Dwarf Fortress Wiki - User contributions [en]

40d:Ambush

2008-02-26T12:20:16Z

YayTheDwarves: /* Passive Defense */

An ambush is a sudden event in Fortress mode when a small force of enemy humanoids attempts to attack your fortress. While smaller in scope than a full siege, ambushes are not related to the number of dwarves in your fortress, and so can be triggered by relatively small populations. An ambush is not announced immediately, but instead is announced when your fortress becomes aware of the attackers, such as when they set off a [[trap]] or come close to your dwarves. It is announced with various messages: "An Ambush! Curse them!", "Ambush!" etc.

As of 38a, they are exceptionally dangerous.

== Ambushers ==

=== Goblins ===

[[Goblins]] will send a small force of attackers between the ranges of 4-8 soldiers{{Verify}}. These forces are frequently led by one goblin with superior statistics and skill, and he is always of a different troop of the rest. If the leading goblin is killed, the rest of the squad will flee.

Usually they send more than one squad at once - up to 4 squads, each with his own leader. These squads may be from different goblin towers{{Verify}}.

Goblin are unable to navigate traps safely and can easily be stopped and defeated by simple [[cage trap|cage]] or [[weapon trap|weapon]] traps.

=== Kobolds ===

Similar to [[Goblins]], [[Kobolds]] will first send thieves dependent on your fort's population or wealth. Kobold archers will begin to arrive if the Kobold thieves successfully steal any items - the number of successive archers and thieves who arrive will depend on how many items were stolen previously{{Verify}}.

=== Humans ===

Hostile [[human]]s will not ambush.{{Verify}}

=== Elves ===

Hostile [[elves]] will not ambush.{{Verify}}

== Tips ==

===Active Defense===
*Put your entire [[military]] on duty. With luck, most of them are not sleeping, eating, or drinking. If a [[squad]] leader is is doing anything of that sort, replace him with a more alert squad member (the squad always clusters about the leader. If the leader's eating, the squad will guard the table). Place melee units at major choke points, so they can meet the enemy head on, but try to keep them out of direct fire from enemy missile users. Place your own marksdwarves where they can rain death down on the enemies. They can also shoot from different Z levels, use this. (This is why you build [[fortifications]].) The building of small towers over the map with only underground acess for your marksdwarves is proven to be very effective against ambushes.

*[[War dog]]s are valuable, but shouldn't be the first line of defense, because the enemy crossbowmen will quickly take care of them. Assign them to your military dwarves, or cage them before the siege, and [[Release the Hounds!|release]] them via lever/pressure plate as the enemy is rounding a blind corner. They're also useful for clearing the field once the siege ends.

*[[Siege weapon]]s, catapults and ballistae, are likely to be ineffective against ambushes as a sudden ambush will likely be close enough to scare away the civilian siege operators

===Passive Defense===
*If you have no trust in your military's power, keep all the dwarves inside and pull the ambushers into corridors with [[traps]]. Stone-fall traps are cheap and easy, but are one-shot traps with a long reload time; weapon traps require weapons, but reload themselves after a few seconds, until they eventually get stuck. A 10-square-long entry hall filled with weapon traps will break most [[goblin]] ambushes without any help. (How boring!)

*A moat may provide a decent defense when combined with a drawbridge to either keep the goblins from entering, or to drop them right into the water. Substitute magma for some far more lethal results. Even not filled 1-tile wide channel is a fast and effective way to stop ambushers or to guide them into areas you want. Note that water-filled moats will freeze in biomes with a temperate or cold climate, and so should have a protective wall behind them to stop ambushers simply walking over the moat during the winter.

=== Civilians ===

* Your normal dwarves will still attempt to do their jobs during an ambush. The [[Options]]->Dwarves Stay Inside option will prevent them from going outside, but only after walking to the entrance. Since many of your major defenses will be inside the fortress, this is only somewhat useful. Dwarves will run from invaders, but only ''after'' getting within crossbow-range, so their self-preservation skills are lackluster when the enemy has ranged weapons. Therefore, your best bet is to draft the dwarves in question (or simply all civilians) into one citizen-squad and station them somewhere out of harm's way. However, if any of your citizens are set to carry weapons or armor, they may decide to go collect equipment from slain [[goblins]]/dwarves during the ambush, which means they'll run out into the fray. Keep an eye on this, and turn off their [[weapons]]/[[armor]] accordingly.

* Providing indoor pastimes (like [[sculpture garden]], [[zoo]], [[meeting hall]], or a meeting area zone) will make dwarves spend their break time in the fortress rather than outside. This will typically stop all dwarves from hanging around outside. Hunters, woodcutters, haulers and other dwarves who have business outside will still be at risk.

See also: [[Fortress defense]]

[[Category:World]]
[[Category:Military]]
[[Category:Fortress Defense]]

40d:Trap

2008-02-08T15:01:12Z

YayTheDwarves: tidying up

(For traps used to catch [[vermin]], see [[animal trap]]).

Traps are a reliable and cost-effective method for defending any fortress. Unlike [[soldier]]s, they're always on duty, and don't need to be carefully managed. On the other hand, they are immobile and can only lie in wait for foes to walk over them. To build a trap, go to the {{k|b}}uild->Traps/Levers menu. You'll generally need one [[mechanism]], and at least one other component depending on the type of trap. They can be built indoors or outdoors, and require a level ground square with no other constructions in them. Traps are not triggered by [[dwarf|dwarves]] (except berserk/insane ones), [[pet]]s, and enemies capable of sneaking, such as [[kobold]] thieves. Such creatures will pass over traps without triggering them.

==Stone-fall Trap==
The simplest trap to construct, a stone-fall trap is essentially a [[stone]] suspended up in the air which is dropped on intruders when the trap is triggered. These are a popular defensive measure early on, as the components needed are readily available as soon as you start mining. A single stone trap will kill or severely maim most humanoid enemies although [[troll]]s, magmamen and hardier creatures may take two or three to drop. Mythical creatures such as [[dragon]]s, [[hydra]]s and [[titan]]s will take upwards of five or six. After being used they need to be reloaded with another stone by any dwarf with [[mechanic]] [[skill]] enabled, a task which your dwarves will see to automatically. Stone traps can now be built outside.
:Shortcut {{k|s}}
:Components used: [[mechanism]] and an ordinary [[stone]]

==Weapon Trap==
Weapon traps consist of any number of deadly instruments rigged to a mechanism. When an intruder sets off the trap, the weapons spring out and strike the poor sap. You can add up to 10 [[weapons]] to a weapon trap, and they will all attack together when set off. This gives the potential for dealing significant amounts of damage at once. There are also special giant weapon parts you can build that are specially designed for use in weapon traps. Unlike stone-fall traps, weapon traps automatically reset after being triggered, ready to splatter the intruder's friends. But there is a (20%?)chance that the trap will become jammed each time it is triggered. A nearby dwarf will automatically clean a jammed trap; this does not require the [[cleaning]] labor. If there are weapons that require ammunition in the trap, they will also have to be reloaded occasionally. Weapon traps using [[bow]]s or [[crossbow]]s will not require cleaning but do use [[ammo]].
:Shortcut {{k|w}}
:Components used: [[mechanism]] and whatever [[weapon]]s you want.

==Cage Trap==
Cage traps capture creatures that set them off in [[cage]]s. After a creature is captured it's stored, cage and all, in an appropriate animal stockpile. Then the trap is reloaded with another cage. You can do all sorts of fun things with [[captured creatures]]. Creatures in cages will not be fed, they will survive indefinitely without nourishment.
It is possible that dwarves bring [[water]] to cages, but that means that you have someone friendly also locked in the cage - like a dwarf kid snatched by a [[goblin]] babysnatcher. In this case remove the poor fellow using the goblin's inventory screen.
Cage trap is one of the most effective ways to defeat powerful beasts, as even a [[glass]] cage (aquarium/terrarium) can imprison a [[Colossus]]. This is expected to be changed.
:Shortcut {{k|c}}
:Components used: [[mechanism]] and a [[cage]].

==Upright Spear/Spike==
These traps can be utilized by attaching to [[lever]]s or [[pressure plate]]s, which when triggered will cause the [[spike]]s to extend from the ground and, when triggered again, to retract back into the ground.

When the spikes shoot up, they do a moderate amount of damage (5 mid-range wooden spikes pierced both lungs of an [[elephant]] and gave it a light liver wound in one shot). The lever can be set to repeat which makes the spikes go up and down really fast and causes massive damage to anything walking over them.

The spikes are not really traps, and so - when triggered - will damage creatures unaffected by traps (kobold thieves and demons, but also dwarves and allied creatures). The fact that they do piercing damage makes them useful against more powerful foes which are most easily killed by damaging their organs. Additionally, the traps' friendly fire means they make extremely useful and effective anti-[[immigrant]] traps. There are also reports that the spikes are effective against [[demons]], although spikes which are not made of steel may melt.

Contrary to what one might think, the spikes appear to do no additional damage if a creature falls on them - there is therefore no advantage to putting the spikes at the bottom of a pit trap (unless you connect them to a lever or pressure plate).

Stuff does get stuck in spikes when they are triggered - any corpses will appear as an item inside a spike's 'building' when they are out (the same way [[mug]]s and whatnot appear inside [[workshop]]s when you first make them). Retracting the spikes lets the corpse out.

:Shortcut {{k|S}} (capitalized)
:Components used: [[spear]]s or [[spike]]s.

==Other Traps==
You can create even more elaborate traps with imaginative use of pits, pressure plates, levers, [[grate]]s, [[support]]s, [[water]], [[magma]], and whatever else you can think of. Watching those goblins try to find a way out of your drowning chamber as it begins to fill is really quite satisfying.

{{Buildings}}
[[Category:Traps]]
[[Category:Fortress Defense]]

40d:Trading

2008-01-27T12:30:20Z

YayTheDwarves: deletion of incorrect/inappropriate info - needs lots more editing

Trading in dwarf fortress first occurs in the autumn of your first year of building your fort. it is strongly advised that you use an allocated broker to do the transaction with the merchants. having one person being a broker means that he will become an accomplished persuader and dealer over many trades, what does this mean? it means that the broker will lower the level of points the merchants will receive and thus maximize your profit! also being a persuader means that with that broker, more and more deals that favor your dwarfs will be accepted by the visiting merchants.

a word of caution, all merchant races (dwarves, elves and humans) have unacceptable things they will not tolerate and will not trade with you if the mere mention is presented. take the elves for instance, they will get

the ultimate goal in trading is to get rid of stuff that you dont want/need and get the most amount of useful/needed stuff as possible, if you can do this properly, you wont need to rely upon stuff on/under your land as much. i cant tell you the best way of doing this as all situations are different but i do know that in the beginning having crafted items like crafts and instruments are worth tons more than allot of stuff you have. also take note of what the merchants say they want from you next time they visit, all items on that list will be worth lots more in that visit.

40d:Quality

2008-01-25T11:37:24Z

YayTheDwarves:

All items in the game have a [[item value|base value]], which is multiplied by what [[material value|material]] the item is made of and by the item's '''quality'''. [[Decoration]]s (such as bone, gems, and studding) further increase the value.

Item quality can have an effect on an item's properties, especially [[armor]] and [[weapons]].

All crafted items ([[furniture]], [[armor]], [[bolts]], etc.) – but not intermediate materials ([[bars]], [[blocks]], etc. except [[cloth]], which does have quality levels) – are bracketed by characters that show the quality of their craftsdwarfship. Dyeing also has a quality level, as does Decorating/Encrusting (with gems, leathers, cloth, etc). Prepared foods have quality levels. Alcohol has a hidden quality rating that controls the amount of happiness a dwarf gets from drinking it. It is not yet known whether the damage or destruction of masterful alcohol can cause tantrums.

{|
! style="padding-right: 35px;" | '''Designation''' || style="text-align: left;" | '''Description''' || style="padding-right: 20px; padding-left: 15px; text-align: center;" | '''Value Modifier''' || style="text-align: center;" | ''' Damage / To-Hit / Armor Modifier'''
|-
|  Item Name || style="text-align: center;" | —     || style="text-align: center;" | ×1  || style="text-align: center;" | ×1.0 
|-
| -Item Name- || Well-crafted || style="text-align: center;" | ×2  || style="text-align: center;" | ×1.2 
|-
| +Item Name+ || Finely-crafted || style="text-align: center;" | ×3  || style="text-align: center;" | ×1.4 
|-
| *Item Name* || Superior quality || style="text-align: center;" | ×4  || style="text-align: center;" | ×1.6 
|-
| ≡Item Name≡ || Exceptional || style="text-align: center;" | ×5  || style="text-align: center;" | ×1.8 
|-
| ☼Item Name☼ || Masterful || style="text-align: center;" | ×12  || style="text-align: center;" | ×2.0 
|}

When a masterful quality item is created, the game will announce, "<dwarf> has created a masterpiece!" Such a masterpiece will cause the dwarf that created it to [[tantrum]] for a year if it is ever lost or destroyed. Masterpiece meals can be eaten safely, although allowing the food to rot will cause a tantrum. Using up masterpiece bolts will not cause a tantrum either; nor does trading them away to merchants; however if a kobold or wild animal steals a used masterpiece bolt which was lying around then the maker will tantrum. Since legendary dwarves are most likely to be the ones creating masterpieces, keeping these creations safe should be high priority; tantruming legendary dwarves can be very difficult to subdue.

[[Artifact]] items have a unique name instead of bracketing symbols and are worth 120x base value. They have a higher combat modifier than Masterful items, although the specific modifier is unknown.
[[Category:Items]]

40d:Miasma

2008-01-23T15:57:49Z

YayTheDwarves: has has been noted on the talk page, this is a bit silly

'''Miasma''' is a "noxious odor" or otherwise-poisoned air, believed to spread disease. The theory of miasma as the general cause of disease propagation was quite widespread prior to the 19th century, and although in some respects it is correct that some diseases may be transmitted via the air, not all diseases are transmitted by such mediums.

In Dwarf Fortress, the only impact a miasma will have is to disgust dwarves encountering it, giving them bad [[thought]]s. However, one miasma can disgust a large number of dwarves, especially if it is in a main corridor.

The most common cause of in-game miasma are rotting corpses or body parts left inside. Often the corpses of small [[vermin]] killed by cats will cause a miasma. You can limit your dwarves' exposure to miasma by setting up a refuse pile (outdoors, or in an enclosed space -- see [[refuse]]). Rotting items left outside will not generate miasma.

Miasma will not travel through walls, ceilings or doors.

It also does not "spread" diagonally.

[[Category:Thoughts]]

40d:Children

2008-01-20T21:01:48Z

YayTheDwarves:

In fortress mode, some migrant dwarves are married and may have children on occasion. This generally does not happen very often.

Your dwarves may also give birth to children to, but how to get your dwarves to have children is unknown.
Some fortresses seem to have a higher fertility rate then others do.

Children may not be assigned any labors, but can still perform some tasks:

* harvesting crops, if the 'All dwarves harvest' option is on;
* remove constructions (such as walls, floors, ramps);
* pull levers;
* haul items to the trade depot;
* eat, drink, and sleep as necessary.

Children may not be assigned to any administrator positions.

Children may enter a [[strange mood]]. When the child becomes an adult, the child will gain legendary skill in wood carving, bone carving or stone crafting, depending on the artifact made.

Children will grow into adults after twelve years. They then become unskilled peasants, unless they successfully completed a strange mood other than possession, or received experience points towards [[grower]] by harvesting plants (in which case they could already be a grand master grower). Children who immigrate to your fortress might be any age from 2 to 12, and there is no way to determine the age of a child.

Children are also the target of [[goblin|goblin snatchers]], who will sneak into your fortress and try to kidnap the young dwarf in a sack.

40d Talk:Eerie glowing pit

2008-01-11T14:58:14Z

YayTheDwarves: /* The Demons */

{{spoiler}}

== The Demons ==
How powerful ARE the demons now? I gather that a pit chamber will release piles of them, but how many and how nasty are they all? Wonder if adamantine is really worth it... though if you've planned it out, I suppose it might be. Wonder how many demons a legendary dwarf warrior wielding masterwork adamantine weapons and armor could take out by himself!

: They're as nasty as they used to be. -- [[User:Zaratustra|Zaratustra]] 11:38, 20 November 2007 (EST)

: I had repulsed the initial wave of 1 Daemon and 7 Spirits of Fire by 5 marksdwarves and 4 axedwarves. 2 marksdwarves and 2 axedwarves were Elite in full steel chain/plate, others - on their way to it. Lost all axedwarves and 1 marksdwarf in the process. A few seasons later I thought that there weren't much more daemons and breached the pits in a new spot. By that time I had 3 Champion marksdwarves in Fortress Guard (not controllable at all :( ), ~20 wardogs, 4 other marksdwarves, 2 of which - Elite and 4 axedwarves/hammerdwarves at about 'competent' each. All the civilians (90 of them) were drafted into military with some extra weapons and no armor including ~10 miners from Legendary to novice with picks. The aftermath in the units screen is 16 dead Spirits of Fire including 7 from the initial attack, 10 live and happy Spirits of Fire with '''very''' long names, probably some more Spirits of Fire in ambush/invisible to me state and 5 recruits resting and dehydratated in remote corners of my bedroom area. There were immence lags when my stockpiles cathed fire and it were heavily lagging when I got there in adventure mode. --[[User:Another|Another]] 15:05, 20 November 2007 (EST)

: I just recently breached a pit, only to result in my entire fortress virtually being annihilated, 109 military dwarves were killed, including a Hammerlord with a legendary adamantine hammer, a mortally wounded Legendary Captain of the Guard, and the daemons lost only 50 total. --[[User:Naze|Naze]] 23:19, 12 December 2007

: I cleansed a demon pit that included exactly 30 fire spirits and a demon. I built a corridor to the chamber, filled it with spikes and chained them to a lever, with the pull lever/R action. It worked quite well despite the fact that my spikes were melt by the demons as they approached. They eventually had to go through a corridor where marksdwarves were stationned. They killed 5 marksdwarves, and some managed to enter my fortress undetected. I was VERY lucky because the fortress guard was useful! If you disable TEMPERATURE, they will be destroyed with no sweat. [[User:Bartavelle|Bartavelle]] 09:01, 11 January 2008 (EST)

: If you re-site your barracks to just outside the pits, then your fortress guard will find themselves joining the front line... [[User:YayTheDwarves|YayTheDwarves]] 09:58, 11 January 2008 (EST)

40d:Stone management

2008-01-11T14:56:02Z

YayTheDwarves: /* Stockpiles */

[[Mine]] for long enough and you'll find yourself surrounded with various [[stone]]s and [[ore]]s. How do you get rid of them?

Here follows several '''stone management''' techniques.

== Techniques ==

=== Making use of stone and blocks ===

Use your masons to the fullest by creating roads, blocks, furniture, floodgates. Blocks can be stored in bins, but bins cannot be made from stone so this diverts wood or metal from other uses.

Craftdwarfs at high levels can produce large quantities of rock crafts very quickly, but this trades the problem of clutter from tons of stone to clutter from tons of crafts. However, crafts can be sold to foreign traders and often merchants have plenty of room for a lot of goods.

You can also use stones (and blocks) to build large structures above ground, and floors over areas such as sand, silt, or loam. The building interface might be slow, but not only do you use up the stone from your excavations, but you also create usable indoor space without having to mine any additional stone.

=== Catapult ===
Build a [[catapult]] (or three), and assign a dwarf (or five) to keep firing stones into walls, or at [[camel]]s. This destroys the stone and also trains dwarves in [[Siege operator|siege operating]].

=== Dump ===

This is a preferred method due to its ease and usefulness. However, it could easily be considered an exploit, and might not work in later versions.{{version|0.27.169.33a}}

# Make a [[zone]] of 1x1 or 1x2 tiles (preferably near your stone-needy [[workshop]]s), and mark it as a garbage dump.
# Press {{k|k}} and find a stone. Press {{k|d}}, and the stone will be marked for dumping. Alternatively, use the stocks menu (faster for mass dumping, but requires some [[bookkeeper]] labor first).
# A dwarf with refuse-hauling will come by, and take the stone to the garbage dump.

* '''Advantage''': No matter how many stones you mark for dumping, they will all be placed on the same tiny garbage tile! So basically, mark all the stones you want dumped and they will be dumped. You are now able to place '''all''' the stones and ores in the fortress on 1 tile!
* '''Disadvantage''': Every dumped stone will be marked as "[[Forbidden]]", and will not be used in stone-production. Use the designation 'Reclaim Items' to reclaim the entire pile. ''(If you want to only use specific stones, you must press {{k|k}}, find the pile, and press {{k|f}} on every stone you want on the list, using {{k|+}}/{{k|-}} to navigate through the list. [[Macros_and_Keymaps|Macros]] may come in handy when employing this method.)''

If the dwarves are instructed to dump the stone into a garbage zone over bottomless lava or chasm, that stone will fall off the bottom of the map and journey back to the center of the Earth.

==== Rock chute ====

You can dig a [[channel]], and make a [[zone]] over an adjacent tile. Mark it as a garbage dump, and dwarves will dump stones flagged as "forbidden" down the channel. The stones will end up in the bottom tile.

==== Rock compactor ====

Similar to the rock chute, but build a drawbridge in the pit and a pressure plate at the entrance to the chute, linked to the bridge. Make sure you set the pressure plate to trigger on citizens. Alternately, just link it to a lever and pull it every once in a while. Mark the channel and empty tile as a dump zone. When a stone is dropped, the drawbridge will crush the stone, permanently destroying it. Note: make sure the bridge is '''up''' when stones are dumped down it, or it will fling stone back up the channel. To achieve this, you will need to hook up another lever, and pull it once before any dwarves go on the pressure plate.

Level Z:
=====
==.==
== ==
==^==

Level Z-1:
=====
=BBB=
=BBB=
==D==

. - Channel
= - Wall
^ - Pressure plate
B - Drawbridge - make sure to set to raise while constructing, as opposed to retract.
D - Door - keep locked to avoid accidently crushing dwarves

==== Magma melting ====
Create a 2-tiles garbage area, one on magma and the other on the floor next to it, and mark all your stones to dump in the stock area (press {{k|z}}, then Stocks, then go to Stones, press {{k|Tab}} to display all stones, and {{k|d}} for each stone). Your dwarves will put all your stones into magma, and after some time, provided you have Temperature activated, the stones will disappear.

=== Minimizing clutter ===
The easiest way to avoid stone clutter is not to produce it in the first place. Use unskilled miners for initial fortress excavation to reduce the amount of useless stone they create, and don't dig out more than necessary. Produce lots of [[barrel|barrels]] and [[bin|bins]] to cut down on your need for stockpile space.

However, unskilled miners also have a low chance of creating valuable stones and gems when they dig out a tile. It may require some micromanagement to prevent unskilled miners from wasting potentially valuable materials.

=== Stockpile ===
'''This is not a recommended method due to space requirements.'''
Build a large [[stockpile]] for stone away from your fortress. Dwarves will carry stones out to the stockpile, and they will no longer clutter up your fortress. The stockpile needs to be placed somewhere without stones, because only 1 stone will be placed per tile, and will result in long hauling trips.

== Reasons for managing stone ==

=== Stockpiles ===
On some stockpiles, you will be unable to use the tiles that contain a stone. It will therefore be a good thing to clear up room for the things you want to stockpile. Alternatively, if the top Z level comprises soil/loam rather than rock, then you can clear it out for stockpiles without worrying about stones filling the new space.

=== Aesthetics ===
Many players find the fortress more enjoyable to look at if it looks nice and uniform. Random stones lying about are clutter which block the view of a tile and prevent stockpiles from being filled. Create smooth clear floor for a leaner, fitter, happier fortress.

=== Not '''Actually''' Necessary ===
You actually don't need to remove stones at all, except for the stockpile thing. Clearing out the fortress for stone is more of a personal priority rather than an essential need or requirement. Remember that there is no such thing as '''excess''' stone to a dwarf. However, people have had a tendency to ask about and discuss this specific subject, so here you are. A guide to stone management.

[[Category:Guides]]

{{Mining FAQ}}

40d:King

2008-01-10T15:55:53Z

YayTheDwarves: confirmed this morning!

{{Noble
| noble=King
| quarters=Royal Bedroom
| dining=Royal Dining Room
| office=Royal Throne Room
| tomb=Royal Mausoleum
| stands=5
| racks=5
| chests=10
| cabinets=5
| arrival=
* Duchy, high value of architecture, roads and offerings to a Dwarven caravan
* '''or''' discover [[Adamantine]]
| function=
* Promote [[fortress]] to Mountainhome
}}
Once your [[fortress]] becomes the capital of a [[Duke/Duchess|duchy]], 'The Incoming King' will appear on your nobles screen. You will need to reach a certain architectural value, road value, and offerings required (to the dwarven civ's merchants) for the King to arrive. The values needed for each vary from fort to fort, but can be viewed by examining 'The Incoming King' on the nobles screen. Offerings to merchants must actually reach the king - i.e. the merchants must make it safely out of the area with your offerings.

This is the dwarf named as ruler of the dwarf civilization in the [[civilization]]s screen. When the King arrives, your fortress will be promoted to Mountainhome and capital of that civilization.

If you find adamantine, this noble will make a surprise arrival, dressed as a peasant. It is unknown whether he follows the same demands as the previous versions' Adamantine Kings.

[[Category:Nobles]]

40d Talk:Trap

2008-01-06T22:52:59Z

YayTheDwarves:

Couldn't one generate a mild supplementary food source by putting cage traps out on the map at random? Or create rows of them to catch aggressive creatures that are chasing down a fleeing dwarf. The ability to place them on the surface has some interesting possibilities. [[User:Kefkakrazy|Kefkakrazy]] 04:45, 4 November 2007 (EST)

: You can really do this with any kind of trap now - I built a 1 tile wide stair/corridor up an exposed cliff face, and as I was concerned about goblins and the like I stonefall-trapped it. Ever since then some of the local wildlife has used it to get up and down the 5 z-level cliff, with predictable and hilarious results. The goats just die, but the marmots are hurled off the cliff face to splatter on the ground below. It's a nice easy meat/leather/fat source, as well as being entertaining "Dwarfy McDwarf cancels reload stone trap - interrupted by (flying) hoary marmot" [[User:Acama|Acama]] 19:48, 20 December 2007 (EST)

Will berserk dwarves set off pressure plates? Toady mentioned he was going to stop that from happening [[User:VengefulDonut|VengefulDonut]] 19:39, 4 November 2007 (EST)

Does triggering an upright spike with a lever make it retract? I am testing this now.
—Preceding unsigned comment added by [[User:Jayjayjuhwetplane|Jayjayjuhwetplane]] ([[User talk:Jayjayjuhwetplane|talk]]•[[Special:Contributions/Jayjayjuhwetplane|contribs]]) {{{2|}}}

Will flooding a spiked pit break or cancel the spike trap? I'd test this, but I don't have the channel dug in yet. --[[User:Xazak|Xazak]] 18:30, 5 November 2007 (EST)
:confirmed that flooding doesn't affect spear/spike traps. [[User:YayTheDwarves|YayTheDwarves]] 17:52, 6 January 2008 (EST)

I'm pretty sure the "corpse stuck in trap" chance is 50%, according to Toady either on IRC or some forgotten forum post a few months back. I really can't remember for sure. -[[User:EarthquakeDamage|EarthquakeDamage]] 02:31, 10 November 2007 (EST)

RE Upright Spikes: They're are only effective if something falls on them, right? They don't slow and certainly don't hurt anything just walking through them? -[[User:EarthquakeDamage|EarthquakeDamage]] 02:35, 10 November 2007 (EST)

editing info on pike trap according to info on this[http://www.bay12games.com/cgi-local/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=7&t=001777] topic
'' —Preceding unsigned comment added by [[User:Thatguyyaknow|Thatguyyaknow]] ([[User talk:Thatguyyaknow|talk]]•[[Special:Contributions/Thatguyyaknow|contribs]]) ''

I've secured the entries oy my magma furnaces with cage traps, but it seems that the fire imps just walk through.
Just as the Giant moles did. How so? --[[User:Doub|Doub]]
:supposedly there is a bug that causes any creatures on the map when it is generated to count as residents, and thus know where your traps are and not trigger them. I've never run into the problem myself, but I've never specifically tested for it so I can't really say for sure if it still exists (or ever did). --[[User:BurnedToast|BurnedToast]] 07:41, 6 January 2008 (EST)

40d:Titan

2008-01-06T21:02:43Z

YayTheDwarves:

{{CreatureInfo|name=Titan|symbol=T|color=rgb(0, 127, 127)|
bones=20|chunks=-|meat=-|fat=-|skulls=-|skin=-|
biome=
* Any land
}}

A '''Titan''' is a [[:Category:Megabeasts|megabeast]] that arrives at fortresses without any warning. Titans are large, intelligent, humanoids that attack any dwarf it may see at the time. Unlike a [[Bronze Colossus]], Titans feel pain and can become overexerted or even knocked unconscious. This makes them much easier opponents to take down, especially if your military consists of wrestlers, since they can force the titan to overexert itself and become an easy target.

 
{{Game_Data|[CREATURE:TITAN]
[NAME:titan:titans:titan]
[TILE:'T'][COLOR:3:0:0]
[MEGABEAST]
[GENPOWER:5]
[BUTCHERABLE_NONSTANDARD]
[FANCIFUL]
[CAN_LEARN][CAN_SPEAK]
[CANOPENDOORS]
[PREFSTRING:height]
[BODY:HUMANOID:2EYES:2EARS:NOSE:2LUNGS:HEART:GUTS:ORGANS:HUMANOID_JOINTS:THROAT:NECK:SPINE:BRAIN:5FINGERS:5TOES:MOUTH]
[SIZE:20]
[MAXAGE:600:1200]
[ATTACK:MAIN:BYTYPE:GRASP:punch:punches:1:2:BLUDGEON][ATTACKFLAG_WITH]
[ATTACK:SECOND:BYTYPE:MOUTH:bite:bites:1:1:GORE][ATTACKFLAG_CANLATCH]
[CHILD:12][BABY:1][MULTIPLE_LITTER_RARE]
[FAT:10]
[EQUIPS]
[DIURNAL]
[BIOME_ANY_LAND]
[STANDARD_FLESH]
[HOMEOTHERM:10067]
[LAYERING:10]
[SWIMS_LEARNED][SWIM_SPEED:2500]
}}
{{Creatures}}
[[Category:Megabeasts]]

40d:Fortification

2008-01-05T10:26:10Z

YayTheDwarves: /* Construction */

[[Category:Military]][[Category:Fortress Defense]]

Fortifications are arrow slits used in the defense of your fortress. They are most commonly used along the outside walls of your fortress, so that [[Marksdwarf|marksdwarves]] and [[siege engine]]s can fire at enemies from within the mountain. They can be [[Carve fortifications|carved]] from cave walls or built like any other [[construction]].

== Carving ==
Damaged rock cannot be used for fortifications.

A fortified wall can only be one tile wide. What this means is that you need to hollow out a room directly behind the wall you want to fortify. It is smartest to set this room up as a [[barracks]], or to put an [[archery target]] in there. That way, off-duty soldiers will be milling about at all times, and they will be ready to fire upon anyone who gets too close to the fortress.

Once you have chosen the wall you want to carve, smooth the stone along its length using {{K|d}} -> {{K|s}}. After it has been smoothed, re-designate the same wall for fortifications using {{K|d}} -> {{K|a}}. Stone smoothing and fortification require a dwarf with the [[Engraver]] labor.

Built walls do not require smoothing before carving fortifications, regardless if they are smooth block walls (built from stone blocks) or rough block walls (build from raw stone).

After completion, marksdwarves, [[ballista]]s, and even [[catapult]]s will be able to fire through the fortifications. However, enemy ranged attackers can attack you from either side of the fortification, no matter which side was fortified. Units that attack without being adjacent to the fortification must make a skill check, or else the projectile will be blocked{{verify}}.

== Construction ==
Fortifications can also be constructed from [[block]]s, [[wood]] or [[stone]] using {{K|b}} -> {{K|C}} -> {{K|F}}. They must be built tile by tile as there is no way to build more than one at a time. Construction of wooden fortifications require the [[Carpenter|Carpentry]] skill, while fortifications made of block or stone require the [[Mason|Masonry]] skill.

{{Buildings}}

40d:Design strategies

2008-01-03T14:47:34Z

YayTheDwarves: just tested damming rivers using cave-ins

==Fortress defense==

See [[fortress defense]].

==Entrance designs==

===Flooded entrance===

Using a chamber as your entrance alongside a chamber full of water and some machinery you can flood or drain the entrance at will.

The basic premise requires two [[lever]]s, two [[screw pump]]s and two [[gear assemblies]]. The amount of power required and the number of additional components needed to get the power to the screw pumps varies depending on distance/setup.
One pump is placed to draw from chamber 1 and dump into chamber 2. The other is set in reverse. A gear assembly is placed next to each pump and connected to the main power system. Each gear is linked to a lever.
Now at the flip of a switch you can submerge your entrance with water or magma for easy, secure defense against creatures that aren't amphibious or magma-dwelling, depending.

[[Image:Entflood.jpg]]

The picture above shows the design in action. The green pump is currently on while the red has been disconnected through the grey marked axle. The yellow X is just to mark that there is a channel under the axle.

=== 3D map format ===
For more information on how to dig passages and structures in a 3D map, see [[digging]].

==Interior design==
It may seem obvious to experienced players but it should be stated explicitly: for maximal efficiency your dwarves should spend the least amount of time moving about and the most time doing productive things. Fortress interior design is critical to productivity.

===[[Bedroom design]]===
Enterprising players often try to find a design for their living quarter area which is either very space efficient or easy on the eye. This subject haven't been tackled much yet but you can see the different designs most often used by players of older versions (0.23.130.23a and down, see link above). Most of them are still applicable on the newer versions (0.27.169.32a and up) but could possibly be heavily modified to benefit from the new Z-axis stairs placing.

'''THLawrence's Living Pods'''

Apartment Complex:
╔══╦══╦══╦══╗
║..║..║..║..║
║.D╩D.║.D╩D.║
╠═╣X╠═╬═╣X╠═╣
║.D╦D.║.D╦D.║
║..║..║..║..║
╠══╬══╬══╬══╣
║..║..║..║..║
║.D╩D.║.D╩D.║
╠═╣X╠═╬═╣X╠═╣
║.D╦D.║.D╦D.║
║..║..║..║..║
╚══╩══╩══╩══╝

Lobby:
╔══╦══╦══╦══╗..
║..║..║..║..║..
║.D╩D.║.D╩D.║..
╠═╣X╚═╩═╝X╚═╝..
║.D╗...........
║..║...........
╠══╣.....╔══╗..
║..║.....║..║..
║.D╝.....╚D.║..
╠═╣X╔═╦═╗X╠═╣..
║.D╦D.║.D╦D.║..
║..║..║..║..║..
╚══╩══╩══╩══╝..

This design is compact and allows for a large number of rooms. Each room has 3 tiles and a door. To add the apartment complex build it one level above or below the lobby. The design can be stretched to make the rooms 3x2 or 3x3 depending on your preference. Though not as impressive as the fractal patterns it is very efficient in that it can allow for large numbers of dwarves to easily access the main hallway.

'''GnomeChomsky's Tessellated Apartments'''

[[Image:bedrooms.png]]

Access can be from above and/or below by the stairs, or a hallway can be run into the dining room level by removing the bedroom at one of the cardinal points. This design can be repeated as far as desired in the X, Y, and Z directions.

===Workshop Logistics===

At a certain point, the most important thing for your fortress is not that you have workshops, but that they are placed efficiently.

=WWWWWW=WWWWWW=
=iiiiii=iiiiii=
=iiiiii=iiiiii=
=iiiiii=iiiiii=
=oooooo=oooooo=
=oooooo=oooooo=
=oooooo=oooooo=
...............
...............
...............
===============

The idea is that there is a wide hallway at the bottom for easy access for haulers. The workshops are at the top because much less dwarf-hours will be spent moving to the workshop itself than haulers moving to the stockpiles. You pair workshops that have similar inputs or similar outputs or where the output of one is the input of another. Examples: Pair a mechanic's workshop with a mason's workshop because both consume stone and produce furniture. If multiple inputs are required, it is better to split the 3x6 space into specialized stockpiles rather than having a single 'input' stockpile because you want to make sure that there is always some of every input. Use the 'take from stockpile' interface to fill these subsidiary stockpiles from your main stockpile and vice versa.

Another good way to do this is with the stockpiles on the next Z-level, making it slightly more efficient, like this:

Level 0:

===============
=WWWWWW=WWWWWW=
=WWWWWW=WWWWWW=
=WWWWWW=WWWWWW=
...>......>....
===============

Level -1:

===============
=iiiiii=iiiiii=
=iiiiii=iiiiii=
=iiiiii=iiiiii=
=..<...=..<...=
=oooooo=oooooo=
=oooooo=oooooo=
=oooooo=oooooo=
...............
...............
...............
===============

=== Alternate Workshop Design ===

One important consideration of workshops includes design to account for moody dwarves. Open workshops might be easy and convenient, but make containment in the case of a berserk dwarf difficult. One such layout that takes this into consideration is as follows:

=========
=WWWXWWW=
=WWW.WWW=
=WWW.WWW=
=.......=
=WWW.WWW=
=WWW.WWW=
=WWW.WWW=
====+====

Key: W: Workshop, X: up/downstaircase, =: wall, +: door.

Stockpiles are placed above and below the room, generally one for raw materials and another for finished materials. Similar workshops can be grouped together for easier checking on, and the door can be locked should a moody dwarf's wishes be unmet.

====Fluid workshop locations====
Alternatively, you can employ a "work site" methodology where workshops are constructed and destroyed as necessary. For example, if you mine out a huge dining hall and it is completely filled with stone, build a masonry shop in the hall to manufacture tables and chairs. This eliminates the need for a stone hauler because your mason only has to travel a few squares to get raw material. In addition it makes furniture hauling more efficient because the tables and chairs are right next to their eventual location. And of course it clears stone out of your dining hall, eliminating the need for a refuse hauler to dump it all.

==Miscellaneous strategies==
===Use for soil layers===
[[Soil]] layers (such as clay, loam, etc.) - which may at first seem to be of secondary importance - are very useful for large storage areas, as they do not leave rock behind when dug through and may be excavated much faster by comparison. You can also farm on soil tiles without first making them muddy.

Since soil cannot be smoothed or detailed, it is a less than ideal medium to assign rooms in. Workshops do not have happy thoughts for increased surrounding worth, so if proximity to another area is not an issue, soil is a great place to put them.

Since soil is primarily located near the surface, where a trade depot is often built, it is very useful to dig out large spaces for furniture and finished goods in soil for several reasons. First, it produces no stone, and is thus very fast to dig out. Secondly, having finished goods as close to the trade depot as possible is necessary for efficient trading.

==Dams==

[[Image:dam.jpg]]

In Dwarf Fortress, a dam can be built across a [[river]] or [[brook]]. This has several uses:

*Stop a river from flowing altogether
*Modify a river's path
*Create a pretty lake or functional reservoir
*Create water-based traps

=== Dam construction ===

There are two easy ways to construct a dam. The first, and quickest, method is only possible if your map freezes during winter. Simply dig out a thin section across the river and build a wall out of wood or stone, blocking the path of the river.

Alternatively, deliberately engineer a cave-in over the river. One way to do this is to build a ramp at the side of the river, and then a series of floor pieces extending the full way across the river (you will need to construct them one at a time). Once you have reached the other side of the river, build a support under the far floor piece and link it to a lever. Remove the original ramp, and pull the lever - the improvised bridge should cave in, blocking the path of the river. If you're happy to sacrifice a dwarf then there's no need for the support or lever, simply get your victim to remove the ramp.

The harder way is to drain the river (e.g. by building a sizeable lake which the river will take some time to fill). Once the river has been drained you may have to dig into to river bed to be able to place buildings. It will look a bit like this:
[[Image:Dam2.JPG]]

Once the damn has been built, when the water comes back it will fill up the gap as far as it must to let the blocked water flow further. If you build your dam up to the level of the river the water will stop at the dam (it will not overflow). Since this defies logic it may be fixed in future releases.

You can create a massive flood if you build a dam out of floodgates and open them all at once.

[[Category:Guides]]

40d:Philosopher

2008-01-03T14:06:21Z

YayTheDwarves: typo

{{Noble
| noble= Philosopher
| arrival=
* 100 population{{verify}}
| function=
* Thinking
* Looking Pretty
* <<Philosophising>>
* (ie, nothing jobwise)
}}
The philosopher is a [[noble]] who arrives via immigration. It is not currently known what the trigger for his arrival is.

The philosopher has no worldly needs and makes no mandates, but also appears to perform no useful function. What do you expect from someone that spends all of his time thinking?
[[Category:Nobles]]

40d:Farming

2008-01-02T18:51:19Z

YayTheDwarves: based upon my experience.... YMMV

{{old|0.23.130.23a}}
[[Image:Df-crops-diagram.png|thumb|200px|General farming flowchart.]]
'''Farming''' is the most universal source of [[food]] in Dwarf Fortress. On maps with plentiful [[shrub]]s, [[animal]]s or bodies of [[water]], [[plant gathering]], [[hunting]] or [[fishing]] can also produce a lot of food; however, these practices often do not scale to the level needed to feed a full-sized fortress. Farming is a highly efficient, reliable, renewable and scalable source of food. [[Plants]] grown on farms are also excellent for [[brewing]] [[alcohol]], and some have other uses.

== Finding farmland ==

You cannot plant seeds on a bare rock floor, only on [[mud]] or [[soil]]. The easiest way to farm, by far, is to find some soft, arable soil, which is available in great quantity outside the fortress on most maps (the notable exceptions being mountainous maps). If arable soil is unavailable, you will need to set up an [[irrigation]] scheme to deposit mud on the bare rock, which can then have farm plots placed upon it.

== Aboveground or underground? ==

You can plant either underground or aboveground, depending on the type of [[plant]]s you want to grow. The starting [[seed]]s your dwarves may bring with them can only be planted underground. If you want to farm aboveground, you will need to gather seeds from outdoor [[shrub]]s, which can then be planted.

The farm plot should be either entirely above ground or entirely subterranean. A mixed-class farm plot will allow you to choose any crop for planting, but the chosen crop will be planted only on tiles capable of growing it. Worse, planters will not skip over the infertile tiles, leaving the rest of the plot fallow whether it can support the crop or not.

== Defining the farm plot ==

Once you have a suitable location for farming you can have your farmer(s) prepare a [[farm plot]]. That's the actual bit of soil to be tilled.

Enter the {{K|b}}uild menu and place farm {{K|p}}lots. Use {{K|u}} and {{K|k}} to increase the size of the plot, and {{K|m}} and {{K|h}} to decrease it. When the plot is sized and positioned correctly, pressing {{K|Enter}} will place it. Your grower(s) will now rush in and prepare the field, clearing out rubble and other impediments when necessary.

How much farm space do you need? Surprisingly little. A 5x5 plot will provide enough food to bring you through your first winter, and even smaller fields are sufficient if you stretch out the food by [[brewing]]. If there is rubble in the room, leave a little extra space; otherwise, the farmers tend to stack the boulders under your farm room doors and cause them to get stuck ajar, which if you're not careful can lead to flooding the next time the field is irrigated. You can also avoid putting doors right next to the farm.

Digging out larger farm rooms than you need can be useful in other ways as well: muddied areas can spontaneously produce [[tower-cap]]s (a source of wood), spider webs (a source of [[silk]]), and [[shrub]]s of the same type as your [[crops]].

A 10x20 plot should, with several dedicated farmers, provide enough food to feed a full 200-dwarf fortress.

== Planting ==

Once a farmer builds the plots, it's time to plant. Go into the plot's {{K|q}} menu and select the type of seed to plant. Your farmers will then take care of the rest. Note that your farmers will not work the plot the whole year without being told to do so, you have to designate a crop for ''each'' season, and you have to do it ''again'' after the year is over. You can designate each season ahead of time by using {{K|a}}, {{K|b}}, {{K|c}}, {{K|d}} from the plot selection screen. You do not have to plant the same thing each season, and some plants are only available during certain seasons.

Early on, you should focus your production on edible shrubs or [[plump helmets]], although note that the seeds for the former can't be brought in your starting supplies, and the latter can only be planted underground. [[Quarry bush]]es, [[cave wheat]] and [[sweet pod]]s require processing before they can be eaten, and [[pig tail]]s and [[dimple cup]]s produce cloth and dye respectively.

If you choose to plant shrubs, designate a dwarf with [[herbalism]] to gather plants outside until you get some suitable plants, then brew them to get the seeds. Make sure the outside farm plot is designated in the same [[biome]] that the plants were gathered from.

Should you wish to plant nothing, you can select {{K|z}} "fallow" from the farm plot menu. If you possess [[potash]], you can fertilize the field to increase yield.

Depending on the [[grower]] [[skill]] of the farmer who planted it and whether the plot was fertilized, a crop may bear more or less fruit, or (as is sometimes the case with unskilled growers) it may even bear no fruit at all, thus wasting the seed. A higher yield will have many benefits along the whole assembly line of further food processing: workers will always work one one "stack" at a time – if (for example) a brewer has "sweet pod [5]" to work with, he will produce "dwarven rum [25]" and somehow squeeze it all into a single barrel. Note that each time you harvest you will get a higher yield than the amount you planted so your farming can expand as your fortress grows.

== Harvesting ==

A few weeks after planting a seed, a crop will sprout on that spot. Crops must be harvested within another few weeks or they will wither. By default, all dwarves will harvest, including [[children]] and even [[nobles]]. This may or may not be desirable: on the one hand, it makes sure that no crops will wither; on the other, it may lead to far away dwarves interrupting their work and running a long way in order to harvest a single plant.

Harvesting plants earns dwarves [[experience]] in the "growing" [[skill]], so do not be surprised if all your dwarves soon become "dabbling" (or better) growers. Because of that, peasants with no other occupation become farmers almost automatically. Do not be afraid that they might trample your fields: the skill is of no importance during harvest, and no matter how much skill they earn they will still only plant crops if you allow them to in their individual "labor" menu.

If you chose to turn off "All dwarves harvest" in your {{K|o}}rders menu, only dwarves with the "Farming (Fields)" labor enabled will harvest. However, they will often choose to plant new seeds instead of reaping the existing crop, so you risk that some amount may wither. After harvesting a plant (plucking it out of the ground), dwarves will carry it to the nearest [[stockpile]] unless you have "Dwarves ignore food" set in your {{K|o}}rders menu, in which case they will leave the plant blinking on the field. If not moved to a stockpile within a few weeks, it will wither.

== Caveats (warnings) ==

=== Food hauling ===

If you manage to get large-scale farming up and running, you will need to employ many food haulers in order for the food produced on your farms to be edible, even if it has already been harvested. This is because in the current version of the game, items tagged for pending tasks (including Move to Stockpile and Store in Barrel) are unavailable for any other use -- such as eating. An entire fortress of dwarves can starve while they wait for somebody to ''move the food''.

One way to deal with this problem (at least during the heavy farming/harvesting seasons) is to disable hauling of both stone and wood in the top-level {{K|o}}rders menu. This way, most of those jobs will clear out of the job queue, and you will be left mostly with "Store in Barrel" type jobs. You can also increase the number of dedicated food haulers.

=== Storage ===

It can be difficult to manage barrels and bags for storage of food and seeds; forts with limited wood can have their supply overwhelmed. Combat this with [[Cooking]] food to consolidate it into larger stacks that won't rot outside of a barrel (just need to be indoors on food stockpile)

== See also ==

* [[Crops]]
* [[Irrigation]]
* [[Skills#Growing|Farmers]]

[[Category:Agriculture]]
[[Category:Jobs]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Guides]]

40d:Tomb

2008-01-02T18:23:17Z

YayTheDwarves: jealousy

Tombs can be designated from a [[Burial receptacle|coffin (or casket or sarcophagus)]], and can then be assigned to specific dwarves. This is mostly if you want to ensure where each dwarf gets buried and to make them happier - A dwarf gets a yearly happiness bonus if they have a personal tomb. In some circumstances a [[noble]] will get an unhappy thought if an "inferior" dwarf has a tomb, however it is unclear what quality threshold the tomb must be to trigger the thought.

If you do not designate tombs, dwarves will still be buried if you set (u)se for burial, but will now be buried in a randomly available coffin instead.

Tombs will have various room grades. Read about them at the '''[[room]]'''-section.

{{buildings}}
[[Category:Rooms]]

40d:Crossbow

2008-01-02T15:05:43Z

YayTheDwarves: tactic suggestion

Crossbows are the only hand-held ranged weapon usable by dwarves. In addition to the metals usually used to make [[weapon]]s, crossbows can be made of bone or wood. Crossbows are created in the [[bowyer's workshop]], and the [[metalsmith's forge]], and require [[crossbow-making]] in both cases.

Scoring a successful hit with a crossbow trains the [[marksdwarf]] skill, and a high skill in marksdwarf affects accuracy with the weapon. Practicing at an [[archery target]] also improves the [[marksdwarf]] skill.

Crossbows fire [[bolt]]s which are made from bone, wood, or the metals good for making [[weapon]]s.

Dwarves will not waste metal bolts on [[archery target]]s. In order for your dwarves to practice, they must have a steady supply of wooden or bone bolts.

Quivers can be given to dwarves to hold bolts, although dwarves can hold bolts in their hands. Thus, a dwarf can effectively carry multiple stacks of bolts. Dwarves will place metal bolts in quivers in favor of wooden or bone bolts.

If a dwarf is forced into melee combat while wielding a crossbow, the dwarf uses the [[hammerdwarf]] skill. It is therefore useful for marksdwarves to be trained in the hammerdwarf skill, for example by switching them from crossbow to wielding a hammer once they become a [[Champion]] marksdwarf (which tactic also prevents wooden/bone bolts being needlessly wasted by dwarfs who need no further training).

[[Category:Weapons]][[Category:Traps]]

40d:Soldier

2007-12-30T12:25:59Z

YayTheDwarves: update reflecting latest version

{{old|0.23.130.23a}}

Dwarves in your [[military]] will be one of the following types of '''soldiers'''. What type of soldier they are will be determined by whichever [[weapon]] they are most [[skill]]ed at using. All soldiers can carry [[shield]]s, regardless of what weapon they use. Weapon, armor, and squad choices are controlled from the Military screen (key:{{key|m}}). The dwarven military is organized via use of the [[squad]] system.

== Training ==

Soldiers will train when not on duty. Marksdwarves will shoot at [[archery target]]s if they are correctly set up and you have wood or bone [[bolts]] available. Melee dwarves (including wrestlers) will spar with their weapons in a [[barracks]] if you have built one.

[[Military#Training / Sparring|Sparring]] can sometimes cause horrible accidents involving loss of limb or life for your soldiers. To reduce these risks, you can take several precautions:

*Outfit every dwarf (including wrestlers) with a [[shield]]. This will train their "[[shield user]]" skill as well.
*Outfit every soldier with the best [[armor]] possible. Iron chain is good, steel plate better, [[quality|high-quality]] steel plate best of all. High-quality steel shields are also recommended. See [[Armor#Using armor|Using Armor]] for more details.
*Set inexperienced soldiers to "Unarmed" (wrestling) until their skills improve a few levels.
*Arm dwarves with less-lethal weapons. [[Silver]] weapons are good for training, doing only 50% the damage of [[iron]]. Also, wooden weapons have the same strength as silver, but cannot be made locally; they must be imported. Dwarves armed with these weapons will do less damage when facing foes as well.

== Soldier Classes ==
Every weapon has an associated skill, soldiers will name themselves according to what [[Weapon damage|weapon]] they are most skilled at using, as long as they are at least a novice rank in one.

=== Marksdwarves ===

Armed with [[crossbow]]s and deal pierce damage from afar. A [[bolt]] does a fine job at piercing the internal organs of a creature while also doing some damage to outside parts. This is of limited use against creatures without organs, such as [[Magma man|magma men]]. Occasionally a bolt will get stuck in a target; the only known use for this is that a [[wrestling]] dwarf may grab the bolt and twist it in the [[wound]].

A Marksdwarf who is forced into melee will use the [[hammer]] skill to bash enemies with their crossbow.

Immigrating [[Trapper]]s often arrive with a Novice Marksdwarf skill.

=== Speardwarves ===

Specialize in pierce damage, and will puncture an enemy's organs quickly and critically once in range. The spear doesn't hit as hard as an axe, but it has a higher chance of piercing organs, making it a better choice against large, living creatures like demons or dragons.

=== Axedwarves ===

Specialize in slash damage, aka the fine art of mangling and severing limbs (red and dark grey wounds) on opponents. This damage type is useful for taking away opponents' mobility and means of attack while eventually bleeding them to death. Battle axes move slower than swords but do more damage per stroke.

=== Sworddwarves ===

Deal both slash and pierce damage. Short swords can cut off limbs, like an axe, but also reasonably good at hitting internal organs, like a spear. A good all-around weapon.

=== Macedwarves ===

Specialize in blunt damage. Blunt damage breaks the bones of the enemy (yellow wounds) and will often repel the enemy some distance, causing extra damage if they are bashed into a wall.

=== Hammerdwarves ===

Specialize in blunt damage. A war hammer is, in game terms, exactly the same as a mace or morningstar, but human Hammermen use a two-handed maul instead of a war hammer.

Mauls focus on breaking bones rather than mangling limbs, though that does also happen on the occasion. This weapon has a greater chance to knock back an opponent than a mace does but comes at the cost of speed. Also should someone be knocked back into an obstacle, they'll take extra damage.

=== Wrestlers ===

Focus on tying the opponent into knots, choking them, and breaking limbs. Creatures tied up in [[wrestling]] will do nothing else and remain immobile, perfect for a marksdwarf to pick off the creature at a range or an armed dwarf to carve into bite-sized pieces. Also note that this skill determines how much a dwarf will evade/dodge attacks.

Wrestler skill is also exercised when using any improvised weapon in combat (such as, for example, a tightly grasped [[artifact]]).

=== Recruits ===

Any dwarf without at least one of the above skills at [[Skills|Novice]] level or better will be classified as recruits. If you keep them off duty, they will train at their selected weapon until they reach Novice skill in it, at which point they will turn into one of the above weaponsdwarves.

== Heroes and Champions ==

Once soldiers reach [[skills|Great]] skill level in any weapon (or wrestling), they will become '''heroes''', and can no longer be removed from the military. Their "Pref" menu will be replaced by the text "This hero need not work", and you will not be able to deactivate them (make them civilians again), transfer them into or out of the [[Fortress Guard|Guard]], or assign [[dog|work dogs]] to them.

You can still change their weapon and armor settings via the {{key|m}}ilitary screen ({{key|w}}eapons), and to change their soldiering orders ({{key|v}}iew squad). Heroes in either the Fortress or Royal Guard cannot be given military orders (via the Squads screen, {{key|x}}), and will become permanently useless. If you have any Expert, Professional, or Accomplished soldiers in the Guard, be sure to transfer them out while you still can. Heroes cannot trade, so it is advisable for your trader not to be given military training.

Upon reaching [[legendary]] skill level in any weapon, a hero will become a '''champion''', with the following [[announcement]]: <tt>"''<dwarfname>'' has become a legendary champion! Hail ''<dwarfname>''!"</tt>. Champions behave the same as heroes, although they are additionally exempt from the [[dwarven economy]], like all legendary dwarves. Champions cannot serve under heroes or normal soldiers, but willingly serve under other Champions.

[[Category:Dwarves]]
[[Category:Military]]

40d:Combat

2007-12-27T15:17:07Z

YayTheDwarves: spelling/grammar

This guide relates to soldier-level combat, whether applied to military units in Dwarf Fortress mode or the character in Adventurer mode. For organizing your troops, and managing the warfare aspect of Dwarf Fortress, see [[Military]].

==Combat Mechanics==
===Attacking===
As an Adventurer, you can attack your opponent by running into him, or by pressing ['''shift-a'''] and selecting your target. If you're standing in the same square as your opponent or fighting him across a stairway, you can attack him by pressing 5 on the numpad. In Dwarf Fortress mode, all combat is automatic, but see [[squads]] for controlling where your [[soldier]]s go.

The attacker rolls to hit, and the defender rolls to parry, block, and/or dodge. If the attack is parried or blocked, the defender attempts a single counter-strike on the attacker. If the counter-strike is blocked, the attacker does not get a counter-counter strike.

If the attacker hits, a random location is struck. It is unclear whether each individual part of a limb (say, upper arm, lower arm, and hand) each have the same chance of being struck as the head, but due to the greater number of limbs, it is more likely to hit a limb than the torso or head. In this light, weapons with critical boost are less effective, because a leg does not have any internal organs to injure.

===Damage===
====Calculation====
The amount of damage done by a weapon is affected by nine factors: [[weapon damage|weapon]] type, weapon [[Weapon Damage#Material Damage Effects|material]], weapon [[quality]], weapon [[quality|wear]], attacker [[attributes|strength]] (presumably), the "degree of success" of the attack roll, the [[armor]] worn by the defender, and the [[attributes|toughness]] of the defender.

Weapon quality can increase your skill by up to double. Each level of quality grants a 20% bonus to skill, plus one skill level.

The exact effects of armor are vague. From the numbers (70 for plate, 40 for chain, vs. about 100 damage for most weapons), we can guess that armor simply subtracts from damage.

Linking damage to the degree of success of an attack roll means that higher skill will usually deal more damage. (It's also possible that damage is linked directly to skill.)

Damage to any particular body part is cumulative; if you attack with a badly worn, wooden mace with no skill for long enough (and your blows aren't simply "glancing off"), you will eventually break somebody's arm, even if the victim thinks it feels like being slowly whipped to death by scented shoelaces. (or, more likely, kills you first.)

====Body Part Damage====
Damage to a body part comes in six flavors:
{| border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=1 style="background: black"
|-
| unhurt
|-
| lightly wounded
|-
| moderately wounded
|-
| broken
|-
| mangled
|-
| lopped off
|}
Each weapon causes the "lightly wounded" and "moderately wounded" levels using different messages. For example, a blunt weapon causes bruises and sprains, respectively, while a sword causes cuts and bad gashes. Although these indicators tell you the condition of the limbs, they don't tell you the exact amount of health they have. (ex: A body part can still stay "lightly wounded" sometimes if hit again, if the shot doesn't simply "glance away").

Broken or mangled limbs are useless. Breaking an arm or hand will cause a creature to drop his weapon/shield, or make it unable to attack with that limb. Breaking a leg will cause a two-legged creature to fall, making his extinction much easier. (Oddly, cutting off both arms and both legs of a bipedal creature won't make them fully immobile. Maybe they crawl around with their jaws.) It also takes two broken limbs to make a 4 legged creature fall.

For further information, see [[Wound]].

====Falling Down====
In a word, don't. A creature's speed will drop to 1/3 of normal while on the ground. Use ['''s'''] to stand up again in Adventure Mode. If the creature has a broken or mangled leg(s), or a condition that disables the legs, it cannot stand back up.

====Bleeding and Pain====
In addition to body part damage, weapons also cause bleeding and pain.

Heavy bleeding has three effects: First effect of constant heavy bleeding is that the creature will become faint; the second effect would be that the creature will become pale; lastly, if bleeding still continues, the creature will bleed to death.

Pain causes three effects, in increasing amounts: less combat effective (damage? odds of hitting? slower?) and nausea (even less effective?). If creature is under extreme pain they could also fall unconscious (give into pain). More toughness the creature has, the more damage they can take before giving into pain.

===Getting Weapons Stuck===
A piercing or slashing weapon can become stuck in an opponent. There are two things you can do when this happens: twist the weapon in the wound, or try to retrieve your weapon. Walking away, or pressing ['''shift-i'''] and selecting your weapon (which is red) will attempt to pull the weapon from the wound. Presumably, your strength is compared to your opponent, and grasping the weapon with additional hands/limbs will improve your odds of success. If you fail to [[wrestling|wrestle]] the weapon from your opponent, you will lose hold of it. To try again, grab the weapon (via wrestling) with a hand, and you will again have the option to regain control on the ['''shift-i'''] menu.

If you attack a creature while your weapon is stuck in them, you twist the weapon: it causes additional bleeding and pain, but has no other effect (even if stuck in the head!). The advantage to twisting a weapon, on the other hand, is that you never miss. This is often the fastest way to take down a large living creature; they often have great armor, and ignore the majority of your attacks, but twisting a weapon five times will knock them unconscious with heavy bleeding. At this point, you can continue to twist your weapon to ensure death, or retrieve your weapon with no contest in order to attack other creatures. If your opponent has no [[Blood|blood]], and is immune to pain (e.g., undead), then twisting your weapon will have no effect.

===Knock Away===
Occasionally when fighting, a weapon strike will connect with enough force to propel the victim several tiles away. This is a fairly common occurrence on killing blows, but can happen during normal combat as well. That can prove to be an advantage, especially in adventure mode, since that creature will be out of commission for a short time while you deal with his friends.

Blunt weapons (maces and hammers) are supreme at causing this effect. With enough strength and a good weapon it'll be common even during normal combat, and upon killing blow, the creature may fly up to 20 tiles away. Unless there is something in the way, of course.

Swords and axes can also cause this if the weapon is of high enough quality, and the attacker is skilled enough. However, it never happens to the degree it does with blunt weaponry.

Once in the air, the victim is surrounded by a blue background to signify that is flying. It will fly at a very rapid pace until it hits an object, a creature, or the ground. If a creature is hit by the flying victim, he'll be stunned and knocked prone, but uninjured.
Additionally, if the victim hits an obstacle with enough force, he will blow apart and disassemble into a pile of body parts, some of which might fly a couple tiles away from the impact zone.

===Paralysis===
Some creatures have special attacks that can inject a paralyzing poison into other creatures. When this happens to you in Adventure Mode, you'll usually receive the first warning, "You feel numb!". When you receive this warning, it's best that you deal with any threat very quickly.

As time passes, the creature slows down. Eventually it'll become completely paralyzed, unable to move for a long time (depending on toughness). If there are enemies still around, it would be most likely the end of the creature. After a while, if the paralyzed creature is still alive, it would recover from paralysis.

As for right now, there are currently no ways to cure poison.

===Blood Sucking===
There are VERY few creatures that have the ability to suck blood. Encountering them is rare (or not possible). These creatures have special biting attacks that latch and can suck blood.

When blood is drained from a creature, it causes heavy bleeding (depending on the attacking creatures ability to suck blood). It's unknown if blood suckers feed or regain health while doing this.

===Web===
Some creatures particularly [[giant cave spider|giant cave spiders]] shoot webbing. Webs will be left behind in the tiles the webbing passes over. If you are in a tile with webbing you are completely immobilized until you can break free of the web. Currently in the time you take to escape the web you can be attacked a few times, and possibly webbed again. This makes giant cave spiders the most dangerous critters in adventure mode at this time.

==Weapon Analysis==
====Bows and Crossbows====
These weapons have a significant critical boost (single attacks have been seen to injure 3 different organs), but their main advantage is that they have range. Much as the common availability of rifles allowed every soldier to attack simultaneously (as opposed to merely the front rank of a unit actually attacking the enemy), a legion of bowmen will all strike at once. The poor performance of crossbows, and especially bows, in close combat suggests that ranged weapons are better with a "skirmish screen" of melee troops.

The effectiveness of ranged weapons is greatly affected by the geometry of the area: an Adventurer is walking around blind corners on a regular basis, but a fortress can easily set up a corridor where enemies must face a long, unobstructed march through withering fire. Ideally, this corridor should occur right after a blind corner the invading force must follow.

Crossbows are used by dwarves and humans; bows are used by elves, humans and goblins.

====Maces, Hammers, Flails, Mauls, and Morningstars====
Considering that you're going to be hitting limbs most of the time, blunt weapons do the most damage and are most likely to break or mangle a limb, reducing the creature's ability to carve you a second throat. Blunt weapons don't hurt internal organs much, so they're less ideal for getting a quick kill on large or heavily-armored enemies, but their high damage makes them perfect for killing weak or small enemies. 
Blunt weapons are also supreme at causing enemies to fly away when struck with enough force.

The maul, despite being a heavy two handed blunt weapon for humans, is the highest damaging weapon in the game.

Dwarves cannot build flails, morningstars, or mauls. The maul is a human weapon, and dwarves cannot wield it, as it is two-handed even for a human. Morningstars and flails can be wielded by dwarves.

====Swords and Axes====
Slashing damage causes more bleeding (presumably), but does less damage than blunt weapons. Slashing weapons are more likely to cut off limbs, though the exact mechanics are unclear. Removing a limb means you can't hit it again, so if you are cutting off limbs, the odds of hitting the torso or head increase. Axes do slightly more damage, while swords have a slight critical boost, causing more internal damage on the head and torso. Thus, swords are slightly geared more towards large creatures, while axes are slightly better for small creatures. Axes weigh more than swords, but it is unclear if this has any effect on the combat mechanics.

Only humans can wield two-handed swords or halberds, and dwarves cannot build scimitars, even though they can wield them.

====Spears and Pikes====
Piercing damage appears to remove limbs only rarely; it is better for torso and head hits. Since torso and head hits are uncommon, due to the number of limbs that can be hit instead, a spear is somewhat of a luck-based weapon. It gets stuck on a fairly regular basis, (again, usually in a limb where it can't do as much), but when it hits a torso or head, the victim usually takes organ damage. In this light, a spear is best when fighting large creatures, who are best killed via organectomies rather than cumulative damage.

Dwarves cannot wield a pike; it is a two-handed weapon, even for a human.
====Whips====
Whips do, by far, the least damage, and do "gore" type damage, which inflicts more bleeding and pain. Whips are rarely used, but presumably they're good against unarmored, small, living creatures. These kind of weapons are pointless against the undead and other non-living creatures.

====Burn, Heat, and Cold Attacks====
BURN, HEAT, and COLD are possible damage tokens. There are no weapons that do these kind of attacks, but can be modded in. There are creatures that can do burning attacks. It's unknown whether any creatures have heat or cold attacks.

Burn attacks aren't really directly related to temperature or fire, and creatures with fire-immunity can get harmed by them. This kind of attack inflicts great pain.

Heat has attack messages almost similar to burn. This attack is more related to temperature than burn attacks. When a creature is struck down by heat attacks, its body ignites. It's unknown whether fire-immune creatures are affected by this attack.

Cold attacks are pretty much like burn attacks, but with different attack messages. This attack does freezing damage, but nothing else special. It's unknown whether cold-immune creatures are affected by this attack.

[[Category:Military]]

40d:Smoothing

2007-12-27T14:37:17Z

YayTheDwarves:

'''Smoothing''' walls will increase the value of [[rooms]] and change their appearance to that of rooms with rough-hewn walls.
Smooth walls are also needed if you wish to [[engrave]] walls to further increase the room's value. Smoothed walls look similar to manually constructed [[wall]]s and they join neatly with corners, t-junctions and straight bits. A single smoothed rock will appear as a pillar until joined to adjacent walls.

== Smoothing a wall ==
# Press {{K|d}} to open the designate menu.
# Press {{K|s}} to select "Smooth Stone".
# Move the cursor to a position on or near a wall and press {{K|enter}}.
# The spot you marked changes to a blinking green "+" indicating where the area you wish to smooth extends from.
# Move the cursor to any position, across the area you wish to smooth and then press {{K|enter}} again.
# The wall tiles in the area you defined should blink with a white regular pattern.
# Wait for a dwarf to smooth the stone on the walls.

== Note ==
*When selecting the area to smooth, there's no highlighting of that area, like when you designate where to mine. You have to image the rectangle stretching from the green + to the cursor position yourself, otherwise the action is the same.
*You cannot smooth soil, such as clay, loam, peat or sand. However, unlike previous versions, metal ores and other valuable stones can be smoothed.
*Smoothing a muddy floor will remove the mud - it is therefore a bad idea to smooth your underground farm.

[[Category:Designations]]

40d:Goblin

2007-12-27T13:38:51Z

YayTheDwarves:

'''Goblins''' are intelligent [[humanoid]] [[creatures]] that live in dark fortresses in the [[mountain]]s. They are primarily interested in killing [[Dwarf|dwarves]]. They will [[siege]] any sufficiently wealthy fortress, and frequently employ [[troll]]s in their armies to destroy [[door]]s and other [[building]]s.

Occasionally, one or more goblin "snatchers" may arrive and attempt to kidnap any children they come across. They are quite stealthy (better than kobolds, anyway) and can get well into your fortress before being discovered. After a few attempts goblin master thieves will start showing up – besides being generally more competent, these can also evade traps. Later, the sieges begin: your primary adversary in an invasion, goblin numbers increase every year once they start attacking, and eventually begin besieging your fortress more than once a year. Fortunately, they are not very bright, and will walk into traps by the hundreds. They may sometimes come riding beak dogs as cavalry.

Goblins carry somewhat valuable gear. They often wear silk or plant fiber clothing, sometimes they wear [[steel]] armor that can be melted down, and some may have steel weapons and crossbow bolts. Goblin clothing is considered "narrow" and dwarves cannot wear it. Goblin bones and skulls are not particularly valuable, although - as with all bones and skulls - the bones can be crafted into practice [[bolts]] and the skulls crafted into [[totems]].

== Living among them ==

Starting a fortress with a goblin stronghold in the local area is not for the faint of heart. If you take on this challenge, be careful in choosing a starting position; if your wagon starts inside the stronghold, your dwarves will probably come to a brief and bloody end. Reclaiming the resulting miasmal pit causes a bloodless eviction of the goblins and leaves one with a broad selection of odd items scattered throughout the now deserted towers.

Because the goblin master thieves can avoid your traps, it's useful to chain a few war dogs at the entrance. Cage traps also seem to be more effective than other traps at catching those sneaking goblin masters.{{verify}}

=== Starting Equipment ===

If starting in a goblin fort you should definitely ditch your anvil. If you have a soil level you can probably get by bringing less food and less booze, thus allowing you to bring lots of dogs; a large enough pack of dogs should allow you to escape the goblin fort with few casualties, and start building your own army. The dogs will also provide you with a nice source of meat.

{{Creatures}}
[[Category:Races]]