DF2014:Siege engine - Revision history

Quietust at 04:03, 30 March 2026

2026-03-30T04:03:31Z

Quietust: /* Building Siege Engines */ remove false information

2026-02-09T21:22:05Z

Building Siege Engines: remove false information

Quietust at 00:05, 1 July 2025

2025-07-01T00:05:28Z

Quietust: /* Skill and Quality */ you don't actually need high-quality siege engine parts

2025-06-15T18:18:33Z

Skill and Quality: you don't actually need high-quality siege engine parts

Quietust: /* Skill and Quality */ siege engine part quality is completely irrelevant, and only SKILL affects accuracy

2025-06-15T18:16:54Z

Skill and Quality: siege engine part quality is completely irrelevant, and only SKILL affects accuracy

Pgallert: /* Catapults as stone movers */ expand on this idea

2024-09-29T16:15:42Z

Catapults as stone movers: expand on this idea

113.185.77.59: /* Special considerations */

2024-05-25T10:33:27Z

Special considerations

LethosorBot: Migrating v50 page (3739/4618) (content)

2022-12-20T03:56:45Z

Migrating v50 page (3739/4618) (content)

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LethosorBot: LethosorBot moved page DF2014:Siege engine to Siege engine: Migrating v50 page (3739/4618) (content)

2022-12-20T03:56:45Z

LethosorBot moved page DF2014:Siege engine to Siege engine: Migrating v50 page (3739/4618) (content)

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#REDIRECT [[Siege engine]]

@@ Line 123: / Line 123: @@
 ===Safety Warning===
-'''Ballistae can and will kill anything in their path!'''  Ballista arrows may hit any units in any square that the head passes through.  They are moderately dangerous weapons, and should never be used with friendlies anywhere in their cone of fire, including the space the ballista arrowhead occupies when loaded on the engine.  Always designate a [[traffic|restricted traffic area]] for a lot of tiles along the firing arc and keep dwarves out of the area or, better, wall off anything in front of them with fortifications to prevent all friendly traffic, or both.  The shots appear to travel until they hit a wall or fly off the screen; the maximum range is about 150 tiles for an ordinary ballista. If the bolt passes through any part of a [[tree]], the tree will disappear, presumably reduced to toothpicks.{{cite rev|210835}}
+'''Ballistae can and will kill anything in their path!'''  Ballista arrows may hit any units in any square that the head passes through.  They are moderately dangerous weapons, and should never be used with friendlies anywhere in their cone of fire, including the space the ballista arrowhead occupies when loaded on the engine.  Always designate a [[traffic|restricted traffic area]] for a lot of tiles along the firing arc and keep dwarves out of the area or, better, wall off anything in front of them with fortifications to prevent all friendly traffic, or both.  Each [[ballista arrow]] will fly for up to 200 tiles, though each target pierced will reduce that range based on its [[weight]]. If the bolt passes through any part of a [[tree]], the tree will disappear, presumably reduced to toothpicks.{{cite rev|210835}}
 Surprisingly, catapults are relatively safe.  Catapult operators will target enemies (and wild [[animals]]) if there are any in their field of fire. If not, they will loose the shot in a high arc (not requiring additional [[z-level]]s, though) that misses everything until it lands. It is perfectly safe to operate a catapult in the cave: just point it at a nearby wall of solid rock. A nice side effect is that this will, in due time, clear the whole area of stone.

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 {{key|b}}-{{key|i}}
-In order to build a siege engine, you first need to produce (at least) three catapult or ballista parts in the [[siege workshop]]; catapults are made from any 3 '''catapult parts''', and ballistae are made from any 3 '''ballista parts'''. All parts are made from any type of wood at the siege workshop. Beyond that, "parts" are generic - there are no particular "sub-types" of parts beyond the distinction between those for the two different engine types. The quality of the parts determines the overall rate of fire (and maybe accuracy) of the engine - the best are made with 3 masterwork parts{{verify}}. This won't make up for an untrained siege operator, but every little bit helps. Siege engine parts are stored in Furniture stockpiles.
+In order to build a siege engine, you first need to produce (at least) three catapult or ballista parts in the [[siege workshop]]; catapults are made from any 3 '''catapult parts''', and ballistae are made from any 3 '''ballista parts'''. All parts are made from any type of wood at the siege workshop. Beyond that, "parts" are generic - there are no particular "sub-types" of parts beyond the distinction between those for the two different engine types. The quality of the parts has no effect on the siege engine's operation, so there is no need to produce high quality parts except to augment your fortress's architecture value.
-Once you have the parts, you may then build the respective siege engine like any other building, selecting the parts that you wish to construct that particular engine with.  It is not known whether the skill of the dwarf assembling the siege engine has any effect, but the quality of the parts certainly has: siege engines put together from [[quality|masterwork]] parts have a much higher rate of fire.{{verify}}
+Once you have the parts, you may then build the respective siege engine like any other building, selecting the parts that you wish to construct that particular engine with. The assembled siege engine is, effectively, a 3x3 building. It cannot be moved about, other than by taking it down and re-assembling it at the new site. Siege engines do not impede movement, though, so you don't have to worry about building them in a corridor.
 ==Using Siege Engines (simple)==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Quality|Exceptional|01:09, 4 February 2015 (UTC)}}
+{{Quality|Exceptional|01:09, 4 February 2015 (UTC)}}{{Building|name=Catapult|key=i|key2=c
-{{av}}{{buggy}}
+|job=[[Siege operating]]
 A '''siege engine''' in ''Dwarf Fortress'' is half building, half heavy weapon, and includes both the '''catapult''' and the '''ballista'''.  Both are capable of launching hazardous projectiles at a tremendous range (more than a screen-width, around 80 to 100 tiles for a catapult and between 130 and 200 tiles for a ballista).  A [[ballista arrow]] can kill or injure each creature in its path indiscriminate of friend or foe, but a stone launched from a catapult cannot harm [[dwarf|dwarves]] or [[animal trainer|tamed animals]].

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 The damage inflicted by a siege engine is based entirely on the material and quality of the ammunition used - the quality of the parts from which the siege engine is built has no effect whatsoever.
-The only way of obtaining high-quality siege engine parts is to have them made by a trained engineer; the only way to train an engineer is to make parts or ammunition. Assembling and disassembling siege engines does not train the [[siege engineer]] skill. Dwarves will occasionally produce masterpieces long before reaching [[Legendary]] skill level, but be prepared to waste hundreds of logs until you have three masterpiece parts. Bringing an engineer to [[Experience|Proficient]] level (the highest you could buy when starting a new fortress) will take about 120 logs. Becoming Legendary requires 600 logs.
+If you desire high-quality siege engine parts (e.g. to increase your fortress's architectural value), the only way to obtain them is to have them made by a trained engineer, and the only way to train an engineer is to make parts or ammunition. Assembling and disassembling siege engines does not train the [[siege engineer]] skill. Dwarves will occasionally produce masterpieces long before reaching [[Legendary]] skill level, but be prepared to waste hundreds of logs until you have three masterpiece parts. Bringing an engineer to [[Experience|Proficient]] level (the highest you could buy when starting a new fortress) will take about 120 logs. Becoming Legendary requires 600 logs.
 The operator skill affects reload time and accuracy. It will take a whole month for an unskilled dwarf to load a catapult; a Legendary operator with nearby ammo will get several shots at a running enemy.

@@ Line 127: / Line 127: @@
 ===Skill and Quality===
+The damage inflicted by a siege engine is based entirely on the material and quality of the ammunition used - the quality of the parts from which the siege engine is built has no effect whatsoever.
 The only way of obtaining high-quality siege engine parts is to have them made by a trained engineer; the only way to train an engineer is to make parts or ammunition. Assembling and disassembling siege engines does not train the [[siege engineer]] skill. Dwarves will occasionally produce masterpieces long before reaching [[Legendary]] skill level, but be prepared to waste hundreds of logs until you have three masterpiece parts. Bringing an engineer to [[Experience|Proficient]] level (the highest you could buy when starting a new fortress) will take about 120 logs. Becoming Legendary requires 600 logs.

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 ==Catapults as stone movers==
 When a catapult throws a stone, that stone is destroyed upon landing, unless it falls a z-level, where it lands harmlessly.  That means that if you can arrange it so ammo hits a wall (or door, or raised bridge), and there is empty space immediately under that, the stone arrives at that point.  If the ammo reaches its maximum range, again, it falls harmlessly.  Even with a single, no-quality catapult and an untrained crew, this is massively faster than hauling stone by hand.  Ammo that hits [[stairs]] is destroyed, even if it can fall a z-level. Stones falling one z-level onto a floor with empty space under it will also be destroyed, make sure there is a wall under the tile where the ammo ultimately lands on.
 ==Gatling Catapults==

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 ==Special considerations==
-* Both catapults and ballistae have narrow fields of fire – they will only shoot at creatures directly "in front" of them, and so cannot target anything off at an angle.  They can be turned 90 degrees, but that often will not solve the problem. Unskilled operators have trouble aiming perfectly straight, and their shots will randomly veer off to either side, resulting in a field of fire roughly 19 degrees across. Highly skilled operators fire their shots perfectly straight, restricting their field of fire to a straight line facing directly north/south/east/west.
+* Both catapults and ballistas have narrow fields of fire – they will only shoot at creatures directly "in front" of them, and so cannot target anything off at an angle.  They can be turned 90 degrees, but that often will not solve the problem. Unskilled operators have trouble aiming perfectly straight, and their shots will randomly veer off to either side, resulting in a field of fire roughly 19 degrees across. Highly skilled operators fire their shots perfectly straight, restricting their field of fire to a straight line facing directly north/south/east/west.
 * Both catapults and ballistae aim and fire only along one z-level.  While ammo from both may drop down z-levels, they do no damage to creatures there. This also means that no "head room" is necessary – ammo only flies out, never up.
 * Catapults have a minimum range – at least 30 tiles.