make all your alcohol by harvesting aboveground plants, if highly inefficient. It also only works in biomes with collectable plant life. Notably evil biomes and glaciers are unlikely to provide.

==== Shelter ====
Bar a convenient cave, you're going to have to do something for shelter. Shelter is your first defense against roving creatures, keeping them away from where your dwarves are working so they don't spam job cancellations and strew items all over the place. (As you might guess, most 'convenient caves' aren't actually that convenient, as they tend to have residents). Basic walls that allow you egress won't stop a dedicated invader, but you don't expect to see those until year 3, so you have time to develop more elaborate defenses.

Food outside will also spoil a lot faster than food inside, so making a cellar of some sort to store your food in will increase the longevity of your food supplies. The rate at which food spoils depends on ambient temperature, so the urgency of making a cellar will depend on where you settled. It might be possible to go without a cellar in a freezing biome.{{verify}} The only way you can avoid thinking about food storage in the first year is if you collect food and make alcohol as needed - ie, by using an herbalist to collect local plants - which can avoid needing to mine at all.

Delving a shelter requires mining, which means having picks to dig with. One can always bring one or more picks at embark, but its also possible to bring the supplies necessary to make them. See {{l|Starting build#Finished product or do it yourself|finished product or do it yourself}}.

An aboveground shelter can be made with stone or wood or possibly more exotic materials. Stone of course requires mining, and thus picks. Wood can be had with an axe assuming trees are present, and axes, like picks, can similarly be brought at embark or made on site. It is of course possible to bring sufficient raw materials to build walls with, but this is far less efficient than just bringing a pick or an axe, although it could make a fun challenge. Building your initial fort out of soap, while possible, is not recommended, although possibly hilariously entertaining.

==== Industry ====
Most industries require little more than materials you can collect at the site and a workshop. So long as you can get stone, you won't need to bring anything for these. However, if you want to get an industry going immediately, it does help to bring a few building materials along (or be willing to use the wood from the wagon, if only temporarily).

Some industries require fire-safe materials to build with. All stone qualifies, as does metal. Wood can be converted to a fire safe material by burning it to ashes in a wood burners workshop, but of course that workshop requires a fire-safe material. If you're mining, this condition is easy to satisfy, but if you intend to run any of these industries right away you will need to plan on bringing appropriate materials.

Some industries require plant or animal matter to work with. Clothiers ultimately need cloth, which comes from certain plants or animals. Leatherworkers need tanned skins. (And while you can get 2 off your pack animals, this isn't sufficient to run an industry). If you plan on running these types of industries you will need to have a plan for providing suitable raw materials. Hunting can cover leatherworking needs (although this requires a hunter and hunting implements), and foraging can find rope reed plants, but its usually better to bring enough appropriate animals or plant seeds to have a good shot at getting started in a predictable and sustainable way. Similarly, milking and cheese making require milkable animals, and bonecarving requires a dependable source of bones.

Metal industries require metal and an anvil. You cannot make an anvil on site without already having an anvil, so if you plan on doing any forging before the first caravan you will need to bring one with you. Metal can be brought as bars or as ores to be smelted in a smelter into bars, or can be mined yourself. You will need to provide fuel or magma to run these workshops, so bringing some coal can make the operation run smoother.

Soap requires a lot of wood consumption and a source of tallow to be done in a sustainable way. Lye can be bought at embark to skip the first steps and make soap more directly. You will still need to bring or make buckets and have an empty barrel to actually produce soap though, but fortunately this is just a matter of having sufficient wood.

Jewelers require gems. Cut gems can be brought at embark, but are too expensive to bring in quantity. Generally a jeweler requires mining to find sufficient gems or a glassworker to produce raw glass to work with.

Glassmaking and Pottery requires sand or clay and fuel - pay attention to your site report before embarking. Its hard to run a viable industry solely off imports in these cases. Like metal workshops, coal can be brought to substitute for fuel fairly efficiently.

As is probably obvious, certain industries depend on similar inputs. Planning on a set of industries which require similar complementary inputs can let you more efficiently spend your starting points at embark or more efficiently plan your digging during the first year. If you plan on a lot of fuel-dependent industries, it may be worthwhile to prioritize finding a source of magma.

=== Optimization ===

==== Container mechanics and free items ====

Many items come in containers such as barrels and bags, including food, liquids, seeds, and powders. The cost to embark with these items can be cheaper than the cost of the container itself. Each different type of item for each category will come in its own container. Furthermore, you'll get a new container after every 10th instance for food, most liquids, and seeds, and after every item of powders.{{verify}} Alcohol gets a new barrel after every 5th unit. (Food actually groups by animal type, so if you get horse tripe and horse meat they'll combine them, but they won't combine horse meat and donkey meat). Thus diversifying your initial food supply with 1 of each low-cost food item will net you a large number of barrels. Similarly its worth taking 1 of each seed you weren't planning on taking more of solely for the bags. Taking some sand or gypsum powder is also a cheap way to get bags. Lye (for soap) and milks can be brought for more barrels - and milk can be made into cheese for a low-cost embark option that becomes food.

As stockpiling and some jobs are container limited, getting as many free containers as you can will free up labor (and possibly valuable materials) that would otherwise be used making containers.

==== Finished product or do it yourself ====
Bringing raw materials and making the finished product yourself is often easier on your embark points than bringing the finished product. On the other hand, making it yourself takes time during which you aren't making use of the finished product.

The most common scenario involves {{l|Make your own weapons|forging your own metal tools and weapons}}. While not usually too much of a hardship, it can be dangerous to make your own weapons or picks if you expect possible hostile creatures. Further, you will lose time - possibly 1/4 to 1/2 the first month - if you forge your own picks.

Of special note regarding weapons is that a training battle axe is perfectly capable of chopping trees, and is made with nothing more than a carpentry workshop and a log. While the delay in acquiring one is minimal, a wood battle axe is not a good weapon, and so it loses utility for doing anything other than acquiring more wood.

You can also easily plan on making all or most of one's own booze, as plump helmets can be bought at embark and brewed at a still.

Any finished good can of course be made from raw materials that you bring, but most of them are not essential like the above, and thus you can generally wait until you find suitable resources on site or buy them from caravans.

==== Biome considerations: dude, where's my wood? ====
Some environments have a shortage of trees. While you can direct production of a lot of item types to other materials, beds need to be made out of wood. In addition, it is difficult to make barrels and bins out of non-wood materials early in the game, especially without ready magma (since otherwise you'll probably need to burn wood to make metal equivalents). If you have an aquifer it can be even worse - stone may be difficult or impossible to access easily. While you can ultimately ask for wood from your liaison and buy whatever the humans and elves happen to bring, and eventually you can create a tree farm underground, tight wood will limit storage and sleeping arrangements for at least the first year if not longer. You may wish to plan accordingly if embarking in a site with sparse or no trees.

==== Items for moods ====
When a dwarf is taken by a {{l|strange mood}}, he often needs obscure material or he will go insane and die, possibly with severe consequences to an entire fortress. Bringing along some of the harder-to-find ores ({{l|cassiterite}}, {{l|sphalerite}}, {{l|bismuthinite}}, {{l|garnierite}}), and putting those aside, forbidding their use "just in case", is spending a few points on an insurance policy. Many players also choose to bring a few items like pig tail cloth and cave spider silk just in case.

Alternately, if you're otherwise being minimalistic on gear you're bringing you can choose to bring a few valuable components to try to maximize the value of mood items. That artifact animal trap will be worth a lot more if your woodcarver grabs a blue diamond instead of moss agate.

==== Free Equipment ====

Dwarves who start with the ambusher skill may get some leather {{l|armor}}, a crossbow and some bolts for free. It seems to do so when ambusher is the highest non-military non-social skill.{{verify}}







==Site considerations==
Each fortress {{l|location}} offers particular challenges and opportunities, and can make different demands on your starting build. Your starting build may need to be adjusted depending on the {{l|region}} your fort occupies, the specific vision you have of your fortress, and what it will take to {{l|losing|stay alive}} where you're going!

The differences include what {{l|biome}}s, {{l|region}}s and likely {{l|metal}}s are present in your chosen embark site.

=== General Surroundings ===
Simply put, if your {{l|surroundings}} are {{l|evil}} or {{l|savage}}, your dwarves have a higher risk of suddenly facing personal combat before they are safely behind their defenses. Consider bringing extra weaponry, in the form of axes, picks or crossbows (see {{l|Starting_builds#Free_Equipment|free equipment}}). Hand in hand with those, consider skill mixes that include {{l|axedwarf}}, {{l|mining}} (the skill used to wield a pick), {{l|marksdwarf}}, or {{l|wrestling}} (a solid unarmed-combat skill).

The same is true if you are embarking near an exposed magma vent or an open chasm - these features can be seen on the embark map, but it's impossible to tell if they are "open" to the surface or not, until you are there in person.

Be sure to include some source of {{l|water}} on the map, preferably running {{l|water}}. Water is (almost) essential for any fortress. In Cold and Freezing climates streams and {{l|lake}}s will often be frozen year-round and your dwarves may quickly die of exposure, in Hot climates {{l|murky pool}}s will dry up, and in Dry ones rain will only rarely re-fill them, if ever. Choose Temperate or tropical zones for an easier game.

===Aquifers===
If an {{l|aquifer}} is present in the first soil or stone layers (visible on the pre-embark menu), it may bar all access to {{l|stone}} and {{l|ore}} until you find a way through the water barrier. Consider bringing some stone for building, and ore for your first basic needs. This may be critical to getting your fortress running smoothly.

=== Mountains ===
Mountains often have abundant {{l|ore}}s, but at the loss of trees and plants. In previous versions lacking {{L|cavern}}s, this was a serious drawback. In DF2010, brave pioneers can dig down into the caverns to find essentials like water, mud, and plants. However, players should be aware that above-ground crops will not grow in mountain biomes, no matter how muddy you may make the surface.

Depending on the exact layers, it's common to find exposed {{l|vein}}s of useful {{l|ore}}s that can be immediately mined for {{l|Make your own weapons|DIY}} weapons and tools.

=== Wooded/Plains ===
Flatlands with at least some trees and gatherable plants can also make for highly successful fortresses. Advantages over mountain zones include abundant trees and plants and (unless frozen) more abundant water. There are even (rare) magma vents. More water also means a high likelihood of an {{l|aquifer}} being present. Make sure to check on embark.

The greatest disadvantage is the potential lack of exposed {{l|stone}} to mine. The first level(s) below the surface is often {{l|soil}} of some type, which offers no building materials. However, soil is mined much more quickly than stone (x3-x4 faster), and expansive accommodations (rooms) can be achieved quickly even by untrained miners. You will find stone, you just have to go down a bit for it - but that's what dwarves do, isn't it?

{{l|Experience|Training}} a {{l|Miner}} from No Skill to Proficient takes less than a month (~20 days with hauling disabled) in soil, and to Legendary in just under a season after. {{version|0.31.12}} From embark, this means you should have legendary miners in early summer if you dig only in soil. Times increase slightly for each additional miner used.

=== Oceanside ===
With many features in common with some of the above locations, {{l|beach}}es are often a mix of ease intermingled with bouts of extreme difficulty. Minerals and trees are often abundant, as well as farmland and sand, but there is often no drinking water unless the biome has a flowing {{l|water}} of some sort.

By definition, the settlement will fall between (at least) two {{l|biome}}s (one land, one water), potentially hazardous if the player expects a peaceful oceanside meadow, without realizing the {{l|terrifying}} ocean is full of amphibious zombie {{l|whale}}s.

=== Desert, Glaciers, and Barren ===
Treeless (or near-treeless) {{l|biome}}s are challenging sites for a fortress: you get most of the disadvantages of a flatland site without having access to nearly as many trees and plants. However, near-lifeless zones such as {{l|glacier}}s are wonderful for players with slower computers, as there's little to burden the CPU but your dwarves and livestock. {{l|Desert}}s and barren areas often have sand; with a sufficient source of energy (preferably magma), you can build almost anything out of unlimited glass.

Hunters should be replaced with fisherdwarves and a fish cleaner (although the latter can be easily trained). Depending how much water vs. land, more starting wood and ores might be helpful. Swimming is rarely useful in Fortress mode, even at the beach, and can be trained.

==Sample starting builds==
See {{l|Sample Starting Builds}}

{{Starting FAQ}}
[[Category:Guides]]

v0.31:Starting build

2011-04-24T03:00:13Z

Squirrelloid:

{{quality|Exceptional|01:37, 16 October 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

:: This is not a tutorial, a FAQ, or a new players guide. This is a mildly advanced theoretical treatment for someone ready to take the plunge and make all the decisions about their own fortress. The following other articles may satisfy what you need:
::*{{l|Quickstart guide}}
::*[[From Caravan to Happy Dwarves|Beginner Flowchart]]
::*[[User:Calite#Jumping_into_Dwarf_Fortress_Mode|Beginner Checklist]]
::For an explanation of the interface for starting out, see {{l|Embark}} 

A '''starting build''' is a personal strategy for choosing the initial supplies, equipment, and {{l|skill}}s of your initial seven dwarves when starting a new game in {{l|fortress mode}}. These skills and items which you assign to your dwarves will have a large impact on life in your new fortress, especially in its first year.

This page attempts to give advice on some of the many gameplay elements which influence the flow of your game based on your goals. These include: choosing a ''fortress site'', the ''starting build'' itself, as well as ''challenge builds'' aimed at providing new or unusual challenges to advanced players. This page is not an explanation of the mechanics of doing so, see {{l|Embark}} for an explanation of the interface itself.

But one thing should be made clear - there is no "best" build, no "perfect" or "clearly superior" final mix of skills and items, if only because there isn't any one goal of play. The goals you have for a fortress will dictate which sets of items and skills are best suited to achieving that goal - in your opinion. And then there is the environment, where your dwarves will arrive, the creatures, the resources available, and so forth. Finally, some people do things solely because it is hard, and that makes it more fun for them.

Items are tied to starting skills, and starting skills are tied to the expected environment for your chosen embark, and all are tied to your preferences for playing the game - not all sites require (or invite) the same approach, and no two players would take the same approach to the same environment.

This page attempts to provide a discussion about how and why you make the choices on what you bring along.

__TOC__

== Components of a Starting Build ==
There are two main components of a starting build: skills and items.

Skills for your initial dwarves determine how quickly they will work early on, what industries you are guaranteed to be able to start with skilled workers later, how well you can defend your dwarves early on, and what the quality of various goods they produce will be, and possibly many other considerations. This page considers in detail how you might go about choosing skills for your starting dwarves, and examines the multiple competing perspectives from which you can make that decision.

The items that your dwarves bring with you can be tailored a number of ways. There are trade-offs to cheaper and more expensive alternatives, and reasons why you might choose either. This section explores the nature of these trade-offs and the reasons for making a decision. It also looks at optimizing goods brought in more general contexts.

Starting builds can and should vary based upon a number of other variables. {{l|location|Where you choose to settle}} will give you a fortress that supplies different raw materials and thus require different skill sets to utilize, not to mention different threats from native wildlife based on {{l|biome}}, {{l|surroundings|savagery}}, and {{l|surroundings|alignment}}. Which dwarven civilization you come from will restrict the materials with which you can start. Making choices about these variables is not part of a starting build. What you choose for skills and items because of these choices is part of your starting build, and so some general guidelines about different environments is given last.

This page does not cover the interface for accomplishing these tasks. Please see the {{l|embark}} page.

== Skill Optimization ==
With only 7 dwarves, you can't take every {{l|skill}}, so you have to balance what you do take. At this starting phase, each dwarf can only be assigned a maximum total of 10 skill levels, with no single skill starting higher than "5". Actual skill distribution is thus constrained to be something between 1 level in each of 10 skills, or 5 levels in each of two skills, or something in between. Because dwarves can {{l|experience|learn}} any and all skills once your fortress starts, these initial choices do not dictate what the dwarves can do, opening up incredible latitude to choose skills for reasons other than survival.

:''(* Note that an unskilled dwarf starts with all Skills at Level '''0'''. Adding +5 Levels is then Level '''5'''. This is true regardless of how many "points" a level costs when first buying skills at embark.)''

A brief list of considerations governing skill choice:
:* Maximizing starting skill ranks vs. generalizing and having more skills covered at lower levels.
:* Balancing multiple skills for a single dwarf, so they aren't constantly needed for two different tasks at critical periods
:* Military vs economic needs
:* Your goals vs "basic survival needs" to keep your fortress healthy and happy.
:* Speed that a skill can be trained in game
:* Demand for a skill during a game
:* Whether quality or speed are significant considerations for tasks/final product
:* Balancing the desire to create {{l|wealth}} ''(with high-value products)'' with the need to maintain {{l|thought|morale}} ''(with low-value but commonly used products, like {{l|bed}}s, which normally are made from {{l|wood}})''.
:* most importantly - ''your playstyle'' - what '''you''' think is "fun"!

==== Breadth vs. Depth ====

A dwarf with only 2 starting skills at 5 ranks each is pretty good at 2 tasks, but untrained at anything else. A dwarf with nothing higher than level 1 is passable at many tasks, but not good at anything. Each dwarf in your party is going to be somewhere along this continuum, and you'll need to choose where.

Level in a skill dictates how fast a dwarf completes a task (most of the time), and how well he completes it (if applicable). On one extreme, {{l|butchery}} has no time variance for slaughtering a tame animal, and has no quality associated with the outcome. On the other extreme, {{l|metalworking}} tasks can take a long time for an untrained worker to complete and their high material value means the quality multiplier has a large impact on the end value.

Dwarves who complete tasks faster can do more total {{l|job}}s within a given timeframe. The rate at which speed increases with level varies with skill, so some skills will benefit more than others.

Dwarves who make items of higher quality will contribute more to fortress wealth and may have a large impact on fortress happiness if their work is readily available to be seen by other dwarves. Items which typically contribute to happiness are low value but common public items, like beds and tables. Items which contribute the most to fortress wealth often cannot be displayed, but make useful trade goods or equipment for your military.

A dwarf highly skilled in few areas will work faster at those tasks and produce higher quality work than his more generalized counterpart. However, he will do worse at any other task he is set to.

Aside from the obvious trade off, there is another reason to prefer depth - dwarves can obviously only complete so many total jobs within a given timespan. If a dwarf is busy doing one thing, he can't simultaneously be doing something else. So a dwarf who is highly skilled in a few skills may not actually experience any disadvantage thereby if he is kept doing those things in which he specializes. The generalist dwarf, on the other hand, may be able to do many more different tasks adequately, but he can still only do one type of task at a time. A dwarf with one highly used skill (such as Mechanics or Mining) can feasibly spend all his time using only his primary skill and thus has no need to generalize. In effect, the generalist is wasting more skill points whenever he does jobs than the specialist, so long as the specialist tends to do jobs he has levels in. Specializing your initial skill investment is therefore superior if you specialize the division of labor in your fortress.

Of course, you can still only bring 7 dwarves with 10 total levels of skills each, so covering everything you want to do in 14 skills may be hard, if not impossible. A generalist or two can cover more bases that have little quality need or are otherwise fast even without a high level. The generalists real problem arises from the fact that any dwarf can do any task, and having 1 level isn't much better than having no levels. Which isn't to say there isn't a situation where a 1/1/1/1/1/5 dwarf is the right solution (indeed, the typical recommended leader/broker takes 1/1/1/1/1 in appraiser/judge of intent/negotiator/+2 social skills because none of these skills have a time or quality component), but most less-specialized dwarves are more likely to fall in the 5/3/2 or 4/3/3 end of the spectrum solely because there is a minimum investment necessary to be noticeably better than not having any levels at all.

==== Design Constraints: Which skills do I need, really? ====

The only thing that you absolutely must do in the first year is get your food supplies into a food stockpile, preferably inside, otherwise your food will rot on the ground and your dwarves will starve. Anything else you want to do can be accommodated by sufficient investment in initial food supplies and/or skills. This means the options for possible starting builds are vast because virtually any set of starting skills for your dwarves is viable (and that's before you even think about equipment, which adds more variables). So the short answer is: none.

That said, there are some skills which will be '''used''', to one extent or another, by virtually every fortress - but that doesn't mean you '''need''' or even want to invest points in them to start. You could even manipulate the fortress (see {{l|challenge}}) to completely avoid one or more of the following, but these are the skills you will find it exceptionally hard to avoid creating jobs for:
:{{l|Mining}} - to dig your fortress, and gain stone for projects. Only possible to avoid using if you're secretly an elf.
:* Inexperienced {{l|miner}}s work very slowly and are less likely to recover mined gems or valuable ores. Mining can be leveled up quite quickly by mining {{l|soil#soil|soil}}, but taking two dwarves with at least some points in mining is recommended in many cases.
:{{l|Carpentry}} - {{l|bed}}s can only be produced from {{l|wood}} (rare {{l|mood}}s aside). This skill can also be used to make {{L|bin}}s without having to have an {{L|anvil}}, use any metal {{L|bar}}s, or use any {{L|fuel}}.
:*Carpentry is used, but opinions differ - on one hand, wood items are just not worth that much {{l|value}}-wise ''(10's of dwarfbucks vs 100's for stone furniture or 1000's for armor or prepared foods, for instance)'', so the difference in monetary value between high-quality and no-quality is minor for wood products. However, high-quality {{l|bed}}s are one of the easiest ways to help make and keep your dwarves {{l|thought|happy}} (since every dwarf will encounter a bed regularly), so some players swear by it.
:{{l|Masonry}} - to build walls and stairs, and fashion dwarven furniture from stone. Possible to work around, but incredibly hard and annoying to do.
:{{l|Grower|Growing}} - your farmers' work echoes throughout so many other tasks, it's stunning
:* While its possible to feed your fortress on nothing but caravan goods, you'll never come by enough alcohol that way, so you'll eventually need to grow crops for brewing, and dwarves will literally go crazy if forced to drink nothing but water for long periods. Thus you'll want to plan for farming eventually - not that you need to bring a highly skilled {{l|Grower}}, but it'll certainly be ''very'' helpful. Likewise, a skilled {{l|brewer}} produces higher quality {{l|alcohol}} (''though the quality is hidden!)'', which improves your dwarves' mood, as does a skilled {{l|cook}} with the foods they prepare. However, most food can be eaten raw, and so long as they are not starving there is life.
:{{l|Brewing}} - all dwarves "need alcohol to get through the working day"
:{{l|Mechanics}} - if you want traps, and most people will. Also needed for most machinery.
:{{l|Architecture|Building Designer}} - mandatory for some buildings and constructions, but skill only improves speed a tad and increases structure {{l|value}}
:{{l|Broker skills}} - most importantly {{l|appraiser}} - a minimum of Broker skills are highly recommended to start with at the Novice (1 pt) level - it'll make your life much easier (especially Novice level of {{l|Appraiser}}, at least, as it greatly facilitates trading).
:{{L|Record keeper}} - Lets you be able to see the exact amount of things you have much faster than training one, and is necessary to view the stocks screen.

The very fact that you will use these skills often makes many of them desirable to choose as starting skills for your dwarves. Of the above, Mining, Masonry, Growing, Brewing, Cooking, and Mechanics are generally worth considering as "highly desirable". However, '''any skill can be used untrained, and/or get trained on the job''' - it just means a slower process and/or average lower quality product than if done by a dwarf with a higher {{l|experience|skill level}}.

The difference between these skills and other skills is that other skills are optional as to whether they'll get used or not. You need to deliberately want to use them. These skills are essential to basic aspects of the game, and avoiding one requires a deliberate choice not to use it (and likely a lot of effort spent to avoid doing so). Ie, a fortress could make its wealth by smithing fine weapons, weaving quality cloth, encrusting precious stones onto furniture, or crafting quality trinkets. Or all of those. But it doesn't have a compelling reason to do any one in particular. A fortress that never designates a tile for mining, however, requires exceptional effort to achieve.

But that you can avoid even something as basic as mining *for the lifetime of your fortress* means there is no universal design constraint on which skills to start with. Ultimately the answer to "What skills do I need?" is "Whichever ''you'' want". Choosing a mixture of these commonly used skills and your desired specialized skills will make starting up your fortress easier and more efficient, but you don't need to start with any of them. Choosing to avoid some skills may force you to use some others, but nothing compels you to invest in any skill in particular.

==== Balancing military and economic needs ====

Not all embarks will require a military presence in the first year, but anyone planning an expedition to a sinister, haunted, or terrifying biome would be foolish not to be prepared for nasty dwarf-killing creatures. The solution doesn't strictly need to be military skills; quick delving and a skilled mechanic may be sufficient; but starting with a military dwarf will give you the earliest possible protection and a lot more versatility in where that protection can be applied. Whatever you choose to do, understand the risk and be prepared for it.

==== Training considerations ====

Some skills are harder to gain experience in than others - requiring valuable resources or taking an extended period of time, and thus inconvenient to train from the ground up. Investing in some of these extensively in your initial dwarves can make those industries much less painful to start. For example, metal-related skills generally eat metal bars, and thus the less time you spend training metal workers up to a decent level, the faster they'll be churning out high-quality items for you, and the fewer bars they'll waste becoming skilled. On the other hand, despite its importance, skills like mining train relatively quickly and barring extenuating circumstances (expected need to accomplish particular digging projects in the first month or you'll get mauled by a Giant for example) there's little need to actually invest your starting skills in it - they can learn on the job.

==== Quality, value, and happiness ====

{{l|Quality}} is an important part of Dwarf Fortress. Higher quality items produce better and more frequent happy thoughts and are worth more money. Valuable commodities will trade for more goods from caravans that visit. When choosing skills that produce objects of quality, the desire to produce valuable goods for trade will often conflict with the desire to produce objects that will make your dwarves happy. Built items that are frequently encountered tend to be things like furniture, especially beds, which tend to have low material values and thus low total value no matter how high the quality of the work. Further, these things tend to be inconvenient to trade. It is often best to strike a balance between dwarves who produce valuable trade goods and dwarves who produce quality items that will make your population happy - and thus be able to achieve both goals simultaneously.

Its worth noting that built furniture and worn clothing counts its value twice, once under the appropriate category and once for displayed value. If you're trying to maximize your created wealth total, a good metalsmith producing furniture from high-value metals is optimal.

==== Moodable skills ====

{{l|Strange mood}}s will create a Legendary skill of the "moodable" skill with the highest level, and moods take hold of dwarves with different professions at different rates. Some skills are "moodable" where others are not. You might choose to take certain skills solely because it opens up moods for that skill with that dwarf. Some moodable skills are more valuable than others - a legendary weaponsmith is both valuable and useful. A legendary tanner is generally a waste of a mood since tanned hides have no quality.

Because a dwarf can only have a strange mood in one skill, pairing a moodable skill with a non-moodable skill can protect the moodable skill and ensure that if the dwarf has a mood it will be in the skill you desire. See the section on combining skills below for more details on ways to pair skills.

Dwarves with no moodable skill can be allowed to do one task using a moodable skill to give them a moodable skill with no starting build investment, so moodable skill considerations should not be considered a primary reason to choose particular skills - you should also want to make use of them for other reasons.

==== Combining Skills ====
Every dwarf is going to have 2 or more {{l|skills}}. This means that even once you know which skills you want, you're going to need to pair them up before assigning them. Not all skill combinations are equally functional.

Some skills are highly time-consuming, either because the skill is in frequent demand (eg, {{l|mining}}) or because it takes a long time to do an individual job (eg, {{l|strand extraction}}). If a dwarf is spending most of their time using that skill, they aren't making much use of their other skill. Pairing two time-consuming skills together therefore tends to be a bad idea, as one or both jobs are not going to get the attention they need or deserve. Similarly, pairing a skill with time-critical jobs with a time-consuming skill also tends to be a bad idea. If your {{l|grower}} is also mining, he may not stop to plant crops one season. Or he might neglect to harvest your crops in a timely fashion and they could rot on the ground (if you only let your growers harvest). Arranging your skill combinations to avoid these situations is generally beneficial. For example, Masons, miners, growers, and any craft that your fortress will base their economy off of (glass, stonecrafts, armour, etc) will take a lot of time, so plan accordingly.

Instead, pairing relatively time-intensive tasks with less time-intensive tasks will let your dwarf accomplish all such tasks adequately. Once you get a metal industry rolling, an armorer/weaponsmith will need to make a lot fewer weapons to outfit your soldiers than he will armor components. Thus he can usefully do both jobs without hurting your productivity overly much. Similarly, a mason might also be your architect, since building designer is a very infrequently used skill.

Working at different jobs levels up specific {{l|attribute}}s. One could level up a miner until he becomes mighty and ultra-tough - and then turn him into a soldier, or retire him to haul stone. If you plan on doing so, it may not be a good idea to give this guy a second critical job that will demand a lot of time away from their focus.

Since tasks will take place in specific areas, another approach is to combine tasks into dwarves who will take care of a specific industry, or spend all their time in one generally narrow part of the fortress - the forges, or the kitchens, or outdoors, for instance. So combining Farming with cooking, rather than mining, for example, and turn on only Haul Food, not Haul Stone. Metalworkers spending their time in the forge can easily handle more than one type of metalworking skill, and are also well-situated to be furnace operators.

Similarly, you can also make the craftsmen of your finished products also responsible for the production of intermediate products from raw ingredients. This way when they run out of materials to make into finished goods they can immediately switch over to working raw products into intermediate products so they'll have more to work with later. This works better in some industries than in others. A single butcher/tanner/cook trying to process multiple animals simultaneously will likely result in rotten food, carcases, or skins. But a weaponsmith who doubles as a furnace operator can usefully ensure he has material to work with when you want him to. Later on, however, a highly skilled craftsdwarf is often better suited at sitting in their {{l|workshop}} and having others deliver raw materials to them than going out and obtaining their own raw materials themselves, but in the early game dwarf-time is limited, and a single dwarf who can work an entire production chain can do so relatively efficiently and let your other dwarves be used elsewhere.

There is no requirement that a dwarves job combination needs to look 'right' or logical. A weaponsmith will most probably not spend nearly 100% of their time creating weapons - what they do with the other part of their time may have nothing at all to do with forges or smithing. Jobs which require little time in general, or little time early even if time-intensive later, may well be paired with any time-intensive task solely to provide the dwarf with something to usefully and skillfully do with most of their time, and freed from that duty as needed for the other tasks.

Another constraint you can impose on your skill combinations is to try to limit dwarves to {{l|moodable}} skill and one non-moodable skill (or a moodable and a less desired moodable skill at lower level), so any mood will improve the desired one. For example, pairing craft skills with farming skills gives you dwarves that will perform useful food production or raw good processing services while also getting their mood in a valuable finished goods skill. Example: Clothier/Grower.

==== Which dwarf should have which skill? ====
Dwarves who craft goods they prefer, or work materials they prefer, gain a bonus to the quality of the finished work. This can inform your choice of which skills you choose, for example by choosing a weaver because you notice a preference for sheap wool yarn, or you might choose the skills you want and then try to find a suitable dwarf to use that skill. In the latter case, since all dwarves have one metal preference you might assign an armorsmithing skill to a dwarf with a preference for iron, steel, or adamantine.

The dwarf with the most social skills will end up being the {{l|Expedition leader}}, who will then become the {{l|mayor}} and start making {{l|mandate}}s. Thus you should avoid giving the most social skills to dwarfs who have {{l|preferences}} for things like {{l|adamantine}}.

Dwarves have physical and mental attributes that affect the performance of certain skills. You may wish to give a socially adept and patient dwarf the leadership/broker skills, or a dwarf who doesn't tire easily a skill which will be in frequent use like mining. You can also try to match skills to {{l|personality}}, some of which have obvious implications for their willingness to work long hours or how frequently they might take breaks.

Of course, all combined these represent a lot of possible constraints on where you assign particular skills, and it would be impossible to apply them in total to your entire desired skill load. Use these as a guide, but don't be upset if all your dwarves are anti-social psychopaths - someone still needs to be the leader, after all.

==== Other considerations ====
Migrants can and will arrive with a wide selection of decently trained skills. While it is a gamble, chances are pretty decent that migrants will arrive with a highly trained skill that is also highly desirable and would usurp the job of one of the seven starting ones. The first few migration waves are likely to give you a much better talent pool than what you can assign at embark. On the other hand, you may never get the skill you really want if you don't start with it.

Skills rust if not used and they can eventually de-level. Consider that skills which you will use years after embark are going to be rusty or even deleveled. Embark to the first caravan is long enough for a skill to start rusting, so you might want to make sure you'll use every skill you embark with before the first year ends to avoid catastrophic rusting.

Remember that you need to survive in order to accomplish any goals. Have a plan for lasting to at least the first caravan, if not one for longterm sustainability.

== Items ==

The items you choose to bring with you will need to satisfy a number of needs. Most importantly, you need to keep yourself alive - at least until the caravan arrives in the fall to resupply yourself. You probably also want to plan on some way of making a shelter, whether that be the traditional delved hall, a majestic castle, a log cabin, or something even more exotic. You may want to plan for mishaps by bringing essential medical supplies, especially those which may be hard to acquire on site. And you might bring items which will assist in creating items for trade to that first caravan, should you need anything for the skills you're planning on.

For the purposes of this article, livestock are considered items.

All embarks get the following items without paying for them: 2 animals (who pulled the wagon), and the 3 wood that make up the wagon.

=== Motivations ===

==== Survival ====

A single dwarf eats about 2x/season, and drinks about 4x/season. With 7 dwarves that's ~approximately~ 14 meals per season and 28 alcohol per season, or ~42 meals and ~84 alcohol until the end of Fall. The dwarf caravan tends to arrive in the third month of fall, so you will probably need to plan on a full 3 seasons. You are also likely to get at least one if not two small waves of migrants before the caravan arrives.

It is possible to bring enough food and drink to make it to the caravan - indeed, bringing enough food isn't especially hard (especially once you factor in slaughtering the animals who hauled your wagon. Bringing sufficient alcohol is harder, although bringing plump helmets to brew can significantly cut the cost.

The likely best way to keep your dwarves in drink is also the most labor intensive - setting up farming in the first season or two is perfectly plausible, allowing to grow your own {{l|plants}} from seeds and brew the products. (Keep in mind not all plants can be brewed - don't plant dimple cups and expect to make alcohol). In addition to the necessary seeds, starting your own farming operation is going to require some way to get the ground muddy. While sometimes simple digging can accomplish this, many times you're going to need a screw pump. Basic construction requirements are discussed under shelter.

It is possible to make all your alcohol by harvesting aboveground plants, if highly inefficient. It also only works in biomes with collectable plant life. Notably evil biomes and glaciers are unlikely to provide.

==== Shelter ====
Bar a convenient cave, you're going to have to do something for shelter. Shelter is your first defense against roving creatures, keeping them away from where your dwarves are working so they don't spam job cancellations and strew items all over the place. (As you might guess, most 'convenient caves' aren't actually that convenient, as they tend to have residents). Basic walls that allow you egress won't stop a dedicated invader, but you don't expect to see those until year 3, so you have time to develop more elaborate defenses.

Food outside will also spoil a lot faster than food inside, so making a cellar of some sort to store your food in will increase the longevity of your food supplies. The rate at which food spoils depends on ambient temperature, so the urgency of making a cellar will depend on where you settled. It might be possible to go without a cellar in a freezing biome.{{verify}} The only way you can avoid thinking about food storage in the first year is if you collect food and make alcohol as needed - ie, by using an herbalist to collect local plants - which can avoid needing to mine at all.

Delving a shelter requires mining, which means having picks to dig with. One can always bring one or more picks at embark, but its also possible to bring the supplies necessary to make them. See tempo vs. efficiency below.

An aboveground shelter can be made with stone or wood or possibly more exotic materials. Stone of course requires mining, and thus picks. Wood can be had with an axe assuming trees are present, and axes, like picks, can similarly be brought at embark or made on site. It is of course possible to bring sufficient raw materials to build walls with, but this is far less efficient than just bringing a pick or an axe, although it could make a fun challenge. Building your initial fort out of soap, while possible, is not recommended, although possibly hilariously entertaining.

==== Industry ====
Most industries require little more than materials you can collect at the site and a workshop. So long as you can get stone, you won't need to bring anything for these. However, if you want to get an industry going immediately, it does help to bring a few building materials along (or be willing to use the wood from the wagon, if only temporarily).

Some industries require fire-safe materials to build with. All stone qualifies, as does metal. Wood can be converted to a fire safe material by burning it to ashes in a wood burners workshop, but of course that workshop requires a fire-safe material. If you're mining, this condition is easy to satisfy, but if you intend to run any of these industries right away you will need to plan on bringing appropriate materials.

Some industries require plant or animal matter to work with. Clothiers ultimately need cloth, which comes from certain plants or animals. Leatherworkers need tanned skins. (And while you can get 2 off your pack animals, this isn't sufficient to run an industry). If you plan on running these types of industries you will need to have a plan for providing suitable raw materials. Hunting can cover leatherworking needs (although this requires a hunter and hunting implements), and foraging can find rope reed plants, but its usually better to bring enough appropriate animals or plant seeds to have a good shot at getting started in a predictable and sustainable way. Similarly, milking and cheese making require milkable animals, and bonecarving requires a dependable source of bones.

Metal industries require metal and an anvil. You cannot make an anvil on site without already having an anvil, so if you plan on doing any forging before the first caravan you will need to bring one with you. Metal can be brought as bars or as ores to be smelted in a smelter into bars, or can be mined yourself. You will need to provide fuel or magma to run these workshops, so bringing some coal can make the operation run smoother.

Soap requires a lot of wood consumption and a source of tallow to be done in a sustainable way. Lye can be bought at embark to skip the first steps and make soap more directly. You will still need to bring or make buckets and have an empty barrel to actually produce soap though, but fortunately this is just a matter of having sufficient wood.

Jewelers require gems. Cut gems can be brought at embark, but are too expensive to bring in quantity. Generally a jeweler requires mining to find sufficient gems or a glassworker to produce raw glass to work with.

Glassmaking and Pottery requires sand or clay and fuel - pay attention to your site report before embarking. Its hard to run a viable industry solely off imports in these cases. Like metal workshops, coal can be brought to substitute for fuel fairly efficiently.

As is probably obvious, certain industries depend on similar inputs. Planning on a set of industries which require similar complementary inputs can let you more efficiently spend your starting points at embark or more efficiently plan your digging during the first year. If you plan on a lot of fuel-dependent industries, it may be worthwhile to prioritize finding a source of magma.

=== Optimization ===

==== Container mechanics and free items ====

Many items come in containers such as barrels and bags, including food, liquids, seeds, and powders. The cost to embark with these items can be cheaper than the cost of the container itself. Each different type of item for each category will come in its own container. Furthermore, you'll get a new container after every 10th instance for food, most liquids, and seeds, and after every item of powders.{{verify}} Alcohol gets a new barrel after every 5th unit. (Food actually groups by animal type, so if you get horse tripe and horse meat they'll combine them, but they won't combine horse meat and donkey meat). Thus diversifying your initial food supply with 1 of each low-cost food item will net you a large number of barrels. Similarly its worth taking 1 of each seed you weren't planning on taking more of solely for the bags. Taking some sand or gypsum powder is also a cheap way to get bags. Lye (for soap) and milks can be brought for more barrels - and milk can be made into cheese for a low-cost embark option that becomes food.

As stockpiling and some jobs are container limited, getting as many free containers as you can will free up labor (and possibly valuable materials) that would otherwise be used making containers.

==== Finished product or do it yourself ====
Bringing raw materials and making the finished product yourself is often easier on your embark points than bringing the finished product. On the other hand, making it yourself takes time during which you aren't making use of the finished product.

The most common scenario involves {{l|Make your own weapons|forging your own metal tools and weapons}}. While not usually too much of a hardship, it can be dangerous to make your own weapons or picks if you expect possible hostile creatures. Further, you will lose time - possibly 1/4 to 1/2 the first month - if you forge your own picks.

Of special note regarding weapons is that a training battle axe is perfectly capable of chopping trees, and is made with nothing more than a carpentry workshop and a log. While the delay in acquiring one is minimal, a wood battle axe is not a good weapon, and so it loses utility for doing anything other than acquiring more wood.

You can also easily plan on making all or most of one's own booze, as plump helmets can be bought at embark and brewed at a still.

Any finished good can of course be made from raw materials that you bring, but most of them are not essential like the above, and thus you can generally wait until you find suitable resources on site or buy them from caravans.

==== Biome considerations: dude, where's my wood? ====
Some environments have a shortage of trees. While you can direct production of a lot of item types to other materials, beds need to be made out of wood. In addition, it is difficult to make barrels and bins out of non-wood materials early in the game, especially without ready magma (since otherwise you'll probably need to burn wood to make metal equivalents). If you have an aquifer it can be even worse - stone may be difficult or impossible to access easily. While you can ultimately ask for wood from your liaison and buy whatever the humans and elves happen to bring, and eventually you can create a tree farm underground, tight wood will limit storage and sleeping arrangements for at least the first year if not longer. You may wish to plan accordingly if embarking in a site with sparse or no trees.

==== Items for moods ====
When a dwarf is taken by a {{l|strange mood}}, he often needs obscure material or he will go insane and die, possibly with severe consequences to an entire fortress. Bringing along some of the harder-to-find ores ({{l|cassiterite}}, {{l|sphalerite}}, {{l|bismuthinite}}, {{l|garnierite}}), and putting those aside, forbidding their use "just in case", is spending a few points on an insurance policy. Many players also choose to bring a few items like pig tail cloth and cave spider silk just in case.

Alternately, if you're otherwise being minimalistic on gear you're bringing you can choose to bring a few valuable components to try to maximize the value of mood items. That artifact animal trap will be worth a lot more if your woodcarver grabs a blue diamond instead of moss agate.

==== Free Equipment ====

Dwarves who start with the ambusher skill may get some leather {{l|armor}}, a crossbow and some bolts for free. It seems to do so when ambusher is the highest non-military non-social skill.{{verify}}







==Site considerations==
Each fortress {{l|location}} offers particular challenges and opportunities, and can make different demands on your starting build. Your starting build may need to be adjusted depending on the {{l|region}} your fort occupies, the specific vision you have of your fortress, and what it will take to {{l|losing|stay alive}} where you're going!

The differences include what {{l|biome}}s, {{l|region}}s and likely {{l|metal}}s are present in your chosen embark site.

=== General Surroundings ===
Simply put, if your {{l|surroundings}} are {{l|evil}} or {{l|savage}}, your dwarves have a higher risk of suddenly facing personal combat before they are safely behind their defenses. Consider bringing extra weaponry, in the form of axes, picks or crossbows (see {{l|Starting_builds#Free_Equipment|free equipment}}). Hand in hand with those, consider skill mixes that include {{l|axedwarf}}, {{l|mining}} (the skill used to wield a pick), {{l|marksdwarf}}, or {{l|wrestling}} (a solid unarmed-combat skill).

The same is true if you are embarking near an exposed magma vent or an open chasm - these features can be seen on the embark map, but it's impossible to tell if they are "open" to the surface or not, until you are there in person.

Be sure to include some source of {{l|water}} on the map, preferably running {{l|water}}. Water is (almost) essential for any fortress. In Cold and Freezing climates streams and {{l|lake}}s will often be frozen year-round and your dwarves may quickly die of exposure, in Hot climates {{l|murky pool}}s will dry up, and in Dry ones rain will only rarely re-fill them, if ever. Choose Temperate or tropical zones for an easier game.

===Aquifers===
If an {{l|aquifer}} is present in the first soil or stone layers (visible on the pre-embark menu), it may bar all access to {{l|stone}} and {{l|ore}} until you find a way through the water barrier. Consider bringing some stone for building, and ore for your first basic needs. This may be critical to getting your fortress running smoothly.

=== Mountains ===
Mountains often have abundant {{l|ore}}s, but at the loss of trees and plants. In previous versions lacking {{L|cavern}}s, this was a serious drawback. In DF2010, brave pioneers can dig down into the caverns to find essentials like water, mud, and plants. However, players should be aware that above-ground crops will not grow in mountain biomes, no matter how muddy you may make the surface.

Depending on the exact layers, it's common to find exposed {{l|vein}}s of useful {{l|ore}}s that can be immediately mined for {{l|Make your own weapons|DIY}} weapons and tools.

=== Wooded/Plains ===
Flatlands with at least some trees and gatherable plants can also make for highly successful fortresses. Advantages over mountain zones include abundant trees and plants and (unless frozen) more abundant water. There are even (rare) magma vents. More water also means a high likelihood of an {{l|aquifer}} being present. Make sure to check on embark.

The greatest disadvantage is the potential lack of exposed {{l|stone}} to mine. The first level(s) below the surface is often {{l|soil}} of some type, which offers no building materials. However, soil is mined much more quickly than stone (x3-x4 faster), and expansive accommodations (rooms) can be achieved quickly even by untrained miners. You will find stone, you just have to go down a bit for it - but that's what dwarves do, isn't it?

{{l|Experience|Training}} a {{l|Miner}} from No Skill to Proficient takes less than a month (~20 days with hauling disabled) in soil, and to Legendary in just under a season after. {{version|0.31.12}} From embark, this means you should have legendary miners in early summer if you dig only in soil. Times increase slightly for each additional miner used.

=== Oceanside ===
With many features in common with some of the above locations, {{l|beach}}es are often a mix of ease intermingled with bouts of extreme difficulty. Minerals and trees are often abundant, as well as farmland and sand, but there is often no drinking water unless the biome has a flowing {{l|water}} of some sort.

By definition, the settlement will fall between (at least) two {{l|biome}}s (one land, one water), potentially hazardous if the player expects a peaceful oceanside meadow, without realizing the {{l|terrifying}} ocean is full of amphibious zombie {{l|whale}}s.

=== Desert, Glaciers, and Barren ===
Treeless (or near-treeless) {{l|biome}}s are challenging sites for a fortress: you get most of the disadvantages of a flatland site without having access to nearly as many trees and plants. However, near-lifeless zones such as {{l|glacier}}s are wonderful for players with slower computers, as there's little to burden the CPU but your dwarves and livestock. {{l|Desert}}s and barren areas often have sand; with a sufficient source of energy (preferably magma), you can build almost anything out of unlimited glass.

Hunters should be replaced with fisherdwarves and a fish cleaner (although the latter can be easily trained). Depending how much water vs. land, more starting wood and ores might be helpful. Swimming is rarely useful in Fortress mode, even at the beach, and can be trained.

==Sample starting builds==
See {{l|Sample Starting Builds}}

{{Starting FAQ}}
[[Category:Guides]]

v0.31:Starting build

2011-04-24T02:59:57Z

Squirrelloid: /* Industry */

{{quality|Exceptional|01:37, 16 October 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

:: This is not a tutorial, a FAQ, or a new players guide. This is a mildly advanced theoretical treatment for someone ready to take the plunge and make all the decisions about their own fortress. The following other articles may satisfy what you need:
::*{{l|Quickstart guide}}
::*[[From Caravan to Happy Dwarves|Beginner Flowchart]]
::*[[User:Calite#Jumping_into_Dwarf_Fortress_Mode|Beginner Checklist]]
::For an explanation of the interface for starting out, see {{l|Embark}} 

A '''starting build''' is a personal ''strategy'' for choosing the initial supplies, equipment, and {{l|skill}}s of your initial seven dwarves when starting a new game in {{l|fortress mode}}. These skills and items which you assign to your dwarves will have a large impact on life in your new fortress, especially in its first year.

This page attempts to give advice on some of the many gameplay elements which influence the flow of your game based on your goals. These include: choosing a ''fortress site'', the ''starting build'' itself, as well as ''challenge builds'' aimed at providing new or unusual challenges to advanced players. This page is not an explanation of the mechanics of doing so, see {{l|Embark}} for an explanation of the interface itself.

But one thing should be made clear - there is no "best" build, no "perfect" or "clearly superior" final mix of skills and items, if only because there isn't any one goal of play. The goals you have for a fortress will dictate which sets of items and skills are best suited to achieving that goal - in your opinion. And then there is the environment, where your dwarves will arrive, the creatures, the resources available, and so forth. Finally, some people do things solely because it is hard, and that makes it more fun for them.

Items are tied to starting skills, and starting skills are tied to the expected environment for your chosen embark, and all are tied to your preferences for playing the game - not all sites require (or invite) the same approach, and no two players would take the same approach to the same environment.

This page attempts to provide a discussion about how and why you make the choices on what you bring along.

__TOC__

== Components of a Starting Build ==
There are two main components of a starting build: skills and items.

Skills for your initial dwarves determine how quickly they will work early on, what industries you are guaranteed to be able to start with skilled workers later, how well you can defend your dwarves early on, and what the quality of various goods they produce will be, and possibly many other considerations. This page considers in detail how you might go about choosing skills for your starting dwarves, and examines the multiple competing perspectives from which you can make that decision.

The items that your dwarves bring with you can be tailored a number of ways. There are trade-offs to cheaper and more expensive alternatives, and reasons why you might choose either. This section explores the nature of these trade-offs and the reasons for making a decision. It also looks at optimizing goods brought in more general contexts.

Starting builds can and should vary based upon a number of other variables. {{l|location|Where you choose to settle}} will give you a fortress that supplies different raw materials and thus require different skill sets to utilize, not to mention different threats from native wildlife based on {{l|biome}}, {{l|surroundings|savagery}}, and {{l|surroundings|alignment}}. Which dwarven civilization you come from will restrict the materials with which you can start. Making choices about these variables is not part of a starting build. What you choose for skills and items because of these choices is part of your starting build, and so some general guidelines about different environments is given last.

This page does not cover the interface for accomplishing these tasks. Please see the {{l|embark}} page.

== Skill Optimization ==
With only 7 dwarves, you can't take every {{l|skill}}, so you have to balance what you do take. At this starting phase, each dwarf can only be assigned a maximum total of 10 skill levels, with no single skill starting higher than "5". Actual skill distribution is thus constrained to be something between 1 level in each of 10 skills, or 5 levels in each of two skills, or something in between. Because dwarves can {{l|experience|learn}} any and all skills once your fortress starts, these initial choices do not dictate what the dwarves can do, opening up incredible latitude to choose skills for reasons other than survival.

:''(* Note that an unskilled dwarf starts with all Skills at Level '''0'''. Adding +5 Levels is then Level '''5'''. This is true regardless of how many "points" a level costs when first buying skills at embark.)''

A brief list of considerations governing skill choice:
:* Maximizing starting skill ranks vs. generalizing and having more skills covered at lower levels.
:* Balancing multiple skills for a single dwarf, so they aren't constantly needed for two different tasks at critical periods
:* Military vs economic needs
:* Your goals vs "basic survival needs" to keep your fortress healthy and happy.
:* Speed that a skill can be trained in game
:* Demand for a skill during a game
:* Whether quality or speed are significant considerations for tasks/final product
:* Balancing the desire to create {{l|wealth}} ''(with high-value products)'' with the need to maintain {{l|thought|morale}} ''(with low-value but commonly used products, like {{l|bed}}s, which normally are made from {{l|wood}})''.
:* most importantly - ''your playstyle'' - what '''you''' think is "fun"!

==== Breadth vs. Depth ====

A dwarf with only 2 starting skills at 5 ranks each is pretty good at 2 tasks, but untrained at anything else. A dwarf with nothing higher than level 1 is passable at many tasks, but not good at anything. Each dwarf in your party is going to be somewhere along this continuum, and you'll need to choose where.

Level in a skill dictates how fast a dwarf completes a task (most of the time), and how well he completes it (if applicable). On one extreme, {{l|butchery}} has no time variance for slaughtering a tame animal, and has no quality associated with the outcome. On the other extreme, {{l|metalworking}} tasks can take a long time for an untrained worker to complete and their high material value means the quality multiplier has a large impact on the end value.

Dwarves who complete tasks faster can do more total {{l|job}}s within a given timeframe. The rate at which speed increases with level varies with skill, so some skills will benefit more than others.

Dwarves who make items of higher quality will contribute more to fortress wealth and may have a large impact on fortress happiness if their work is readily available to be seen by other dwarves. Items which typically contribute to happiness are low value but common public items, like beds and tables. Items which contribute the most to fortress wealth often cannot be displayed, but make useful trade goods or equipment for your military.

A dwarf highly skilled in few areas will work faster at those tasks and produce higher quality work than his more generalized counterpart. However, he will do worse at any other task he is set to.

Aside from the obvious trade off, there is another reason to prefer depth - dwarves can obviously only complete so many total jobs within a given timespan. If a dwarf is busy doing one thing, he can't simultaneously be doing something else. So a dwarf who is highly skilled in a few skills may not actually experience any disadvantage thereby if he is kept doing those things in which he specializes. The generalist dwarf, on the other hand, may be able to do many more different tasks adequately, but he can still only do one type of task at a time. A dwarf with one highly used skill (such as Mechanics or Mining) can feasibly spend all his time using only his primary skill and thus has no need to generalize. In effect, the generalist is wasting more skill points whenever he does jobs than the specialist, so long as the specialist tends to do jobs he has levels in. Specializing your initial skill investment is therefore superior if you specialize the division of labor in your fortress.

Of course, you can still only bring 7 dwarves with 10 total levels of skills each, so covering everything you want to do in 14 skills may be hard, if not impossible. A generalist or two can cover more bases that have little quality need or are otherwise fast even without a high level. The generalists real problem arises from the fact that any dwarf can do any task, and having 1 level isn't much better than having no levels. Which isn't to say there isn't a situation where a 1/1/1/1/1/5 dwarf is the right solution (indeed, the typical recommended leader/broker takes 1/1/1/1/1 in appraiser/judge of intent/negotiator/+2 social skills because none of these skills have a time or quality component), but most less-specialized dwarves are more likely to fall in the 5/3/2 or 4/3/3 end of the spectrum solely because there is a minimum investment necessary to be noticeably better than not having any levels at all.

==== Design Constraints: Which skills do I need, really? ====

The only thing that you absolutely must do in the first year is get your food supplies into a food stockpile, preferably inside, otherwise your food will rot on the ground and your dwarves will starve. Anything else you want to do can be accommodated by sufficient investment in initial food supplies and/or skills. This means the options for possible starting builds are vast because virtually any set of starting skills for your dwarves is viable (and that's before you even think about equipment, which adds more variables). So the short answer is: none.

That said, there are some skills which will be '''used''', to one extent or another, by virtually every fortress - but that doesn't mean you '''need''' or even want to invest points in them to start. You could even manipulate the fortress (see {{l|challenge}}) to completely avoid one or more of the following, but these are the skills you will find it exceptionally hard to avoid creating jobs for:
:{{l|Mining}} - to dig your fortress, and gain stone for projects. Only possible to avoid using if you're secretly an elf.
:* Inexperienced {{l|miner}}s work very slowly and are less likely to recover mined gems or valuable ores. Mining can be leveled up quite quickly by mining {{l|soil#soil|soil}}, but taking two dwarves with at least some points in mining is recommended in many cases.
:{{l|Carpentry}} - {{l|bed}}s can only be produced from {{l|wood}} (rare {{l|mood}}s aside). This skill can also be used to make {{L|bin}}s without having to have an {{L|anvil}}, use any metal {{L|bar}}s, or use any {{L|fuel}}.
:*Carpentry is used, but opinions differ - on one hand, wood items are just not worth that much {{l|value}}-wise ''(10's of dwarfbucks vs 100's for stone furniture or 1000's for armor or prepared foods, for instance)'', so the difference in monetary value between high-quality and no-quality is minor for wood products. However, high-quality {{l|bed}}s are one of the easiest ways to help make and keep your dwarves {{l|thought|happy}} (since every dwarf will encounter a bed regularly), so some players swear by it.
:{{l|Masonry}} - to build walls and stairs, and fashion dwarven furniture from stone. Possible to work around, but incredibly hard and annoying to do.
:{{l|Grower|Growing}} - your farmers' work echoes throughout so many other tasks, it's stunning
:* While its possible to feed your fortress on nothing but caravan goods, you'll never come by enough alcohol that way, so you'll eventually need to grow crops for brewing, and dwarves will literally go crazy if forced to drink nothing but water for long periods. Thus you'll want to plan for farming eventually - not that you need to bring a highly skilled {{l|Grower}}, but it'll certainly be ''very'' helpful. Likewise, a skilled {{l|brewer}} produces higher quality {{l|alcohol}} (''though the quality is hidden!)'', which improves your dwarves' mood, as does a skilled {{l|cook}} with the foods they prepare. However, most food can be eaten raw, and so long as they are not starving there is life.
:{{l|Brewing}} - all dwarves "need alcohol to get through the working day"
:{{l|Mechanics}} - if you want traps, and most people will. Also needed for most machinery.
:{{l|Architecture|Building Designer}} - mandatory for some buildings and constructions, but skill only improves speed a tad and increases structure {{l|value}}
:{{l|Broker skills}} - most importantly {{l|appraiser}} - a minimum of Broker skills are highly recommended to start with at the Novice (1 pt) level - it'll make your life much easier (especially Novice level of {{l|Appraiser}}, at least, as it greatly facilitates trading).
:{{L|Record keeper}} - Lets you be able to see the exact amount of things you have much faster than training one, and is necessary to view the stocks screen.

The very fact that you will use these skills often makes many of them desirable to choose as starting skills for your dwarves. Of the above, Mining, Masonry, Growing, Brewing, Cooking, and Mechanics are generally worth considering as "highly desirable". However, '''any skill can be used untrained, and/or get trained on the job''' - it just means a slower process and/or average lower quality product than if done by a dwarf with a higher {{l|experience|skill level}}.

The difference between these skills and other skills is that other skills are optional as to whether they'll get used or not. You need to deliberately want to use them. These skills are essential to basic aspects of the game, and avoiding one requires a deliberate choice not to use it (and likely a lot of effort spent to avoid doing so). Ie, a fortress could make its wealth by smithing fine weapons, weaving quality cloth, encrusting precious stones onto furniture, or crafting quality trinkets. Or all of those. But it doesn't have a compelling reason to do any one in particular. A fortress that never designates a tile for mining, however, requires exceptional effort to achieve.

But that you can avoid even something as basic as mining *for the lifetime of your fortress* means there is no universal design constraint on which skills to start with. Ultimately the answer to "What skills do I need?" is "Whichever ''you'' want". Choosing a mixture of these commonly used skills and your desired specialized skills will make starting up your fortress easier and more efficient, but you don't need to start with any of them. Choosing to avoid some skills may force you to use some others, but nothing compels you to invest in any skill in particular.

==== Balancing military and economic needs ====

Not all embarks will require a military presence in the first year, but anyone planning an expedition to a sinister, haunted, or terrifying biome would be foolish not to be prepared for nasty dwarf-killing creatures. The solution doesn't strictly need to be military skills; quick delving and a skilled mechanic may be sufficient; but starting with a military dwarf will give you the earliest possible protection and a lot more versatility in where that protection can be applied. Whatever you choose to do, understand the risk and be prepared for it.

==== Training considerations ====

Some skills are harder to gain experience in than others - requiring valuable resources or taking an extended period of time, and thus inconvenient to train from the ground up. Investing in some of these extensively in your initial dwarves can make those industries much less painful to start. For example, metal-related skills generally eat metal bars, and thus the less time you spend training metal workers up to a decent level, the faster they'll be churning out high-quality items for you, and the fewer bars they'll waste becoming skilled. On the other hand, despite its importance, skills like mining train relatively quickly and barring extenuating circumstances (expected need to accomplish particular digging projects in the first month or you'll get mauled by a Giant for example) there's little need to actually invest your starting skills in it - they can learn on the job.

==== Quality, value, and happiness ====

{{l|Quality}} is an important part of Dwarf Fortress. Higher quality items produce better and more frequent happy thoughts and are worth more money. Valuable commodities will trade for more goods from caravans that visit. When choosing skills that produce objects of quality, the desire to produce valuable goods for trade will often conflict with the desire to produce objects that will make your dwarves happy. Built items that are frequently encountered tend to be things like furniture, especially beds, which tend to have low material values and thus low total value no matter how high the quality of the work. Further, these things tend to be inconvenient to trade. It is often best to strike a balance between dwarves who produce valuable trade goods and dwarves who produce quality items that will make your population happy - and thus be able to achieve both goals simultaneously.

Its worth noting that built furniture and worn clothing counts its value twice, once under the appropriate category and once for displayed value. If you're trying to maximize your created wealth total, a good metalsmith producing furniture from high-value metals is optimal.

==== Moodable skills ====

{{l|Strange mood}}s will create a Legendary skill of the "moodable" skill with the highest level, and moods take hold of dwarves with different professions at different rates. Some skills are "moodable" where others are not. You might choose to take certain skills solely because it opens up moods for that skill with that dwarf. Some moodable skills are more valuable than others - a legendary weaponsmith is both valuable and useful. A legendary tanner is generally a waste of a mood since tanned hides have no quality.

Because a dwarf can only have a strange mood in one skill, pairing a moodable skill with a non-moodable skill can protect the moodable skill and ensure that if the dwarf has a mood it will be in the skill you desire. See the section on combining skills below for more details on ways to pair skills.

Dwarves with no moodable skill can be allowed to do one task using a moodable skill to give them a moodable skill with no starting build investment, so moodable skill considerations should not be considered a primary reason to choose particular skills - you should also want to make use of them for other reasons.

==== Combining Skills ====
Every dwarf is going to have 2 or more {{l|skills}}. This means that even once you know which skills you want, you're going to need to pair them up before assigning them. Not all skill combinations are equally functional.

Some skills are highly time-consuming, either because the skill is in frequent demand (eg, {{l|mining}}) or because it takes a long time to do an individual job (eg, {{l|strand extraction}}). If a dwarf is spending most of their time using that skill, they aren't making much use of their other skill. Pairing two time-consuming skills together therefore tends to be a bad idea, as one or both jobs are not going to get the attention they need or deserve. Similarly, pairing a skill with time-critical jobs with a time-consuming skill also tends to be a bad idea. If your {{l|grower}} is also mining, he may not stop to plant crops one season. Or he might neglect to harvest your crops in a timely fashion and they could rot on the ground (if you only let your growers harvest). Arranging your skill combinations to avoid these situations is generally beneficial. For example, Masons, miners, growers, and any craft that your fortress will base their economy off of (glass, stonecrafts, armour, etc) will take a lot of time, so plan accordingly.

Instead, pairing relatively time-intensive tasks with less time-intensive tasks will let your dwarf accomplish all such tasks adequately. Once you get a metal industry rolling, an armorer/weaponsmith will need to make a lot fewer weapons to outfit your soldiers than he will armor components. Thus he can usefully do both jobs without hurting your productivity overly much. Similarly, a mason might also be your architect, since building designer is a very infrequently used skill.

Working at different jobs levels up specific {{l|attribute}}s. One could level up a miner until he becomes mighty and ultra-tough - and then turn him into a soldier, or retire him to haul stone. If you plan on doing so, it may not be a good idea to give this guy a second critical job that will demand a lot of time away from their focus.

Since tasks will take place in specific areas, another approach is to combine tasks into dwarves who will take care of a specific industry, or spend all their time in one generally narrow part of the fortress - the forges, or the kitchens, or outdoors, for instance. So combining Farming with cooking, rather than mining, for example, and turn on only Haul Food, not Haul Stone. Metalworkers spending their time in the forge can easily handle more than one type of metalworking skill, and are also well-situated to be furnace operators.

Similarly, you can also make the craftsmen of your finished products also responsible for the production of intermediate products from raw ingredients. This way when they run out of materials to make into finished goods they can immediately switch over to working raw products into intermediate products so they'll have more to work with later. This works better in some industries than in others. A single butcher/tanner/cook trying to process multiple animals simultaneously will likely result in rotten food, carcases, or skins. But a weaponsmith who doubles as a furnace operator can usefully ensure he has material to work with when you want him to. Later on, however, a highly skilled craftsdwarf is often better suited at sitting in their {{l|workshop}} and having others deliver raw materials to them than going out and obtaining their own raw materials themselves, but in the early game dwarf-time is limited, and a single dwarf who can work an entire production chain can do so relatively efficiently and let your other dwarves be used elsewhere.

There is no requirement that a dwarves job combination needs to look 'right' or logical. A weaponsmith will most probably not spend nearly 100% of their time creating weapons - what they do with the other part of their time may have nothing at all to do with forges or smithing. Jobs which require little time in general, or little time early even if time-intensive later, may well be paired with any time-intensive task solely to provide the dwarf with something to usefully and skillfully do with most of their time, and freed from that duty as needed for the other tasks.

Another constraint you can impose on your skill combinations is to try to limit dwarves to {{l|moodable}} skill and one non-moodable skill (or a moodable and a less desired moodable skill at lower level), so any mood will improve the desired one. For example, pairing craft skills with farming skills gives you dwarves that will perform useful food production or raw good processing services while also getting their mood in a valuable finished goods skill. Example: Clothier/Grower.

==== Which dwarf should have which skill? ====
Dwarves who craft goods they prefer, or work materials they prefer, gain a bonus to the quality of the finished work. This can inform your choice of which skills you choose, for example by choosing a weaver because you notice a preference for sheap wool yarn, or you might choose the skills you want and then try to find a suitable dwarf to use that skill. In the latter case, since all dwarves have one metal preference you might assign an armorsmithing skill to a dwarf with a preference for iron, steel, or adamantine.

The dwarf with the most social skills will end up being the {{l|Expedition leader}}, who will then become the {{l|mayor}} and start making {{l|mandate}}s. Thus you should avoid giving the most social skills to dwarfs who have {{l|preferences}} for things like {{l|adamantine}}.

Dwarves have physical and mental attributes that affect the performance of certain skills. You may wish to give a socially adept and patient dwarf the leadership/broker skills, or a dwarf who doesn't tire easily a skill which will be in frequent use like mining. You can also try to match skills to {{l|personality}}, some of which have obvious implications for their willingness to work long hours or how frequently they might take breaks.

Of course, all combined these represent a lot of possible constraints on where you assign particular skills, and it would be impossible to apply them in total to your entire desired skill load. Use these as a guide, but don't be upset if all your dwarves are anti-social psychopaths - someone still needs to be the leader, after all.

==== Other considerations ====
Migrants can and will arrive with a wide selection of decently trained skills. While it is a gamble, chances are pretty decent that migrants will arrive with a highly trained skill that is also highly desirable and would usurp the job of one of the seven starting ones. The first few migration waves are likely to give you a much better talent pool than what you can assign at embark. On the other hand, you may never get the skill you really want if you don't start with it.

Skills rust if not used and they can eventually de-level. Consider that skills which you will use years after embark are going to be rusty or even deleveled. Embark to the first caravan is long enough for a skill to start rusting, so you might want to make sure you'll use every skill you embark with before the first year ends to avoid catastrophic rusting.

Remember that you need to survive in order to accomplish any goals. Have a plan for lasting to at least the first caravan, if not one for longterm sustainability.

== Items ==

The items you choose to bring with you will need to satisfy a number of needs. Most importantly, you need to keep yourself alive - at least until the caravan arrives in the fall to resupply yourself. You probably also want to plan on some way of making a shelter, whether that be the traditional delved hall, a majestic castle, a log cabin, or something even more exotic. You may want to plan for mishaps by bringing essential medical supplies, especially those which may be hard to acquire on site. And you might bring items which will assist in creating items for trade to that first caravan, should you need anything for the skills you're planning on.

For the purposes of this article, livestock are considered items.

All embarks get the following items without paying for them: 2 animals (who pulled the wagon), and the 3 wood that make up the wagon.

=== Motivations ===

==== Survival ====

A single dwarf eats about 2x/season, and drinks about 4x/season. With 7 dwarves that's ~approximately~ 14 meals per season and 28 alcohol per season, or ~42 meals and ~84 alcohol until the end of Fall. The dwarf caravan tends to arrive in the third month of fall, so you will probably need to plan on a full 3 seasons. You are also likely to get at least one if not two small waves of migrants before the caravan arrives.

It is possible to bring enough food and drink to make it to the caravan - indeed, bringing enough food isn't especially hard (especially once you factor in slaughtering the animals who hauled your wagon. Bringing sufficient alcohol is harder, although bringing plump helmets to brew can significantly cut the cost.

The likely best way to keep your dwarves in drink is also the most labor intensive - setting up farming in the first season or two is perfectly plausible, allowing to grow your own {{l|plants}} from seeds and brew the products. (Keep in mind not all plants can be brewed - don't plant dimple cups and expect to make alcohol). In addition to the necessary seeds, starting your own farming operation is going to require some way to get the ground muddy. While sometimes simple digging can accomplish this, many times you're going to need a screw pump. Basic construction requirements are discussed under shelter.

It is possible to make all your alcohol by harvesting aboveground plants, if highly inefficient. It also only works in biomes with collectable plant life. Notably evil biomes and glaciers are unlikely to provide.

==== Shelter ====
Bar a convenient cave, you're going to have to do something for shelter. Shelter is your first defense against roving creatures, keeping them away from where your dwarves are working so they don't spam job cancellations and strew items all over the place. (As you might guess, most 'convenient caves' aren't actually that convenient, as they tend to have residents). Basic walls that allow you egress won't stop a dedicated invader, but you don't expect to see those until year 3, so you have time to develop more elaborate defenses.

Food outside will also spoil a lot faster than food inside, so making a cellar of some sort to store your food in will increase the longevity of your food supplies. The rate at which food spoils depends on ambient temperature, so the urgency of making a cellar will depend on where you settled. It might be possible to go without a cellar in a freezing biome.{{verify}} The only way you can avoid thinking about food storage in the first year is if you collect food and make alcohol as needed - ie, by using an herbalist to collect local plants - which can avoid needing to mine at all.

Delving a shelter requires mining, which means having picks to dig with. One can always bring one or more picks at embark, but its also possible to bring the supplies necessary to make them. See tempo vs. efficiency below.

An aboveground shelter can be made with stone or wood or possibly more exotic materials. Stone of course requires mining, and thus picks. Wood can be had with an axe assuming trees are present, and axes, like picks, can similarly be brought at embark or made on site. It is of course possible to bring sufficient raw materials to build walls with, but this is far less efficient than just bringing a pick or an axe, although it could make a fun challenge. Building your initial fort out of soap, while possible, is not recommended, although possibly hilariously entertaining.

==== Industry ====
Most industries require little more than materials you can collect at the site and a workshop. So long as you can get stone, you won't need to bring anything for these. However, if you want to get an industry going immediately, it does help to bring a few building materials along (or be willing to use the wood from the wagon, if only temporarily).

Some industries require fire-safe materials to build with. All stone qualifies, as does metal. Wood can be converted to a fire safe material by burning it to ashes in a wood burners workshop, but of course that workshop requires a fire-safe material. If you're mining, this condition is easy to satisfy, but if you intend to run any of these industries right away you will need to plan on bringing appropriate materials.

Some industries require plant or animal matter to work with. Clothiers ultimately need cloth, which comes from certain plants or animals. Leatherworkers need tanned skins. (And while you can get 2 off your pack animals, this isn't sufficient to run an industry). If you plan on running these types of industries you will need to have a plan for providing suitable raw materials. Hunting can cover leatherworking needs (although this requires a hunter and hunting implements), and foraging can find rope reed plants, but its usually better to bring enough appropriate animals or plant seeds to have a good shot at getting started in a predictable and sustainable way. Similarly, milking and cheese making require milkable animals, and bonecarving requires a dependable source of bones.

Metal industries require metal and an anvil. You cannot make an anvil on site without already having an anvil, so if you plan on doing any forging before the first caravan you will need to bring one with you. Metal can be brought as bars or as ores to be smelted in a smelter into bars, or can be mined yourself. You will need to provide fuel or magma to run these workshops, so bringing some coal can make the operation run smoother.

Soap requires a lot of wood consumption and a source of tallow to be done in a sustainable way. Lye can be bought at embark to skip the first steps and make soap more directly. You will still need to bring or make buckets and have an empty barrel to actually produce soap though, but fortunately this is just a matter of having sufficient wood.

Jewelers require gems. Cut gems can be brought at embark, but are too expensive to bring in quantity. Generally a jeweler requires mining to find sufficient gems or a glassworker to produce raw glass to work with.

Glassmaking and Pottery requires sand or clay and fuel - pay attention to your site report before embarking. Its hard to run a viable industry solely off imports in these cases. Like metal workshops, coal can be brought to substitute for fuel fairly efficiently.

As is probably obvious, certain industries depend on similar inputs. Planning on a set of industries which require similar complementary inputs can let you more efficiently spend your starting points at embark or more efficiently plan your digging during the first year. If you plan on a lot of fuel-dependent industries, it may be worthwhile to prioritize finding a source of magma.

=== Optimization ===

==== Container mechanics and free items ====

Many items come in containers such as barrels and bags, including food, liquids, seeds, and powders. The cost to embark with these items can be cheaper than the cost of the container itself. Each different type of item for each category will come in its own container. Furthermore, you'll get a new container after every 10th instance for food, most liquids, and seeds, and after every item of powders.{{verify}} Alcohol gets a new barrel after every 5th unit. (Food actually groups by animal type, so if you get horse tripe and horse meat they'll combine them, but they won't combine horse meat and donkey meat). Thus diversifying your initial food supply with 1 of each low-cost food item will net you a large number of barrels. Similarly its worth taking 1 of each seed you weren't planning on taking more of solely for the bags. Taking some sand or gypsum powder is also a cheap way to get bags. Lye (for soap) and milks can be brought for more barrels - and milk can be made into cheese for a low-cost embark option that becomes food.

As stockpiling and some jobs are container limited, getting as many free containers as you can will free up labor (and possibly valuable materials) that would otherwise be used making containers.

==== Finished product or do it yourself ====
Bringing raw materials and making the finished product yourself is often easier on your embark points than bringing the finished product. On the other hand, making it yourself takes time during which you aren't making use of the finished product.

The most common scenario involves {{l|Make your own weapons|forging your own metal tools and weapons}}. While not usually too much of a hardship, it can be dangerous to make your own weapons or picks if you expect possible hostile creatures. Further, you will lose time - possibly 1/4 to 1/2 the first month - if you forge your own picks.

Of special note regarding weapons is that a training battle axe is perfectly capable of chopping trees, and is made with nothing more than a carpentry workshop and a log. While the delay in acquiring one is minimal, a wood battle axe is not a good weapon, and so it loses utility for doing anything other than acquiring more wood.

You can also easily plan on making all or most of one's own booze, as plump helmets can be bought at embark and brewed at a still.

Any finished good can of course be made from raw materials that you bring, but most of them are not essential like the above, and thus you can generally wait until you find suitable resources on site or buy them from caravans.

==== Biome considerations: dude, where's my wood? ====
Some environments have a shortage of trees. While you can direct production of a lot of item types to other materials, beds need to be made out of wood. In addition, it is difficult to make barrels and bins out of non-wood materials early in the game, especially without ready magma (since otherwise you'll probably need to burn wood to make metal equivalents). If you have an aquifer it can be even worse - stone may be difficult or impossible to access easily. While you can ultimately ask for wood from your liaison and buy whatever the humans and elves happen to bring, and eventually you can create a tree farm underground, tight wood will limit storage and sleeping arrangements for at least the first year if not longer. You may wish to plan accordingly if embarking in a site with sparse or no trees.

==== Items for moods ====
When a dwarf is taken by a {{l|strange mood}}, he often needs obscure material or he will go insane and die, possibly with severe consequences to an entire fortress. Bringing along some of the harder-to-find ores ({{l|cassiterite}}, {{l|sphalerite}}, {{l|bismuthinite}}, {{l|garnierite}}), and putting those aside, forbidding their use "just in case", is spending a few points on an insurance policy. Many players also choose to bring a few items like pig tail cloth and cave spider silk just in case.

Alternately, if you're otherwise being minimalistic on gear you're bringing you can choose to bring a few valuable components to try to maximize the value of mood items. That artifact animal trap will be worth a lot more if your woodcarver grabs a blue diamond instead of moss agate.

==== Free Equipment ====

Dwarves who start with the ambusher skill may get some leather {{l|armor}}, a crossbow and some bolts for free. It seems to do so when ambusher is the highest non-military non-social skill.{{verify}}







==Site considerations==
Each fortress {{l|location}} offers particular challenges and opportunities, and can make different demands on your starting build. Your starting build may need to be adjusted depending on the {{l|region}} your fort occupies, the specific vision you have of your fortress, and what it will take to {{l|losing|stay alive}} where you're going!

The differences include what {{l|biome}}s, {{l|region}}s and likely {{l|metal}}s are present in your chosen embark site.

=== General Surroundings ===
Simply put, if your {{l|surroundings}} are {{l|evil}} or {{l|savage}}, your dwarves have a higher risk of suddenly facing personal combat before they are safely behind their defenses. Consider bringing extra weaponry, in the form of axes, picks or crossbows (see {{l|Starting_builds#Free_Equipment|free equipment}}). Hand in hand with those, consider skill mixes that include {{l|axedwarf}}, {{l|mining}} (the skill used to wield a pick), {{l|marksdwarf}}, or {{l|wrestling}} (a solid unarmed-combat skill).

The same is true if you are embarking near an exposed magma vent or an open chasm - these features can be seen on the embark map, but it's impossible to tell if they are "open" to the surface or not, until you are there in person.

Be sure to include some source of {{l|water}} on the map, preferably running {{l|water}}. Water is (almost) essential for any fortress. In Cold and Freezing climates streams and {{l|lake}}s will often be frozen year-round and your dwarves may quickly die of exposure, in Hot climates {{l|murky pool}}s will dry up, and in Dry ones rain will only rarely re-fill them, if ever. Choose Temperate or tropical zones for an easier game.

===Aquifers===
If an {{l|aquifer}} is present in the first soil or stone layers (visible on the pre-embark menu), it may bar all access to {{l|stone}} and {{l|ore}} until you find a way through the water barrier. Consider bringing some stone for building, and ore for your first basic needs. This may be critical to getting your fortress running smoothly.

=== Mountains ===
Mountains often have abundant {{l|ore}}s, but at the loss of trees and plants. In previous versions lacking {{L|cavern}}s, this was a serious drawback. In DF2010, brave pioneers can dig down into the caverns to find essentials like water, mud, and plants. However, players should be aware that above-ground crops will not grow in mountain biomes, no matter how muddy you may make the surface.

Depending on the exact layers, it's common to find exposed {{l|vein}}s of useful {{l|ore}}s that can be immediately mined for {{l|Make your own weapons|DIY}} weapons and tools.

=== Wooded/Plains ===
Flatlands with at least some trees and gatherable plants can also make for highly successful fortresses. Advantages over mountain zones include abundant trees and plants and (unless frozen) more abundant water. There are even (rare) magma vents. More water also means a high likelihood of an {{l|aquifer}} being present. Make sure to check on embark.

The greatest disadvantage is the potential lack of exposed {{l|stone}} to mine. The first level(s) below the surface is often {{l|soil}} of some type, which offers no building materials. However, soil is mined much more quickly than stone (x3-x4 faster), and expansive accommodations (rooms) can be achieved quickly even by untrained miners. You will find stone, you just have to go down a bit for it - but that's what dwarves do, isn't it?

{{l|Experience|Training}} a {{l|Miner}} from No Skill to Proficient takes less than a month (~20 days with hauling disabled) in soil, and to Legendary in just under a season after. {{version|0.31.12}} From embark, this means you should have legendary miners in early summer if you dig only in soil. Times increase slightly for each additional miner used.

=== Oceanside ===
With many features in common with some of the above locations, {{l|beach}}es are often a mix of ease intermingled with bouts of extreme difficulty. Minerals and trees are often abundant, as well as farmland and sand, but there is often no drinking water unless the biome has a flowing {{l|water}} of some sort.

By definition, the settlement will fall between (at least) two {{l|biome}}s (one land, one water), potentially hazardous if the player expects a peaceful oceanside meadow, without realizing the {{l|terrifying}} ocean is full of amphibious zombie {{l|whale}}s.

=== Desert, Glaciers, and Barren ===
Treeless (or near-treeless) {{l|biome}}s are challenging sites for a fortress: you get most of the disadvantages of a flatland site without having access to nearly as many trees and plants. However, near-lifeless zones such as {{l|glacier}}s are wonderful for players with slower computers, as there's little to burden the CPU but your dwarves and livestock. {{l|Desert}}s and barren areas often have sand; with a sufficient source of energy (preferably magma), you can build almost anything out of unlimited glass.

Hunters should be replaced with fisherdwarves and a fish cleaner (although the latter can be easily trained). Depending how much water vs. land, more starting wood and ores might be helpful. Swimming is rarely useful in Fortress mode, even at the beach, and can be trained.

==Sample starting builds==
See {{l|Sample Starting Builds}}

{{Starting FAQ}}
[[Category:Guides]]

v0.31:Starting build

2011-04-24T02:58:38Z

Squirrelloid: /* Industry */

{{quality|Exceptional|01:37, 16 October 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

:: This is not a tutorial, a FAQ, or a new players guide. This is a mildly advanced theoretical treatment for someone ready to take the plunge and make all the decisions about their own fortress. The following other articles may satisfy what you need:
::*{{l|Quickstart guide}}
::*[[From Caravan to Happy Dwarves|Beginner Flowchart]]
::*[[User:Calite#Jumping_into_Dwarf_Fortress_Mode|Beginner Checklist]]
::For an explanation of the interface for starting out, see {{l|Embark}} 

A '''starting build''' is a personal ''strategy'' for choosing the initial supplies, equipment, and {{l|skill}}s of your initial seven dwarves when starting a new game in {{l|fortress mode}}. These skills and items which you assign to your dwarves will have a large impact on life in your new fortress, especially in its first year.

This page attempts to give advice on some of the many gameplay elements which influence the flow of your game based on your goals. These include: choosing a ''fortress site'', the ''starting build'' itself, as well as ''challenge builds'' aimed at providing new or unusual challenges to advanced players. This page is not an explanation of the mechanics of doing so, see {{l|Embark}} for an explanation of the interface itself.

But one thing should be made clear - there is no "best" build, no "perfect" or "clearly superior" final mix of skills and items, if only because there isn't any one goal of play. The goals you have for a fortress will dictate which sets of items and skills are best suited to achieving that goal - in your opinion. And then there is the environment, where your dwarves will arrive, the creatures, the resources available, and so forth. Finally, some people do things solely because it is hard, and that makes it more fun for them.

Items are tied to starting skills, and starting skills are tied to the expected environment for your chosen embark, and all are tied to your preferences for playing the game - not all sites require (or invite) the same approach, and no two players would take the same approach to the same environment.

This page attempts to provide a discussion about how and why you make the choices on what you bring along.

__TOC__

== Components of a Starting Build ==
There are two main components of a starting build: skills and items.

Skills for your initial dwarves determine how quickly they will work early on, what industries you are guaranteed to be able to start with skilled workers later, how well you can defend your dwarves early on, and what the quality of various goods they produce will be, and possibly many other considerations. This page considers in detail how you might go about choosing skills for your starting dwarves, and examines the multiple competing perspectives from which you can make that decision.

The items that your dwarves bring with you can be tailored a number of ways. There are trade-offs to cheaper and more expensive alternatives, and reasons why you might choose either. This section explores the nature of these trade-offs and the reasons for making a decision. It also looks at optimizing goods brought in more general contexts.

Starting builds can and should vary based upon a number of other variables. {{l|location|Where you choose to settle}} will give you a fortress that supplies different raw materials and thus require different skill sets to utilize, not to mention different threats from native wildlife based on {{l|biome}}, {{l|surroundings|savagery}}, and {{l|surroundings|alignment}}. Which dwarven civilization you come from will restrict the materials with which you can start. Making choices about these variables is not part of a starting build. What you choose for skills and items because of these choices is part of your starting build, and so some general guidelines about different environments is given last.

This page does not cover the interface for accomplishing these tasks. Please see the {{l|embark}} page.

== Skill Optimization ==
With only 7 dwarves, you can't take every {{l|skill}}, so you have to balance what you do take. At this starting phase, each dwarf can only be assigned a maximum total of 10 skill levels, with no single skill starting higher than "5". Actual skill distribution is thus constrained to be something between 1 level in each of 10 skills, or 5 levels in each of two skills, or something in between. Because dwarves can {{l|experience|learn}} any and all skills once your fortress starts, these initial choices do not dictate what the dwarves can do, opening up incredible latitude to choose skills for reasons other than survival.

:''(* Note that an unskilled dwarf starts with all Skills at Level '''0'''. Adding +5 Levels is then Level '''5'''. This is true regardless of how many "points" a level costs when first buying skills at embark.)''

A brief list of considerations governing skill choice:
:* Maximizing starting skill ranks vs. generalizing and having more skills covered at lower levels.
:* Balancing multiple skills for a single dwarf, so they aren't constantly needed for two different tasks at critical periods
:* Military vs economic needs
:* Your goals vs "basic survival needs" to keep your fortress healthy and happy.
:* Speed that a skill can be trained in game
:* Demand for a skill during a game
:* Whether quality or speed are significant considerations for tasks/final product
:* Balancing the desire to create {{l|wealth}} ''(with high-value products)'' with the need to maintain {{l|thought|morale}} ''(with low-value but commonly used products, like {{l|bed}}s, which normally are made from {{l|wood}})''.
:* most importantly - ''your playstyle'' - what '''you''' think is "fun"!

==== Breadth vs. Depth ====

A dwarf with only 2 starting skills at 5 ranks each is pretty good at 2 tasks, but untrained at anything else. A dwarf with nothing higher than level 1 is passable at many tasks, but not good at anything. Each dwarf in your party is going to be somewhere along this continuum, and you'll need to choose where.

Level in a skill dictates how fast a dwarf completes a task (most of the time), and how well he completes it (if applicable). On one extreme, {{l|butchery}} has no time variance for slaughtering a tame animal, and has no quality associated with the outcome. On the other extreme, {{l|metalworking}} tasks can take a long time for an untrained worker to complete and their high material value means the quality multiplier has a large impact on the end value.

Dwarves who complete tasks faster can do more total {{l|job}}s within a given timeframe. The rate at which speed increases with level varies with skill, so some skills will benefit more than others.

Dwarves who make items of higher quality will contribute more to fortress wealth and may have a large impact on fortress happiness if their work is readily available to be seen by other dwarves. Items which typically contribute to happiness are low value but common public items, like beds and tables. Items which contribute the most to fortress wealth often cannot be displayed, but make useful trade goods or equipment for your military.

A dwarf highly skilled in few areas will work faster at those tasks and produce higher quality work than his more generalized counterpart. However, he will do worse at any other task he is set to.

Aside from the obvious trade off, there is another reason to prefer depth - dwarves can obviously only complete so many total jobs within a given timespan. If a dwarf is busy doing one thing, he can't simultaneously be doing something else. So a dwarf who is highly skilled in a few skills may not actually experience any disadvantage thereby if he is kept doing those things in which he specializes. The generalist dwarf, on the other hand, may be able to do many more different tasks adequately, but he can still only do one type of task at a time. A dwarf with one highly used skill (such as Mechanics or Mining) can feasibly spend all his time using only his primary skill and thus has no need to generalize. In effect, the generalist is wasting more skill points whenever he does jobs than the specialist, so long as the specialist tends to do jobs he has levels in. Specializing your initial skill investment is therefore superior if you specialize the division of labor in your fortress.

Of course, you can still only bring 7 dwarves with 10 total levels of skills each, so covering everything you want to do in 14 skills may be hard, if not impossible. A generalist or two can cover more bases that have little quality need or are otherwise fast even without a high level. The generalists real problem arises from the fact that any dwarf can do any task, and having 1 level isn't much better than having no levels. Which isn't to say there isn't a situation where a 1/1/1/1/1/5 dwarf is the right solution (indeed, the typical recommended leader/broker takes 1/1/1/1/1 in appraiser/judge of intent/negotiator/+2 social skills because none of these skills have a time or quality component), but most less-specialized dwarves are more likely to fall in the 5/3/2 or 4/3/3 end of the spectrum solely because there is a minimum investment necessary to be noticeably better than not having any levels at all.

==== Design Constraints: Which skills do I need, really? ====

The only thing that you absolutely must do in the first year is get your food supplies into a food stockpile, preferably inside, otherwise your food will rot on the ground and your dwarves will starve. Anything else you want to do can be accommodated by sufficient investment in initial food supplies and/or skills. This means the options for possible starting builds are vast because virtually any set of starting skills for your dwarves is viable (and that's before you even think about equipment, which adds more variables). So the short answer is: none.

That said, there are some skills which will be '''used''', to one extent or another, by virtually every fortress - but that doesn't mean you '''need''' or even want to invest points in them to start. You could even manipulate the fortress (see {{l|challenge}}) to completely avoid one or more of the following, but these are the skills you will find it exceptionally hard to avoid creating jobs for:
:{{l|Mining}} - to dig your fortress, and gain stone for projects. Only possible to avoid using if you're secretly an elf.
:* Inexperienced {{l|miner}}s work very slowly and are less likely to recover mined gems or valuable ores. Mining can be leveled up quite quickly by mining {{l|soil#soil|soil}}, but taking two dwarves with at least some points in mining is recommended in many cases.
:{{l|Carpentry}} - {{l|bed}}s can only be produced from {{l|wood}} (rare {{l|mood}}s aside). This skill can also be used to make {{L|bin}}s without having to have an {{L|anvil}}, use any metal {{L|bar}}s, or use any {{L|fuel}}.
:*Carpentry is used, but opinions differ - on one hand, wood items are just not worth that much {{l|value}}-wise ''(10's of dwarfbucks vs 100's for stone furniture or 1000's for armor or prepared foods, for instance)'', so the difference in monetary value between high-quality and no-quality is minor for wood products. However, high-quality {{l|bed}}s are one of the easiest ways to help make and keep your dwarves {{l|thought|happy}} (since every dwarf will encounter a bed regularly), so some players swear by it.
:{{l|Masonry}} - to build walls and stairs, and fashion dwarven furniture from stone. Possible to work around, but incredibly hard and annoying to do.
:{{l|Grower|Growing}} - your farmers' work echoes throughout so many other tasks, it's stunning
:* While its possible to feed your fortress on nothing but caravan goods, you'll never come by enough alcohol that way, so you'll eventually need to grow crops for brewing, and dwarves will literally go crazy if forced to drink nothing but water for long periods. Thus you'll want to plan for farming eventually - not that you need to bring a highly skilled {{l|Grower}}, but it'll certainly be ''very'' helpful. Likewise, a skilled {{l|brewer}} produces higher quality {{l|alcohol}} (''though the quality is hidden!)'', which improves your dwarves' mood, as does a skilled {{l|cook}} with the foods they prepare. However, most food can be eaten raw, and so long as they are not starving there is life.
:{{l|Brewing}} - all dwarves "need alcohol to get through the working day"
:{{l|Mechanics}} - if you want traps, and most people will. Also needed for most machinery.
:{{l|Architecture|Building Designer}} - mandatory for some buildings and constructions, but skill only improves speed a tad and increases structure {{l|value}}
:{{l|Broker skills}} - most importantly {{l|appraiser}} - a minimum of Broker skills are highly recommended to start with at the Novice (1 pt) level - it'll make your life much easier (especially Novice level of {{l|Appraiser}}, at least, as it greatly facilitates trading).
:{{L|Record keeper}} - Lets you be able to see the exact amount of things you have much faster than training one, and is necessary to view the stocks screen.

The very fact that you will use these skills often makes many of them desirable to choose as starting skills for your dwarves. Of the above, Mining, Masonry, Growing, Brewing, Cooking, and Mechanics are generally worth considering as "highly desirable". However, '''any skill can be used untrained, and/or get trained on the job''' - it just means a slower process and/or average lower quality product than if done by a dwarf with a higher {{l|experience|skill level}}.

The difference between these skills and other skills is that other skills are optional as to whether they'll get used or not. You need to deliberately want to use them. These skills are essential to basic aspects of the game, and avoiding one requires a deliberate choice not to use it (and likely a lot of effort spent to avoid doing so). Ie, a fortress could make its wealth by smithing fine weapons, weaving quality cloth, encrusting precious stones onto furniture, or crafting quality trinkets. Or all of those. But it doesn't have a compelling reason to do any one in particular. A fortress that never designates a tile for mining, however, requires exceptional effort to achieve.

But that you can avoid even something as basic as mining *for the lifetime of your fortress* means there is no universal design constraint on which skills to start with. Ultimately the answer to "What skills do I need?" is "Whichever ''you'' want". Choosing a mixture of these commonly used skills and your desired specialized skills will make starting up your fortress easier and more efficient, but you don't need to start with any of them. Choosing to avoid some skills may force you to use some others, but nothing compels you to invest in any skill in particular.

==== Balancing military and economic needs ====

Not all embarks will require a military presence in the first year, but anyone planning an expedition to a sinister, haunted, or terrifying biome would be foolish not to be prepared for nasty dwarf-killing creatures. The solution doesn't strictly need to be military skills; quick delving and a skilled mechanic may be sufficient; but starting with a military dwarf will give you the earliest possible protection and a lot more versatility in where that protection can be applied. Whatever you choose to do, understand the risk and be prepared for it.

==== Training considerations ====

Some skills are harder to gain experience in than others - requiring valuable resources or taking an extended period of time, and thus inconvenient to train from the ground up. Investing in some of these extensively in your initial dwarves can make those industries much less painful to start. For example, metal-related skills generally eat metal bars, and thus the less time you spend training metal workers up to a decent level, the faster they'll be churning out high-quality items for you, and the fewer bars they'll waste becoming skilled. On the other hand, despite its importance, skills like mining train relatively quickly and barring extenuating circumstances (expected need to accomplish particular digging projects in the first month or you'll get mauled by a Giant for example) there's little need to actually invest your starting skills in it - they can learn on the job.

==== Quality, value, and happiness ====

{{l|Quality}} is an important part of Dwarf Fortress. Higher quality items produce better and more frequent happy thoughts and are worth more money. Valuable commodities will trade for more goods from caravans that visit. When choosing skills that produce objects of quality, the desire to produce valuable goods for trade will often conflict with the desire to produce objects that will make your dwarves happy. Built items that are frequently encountered tend to be things like furniture, especially beds, which tend to have low material values and thus low total value no matter how high the quality of the work. Further, these things tend to be inconvenient to trade. It is often best to strike a balance between dwarves who produce valuable trade goods and dwarves who produce quality items that will make your population happy - and thus be able to achieve both goals simultaneously.

Its worth noting that built furniture and worn clothing counts its value twice, once under the appropriate category and once for displayed value. If you're trying to maximize your created wealth total, a good metalsmith producing furniture from high-value metals is optimal.

==== Moodable skills ====

{{l|Strange mood}}s will create a Legendary skill of the "moodable" skill with the highest level, and moods take hold of dwarves with different professions at different rates. Some skills are "moodable" where others are not. You might choose to take certain skills solely because it opens up moods for that skill with that dwarf. Some moodable skills are more valuable than others - a legendary weaponsmith is both valuable and useful. A legendary tanner is generally a waste of a mood since tanned hides have no quality.

Because a dwarf can only have a strange mood in one skill, pairing a moodable skill with a non-moodable skill can protect the moodable skill and ensure that if the dwarf has a mood it will be in the skill you desire. See the section on combining skills below for more details on ways to pair skills.

Dwarves with no moodable skill can be allowed to do one task using a moodable skill to give them a moodable skill with no starting build investment, so moodable skill considerations should not be considered a primary reason to choose particular skills - you should also want to make use of them for other reasons.

==== Combining Skills ====
Every dwarf is going to have 2 or more {{l|skills}}. This means that even once you know which skills you want, you're going to need to pair them up before assigning them. Not all skill combinations are equally functional.

Some skills are highly time-consuming, either because the skill is in frequent demand (eg, {{l|mining}}) or because it takes a long time to do an individual job (eg, {{l|strand extraction}}). If a dwarf is spending most of their time using that skill, they aren't making much use of their other skill. Pairing two time-consuming skills together therefore tends to be a bad idea, as one or both jobs are not going to get the attention they need or deserve. Similarly, pairing a skill with time-critical jobs with a time-consuming skill also tends to be a bad idea. If your {{l|grower}} is also mining, he may not stop to plant crops one season. Or he might neglect to harvest your crops in a timely fashion and they could rot on the ground (if you only let your growers harvest). Arranging your skill combinations to avoid these situations is generally beneficial. For example, Masons, miners, growers, and any craft that your fortress will base their economy off of (glass, stonecrafts, armour, etc) will take a lot of time, so plan accordingly.

Instead, pairing relatively time-intensive tasks with less time-intensive tasks will let your dwarf accomplish all such tasks adequately. Once you get a metal industry rolling, an armorer/weaponsmith will need to make a lot fewer weapons to outfit your soldiers than he will armor components. Thus he can usefully do both jobs without hurting your productivity overly much. Similarly, a mason might also be your architect, since building designer is a very infrequently used skill.

Working at different jobs levels up specific {{l|attribute}}s. One could level up a miner until he becomes mighty and ultra-tough - and then turn him into a soldier, or retire him to haul stone. If you plan on doing so, it may not be a good idea to give this guy a second critical job that will demand a lot of time away from their focus.

Since tasks will take place in specific areas, another approach is to combine tasks into dwarves who will take care of a specific industry, or spend all their time in one generally narrow part of the fortress - the forges, or the kitchens, or outdoors, for instance. So combining Farming with cooking, rather than mining, for example, and turn on only Haul Food, not Haul Stone. Metalworkers spending their time in the forge can easily handle more than one type of metalworking skill, and are also well-situated to be furnace operators.

Similarly, you can also make the craftsmen of your finished products also responsible for the production of intermediate products from raw ingredients. This way when they run out of materials to make into finished goods they can immediately switch over to working raw products into intermediate products so they'll have more to work with later. This works better in some industries than in others. A single butcher/tanner/cook trying to process multiple animals simultaneously will likely result in rotten food, carcases, or skins. But a weaponsmith who doubles as a furnace operator can usefully ensure he has material to work with when you want him to. Later on, however, a highly skilled craftsdwarf is often better suited at sitting in their {{l|workshop}} and having others deliver raw materials to them than going out and obtaining their own raw materials themselves, but in the early game dwarf-time is limited, and a single dwarf who can work an entire production chain can do so relatively efficiently and let your other dwarves be used elsewhere.

There is no requirement that a dwarves job combination needs to look 'right' or logical. A weaponsmith will most probably not spend nearly 100% of their time creating weapons - what they do with the other part of their time may have nothing at all to do with forges or smithing. Jobs which require little time in general, or little time early even if time-intensive later, may well be paired with any time-intensive task solely to provide the dwarf with something to usefully and skillfully do with most of their time, and freed from that duty as needed for the other tasks.

Another constraint you can impose on your skill combinations is to try to limit dwarves to {{l|moodable}} skill and one non-moodable skill (or a moodable and a less desired moodable skill at lower level), so any mood will improve the desired one. For example, pairing craft skills with farming skills gives you dwarves that will perform useful food production or raw good processing services while also getting their mood in a valuable finished goods skill. Example: Clothier/Grower.

==== Which dwarf should have which skill? ====
Dwarves who craft goods they prefer, or work materials they prefer, gain a bonus to the quality of the finished work. This can inform your choice of which skills you choose, for example by choosing a weaver because you notice a preference for sheap wool yarn, or you might choose the skills you want and then try to find a suitable dwarf to use that skill. In the latter case, since all dwarves have one metal preference you might assign an armorsmithing skill to a dwarf with a preference for iron, steel, or adamantine.

The dwarf with the most social skills will end up being the {{l|Expedition leader}}, who will then become the {{l|mayor}} and start making {{l|mandate}}s. Thus you should avoid giving the most social skills to dwarfs who have {{l|preferences}} for things like {{l|adamantine}}.

Dwarves have physical and mental attributes that affect the performance of certain skills. You may wish to give a socially adept and patient dwarf the leadership/broker skills, or a dwarf who doesn't tire easily a skill which will be in frequent use like mining. You can also try to match skills to {{l|personality}}, some of which have obvious implications for their willingness to work long hours or how frequently they might take breaks.

Of course, all combined these represent a lot of possible constraints on where you assign particular skills, and it would be impossible to apply them in total to your entire desired skill load. Use these as a guide, but don't be upset if all your dwarves are anti-social psychopaths - someone still needs to be the leader, after all.

==== Other considerations ====
Migrants can and will arrive with a wide selection of decently trained skills. While it is a gamble, chances are pretty decent that migrants will arrive with a highly trained skill that is also highly desirable and would usurp the job of one of the seven starting ones. The first few migration waves are likely to give you a much better talent pool than what you can assign at embark. On the other hand, you may never get the skill you really want if you don't start with it.

Skills rust if not used and they can eventually de-level. Consider that skills which you will use years after embark are going to be rusty or even deleveled. Embark to the first caravan is long enough for a skill to start rusting, so you might want to make sure you'll use every skill you embark with before the first year ends to avoid catastrophic rusting.

Remember that you need to survive in order to accomplish any goals. Have a plan for lasting to at least the first caravan, if not one for longterm sustainability.

== Items ==

The items you choose to bring with you will need to satisfy a number of needs. Most importantly, you need to keep yourself alive - at least until the caravan arrives in the fall to resupply yourself. You probably also want to plan on some way of making a shelter, whether that be the traditional delved hall, a majestic castle, a log cabin, or something even more exotic. You may want to plan for mishaps by bringing essential medical supplies, especially those which may be hard to acquire on site. And you might bring items which will assist in creating items for trade to that first caravan, should you need anything for the skills you're planning on.

For the purposes of this article, livestock are considered items.

All embarks get the following items without paying for them: 2 animals (who pulled the wagon), and the 3 wood that make up the wagon.

=== Motivations ===

==== Survival ====

A single dwarf eats about 2x/season, and drinks about 4x/season. With 7 dwarves that's ~approximately~ 14 meals per season and 28 alcohol per season, or ~42 meals and ~84 alcohol until the end of Fall. The dwarf caravan tends to arrive in the third month of fall, so you will probably need to plan on a full 3 seasons. You are also likely to get at least one if not two small waves of migrants before the caravan arrives.

It is possible to bring enough food and drink to make it to the caravan - indeed, bringing enough food isn't especially hard (especially once you factor in slaughtering the animals who hauled your wagon. Bringing sufficient alcohol is harder, although bringing plump helmets to brew can significantly cut the cost.

The likely best way to keep your dwarves in drink is also the most labor intensive - setting up farming in the first season or two is perfectly plausible, allowing to grow your own {{l|plants}} from seeds and brew the products. (Keep in mind not all plants can be brewed - don't plant dimple cups and expect to make alcohol). In addition to the necessary seeds, starting your own farming operation is going to require some way to get the ground muddy. While sometimes simple digging can accomplish this, many times you're going to need a screw pump. Basic construction requirements are discussed under shelter.

It is possible to make all your alcohol by harvesting aboveground plants, if highly inefficient. It also only works in biomes with collectable plant life. Notably evil biomes and glaciers are unlikely to provide.

==== Shelter ====
Bar a convenient cave, you're going to have to do something for shelter. Shelter is your first defense against roving creatures, keeping them away from where your dwarves are working so they don't spam job cancellations and strew items all over the place. (As you might guess, most 'convenient caves' aren't actually that convenient, as they tend to have residents). Basic walls that allow you egress won't stop a dedicated invader, but you don't expect to see those until year 3, so you have time to develop more elaborate defenses.

Food outside will also spoil a lot faster than food inside, so making a cellar of some sort to store your food in will increase the longevity of your food supplies. The rate at which food spoils depends on ambient temperature, so the urgency of making a cellar will depend on where you settled. It might be possible to go without a cellar in a freezing biome.{{verify}} The only way you can avoid thinking about food storage in the first year is if you collect food and make alcohol as needed - ie, by using an herbalist to collect local plants - which can avoid needing to mine at all.

Delving a shelter requires mining, which means having picks to dig with. One can always bring one or more picks at embark, but its also possible to bring the supplies necessary to make them. See tempo vs. efficiency below.

An aboveground shelter can be made with stone or wood or possibly more exotic materials. Stone of course requires mining, and thus picks. Wood can be had with an axe assuming trees are present, and axes, like picks, can similarly be brought at embark or made on site. It is of course possible to bring sufficient raw materials to build walls with, but this is far less efficient than just bringing a pick or an axe, although it could make a fun challenge. Building your initial fort out of soap, while possible, is not recommended, although possibly hilariously entertaining.

==== Industry ====
Most industries require little more than materials you can collect at the site and a workshop. So long as you can get stone, you won't need to bring anything for these. However, if you want to get an industry going immediately, it does help to bring a few building materials along (or be willing to use the wood from the wagon, if only temporarily).

Some industries require fire-safe materials to build with. All stone qualifies, as does metal. Wood can be converted to a fire safe material by burning it to ashes in a wood burners workshop, but of course that workshop requires a fire-safe material. If you're mining, this condition is easy to satisfy, but if you intend to run any of these industries right away you will need to plan on bringing appropriate materials.

Some industries require plant or animal matter to work with. Clothiers ultimately need cloth, which comes from certain plants or animals. Leatherworkers need tanned skins. (And while you can get 2 off your pack animals, this isn't sufficient to run an industry). If you plan on running these types of industries you will need to have a plan for providing suitable raw materials. Hunting can cover leatherworking needs (although this requires a hunter and hunting implements), and foraging can find rope reed plants, but its usually better to bring enough appropriate animals or plants to have a good shot at getting started in a predictable and sustainable way. Similarly, milking and cheese making require milkable animals, and bonecarving requires a dependable source of bones.

Metal industries require metal and an anvil. You cannot make an anvil on site without already having an anvil, so if you plan on doing any forging before the first caravan you will need to bring one with you. Metal can be brought as bars or as ores to be smelted in a smelter into bars, or can be mined yourself. You will need to provide fuel or magma to run these workshops, so bringing some coal can make the operation run smoother.

Soap requires a lot of wood consumption and a source of tallow to be done in a sustainable way. Lye can be bought at embark to skip the first steps and make soap more directly. You will still need to bring or make buckets and have an empty barrel to actually produce soap though, but fortunately this is just a matter of having sufficient wood.

Jewelers require gems. Cut gems can be brought at embark, but are too expensive to bring in quantity. Generally a jeweler requires mining to find sufficient gems or a glassworker to produce raw glass to work with.

Glassmaking and Pottery requires sand or clay and fuel - pay attention to your site report before embarking. Its hard to run a viable industry solely off imports in these cases. Like metal workshops, coal can be brought to substitute for fuel fairly efficiently.

As is probably obvious, certain industries depend on similar inputs. Planning on a set of industries which require similar complementary inputs can let you more efficiently spend your starting points at embark or more efficiently plan your digging during the first year. If you plan on a lot of fuel-dependent industries, it may be worthwhile to prioritize finding a source of magma.

=== Optimization ===

==== Container mechanics and free items ====

Many items come in containers such as barrels and bags, including food, liquids, seeds, and powders. The cost to embark with these items can be cheaper than the cost of the container itself. Each different type of item for each category will come in its own container. Furthermore, you'll get a new container after every 10th instance for food, most liquids, and seeds, and after every item of powders.{{verify}} Alcohol gets a new barrel after every 5th unit. (Food actually groups by animal type, so if you get horse tripe and horse meat they'll combine them, but they won't combine horse meat and donkey meat). Thus diversifying your initial food supply with 1 of each low-cost food item will net you a large number of barrels. Similarly its worth taking 1 of each seed you weren't planning on taking more of solely for the bags. Taking some sand or gypsum powder is also a cheap way to get bags. Lye (for soap) and milks can be brought for more barrels - and milk can be made into cheese for a low-cost embark option that becomes food.

As stockpiling and some jobs are container limited, getting as many free containers as you can will free up labor (and possibly valuable materials) that would otherwise be used making containers.

==== Finished product or do it yourself ====
Bringing raw materials and making the finished product yourself is often easier on your embark points than bringing the finished product. On the other hand, making it yourself takes time during which you aren't making use of the finished product.

The most common scenario involves {{l|Make your own weapons|forging your own metal tools and weapons}}. While not usually too much of a hardship, it can be dangerous to make your own weapons or picks if you expect possible hostile creatures. Further, you will lose time - possibly 1/4 to 1/2 the first month - if you forge your own picks.

Of special note regarding weapons is that a training battle axe is perfectly capable of chopping trees, and is made with nothing more than a carpentry workshop and a log. While the delay in acquiring one is minimal, a wood battle axe is not a good weapon, and so it loses utility for doing anything other than acquiring more wood.

You can also easily plan on making all or most of one's own booze, as plump helmets can be bought at embark and brewed at a still.

Any finished good can of course be made from raw materials that you bring, but most of them are not essential like the above, and thus you can generally wait until you find suitable resources on site or buy them from caravans.

==== Biome considerations: dude, where's my wood? ====
Some environments have a shortage of trees. While you can direct production of a lot of item types to other materials, beds need to be made out of wood. In addition, it is difficult to make barrels and bins out of non-wood materials early in the game, especially without ready magma (since otherwise you'll probably need to burn wood to make metal equivalents). If you have an aquifer it can be even worse - stone may be difficult or impossible to access easily. While you can ultimately ask for wood from your liaison and buy whatever the humans and elves happen to bring, and eventually you can create a tree farm underground, tight wood will limit storage and sleeping arrangements for at least the first year if not longer. You may wish to plan accordingly if embarking in a site with sparse or no trees.

==== Items for moods ====
When a dwarf is taken by a {{l|strange mood}}, he often needs obscure material or he will go insane and die, possibly with severe consequences to an entire fortress. Bringing along some of the harder-to-find ores ({{l|cassiterite}}, {{l|sphalerite}}, {{l|bismuthinite}}, {{l|garnierite}}), and putting those aside, forbidding their use "just in case", is spending a few points on an insurance policy. Many players also choose to bring a few items like pig tail cloth and cave spider silk just in case.

Alternately, if you're otherwise being minimalistic on gear you're bringing you can choose to bring a few valuable components to try to maximize the value of mood items. That artifact animal trap will be worth a lot more if your woodcarver grabs a blue diamond instead of moss agate.

==== Free Equipment ====

Dwarves who start with the ambusher skill may get some leather {{l|armor}}, a crossbow and some bolts for free. It seems to do so when ambusher is the highest non-military non-social skill.{{verify}}







==Site considerations==
Each fortress {{l|location}} offers particular challenges and opportunities, and can make different demands on your starting build. Your starting build may need to be adjusted depending on the {{l|region}} your fort occupies, the specific vision you have of your fortress, and what it will take to {{l|losing|stay alive}} where you're going!

The differences include what {{l|biome}}s, {{l|region}}s and likely {{l|metal}}s are present in your chosen embark site.

=== General Surroundings ===
Simply put, if your {{l|surroundings}} are {{l|evil}} or {{l|savage}}, your dwarves have a higher risk of suddenly facing personal combat before they are safely behind their defenses. Consider bringing extra weaponry, in the form of axes, picks or crossbows (see {{l|Starting_builds#Free_Equipment|free equipment}}). Hand in hand with those, consider skill mixes that include {{l|axedwarf}}, {{l|mining}} (the skill used to wield a pick), {{l|marksdwarf}}, or {{l|wrestling}} (a solid unarmed-combat skill).

The same is true if you are embarking near an exposed magma vent or an open chasm - these features can be seen on the embark map, but it's impossible to tell if they are "open" to the surface or not, until you are there in person.

Be sure to include some source of {{l|water}} on the map, preferably running {{l|water}}. Water is (almost) essential for any fortress. In Cold and Freezing climates streams and {{l|lake}}s will often be frozen year-round and your dwarves may quickly die of exposure, in Hot climates {{l|murky pool}}s will dry up, and in Dry ones rain will only rarely re-fill them, if ever. Choose Temperate or tropical zones for an easier game.

===Aquifers===
If an {{l|aquifer}} is present in the first soil or stone layers (visible on the pre-embark menu), it may bar all access to {{l|stone}} and {{l|ore}} until you find a way through the water barrier. Consider bringing some stone for building, and ore for your first basic needs. This may be critical to getting your fortress running smoothly.

=== Mountains ===
Mountains often have abundant {{l|ore}}s, but at the loss of trees and plants. In previous versions lacking {{L|cavern}}s, this was a serious drawback. In DF2010, brave pioneers can dig down into the caverns to find essentials like water, mud, and plants. However, players should be aware that above-ground crops will not grow in mountain biomes, no matter how muddy you may make the surface.

Depending on the exact layers, it's common to find exposed {{l|vein}}s of useful {{l|ore}}s that can be immediately mined for {{l|Make your own weapons|DIY}} weapons and tools.

=== Wooded/Plains ===
Flatlands with at least some trees and gatherable plants can also make for highly successful fortresses. Advantages over mountain zones include abundant trees and plants and (unless frozen) more abundant water. There are even (rare) magma vents. More water also means a high likelihood of an {{l|aquifer}} being present. Make sure to check on embark.

The greatest disadvantage is the potential lack of exposed {{l|stone}} to mine. The first level(s) below the surface is often {{l|soil}} of some type, which offers no building materials. However, soil is mined much more quickly than stone (x3-x4 faster), and expansive accommodations (rooms) can be achieved quickly even by untrained miners. You will find stone, you just have to go down a bit for it - but that's what dwarves do, isn't it?

{{l|Experience|Training}} a {{l|Miner}} from No Skill to Proficient takes less than a month (~20 days with hauling disabled) in soil, and to Legendary in just under a season after. {{version|0.31.12}} From embark, this means you should have legendary miners in early summer if you dig only in soil. Times increase slightly for each additional miner used.

=== Oceanside ===
With many features in common with some of the above locations, {{l|beach}}es are often a mix of ease intermingled with bouts of extreme difficulty. Minerals and trees are often abundant, as well as farmland and sand, but there is often no drinking water unless the biome has a flowing {{l|water}} of some sort.

By definition, the settlement will fall between (at least) two {{l|biome}}s (one land, one water), potentially hazardous if the player expects a peaceful oceanside meadow, without realizing the {{l|terrifying}} ocean is full of amphibious zombie {{l|whale}}s.

=== Desert, Glaciers, and Barren ===
Treeless (or near-treeless) {{l|biome}}s are challenging sites for a fortress: you get most of the disadvantages of a flatland site without having access to nearly as many trees and plants. However, near-lifeless zones such as {{l|glacier}}s are wonderful for players with slower computers, as there's little to burden the CPU but your dwarves and livestock. {{l|Desert}}s and barren areas often have sand; with a sufficient source of energy (preferably magma), you can build almost anything out of unlimited glass.

Hunters should be replaced with fisherdwarves and a fish cleaner (although the latter can be easily trained). Depending how much water vs. land, more starting wood and ores might be helpful. Swimming is rarely useful in Fortress mode, even at the beach, and can be trained.

==Sample starting builds==
See {{l|Sample Starting Builds}}

{{Starting FAQ}}
[[Category:Guides]]

v0.31:Embark

2011-04-24T02:49:09Z

Squirrelloid: /* Embark Strategies */

{{av}}
{{Quality|Exceptional}}

'''Embark''' is the moment at the very beginning of the game, before actual game play begins (but after {{L|World generation|generating a world}}), when you and your initial 7 dwarves:
# Choose a site.
# Assign starting {{L|skill|skills}} to each dwarf.
# Select an initial load of {{L|supplies|supplies and equipment}}.
# Arrive at the site with your wagon full of supplies.

= Choosing a Site =
The process of choosing a site in DF2010 is much less involved than prior versions due to the ubiquitous presence of magma, gems, and ore, but that said there are still several considerations to keep in mind, namely aquifers, ore types, wood, climate, and neighbors.
There is just ONE BIG RULE: when your home civ is too small, you will first recognize after the 2nd winter that you won't get more immigrants, which can be {{L|Fun|extremely fun}}. Your home civilization will need more than one dwarven place on the map.

[[File:Embark.jpg]] 
The Choose Fortress Location screen shows four separate sections, with three of them being three views of the land at three different levels of magnification: Local, Region, and World. A section of highlighted tiles in the Local view indicates the current embark location within the region. The local view constitutes a 16x16 grid of embark area tiles (each representing 48x48 tiles when you are playing the game) that is within a single region tile. The world map cannot be directly controlled, and exists only to give you the overall view of where, relative to the rest of the features of the world, the region map is focused on.

The arrow keys control the X cursor in the center "Region" view while {{K|u}}, {{K|m}}, {{K|k}}, and {{K|h}} move the embark location around within the Local view. {{K|Shift}}-{{K|u}}, {{K|m}}, {{K|k}}, and {{K|h}} will resize the embark location.

The size of the embark location directly affects how much data about a map the game will have to store in your computer's memory, the size of your save files, and correspondingly, will dramatically affect the save and load times for your map, potentially make pathfinding more resource-intensive, and may generally slow your game down. As such, smaller maps are recommended, especially for less powerful computers. Remember that each tile on your embark screen is 48x48 tiles large.

On the far right of the screen is a list of local features in the dominant biome. Individual biomes, which form at least one map-tile of your embark location, can be cycled with the {{Key|F#}}-keys; for example, an area with 3 biomes present can be cycled using {{Key|F1}}, {{Key|F2}} and {{Key|F3}}. The selected biome will be highlighted with flashing Xs on the Local Map, and the biome's information will be displayed on the right side of the screen. The list at the bottom of the biome information indicates the dominant soil/stone composition from top to bottom for the first eight layers.

== Biomes ==
Main article: {{L|Biome|biome}}

A '''biome''' is a biotic area with homogeneous features, characterized by distinctive {{L|plant|plants}}, {{L|creatures|animal species}} and {{L|climate|climate}}.

In the above image, the biome is "Temperate Broadleaf Forest", and the region the biome is part of is given a specific name: "The Oily Forest".

Biomes will also contain only one set of stone layers, though these usually expand beyond a single biome. Your {{L|dwarves|dwarves}} will find different resources depending on which biomes they select when starting a fort.

Biomes are important when choosing a fortress location in order to understand your {{L|surroundings|surroundings}}.

=== Climate ===
Main article: {{L|climate|climate}}

Climate determines the maximum temperature range of the region, which in turn impacts the severity of exposure to the outside, whether water will freeze in winter, and how quickly water evaporates.

The climate is displayed as "Temperature: Hot" in the above image.

Very hot and very cold biomes bring their own challenges which may be further compounded with overlapping features, such as a glacier being frozen for half the year, and being devoid of trees, and lacking a river. Very hot climates may see all its surface water quickly evaporate, making finding a water supply more dangerous, as underground caves filled with hostile creatures may be the only supply of water.

=== Plant Life ===
Main article: {{L|Tree|trees}} and {{L|Shrub|shrubs}}

Seen in the above image as "Trees: Heavily Forested" and "Other Vegetation: Thick".

Trees are useful for the {{L|wood}} they provide, and wood is a basic building material, important for being the only material that beds can be made of, and, as metal bins and barrels require three times as much of less common metal resources as wood bins and barrels do, they are preferred materials for that, as well. Wood is also a renewable source for {{L|charcoal}}, the {{L|fuel}} used in forges to make metal products in smelters or forges that are not magma-powered, and is needed to make steel even when you have magma forges. Wood is finally also useful in making {{L|potash}} for soap or fertilizing farms.

In spite of wood's many uses, it is entirely possible to play in this version without any trees in your biomes, as trees can be farmed in muddied underground areas regardless of how barren the surface is. Due to the inexpensive nature of wood, it is possible to simply embark with enough wood to last until you are ready to set up tree farming operations underground. Wood is also a common good that elves, humans, and dwarves alike will sell to you.

Shrubs can provide some quick food through the {{L|herbalism}} skill, {{L|still|brewable materials}}, and {{L|seeds}} for some very helpful above-ground {{L|Crops|crops}} which are generally only available through trading with Elves.

=== Surroundings ===
Main article: {{L|surroundings}}

Surroundings affect how powerful and hostile local wildlife will be, and some forms of plants are available only in specific types of surroundings.

The surroundings of the example image are listed as, "Surroundings: Calm".

Any biome can have any set of surroundings; for example a glacier could be haunted, wilderness or mirthful. However, a named region (which is a contiguous area of one category of biomes, such as forests or wetlands) will be either good, neutral, or evil.

There are two axis for surroundings: Savagery and alignment. Calm and neutral savagery are functionally identical. Savage lands are like normal lands, except they will frequently have giant or hostile humanoid versions of normal animals, for example you might have a {{L|Tigerman}} instead of "merely" a {{L|tiger}} in a savage jungle.

Good biomes are similar to neutral biomes, except have more fanciful (and generally benign) creatures like {{L|pixie}}s, {{L|fluffy wambler}}s, or {{L|unicorn}}s, and are generally no more dangerous than neutral biomes. Evil biomes are home to many dangerous creatures, often dead vegetation and even including undead versions of normal creatures, making for a far more hostile environment specifically for players who want to face a greater challenge to stay alive, especially early on. Trees might not grow in an evil area.

It is possible to start a fortress that overlaps multiple alignment types (for example good, evil, savage, and benign). Some players consider this desirable, as it provides diversity in your little corner of the world, but it also has its dangers in the form of more ferocious wildlife.

=== Layers ===
Main articles: {{L|Layer}}, {{L|Ore|ore}} and {{L|Stone|stone}}

At the bottom right of the biome view is the data on stone layers, displaying the top eight layers of stone or soil.

Each type of layer stone has certain kinds of ores, gems, and other minerals that will appear within that form of layer. Layers are color-coded by the type of rock they are, with brown indicating {{L|soil}} (useless for raw materials, but easy to dig through), white indicating a {{L|sedimentary layer}} (indispensable for producing {{L|steel}}), light grey indicating a {{L|metamorphic layer}} (good for gems, and may contain marble to use as {{L|flux}}) or an {{L|igneous intrusive layer}}, and dark grey indicating an {{L|igneous extrusive layer}} (which may indicate magma pools in the caverns, as well as being good for various metal ores). Igneous extrusive layers will never be found in the same biome as sedimentary layers, but it is possible to have both in the same map by embarking over two or more different biomes.

It is very difficult to produce {{L|steel}} without a {{L|sedimentary layer}}. ({{L|Steel}} makes nearly the {{L|Metal#Weapon_.26_Armor_Quality|best weapons and armor}}, and the materials are fairly easy to acquire if you have sedimentary layers.) For steel, ideally, look for a site with {{L|chalk}}, {{L|limestone}}, or {{L|dolomite}}, which are not only sedimentary stones, but {{L|flux}} stones as well. Any site showing some sedimentary stone should contain all of the necessary ingredients, however.

To forge {{L|steel}}, you will need {{L|iron}} ore, {{L|flux}} stone, and {{L|fuel}}. The three ores of {{L|iron}} (hematite, magnetite, and limonite) can only be found in sedimentary layers, with the exception of hematite, which can occasionally be found in {{L|igneous extrusive}} layers. Furthermore, four of the five {{L|flux}} stones (calcite, chalk, dolomite, and limestone) are also only found in sedimentary layers, as well as both {{L|coal}} ores (bituminous coal and lignite) for making {{L|coke}} fuel.

If you have no sedimentary layers, your only hope to make steel is with:
* hematite in {{L|igneous extrusive}} layers
* marble in {{L|metamorphic}} layers
* wood for making {{L|charcoal}} fuel
Even if you find and exploit magma for your furnaces, you'll still need the fuel in the smelting process, so you'll be cutting down two trees and burning them to make charcoal for every unit of hematite you are lucky enough to find.

=== Aquifer ===
Main article: {{L|aquifer}}

An aquifer is a layer of soil or stone saturated with water, and a biome may contain upwards of 3 aquifer layers (theoretically more, but such would be rare to say the least). Embarking on an aquifer brings up a warning before embark as an aquifer can significantly raise the difficulty of starting a fort. For specific tactics on working with an aquifer see the main page.

== Changing Views ==
Pressing {{K|Tab}} will cycle the presented information through a variety of different views and panels.
*Neighbors - other civilizations that are closest to your current location. Proximity increases the chance of interaction, though at present this largely means "nearby goblins are more likely to attack you." If any race is not represented on this page, it means that the civilization cannot reach you if you are in that location. Embarking on an {{l|island}}, or a location completely surrounded by mountains will make it impossible for any civilization but your own dwarven civilization to reach you, as world map travel across oceans or mountains is impossible. If not even "Dwarves" appears, it means that your home civilization is dead, and there will be no {{l|migrants}} or {{l|trade}} with your home civilization. (If this is the case, it is recommended you change to a still-existent civilization unless you want the challenge of having no support from the mountainhomes.) Races that are hostile to you are represented by a series of red "-" marks. In vanilla DF, goblins are always hostile, but humans or elves may also be at war with particular dwarven civilizations (and if you choose your starting civilization in the "Your Civilization" screen, they may not be at war with you).
*Your Civilization - indicates all Dwarven civilizations in the world. {{K|*}} and {{K|-}} will cycle through the civilizations allowing you to choose which your settlers will be embarking from. Civilization choice will affect who is at war with you, what goods are available for trade and at embark, who your regent will be (considering {{L|Cacame Awemedinade|one might be surprised by who turns out to be one's regent}}), and if there are any surviving members of your civilization left to migrate to or trade with your fort. Some of this information is only viewable in {{l|Legends}} Mode, but you can view accessible goods and materials after hitting {{k|e}}mbark by looking at what items you can choose to embark with. If you don't like the options, simply {{k|Esc}} to get the main menu and choose Abort Game. (You will have to find the site again, but it saves you from needing to abandon the fortress).
*Relative Elevation - Shows the land height relative to the lowest point in the region.
*Cliff Indicator - Shows the severity of cliffs. Unless you have turned erosion off, then, with the exception of rivers that cut through mountains, even apparently very steep cliffs will still have ramps that make it perfectly accessible for any creature or even the wagons in caravans.

== Reclaiming a fortress ==

If you reclaim the site of an abandoned fortress you may see goods, materials, and corpses left from the previous effort. These items will initially be {{L|forbid|forbidden}} and you will have to {{L|reclaim}} them before your dwarves will acknowledge their existence, for example to haul them to a graveyard or refuse {{L|stockpile}}.

= Creating Your Settlers =

== Play Now! ==
You can forgo the process of assigning skills and supplies and instead select '''Play Now!''' This option will give you a selection of Dwarves with the following profiles:

Updated for 0.31.13:
* Miner: Adequate Miner
* Woodworker: Novice Carpenter, Bowyer
* Woodcutter: Novice Wood Cutter, Brewer, Cook, Grower, Herbalist, Furnace Operator, Wood Burner, Lye Maker, Potash Maker
* Stoneworker: Novice Engraver, Mason, Mechanic, Building Designer
* Jeweler: Novice Gem Cutter, Gem Setter, Wood Crafter, Stone Crafter, and Bone Crafter
* Fisherdwarf: Novice Fisherdwarf
* Fish Cleaner: Novice Fish Cleaner, Butcher, Tanner, Weaver, Clothier, and Leatherworker

One of these will be randomly flagged as Expedition Leader at the start.

From 0.31.12: The default embark value for a custom embark is 1274: 974 in pre-chosen goods and 300 unassigned. The Play Now! embark only uses 1038 points. While a Play Now! embark is no more doomed than any other embark, it is always better to Prepare Carefully once you know what you're doing with the set up of an early fort since Novice Butcher is hardly better than a Dwarf you manually flagged for the job.

Note: In 0.31.13, you no longer embark with any medical skills.

== Prepare Carefully ==
Preparing allows the player to customize their embarking party and supplies by spending a pool of points which is shared between skills and equipment, with each skill rank and equipment item having a set value. The total value of embarking is set at 1,274 points, though all but 300 of these are pre-spent on an array of basic equipment (the same equipment Play Now! uses.) It stands that one should try to maximize the value of their embark by spending all available points.

===Using the menu===
Use {{k|Tab}} to switch between selecting Skills and Items. Use the 4 directional keys or number pad to navigate to highlight the different choices/columns, and {{k|+}} or {{k|-}} to choose more or less of the highlighted item or skill. When viewing items, hit {{k|n}} to go to a menu for any "new" items, that are not currently listed, including any you removed by reducing the number to 0; select the item, hit {{k|Enter}}, then increase the number desired as above ({{k|+}} or {{k|-}}) in the main menu.

If you cannot buy additional skill levels, you are out of points and must return some items for additional points. Higher-priced items will automatically be removed from viewable new items if you do not have enough points for those selections, showing only what you can afford with your current points.

=== Skills ===
Main article: {{L|Skills|skills}}

The seven settlers you begin with can be assigned up to ten skill ranks picked from the entire Dwarven skill list, including military, though only a maximum of 5 ranks (giving them a rank of "Proficient") can be bought in any one skill. Skill ranks are bought from the shared pool at a cost of 5 for the first rank, 6 for the second, 7 for the third, and so on. Maxing out a skill thus costs a total of 35 points. Although this is already fairly involved, between the long skill list and the floating cost, the value of a rank is subject to further scrutiny given the early-game value, or lack thereof, of certain skills as well as the relative ease or difficulty of training ranks in a given skill. Many skills are performed just as well (or with little functional difference) by a Novice or even a Dabbler as they are by a Legendary. A Novice Furnace Operator won't produce Coke as fast as a Legendary Furnace Operator, but they will produce it fast enough to keep their neighbor smelting hematite until the cows come home.

For a more complex example, there is much overlap between what can be produced out of wood and what can be produced out of metal, but wood is plentiful in the early game (often throughout if a tree farm is established, and caravans will bring in several pages worth of wood if you request it) while metalworking can take much longer to establish, or would take several times longer to produce a given product in early game due to the multiple steps required, especially without a magma smelter. Metalworking also skills up slower than woodworking and metal products have a longer base production time than wood products.

From one point of view, the Woodworking skills would be of more immediate use in producing quick goods of higher value in the early game, especially given the high volume needed; however furniture quality is of little concern in the early game, and the high volume of value-independent goods (such as barrels which you won't be trading away on their own or using to furnish chambers) will cause your carpenter to skill up fairly quickly. Even on a strictly functional level even a Novice carpenter can produce beds, barrels, and bins fast enough to keep up with a fledgling base. Lastly, once metal production is up and running, it can be agonizingly slow if a Farmer or Peasant has to be re-assigned to learn from scratch, thus a proficient Metalsmith stands to pay off much more in time than starting with a proficient Carpenter.

=== Supplies ===

The default array of supplies covers a broad range of foodstuffs, seeds, drink, tools, and medical equipment, and is reasonable, though extra food and drink never hurt anyone.
:* 2 Copper {{l|pick}}s
:* 2 Copper battle {{l|axe}}s
:* 1 Iron {{l|anvil}}
:* 60 units alcohol (20 each of 3 random types1, 12 free barrels)
:* 6 bags containing 5x dimple cup, cave wheat, plump helmet, sweet pods, pig tail, and quarry bush {{l|seed}}s
:* 15 units of meat (one random type, 10 + 5 units in 2 barrels)
:* 15 units of fish (one random type, 10 + 5 units in 2 barrels)
:* 15 units of plump helmets (10 + 5 units in 2 barrels)
:* 5 pig tail fiber thread
:* 5 pig tail fiber cloth
:* 5 pig tail fiber bags
:* 3 pig tail fiber ropes
:* 3 wooden buckets
:* 3 wooden splints
:* 3 wooden crutches
:* 2 dogs (random sex)
:* 2 cats (random sex)
:* 1 random cow/ox/mule/horse (random sex)

Lower forest embark sites should definitely consider bringing extra logs to cover the early demand for beds, &c. Also do not overlook the value of bringing animals. Dogs in particular can provide an excellent early warning system, good fighters against kobolds and other thieves, and a healthy supply of meat and bones.

===Saving a starting mix===
Once you have the mix of items and skills that you like, you can hit {{k|s}} and save it to a template with a custom name. In a later game, you can pick that profile when you embark. If your selected civilization does not have some of the desired items in your template, this is announced clearly, and a different civilization can be tried as described above, or you can continue and change your mix.

If you match skills to the {{l|preferences}} and {{L |personality|personalities}} of your dwarves, it may be an idea not to include any skills in such a template, as they will simply be applied in the original order to the current dwarves as they appear on the list.

If you find additional items that you wish to add (perhaps another type of cheap meat, or an ore not previously available), you can edit those in by hitting {{k|s}}, overwriting your old template.

:''(You can also go into the .txt file, located at data/init/embark_profiles, and edit in the SKILLS or ITEMS as you want - the syntax is fairly straightforward.)''

== Embark Strategies ==
Main article: {{l|Starting build}}

The strategies below are suggestions. They are not universal, and many are even contradictory. This is because there is no one true way to play Dwarf Fortress. Some may not work for you because of unstated assumptions about priority, value, fun, or procedure. However, since Losing is Fun, it's always worth it to try something out, even if it doesn't go well.

=== Picking the Right Location ===

'''Need More Dirt (and Its Inverse)''' - three layers of soil before the stone layers begin provides a very large area that can be used to quickly carve out efficient storage rooms, as well as easy construction of large farms and tree farms without the need to flood/muddy large areas of stone. Remember, the embark screen only lists the first eight layers, and the total number of layers is highly random. More dirt does not necessarily mean less stone.

'''Flowing Water (and Its Inverse)''' - flowing water (river or stream) is a must have for the infinite power it supplies for working machinery and because underground water supplies are too dangerous to tap into. There is no guarantee of infinite water underground, you could embark on a map with completely dry caverns. However, rainier climates will always have murky pools, which with careful management can be refilled from the rain. Infinite power for working machinery can be created using a limited amount of water in a perpetual motion machine. Although, being limited in quantity, murky pools simply do not have the capacity to permanently flood your fortress, while a single mistake with an infinite source can easily do so.

=== Preparation Strategies ===

'''Free Barrels''' - many products are stored in bins, barrels, or bags and do not stack with other items even if they're in the same broad classification. Plump Helmets and Horse Meat come in separate barrels even though they're both food. Purchasing a single item of food (or increasing the number to one above the storage limit of the barrel i.e. 11, 21, 31) will also produce a free barrel for it to be stored in. As barrels have a cost of 10 to buy empty, buying a single unit of cost 2 foodstuffs gets you a value of 5. Anything above cost 2 bought for the express purpose of getting barrels would be better off just buying barrels empty or raw logs. This concept can be extended to many different goods, and for any stored good you were "going to buy anyway" you should avoid buying exactly a containerful. Do not get 20, get 21.
* Note that meat products from the same animal will store in the same barrel, thus 1 unit of Horse Meat and 1 unit of Horse Tripe will only get you one barrel, not two.

'''Cheap Bags''' - while even the cheapest bags (made from cave spider silk and low-value leather) cost 10 points each, you can instead simply bring several units of {{L|sand}} costing 1 point each, as each unit of sand will be stored in its own bag made from a randomly selected material (including giant cave spider silk and valuable creature leather).

'''Don't Really Need That''' - unless you have tailored your embark for metal production quick and early, an anvil is typically unnecessary and the 100 points you get from refunding it can be better spent on skills or additional foodstuffs (can't really have enough foodstuffs). By the time the Dwarven caravan arrives in the fall, a 100☼ iron anvil, or even a 300☼ steel anvil, should be little more than an inconvenience. This can sometimes be problematic if you are unlucky and the caravan does not bring an anvil.

'''REALLY Don't Need That''' - For players more familiar with the game. Bring no pre-constructed goods (weapons, buckets, etc.), just the materials to make them with. This requires several (3-10, though you're likely to bring way more) logs, some fire-safe stone, some bars of copper, and an anvil. Upon arrival, build a Wood Furnace and a Forge, make charcoal, then picks for the {{L|miner}}s and an axe for {{L|wood cutter}}s. Medical supplies should be unnecessary to start with, because if you need them you're screwed. You may want to bring some rope (or just thread) along though. You can start your fortress with just 124☼ worth of items (iron anvil - 100☼, 3 copper nuggets for 2 picks and an axe - 18☼, 2 logs to become coal to smelt a nugget and forge the axe - 6☼).

'''Yes, I Do Need That''' - <s>never</s> don't leave without alcohol unless you have a {{L|brewer}} and a way to gather plants early (untrained {{L|herbalist}}s designated after embarking are enough) or safe water source (preferably flowing).

= See Also =
*New players may find the {{L|Quickstart guide}} useful.
*The {{L|Starting build|Starting Build}} article has more detailed embark strategies.

v0.31:Embark

2011-04-24T02:48:50Z

Squirrelloid: /* Embark Strategies */

{{av}}
{{Quality|Exceptional}}

'''Embark''' is the moment at the very beginning of the game, before actual game play begins (but after {{L|World generation|generating a world}}), when you and your initial 7 dwarves:
# Choose a site.
# Assign starting {{L|skill|skills}} to each dwarf.
# Select an initial load of {{L|supplies|supplies and equipment}}.
# Arrive at the site with your wagon full of supplies.

= Choosing a Site =
The process of choosing a site in DF2010 is much less involved than prior versions due to the ubiquitous presence of magma, gems, and ore, but that said there are still several considerations to keep in mind, namely aquifers, ore types, wood, climate, and neighbors.
There is just ONE BIG RULE: when your home civ is too small, you will first recognize after the 2nd winter that you won't get more immigrants, which can be {{L|Fun|extremely fun}}. Your home civilization will need more than one dwarven place on the map.

[[File:Embark.jpg]] 
The Choose Fortress Location screen shows four separate sections, with three of them being three views of the land at three different levels of magnification: Local, Region, and World. A section of highlighted tiles in the Local view indicates the current embark location within the region. The local view constitutes a 16x16 grid of embark area tiles (each representing 48x48 tiles when you are playing the game) that is within a single region tile. The world map cannot be directly controlled, and exists only to give you the overall view of where, relative to the rest of the features of the world, the region map is focused on.

The arrow keys control the X cursor in the center "Region" view while {{K|u}}, {{K|m}}, {{K|k}}, and {{K|h}} move the embark location around within the Local view. {{K|Shift}}-{{K|u}}, {{K|m}}, {{K|k}}, and {{K|h}} will resize the embark location.

The size of the embark location directly affects how much data about a map the game will have to store in your computer's memory, the size of your save files, and correspondingly, will dramatically affect the save and load times for your map, potentially make pathfinding more resource-intensive, and may generally slow your game down. As such, smaller maps are recommended, especially for less powerful computers. Remember that each tile on your embark screen is 48x48 tiles large.

On the far right of the screen is a list of local features in the dominant biome. Individual biomes, which form at least one map-tile of your embark location, can be cycled with the {{Key|F#}}-keys; for example, an area with 3 biomes present can be cycled using {{Key|F1}}, {{Key|F2}} and {{Key|F3}}. The selected biome will be highlighted with flashing Xs on the Local Map, and the biome's information will be displayed on the right side of the screen. The list at the bottom of the biome information indicates the dominant soil/stone composition from top to bottom for the first eight layers.

== Biomes ==
Main article: {{L|Biome|biome}}

A '''biome''' is a biotic area with homogeneous features, characterized by distinctive {{L|plant|plants}}, {{L|creatures|animal species}} and {{L|climate|climate}}.

In the above image, the biome is "Temperate Broadleaf Forest", and the region the biome is part of is given a specific name: "The Oily Forest".

Biomes will also contain only one set of stone layers, though these usually expand beyond a single biome. Your {{L|dwarves|dwarves}} will find different resources depending on which biomes they select when starting a fort.

Biomes are important when choosing a fortress location in order to understand your {{L|surroundings|surroundings}}.

=== Climate ===
Main article: {{L|climate|climate}}

Climate determines the maximum temperature range of the region, which in turn impacts the severity of exposure to the outside, whether water will freeze in winter, and how quickly water evaporates.

The climate is displayed as "Temperature: Hot" in the above image.

Very hot and very cold biomes bring their own challenges which may be further compounded with overlapping features, such as a glacier being frozen for half the year, and being devoid of trees, and lacking a river. Very hot climates may see all its surface water quickly evaporate, making finding a water supply more dangerous, as underground caves filled with hostile creatures may be the only supply of water.

=== Plant Life ===
Main article: {{L|Tree|trees}} and {{L|Shrub|shrubs}}

Seen in the above image as "Trees: Heavily Forested" and "Other Vegetation: Thick".

Trees are useful for the {{L|wood}} they provide, and wood is a basic building material, important for being the only material that beds can be made of, and, as metal bins and barrels require three times as much of less common metal resources as wood bins and barrels do, they are preferred materials for that, as well. Wood is also a renewable source for {{L|charcoal}}, the {{L|fuel}} used in forges to make metal products in smelters or forges that are not magma-powered, and is needed to make steel even when you have magma forges. Wood is finally also useful in making {{L|potash}} for soap or fertilizing farms.

In spite of wood's many uses, it is entirely possible to play in this version without any trees in your biomes, as trees can be farmed in muddied underground areas regardless of how barren the surface is. Due to the inexpensive nature of wood, it is possible to simply embark with enough wood to last until you are ready to set up tree farming operations underground. Wood is also a common good that elves, humans, and dwarves alike will sell to you.

Shrubs can provide some quick food through the {{L|herbalism}} skill, {{L|still|brewable materials}}, and {{L|seeds}} for some very helpful above-ground {{L|Crops|crops}} which are generally only available through trading with Elves.

=== Surroundings ===
Main article: {{L|surroundings}}

Surroundings affect how powerful and hostile local wildlife will be, and some forms of plants are available only in specific types of surroundings.

The surroundings of the example image are listed as, "Surroundings: Calm".

Any biome can have any set of surroundings; for example a glacier could be haunted, wilderness or mirthful. However, a named region (which is a contiguous area of one category of biomes, such as forests or wetlands) will be either good, neutral, or evil.

There are two axis for surroundings: Savagery and alignment. Calm and neutral savagery are functionally identical. Savage lands are like normal lands, except they will frequently have giant or hostile humanoid versions of normal animals, for example you might have a {{L|Tigerman}} instead of "merely" a {{L|tiger}} in a savage jungle.

Good biomes are similar to neutral biomes, except have more fanciful (and generally benign) creatures like {{L|pixie}}s, {{L|fluffy wambler}}s, or {{L|unicorn}}s, and are generally no more dangerous than neutral biomes. Evil biomes are home to many dangerous creatures, often dead vegetation and even including undead versions of normal creatures, making for a far more hostile environment specifically for players who want to face a greater challenge to stay alive, especially early on. Trees might not grow in an evil area.

It is possible to start a fortress that overlaps multiple alignment types (for example good, evil, savage, and benign). Some players consider this desirable, as it provides diversity in your little corner of the world, but it also has its dangers in the form of more ferocious wildlife.

=== Layers ===
Main articles: {{L|Layer}}, {{L|Ore|ore}} and {{L|Stone|stone}}

At the bottom right of the biome view is the data on stone layers, displaying the top eight layers of stone or soil.

Each type of layer stone has certain kinds of ores, gems, and other minerals that will appear within that form of layer. Layers are color-coded by the type of rock they are, with brown indicating {{L|soil}} (useless for raw materials, but easy to dig through), white indicating a {{L|sedimentary layer}} (indispensable for producing {{L|steel}}), light grey indicating a {{L|metamorphic layer}} (good for gems, and may contain marble to use as {{L|flux}}) or an {{L|igneous intrusive layer}}, and dark grey indicating an {{L|igneous extrusive layer}} (which may indicate magma pools in the caverns, as well as being good for various metal ores). Igneous extrusive layers will never be found in the same biome as sedimentary layers, but it is possible to have both in the same map by embarking over two or more different biomes.

It is very difficult to produce {{L|steel}} without a {{L|sedimentary layer}}. ({{L|Steel}} makes nearly the {{L|Metal#Weapon_.26_Armor_Quality|best weapons and armor}}, and the materials are fairly easy to acquire if you have sedimentary layers.) For steel, ideally, look for a site with {{L|chalk}}, {{L|limestone}}, or {{L|dolomite}}, which are not only sedimentary stones, but {{L|flux}} stones as well. Any site showing some sedimentary stone should contain all of the necessary ingredients, however.

To forge {{L|steel}}, you will need {{L|iron}} ore, {{L|flux}} stone, and {{L|fuel}}. The three ores of {{L|iron}} (hematite, magnetite, and limonite) can only be found in sedimentary layers, with the exception of hematite, which can occasionally be found in {{L|igneous extrusive}} layers. Furthermore, four of the five {{L|flux}} stones (calcite, chalk, dolomite, and limestone) are also only found in sedimentary layers, as well as both {{L|coal}} ores (bituminous coal and lignite) for making {{L|coke}} fuel.

If you have no sedimentary layers, your only hope to make steel is with:
* hematite in {{L|igneous extrusive}} layers
* marble in {{L|metamorphic}} layers
* wood for making {{L|charcoal}} fuel
Even if you find and exploit magma for your furnaces, you'll still need the fuel in the smelting process, so you'll be cutting down two trees and burning them to make charcoal for every unit of hematite you are lucky enough to find.

=== Aquifer ===
Main article: {{L|aquifer}}

An aquifer is a layer of soil or stone saturated with water, and a biome may contain upwards of 3 aquifer layers (theoretically more, but such would be rare to say the least). Embarking on an aquifer brings up a warning before embark as an aquifer can significantly raise the difficulty of starting a fort. For specific tactics on working with an aquifer see the main page.

== Changing Views ==
Pressing {{K|Tab}} will cycle the presented information through a variety of different views and panels.
*Neighbors - other civilizations that are closest to your current location. Proximity increases the chance of interaction, though at present this largely means "nearby goblins are more likely to attack you." If any race is not represented on this page, it means that the civilization cannot reach you if you are in that location. Embarking on an {{l|island}}, or a location completely surrounded by mountains will make it impossible for any civilization but your own dwarven civilization to reach you, as world map travel across oceans or mountains is impossible. If not even "Dwarves" appears, it means that your home civilization is dead, and there will be no {{l|migrants}} or {{l|trade}} with your home civilization. (If this is the case, it is recommended you change to a still-existent civilization unless you want the challenge of having no support from the mountainhomes.) Races that are hostile to you are represented by a series of red "-" marks. In vanilla DF, goblins are always hostile, but humans or elves may also be at war with particular dwarven civilizations (and if you choose your starting civilization in the "Your Civilization" screen, they may not be at war with you).
*Your Civilization - indicates all Dwarven civilizations in the world. {{K|*}} and {{K|-}} will cycle through the civilizations allowing you to choose which your settlers will be embarking from. Civilization choice will affect who is at war with you, what goods are available for trade and at embark, who your regent will be (considering {{L|Cacame Awemedinade|one might be surprised by who turns out to be one's regent}}), and if there are any surviving members of your civilization left to migrate to or trade with your fort. Some of this information is only viewable in {{l|Legends}} Mode, but you can view accessible goods and materials after hitting {{k|e}}mbark by looking at what items you can choose to embark with. If you don't like the options, simply {{k|Esc}} to get the main menu and choose Abort Game. (You will have to find the site again, but it saves you from needing to abandon the fortress).
*Relative Elevation - Shows the land height relative to the lowest point in the region.
*Cliff Indicator - Shows the severity of cliffs. Unless you have turned erosion off, then, with the exception of rivers that cut through mountains, even apparently very steep cliffs will still have ramps that make it perfectly accessible for any creature or even the wagons in caravans.

== Reclaiming a fortress ==

If you reclaim the site of an abandoned fortress you may see goods, materials, and corpses left from the previous effort. These items will initially be {{L|forbid|forbidden}} and you will have to {{L|reclaim}} them before your dwarves will acknowledge their existence, for example to haul them to a graveyard or refuse {{L|stockpile}}.

= Creating Your Settlers =

== Play Now! ==
You can forgo the process of assigning skills and supplies and instead select '''Play Now!''' This option will give you a selection of Dwarves with the following profiles:

Updated for 0.31.13:
* Miner: Adequate Miner
* Woodworker: Novice Carpenter, Bowyer
* Woodcutter: Novice Wood Cutter, Brewer, Cook, Grower, Herbalist, Furnace Operator, Wood Burner, Lye Maker, Potash Maker
* Stoneworker: Novice Engraver, Mason, Mechanic, Building Designer
* Jeweler: Novice Gem Cutter, Gem Setter, Wood Crafter, Stone Crafter, and Bone Crafter
* Fisherdwarf: Novice Fisherdwarf
* Fish Cleaner: Novice Fish Cleaner, Butcher, Tanner, Weaver, Clothier, and Leatherworker

One of these will be randomly flagged as Expedition Leader at the start.

From 0.31.12: The default embark value for a custom embark is 1274: 974 in pre-chosen goods and 300 unassigned. The Play Now! embark only uses 1038 points. While a Play Now! embark is no more doomed than any other embark, it is always better to Prepare Carefully once you know what you're doing with the set up of an early fort since Novice Butcher is hardly better than a Dwarf you manually flagged for the job.

Note: In 0.31.13, you no longer embark with any medical skills.

== Prepare Carefully ==
Preparing allows the player to customize their embarking party and supplies by spending a pool of points which is shared between skills and equipment, with each skill rank and equipment item having a set value. The total value of embarking is set at 1,274 points, though all but 300 of these are pre-spent on an array of basic equipment (the same equipment Play Now! uses.) It stands that one should try to maximize the value of their embark by spending all available points.

===Using the menu===
Use {{k|Tab}} to switch between selecting Skills and Items. Use the 4 directional keys or number pad to navigate to highlight the different choices/columns, and {{k|+}} or {{k|-}} to choose more or less of the highlighted item or skill. When viewing items, hit {{k|n}} to go to a menu for any "new" items, that are not currently listed, including any you removed by reducing the number to 0; select the item, hit {{k|Enter}}, then increase the number desired as above ({{k|+}} or {{k|-}}) in the main menu.

If you cannot buy additional skill levels, you are out of points and must return some items for additional points. Higher-priced items will automatically be removed from viewable new items if you do not have enough points for those selections, showing only what you can afford with your current points.

=== Skills ===
Main article: {{L|Skills|skills}}

The seven settlers you begin with can be assigned up to ten skill ranks picked from the entire Dwarven skill list, including military, though only a maximum of 5 ranks (giving them a rank of "Proficient") can be bought in any one skill. Skill ranks are bought from the shared pool at a cost of 5 for the first rank, 6 for the second, 7 for the third, and so on. Maxing out a skill thus costs a total of 35 points. Although this is already fairly involved, between the long skill list and the floating cost, the value of a rank is subject to further scrutiny given the early-game value, or lack thereof, of certain skills as well as the relative ease or difficulty of training ranks in a given skill. Many skills are performed just as well (or with little functional difference) by a Novice or even a Dabbler as they are by a Legendary. A Novice Furnace Operator won't produce Coke as fast as a Legendary Furnace Operator, but they will produce it fast enough to keep their neighbor smelting hematite until the cows come home.

For a more complex example, there is much overlap between what can be produced out of wood and what can be produced out of metal, but wood is plentiful in the early game (often throughout if a tree farm is established, and caravans will bring in several pages worth of wood if you request it) while metalworking can take much longer to establish, or would take several times longer to produce a given product in early game due to the multiple steps required, especially without a magma smelter. Metalworking also skills up slower than woodworking and metal products have a longer base production time than wood products.

From one point of view, the Woodworking skills would be of more immediate use in producing quick goods of higher value in the early game, especially given the high volume needed; however furniture quality is of little concern in the early game, and the high volume of value-independent goods (such as barrels which you won't be trading away on their own or using to furnish chambers) will cause your carpenter to skill up fairly quickly. Even on a strictly functional level even a Novice carpenter can produce beds, barrels, and bins fast enough to keep up with a fledgling base. Lastly, once metal production is up and running, it can be agonizingly slow if a Farmer or Peasant has to be re-assigned to learn from scratch, thus a proficient Metalsmith stands to pay off much more in time than starting with a proficient Carpenter.

=== Supplies ===

The default array of supplies covers a broad range of foodstuffs, seeds, drink, tools, and medical equipment, and is reasonable, though extra food and drink never hurt anyone.
:* 2 Copper {{l|pick}}s
:* 2 Copper battle {{l|axe}}s
:* 1 Iron {{l|anvil}}
:* 60 units alcohol (20 each of 3 random types1, 12 free barrels)
:* 6 bags containing 5x dimple cup, cave wheat, plump helmet, sweet pods, pig tail, and quarry bush {{l|seed}}s
:* 15 units of meat (one random type, 10 + 5 units in 2 barrels)
:* 15 units of fish (one random type, 10 + 5 units in 2 barrels)
:* 15 units of plump helmets (10 + 5 units in 2 barrels)
:* 5 pig tail fiber thread
:* 5 pig tail fiber cloth
:* 5 pig tail fiber bags
:* 3 pig tail fiber ropes
:* 3 wooden buckets
:* 3 wooden splints
:* 3 wooden crutches
:* 2 dogs (random sex)
:* 2 cats (random sex)
:* 1 random cow/ox/mule/horse (random sex)

Lower forest embark sites should definitely consider bringing extra logs to cover the early demand for beds, &c. Also do not overlook the value of bringing animals. Dogs in particular can provide an excellent early warning system, good fighters against kobolds and other thieves, and a healthy supply of meat and bones.

===Saving a starting mix===
Once you have the mix of items and skills that you like, you can hit {{k|s}} and save it to a template with a custom name. In a later game, you can pick that profile when you embark. If your selected civilization does not have some of the desired items in your template, this is announced clearly, and a different civilization can be tried as described above, or you can continue and change your mix.

If you match skills to the {{l|preferences}} and {{L |personality|personalities}} of your dwarves, it may be an idea not to include any skills in such a template, as they will simply be applied in the original order to the current dwarves as they appear on the list.

If you find additional items that you wish to add (perhaps another type of cheap meat, or an ore not previously available), you can edit those in by hitting {{k|s}}, overwriting your old template.

:''(You can also go into the .txt file, located at data/init/embark_profiles, and edit in the SKILLS or ITEMS as you want - the syntax is fairly straightforward.)''

== Embark Strategies ==
The strategies below are suggestions. They are not universal, and many are even contradictory. This is because there is no one true way to play Dwarf Fortress. Some may not work for you because of unstated assumptions about priority, value, fun, or procedure. However, since Losing is Fun, it's always worth it to try something out, even if it doesn't go well.

=== Picking the Right Location ===

'''Need More Dirt (and Its Inverse)''' - three layers of soil before the stone layers begin provides a very large area that can be used to quickly carve out efficient storage rooms, as well as easy construction of large farms and tree farms without the need to flood/muddy large areas of stone. Remember, the embark screen only lists the first eight layers, and the total number of layers is highly random. More dirt does not necessarily mean less stone.

'''Flowing Water (and Its Inverse)''' - flowing water (river or stream) is a must have for the infinite power it supplies for working machinery and because underground water supplies are too dangerous to tap into. There is no guarantee of infinite water underground, you could embark on a map with completely dry caverns. However, rainier climates will always have murky pools, which with careful management can be refilled from the rain. Infinite power for working machinery can be created using a limited amount of water in a perpetual motion machine. Although, being limited in quantity, murky pools simply do not have the capacity to permanently flood your fortress, while a single mistake with an infinite source can easily do so.

=== Preparation Strategies ===
Main article: {{l|Starting build}}

'''Free Barrels''' - many products are stored in bins, barrels, or bags and do not stack with other items even if they're in the same broad classification. Plump Helmets and Horse Meat come in separate barrels even though they're both food. Purchasing a single item of food (or increasing the number to one above the storage limit of the barrel i.e. 11, 21, 31) will also produce a free barrel for it to be stored in. As barrels have a cost of 10 to buy empty, buying a single unit of cost 2 foodstuffs gets you a value of 5. Anything above cost 2 bought for the express purpose of getting barrels would be better off just buying barrels empty or raw logs. This concept can be extended to many different goods, and for any stored good you were "going to buy anyway" you should avoid buying exactly a containerful. Do not get 20, get 21.
* Note that meat products from the same animal will store in the same barrel, thus 1 unit of Horse Meat and 1 unit of Horse Tripe will only get you one barrel, not two.

'''Cheap Bags''' - while even the cheapest bags (made from cave spider silk and low-value leather) cost 10 points each, you can instead simply bring several units of {{L|sand}} costing 1 point each, as each unit of sand will be stored in its own bag made from a randomly selected material (including giant cave spider silk and valuable creature leather).

'''Don't Really Need That''' - unless you have tailored your embark for metal production quick and early, an anvil is typically unnecessary and the 100 points you get from refunding it can be better spent on skills or additional foodstuffs (can't really have enough foodstuffs). By the time the Dwarven caravan arrives in the fall, a 100☼ iron anvil, or even a 300☼ steel anvil, should be little more than an inconvenience. This can sometimes be problematic if you are unlucky and the caravan does not bring an anvil.

'''REALLY Don't Need That''' - For players more familiar with the game. Bring no pre-constructed goods (weapons, buckets, etc.), just the materials to make them with. This requires several (3-10, though you're likely to bring way more) logs, some fire-safe stone, some bars of copper, and an anvil. Upon arrival, build a Wood Furnace and a Forge, make charcoal, then picks for the {{L|miner}}s and an axe for {{L|wood cutter}}s. Medical supplies should be unnecessary to start with, because if you need them you're screwed. You may want to bring some rope (or just thread) along though. You can start your fortress with just 124☼ worth of items (iron anvil - 100☼, 3 copper nuggets for 2 picks and an axe - 18☼, 2 logs to become coal to smelt a nugget and forge the axe - 6☼).

'''Yes, I Do Need That''' - <s>never</s> don't leave without alcohol unless you have a {{L|brewer}} and a way to gather plants early (untrained {{L|herbalist}}s designated after embarking are enough) or safe water source (preferably flowing).

= See Also =
*New players may find the {{L|Quickstart guide}} useful.
*The {{L|Starting build|Starting Build}} article has more detailed embark strategies.

v0.31 Talk:Starting build

2011-04-24T02:36:48Z

Squirrelloid: /* Page Overhaul */

__TOC__

==Starting Region: Flatlands==
"Fewer elevations means fewer exploitable z-levels" - true, but with at least 30 z-levels to play around with before you're likely to hit something dangerous this seems a slightly irrelevant point.--[[User:Nimblewright|Nimblewright]] 17:13, 14 April 2010 (UTC)

==Axe only for weapon==
An axe is really ONLY useful for a weapon, as a log can be used to quickly make one. Even if axes are cheaper now, there is no point in bringing one to chop wood.
:Only if training axes work to chop wood, otherwise it is far easier to take an axe than to make one. --[[User:Eagle0600|Eagle0600]] 09:02, 5 April 2010 (UTC)
::They do, just tested it
::Wagon = 3 logs = 1 carpenters workshop + 2 logs. Just add a carpenter, and you have two axes already. --[[User:Dree12|Dree12]] 00:51, 7 April 2010 (UTC)
Only if training axes work to chop wood
:::This is the sort of trivial test editors really should do themselves before posting. And confirmed, they do cut wood. At 17P, its a toss up whether having a weapon in hand (even a wood one) is worth the delay of making a Carpenter's shop and creating one (if probably a higher quality one - which then partially negates its use as a training weapon.)--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 19:46, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

==Which skills do i need, really==
This section, as the title implies, is not 'which skills would it be nice to have'. Its 'which skills can i not reasonably avoid using'. Having avoided any military engagements with numerous fortresses in .40d, no, not even the military qualifies as an essential skill set, no matter how desirable it may be. Its simply too easy to work around. Only skills which cannot be avoided or which avoiding leads to incredible contortions to make the fortress run should be listed here, and afaict, that list is complete as of my edit (and was complete the first time I wrote that section). The only argument that could be made is Mechanic should be *removed*. --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 08:57, 5 April 2010 (UTC)
:Why should Mechanic be removed? They're still used for everything from traps to power! While not many people use weapon traps, if elephants wander into the fort, the only 'safe' way is to use weapon traps. Besides, higher skill means more traps quicker. There are no skills that cause increadible contortions if not brought, really. You start fine with no skills, they train up. Appraiser is the only skill that is hard to train up and causes "incredible contortions" if not brought. So with that suggestion, the section should state that you need Proficient Appraiser on all your dwarves. --[[User:Dree12|Dree12]] 23:42, 7 April 2010 (UTC)
::First, the suggestion is not what skills you should take, but what skills you will just about always use, barring extreme contortion.
::Second, I think mechanic belongs in the list, because I think using no mechanisms ever is crazy. But that's a place where there probably are alternative ways of ("successfully") playing that don't involve building a single mechanism ever. That's why I say an argument could be made to remove the mechanic; not that I am personally making one.
::Third, appraiser is really easy to train actually - whenever a dwarf goes to trade they make appraise checks as soon as you hit the 't' button (or at least they did in .40d - needs confirmation). They make one appraise check for each item the merchants brought to trade. So someone with no appraise skill will suddenly be skilled or better just by looking at the goods of a large trade caravan. (I believe you only get one attempt per caravan, so no xp scumming by rotating all your dwarves through broker for one caravan!) Of course, until you get enough xp to hit novice at least, you'll have to guess how much to trade for what you want, which is painful. You will, however, always use it (barring the extreme contortion of never trading).
::Fourth, I _think_ appraiser is already implicity included, since I think its a leader skill. If not, that entry should be amended to the original text 'broker skills' because appraise is the most relevant of those.
::--[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 08:37, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
:::Think about who will read this article, and why, and what they want to get out of it. (Or, more accurately, what you , the knowledgeable editors, want to give them, since many won't know what they do want/need out of this article.)
:::"'''Need'''" is almost purely subjective, unfortunately. Do you "need" a miner? No, they'll train fast enough, esp in soil. You will always* '''use''' one, but you don't "need" to take one. Bottom line, you can start with 7 unskilled dwarves - so you don't "need" any skills, right? Any dwarf can make mechanisms, so you never "need" a mechanic, right? Wrong.
:::<nowiki>*</nowiki>Challenges and advanced play are not what this article is about.
:::To me, that subsection is about what the ''starting player'' (1st fortress, 3rd fortress, that ballpark) wants to bring so their fortress will flourish despite the typical newbie flailing - and why. But what you use and what you "need" are not the same thing. So, we don't say "You need/don't need Appraiser" (or Mechanic, or etc) - we list the usual, predictable recommendations - Miner, Mason, Appraiser, Brewer, Cook, Grower, Military, etc etc - and say WHY it's suggested you "need" them. ''"Mechanic - more quickly produces (and places) high quality mechanisms, for weapon traps and created wealth"''. A quick one-line explanation, and let the player decide based on that. ''"Fisherdwarf/Ambusher -if you can't get UG crops going, you need creatures to supplement your food"'' - Meh, not for me, but okay. ''(Likewise, some can be listed as why you do NOT need them - "Glassmaker - too easy to train up on "free" sand.")'' This allows diff editor's opinions without a black/white "include/exclude" debate. More to the point, in the end, only ''experience'' will answer that question for each reader's playstyle, so this is only to give the newbie the confidence and information to make a choice that's better than "Play Now!".
:::Rewrite the intro to that subsection to reflect this reality, put objective pro's/con's for each listing, and undelete anything that has been scratched off the list.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 19:41, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

==Organization==
First, there were too many starting guides in the 40d namespace, so we probably want to spend some time dividing the necessary material among articles in a *rational* manner early rather than having multiple superfluous pages again. I started a discussion on that [[DF2010 Talk:How to correctly start fortress mode|here]].

Second, this article is trying to fulfill too many functions. As per the above linked discussion, I think this should be separated into (1) a general starting a fortress page that covers the mechanics of doing so, and indexes the necessary guides, (2) a Quickstart guide for new users with a link to a save from DFFD, (3) a theoretical treatment of starting builds for advanced users, and possibly (4) an Embark Now guide (could possibly just be embedded in the parent page).

As it is, this page covers not only starting builds, but also how to navigate the embark menu (which is really a separate topic entirely, and I would never have thought to look here for it). It also covers Embark Now, which isn't really a 'build' at all from the user's perspective.

So, we should discuss this before I unilaterally implement such a far-reaching modification. But this page is a mess because its trying to do too much.

--[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 10:27, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

:For what it's worth, I completely agree. Having a bunch of redundant guides that have too much on them is going to confuse people, much like the 40d ones did, and that is the opposite of what having guides for beginners is intended to do. The first three guides you suggested should have pages, and that should be everything. Even an Embark Now guide could be included as part of something else where it would make more sense, not as its own page. --[[User:AzureShadow|AzureShadow]] 12:03, 6 April 2010 (UTC)

::We have long needed an article dedicated to the Embark menu (and some of its sub-menus as well.) Breaking this beast up would not be a bad idea, but "Play Now" I think contrasts/fits well with the custom option, and is fairly brief (and would almost be a stub by itself? Meh, maybe not.) Putting "Play Now" on a separate article would isolate it from players who would never choose it and are only interested in customizing their own build.

(1) a general starting a fortress page
(2) a Quickstart guide for new users with a link to a save from DFFD
::Problem is we already have so many "how to start the game" guides. This/those would have to be rationalize with each other, losing the redundant parts. --[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 19:09, 6 April 2010 (UTC)

:::When i gave that list, I had intended it as a full list of necessary pages, not just breaking this one up, but merging the valid parts from the other existing articles (or, since this is a new version, the appropriate themes from those articles and redirect their DF2010 namespace page names to the relevant articles). I did just read your points over at [[DF2010:How to correctly start fortress mode]], and I'm not sure I think we need quite as many different pages as you do, but I'll think about it and post something before I do anything too crazy. --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 21:00, 6 April 2010 (UTC)

==Seasonal Food/Booze Consumption==
Just ran a side-test to see if the old numbers held true. Took starting 7 and 100 booze and 100 alcohol, walled them up and let them cook. At the Summer pause they had consumed 14 food and 28 booze - 2 food/4 booze each. At Autumn pause they had consumed a total of 28 food/60 booze (2/ and 4.3/). (caravan bypassed). At Winter they had consumed another 17 food (55 remaining) and 30 booze (10 remaining) - which puts them at about 2 1/7 and 4 2/7 - but there were 2 over-indulgers in the group, so that might be the 1/7 and 2/7 right there. Bottom line, it's still very close to 2 food and 4 booze/.)
(The really interesting thing is how many migrants showed up while they were holed up, in the next section...)--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 20:06, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

==Supplies and Early Migrant Expectation==
While running the above experiment, I had less than 3000 created wealth and had a combined 13 (yes, thirteen) migrants show up over Summer and Autumn. Only 3-4 showed up immediately upon any announcement, so they must have snuck in in two waves each season, ~3 and then ~3 more later each time. This influx would have seriously messed with any expectations/projections for embark supplies before the first caravan - which, btw, didn't show up until about a week before Winter.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 20:06, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

There is something odd about the way migrants are calculated now, I've had seasons where I produce little to nothing and get many more migrants than seasons where I have my stonecrafter working 24/7.[[User:Hexrei|Hexrei]]

==Magma vent, chasm, etc==
There are multiple references left to these features in this article, are they even in 2010 in the same way they were in 40d?[[User:Hexrei|Hexrei]] 18:58, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

== Elfhater's Strategy ==

It seems to me that Elfhater's Strategy is better suited to the [[Make your own weapons]] page. Similarly, that page ought to be linked in its place. Any objections? --[[User:Jwest23|Jwest23]] 14:49, 14 September 2010 (UTC)

== Student / Teacher ==
Hello, this my first post so I hope I'm typing this alright. :D
I suggest adding a mention of having one dwarf start with Teacher 5 and Student 5, to prepare him to be military trainer.
You could even go as far as to have a Miner/Armour user, and a Mason/Dodger and so forth, so he can quickly absorb those skills and train them to everyone in his squad, though the Teacher/Student dwarf also works without this.

"Dangerrooms" work, but feel too much like cheating, so this setup would offer a legitimate alternative.
[[User:Naros|Naros]] 17:29, 12 January 2011 (UTC)

== Page Overhaul ==
I've started reorganizing this page to remove a bunch of cruft that didn't belong here, and to focus it more towards being a discussion about what the decisions are you make and what you make those decisions on rather than covering everything from mechanics to specific choices. The {{l|Embark}} page is going to cover mechanics and I am similarly reworking it to remove the guide material at the same time.

This is not intended to be a new player guide because it will lack specificity and be about general themes in putting together a starting party. However, it would be worthwhile to link new player guides at the top so a player who finds their way here and wants that can be redirected there. Similarly, if other pages exist besides this and Embark that cover similar material, let me know so i can rework those pages as well (or not as appropriate) and potentially crosslink everything so people can find the page whose purpose matches what they're looking for.

This is a work in progress, there's a lot of text that needs to be removed or cleaned up yet, but i think i got the most egregious nonsense off this page. The organization is still atrocious, I'm working on it. The {{l|Sample Starting Builds}} page is an abomination, and should possibly just be deleted, but I didn't want to do anything so drastic without consensus. At least by making it and putting a link at the bottom of the page, maybe people will be inclined to stop vandalizing this page with it.

--[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 10:18, 23 April 2011 (UTC)

:Ok, the skills section is in pretty good shape. The Items section needs work. A lot of work. (The original page basically had the same section repeated twice in two different places). Fortunately, its a much shorter section. I'll get back to it later today. --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 12:31, 23 April 2011 (UTC)

:Its in an acceptable state now. I can't believe anyone rated this article as Exceptional before, it was poorly organized, repetitive, and had a lot of cruft. Probably needs to be re-evaluated now. --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 02:36, 24 April 2011 (UTC)

v0.31:Starting build

2011-04-24T02:35:23Z

Squirrelloid: New header to get people headed to the right page if they're looking for a guide or tutorial

{{quality|Exceptional|01:37, 16 October 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

:: This is not a tutorial, a FAQ, or a new players guide. This is a mildly advanced theoretical treatment for someone ready to take the plunge and make all the decisions about their own fortress. The following other articles may satisfy what you need:
::*{{l|Quickstart guide}}
::*[[From Caravan to Happy Dwarves|Beginner Flowchart]]
::*[[User:Calite#Jumping_into_Dwarf_Fortress_Mode|Beginner Checklist]]
::For an explanation of the interface for starting out, see {{l|Embark}} 

A '''starting build''' is a personal ''strategy'' for choosing the initial supplies, equipment, and {{l|skill}}s of your initial seven dwarves when starting a new game in {{l|fortress mode}}. These skills and items which you assign to your dwarves will have a large impact on life in your new fortress, especially in its first year.

This page attempts to give advice on some of the many gameplay elements which influence the flow of your game based on your goals. These include: choosing a ''fortress site'', the ''starting build'' itself, as well as ''challenge builds'' aimed at providing new or unusual challenges to advanced players. This page is not an explanation of the mechanics of doing so, see {{l|Embark}} for an explanation of the interface itself.

But one thing should be made clear - there is no "best" build, no "perfect" or "clearly superior" final mix of skills and items, if only because there isn't any one goal of play. The goals you have for a fortress will dictate which sets of items and skills are best suited to achieving that goal - in your opinion. And then there is the environment, where your dwarves will arrive, the creatures, the resources available, and so forth. Finally, some people do things solely because it is hard, and that makes it more fun for them.

Items are tied to starting skills, and starting skills are tied to the expected environment for your chosen embark, and all are tied to your preferences for playing the game - not all sites require (or invite) the same approach, and no two players would take the same approach to the same environment.

This page attempts to provide a discussion about how and why you make the choices on what you bring along.

__TOC__

== Components of a Starting Build ==
There are two main components of a starting build: skills and items.

Skills for your initial dwarves determine how quickly they will work early on, what industries you are guaranteed to be able to start with skilled workers later, how well you can defend your dwarves early on, and what the quality of various goods they produce will be, and possibly many other considerations. This page considers in detail how you might go about choosing skills for your starting dwarves, and examines the multiple competing perspectives from which you can make that decision.

The items that your dwarves bring with you can be tailored a number of ways. There are trade-offs to cheaper and more expensive alternatives, and reasons why you might choose either. This section explores the nature of these trade-offs and the reasons for making a decision. It also looks at optimizing goods brought in more general contexts.

Starting builds can and should vary based upon a number of other variables. {{l|location|Where you choose to settle}} will give you a fortress that supplies different raw materials and thus require different skill sets to utilize, not to mention different threats from native wildlife based on {{l|biome}}, {{l|surroundings|savagery}}, and {{l|surroundings|alignment}}. Which dwarven civilization you come from will restrict the materials with which you can start. Making choices about these variables is not part of a starting build. What you choose for skills and items because of these choices is part of your starting build, and so some general guidelines about different environments is given last.

This page does not cover the interface for accomplishing these tasks. Please see the {{l|embark}} page.

== Skill Optimization ==
With only 7 dwarves, you can't take every {{l|skill}}, so you have to balance what you do take. At this starting phase, each dwarf can only be assigned a maximum total of 10 skill levels, with no single skill starting higher than "5". Actual skill distribution is thus constrained to be something between 1 level in each of 10 skills, or 5 levels in each of two skills, or something in between. Because dwarves can {{l|experience|learn}} any and all skills once your fortress starts, these initial choices do not dictate what the dwarves can do, opening up incredible latitude to choose skills for reasons other than survival.

:''(* Note that an unskilled dwarf starts with all Skills at Level '''0'''. Adding +5 Levels is then Level '''5'''. This is true regardless of how many "points" a level costs when first buying skills at embark.)''

A brief list of considerations governing skill choice:
:* Maximizing starting skill ranks vs. generalizing and having more skills covered at lower levels.
:* Balancing multiple skills for a single dwarf, so they aren't constantly needed for two different tasks at critical periods
:* Military vs economic needs
:* Your goals vs "basic survival needs" to keep your fortress healthy and happy.
:* Speed that a skill can be trained in game
:* Demand for a skill during a game
:* Whether quality or speed are significant considerations for tasks/final product
:* Balancing the desire to create {{l|wealth}} ''(with high-value products)'' with the need to maintain {{l|thought|morale}} ''(with low-value but commonly used products, like {{l|bed}}s, which normally are made from {{l|wood}})''.
:* most importantly - ''your playstyle'' - what '''you''' think is "fun"!

==== Breadth vs. Depth ====

A dwarf with only 2 starting skills at 5 ranks each is pretty good at 2 tasks, but untrained at anything else. A dwarf with nothing higher than level 1 is passable at many tasks, but not good at anything. Each dwarf in your party is going to be somewhere along this continuum, and you'll need to choose where.

Level in a skill dictates how fast a dwarf completes a task (most of the time), and how well he completes it (if applicable). On one extreme, {{l|butchery}} has no time variance for slaughtering a tame animal, and has no quality associated with the outcome. On the other extreme, {{l|metalworking}} tasks can take a long time for an untrained worker to complete and their high material value means the quality multiplier has a large impact on the end value.

Dwarves who complete tasks faster can do more total {{l|job}}s within a given timeframe. The rate at which speed increases with level varies with skill, so some skills will benefit more than others.

Dwarves who make items of higher quality will contribute more to fortress wealth and may have a large impact on fortress happiness if their work is readily available to be seen by other dwarves. Items which typically contribute to happiness are low value but common public items, like beds and tables. Items which contribute the most to fortress wealth often cannot be displayed, but make useful trade goods or equipment for your military.

A dwarf highly skilled in few areas will work faster at those tasks and produce higher quality work than his more generalized counterpart. However, he will do worse at any other task he is set to.

Aside from the obvious trade off, there is another reason to prefer depth - dwarves can obviously only complete so many total jobs within a given timespan. If a dwarf is busy doing one thing, he can't simultaneously be doing something else. So a dwarf who is highly skilled in a few skills may not actually experience any disadvantage thereby if he is kept doing those things in which he specializes. The generalist dwarf, on the other hand, may be able to do many more different tasks adequately, but he can still only do one type of task at a time. A dwarf with one highly used skill (such as Mechanics or Mining) can feasibly spend all his time using only his primary skill and thus has no need to generalize. In effect, the generalist is wasting more skill points whenever he does jobs than the specialist, so long as the specialist tends to do jobs he has levels in. Specializing your initial skill investment is therefore superior if you specialize the division of labor in your fortress.

Of course, you can still only bring 7 dwarves with 10 total levels of skills each, so covering everything you want to do in 14 skills may be hard, if not impossible. A generalist or two can cover more bases that have little quality need or are otherwise fast even without a high level. The generalists real problem arises from the fact that any dwarf can do any task, and having 1 level isn't much better than having no levels. Which isn't to say there isn't a situation where a 1/1/1/1/1/5 dwarf is the right solution (indeed, the typical recommended leader/broker takes 1/1/1/1/1 in appraiser/judge of intent/negotiator/+2 social skills because none of these skills have a time or quality component), but most less-specialized dwarves are more likely to fall in the 5/3/2 or 4/3/3 end of the spectrum solely because there is a minimum investment necessary to be noticeably better than not having any levels at all.

==== Design Constraints: Which skills do I need, really? ====

The only thing that you absolutely must do in the first year is get your food supplies into a food stockpile, preferably inside, otherwise your food will rot on the ground and your dwarves will starve. Anything else you want to do can be accommodated by sufficient investment in initial food supplies and/or skills. This means the options for possible starting builds are vast because virtually any set of starting skills for your dwarves is viable (and that's before you even think about equipment, which adds more variables). So the short answer is: none.

That said, there are some skills which will be '''used''', to one extent or another, by virtually every fortress - but that doesn't mean you '''need''' or even want to invest points in them to start. You could even manipulate the fortress (see {{l|challenge}}) to completely avoid one or more of the following, but these are the skills you will find it exceptionally hard to avoid creating jobs for:
:{{l|Mining}} - to dig your fortress, and gain stone for projects. Only possible to avoid using if you're secretly an elf.
:* Inexperienced {{l|miner}}s work very slowly and are less likely to recover mined gems or valuable ores. Mining can be leveled up quite quickly by mining {{l|soil#soil|soil}}, but taking two dwarves with at least some points in mining is recommended in many cases.
:{{l|Carpentry}} - {{l|bed}}s can only be produced from {{l|wood}} (rare {{l|mood}}s aside). This skill can also be used to make {{L|bin}}s without having to have an {{L|anvil}}, use any metal {{L|bar}}s, or use any {{L|fuel}}.
:*Carpentry is used, but opinions differ - on one hand, wood items are just not worth that much {{l|value}}-wise ''(10's of dwarfbucks vs 100's for stone furniture or 1000's for armor or prepared foods, for instance)'', so the difference in monetary value between high-quality and no-quality is minor for wood products. However, high-quality {{l|bed}}s are one of the easiest ways to help make and keep your dwarves {{l|thought|happy}} (since every dwarf will encounter a bed regularly), so some players swear by it.
:{{l|Masonry}} - to build walls and stairs, and fashion dwarven furniture from stone. Possible to work around, but incredibly hard and annoying to do.
:{{l|Grower|Growing}} - your farmers' work echoes throughout so many other tasks, it's stunning
:* While its possible to feed your fortress on nothing but caravan goods, you'll never come by enough alcohol that way, so you'll eventually need to grow crops for brewing, and dwarves will literally go crazy if forced to drink nothing but water for long periods. Thus you'll want to plan for farming eventually - not that you need to bring a highly skilled {{l|Grower}}, but it'll certainly be ''very'' helpful. Likewise, a skilled {{l|brewer}} produces higher quality {{l|alcohol}} (''though the quality is hidden!)'', which improves your dwarves' mood, as does a skilled {{l|cook}} with the foods they prepare. However, most food can be eaten raw, and so long as they are not starving there is life.
:{{l|Brewing}} - all dwarves "need alcohol to get through the working day"
:{{l|Mechanics}} - if you want traps, and most people will. Also needed for most machinery.
:{{l|Architecture|Building Designer}} - mandatory for some buildings and constructions, but skill only improves speed a tad and increases structure {{l|value}}
:{{l|Broker skills}} - most importantly {{l|appraiser}} - a minimum of Broker skills are highly recommended to start with at the Novice (1 pt) level - it'll make your life much easier (especially Novice level of {{l|Appraiser}}, at least, as it greatly facilitates trading).
:{{L|Record keeper}} - Lets you be able to see the exact amount of things you have much faster than training one, and is necessary to view the stocks screen.

The very fact that you will use these skills often makes many of them desirable to choose as starting skills for your dwarves. Of the above, Mining, Masonry, Growing, Brewing, Cooking, and Mechanics are generally worth considering as "highly desirable". However, '''any skill can be used untrained, and/or get trained on the job''' - it just means a slower process and/or average lower quality product than if done by a dwarf with a higher {{l|experience|skill level}}.

The difference between these skills and other skills is that other skills are optional as to whether they'll get used or not. You need to deliberately want to use them. These skills are essential to basic aspects of the game, and avoiding one requires a deliberate choice not to use it (and likely a lot of effort spent to avoid doing so). Ie, a fortress could make its wealth by smithing fine weapons, weaving quality cloth, encrusting precious stones onto furniture, or crafting quality trinkets. Or all of those. But it doesn't have a compelling reason to do any one in particular. A fortress that never designates a tile for mining, however, requires exceptional effort to achieve.

But that you can avoid even something as basic as mining *for the lifetime of your fortress* means there is no universal design constraint on which skills to start with. Ultimately the answer to "What skills do I need?" is "Whichever ''you'' want". Choosing a mixture of these commonly used skills and your desired specialized skills will make starting up your fortress easier and more efficient, but you don't need to start with any of them. Choosing to avoid some skills may force you to use some others, but nothing compels you to invest in any skill in particular.

==== Balancing military and economic needs ====

Not all embarks will require a military presence in the first year, but anyone planning an expedition to a sinister, haunted, or terrifying biome would be foolish not to be prepared for nasty dwarf-killing creatures. The solution doesn't strictly need to be military skills; quick delving and a skilled mechanic may be sufficient; but starting with a military dwarf will give you the earliest possible protection and a lot more versatility in where that protection can be applied. Whatever you choose to do, understand the risk and be prepared for it.

==== Training considerations ====

Some skills are harder to gain experience in than others - requiring valuable resources or taking an extended period of time, and thus inconvenient to train from the ground up. Investing in some of these extensively in your initial dwarves can make those industries much less painful to start. For example, metal-related skills generally eat metal bars, and thus the less time you spend training metal workers up to a decent level, the faster they'll be churning out high-quality items for you, and the fewer bars they'll waste becoming skilled. On the other hand, despite its importance, skills like mining train relatively quickly and barring extenuating circumstances (expected need to accomplish particular digging projects in the first month or you'll get mauled by a Giant for example) there's little need to actually invest your starting skills in it - they can learn on the job.

==== Quality, value, and happiness ====

{{l|Quality}} is an important part of Dwarf Fortress. Higher quality items produce better and more frequent happy thoughts and are worth more money. Valuable commodities will trade for more goods from caravans that visit. When choosing skills that produce objects of quality, the desire to produce valuable goods for trade will often conflict with the desire to produce objects that will make your dwarves happy. Built items that are frequently encountered tend to be things like furniture, especially beds, which tend to have low material values and thus low total value no matter how high the quality of the work. Further, these things tend to be inconvenient to trade. It is often best to strike a balance between dwarves who produce valuable trade goods and dwarves who produce quality items that will make your population happy - and thus be able to achieve both goals simultaneously.

Its worth noting that built furniture and worn clothing counts its value twice, once under the appropriate category and once for displayed value. If you're trying to maximize your created wealth total, a good metalsmith producing furniture from high-value metals is optimal.

==== Moodable skills ====

{{l|Strange mood}}s will create a Legendary skill of the "moodable" skill with the highest level, and moods take hold of dwarves with different professions at different rates. Some skills are "moodable" where others are not. You might choose to take certain skills solely because it opens up moods for that skill with that dwarf. Some moodable skills are more valuable than others - a legendary weaponsmith is both valuable and useful. A legendary tanner is generally a waste of a mood since tanned hides have no quality.

Because a dwarf can only have a strange mood in one skill, pairing a moodable skill with a non-moodable skill can protect the moodable skill and ensure that if the dwarf has a mood it will be in the skill you desire. See the section on combining skills below for more details on ways to pair skills.

Dwarves with no moodable skill can be allowed to do one task using a moodable skill to give them a moodable skill with no starting build investment, so moodable skill considerations should not be considered a primary reason to choose particular skills - you should also want to make use of them for other reasons.

==== Combining Skills ====
Every dwarf is going to have 2 or more {{l|skills}}. This means that even once you know which skills you want, you're going to need to pair them up before assigning them. Not all skill combinations are equally functional.

Some skills are highly time-consuming, either because the skill is in frequent demand (eg, {{l|mining}}) or because it takes a long time to do an individual job (eg, {{l|strand extraction}}). If a dwarf is spending most of their time using that skill, they aren't making much use of their other skill. Pairing two time-consuming skills together therefore tends to be a bad idea, as one or both jobs are not going to get the attention they need or deserve. Similarly, pairing a skill with time-critical jobs with a time-consuming skill also tends to be a bad idea. If your {{l|grower}} is also mining, he may not stop to plant crops one season. Or he might neglect to harvest your crops in a timely fashion and they could rot on the ground (if you only let your growers harvest). Arranging your skill combinations to avoid these situations is generally beneficial. For example, Masons, miners, growers, and any craft that your fortress will base their economy off of (glass, stonecrafts, armour, etc) will take a lot of time, so plan accordingly.

Instead, pairing relatively time-intensive tasks with less time-intensive tasks will let your dwarf accomplish all such tasks adequately. Once you get a metal industry rolling, an armorer/weaponsmith will need to make a lot fewer weapons to outfit your soldiers than he will armor components. Thus he can usefully do both jobs without hurting your productivity overly much. Similarly, a mason might also be your architect, since building designer is a very infrequently used skill.

Working at different jobs levels up specific {{l|attribute}}s. One could level up a miner until he becomes mighty and ultra-tough - and then turn him into a soldier, or retire him to haul stone. If you plan on doing so, it may not be a good idea to give this guy a second critical job that will demand a lot of time away from their focus.

Since tasks will take place in specific areas, another approach is to combine tasks into dwarves who will take care of a specific industry, or spend all their time in one generally narrow part of the fortress - the forges, or the kitchens, or outdoors, for instance. So combining Farming with cooking, rather than mining, for example, and turn on only Haul Food, not Haul Stone. Metalworkers spending their time in the forge can easily handle more than one type of metalworking skill, and are also well-situated to be furnace operators.

Similarly, you can also make the craftsmen of your finished products also responsible for the production of intermediate products from raw ingredients. This way when they run out of materials to make into finished goods they can immediately switch over to working raw products into intermediate products so they'll have more to work with later. This works better in some industries than in others. A single butcher/tanner/cook trying to process multiple animals simultaneously will likely result in rotten food, carcases, or skins. But a weaponsmith who doubles as a furnace operator can usefully ensure he has material to work with when you want him to. Later on, however, a highly skilled craftsdwarf is often better suited at sitting in their {{l|workshop}} and having others deliver raw materials to them than going out and obtaining their own raw materials themselves, but in the early game dwarf-time is limited, and a single dwarf who can work an entire production chain can do so relatively efficiently and let your other dwarves be used elsewhere.

There is no requirement that a dwarves job combination needs to look 'right' or logical. A weaponsmith will most probably not spend nearly 100% of their time creating weapons - what they do with the other part of their time may have nothing at all to do with forges or smithing. Jobs which require little time in general, or little time early even if time-intensive later, may well be paired with any time-intensive task solely to provide the dwarf with something to usefully and skillfully do with most of their time, and freed from that duty as needed for the other tasks.

Another constraint you can impose on your skill combinations is to try to limit dwarves to {{l|moodable}} skill and one non-moodable skill (or a moodable and a less desired moodable skill at lower level), so any mood will improve the desired one. For example, pairing craft skills with farming skills gives you dwarves that will perform useful food production or raw good processing services while also getting their mood in a valuable finished goods skill. Example: Clothier/Grower.

==== Which dwarf should have which skill? ====
Dwarves who craft goods they prefer, or work materials they prefer, gain a bonus to the quality of the finished work. This can inform your choice of which skills you choose, for example by choosing a weaver because you notice a preference for sheap wool yarn, or you might choose the skills you want and then try to find a suitable dwarf to use that skill. In the latter case, since all dwarves have one metal preference you might assign an armorsmithing skill to a dwarf with a preference for iron, steel, or adamantine.

The dwarf with the most social skills will end up being the {{l|Expedition leader}}, who will then become the {{l|mayor}} and start making {{l|mandate}}s. Thus you should avoid giving the most social skills to dwarfs who have {{l|preferences}} for things like {{l|adamantine}}.

Dwarves have physical and mental attributes that affect the performance of certain skills. You may wish to give a socially adept and patient dwarf the leadership/broker skills, or a dwarf who doesn't tire easily a skill which will be in frequent use like mining. You can also try to match skills to {{l|personality}}, some of which have obvious implications for their willingness to work long hours or how frequently they might take breaks.

Of course, all combined these represent a lot of possible constraints on where you assign particular skills, and it would be impossible to apply them in total to your entire desired skill load. Use these as a guide, but don't be upset if all your dwarves are anti-social psychopaths - someone still needs to be the leader, after all.

==== Other considerations ====
Migrants can and will arrive with a wide selection of decently trained skills. While it is a gamble, chances are pretty decent that migrants will arrive with a highly trained skill that is also highly desirable and would usurp the job of one of the seven starting ones. The first few migration waves are likely to give you a much better talent pool than what you can assign at embark. On the other hand, you may never get the skill you really want if you don't start with it.

Skills rust if not used and they can eventually de-level. Consider that skills which you will use years after embark are going to be rusty or even deleveled. Embark to the first caravan is long enough for a skill to start rusting, so you might want to make sure you'll use every skill you embark with before the first year ends to avoid catastrophic rusting.

Remember that you need to survive in order to accomplish any goals. Have a plan for lasting to at least the first caravan, if not one for longterm sustainability.

== Items ==

The items you choose to bring with you will need to satisfy a number of needs. Most importantly, you need to keep yourself alive - at least until the caravan arrives in the fall to resupply yourself. You probably also want to plan on some way of making a shelter, whether that be the traditional delved hall, a majestic castle, a log cabin, or something even more exotic. You may want to plan for mishaps by bringing essential medical supplies, especially those which may be hard to acquire on site. And you might bring items which will assist in creating items for trade to that first caravan, should you need anything for the skills you're planning on.

For the purposes of this article, livestock are considered items.

All embarks get the following items without paying for them: 2 animals (who pulled the wagon), and the 3 wood that make up the wagon.

=== Motivations ===

==== Survival ====

A single dwarf eats about 2x/season, and drinks about 4x/season. With 7 dwarves that's ~approximately~ 14 meals per season and 28 alcohol per season, or ~42 meals and ~84 alcohol until the end of Fall. The dwarf caravan tends to arrive in the third month of fall, so you will probably need to plan on a full 3 seasons. You are also likely to get at least one if not two small waves of migrants before the caravan arrives.

It is possible to bring enough food and drink to make it to the caravan - indeed, bringing enough food isn't especially hard (especially once you factor in slaughtering the animals who hauled your wagon. Bringing sufficient alcohol is harder, although bringing plump helmets to brew can significantly cut the cost.

The likely best way to keep your dwarves in drink is also the most labor intensive - setting up farming in the first season or two is perfectly plausible, allowing to grow your own {{l|plants}} from seeds and brew the products. (Keep in mind not all plants can be brewed - don't plant dimple cups and expect to make alcohol). In addition to the necessary seeds, starting your own farming operation is going to require some way to get the ground muddy. While sometimes simple digging can accomplish this, many times you're going to need a screw pump. Basic construction requirements are discussed under shelter.

It is possible to make all your alcohol by harvesting aboveground plants, if highly inefficient. It also only works in biomes with collectable plant life. Notably evil biomes and glaciers are unlikely to provide.

==== Shelter ====
Bar a convenient cave, you're going to have to do something for shelter. Shelter is your first defense against roving creatures, keeping them away from where your dwarves are working so they don't spam job cancellations and strew items all over the place. (As you might guess, most 'convenient caves' aren't actually that convenient, as they tend to have residents). Basic walls that allow you egress won't stop a dedicated invader, but you don't expect to see those until year 3, so you have time to develop more elaborate defenses.

Food outside will also spoil a lot faster than food inside, so making a cellar of some sort to store your food in will increase the longevity of your food supplies. The rate at which food spoils depends on ambient temperature, so the urgency of making a cellar will depend on where you settled. It might be possible to go without a cellar in a freezing biome.{{verify}} The only way you can avoid thinking about food storage in the first year is if you collect food and make alcohol as needed - ie, by using an herbalist to collect local plants - which can avoid needing to mine at all.

Delving a shelter requires mining, which means having picks to dig with. One can always bring one or more picks at embark, but its also possible to bring the supplies necessary to make them. See tempo vs. efficiency below.

An aboveground shelter can be made with stone or wood or possibly more exotic materials. Stone of course requires mining, and thus picks. Wood can be had with an axe assuming trees are present, and axes, like picks, can similarly be brought at embark or made on site. It is of course possible to bring sufficient raw materials to build walls with, but this is far less efficient than just bringing a pick or an axe, although it could make a fun challenge. Building your initial fort out of soap, while possible, is not recommended, although possibly hilariously entertaining.

==== Industry ====
Most industries require little more than materials you can collect at the site and a workshop. So long as you can get stone, you won't need to bring anything for these. However, if you want to get an industry going immediately, it does help to bring a few building materials along (or be willing to use the wood from the wagon, if only temporarily).

Some industries require fire-safe materials to build with. All stone qualifies, as does metal. Wood can be converted to a fire safe material by burning it to ashes in a wood burners workshop, but of course that workshop requires a fire-safe material. If you're mining, this condition is easy to satisfy, but if you intend to run any of these industries right away you will need to plan on bringing appropriate materials.

Some industries require plant or animal matter to work with. Clothiers ultimately need cloth, which comes from certain plants or animals. Leatherworkers need tanned skins. (And while you can get 2 off your pack animals, this isn't sufficient to run an industry). If you plan on running these types of industries you will need to have a plan for providing suitable raw materials. Hunting can cover leatherworking needs (although this requires a hunter and hunting implements), and foraging can find rope reed plants, but its usually better to bring enough appropriate animals or plants to have a good shot at getting started in a predictable and sustainable way. Similarly, milking and cheese making require milkable animals, and bonecarving requires a dependable source of bones.

Metal industries require metal and an anvil. You cannot make an anvil on site without already having an anvil, so if you plan on doing any forging before the first caravan you will need to bring one with you. Metal can be brought as bars or as ores to be smelted in a smelter into bars, or can be mined yourself. You will need to provide fuel or magma to run these workshops, so bringing some coal can make the operation run smoother.

Soap requires a lot of wood consumption and a source of tallow to be done in a sustainable way. Lye can be bought at embark to skip the first steps and make soap more directly. You will still need to bring or make buckets and have an empty barrel to actually produce soap though, but fortunately this is just a matter of having sufficient wood.

Jewelers require gems. Cut gems can be brought at embark, but are too expensive to bring in quantity. Generally a jeweler requires mining to find sufficient gems.

Glassmaking and Pottery requires sand or clay and fuel - pay attention to your site report before embarking. Its hard to run a viable industry solely off imports in these cases. Like metal workshops, coal can be brought to substitute for fuel fairly efficiently.

As is probably obvious, certain industries depend on similar inputs. Planning on a set of industries which require similar complementary inputs can let you more efficiently spend your starting points at embark or more efficiently plan your digging during the first year. If you plan on a lot of fuel-dependent industries, it may be worthwhile to prioritize finding a source of magma.

=== Optimization ===

==== Container mechanics and free items ====

Many items come in containers such as barrels and bags, including food, liquids, seeds, and powders. The cost to embark with these items can be cheaper than the cost of the container itself. Each different type of item for each category will come in its own container. Furthermore, you'll get a new container after every 10th instance for food, most liquids, and seeds, and after every item of powders.{{verify}} Alcohol gets a new barrel after every 5th unit. (Food actually groups by animal type, so if you get horse tripe and horse meat they'll combine them, but they won't combine horse meat and donkey meat). Thus diversifying your initial food supply with 1 of each low-cost food item will net you a large number of barrels. Similarly its worth taking 1 of each seed you weren't planning on taking more of solely for the bags. Taking some sand or gypsum powder is also a cheap way to get bags. Lye (for soap) and milks can be brought for more barrels - and milk can be made into cheese for a low-cost embark option that becomes food.

As stockpiling and some jobs are container limited, getting as many free containers as you can will free up labor (and possibly valuable materials) that would otherwise be used making containers.

==== Finished product or do it yourself ====
Bringing raw materials and making the finished product yourself is often easier on your embark points than bringing the finished product. On the other hand, making it yourself takes time during which you aren't making use of the finished product.

The most common scenario involves {{l|Make your own weapons|forging your own metal tools and weapons}}. While not usually too much of a hardship, it can be dangerous to make your own weapons or picks if you expect possible hostile creatures. Further, you will lose time - possibly 1/4 to 1/2 the first month - if you forge your own picks.

Of special note regarding weapons is that a training battle axe is perfectly capable of chopping trees, and is made with nothing more than a carpentry workshop and a log. While the delay in acquiring one is minimal, a wood battle axe is not a good weapon, and so it loses utility for doing anything other than acquiring more wood.

You can also easily plan on making all or most of one's own booze, as plump helmets can be bought at embark and brewed at a still.

Any finished good can of course be made from raw materials that you bring, but most of them are not essential like the above, and thus you can generally wait until you find suitable resources on site or buy them from caravans.

==== Biome considerations: dude, where's my wood? ====
Some environments have a shortage of trees. While you can direct production of a lot of item types to other materials, beds need to be made out of wood. In addition, it is difficult to make barrels and bins out of non-wood materials early in the game, especially without ready magma (since otherwise you'll probably need to burn wood to make metal equivalents). If you have an aquifer it can be even worse - stone may be difficult or impossible to access easily. While you can ultimately ask for wood from your liaison and buy whatever the humans and elves happen to bring, and eventually you can create a tree farm underground, tight wood will limit storage and sleeping arrangements for at least the first year if not longer. You may wish to plan accordingly if embarking in a site with sparse or no trees.

==== Items for moods ====
When a dwarf is taken by a {{l|strange mood}}, he often needs obscure material or he will go insane and die, possibly with severe consequences to an entire fortress. Bringing along some of the harder-to-find ores ({{l|cassiterite}}, {{l|sphalerite}}, {{l|bismuthinite}}, {{l|garnierite}}), and putting those aside, forbidding their use "just in case", is spending a few points on an insurance policy. Many players also choose to bring a few items like pig tail cloth and cave spider silk just in case.

Alternately, if you're otherwise being minimalistic on gear you're bringing you can choose to bring a few valuable components to try to maximize the value of mood items. That artifact animal trap will be worth a lot more if your woodcarver grabs a blue diamond instead of moss agate.

==== Free Equipment ====

Dwarves who start with the ambusher skill may get some leather {{l|armor}}, a crossbow and some bolts for free. It seems to do so when ambusher is the highest non-military non-social skill.{{verify}}







==Site considerations==
Each fortress {{l|location}} offers particular challenges and opportunities, and can make different demands on your starting build. Your starting build may need to be adjusted depending on the {{l|region}} your fort occupies, the specific vision you have of your fortress, and what it will take to {{l|losing|stay alive}} where you're going!

The differences include what {{l|biome}}s, {{l|region}}s and likely {{l|metal}}s are present in your chosen embark site.

=== General Surroundings ===
Simply put, if your {{l|surroundings}} are {{l|evil}} or {{l|savage}}, your dwarves have a higher risk of suddenly facing personal combat before they are safely behind their defenses. Consider bringing extra weaponry, in the form of axes, picks or crossbows (see {{l|Starting_builds#Free_Equipment|free equipment}}). Hand in hand with those, consider skill mixes that include {{l|axedwarf}}, {{l|mining}} (the skill used to wield a pick), {{l|marksdwarf}}, or {{l|wrestling}} (a solid unarmed-combat skill).

The same is true if you are embarking near an exposed magma vent or an open chasm - these features can be seen on the embark map, but it's impossible to tell if they are "open" to the surface or not, until you are there in person.

Be sure to include some source of {{l|water}} on the map, preferably running {{l|water}}. Water is (almost) essential for any fortress. In Cold and Freezing climates streams and {{l|lake}}s will often be frozen year-round and your dwarves may quickly die of exposure, in Hot climates {{l|murky pool}}s will dry up, and in Dry ones rain will only rarely re-fill them, if ever. Choose Temperate or tropical zones for an easier game.

===Aquifers===
If an {{l|aquifer}} is present in the first soil or stone layers (visible on the pre-embark menu), it may bar all access to {{l|stone}} and {{l|ore}} until you find a way through the water barrier. Consider bringing some stone for building, and ore for your first basic needs. This may be critical to getting your fortress running smoothly.

=== Mountains ===
Mountains often have abundant {{l|ore}}s, but at the loss of trees and plants. In previous versions lacking {{L|cavern}}s, this was a serious drawback. In DF2010, brave pioneers can dig down into the caverns to find essentials like water, mud, and plants. However, players should be aware that above-ground crops will not grow in mountain biomes, no matter how muddy you may make the surface.

Depending on the exact layers, it's common to find exposed {{l|vein}}s of useful {{l|ore}}s that can be immediately mined for {{l|Make your own weapons|DIY}} weapons and tools.

=== Wooded/Plains ===
Flatlands with at least some trees and gatherable plants can also make for highly successful fortresses. Advantages over mountain zones include abundant trees and plants and (unless frozen) more abundant water. There are even (rare) magma vents. More water also means a high likelihood of an {{l|aquifer}} being present. Make sure to check on embark.

The greatest disadvantage is the potential lack of exposed {{l|stone}} to mine. The first level(s) below the surface is often {{l|soil}} of some type, which offers no building materials. However, soil is mined much more quickly than stone (x3-x4 faster), and expansive accommodations (rooms) can be achieved quickly even by untrained miners. You will find stone, you just have to go down a bit for it - but that's what dwarves do, isn't it?

{{l|Experience|Training}} a {{l|Miner}} from No Skill to Proficient takes less than a month (~20 days with hauling disabled) in soil, and to Legendary in just under a season after. {{version|0.31.12}} From embark, this means you should have legendary miners in early summer if you dig only in soil. Times increase slightly for each additional miner used.

=== Oceanside ===
With many features in common with some of the above locations, {{l|beach}}es are often a mix of ease intermingled with bouts of extreme difficulty. Minerals and trees are often abundant, as well as farmland and sand, but there is often no drinking water unless the biome has a flowing {{l|water}} of some sort.

By definition, the settlement will fall between (at least) two {{l|biome}}s (one land, one water), potentially hazardous if the player expects a peaceful oceanside meadow, without realizing the {{l|terrifying}} ocean is full of amphibious zombie {{l|whale}}s.

=== Desert, Glaciers, and Barren ===
Treeless (or near-treeless) {{l|biome}}s are challenging sites for a fortress: you get most of the disadvantages of a flatland site without having access to nearly as many trees and plants. However, near-lifeless zones such as {{l|glacier}}s are wonderful for players with slower computers, as there's little to burden the CPU but your dwarves and livestock. {{l|Desert}}s and barren areas often have sand; with a sufficient source of energy (preferably magma), you can build almost anything out of unlimited glass.

Hunters should be replaced with fisherdwarves and a fish cleaner (although the latter can be easily trained). Depending how much water vs. land, more starting wood and ores might be helpful. Swimming is rarely useful in Fortress mode, even at the beach, and can be trained.

==Sample starting builds==
See {{l|Sample Starting Builds}}

{{Starting FAQ}}
[[Category:Guides]]

Talk:Main Page/archive2

2011-04-24T02:15:20Z

Squirrelloid: /* Will change main page tomorrow pending objections */

{{Archive|
# [[Talk:Main Page/archive1|Archive 1]]
}}

== embiggen release notices? ==

I for one am hugely excited about the size of this release. Can we promote it a bit more?

== Page visit counter ==

Before the wiki move, (I think), every game article had a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_counter web counter] at the bottom of the page. It used to be pretty neat. You could create an article and then see how many hits it was getting down at the bottom. It was one incentive to expand on the article, knowing that thousands were reading it.

I think and vote that this should be brought back. --[[User:Richards|Richards]] 21:44, 27 November 2010 (UTC)
: The amount of load this causes on the servers is cost prohibitive. --[[User:Briess|Briess]] 01:46, 28 November 2010 (UTC)

== Two DF2010 main pages ==
Why are there two DF2010 main pages? When I check the wiki, I see the one with the missing hydra heads image, and the http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Main_Page address, but when I check the 40d version and go back to DF2010 main page, I get Belal's tileset image and the http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/DF2010:Main_Page address. Then, when I check the discussion page and return to the main page, it's http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Main_Page again. Is redirecting messed up or what? --[[Special:Contributions/109.93.118.60|109.93.118.60]] 09:37, 4 June 2010 (UTC)
:There is only one main page for DF2010 - the image shown on it is '''randomly selected'''. The page [[DF2010:Main Page]] is just a redirect to [[Main Page]]. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 12:36, 4 June 2010 (UTC)
Except that one shows "'''28.3 out of 100 quality rating for DF2010 namespace (approximate)'''" and the other shows: "'''29.8 out of 100 quality rating for DF2010 namespace (approximate)'''". Not to mention that the page that contains "''(Redirected from DF2010:Main Page)''" in the top left corner is ''http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/DF2010:Main_Page'' It redirects to itself. Also, I get one image on the DF2010:Main_Page, and a different one one at Main_Page. When I check DF2010:Main_Page, it's the first picture again. I made sure that it isn't the same page already. Repeat the steps I mentioned in my first comment and see for yourself. It's not a redirect, those are two different pages. --[[Special:Contributions/109.93.118.60|109.93.118.60]] 17:05, 4 June 2010 (UTC)
::[http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php?title=DF2010:Main_Page&redirect=no DF2010:Main Page - Redirect page - Main Page]. It is a redirect. When you load a redirect page, it does not actually forward you to the destination page but simply displays it immediately, so the redirect's URL is still in the address bar. Either your web browser or the server itself is caching different versions of the page depending on whether or not you viewed it through the redirect. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 17:31, 4 June 2010 (UTC)
Well, it stopped happening after the new-version change of the main page, whatever the cause was. Thanks anyway. --[[Special:Contributions/79.101.254.106|79.101.254.106]] 19:30, 4 June 2010 (UTC)

== HFS creatures ==
We don't seem to have any pages for them, shouldn't they have pages like normal creatures? --[[Special:Contributions/78.151.176.4|78.151.176.4]] 13:09, 11 April 2010 (UTC)
:Aren't they randomly generated during worldgen?--[[User:SanDiego|SanDiego]] 13:29, 11 April 2010 (UTC)
Oh right, didn't realise that. Thought that they were just lacking raws. --[[Special:Contributions/92.29.248.178|92.29.248.178]] 14:42, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

Well, you're both right :P. They're randomly generated, and they lack raws! --[[User:612DwarfAvenue|612DwarfAvenue]] 06:20, 18 April 2010 (UTC)

== Random page function ==

I'm not familiar with how the Special:Random function works, but would it be possible to restrict it to random pages from particular namespaces? Getting 23a, 40d and DF2010 pages returned isn't very helpful. [[User:Oddtwang of Dork|Oddtwang of Dork]] 16:27, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
:That would require (iirc) some fairly heavy editing to the mediawiki code. We're trying to avoid modding the code because that creates problems with updating the mediawiki software to new versions. [[user:Emi|Emi]] [[user_talk:Emi|[T]]] 18:51, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
::Just a little correction, you an get to just DF2010 pages by appending "/DF2010" to the end of special random.
:: For example. [[Special:Random/DF2010]], [[Special:Random/Utility]], ect.
:: Perhaps this link might be useful as a more available link? [[User:Mason11987|Mason]] ([[User talk:Mason11987|T]]-[[Special:Contributions/Mason11987|C]]) 00:19, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

== DF2010 Title needs changing ==

The new version is now df_31_01 and each article beginning with "DF2010" seems tacky. Any others agree it should be changed to df31 or something around like that? [[User:Richards|Richards]] 19:59, 1 April 2010 (UTC)
:The problem is that we version the wiki for each game-save compatibility change. Simply changing it to 31.01 would fix it now, but when 31.02 - 39.07 come out, and then finally 40.01 comes out that breaks save compatibility, we have much more work to do. Until we know the final version number in the series, it's not easy for us to just say "oh, this is it." --[[User:Briess|Briess]] 20:02, 1 April 2010 (UTC)
::And wtf is the precedent? In all the versions of the wiki I've seen, versions are always specified as the actual number. How is it more clear to use DF2010 instead of v0.31.01? --Peewee 09:57, 2 April 2010 (UTC)

:If you aren't planning to make more special version namespaces for a while, let's use the main namespace. Also, you guys really need to talk things out more before implementing giant sweeping changes. The more I see you describe your respective visions for the wiki, the more different they seem from each other. [[User:VengefulDonut|VengefulDonut]] 11:29, 2 April 2010 (UTC)

::Well. A solution would be to make every article title for the current version just say the article name, ex/ instead of "DF2010:Armor", make it "Armor", like last time. If a new version is released that is different, then archive it as whatever version it last applied to, like "40d:Armor, or 31.01:Armor". Is there any problem with this idea? [[User:Richards|Richards]] 14:28, 2 April 2010 (UTC)

Yes, there is. (Namely, the amount of labor you're talking about if pages are not set-up for that.)

Here's "The Plan", which was set up a couple months ago (and which has been discussed elsewhere, but we'll do it one more time)...
:* Old versions are clearly labeled and consistently linked internally. All 40d links bounce around only to 40d articles, so if a player is researching that version, it's all one package. ''(Same w/ 23a, the "2-D" version previous to that, but an ongoing and lower-priority project.)''
:* "New" versions are, likewise, consistent within themselves. Versionless search terms (like "[[stone]]" automatically default to "current version".
:* Future versions get their own version names, "current" becomes one-older, and the pattern continues.
The current PROBLEM is three-fold - the first is the changeover itself, when first time Editors start firing away at articles without the correct names or understanding The Plan. That is understandable, but compounded by the fact that we don't currently ''know'' the "proper" version number to use - is it 0.31.01, or 0.31, or 31.01 - when the first bugfix comes out, what will be changed and what kept? What part of that number constitutes/defines this as a "version"? There is no equiv of 23.a or 40.d - it's a new code, and we weren't given the codebook. (We're waiting on Three-toe/Toady for a response on that.) The 3rd problem is "DF2010" - which is wrong, but while popular and everyone is using it, it won't be very friendly later down the road.

So... we've got something that works now but won't in the future, and needs to be changed to be consistent so we don't bequeath future Admin and users the big bone. A diff between more work now and the sort of complete cluster that has gone on behind the scenes for the last 2 months preparing for this change - which is going SO MUCH SMOOTHER NOW (believe it or not!) because of that (thankless, ahem) preparation.

Once we know the correct version, all current articles will appear as that. Search terms will default to current version. Older articles will be consistent within their own namespace. AND we'll be setup for future version changes without quite so much trauma (which is ''why'' some of the more obscure of these changes are being implemented). Clear as mud?--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 19:06, 2 April 2010 (UTC)

:Are you basically trying to say that DF2010 is a convenient placeholder string that can be used to identify and move articles by bot when we get a stable version number from Toady? --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 19:20, 2 April 2010 (UTC)

::Dammit, if I could express myself in anything less than 500 words at a time, I would have! (Yes, that's basically what I'm saying.)--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 19:31, 2 April 2010 (UTC)

:::I'm not sure who wins the eloquence award here. Anyways, we're still waiting on information from ToadyOne before we rename DF2010 to something else more appropriate. --[[User:Briess|Briess]] 19:37, 2 April 2010 (UTC)

:::: Toady has already said that he plans to aim for possibly as often as a weekly bugfix release while the early issues of this release get ironed out. Trying to keep up with release number changes weekly would be an absolute nightmare. Until things calm down a bit I don't blame anyone here in the least for using DF2010 as a more general version name. [[User:Doctorzuber|Doctorzuber]] 15:54, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

:::::It ''is'' understood that Toady intends (ideally) for this to be both the last save-compat breaking version and the last major long-delay version... correct? Putting the entire Wiki in a namespace forever seems to me like a fairly terrible idea in any case, but it is intended for future versions to change much less of existing stuff as things go on (that is why this version took so long, in part, to get all the sweeping structural changes out of the way.) It is unlikely that there will ever be another version that would require reversioning the entire wiki, if, indeed, you think that even this one reached that level. While I'm not sure I'd agree that it was necessary to reversion the wiki for this version, the DF development plan is certainly intended to be such that revisioning the Wiki like this will never be necessary again. --[[User:Aquillion|Aquillion]] 03:47, 7 April 2010 (UTC)
:::::: All I'm saying is that for the immediate near future a large number of incremental bug fix releases are to be expected. To avoid driving people completely nuts trying to keep up with frequent version changes it makes sense to use the DF2010 title in the short term. After we see things settle down a bit I agree we should probably go ahead and return to an actual version number. [[User:Doctorzuber|Doctorzuber]] 17:27, 7 April 2010 (UTC)
:::::::With the new version numbering system being so much simpler, could we simply refer to the version as 31a? Then changing letters to account for bugfixes. I'm using 0.31 enough myself but the decimal point is awful. --[[User:Retro|Retro]] 17:40, 7 April 2010 (UTC)
::::::::Not really. We're mainly talking about the namespace's name. Changing a namespaces's name is a BIG headache (though it is the reason we're using the <nowiki>{{l|link}}</nowiki> stuff) because we did know that we'd be doing at least one change, and that gets rid of a decent portion of the headache. [[user:Emi|Emi]] [[user_talk:Emi|[T]]] 18:49, 7 April 2010 (UTC)
:::::::::I'm still waiting on ToadyOne to provide an official tagname for this series of releases. If we receive one, we will use it in the wiki. --[[User:Briess|Briess]] 19:02, 7 April 2010 (UTC)
::::::::::Toady's response to what to call this version. http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=60554.msg1636714#msg1636714 (7th reply) probably not as satisfactory/definitive as hoped :) --[[User:Quatch|Quatch]] 16:26, 13 October 2010 (UTC)

== World Painter Page ==
The wiki has needed a page on the [[World Painter]] for a while, so I've started one. The information in there is decent, but I'm relatively new to wiki editing, so the formatting probably isn't. If someone wouldn't mind cleaning it up a bit for me I'd really appreciate it. --[[User:Timmeh|Timmeh]] 01:15, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

:Well I don't know if someone helped you already, but it looks fine to me. --[[User:frandude|frandude]]
:I changed the name into World Painter so it looked better (no more petty redirects!) [[User:Inawarminister|Inawarminister]] 12:01, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

== French language wiki ==

Can we have interlanguage links with the [http://www.dwarffortress.fr/wiki/ French wiki]? -[[User:Alan Trick|Alan Trick]] 17:48, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

== Add a CptnDuck page? ==

Captain Duck is a DF video tutorial maker, which an impressive collection of 40 videos on youtube (and a few extra videos of sieges and arenas and whatnot), and explains how to do most everything, from magma forges to Dwarven justice. He adds humor to it and he's the reason a lot of people understand the game...I think we should give him a page. – [[template:unsigned|unsigned]] comment by [[User:Blackdoggie998|Blackdoggie998]]

:As it is insanely easy for anyone to sign up for editing priviledges on this site (I managed to, after all), I see no need to make one for him when he could make one for himself. However, if you wish to add user:CptnDuck, or invite him to make one himself, feel free. He can link to all of his tutorials from his user page. They even be searchable through that lovely little box to the(my) left. (Who knows where it is on your skin.) -- [[User:Teres_Draconis|jaz]] ... on this day, at this time.

:P.S. Does it seem odd to you to have it say "unsigned comment by [username]"? Or is that just me? -- [[User:Teres_Draconis|jaz]] ... on this day, just a little after the previous one.
:: Clicking 'unsigned' gave me all the explanation I need, might want to do the same [[User:Kinzarr|Kinzarr]] 23:27, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

:We don't need a userpage for him, but a page with the assembled listing of all his (and others of equal quality) video tutorials wouldn't be a bad idea at all. -[[User:N9103|Edward]] 16:47, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

== Articles on Olivine and other generic stones ==

There is a current discussion as to whether or not [[Olivine]] (and perhaps some few other stones) are duly covered on the current [[stone]] page, or are truly worth having their own article/page. This relates to a larger question of how this wiki is organized, and "What deserves a page" in a general sense. Any interested are encouraged to chime in, if only with a "me too" post pro or con. See [[Talk:Olivine]] for an idea of the issue. I'd like to have the debate move from the specific Olivine page to here since this is a more general issue that affects many potential pages. --[[User:Senso|Senso]] 21:29, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

:I'm not really sure which way to go on this one. A lot of otherwise useless stones would need their own articles if the guidelines were expanded... and yet, there's a good amount of useful information that's not on the main pages, that would further clutter them if it were added; And permitting more individual pages would solve both those problems. I guess this ends up being a vote both ways, with provisions on each. -[[User:N9103|Edward]] 23:54, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

:My vote is, if someone can make it amusing, then sure. If someone is of the bent to enjoy making such a page, then again, sure... otherwise, leave it at the bottom of the pile of "things that someday we might get around to if we feel like it" and don't stress. The relevant data is covered (or will be when someone notices it's not), and everything else is gravy. Beside, what would you rather do, play the game, or figure out how to make a whole page of jokes about how gneiss nice is.... (or did I get that backwards?)... ? --[[User:Teres_Draconis|jaz]] ... on this day, at this time.

::All relevant information is covered, yes. But not necessarily on a relevant page. Before the Olivine page was made you couldn't learn that olivine may contain native platinum from any page related to olivine or stone in general.
::Another example is kaolinite. You can look it up in the table of Other Stone to see it can be found in sedimentary rock. But in order to see that it may itself contain alunite and marcasite you have to go through the entire table (or use the browser search function). Now, in order to see if it may contain anything else, you have to notice the note at the top of the page (just above the table of contents) that points to Metal Ore and Gem, whith another two tables you have to search through. (Kaolinite may contain turquoise). --[[User:Nahno|Nahno]] 21:44, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

:It's not just about "which stones" - it's a larger question of how the wiki is organized and presented. Should each separate and distinct item get its own page, like the current one- or two-line articles on [[vial]]s, [[instrument]]s or [[Restraint|chain]]s, (just as random parallel examples of some [[finished goods]] that have their very own, very short, very dull, and predictably repetitive articles.) Surely the [[Masons guild]] and [[miners guild]] don't deserve or need separate articles. Do we need a separate and largely redundant article for every trap weapon? What about the cookie-cutter articles on ''every'' individual animal? The GCS deserves its own, and many others, but one on each separate type of shark and hunting cat? There is no actual article there, only a template.

:Quivers and bolts are sub-sections of the [[crossbow]] article, and I think that's a ''great'' call. Olivine, talc and kaolinite are merely similar examples, distinct enough to warrant special treatment, but on the borderline of being so small to each only represent a stub. Ultimately, I don't think a functional formal definition would be easily achieved - rather guidelines and a fuzzy target, combining related info into groups with optimal size limitations (both lower end and upper end). Perhaps a template should not be forced on every lesser example, but they could be grouped into a table on their own article, "other stones of note" or "sharks" or "finished goods" or whatever.

:In many ways, our only current guidelines are "what has been done so far" - and that varies widely and wildly. Too often, pages are cobbled onto related ones, or split off just because its a new topic, if a brutally short one. Myself, I'd like to see most related articles of less than 4 lines or so get grouped into larger, more universally informative articles, and anything larger than maybe 5 full sub-sections be considered for splitting up. If an item stands out from the rest, it should stand out somewhere, in an article - but that doesn't mean it has to have its very own, or invite every similar item to do so as well.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 03:30, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

:: Please check out the (no longer) current [[Chalk]] page and tell me what you think. ... which is to say, it doesn't /have/ to be a stub, does it? It can be rich and detailed and sadly unamusing. It would please me to continue to do all stones in this manner, or another manner of your choosing.... Thus negating fussing over "this one was done this way, that one was done that way" arguments. I'll get to them all, in the order they appear on the [[Stones]] page. ... assuming you guys are ok with that. --[[User:Teres Draconis]] 08:28, 21 May 2009 (UTC)
:: P.S. Who's the outpost manager of this place, anyways? I'd like to know to whom I should be pandering. --jaz

::: I think 1) you should take time to read, if not learn the wiki format guidelines, 2) you should sign with your REAL user name, and stop using a pseudonym, and 3) you should not break someone else's post with yours in between their paragraphs. As to the chalk page, I think it's over-enthusiastic and pays no attention to previous article style or formatting precedent - which may be a good thing or a bad thing, depending. --[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 09:33, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

:::: 1) You're right, I'm sorry.
::::2) We've discussed user names on [[User_Talk:Teres_Draconis#Naming Conventions|my talks page]]. (Also, <nowiki>~~~</nowiki> still puts "jaz"... why bother with the link when it's just a P.S.?)
::::3) I'm sorry. I was (apparently) trained wrong, and that was a /long/ time ago. I was taught (20 years ago) that when responding, to do so in-line, so that people can tell what the response is actually relating to. (Like an actual conversation, except with a time warp. You say something, I respond, someone else adds, we all move on to the next topic.) It supposedly adds clarity. The style and curtesy rules of such things has changed. I can see I'll need to update myself. Thank you for pointing that out. =)
::::4) I was hasty. I had to have meatspace people explain to me why, as wiki-''writers'', you would not want so much detail on a page. Especially when, with every new game release, any given page on the wiki might need an over haul. I was only looking at it from the end-user perspective of "If I'm looking for information, I don't want a page that just tells me to go look at the three pages I've already looked at. I want a page that reduces the noise of the irrelevant, and distills to just that specific (sub-)topic." I /don't/ see the point of six pages that are identacle except for title, and all only three lines long. If it's got it's own page, it should have it's own page. If it just links back to the three pages that linked to it, and they all link to each other already, what's the point? If the only thing Chalk has going for it is that it's flux, why not just make a note on the [[Stone]] page reading, "These three rocks can be used as flux" and link to the flux page from there? Why should chalk have it's own page, if it's not going to be richly detailed and, you know, informative? - [[User:Teres Draconis|jaz]] 18:59, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

::::The templates are there because they are pretty, detailed, and condensed ways to display some key information. Rather than expanding existing information so that it takes up more space, it's more productive to add things that you think are lacking. [[User:VengefulDonut|VengefulDonut]] 12:15, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

::: I changed the other [[Stones]] table to allow for interesting minerals that are in other[[Stones]] to be posted.--[[User:Mrdudeguy|Mrdudeguy]] 22:17, 21 May 2009 (UTC)
:What would actually be helpful is a [[Geology]] primer, indicating how layers and inclusions are placed, where, and what the implications of "You have struck XXX" are. I know, now, that if it's olivine, I have a chance of finding veins of native platinum. One good page explaining what all of the geological processes mean would be a lot more useful then all of the various descriptions of exploratory mining. [[User:Decius|Decius]] 22:35, 21 May 2009 (UTC)
::That sounds like a great idea.--[[User:Mrdudeguy|Mrdudeguy]] 22:46, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

:::I agree! But I have no idea how to write it. Most of what I know about geology I learned from looking at the raws. Everything else is "OMG, is that a ''rock''?! I've heard of those!" - [[User:Teres Draconis|jaz]] 18:59, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

::"More useful" to some, but I agree it would be a great addition. Also, the more I think about it, the more I like what MrDG did with the table in Other Stone - tables could condense any and all small, individual articles into single pages w/ (sortable?) tables where all these various similar objects could be compared/contrasted at a glance. Templates are perfect when there is a lot of various info, but if the different topics (semi-generic stones, animals, finished goods) all differ only in one or two details, and there is just not that many variables to begin with, a Table would be (imo) preferable. ''(And imo that table now covers such stones as Olivine well, to get back to the original example that sparked this discussion.)''

::As an additional example of how current stub-articles could be combined into a simple table, I've made this page - [[Example - some fish]] - which could be a model for such. (A page/table with all the "Sea-creatures" would be more likely approp, but this was faster for now.) It would replace every stub-article on related "generic" items, but any truly noteworthy items would still have their own full articles for expanded information and commentary (here, "carp"). It still has 100% of the prev information, but also allows immediate comparison and contrast, and, if sortable, allows a User to more easily compare relations between similar aspects (like "biome", in this example.)--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 00:13, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

::: Is it possible to put the expandable version of the raw ("game object data (show)" seen at the bottom of the [[carp]] page) inside the table, instead of the whole thing? Or does the one preclude the other? - [[User:Teres Draconis|jaz]] 18:59, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

:::Actually, if someone finds it easy to extract that information from the .RAWs, I would find that an improvement on what [[Creatures]] currently has. [[User:Decius|Decius]] 17:52, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

::::If someone here knows PHP they may be able to write a new wiki hook that pulls information from raw entries. That would make many things much easier. [[User:VengefulDonut|VengefulDonut]] 22:22, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

:::Which information do you want extracted? I can probably do it for you, but you may have heard, I'm in the doghouse for not paying attention to style and formating rules. =/ Show me what there is, and one example of what you want, and I can probably do it for you with a minimum of stupid questions. ... ''Probably.'' - [[User:Teres Draconis|jaz]] 18:59, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

::::@ jaz, Dec - Did either of you look at this sample table? [[Example - some fish]] Does that cover what you were envisioning? It's just a rough idea - but it could work the same way that the table on the [[stone]] page currently does, to cover all the generic, almost-identical objects. Same w/ finished goods, weapon traps, probably many other sim categories of like items.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 22:52, 22 May 2009 (UTC)
I've read this sort of. My view is, wikis add value to the game far more for noobs than they do to legends who have been around since when the z-axis was just an idea. With this in mind, I reckon if everything with a name in the game had an article that would be *A Good Thing* (tm). Just my own opinion, feel free to disagree. Ideally, articles for things like stones should contain a template constructed from the raws, with prose/dialogue manually added.
Even things like [[screw pump]] could have a template driven section, advising what the components are / who makes it etc. Maybe <nowiki>{{building|Building Name|Component 1:Component 1 name|Component X| component X name|Constructed by|trade}}</nowiki> or similar.[[User:GarrieIrons|GarrieIrons]] 08:45, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

:I agree, probably, although that sounds like a lot of work. I think the stone templates and articles could do with a bit of a cleanup and more in-game information. I mostly use the articles to see if there's anything notable about a particular stone and then check out the wikipedia page. Some of the wikipedia links are broken or indirect now because disambiguity pages have been added since. Also, the wikipedia links are right at the bottom of very long boxes listing ores and gems and the like - I suggest adding drop down boxes to the templates that contain all that information but which are minimized by default. Or changing the template so that the wikipedia link wraps around the stone name at the top. --[[User:Harmonica|Harmonica]] 01:36, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Way late to this party, apologies. Tables are no good (to me) if they aren't sortable. The World Ends With You (a Nintendo DS game) Wikia portal/wiki thing has an ''awesome'' method for adding sortable tables. Some gadget called [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_MediaWiki Semantic MediaWiki] that hooks into the Wiki to automatically pull data out as you request it, then display it in easy-to-read and use sortable tables. The TWEWY Wikia has [http://twewy.wikia.com/wiki/The_World_Ends_With_You:Semantic_MediaWiki a page on it] for their editors, giving a few examples of how powerful it is. Their use of the tool is to easily pull information from a table of 304 items, each containing 30 attributes, to generate lists comparing and compiling various items. Hugely powerful, extremely flexible.

This type of tool would work wonderfully with a PHP RAW parser, or even simple dumps of the RAWs to the Wiki. Think of how easy it would be to update the entire Wiki across the board when new versions come out. New critters? Changes to existing critters? Update the information in one spot and it trickles down through the entire Wiki! That's in addition, of course, to being able to, say, generate tables listing how many bones each creature drops when killed, then sort to see which one drops the most. Pretty sweet stuff.

With some sort of system in place for wading through all the data on the wiki, one wouldn't have to worry about having too much information, right? -- [[User:Blank|Blank]] 04:44, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Particularly for stone, I think that it would be a good idea to describe each individual stone relative to other, similar stones. Let's use [[sandstone]] as an example. Suppose that I read (either in its own article, or in a table) something along the lines of "Sandstone is a [[sedimentary]] layer. Unlike most sedimentary layers, it may contain [[aquifers]] or veins of [[native copper]]." If I already know what a sedimentary layer is (and how it differs from other types of layers), this information will be much easier to process and much more useful than a full list of everything that appears in sandstone. If I have no idea what a sedimentary layer is, this will tell me that there are several sedimentary layers and that they all have many things in common, which is again more useful than a list of everything that appears in sandstone. --[[User:LaVacaMorada|LaVacaMorada]] 08:56, 2 October 2009 (UTC)
:That's not the way this (any?) wiki is set up. The idea is that a lesser concept (here, "sandstone") need not include redundant info from a larger, parent concept (here, "sedimentary layer"). If you don't know what a sed'y layer is (or an aquifer or a vein or whatever) you click that link. If, then, you don't know what a "layer" is, you click that link. Sounds good at first, but if every lesser article included an explanation, even a quick synopsis, of the info for all relevant articles on broader, umbrella concepts, the articles, and this wiki as a whole, would explode beyond usefulness. --[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 23:43, 2 October 2009 (UTC)
::Thanks for making my point for me. If you look at the current sandstone article, it lists everything contained in sandstone. Looking at just the ores and non-generic stones, we have: Native copper, Hematite, Limonite, Magnetite, Native platinum, Tetrahedrite, Bituminous coal, Lignite, Bauxite. All of these except for native copper appear in every sedimentary layer. That's not even counting all of the generic stone (especially gypsum with its five other types of generic stone contained in it) and (mostly low-value) gems. 95% of the text in this article is redundant, and could easily be summarized by "This layer is exactly like every other sedimentary layer except for these two differences". --[[User:LaVacaMorada|LaVacaMorada]] 09:06, 6 October 2009 (UTC)
:::Ah - ''that's'' your point. (When you said "describe", I thought you were advocating a narrative commentary on and verbal expansion of the info included in the sidebar.) When I was talking about not having redundant info, I was talking text - which is quite terse in this case, exactly because of the point you make. Those sidebars were designed to encapsulate the key info, an "at a glance" sort of thing, to avoid exactly what you're talking about in narrative form. Are the sidebars redundant? Often, yes. But they are the style this wiki has adopted for ''all'' stone. So you're talking not just about changing sed'y layers, but the style approach to all stone, since they would not then be consistent across the board. (Not how I would have personally designed the layout, but it's there and it works, and well. Any stone, same layout, same info in the same place, bam got it.) And when discussing presentation and usability issues, any article has to be taken both individually and in the context of others "like" it - here, any "stone" article is the same layout, the same info at a glance, which (for now) trumps whatever redundancies exist. Perhaps a quick line such as you're stating would go well, since there is, indeed, very little unique to say about any one sub-type of sedimentary layer, and that is info in and of itself. (Take a look at any [[igneous extrusive]] except obsidian for something similar.)--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 16:46, 6 October 2009 (UTC)

A lot of people have been talking a lot of things about reorganizing the information on the stones pages. After browsing around on them for a while, I've found the information to be mostly scattered and difficult to draw conclusions from. For example, I wasn't aware that each geographic stone type had a base list of stones that can appear, while only some of them have a couple of unique stones that may appear along with that list. It wasn't until I began gathering all of that data together for myself, that I found the patterns. I had to work to tie it all together. So, I have a partially completed table of pulldown menus on my user page right now. If anyone's interested they could take a look and tell me what they think? (Yes, I know a lot of it is redundant. I have an idea on how to fix this, but I haven't completely decided yet) --Kydo 13:55, 25 October 2009 (UTC)

Lumping all the generic stones into one page is pretty much a labor saving device. There are a lot of different stones in DF most of which have no real differences other than color. So in one respect, I do see reasoning for saving some effort and dumping them in one place. On the other hand, it would be useful to me to see slightly more detailed information about each of the colored stones, for example, I know alunite looks a certain way before it is mined out, it's general color is bright white, when used to build trap components it is bright white in both the on and off position (many stones go to dark in the off position). In the same vein, when used to build tables and chairs, both will be bright white (many stones go to dark for chairs). If you're looking for a "certain look" and want to know a tiny bit more about the stone colors at present, that information simply isn't here as things are now. [[User:Doctorzuber|Doctorzuber]] 16:21, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

== Not a Roguelike ==

Dwarf Fortress only resembles a Roguelike in the sense that everything kills you. ASCII graphics haven't connoted Rogue-resemblance since Diablo came out with modern 3D graphics and was still considered a Roguelike.
[[User:LogicalDash|LogicalDash]] 22:08, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

I agree with you for Fortress mode, but adventurer mode is rogue like.--[[User:Mjo625|Mjo625]] 22:54, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

:DF is rogue-like like.[[User:GarrieIrons|Gar]][[User Talk:GarrieIrons|rie]] 08:59, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

LogicalDash, Diablo is in 2D, not 3D. --[[User:612DwarfAvenue|612DwarfAvenue]] 05:10, 27 November 2009 (UTC)

What makes a rogue-like? too classic a question to pass up . ahem IMHO there three major elements, A dungeon crawl/ fantasy setting, ASCII and random as hell. That makes dwarf fortress three outta three hits for me. Close enough, i'd say, if it's not a rogue-like what other category could it go in? sure its not a great fit but a unique game has to go somewhere. Diablo is a dungeon crawl like rogue sure, but it lacks the depth and randomness of any of the other recognised roguelikes, ADOM, moria etc. So one outta three? The depth, randomness and spontaneity really make it, ever had a character eaten by a bear on the way to the village in ADOM? classic. --[[User:Pedantictype|Pedantictype]] 05:46, 20 March 2010 (UTC)
:I'm afraid I have to disagree with you, Pedantictype. A Rogue-like is defined by the original: Rogue. Rogue was, first and foremost, a dungeon-crawl with control of a single character, yes? I would postulate that that is one of the elements that is required to be defined as a rogue-like, which qualifies Adventure mode but not Fortress mode. --[[User:Eagle0600|Eagle0600]] 05:04, 5 April 2010 (UTC)
::Eagle's right. A roguelike game plays somewhat like Rogue and has ascii graphics. Fortress mode DF is a tactical/strategic/sandbox ascii game, not a roguelike. And isn't there general intent for it to have graphics one day, once it's out of the design stages? --Kydo 01:58, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

DF is closer to Civilisation than ADOM, at least in the Fortress regard. --KingAuggie

== Link to Add Quotes ==

To get help on how to add quotes to the main page, consult [[Talk:Main Page/Quote|this]] link.

== Incoming New Version ==

Guys. We might as well prepare for the new version that will be coming by the end of the year (maybe). What will need to change? Weapons and armor, the underground stuff... I don't know all of it. But it's extensive. Get ready.--[[User:Zchris13|Zchris13]] 17:02, 7 October 2009 (UTC)
:Well, we don't know all the details, and names of jobs/items can change before actual release. [[User:Kurokikaze|Kurokikaze]] 16:14, 8 October 2009 (UTC)
:I don't see what this has to do with anything, i guess it's nice of you to tell us. But what do you mean "get ready?"
: Gird your loins, gentlemen. Or something.
::It'll be hard to cover every page - if you edit, try to follow up on links, etc. Might also have to check the "oldest pages" listing to see that they've all been updated (except it's broken atm). The worst currently is that we ''still'' have legacy crap from earlier versions in obscure corners and comments that's not relevant to current version. Bonus.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 06:11, 19 October 2009 (UTC)
:This might be useful: http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AT8EQVUjrv96ZGc5cnBwOHZfMjgyY3FzZHFtanA&hl=en
:Are we just changing this wiki? (as opposed to forking with the new version, in case some people keep playing 40d?) [[Special:Contributions/206.45.111.58|206.45.111.58]] 22:39, 9 December 2009 (UTC)
::Forking sounds good to me. But I have no idea how well wikis handle forking. --[[User:Nahno|Nahno]] 14:11, 17 December 2009 (UTC)
:::In any case I think it would be a good idea to updated articles as is, and not wipe them out like in the wiki's switch to 3d which simply wiped out a lot of good information along with outdated text. Forking is a good route to take if people don't want to lose 40d inforamtion. [[User:Richards|Richards]] 19:40, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

== Interwiki ==

Correct link to Russian DF wiki, please.
Right link = www.dfwk.ru instead current www.dfwiki.ru --[[Special:Contributions/91.192.82.106|91.192.82.106]] 11:43, 4 December 2009 (UTC)
:It's done, so should we delete this conservation? (not that great at wiki myself) [[User:Inawarminister|Inawarminister]] 09:46, 7 December 2009 (UTC)
::They get archived at some point, so no need. [[User:Mason11987|Mason]] ([[User talk:Mason11987|T]]-[[Special:Contributions/Mason11987|C]]) 00:33, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

== Random page ==

Why is "Random page" only bringing me to "Count Consort"? :\ --[[Special:Contributions/99.33.67.9|99.33.67.9]] 22:33, 15 January 2010 (UTC)
:It seems "Random page" is only random daily... Is this intentional? --[[Special:Contributions/99.33.67.9|99.33.67.9]] 20:31, 2 February 2010 (UTC)
::There's probably something wrong with your browser cache settings - it works fine for me. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 20:37, 2 February 2010 (UTC)
::: Yes, my Firefox does random each time....must be something with yer Broswer options. :)

== Random images ==

Where are the images on the main page coming from? It's easy to find the quotes, but where are the images? [[User:MC Dirty|MC Dirty]] 15:14, 17 January 2010 (UTC)

:I have an image I'd like added... I'll put it on my userpage if anyone wants to take a look at it and see if it's acceptable for uploading. --[[User:Waladil|Waladil]] 06:40, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

== New Category Idea - Well Known Dwarves ==

After reading some stories on many of the most awesome dwarfs to show up in this game. (Namely Captain Ironblood, Morul, Tholtig) That a category, perhaps a sub one to Humor and Stories just for Dwarves that are very very clearly above the normal for the already outrageous(ly awesome) game of Dwarf Fortress. However do to the fact this is less on the game mechanics and such, the idea is first here so other's can figure if it's worth having a category. One thing that comes to mind is there really should be some sort of limit to what makes a Dwarf and Epic/Well Known Dwarf so as to prevent people from putting everyone they liked up there rather then the few '''everyone''' likes. Mostly asking as there is a handful of such dwarfs and that number is only going to (slowly) grow. Each said Dwarf I think deserves some sort of noting on a page for my two cents on the topic.
:I definitely thing that this is a great idea in the true spirit of DF.
::These should of course go under D for Dwarf.

== Images ==

So, what does everyone think? Would it be a good idea to have real-world images (or possibly sketches for fantasy, if applicable) of the following:
* Trees
* Fish
* Land animals
* Weapons and armor
* Stones
* Ores
* Land features (desert, savannah, etc.)
* Gems
* Metals
* Plants
We already have two pages with example images for a [[Pike_(weapon)#Pike|weapon]] and a [[Sandstone|stone]] for example. I find this very nice for visualizing my fortress and what's going on, since I'm not very familiar with many of the distinctions DF makes. I mean, I know what a fish looks like but I haven't got a clue what the difference between a pike and a char is, or a birch and alder, or even bronze and pewter to be honest.--[[User:Ar-Pharazon|Ar-Pharazon]] 22:42, 6 February 2010 (UTC)
:The normal issues with this kind of thing is REAL-WORLD publishers being annoying with copyright. I guess if we can find it from the real-world wiki then there is a good chance it is a public domain image.
:There is no way in the world it would hurt an article to have one of these. Although, for fantasy objects, materials, and creatures, there may well be some discussion about if the "Dragon" should be a European, Oriental, or some other dragon (and so on for the rest).
:[[User:GarrieIrons|Gar]][[User Talk:GarrieIrons|rie]] 11:52, 7 February 2010 (UTC)
::Well, I've added pictures to some of the layer stones and vermin, as well as all the ores. If anyone is interested, you can link to files on wikimedia commons as if they were internal files now.--[[User:Ar-Pharazon|Ar-Pharazon]] 04:52, 8 February 2010 (UTC)
:::What if those of us with artistic skills were to produce original content for such pages? For example, I could easily do a few drawings depicting certain fantasy creatures as well as actual creatures. --Kydo 22:56, 24 February 2010 (UTC)
::::I don't see how that could even remotely hurt at all.--[[User:Ar-Pharazon|Ar-Pharazon]] 15:21, 12 March 2010 (UTC)
::Who says that the 'Dragon' as a creature isn't a generalization of any species? To be honest, with the graphics as they are, I think that most of Dwarf Fortress comes down to the way the user imagines it, rather than how it appears on screen. Rather like the old text based adventure games of old.--[[Special:Contributions/85.12.64.150|85.12.64.150]] 10:18, 4 March 2010 (UTC)
:::Whoever you are, that is why i don't use a tileset.[[User:GarrieIrons|Gar]][[User Talk:GarrieIrons|rie]] 06:15, 6 March 2010 (UTC)
:As a rule of thumb, "graphics" are good things - eye candy, if nothing else. Purty. Use common sense and discretion when choosing (or creating) the image - avoid genre-specific images or anything that is copyrighted (like from an identifiable RPG, for instance), and perhaps add "artist's interpretation" under it, or a selection of (smaller) different images for something like a dragon (tho' I, personally, don't see dwarves with oriental dragons - ymmv.) --[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 08:49, 6 March 2010 (UTC)
::Seeing as how this is a wiki and what not, why not simple add a western dragon, and if anyone objects to the bias they can add an oriental dragon, so we have two pictures and not only both sides are happy but everyone gets more pictures to look at?--[[User:Ar-Pharazon|Ar-Pharazon]] 15:21, 12 March 2010 (UTC)
:(Also, if you're interested enough to post in the Main Page Discussion, you might want to get an account. Meh.)--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 08:49, 6 March 2010 (UTC)

== No link to World Generation? ==

Home page needs a link to World Generation. I thought of adding it, but didn't want to upset the delicate symmetry happing in the menus. Thoughts as to where it could go? [[Special:Contributions/118.208.7.232|118.208.7.232]] 04:25, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

== Namespaces ==

As the subject has been mentioned on the forum:
some articles have been moved to a new 40d namespace. This is intended to make way for the "main" namespace to be reserved for the "current version", which ''real soon now'' will be DF2010.
For the full discussion see [[Dwarf Fortress Wiki:Versions]] and the talk page.
[[User:GarrieIrons|Gar]][[User Talk:GarrieIrons|rie]] 10:32, 8 March 2010 (UTC)

Then bloody well move them. These blank 40d pages are making finding information that is supposed to be there very hard to find.

:Agreed..Plus I dont understand the site announcements so i pretty much can't contribute to the wiki right now. Hope you got a stable team to help and are done with it soon. Oh, and a better explanation would be great of course. --[[Special:Contributions/92.202.120.234|92.202.120.234]] 00:10, 4 April 2010 (UTC)
::When is the moving of things to the main namespace going to be complete? Having everything in DF2010 namespace is horribly annoying, and the 40d namespace screws up searches and makes it harder to find stuff via google searches and such. How long is it going to take to get the wiki fixed to the current version, delete all the old d40 stuff, and get rid of the namespaces? --[[User:Aquillion|Aquillion]] 03:40, 7 April 2010 (UTC)

== Tutorials clutter ==

Currently we have in the first box:
*About Dwarf Fortress
*'''Tutorials and guides'''
*'''Quickstart guide (recent)'''
*'''Frequently Asked Questions'''
*'''Your first fortress'''
*'''Video tutorials'''
*'''Important advice'''
*'''Indecisive's Illustrated Tutorial'''
*'''Get help from online chat'''
*Game development
*'''Non-Dwarf's Guide to Rock'''
*'''Starting builds'''

Bolded are the ones I think are redundant. Basically, we have the following categories of stuff:
*Tutorials for newbies: Step by step instructions where you follow what the guide says, without necessarily understanding why right away.
*Guides for newbies: General explanations of game concepts, such as z-level, how to set labors, how to farm, how to work the interface and install a graphical tileset, what the aim of the game is, etc.
*Guides for advanced players: These assume you know how to play the game, and are concerned with optimizing/pushing strategy. Embark build discussions which go beyond explaining the bare minimums you should take (such as "don't embark without a pick!", intended for newbies who may not know what they are doing), megaprojects, combat mechanics, computing, farming strategies, defense strategies, design strategies, macros, world generation parameter discussion and the like.
*FAQ, bugs and troubleshooting: The index of known problems and what to do about them, for when you have a clear question you want to figure out. This includes the FAQ, IRC channels and bugs to watch out for.
That makes 4 categories. Currently, we have 10 categories dealing with the same things. Moreover, the current break down makes no sense, and is obviously not maintained (I think that quickstart guide has been "recent" since early last summer). It's becoming confusing for the clueless first time player who was just linked to Bay12 and the wiki on a forum, and left to fend for itself. In fact, ideally, the tutorials and newbie guides should also be sorted from short to long, with datestamps.

I would rearrange the box myself, but I thought I'd ask what everyone else is thinking first. By the way, are there any tutorials for DF2010, or plans to write any? --[[User:Ar-Pharazon|Ar-Pharazon]] 02:07, 4 April 2010 (UTC)
::By the way, my proposal is to have the box look like this:
::'''Help with Dwarf Fortress'''
::*About Dwarf Fortress
::*How to set up and play Dwarf Fortress (Tutorials)
::*General game information (explanation of basics)
::*Advanced strategies (for experienced players)
::*Troubleshooting: FAQ, where to ask for help, known bugs and issues
::*Game development
::--[[User:Ar-Pharazon|Ar-Pharazon]] 02:14, 4 April 2010 (UTC)

::If [[40d:Quickstart guide]] is obsolete, you should definitely remove the links to it from the front page (both "Your first fortress" and "Quickstart guide" end up there). As a new player pointed at this wiki by the game, I wasted twenty minutes trying to load in the save game (was I being unlucky, or does it simply not work with the new version?) and gave up on trying to play Dwarf Fortress, as a result. --[[User:Gritspeck|Gritspeck]] 16:45, 12 April 2010 (UTC)

:I'm all for this, this is a terrible organization. I like your plan. Given further agreement (or at least no opposition) I say go for it. [[User:Mason11987|Mason]] ([[User talk:Mason11987|T]]-[[Special:Contributions/Mason11987|C]]) 00:38, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

Well, I went ahead and did my best.--[[User:Ar-Pharazon|Ar-Pharazon]] 22:13, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

:I think the frontpage would benefit from highlighting a couple well-written and important pages as well. A "featured article," perhaps. --[[User:Falldog|Falldog]] 01:16, 6 June 2010 (UTC)

::I think it does highlight important pages. See the blue boxes. A 'featured article' would (further) clutter the front page while not being of any value to viewers of the front page or users of this wiki in general. --[[User:Nahno|Nahno]] 17:33, 6 June 2010 (UTC)

::: Let me rephrase. The main page would benefit from the inclusion of links to the most often used reference pages (like the stone summary and the metal summary) than the section on "Playing Dwarf Fortress." It is redundant as there is already a Newbie section and an Advanced tutorials section. I think we agree about that. --[[User:Falldog|Falldog]] 21:22, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

== New modding guide ==
I'm not really sure what the process is for new guides and tutorials. I figured it would be of general community interest, so I'm posting this here; [[User:Tfaal/The Complete Dorf's Guide to Bodies]] --[[User:Tfaal|Tfaal]] 16:43, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

==Bug listings on the Wiki==
Given that the version number is expected to be changing quite rapidly in the near future as bugs are caught and killed, I think it's a good idea to always keep a version number associated with any bug reports we migrate into the wiki pages. This will hopefully minimize confusion as updates gradually remove these. If we could get one of those mini-version tags to use for this purpose or if someone can explain to me how to use that half-sized font for this purpose that would be helpful. Thanks. [[User:Doctorzuber|Doctorzuber]] 16:23, 6 April 2010 (UTC)
:There is already a template for this: [[Template:Version]]. You use it as follows.
:<nowiki>Example.{{version|0.23.130.23a}}</nowiki>
:results in:
:Example.{{version|0.23.130.23a}} --[[User:Soy|Soy]] 16:44, 6 April 2010 (UTC)
:: Thank you, that is all I needed. [[User:Doctorzuber|Doctorzuber]] 17:54, 6 April 2010 (UTC)

== What happened to the link to the dev changelog? ==

There used to be a link to the changelog and a link to the 31_01 release information, but now there's just a link to the release information labeled "changelog." Also the main page appears to use a funny template or something so the link's messed up throughout all of the mainpage history.
:-That's a link I used almost daily. While I realize I'm an idiot for not just bookmarking it, it is a little disconcerting for it to :be gone. Either way, I've always thought it was one of the most relevant links on the main page—it let's you know where the game :project is at ''right now''.
:Wow, forgot sig and indent. I'm amazing. :P ----[[User:Njero|Njero]] 01:03, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
Found the template in question, figured there was no reason for the changelog link not to be there so I put it back; it seemed like it was removed by mistake anyway. Also renamed the link to the release information so there wouldn't be two links entitled "changelog." --[[User:Untelligent|Untelligent]] 02:22, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

==Announcements Hider==
The announcement-hiding script on Briess's page no longer works--it's checking the contents of an id that no longer exists. Replacing the conditional with collapseTable(0) works, but sidesteps the original intent of the conditional, which I presume is to display the options if they've changed since last visit. Does that functionality still apply? While we're at it, is it possible to assign a named value to the collapsible table, so that it can be collapsed without referring to its position relative to other collapsible tables (which breaks the hider script on certain skins)? -[[User:Slitherrr|Slitherrr]]

==How will merging/splitting topics work for backward compatibility linking==
I got thinking about this when helping work on the military pages, we're branching this out into squads/military/schedule/etc. because of how much more complex things have suddenly got with the military system. It was a natural direction to take things. What's the correct way to handle backward compatibility links in this situation? And now that I'm thinking about it, how about page merging? If we decide to merge anything how will that be handled? [[User:Doctorzuber|Doctorzuber]] 03:59, 9 April 2010 (UTC)

== Game object date boxes ==

These boxes on the creature pages need some kind of text formatting to stop them expanding to far. Just an example try the [[dog|dog]] page. --[[User:AKAfreaky|AKAfreaky]] 12:54, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

== Carrying over saved games? ==

Hi, is it possible to carry over savegames from one version to the next, and if so, how do I do this? Thanks [[User:EddyP|EddyP]] 10:27, 13 April 2010 (UTC)
:It is possible - go to the /data folder and just copy the file called "save" to the /data folder in the new DF. You'll then have to edit the raws in each region folder (inside the save folder) to match the new raws in the main /raw folder (or just copy them over). --[[User:AKAfreaky|AKAfreaky]] 20:22, 13 April 2010 (UTC)
::As long as the "different versions" are within the same "generation" of Dwarf Fortress (i.e. 0.21 thru 0.23, 0.27 thru 0.28, or 0.31), this'll work. If you actually try to copy a saved game from 0.28.101.40d to 0.31.xx, expect it to fail in a very spectacular way. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 20:51, 13 April 2010 (UTC)

==Quote wrong on main page==
The quote on the main page comes up with something to the effect that you cannot milk creatures. This was true for 40d, but not for the most recent edition.--[[User:Kwieland|Kwieland]] 12:23, 21 April 2010 (UTC)
: ''"The alert statuses (i.e., "Stay Indoors") have been entirely redone. You may set several custom alerts with user defined scheduling."''
: Is this really intended to be a main page quote? I thought the main pages quotes were usually . . . funny. [[User:Doctorzuber|Doctorzuber]] 02:38, 27 April 2010 (UTC)

== "Your ad here, free!" ==

What's up with another ad space on the bottom of every page? We're getting to a point where more ads just cause more annoyance, not more profit. {{unsigned|213.157.252.41}}
:There are ads? Where? *turns off adblock* OH HOLY CRAP *quickly turns adblock back on* Yeah, if there are more ads than page it kinda defeats the point doesn't it? [[User:Volatar|Volatar]] 14:00, 5 May 2010 (UTC)
::The ad stuff is trying to get a baseline for different types of ads. We're hoping the button ads perform well enough that we can get rid of the larger banner ads. In 5 or so days the number of ads will decrease depending on what we find. [[user:Emi|Emi]] [[user_talk:Emi|[T]]] 20:31, 5 May 2010 (UTC)
::Also, the "free" part is that ads with no bids can be obtained freely, but that'll disappear in the next few days as the ads establish a page view trend. (Which is why in 5 or so days we'll be getting rid of some ads.) [[user:Emi|Emi]] [[user_talk:Emi|[T]]] 20:33, 5 May 2010 (UTC)
:::Good enough. Thanks for the explanation! {{unsigned|213.157.252.41}}

::There are ads?? *switches to IE* oh, yeah, ads.. *switches back to opera* --[[Special:Contributions/92.202.79.42|92.202.79.42]] 11:48, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

== "The wiki currently has 3 articles. " ==

I'm assuming this has something to do with the recent namespace thing? --[[Special:Contributions/217.132.92.69|217.132.92.69]] 10:27, 6 May 2010 (UTC)
:Haha, yes, I'll get right on that. [[user:Emi|Emi]] [[user_talk:Emi|[T]]] 18:04, 6 May 2010 (UTC)
::Looks like someone beat me too it. :( [[user:Emi|Emi]] [[user_talk:Emi|[T]]] 18:05, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

== Quality ==
I really like how the bar is counting down to zero. Keep templating, rawing and tableing all you want, eventually you will have to face the truth: to make a helpful wiki you need to ''play'' the game and add ''content''. --[[Special:Contributions/68.161.167.37|68.161.167.37]] 02:09, 9 May 2010 (UTC)
:What are you objecting to? Someone said it would be a good idea to know "how close to 'complete' the wiki is", we did that. If you don't like it then you don't have to look at it. I'd also like to ask why you think you have such a right to critisize others work after your... 3 edits? [[User:Mason11987|Mason]] ([[User talk:Mason11987|T]]-[[Special:Contributions/Mason11987|C]]) 17:26, 10 May 2010 (UTC)
::I think the big problem is that the vast majority of 40d pages are still completely accurate or near-completely accurate to the new version, but little to no effort has been made to port them over. Now that the latest version has been out for a while, I think it's reasonable to say that it's obvious that 'nuking' the 40d version by forcing it into a separate namespace instead of just trying to update it normally was a terrible mistake -- as was setting up this wretched namespace system, given that this is intended to be the ''last'' such gap between releases. The change from 40d to 2010 wasn't nearly as sweeping in terms of underlying mechanics as some people on the Wiki thought it would be -- but now, because of the way the changeover was mishandled here, we're left basically rewriting or copy-pasting a bunch of pages for stuff that hasn't changed, and nobody actually wants to waste time doing that when perfectly good and accurate articles exist in 40d namespace. Look at [[Animal Trap]], say -- the 40d version is detailed and near-perfectly accurate to DF2010, while the DF2010 version is barely more than a stubby paragraph. This happens all over the place, because people were eager to rewrite (or create) the articles related to stuff that changed, but nobody wanted to waste time rewriting all the relatively accurate articles that were mindlessly pushed into a separate namespace in the botched shift. --[[User:Aquillion|Aquillion]] 16:51, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

== Legacy? SDL? ==
Could someone explain the difference between the legacy and SDL releases? Seems that information ought to be around here somewhere. Can't seem to find it if it is. --[[User:Doctorzuber|Doctorzuber]] 00:12, 21 June 2010 (UTC)
:From my guess, Legacy is the old version (without SDL), and the SDL... well you get it. --[[User:Hugna|Hugna]] 03:55, 21 June 2010 (UTC)
== New website==
I've got a new website up and running with drupal. It is about dwarf fortress and you can find it [http://darkcloudterrace.dyndns.info/drupal6/ Here darkcloudterrace] it has a forum for dwarf fortress

== Download Mirrors Working or Broken ==

I can't seem to download df_31_13 from any of the three mirrors on the front page. Is anyone else having a problem with them?
--[[Special:Contributions/208.81.12.34|208.81.12.34]] 12:55, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

== Unworthy Self-link ==

Would it be improper to add a link to [[Bentgirder]] on the home page?

== Dwarf Forttress Wiki Portable ==
Hello all.
I'm building a portable, well somewhat portable, version of the Dwarf Fortress Wiki site. It is being made with Personal Brain (www.thebrain.com) and I will be importing everything I can find.
Admittedly I will need some help with this project. Any volunteers?--[[User:SpyMaster356|SpyMaster356]] 20:58, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

And another note: The finished "Brain" can be used as a navigator for this wiki too.--[[User:SpyMaster356|SpyMaster356]] 21:00, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

I'm sorry to say at this rate, that finishing the first wiki is more helpful that creating a new one. -- KingAuggie

== Front Page Links ==
I recently added [[Industry]] as a front page link, as well as [[Important Advice]] and others, but I'm afraid that, for a helpful wiki, we need to group things better, into more "portal pages". This wiki is edited only by seasoned guys like us, but is sposed to be read by noobs. At the moment, there are far too many choices to make, even in the "New to DF" box. Any thoughts on thinning the herd? Maybe create a new page that can then direct people elsewhere? -- KingAuggie

* I vote for removing the 'New To Dwarf Fortress?' block, making a page with its contents and more, and linking to that page with a nice big link under the "Playing Dwarf Fortress" section. Something like "Beginners Go Here" centered and at the top of the section. [[User:Calite|Calite]] 17:43, 15 January 2011 (UTC)

== [[User:Esitowipefy]] ==

:{{gametext|Esitowipefy, Troll, has gone berserk!|4:1}}
Personal advice: <del>[[Unfortunate accident]]</del> ban. Please kick this user as far as you can and make a *warning sign* out of his skin. --[[Special:Contributions/212.201.74.67|212.201.74.67]] 23:04, 17 November 2010 (UTC)
:: I concur. Avast was warning me that the links were attempting to download a trojan horse, just making him worse. [[User:Neo Kabuto|Neo Kabuto]] 23:07, 17 November 2010 (UTC)
::: Done. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 00:25, 18 November 2010 (UTC)
Same thing with http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/User:Westhara. For one thing, he just changed the main page to nothing! Someone else fixed it. I would've, but DF wiki was dragging it's feet on sending me my confirmation e-mail. --[[User:Waladil|Waladil]] 15:27, 30 January 2011 (UTC)

== Please redirect... ==

...[[DF2010:Glob]] to [[DF2010:Fat]]. Anonymous page creation is currently prohibited. Thanks :). --[[Special:Contributions/217.225.113.232|217.225.113.232]] 23:41, 29 December 2010 (UTC)

== Flash Blind! ==
Gah! Dorf Fort has a black background. This site has a white background. Every time I switch from DF to magmawiki I get blinded by the light. Does anyone else have this problem? And if so, should we change it? [[Special:Contributions/76.21.249.47|76.21.249.47]] 03:33, 29 January 2011 (UTC)
:Ha! Sounds to me like you just need to turn down the brightness on your screen. Then again, the fawn background at the [http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Oblivion Oblivion wiki] is very attractive... Maybe you're onto something... [[User:Bognor|Bognor]] 05:15, 29 January 2011 (UTC)

== Why is there no pages on Body Detail Plan Tokens or Creatue Variation Tokens? ==

Can it really be that nobody other than Toady himself knows how these tokens actually work? And if not, why don't these types of tokens have their own wiki pages? I for one would put one in myself but I don't know how to create a new page or have much significant info on how these tokens work. But even a mostly empty page consisting only of a note asking for help from other wiki contributors would be better than the nothing that we have on these topics now.

== Doc flow for noobs ==

I've been trying to improve the documentation for for noobs lately. As part of this I'd like to '''propose the following change to the "New to dwarf fortress?" box''' on the main page:

http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/User:Ral/Testmain

Essentially the idea is to organize this into:
# What the heck is this and do I even want to try it? (about dwarf fortress)
# How do I install the software and what next? (How to Set Up and Play Dwarf Fortress)
## How do I start learning to play Fortress Mode and what tutorials are there? (Fortress mode quickstart)
## How do I start learning to play Adventure Mode and what tutorials are there? (Adventurer mode quickstart)
# So what's up with the latest features? (Game development)
# I still can't figure something out even with the docs. Where do I go for help? (Questions and Troubleshooting)

Right now this box is a bit too much of a hodgepodge and I, at least, feel like it needs to provide a more logical flow from "what the heck is this?" to the full documentation all over the wiki.

== Will change main page tomorrow pending objections ==

Ok, I reworked the About page and created, an Installation page, and reworked the tutorials page:

*[[DF2010:About]]
*[[DF2010:Installation]]
*[[User:Ral/Tutorials]]

The main page has not been changed yet and nothing has been linked. I will change the main page tomorrow if there are no concerns or complaints before then.

:Starting build is no longer a 'basics' page, but a theoretical treatment of putting together a starting build. Embark is now fulfilling the basics function. --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 02:15, 24 April 2011 (UTC)

Talk:Main Page/archive2

2011-04-24T02:15:04Z

Squirrelloid: /* Will change main page tomorrow pending objections */

v0.31:Starting build

2011-04-23T22:07:43Z

Squirrelloid: /* Industry */

{{quality|Exceptional|01:37, 16 October 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

A '''starting build''' is a personal ''strategy'' for choosing the initial supplies, equipment, and {{l|skill}}s of your initial seven dwarves when starting a new game in {{l|fortress mode}}. These skills and items which you assign to your dwarves will have a large impact on life in your new fortress, especially in its first year.

This page attempts to give advice on some of the many gameplay elements which influence the flow of your game based on your goals. These include: choosing a ''fortress site'', the ''starting build'' itself, as well as ''challenge builds'' aimed at providing new or unusual challenges to advanced players. This page is not an explanation of the mechanics of doing so, see {{l|Embark}} for an explanation of the interface itself.

But one thing should be made clear - there is no "best" build, no "perfect" or "clearly superior" final mix of skills and items, if only because there isn't any one goal of play. The goals you have for a fortress will dictate which sets of items and skills are best suited to achieving that goal - in your opinion. And then there is the environment, where your dwarves will arrive, the creatures, the resources available, and so forth. Finally, some people do things solely because it is hard, and that makes it more fun for them.

Items are tied to starting skills, and starting skills are tied to the expected environment for your chosen embark, and all are tied to your preferences for playing the game - not all sites require (or invite) the same approach, and no two players would take the same approach to the same environment.

This page attempts to provide a discussion about how and why you make the choices on what you bring along.

__TOC__

== Components of a Starting Build ==
There are two main components of a starting build: skills and items.

Skills for your initial dwarves determine how quickly they will work early on, what industries you are guaranteed to be able to start with skilled workers later, how well you can defend your dwarves early on, and what the quality of various goods they produce will be, and possibly many other considerations. This page considers in detail how you might go about choosing skills for your starting dwarves, and examines the multiple competing perspectives from which you can make that decision.

The items that your dwarves bring with you can be tailored a number of ways. There are trade-offs to cheaper and more expensive alternatives, and reasons why you might choose either. This section explores the nature of these trade-offs and the reasons for making a decision. It also looks at optimizing goods brought in more general contexts.

Starting builds can and should vary based upon a number of other variables. {{l|location|Where you choose to settle}} will give you a fortress that supplies different raw materials and thus require different skill sets to utilize, not to mention different threats from native wildlife based on {{l|biome}}, {{l|surroundings|savagery}}, and {{l|surroundings|alignment}}. Which dwarven civilization you come from will restrict the materials with which you can start. Making choices about these variables is not part of a starting build. What you choose for skills and items because of these choices is part of your starting build, and so some general guidelines about different environments is given last.

This page does not cover the interface for accomplishing these tasks. Please see the {{l|embark}} page.

== Skill Optimization ==
With only 7 dwarves, you can't take every {{l|skill}}, so you have to balance what you do take. At this starting phase, each dwarf can only be assigned a maximum total of 10 skill levels, with no single skill starting higher than "5". Actual skill distribution is thus constrained to be something between 1 level in each of 10 skills, or 5 levels in each of two skills, or something in between. Because dwarves can {{l|experience|learn}} any and all skills once your fortress starts, these initial choices do not dictate what the dwarves can do, opening up incredible latitude to choose skills for reasons other than survival.

:''(* Note that an unskilled dwarf starts with all Skills at Level '''0'''. Adding +5 Levels is then Level '''5'''. This is true regardless of how many "points" a level costs when first buying skills at embark.)''

A brief list of considerations governing skill choice:
:* Maximizing starting skill ranks vs. generalizing and having more skills covered at lower levels.
:* Balancing multiple skills for a single dwarf, so they aren't constantly needed for two different tasks at critical periods
:* Military vs economic needs
:* Your goals vs "basic survival needs" to keep your fortress healthy and happy.
:* Speed that a skill can be trained in game
:* Demand for a skill during a game
:* Whether quality or speed are significant considerations for tasks/final product
:* Balancing the desire to create {{l|wealth}} ''(with high-value products)'' with the need to maintain {{l|thought|morale}} ''(with low-value but commonly used products, like {{l|bed}}s, which normally are made from {{l|wood}})''.
:* most importantly - ''your playstyle'' - what '''you''' think is "fun"!

==== Breadth vs. Depth ====

A dwarf with only 2 starting skills at 5 ranks each is pretty good at 2 tasks, but untrained at anything else. A dwarf with nothing higher than level 1 is passable at many tasks, but not good at anything. Each dwarf in your party is going to be somewhere along this continuum, and you'll need to choose where.

Level in a skill dictates how fast a dwarf completes a task (most of the time), and how well he completes it (if applicable). On one extreme, {{l|butchery}} has no time variance for slaughtering a tame animal, and has no quality associated with the outcome. On the other extreme, {{l|metalworking}} tasks can take a long time for an untrained worker to complete and their high material value means the quality multiplier has a large impact on the end value.

Dwarves who complete tasks faster can do more total {{l|job}}s within a given timeframe. The rate at which speed increases with level varies with skill, so some skills will benefit more than others.

Dwarves who make items of higher quality will contribute more to fortress wealth and may have a large impact on fortress happiness if their work is readily available to be seen by other dwarves. Items which typically contribute to happiness are low value but common public items, like beds and tables. Items which contribute the most to fortress wealth often cannot be displayed, but make useful trade goods or equipment for your military.

A dwarf highly skilled in few areas will work faster at those tasks and produce higher quality work than his more generalized counterpart. However, he will do worse at any other task he is set to.

Aside from the obvious trade off, there is another reason to prefer depth - dwarves can obviously only complete so many total jobs within a given timespan. If a dwarf is busy doing one thing, he can't simultaneously be doing something else. So a dwarf who is highly skilled in a few skills may not actually experience any disadvantage thereby if he is kept doing those things in which he specializes. The generalist dwarf, on the other hand, may be able to do many more different tasks adequately, but he can still only do one type of task at a time. A dwarf with one highly used skill (such as Mechanics or Mining) can feasibly spend all his time using only his primary skill and thus has no need to generalize. In effect, the generalist is wasting more skill points whenever he does jobs than the specialist, so long as the specialist tends to do jobs he has levels in. Specializing your initial skill investment is therefore superior if you specialize the division of labor in your fortress.

Of course, you can still only bring 7 dwarves with 10 total levels of skills each, so covering everything you want to do in 14 skills may be hard, if not impossible. A generalist or two can cover more bases that have little quality need or are otherwise fast even without a high level. The generalists real problem arises from the fact that any dwarf can do any task, and having 1 level isn't much better than having no levels. Which isn't to say there isn't a situation where a 1/1/1/1/1/5 dwarf is the right solution (indeed, the typical recommended leader/broker takes 1/1/1/1/1 in appraiser/judge of intent/negotiator/+2 social skills because none of these skills have a time or quality component), but most less-specialized dwarves are more likely to fall in the 5/3/2 or 4/3/3 end of the spectrum solely because there is a minimum investment necessary to be noticeably better than not having any levels at all.

==== Design Constraints: Which skills do I need, really? ====

The only thing that you absolutely must do in the first year is get your food supplies into a food stockpile, preferably inside, otherwise your food will rot on the ground and your dwarves will starve. Anything else you want to do can be accommodated by sufficient investment in initial food supplies and/or skills. This means the options for possible starting builds are vast because virtually any set of starting skills for your dwarves is viable (and that's before you even think about equipment, which adds more variables). So the short answer is: none.

That said, there are some skills which will be '''used''', to one extent or another, by virtually every fortress - but that doesn't mean you '''need''' or even want to invest points in them to start. You could even manipulate the fortress (see {{l|challenge}}) to completely avoid one or more of the following, but these are the skills you will find it exceptionally hard to avoid creating jobs for:
:{{l|Mining}} - to dig your fortress, and gain stone for projects. Only possible to avoid using if you're secretly an elf.
:* Inexperienced {{l|miner}}s work very slowly and are less likely to recover mined gems or valuable ores. Mining can be leveled up quite quickly by mining {{l|soil#soil|soil}}, but taking two dwarves with at least some points in mining is recommended in many cases.
:{{l|Carpentry}} - {{l|bed}}s can only be produced from {{l|wood}} (rare {{l|mood}}s aside). This skill can also be used to make {{L|bin}}s without having to have an {{L|anvil}}, use any metal {{L|bar}}s, or use any {{L|fuel}}.
:*Carpentry is used, but opinions differ - on one hand, wood items are just not worth that much {{l|value}}-wise ''(10's of dwarfbucks vs 100's for stone furniture or 1000's for armor or prepared foods, for instance)'', so the difference in monetary value between high-quality and no-quality is minor for wood products. However, high-quality {{l|bed}}s are one of the easiest ways to help make and keep your dwarves {{l|thought|happy}} (since every dwarf will encounter a bed regularly), so some players swear by it.
:{{l|Masonry}} - to build walls and stairs, and fashion dwarven furniture from stone. Possible to work around, but incredibly hard and annoying to do.
:{{l|Grower|Growing}} - your farmers' work echoes throughout so many other tasks, it's stunning
:* While its possible to feed your fortress on nothing but caravan goods, you'll never come by enough alcohol that way, so you'll eventually need to grow crops for brewing, and dwarves will literally go crazy if forced to drink nothing but water for long periods. Thus you'll want to plan for farming eventually - not that you need to bring a highly skilled {{l|Grower}}, but it'll certainly be ''very'' helpful. Likewise, a skilled {{l|brewer}} produces higher quality {{l|alcohol}} (''though the quality is hidden!)'', which improves your dwarves' mood, as does a skilled {{l|cook}} with the foods they prepare. However, most food can be eaten raw, and so long as they are not starving there is life.
:{{l|Brewing}} - all dwarves "need alcohol to get through the working day"
:{{l|Mechanics}} - if you want traps, and most people will. Also needed for most machinery.
:{{l|Architecture|Building Designer}} - mandatory for some buildings and constructions, but skill only improves speed a tad and increases structure {{l|value}}
:{{l|Broker skills}} - most importantly {{l|appraiser}} - a minimum of Broker skills are highly recommended to start with at the Novice (1 pt) level - it'll make your life much easier (especially Novice level of {{l|Appraiser}}, at least, as it greatly facilitates trading).
:{{L|Record keeper}} - Lets you be able to see the exact amount of things you have much faster than training one, and is necessary to view the stocks screen.

The very fact that you will use these skills often makes many of them desirable to choose as starting skills for your dwarves. Of the above, Mining, Masonry, Growing, Brewing, Cooking, and Mechanics are generally worth considering as "highly desirable". However, '''any skill can be used untrained, and/or get trained on the job''' - it just means a slower process and/or average lower quality product than if done by a dwarf with a higher {{l|experience|skill level}}.

The difference between these skills and other skills is that other skills are optional as to whether they'll get used or not. You need to deliberately want to use them. These skills are essential to basic aspects of the game, and avoiding one requires a deliberate choice not to use it (and likely a lot of effort spent to avoid doing so). Ie, a fortress could make its wealth by smithing fine weapons, weaving quality cloth, encrusting precious stones onto furniture, or crafting quality trinkets. Or all of those. But it doesn't have a compelling reason to do any one in particular. A fortress that never designates a tile for mining, however, requires exceptional effort to achieve.

But that you can avoid even something as basic as mining *for the lifetime of your fortress* means there is no universal design constraint on which skills to start with. Ultimately the answer to "What skills do I need?" is "Whichever ''you'' want". Choosing a mixture of these commonly used skills and your desired specialized skills will make starting up your fortress easier and more efficient, but you don't need to start with any of them. Choosing to avoid some skills may force you to use some others, but nothing compels you to invest in any skill in particular.

==== Balancing military and economic needs ====

Not all embarks will require a military presence in the first year, but anyone planning an expedition to a sinister, haunted, or terrifying biome would be foolish not to be prepared for nasty dwarf-killing creatures. The solution doesn't strictly need to be military skills; quick delving and a skilled mechanic may be sufficient; but starting with a military dwarf will give you the earliest possible protection and a lot more versatility in where that protection can be applied. Whatever you choose to do, understand the risk and be prepared for it.

==== Training considerations ====

Some skills are harder to gain experience in than others - requiring valuable resources or taking an extended period of time, and thus inconvenient to train from the ground up. Investing in some of these extensively in your initial dwarves can make those industries much less painful to start. For example, metal-related skills generally eat metal bars, and thus the less time you spend training metal workers up to a decent level, the faster they'll be churning out high-quality items for you, and the fewer bars they'll waste becoming skilled. On the other hand, despite its importance, skills like mining train relatively quickly and barring extenuating circumstances (expected need to accomplish particular digging projects in the first month or you'll get mauled by a Giant for example) there's little need to actually invest your starting skills in it - they can learn on the job.

==== Quality, value, and happiness ====

{{l|Quality}} is an important part of Dwarf Fortress. Higher quality items produce better and more frequent happy thoughts and are worth more money. Valuable commodities will trade for more goods from caravans that visit. When choosing skills that produce objects of quality, the desire to produce valuable goods for trade will often conflict with the desire to produce objects that will make your dwarves happy. Built items that are frequently encountered tend to be things like furniture, especially beds, which tend to have low material values and thus low total value no matter how high the quality of the work. Further, these things tend to be inconvenient to trade. It is often best to strike a balance between dwarves who produce valuable trade goods and dwarves who produce quality items that will make your population happy - and thus be able to achieve both goals simultaneously.

Its worth noting that built furniture and worn clothing counts its value twice, once under the appropriate category and once for displayed value. If you're trying to maximize your created wealth total, a good metalsmith producing furniture from high-value metals is optimal.

==== Moodable skills ====

{{l|Strange mood}}s will create a Legendary skill of the "moodable" skill with the highest level, and moods take hold of dwarves with different professions at different rates. Some skills are "moodable" where others are not. You might choose to take certain skills solely because it opens up moods for that skill with that dwarf. Some moodable skills are more valuable than others - a legendary weaponsmith is both valuable and useful. A legendary tanner is generally a waste of a mood since tanned hides have no quality.

Because a dwarf can only have a strange mood in one skill, pairing a moodable skill with a non-moodable skill can protect the moodable skill and ensure that if the dwarf has a mood it will be in the skill you desire. See the section on combining skills below for more details on ways to pair skills.

Dwarves with no moodable skill can be allowed to do one task using a moodable skill to give them a moodable skill with no starting build investment, so moodable skill considerations should not be considered a primary reason to choose particular skills - you should also want to make use of them for other reasons.

==== Combining Skills ====
Every dwarf is going to have 2 or more {{l|skills}}. This means that even once you know which skills you want, you're going to need to pair them up before assigning them. Not all skill combinations are equally functional.

Some skills are highly time-consuming, either because the skill is in frequent demand (eg, {{l|mining}}) or because it takes a long time to do an individual job (eg, {{l|strand extraction}}). If a dwarf is spending most of their time using that skill, they aren't making much use of their other skill. Pairing two time-consuming skills together therefore tends to be a bad idea, as one or both jobs are not going to get the attention they need or deserve. Similarly, pairing a skill with time-critical jobs with a time-consuming skill also tends to be a bad idea. If your {{l|grower}} is also mining, he may not stop to plant crops one season. Or he might neglect to harvest your crops in a timely fashion and they could rot on the ground (if you only let your growers harvest). Arranging your skill combinations to avoid these situations is generally beneficial. For example, Masons, miners, growers, and any craft that your fortress will base their economy off of (glass, stonecrafts, armour, etc) will take a lot of time, so plan accordingly.

Instead, pairing relatively time-intensive tasks with less time-intensive tasks will let your dwarf accomplish all such tasks adequately. Once you get a metal industry rolling, an armorer/weaponsmith will need to make a lot fewer weapons to outfit your soldiers than he will armor components. Thus he can usefully do both jobs without hurting your productivity overly much. Similarly, a mason might also be your architect, since building designer is a very infrequently used skill.

Working at different jobs levels up specific {{l|attribute}}s. One could level up a miner until he becomes mighty and ultra-tough - and then turn him into a soldier, or retire him to haul stone. If you plan on doing so, it may not be a good idea to give this guy a second critical job that will demand a lot of time away from their focus.

Since tasks will take place in specific areas, another approach is to combine tasks into dwarves who will take care of a specific industry, or spend all their time in one generally narrow part of the fortress - the forges, or the kitchens, or outdoors, for instance. So combining Farming with cooking, rather than mining, for example, and turn on only Haul Food, not Haul Stone. Metalworkers spending their time in the forge can easily handle more than one type of metalworking skill, and are also well-situated to be furnace operators.

Similarly, you can also make the craftsmen of your finished products also responsible for the production of intermediate products from raw ingredients. This way when they run out of materials to make into finished goods they can immediately switch over to working raw products into intermediate products so they'll have more to work with later. This works better in some industries than in others. A single butcher/tanner/cook trying to process multiple animals simultaneously will likely result in rotten food, carcases, or skins. But a weaponsmith who doubles as a furnace operator can usefully ensure he has material to work with when you want him to. Later on, however, a highly skilled craftsdwarf is often better suited at sitting in their {{l|workshop}} and having others deliver raw materials to them than going out and obtaining their own raw materials themselves, but in the early game dwarf-time is limited, and a single dwarf who can work an entire production chain can do so relatively efficiently and let your other dwarves be used elsewhere.

There is no requirement that a dwarves job combination needs to look 'right' or logical. A weaponsmith will most probably not spend nearly 100% of their time creating weapons - what they do with the other part of their time may have nothing at all to do with forges or smithing. Jobs which require little time in general, or little time early even if time-intensive later, may well be paired with any time-intensive task solely to provide the dwarf with something to usefully and skillfully do with most of their time, and freed from that duty as needed for the other tasks.

Another constraint you can impose on your skill combinations is to try to limit dwarves to {{l|moodable}} skill and one non-moodable skill (or a moodable and a less desired moodable skill at lower level), so any mood will improve the desired one. For example, pairing craft skills with farming skills gives you dwarves that will perform useful food production or raw good processing services while also getting their mood in a valuable finished goods skill. Example: Clothier/Grower.

==== Which dwarf should have which skill? ====
Dwarves who craft goods they prefer, or work materials they prefer, gain a bonus to the quality of the finished work. This can inform your choice of which skills you choose, for example by choosing a weaver because you notice a preference for sheap wool yarn, or you might choose the skills you want and then try to find a suitable dwarf to use that skill. In the latter case, since all dwarves have one metal preference you might assign an armorsmithing skill to a dwarf with a preference for iron, steel, or adamantine.

The dwarf with the most social skills will end up being the {{l|Expedition leader}}, who will then become the {{l|mayor}} and start making {{l|mandate}}s. Thus you should avoid giving the most social skills to dwarfs who have {{l|preferences}} for things like {{l|adamantine}}.

Dwarves have physical and mental attributes that affect the performance of certain skills. You may wish to give a socially adept and patient dwarf the leadership/broker skills, or a dwarf who doesn't tire easily a skill which will be in frequent use like mining. You can also try to match skills to {{l|personality}}, some of which have obvious implications for their willingness to work long hours or how frequently they might take breaks.

Of course, all combined these represent a lot of possible constraints on where you assign particular skills, and it would be impossible to apply them in total to your entire desired skill load. Use these as a guide, but don't be upset if all your dwarves are anti-social psychopaths - someone still needs to be the leader, after all.

==== Other considerations ====
Migrants can and will arrive with a wide selection of decently trained skills. While it is a gamble, chances are pretty decent that migrants will arrive with a highly trained skill that is also highly desirable and would usurp the job of one of the seven starting ones. The first few migration waves are likely to give you a much better talent pool than what you can assign at embark. On the other hand, you may never get the skill you really want if you don't start with it.

Skills rust if not used and they can eventually de-level. Consider that skills which you will use years after embark are going to be rusty or even deleveled. Embark to the first caravan is long enough for a skill to start rusting, so you might want to make sure you'll use every skill you embark with before the first year ends to avoid catastrophic rusting.

Remember that you need to survive in order to accomplish any goals. Have a plan for lasting to at least the first caravan, if not one for longterm sustainability.

== Items ==

The items you choose to bring with you will need to satisfy a number of needs. Most importantly, you need to keep yourself alive - at least until the caravan arrives in the fall to resupply yourself. You probably also want to plan on some way of making a shelter, whether that be the traditional delved hall, a majestic castle, a log cabin, or something even more exotic. You may want to plan for mishaps by bringing essential medical supplies, especially those which may be hard to acquire on site. And you might bring items which will assist in creating items for trade to that first caravan, should you need anything for the skills you're planning on.

For the purposes of this article, livestock are considered items.

All embarks get the following items without paying for them: 2 animals (who pulled the wagon), and the 3 wood that make up the wagon.

=== Motivations ===

==== Survival ====

A single dwarf eats about 2x/season, and drinks about 4x/season. With 7 dwarves that's ~approximately~ 14 meals per season and 28 alcohol per season, or ~42 meals and ~84 alcohol until the end of Fall. The dwarf caravan tends to arrive in the third month of fall, so you will probably need to plan on a full 3 seasons. You are also likely to get at least one if not two small waves of migrants before the caravan arrives.

It is possible to bring enough food and drink to make it to the caravan - indeed, bringing enough food isn't especially hard (especially once you factor in slaughtering the animals who hauled your wagon. Bringing sufficient alcohol is harder, although bringing plump helmets to brew can significantly cut the cost.

The likely best way to keep your dwarves in drink is also the most labor intensive - setting up farming in the first season or two is perfectly plausible, allowing to grow your own {{l|plants}} from seeds and brew the products. (Keep in mind not all plants can be brewed - don't plant dimple cups and expect to make alcohol). In addition to the necessary seeds, starting your own farming operation is going to require some way to get the ground muddy. While sometimes simple digging can accomplish this, many times you're going to need a screw pump. Basic construction requirements are discussed under shelter.

It is possible to make all your alcohol by harvesting aboveground plants, if highly inefficient. It also only works in biomes with collectable plant life. Notably evil biomes and glaciers are unlikely to provide.

==== Shelter ====
Bar a convenient cave, you're going to have to do something for shelter. Shelter is your first defense against roving creatures, keeping them away from where your dwarves are working so they don't spam job cancellations and strew items all over the place. (As you might guess, most 'convenient caves' aren't actually that convenient, as they tend to have residents). Basic walls that allow you egress won't stop a dedicated invader, but you don't expect to see those until year 3, so you have time to develop more elaborate defenses.

Food outside will also spoil a lot faster than food inside, so making a cellar of some sort to store your food in will increase the longevity of your food supplies. The rate at which food spoils depends on ambient temperature, so the urgency of making a cellar will depend on where you settled. It might be possible to go without a cellar in a freezing biome.{{verify}} The only way you can avoid thinking about food storage in the first year is if you collect food and make alcohol as needed - ie, by using an herbalist to collect local plants - which can avoid needing to mine at all.

Delving a shelter requires mining, which means having picks to dig with. One can always bring one or more picks at embark, but its also possible to bring the supplies necessary to make them. See tempo vs. efficiency below.

An aboveground shelter can be made with stone or wood or possibly more exotic materials. Stone of course requires mining, and thus picks. Wood can be had with an axe assuming trees are present, and axes, like picks, can similarly be brought at embark or made on site. It is of course possible to bring sufficient raw materials to build walls with, but this is far less efficient than just bringing a pick or an axe, although it could make a fun challenge. Building your initial fort out of soap, while possible, is not recommended, although possibly hilariously entertaining.

==== Industry ====
Most industries require little more than materials you can collect at the site and a workshop. So long as you can get stone, you won't need to bring anything for these. However, if you want to get an industry going immediately, it does help to bring a few building materials along (or be willing to use the wood from the wagon, if only temporarily).

Some industries require fire-safe materials to build with. All stone qualifies, as does metal. Wood can be converted to a fire safe material by burning it to ashes in a wood burners workshop, but of course that workshop requires a fire-safe material. If you're mining, this condition is easy to satisfy, but if you intend to run any of these industries right away you will need to plan on bringing appropriate materials.

Some industries require plant or animal matter to work with. Clothiers ultimately need cloth, which comes from certain plants or animals. Leatherworkers need tanned skins. (And while you can get 2 off your pack animals, this isn't sufficient to run an industry). If you plan on running these types of industries you will need to have a plan for providing suitable raw materials. Hunting can cover leatherworking needs (although this requires a hunter and hunting implements), and foraging can find rope reed plants, but its usually better to bring enough appropriate animals or plants to have a good shot at getting started in a predictable and sustainable way. Similarly, milking and cheese making require milkable animals, and bonecarving requires a dependable source of bones.

Metal industries require metal and an anvil. You cannot make an anvil on site without already having an anvil, so if you plan on doing any forging before the first caravan you will need to bring one with you. Metal can be brought as bars or as ores to be smelted in a smelter into bars, or can be mined yourself. You will need to provide fuel or magma to run these workshops, so bringing some coal can make the operation run smoother.

Soap requires a lot of wood consumption and a source of tallow to be done in a sustainable way. Lye can be bought at embark to skip the first steps and make soap more directly. You will still need to bring or make buckets and have an empty barrel to actually produce soap though, but fortunately this is just a matter of having sufficient wood.

Jewelers require gems. Cut gems can be brought at embark, but are too expensive to bring in quantity. Generally a jeweler requires mining to find sufficient gems.

Glassmaking and Pottery requires sand or clay and fuel - pay attention to your site report before embarking. Its hard to run a viable industry solely off imports in these cases. Like metal workshops, coal can be brought to substitute for fuel fairly efficiently.

As is probably obvious, certain industries depend on similar inputs. Planning on a set of industries which require similar complementary inputs can let you more efficiently spend your starting points at embark or more efficiently plan your digging during the first year. If you plan on a lot of fuel-dependent industries, it may be worthwhile to prioritize finding a source of magma.

=== Optimization ===

==== Container mechanics and free items ====

Many items come in containers such as barrels and bags, including food, liquids, seeds, and powders. The cost to embark with these items can be cheaper than the cost of the container itself. Each different type of item for each category will come in its own container. Furthermore, you'll get a new container after every 10th instance for food, most liquids, and seeds, and after every item of powders.{{verify}} Alcohol gets a new barrel after every 5th unit. (Food actually groups by animal type, so if you get horse tripe and horse meat they'll combine them, but they won't combine horse meat and donkey meat). Thus diversifying your initial food supply with 1 of each low-cost food item will net you a large number of barrels. Similarly its worth taking 1 of each seed you weren't planning on taking more of solely for the bags. Taking some sand or gypsum powder is also a cheap way to get bags. Lye (for soap) and milks can be brought for more barrels - and milk can be made into cheese for a low-cost embark option that becomes food.

As stockpiling and some jobs are container limited, getting as many free containers as you can will free up labor (and possibly valuable materials) that would otherwise be used making containers.

==== Finished product or do it yourself ====
Bringing raw materials and making the finished product yourself is often easier on your embark points than bringing the finished product. On the other hand, making it yourself takes time during which you aren't making use of the finished product.

The most common scenario involves {{l|Make your own weapons|forging your own metal tools and weapons}}. While not usually too much of a hardship, it can be dangerous to make your own weapons or picks if you expect possible hostile creatures. Further, you will lose time - possibly 1/4 to 1/2 the first month - if you forge your own picks.

Of special note regarding weapons is that a training battle axe is perfectly capable of chopping trees, and is made with nothing more than a carpentry workshop and a log. While the delay in acquiring one is minimal, a wood battle axe is not a good weapon, and so it loses utility for doing anything other than acquiring more wood.

You can also easily plan on making all or most of one's own booze, as plump helmets can be bought at embark and brewed at a still.

Any finished good can of course be made from raw materials that you bring, but most of them are not essential like the above, and thus you can generally wait until you find suitable resources on site or buy them from caravans.

==== Biome considerations: dude, where's my wood? ====
Some environments have a shortage of trees. While you can direct production of a lot of item types to other materials, beds need to be made out of wood. In addition, it is difficult to make barrels and bins out of non-wood materials early in the game, especially without ready magma (since otherwise you'll probably need to burn wood to make metal equivalents). If you have an aquifer it can be even worse - stone may be difficult or impossible to access easily. While you can ultimately ask for wood from your liaison and buy whatever the humans and elves happen to bring, and eventually you can create a tree farm underground, tight wood will limit storage and sleeping arrangements for at least the first year if not longer. You may wish to plan accordingly if embarking in a site with sparse or no trees.

==== Items for moods ====
When a dwarf is taken by a {{l|strange mood}}, he often needs obscure material or he will go insane and die, possibly with severe consequences to an entire fortress. Bringing along some of the harder-to-find ores ({{l|cassiterite}}, {{l|sphalerite}}, {{l|bismuthinite}}, {{l|garnierite}}), and putting those aside, forbidding their use "just in case", is spending a few points on an insurance policy. Many players also choose to bring a few items like pig tail cloth and cave spider silk just in case.

Alternately, if you're otherwise being minimalistic on gear you're bringing you can choose to bring a few valuable components to try to maximize the value of mood items. That artifact animal trap will be worth a lot more if your woodcarver grabs a blue diamond instead of moss agate.

==== Free Equipment ====

Dwarves who start with the ambusher skill may get some leather {{l|armor}}, a crossbow and some bolts for free. It seems to do so when ambusher is the highest non-military non-social skill.{{verify}}







==Site considerations==
Each fortress {{l|location}} offers particular challenges and opportunities, and can make different demands on your starting build. Your starting build may need to be adjusted depending on the {{l|region}} your fort occupies, the specific vision you have of your fortress, and what it will take to {{l|losing|stay alive}} where you're going!

The differences include what {{l|biome}}s, {{l|region}}s and likely {{l|metal}}s are present in your chosen embark site.

=== General Surroundings ===
Simply put, if your {{l|surroundings}} are {{l|evil}} or {{l|savage}}, your dwarves have a higher risk of suddenly facing personal combat before they are safely behind their defenses. Consider bringing extra weaponry, in the form of axes, picks or crossbows (see {{l|Starting_builds#Free_Equipment|free equipment}}). Hand in hand with those, consider skill mixes that include {{l|axedwarf}}, {{l|mining}} (the skill used to wield a pick), {{l|marksdwarf}}, or {{l|wrestling}} (a solid unarmed-combat skill).

The same is true if you are embarking near an exposed magma vent or an open chasm - these features can be seen on the embark map, but it's impossible to tell if they are "open" to the surface or not, until you are there in person.

Be sure to include some source of {{l|water}} on the map, preferably running {{l|water}}. Water is (almost) essential for any fortress. In Cold and Freezing climates streams and {{l|lake}}s will often be frozen year-round and your dwarves may quickly die of exposure, in Hot climates {{l|murky pool}}s will dry up, and in Dry ones rain will only rarely re-fill them, if ever. Choose Temperate or tropical zones for an easier game.

===Aquifers===
If an {{l|aquifer}} is present in the first soil or stone layers (visible on the pre-embark menu), it may bar all access to {{l|stone}} and {{l|ore}} until you find a way through the water barrier. Consider bringing some stone for building, and ore for your first basic needs. This may be critical to getting your fortress running smoothly.

=== Mountains ===
Mountains often have abundant {{l|ore}}s, but at the loss of trees and plants. In previous versions lacking {{L|cavern}}s, this was a serious drawback. In DF2010, brave pioneers can dig down into the caverns to find essentials like water, mud, and plants. However, players should be aware that above-ground crops will not grow in mountain biomes, no matter how muddy you may make the surface.

Depending on the exact layers, it's common to find exposed {{l|vein}}s of useful {{l|ore}}s that can be immediately mined for {{l|Make your own weapons|DIY}} weapons and tools.

=== Wooded/Plains ===
Flatlands with at least some trees and gatherable plants can also make for highly successful fortresses. Advantages over mountain zones include abundant trees and plants and (unless frozen) more abundant water. There are even (rare) magma vents. More water also means a high likelihood of an {{l|aquifer}} being present. Make sure to check on embark.

The greatest disadvantage is the potential lack of exposed {{l|stone}} to mine. The first level(s) below the surface is often {{l|soil}} of some type, which offers no building materials. However, soil is mined much more quickly than stone (x3-x4 faster), and expansive accommodations (rooms) can be achieved quickly even by untrained miners. You will find stone, you just have to go down a bit for it - but that's what dwarves do, isn't it?

{{l|Experience|Training}} a {{l|Miner}} from No Skill to Proficient takes less than a month (~20 days with hauling disabled) in soil, and to Legendary in just under a season after. {{version|0.31.12}} From embark, this means you should have legendary miners in early summer if you dig only in soil. Times increase slightly for each additional miner used.

=== Oceanside ===
With many features in common with some of the above locations, {{l|beach}}es are often a mix of ease intermingled with bouts of extreme difficulty. Minerals and trees are often abundant, as well as farmland and sand, but there is often no drinking water unless the biome has a flowing {{l|water}} of some sort.

By definition, the settlement will fall between (at least) two {{l|biome}}s (one land, one water), potentially hazardous if the player expects a peaceful oceanside meadow, without realizing the {{l|terrifying}} ocean is full of amphibious zombie {{l|whale}}s.

=== Desert, Glaciers, and Barren ===
Treeless (or near-treeless) {{l|biome}}s are challenging sites for a fortress: you get most of the disadvantages of a flatland site without having access to nearly as many trees and plants. However, near-lifeless zones such as {{l|glacier}}s are wonderful for players with slower computers, as there's little to burden the CPU but your dwarves and livestock. {{l|Desert}}s and barren areas often have sand; with a sufficient source of energy (preferably magma), you can build almost anything out of unlimited glass.

Hunters should be replaced with fisherdwarves and a fish cleaner (although the latter can be easily trained). Depending how much water vs. land, more starting wood and ores might be helpful. Swimming is rarely useful in Fortress mode, even at the beach, and can be trained.

==Sample starting builds==
See {{l|Sample Starting Builds}}

{{Starting FAQ}}
[[Category:Guides]]

v0.31:Starting build

2011-04-23T22:06:11Z

Squirrelloid: /* Finished product or do it yourself */

{{quality|Exceptional|01:37, 16 October 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

A '''starting build''' is a personal ''strategy'' for choosing the initial supplies, equipment, and {{l|skill}}s of your initial seven dwarves when starting a new game in {{l|fortress mode}}. These skills and items which you assign to your dwarves will have a large impact on life in your new fortress, especially in its first year.

This page attempts to give advice on some of the many gameplay elements which influence the flow of your game based on your goals. These include: choosing a ''fortress site'', the ''starting build'' itself, as well as ''challenge builds'' aimed at providing new or unusual challenges to advanced players. This page is not an explanation of the mechanics of doing so, see {{l|Embark}} for an explanation of the interface itself.

But one thing should be made clear - there is no "best" build, no "perfect" or "clearly superior" final mix of skills and items, if only because there isn't any one goal of play. The goals you have for a fortress will dictate which sets of items and skills are best suited to achieving that goal - in your opinion. And then there is the environment, where your dwarves will arrive, the creatures, the resources available, and so forth. Finally, some people do things solely because it is hard, and that makes it more fun for them.

Items are tied to starting skills, and starting skills are tied to the expected environment for your chosen embark, and all are tied to your preferences for playing the game - not all sites require (or invite) the same approach, and no two players would take the same approach to the same environment.

This page attempts to provide a discussion about how and why you make the choices on what you bring along.

__TOC__

== Components of a Starting Build ==
There are two main components of a starting build: skills and items.

Skills for your initial dwarves determine how quickly they will work early on, what industries you are guaranteed to be able to start with skilled workers later, how well you can defend your dwarves early on, and what the quality of various goods they produce will be, and possibly many other considerations. This page considers in detail how you might go about choosing skills for your starting dwarves, and examines the multiple competing perspectives from which you can make that decision.

The items that your dwarves bring with you can be tailored a number of ways. There are trade-offs to cheaper and more expensive alternatives, and reasons why you might choose either. This section explores the nature of these trade-offs and the reasons for making a decision. It also looks at optimizing goods brought in more general contexts.

Starting builds can and should vary based upon a number of other variables. {{l|location|Where you choose to settle}} will give you a fortress that supplies different raw materials and thus require different skill sets to utilize, not to mention different threats from native wildlife based on {{l|biome}}, {{l|surroundings|savagery}}, and {{l|surroundings|alignment}}. Which dwarven civilization you come from will restrict the materials with which you can start. Making choices about these variables is not part of a starting build. What you choose for skills and items because of these choices is part of your starting build, and so some general guidelines about different environments is given last.

This page does not cover the interface for accomplishing these tasks. Please see the {{l|embark}} page.

== Skill Optimization ==
With only 7 dwarves, you can't take every {{l|skill}}, so you have to balance what you do take. At this starting phase, each dwarf can only be assigned a maximum total of 10 skill levels, with no single skill starting higher than "5". Actual skill distribution is thus constrained to be something between 1 level in each of 10 skills, or 5 levels in each of two skills, or something in between. Because dwarves can {{l|experience|learn}} any and all skills once your fortress starts, these initial choices do not dictate what the dwarves can do, opening up incredible latitude to choose skills for reasons other than survival.

:''(* Note that an unskilled dwarf starts with all Skills at Level '''0'''. Adding +5 Levels is then Level '''5'''. This is true regardless of how many "points" a level costs when first buying skills at embark.)''

A brief list of considerations governing skill choice:
:* Maximizing starting skill ranks vs. generalizing and having more skills covered at lower levels.
:* Balancing multiple skills for a single dwarf, so they aren't constantly needed for two different tasks at critical periods
:* Military vs economic needs
:* Your goals vs "basic survival needs" to keep your fortress healthy and happy.
:* Speed that a skill can be trained in game
:* Demand for a skill during a game
:* Whether quality or speed are significant considerations for tasks/final product
:* Balancing the desire to create {{l|wealth}} ''(with high-value products)'' with the need to maintain {{l|thought|morale}} ''(with low-value but commonly used products, like {{l|bed}}s, which normally are made from {{l|wood}})''.
:* most importantly - ''your playstyle'' - what '''you''' think is "fun"!

==== Breadth vs. Depth ====

A dwarf with only 2 starting skills at 5 ranks each is pretty good at 2 tasks, but untrained at anything else. A dwarf with nothing higher than level 1 is passable at many tasks, but not good at anything. Each dwarf in your party is going to be somewhere along this continuum, and you'll need to choose where.

Level in a skill dictates how fast a dwarf completes a task (most of the time), and how well he completes it (if applicable). On one extreme, {{l|butchery}} has no time variance for slaughtering a tame animal, and has no quality associated with the outcome. On the other extreme, {{l|metalworking}} tasks can take a long time for an untrained worker to complete and their high material value means the quality multiplier has a large impact on the end value.

Dwarves who complete tasks faster can do more total {{l|job}}s within a given timeframe. The rate at which speed increases with level varies with skill, so some skills will benefit more than others.

Dwarves who make items of higher quality will contribute more to fortress wealth and may have a large impact on fortress happiness if their work is readily available to be seen by other dwarves. Items which typically contribute to happiness are low value but common public items, like beds and tables. Items which contribute the most to fortress wealth often cannot be displayed, but make useful trade goods or equipment for your military.

A dwarf highly skilled in few areas will work faster at those tasks and produce higher quality work than his more generalized counterpart. However, he will do worse at any other task he is set to.

Aside from the obvious trade off, there is another reason to prefer depth - dwarves can obviously only complete so many total jobs within a given timespan. If a dwarf is busy doing one thing, he can't simultaneously be doing something else. So a dwarf who is highly skilled in a few skills may not actually experience any disadvantage thereby if he is kept doing those things in which he specializes. The generalist dwarf, on the other hand, may be able to do many more different tasks adequately, but he can still only do one type of task at a time. A dwarf with one highly used skill (such as Mechanics or Mining) can feasibly spend all his time using only his primary skill and thus has no need to generalize. In effect, the generalist is wasting more skill points whenever he does jobs than the specialist, so long as the specialist tends to do jobs he has levels in. Specializing your initial skill investment is therefore superior if you specialize the division of labor in your fortress.

Of course, you can still only bring 7 dwarves with 10 total levels of skills each, so covering everything you want to do in 14 skills may be hard, if not impossible. A generalist or two can cover more bases that have little quality need or are otherwise fast even without a high level. The generalists real problem arises from the fact that any dwarf can do any task, and having 1 level isn't much better than having no levels. Which isn't to say there isn't a situation where a 1/1/1/1/1/5 dwarf is the right solution (indeed, the typical recommended leader/broker takes 1/1/1/1/1 in appraiser/judge of intent/negotiator/+2 social skills because none of these skills have a time or quality component), but most less-specialized dwarves are more likely to fall in the 5/3/2 or 4/3/3 end of the spectrum solely because there is a minimum investment necessary to be noticeably better than not having any levels at all.

==== Design Constraints: Which skills do I need, really? ====

The only thing that you absolutely must do in the first year is get your food supplies into a food stockpile, preferably inside, otherwise your food will rot on the ground and your dwarves will starve. Anything else you want to do can be accommodated by sufficient investment in initial food supplies and/or skills. This means the options for possible starting builds are vast because virtually any set of starting skills for your dwarves is viable (and that's before you even think about equipment, which adds more variables). So the short answer is: none.

That said, there are some skills which will be '''used''', to one extent or another, by virtually every fortress - but that doesn't mean you '''need''' or even want to invest points in them to start. You could even manipulate the fortress (see {{l|challenge}}) to completely avoid one or more of the following, but these are the skills you will find it exceptionally hard to avoid creating jobs for:
:{{l|Mining}} - to dig your fortress, and gain stone for projects. Only possible to avoid using if you're secretly an elf.
:* Inexperienced {{l|miner}}s work very slowly and are less likely to recover mined gems or valuable ores. Mining can be leveled up quite quickly by mining {{l|soil#soil|soil}}, but taking two dwarves with at least some points in mining is recommended in many cases.
:{{l|Carpentry}} - {{l|bed}}s can only be produced from {{l|wood}} (rare {{l|mood}}s aside). This skill can also be used to make {{L|bin}}s without having to have an {{L|anvil}}, use any metal {{L|bar}}s, or use any {{L|fuel}}.
:*Carpentry is used, but opinions differ - on one hand, wood items are just not worth that much {{l|value}}-wise ''(10's of dwarfbucks vs 100's for stone furniture or 1000's for armor or prepared foods, for instance)'', so the difference in monetary value between high-quality and no-quality is minor for wood products. However, high-quality {{l|bed}}s are one of the easiest ways to help make and keep your dwarves {{l|thought|happy}} (since every dwarf will encounter a bed regularly), so some players swear by it.
:{{l|Masonry}} - to build walls and stairs, and fashion dwarven furniture from stone. Possible to work around, but incredibly hard and annoying to do.
:{{l|Grower|Growing}} - your farmers' work echoes throughout so many other tasks, it's stunning
:* While its possible to feed your fortress on nothing but caravan goods, you'll never come by enough alcohol that way, so you'll eventually need to grow crops for brewing, and dwarves will literally go crazy if forced to drink nothing but water for long periods. Thus you'll want to plan for farming eventually - not that you need to bring a highly skilled {{l|Grower}}, but it'll certainly be ''very'' helpful. Likewise, a skilled {{l|brewer}} produces higher quality {{l|alcohol}} (''though the quality is hidden!)'', which improves your dwarves' mood, as does a skilled {{l|cook}} with the foods they prepare. However, most food can be eaten raw, and so long as they are not starving there is life.
:{{l|Brewing}} - all dwarves "need alcohol to get through the working day"
:{{l|Mechanics}} - if you want traps, and most people will. Also needed for most machinery.
:{{l|Architecture|Building Designer}} - mandatory for some buildings and constructions, but skill only improves speed a tad and increases structure {{l|value}}
:{{l|Broker skills}} - most importantly {{l|appraiser}} - a minimum of Broker skills are highly recommended to start with at the Novice (1 pt) level - it'll make your life much easier (especially Novice level of {{l|Appraiser}}, at least, as it greatly facilitates trading).
:{{L|Record keeper}} - Lets you be able to see the exact amount of things you have much faster than training one, and is necessary to view the stocks screen.

The very fact that you will use these skills often makes many of them desirable to choose as starting skills for your dwarves. Of the above, Mining, Masonry, Growing, Brewing, Cooking, and Mechanics are generally worth considering as "highly desirable". However, '''any skill can be used untrained, and/or get trained on the job''' - it just means a slower process and/or average lower quality product than if done by a dwarf with a higher {{l|experience|skill level}}.

The difference between these skills and other skills is that other skills are optional as to whether they'll get used or not. You need to deliberately want to use them. These skills are essential to basic aspects of the game, and avoiding one requires a deliberate choice not to use it (and likely a lot of effort spent to avoid doing so). Ie, a fortress could make its wealth by smithing fine weapons, weaving quality cloth, encrusting precious stones onto furniture, or crafting quality trinkets. Or all of those. But it doesn't have a compelling reason to do any one in particular. A fortress that never designates a tile for mining, however, requires exceptional effort to achieve.

But that you can avoid even something as basic as mining *for the lifetime of your fortress* means there is no universal design constraint on which skills to start with. Ultimately the answer to "What skills do I need?" is "Whichever ''you'' want". Choosing a mixture of these commonly used skills and your desired specialized skills will make starting up your fortress easier and more efficient, but you don't need to start with any of them. Choosing to avoid some skills may force you to use some others, but nothing compels you to invest in any skill in particular.

==== Balancing military and economic needs ====

Not all embarks will require a military presence in the first year, but anyone planning an expedition to a sinister, haunted, or terrifying biome would be foolish not to be prepared for nasty dwarf-killing creatures. The solution doesn't strictly need to be military skills; quick delving and a skilled mechanic may be sufficient; but starting with a military dwarf will give you the earliest possible protection and a lot more versatility in where that protection can be applied. Whatever you choose to do, understand the risk and be prepared for it.

==== Training considerations ====

Some skills are harder to gain experience in than others - requiring valuable resources or taking an extended period of time, and thus inconvenient to train from the ground up. Investing in some of these extensively in your initial dwarves can make those industries much less painful to start. For example, metal-related skills generally eat metal bars, and thus the less time you spend training metal workers up to a decent level, the faster they'll be churning out high-quality items for you, and the fewer bars they'll waste becoming skilled. On the other hand, despite its importance, skills like mining train relatively quickly and barring extenuating circumstances (expected need to accomplish particular digging projects in the first month or you'll get mauled by a Giant for example) there's little need to actually invest your starting skills in it - they can learn on the job.

==== Quality, value, and happiness ====

{{l|Quality}} is an important part of Dwarf Fortress. Higher quality items produce better and more frequent happy thoughts and are worth more money. Valuable commodities will trade for more goods from caravans that visit. When choosing skills that produce objects of quality, the desire to produce valuable goods for trade will often conflict with the desire to produce objects that will make your dwarves happy. Built items that are frequently encountered tend to be things like furniture, especially beds, which tend to have low material values and thus low total value no matter how high the quality of the work. Further, these things tend to be inconvenient to trade. It is often best to strike a balance between dwarves who produce valuable trade goods and dwarves who produce quality items that will make your population happy - and thus be able to achieve both goals simultaneously.

Its worth noting that built furniture and worn clothing counts its value twice, once under the appropriate category and once for displayed value. If you're trying to maximize your created wealth total, a good metalsmith producing furniture from high-value metals is optimal.

==== Moodable skills ====

{{l|Strange mood}}s will create a Legendary skill of the "moodable" skill with the highest level, and moods take hold of dwarves with different professions at different rates. Some skills are "moodable" where others are not. You might choose to take certain skills solely because it opens up moods for that skill with that dwarf. Some moodable skills are more valuable than others - a legendary weaponsmith is both valuable and useful. A legendary tanner is generally a waste of a mood since tanned hides have no quality.

Because a dwarf can only have a strange mood in one skill, pairing a moodable skill with a non-moodable skill can protect the moodable skill and ensure that if the dwarf has a mood it will be in the skill you desire. See the section on combining skills below for more details on ways to pair skills.

Dwarves with no moodable skill can be allowed to do one task using a moodable skill to give them a moodable skill with no starting build investment, so moodable skill considerations should not be considered a primary reason to choose particular skills - you should also want to make use of them for other reasons.

==== Combining Skills ====
Every dwarf is going to have 2 or more {{l|skills}}. This means that even once you know which skills you want, you're going to need to pair them up before assigning them. Not all skill combinations are equally functional.

Some skills are highly time-consuming, either because the skill is in frequent demand (eg, {{l|mining}}) or because it takes a long time to do an individual job (eg, {{l|strand extraction}}). If a dwarf is spending most of their time using that skill, they aren't making much use of their other skill. Pairing two time-consuming skills together therefore tends to be a bad idea, as one or both jobs are not going to get the attention they need or deserve. Similarly, pairing a skill with time-critical jobs with a time-consuming skill also tends to be a bad idea. If your {{l|grower}} is also mining, he may not stop to plant crops one season. Or he might neglect to harvest your crops in a timely fashion and they could rot on the ground (if you only let your growers harvest). Arranging your skill combinations to avoid these situations is generally beneficial. For example, Masons, miners, growers, and any craft that your fortress will base their economy off of (glass, stonecrafts, armour, etc) will take a lot of time, so plan accordingly.

Instead, pairing relatively time-intensive tasks with less time-intensive tasks will let your dwarf accomplish all such tasks adequately. Once you get a metal industry rolling, an armorer/weaponsmith will need to make a lot fewer weapons to outfit your soldiers than he will armor components. Thus he can usefully do both jobs without hurting your productivity overly much. Similarly, a mason might also be your architect, since building designer is a very infrequently used skill.

Working at different jobs levels up specific {{l|attribute}}s. One could level up a miner until he becomes mighty and ultra-tough - and then turn him into a soldier, or retire him to haul stone. If you plan on doing so, it may not be a good idea to give this guy a second critical job that will demand a lot of time away from their focus.

Since tasks will take place in specific areas, another approach is to combine tasks into dwarves who will take care of a specific industry, or spend all their time in one generally narrow part of the fortress - the forges, or the kitchens, or outdoors, for instance. So combining Farming with cooking, rather than mining, for example, and turn on only Haul Food, not Haul Stone. Metalworkers spending their time in the forge can easily handle more than one type of metalworking skill, and are also well-situated to be furnace operators.

Similarly, you can also make the craftsmen of your finished products also responsible for the production of intermediate products from raw ingredients. This way when they run out of materials to make into finished goods they can immediately switch over to working raw products into intermediate products so they'll have more to work with later. This works better in some industries than in others. A single butcher/tanner/cook trying to process multiple animals simultaneously will likely result in rotten food, carcases, or skins. But a weaponsmith who doubles as a furnace operator can usefully ensure he has material to work with when you want him to. Later on, however, a highly skilled craftsdwarf is often better suited at sitting in their {{l|workshop}} and having others deliver raw materials to them than going out and obtaining their own raw materials themselves, but in the early game dwarf-time is limited, and a single dwarf who can work an entire production chain can do so relatively efficiently and let your other dwarves be used elsewhere.

There is no requirement that a dwarves job combination needs to look 'right' or logical. A weaponsmith will most probably not spend nearly 100% of their time creating weapons - what they do with the other part of their time may have nothing at all to do with forges or smithing. Jobs which require little time in general, or little time early even if time-intensive later, may well be paired with any time-intensive task solely to provide the dwarf with something to usefully and skillfully do with most of their time, and freed from that duty as needed for the other tasks.

Another constraint you can impose on your skill combinations is to try to limit dwarves to {{l|moodable}} skill and one non-moodable skill (or a moodable and a less desired moodable skill at lower level), so any mood will improve the desired one. For example, pairing craft skills with farming skills gives you dwarves that will perform useful food production or raw good processing services while also getting their mood in a valuable finished goods skill. Example: Clothier/Grower.

==== Which dwarf should have which skill? ====
Dwarves who craft goods they prefer, or work materials they prefer, gain a bonus to the quality of the finished work. This can inform your choice of which skills you choose, for example by choosing a weaver because you notice a preference for sheap wool yarn, or you might choose the skills you want and then try to find a suitable dwarf to use that skill. In the latter case, since all dwarves have one metal preference you might assign an armorsmithing skill to a dwarf with a preference for iron, steel, or adamantine.

The dwarf with the most social skills will end up being the {{l|Expedition leader}}, who will then become the {{l|mayor}} and start making {{l|mandate}}s. Thus you should avoid giving the most social skills to dwarfs who have {{l|preferences}} for things like {{l|adamantine}}.

Dwarves have physical and mental attributes that affect the performance of certain skills. You may wish to give a socially adept and patient dwarf the leadership/broker skills, or a dwarf who doesn't tire easily a skill which will be in frequent use like mining. You can also try to match skills to {{l|personality}}, some of which have obvious implications for their willingness to work long hours or how frequently they might take breaks.

Of course, all combined these represent a lot of possible constraints on where you assign particular skills, and it would be impossible to apply them in total to your entire desired skill load. Use these as a guide, but don't be upset if all your dwarves are anti-social psychopaths - someone still needs to be the leader, after all.

==== Other considerations ====
Migrants can and will arrive with a wide selection of decently trained skills. While it is a gamble, chances are pretty decent that migrants will arrive with a highly trained skill that is also highly desirable and would usurp the job of one of the seven starting ones. The first few migration waves are likely to give you a much better talent pool than what you can assign at embark. On the other hand, you may never get the skill you really want if you don't start with it.

Skills rust if not used and they can eventually de-level. Consider that skills which you will use years after embark are going to be rusty or even deleveled. Embark to the first caravan is long enough for a skill to start rusting, so you might want to make sure you'll use every skill you embark with before the first year ends to avoid catastrophic rusting.

Remember that you need to survive in order to accomplish any goals. Have a plan for lasting to at least the first caravan, if not one for longterm sustainability.

== Items ==

The items you choose to bring with you will need to satisfy a number of needs. Most importantly, you need to keep yourself alive - at least until the caravan arrives in the fall to resupply yourself. You probably also want to plan on some way of making a shelter, whether that be the traditional delved hall, a majestic castle, a log cabin, or something even more exotic. You may want to plan for mishaps by bringing essential medical supplies, especially those which may be hard to acquire on site. And you might bring items which will assist in creating items for trade to that first caravan, should you need anything for the skills you're planning on.

For the purposes of this article, livestock are considered items.

All embarks get the following items without paying for them: 2 animals (who pulled the wagon), and the 3 wood that make up the wagon.

=== Motivations ===

==== Survival ====

A single dwarf eats about 2x/season, and drinks about 4x/season. With 7 dwarves that's ~approximately~ 14 meals per season and 28 alcohol per season, or ~42 meals and ~84 alcohol until the end of Fall. The dwarf caravan tends to arrive in the third month of fall, so you will probably need to plan on a full 3 seasons. You are also likely to get at least one if not two small waves of migrants before the caravan arrives.

It is possible to bring enough food and drink to make it to the caravan - indeed, bringing enough food isn't especially hard (especially once you factor in slaughtering the animals who hauled your wagon. Bringing sufficient alcohol is harder, although bringing plump helmets to brew can significantly cut the cost.

The likely best way to keep your dwarves in drink is also the most labor intensive - setting up farming in the first season or two is perfectly plausible, allowing to grow your own {{l|plants}} from seeds and brew the products. (Keep in mind not all plants can be brewed - don't plant dimple cups and expect to make alcohol). In addition to the necessary seeds, starting your own farming operation is going to require some way to get the ground muddy. While sometimes simple digging can accomplish this, many times you're going to need a screw pump. Basic construction requirements are discussed under shelter.

It is possible to make all your alcohol by harvesting aboveground plants, if highly inefficient. It also only works in biomes with collectable plant life. Notably evil biomes and glaciers are unlikely to provide.

==== Shelter ====
Bar a convenient cave, you're going to have to do something for shelter. Shelter is your first defense against roving creatures, keeping them away from where your dwarves are working so they don't spam job cancellations and strew items all over the place. (As you might guess, most 'convenient caves' aren't actually that convenient, as they tend to have residents). Basic walls that allow you egress won't stop a dedicated invader, but you don't expect to see those until year 3, so you have time to develop more elaborate defenses.

Food outside will also spoil a lot faster than food inside, so making a cellar of some sort to store your food in will increase the longevity of your food supplies. The rate at which food spoils depends on ambient temperature, so the urgency of making a cellar will depend on where you settled. It might be possible to go without a cellar in a freezing biome.{{verify}} The only way you can avoid thinking about food storage in the first year is if you collect food and make alcohol as needed - ie, by using an herbalist to collect local plants - which can avoid needing to mine at all.

Delving a shelter requires mining, which means having picks to dig with. One can always bring one or more picks at embark, but its also possible to bring the supplies necessary to make them. See tempo vs. efficiency below.

An aboveground shelter can be made with stone or wood or possibly more exotic materials. Stone of course requires mining, and thus picks. Wood can be had with an axe assuming trees are present, and axes, like picks, can similarly be brought at embark or made on site. It is of course possible to bring sufficient raw materials to build walls with, but this is far less efficient than just bringing a pick or an axe, although it could make a fun challenge. Building your initial fort out of soap, while possible, is not recommended, although possibly hilariously entertaining.

==== Industry ====
Most industries require little more than materials you can collect at the site and a workshop. So long as you can get stone, you won't need to bring anything for these. However, if you want to get an industry going immediately, it does help to bring a few building materials along (or be willing to use the wood from the wagon, if only temporarily).

Some industries require fire-safe materials to build with. All stone qualifies, as does metal. Wood can be converted to a fire safe material by burning it to ashes in a wood burners workshop, but of course that workshop requires a fire-safe material. If you're mining, this condition is easy to satisfy, but if you intend to run any of these industries right away you will need to plan on bringing appropriate materials.

Some industries require plant or animal matter to work with. Clothiers ultimately need cloth, which comes from certain plants or animals. Leatherworkers need tanned skins. (And while you can get 2 off your pack animals, this isn't sufficient to run an industry). If you plan on running these types of industries you will need to have a plan for providing suitable raw materials. Hunting can cover leatherworking needs (although this requires a hunter and hunting implements), and foraging can find rope reed plants, but its usually better to bring enough appropriate animals or plants to have a good shot at getting started in a predictable and sustainable way. Similarly, milking and cheese making require milkable animals, and bonecarving requires a dependable source of bones.

Metal industries require metal and an anvil. You cannot make an anvil on site without already having an anvil, so if you plan on doing any forging before the first caravan you will need to bring one with you. Metal can be brought as bars or as ores to be smelted in a smelter into bars, or can be mined yourself.

Soap requires a lot of wood consumption and a source of tallow to be done in a sustainable way. Lye can be bought at embark to skip the first steps and make soap more directly. You will still need to bring or make buckets and have an empty barrel to actually produce soap though, but fortunately this is just a matter of having sufficient wood.

Jewelers require gems. Cut gems can be brought at embark, but are too expensive to bring in quantity. Generally a jeweler requires mining to find sufficient gems.

Glassmaking and Pottery requires sand or clay and fuel - pay attention to your site report before embarking. Its hard to run a viable industry solely off imports in these cases.

As is probably obvious, certain industries depend on similar inputs. Planning on a set of industries which require similar complementary inputs can let you more efficiently spend your starting points at embark or more efficiently plan your digging during the first year. If you plan on a lot of fuel-dependent industries, it may be worthwhile to prioritize finding a source of magma.

=== Optimization ===

==== Container mechanics and free items ====

Many items come in containers such as barrels and bags, including food, liquids, seeds, and powders. The cost to embark with these items can be cheaper than the cost of the container itself. Each different type of item for each category will come in its own container. Furthermore, you'll get a new container after every 10th instance for food, most liquids, and seeds, and after every item of powders.{{verify}} Alcohol gets a new barrel after every 5th unit. (Food actually groups by animal type, so if you get horse tripe and horse meat they'll combine them, but they won't combine horse meat and donkey meat). Thus diversifying your initial food supply with 1 of each low-cost food item will net you a large number of barrels. Similarly its worth taking 1 of each seed you weren't planning on taking more of solely for the bags. Taking some sand or gypsum powder is also a cheap way to get bags. Lye (for soap) and milks can be brought for more barrels - and milk can be made into cheese for a low-cost embark option that becomes food.

As stockpiling and some jobs are container limited, getting as many free containers as you can will free up labor (and possibly valuable materials) that would otherwise be used making containers.

==== Finished product or do it yourself ====
Bringing raw materials and making the finished product yourself is often easier on your embark points than bringing the finished product. On the other hand, making it yourself takes time during which you aren't making use of the finished product.

The most common scenario involves {{l|Make your own weapons|forging your own metal tools and weapons}}. While not usually too much of a hardship, it can be dangerous to make your own weapons or picks if you expect possible hostile creatures. Further, you will lose time - possibly 1/4 to 1/2 the first month - if you forge your own picks.

Of special note regarding weapons is that a training battle axe is perfectly capable of chopping trees, and is made with nothing more than a carpentry workshop and a log. While the delay in acquiring one is minimal, a wood battle axe is not a good weapon, and so it loses utility for doing anything other than acquiring more wood.

You can also easily plan on making all or most of one's own booze, as plump helmets can be bought at embark and brewed at a still.

Any finished good can of course be made from raw materials that you bring, but most of them are not essential like the above, and thus you can generally wait until you find suitable resources on site or buy them from caravans.

==== Biome considerations: dude, where's my wood? ====
Some environments have a shortage of trees. While you can direct production of a lot of item types to other materials, beds need to be made out of wood. In addition, it is difficult to make barrels and bins out of non-wood materials early in the game, especially without ready magma (since otherwise you'll probably need to burn wood to make metal equivalents). If you have an aquifer it can be even worse - stone may be difficult or impossible to access easily. While you can ultimately ask for wood from your liaison and buy whatever the humans and elves happen to bring, and eventually you can create a tree farm underground, tight wood will limit storage and sleeping arrangements for at least the first year if not longer. You may wish to plan accordingly if embarking in a site with sparse or no trees.

==== Items for moods ====
When a dwarf is taken by a {{l|strange mood}}, he often needs obscure material or he will go insane and die, possibly with severe consequences to an entire fortress. Bringing along some of the harder-to-find ores ({{l|cassiterite}}, {{l|sphalerite}}, {{l|bismuthinite}}, {{l|garnierite}}), and putting those aside, forbidding their use "just in case", is spending a few points on an insurance policy. Many players also choose to bring a few items like pig tail cloth and cave spider silk just in case.

Alternately, if you're otherwise being minimalistic on gear you're bringing you can choose to bring a few valuable components to try to maximize the value of mood items. That artifact animal trap will be worth a lot more if your woodcarver grabs a blue diamond instead of moss agate.

==== Free Equipment ====

Dwarves who start with the ambusher skill may get some leather {{l|armor}}, a crossbow and some bolts for free. It seems to do so when ambusher is the highest non-military non-social skill.{{verify}}







==Site considerations==
Each fortress {{l|location}} offers particular challenges and opportunities, and can make different demands on your starting build. Your starting build may need to be adjusted depending on the {{l|region}} your fort occupies, the specific vision you have of your fortress, and what it will take to {{l|losing|stay alive}} where you're going!

The differences include what {{l|biome}}s, {{l|region}}s and likely {{l|metal}}s are present in your chosen embark site.

=== General Surroundings ===
Simply put, if your {{l|surroundings}} are {{l|evil}} or {{l|savage}}, your dwarves have a higher risk of suddenly facing personal combat before they are safely behind their defenses. Consider bringing extra weaponry, in the form of axes, picks or crossbows (see {{l|Starting_builds#Free_Equipment|free equipment}}). Hand in hand with those, consider skill mixes that include {{l|axedwarf}}, {{l|mining}} (the skill used to wield a pick), {{l|marksdwarf}}, or {{l|wrestling}} (a solid unarmed-combat skill).

The same is true if you are embarking near an exposed magma vent or an open chasm - these features can be seen on the embark map, but it's impossible to tell if they are "open" to the surface or not, until you are there in person.

Be sure to include some source of {{l|water}} on the map, preferably running {{l|water}}. Water is (almost) essential for any fortress. In Cold and Freezing climates streams and {{l|lake}}s will often be frozen year-round and your dwarves may quickly die of exposure, in Hot climates {{l|murky pool}}s will dry up, and in Dry ones rain will only rarely re-fill them, if ever. Choose Temperate or tropical zones for an easier game.

===Aquifers===
If an {{l|aquifer}} is present in the first soil or stone layers (visible on the pre-embark menu), it may bar all access to {{l|stone}} and {{l|ore}} until you find a way through the water barrier. Consider bringing some stone for building, and ore for your first basic needs. This may be critical to getting your fortress running smoothly.

=== Mountains ===
Mountains often have abundant {{l|ore}}s, but at the loss of trees and plants. In previous versions lacking {{L|cavern}}s, this was a serious drawback. In DF2010, brave pioneers can dig down into the caverns to find essentials like water, mud, and plants. However, players should be aware that above-ground crops will not grow in mountain biomes, no matter how muddy you may make the surface.

Depending on the exact layers, it's common to find exposed {{l|vein}}s of useful {{l|ore}}s that can be immediately mined for {{l|Make your own weapons|DIY}} weapons and tools.

=== Wooded/Plains ===
Flatlands with at least some trees and gatherable plants can also make for highly successful fortresses. Advantages over mountain zones include abundant trees and plants and (unless frozen) more abundant water. There are even (rare) magma vents. More water also means a high likelihood of an {{l|aquifer}} being present. Make sure to check on embark.

The greatest disadvantage is the potential lack of exposed {{l|stone}} to mine. The first level(s) below the surface is often {{l|soil}} of some type, which offers no building materials. However, soil is mined much more quickly than stone (x3-x4 faster), and expansive accommodations (rooms) can be achieved quickly even by untrained miners. You will find stone, you just have to go down a bit for it - but that's what dwarves do, isn't it?

{{l|Experience|Training}} a {{l|Miner}} from No Skill to Proficient takes less than a month (~20 days with hauling disabled) in soil, and to Legendary in just under a season after. {{version|0.31.12}} From embark, this means you should have legendary miners in early summer if you dig only in soil. Times increase slightly for each additional miner used.

=== Oceanside ===
With many features in common with some of the above locations, {{l|beach}}es are often a mix of ease intermingled with bouts of extreme difficulty. Minerals and trees are often abundant, as well as farmland and sand, but there is often no drinking water unless the biome has a flowing {{l|water}} of some sort.

By definition, the settlement will fall between (at least) two {{l|biome}}s (one land, one water), potentially hazardous if the player expects a peaceful oceanside meadow, without realizing the {{l|terrifying}} ocean is full of amphibious zombie {{l|whale}}s.

=== Desert, Glaciers, and Barren ===
Treeless (or near-treeless) {{l|biome}}s are challenging sites for a fortress: you get most of the disadvantages of a flatland site without having access to nearly as many trees and plants. However, near-lifeless zones such as {{l|glacier}}s are wonderful for players with slower computers, as there's little to burden the CPU but your dwarves and livestock. {{l|Desert}}s and barren areas often have sand; with a sufficient source of energy (preferably magma), you can build almost anything out of unlimited glass.

Hunters should be replaced with fisherdwarves and a fish cleaner (although the latter can be easily trained). Depending how much water vs. land, more starting wood and ores might be helpful. Swimming is rarely useful in Fortress mode, even at the beach, and can be trained.

==Sample starting builds==
See {{l|Sample Starting Builds}}

{{Starting FAQ}}
[[Category:Guides]]

v0.31:Starting build

2011-04-23T21:57:25Z

Squirrelloid: /* Biome considerations: dude, where's my wood? */

{{quality|Exceptional|01:37, 16 October 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

A '''starting build''' is a personal ''strategy'' for choosing the initial supplies, equipment, and {{l|skill}}s of your initial seven dwarves when starting a new game in {{l|fortress mode}}. These skills and items which you assign to your dwarves will have a large impact on life in your new fortress, especially in its first year.

This page attempts to give advice on some of the many gameplay elements which influence the flow of your game based on your goals. These include: choosing a ''fortress site'', the ''starting build'' itself, as well as ''challenge builds'' aimed at providing new or unusual challenges to advanced players. This page is not an explanation of the mechanics of doing so, see {{l|Embark}} for an explanation of the interface itself.

But one thing should be made clear - there is no "best" build, no "perfect" or "clearly superior" final mix of skills and items, if only because there isn't any one goal of play. The goals you have for a fortress will dictate which sets of items and skills are best suited to achieving that goal - in your opinion. And then there is the environment, where your dwarves will arrive, the creatures, the resources available, and so forth. Finally, some people do things solely because it is hard, and that makes it more fun for them.

Items are tied to starting skills, and starting skills are tied to the expected environment for your chosen embark, and all are tied to your preferences for playing the game - not all sites require (or invite) the same approach, and no two players would take the same approach to the same environment.

This page attempts to provide a discussion about how and why you make the choices on what you bring along.

__TOC__

== Components of a Starting Build ==
There are two main components of a starting build: skills and items.

Skills for your initial dwarves determine how quickly they will work early on, what industries you are guaranteed to be able to start with skilled workers later, how well you can defend your dwarves early on, and what the quality of various goods they produce will be, and possibly many other considerations. This page considers in detail how you might go about choosing skills for your starting dwarves, and examines the multiple competing perspectives from which you can make that decision.

The items that your dwarves bring with you can be tailored a number of ways. There are trade-offs to cheaper and more expensive alternatives, and reasons why you might choose either. This section explores the nature of these trade-offs and the reasons for making a decision. It also looks at optimizing goods brought in more general contexts.

Starting builds can and should vary based upon a number of other variables. {{l|location|Where you choose to settle}} will give you a fortress that supplies different raw materials and thus require different skill sets to utilize, not to mention different threats from native wildlife based on {{l|biome}}, {{l|surroundings|savagery}}, and {{l|surroundings|alignment}}. Which dwarven civilization you come from will restrict the materials with which you can start. Making choices about these variables is not part of a starting build. What you choose for skills and items because of these choices is part of your starting build, and so some general guidelines about different environments is given last.

This page does not cover the interface for accomplishing these tasks. Please see the {{l|embark}} page.

== Skill Optimization ==
With only 7 dwarves, you can't take every {{l|skill}}, so you have to balance what you do take. At this starting phase, each dwarf can only be assigned a maximum total of 10 skill levels, with no single skill starting higher than "5". Actual skill distribution is thus constrained to be something between 1 level in each of 10 skills, or 5 levels in each of two skills, or something in between. Because dwarves can {{l|experience|learn}} any and all skills once your fortress starts, these initial choices do not dictate what the dwarves can do, opening up incredible latitude to choose skills for reasons other than survival.

:''(* Note that an unskilled dwarf starts with all Skills at Level '''0'''. Adding +5 Levels is then Level '''5'''. This is true regardless of how many "points" a level costs when first buying skills at embark.)''

A brief list of considerations governing skill choice:
:* Maximizing starting skill ranks vs. generalizing and having more skills covered at lower levels.
:* Balancing multiple skills for a single dwarf, so they aren't constantly needed for two different tasks at critical periods
:* Military vs economic needs
:* Your goals vs "basic survival needs" to keep your fortress healthy and happy.
:* Speed that a skill can be trained in game
:* Demand for a skill during a game
:* Whether quality or speed are significant considerations for tasks/final product
:* Balancing the desire to create {{l|wealth}} ''(with high-value products)'' with the need to maintain {{l|thought|morale}} ''(with low-value but commonly used products, like {{l|bed}}s, which normally are made from {{l|wood}})''.
:* most importantly - ''your playstyle'' - what '''you''' think is "fun"!

==== Breadth vs. Depth ====

A dwarf with only 2 starting skills at 5 ranks each is pretty good at 2 tasks, but untrained at anything else. A dwarf with nothing higher than level 1 is passable at many tasks, but not good at anything. Each dwarf in your party is going to be somewhere along this continuum, and you'll need to choose where.

Level in a skill dictates how fast a dwarf completes a task (most of the time), and how well he completes it (if applicable). On one extreme, {{l|butchery}} has no time variance for slaughtering a tame animal, and has no quality associated with the outcome. On the other extreme, {{l|metalworking}} tasks can take a long time for an untrained worker to complete and their high material value means the quality multiplier has a large impact on the end value.

Dwarves who complete tasks faster can do more total {{l|job}}s within a given timeframe. The rate at which speed increases with level varies with skill, so some skills will benefit more than others.

Dwarves who make items of higher quality will contribute more to fortress wealth and may have a large impact on fortress happiness if their work is readily available to be seen by other dwarves. Items which typically contribute to happiness are low value but common public items, like beds and tables. Items which contribute the most to fortress wealth often cannot be displayed, but make useful trade goods or equipment for your military.

A dwarf highly skilled in few areas will work faster at those tasks and produce higher quality work than his more generalized counterpart. However, he will do worse at any other task he is set to.

Aside from the obvious trade off, there is another reason to prefer depth - dwarves can obviously only complete so many total jobs within a given timespan. If a dwarf is busy doing one thing, he can't simultaneously be doing something else. So a dwarf who is highly skilled in a few skills may not actually experience any disadvantage thereby if he is kept doing those things in which he specializes. The generalist dwarf, on the other hand, may be able to do many more different tasks adequately, but he can still only do one type of task at a time. A dwarf with one highly used skill (such as Mechanics or Mining) can feasibly spend all his time using only his primary skill and thus has no need to generalize. In effect, the generalist is wasting more skill points whenever he does jobs than the specialist, so long as the specialist tends to do jobs he has levels in. Specializing your initial skill investment is therefore superior if you specialize the division of labor in your fortress.

Of course, you can still only bring 7 dwarves with 10 total levels of skills each, so covering everything you want to do in 14 skills may be hard, if not impossible. A generalist or two can cover more bases that have little quality need or are otherwise fast even without a high level. The generalists real problem arises from the fact that any dwarf can do any task, and having 1 level isn't much better than having no levels. Which isn't to say there isn't a situation where a 1/1/1/1/1/5 dwarf is the right solution (indeed, the typical recommended leader/broker takes 1/1/1/1/1 in appraiser/judge of intent/negotiator/+2 social skills because none of these skills have a time or quality component), but most less-specialized dwarves are more likely to fall in the 5/3/2 or 4/3/3 end of the spectrum solely because there is a minimum investment necessary to be noticeably better than not having any levels at all.

==== Design Constraints: Which skills do I need, really? ====

The only thing that you absolutely must do in the first year is get your food supplies into a food stockpile, preferably inside, otherwise your food will rot on the ground and your dwarves will starve. Anything else you want to do can be accommodated by sufficient investment in initial food supplies and/or skills. This means the options for possible starting builds are vast because virtually any set of starting skills for your dwarves is viable (and that's before you even think about equipment, which adds more variables). So the short answer is: none.

That said, there are some skills which will be '''used''', to one extent or another, by virtually every fortress - but that doesn't mean you '''need''' or even want to invest points in them to start. You could even manipulate the fortress (see {{l|challenge}}) to completely avoid one or more of the following, but these are the skills you will find it exceptionally hard to avoid creating jobs for:
:{{l|Mining}} - to dig your fortress, and gain stone for projects. Only possible to avoid using if you're secretly an elf.
:* Inexperienced {{l|miner}}s work very slowly and are less likely to recover mined gems or valuable ores. Mining can be leveled up quite quickly by mining {{l|soil#soil|soil}}, but taking two dwarves with at least some points in mining is recommended in many cases.
:{{l|Carpentry}} - {{l|bed}}s can only be produced from {{l|wood}} (rare {{l|mood}}s aside). This skill can also be used to make {{L|bin}}s without having to have an {{L|anvil}}, use any metal {{L|bar}}s, or use any {{L|fuel}}.
:*Carpentry is used, but opinions differ - on one hand, wood items are just not worth that much {{l|value}}-wise ''(10's of dwarfbucks vs 100's for stone furniture or 1000's for armor or prepared foods, for instance)'', so the difference in monetary value between high-quality and no-quality is minor for wood products. However, high-quality {{l|bed}}s are one of the easiest ways to help make and keep your dwarves {{l|thought|happy}} (since every dwarf will encounter a bed regularly), so some players swear by it.
:{{l|Masonry}} - to build walls and stairs, and fashion dwarven furniture from stone. Possible to work around, but incredibly hard and annoying to do.
:{{l|Grower|Growing}} - your farmers' work echoes throughout so many other tasks, it's stunning
:* While its possible to feed your fortress on nothing but caravan goods, you'll never come by enough alcohol that way, so you'll eventually need to grow crops for brewing, and dwarves will literally go crazy if forced to drink nothing but water for long periods. Thus you'll want to plan for farming eventually - not that you need to bring a highly skilled {{l|Grower}}, but it'll certainly be ''very'' helpful. Likewise, a skilled {{l|brewer}} produces higher quality {{l|alcohol}} (''though the quality is hidden!)'', which improves your dwarves' mood, as does a skilled {{l|cook}} with the foods they prepare. However, most food can be eaten raw, and so long as they are not starving there is life.
:{{l|Brewing}} - all dwarves "need alcohol to get through the working day"
:{{l|Mechanics}} - if you want traps, and most people will. Also needed for most machinery.
:{{l|Architecture|Building Designer}} - mandatory for some buildings and constructions, but skill only improves speed a tad and increases structure {{l|value}}
:{{l|Broker skills}} - most importantly {{l|appraiser}} - a minimum of Broker skills are highly recommended to start with at the Novice (1 pt) level - it'll make your life much easier (especially Novice level of {{l|Appraiser}}, at least, as it greatly facilitates trading).
:{{L|Record keeper}} - Lets you be able to see the exact amount of things you have much faster than training one, and is necessary to view the stocks screen.

The very fact that you will use these skills often makes many of them desirable to choose as starting skills for your dwarves. Of the above, Mining, Masonry, Growing, Brewing, Cooking, and Mechanics are generally worth considering as "highly desirable". However, '''any skill can be used untrained, and/or get trained on the job''' - it just means a slower process and/or average lower quality product than if done by a dwarf with a higher {{l|experience|skill level}}.

The difference between these skills and other skills is that other skills are optional as to whether they'll get used or not. You need to deliberately want to use them. These skills are essential to basic aspects of the game, and avoiding one requires a deliberate choice not to use it (and likely a lot of effort spent to avoid doing so). Ie, a fortress could make its wealth by smithing fine weapons, weaving quality cloth, encrusting precious stones onto furniture, or crafting quality trinkets. Or all of those. But it doesn't have a compelling reason to do any one in particular. A fortress that never designates a tile for mining, however, requires exceptional effort to achieve.

But that you can avoid even something as basic as mining *for the lifetime of your fortress* means there is no universal design constraint on which skills to start with. Ultimately the answer to "What skills do I need?" is "Whichever ''you'' want". Choosing a mixture of these commonly used skills and your desired specialized skills will make starting up your fortress easier and more efficient, but you don't need to start with any of them. Choosing to avoid some skills may force you to use some others, but nothing compels you to invest in any skill in particular.

==== Balancing military and economic needs ====

Not all embarks will require a military presence in the first year, but anyone planning an expedition to a sinister, haunted, or terrifying biome would be foolish not to be prepared for nasty dwarf-killing creatures. The solution doesn't strictly need to be military skills; quick delving and a skilled mechanic may be sufficient; but starting with a military dwarf will give you the earliest possible protection and a lot more versatility in where that protection can be applied. Whatever you choose to do, understand the risk and be prepared for it.

==== Training considerations ====

Some skills are harder to gain experience in than others - requiring valuable resources or taking an extended period of time, and thus inconvenient to train from the ground up. Investing in some of these extensively in your initial dwarves can make those industries much less painful to start. For example, metal-related skills generally eat metal bars, and thus the less time you spend training metal workers up to a decent level, the faster they'll be churning out high-quality items for you, and the fewer bars they'll waste becoming skilled. On the other hand, despite its importance, skills like mining train relatively quickly and barring extenuating circumstances (expected need to accomplish particular digging projects in the first month or you'll get mauled by a Giant for example) there's little need to actually invest your starting skills in it - they can learn on the job.

==== Quality, value, and happiness ====

{{l|Quality}} is an important part of Dwarf Fortress. Higher quality items produce better and more frequent happy thoughts and are worth more money. Valuable commodities will trade for more goods from caravans that visit. When choosing skills that produce objects of quality, the desire to produce valuable goods for trade will often conflict with the desire to produce objects that will make your dwarves happy. Built items that are frequently encountered tend to be things like furniture, especially beds, which tend to have low material values and thus low total value no matter how high the quality of the work. Further, these things tend to be inconvenient to trade. It is often best to strike a balance between dwarves who produce valuable trade goods and dwarves who produce quality items that will make your population happy - and thus be able to achieve both goals simultaneously.

Its worth noting that built furniture and worn clothing counts its value twice, once under the appropriate category and once for displayed value. If you're trying to maximize your created wealth total, a good metalsmith producing furniture from high-value metals is optimal.

==== Moodable skills ====

{{l|Strange mood}}s will create a Legendary skill of the "moodable" skill with the highest level, and moods take hold of dwarves with different professions at different rates. Some skills are "moodable" where others are not. You might choose to take certain skills solely because it opens up moods for that skill with that dwarf. Some moodable skills are more valuable than others - a legendary weaponsmith is both valuable and useful. A legendary tanner is generally a waste of a mood since tanned hides have no quality.

Because a dwarf can only have a strange mood in one skill, pairing a moodable skill with a non-moodable skill can protect the moodable skill and ensure that if the dwarf has a mood it will be in the skill you desire. See the section on combining skills below for more details on ways to pair skills.

Dwarves with no moodable skill can be allowed to do one task using a moodable skill to give them a moodable skill with no starting build investment, so moodable skill considerations should not be considered a primary reason to choose particular skills - you should also want to make use of them for other reasons.

==== Combining Skills ====
Every dwarf is going to have 2 or more {{l|skills}}. This means that even once you know which skills you want, you're going to need to pair them up before assigning them. Not all skill combinations are equally functional.

Some skills are highly time-consuming, either because the skill is in frequent demand (eg, {{l|mining}}) or because it takes a long time to do an individual job (eg, {{l|strand extraction}}). If a dwarf is spending most of their time using that skill, they aren't making much use of their other skill. Pairing two time-consuming skills together therefore tends to be a bad idea, as one or both jobs are not going to get the attention they need or deserve. Similarly, pairing a skill with time-critical jobs with a time-consuming skill also tends to be a bad idea. If your {{l|grower}} is also mining, he may not stop to plant crops one season. Or he might neglect to harvest your crops in a timely fashion and they could rot on the ground (if you only let your growers harvest). Arranging your skill combinations to avoid these situations is generally beneficial. For example, Masons, miners, growers, and any craft that your fortress will base their economy off of (glass, stonecrafts, armour, etc) will take a lot of time, so plan accordingly.

Instead, pairing relatively time-intensive tasks with less time-intensive tasks will let your dwarf accomplish all such tasks adequately. Once you get a metal industry rolling, an armorer/weaponsmith will need to make a lot fewer weapons to outfit your soldiers than he will armor components. Thus he can usefully do both jobs without hurting your productivity overly much. Similarly, a mason might also be your architect, since building designer is a very infrequently used skill.

Working at different jobs levels up specific {{l|attribute}}s. One could level up a miner until he becomes mighty and ultra-tough - and then turn him into a soldier, or retire him to haul stone. If you plan on doing so, it may not be a good idea to give this guy a second critical job that will demand a lot of time away from their focus.

Since tasks will take place in specific areas, another approach is to combine tasks into dwarves who will take care of a specific industry, or spend all their time in one generally narrow part of the fortress - the forges, or the kitchens, or outdoors, for instance. So combining Farming with cooking, rather than mining, for example, and turn on only Haul Food, not Haul Stone. Metalworkers spending their time in the forge can easily handle more than one type of metalworking skill, and are also well-situated to be furnace operators.

Similarly, you can also make the craftsmen of your finished products also responsible for the production of intermediate products from raw ingredients. This way when they run out of materials to make into finished goods they can immediately switch over to working raw products into intermediate products so they'll have more to work with later. This works better in some industries than in others. A single butcher/tanner/cook trying to process multiple animals simultaneously will likely result in rotten food, carcases, or skins. But a weaponsmith who doubles as a furnace operator can usefully ensure he has material to work with when you want him to. Later on, however, a highly skilled craftsdwarf is often better suited at sitting in their {{l|workshop}} and having others deliver raw materials to them than going out and obtaining their own raw materials themselves, but in the early game dwarf-time is limited, and a single dwarf who can work an entire production chain can do so relatively efficiently and let your other dwarves be used elsewhere.

There is no requirement that a dwarves job combination needs to look 'right' or logical. A weaponsmith will most probably not spend nearly 100% of their time creating weapons - what they do with the other part of their time may have nothing at all to do with forges or smithing. Jobs which require little time in general, or little time early even if time-intensive later, may well be paired with any time-intensive task solely to provide the dwarf with something to usefully and skillfully do with most of their time, and freed from that duty as needed for the other tasks.

Another constraint you can impose on your skill combinations is to try to limit dwarves to {{l|moodable}} skill and one non-moodable skill (or a moodable and a less desired moodable skill at lower level), so any mood will improve the desired one. For example, pairing craft skills with farming skills gives you dwarves that will perform useful food production or raw good processing services while also getting their mood in a valuable finished goods skill. Example: Clothier/Grower.

==== Which dwarf should have which skill? ====
Dwarves who craft goods they prefer, or work materials they prefer, gain a bonus to the quality of the finished work. This can inform your choice of which skills you choose, for example by choosing a weaver because you notice a preference for sheap wool yarn, or you might choose the skills you want and then try to find a suitable dwarf to use that skill. In the latter case, since all dwarves have one metal preference you might assign an armorsmithing skill to a dwarf with a preference for iron, steel, or adamantine.

The dwarf with the most social skills will end up being the {{l|Expedition leader}}, who will then become the {{l|mayor}} and start making {{l|mandate}}s. Thus you should avoid giving the most social skills to dwarfs who have {{l|preferences}} for things like {{l|adamantine}}.

Dwarves have physical and mental attributes that affect the performance of certain skills. You may wish to give a socially adept and patient dwarf the leadership/broker skills, or a dwarf who doesn't tire easily a skill which will be in frequent use like mining. You can also try to match skills to {{l|personality}}, some of which have obvious implications for their willingness to work long hours or how frequently they might take breaks.

Of course, all combined these represent a lot of possible constraints on where you assign particular skills, and it would be impossible to apply them in total to your entire desired skill load. Use these as a guide, but don't be upset if all your dwarves are anti-social psychopaths - someone still needs to be the leader, after all.

==== Other considerations ====
Migrants can and will arrive with a wide selection of decently trained skills. While it is a gamble, chances are pretty decent that migrants will arrive with a highly trained skill that is also highly desirable and would usurp the job of one of the seven starting ones. The first few migration waves are likely to give you a much better talent pool than what you can assign at embark. On the other hand, you may never get the skill you really want if you don't start with it.

Skills rust if not used and they can eventually de-level. Consider that skills which you will use years after embark are going to be rusty or even deleveled. Embark to the first caravan is long enough for a skill to start rusting, so you might want to make sure you'll use every skill you embark with before the first year ends to avoid catastrophic rusting.

Remember that you need to survive in order to accomplish any goals. Have a plan for lasting to at least the first caravan, if not one for longterm sustainability.

== Items ==

The items you choose to bring with you will need to satisfy a number of needs. Most importantly, you need to keep yourself alive - at least until the caravan arrives in the fall to resupply yourself. You probably also want to plan on some way of making a shelter, whether that be the traditional delved hall, a majestic castle, a log cabin, or something even more exotic. You may want to plan for mishaps by bringing essential medical supplies, especially those which may be hard to acquire on site. And you might bring items which will assist in creating items for trade to that first caravan, should you need anything for the skills you're planning on.

For the purposes of this article, livestock are considered items.

All embarks get the following items without paying for them: 2 animals (who pulled the wagon), and the 3 wood that make up the wagon.

=== Motivations ===

==== Survival ====

A single dwarf eats about 2x/season, and drinks about 4x/season. With 7 dwarves that's ~approximately~ 14 meals per season and 28 alcohol per season, or ~42 meals and ~84 alcohol until the end of Fall. The dwarf caravan tends to arrive in the third month of fall, so you will probably need to plan on a full 3 seasons. You are also likely to get at least one if not two small waves of migrants before the caravan arrives.

It is possible to bring enough food and drink to make it to the caravan - indeed, bringing enough food isn't especially hard (especially once you factor in slaughtering the animals who hauled your wagon. Bringing sufficient alcohol is harder, although bringing plump helmets to brew can significantly cut the cost.

The likely best way to keep your dwarves in drink is also the most labor intensive - setting up farming in the first season or two is perfectly plausible, allowing to grow your own {{l|plants}} from seeds and brew the products. (Keep in mind not all plants can be brewed - don't plant dimple cups and expect to make alcohol). In addition to the necessary seeds, starting your own farming operation is going to require some way to get the ground muddy. While sometimes simple digging can accomplish this, many times you're going to need a screw pump. Basic construction requirements are discussed under shelter.

It is possible to make all your alcohol by harvesting aboveground plants, if highly inefficient. It also only works in biomes with collectable plant life. Notably evil biomes and glaciers are unlikely to provide.

==== Shelter ====
Bar a convenient cave, you're going to have to do something for shelter. Shelter is your first defense against roving creatures, keeping them away from where your dwarves are working so they don't spam job cancellations and strew items all over the place. (As you might guess, most 'convenient caves' aren't actually that convenient, as they tend to have residents). Basic walls that allow you egress won't stop a dedicated invader, but you don't expect to see those until year 3, so you have time to develop more elaborate defenses.

Food outside will also spoil a lot faster than food inside, so making a cellar of some sort to store your food in will increase the longevity of your food supplies. The rate at which food spoils depends on ambient temperature, so the urgency of making a cellar will depend on where you settled. It might be possible to go without a cellar in a freezing biome.{{verify}} The only way you can avoid thinking about food storage in the first year is if you collect food and make alcohol as needed - ie, by using an herbalist to collect local plants - which can avoid needing to mine at all.

Delving a shelter requires mining, which means having picks to dig with. One can always bring one or more picks at embark, but its also possible to bring the supplies necessary to make them. See tempo vs. efficiency below.

An aboveground shelter can be made with stone or wood or possibly more exotic materials. Stone of course requires mining, and thus picks. Wood can be had with an axe assuming trees are present, and axes, like picks, can similarly be brought at embark or made on site. It is of course possible to bring sufficient raw materials to build walls with, but this is far less efficient than just bringing a pick or an axe, although it could make a fun challenge. Building your initial fort out of soap, while possible, is not recommended, although possibly hilariously entertaining.

==== Industry ====
Most industries require little more than materials you can collect at the site and a workshop. So long as you can get stone, you won't need to bring anything for these. However, if you want to get an industry going immediately, it does help to bring a few building materials along (or be willing to use the wood from the wagon, if only temporarily).

Some industries require fire-safe materials to build with. All stone qualifies, as does metal. Wood can be converted to a fire safe material by burning it to ashes in a wood burners workshop, but of course that workshop requires a fire-safe material. If you're mining, this condition is easy to satisfy, but if you intend to run any of these industries right away you will need to plan on bringing appropriate materials.

Some industries require plant or animal matter to work with. Clothiers ultimately need cloth, which comes from certain plants or animals. Leatherworkers need tanned skins. (And while you can get 2 off your pack animals, this isn't sufficient to run an industry). If you plan on running these types of industries you will need to have a plan for providing suitable raw materials. Hunting can cover leatherworking needs (although this requires a hunter and hunting implements), and foraging can find rope reed plants, but its usually better to bring enough appropriate animals or plants to have a good shot at getting started in a predictable and sustainable way. Similarly, milking and cheese making require milkable animals, and bonecarving requires a dependable source of bones.

Metal industries require metal and an anvil. You cannot make an anvil on site without already having an anvil, so if you plan on doing any forging before the first caravan you will need to bring one with you. Metal can be brought as bars or as ores to be smelted in a smelter into bars, or can be mined yourself.

Soap requires a lot of wood consumption and a source of tallow to be done in a sustainable way. Lye can be bought at embark to skip the first steps and make soap more directly. You will still need to bring or make buckets and have an empty barrel to actually produce soap though, but fortunately this is just a matter of having sufficient wood.

Jewelers require gems. Cut gems can be brought at embark, but are too expensive to bring in quantity. Generally a jeweler requires mining to find sufficient gems.

Glassmaking and Pottery requires sand or clay and fuel - pay attention to your site report before embarking. Its hard to run a viable industry solely off imports in these cases.

As is probably obvious, certain industries depend on similar inputs. Planning on a set of industries which require similar complementary inputs can let you more efficiently spend your starting points at embark or more efficiently plan your digging during the first year. If you plan on a lot of fuel-dependent industries, it may be worthwhile to prioritize finding a source of magma.

=== Optimization ===

==== Container mechanics and free items ====

Many items come in containers such as barrels and bags, including food, liquids, seeds, and powders. The cost to embark with these items can be cheaper than the cost of the container itself. Each different type of item for each category will come in its own container. Furthermore, you'll get a new container after every 10th instance for food, most liquids, and seeds, and after every item of powders.{{verify}} Alcohol gets a new barrel after every 5th unit. (Food actually groups by animal type, so if you get horse tripe and horse meat they'll combine them, but they won't combine horse meat and donkey meat). Thus diversifying your initial food supply with 1 of each low-cost food item will net you a large number of barrels. Similarly its worth taking 1 of each seed you weren't planning on taking more of solely for the bags. Taking some sand or gypsum powder is also a cheap way to get bags. Lye (for soap) and milks can be brought for more barrels - and milk can be made into cheese for a low-cost embark option that becomes food.

As stockpiling and some jobs are container limited, getting as many free containers as you can will free up labor (and possibly valuable materials) that would otherwise be used making containers.

==== Finished product or do it yourself ====
(in progress)

:''(* "Wooden practice axes" cost only 17P, and cut down wood just fine. They will be significantly weaker than metal axes in combat, but still far superior to {{L|wrestling}}, and you can {{l|Make your own weapons|DIY}} quickly enough.)''

You can produce any and all of those from scratch if you are willing to wait - and your {{l|surroundings}} don't kill you first. Raw materials are much cheaper, in the form of {{l|ore}}s, {{l|wood}}, {{l|leather}} and so forth, but whether you want to take the time at the start of the game is the question. The trade-off is always a balance of cost savings vs. time savings when you first strike the earth. Everything else depends on your strategy and on how tough or leisurely a challenge you want the game to be.

==== Biome considerations: dude, where's my wood? ====
Some environments have a shortage of trees. While you can direct production of a lot of item types to other materials, beds need to be made out of wood. In addition, it is difficult to make barrels and bins out of non-wood materials early in the game, especially without ready magma (since otherwise you'll probably need to burn wood to make metal equivalents). If you have an aquifer it can be even worse - stone may be difficult or impossible to access easily. While you can ultimately ask for wood from your liaison and buy whatever the humans and elves happen to bring, and eventually you can create a tree farm underground, tight wood will limit storage and sleeping arrangements for at least the first year if not longer. You may wish to plan accordingly if embarking in a site with sparse or no trees.

==== Items for moods ====
When a dwarf is taken by a {{l|strange mood}}, he often needs obscure material or he will go insane and die, possibly with severe consequences to an entire fortress. Bringing along some of the harder-to-find ores ({{l|cassiterite}}, {{l|sphalerite}}, {{l|bismuthinite}}, {{l|garnierite}}), and putting those aside, forbidding their use "just in case", is spending a few points on an insurance policy. Many players also choose to bring a few items like pig tail cloth and cave spider silk just in case.

Alternately, if you're otherwise being minimalistic on gear you're bringing you can choose to bring a few valuable components to try to maximize the value of mood items. That artifact animal trap will be worth a lot more if your woodcarver grabs a blue diamond instead of moss agate.

==== Free Equipment ====

Dwarves who start with the ambusher skill may get some leather {{l|armor}}, a crossbow and some bolts for free. It seems to do so when ambusher is the highest non-military non-social skill.{{verify}}







==Site considerations==
Each fortress {{l|location}} offers particular challenges and opportunities, and can make different demands on your starting build. Your starting build may need to be adjusted depending on the {{l|region}} your fort occupies, the specific vision you have of your fortress, and what it will take to {{l|losing|stay alive}} where you're going!

The differences include what {{l|biome}}s, {{l|region}}s and likely {{l|metal}}s are present in your chosen embark site.

=== General Surroundings ===
Simply put, if your {{l|surroundings}} are {{l|evil}} or {{l|savage}}, your dwarves have a higher risk of suddenly facing personal combat before they are safely behind their defenses. Consider bringing extra weaponry, in the form of axes, picks or crossbows (see {{l|Starting_builds#Free_Equipment|free equipment}}). Hand in hand with those, consider skill mixes that include {{l|axedwarf}}, {{l|mining}} (the skill used to wield a pick), {{l|marksdwarf}}, or {{l|wrestling}} (a solid unarmed-combat skill).

The same is true if you are embarking near an exposed magma vent or an open chasm - these features can be seen on the embark map, but it's impossible to tell if they are "open" to the surface or not, until you are there in person.

Be sure to include some source of {{l|water}} on the map, preferably running {{l|water}}. Water is (almost) essential for any fortress. In Cold and Freezing climates streams and {{l|lake}}s will often be frozen year-round and your dwarves may quickly die of exposure, in Hot climates {{l|murky pool}}s will dry up, and in Dry ones rain will only rarely re-fill them, if ever. Choose Temperate or tropical zones for an easier game.

===Aquifers===
If an {{l|aquifer}} is present in the first soil or stone layers (visible on the pre-embark menu), it may bar all access to {{l|stone}} and {{l|ore}} until you find a way through the water barrier. Consider bringing some stone for building, and ore for your first basic needs. This may be critical to getting your fortress running smoothly.

=== Mountains ===
Mountains often have abundant {{l|ore}}s, but at the loss of trees and plants. In previous versions lacking {{L|cavern}}s, this was a serious drawback. In DF2010, brave pioneers can dig down into the caverns to find essentials like water, mud, and plants. However, players should be aware that above-ground crops will not grow in mountain biomes, no matter how muddy you may make the surface.

Depending on the exact layers, it's common to find exposed {{l|vein}}s of useful {{l|ore}}s that can be immediately mined for {{l|Make your own weapons|DIY}} weapons and tools.

=== Wooded/Plains ===
Flatlands with at least some trees and gatherable plants can also make for highly successful fortresses. Advantages over mountain zones include abundant trees and plants and (unless frozen) more abundant water. There are even (rare) magma vents. More water also means a high likelihood of an {{l|aquifer}} being present. Make sure to check on embark.

The greatest disadvantage is the potential lack of exposed {{l|stone}} to mine. The first level(s) below the surface is often {{l|soil}} of some type, which offers no building materials. However, soil is mined much more quickly than stone (x3-x4 faster), and expansive accommodations (rooms) can be achieved quickly even by untrained miners. You will find stone, you just have to go down a bit for it - but that's what dwarves do, isn't it?

{{l|Experience|Training}} a {{l|Miner}} from No Skill to Proficient takes less than a month (~20 days with hauling disabled) in soil, and to Legendary in just under a season after. {{version|0.31.12}} From embark, this means you should have legendary miners in early summer if you dig only in soil. Times increase slightly for each additional miner used.

=== Oceanside ===
With many features in common with some of the above locations, {{l|beach}}es are often a mix of ease intermingled with bouts of extreme difficulty. Minerals and trees are often abundant, as well as farmland and sand, but there is often no drinking water unless the biome has a flowing {{l|water}} of some sort.

By definition, the settlement will fall between (at least) two {{l|biome}}s (one land, one water), potentially hazardous if the player expects a peaceful oceanside meadow, without realizing the {{l|terrifying}} ocean is full of amphibious zombie {{l|whale}}s.

=== Desert, Glaciers, and Barren ===
Treeless (or near-treeless) {{l|biome}}s are challenging sites for a fortress: you get most of the disadvantages of a flatland site without having access to nearly as many trees and plants. However, near-lifeless zones such as {{l|glacier}}s are wonderful for players with slower computers, as there's little to burden the CPU but your dwarves and livestock. {{l|Desert}}s and barren areas often have sand; with a sufficient source of energy (preferably magma), you can build almost anything out of unlimited glass.

Hunters should be replaced with fisherdwarves and a fish cleaner (although the latter can be easily trained). Depending how much water vs. land, more starting wood and ores might be helpful. Swimming is rarely useful in Fortress mode, even at the beach, and can be trained.

==Sample starting builds==
See {{l|Sample Starting Builds}}

{{Starting FAQ}}
[[Category:Guides]]

v0.31:Starting build

2011-04-23T21:56:24Z

Squirrelloid: /* Optimization */

{{quality|Exceptional|01:37, 16 October 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

A '''starting build''' is a personal ''strategy'' for choosing the initial supplies, equipment, and {{l|skill}}s of your initial seven dwarves when starting a new game in {{l|fortress mode}}. These skills and items which you assign to your dwarves will have a large impact on life in your new fortress, especially in its first year.

This page attempts to give advice on some of the many gameplay elements which influence the flow of your game based on your goals. These include: choosing a ''fortress site'', the ''starting build'' itself, as well as ''challenge builds'' aimed at providing new or unusual challenges to advanced players. This page is not an explanation of the mechanics of doing so, see {{l|Embark}} for an explanation of the interface itself.

But one thing should be made clear - there is no "best" build, no "perfect" or "clearly superior" final mix of skills and items, if only because there isn't any one goal of play. The goals you have for a fortress will dictate which sets of items and skills are best suited to achieving that goal - in your opinion. And then there is the environment, where your dwarves will arrive, the creatures, the resources available, and so forth. Finally, some people do things solely because it is hard, and that makes it more fun for them.

Items are tied to starting skills, and starting skills are tied to the expected environment for your chosen embark, and all are tied to your preferences for playing the game - not all sites require (or invite) the same approach, and no two players would take the same approach to the same environment.

This page attempts to provide a discussion about how and why you make the choices on what you bring along.

__TOC__

== Components of a Starting Build ==
There are two main components of a starting build: skills and items.

Skills for your initial dwarves determine how quickly they will work early on, what industries you are guaranteed to be able to start with skilled workers later, how well you can defend your dwarves early on, and what the quality of various goods they produce will be, and possibly many other considerations. This page considers in detail how you might go about choosing skills for your starting dwarves, and examines the multiple competing perspectives from which you can make that decision.

The items that your dwarves bring with you can be tailored a number of ways. There are trade-offs to cheaper and more expensive alternatives, and reasons why you might choose either. This section explores the nature of these trade-offs and the reasons for making a decision. It also looks at optimizing goods brought in more general contexts.

Starting builds can and should vary based upon a number of other variables. {{l|location|Where you choose to settle}} will give you a fortress that supplies different raw materials and thus require different skill sets to utilize, not to mention different threats from native wildlife based on {{l|biome}}, {{l|surroundings|savagery}}, and {{l|surroundings|alignment}}. Which dwarven civilization you come from will restrict the materials with which you can start. Making choices about these variables is not part of a starting build. What you choose for skills and items because of these choices is part of your starting build, and so some general guidelines about different environments is given last.

This page does not cover the interface for accomplishing these tasks. Please see the {{l|embark}} page.

== Skill Optimization ==
With only 7 dwarves, you can't take every {{l|skill}}, so you have to balance what you do take. At this starting phase, each dwarf can only be assigned a maximum total of 10 skill levels, with no single skill starting higher than "5". Actual skill distribution is thus constrained to be something between 1 level in each of 10 skills, or 5 levels in each of two skills, or something in between. Because dwarves can {{l|experience|learn}} any and all skills once your fortress starts, these initial choices do not dictate what the dwarves can do, opening up incredible latitude to choose skills for reasons other than survival.

:''(* Note that an unskilled dwarf starts with all Skills at Level '''0'''. Adding +5 Levels is then Level '''5'''. This is true regardless of how many "points" a level costs when first buying skills at embark.)''

A brief list of considerations governing skill choice:
:* Maximizing starting skill ranks vs. generalizing and having more skills covered at lower levels.
:* Balancing multiple skills for a single dwarf, so they aren't constantly needed for two different tasks at critical periods
:* Military vs economic needs
:* Your goals vs "basic survival needs" to keep your fortress healthy and happy.
:* Speed that a skill can be trained in game
:* Demand for a skill during a game
:* Whether quality or speed are significant considerations for tasks/final product
:* Balancing the desire to create {{l|wealth}} ''(with high-value products)'' with the need to maintain {{l|thought|morale}} ''(with low-value but commonly used products, like {{l|bed}}s, which normally are made from {{l|wood}})''.
:* most importantly - ''your playstyle'' - what '''you''' think is "fun"!

==== Breadth vs. Depth ====

A dwarf with only 2 starting skills at 5 ranks each is pretty good at 2 tasks, but untrained at anything else. A dwarf with nothing higher than level 1 is passable at many tasks, but not good at anything. Each dwarf in your party is going to be somewhere along this continuum, and you'll need to choose where.

Level in a skill dictates how fast a dwarf completes a task (most of the time), and how well he completes it (if applicable). On one extreme, {{l|butchery}} has no time variance for slaughtering a tame animal, and has no quality associated with the outcome. On the other extreme, {{l|metalworking}} tasks can take a long time for an untrained worker to complete and their high material value means the quality multiplier has a large impact on the end value.

Dwarves who complete tasks faster can do more total {{l|job}}s within a given timeframe. The rate at which speed increases with level varies with skill, so some skills will benefit more than others.

Dwarves who make items of higher quality will contribute more to fortress wealth and may have a large impact on fortress happiness if their work is readily available to be seen by other dwarves. Items which typically contribute to happiness are low value but common public items, like beds and tables. Items which contribute the most to fortress wealth often cannot be displayed, but make useful trade goods or equipment for your military.

A dwarf highly skilled in few areas will work faster at those tasks and produce higher quality work than his more generalized counterpart. However, he will do worse at any other task he is set to.

Aside from the obvious trade off, there is another reason to prefer depth - dwarves can obviously only complete so many total jobs within a given timespan. If a dwarf is busy doing one thing, he can't simultaneously be doing something else. So a dwarf who is highly skilled in a few skills may not actually experience any disadvantage thereby if he is kept doing those things in which he specializes. The generalist dwarf, on the other hand, may be able to do many more different tasks adequately, but he can still only do one type of task at a time. A dwarf with one highly used skill (such as Mechanics or Mining) can feasibly spend all his time using only his primary skill and thus has no need to generalize. In effect, the generalist is wasting more skill points whenever he does jobs than the specialist, so long as the specialist tends to do jobs he has levels in. Specializing your initial skill investment is therefore superior if you specialize the division of labor in your fortress.

Of course, you can still only bring 7 dwarves with 10 total levels of skills each, so covering everything you want to do in 14 skills may be hard, if not impossible. A generalist or two can cover more bases that have little quality need or are otherwise fast even without a high level. The generalists real problem arises from the fact that any dwarf can do any task, and having 1 level isn't much better than having no levels. Which isn't to say there isn't a situation where a 1/1/1/1/1/5 dwarf is the right solution (indeed, the typical recommended leader/broker takes 1/1/1/1/1 in appraiser/judge of intent/negotiator/+2 social skills because none of these skills have a time or quality component), but most less-specialized dwarves are more likely to fall in the 5/3/2 or 4/3/3 end of the spectrum solely because there is a minimum investment necessary to be noticeably better than not having any levels at all.

==== Design Constraints: Which skills do I need, really? ====

The only thing that you absolutely must do in the first year is get your food supplies into a food stockpile, preferably inside, otherwise your food will rot on the ground and your dwarves will starve. Anything else you want to do can be accommodated by sufficient investment in initial food supplies and/or skills. This means the options for possible starting builds are vast because virtually any set of starting skills for your dwarves is viable (and that's before you even think about equipment, which adds more variables). So the short answer is: none.

That said, there are some skills which will be '''used''', to one extent or another, by virtually every fortress - but that doesn't mean you '''need''' or even want to invest points in them to start. You could even manipulate the fortress (see {{l|challenge}}) to completely avoid one or more of the following, but these are the skills you will find it exceptionally hard to avoid creating jobs for:
:{{l|Mining}} - to dig your fortress, and gain stone for projects. Only possible to avoid using if you're secretly an elf.
:* Inexperienced {{l|miner}}s work very slowly and are less likely to recover mined gems or valuable ores. Mining can be leveled up quite quickly by mining {{l|soil#soil|soil}}, but taking two dwarves with at least some points in mining is recommended in many cases.
:{{l|Carpentry}} - {{l|bed}}s can only be produced from {{l|wood}} (rare {{l|mood}}s aside). This skill can also be used to make {{L|bin}}s without having to have an {{L|anvil}}, use any metal {{L|bar}}s, or use any {{L|fuel}}.
:*Carpentry is used, but opinions differ - on one hand, wood items are just not worth that much {{l|value}}-wise ''(10's of dwarfbucks vs 100's for stone furniture or 1000's for armor or prepared foods, for instance)'', so the difference in monetary value between high-quality and no-quality is minor for wood products. However, high-quality {{l|bed}}s are one of the easiest ways to help make and keep your dwarves {{l|thought|happy}} (since every dwarf will encounter a bed regularly), so some players swear by it.
:{{l|Masonry}} - to build walls and stairs, and fashion dwarven furniture from stone. Possible to work around, but incredibly hard and annoying to do.
:{{l|Grower|Growing}} - your farmers' work echoes throughout so many other tasks, it's stunning
:* While its possible to feed your fortress on nothing but caravan goods, you'll never come by enough alcohol that way, so you'll eventually need to grow crops for brewing, and dwarves will literally go crazy if forced to drink nothing but water for long periods. Thus you'll want to plan for farming eventually - not that you need to bring a highly skilled {{l|Grower}}, but it'll certainly be ''very'' helpful. Likewise, a skilled {{l|brewer}} produces higher quality {{l|alcohol}} (''though the quality is hidden!)'', which improves your dwarves' mood, as does a skilled {{l|cook}} with the foods they prepare. However, most food can be eaten raw, and so long as they are not starving there is life.
:{{l|Brewing}} - all dwarves "need alcohol to get through the working day"
:{{l|Mechanics}} - if you want traps, and most people will. Also needed for most machinery.
:{{l|Architecture|Building Designer}} - mandatory for some buildings and constructions, but skill only improves speed a tad and increases structure {{l|value}}
:{{l|Broker skills}} - most importantly {{l|appraiser}} - a minimum of Broker skills are highly recommended to start with at the Novice (1 pt) level - it'll make your life much easier (especially Novice level of {{l|Appraiser}}, at least, as it greatly facilitates trading).
:{{L|Record keeper}} - Lets you be able to see the exact amount of things you have much faster than training one, and is necessary to view the stocks screen.

The very fact that you will use these skills often makes many of them desirable to choose as starting skills for your dwarves. Of the above, Mining, Masonry, Growing, Brewing, Cooking, and Mechanics are generally worth considering as "highly desirable". However, '''any skill can be used untrained, and/or get trained on the job''' - it just means a slower process and/or average lower quality product than if done by a dwarf with a higher {{l|experience|skill level}}.

The difference between these skills and other skills is that other skills are optional as to whether they'll get used or not. You need to deliberately want to use them. These skills are essential to basic aspects of the game, and avoiding one requires a deliberate choice not to use it (and likely a lot of effort spent to avoid doing so). Ie, a fortress could make its wealth by smithing fine weapons, weaving quality cloth, encrusting precious stones onto furniture, or crafting quality trinkets. Or all of those. But it doesn't have a compelling reason to do any one in particular. A fortress that never designates a tile for mining, however, requires exceptional effort to achieve.

But that you can avoid even something as basic as mining *for the lifetime of your fortress* means there is no universal design constraint on which skills to start with. Ultimately the answer to "What skills do I need?" is "Whichever ''you'' want". Choosing a mixture of these commonly used skills and your desired specialized skills will make starting up your fortress easier and more efficient, but you don't need to start with any of them. Choosing to avoid some skills may force you to use some others, but nothing compels you to invest in any skill in particular.

==== Balancing military and economic needs ====

Not all embarks will require a military presence in the first year, but anyone planning an expedition to a sinister, haunted, or terrifying biome would be foolish not to be prepared for nasty dwarf-killing creatures. The solution doesn't strictly need to be military skills; quick delving and a skilled mechanic may be sufficient; but starting with a military dwarf will give you the earliest possible protection and a lot more versatility in where that protection can be applied. Whatever you choose to do, understand the risk and be prepared for it.

==== Training considerations ====

Some skills are harder to gain experience in than others - requiring valuable resources or taking an extended period of time, and thus inconvenient to train from the ground up. Investing in some of these extensively in your initial dwarves can make those industries much less painful to start. For example, metal-related skills generally eat metal bars, and thus the less time you spend training metal workers up to a decent level, the faster they'll be churning out high-quality items for you, and the fewer bars they'll waste becoming skilled. On the other hand, despite its importance, skills like mining train relatively quickly and barring extenuating circumstances (expected need to accomplish particular digging projects in the first month or you'll get mauled by a Giant for example) there's little need to actually invest your starting skills in it - they can learn on the job.

==== Quality, value, and happiness ====

{{l|Quality}} is an important part of Dwarf Fortress. Higher quality items produce better and more frequent happy thoughts and are worth more money. Valuable commodities will trade for more goods from caravans that visit. When choosing skills that produce objects of quality, the desire to produce valuable goods for trade will often conflict with the desire to produce objects that will make your dwarves happy. Built items that are frequently encountered tend to be things like furniture, especially beds, which tend to have low material values and thus low total value no matter how high the quality of the work. Further, these things tend to be inconvenient to trade. It is often best to strike a balance between dwarves who produce valuable trade goods and dwarves who produce quality items that will make your population happy - and thus be able to achieve both goals simultaneously.

Its worth noting that built furniture and worn clothing counts its value twice, once under the appropriate category and once for displayed value. If you're trying to maximize your created wealth total, a good metalsmith producing furniture from high-value metals is optimal.

==== Moodable skills ====

{{l|Strange mood}}s will create a Legendary skill of the "moodable" skill with the highest level, and moods take hold of dwarves with different professions at different rates. Some skills are "moodable" where others are not. You might choose to take certain skills solely because it opens up moods for that skill with that dwarf. Some moodable skills are more valuable than others - a legendary weaponsmith is both valuable and useful. A legendary tanner is generally a waste of a mood since tanned hides have no quality.

Because a dwarf can only have a strange mood in one skill, pairing a moodable skill with a non-moodable skill can protect the moodable skill and ensure that if the dwarf has a mood it will be in the skill you desire. See the section on combining skills below for more details on ways to pair skills.

Dwarves with no moodable skill can be allowed to do one task using a moodable skill to give them a moodable skill with no starting build investment, so moodable skill considerations should not be considered a primary reason to choose particular skills - you should also want to make use of them for other reasons.

==== Combining Skills ====
Every dwarf is going to have 2 or more {{l|skills}}. This means that even once you know which skills you want, you're going to need to pair them up before assigning them. Not all skill combinations are equally functional.

Some skills are highly time-consuming, either because the skill is in frequent demand (eg, {{l|mining}}) or because it takes a long time to do an individual job (eg, {{l|strand extraction}}). If a dwarf is spending most of their time using that skill, they aren't making much use of their other skill. Pairing two time-consuming skills together therefore tends to be a bad idea, as one or both jobs are not going to get the attention they need or deserve. Similarly, pairing a skill with time-critical jobs with a time-consuming skill also tends to be a bad idea. If your {{l|grower}} is also mining, he may not stop to plant crops one season. Or he might neglect to harvest your crops in a timely fashion and they could rot on the ground (if you only let your growers harvest). Arranging your skill combinations to avoid these situations is generally beneficial. For example, Masons, miners, growers, and any craft that your fortress will base their economy off of (glass, stonecrafts, armour, etc) will take a lot of time, so plan accordingly.

Instead, pairing relatively time-intensive tasks with less time-intensive tasks will let your dwarf accomplish all such tasks adequately. Once you get a metal industry rolling, an armorer/weaponsmith will need to make a lot fewer weapons to outfit your soldiers than he will armor components. Thus he can usefully do both jobs without hurting your productivity overly much. Similarly, a mason might also be your architect, since building designer is a very infrequently used skill.

Working at different jobs levels up specific {{l|attribute}}s. One could level up a miner until he becomes mighty and ultra-tough - and then turn him into a soldier, or retire him to haul stone. If you plan on doing so, it may not be a good idea to give this guy a second critical job that will demand a lot of time away from their focus.

Since tasks will take place in specific areas, another approach is to combine tasks into dwarves who will take care of a specific industry, or spend all their time in one generally narrow part of the fortress - the forges, or the kitchens, or outdoors, for instance. So combining Farming with cooking, rather than mining, for example, and turn on only Haul Food, not Haul Stone. Metalworkers spending their time in the forge can easily handle more than one type of metalworking skill, and are also well-situated to be furnace operators.

Similarly, you can also make the craftsmen of your finished products also responsible for the production of intermediate products from raw ingredients. This way when they run out of materials to make into finished goods they can immediately switch over to working raw products into intermediate products so they'll have more to work with later. This works better in some industries than in others. A single butcher/tanner/cook trying to process multiple animals simultaneously will likely result in rotten food, carcases, or skins. But a weaponsmith who doubles as a furnace operator can usefully ensure he has material to work with when you want him to. Later on, however, a highly skilled craftsdwarf is often better suited at sitting in their {{l|workshop}} and having others deliver raw materials to them than going out and obtaining their own raw materials themselves, but in the early game dwarf-time is limited, and a single dwarf who can work an entire production chain can do so relatively efficiently and let your other dwarves be used elsewhere.

There is no requirement that a dwarves job combination needs to look 'right' or logical. A weaponsmith will most probably not spend nearly 100% of their time creating weapons - what they do with the other part of their time may have nothing at all to do with forges or smithing. Jobs which require little time in general, or little time early even if time-intensive later, may well be paired with any time-intensive task solely to provide the dwarf with something to usefully and skillfully do with most of their time, and freed from that duty as needed for the other tasks.

Another constraint you can impose on your skill combinations is to try to limit dwarves to {{l|moodable}} skill and one non-moodable skill (or a moodable and a less desired moodable skill at lower level), so any mood will improve the desired one. For example, pairing craft skills with farming skills gives you dwarves that will perform useful food production or raw good processing services while also getting their mood in a valuable finished goods skill. Example: Clothier/Grower.

==== Which dwarf should have which skill? ====
Dwarves who craft goods they prefer, or work materials they prefer, gain a bonus to the quality of the finished work. This can inform your choice of which skills you choose, for example by choosing a weaver because you notice a preference for sheap wool yarn, or you might choose the skills you want and then try to find a suitable dwarf to use that skill. In the latter case, since all dwarves have one metal preference you might assign an armorsmithing skill to a dwarf with a preference for iron, steel, or adamantine.

The dwarf with the most social skills will end up being the {{l|Expedition leader}}, who will then become the {{l|mayor}} and start making {{l|mandate}}s. Thus you should avoid giving the most social skills to dwarfs who have {{l|preferences}} for things like {{l|adamantine}}.

Dwarves have physical and mental attributes that affect the performance of certain skills. You may wish to give a socially adept and patient dwarf the leadership/broker skills, or a dwarf who doesn't tire easily a skill which will be in frequent use like mining. You can also try to match skills to {{l|personality}}, some of which have obvious implications for their willingness to work long hours or how frequently they might take breaks.

Of course, all combined these represent a lot of possible constraints on where you assign particular skills, and it would be impossible to apply them in total to your entire desired skill load. Use these as a guide, but don't be upset if all your dwarves are anti-social psychopaths - someone still needs to be the leader, after all.

==== Other considerations ====
Migrants can and will arrive with a wide selection of decently trained skills. While it is a gamble, chances are pretty decent that migrants will arrive with a highly trained skill that is also highly desirable and would usurp the job of one of the seven starting ones. The first few migration waves are likely to give you a much better talent pool than what you can assign at embark. On the other hand, you may never get the skill you really want if you don't start with it.

Skills rust if not used and they can eventually de-level. Consider that skills which you will use years after embark are going to be rusty or even deleveled. Embark to the first caravan is long enough for a skill to start rusting, so you might want to make sure you'll use every skill you embark with before the first year ends to avoid catastrophic rusting.

Remember that you need to survive in order to accomplish any goals. Have a plan for lasting to at least the first caravan, if not one for longterm sustainability.

== Items ==

The items you choose to bring with you will need to satisfy a number of needs. Most importantly, you need to keep yourself alive - at least until the caravan arrives in the fall to resupply yourself. You probably also want to plan on some way of making a shelter, whether that be the traditional delved hall, a majestic castle, a log cabin, or something even more exotic. You may want to plan for mishaps by bringing essential medical supplies, especially those which may be hard to acquire on site. And you might bring items which will assist in creating items for trade to that first caravan, should you need anything for the skills you're planning on.

For the purposes of this article, livestock are considered items.

All embarks get the following items without paying for them: 2 animals (who pulled the wagon), and the 3 wood that make up the wagon.

=== Motivations ===

==== Survival ====

A single dwarf eats about 2x/season, and drinks about 4x/season. With 7 dwarves that's ~approximately~ 14 meals per season and 28 alcohol per season, or ~42 meals and ~84 alcohol until the end of Fall. The dwarf caravan tends to arrive in the third month of fall, so you will probably need to plan on a full 3 seasons. You are also likely to get at least one if not two small waves of migrants before the caravan arrives.

It is possible to bring enough food and drink to make it to the caravan - indeed, bringing enough food isn't especially hard (especially once you factor in slaughtering the animals who hauled your wagon. Bringing sufficient alcohol is harder, although bringing plump helmets to brew can significantly cut the cost.

The likely best way to keep your dwarves in drink is also the most labor intensive - setting up farming in the first season or two is perfectly plausible, allowing to grow your own {{l|plants}} from seeds and brew the products. (Keep in mind not all plants can be brewed - don't plant dimple cups and expect to make alcohol). In addition to the necessary seeds, starting your own farming operation is going to require some way to get the ground muddy. While sometimes simple digging can accomplish this, many times you're going to need a screw pump. Basic construction requirements are discussed under shelter.

It is possible to make all your alcohol by harvesting aboveground plants, if highly inefficient. It also only works in biomes with collectable plant life. Notably evil biomes and glaciers are unlikely to provide.

==== Shelter ====
Bar a convenient cave, you're going to have to do something for shelter. Shelter is your first defense against roving creatures, keeping them away from where your dwarves are working so they don't spam job cancellations and strew items all over the place. (As you might guess, most 'convenient caves' aren't actually that convenient, as they tend to have residents). Basic walls that allow you egress won't stop a dedicated invader, but you don't expect to see those until year 3, so you have time to develop more elaborate defenses.

Food outside will also spoil a lot faster than food inside, so making a cellar of some sort to store your food in will increase the longevity of your food supplies. The rate at which food spoils depends on ambient temperature, so the urgency of making a cellar will depend on where you settled. It might be possible to go without a cellar in a freezing biome.{{verify}} The only way you can avoid thinking about food storage in the first year is if you collect food and make alcohol as needed - ie, by using an herbalist to collect local plants - which can avoid needing to mine at all.

Delving a shelter requires mining, which means having picks to dig with. One can always bring one or more picks at embark, but its also possible to bring the supplies necessary to make them. See tempo vs. efficiency below.

An aboveground shelter can be made with stone or wood or possibly more exotic materials. Stone of course requires mining, and thus picks. Wood can be had with an axe assuming trees are present, and axes, like picks, can similarly be brought at embark or made on site. It is of course possible to bring sufficient raw materials to build walls with, but this is far less efficient than just bringing a pick or an axe, although it could make a fun challenge. Building your initial fort out of soap, while possible, is not recommended, although possibly hilariously entertaining.

==== Industry ====
Most industries require little more than materials you can collect at the site and a workshop. So long as you can get stone, you won't need to bring anything for these. However, if you want to get an industry going immediately, it does help to bring a few building materials along (or be willing to use the wood from the wagon, if only temporarily).

Some industries require fire-safe materials to build with. All stone qualifies, as does metal. Wood can be converted to a fire safe material by burning it to ashes in a wood burners workshop, but of course that workshop requires a fire-safe material. If you're mining, this condition is easy to satisfy, but if you intend to run any of these industries right away you will need to plan on bringing appropriate materials.

Some industries require plant or animal matter to work with. Clothiers ultimately need cloth, which comes from certain plants or animals. Leatherworkers need tanned skins. (And while you can get 2 off your pack animals, this isn't sufficient to run an industry). If you plan on running these types of industries you will need to have a plan for providing suitable raw materials. Hunting can cover leatherworking needs (although this requires a hunter and hunting implements), and foraging can find rope reed plants, but its usually better to bring enough appropriate animals or plants to have a good shot at getting started in a predictable and sustainable way. Similarly, milking and cheese making require milkable animals, and bonecarving requires a dependable source of bones.

Metal industries require metal and an anvil. You cannot make an anvil on site without already having an anvil, so if you plan on doing any forging before the first caravan you will need to bring one with you. Metal can be brought as bars or as ores to be smelted in a smelter into bars, or can be mined yourself.

Soap requires a lot of wood consumption and a source of tallow to be done in a sustainable way. Lye can be bought at embark to skip the first steps and make soap more directly. You will still need to bring or make buckets and have an empty barrel to actually produce soap though, but fortunately this is just a matter of having sufficient wood.

Jewelers require gems. Cut gems can be brought at embark, but are too expensive to bring in quantity. Generally a jeweler requires mining to find sufficient gems.

Glassmaking and Pottery requires sand or clay and fuel - pay attention to your site report before embarking. Its hard to run a viable industry solely off imports in these cases.

As is probably obvious, certain industries depend on similar inputs. Planning on a set of industries which require similar complementary inputs can let you more efficiently spend your starting points at embark or more efficiently plan your digging during the first year. If you plan on a lot of fuel-dependent industries, it may be worthwhile to prioritize finding a source of magma.

=== Optimization ===

==== Container mechanics and free items ====

Many items come in containers such as barrels and bags, including food, liquids, seeds, and powders. The cost to embark with these items can be cheaper than the cost of the container itself. Each different type of item for each category will come in its own container. Furthermore, you'll get a new container after every 10th instance for food, most liquids, and seeds, and after every item of powders.{{verify}} Alcohol gets a new barrel after every 5th unit. (Food actually groups by animal type, so if you get horse tripe and horse meat they'll combine them, but they won't combine horse meat and donkey meat). Thus diversifying your initial food supply with 1 of each low-cost food item will net you a large number of barrels. Similarly its worth taking 1 of each seed you weren't planning on taking more of solely for the bags. Taking some sand or gypsum powder is also a cheap way to get bags. Lye (for soap) and milks can be brought for more barrels - and milk can be made into cheese for a low-cost embark option that becomes food.

As stockpiling and some jobs are container limited, getting as many free containers as you can will free up labor (and possibly valuable materials) that would otherwise be used making containers.

==== Finished product or do it yourself ====
(in progress)

:''(* "Wooden practice axes" cost only 17P, and cut down wood just fine. They will be significantly weaker than metal axes in combat, but still far superior to {{L|wrestling}}, and you can {{l|Make your own weapons|DIY}} quickly enough.)''

You can produce any and all of those from scratch if you are willing to wait - and your {{l|surroundings}} don't kill you first. Raw materials are much cheaper, in the form of {{l|ore}}s, {{l|wood}}, {{l|leather}} and so forth, but whether you want to take the time at the start of the game is the question. The trade-off is always a balance of cost savings vs. time savings when you first strike the earth. Everything else depends on your strategy and on how tough or leisurely a challenge you want the game to be.

==== Biome considerations: dude, where's my wood? ====
Some environments have a shortage of trees. While you can direct production of a lot of item types to other materials, beds need to be made out of wood. In addition, it is difficult to make barrels and bins out of non-wood materials early in the game, especially without ready magma (since otherwise you'll probably need to burn wood to make metal equivalents). If you have an aquifer it can be even worse - stone may be difficult or impossible to access easily. While you can ultimately ask for wood from your liaison and buy whatever the humans and elves happen to bring, and eventually you can create a tree farm underground, tight wood will limit storage and sleeping arrangements for at least the first year if not longer. You may wish to plan accordingly if embarking in a site with sparse or no trees.

===== Items for moods =====
When a dwarf is taken by a {{l|strange mood}}, he often needs obscure material or he will go insane and die, possibly with severe consequences to an entire fortress. Bringing along some of the harder-to-find ores ({{l|cassiterite}}, {{l|sphalerite}}, {{l|bismuthinite}}, {{l|garnierite}}), and putting those aside, forbidding their use "just in case", is spending a few points on an insurance policy. Many players also choose to bring a few items like pig tail cloth and cave spider silk just in case.

Alternately, if you're otherwise being minimalistic on gear you're bringing you can choose to bring a few valuable components to try to maximize the value of mood items. That artifact animal trap will be worth a lot more if your woodcarver grabs a blue diamond instead of moss agate.

===== Free Equipment =====

Dwarves who start with the ambusher skill may get some leather {{l|armor}}, a crossbow and some bolts for free. It seems to do so when ambusher is the highest non-military non-social skill.{{verify}}







==Site considerations==
Each fortress {{l|location}} offers particular challenges and opportunities, and can make different demands on your starting build. Your starting build may need to be adjusted depending on the {{l|region}} your fort occupies, the specific vision you have of your fortress, and what it will take to {{l|losing|stay alive}} where you're going!

The differences include what {{l|biome}}s, {{l|region}}s and likely {{l|metal}}s are present in your chosen embark site.

=== General Surroundings ===
Simply put, if your {{l|surroundings}} are {{l|evil}} or {{l|savage}}, your dwarves have a higher risk of suddenly facing personal combat before they are safely behind their defenses. Consider bringing extra weaponry, in the form of axes, picks or crossbows (see {{l|Starting_builds#Free_Equipment|free equipment}}). Hand in hand with those, consider skill mixes that include {{l|axedwarf}}, {{l|mining}} (the skill used to wield a pick), {{l|marksdwarf}}, or {{l|wrestling}} (a solid unarmed-combat skill).

The same is true if you are embarking near an exposed magma vent or an open chasm - these features can be seen on the embark map, but it's impossible to tell if they are "open" to the surface or not, until you are there in person.

Be sure to include some source of {{l|water}} on the map, preferably running {{l|water}}. Water is (almost) essential for any fortress. In Cold and Freezing climates streams and {{l|lake}}s will often be frozen year-round and your dwarves may quickly die of exposure, in Hot climates {{l|murky pool}}s will dry up, and in Dry ones rain will only rarely re-fill them, if ever. Choose Temperate or tropical zones for an easier game.

===Aquifers===
If an {{l|aquifer}} is present in the first soil or stone layers (visible on the pre-embark menu), it may bar all access to {{l|stone}} and {{l|ore}} until you find a way through the water barrier. Consider bringing some stone for building, and ore for your first basic needs. This may be critical to getting your fortress running smoothly.

=== Mountains ===
Mountains often have abundant {{l|ore}}s, but at the loss of trees and plants. In previous versions lacking {{L|cavern}}s, this was a serious drawback. In DF2010, brave pioneers can dig down into the caverns to find essentials like water, mud, and plants. However, players should be aware that above-ground crops will not grow in mountain biomes, no matter how muddy you may make the surface.

Depending on the exact layers, it's common to find exposed {{l|vein}}s of useful {{l|ore}}s that can be immediately mined for {{l|Make your own weapons|DIY}} weapons and tools.

=== Wooded/Plains ===
Flatlands with at least some trees and gatherable plants can also make for highly successful fortresses. Advantages over mountain zones include abundant trees and plants and (unless frozen) more abundant water. There are even (rare) magma vents. More water also means a high likelihood of an {{l|aquifer}} being present. Make sure to check on embark.

The greatest disadvantage is the potential lack of exposed {{l|stone}} to mine. The first level(s) below the surface is often {{l|soil}} of some type, which offers no building materials. However, soil is mined much more quickly than stone (x3-x4 faster), and expansive accommodations (rooms) can be achieved quickly even by untrained miners. You will find stone, you just have to go down a bit for it - but that's what dwarves do, isn't it?

{{l|Experience|Training}} a {{l|Miner}} from No Skill to Proficient takes less than a month (~20 days with hauling disabled) in soil, and to Legendary in just under a season after. {{version|0.31.12}} From embark, this means you should have legendary miners in early summer if you dig only in soil. Times increase slightly for each additional miner used.

=== Oceanside ===
With many features in common with some of the above locations, {{l|beach}}es are often a mix of ease intermingled with bouts of extreme difficulty. Minerals and trees are often abundant, as well as farmland and sand, but there is often no drinking water unless the biome has a flowing {{l|water}} of some sort.

By definition, the settlement will fall between (at least) two {{l|biome}}s (one land, one water), potentially hazardous if the player expects a peaceful oceanside meadow, without realizing the {{l|terrifying}} ocean is full of amphibious zombie {{l|whale}}s.

=== Desert, Glaciers, and Barren ===
Treeless (or near-treeless) {{l|biome}}s are challenging sites for a fortress: you get most of the disadvantages of a flatland site without having access to nearly as many trees and plants. However, near-lifeless zones such as {{l|glacier}}s are wonderful for players with slower computers, as there's little to burden the CPU but your dwarves and livestock. {{l|Desert}}s and barren areas often have sand; with a sufficient source of energy (preferably magma), you can build almost anything out of unlimited glass.

Hunters should be replaced with fisherdwarves and a fish cleaner (although the latter can be easily trained). Depending how much water vs. land, more starting wood and ores might be helpful. Swimming is rarely useful in Fortress mode, even at the beach, and can be trained.

==Sample starting builds==
See {{l|Sample Starting Builds}}

{{Starting FAQ}}
[[Category:Guides]]

v0.31:Starting build

2011-04-23T21:32:49Z

Squirrelloid: /* Optimization */

{{quality|Exceptional|01:37, 16 October 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

A '''starting build''' is a personal ''strategy'' for choosing the initial supplies, equipment, and {{l|skill}}s of your initial seven dwarves when starting a new game in {{l|fortress mode}}. These skills and items which you assign to your dwarves will have a large impact on life in your new fortress, especially in its first year.

This page attempts to give advice on some of the many gameplay elements which influence the flow of your game based on your goals. These include: choosing a ''fortress site'', the ''starting build'' itself, as well as ''challenge builds'' aimed at providing new or unusual challenges to advanced players. This page is not an explanation of the mechanics of doing so, see {{l|Embark}} for an explanation of the interface itself.

But one thing should be made clear - there is no "best" build, no "perfect" or "clearly superior" final mix of skills and items, if only because there isn't any one goal of play. The goals you have for a fortress will dictate which sets of items and skills are best suited to achieving that goal - in your opinion. And then there is the environment, where your dwarves will arrive, the creatures, the resources available, and so forth. Finally, some people do things solely because it is hard, and that makes it more fun for them.

Items are tied to starting skills, and starting skills are tied to the expected environment for your chosen embark, and all are tied to your preferences for playing the game - not all sites require (or invite) the same approach, and no two players would take the same approach to the same environment.

This page attempts to provide a discussion about how and why you make the choices on what you bring along.

__TOC__

== Components of a Starting Build ==
There are two main components of a starting build: skills and items.

Skills for your initial dwarves determine how quickly they will work early on, what industries you are guaranteed to be able to start with skilled workers later, how well you can defend your dwarves early on, and what the quality of various goods they produce will be, and possibly many other considerations. This page considers in detail how you might go about choosing skills for your starting dwarves, and examines the multiple competing perspectives from which you can make that decision.

The items that your dwarves bring with you can be tailored a number of ways. There are trade-offs to cheaper and more expensive alternatives, and reasons why you might choose either. This section explores the nature of these trade-offs and the reasons for making a decision. It also looks at optimizing goods brought in more general contexts.

Starting builds can and should vary based upon a number of other variables. {{l|location|Where you choose to settle}} will give you a fortress that supplies different raw materials and thus require different skill sets to utilize, not to mention different threats from native wildlife based on {{l|biome}}, {{l|surroundings|savagery}}, and {{l|surroundings|alignment}}. Which dwarven civilization you come from will restrict the materials with which you can start. Making choices about these variables is not part of a starting build. What you choose for skills and items because of these choices is part of your starting build, and so some general guidelines about different environments is given last.

This page does not cover the interface for accomplishing these tasks. Please see the {{l|embark}} page.

== Skill Optimization ==
With only 7 dwarves, you can't take every {{l|skill}}, so you have to balance what you do take. At this starting phase, each dwarf can only be assigned a maximum total of 10 skill levels, with no single skill starting higher than "5". Actual skill distribution is thus constrained to be something between 1 level in each of 10 skills, or 5 levels in each of two skills, or something in between. Because dwarves can {{l|experience|learn}} any and all skills once your fortress starts, these initial choices do not dictate what the dwarves can do, opening up incredible latitude to choose skills for reasons other than survival.

:''(* Note that an unskilled dwarf starts with all Skills at Level '''0'''. Adding +5 Levels is then Level '''5'''. This is true regardless of how many "points" a level costs when first buying skills at embark.)''

A brief list of considerations governing skill choice:
:* Maximizing starting skill ranks vs. generalizing and having more skills covered at lower levels.
:* Balancing multiple skills for a single dwarf, so they aren't constantly needed for two different tasks at critical periods
:* Military vs economic needs
:* Your goals vs "basic survival needs" to keep your fortress healthy and happy.
:* Speed that a skill can be trained in game
:* Demand for a skill during a game
:* Whether quality or speed are significant considerations for tasks/final product
:* Balancing the desire to create {{l|wealth}} ''(with high-value products)'' with the need to maintain {{l|thought|morale}} ''(with low-value but commonly used products, like {{l|bed}}s, which normally are made from {{l|wood}})''.
:* most importantly - ''your playstyle'' - what '''you''' think is "fun"!

==== Breadth vs. Depth ====

A dwarf with only 2 starting skills at 5 ranks each is pretty good at 2 tasks, but untrained at anything else. A dwarf with nothing higher than level 1 is passable at many tasks, but not good at anything. Each dwarf in your party is going to be somewhere along this continuum, and you'll need to choose where.

Level in a skill dictates how fast a dwarf completes a task (most of the time), and how well he completes it (if applicable). On one extreme, {{l|butchery}} has no time variance for slaughtering a tame animal, and has no quality associated with the outcome. On the other extreme, {{l|metalworking}} tasks can take a long time for an untrained worker to complete and their high material value means the quality multiplier has a large impact on the end value.

Dwarves who complete tasks faster can do more total {{l|job}}s within a given timeframe. The rate at which speed increases with level varies with skill, so some skills will benefit more than others.

Dwarves who make items of higher quality will contribute more to fortress wealth and may have a large impact on fortress happiness if their work is readily available to be seen by other dwarves. Items which typically contribute to happiness are low value but common public items, like beds and tables. Items which contribute the most to fortress wealth often cannot be displayed, but make useful trade goods or equipment for your military.

A dwarf highly skilled in few areas will work faster at those tasks and produce higher quality work than his more generalized counterpart. However, he will do worse at any other task he is set to.

Aside from the obvious trade off, there is another reason to prefer depth - dwarves can obviously only complete so many total jobs within a given timespan. If a dwarf is busy doing one thing, he can't simultaneously be doing something else. So a dwarf who is highly skilled in a few skills may not actually experience any disadvantage thereby if he is kept doing those things in which he specializes. The generalist dwarf, on the other hand, may be able to do many more different tasks adequately, but he can still only do one type of task at a time. A dwarf with one highly used skill (such as Mechanics or Mining) can feasibly spend all his time using only his primary skill and thus has no need to generalize. In effect, the generalist is wasting more skill points whenever he does jobs than the specialist, so long as the specialist tends to do jobs he has levels in. Specializing your initial skill investment is therefore superior if you specialize the division of labor in your fortress.

Of course, you can still only bring 7 dwarves with 10 total levels of skills each, so covering everything you want to do in 14 skills may be hard, if not impossible. A generalist or two can cover more bases that have little quality need or are otherwise fast even without a high level. The generalists real problem arises from the fact that any dwarf can do any task, and having 1 level isn't much better than having no levels. Which isn't to say there isn't a situation where a 1/1/1/1/1/5 dwarf is the right solution (indeed, the typical recommended leader/broker takes 1/1/1/1/1 in appraiser/judge of intent/negotiator/+2 social skills because none of these skills have a time or quality component), but most less-specialized dwarves are more likely to fall in the 5/3/2 or 4/3/3 end of the spectrum solely because there is a minimum investment necessary to be noticeably better than not having any levels at all.

==== Design Constraints: Which skills do I need, really? ====

The only thing that you absolutely must do in the first year is get your food supplies into a food stockpile, preferably inside, otherwise your food will rot on the ground and your dwarves will starve. Anything else you want to do can be accommodated by sufficient investment in initial food supplies and/or skills. This means the options for possible starting builds are vast because virtually any set of starting skills for your dwarves is viable (and that's before you even think about equipment, which adds more variables). So the short answer is: none.

That said, there are some skills which will be '''used''', to one extent or another, by virtually every fortress - but that doesn't mean you '''need''' or even want to invest points in them to start. You could even manipulate the fortress (see {{l|challenge}}) to completely avoid one or more of the following, but these are the skills you will find it exceptionally hard to avoid creating jobs for:
:{{l|Mining}} - to dig your fortress, and gain stone for projects. Only possible to avoid using if you're secretly an elf.
:* Inexperienced {{l|miner}}s work very slowly and are less likely to recover mined gems or valuable ores. Mining can be leveled up quite quickly by mining {{l|soil#soil|soil}}, but taking two dwarves with at least some points in mining is recommended in many cases.
:{{l|Carpentry}} - {{l|bed}}s can only be produced from {{l|wood}} (rare {{l|mood}}s aside). This skill can also be used to make {{L|bin}}s without having to have an {{L|anvil}}, use any metal {{L|bar}}s, or use any {{L|fuel}}.
:*Carpentry is used, but opinions differ - on one hand, wood items are just not worth that much {{l|value}}-wise ''(10's of dwarfbucks vs 100's for stone furniture or 1000's for armor or prepared foods, for instance)'', so the difference in monetary value between high-quality and no-quality is minor for wood products. However, high-quality {{l|bed}}s are one of the easiest ways to help make and keep your dwarves {{l|thought|happy}} (since every dwarf will encounter a bed regularly), so some players swear by it.
:{{l|Masonry}} - to build walls and stairs, and fashion dwarven furniture from stone. Possible to work around, but incredibly hard and annoying to do.
:{{l|Grower|Growing}} - your farmers' work echoes throughout so many other tasks, it's stunning
:* While its possible to feed your fortress on nothing but caravan goods, you'll never come by enough alcohol that way, so you'll eventually need to grow crops for brewing, and dwarves will literally go crazy if forced to drink nothing but water for long periods. Thus you'll want to plan for farming eventually - not that you need to bring a highly skilled {{l|Grower}}, but it'll certainly be ''very'' helpful. Likewise, a skilled {{l|brewer}} produces higher quality {{l|alcohol}} (''though the quality is hidden!)'', which improves your dwarves' mood, as does a skilled {{l|cook}} with the foods they prepare. However, most food can be eaten raw, and so long as they are not starving there is life.
:{{l|Brewing}} - all dwarves "need alcohol to get through the working day"
:{{l|Mechanics}} - if you want traps, and most people will. Also needed for most machinery.
:{{l|Architecture|Building Designer}} - mandatory for some buildings and constructions, but skill only improves speed a tad and increases structure {{l|value}}
:{{l|Broker skills}} - most importantly {{l|appraiser}} - a minimum of Broker skills are highly recommended to start with at the Novice (1 pt) level - it'll make your life much easier (especially Novice level of {{l|Appraiser}}, at least, as it greatly facilitates trading).
:{{L|Record keeper}} - Lets you be able to see the exact amount of things you have much faster than training one, and is necessary to view the stocks screen.

The very fact that you will use these skills often makes many of them desirable to choose as starting skills for your dwarves. Of the above, Mining, Masonry, Growing, Brewing, Cooking, and Mechanics are generally worth considering as "highly desirable". However, '''any skill can be used untrained, and/or get trained on the job''' - it just means a slower process and/or average lower quality product than if done by a dwarf with a higher {{l|experience|skill level}}.

The difference between these skills and other skills is that other skills are optional as to whether they'll get used or not. You need to deliberately want to use them. These skills are essential to basic aspects of the game, and avoiding one requires a deliberate choice not to use it (and likely a lot of effort spent to avoid doing so). Ie, a fortress could make its wealth by smithing fine weapons, weaving quality cloth, encrusting precious stones onto furniture, or crafting quality trinkets. Or all of those. But it doesn't have a compelling reason to do any one in particular. A fortress that never designates a tile for mining, however, requires exceptional effort to achieve.

But that you can avoid even something as basic as mining *for the lifetime of your fortress* means there is no universal design constraint on which skills to start with. Ultimately the answer to "What skills do I need?" is "Whichever ''you'' want". Choosing a mixture of these commonly used skills and your desired specialized skills will make starting up your fortress easier and more efficient, but you don't need to start with any of them. Choosing to avoid some skills may force you to use some others, but nothing compels you to invest in any skill in particular.

==== Balancing military and economic needs ====

Not all embarks will require a military presence in the first year, but anyone planning an expedition to a sinister, haunted, or terrifying biome would be foolish not to be prepared for nasty dwarf-killing creatures. The solution doesn't strictly need to be military skills; quick delving and a skilled mechanic may be sufficient; but starting with a military dwarf will give you the earliest possible protection and a lot more versatility in where that protection can be applied. Whatever you choose to do, understand the risk and be prepared for it.

==== Training considerations ====

Some skills are harder to gain experience in than others - requiring valuable resources or taking an extended period of time, and thus inconvenient to train from the ground up. Investing in some of these extensively in your initial dwarves can make those industries much less painful to start. For example, metal-related skills generally eat metal bars, and thus the less time you spend training metal workers up to a decent level, the faster they'll be churning out high-quality items for you, and the fewer bars they'll waste becoming skilled. On the other hand, despite its importance, skills like mining train relatively quickly and barring extenuating circumstances (expected need to accomplish particular digging projects in the first month or you'll get mauled by a Giant for example) there's little need to actually invest your starting skills in it - they can learn on the job.

==== Quality, value, and happiness ====

{{l|Quality}} is an important part of Dwarf Fortress. Higher quality items produce better and more frequent happy thoughts and are worth more money. Valuable commodities will trade for more goods from caravans that visit. When choosing skills that produce objects of quality, the desire to produce valuable goods for trade will often conflict with the desire to produce objects that will make your dwarves happy. Built items that are frequently encountered tend to be things like furniture, especially beds, which tend to have low material values and thus low total value no matter how high the quality of the work. Further, these things tend to be inconvenient to trade. It is often best to strike a balance between dwarves who produce valuable trade goods and dwarves who produce quality items that will make your population happy - and thus be able to achieve both goals simultaneously.

Its worth noting that built furniture and worn clothing counts its value twice, once under the appropriate category and once for displayed value. If you're trying to maximize your created wealth total, a good metalsmith producing furniture from high-value metals is optimal.

==== Moodable skills ====

{{l|Strange mood}}s will create a Legendary skill of the "moodable" skill with the highest level, and moods take hold of dwarves with different professions at different rates. Some skills are "moodable" where others are not. You might choose to take certain skills solely because it opens up moods for that skill with that dwarf. Some moodable skills are more valuable than others - a legendary weaponsmith is both valuable and useful. A legendary tanner is generally a waste of a mood since tanned hides have no quality.

Because a dwarf can only have a strange mood in one skill, pairing a moodable skill with a non-moodable skill can protect the moodable skill and ensure that if the dwarf has a mood it will be in the skill you desire. See the section on combining skills below for more details on ways to pair skills.

Dwarves with no moodable skill can be allowed to do one task using a moodable skill to give them a moodable skill with no starting build investment, so moodable skill considerations should not be considered a primary reason to choose particular skills - you should also want to make use of them for other reasons.

==== Combining Skills ====
Every dwarf is going to have 2 or more {{l|skills}}. This means that even once you know which skills you want, you're going to need to pair them up before assigning them. Not all skill combinations are equally functional.

Some skills are highly time-consuming, either because the skill is in frequent demand (eg, {{l|mining}}) or because it takes a long time to do an individual job (eg, {{l|strand extraction}}). If a dwarf is spending most of their time using that skill, they aren't making much use of their other skill. Pairing two time-consuming skills together therefore tends to be a bad idea, as one or both jobs are not going to get the attention they need or deserve. Similarly, pairing a skill with time-critical jobs with a time-consuming skill also tends to be a bad idea. If your {{l|grower}} is also mining, he may not stop to plant crops one season. Or he might neglect to harvest your crops in a timely fashion and they could rot on the ground (if you only let your growers harvest). Arranging your skill combinations to avoid these situations is generally beneficial. For example, Masons, miners, growers, and any craft that your fortress will base their economy off of (glass, stonecrafts, armour, etc) will take a lot of time, so plan accordingly.

Instead, pairing relatively time-intensive tasks with less time-intensive tasks will let your dwarf accomplish all such tasks adequately. Once you get a metal industry rolling, an armorer/weaponsmith will need to make a lot fewer weapons to outfit your soldiers than he will armor components. Thus he can usefully do both jobs without hurting your productivity overly much. Similarly, a mason might also be your architect, since building designer is a very infrequently used skill.

Working at different jobs levels up specific {{l|attribute}}s. One could level up a miner until he becomes mighty and ultra-tough - and then turn him into a soldier, or retire him to haul stone. If you plan on doing so, it may not be a good idea to give this guy a second critical job that will demand a lot of time away from their focus.

Since tasks will take place in specific areas, another approach is to combine tasks into dwarves who will take care of a specific industry, or spend all their time in one generally narrow part of the fortress - the forges, or the kitchens, or outdoors, for instance. So combining Farming with cooking, rather than mining, for example, and turn on only Haul Food, not Haul Stone. Metalworkers spending their time in the forge can easily handle more than one type of metalworking skill, and are also well-situated to be furnace operators.

Similarly, you can also make the craftsmen of your finished products also responsible for the production of intermediate products from raw ingredients. This way when they run out of materials to make into finished goods they can immediately switch over to working raw products into intermediate products so they'll have more to work with later. This works better in some industries than in others. A single butcher/tanner/cook trying to process multiple animals simultaneously will likely result in rotten food, carcases, or skins. But a weaponsmith who doubles as a furnace operator can usefully ensure he has material to work with when you want him to. Later on, however, a highly skilled craftsdwarf is often better suited at sitting in their {{l|workshop}} and having others deliver raw materials to them than going out and obtaining their own raw materials themselves, but in the early game dwarf-time is limited, and a single dwarf who can work an entire production chain can do so relatively efficiently and let your other dwarves be used elsewhere.

There is no requirement that a dwarves job combination needs to look 'right' or logical. A weaponsmith will most probably not spend nearly 100% of their time creating weapons - what they do with the other part of their time may have nothing at all to do with forges or smithing. Jobs which require little time in general, or little time early even if time-intensive later, may well be paired with any time-intensive task solely to provide the dwarf with something to usefully and skillfully do with most of their time, and freed from that duty as needed for the other tasks.

Another constraint you can impose on your skill combinations is to try to limit dwarves to {{l|moodable}} skill and one non-moodable skill (or a moodable and a less desired moodable skill at lower level), so any mood will improve the desired one. For example, pairing craft skills with farming skills gives you dwarves that will perform useful food production or raw good processing services while also getting their mood in a valuable finished goods skill. Example: Clothier/Grower.

==== Which dwarf should have which skill? ====
Dwarves who craft goods they prefer, or work materials they prefer, gain a bonus to the quality of the finished work. This can inform your choice of which skills you choose, for example by choosing a weaver because you notice a preference for sheap wool yarn, or you might choose the skills you want and then try to find a suitable dwarf to use that skill. In the latter case, since all dwarves have one metal preference you might assign an armorsmithing skill to a dwarf with a preference for iron, steel, or adamantine.

The dwarf with the most social skills will end up being the {{l|Expedition leader}}, who will then become the {{l|mayor}} and start making {{l|mandate}}s. Thus you should avoid giving the most social skills to dwarfs who have {{l|preferences}} for things like {{l|adamantine}}.

Dwarves have physical and mental attributes that affect the performance of certain skills. You may wish to give a socially adept and patient dwarf the leadership/broker skills, or a dwarf who doesn't tire easily a skill which will be in frequent use like mining. You can also try to match skills to {{l|personality}}, some of which have obvious implications for their willingness to work long hours or how frequently they might take breaks.

Of course, all combined these represent a lot of possible constraints on where you assign particular skills, and it would be impossible to apply them in total to your entire desired skill load. Use these as a guide, but don't be upset if all your dwarves are anti-social psychopaths - someone still needs to be the leader, after all.

==== Other considerations ====
Migrants can and will arrive with a wide selection of decently trained skills. While it is a gamble, chances are pretty decent that migrants will arrive with a highly trained skill that is also highly desirable and would usurp the job of one of the seven starting ones. The first few migration waves are likely to give you a much better talent pool than what you can assign at embark. On the other hand, you may never get the skill you really want if you don't start with it.

Skills rust if not used and they can eventually de-level. Consider that skills which you will use years after embark are going to be rusty or even deleveled. Embark to the first caravan is long enough for a skill to start rusting, so you might want to make sure you'll use every skill you embark with before the first year ends to avoid catastrophic rusting.

Remember that you need to survive in order to accomplish any goals. Have a plan for lasting to at least the first caravan, if not one for longterm sustainability.

== Items ==

The items you choose to bring with you will need to satisfy a number of needs. Most importantly, you need to keep yourself alive - at least until the caravan arrives in the fall to resupply yourself. You probably also want to plan on some way of making a shelter, whether that be the traditional delved hall, a majestic castle, a log cabin, or something even more exotic. You may want to plan for mishaps by bringing essential medical supplies, especially those which may be hard to acquire on site. And you might bring items which will assist in creating items for trade to that first caravan, should you need anything for the skills you're planning on.

For the purposes of this article, livestock are considered items.

All embarks get the following items without paying for them: 2 animals (who pulled the wagon), and the 3 wood that make up the wagon.

=== Motivations ===

==== Survival ====

A single dwarf eats about 2x/season, and drinks about 4x/season. With 7 dwarves that's ~approximately~ 14 meals per season and 28 alcohol per season, or ~42 meals and ~84 alcohol until the end of Fall. The dwarf caravan tends to arrive in the third month of fall, so you will probably need to plan on a full 3 seasons. You are also likely to get at least one if not two small waves of migrants before the caravan arrives.

It is possible to bring enough food and drink to make it to the caravan - indeed, bringing enough food isn't especially hard (especially once you factor in slaughtering the animals who hauled your wagon. Bringing sufficient alcohol is harder, although bringing plump helmets to brew can significantly cut the cost.

The likely best way to keep your dwarves in drink is also the most labor intensive - setting up farming in the first season or two is perfectly plausible, allowing to grow your own {{l|plants}} from seeds and brew the products. (Keep in mind not all plants can be brewed - don't plant dimple cups and expect to make alcohol). In addition to the necessary seeds, starting your own farming operation is going to require some way to get the ground muddy. While sometimes simple digging can accomplish this, many times you're going to need a screw pump. Basic construction requirements are discussed under shelter.

It is possible to make all your alcohol by harvesting aboveground plants, if highly inefficient. It also only works in biomes with collectable plant life. Notably evil biomes and glaciers are unlikely to provide.

==== Shelter ====
Bar a convenient cave, you're going to have to do something for shelter. Shelter is your first defense against roving creatures, keeping them away from where your dwarves are working so they don't spam job cancellations and strew items all over the place. (As you might guess, most 'convenient caves' aren't actually that convenient, as they tend to have residents). Basic walls that allow you egress won't stop a dedicated invader, but you don't expect to see those until year 3, so you have time to develop more elaborate defenses.

Food outside will also spoil a lot faster than food inside, so making a cellar of some sort to store your food in will increase the longevity of your food supplies. The rate at which food spoils depends on ambient temperature, so the urgency of making a cellar will depend on where you settled. It might be possible to go without a cellar in a freezing biome.{{verify}} The only way you can avoid thinking about food storage in the first year is if you collect food and make alcohol as needed - ie, by using an herbalist to collect local plants - which can avoid needing to mine at all.

Delving a shelter requires mining, which means having picks to dig with. One can always bring one or more picks at embark, but its also possible to bring the supplies necessary to make them. See tempo vs. efficiency below.

An aboveground shelter can be made with stone or wood or possibly more exotic materials. Stone of course requires mining, and thus picks. Wood can be had with an axe assuming trees are present, and axes, like picks, can similarly be brought at embark or made on site. It is of course possible to bring sufficient raw materials to build walls with, but this is far less efficient than just bringing a pick or an axe, although it could make a fun challenge. Building your initial fort out of soap, while possible, is not recommended, although possibly hilariously entertaining.

==== Industry ====
Most industries require little more than materials you can collect at the site and a workshop. So long as you can get stone, you won't need to bring anything for these. However, if you want to get an industry going immediately, it does help to bring a few building materials along (or be willing to use the wood from the wagon, if only temporarily).

Some industries require fire-safe materials to build with. All stone qualifies, as does metal. Wood can be converted to a fire safe material by burning it to ashes in a wood burners workshop, but of course that workshop requires a fire-safe material. If you're mining, this condition is easy to satisfy, but if you intend to run any of these industries right away you will need to plan on bringing appropriate materials.

Some industries require plant or animal matter to work with. Clothiers ultimately need cloth, which comes from certain plants or animals. Leatherworkers need tanned skins. (And while you can get 2 off your pack animals, this isn't sufficient to run an industry). If you plan on running these types of industries you will need to have a plan for providing suitable raw materials. Hunting can cover leatherworking needs (although this requires a hunter and hunting implements), and foraging can find rope reed plants, but its usually better to bring enough appropriate animals or plants to have a good shot at getting started in a predictable and sustainable way. Similarly, milking and cheese making require milkable animals, and bonecarving requires a dependable source of bones.

Metal industries require metal and an anvil. You cannot make an anvil on site without already having an anvil, so if you plan on doing any forging before the first caravan you will need to bring one with you. Metal can be brought as bars or as ores to be smelted in a smelter into bars, or can be mined yourself.

Soap requires a lot of wood consumption and a source of tallow to be done in a sustainable way. Lye can be bought at embark to skip the first steps and make soap more directly. You will still need to bring or make buckets and have an empty barrel to actually produce soap though, but fortunately this is just a matter of having sufficient wood.

Jewelers require gems. Cut gems can be brought at embark, but are too expensive to bring in quantity. Generally a jeweler requires mining to find sufficient gems.

Glassmaking and Pottery requires sand or clay and fuel - pay attention to your site report before embarking. Its hard to run a viable industry solely off imports in these cases.

As is probably obvious, certain industries depend on similar inputs. Planning on a set of industries which require similar complementary inputs can let you more efficiently spend your starting points at embark or more efficiently plan your digging during the first year. If you plan on a lot of fuel-dependent industries, it may be worthwhile to prioritize finding a source of magma.

=== Optimization ===

(in progress)

:''(* "Wooden practice axes" cost only 17P, and cut down wood just fine. They will be significantly weaker than metal axes in combat, but still far superior to {{L|wrestling}}, and you can {{l|Make your own weapons|DIY}} quickly enough.)''

You can produce any and all of those from scratch if you are willing to wait - and your {{l|surroundings}} don't kill you first. Raw materials are much cheaper, in the form of {{l|ore}}s, {{l|wood}}, {{l|leather}} and so forth, but whether you want to take the time at the start of the game is the question. The trade-off is always a balance of cost savings vs. time savings when you first strike the earth. Everything else depends on your strategy and on how tough or leisurely a challenge you want the game to be.

Some basics are recommended for all builds. Unless you plan to {{l|Make your own weapons|DIY}}, you definitely need to bring one {{l|pick}} for each {{l|miner}}, and if you plan to gather wood, you need an {{l|axe}}, which will become a weapon in wartime. Also a minimum of about 25-30* {{l|food}} and about 55-60* {{l|alcohol}}, which should get 7 dwarves through to the first {{l|caravan}} in Fall. Everything else depends on your strategy and on how tough or leisurely a challenge you want the game to be.

Note: Many builds recommend that you bring many different cheap foods, in quantities ending in a "1" (1, 11, 21, etc.), and alcohols in amounts ending in a "1" or "6". This is to maximize the number of free {{l|barrel|barrels}} you start with; dry foodstuffs fit 10/barrel, and (pre-embark) alcohol fits 5/barrel. More barrels will let you build a larger stockpile for your first winter and conserves the {{l|wood}} you need to cut and shape in the early game for beds and other necessities. (Seeds are 100/bag, and you don't need near that many of any one type, so 6 bags max with this approach. Even if you don't plan on growing much {{l|cave wheat}}, starting with 1 seed and getting the free bag, and planting that one seed later and dumping the result could be worth it.) Also note that multiple types of meat taken from the same animal (warthog meat and warthog tripe, for example) will be packed into a single barrel on embark, instead of separate barrels (as of version 31.04).

===== Items for moods =====
When a dwarf is taken by a {{l|strange mood}}, he often needs obscure material or he will go insane and die, possibly with severe consequences to an entire fortress. Bringing along some of the harder-to-find ores ({{l|cassiterite}}, {{l|sphalerite}}, {{l|bismuthinite}}, {{l|garnierite}}), and putting those aside, forbidding their use "just in case", is spending a few points on an insurance policy. Many players also choose to bring a few items like pig tail cloth and cave spider silk just in case. Alternately, if you're otherwise being minimalistic on gear you're bringing you can choose to bring a few valuable components to try to maximize the value of mood items. That artifact animal trap will be worth a lot more if your woodcarver grabs a blue diamond instead of moss agate.

===== Free Equipment =====

Dwarves who start with the ambusher skill may get some leather {{l|armor}}, a crossbow and some bolts for free.







==Site considerations==
Each fortress {{l|location}} offers particular challenges and opportunities, and can make different demands on your starting build. Your starting build may need to be adjusted depending on the {{l|region}} your fort occupies, the specific vision you have of your fortress, and what it will take to {{l|losing|stay alive}} where you're going!

The differences include what {{l|biome}}s, {{l|region}}s and likely {{l|metal}}s are present in your chosen embark site.

=== General Surroundings ===
Simply put, if your {{l|surroundings}} are {{l|evil}} or {{l|savage}}, your dwarves have a higher risk of suddenly facing personal combat before they are safely behind their defenses. Consider bringing extra weaponry, in the form of axes, picks or crossbows (see {{l|Starting_builds#Free_Equipment|free equipment}}). Hand in hand with those, consider skill mixes that include {{l|axedwarf}}, {{l|mining}} (the skill used to wield a pick), {{l|marksdwarf}}, or {{l|wrestling}} (a solid unarmed-combat skill).

The same is true if you are embarking near an exposed magma vent or an open chasm - these features can be seen on the embark map, but it's impossible to tell if they are "open" to the surface or not, until you are there in person.

Be sure to include some source of {{l|water}} on the map, preferably running {{l|water}}. Water is (almost) essential for any fortress. In Cold and Freezing climates streams and {{l|lake}}s will often be frozen year-round and your dwarves may quickly die of exposure, in Hot climates {{l|murky pool}}s will dry up, and in Dry ones rain will only rarely re-fill them, if ever. Choose Temperate or tropical zones for an easier game.

===Aquifers===
If an {{l|aquifer}} is present in the first soil or stone layers (visible on the pre-embark menu), it may bar all access to {{l|stone}} and {{l|ore}} until you find a way through the water barrier. Consider bringing some stone for building, and ore for your first basic needs. This may be critical to getting your fortress running smoothly.

=== Mountains ===
Mountains often have abundant {{l|ore}}s, but at the loss of trees and plants. In previous versions lacking {{L|cavern}}s, this was a serious drawback. In DF2010, brave pioneers can dig down into the caverns to find essentials like water, mud, and plants. However, players should be aware that above-ground crops will not grow in mountain biomes, no matter how muddy you may make the surface.

Depending on the exact layers, it's common to find exposed {{l|vein}}s of useful {{l|ore}}s that can be immediately mined for {{l|Make your own weapons|DIY}} weapons and tools.

=== Wooded/Plains ===
Flatlands with at least some trees and gatherable plants can also make for highly successful fortresses. Advantages over mountain zones include abundant trees and plants and (unless frozen) more abundant water. There are even (rare) magma vents. More water also means a high likelihood of an {{l|aquifer}} being present. Make sure to check on embark.

The greatest disadvantage is the potential lack of exposed {{l|stone}} to mine. The first level(s) below the surface is often {{l|soil}} of some type, which offers no building materials. However, soil is mined much more quickly than stone (x3-x4 faster), and expansive accommodations (rooms) can be achieved quickly even by untrained miners. You will find stone, you just have to go down a bit for it - but that's what dwarves do, isn't it?

{{l|Experience|Training}} a {{l|Miner}} from No Skill to Proficient takes less than a month (~20 days with hauling disabled) in soil, and to Legendary in just under a season after. {{version|0.31.12}} From embark, this means you should have legendary miners in early summer if you dig only in soil. Times increase slightly for each additional miner used.

=== Oceanside ===
With many features in common with some of the above locations, {{l|beach}}es are often a mix of ease intermingled with bouts of extreme difficulty. Minerals and trees are often abundant, as well as farmland and sand, but there is often no drinking water unless the biome has a flowing {{l|water}} of some sort.

By definition, the settlement will fall between (at least) two {{l|biome}}s (one land, one water), potentially hazardous if the player expects a peaceful oceanside meadow, without realizing the {{l|terrifying}} ocean is full of amphibious zombie {{l|whale}}s.

=== Desert, Glaciers, and Barren ===
Treeless (or near-treeless) {{l|biome}}s are challenging sites for a fortress: you get most of the disadvantages of a flatland site without having access to nearly as many trees and plants. However, near-lifeless zones such as {{l|glacier}}s are wonderful for players with slower computers, as there's little to burden the CPU but your dwarves and livestock. {{l|Desert}}s and barren areas often have sand; with a sufficient source of energy (preferably magma), you can build almost anything out of unlimited glass.

Hunters should be replaced with fisherdwarves and a fish cleaner (although the latter can be easily trained). Depending how much water vs. land, more starting wood and ores might be helpful. Swimming is rarely useful in Fortress mode, even at the beach, and can be trained.

==Sample starting builds==
See {{l|Sample Starting Builds}}

{{Starting FAQ}}
[[Category:Guides]]

v0.31:Starting build

2011-04-23T21:29:30Z

Squirrelloid: /* Item Optimization */

{{quality|Exceptional|01:37, 16 October 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

A '''starting build''' is a personal ''strategy'' for choosing the initial supplies, equipment, and {{l|skill}}s of your initial seven dwarves when starting a new game in {{l|fortress mode}}. These skills and items which you assign to your dwarves will have a large impact on life in your new fortress, especially in its first year.

This page attempts to give advice on some of the many gameplay elements which influence the flow of your game based on your goals. These include: choosing a ''fortress site'', the ''starting build'' itself, as well as ''challenge builds'' aimed at providing new or unusual challenges to advanced players. This page is not an explanation of the mechanics of doing so, see {{l|Embark}} for an explanation of the interface itself.

But one thing should be made clear - there is no "best" build, no "perfect" or "clearly superior" final mix of skills and items, if only because there isn't any one goal of play. The goals you have for a fortress will dictate which sets of items and skills are best suited to achieving that goal - in your opinion. And then there is the environment, where your dwarves will arrive, the creatures, the resources available, and so forth. Finally, some people do things solely because it is hard, and that makes it more fun for them.

Items are tied to starting skills, and starting skills are tied to the expected environment for your chosen embark, and all are tied to your preferences for playing the game - not all sites require (or invite) the same approach, and no two players would take the same approach to the same environment.

This page attempts to provide a discussion about how and why you make the choices on what you bring along.

__TOC__

== Components of a Starting Build ==
There are two main components of a starting build: skills and items.

Skills for your initial dwarves determine how quickly they will work early on, what industries you are guaranteed to be able to start with skilled workers later, how well you can defend your dwarves early on, and what the quality of various goods they produce will be, and possibly many other considerations. This page considers in detail how you might go about choosing skills for your starting dwarves, and examines the multiple competing perspectives from which you can make that decision.

The items that your dwarves bring with you can be tailored a number of ways. There are trade-offs to cheaper and more expensive alternatives, and reasons why you might choose either. This section explores the nature of these trade-offs and the reasons for making a decision. It also looks at optimizing goods brought in more general contexts.

Starting builds can and should vary based upon a number of other variables. {{l|location|Where you choose to settle}} will give you a fortress that supplies different raw materials and thus require different skill sets to utilize, not to mention different threats from native wildlife based on {{l|biome}}, {{l|surroundings|savagery}}, and {{l|surroundings|alignment}}. Which dwarven civilization you come from will restrict the materials with which you can start. Making choices about these variables is not part of a starting build. What you choose for skills and items because of these choices is part of your starting build, and so some general guidelines about different environments is given last.

This page does not cover the interface for accomplishing these tasks. Please see the {{l|embark}} page.

== Skill Optimization ==
With only 7 dwarves, you can't take every {{l|skill}}, so you have to balance what you do take. At this starting phase, each dwarf can only be assigned a maximum total of 10 skill levels, with no single skill starting higher than "5". Actual skill distribution is thus constrained to be something between 1 level in each of 10 skills, or 5 levels in each of two skills, or something in between. Because dwarves can {{l|experience|learn}} any and all skills once your fortress starts, these initial choices do not dictate what the dwarves can do, opening up incredible latitude to choose skills for reasons other than survival.

:''(* Note that an unskilled dwarf starts with all Skills at Level '''0'''. Adding +5 Levels is then Level '''5'''. This is true regardless of how many "points" a level costs when first buying skills at embark.)''

A brief list of considerations governing skill choice:
:* Maximizing starting skill ranks vs. generalizing and having more skills covered at lower levels.
:* Balancing multiple skills for a single dwarf, so they aren't constantly needed for two different tasks at critical periods
:* Military vs economic needs
:* Your goals vs "basic survival needs" to keep your fortress healthy and happy.
:* Speed that a skill can be trained in game
:* Demand for a skill during a game
:* Whether quality or speed are significant considerations for tasks/final product
:* Balancing the desire to create {{l|wealth}} ''(with high-value products)'' with the need to maintain {{l|thought|morale}} ''(with low-value but commonly used products, like {{l|bed}}s, which normally are made from {{l|wood}})''.
:* most importantly - ''your playstyle'' - what '''you''' think is "fun"!

==== Breadth vs. Depth ====

A dwarf with only 2 starting skills at 5 ranks each is pretty good at 2 tasks, but untrained at anything else. A dwarf with nothing higher than level 1 is passable at many tasks, but not good at anything. Each dwarf in your party is going to be somewhere along this continuum, and you'll need to choose where.

Level in a skill dictates how fast a dwarf completes a task (most of the time), and how well he completes it (if applicable). On one extreme, {{l|butchery}} has no time variance for slaughtering a tame animal, and has no quality associated with the outcome. On the other extreme, {{l|metalworking}} tasks can take a long time for an untrained worker to complete and their high material value means the quality multiplier has a large impact on the end value.

Dwarves who complete tasks faster can do more total {{l|job}}s within a given timeframe. The rate at which speed increases with level varies with skill, so some skills will benefit more than others.

Dwarves who make items of higher quality will contribute more to fortress wealth and may have a large impact on fortress happiness if their work is readily available to be seen by other dwarves. Items which typically contribute to happiness are low value but common public items, like beds and tables. Items which contribute the most to fortress wealth often cannot be displayed, but make useful trade goods or equipment for your military.

A dwarf highly skilled in few areas will work faster at those tasks and produce higher quality work than his more generalized counterpart. However, he will do worse at any other task he is set to.

Aside from the obvious trade off, there is another reason to prefer depth - dwarves can obviously only complete so many total jobs within a given timespan. If a dwarf is busy doing one thing, he can't simultaneously be doing something else. So a dwarf who is highly skilled in a few skills may not actually experience any disadvantage thereby if he is kept doing those things in which he specializes. The generalist dwarf, on the other hand, may be able to do many more different tasks adequately, but he can still only do one type of task at a time. A dwarf with one highly used skill (such as Mechanics or Mining) can feasibly spend all his time using only his primary skill and thus has no need to generalize. In effect, the generalist is wasting more skill points whenever he does jobs than the specialist, so long as the specialist tends to do jobs he has levels in. Specializing your initial skill investment is therefore superior if you specialize the division of labor in your fortress.

Of course, you can still only bring 7 dwarves with 10 total levels of skills each, so covering everything you want to do in 14 skills may be hard, if not impossible. A generalist or two can cover more bases that have little quality need or are otherwise fast even without a high level. The generalists real problem arises from the fact that any dwarf can do any task, and having 1 level isn't much better than having no levels. Which isn't to say there isn't a situation where a 1/1/1/1/1/5 dwarf is the right solution (indeed, the typical recommended leader/broker takes 1/1/1/1/1 in appraiser/judge of intent/negotiator/+2 social skills because none of these skills have a time or quality component), but most less-specialized dwarves are more likely to fall in the 5/3/2 or 4/3/3 end of the spectrum solely because there is a minimum investment necessary to be noticeably better than not having any levels at all.

==== Design Constraints: Which skills do I need, really? ====

The only thing that you absolutely must do in the first year is get your food supplies into a food stockpile, preferably inside, otherwise your food will rot on the ground and your dwarves will starve. Anything else you want to do can be accommodated by sufficient investment in initial food supplies and/or skills. This means the options for possible starting builds are vast because virtually any set of starting skills for your dwarves is viable (and that's before you even think about equipment, which adds more variables). So the short answer is: none.

That said, there are some skills which will be '''used''', to one extent or another, by virtually every fortress - but that doesn't mean you '''need''' or even want to invest points in them to start. You could even manipulate the fortress (see {{l|challenge}}) to completely avoid one or more of the following, but these are the skills you will find it exceptionally hard to avoid creating jobs for:
:{{l|Mining}} - to dig your fortress, and gain stone for projects. Only possible to avoid using if you're secretly an elf.
:* Inexperienced {{l|miner}}s work very slowly and are less likely to recover mined gems or valuable ores. Mining can be leveled up quite quickly by mining {{l|soil#soil|soil}}, but taking two dwarves with at least some points in mining is recommended in many cases.
:{{l|Carpentry}} - {{l|bed}}s can only be produced from {{l|wood}} (rare {{l|mood}}s aside). This skill can also be used to make {{L|bin}}s without having to have an {{L|anvil}}, use any metal {{L|bar}}s, or use any {{L|fuel}}.
:*Carpentry is used, but opinions differ - on one hand, wood items are just not worth that much {{l|value}}-wise ''(10's of dwarfbucks vs 100's for stone furniture or 1000's for armor or prepared foods, for instance)'', so the difference in monetary value between high-quality and no-quality is minor for wood products. However, high-quality {{l|bed}}s are one of the easiest ways to help make and keep your dwarves {{l|thought|happy}} (since every dwarf will encounter a bed regularly), so some players swear by it.
:{{l|Masonry}} - to build walls and stairs, and fashion dwarven furniture from stone. Possible to work around, but incredibly hard and annoying to do.
:{{l|Grower|Growing}} - your farmers' work echoes throughout so many other tasks, it's stunning
:* While its possible to feed your fortress on nothing but caravan goods, you'll never come by enough alcohol that way, so you'll eventually need to grow crops for brewing, and dwarves will literally go crazy if forced to drink nothing but water for long periods. Thus you'll want to plan for farming eventually - not that you need to bring a highly skilled {{l|Grower}}, but it'll certainly be ''very'' helpful. Likewise, a skilled {{l|brewer}} produces higher quality {{l|alcohol}} (''though the quality is hidden!)'', which improves your dwarves' mood, as does a skilled {{l|cook}} with the foods they prepare. However, most food can be eaten raw, and so long as they are not starving there is life.
:{{l|Brewing}} - all dwarves "need alcohol to get through the working day"
:{{l|Mechanics}} - if you want traps, and most people will. Also needed for most machinery.
:{{l|Architecture|Building Designer}} - mandatory for some buildings and constructions, but skill only improves speed a tad and increases structure {{l|value}}
:{{l|Broker skills}} - most importantly {{l|appraiser}} - a minimum of Broker skills are highly recommended to start with at the Novice (1 pt) level - it'll make your life much easier (especially Novice level of {{l|Appraiser}}, at least, as it greatly facilitates trading).
:{{L|Record keeper}} - Lets you be able to see the exact amount of things you have much faster than training one, and is necessary to view the stocks screen.

The very fact that you will use these skills often makes many of them desirable to choose as starting skills for your dwarves. Of the above, Mining, Masonry, Growing, Brewing, Cooking, and Mechanics are generally worth considering as "highly desirable". However, '''any skill can be used untrained, and/or get trained on the job''' - it just means a slower process and/or average lower quality product than if done by a dwarf with a higher {{l|experience|skill level}}.

The difference between these skills and other skills is that other skills are optional as to whether they'll get used or not. You need to deliberately want to use them. These skills are essential to basic aspects of the game, and avoiding one requires a deliberate choice not to use it (and likely a lot of effort spent to avoid doing so). Ie, a fortress could make its wealth by smithing fine weapons, weaving quality cloth, encrusting precious stones onto furniture, or crafting quality trinkets. Or all of those. But it doesn't have a compelling reason to do any one in particular. A fortress that never designates a tile for mining, however, requires exceptional effort to achieve.

But that you can avoid even something as basic as mining *for the lifetime of your fortress* means there is no universal design constraint on which skills to start with. Ultimately the answer to "What skills do I need?" is "Whichever ''you'' want". Choosing a mixture of these commonly used skills and your desired specialized skills will make starting up your fortress easier and more efficient, but you don't need to start with any of them. Choosing to avoid some skills may force you to use some others, but nothing compels you to invest in any skill in particular.

==== Balancing military and economic needs ====

Not all embarks will require a military presence in the first year, but anyone planning an expedition to a sinister, haunted, or terrifying biome would be foolish not to be prepared for nasty dwarf-killing creatures. The solution doesn't strictly need to be military skills; quick delving and a skilled mechanic may be sufficient; but starting with a military dwarf will give you the earliest possible protection and a lot more versatility in where that protection can be applied. Whatever you choose to do, understand the risk and be prepared for it.

==== Training considerations ====

Some skills are harder to gain experience in than others - requiring valuable resources or taking an extended period of time, and thus inconvenient to train from the ground up. Investing in some of these extensively in your initial dwarves can make those industries much less painful to start. For example, metal-related skills generally eat metal bars, and thus the less time you spend training metal workers up to a decent level, the faster they'll be churning out high-quality items for you, and the fewer bars they'll waste becoming skilled. On the other hand, despite its importance, skills like mining train relatively quickly and barring extenuating circumstances (expected need to accomplish particular digging projects in the first month or you'll get mauled by a Giant for example) there's little need to actually invest your starting skills in it - they can learn on the job.

==== Quality, value, and happiness ====

{{l|Quality}} is an important part of Dwarf Fortress. Higher quality items produce better and more frequent happy thoughts and are worth more money. Valuable commodities will trade for more goods from caravans that visit. When choosing skills that produce objects of quality, the desire to produce valuable goods for trade will often conflict with the desire to produce objects that will make your dwarves happy. Built items that are frequently encountered tend to be things like furniture, especially beds, which tend to have low material values and thus low total value no matter how high the quality of the work. Further, these things tend to be inconvenient to trade. It is often best to strike a balance between dwarves who produce valuable trade goods and dwarves who produce quality items that will make your population happy - and thus be able to achieve both goals simultaneously.

Its worth noting that built furniture and worn clothing counts its value twice, once under the appropriate category and once for displayed value. If you're trying to maximize your created wealth total, a good metalsmith producing furniture from high-value metals is optimal.

==== Moodable skills ====

{{l|Strange mood}}s will create a Legendary skill of the "moodable" skill with the highest level, and moods take hold of dwarves with different professions at different rates. Some skills are "moodable" where others are not. You might choose to take certain skills solely because it opens up moods for that skill with that dwarf. Some moodable skills are more valuable than others - a legendary weaponsmith is both valuable and useful. A legendary tanner is generally a waste of a mood since tanned hides have no quality.

Because a dwarf can only have a strange mood in one skill, pairing a moodable skill with a non-moodable skill can protect the moodable skill and ensure that if the dwarf has a mood it will be in the skill you desire. See the section on combining skills below for more details on ways to pair skills.

Dwarves with no moodable skill can be allowed to do one task using a moodable skill to give them a moodable skill with no starting build investment, so moodable skill considerations should not be considered a primary reason to choose particular skills - you should also want to make use of them for other reasons.

==== Combining Skills ====
Every dwarf is going to have 2 or more {{l|skills}}. This means that even once you know which skills you want, you're going to need to pair them up before assigning them. Not all skill combinations are equally functional.

Some skills are highly time-consuming, either because the skill is in frequent demand (eg, {{l|mining}}) or because it takes a long time to do an individual job (eg, {{l|strand extraction}}). If a dwarf is spending most of their time using that skill, they aren't making much use of their other skill. Pairing two time-consuming skills together therefore tends to be a bad idea, as one or both jobs are not going to get the attention they need or deserve. Similarly, pairing a skill with time-critical jobs with a time-consuming skill also tends to be a bad idea. If your {{l|grower}} is also mining, he may not stop to plant crops one season. Or he might neglect to harvest your crops in a timely fashion and they could rot on the ground (if you only let your growers harvest). Arranging your skill combinations to avoid these situations is generally beneficial. For example, Masons, miners, growers, and any craft that your fortress will base their economy off of (glass, stonecrafts, armour, etc) will take a lot of time, so plan accordingly.

Instead, pairing relatively time-intensive tasks with less time-intensive tasks will let your dwarf accomplish all such tasks adequately. Once you get a metal industry rolling, an armorer/weaponsmith will need to make a lot fewer weapons to outfit your soldiers than he will armor components. Thus he can usefully do both jobs without hurting your productivity overly much. Similarly, a mason might also be your architect, since building designer is a very infrequently used skill.

Working at different jobs levels up specific {{l|attribute}}s. One could level up a miner until he becomes mighty and ultra-tough - and then turn him into a soldier, or retire him to haul stone. If you plan on doing so, it may not be a good idea to give this guy a second critical job that will demand a lot of time away from their focus.

Since tasks will take place in specific areas, another approach is to combine tasks into dwarves who will take care of a specific industry, or spend all their time in one generally narrow part of the fortress - the forges, or the kitchens, or outdoors, for instance. So combining Farming with cooking, rather than mining, for example, and turn on only Haul Food, not Haul Stone. Metalworkers spending their time in the forge can easily handle more than one type of metalworking skill, and are also well-situated to be furnace operators.

Similarly, you can also make the craftsmen of your finished products also responsible for the production of intermediate products from raw ingredients. This way when they run out of materials to make into finished goods they can immediately switch over to working raw products into intermediate products so they'll have more to work with later. This works better in some industries than in others. A single butcher/tanner/cook trying to process multiple animals simultaneously will likely result in rotten food, carcases, or skins. But a weaponsmith who doubles as a furnace operator can usefully ensure he has material to work with when you want him to. Later on, however, a highly skilled craftsdwarf is often better suited at sitting in their {{l|workshop}} and having others deliver raw materials to them than going out and obtaining their own raw materials themselves, but in the early game dwarf-time is limited, and a single dwarf who can work an entire production chain can do so relatively efficiently and let your other dwarves be used elsewhere.

There is no requirement that a dwarves job combination needs to look 'right' or logical. A weaponsmith will most probably not spend nearly 100% of their time creating weapons - what they do with the other part of their time may have nothing at all to do with forges or smithing. Jobs which require little time in general, or little time early even if time-intensive later, may well be paired with any time-intensive task solely to provide the dwarf with something to usefully and skillfully do with most of their time, and freed from that duty as needed for the other tasks.

Another constraint you can impose on your skill combinations is to try to limit dwarves to {{l|moodable}} skill and one non-moodable skill (or a moodable and a less desired moodable skill at lower level), so any mood will improve the desired one. For example, pairing craft skills with farming skills gives you dwarves that will perform useful food production or raw good processing services while also getting their mood in a valuable finished goods skill. Example: Clothier/Grower.

==== Which dwarf should have which skill? ====
Dwarves who craft goods they prefer, or work materials they prefer, gain a bonus to the quality of the finished work. This can inform your choice of which skills you choose, for example by choosing a weaver because you notice a preference for sheap wool yarn, or you might choose the skills you want and then try to find a suitable dwarf to use that skill. In the latter case, since all dwarves have one metal preference you might assign an armorsmithing skill to a dwarf with a preference for iron, steel, or adamantine.

The dwarf with the most social skills will end up being the {{l|Expedition leader}}, who will then become the {{l|mayor}} and start making {{l|mandate}}s. Thus you should avoid giving the most social skills to dwarfs who have {{l|preferences}} for things like {{l|adamantine}}.

Dwarves have physical and mental attributes that affect the performance of certain skills. You may wish to give a socially adept and patient dwarf the leadership/broker skills, or a dwarf who doesn't tire easily a skill which will be in frequent use like mining. You can also try to match skills to {{l|personality}}, some of which have obvious implications for their willingness to work long hours or how frequently they might take breaks.

Of course, all combined these represent a lot of possible constraints on where you assign particular skills, and it would be impossible to apply them in total to your entire desired skill load. Use these as a guide, but don't be upset if all your dwarves are anti-social psychopaths - someone still needs to be the leader, after all.

==== Other considerations ====
Migrants can and will arrive with a wide selection of decently trained skills. While it is a gamble, chances are pretty decent that migrants will arrive with a highly trained skill that is also highly desirable and would usurp the job of one of the seven starting ones. The first few migration waves are likely to give you a much better talent pool than what you can assign at embark. On the other hand, you may never get the skill you really want if you don't start with it.

Skills rust if not used and they can eventually de-level. Consider that skills which you will use years after embark are going to be rusty or even deleveled. Embark to the first caravan is long enough for a skill to start rusting, so you might want to make sure you'll use every skill you embark with before the first year ends to avoid catastrophic rusting.

Remember that you need to survive in order to accomplish any goals. Have a plan for lasting to at least the first caravan, if not one for longterm sustainability.

== Items ==

The items you choose to bring with you will need to satisfy a number of needs. Most importantly, you need to keep yourself alive - at least until the caravan arrives in the fall to resupply yourself. You probably also want to plan on some way of making a shelter, whether that be the traditional delved hall, a majestic castle, a log cabin, or something even more exotic. You may want to plan for mishaps by bringing essential medical supplies, especially those which may be hard to acquire on site. And you might bring items which will assist in creating items for trade to that first caravan, should you need anything for the skills you're planning on.

For the purposes of this article, livestock are considered items.

All embarks get the following items without paying for them: 2 animals (who pulled the wagon), and the 3 wood that make up the wagon.

=== Motivations ===

==== Survival ====

A single dwarf eats about 2x/season, and drinks about 4x/season. With 7 dwarves that's ~approximately~ 14 meals per season and 28 alcohol per season, or ~42 meals and ~84 alcohol until the end of Fall. The dwarf caravan tends to arrive in the third month of fall, so you will probably need to plan on a full 3 seasons. You are also likely to get at least one if not two small waves of migrants before the caravan arrives.

It is possible to bring enough food and drink to make it to the caravan - indeed, bringing enough food isn't especially hard (especially once you factor in slaughtering the animals who hauled your wagon. Bringing sufficient alcohol is harder, although bringing plump helmets to brew can significantly cut the cost.

The likely best way to keep your dwarves in drink is also the most labor intensive - setting up farming in the first season or two is perfectly plausible, allowing to grow your own {{l|plants}} from seeds and brew the products. (Keep in mind not all plants can be brewed - don't plant dimple cups and expect to make alcohol). In addition to the necessary seeds, starting your own farming operation is going to require some way to get the ground muddy. While sometimes simple digging can accomplish this, many times you're going to need a screw pump. Basic construction requirements are discussed under shelter.

It is possible to make all your alcohol by harvesting aboveground plants, if highly inefficient. It also only works in biomes with collectable plant life. Notably evil biomes and glaciers are unlikely to provide.

==== Shelter ====
Bar a convenient cave, you're going to have to do something for shelter. Shelter is your first defense against roving creatures, keeping them away from where your dwarves are working so they don't spam job cancellations and strew items all over the place. (As you might guess, most 'convenient caves' aren't actually that convenient, as they tend to have residents). Basic walls that allow you egress won't stop a dedicated invader, but you don't expect to see those until year 3, so you have time to develop more elaborate defenses.

Food outside will also spoil a lot faster than food inside, so making a cellar of some sort to store your food in will increase the longevity of your food supplies. The rate at which food spoils depends on ambient temperature, so the urgency of making a cellar will depend on where you settled. It might be possible to go without a cellar in a freezing biome.{{verify}} The only way you can avoid thinking about food storage in the first year is if you collect food and make alcohol as needed - ie, by using an herbalist to collect local plants - which can avoid needing to mine at all.

Delving a shelter requires mining, which means having picks to dig with. One can always bring one or more picks at embark, but its also possible to bring the supplies necessary to make them. See tempo vs. efficiency below.

An aboveground shelter can be made with stone or wood or possibly more exotic materials. Stone of course requires mining, and thus picks. Wood can be had with an axe assuming trees are present, and axes, like picks, can similarly be brought at embark or made on site. It is of course possible to bring sufficient raw materials to build walls with, but this is far less efficient than just bringing a pick or an axe, although it could make a fun challenge. Building your initial fort out of soap, while possible, is not recommended, although possibly hilariously entertaining.

==== Industry ====
Most industries require little more than materials you can collect at the site and a workshop. So long as you can get stone, you won't need to bring anything for these. However, if you want to get an industry going immediately, it does help to bring a few building materials along (or be willing to use the wood from the wagon, if only temporarily).

Some industries require fire-safe materials to build with. All stone qualifies, as does metal. Wood can be converted to a fire safe material by burning it to ashes in a wood burners workshop, but of course that workshop requires a fire-safe material. If you're mining, this condition is easy to satisfy, but if you intend to run any of these industries right away you will need to plan on bringing appropriate materials.

Some industries require plant or animal matter to work with. Clothiers ultimately need cloth, which comes from certain plants or animals. Leatherworkers need tanned skins. (And while you can get 2 off your pack animals, this isn't sufficient to run an industry). If you plan on running these types of industries you will need to have a plan for providing suitable raw materials. Hunting can cover leatherworking needs (although this requires a hunter and hunting implements), and foraging can find rope reed plants, but its usually better to bring enough appropriate animals or plants to have a good shot at getting started in a predictable and sustainable way. Similarly, milking and cheese making require milkable animals, and bonecarving requires a dependable source of bones.

Metal industries require metal and an anvil. You cannot make an anvil on site without already having an anvil, so if you plan on doing any forging before the first caravan you will need to bring one with you. Metal can be brought as bars or as ores to be smelted in a smelter into bars, or can be mined yourself.

Soap requires a lot of wood consumption and a source of tallow to be done in a sustainable way. Lye can be bought at embark to skip the first steps and make soap more directly. You will still need to bring or make buckets and have an empty barrel to actually produce soap though, but fortunately this is just a matter of having sufficient wood.

Jewelers require gems. Cut gems can be brought at embark, but are too expensive to bring in quantity. Generally a jeweler requires mining to find sufficient gems.

Glassmaking and Pottery requires sand or clay and fuel - pay attention to your site report before embarking. Its hard to run a viable industry solely off imports in these cases.

As is probably obvious, certain industries depend on similar inputs. Planning on a set of industries which require similar complementary inputs can let you more efficiently spend your starting points at embark or more efficiently plan your digging during the first year. If you plan on a lot of fuel-dependent industries, it may be worthwhile to prioritize finding a source of magma.

=== Optimization ===

(in progress)

:''(* "Wooden practice axes" cost only 17P, and cut down wood just fine. They will be significantly weaker than metal axes in combat, but still far superior to {{L|wrestling}}, and you can {{l|Make your own weapons|DIY}} quickly enough.)''

You can produce any and all of those from scratch if you are willing to wait - and your {{l|surroundings}} don't kill you first. Raw materials are much cheaper, in the form of {{l|ore}}s, {{l|wood}}, {{l|leather}} and so forth, but whether you want to take the time at the start of the game is the question. The trade-off is always a balance of cost savings vs. time savings when you first strike the earth. Everything else depends on your strategy and on how tough or leisurely a challenge you want the game to be.

Some basics are recommended for all builds. Unless you plan to {{l|Make your own weapons|DIY}}, you definitely need to bring one {{l|pick}} for each {{l|miner}}, and if you plan to gather wood, you need an {{l|axe}}, which will become a weapon in wartime. Also a minimum of about 25-30* {{l|food}} and about 55-60* {{l|alcohol}}, which should get 7 dwarves through to the first {{l|caravan}} in Fall. Everything else depends on your strategy and on how tough or leisurely a challenge you want the game to be.

Note: Many builds recommend that you bring many different cheap foods, in quantities ending in a "1" (1, 11, 21, etc.), and alcohols in amounts ending in a "1" or "6". This is to maximize the number of free {{l|barrel|barrels}} you start with; dry foodstuffs fit 10/barrel, and (pre-embark) alcohol fits 5/barrel. More barrels will let you build a larger stockpile for your first winter and conserves the {{l|wood}} you need to cut and shape in the early game for beds and other necessities. (Seeds are 100/bag, and you don't need near that many of any one type, so 6 bags max with this approach. Even if you don't plan on growing much {{l|cave wheat}}, starting with 1 seed and getting the free bag, and planting that one seed later and dumping the result could be worth it.) Also note that multiple types of meat taken from the same animal (warthog meat and warthog tripe, for example) will be packed into a single barrel on embark, instead of separate barrels (as of version 31.04).

===== Items for moods =====
When a dwarf is taken by a {{l|strange mood}}, he often needs obscure material or he will go insane and die, possibly with severe consequences to an entire fortress. Bringing along some of the harder-to-find ores ({{l|cassiterite}}, {{l|sphalerite}}, {{l|bismuthinite}}, {{l|garnierite}}), and putting those aside, forbidding their use "just in case", is spending a few points on an insurance policy. Many players also choose to bring a few items like pig tail cloth and cave spider silk just in case.

===== Free Equipment =====

Dwarves who start with the ambusher skill may get some leather {{l|armor}}, a crossbow and some bolts for free.







==Site considerations==
Each fortress {{l|location}} offers particular challenges and opportunities, and can make different demands on your starting build. Your starting build may need to be adjusted depending on the {{l|region}} your fort occupies, the specific vision you have of your fortress, and what it will take to {{l|losing|stay alive}} where you're going!

The differences include what {{l|biome}}s, {{l|region}}s and likely {{l|metal}}s are present in your chosen embark site.

=== General Surroundings ===
Simply put, if your {{l|surroundings}} are {{l|evil}} or {{l|savage}}, your dwarves have a higher risk of suddenly facing personal combat before they are safely behind their defenses. Consider bringing extra weaponry, in the form of axes, picks or crossbows (see {{l|Starting_builds#Free_Equipment|free equipment}}). Hand in hand with those, consider skill mixes that include {{l|axedwarf}}, {{l|mining}} (the skill used to wield a pick), {{l|marksdwarf}}, or {{l|wrestling}} (a solid unarmed-combat skill).

The same is true if you are embarking near an exposed magma vent or an open chasm - these features can be seen on the embark map, but it's impossible to tell if they are "open" to the surface or not, until you are there in person.

Be sure to include some source of {{l|water}} on the map, preferably running {{l|water}}. Water is (almost) essential for any fortress. In Cold and Freezing climates streams and {{l|lake}}s will often be frozen year-round and your dwarves may quickly die of exposure, in Hot climates {{l|murky pool}}s will dry up, and in Dry ones rain will only rarely re-fill them, if ever. Choose Temperate or tropical zones for an easier game.

===Aquifers===
If an {{l|aquifer}} is present in the first soil or stone layers (visible on the pre-embark menu), it may bar all access to {{l|stone}} and {{l|ore}} until you find a way through the water barrier. Consider bringing some stone for building, and ore for your first basic needs. This may be critical to getting your fortress running smoothly.

=== Mountains ===
Mountains often have abundant {{l|ore}}s, but at the loss of trees and plants. In previous versions lacking {{L|cavern}}s, this was a serious drawback. In DF2010, brave pioneers can dig down into the caverns to find essentials like water, mud, and plants. However, players should be aware that above-ground crops will not grow in mountain biomes, no matter how muddy you may make the surface.

Depending on the exact layers, it's common to find exposed {{l|vein}}s of useful {{l|ore}}s that can be immediately mined for {{l|Make your own weapons|DIY}} weapons and tools.

=== Wooded/Plains ===
Flatlands with at least some trees and gatherable plants can also make for highly successful fortresses. Advantages over mountain zones include abundant trees and plants and (unless frozen) more abundant water. There are even (rare) magma vents. More water also means a high likelihood of an {{l|aquifer}} being present. Make sure to check on embark.

The greatest disadvantage is the potential lack of exposed {{l|stone}} to mine. The first level(s) below the surface is often {{l|soil}} of some type, which offers no building materials. However, soil is mined much more quickly than stone (x3-x4 faster), and expansive accommodations (rooms) can be achieved quickly even by untrained miners. You will find stone, you just have to go down a bit for it - but that's what dwarves do, isn't it?

{{l|Experience|Training}} a {{l|Miner}} from No Skill to Proficient takes less than a month (~20 days with hauling disabled) in soil, and to Legendary in just under a season after. {{version|0.31.12}} From embark, this means you should have legendary miners in early summer if you dig only in soil. Times increase slightly for each additional miner used.

=== Oceanside ===
With many features in common with some of the above locations, {{l|beach}}es are often a mix of ease intermingled with bouts of extreme difficulty. Minerals and trees are often abundant, as well as farmland and sand, but there is often no drinking water unless the biome has a flowing {{l|water}} of some sort.

By definition, the settlement will fall between (at least) two {{l|biome}}s (one land, one water), potentially hazardous if the player expects a peaceful oceanside meadow, without realizing the {{l|terrifying}} ocean is full of amphibious zombie {{l|whale}}s.

=== Desert, Glaciers, and Barren ===
Treeless (or near-treeless) {{l|biome}}s are challenging sites for a fortress: you get most of the disadvantages of a flatland site without having access to nearly as many trees and plants. However, near-lifeless zones such as {{l|glacier}}s are wonderful for players with slower computers, as there's little to burden the CPU but your dwarves and livestock. {{l|Desert}}s and barren areas often have sand; with a sufficient source of energy (preferably magma), you can build almost anything out of unlimited glass.

Hunters should be replaced with fisherdwarves and a fish cleaner (although the latter can be easily trained). Depending how much water vs. land, more starting wood and ores might be helpful. Swimming is rarely useful in Fortress mode, even at the beach, and can be trained.

==Sample starting builds==
See {{l|Sample Starting Builds}}

{{Starting FAQ}}
[[Category:Guides]]