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Difference between revisions of "Tutorial:Powerplay Guide"

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''This is a detailed reference guide for Adventurer Mode. For a tutorial see the [[Adventure mode quick start|Adventure Mode Quickstart Guide]].
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''This is an intermediate guide for Adventurer Mode. For a beginner's tutorial see the [[Adventure mode quick start|Adventure Mode Quickstart Guide]]. ''See [[Adventure Mode quick reference]] to look up key commands.
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:''See [[Adventure Mode quick reference]] to quickly look up key commands.
+
:''Updated to DF 0.44.02. Work in progress!
  
  
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This guide focuses on powerplay, that is, building the most powerful combat-oriented character. Yet, fun is prioritised so glitch/bug abuse to get an advantage will not be used. For the most part, it is tailored towards players with some adventure mode experience, as there will be no explanation of hotkeys and basic gameplay elements, such as Fast [T]ravelling, [R]emoving an item, [W]earing an armour or [S]tanding up. Also, it is assumed that readers are familiar with the Fortress mode to the point of being able to make at least Steel weapons/armor, as there will be no explanation on this part either.
+
This guide focuses on powerplay: that is, building the most powerful combat-oriented character and achieving goals that can be considered "winning the game". Yet, fun is a priority, so there will be no glitch/bug abuse to get an advantage. For the most part, it's tailored towards players with some adventure mode experience, as there will be no explanation of basic gameplay elements, such as Fast ['''T''']ravelling, ['''R''']emoving an item, ['''W''']earing an armour or ['''S''']tanding up, and familiarity with fortress mode to the point of being able to make at least steel weapons/armor.
  
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However, this does not mean, that less experienced players will not benefit from this guide. All the combat mechanics, decisions and picks will be explained most thoroughly without missing any of the steps. As long as one is familiar with hotkeys, he/she is all set for reading this. And don't forget about spoilers!
+
However, this does not mean that less experienced players will not benefit from this guide. All the combat mechanics, decisions and picks will be explained thoroughly without missing any steps. As long as one is familiar with hotkeys, he/she is all set for reading this. And don't forget about spoilers!
  
  
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=Generating the world=
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=Generating the world=
 +
 
 +
[[File:Stq3w89lf.png|thumb|right|400px|Example of a well-balanced world for an adventure game]]
  
 
Use the following settings:
 
Use the following settings:
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World Size: Smaller
 
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History: Short
 
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Number of Civilizations: High
 
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Max. Number of Sites: High
 
−
Number of Beasts: Medium (Default)
 
−
Natural Savagery: Medium (Default)
 
  
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While, technically, every world is suitable for adventure mode, any player looking for a decent game MUST start in a world, that has at least the following features:
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*'''World Size:''' Smaller
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>A tower
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*'''History:''' Short
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>2-3 Dark fortresses
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*'''Number of Civilizations:''' High
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>A vault
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*'''Max. Number of Sites:''' High
 +
*'''Number of Beasts:''' Medium (Default)
 +
*'''Natural Savagery:''' Medium (Default)
 +
 
 +
While technically, every world is suitable for adventure mode, any player looking for a decent game should start in a world that has at least the following features:
 +
 
 +
*A [[DF2014:Tower (necromancy)|tower]]
 +
*2 or 3 [[DF2014:Dark fortress|dark fortresses]]
 +
*A [[vault]]
  
 
Optional features:
 
Optional features:
−
>A desert
 
−
>An island no more than 2 blocks away from mainland
 
−
>Additional tower
 
  
−
Don't worry if you're not familiar with any of the above. Most worlds have all of these combined. More on each feature will be explained later in the guide.
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*A [[desert]]
 +
*An [[island]] no more than 2 blocks away from the mainland
 +
*A [[DF2014:Labyrinth|maze]]
  
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While everyone has different preferences when it comes to generating the world, it is only fair to include world generator settings that I consider the most suitable for Adventure mode:
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You can check whether your world has a certain feature by starting the world in Legends mode.<br />
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Mineral Occurrence: Sparse (Default)
 
  
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"Smaller" world size drastically reduces updating times, shortens the distance you will have to travel on foot and makes it more likely to explore more of the world. Don't get confused by the "Smaller" - even at this degree the generated world is much bigger than you would think, and is more than enough for a lengthy game while still preserving the features from bigger worlds.
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* A '''"Smaller"''' world size drastically reduces updating times, shortens the distance you will have to travel on foot and makes it more likely to explore more of the world. Don't get confused - even at this degree the generated world is much bigger than you would think, and is more than enough for a lengthy game while still preserving the features from bigger worlds.<br />
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"Short" history setting will make the world 125 years old. This is done to ensure, that goblin settlements (a.k.a Dark Pits) are not too abundant. It also prevents a lot of takeover wars, so it is less likely to end up with dead civilization(s) or human towns populated by elves (or what's more likely, goblins).
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*A '''"Short"''' history setting will make the world 125 years old. This is done to ensure that goblin settlements (a.k.a [[dark pit]]s) are not too abundant. It also prevents a lot of takeover wars, so it is less likely to end up with dead civilization(s) or human towns populated by elves (or more likely, goblins).<br />
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"High" number of civilizations provides increased chances of Towers and Dark Fortresses appearing. Same applies to the "High" Number of Sites, only that it also influences the amount of creature lairs and encampments in the wild.
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*A '''"High"''' number of civilizations provides increased chances of Towers and [[dark fortress]]es appearing. Same applies to the "High" Number of Sites, only that it also influences the amount of creature lairs and encampments in the wild.
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Number of beasts determines how many megabeasts will roam the world. It is affected by the world size (e.g. Smaller), so it is left at default value. Same applies to Natural Savagery and Mineral occurence.
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*'''Number of Beasts''' determines how many megabeasts will roam the world. It is affected by the world size (e.g. Smaller), so it is left at default value. Same applies to Natural Savagery and Mineral occurrence.
−
Example of the well-balanced world for an adventure game:
 
  
 +
'''IMPORTANT:''' As of 0.43.05, after creating the desirable world, you have two options:
  
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=Character Creation=
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'''Option 1''' - start a fortress mode game immediately (preferably, at the 2-tiles-away island mentioned above) and play until you create the following masterwork or artifact weapons: Axe(steel/adam), Spear(steel,adam), War Hammer (silver/platinum). Optionally, capture a Forgotten Beast and have the weapons coated with its flesh-eating seizure-inducing paralyzing dust. Optionally, produce a masterwork [[nether cap]] shield, a couple of masterwork stacks of steel bolts and a suit of adamantine armor. Retire the fort afterwards. You will return to your fort later on in the adventure mode game to reclaim the weapons for your character's use. Starting on an isle will guarantee safety from being besieged. It also provides an exciting challenge for your adventurer, who has to swim across the long strait (possibly filled with sea lampreys, bull sharks, giant orcas and other [[DF2014:Sea_monster|wondrous]] creatures).
  
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==Race and Civilization==
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'''Option 2''' - proceed with adventurer mode and play until you have earned some fame. Then retire the adventurer, enter fort mode, create a starting party, embark, carve basic rooms for dwarves, appoint a [[militia commander]] and one soldier. Then retire the fort. Next, go back to adventurer mode, unretire, travel to the location of your newly created fort and speak to the militia commander. Bring up your heroic deeds of valor (through "Bring up specific incident" menu). Then, ask the commander to be made a militiaman. Since you've already impressed him, the militia commander will make you a squad member, effectively granting you fort [[citizenship]] on the spot. Retire at the fort location, but ensure you do not have any lordships, or the adventurer will just travel back to their holding in the two weeks before fortress generation.
−
Any race with the [[Entity_token#Gameplay|ADVENTURE_TIER]] token is playable in adventure mode. In an unmodded game, this means [[Dwarves]], [[Elves]], and [[Human|Humans]]. All three races can complete the same quests.
 
  
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*'''Humans''' Always originate from one of the villages in the world, begin with bronze, copper, or iron weapons, and can use any of the items sold by shopkeepers (who, for the time being, are only found in human towns and only sell human-sized clothing/armor). They also start with the widest variety of weapon skills.
+
Afterwards, unretire the new fort.  Option two makes your adventurer playable in fortress mode, which is much more engaging than simply visiting the fort to collect the items. The adventurer is now a full part of the fort, able to be assigned labors and noble ranks, just like any dwarf could! You're now a new human commander of the fort (regardless of who holds the expedition leader title). Stand tall, lead your dwarves to create a burgeoning colony, and be '''directly''' interwoven in all its affairs! Feel the relevance of your newly-made weapons that were forged under your adventurer's firsthand guidance! Master the intricate craft of [[DF2014:Cheese maker|cheesemaking]]! And of course, make [[siege]]s personal by fighting alongside dwarven militia!
  
−
*'''Human Outsiders''' Human Outsiders are humans that aren't from that world or any of its villages. They simply appear in the wilderness, a stranger to all. You may always play as an outsider, even if the world is otherwise completely uninhabited. Outsiders can only start with Spear User and Knife User as weapon skills, and they cannot start with Armor User or Shield User. They also start out literally naked with no clothing, but can wear any human-sized armor that they trade for, steal, or loot. "Outsiders" of other races can be played if you add the [[Entity_token#Gameplay|INDIV_CONTROLLABLE]] token to the race's entity definition.  
+
Don't forget that time flies MUCH quicker in fort mode, and human lifespan is half that of dwarves - make sure your adventurer is aging-proof before taking option 2. Also, you will be subject to skill and attribute [[DF2014:Skill#Skill_rust|rust]], which can be severe in the case of the Reader skill (make sure your fort has enough books to read). Remember - you're a part of the clan, just as mortal as any other denizen of the fort... And obviously, should your adventurer die in fort mode for whatever reason out of millions possible, he or she will be gone for good.
  
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*'''Dwarves''' have the advantage of being able to go into a [[Martial trance|martial trance]] when fighting multiple foes at once. This gives them many combat bonuses, which aids their survival greatly. They are the only race which can start with steel weapons, but they wear "small" sized clothing (like goblins and elves) which means that they're unable to wear human clothing and armour found in shops. Goblin armor fits them, making Dark Fortresses (if your computer can handle them) and bandits a viable source of armor; if you're up for it, you could also just rob some dwarves. They can start with almost all of the same weapon skills as civilized humans. Many larger weapons must be wielded two-handed by dwarves, due to their size.
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=Character Creation=
  
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*'''Elves''' start with very weak wooden weapons and have a more limited list of weapon skills during character creation. They have the advantage that they have higher natural speed. Elves also have the AT_PEACE_WITH_NATURE tag. This makes all wildlife passive towards them. Like dwarves they wear small sized clothing and will have the same problem finding suitable armour.
+
The character creation follows the same order as it appears in-game: Race/Civ/Status ->Starting Attributes/Skills->Background->Appearance -> Mental attributes.
  
−
*'''Kobolds''' can be played only if there are no other civilizations and there are kobolds. They are very small and weak in combat and a huge challenge compared to the other races. They wear even smaller armour than the other races and armour will be impossible to find for them, unless you are absurdly lucky and run into armoured kobolds.
+
==Race and Civilization==
  
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*'''Intelligent Wilderness Creatures'''{{version|0.42.01}} can be played not only in varying conditions as above, but also as part of another parent civilization such as elves, humans, and dwarves. They come in various sizes, shapes and abilities, and as such a short description cannot be given.  
+
Human or Dwarf - besides armour and clothing size, the only considerable gameplay difference is that dwarves can see in the dark. Some may argue that dwarves have an advantage due to being able to wear better armour, made in a player fortress. However, as of 0.43.05 it is possible to set the size of armor to be crafted to "Large", giving humans (and many other larger/smaller races) access to any armor a dwarf can wear. Moreover, later on you will realize that masterwork armour is just as useful as standard quality. More on this will be explained in "Armour" section. As for the dwarven "[[DF2014:Martial trance|Battle Trance]]" - it will not activate against megabeasts, generally doesn't benefit much to a legendarily skilled adventurer, moreover, this guide emphasizes on NOT finding yourself alone and surrounded most of the time. Hence, battle influence on race choice is negligible.
  
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If no civilization for a given race exists in a world you can only play as an outsider.
+
As of 0.43.05, it is now possible to play as one of the many [[animal people]], who have their own ups and downs that are numerous, and best discussed elsewhere.
 +
 
 +
Human will be used for this guide as the most accessible and reasonably challenging option.
  
 
== Status ==
 
== Status ==
  
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Determines the number of starting skill and attribute points, which does not change based on race:
 
 
*'''Peasant:''' 15 attribute, 35 skill
 
*'''Peasant:''' 15 attribute, 35 skill
 
*'''Hero:''' 35 attribute, 95 skill
 
*'''Hero:''' 35 attribute, 95 skill
 
*'''Demigod:''' 105 attribute, 161 skill
 
*'''Demigod:''' 105 attribute, 161 skill
−
The number of skill points is less significant than the number of attribute points because the time it takes to go from Peasant to Demigod in skill terms is much less than what it would take to go from Peasant to Demigod in attribute terms.
 
−
 
−
== Starting Attributes ==
 
−
 
−
[[Attribute|Attributes]] are divided into Body and Soul attributes. This section provides some guidance for allocating attributes as it relates to adventurer mode.
 
−
 
−
=== Body ===
 
−
 
−
*'''Strength''': Alters the damage you inflict in melee regardless of weapon used. Increases muscle size. This increased muscular layer helps prevent damage, although this is a pretty minor effect.  Increasing strength, at least in adventurers, increases movement speed (albeit not as much as agility) due to better carrying capacity.
 
−
*'''Agility''': This attribute is directly related to a character's Speed and is also used in combat skills. Agility is really, really important as being faster than the enemies allows you to get more hits in before they can fight back and lets you run away more easily.
 
−
*'''Toughness''': Reduces physical damage inflicted on you. Also relates to defensive combat skills.
 
−
*'''Endurance''': Reduces the rate at which the adventurer becomes exhausted. Becoming exhausted causes you to collapse, helpless and immobile and can cause you to pass out.
 
−
*'''Recuperation''': Increases the rate of wound healing. Not as important as Toughness. Recuperation isn't that useful in adventurer mode since you usually have as much time to rest as you need assuming you can escape a situation alive.
 
−
*'''Disease Resistance''': Seems to have some effect on vampirism infectivity; may have to do with infected wounds.
 
−
 
−
=== Soul ===
 
−
 
−
Some of these are useful for adventure-mode-applicable skills, but some are totally useless except as dump stats.
 
−
 
−
*'''Analytical Ability''': Useful for Tracker, Knapping and Student. Analytical Ability seems to have an influence on the quality of written creations, such as Poems, as well as ability to speak about ideals.{{version|0.42.01}}
 
−
 
−
*'''Focus''': Affects Archer, Ambusher, Observer.
 
−
 
−
*'''Willpower''': Affects Fighter, Crutch Walker and Swimmer. Willpower is really important as it governs how easily you'll pass out from extreme pain. Low willpower is a death sentence if you are seriously wounded, as you'll pass out and have your head caved in. Broken bones currently cause enough pain that even very high willpower usually won't keep you conscious. For non bone injuries however willpower can keep you going long enough to kill enemies, or at least get away from them.
 
−
 
−
*'''Creativity''': Unknown at the moment what Creativity does in 42.01, early !Science! seems to have found that this influences quality of poems, songs, and dances. It may also influence "make believe", now able to be performed by children.{{version|0.42.01}}
 
−
 
−
*'''Intuition''': Helps with Observer, which aids in spotting concealed enemies, ambushes, and identifying attacks from opponents.
 
−
 
−
*'''Patience''': May have some effect on dealings with others as a result of the new conversation system.{{Verify}}
 
−
 
−
*'''Memory''': Memory is applied to the Student and Reading skills. Higher Student improves the ability to learn from demonstrations in fortress mode, but it isn't certain whether it has any application in adventurer mode. It's also unknown what benefits come from of higher Reading capability.
 
−
 
−
*'''Linguistic Ability''': Affects any speaking and writing ability, improves the ability to communication both thoughts and feelings to listeners. Likely also required for 'eloquent speech'. {{Verify}}
 
−
 
−
*'''Spatial Sense''': Important. Affects combat skills, Ambusher, Crutch Walker, Swimmer, Observer, Knapping. Also, prevents/reduces the chance of stumbling during a dance.{{version|0.42.01}}
 
−
 
−
*'''Musicality''': Influences the Adventurers ability to perform music and song well. This, so far works for all instruments, one can play a flute, guitar, any other instrument equally well, given that the adventurer has equal skills in all instrument fields.{{version|0.42.01}}
 
−
 
−
*'''Kinesthetic Sense''': Affects most combat skills, walking with crutches, swimming and dancing
 
−
 
−
*'''Empathy''': Affects social skills such as Persuader, Flatterer, Judge of Intent, and other Social skills that may not be applied in adventurer mode.
 
−
 
−
*'''Social Awareness''': Increases the number of followers you can have at a given "fame" level. Normally you start with a limit of two. Increasing this stat by one level raises that to three. Your fame  still plays a big part in whenever you can recruit followers or not. This attribute also helps with Persuader and Judge of Intent.
 
−
 
−
=== Attribute Advancement Cap ===
 
−
 
−
Adventure mode attributes are capped at double the starting value or the starting value plus the racial average, whichever is greater. Humans, for example, have a racial average strength of 1,000. If a human adventurer starts with an ''above average'' strength of 1,100, then his strength will ultimately be capped at 2,200. Had this human started with a ''below average'' strength of 900, then his strength would be capped at 1,900 instead. For the purpose of maximizing final attributes, this makes it important to start with as many attributes in the ''superior'' range as possible (more attributes per point allocated), while avoiding taking any penalties to even remotely important attributes (big attribute deductions per point recovered). As a consequence of the attribute cap, demigod adventurers will always have a much higher potential for advancement than mere peasants and heroes.
 
−
 
−
== Starting Skills ==
 
−
 
−
Not all races have the same sets of skills available at character creation time, but keep in mind that all starting [[skill]]s, as well as ones not available at character creation, can be improved through use in game. [[Reader]] is an exception to this.
 
−
 
−
This section will specifically address starting skills as they relate to adventure mode. For a full description of combat skills see [[Combat skill]]. Other skills that you can't start with, but which can be increased in game (such as Butchery) are described elsewhere.
 
−
 
−
=== Weapon ===
 
−
 
−
The weapon you start out with will be based on which of these, plus the unarmed combat skills, is the highest. In other words, even if Swordsman is your highest weapon skill, you won't start with a sword if your Wrestler or Striker skills are better. Usually the best choice anyway is to specialize in just one melee weapon skill. Regardless of weapon skills, a '''large copper dagger''' will always be included in the starting equipment, which is handy for throwing at enemies that are just a step away or finishing off a foe pinned down by a stuck weapon. If you don't select any offensive skills, you will also start with a spear, just as an outsider would.
 
−
 
−
Not all races/civilizations can start with all of these skills. Dwarves can't start with Bowman, Pikeman, or Lasher. Elves can only use Swordsman, Bowman, and Spearman. Of the playable races, only humans have access to Pikeman and Lasher. Strangely, only outsiders can start with Knife User.
 
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Note that different races have different names for their weapon skills. Axegoblin, Axedwarf etc.
 
−
 
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Crossbowman is an exception. Dwarves call this skill Marksdwarf, although bow skill is referred to as Bow Dwarf as you'd expect. Elite Axe and Hammer dwarves are referred to as Lords.
 
−
 
−
*'''Axeman''': allows characters to use axes, great axes, and halberds more effectively. Useful for cleaving off limbs.
 
−
*'''Bowman''': skill allows characters to use bows more effectively. Useful for taking down enemies at a distance.
 
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*'''Crossbowman''': allows characters to use crossbows more effectively. Useful for taking down enemies at a distance.
 
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*'''Hammerman''': allows characters to use crossbows in melee, mauls, and war hammers more effectively. Useful for breaking limbs.
 
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*'''Knife User''' - allows characters to use large daggers and knives more effectively. Useful for stabbing things.
 
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*'''Lasher''' - allows characters to use whips and scourges more effectively. Very deadly weapons.
 
−
*'''Maceman''' - allows characters to use flails, maces, and morningstars more effectively. Similar to hammers.
 
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*'''Pikeman''' - allows characters to use pikes more effectively. Like spears, but much bigger.
 
−
*'''Spearman''' - allows characters to use spears more effectively. Useful for stabbing things.
 
−
*'''Swordsman''' - allows characters to use blowguns and bows in melee, long swords, scimitars, short swords, and two-handed swords more effectively. Useful for cutting, stabbing, and whacking, but less effective than more dedicated weapons.
 
−
 
−
=== General Combat ===
 
−
 
−
These two skills can be raised rather quickly in game and so you probably want to skip spending any points on them at the start.
 
−
 
−
*'''Fighter''' - This increases with, and contributes to, melee combat whether armed or unarmed. It appears that the purpose of it is to allow melee experience to contribute to melee combat in general regardless of weapon. Repeatedly wrestling (grabbing and releasing) even a small creature will raise this skill.
 
−
*'''Archer''' - This increases with, and contributes to, ranged combat including throwing. It works similarly to Fighter except for ranged attacks. It can be easily raised by repeatedly throwing rocks, making it advisable for archers to practice their marksmanship with rock throwing before using up the more finite and expensive forms of ammunition. Shooting at a wall with adjacent upward ramp one level below and picking back projectiles is also a good idea (such places often happen to be in keeps and fortresses). See the FAQ section on [[#How do I increase my skills and attributes?|increasing your skills and attributes]] for information on raising bowman/marksman skills.
 
−
 
−
=== Defensive ===
 
−
 
−
These skills are critical for survival. Starting out with good ability in one (especially Shield User or Armor User) if not all is strongly advised.
 
−
 
−
*'''Shield User''' - Ability to block attacks with shields. Starting with even novice skill in this means that the adventurer will start with a shield. This is a no-brainer unless you're creating a two handed weapon user, and lack a broadness or height modifier on your character - necessary for one-handing any two-handed weapon, without penalty.
 
−
*'''Armor User''': A higher level of this skill reduces the encumbrance penalties of armour, allowing you to move faster when wearing it. It also affects how well armour protects you and this makes a huge difference. Unskilled armour users gain little protection. This is noticeable as you'll begin seeing far more combat reports about hits either striking you though armour, (you managed to use your armour to lessen the force of the blow) or being deflected by your armour (you used your armour to avoid the hit entirety) as your skill rises and you learn to actually use your armour to deflect hits. It is highly advised to train your armour skill before entering battle with it as the speed penalties of lower levels can be a serious handicap.
 
−
*'''Dodger''' - Ability to dodge out of the way of attacks. Dodger is incredibly important and will allow you to avoid many, many hits that would have otherwise injured you. Especially important when you are fighting unarmoured and can't afford a battle axe in the chest. Boost this to talented or at least close to it.
 
−
 
−
=== Unarmed Combat and Improvised Weapons ===
 
−
 
−
While some of them come in handy at times, they can generally be raised fairly easily in game, especially Wrestler and Thrower.
 
−
 
−
*'''Wrestler''' - Ability to grapple, restrain, take-down, throw opponents, etc. Higher skill means all of these moves succeed more often. See [[#Wrestling and Unarmed Attacks]] for details. Can be raised very easily in game.
 
−
*'''Striker''' - Punching ability. Turns handy when weapons get stuck and there is no time to wrest them back.
 
−
*'''Kicker''' - Kicking ability. Same as Striker. Kicks are slower but more deadly than punches; heavy kicks are particularly good at crushing and exploding heads.
 
−
*'''Biter''' - Biting ability. Biting is surprisingly effective even with non animal races as after biting you can shake opponents around by your teeth, causing great damage and possibly ripping off body parts, although with sapient races this tends to lean more towards fingers or toes, perhaps the occasional hand or foot.
 
−
*'''Thrower''' - Throwing any miscellaneous object including rocks, knives, axes, swords, heads, etc. Skill affects accuracy and damage caused.
 
−
*'''Misc. Object User''' - Ability to beat things to death with anything that comes at hand, from bags to coins to their own severed body parts. Also somewhat more commonly used for shield bashing. This skill affects combat with any object, from a rock to a beehive. There are no separate skills for different items. Items actually intended to be weapons, like swords or axes, are unaffected by this skill.
 
−
 
−
A well written article on martial arts "Kisat Dur" can be found on the forums [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=148015.0 here].
 
−
 
−
=== Movement and Awareness ===
 
−
 
−
*'''[[Observer]]''' - Helps one to notice things like ambushes, enemies who are "sneaking" (stealth movement), and traps. Detection range increases with skill, but up to a maximum of 3 tiles away. Higher levels give more information regarding opponents. Hard to train. Adding some points here is advisable.
 
−
*'''[[Swimmer]]''' - Allows movement through water without drowning. A Novice swimmer can swim but will revert to being unable to swim if stunned, which happens when falling even 1 z-level into the water, or possibly after an unfriendly encounter with a creature in the water. An Adequate swimmer can swim normally (not drown) while stunned. For this reason, ''starting out as an Adequate swimmer is advisable.'' If you don't, at least start as Novice and go get some swimming practice right away.
 
−
*'''[[Ambusher]]''' - The skill of {{K|S}}neaking around unobserved. This can be raised fairly easily by sneaking around while traveling from place to place when speed is not important. Enemies will have "sight ranges" from where they can detect a sneaking adventurer. The red zone of sight is where they will see you immediately and begin chasing you; the yellow is where they might see you. Staying out of sight will allow you to silently assassinate your foes, as they rarely seem to notice a knife in their back in time.
 
−
*'''[[Climber]]''' - The skill of climbing up walls, into trees, and around the edges of gorges. Higher levels reduce the chance of falling and increase the speed of a climbing character.
 
−
*'''[[Tracker]]''' - The skill of tracking your quarry, whether it be animals or goblins. Higher levels will let you spot more tracks and help you distinguish different tracks.
 
−
*'''[[Crutch-walker]]''' - The skill of standing and walking with a crutch for support. This skill only becomes available when attempting to move with a crutch in inventory, and can be developed with or without legs. At Legendary levels, a crutch walker walks with no speed reduction, and simply keeping it in hand will continue to increase attributes.
 
−
 
−
=== Crafting ===
 
−
 
−
These allow your character to create things. There is only one skill currently available in an unmodified game.
 
−
 
−
*'''[[Knapper]]''' - The fine art of sharpening rocks by banging them together in a clever manner. The resulting rocks become sharp rocks which do more damage when thrown and can be used for things requiring a sharp edge like butchering. Easy to raise in game and doing so helps with Kinesthetic and Spatial Sense.
 
−
 
−
=== Other ===
 
−
 
−
*'''[[Reader]]''' - Allows you to read books, signs, and writing in Adventurer mode. Novice level is required in order to become a [[Necromancer]]. There is no way to increase this skill. Adding  more points is a waste, as novice allows you to read anything.
 
−
*'''[[Butcher]]''' - The art of turning corpses into piles of delicious prepared brains and meat for food. Butchering also makes corpses and body parts less useful to enemy necromancers. You cannot allocate points here during character creation, but that's OK since skill doesn't really affect anything anyway. Except the taste, of course.
 
−
 
−
= Gameplay =
 
−
 
−
== Common UI Concepts ==
 
−
{{KeyConventions|3}}
 
−
 
−
== Moving Around ==
 
−
 
−
=== Local Movement ===
 
−
[[File:Advmode_normaltravel_DF2014.png|thumb|400px|An image of normal travel mode. A list of the closest (but not necessarily close) sites is in the top-left corner. On the right side are minimaps of the next two levels down, relative to the player. Along the bottom is information about the player.]]
 
−
{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|8}} {{k|2}} {{k|4}} {{k|6}} {{k|7}} {{k|9}} {{k|1}} {{k|3}}
 
−
| Move
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|↑}} {{k|↓}} {{k|←}} {{k|→}}
 
−
| Move
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|Alt}} and a direction key
 
−
| Move carefully / Deliberately enter dangerous terrain
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|<}} or {{k|Shift}}+{{key|5}} (num lock off)
 
−
| Ascend
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|>}} or {{k|Ctrl}}+{{key|5}} (num lock off)
 
−
| Descend
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|.}}
 
−
| Wait for 10 instants
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|,}}
 
−
| Wait for 1 instant
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|s}}
 
−
| Stand or lie down
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|S}}
 
−
| Open Movement Speed/Sneak Menu
 
−
|}
 
−
 
−
Unless your character is an outsider, you will start out in a race-appropriate town or hamlet; in the standard tileset the @ sign is your character.
 
−
 
−
The directional keys allow movement. Diagonal movement is particularly important especially when chasing or running away from things.
 
−
 
−
Use {{k|Alt}}+direction to enter water, jump off of cliffs, or otherwise attempt to enter anything that you can't enter using normal movement commands. Note that when entering water it's best to enter the actual water and not the open space over the water as, in the later case, you will fall in causing you to become stunned which may lead to drowning.
 
−
 
−
If you hit {{k|j}}, you can jump. This is mostly useful for crossing gorges and crevices, where you have to get to the other side. Occasionally, you can manage to jump onto an opponent and tackle them, which typically causes them to go flying a short distance.
 
−
 
−
Hitting {{k|.}} allows you to stay in one place and wait for other things to move. {{k|,}} does the same but with a tenth of the time it takes for {{k|.}}.
 
−
 
−
Use {{k|s}} to sit/lie down. Moving while laying down (crawling) will let you move past NPCs which are standing in your way. Also note that you will frequently get knocked to the ground in combat, and if you don't hit {{k|s}} to stand back up then you will crawl slowly along the ground, giving your opponent a lot of opportunity to attack you.
 
−
 
−
{{k|S}}neak will allow you to move around invisibly, limited by your Ambusher skill and the Observer skill of nearby creatures.  Enemies will have sight cones indicating where they can detect a sneaking adventurer. The central zone of sight (red, violet, or cyan) is where they will see you immediately and begin chasing you; their peripheral vision (yellow) is where they might see you. Violet and cyan central zones indicate the enemy is on a different level than yours, while red means they are on the same level. Staying out of sight will allow you to silently assassinate your foes, as they rarely seem to notice a knife in their back in time. Note that sneak is also affected by a variety of other factors detailed on the {{k|S}}neak screen, such as light level and weather.
 
−
 
−
If you {{k|h}}old onto a wall or tree, you can climb the wall or tree by using the movement keys. In towns and tamer parts of the countryside, this isn't particularly useful. However, in a combat situation, climbing a tree or wall can give you a height advantage, possibly allowing you to dive-tackle your opponents. Sometimes, mountains will be too steep to walk up the edge, or you will find a deep drop into a ravine. In these cases, you will have to climb up to reach the top, or perhaps jump or climb down one face, then climb up the other.
 
−
 
−
=== Fast Travel ===
 
−
[[File:Advmode_fasttravel_DF2014.png|thumb|400px|Fast Travel screen. The player is in a hamlet, between the houses to the right and the mead hall in the top-left area of the map. The asterisk represents a group of creatures (in this case unfriendly goblins). The world map (in sepia) is on the far right.]]
 
−
{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|T}}
 
−
| Fast Travel
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|d}}
 
−
| Exit fast travel mode
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|K}}
 
−
| Display detected tracks and odors
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|c}}
 
−
| Toggle display of clouds on region map
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|s}}
 
−
| Walk around in sneak mode. Exiting fast travel starts you in sneak mode.
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|m}}
 
−
| Cycle through maps and significant structures
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|Q}}
 
−
| View Quest Log
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|Z}}
 
−
| Bring up sleep menu
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|h}}
 
−
| Hide parts of the bottom bar
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|>}} and {{k|<}}
 
−
| Enter/exit tunnel
 
−
|-
 
−
|}
 
−
 
−
Entering Fast Travel mode will allow you to move large distances in a single keypress. Of course, the same amount of time will go by and you can also be interrupted (ambushed) while moving in fast travel mode.
 
−
 
−
Along the top of the map is a line showing the sky, and the position of the sun and/or moon from west to east. This primarily helps you determine how long you have before it gets dark, at which point you won't be able to see very far, will risk getting attacked by bogeymen, and will be more vulnerable to attack in general.
 
−
 
−
If you are not near any sites, the {{k|m}} key will toggle a world map, colored in sepia tone (matching the map you see in the quest log). If you are near a site, then {{k|m}} cycles between a list of significant structures where your player is, a regional map (matching what you travel on when away from any site), and the aforementioned world map.
 
−
 
−
The {{k|c}} key will only show clouds on the region map (the one you travel on outside of sites). Some clouds will be visible regardless of the state of this option.
 
−
 
−
The {{k|h}} key will cycle through various amounts of the bottom bar of content hidden. The effects of each press are:
 
−
 
−
* 1 press: hide key reference. Allows you to see status effects on your character if obscured by the key list.
 
−
* 2 presses: hide most local name, reducing the bar to one line of text.
 
−
* 3 presses: hide less local name, eliminating the bar entirely.
 
−
* 4 presses: shows all information
 
−
 
−
== Status and Information ==
 
−
 
−
{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|l}}
 
−
| Look around
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|Space}}
 
−
| Advance/Clear Messages
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|a}}
 
−
| View Announcements
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|z}}
 
−
| Status
 
−
|}
 
−
 
−
=== Looking Around ===
 
−
 
−
If you're not sure what a tile is, the {{k|l}}ook command will tell you. In addition to being useful for identifying tiles and creatures, you can also view creatures' equipment and what items are sitting on the ground in a given tile. If in doubt, try the look command.
 
−
 
−
Move the cursor to the tile you want to look at using direction keys and {{k|Shift}}+direction. It's possible to look up and down z-levels (assuming you have line of sight) using the {{k|<}} and {{k|>}} keys. This, for example, allows you to find out if any flying creatures are above you. Hit {{k|Esc}} to exit look mode and go back to movement mode.
 
−
 
−
=== Messages ===
 
−
 
−
The game makes frequent use of messages on the screen to tell you what is going on. If there are a lot of these you may need to use {{k|Space}} to display the rest of the messages that won't fit on the screen. You can always go back and view old messages by pressing {{k|a}}.
 
−
 
−
=== Status Screen ===
 
−
 
−
This screen shows your skills, attributes, wounded body parts, health (along with more detailed descriptions of your wounds), lets you view your description, and change your nickname if you want.
 
−
 
−
=== Saving the Game ===
 
−
 
−
Hit the {{k|Esc}} key at any time and select {{DFtext|Save Game}} to save your game. You can then come back to it later by using the {{DFtext|Continue Playing}} option in the main menu.
 
−
 
  
−
== Searching and Manipulating ==
+
Peasant, Hero and Demigod look completely different, with demigod seemingly holding the most advantage. However, all three are mortal, and all three are capable of becoming unstoppable. The key difference is in starting stats/skills (with Demigod beginning with most, Peasant with least) and stats cap (maximum attainable value).
  
−
{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
+
Simply put, the higher the starting stat (e.g. Strength), the higher it can be increased over the course of the game. Hence, demigods can have the highest stats in the end by simply having more to start with. Yet, even a Peasant adventurer is capable of killing a [[Demon]] or [[Dragon]] in the endgame, so at the end of the day all the status does '''is determine how easy and how fast your starting game will be.'''
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|u}}
 
−
| Interact with building, furniture, or mechanism
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|L}}
 
−
| Search the nearby area very carefully
 
−
|}
 
  
−
The {{k|u}} key can be used to do stuff like pull levers in your abandoned forts. It is also used to lower and raise the bucket when standing right next to a well so you can get water to refill your waterskin with.
+
"Hero" is suitable for most players. Pick Demigod for an easier early game. For the purposes of this guide, "Peasant" will be used to demonstrate that these instructions are applicable to every single status.
  
−
{{k|L}} will perform a thorough search of the area that you're standing in, possibly revealing some small creatures.
 
  
−
== Managing Equipment ==
+
== Starting Attributes and Skills ==
  
−
{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
+
===Body Attributes===
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|i}}
 
−
| Show Inventory
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|d}}
 
−
| Drop an item
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|g}}
 
−
| Get (pickup) an item off the ground
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|p}}
 
−
| Put an item into a container
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|r}}
 
−
| Remove an item you are wearing or from a container
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|w}}
 
−
| Wear an item
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|I}}
 
−
| Interact with an object in an advanced way. (unstick a weapon, refill waterskin etc.)
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|q}}
 
−
| Sheath your weapons and shield. (Frees your hands for tasks such as climbing or grabbing)
 
−
|}
 
  
−
=== Inventory ===
+
As of 0.43.05, all these stat distributions will leave no points wasted.
  
−
Press {{k|i}} to display a list of what you are currently carrying. Press {{k|-}} {{k|+}} {{k|*}} {{k|/}} to scroll the list. This list will show you if items are being worn, held in hands, stuck on your body, or are inside a container. Detailed information about an object can be viewed by pressing the key associated with the item.
+
'''Peasant:'''
 +
*High Strength (20)
 +
*High Agility (20)
 +
*Very Low Recuperation (1)
 +
*Very Low Disease Resistance (1)
 +
*Very Low Creativity (1)
 +
*Very Low Musicality (1)
 +
*Very Low Empathy (1)
 +
*Everything else: Average (5)
  
−
=== Getting/Dropping Things ===
+
'''Hero:'''
 +
*High Strength (20)
 +
*Superior Agility (--)
 +
*Very Low Recuperation (1)
 +
*Very Low Disease Resistance (1)
 +
*Very Low Creativity (1)
 +
*Very Low Musicality (1)
 +
*Very Low Empathy (1)
 +
*Everything else: Average (5)
  
−
You can {{k|d}}rop items in your inventory, as well as {{k|g}}et items on the ground on the same tile that you are standing on. If there is more than one item a menu will be listed. Press {{k|-}} {{k|+}} {{k|*}} {{k|/}} to scroll the list if the list is too long to fit on the screen. Note that getting something makes your adventurer pick something up with his or her hands. This often means that you have to use {{k|q}} to sheathe whatever you have in your hands before you pick something up. If you do not (and you do not have a backpack or some other way of storing the object, your adventurer will not pick the item up.
+
'''Demigod:'''
 +
*Superior Strength (--)
 +
*Superior Agility (--)
 +
*Superior Memory (--)
 +
*High Intuition (20)
 +
*Very Low Recuperation (1)
 +
*Very Low Disease Resistance (1)
 +
*Very Low Creativity (1)
 +
*Very Low Musicality (1)
 +
*Very Low Empathy (1)
 +
*Everything else: Average (5)
  
−
{{k|g}} will also allow you to ignite foliage/any flammable objects adjacent to you. Fires aren't as devastating as one might imagine, but they will cause (most) enemies to path around them, making your crowd control slightly more effective when taking on multiple enemies. As an added bonus, it will also surely piss off the elves.
 
  
−
=== Containers ===
+
Since your character is combat-based, attributes such as Creativity, Empathy and Musicality are absolutely useless, and must be kept low. As for recuperation and disease resistance, they only kick in when you're hurt, and if there is something that I stress in this guide it is "DON'T get hit". Besides, resting heals all injuries regardless of Recuperation value. This renders those stats useless. '''Agility and Strength''' are the MOST important as they affect move speed of the character, and that really matters. Memory is a convenient addition, as it lets you memorize the areas you've been to and keep those areas free from fog of war. However, leave it at average unless playing as a demigod.
  
−
Items can be placed into containers with {{k|p}} and removed with {{k|r}}.
+
The concept of pain was revised in 0.43.05, with thresholds significantly buffed for most creatures. Now a high willpower/toughness can and will prevent your adventurer (and enemy alike) from passing out due to broken pinky finger. Investing starting points in those stats is still a waste, however, as they are leveled relatively quickly, and do not need to be "Superior" or "Superhuman" to be effective. Endurance can be increased easily by sprinting, swimming or practicing melee skills. And while it matters at first, later on your character will have unlimited stamina, so don't put anything above average here. With average Social Awareness you can recruit two companions. Increasing your fighting skills and kill list will let you recruit more later. Seeing as it is very tedious to manage 3 and above companions (you have to give out orders one by one), this attribute is better left at average (more on Social Awareness will be explained in "Companions" section).
  
−
=== Wearing ===
+
Finally, Intuition lets you see more detailed information on which part of your body the enemy is targeting. It is quickly leveled through any means of close combat, and hence, should be kept on average unless you play as a demigod.
  
−
Items can be worn using {{k|w}} and removed using {{k|r}} (the same command used for removing from containers). If an item you want to wear does not show up as an option, then it means you are already wearing too many items in the location used by that item. Try {{K|r}}emoving items in that location and then wear them again in order of priority. You also must put on equipment in an order that makes sense,. for example a shirt first ''then'' the armor, not the other way around. Armour must also be put on in a sensible manner with flexible layers such as chainmail first then rigid plate armour second. After all, who, in real life, would wear chainmail over a hard plate?
+
===Starting skills===
 +
All the distributions below have 1 to 4 leftover points. This is nothing to worry about, as skills can be easily improved and have no cap.
  
−
''Note that "large" or "small" clothing items are too big / small for your race'' (e.g. a '''large''' giant cave spider silk sock). If you have that problem, try getting clothing from a different source.
+
Peasant:
 +
*Adequate Swimmer (7)
 +
*Competent dodger (8)
 +
*Novice reader (6)
  
−
After acquiring [[armor]] from one source or another, you'll most likely want to equip it. To do this, first make sure it is in your possession--not on the ground. You can then {{key|w}}ear it, granted you don't already have too much on that equipment slot already. You can {{key|r}}emove or {{key|d}}rop inferior equipment as necessary.
+
Hero:
 +
*Competent Swimmer (8)
 +
*Expert dodger (13)
 +
*Novice reader (6)
  
−
See [[Armor]] for more information on wearing things. One thing to note in particular, DF allows you to wear more than one item in the same location in many situations, for example a copper mail shirt and a copper breastplate. The thin, flexible chain can be worn under the breastplate, but not the other way around.
+
Demigod:
 +
*Skilled Swimmer (9)
 +
*Master dodger (17)
 +
*Novice reader (6)
  
−
=== Wielding ===
+
Dodge skill is a must take at character creation, as it is one of the skills that cannot be leveled without putting yourself in harm's way. Same goes for Swimming. Any weapon skills are trainable in absolute safety, as will be described in the "Training" section. Reading, on the other hand, cannot be improved during regular play, and is only available for learning at starting skill selection screen, and must be taken in order to read books containing the secrets of Life and Death. Novice level reading skill allows you to read anything, there is no point in increasing it further.
  
−
There is no command for wielding items such as [[weapon]]s in specific hands. Instead, they are automatically equipped when you either {{k|g}}et them from the ground or {{k|r}}emove them from your [[backpack]] - provided the hand that would wield them is free. So in order to change [[weapon]]s or [[shield]]s you should drop items or place them into containers (such as your backpack) until your hands are free, then get items from the floor or remove them from containers which will place them in your hands. For example, put all items into backpack, remove sword from backpack, remove shield from backpack. The items will end up in the right and left hand. Simply remember the {{k|r}}emove command and the {{k|p}}ut into container command.
+
===Background and Gender===
  
−
While normally one would only be able to equip one item in each hand, removing items from your inventory results in them being wielded regardless of whether one's hands are full. This is especially useful with shields, as every shield will contribute a block chance to each incoming attack.
+
It is advised to start as a hearthperson, since your character will begin inside of a human fortress, close to weapons and armor stockpiles. Gender and deity worshiped are insignificant beyond aesthetics and roleplay. Of course, when building a killing machine of a character you'd most likely want them to worship a deity of war (or similar). But if you play as an antman, gender is important.
  
−
Once equipped, weapons and shields can be quickly drawn and sheathed with {{k|q}}, instantly preparing for attack or freeing your hands. Any number of weapons can be strapped, but only one for each hand will be drawn. Others can be manually {{k|r}}emoved for use, and stowed again without occupying other inventory containers.
+
===Appearance===
  
−
It should be noted that Dwarf Fortress does not enforce one particular hand as dominant for everyone, so do not be surprised if your character holds the weapon and [[Armor#Shields and Bucklers|shield]] in hands you yourself would not hold them in.
+
Visual facial features (e.g. long hair, lobed ears, etc.) bear little significance, and are there just for show. The physical constitution is what really matters - your character might be described as "tall", "having a broad body" or "corpulent/fat/having great sacks of lard" (common when starting as a peasant). Fat does not slow down, and will be burnt away as your character does anything that involves sweating (sprinting or fighting to name a few). Broad body allows wielding of 2-handed weapons in one hand.
  
−
=== Advanced Interaction ===
+
However, avoid "tall" or "having a broad body" traits. In my experience, adventurers with these tend to get hit more often than ones with an average build, and two-handed weapons are slow to ever use anyway. Press "r" or "f" to re-roll your character's appearance until it becomes to your liking.
 +
 +
===Values and Personality===
 +
[[File:values4402.png|thumb|right|200px|Values and Emotions]]
 +
In DF2017, adventure mode has now implemented a complex personality system, akin to that of fortress mode. All those perks and traits that you've seen in Fortress mode (e.g. "He is prone to anger") are now present. This means your character will now have desires that need satisfying ''besides'' eating or sleeping. Just as fortress mode units do, adventurers will now want to think abstractly, need to socialize, desire to pray to deity, etc, all according to their (fully customizable) values and emotions (represented in green and teal respectively at character creation screen).
  
−
The {{k|I}} key allows "complex interaction" with objects in your inventory. 
 
  
−
This is used for removing arrows and weapons stuck in wounds which will appear in your inventory when they become stuck in you. Removing stuck arrows can cause bleeding so it is not always a good idea mid combat, but stuck objects will slow you down as you are encumbered by their weight. It s best to remove them as soon as possible when it is safe and you are not in danger of bleeding to death.
 
  
−
Advanced interaction can also be used to steal enemy  equipment. Use [[wrestling]] to grab hold of a piece of enemy equipment, such as their weapon, or a helmet protecting their squishy brain and it will appear in the advanced interaction menu. Simply grab the item with a free hand and pull away. If successful, you will now be holding that item in your hands.
 
  
−
This command is particularly useful for getting water. When standing next to a well you press the {{k|u}} key to lower, then raise the bucket, yielding 10 units of water in the bucket. Then you can press the {{k|I}} key to fill your waterskin from the full bucket (alternatively you can press the {{k|e}} key to drink directly from the bucket).  
+
Though it is not necessary to satisfy the aforementioned needs, meeting most of them applies the "Focused" status. A focused character will receive noticeable bonuses to all skill rolls, so it is definitely worth the effort. Additionally, satisfying ALL of the needs will grant "Focused!" status, that increases the bonuses even further.
  
−
Advanced interactions can be used next to a campfire to heat things, such as any frozen liquids you have in your inventory (or snow lying on the ground) and need to drink. You can refill waterskins from a nearby liquid source as well
+
Furthermore, your character will have their own dream listed, based on the values you have specified. It is unknown at the moment what benefit fulfilling the dream will provide. Dreams can be easily changed (re-rolled) by simply pressing full customization "f" key, then immediately pressing it again.
  
−
===Sheathing===
 
−
The {{k|q}} key lets you strap your weapons to your back.
 
  
−
This is useful because you can't climb or wrestle with your hands unless your hands are free.
+
Your warlike adventurers naturally value (+++) (in order of appearance): power, truth, cunning, independence, stoicism, self-control, craftsmanship, martial prowess, skill, competition, perseverance and knowledge. At the same time, they despise (---) (also in order of appearance): nature, romance and peace while being mostly indifferent (N/A) to everything else. They dream of ruling the world (or becoming a legendary warrior).
  
−
People will also be less likely to be scared of you on first sight if you don't appear to be ready to attack.
 
  
−
== Time and Weather ==
+
On the emotional plane, they never fall in love or lust, hate easily though not prone to anger, never give in to feelings of sadness or anxiety, impervious to stress, have calm demeanor, modest, strive for perfection, sometimes cruel, relentless, private to the point of paranoia, do not go out of their way to help others and fear nothing.
  
−
{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|D}}
 
−
| Date
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|P}}
 
−
| Temperature
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|W}}
 
−
| Weather/Time
 
−
|}
 
  
−
The game has a day/night cycle with time passing as various actions take place.
+
The values and emotions from the screenshot above will provide your character with the following mindset:
  
−
When using quick travel mode, the top line of the screen will indicate the position of the sun in the sky with a yellow "☼"; further to the right of the screen is earlier in the day and further to the left is later in the day.  
+
[[File:Mindset4402.PNG|thumb|center|600px|]]
  
−
In local travel mode you'll have to use the {{k|W}} command to learn the position of the sun, when you're in a place where the sun is visible.
+
As seen in the above image, your warmongering adventurer will have a strong desire for crafting, training, practicing, learning, and staying busy. This is where the advantage of picking values and emotions according to the instructions above start to show up: fighting anything will simultaneously satisfy four major needs (training, learning, battling, practicing) while crafting can be easily fulfilled by knapping (make sharp rock). This mindset is also optimized to eliminate almost-impossible or hard-to-satisfy needs, like "Eat good meal" and "Help somebody", allowing you to reach the "Focused!" state easily. More on satisfying character needs will be explained in the "Needs and Focus" section.
  
−
At night you won't be able to see nearly as well and you will be more vulnerable to ambush.
+
Take into account that you will not be able to EVER see this description (except list of needs) again during regular gameplay. It is only available during the character creation stage, so it is in your interests to make a screenshot and save it.
  
−
The game also has weather and temperature. The most common weather you'll experience is rain. Rain is shown as blue moving dots on the local travel screen and will unsurprisingly cause everything outside to become wet. Temperature is important because if it happens to drop below freezing while you're swimming through water, you'll instantly die from being encased in the ice.
+
===Finalizing the character===
  
−
Therefore you might want to keep an eye on the temperature while swimming, especially if it's getting cold.
+
The Values and personality screen is the last obstacle that separates you from starting the game. Press Enter to begin the adventure.
  
−
Also, unlike fortress mode, rivers/other bodies of water can be liquid during the day, and freeze at night. The cycles of freezing can also be erratic from day to day.
+
=Early Game=
  
−
Freezing weather can also freeze liquids in your inventory solid, making them undrinkable. If your water freezes and you are thirsty, make a campfire and {{k|I}}nteract with your waterskin to heat it over the fire and melt the ice.
+
If you have followed all the instructions so far, your character will begin inside the human fortress. His/her starting items will depend on the civilization you've chosen, however, all adventurers start with:
  
−
== Sleep ==
+
*A large copper [[DF2014:Dagger|dagger]]
 +
*A copper [[DF2014:Spear|spear]]
 +
*A [[DF2014:Flask|waterskin]] with 3 units of water
 +
*A [[DF2014:Equipment#Backpacks|backpack]]
 +
*5 units of random foodstuffs
  
−
{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|Z}}
 
−
| Sleep
 
−
|}
 
  
−
Eventually your character will become {{DFtext|Drowsy|1:0}} and this will get worse until you get sufficient sleep.
+
==Immediate actions==
  
−
Sleep does not necessarily have to coincide with night, but if you're traveling alone when night comes you'll be in danger of being attacked by [[Bogeyman|Bogeymen]].  To avoid this while traveling solo you need to make it to shelter before nightfall and sleep the night away inside a building or abandoned lair.  Enter a building, use {{K|k}} to talk to a human, and ask for permission to stay the night. Next press {{K|Z}} to sleep, {{K|d}} to sleep until dawn, then {{K|Enter}} to confirm. ('''NOTE''': If you stay the night in a castle, you have to sleep in the keep which houses the lord/lady of the castle.  Sleeping inside the castle but outside the keep still leaves you vulnerable to attack.) Sleeping on an ocean beach also prevents bogeymen from attacking. (If you'd rather not deal with bogeymen, you can disable them by generating a world using [[advanced world generation]] and setting "Number of Night creatures" to 0)
+
The moment you spawn in the world, the following must be carried out immediately: ['''R''']emove your starting waterskin and ['''D''']rop it. I cannot stress this enough - it is absolutely, astonishingly useless, being able to fit only 3 units of water when your character needs to drink every 2-3 hours. Next, look around for soldiers of the fortress and recruit one of them as a companion. Afterwards, search around the fortress and pick up the following items:
  
−
Though sleeping inside can be safe, it's also limiting: any quest site you want to go to has to be within a daytime's round-trip time of a safe habitation, and you have to make your way to there by hopping from one habitation to the next, sleeping at each along the way. A way to avoid this is to travel with companions.  If you have any companions with you then Bogeymen won't attack you. You'll still have to sleep at night, though, both to avoid sleep deprivation and because there's no visibility at night. You can still be ambushed at night by wildlife, but that's much less likely than being ambushed by Bogeymen when traveling alone. If you find yourself alone at night with nowhere safe to sleep, the safest bet is to keep traveling until dawn, even if that means running around in circles. You will eventually feel unwell from sleep deprivation, but this can take a considerable amount of time. You can make up for lost sleep once you've found your way to safety.
+
*Any 2 bags (chuck out anything that might have been inside)
 +
*Full set of armor (Helm, mail shirt, breastplate, gauntlets, greaves, high boots, shield/buckler. These can be of any material for the time being).
 +
*An axe and a warhammer. These can be of any material or 2-handed for the time being. If there are training versions of axe or spear, take those as well.
 +
*A pike and a whip/scourge (optionally, if there are any available)
 +
*5-10 copper or silver bolts
  
−
Note that sleeping in lairs, shrines, and labyrinths makes you safe from ambush, assuming that you or someone else has killed whatever was living there. If you have sufficient shrines/lairs/etc between you and your goal and they are either uninhabited or inhabited by things you are capable of killing then you can travel from lair to lair using each lair as a safe lodging. This is much safer than sleeping out in the open, day or night, even with companions.
+
Some fortresses might be under-stocked and lack some items from the list. In this case, fast travel to another fort and search again.
 +
[[File:berrybag.png|thumb|right|200px|Berry bags are common in human villages]]
 +
After you got your gear together, equip the armor and a spear (without shield), then travel to the nearest river and fill (I) one of your empty bags with water, resulting in a container with 100 water units - more than enough for a long journey, even though you will be amazed how fast it will disappear.  
  
−
If no other options are available, completely surrounding yourself with campfires will keep night marauders at bay as they cannot pass through the fires; the fires will go out after several hours and enable you to move on (you may also be able to jump over the fires). The bogeymen or other enemies may be outside your line of sight, which will prevent you from firing arrows or throwing things at them. In this case, you will have to stand up and lie down {{K|s}} repeatedly until the enemies wander into your range, the fires go out and the enemies can path to you, or dawn breaks.
+
To follow up, go to the nearby village and search in the peasants' houses for fisher/prickle berry/strawberry bags. All human civs start with fisher berries, so a village is guaranteed to have some. Usually, these bags contain multiple stacks of 20-100 berries. As soon as you've found one, drop your starting [5]stack food and pick the largest stack of berries. [P]ut it inside of your second bag.
  
−
It should be noted that, as of DF2014, climbing trees and sleeping on them will prevent Bogeyman attacks, as well.  This is especially useful if you prefer to play solo, and do not wish to have an army of followers in your employ.  This is also useful if you prefer to engage enemies at your own pace (such as via stealth), rather than having your entire follower party immediately charge at anything that is hostile to you. Be wary though, as bogeymen may still be able to reach you by climbing.
 
  
−
== Food and Drink ==
+
Your inventory should look similar to what is shown on the image below:
 +
[[File:Startinginv.png|thumb|center|600px|All set, with a lucky find!]]
  
−
{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|e}}
 
−
| Eat or drink something
 
−
|}
 
  
−
To find water, you must find a river, stream, or well in a town and fill your waterskin from it, or drink from it directly. Water that may be covering you or your items will not be able to satisfy your thirst.
+
Now you are armored and armed, alongside a companion, with plenty of food and drink. While still quite far from being combat-worthy, your character is now ready for training.
  
−
Note that drinking vampire blood will turn you into a vampire instantly.
+
==Training==
  
−
Make sure to eat or drink regularly even if you're not hungry or thirsty, as you can only eat or drink thrice at a time: after that you'll need to rest, or wait until you can consume another meal. If you find yourself in need of both food and hydration, make sure to take care of the most urgent problem first, as if you are moderately hungry but severely dehydrated and eat three times, you may die before you have another chance to drink.
+
At this stage, you are going to train your character's offensive and defensive skills. Even though they can be trained in any order, I suggest that you learn how to defend yourself first. However, it is completely up to you, and whatever training "facilities" you might have. When training, ask your companion to wait nearby - he/she will not interfere with your training. This way, you will have a backup handy. However, '''waiting companions will not defend you''' if training gets out of control or something hostile comes your way. You must ask the companion to follow you for him/her to help you in fights again.
  
−
If the temperature is low enough you might have trouble finding liquid water. Snow and ice can be heated into water by first making a campfire with {{k|g}} and then performing an advanced interaction with {{k|I}} on the ice or snow in your inventory to heat it. Advanced interactions with your waterskin can also be used to gather water from water sources, or snow from the ground.
+
It is very important that you don't train while Tired. Otherwise, what seemed like a mock fight can take a wrong turn and lead to injury, missing teeth, or worse. If at any point of training your character becomes tired, drop whatever you were doing, retreat, rest, and only then continue.
  
−
== Combat ==
+
NOTE: Subsequent instructions include a lot of tedious button presses. To make your training experience more comfortable, it is advised that you install the amazing key shortcut tool "AutoHotkey", available free of charge. It is a wonderful utility that will make a lengthy combination into a matter of a single key press, which counts when typing Aa*gzua repeated 30 times, for example. Quickstart guide for AutoHotkey (along with an example script) can be found under "Tools" section. I personally do not consider this cheating in any way - it is a simple timesaver. By sticking to "hardcore style" button mashing you are not raising the challenge - you're introducing a handicap.
  
−
{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
+
===Defensive training===
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|8}} {{k|2}} {{k|4}} {{k|6}} {{k|7}} {{k|9}} {{k|1}} {{k|3}}
 
−
| Attack adjacent hostile creature
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|↑}} {{k|↓}} {{k|←}} {{k|→}}
 
−
| Attack adjacent hostile creature
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|A}}
 
−
| Attack an adjacent creature.
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|f}}
 
−
| Fire a projectile
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|t}}
 
−
| Throw an item
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|C}}
 
−
| Open combat preferences interface
 
−
|}
 
  
−
[[Combat]] is the fine art of using physical force to cause injury and death, and it is particularly fun in Dwarf Fortress.
 
  
−
=== Melee Attacks ===
+
The Defensive skill tree is comprised of Dodging and Shield User. These two are crucial to survival, they protect better than any armor, as both completely nullify ANY incoming damage, while armor does not. Armor user skill simply reduces speed penalty associated with wearing armor and is considered quasi-defensive.
  
−
Hostile creatures can be attacked using a non-aimed attack by simply advancing towards your enemy using the arrow keys. Doing a non-aimed attack will also have a chance of freeing up any stuck weapon, though you are more likely to accomplish this by moving away from the enemy, or complexly interacting with the weapon.
+
*Any attack except breath/webs/dust attacks can be dodged. On a successful dodge all damage is nullified.
 +
*Any attack except dust/webs/wrestling grabs can be blocked. On a successful block all damage is nullified.
  
−
Any creature can be attacked by standing next to it and pressing {{k|A}}. Attacking a friendly or unconscious creature (which includes wild animals for elves) will further require a confirmation, given using  {{k|alt}}+{{k|y}}.
+
A punch from a [[DF2014:Bronze colossus|bronze colossus]] that can turn any armored human into paste is rendered completely harmless when blocked or dodged. Considering that around the middle stages of the game you will encounter enemies much more fearsome than a colossus, this makes Dodging and Shield User invaluable.
  
−
After selecting (and maybe confirming) which creature you want to attack, {{k|a}} will allow you to make an '''aimed attack'''. You must first select the body part that you want to attack. Look at the difficulty rating for various possible attacks. Impossible attacks will be impossible to land and Easier attacks will be very easy to land. The difficulty rating for an attack does not change depending on your weapon skill. Based on player experiences, a Grand Master weapon user can almost always land a "Tricky" strike, while a Novice generally cannot. Attacks on various locations will also have limits on how "squarely" they can land (due to being out of reach, for example). Square and very square attacks will deal more damage.{{Verify}} Attacks which "can't land squarely" are generally still effective.
+
'''Method:'''
 +
*1.Find a small animal
 +
*2.Grab it
 +
*3.Let it attack you
 +
*4.Train until Legendary
  
−
Attacks aimed at the head are the most effective; a single attack to the cranium with a weapon will usually put an end to the fight. Aimed attacks are especially useful for dismembering opponents. Opponents who are missing a foot will fall over, thereby greatly lowering their speed, and giving you an immediate edge in the fight. Cutting off both hands also highly recommended for obvious reasons. After all, a field full of armless, one-legged enemies can be a big experience booster for your companions.
+
'''Explanation:'''
  
−
Aimed attacks are also especially helpful when fighting giant beasts. Some enemies like giant desert scorpions have lots of redundant body parts, and random attacks waste valuable time on low priority areas while the scorpion is busy injecting venom into the whole party. Lastly, aimed attacks allow you to grab trophies that are not available via butchering. For example, a minotaur's horns can be cut off during a fight, but since its a humanoid, most adventurers will refuse to butcher its corpse after the fight. However, in Dwarf Fortress 2014, all butcherable corpses are able to be butchered, as long as the corpse isn't too mangled.
+
Make sure you have a weapon and a shield drawn. Prepare by placing your weapon in a backpack, then remove the said backpack and drop it somewhere you can remember. This will free you of unnecessary load.  
 +
Begin by finding a small animal - a [[DF2014:Cavy|cavy]] makes a good choice, as do [[DF2014:Horseshoe crab|horseshoe crabs]], [[DF2014:Duck|ducks]], [[DF2014:Blue peafowl|peacocks]], [[DF2014:Turkey|turkeys]], etc. Catch up to the animal and grab it with your free hand. Now, simply spam the "Wait 10 ticks" button [.] and you will gain dodging/armor user/shield user experience as the animal you're holding attacks you. To gain shield user experience faster, manually block the incoming attacks with the shield. If the animal passes out from exhaustion, simply wait, then repeat the above routine. Repeat until Legendary in all three skills.
  
 +
Be aware that though your "animal training companion" is small, even a cat or a duck possesses enough force to scratch teeth out or stun with a well-placed bite to the head, right through the helmet! Make sure your character is not tired prior to training.
  
−
There are several options below the hitting menu. Quick attacks are faster than regular attacks but weaker. Heavy attacks are slower but attack harder. Wild attacks are faster and hit harder but are inaccurate. Precise attacks are very slow but are much more likely to hit. Multi-attacks allow you to attack several times in a row at a great cost to the effectiveness of any one of the chosen attacks.
+
*AUTOHOTKEY: Using '''*1::Send, .''' script will let you hold down [1] to continuously wait, instead of spamming the [.] wait button
 +
*AUTOHOTKEY: Using '''*2::Send, Aca''' script will make you instantly block an attack with your shield the moment you press [2]. Combined with [.], you can spam these two keys one after another to level Shield User very quickly.
  
−
=== Ranged Attacks ===
+
===Offensive training===
  
−
To attack with a ranged weapon press the {{k|f}} key with a ranged weapon (bow, crossbow, etc.) equipped on one hand and select the square where you want to attack. Note that you need to have some sort of ammo, corresponding to the type of ranged weapon you are using (for example, bows use arrows, crossbows use bolts). Otherwise, a message stating "You have nothing left to fire." is displayed in brown. Similarly use the {{k|t}} key to throw any random object in the same manner. Random objects appear to make a random attack if they happen to have more than one possible type.{{Verify}} For example, if you throw a sword it may hit with a blunt impact, a stabbing impact, or a slicing impact. Throwing crossbow bolts with sufficient throwing skill and strength seems to have an effect similar to firing them, although less powerful. On the plus side, you will never lose ammo if you throw it.
+
Every skill that directly harms the enemy is a part of the Offensive skill tree. This includes: any weapon mastery, Improvised weapons skill (misc. object user), wrestling and throwing.
 +
The majority of your targets will be dispatched with weapon strikes, some with unarmed strikes and wrestling and in certain cases, by having a heavy/sharp object flung at them. Hence, your character must learn to handle 3 weapon types (at least), punching/kicking, wrestling and throwing. Optionally, misc. object user is recommended, as this skill determines the hit rate (and damage) when bashing with a shield.
  
−
It is not possible to aim for specific body parts with ranged or thrown attacks.
+
By this time, you should have the gear as instructed earlier in "Immediate Actions" section. Make no mistake, ensure you have all the necessary equipment! The method of training is as such:
  
−
Throwing is generally a good skill to have for any adventurer, as it allows you to slow down fleeing foes, both on the ground and in the air without the need of equipping a (cross)bow. Just like {{k|l}}ooking, you can use throwing to view and hit enemies multiple Z levels away from you. If you're lucky, you can simply land a hit that causes the flying enemy to give in to pain, and then let gravity do the rest of the work. Even if the fall doesn't kill them, they will most likely be stunned long enough for you to run up and slaughter them.
+
*1.Find a horse
 +
*2.Knock it unconscious
 +
*3.Blind it
 +
*4.Wait for it to regain consciousness
 +
*5.Train until Legendary
  
−
=== Wrestling and Unarmed Attacks ===
+
'''Explanation:'''
 +
[[File:pastures.png|thumb|right|200px|Fast travel map with pastures highlighted]]'''
 +
*Similar to the defensive training, you will have to find an "animal training companion" first. Any human village has special "Pasture" areas around it. They are distinctively marked as green squares on the fast travel map. Roam around these until you find some with cattle present. Horses make one of the best animals to train your weapon skills on, as they are common around pastures and can take a lot of damage. Sometimes, there will be llamas or cows present - those suffice as well.
  
−
:''Main article: [[Wrestling]]''
+
*As you have found a pasture spot with animals, memorize its location on the fast travel map. Remove your backpack and drop it there - it will be your training location for quite some time.
 +
Next, take out the axe or a spear you have. Enter the [S]neaking mode and approach a horse. Use [A]ttacking menu and look for an Easy/Solid strike on legs/tail of the horse. You might have to approach it from multiple sides to find one. As soon as you have found an opening, stab the horse in the leg. If your strike connects, the horse will now have reduced movespeed, allowing to easily pursue it and stab another leg to bring the horse to the ground.
  
−
'''[[Wrestling]]''' (grappling) can be performed by selecting an enemy via {{k|A}} followed by {{k|b}} to wrestle. You can wrestle any enemy. Wrestling works somewhat like a targeted attack. Once you grab a creature by some body part, you may be able to make another wrestling attempt that will allow you to perform a throw or takedown.
+
[[File:geld.png|thumb|right|200px|Sometimes even wooden weapons are dangerous]]
 +
*From now on, you have to disable the horse, so it cannot move or attack (when enraged). An Enraged horse will make quick work of an inexperienced adventurer, often biting (or wrestling!) the unfortunate to death by breaking all their bones. Hence, proceed to bashing both of its eyes with the shaft (or flat of the axe), then punch the teeth out. Finally,chop off all hooves. Wait around until horse regains consciousness if it passed out. Use ['''S''']neak mode to confirm that it has been blinded - if the usual cone of vision is not shown, it has. A blind animal cannot see you (obviously), and it does not run away from what it cannot see. Also, it stops the horse from attacking you when enraged, but '''only''' when you are '''not standing on the same tile as the enraged horse'''.
  
−
For a detailed list of moves such as takedowns, throws, choke holds, etc., see [[Wrestling]].
+
*After all of the above has been done, you will have a blind, immobile but resilient live training dummy to practice weapon skills on. Target its lower body to reduce the chance of lung damage and suffocation. Wooden (training) weapons are  perfect, as they do little to no harm. If you have no training weapons, use less lethal attacks, such as '''"Slap flat"''' for axe or '''"Shaft bash"''' for spear.  
  
−
It's also possible to punch, kick, and bite. These are not in the wrestling menu but are performed like normal targeted attacks with {{k|A}}.
+
*AUTOHOTKEY: Use (w/o quotes) "5::Send, Aaba" to repeatedly attack lower body with whatever you have equipped in your right hand
  
−
=== Weapons ===
+
In the same manner, '''target the hooves to level punching and kicking''' without risk of killing the horse prematurely, as all punches and kicks will glance off. Wrestling is skilled by grabbing/releasing or pinching, and '''unlike other combat skills, your training dummy doesn't have to be conscious!''' So you can as well practice your chokeholds and locks on a knocked-out horse.
  
−
[[Weapon]]s are basically divided into axe, sword, spear, pike, mace, whip, bow and hammer, with various versions of these taking up the gray area.
+
*Warhammer training is a bit tricky, as there are no training versions, and the weapon itself has only one attack (bash), which is deadly. A solution is to repeatedly bash the eye or mouth of your training dummy - doing so will provide experience without killing your "training companion", and it works with all other weapons too. Sometimes, your character might accidentally hit the horse's head when targeting the eye due to lack of skill. If the outcome is lethal, simply make another horse into the training dummy and repeat. '''Horses do respawn at pastures''' when you wait, sleep or leave the area in fast travel. This means, if you accidentally happened to kill all the animals, simply leave and return for a new batch.  Alternatively, use a wooden crossbow. For the purpose of melee, crossbows qualify as hammers.
  
−
=== Wounds ===
+
Training misc. object user is, perhaps, the easiest. Take out one unit of food that you have (e.g. 'Fisher berry'). Then repeatedly strike the training dummy with the said food unit - the attacks are 100% non-lethal yet yield misc. object user experience. If you feel that berry-bashing is not in the spirit of shield-bashing you're going to use this skill for, feel free to find any other round lightweight object that is not a weapon and use it instead. Wooden buckets, crutches and splints are all perfect for this role.
  
−
If you get wounded during combat, there's not much that you can do except perhaps run before you get more wounded. Your wounds will heal over time, so just travel around or sleep in a safe place. Some wounds however may never heal, leaving you permanently crippled. Obtaining a crutch may help with this. Or if you are not already a vampire, then you can get bitten by a werebeast during full moon, which will heal all injuries once per month.
+
'''Throwing''' experience doesn't require a training dummy and can be gained by throwing dirt or small stones. It's an essential skill that MUST be at legendary. Find a square that has "Small Rock" available in the [G]et menu, then use AutoHotkey to pick up stones and [T]hrow them instantly:
  
−
If you have some bolts or arrows stuck in your body, they can be removed by using the complex interaction menu {{k|I}}. Select the stuck bolt or arrow from the list and then pull it out with {{k|a}} You'll probably start bleeding after you pull it out, but the bleeding is rarely anything to worry about.
+
*AUTOHOTKEY: Use (w/o quotes) "3::Send, g<letter of stone pickup>" to pick the stone up. Your inventory must be completely empty of other throwables and you must not be wearing a backpack.
 +
*AUTOHOTKEY: Use (w/o quotes) "4::Send,t<letter of stone in your inventory>{Up}{Enter}" to throw the stone north.
  
−
=== Combat Preferences ===
 
  
−
At any time during gameplay (Except fast travel mode), you can press {{k|C}} to open the Combat Preferences menu. There are three different preferences you can set: Attack, Dodge and Charge Defense. These have a few different preferences each:
+
====Crucial concepts====
  
−
*'''{{k|a}}ttack'''
+
An attack in Adventure Mode consists of three stages: 1 - Starting 2 - Hit 3 - Recovery time. Just like in real life, a swing with a weapon in DF has a wind-up time, the moment of actual contact with the target and an afterswing recovery. Therefore, attack speed is defined by these (except Hit stage, which seems to always be 1 tick long). The shorter the Starting and Recovery times, the faster the attack speed.
−
**'''According to Opponent''' - The default setting. When set to this, charging happens more or less frequently, depending on the difference in size between you and the opponent. Bigger opponents get charged less, smaller more often. Can be very risky, since a random charge against a huge opponent is likely to get you knocked down and stunned. In the same vein, charging when close to obstacles or other environmental hazards is very dangerous, potentially fatal, if the enemy dodges you.
 
−
**'''Strike''' - This setting ensures that you never charge an opponent, but rather just swing your weapon at them. This carries less risk than the above, but you're never going to knock anyone down without hitting their legs or spine. Very preferable against large opponents.
 
−
**'''Charge''' - When set to this, you ALWAYS charge. When faced with numerous small enemies (Bogeymen in particular), this can be extremely useful, but remember to switch back when facing something bigger. Charging a large dragon is almost a certain death sentence.
 
−
**'''Close Combat''' - With this setting, all your auto-attacks are grapples. Generally not very useful, since the random nature of it tends to prevent you from actually doing any damage with it, but if you continually auto-attack a harmless creature with it your wrestling-skill will be legendary in no time.  
 
  
−
*'''{{k|d}}odge'''
+
*'''[[Time#Breakdown|Tick]]''' - 1 second of in-game time, equivalent of one press of the [,] key. To draw parallels with in-game actions, standing up/lying down takes almost 1 full tick.
−
**'''Move Around''' - This means you can jump away from attacks, physically moving in a random direction. While this lets you dodge attacks more often, it can also result in you jumping into a wall or down a lake. If you're fighting in really tight spaces, or areas with large pits, you might want to switch to the other option.
 
−
**'''Stand Ground''' - As can be expected, you stand your ground. No jumping around, which is useful in the above situation, but risky in the open. If you have room for jumping around, go with Move Around, but otherwise this could be a good idea.
 
  
−
*'''{{k|c}}harge Defense'''
+
*'''Starting''' - - the amount of time (in ticks) a character is effectively shut down when winding up for any combat action (striking, shooting, wrestling, throwing, blocking, dodging). You cannot control the character during starting time. Needless to say, it gives an opponent time to evade the attack or even sneak in his own strike, and must be minimized at all costs. Precise and Heavy attack types have huge starting times, while Quick attacks have very short amount.
−
**'''According to Opponent''' - Again, the default setting. You're more likely to stand still against small enemies charging, but will probably prefer moving away from larger ones. Somewhat risky, in that even a somewhat small enemy can stun you by charging.
 
−
**'''Dodge Away''' - With this, you'll dodge away from charging enemies, if you can. It's not a sure bet, but it's very much worth it against enemies who like to charge. This is probably the most preferable mode, since you're not losing a whole lot by dodging a small foe charging, but dodging an angry night beast can save you from a world of pain.
 
−
**'''Stand Ground''' - If you're certain of your physical superiority to the opponent, you can safely choose this. Standing your ground like a real man/woman might feel hardcore, but getting knocked down in a fight can be extremely dangerous. It probably has some use against bogeymen though, since they're quite small. If you really are much bigger than the enemy, you'll end up knocking THEM down. Most of the time though, charges heavily favor the attacker, so dodging away is probably preferable.
 
  
−
Using Combat Preferences properly can actually save your hide, so it's worth fiddling with. Just don't forget that you've fiddled with them, since a misplaced charge or dodge could end up killing you.
+
*'''Hit''' - the moment attack connects or misses the target. Always 1 tick long (fully discrete).
  
−
== Talking ==
+
*'''Recovery Time''' - the amount of time (in ticks) a character is effectively shut down after any combat action (striking, shooting, wrestling, throwing, blocking, dodging). You cannot control the character during recovery time. Needless to say, it leaves you completely at the mercy of the opponent, and must be minimized at all costs. Ranged weapons (bows, crossbows) have HUGE recovery time after firing, so avoid like plague. Any and all entities capable of  attacking have recovery time associated, indicated by "Recovering from attacking X' when targeted.
−
[[File:Advmode_conversation_DF2014.png|thumb|400px|Talking to someone in Adventurer mode.]]
 
−
{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|k}}
 
−
| Talk to somebody
 
−
|}
 
  
−
Now that you know how to kill people, you may also want to know how to talk to and otherwise interact with them in a less violent manner. While this is less entertaining, it can sometimes be useful.
+
*'''Quick wait''' - the [,] key. Waits for one tick, as opposed to normal wait [.], that takes 10 ticks. Allows you to better manage the timings of battle against fast opponents.  
  
−
To begin a conversation, press {{k|k}}. Unless someone else has already started a conversation with you (see below if someone has), you will get a cyan X that can be positioned over people you want to talk to with the normal directional keys. Use {{k|-}} and {{k|+}} to select who you want to talk to. Aside from individuals, you can also {{DFtext|Shout out to everybody}}, which will have you talking with everyone in earshot, or you can talk to your deity.
+
*'''Enrage''' - sometimes a combatant might become enraged after getting hit (indicated by flashing red exclamation mark). This is equivalent to the berserking in fort mode, but not permanent. Any enraged creature will have its strength, pain threshold and resolve boosted, which removes any fear/shock status and sends it into relentless melee. You might find, that weaker foes who flee at the first signs of combat can be transformed into killing machines by Enrage, so avoid Enraged enemies if possible until they calm down.
  
−
Whenever you want to advance the conversation, you have to press {{k|k}} again and choose the ongoing conversation you wish to continue. You will also see ongoing conversations from people who have started a conversation with you. If you want to talk to someone else during this time, simply {{DFtext|Start a new conversation}}.
+
====Attack modes and when to use them====
  
−
* {{DFtext|Greet listener}} — Has you offering a greeting to someone, when you're initiating the conversation.
+
Quick, Heavy, Wild, Precise, Charge and Multi-attack.[[File:Attack_types.png|thumb|right|200px|Attack modes]]
−
* {{DFtext|Bypass greeting (new menu)}} — Skips the greeting, taking you straight to the normal conversation menus.
 
−
* {{DFtext|Reply to greeting}} — If you aren't the one who started the conversation, this option will let you reply to someone's greeting. They will then talk about some trouble.
 
−
* {{DFtext|Refuse conversation}} — Causes you to explicitly refuse to talk to someone who started a conversation with you. Unknown if this has a different effect from simply not doing anything.{{Verify}}
 
−
* {{DFtext|Reply to greeting (impersonation)}} — Like {{DFtext|Reply to greeting}}, except you're impersonating a deity.
 
−
* {{DFtext|Nevermind}} — This has you back out of having a conversation.
 
  
−
When you start talking to someone, you are presented with a wide array of things to talk about. (If the person you are talking to started the conversation and told you about some trouble, you'll first get a menu related to that trouble. Just press {{k|-}}-{{k|Enter}} to {{DFtext|Change the subject (new menu)}} and get to this first menu.) Your choices are as follows:
+
*'''Quick attack''' - use all the time, as it greatly reduces recovery time. Strength gain of your adventurer will minimize the damage losses to the meaningless minimum in no time.
  
−
{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
+
*Using the '''"multi-attack"''' [z] option in the menu effectively lets you strike on the move, hitting enemy while simultaneously evading his attack, or even an attack from another combatant. After selecting the attack type, enter the [A]ttack menu again, then Dodge away from the target. This technique is invaluable when fighting a crowd or a dangerous/prone to charge opponent. Always use vs. wrestlers. Press the quick wait [,] button to perform actions instead of regular wait to minimize recovery time. "Float like a butterfly, sting like a megabeast".
−
| style="text-align:right;width:30%;" | {{DFtext|Return to current topic (new menu)}}
 
−
| You'll see this option only if you chose to change the subject in another menu. This will, predictably, take you back to that subject.
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Bring up specific incident or rumor (new menu)}}
 
−
| Allows you to spread rumors or summarize conflicts you've been a part of. The next step of the conversation will bring up a menu of choices that allow you to ask for directions to places or state your opinion on the incident/rumor.
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Ask to become a hearthperson}}
 
−
| Only appears when talking to a leader who you aren't under the command of. Allows to become one the leader's guards.
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Invite listener to become a hearthperson}}
 
−
| Only appears when you are a leader. Allows to become one the leader's guards.
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Request duty or advice pertaining to service as a hearthperson}}
 
−
| Only appears when talking to a leader who are under the command of. You will receive some task to accomplish for the group, if there is anything that needs doing.
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Bring up the journey together}}
 
−
| Only appears when talking to a companion. The next step of the conversation will allow you to cancel the agreement you made with that person, if you so choose.
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Inquire about any troubles}}
 
−
| Asks the listener what things in the world are bothering them and their people.
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Ask for directions (new menu)}}
 
−
| Allows you to ask for the location of a specific creature or site. People aren't guaranteed to know, and may instead direct you to someone who does.
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Ask about the local ruler}}
 
−
| As you might imagine, this gets you some information on who controls this particular area.
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Trade}}
 
−
| Allows you to trade with a merchant. Note that you have to be right next to them for this to work.
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Exchange, give, or take personal items}}
 
−
| Like {{DFtext|Trade}}, only that it works with non-merchants.
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Ask favor, place request, make demand or issue order (new menu)}}
 
−
| Takes to a menu of various request you can make, including asking the listener to yield, stay put, or pay homage to your group. The options available depends on who you're talking to.
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Ask listener to join you (new menu)}}
 
−
| This is how you get companions. You can either ask them to join you on an adventure, or to lead you to some location.
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Claim this site for yourself (group naming menu)}}
 
−
| This option allows you to stake a claim on the site you are in.
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Ask for permission to stay a day}}
 
−
| Allows you to sleep in the listener's building for the night.
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Ask about the structure you are in}}
 
−
| Tells you about whatever structure you are standing in, if you are standing in one.
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Ask about this site's neighbors and trade partners}}
 
−
| Lets you learn what sites this site is neighboring and/or trading with.
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Ask about the surrounding area}}
 
−
| Choosing this will tell you about some location nearby, and why it's significant.
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Comment on weather}}
 
−
| Small talk about the weather. Really.
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Comment on natural surroundings}}
 
−
| Same as the weather, only about the nature around you.
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Accuse listener of being a night creature}}
 
−
| If chosen against a night creature, such as a vampire, it will expose them. Normal individuals will just think you're losing it.
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Inquire about listener's profession}}
 
−
| Learn what it is the listener does. Useful for lords and ladies and anyone else whose profession isn't listed next to them.
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Ask about listener's family}}
 
−
| Discover what family the listener has, as expected.
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Brag about your past violent acts}}
 
−
| Causes you to brag about whatever last violent act you did. Doesn't seem to have an effect, or at least severely less impactful than summarizing the conflict.{{Verify}}
 
−
|-
 
−
| style="text-align:right;" | {{DFtext|Say goodbye}}
 
−
| Ends the conversation.
 
−
|}
 
  
−
Note that you can press {{k|Esc}} to not choose anything. The conversation is still ongoing, you have to explicitly say goodbye to end it. Pressing {{k|Esc}} is useful if you need to double-check something before talking.
+
*'''Heavy attack, Wild Attack, Charge attack''' - Never use on their own. This means '''NEVER'''. Both heavy and wild have ridiculous recovery times and dubious benefits, and charging is best performed by moving into your opponent while having your [C]ombat preference set to "Always Charge". However, Heavy attack has a use when combined with the next attack type: the Precise attack.
  
−
== Companions ==
+
*'''Precise attack''' - at first glance, it might seem to belong in the above category of "never use". After all, the legendary weapon skill results in one-hit kill most of the times. That is until you come upon huge, extremely well armored, thick-skinned and legendary dodger enemies (and you will). Those adversaries will dodge well above 80% of your attacks, and those that land will either glance off, or cut skin/fat at best. This is where precise attack comes into play, and will win otherwise hopeless battle. It has the same enormous recovery time, so before striking make sure enemy is preoccupied with something else (attacking your companion for example). Then deliver '''Heavy Precise stab''' to the head with your best spear.
  
−
{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
+
====Finishing off the unconscious====
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|c}}
 
−
| View companion interface
 
−
|}
 
  
−
Companions are the guys who follow you around after you've asked them to join you and they've accepted. Your character will have a limit on the maximum number of companions that is based on fame/reputation level and the ''Social Awareness'' attribute. With average social awareness and the maximum level of fame, the limit is 19 companions.
+
Many times a situation will come, where an opponent you've just fought has passed out and you have other enemies around to fight. Finishing off the armored or thick-skinned with a headshot can require more than one strike, and sometimes you just can't afford it. Note, that even with the heavy spine and lung damage tough enemies still have a good chance of waking up and crawling after you.
  
−
You can use the {{k|c}} key to open up a list showing your companions and their relative position to you. This can be useful if one of them runs off somewhere and you want to find them. You can select specific companions who are in visual range in order to view them. This is the same as viewing them with {{k|l}}ook.
+
In this case, target the throat. Torn major artery will guarantee the victim will bleed out before regaining consciousness, thus letting you move on to next target immediately. It's in your best interest to make sure that they die while unconscious.
  
−
You can give or take equipment with a companion by choosing to talk to them and selecting {{DFtext|Exchange, give or take personal items}}. An evil and arguably inefficient way to get equipment is to intentionally get your companions killed and then take their stuff. If you are trying to help your companions, it is important to note that they prefer to store exchanged items in a personal container rather than to equip said items. You must convince your companions to trade away any containers (pouches, quivers, backpacks, etc.) as well as the equipment that you are attempting to replace. Once you have given your companions almost no choice in the matter, they will equip the new items and a message like {{DFtext|The Swordsman reorganizes his possessions.|6:1}} will be displayed.
+
Finishing off unconscious armored opponents: [Q]uick kick the throat. Kick bypasses the armor protection. Alternatively, [Q]uick strike with blunt weapon.
 +
Finishing off unconscious thick-skinned opponents: [Q]uick stab the throat.
  
−
If they survive long enough/are trained well enough then companions are capable of leveling stats and skills. Thus they are susceptible to gaining a title or having a job title change as well.
+
====On Charging====
  
−
Your companions will continue to follow you and fight hostile creatures around you until they die (if you asked them to join you on an adventure) or get you to the proper location (if you asked them to guide you some place). If you want to get rid of your companions at any time, the safe way is to talk to each one of them, ask them about their journey with you, and then cancel the agreement.
+
A Charge attack, when successful, will result in a prone and stunned opponent, a failed charge will stun the attacker instead.
  
−
If your companions are too far away from you when you enter fast travel, they will become an asterisk on the map where you started fast travel from. This asterisk may try to join up with you during travel. If you keep losing your companions while traveling through rivers, try going to a spot where the river becomes a "minor river" (shown by a single dark blue line). Brooks are obviously also safe to cross.
+
Needless to say, charging is a great crowd control tool and will turn the tide of the battle. Hence,mastering it is crucial. Execute charges by first changing the [C]ombat preference to "Always charge", then moving into your opponent. Do NOT use "charge attack" mode from [A]ttack menu! After knocking down the enemy, deliver a quick blow to the vitals or legs to keep it down and charge down another enemy in case you are outnumbered. This way, you will control the mob and prevent yourself from being overrun. Don't forget to change [C]ombat preference back to "Never charge" after a fight.
  
−
== Personal Finance ==
+
Size matters! Charging an elephant is as bad of an idea as it is in real life. Charging targets of the same size is a gamble, but odds generally favour the charger. Consider charging enemies with lower size and, preferably, lower strength. If you were following the guide so far, your adventurer will have no problem trampling most human/dwarf sized opponent in the world.
  
−
=== Trading (barter) ===
+
*Charge liberally vs: bandits, wolves, goblin raiders and elves.
 +
*Charge carefully: enemies of your race/size marked as being "Tall" or "Muscular" (e.g. "Muscular bandit).
 +
*Never charge: ANY undead, inorganic monsters, creatures of the night and anything larger than yourself. If it has "giant" in its name, it probably is.
  
−
In human towns (not hamlets or castles), you can find shops,in Elven Trading trees you can find markets and at depots in dwarven fortresses you can encounter brokers. Once you're inside of a [[shop]] and right next to any of the NPCs, you can use {{K|k}} to {{DFtext|Trade}} with them. Use {{K|Enter}} to select which items to trade, left/right arrow keys to switch between the list of shop items and your items, and up/down arrow keys to scroll through the lists. You can also either {{k|a}}sk for or {{k|o}}ffer currency as part of the process. Once done, press {{K|t}} to trade. The shopkeeper won't get angry if you're not offering enough in trade, so you can start offering just a few items, keep trying again with a little more until the trade is accepted. Once the trade is accepted all of the items you offered will be on the floor underneath you.
+
Remember, charging is best performed by moving into your opponent while having your [C]ombat preference set to "Always Charge".
  
−
After trading, you will find the stuff you gave on the floor at your feet, and the stuff you got in your inventory.
+
===Weapons===
  
−
=== Theft ===
+
In brief: your core weapons of choice must invariably be Spear, Axe and Warhammer.
  
−
You may also pick up the item before buying it, but you should never walk out of a shop carrying an unbought item, as that is theft. It is punishable by death if you are caught, and excommunication if you are not. On any occasion when you have stolen goods from a store (indicated by dollar signs on either side of the item in your inventory), the game requires you to exit the site ''and'' move a considerable distance before allowing you to quick travel. This may make a getaway more difficult if your adventurer is not already faster than anyone else. This only applies to goods in stores; killing townsfolk and taking their personal things, including those of the shopkeep still only requires exiting the site. The moment you are out of sight, you will be able to warp out as usual. Theft and murder remain within entities; even depopulating one country and stealing all its things will not generate ill response in another country.
+
====Weapons you must have====
  
−
In some cases, the shop will be abandoned. This will be made clear by the presence of unbought items and the lack of any merchants in the area. You will not be considered a thief by the relevant entity for taking stuff from an abandoned shop.
+
Any adventurer worth his dwarfbuck MUST master '''Spear, Axe and Warhammer'''. All creatures in the game can be killed by at least one of these weapons.
  
−
If the item name is not surrounded by dollar signs, it is never considered stealing, even in situations where it would be in real life.
+
'''Spear'''
  
−
=== Managing coins ===
+
*Best vs: Wild animals, organic megabeasts, organic humanoids
 +
*Worst vs: inorganic enemies
  
−
You will find that coins from one civilization are nearly worthless in other civilizations. This will typically result in adventurers carrying around lots of now useless coins. Coins can and will encumber your adventurer, eventually reducing your speed. To reduce that effect you can try to exchange your copper and silver coins for gold ones as well as sell all of your loot directly for gold coins. Remember, merchants will always try to pay you in higher denomination currency first but will resort to lower value coins if they run out of anything higher. First, check the merchant's chest to see how much of each type of coins they have.  
+
High armor and tissue penetration values, fast speed, widespread availability. Stab attacks are lethal to any organic enemy: be it a goblin or a dragon, a pierced brain is a sure death. It is the weapon of choice of the beasthunter and demonslayer alike,  a first weapon of choice for fighting huge organic enemies (except blobs). Against humanoids, it is capable of piercing breastplates and chipping bones, which leads to unconsciousness due to pain (that is an instant death sentence). Stabs against armor or an enemy made out of superior material (e.g. copper spear vs steel) glance off harmlessly most of the time, so material is crucial to the performance of the spear. It also tends to get stuck in the body of the target quite often.
  
−
Coin values are as follows:
+
However, a spear is ineffective against targets with little or no vital organs (i.e. blobs, sponges) and is useless against inorganic enemies (i.e. made out of stone, metal, glass), as those have no organs whatsoever.  For those situations, use the next weapon on the list, the axe.
−
* Copper Coin = 1☼
 
−
* Silver Coin = 5☼
 
−
* Gold Coin = 15☼
 
  
−
To receive the maximum amount of gold coins from that merchant, make sure the amount "they owe you" during the trade is equal to (total amount of gold coins the shop has)*15☼ . If you are selling loot, simply make sure you only trade this worth of goods, and move on to other merchants for the rest. If you wish to exchange copper and silver coins for gold, buy random goods from the merchant until their price is around this value and then sell back all of the goods for their original value but in gold.  
+
'''Axe'''
 +
*Best vs: Wild animals, humanoids, night creatures, undead, inorganic enemies.
 +
*Worst vs: Large animals, Megabeasts or enemies of comparable size.
  
−
Alternatively, you can take your excess coinage and use it to purchase [[Gem|large gems]] at a trinket shop. Large gems make good investments because they are 1) light, 2) variably priced, and 3) equally valuable between different civilizations.
+
A truly universal weapon, an axe is amazingly effective against most foes, organic or not. The ultimate strength of the "hack" attack comes in its ability to incapacitate and kill targets immune to pain or organ damage, lop off limbs, and even cleave entire bodies asunder. A swift hack to the feet will bring down kobold and bronze colossus alike, creating an opening for a strike to the head. The best weapon against zombies, the axe also has a "slap flat" blunt crushing attack to finish a grounded zombie off without switching to the warhammer. As with the spear, the material an axe is made out of is crucial to its performance.  
  
−
A few goods are strictly superior to all forms of coinage as a store of value, most notably giant cave spider silk items. A suitably sneaky (or powerful) adventurer can murder a few dwarves or goblins for such items for trade and sale for human goods. Giant cave spider silk is a non-renewable resource in a given world - please harvest responsibly.
+
Otherwise, the effectiveness of the axe diminishes as the target's size increases. Against large animals (such as a rhino or elephant) hacking only cuts fat/skin/muscle without doing lethal damage. The limbs of huge enemies are much thicker, and hence are much harder to chop off, often requiring way too many strikes. Against better-armored or clothed gigantic targets (i.e. demons) an axe is worthless. Use the spear should you encounter these.
  
−
=== Where to get items to sell ===
+
'''Warhammer'''
  
−
The best place to get items to sell is at bandit camps, after you've slaughtered all the bandits. You can loot the clothes and equipment off of the corpses of the bandits (and off your fallen companions, too), plus at the very center of camp there'll be a few scattered weapons and a few bags/chests containing various goods.
+
*Best vs: Humanoids and armored targets.
 +
*Worst vs: Inorganic large creatures.
  
−
The next best way to get items to sell is to kill a creature, butcher their corpse (see below for how), and pick up the edible bits. Butchered bits from the corpses of people (dwarves, elves, humans, etc.) can sometimes be found in monster lairs and these seem to be just as desired by shopkeepers as the products you gain from your own butchering.
+
Unanimously considered the deadliest weapon against humanoids, the warhammer becomes an even more viable choice with the ability to pulp, crush (and the bleeding from pulping) of body parts. Your adversary might wear a full artifact adamantine armor set, and it will not save him from having bones broken right through it by the "bash" attack. A warhammer ignores any and all armor foes might wear. Additionally, the pulping damage stacks, so with some patience, it is possible to maul even the (organic) megabeasts to death. The warhammer is also the easiest weapon to make, with copper being one of the best materials for production, due to its density.
  
−
Another good early source of income can be bags left in houses and shops, which usually contain plants and food. No one will complain, and the plants inside can be sold at about 2☼ each plus the value of the bag.
+
Unfortunately, the warhammer suffers from the same problem as the battle axe - reduced combat yields against large targets. Also, attacks will glance off inorganic enemies made out of high-grade materials (e.g. steel colossus).
  
−
At the bottom of the list comes {{k|L}}ooking carefully and selling any small creatures you might find. However, shops will not accept live creatures unless they are in cages. Some rocks, piles of sand, and other things found on the ground nearly everywhere can also be sold for 1☼ each.
+
====Optional weapons====
  
−
You can also try filling your backpack from river - it can hold up to 100 units of water which is worth 100☼ total. After your sell it, water will drop to the floor as a pool, and backpack can be refilled instantly and for free from there. In fact, you can infinitely fill any container from any pool/pile of any liquid/powder, so if you happen to find some precious substance like [[sunshine]] or [[dwarven sugar]], money won't be a problem for you anymore. This is of course an [[exploit]], liable to be fixed at any time. It may be useful in a pinch, but don't rely on it.
+
'''Pike'''
  
−
Another devious method is to go outside the shop, {{k|g}}rab handfuls of mud and throw it into your backpack, then sell them for 1☼ each. The merchants will gladly buy your rare and valuable mud despite the unlimited free mud just outside their shop.
+
*Best vs: Wild animals, organic megabeasts, humanoids.
 +
*Worst vs: Inorganic enemies
  
−
== Quest Log ==
+
A buffed spear on steroids, pike has even greater penetration value, meaning it pierces armour and thick tissues like paper. Undoubtedly the best weapon against large animals (elephant, rhino, hippo) and a good pick against organic megabeasts. However, as any 2handed weapon it is slower than spear, meaning your enemy might sneak in an attack before you do, which limits its use for predominantly hunting big game.
  
−
{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
+
The biggest drawback of the pike is its inability to be manufactured by dwarves in fortress mode. This limits your selection to whatever you can find in the world. Though, with enough luck you might be able to come across masterwork iron pike, however, this is as good as it can get - steel (and better) pikes are nonexistent in vanilla game.
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|Q}}
 
−
| Open quest log
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|Esc}}
 
−
| Exit quest log
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|e}} {{k|p}} {{k|s}} {{k|r}} {{k|b}}
 
−
| Access various lists
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|m}}
 
−
| Switch between the world map and additional info
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|z}}
 
−
| Center cursor on location of selected list item, if known
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|c}}
 
−
| Center cursor on your location
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|l}}
 
−
| Toggle the visibility of the line between you and some other point on the map.
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|f}}
 
−
| Filter the list
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|+}} {{k|-}} {{k|*}} {{k|/}}
 
−
| Navigate the list
 
−
|}
 
  
−
The quest log contains everything you know about the world, such as various events going on, people you know, and various sites. The {{k|m}} key will alternate between a world map that you can navigate, and information on whatever item is highlighted in the list to the right.
+
If you happen to be born under a particularly lucky star, a moody dwarf can sometimes produce an artifact pike from whatever metals you might have in the fort, including adamantine. But if that is the case, what are you doing here? Get to those lottery tickets numbers pronto!
  
−
There are various kinds of lists you can check on the quest log:
+
'''Halberd'''
  
−
* '''Events''' — A list of events that are happening or have happened. Formatting of the list is {{DFtext|(type)/(description)}}. You can center on the location of the event if you know this. This list is the closest you'll get to some formal quest system.
+
*Best vs: Wild animals, humanoids, night creatures, undead, inorganic enemies.
−
* '''People''' — A list of people you know. At the start of the game, this list will contain people in your site.
+
*Worst vs: Large animals, Megabeasts or enemies of comparable size.  
−
* '''Sites''' — A list of various sites around the world.
 
−
* '''Groups''' — A list of groups you know of and your relation to them. Note that you have to press {{k|e}} when you're on the events list in order to reach this list, requiring you to press {{k|e}} at most twice.
 
−
* '''Regions''' — A list of regions. The additional information will list the biomes a region possesses.
 
−
* '''Bestiary''' — A list of creatures, their characteristics, and where you could find them.
 
  
−
==Crafting==
+
Halberds are essentially hybrid version of the axe with much greater slashing potential (in fact greatest of all weapons), as well as an additional stab attack. This makes halberds fare better against enemies axe is weak against, as well as making bisecting easy. However, it is still ill-advised to use it versus extremely large creatures.  
−
{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"
 
−
|-
 
−
| {{k|x}}
 
−
| Perform action (butcher, create item...)
 
−
|}
 
  
−
Adventurers can perform limited crafting, (also known as "reactions"). To access the crafting menu, press {{k|x}}.  
+
The downsides come in a form of halberds being 2-handed, as well as being foreign weapons, meaning dwarves cannot manufacture them. As any 2handed weapon it is slower than its 1h equivalent, meaning your enemy might sneak in an attack before you do. Inability to equip a shield can be a serious downside, though not as serious as lack of high-quality halberds. Thus, your selection is limited to whatever you can find in human fortresses. Bandit ringleaders sometimes wield masterwork weapons, which can turn out to be a halberd.
  
−
* '''[[Knapper|Knapping]]''' allows an adventurer to sharpen a rock. Knapping only works on stones on the ground or in your hands. Choose the {{k|c}}reate option and then select "Make sharp stone". You will be prompted to choose a rock to sharpen ("tool stone"), and then the rock that is to be the hammerstone. The tool stone will be replaced in your hand by a sharp version.
+
If you happen to be born under a particularly lucky star, a moody dwarf can sometimes produce an artifact-quality halberd from whatever metals you might have in the fort, including adamantine. But if that is the case, what are you doing here? Get to the scratching cards pronto!
  
−
* '''Butchering''' acts similarly to Fortress Mode's [[Butchery]] by converting a corpse into edible products, bones, and skin. A corpse must be on the ground or in your hand. With a sharp object (such as a dagger or knapped stone or even a bolt/arrow) in your hand or on the same tile of the corpse, select the {{k|b}}utcher option, and then you can select the corpse and the sharp tool to butcher with. The corpse will be replaced by its butchering returns.
+
'''Whip and Scourge'''
  
−
* '''Spitting''' gives you spit, which can be aimed at someone in much the same way as any projectile. To get this, choose natural ability and then spit in the reactions menu.
+
*Best vs: Everything
 +
*Worst vs: Nothing
  
−
You may also gain acquired abilities when you become a creature of the night, such as a necromancer.
+
[[DF2014:Whip|Whip]] and [[DF2014:Scourge|Scourge]] are examples of one of the many bugs of Dwarf fortress. Basically, these act as blunt weapons, but have penetration values that of a lightsaber, being able to slice through any armor or thickness of flesh. A copper whip can chip a bone through steel, adamantine, demon skin and dragon scale. Altogether. It is also effective against inorganic enemies, chipping their body material and accumulating the damage that will eventually bring down anything.  
  
−
= Sites =
+
In the preamble to this guide I have mentioned not abusing glitches, and this is one of them. Do not use these weapons if you are looking for a reasonable challenge. Though it can be argued, that whips are somewhat less effective against enemies immune to pain.
  
−
More information on each type of site can be found in the site's specific article.
+
====ABSOLUTE BEST====
  
−
== Civilization ==
+
This is a list of the best weapons you can possibly have (without exploiting) to give you something to aspire to. While some are impractically difficult to acquire, it is possible to manufacture them in fortress mode with creative resource management.
  
−
[[Civilization]]s are organized groups of creatures (generally of the same race) which build sites such as towns.
+
*'''AXE:''' Artifact-quality adamantine battle axe, coated with paralyzing FB dust.
 +
*'''SPEAR:''' Artifact-quality adamantine spear, coated with paralyzing FB dust.
 +
*'''WARHAMMER:''' Artifact-quality platinum warhammer, coated with necrosis inducing FB dust. Best blunt weapon you can ever get, period.
  
−
=== Human Sites ===
+
'''''Legendary:'''''
  
−
==== Towns {{Raw Tile|+|7:0:0}} {{Raw Tile|*|7:0:0}} {{Raw Tile|#|7:0:0}} {{Raw Tile|☼|7:0:0}} ====
+
*'''PIKE:''' Artifact-quality adamantine pike, coated with paralyzing FB dust. Best piercing weapon you can ever get, period.
−
Humans live in towns comprised of buildings and often a paved road. Human towns are highly modular, and are usually near some source of water, either the coast or a river.
+
*'''HALBERD:''' Artifact-quality adamantine halberd coated with paralyzing FB dust. Best slashing weapon you can ever get, period.
 +
*'''WHIP''' Artifact-quality platinum whip, coated with necrosis-inducing FB dust. Absolutely the cheesiest weapon, period.
  
−
Towns appear on the fast travel map (when outside a site) as {{Tile|■|7:0:1}} or {{Tile|■|6:0:1}} symbols which are small collections of buildings. When you are near a human site, large yellow blocks indicate where various houses and shops are found (though not all houses and shops can be found in these blocks; sometimes you'll find a house or two out in a site's fields). You usually have to follow the roads in a yellow block on the fast travel map.
+
====Weapons to avoid====
  
−
Towns usually have lots of interesting structures which are described fully in the [[town]] article.
+
*'''Mace''' - warhammer is better in almost every aspect
 +
*'''Sword''' - Lower penetration value than spear, less limb-hacking potential than axe and astonishingly useless slap attack, more fit to squishing mosquitoes. But adamantine and/or artifact can be useful, if you have no better spear and axe.
 +
*'''Most of 2h weapons''' - these  are slower, come in poor quality and rob you of opportunity to use shield (which is huge). Broad body adventurers can equip them in one hand, but unless you have an artifact produced by your fortress, 2-handed weapons' quality and material will be way below their 1-handed counterparts.
 +
*'''Ranged weapons''' - Some weapons are simply least effective, some are plain bad, but none are actually as dangerous to '''their user''' as bow and crossbow get. After taking a shot (which, by the way,  cannot be aimed at a particular body part), your character will be stuck in place for about 20-40 [[Time#Breakdown|ticks]], unable to move, fight or in fact, unable to do anything. Maybe it was implemented to simulate reloading, but in any case, it leaves you vulnerable, very vulnerable. To add insult to injury, ammunition is dreadfully heavy, with as much as 10 bolts enough to slow down "high" strength character. And 10 is rarely enough to bring anything substantial down. If you want a ranged attack, throw bolts/arrows instead.
  
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==== Hamlets {{Raw Tile|æ|7:0:0}} {{Raw Tile|Æ|7:0:0}} {{Raw Tile|{{=}}|7:0:0}} {{Raw Tile|≡|7:0:0}} ====
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====Dual-wielding====
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Most of the time, the majority of a human civilization's population will live in small [[hamlet]]s, which tend to be sprawled out along coastlines and through river valleys. Like other sites, they can be invaded, and you'll sometimes find them captured by other civilizations, [[necromancer]]s, or criminal syndicates. Human adventurers usually spawn in hamlets.
 
  
−
Note that hamlets are similar in structure to towns, only they have mead halls instead of keeps, and don't have any defensive walls.
+
Having a weapon in each hand does not allow you to strike with both at the same time, not even when using multi-attack (attacks are executed consecutively, one after another). At most, it will spare you the effort of one key press if one of those weapons will get stuck in target's body. This gimmick comes with a huge cost of not being able to block. As such, dual-wielding is near useless.
  
−
=== Dwarven Sites ===
+
====Sheathing====
  
−
==== Dwarf Fortresses {{Raw Tile|Ω|7:0:1}} ====
+
The {{k|q}} key lets you strap your weapon and/or shield to your back. Use it to free your hands for wrestling, climbing or equipping a different weapon/shield. You can have an infinite amount of items sheathed. [r]emove key can be used to retrieve sheathed items.
−
These are the randomly generated equivalent of the sites you build in [[dwarf fortress mode]]. [[Fortress]]es are described in detail in the own article. Their main function for adventurers is that they have a central, spiraling ramp that connects the underground and above-ground worlds, particularly in that they connect the subterranean tunnel networks to the rest of the dwarf civilization. They are located at the edges of mountain ranges.
 
  
−
Player-made fortresses are considered dwarf fortresses by the game, in addition to the randomly-generated ones.
+
===Unarmed combat===
  
−
==== Mountain Halls {{Raw Tile|Ω|0:0:1}} ====
+
[[Kisat Dur]]: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=148015.0 A lot of the techniques described there are applicable to armed combat as well. Just don't try taking down bronze colossus with it.
−
[[Mountain halls]] are the sites of the "deep dwarves," located far beneath the mountains. They can be accessed via down-stairs found in underground tunnels, and are comprised of a couple of levels that contain bedrooms and large halls filled with smelters or forges.
 
  
−
==== Hillocks {{Raw Tile|Ω|7:0:0}} ====
+
===Stamina management===
−
[[Hillock]]s are the dwarf equivalent to human hamlets. They consist of a few circular mounds filled with dwarf citizens. There doesn't seem to be any settlement pattern for them; they are equally likely to be found in any land [[biome]].
 
  
−
=== Elven Sites ===
+
Any combat action (including dodging) consumes stamina. Prolonged fighting can lead to your character getting tired, while further pushing the tired character will lead to exhaustion and passing out.
  
−
==== Forest Retreats {{Raw Tile|î|6:0:1}} {{Raw Tile|¶|6:0:1}} ====
+
A tired adventurer has ALL skill levels cut in half, as well as suffering a movespeed penalty. In a major fight, this means imminent death without other options.  
−
Elves live in [[forest retreat]]s located, unsurprisingly, in [[forest]] biomes. They are essentially clusters of huge [[tree]]s with elves standing in and around them.
 
  
−
=== Goblin Sites ===
+
To avoid getting tired:
 +
*1. Control your movespeed. The faster your current movespeed is, the faster your character will react, which simply means less overall recovery time. While undoubtedly useful, this trades stamina for speed, and must be carefully considered. The stamina drain depends not on the gait type (walk, jog, sprint), but on the ''actual speed'' your character is moving. E.g. a human sprinting at 4.000 speed will get tired much faster than dwarf sprinting at 2.000 speed. Use sprint to quickly close in on a nearby target, then use Run if you need to chase further. Avoid chases with sprint mid-fight, when there are other opponents around.
 +
*2. Drop your backpack before running into fights, even if it doesn't slow you down. Once tired, the small movespeed penalties caused by extra weight will take full effect. These are so small, they are not even visible on the speedometer for fresh characters, but ''will'' show up on tired ones.
 +
*3. If you need to move 1 cell away from your opponent, use the "Dodge" option from the combat interface. It will drain MUCH less stamina than sprinting for 1 cell.
 +
*4. You can jump to restore your stamina. Note, that jumping is much slower than running, and your enemy will likely catch up.
 +
*5. Avoid tiring yourself by swinging too much. If you cannot pierce enemy armour, either find ways around it (blows to the neck, blunt weapons, wrestling, pikes) or retreat.
 +
*5. Once you've achieved legendary in all necessary skills and superior in all attributes, you can become Necromancer to receive unlimited stamina.
  
−
==== Dark Fortresses {{Raw Tile|π|0:0:1}} {{Raw Tile|π|5:0:0}} {{Raw Tile|π|5:0:1}} ====
+
===Needs and Focus===
−
These are the main goblin sites. Some [[dark fortress]]es may contain a [[Underworld spire|certain spoiler]].
 
  
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==== Dark Pits {{Raw Tile|º|5:0:0}}====
+
You've honed your character's body. It is essential that you hone their spirit next. Any adventurer will benefit from a ''Focused'' mind, therefore, you must learn how to reach this state, or at least avoid being ''Distracted''. Since it is done to prepare for battles, reaching "Focused!" state will be referred to as "Pre- battle Meditation" in this guide from now on.
−
These are the goblin equivalent of hamlets and hillocks. [[Dark Pit]]s are essentially canyons lined with wooden guard towers. They tend to be built in huge clusters around the dark fortresses, such that large chunks of the map may be covered with them.
 
  
−
=== Kobold Sites ===
+
If you have followed the instruction from "Values and personality" section, your character would now have the following needs:
−
==== Caves {{Raw Tile|•|#808080|#00DD00}}====
+
*1. Stay occupied - fulfilled by knapping or bone carving, both can be easily performed from [X] menu. You will need any sharp object to carve bone, bolts are the best for this.
−
[[Cave]]s are sometimes home to [[kobold]] groups. They are mounds filled with narrow tunnels leading to the [[caverns]] and usually contain piles of random loot resulting from kobold [[Thief|thieving]] incursions.
+
*2. Excitement - fulfilled by fighting or brawling. It does not matter what you fight, hence, all you need is to find a cat and kick it once.
 +
*3. Cause trouble - fulfilled by pressing an argument. Talk to anyone friendly, pick "state your values" from dialogue options, and state some nuances that will prompt an argument (e.g. "Nuances of law"). Press the argument once, and you will have the need satisfied, alongside the "Argue" need.
 +
*4. Learn something - fulfilled by practicing any skill/craft or reading a book concerning something (E.g. Essay concerning the hamlet Braidedgrasped) or on a scientific subject (e.g. Essay on Fluid statics). These books are commonly found in the world, being held by scholars who are willing to trade them away.
 +
*5. Craft object - fulfilled by knapping or bone carving, both can be easily performed from [X] menu. You will need any sharp object to carve bone, bolts are the best for this. Doing this also fulfills 'be creative' and 'stay occupied' .
 +
*6. Martial training - fulfilled by practicing any combat skill. Easily satisfied by shooting a bow/crossbow once or yet again, kicking a cat. Note, that Thrower and Misc. Object user do not count as combat skills for this purpose.
 +
*7. Be creative -  - fulfilled by knapping or bone carving, both can be easily performed from [X] menu. You will need any sharp object to carve bone, bolts are the best for this.
 +
*8. Fight - fulfilled by fighting or brawling. It does not matter what you fight, hence, all you need is to find a cat and kick it once.
 +
*9. Argue - fulfilled by pressing an argument. Talk to anyone friendly, pick "state your values" from dialogue options, and state some nuances that will prompt an argument (e.g. "Nuances of law"). Press the argument once, and you will have the need satisfied, alongside the "Cause trouble" need.
 +
*10. Think abstractly - fulfilled by reading ANY book or scroll. These are commonly found in the world, being held by scholars or, in case of scrolls, sometimes lying around at fortresses.
 +
*11. Hear eloquence - fulfilled by reciting a poem. Begin a performance and recite any poem your character knows. If you do not know any (highly unlikely), you can learn poems by reading books (containing poetry), or listening to bards at taverns, but the odds of the character knowing no poems at all are slim.
 +
*12. Practice skill - fulfilled by practicing ANY skill, but easier to satisfy by knapping or bone carving.
  
−
=== Night Creature Sites ===
+
Some of the needs are impossible, or very hard to fulfill. Avoid at all costs:
 +
*Eat good meal - cannot be satisfied, period.
 +
*Help somebody - fulfilled only by rescuing children from dark fortresses. Aside from being excruciatingly tedious, it will hog all your play time due to massive FPS slowdown that occurs at goblin sites.
 +
*Make romance - cannot be fulfilled for adventurers, period.
 +
*Acquire object - very tedious to fulfill, as you will need to trade (not barter!) or demand an item (never ends well).
 +
*Being with family/Being with friends - cannot be satisfied, period.
 +
*Take it easy - cannot be satisfied, period.
 +
*See a great beast - cannot be satisfied, period.
  
−
==== Necromancer's Towers {{Raw Tile|I|5:0:0}} ====
+
Therefore, your average "Pre-combat meditation" will consist of knapping, reciting a poem, arguing with a friend, reading, and kicking a small animal.
−
[[Necromancer]]'s Towers are built by necromancers who have at least 50 followers; younger necromancers may take over towns or camps instead. Usually you can find [[book]]s written by the necromancer, some of which contain [[Necromancer#Adventurer_Mode|the secret to life and death]]. Towers require abundant human populations (low savagery, large tracts of neutral land) and a high number of secrets to be generated in world generation, as necromancers cannot be elf or goblin.
 
  
−
==== Lairs ====
+
===F.A.Q===
−
Lairs are the homes of [[night troll]]s. Lairs are mounds or holes in the ground with doors or hatch covers. Most night troll lairs are inhabited by a single creature, but sometimes you'll encounter entire families of five or even ten.
+
*Q:Best starting weapon? A: Battleaxe, Spear, Warhammer. Must be legendary in all three.
 +
*Q:Can I dual wield? It sounds cool, but is it practical? A: Dual-wielding is useless compared to weapon+shield combo. Do not dual-wield.
 +
*Q:How do I fight a crowd? A: Step one: bring 2+ companions. Step two: Fight one foe at a time, use charge attacks when applicable. Step three: Target the least armored first. Watch your stamina.
 +
*Q:Can I charge X? What is the rule of thumb for charging? A:Is it bigger than yourself? Yes: Do not charge. No: charge!
 +
*Q:Who do I target first in a fight vs. multiple opponents. A: Single out the least skilled/armed/armored opponent (e.g. Bandit recruit) and focus on him. Besides having one less enemy, chances are, after seeing him die, others will have their morale broken.
 +
*Q:What part of an enemy do I target first in combat? A: Prioritize feet/legs unless you are absolutely sure you can deliver a one-hit kill blow to the head.
 +
*Q:Enemy armour deflects my blows to the head, what do I do? A: Cripple the enemy with a blow to the legs, then target neck. Neck often has lesser protection when compared to the head. Using blunt weapon will improve your chances.
 +
*Q:Best weapon for maiming opponents? A: Battleaxe and spear will do best in 95% of cases, target feet. Use warhammer against heavy armour.
 +
*Q:I have ran out of stamina amidst a fight, and is tired/exert. what to do? A: [J]ump away from combat and let your companions hold while you regain your breath. Jumping does not consume stamina.
 +
*Q:I am attacked by a [[DF2014:Night creature|night creature]], how do I fight? A: As with many other humanoids, target the legs (and wings, if it has any). After hitting the ground, the night creature cannot charge you, making the battle significantly easier. Note that many of the night creatures are almost as fast on the ground as they are on their feet.
 +
*Q:My companions run at the very sight of an enemy! How do I make them fight? A: As any other creature, companions are affected by Discipline skill. The only way to raise it is to fight more, or train the companions beforehand, though even high-discipline NPCs might flee before megabeasts or night creatures.
 +
*Q: I have accidentally hit my companion and he/she turned against me! How do I win him/her back? A:If enemies are around, let it go and don't help the rebel until enemies are no more or you have fled. Otherwise, using wrestling, grab their throat. Choke until companion passes out. Take away their weapon, gouge both eyes out and wait for them to wake up. Afterwards, start grabbing limbs in a lock and breaking them. Gouge cheeks/lips to further drive the point that you want to make peace. After a few rounds of wrestling torture, the insubordinate will break, and attempt to run. This is where you [T]alk to the rebel wannabe and ask to cease the hostilities. With a very high chance, he/she will agree and become benign. Speak to the ex-companion again and recruit back. Eyes and limbs will fully heal after rest.
 +
*Q:I ended up on the ground, what do I do? A: Granted you can still walk, change your [S]peed to "Scramble" and then [s]tand up.
 +
*Q: Odds are not in my favour. How do I escape? A: [D]rop the heavy items and flee at top speed - life is dearer than *Iron spear*. Run just enough to lose sight of the enemy, then fast travel away.
  
−
=== Megabeast Sites ===
+
===Finalizing the training===
−
==== Minotaur's Labyrinths {{Raw Tile|#|0:7:1}}====
 
−
A Labyrinth is an intricate network of tunnels often filled with the bodies of previous adventurers slain in [[World generation|worldgen]] by its resident [[minotaur]]. As you explore the labyrinth, you will hear the minotaur taunting you.
 
  
−
==== Shrine {{Raw Tile|Å|7:0:0}} ====
+
Repeat the training process until legendary in all necessary disciplines: Dodging, Shield user, Armor user, Axe, Spear, Warhammer, Pike, Wrestling, Striking, Kicking, Throwing. Additionally, you will end up with legendary Fighter-Archer skills as well as greatly increased strength, agility, endurance, focus and willpower.
−
Shrines are huge stone structures surrounded by pillars that are the homes of [[Bronze colossus|bronze colossi]] and [[titan]]s. Several of them can be found on a single site, making its exploration particularly hazardous. [[Demon|Demons]] have also been reported to inhabit them.
 
  
−
= FAQ =
+
At this point, you have the gear, body and skills to shift the battle scales heavily in your favor. Now, it is time to venture onward and leave a mark in the world!
  
−
== How do I find an entrance to the underworld? ==
+
=Mid Game=
−
Method 1: Most [[Cave|caves]] lead directly into the first [[cavern]] layer. Although it may be possible to learn of some trouble which originates from a cave{{verify}}, your best bet is to ask people about the surroundings, and hope that they mention a cave at some point. If they don't, travel to another site a fair bit away from where you are and ask someone else.
 
  
−
Method 2: Dwarf [[Fortress|fortresses]] are connected to the [[tunnel]] system, which usually connects to the caverns.
+
The majority of your character's life, adventures and heroic deeds will happen here, in the mid-game.
  
−
Method 3: You can start a [[dwarf fortress mode]] game, dig to the first cavern layer, retire or abandon the fortress, and then return with your adventurer.
+
==First steps in a big world==
  
−
The three cavern layers are connected to each other in [[Deep pit|various]] [[Passage|places]], although they are rather spread out and extremely difficult to find with an adventurer.
+
You've finalized your training. Now, you have to finalize your gear. If all you have at the moment is copper, you must travel around and visit every fortress in the human settlements until you have at least full set of bronze armour, bronze battle axe, bronze spear and copper/silver warhammer. Shields, however, are best left copper due to copper's higher density and hence, higher weight behind a shield bash. Besides, it is much easier to find masterwork copper buckler/shield than it is to find masterwork iron.
  
−
Additionally, [[Underworld spire|a certain spoiler]] can be found which leads to [[Hell|another spoiler]], deep underground.
+
* Dwarves residing in hillocks or human towns sometimes possess steel equipment (albeit of low quality). If there's a town or many dwarven settlements around, it is worth your time to travel to the largest ones and [L]ook at dwarves' inventories. Dwarf militiamen have a chance to have steel weapons, and are willing to part with them for a wealth of other items in exchange. This is the only way to obtain steel gear at this point of your career without starting a dwarf fortress yourself. To trade with non-merchants, use "Exchange personal items" talk menu.
  
−
== I keep getting maimed! How can I fight without getting seriously hurt? ==
+
Ensure you have a full set (armor+weapons) of bronze or above. Next, recruit another companion for a total of two. Now your adventurer is ready for questing.
−
The best defense is a good offense. If you let your enemies attack you, you're (unsurprisingly) likely to get hurt eventually.
 
−
* Try to '''avoid fighting difficult enemies until you get some armor'''. Don't fight enemies at all unless you're sure you can beat them. If you're unsure, you're probably going to get hurt.
 
−
* If you have good speed, try to '''fight enemies one-by-one''' — keep moving backwards and only attack when you're within range of just one enemy.
 
−
* If you have a slashing weapon, try to '''chop body parts off of your enemy''' — it makes them stop fighting for a turn, allowing you to keep attacking them without being attacked in exchange. Chopping off limbs will also weaken your enemies - taking their arms can prevent them from using weapons, taking their legs can make them slow and knock them down. Chopping off their heads will instantly kill them, but it may take a few (or, with larger enemies such as [[troll]]s, it may take more than fifteen) slashes before the head is severed.
 
−
* Remember that '''it's better to let your enemy come to you, than to go to your enemy'''. You have to either move or attack. If you move, you can't attack, so if you move within range to attack your enemy, you allow them to have the first strike (unless you're much faster than them). On the other hand, if you let them move within range of you, then you get to have the first strike. If your enemy is one space away from you, use that as an opportunity to throw a knife or a rock at them; worst case, they will get a bruise or a cut; best case, they will start the melee severely crippled. If you're fast enough, then you can simply step back after getting in that first hit, and they'll have to spend their turn approaching you again. Lather, rinse, repeat.
 
−
* Follow the advice under [[#Combat Preferences|Combat Preferences]].
 
  
−
== How can I obtain armor as quickly as possible? ==
+
===Early quests===
−
* The best way would be to rummage through mead halls, keeps, and fortresses, or whatever other strongholds your race makes use of. Not all places will be stocked with equipment, but usually they have something.
 
−
** There are also underground locations, such as the dungeons underneath keeps, or the catacombs under temples, that contain plenty of equipment. These underground places are liable to be populated with unfriendly creatures, so beware.
 
−
* You can also take along companions and have them killed, or just plainly murder people and loot their corpses for stuff.
 
−
* You can earn some money by exchanging some loot with the local populace for coins, and then buy equipment off of soldiers you might meet in towns. Remember that coins only have nominal value in the civilization they've been minted, but gems are equally valuable anywhere.
 
  
−
== How do I increase my skills and attributes? ==
+
(The method below utilizes the "rumors" system, which allows you to be a freewheeling adventurer who lets the stories of your renown build your reputation through word-of-mouth. If you prefer the more traditional RPG model of getting a specific quest assignment from a leader whom you can report back to, see the [[Quest#Agreements|Agreements]] section of the [[quest]] page for more information.)
 +
 +
Travel to any human fortress and look for a lord/lady. Talk to the noble, introduce yourself and inquire about troubles, choosing "Tell me about bandits" option. With almost 100% chance, you will be told of a bandits' camp nearby. Note that it has to be stopped with violent force and ask for directions there. At that moment, you will have the location of the camp added to your [Q]uest journal under "Sites" tab.
  
−
Here are some techniques for raising your skills; very rapidly in some cases.
+
Make your way to the campsite. As ringleaders are always notable figures, look for a bandit with a flashing icon. Once located, swiftly dispatch the brigand leader with the techniques you've practiced during training. You will most likely be able to cripple the legs and behead in two [Q]uick hacks with an axe. Seeing their chief die, most other bandits will become demoralized and either run or freeze in fear. With help from your companions, dispatching the rest won't be difficult.
  
−
Most of these skill-raising techniques involve repeatedly entering the same keystrokes. To assist with this you can use a [[DF2014:Macro|macro]] to make entering the same sequence of keystrokes over and over again much easier.
+
Rinse, repeat. Complete at least 3 bandit hunt quests, make sure to report (turn in) your success, and you will be revered as a brave protector of the defenseless. These are but the first steps in building your reputation.  
  
−
Increasing skills increases associated attributes which may in turn benefit other skills. For example, sharpening rocks using {{k|x}} will increase Knapping which will increase a number of attributes that help with combat skills. See [[Attribute#Skills_by_Associated_Attributes|Skills and Associated Attributes]] for a mostly complete list.
+
====Trophies====
  
−
*'''Fighting and Wrestling''' — A good way to raise your Fighting and Wrestling skills and related attributes is to go find a small, relatively harmless animal and wrestle with it repeatedly. You can wrestle hitting {{k|b}} for the wrestling option after selecting the creature to fight. Continually grabbing and releasing a creature is sufficient to raise your skill, and you can do it indefinitely with the same animal as it won't be injured (unless you auto-wrestle it). Wrestling will increase Kinesthetic Sense, Spatial Sense, and to a lesser extent, Endurance. You may also somewhat increase Dodging and Shield User this way as the creature takes swipes at you.<p>It's possible to change your {{k|C}}ombat preferences for attacking and dodging to ''Close Combat'' and ''Stand Ground'', respectively, allowing you to simply walk into the helpless critter to wrestle it. (Standing your ground prevents you from moving to dodge attacks, so your wrestling can continue almost uninterrupted.) You will, however, perform occasional throws and take-downs as long as the creature remains standing, which may result in their eventual bleeding to death. Strangulation is also a repeated concern, as it will render the victim unconscious, thus making you have to wait until it regains consciousness before you can continue auto-wrestling it (though you may still raise your Wrestler and Fighter skills by 10 points for every time you ''release'' a limb - though this must be done manually and must be repeatedly confirmed, once the creature is rendered unconscious). Another concern with auto-wrestling some animals is that you will perform joint locks, and break hips, knees, and ankles in the process, which can cause the creature to bleed to death. If you can wrangle a creature incapable of blood-loss and strangulation in a high-FPS area (such as a crab on a frozen beach), you can easily raise all associated skills and attributes to Legendary and Superhuman in the course of a few minutes.</p>
+
Make sure to get a trophy from your significant kills! If the target was decapitated, take the head. If not (e.g. pierced brain), butcher the corpse and take the skull/chitin. This will let you remember the name of the kill when you turn it in to the quest giver as well as being (in case of megabeast skulls) a great adornment for pedestals. Additionally, bite ears off any bandits that you are about to kill, Diablo 2 style. It will add to satisfaction much more than just mere numbers and listings of the kill counter. Remember: attempting to cut ears off might result in premature lethal hit, and as such, being unable to get the ear.
−
*'''Shield User, Armor User, and Dodging''' - In addition to wrestling the creature, you can also sit back and let it attack you to raise your defensive skills. If you have metal armor, then a small animal like a gopher can't do any real damage to you when it hits. Also, to place emphasis more heavily on shield blocking, you can change your attack {{K|C}}ombat preference to ''Stand Ground''. The wrestling-a-crab-on-a-frozen-beach method also works fantastically for this.
 
−
*'''Weapon Skills and Fighting''' — Once your defensive skills are getting up there and your agility is high enough, you might want to try fighting [[bogeyman|bogeymen]] to increase your weapon skill. Just make sure to fight them one at a time while running away. If you don't know what a bogeyman is yet then you are probably not ready to try this. Also, doing difficult targeted shots will gain more experience and keep the training dummy alive longer.
 
−
*'''Throwing and Archery''' — Throwing rocks with {{k|t}} will raise your Throwing and Archery skills. Throwing objects at creatures, while not terribly effective, can still be a quite handy skill. Although throwing is a way to raise Archery without wasting ammunition, there is a non-wasteful method that additionally increases bow/crossbow skills.<p>The most efficient way to level via throwing is to forgo using a macro and separate training into two phases: {{k|g}}etting and {{k|t}}hrowing. First, find a tile with an indefinite amount of throwable objects (e.g., snow, rocks, mud, etc.). Then, sequentially mash {{k|g}} and whatever key the rocks are assigned to until both your forearms explode. Rest. Then, sequentially mash {{k|t}}, followed by some consistent key assigned to your rocks, then {{k|Enter}}, until you've emptied your inventory. Rest. Rinse and repeat. (You may wish to empty your inventory beforehand such that the rocks are assigned to a key close to {{k|t}}, allowing you to keep one hand on {{k|Enter}} and another on {{k|t}}.)</p>
 
−
*'''Marksman, Bowman, and Archery''' — Raising the bow and crossbow weapon-specific skills is best done by shooting at a wall or cliff with no floor directly beneath it. If bolts or arrows hit a wall that has floor/ground on the same z-level, then the ammunition will be destroyed. ''However'', ammunition that falls at least one z-level after hitting a wall will remain intact. So, simply find something like a hill inside a castle, stand on it, then shoot at a wall which is on the same z-level you are. The arrows will hit the wall and fall one z-level to the ground, remaining intact. You can then {{k|g}}et the arrows and {{k|f}}ire them at the wall again from the hill, ad infinitum. You can also stand next to a wall that's two or more z-levels high, aiming at the wall one z-level up by hitting {{k|<}} after hitting {{k|f}}. Whatever method you employ, the key is that the arrow needs to fall at least one z-level after hitting a wall to remain intact. Using a macro will speed this up greatly.<p>An alternative and much easier way to train any ranged attack is to simply shoot one or more z-levels straight above into the air , by using {{k|f}} than {{k|<}} , any ammunition used seems incapable of causing harm to the one launching it and lands undamaged under their feet for easy retrieval , however this may be considered a bug and/or exploit.</p>
 
−
*'''Ambushing and Swimming''' — An efficient way to raise Ambushing is to sneak over large stretches of land. Sneaking on the fast travel screen may work as well.{{Verify}} Ideally, this would be done in a biome containing sparse vegetation and few threatening creatures to blunder into and reduce FPS (e.g., a frozen beach).<p>Although less efficient for raising only Ambushing, it's also possible to sneak and swim at the same time, thus combining their training. '''Just make sure you start with at least Novice in swimming''', or you'll find swimming practically impossible to train. Swimming can very quickly improve your Strength, Agility, and Endurance. Additionally, if you can safely drown and then recover (e.g., by moving under a bridge and then back before suffocating), this will raise both Toughness and Endurance at a ''ridiculous'' pace— a single step spent drowning will raise both attributes by a fifth of a point apiece.</p>
 
−
*'''Observer''' — You can't really power-level this skill as it is slow and difficult to train, which is why you're advised to sink some points into it during character creation. However, one way to train it appears to be sleeping or walking around in the wilderness, allowing yourself to be repeatedly ambushed. This is, however, inherently dangerous. Running away from these encounters would probably be faster than slaying your assailants, if not generally safer for your character (but not for your companions, hoh boy).<p>Successfully detecting traps found in tombs and catacombs (performed automatically) will also raise Observer. However, without decent skill to begin with, you'll be torn to pieces by the many traps you'll fail to see. Otherwise, once you've found one or more traps, it's possible to grind experience by sleeping/waiting an hour, thus resetting the traps. Rinse and repeat.</p><p>As of version 40_23 one seem to aquire Observer skill from regular combat.</p>
 
−
*'''Spatial and Kinesthetic Sense''' - While sharpening rocks with {{k|x}} will improve your Knapping skill, it more importantly increases your Spatial Sense and Kinesthetic Sense attributes, which affect a number of other skills. Knapping can be combined with throwing via a macro to keep your inventory from filling up.
 
−
*'''Other Stats''' - Other useful stats like Strength, Agility, and Toughness will increase significantly as the fighting and defense skills increase, so you don't need to do anything other than what you'd normally be doing to increase these.
 
  
−
== I managed to escape but my limbs are chopped off. Now what? ==
+
Human-sized heads and ears can be stored in any container and even put in cages - press [P] while standing near the cage. It makes sense to cage skulls of slain named animals, trolls, bogeymen or the like. Take into account the weight of the trophy - the larger the enemy, the heavier the trophy.
  
−
'Tis but a scratch!
+
====Turning in quests====
  
−
Unfortunately, there is only one way to get them back, and that is by being bitten by a [[werebeast]] and surviving until the next full moon. But as long as you have at least one leg and one arm left you can actually do pretty well. First, get a crutch from somewhere, such as a general store, and make sure it's in one of your hands. Once you do that you should be able to {{k|s}}tand back up again. (However, if spinal nervous tissue damage is what has disabled your ability to stand, crutches ''will not'' help you in that regard.) You will notice that your speed is now much slower than before.
+
Now that you've wiped the bandits out, it is time to report your success to the quest giver. In fact, you can report your success to anyone in any settlement. However, returning to the original quest giver will allow you to store the spoils of war in the same location instead of hauling it every time, as well as allow you to put your trophies onto pedestals for everyone to admire.
  
−
Now go find someplace reasonably safe and walk back and forth until your Crutch Walking skill gets up to Legendary or above. You will notice your speed increasing as your skill levels up until your speed is completely back to normal. As a bonus you'll probably see some stat increases as well. You can continue to dodge with a crutch just as well as before.
+
You will need to install the Rumor System UI improvement script (DFhack is required) by 1337G4mer: [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=155262.0 Link]. Otherwise, finding the needed kill in the long list of useless rumours will be next to impossible.  
  
−
You can wield a sword, shield, and crutch all in one hand, so even if you are missing an arm then you're all set. If you are missing both arms but still have both legs then unfortunately you'll be limited to biting, dodging, and wrestling with legs. If you're missing both arms and one leg then your movement will be limited and you'll be limited to biting and wrestling with your one remaining leg. And if all limbs are missing then you'll be limited to rolling around on the ground biting things.
+
Copy the CODE section to any text document, save it as rumors.lua (remember to change the file extension), and copy the resulting .lua file into your \hack\scripts directory. The script can now be used by typing "rumors" (without quotes) into DFhack console window whenever you are at the rumor selection list, then typing "slew" in the rumour filter (in the ''Dwarf Fortress'' window). This will display all your kills in an easy to browse and select list.
  
−
Though you might actually be able to do surprisingly well as a Legendary Biter, especially if you powerlevel your strength to the point where you can shake things around by the teeth ripping limbs off, if you lose both legs then your character is going to be severely limited just due to the poor movement rate, so at that point it's probably best to opt for retirement or a glorious death in battle.
+
Unfortunately, in version 0.44.02 the "unknown creature" bug prevents you from turning in kills. Here's a workaround: Report a kill (e.g. "Not a day ago, I slew Ettin"). You will receive "Unknown creature was struck" response. Then, choose the "Ask about somebody" option and ask about the creature you've killed (e.g. "What can you tell me about Ettin?"). You will receive a correct "Ettin is dead" response. Finally, go back to "spread rumour" and report the kill again (e.g. "Not a day ago, I slew Ettin"). This time, the NPC will say "unknown creature attacked unknown creature", but despite this, you will receive the credit and reputation for the kill.
  
−
== What creatures of night can I become? ==
+
==Road to fame==
  
−
You basically have four different choices.
 
  
−
Firstly, you can become a [[necromancer|'''necromancer''']].
+
==F.A.Q==
−
* That gives you some traits of an undead. Namely, you don't need to eat, sleep or drink, don't tire or age, zombies or mummies don't attack you and your physical stats are permanently fixed.
 
−
* The last one means it's wise to train them beforehand.
 
−
* You also can raise dead from the {{K|x}} menu. Depending on the flavor of your spell, zombies can be slow, very slow or not slow at all. They will be listed as companions.
 
−
* To become a necromancer, find a necromancer tower and obtain a book or slab containing secrets of life and death from there, then read it. Note that most of the books are useless. In younger worlds necromancers may not have built their towers yet, in which case they'll be hanging at a zombie bandit camp, slab under the arm.
 
  
−
Secondly, you can become a [[vampire|'''vampire''']].
+
*'''Q:''' How do I trade with the merchants? '''A:''' Don't, it's a fruitless endeavour. None of the merchants will ever have anything useful for sale. However, dwarves at [[hillock]]s sometimes have steel equipment, and are willing to part with it for a worthy offer. To trade with other NPC's, use "Exchange personal items" talk menu.
−
* That gives you most traits of an undead. In addition to the listed above, you don't feel pain, don't breathe and immune to most syndromes.
+
*'''Q:''' What enemies I should avoid at all costs at any point of the game? '''A:''' Web-slingers and deadly-dust users. Those two attacks cannot be avoided AT ALL, except by staying as far away as possible.
−
* Your strength, agility and toughness are doubled.
+
*'''Q:''' How to earn fame in 0.44.02? The "unknown creature" bug prevents me from turning in kills! '''A:'''Here's a workaround: Report a kill (e.g. "Not a day ago, I slew Ettin"). You will receive "Unknown creature was struck" response. Then, choose the "Ask about somebody" option and ask about the creature you've killed (e.g. "What can you tell me about Ettin?"). You will receive a correct "Ettin is dead" response. Finally, go back to "spread rumour" and report the kill again (e.g. "Not a day ago, I slew Ettin"). This time, the NPC will say "unknown creature attacked unknown creature", but despite this, you will receive the credit and reputation for the kill.
−
* They're still fixed forever, so, again, be prepared.
 
−
* You gain blood vision, in which all creatures with blood not in your field of view will be represented with {{Tile|☼|4:0:1}}.
 
−
* Despite not needing to drink water, you have a hunger for warm blood. To satisfy it, beat someone or something unconscious and {{K|e}}at their blood.
 
−
* To become a vampire, defeat one in combat and drink his blood.
 
−
* In version 0.42.01, it is now possible to be "cursed" by a god into becoming a vampire by desecrating statues\totems\altars dedicated to them. This can be done by pressing {{k|u}} while adjacent to interact with them, and toppling them. {{version|0.42.01}}
 
  
−
Thirdly, you can become a [[werebeast|'''werebeast''']].
+
= General FAQ =
−
* This gives you the (uncontrolled) ability to transform into a powerful half-man, half-beast on a full moon.
 
−
* There's a fixed list of animals on which the werebeast is based, including goat, llama, lizard, horse, monitor, buffalo, moose, tortoise, camel, kangaroo, ape, gecko, bear, hyena, warthog, iguana, skink, shrew, elk, skunk, pig, raccoon, panda, mole, badger, armadillo, mammoth and more.
 
−
* Most importantly, upon transformation (both ways) all your wounds, including missing limbs, are instantly healed.
 
−
* You don't show any abnormalcy outside of beast form. You are still mortal.
 
−
* When in beast form, everything is hostile to you, you don't need to drink, eat, sleep or breathe, don't feel pain, don't tire and are immune to some syndromes.
 
−
* One randomly chosen metal is ten times as deadly to you than usual. All other materials deal you half damage.
 
−
* Werebeast's size is several times their base animal size, but no less than 80000. This means all armor will be too small for you while in beast form. But you can still use a shield.
 
−
* Also, some werebeasts are truly gigantic — weremammoth has a size of 9000000, on par with demons.
 
−
* To become a werebeast, make one bite you. It has to be in the beast form.
 
−
* In version 0.42.01, it is now possible to be "cursed" by a god into becoming a werebeast by desecrating statues\totems\altars dedicated to them. This can be done by pressing {{k|u}} while adjacent to interact with them, and toppling them.{{version|0.42.01}}
 
−
* You cannot be a werebeast and a vampire at the same time.
 
  
−
And finally, you can become a mist [[zombie|'''zombie''']].
+
{{main|cv:Adventurer_mode#FAQ|l1=Adventure mode}}
−
* This makes you undead. In addition to vampire traits, you can see without eyes and can't die via blood loss or beheading. Note that you don't have health point limit raised zombies have.
 
−
* You become permanently hostile to everyone except other undead.
 
−
* Your strength and toughness are tripled and fixed. Train beforehand.
 
−
* Depending on the flavor of zombie virus, your speed may or may not drop to 20% or 60% of its normal value.
 
−
* To become a mist zombie, find a mist/fog cloud that zombifies creatures and run into it.
 
−
* You cannot become a vampire or a werebeast if you are already a zombie. The other way, however, is fine.
 
  
 
=See Also=
 
=See Also=
Line 981: Line 561:
 
{{D for dwarf}}
 
{{D for dwarf}}
  
−
* Passage from "Shooting <s>for</s> the sky" , the giant toad bone bound book by Nefil Blackbone the human necromancer :
+
* Passage from "Shooting <s>for</s> the sky", the giant toad bone bound book by Nefil Blackbone the human necromancer:
  
  
 
{{Quote|align=left|
 
{{Quote|align=left|
−
... While seemingly absurd , the practice of ones abilities with a ranged weapon can be furthered by directing said weapon towards the sky .  
+
... While seemingly absurd, the practice of ones abilities with a ranged weapon can be furthered by directing said weapon towards the sky.  
−
After all , during day time the sky has one giant target that might even seem so large that it's impossible to miss , and the night sky has many smaller ones .  
+
After all, during day time the sky has one giant target that might even seem so large that it's impossible to miss, and the night sky has many smaller ones.  
−
It has been well documented that hitting the target may not be necessary to achieve improvement in ones skill with said arms , thus it is reasonable to expect every subsequent shot after the first will hit a tad closer to it's intended target , this has further lead me to believe in the possibility of sky exploration , for with this logic at some point the projectile will actually hit it's target and could subsequently be replaced with a test [[goblin|dummy]] to further resolve survival issues and empty ones [[invader|guest]] [[stockpile|accommodations]] in one go .  
+
It has been well documented that hitting the target may not be necessary to achieve improvement in ones skill with said arms, thus it is reasonable to expect every subsequent shot after the first will hit a tad closer to it's intended target, this has further lead me to believe in the possibility of sky exploration, for with this logic at some point the projectile will actually hit it's target and could subsequently be replaced with a test [[goblin|dummy]] to further resolve survival issues and empty ones [[invader|guest]] [[stockpile|accommodations]] in one go.  
−
Finally with said preparations accomplished it would be possible to explore whatever is beyond that great blue/black border above .  
+
Finally with said preparations accomplished it would be possible to explore whatever is beyond that great blue/black border above.  
−
However some skeptical dwarven scholars suggest this to be impossible and rather place their bets on the tried and tested dwarven [[bridge|launch system]] , while notable human scholars propose using bigger [[catapult|armaments]] to accomplish the goal .  
+
However some skeptical dwarven scholars suggest this to be impossible and rather place their bets on the tried and tested dwarven [[bridge|launch system]], while notable human scholars propose using bigger [[catapult|armaments]] to accomplish the goal.  
−
This is how the great space race between the Elves , Dwarves and Humans began , which would later on lead to massive intergalactic conflicts , space goblin invasions , immortal human emperors , elven space gates , interplanetary clown-storms all under the name of the humble dwarven hammer of war ...}}
+
This is how the great space race between the Elves, Dwarves and Humans began, which would later on lead to massive intergalactic conflicts, space goblin invasions, immortal human emperors, elven space gates, interplanetary clown-storms all under the name of the humble dwarven hammer of war ...}}
  
  

Latest revision as of 18:31, 2 December 2020

This is an intermediate guide for Adventurer Mode. For a beginner's tutorial see the Adventure Mode Quickstart Guide. See Adventure Mode quick reference to look up key commands.

Updated to DF 0.44.02. Work in progress!


This guide focuses on powerplay: that is, building the most powerful combat-oriented character and achieving goals that can be considered "winning the game". Yet, fun is a priority, so there will be no glitch/bug abuse to get an advantage. For the most part, it's tailored towards players with some adventure mode experience, as there will be no explanation of basic gameplay elements, such as Fast [T]ravelling, [R]emoving an item, [W]earing an armour or [S]tanding up, and familiarity with fortress mode to the point of being able to make at least steel weapons/armor.

However, this does not mean that less experienced players will not benefit from this guide. All the combat mechanics, decisions and picks will be explained thoroughly without missing any steps. As long as one is familiar with hotkeys, he/she is all set for reading this. And don't forget about spoilers!


Generating the world[edit]

Example of a well-balanced world for an adventure game

Use the following settings:

  • World Size: Smaller
  • History: Short
  • Number of Civilizations: High
  • Max. Number of Sites: High
  • Number of Beasts: Medium (Default)
  • Natural Savagery: Medium (Default)

While technically, every world is suitable for adventure mode, any player looking for a decent game should start in a world that has at least the following features:

Optional features:

You can check whether your world has a certain feature by starting the world in Legends mode.

  • A "Smaller" world size drastically reduces updating times, shortens the distance you will have to travel on foot and makes it more likely to explore more of the world. Don't get confused - even at this degree the generated world is much bigger than you would think, and is more than enough for a lengthy game while still preserving the features from bigger worlds.
  • A "Short" history setting will make the world 125 years old. This is done to ensure that goblin settlements (a.k.a dark pits) are not too abundant. It also prevents a lot of takeover wars, so it is less likely to end up with dead civilization(s) or human towns populated by elves (or more likely, goblins).
  • A "High" number of civilizations provides increased chances of Towers and dark fortresses appearing. Same applies to the "High" Number of Sites, only that it also influences the amount of creature lairs and encampments in the wild.
  • Number of Beasts determines how many megabeasts will roam the world. It is affected by the world size (e.g. Smaller), so it is left at default value. Same applies to Natural Savagery and Mineral occurrence.

IMPORTANT: As of 0.43.05, after creating the desirable world, you have two options:

Option 1 - start a fortress mode game immediately (preferably, at the 2-tiles-away island mentioned above) and play until you create the following masterwork or artifact weapons: Axe(steel/adam), Spear(steel,adam), War Hammer (silver/platinum). Optionally, capture a Forgotten Beast and have the weapons coated with its flesh-eating seizure-inducing paralyzing dust. Optionally, produce a masterwork nether cap shield, a couple of masterwork stacks of steel bolts and a suit of adamantine armor. Retire the fort afterwards. You will return to your fort later on in the adventure mode game to reclaim the weapons for your character's use. Starting on an isle will guarantee safety from being besieged. It also provides an exciting challenge for your adventurer, who has to swim across the long strait (possibly filled with sea lampreys, bull sharks, giant orcas and other wondrous creatures).

Option 2 - proceed with adventurer mode and play until you have earned some fame. Then retire the adventurer, enter fort mode, create a starting party, embark, carve basic rooms for dwarves, appoint a militia commander and one soldier. Then retire the fort. Next, go back to adventurer mode, unretire, travel to the location of your newly created fort and speak to the militia commander. Bring up your heroic deeds of valor (through "Bring up specific incident" menu). Then, ask the commander to be made a militiaman. Since you've already impressed him, the militia commander will make you a squad member, effectively granting you fort citizenship on the spot. Retire at the fort location, but ensure you do not have any lordships, or the adventurer will just travel back to their holding in the two weeks before fortress generation.

Afterwards, unretire the new fort. Option two makes your adventurer playable in fortress mode, which is much more engaging than simply visiting the fort to collect the items. The adventurer is now a full part of the fort, able to be assigned labors and noble ranks, just like any dwarf could! You're now a new human commander of the fort (regardless of who holds the expedition leader title). Stand tall, lead your dwarves to create a burgeoning colony, and be directly interwoven in all its affairs! Feel the relevance of your newly-made weapons that were forged under your adventurer's firsthand guidance! Master the intricate craft of cheesemaking! And of course, make sieges personal by fighting alongside dwarven militia!

Don't forget that time flies MUCH quicker in fort mode, and human lifespan is half that of dwarves - make sure your adventurer is aging-proof before taking option 2. Also, you will be subject to skill and attribute rust, which can be severe in the case of the Reader skill (make sure your fort has enough books to read). Remember - you're a part of the clan, just as mortal as any other denizen of the fort... And obviously, should your adventurer die in fort mode for whatever reason out of millions possible, he or she will be gone for good.

Character Creation[edit]

The character creation follows the same order as it appears in-game: Race/Civ/Status ->Starting Attributes/Skills->Background->Appearance -> Mental attributes.

Race and Civilization[edit]

Human or Dwarf - besides armour and clothing size, the only considerable gameplay difference is that dwarves can see in the dark. Some may argue that dwarves have an advantage due to being able to wear better armour, made in a player fortress. However, as of 0.43.05 it is possible to set the size of armor to be crafted to "Large", giving humans (and many other larger/smaller races) access to any armor a dwarf can wear. Moreover, later on you will realize that masterwork armour is just as useful as standard quality. More on this will be explained in "Armour" section. As for the dwarven "Battle Trance" - it will not activate against megabeasts, generally doesn't benefit much to a legendarily skilled adventurer, moreover, this guide emphasizes on NOT finding yourself alone and surrounded most of the time. Hence, battle influence on race choice is negligible.

As of 0.43.05, it is now possible to play as one of the many animal people, who have their own ups and downs that are numerous, and best discussed elsewhere.

Human will be used for this guide as the most accessible and reasonably challenging option.

Status[edit]

  • Peasant: 15 attribute, 35 skill
  • Hero: 35 attribute, 95 skill
  • Demigod: 105 attribute, 161 skill

Peasant, Hero and Demigod look completely different, with demigod seemingly holding the most advantage. However, all three are mortal, and all three are capable of becoming unstoppable. The key difference is in starting stats/skills (with Demigod beginning with most, Peasant with least) and stats cap (maximum attainable value).

Simply put, the higher the starting stat (e.g. Strength), the higher it can be increased over the course of the game. Hence, demigods can have the highest stats in the end by simply having more to start with. Yet, even a Peasant adventurer is capable of killing a Demon or Dragon in the endgame, so at the end of the day all the status does is determine how easy and how fast your starting game will be.

"Hero" is suitable for most players. Pick Demigod for an easier early game. For the purposes of this guide, "Peasant" will be used to demonstrate that these instructions are applicable to every single status.


Starting Attributes and Skills[edit]

Body Attributes[edit]

As of 0.43.05, all these stat distributions will leave no points wasted.

Peasant:

  • High Strength (20)
  • High Agility (20)
  • Very Low Recuperation (1)
  • Very Low Disease Resistance (1)
  • Very Low Creativity (1)
  • Very Low Musicality (1)
  • Very Low Empathy (1)
  • Everything else: Average (5)

Hero:

  • High Strength (20)
  • Superior Agility (--)
  • Very Low Recuperation (1)
  • Very Low Disease Resistance (1)
  • Very Low Creativity (1)
  • Very Low Musicality (1)
  • Very Low Empathy (1)
  • Everything else: Average (5)

Demigod:

  • Superior Strength (--)
  • Superior Agility (--)
  • Superior Memory (--)
  • High Intuition (20)
  • Very Low Recuperation (1)
  • Very Low Disease Resistance (1)
  • Very Low Creativity (1)
  • Very Low Musicality (1)
  • Very Low Empathy (1)
  • Everything else: Average (5)


Since your character is combat-based, attributes such as Creativity, Empathy and Musicality are absolutely useless, and must be kept low. As for recuperation and disease resistance, they only kick in when you're hurt, and if there is something that I stress in this guide it is "DON'T get hit". Besides, resting heals all injuries regardless of Recuperation value. This renders those stats useless. Agility and Strength are the MOST important as they affect move speed of the character, and that really matters. Memory is a convenient addition, as it lets you memorize the areas you've been to and keep those areas free from fog of war. However, leave it at average unless playing as a demigod.

The concept of pain was revised in 0.43.05, with thresholds significantly buffed for most creatures. Now a high willpower/toughness can and will prevent your adventurer (and enemy alike) from passing out due to broken pinky finger. Investing starting points in those stats is still a waste, however, as they are leveled relatively quickly, and do not need to be "Superior" or "Superhuman" to be effective. Endurance can be increased easily by sprinting, swimming or practicing melee skills. And while it matters at first, later on your character will have unlimited stamina, so don't put anything above average here. With average Social Awareness you can recruit two companions. Increasing your fighting skills and kill list will let you recruit more later. Seeing as it is very tedious to manage 3 and above companions (you have to give out orders one by one), this attribute is better left at average (more on Social Awareness will be explained in "Companions" section).

Finally, Intuition lets you see more detailed information on which part of your body the enemy is targeting. It is quickly leveled through any means of close combat, and hence, should be kept on average unless you play as a demigod.

Starting skills[edit]

All the distributions below have 1 to 4 leftover points. This is nothing to worry about, as skills can be easily improved and have no cap.

Peasant:

  • Adequate Swimmer (7)
  • Competent dodger (8)
  • Novice reader (6)

Hero:

  • Competent Swimmer (8)
  • Expert dodger (13)
  • Novice reader (6)

Demigod:

  • Skilled Swimmer (9)
  • Master dodger (17)
  • Novice reader (6)

Dodge skill is a must take at character creation, as it is one of the skills that cannot be leveled without putting yourself in harm's way. Same goes for Swimming. Any weapon skills are trainable in absolute safety, as will be described in the "Training" section. Reading, on the other hand, cannot be improved during regular play, and is only available for learning at starting skill selection screen, and must be taken in order to read books containing the secrets of Life and Death. Novice level reading skill allows you to read anything, there is no point in increasing it further.

Background and Gender[edit]

It is advised to start as a hearthperson, since your character will begin inside of a human fortress, close to weapons and armor stockpiles. Gender and deity worshiped are insignificant beyond aesthetics and roleplay. Of course, when building a killing machine of a character you'd most likely want them to worship a deity of war (or similar). But if you play as an antman, gender is important.

Appearance[edit]

Visual facial features (e.g. long hair, lobed ears, etc.) bear little significance, and are there just for show. The physical constitution is what really matters - your character might be described as "tall", "having a broad body" or "corpulent/fat/having great sacks of lard" (common when starting as a peasant). Fat does not slow down, and will be burnt away as your character does anything that involves sweating (sprinting or fighting to name a few). Broad body allows wielding of 2-handed weapons in one hand.

However, avoid "tall" or "having a broad body" traits. In my experience, adventurers with these tend to get hit more often than ones with an average build, and two-handed weapons are slow to ever use anyway. Press "r" or "f" to re-roll your character's appearance until it becomes to your liking.

Values and Personality[edit]

Values and Emotions

In DF2017, adventure mode has now implemented a complex personality system, akin to that of fortress mode. All those perks and traits that you've seen in Fortress mode (e.g. "He is prone to anger") are now present. This means your character will now have desires that need satisfying besides eating or sleeping. Just as fortress mode units do, adventurers will now want to think abstractly, need to socialize, desire to pray to deity, etc, all according to their (fully customizable) values and emotions (represented in green and teal respectively at character creation screen).



Though it is not necessary to satisfy the aforementioned needs, meeting most of them applies the "Focused" status. A focused character will receive noticeable bonuses to all skill rolls, so it is definitely worth the effort. Additionally, satisfying ALL of the needs will grant "Focused!" status, that increases the bonuses even further.

Furthermore, your character will have their own dream listed, based on the values you have specified. It is unknown at the moment what benefit fulfilling the dream will provide. Dreams can be easily changed (re-rolled) by simply pressing full customization "f" key, then immediately pressing it again.


Your warlike adventurers naturally value (+++) (in order of appearance): power, truth, cunning, independence, stoicism, self-control, craftsmanship, martial prowess, skill, competition, perseverance and knowledge. At the same time, they despise (---) (also in order of appearance): nature, romance and peace while being mostly indifferent (N/A) to everything else. They dream of ruling the world (or becoming a legendary warrior).


On the emotional plane, they never fall in love or lust, hate easily though not prone to anger, never give in to feelings of sadness or anxiety, impervious to stress, have calm demeanor, modest, strive for perfection, sometimes cruel, relentless, private to the point of paranoia, do not go out of their way to help others and fear nothing.


The values and emotions from the screenshot above will provide your character with the following mindset:

Mindset4402.PNG

As seen in the above image, your warmongering adventurer will have a strong desire for crafting, training, practicing, learning, and staying busy. This is where the advantage of picking values and emotions according to the instructions above start to show up: fighting anything will simultaneously satisfy four major needs (training, learning, battling, practicing) while crafting can be easily fulfilled by knapping (make sharp rock). This mindset is also optimized to eliminate almost-impossible or hard-to-satisfy needs, like "Eat good meal" and "Help somebody", allowing you to reach the "Focused!" state easily. More on satisfying character needs will be explained in the "Needs and Focus" section.

Take into account that you will not be able to EVER see this description (except list of needs) again during regular gameplay. It is only available during the character creation stage, so it is in your interests to make a screenshot and save it.

Finalizing the character[edit]

The Values and personality screen is the last obstacle that separates you from starting the game. Press Enter to begin the adventure.

Early Game[edit]

If you have followed all the instructions so far, your character will begin inside the human fortress. His/her starting items will depend on the civilization you've chosen, however, all adventurers start with:


Immediate actions[edit]

The moment you spawn in the world, the following must be carried out immediately: [R]emove your starting waterskin and [D]rop it. I cannot stress this enough - it is absolutely, astonishingly useless, being able to fit only 3 units of water when your character needs to drink every 2-3 hours. Next, look around for soldiers of the fortress and recruit one of them as a companion. Afterwards, search around the fortress and pick up the following items:

  • Any 2 bags (chuck out anything that might have been inside)
  • Full set of armor (Helm, mail shirt, breastplate, gauntlets, greaves, high boots, shield/buckler. These can be of any material for the time being).
  • An axe and a warhammer. These can be of any material or 2-handed for the time being. If there are training versions of axe or spear, take those as well.
  • A pike and a whip/scourge (optionally, if there are any available)
  • 5-10 copper or silver bolts

Some fortresses might be under-stocked and lack some items from the list. In this case, fast travel to another fort and search again.

Berry bags are common in human villages

After you got your gear together, equip the armor and a spear (without shield), then travel to the nearest river and fill (I) one of your empty bags with water, resulting in a container with 100 water units - more than enough for a long journey, even though you will be amazed how fast it will disappear.

To follow up, go to the nearby village and search in the peasants' houses for fisher/prickle berry/strawberry bags. All human civs start with fisher berries, so a village is guaranteed to have some. Usually, these bags contain multiple stacks of 20-100 berries. As soon as you've found one, drop your starting [5]stack food and pick the largest stack of berries. [P]ut it inside of your second bag.


Your inventory should look similar to what is shown on the image below:

All set, with a lucky find!


Now you are armored and armed, alongside a companion, with plenty of food and drink. While still quite far from being combat-worthy, your character is now ready for training.

Training[edit]

At this stage, you are going to train your character's offensive and defensive skills. Even though they can be trained in any order, I suggest that you learn how to defend yourself first. However, it is completely up to you, and whatever training "facilities" you might have. When training, ask your companion to wait nearby - he/she will not interfere with your training. This way, you will have a backup handy. However, waiting companions will not defend you if training gets out of control or something hostile comes your way. You must ask the companion to follow you for him/her to help you in fights again.

It is very important that you don't train while Tired. Otherwise, what seemed like a mock fight can take a wrong turn and lead to injury, missing teeth, or worse. If at any point of training your character becomes tired, drop whatever you were doing, retreat, rest, and only then continue.

NOTE: Subsequent instructions include a lot of tedious button presses. To make your training experience more comfortable, it is advised that you install the amazing key shortcut tool "AutoHotkey", available free of charge. It is a wonderful utility that will make a lengthy combination into a matter of a single key press, which counts when typing Aa*gzua repeated 30 times, for example. Quickstart guide for AutoHotkey (along with an example script) can be found under "Tools" section. I personally do not consider this cheating in any way - it is a simple timesaver. By sticking to "hardcore style" button mashing you are not raising the challenge - you're introducing a handicap.

Defensive training[edit]

The Defensive skill tree is comprised of Dodging and Shield User. These two are crucial to survival, they protect better than any armor, as both completely nullify ANY incoming damage, while armor does not. Armor user skill simply reduces speed penalty associated with wearing armor and is considered quasi-defensive.

  • Any attack except breath/webs/dust attacks can be dodged. On a successful dodge all damage is nullified.
  • Any attack except dust/webs/wrestling grabs can be blocked. On a successful block all damage is nullified.

A punch from a bronze colossus that can turn any armored human into paste is rendered completely harmless when blocked or dodged. Considering that around the middle stages of the game you will encounter enemies much more fearsome than a colossus, this makes Dodging and Shield User invaluable.

Method:

  • 1.Find a small animal
  • 2.Grab it
  • 3.Let it attack you
  • 4.Train until Legendary

Explanation:

Make sure you have a weapon and a shield drawn. Prepare by placing your weapon in a backpack, then remove the said backpack and drop it somewhere you can remember. This will free you of unnecessary load. Begin by finding a small animal - a cavy makes a good choice, as do horseshoe crabs, ducks, peacocks, turkeys, etc. Catch up to the animal and grab it with your free hand. Now, simply spam the "Wait 10 ticks" button [.] and you will gain dodging/armor user/shield user experience as the animal you're holding attacks you. To gain shield user experience faster, manually block the incoming attacks with the shield. If the animal passes out from exhaustion, simply wait, then repeat the above routine. Repeat until Legendary in all three skills.

Be aware that though your "animal training companion" is small, even a cat or a duck possesses enough force to scratch teeth out or stun with a well-placed bite to the head, right through the helmet! Make sure your character is not tired prior to training.

  • AUTOHOTKEY: Using *1::Send, . script will let you hold down [1] to continuously wait, instead of spamming the [.] wait button
  • AUTOHOTKEY: Using *2::Send, Aca script will make you instantly block an attack with your shield the moment you press [2]. Combined with [.], you can spam these two keys one after another to level Shield User very quickly.

Offensive training[edit]

Every skill that directly harms the enemy is a part of the Offensive skill tree. This includes: any weapon mastery, Improvised weapons skill (misc. object user), wrestling and throwing. The majority of your targets will be dispatched with weapon strikes, some with unarmed strikes and wrestling and in certain cases, by having a heavy/sharp object flung at them. Hence, your character must learn to handle 3 weapon types (at least), punching/kicking, wrestling and throwing. Optionally, misc. object user is recommended, as this skill determines the hit rate (and damage) when bashing with a shield.

By this time, you should have the gear as instructed earlier in "Immediate Actions" section. Make no mistake, ensure you have all the necessary equipment! The method of training is as such:

  • 1.Find a horse
  • 2.Knock it unconscious
  • 3.Blind it
  • 4.Wait for it to regain consciousness
  • 5.Train until Legendary

Explanation:

Fast travel map with pastures highlighted

  • Similar to the defensive training, you will have to find an "animal training companion" first. Any human village has special "Pasture" areas around it. They are distinctively marked as green squares on the fast travel map. Roam around these until you find some with cattle present. Horses make one of the best animals to train your weapon skills on, as they are common around pastures and can take a lot of damage. Sometimes, there will be llamas or cows present - those suffice as well.
  • As you have found a pasture spot with animals, memorize its location on the fast travel map. Remove your backpack and drop it there - it will be your training location for quite some time.

Next, take out the axe or a spear you have. Enter the [S]neaking mode and approach a horse. Use [A]ttacking menu and look for an Easy/Solid strike on legs/tail of the horse. You might have to approach it from multiple sides to find one. As soon as you have found an opening, stab the horse in the leg. If your strike connects, the horse will now have reduced movespeed, allowing to easily pursue it and stab another leg to bring the horse to the ground.

Sometimes even wooden weapons are dangerous
  • From now on, you have to disable the horse, so it cannot move or attack (when enraged). An Enraged horse will make quick work of an inexperienced adventurer, often biting (or wrestling!) the unfortunate to death by breaking all their bones. Hence, proceed to bashing both of its eyes with the shaft (or flat of the axe), then punch the teeth out. Finally,chop off all hooves. Wait around until horse regains consciousness if it passed out. Use [S]neak mode to confirm that it has been blinded - if the usual cone of vision is not shown, it has. A blind animal cannot see you (obviously), and it does not run away from what it cannot see. Also, it stops the horse from attacking you when enraged, but only when you are not standing on the same tile as the enraged horse.
  • After all of the above has been done, you will have a blind, immobile but resilient live training dummy to practice weapon skills on. Target its lower body to reduce the chance of lung damage and suffocation. Wooden (training) weapons are perfect, as they do little to no harm. If you have no training weapons, use less lethal attacks, such as "Slap flat" for axe or "Shaft bash" for spear.
  • AUTOHOTKEY: Use (w/o quotes) "5::Send, Aaba" to repeatedly attack lower body with whatever you have equipped in your right hand

In the same manner, target the hooves to level punching and kicking without risk of killing the horse prematurely, as all punches and kicks will glance off. Wrestling is skilled by grabbing/releasing or pinching, and unlike other combat skills, your training dummy doesn't have to be conscious! So you can as well practice your chokeholds and locks on a knocked-out horse.

  • Warhammer training is a bit tricky, as there are no training versions, and the weapon itself has only one attack (bash), which is deadly. A solution is to repeatedly bash the eye or mouth of your training dummy - doing so will provide experience without killing your "training companion", and it works with all other weapons too. Sometimes, your character might accidentally hit the horse's head when targeting the eye due to lack of skill. If the outcome is lethal, simply make another horse into the training dummy and repeat. Horses do respawn at pastures when you wait, sleep or leave the area in fast travel. This means, if you accidentally happened to kill all the animals, simply leave and return for a new batch. Alternatively, use a wooden crossbow. For the purpose of melee, crossbows qualify as hammers.

Training misc. object user is, perhaps, the easiest. Take out one unit of food that you have (e.g. 'Fisher berry'). Then repeatedly strike the training dummy with the said food unit - the attacks are 100% non-lethal yet yield misc. object user experience. If you feel that berry-bashing is not in the spirit of shield-bashing you're going to use this skill for, feel free to find any other round lightweight object that is not a weapon and use it instead. Wooden buckets, crutches and splints are all perfect for this role.

Throwing experience doesn't require a training dummy and can be gained by throwing dirt or small stones. It's an essential skill that MUST be at legendary. Find a square that has "Small Rock" available in the [G]et menu, then use AutoHotkey to pick up stones and [T]hrow them instantly:

  • AUTOHOTKEY: Use (w/o quotes) "3::Send, g<letter of stone pickup>" to pick the stone up. Your inventory must be completely empty of other throwables and you must not be wearing a backpack.
  • AUTOHOTKEY: Use (w/o quotes) "4::Send,t<letter of stone in your inventory>{Up}{Enter}" to throw the stone north.


Crucial concepts[edit]

An attack in Adventure Mode consists of three stages: 1 - Starting 2 - Hit 3 - Recovery time. Just like in real life, a swing with a weapon in DF has a wind-up time, the moment of actual contact with the target and an afterswing recovery. Therefore, attack speed is defined by these (except Hit stage, which seems to always be 1 tick long). The shorter the Starting and Recovery times, the faster the attack speed.

  • Tick - 1 second of in-game time, equivalent of one press of the [,] key. To draw parallels with in-game actions, standing up/lying down takes almost 1 full tick.
  • Starting - - the amount of time (in ticks) a character is effectively shut down when winding up for any combat action (striking, shooting, wrestling, throwing, blocking, dodging). You cannot control the character during starting time. Needless to say, it gives an opponent time to evade the attack or even sneak in his own strike, and must be minimized at all costs. Precise and Heavy attack types have huge starting times, while Quick attacks have very short amount.
  • Hit - the moment attack connects or misses the target. Always 1 tick long (fully discrete).
  • Recovery Time - the amount of time (in ticks) a character is effectively shut down after any combat action (striking, shooting, wrestling, throwing, blocking, dodging). You cannot control the character during recovery time. Needless to say, it leaves you completely at the mercy of the opponent, and must be minimized at all costs. Ranged weapons (bows, crossbows) have HUGE recovery time after firing, so avoid like plague. Any and all entities capable of attacking have recovery time associated, indicated by "Recovering from attacking X' when targeted.
  • Quick wait - the [,] key. Waits for one tick, as opposed to normal wait [.], that takes 10 ticks. Allows you to better manage the timings of battle against fast opponents.
  • Enrage - sometimes a combatant might become enraged after getting hit (indicated by flashing red exclamation mark). This is equivalent to the berserking in fort mode, but not permanent. Any enraged creature will have its strength, pain threshold and resolve boosted, which removes any fear/shock status and sends it into relentless melee. You might find, that weaker foes who flee at the first signs of combat can be transformed into killing machines by Enrage, so avoid Enraged enemies if possible until they calm down.

Attack modes and when to use them[edit]

Quick, Heavy, Wild, Precise, Charge and Multi-attack.

Attack modes
  • Quick attack - use all the time, as it greatly reduces recovery time. Strength gain of your adventurer will minimize the damage losses to the meaningless minimum in no time.
  • Using the "multi-attack" [z] option in the menu effectively lets you strike on the move, hitting enemy while simultaneously evading his attack, or even an attack from another combatant. After selecting the attack type, enter the [A]ttack menu again, then Dodge away from the target. This technique is invaluable when fighting a crowd or a dangerous/prone to charge opponent. Always use vs. wrestlers. Press the quick wait [,] button to perform actions instead of regular wait to minimize recovery time. "Float like a butterfly, sting like a megabeast".
  • Heavy attack, Wild Attack, Charge attack - Never use on their own. This means NEVER. Both heavy and wild have ridiculous recovery times and dubious benefits, and charging is best performed by moving into your opponent while having your [C]ombat preference set to "Always Charge". However, Heavy attack has a use when combined with the next attack type: the Precise attack.
  • Precise attack - at first glance, it might seem to belong in the above category of "never use". After all, the legendary weapon skill results in one-hit kill most of the times. That is until you come upon huge, extremely well armored, thick-skinned and legendary dodger enemies (and you will). Those adversaries will dodge well above 80% of your attacks, and those that land will either glance off, or cut skin/fat at best. This is where precise attack comes into play, and will win otherwise hopeless battle. It has the same enormous recovery time, so before striking make sure enemy is preoccupied with something else (attacking your companion for example). Then deliver Heavy Precise stab to the head with your best spear.

Finishing off the unconscious[edit]

Many times a situation will come, where an opponent you've just fought has passed out and you have other enemies around to fight. Finishing off the armored or thick-skinned with a headshot can require more than one strike, and sometimes you just can't afford it. Note, that even with the heavy spine and lung damage tough enemies still have a good chance of waking up and crawling after you.

In this case, target the throat. Torn major artery will guarantee the victim will bleed out before regaining consciousness, thus letting you move on to next target immediately. It's in your best interest to make sure that they die while unconscious.

Finishing off unconscious armored opponents: [Q]uick kick the throat. Kick bypasses the armor protection. Alternatively, [Q]uick strike with blunt weapon. Finishing off unconscious thick-skinned opponents: [Q]uick stab the throat.

On Charging[edit]

A Charge attack, when successful, will result in a prone and stunned opponent, a failed charge will stun the attacker instead.

Needless to say, charging is a great crowd control tool and will turn the tide of the battle. Hence,mastering it is crucial. Execute charges by first changing the [C]ombat preference to "Always charge", then moving into your opponent. Do NOT use "charge attack" mode from [A]ttack menu! After knocking down the enemy, deliver a quick blow to the vitals or legs to keep it down and charge down another enemy in case you are outnumbered. This way, you will control the mob and prevent yourself from being overrun. Don't forget to change [C]ombat preference back to "Never charge" after a fight.

Size matters! Charging an elephant is as bad of an idea as it is in real life. Charging targets of the same size is a gamble, but odds generally favour the charger. Consider charging enemies with lower size and, preferably, lower strength. If you were following the guide so far, your adventurer will have no problem trampling most human/dwarf sized opponent in the world.

  • Charge liberally vs: bandits, wolves, goblin raiders and elves.
  • Charge carefully: enemies of your race/size marked as being "Tall" or "Muscular" (e.g. "Muscular bandit).
  • Never charge: ANY undead, inorganic monsters, creatures of the night and anything larger than yourself. If it has "giant" in its name, it probably is.

Remember, charging is best performed by moving into your opponent while having your [C]ombat preference set to "Always Charge".

Weapons[edit]

In brief: your core weapons of choice must invariably be Spear, Axe and Warhammer.

Weapons you must have[edit]

Any adventurer worth his dwarfbuck MUST master Spear, Axe and Warhammer. All creatures in the game can be killed by at least one of these weapons.

Spear

  • Best vs: Wild animals, organic megabeasts, organic humanoids
  • Worst vs: inorganic enemies

High armor and tissue penetration values, fast speed, widespread availability. Stab attacks are lethal to any organic enemy: be it a goblin or a dragon, a pierced brain is a sure death. It is the weapon of choice of the beasthunter and demonslayer alike, a first weapon of choice for fighting huge organic enemies (except blobs). Against humanoids, it is capable of piercing breastplates and chipping bones, which leads to unconsciousness due to pain (that is an instant death sentence). Stabs against armor or an enemy made out of superior material (e.g. copper spear vs steel) glance off harmlessly most of the time, so material is crucial to the performance of the spear. It also tends to get stuck in the body of the target quite often.

However, a spear is ineffective against targets with little or no vital organs (i.e. blobs, sponges) and is useless against inorganic enemies (i.e. made out of stone, metal, glass), as those have no organs whatsoever. For those situations, use the next weapon on the list, the axe.

Axe

  • Best vs: Wild animals, humanoids, night creatures, undead, inorganic enemies.
  • Worst vs: Large animals, Megabeasts or enemies of comparable size.

A truly universal weapon, an axe is amazingly effective against most foes, organic or not. The ultimate strength of the "hack" attack comes in its ability to incapacitate and kill targets immune to pain or organ damage, lop off limbs, and even cleave entire bodies asunder. A swift hack to the feet will bring down kobold and bronze colossus alike, creating an opening for a strike to the head. The best weapon against zombies, the axe also has a "slap flat" blunt crushing attack to finish a grounded zombie off without switching to the warhammer. As with the spear, the material an axe is made out of is crucial to its performance.

Otherwise, the effectiveness of the axe diminishes as the target's size increases. Against large animals (such as a rhino or elephant) hacking only cuts fat/skin/muscle without doing lethal damage. The limbs of huge enemies are much thicker, and hence are much harder to chop off, often requiring way too many strikes. Against better-armored or clothed gigantic targets (i.e. demons) an axe is worthless. Use the spear should you encounter these.

Warhammer

  • Best vs: Humanoids and armored targets.
  • Worst vs: Inorganic large creatures.

Unanimously considered the deadliest weapon against humanoids, the warhammer becomes an even more viable choice with the ability to pulp, crush (and the bleeding from pulping) of body parts. Your adversary might wear a full artifact adamantine armor set, and it will not save him from having bones broken right through it by the "bash" attack. A warhammer ignores any and all armor foes might wear. Additionally, the pulping damage stacks, so with some patience, it is possible to maul even the (organic) megabeasts to death. The warhammer is also the easiest weapon to make, with copper being one of the best materials for production, due to its density.

Unfortunately, the warhammer suffers from the same problem as the battle axe - reduced combat yields against large targets. Also, attacks will glance off inorganic enemies made out of high-grade materials (e.g. steel colossus).

Optional weapons[edit]

Pike

  • Best vs: Wild animals, organic megabeasts, humanoids.
  • Worst vs: Inorganic enemies

A buffed spear on steroids, pike has even greater penetration value, meaning it pierces armour and thick tissues like paper. Undoubtedly the best weapon against large animals (elephant, rhino, hippo) and a good pick against organic megabeasts. However, as any 2handed weapon it is slower than spear, meaning your enemy might sneak in an attack before you do, which limits its use for predominantly hunting big game.

The biggest drawback of the pike is its inability to be manufactured by dwarves in fortress mode. This limits your selection to whatever you can find in the world. Though, with enough luck you might be able to come across masterwork iron pike, however, this is as good as it can get - steel (and better) pikes are nonexistent in vanilla game.

If you happen to be born under a particularly lucky star, a moody dwarf can sometimes produce an artifact pike from whatever metals you might have in the fort, including adamantine. But if that is the case, what are you doing here? Get to those lottery tickets numbers pronto!

Halberd

  • Best vs: Wild animals, humanoids, night creatures, undead, inorganic enemies.
  • Worst vs: Large animals, Megabeasts or enemies of comparable size.

Halberds are essentially hybrid version of the axe with much greater slashing potential (in fact greatest of all weapons), as well as an additional stab attack. This makes halberds fare better against enemies axe is weak against, as well as making bisecting easy. However, it is still ill-advised to use it versus extremely large creatures.

The downsides come in a form of halberds being 2-handed, as well as being foreign weapons, meaning dwarves cannot manufacture them. As any 2handed weapon it is slower than its 1h equivalent, meaning your enemy might sneak in an attack before you do. Inability to equip a shield can be a serious downside, though not as serious as lack of high-quality halberds. Thus, your selection is limited to whatever you can find in human fortresses. Bandit ringleaders sometimes wield masterwork weapons, which can turn out to be a halberd.

If you happen to be born under a particularly lucky star, a moody dwarf can sometimes produce an artifact-quality halberd from whatever metals you might have in the fort, including adamantine. But if that is the case, what are you doing here? Get to the scratching cards pronto!

Whip and Scourge

  • Best vs: Everything
  • Worst vs: Nothing

Whip and Scourge are examples of one of the many bugs of Dwarf fortress. Basically, these act as blunt weapons, but have penetration values that of a lightsaber, being able to slice through any armor or thickness of flesh. A copper whip can chip a bone through steel, adamantine, demon skin and dragon scale. Altogether. It is also effective against inorganic enemies, chipping their body material and accumulating the damage that will eventually bring down anything.

In the preamble to this guide I have mentioned not abusing glitches, and this is one of them. Do not use these weapons if you are looking for a reasonable challenge. Though it can be argued, that whips are somewhat less effective against enemies immune to pain.

ABSOLUTE BEST[edit]

This is a list of the best weapons you can possibly have (without exploiting) to give you something to aspire to. While some are impractically difficult to acquire, it is possible to manufacture them in fortress mode with creative resource management.

  • AXE: Artifact-quality adamantine battle axe, coated with paralyzing FB dust.
  • SPEAR: Artifact-quality adamantine spear, coated with paralyzing FB dust.
  • WARHAMMER: Artifact-quality platinum warhammer, coated with necrosis inducing FB dust. Best blunt weapon you can ever get, period.

Legendary:

  • PIKE: Artifact-quality adamantine pike, coated with paralyzing FB dust. Best piercing weapon you can ever get, period.
  • HALBERD: Artifact-quality adamantine halberd coated with paralyzing FB dust. Best slashing weapon you can ever get, period.
  • WHIP Artifact-quality platinum whip, coated with necrosis-inducing FB dust. Absolutely the cheesiest weapon, period.

Weapons to avoid[edit]

  • Mace - warhammer is better in almost every aspect
  • Sword - Lower penetration value than spear, less limb-hacking potential than axe and astonishingly useless slap attack, more fit to squishing mosquitoes. But adamantine and/or artifact can be useful, if you have no better spear and axe.
  • Most of 2h weapons - these are slower, come in poor quality and rob you of opportunity to use shield (which is huge). Broad body adventurers can equip them in one hand, but unless you have an artifact produced by your fortress, 2-handed weapons' quality and material will be way below their 1-handed counterparts.
  • Ranged weapons - Some weapons are simply least effective, some are plain bad, but none are actually as dangerous to their user as bow and crossbow get. After taking a shot (which, by the way, cannot be aimed at a particular body part), your character will be stuck in place for about 20-40 ticks, unable to move, fight or in fact, unable to do anything. Maybe it was implemented to simulate reloading, but in any case, it leaves you vulnerable, very vulnerable. To add insult to injury, ammunition is dreadfully heavy, with as much as 10 bolts enough to slow down "high" strength character. And 10 is rarely enough to bring anything substantial down. If you want a ranged attack, throw bolts/arrows instead.

Dual-wielding[edit]

Having a weapon in each hand does not allow you to strike with both at the same time, not even when using multi-attack (attacks are executed consecutively, one after another). At most, it will spare you the effort of one key press if one of those weapons will get stuck in target's body. This gimmick comes with a huge cost of not being able to block. As such, dual-wielding is near useless.

Sheathing[edit]

The q key lets you strap your weapon and/or shield to your back. Use it to free your hands for wrestling, climbing or equipping a different weapon/shield. You can have an infinite amount of items sheathed. [r]emove key can be used to retrieve sheathed items.

Unarmed combat[edit]

Kisat Dur: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=148015.0 A lot of the techniques described there are applicable to armed combat as well. Just don't try taking down bronze colossus with it.

Stamina management[edit]

Any combat action (including dodging) consumes stamina. Prolonged fighting can lead to your character getting tired, while further pushing the tired character will lead to exhaustion and passing out.

A tired adventurer has ALL skill levels cut in half, as well as suffering a movespeed penalty. In a major fight, this means imminent death without other options.

To avoid getting tired:

  • 1. Control your movespeed. The faster your current movespeed is, the faster your character will react, which simply means less overall recovery time. While undoubtedly useful, this trades stamina for speed, and must be carefully considered. The stamina drain depends not on the gait type (walk, jog, sprint), but on the actual speed your character is moving. E.g. a human sprinting at 4.000 speed will get tired much faster than dwarf sprinting at 2.000 speed. Use sprint to quickly close in on a nearby target, then use Run if you need to chase further. Avoid chases with sprint mid-fight, when there are other opponents around.
  • 2. Drop your backpack before running into fights, even if it doesn't slow you down. Once tired, the small movespeed penalties caused by extra weight will take full effect. These are so small, they are not even visible on the speedometer for fresh characters, but will show up on tired ones.
  • 3. If you need to move 1 cell away from your opponent, use the "Dodge" option from the combat interface. It will drain MUCH less stamina than sprinting for 1 cell.
  • 4. You can jump to restore your stamina. Note, that jumping is much slower than running, and your enemy will likely catch up.
  • 5. Avoid tiring yourself by swinging too much. If you cannot pierce enemy armour, either find ways around it (blows to the neck, blunt weapons, wrestling, pikes) or retreat.
  • 5. Once you've achieved legendary in all necessary skills and superior in all attributes, you can become Necromancer to receive unlimited stamina.

Needs and Focus[edit]

You've honed your character's body. It is essential that you hone their spirit next. Any adventurer will benefit from a Focused mind, therefore, you must learn how to reach this state, or at least avoid being Distracted. Since it is done to prepare for battles, reaching "Focused!" state will be referred to as "Pre- battle Meditation" in this guide from now on.

If you have followed the instruction from "Values and personality" section, your character would now have the following needs:

  • 1. Stay occupied - fulfilled by knapping or bone carving, both can be easily performed from [X] menu. You will need any sharp object to carve bone, bolts are the best for this.
  • 2. Excitement - fulfilled by fighting or brawling. It does not matter what you fight, hence, all you need is to find a cat and kick it once.
  • 3. Cause trouble - fulfilled by pressing an argument. Talk to anyone friendly, pick "state your values" from dialogue options, and state some nuances that will prompt an argument (e.g. "Nuances of law"). Press the argument once, and you will have the need satisfied, alongside the "Argue" need.
  • 4. Learn something - fulfilled by practicing any skill/craft or reading a book concerning something (E.g. Essay concerning the hamlet Braidedgrasped) or on a scientific subject (e.g. Essay on Fluid statics). These books are commonly found in the world, being held by scholars who are willing to trade them away.
  • 5. Craft object - fulfilled by knapping or bone carving, both can be easily performed from [X] menu. You will need any sharp object to carve bone, bolts are the best for this. Doing this also fulfills 'be creative' and 'stay occupied' .
  • 6. Martial training - fulfilled by practicing any combat skill. Easily satisfied by shooting a bow/crossbow once or yet again, kicking a cat. Note, that Thrower and Misc. Object user do not count as combat skills for this purpose.
  • 7. Be creative - - fulfilled by knapping or bone carving, both can be easily performed from [X] menu. You will need any sharp object to carve bone, bolts are the best for this.
  • 8. Fight - fulfilled by fighting or brawling. It does not matter what you fight, hence, all you need is to find a cat and kick it once.
  • 9. Argue - fulfilled by pressing an argument. Talk to anyone friendly, pick "state your values" from dialogue options, and state some nuances that will prompt an argument (e.g. "Nuances of law"). Press the argument once, and you will have the need satisfied, alongside the "Cause trouble" need.
  • 10. Think abstractly - fulfilled by reading ANY book or scroll. These are commonly found in the world, being held by scholars or, in case of scrolls, sometimes lying around at fortresses.
  • 11. Hear eloquence - fulfilled by reciting a poem. Begin a performance and recite any poem your character knows. If you do not know any (highly unlikely), you can learn poems by reading books (containing poetry), or listening to bards at taverns, but the odds of the character knowing no poems at all are slim.
  • 12. Practice skill - fulfilled by practicing ANY skill, but easier to satisfy by knapping or bone carving.

Some of the needs are impossible, or very hard to fulfill. Avoid at all costs:

  • Eat good meal - cannot be satisfied, period.
  • Help somebody - fulfilled only by rescuing children from dark fortresses. Aside from being excruciatingly tedious, it will hog all your play time due to massive FPS slowdown that occurs at goblin sites.
  • Make romance - cannot be fulfilled for adventurers, period.
  • Acquire object - very tedious to fulfill, as you will need to trade (not barter!) or demand an item (never ends well).
  • Being with family/Being with friends - cannot be satisfied, period.
  • Take it easy - cannot be satisfied, period.
  • See a great beast - cannot be satisfied, period.

Therefore, your average "Pre-combat meditation" will consist of knapping, reciting a poem, arguing with a friend, reading, and kicking a small animal.

F.A.Q[edit]

  • Q:Best starting weapon? A: Battleaxe, Spear, Warhammer. Must be legendary in all three.
  • Q:Can I dual wield? It sounds cool, but is it practical? A: Dual-wielding is useless compared to weapon+shield combo. Do not dual-wield.
  • Q:How do I fight a crowd? A: Step one: bring 2+ companions. Step two: Fight one foe at a time, use charge attacks when applicable. Step three: Target the least armored first. Watch your stamina.
  • Q:Can I charge X? What is the rule of thumb for charging? A:Is it bigger than yourself? Yes: Do not charge. No: charge!
  • Q:Who do I target first in a fight vs. multiple opponents. A: Single out the least skilled/armed/armored opponent (e.g. Bandit recruit) and focus on him. Besides having one less enemy, chances are, after seeing him die, others will have their morale broken.
  • Q:What part of an enemy do I target first in combat? A: Prioritize feet/legs unless you are absolutely sure you can deliver a one-hit kill blow to the head.
  • Q:Enemy armour deflects my blows to the head, what do I do? A: Cripple the enemy with a blow to the legs, then target neck. Neck often has lesser protection when compared to the head. Using blunt weapon will improve your chances.
  • Q:Best weapon for maiming opponents? A: Battleaxe and spear will do best in 95% of cases, target feet. Use warhammer against heavy armour.
  • Q:I have ran out of stamina amidst a fight, and is tired/exert. what to do? A: [J]ump away from combat and let your companions hold while you regain your breath. Jumping does not consume stamina.
  • Q:I am attacked by a night creature, how do I fight? A: As with many other humanoids, target the legs (and wings, if it has any). After hitting the ground, the night creature cannot charge you, making the battle significantly easier. Note that many of the night creatures are almost as fast on the ground as they are on their feet.
  • Q:My companions run at the very sight of an enemy! How do I make them fight? A: As any other creature, companions are affected by Discipline skill. The only way to raise it is to fight more, or train the companions beforehand, though even high-discipline NPCs might flee before megabeasts or night creatures.
  • Q: I have accidentally hit my companion and he/she turned against me! How do I win him/her back? A:If enemies are around, let it go and don't help the rebel until enemies are no more or you have fled. Otherwise, using wrestling, grab their throat. Choke until companion passes out. Take away their weapon, gouge both eyes out and wait for them to wake up. Afterwards, start grabbing limbs in a lock and breaking them. Gouge cheeks/lips to further drive the point that you want to make peace. After a few rounds of wrestling torture, the insubordinate will break, and attempt to run. This is where you [T]alk to the rebel wannabe and ask to cease the hostilities. With a very high chance, he/she will agree and become benign. Speak to the ex-companion again and recruit back. Eyes and limbs will fully heal after rest.
  • Q:I ended up on the ground, what do I do? A: Granted you can still walk, change your [S]peed to "Scramble" and then [s]tand up.
  • Q: Odds are not in my favour. How do I escape? A: [D]rop the heavy items and flee at top speed - life is dearer than *Iron spear*. Run just enough to lose sight of the enemy, then fast travel away.

Finalizing the training[edit]

Repeat the training process until legendary in all necessary disciplines: Dodging, Shield user, Armor user, Axe, Spear, Warhammer, Pike, Wrestling, Striking, Kicking, Throwing. Additionally, you will end up with legendary Fighter-Archer skills as well as greatly increased strength, agility, endurance, focus and willpower.

At this point, you have the gear, body and skills to shift the battle scales heavily in your favor. Now, it is time to venture onward and leave a mark in the world!

Mid Game[edit]

The majority of your character's life, adventures and heroic deeds will happen here, in the mid-game.

First steps in a big world[edit]

You've finalized your training. Now, you have to finalize your gear. If all you have at the moment is copper, you must travel around and visit every fortress in the human settlements until you have at least full set of bronze armour, bronze battle axe, bronze spear and copper/silver warhammer. Shields, however, are best left copper due to copper's higher density and hence, higher weight behind a shield bash. Besides, it is much easier to find masterwork copper buckler/shield than it is to find masterwork iron.

  • Dwarves residing in hillocks or human towns sometimes possess steel equipment (albeit of low quality). If there's a town or many dwarven settlements around, it is worth your time to travel to the largest ones and [L]ook at dwarves' inventories. Dwarf militiamen have a chance to have steel weapons, and are willing to part with them for a wealth of other items in exchange. This is the only way to obtain steel gear at this point of your career without starting a dwarf fortress yourself. To trade with non-merchants, use "Exchange personal items" talk menu.

Ensure you have a full set (armor+weapons) of bronze or above. Next, recruit another companion for a total of two. Now your adventurer is ready for questing.

Early quests[edit]

(The method below utilizes the "rumors" system, which allows you to be a freewheeling adventurer who lets the stories of your renown build your reputation through word-of-mouth. If you prefer the more traditional RPG model of getting a specific quest assignment from a leader whom you can report back to, see the Agreements section of the quest page for more information.)

Travel to any human fortress and look for a lord/lady. Talk to the noble, introduce yourself and inquire about troubles, choosing "Tell me about bandits" option. With almost 100% chance, you will be told of a bandits' camp nearby. Note that it has to be stopped with violent force and ask for directions there. At that moment, you will have the location of the camp added to your [Q]uest journal under "Sites" tab.

Make your way to the campsite. As ringleaders are always notable figures, look for a bandit with a flashing icon. Once located, swiftly dispatch the brigand leader with the techniques you've practiced during training. You will most likely be able to cripple the legs and behead in two [Q]uick hacks with an axe. Seeing their chief die, most other bandits will become demoralized and either run or freeze in fear. With help from your companions, dispatching the rest won't be difficult.

Rinse, repeat. Complete at least 3 bandit hunt quests, make sure to report (turn in) your success, and you will be revered as a brave protector of the defenseless. These are but the first steps in building your reputation.

Trophies[edit]

Make sure to get a trophy from your significant kills! If the target was decapitated, take the head. If not (e.g. pierced brain), butcher the corpse and take the skull/chitin. This will let you remember the name of the kill when you turn it in to the quest giver as well as being (in case of megabeast skulls) a great adornment for pedestals. Additionally, bite ears off any bandits that you are about to kill, Diablo 2 style. It will add to satisfaction much more than just mere numbers and listings of the kill counter. Remember: attempting to cut ears off might result in premature lethal hit, and as such, being unable to get the ear.

Human-sized heads and ears can be stored in any container and even put in cages - press [P] while standing near the cage. It makes sense to cage skulls of slain named animals, trolls, bogeymen or the like. Take into account the weight of the trophy - the larger the enemy, the heavier the trophy.

Turning in quests[edit]

Now that you've wiped the bandits out, it is time to report your success to the quest giver. In fact, you can report your success to anyone in any settlement. However, returning to the original quest giver will allow you to store the spoils of war in the same location instead of hauling it every time, as well as allow you to put your trophies onto pedestals for everyone to admire.

You will need to install the Rumor System UI improvement script (DFhack is required) by 1337G4mer: Link. Otherwise, finding the needed kill in the long list of useless rumours will be next to impossible.

Copy the CODE section to any text document, save it as rumors.lua (remember to change the file extension), and copy the resulting .lua file into your \hack\scripts directory. The script can now be used by typing "rumors" (without quotes) into DFhack console window whenever you are at the rumor selection list, then typing "slew" in the rumour filter (in the Dwarf Fortress window). This will display all your kills in an easy to browse and select list.

Unfortunately, in version 0.44.02 the "unknown creature" bug prevents you from turning in kills. Here's a workaround: Report a kill (e.g. "Not a day ago, I slew Ettin"). You will receive "Unknown creature was struck" response. Then, choose the "Ask about somebody" option and ask about the creature you've killed (e.g. "What can you tell me about Ettin?"). You will receive a correct "Ettin is dead" response. Finally, go back to "spread rumour" and report the kill again (e.g. "Not a day ago, I slew Ettin"). This time, the NPC will say "unknown creature attacked unknown creature", but despite this, you will receive the credit and reputation for the kill.

Road to fame[edit]

F.A.Q[edit]

  • Q: How do I trade with the merchants? A: Don't, it's a fruitless endeavour. None of the merchants will ever have anything useful for sale. However, dwarves at hillocks sometimes have steel equipment, and are willing to part with it for a worthy offer. To trade with other NPC's, use "Exchange personal items" talk menu.
  • Q: What enemies I should avoid at all costs at any point of the game? A: Web-slingers and deadly-dust users. Those two attacks cannot be avoided AT ALL, except by staying as far away as possible.
  • Q: How to earn fame in 0.44.02? The "unknown creature" bug prevents me from turning in kills! A:Here's a workaround: Report a kill (e.g. "Not a day ago, I slew Ettin"). You will receive "Unknown creature was struck" response. Then, choose the "Ask about somebody" option and ask about the creature you've killed (e.g. "What can you tell me about Ettin?"). You will receive a correct "Ettin is dead" response. Finally, go back to "spread rumour" and report the kill again (e.g. "Not a day ago, I slew Ettin"). This time, the NPC will say "unknown creature attacked unknown creature", but despite this, you will receive the credit and reputation for the kill.

General FAQ[edit]

Main article: Adventure mode

See Also[edit]

A glimpse into the Future[edit]

D4Dwarf.png This article or section has been rated D for Dwarf. It may include witty humour, not-so-witty humour, bad humour, in-jokes, pop culture references, and references to the Bay12 forums. Don't believe everything you read, and if you miss some of the references, don't worry. It was inevitable.


  • Passage from "Shooting for the sky", the giant toad bone bound book by Nefil Blackbone the human necromancer:


... While seemingly absurd, the practice of ones abilities with a ranged weapon can be furthered by directing said weapon towards the sky. After all, during day time the sky has one giant target that might even seem so large that it's impossible to miss, and the night sky has many smaller ones. It has been well documented that hitting the target may not be necessary to achieve improvement in ones skill with said arms, thus it is reasonable to expect every subsequent shot after the first will hit a tad closer to it's intended target, this has further lead me to believe in the possibility of sky exploration, for with this logic at some point the projectile will actually hit it's target and could subsequently be replaced with a test dummy to further resolve survival issues and empty ones guest accommodations in one go. Finally with said preparations accomplished it would be possible to explore whatever is beyond that great blue/black border above. However some skeptical dwarven scholars suggest this to be impossible and rather place their bets on the tried and tested dwarven launch system, while notable human scholars propose using bigger armaments to accomplish the goal.

This is how the great space race between the Elves, Dwarves and Humans began, which would later on lead to massive intergalactic conflicts, space goblin invasions, immortal human emperors, elven space gates, interplanetary clown-storms all under the name of the humble dwarven hammer of war ...


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