23a:Attribute

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As your dwarves gain experience in various skills, they also gain attribute increases. There are three dwarven attributes: Strength, Agility, and Toughness. When a dwarf gains an attribute increase, an announcement appears: "[Dwarf] is more experienced." Dwarves will not gain attributes if they are doing something that does not involve a skill -- hauling, being stationed on duty (and not in combat), on break, etc.

Dwarves which attain legendary skill levels are likely to have one or more attributes at a highly developed level, and will continue to gain attribute increases as they exercise their skill.

Toady has stated that although there is no cap on attribute increases, after the fifth increase they are still displayed as 'Ultra-Mighty' 'Perfectly Agile' or 'Superdwarvenly Tough', so an attribute gain message without a change in displayed attributes is possible.

The 3 attributes

Strength

Allows a dwarf to carry heavy objects without being slowed, and (presumably) increases damage. In adventure mode, having a higher level of strength will enable you to pull your weapons out of a wound in which they have been stuck with a lower chance of losing hold of it. It also increases your chance of successful wrestling moves (i.e. pulling a sword out of a kobold's hand).

The levels of strength are:

• (No indicator - base strength)
• Strong
• Very Strong
• Extremely Strong
• Mighty
• Ultra-Mighty

Agility

Speeds many tasks undertaken by a dwarf, including movement, combat, digging.

The levels of agility are:

• (No indicator - base agility) -- speed 1000
• Agile -- speed 1098
• Very Agile -- speed 1219
• Extremely Agile -- speed 1369
• Unbelievably Agile -- speed 1562
• Perfectly Agile -- speed 1818

The "speed" values are what is shown in Adventurer mode. If you choose to modify the game to make dwarves faster, you must use numbers lower than 1000 (e.g., [SPEED:700]) in the raws. See speed for more details.

Toughness

Makes a dwarf both harder to injure and capable of making more combat moves before getting tired. Also increases the time before a dwarf succumbs to thirst, hunger, suffocation, and drowning. Reduces the chance of falling unconscious due to pain. Also decreases the amount of bedrest needed to heal from wounds.

The levels of toughness are:

• (No indicator - base toughness)
• Tough
• Very Tough
• Extremely Tough
• Unbelievably Tough
• Superdwarvenly Tough

Races other than dwarves will have different race-appropriate descriptors for the top toughness level (Superhumanly, Superelvenly, or Supergoblinly).

Increasing attributes

Attribute increases are based on total experience gained across all skills, and are not connected to the attainment of specific skill levels.

The specific attribute gained is selected randomly, and specific skills have no relationship to which attributes are gained - any skill can bestow any attribute equally.

Dwarves with a single skill will get their first attribute between Competent and Skilled, their second when reaching Talented, a third between Expert and Professional, a fourth when reaching Great, and a fifth between High Master and Grand Master. Further increases can happen after Legendary.

There are several good guides at how to quickly level up your dwarves in the military section, most notably the Sparring article and the Cross-training article.

Attributes XP 1 2000 2 4500 3 7500 4 11000 5 15000 6 19500 7 24500 8 30000

Attributes XP 9 36000 10 42500 11 49500 12 57000 13 65000 14 73500 15 82500 16 92000

This presumably keeps going, following the formula: Y=1750X+250X² (Experience needed = 1750*level + 250*level squared)