40d Talk:Fire imp

Wrestling?

I just had a mechanic get attacked by one. He moved into its tile (I assume to wrestle) and instantly died of heat. Should this be noted?--Shadow archmagi 19:59, 28 February 2008 (EST)

That is the imp using his fireball attack on a stupid dwarf, so I guess it's already in the article --MagicGuigz 20:27, 3 October 2008 (EDT)

Just to verify, its very possible to wrestle imps and magmamen to death. I had to do this after embarking, I didn't realize the lava tube would be right next to my wagon and immediately fire imps attacked. I drafted all of my dwarves and wrestled all 3 of them to death, as well as the magma man who came out later. The only dwarf I lost (my woodcutter) was due to a stray fireball. Forsaken1111 22:43, 16 October 2008 (EDT)

Defensive Uses

I'm currently exploring the defensive uses of fire imps after bagging a few in cage traps. They don't seem too keen on fireballing goblin attackers, which was my original plan (had them confined behind some fortifications, but they wouldn't fire on the goblins). Further experiments required, or can someone confirm that they won't attack anyone but my dwarves? --TangoThree 16:35, 31 March 2008 (EDT)

is it possible to tame fire imps with the dungeon master? Hoborobo 14:12, 12 June 2008 (EDT)

There is no PET_EXOTIC tag, so no.StrawberryBunny 09:35, 8 August 2008 (EDT)

Is there a safe way to move fire imp fat? If so, you could put it above your fortress entrance and drop it on invaders since it always burns. I really wish armor made from fire imp hide would protect from burning. Forsaken1111 22:45, 16 October 2008 (EDT)

Your fortress is probably long gone by now but for anybody else looking for an answer to the question, one solution would be to chain some pets behind doors connected to levers. If you open the doors, the fire imps will (probably) fire at the pets. Purportedly, this works with giant cave spiders, though some hold that the gcs needs to be able to path to its victim. CptFastbreak 11:57, 24 October 2008 (EDT)

Ok, now I did some experimenting. First, seven tiles is too short for a fire imp with the pressure plate right in front of the bridge, the bridge likely needs to be 10-12 tiles wide. But I also seriously doubt the feasibility of fire imps in defense. For one, it seems that fire imps will not shoot through fortifications, regardless if they can path beyond it. Using a moat made the imp fire a single shot, after that he sat quiet for maybe 2-3 game days, and only then he proceeded to attack the delicious puppy I had chained for him. Overall, I reckon the fire imp is too unreliable to be used in a defense situation. CptFastbreak 16:42, 24 October 2008 (EDT)

A vast understatement!

"Fire imps are nasty little creatures that live in magma vents."

Nasty little creatures doesn't cut it. Every time I settle on top of a volcano, an imp will surface, get pissed at anything, be it an immigrating dwarf or a muskox, and cause a wildfire! The worst part is that there is no message for "The world is burning!" so I end up losing a dwarf or two before I notice it!

I think the worst was I lost both of my initial miners because they decided to take a break in the path of the fire. They got the hint when I gave the order "everyone inside" but it was too late, they burned up before they could make it back inside.

That being said, I find some vertical nickel bars do wonders in securing my magma forges from imp tampering. They're a definite "must bring" on any volcanic expedition.--Alkyon 23:02, 23 October 2008 (EDT) (I didn't know to sign my posts when I wrote this, sorry.)

Actually I thought that the world burning problem (glitch?) is pretty awesome, except when it burns up your entire booze stock in one go--Jackrabbit 22:21, 23 October 2008 (EDT)

I do think the forest fires are cool too, but it would be nice if it had a warning, perhaps triggered by maybe an external growing past a certain size. It's just the imps cause them every time I've turned my back on them. Also, hunters and imps don't mix.--Alkyon 23:02, 23 October 2008 (EDT)

crush?

WARNING: Fire imp fat never stops burning. It's also immune to fire damage. Therefore you must crush fire imp fat to stop it from burning. - How do you crush it? Random832 09:31, 24 October 2008 (EDT)

Probably with a cave-in. You can manufacture these by building an up ramp and a support, with some floor constructions above it. Link the support to a lever and throw the lever to cause the floor constructions to collapse. You'll definitely want to set a restricted area in the 3x3 zone around the imp fat, plus maybe suspended wall sections (which keep dwarves from standing there when they try to build) to keep some idiot from accidentally setting himself ablaze, though. --ThunderClaw 10:53, 24 October 2008 (EDT)

Why not simply build a bridge? --MagicGuigz 11:28, 24 October 2008 (EDT)

Forces you to get closer to the fat itself, so it's more hazardous work. You also can't apply multiple dwarves to the project, and it uses a similar amount of material. Definitely would work, though. --ThunderClaw 11:34, 24 October 2008 (EDT)

A bridge wouldn't work - you can't build a bridge that's raised by default, so the dwarves have to move the fat out of the way, and thus are set on fire. Also the butcher's shop gets in the way too. --GreyMaria 14:30, 24 October 2008 (EDT)

What happens if you flood the area with water? Just get a lot of steam? Maybe if you could find a way to move it, you could use fire imp fat to set up a steam bath for dwarves. --Forsaken1111 22:11, 2 November 2008 (EST)~

Do Imps, Magma Men and Fire Men respawn?

Do they? or is just killing them once enough? Incidentally, fire imps aren't all that tough. I had a mason (undrafted) dodge a fireball then wrestle one to death, THEN run away screaming. Unfortunately, dwarves tried to build floors next to a bridge, tossing half my party down the chute =/. --Blargityblarg

I have never seen chasm/pit/magma creators respawn (40d). I understand that in previous versions they did.--Kwieland 14:39, 7 May 2009 (UTC)

No I have never seen any fire-x creature respawn, and this is quite sad especially if they are so vulnerable. I wanted to make a "fire imp death chamber" for insolent nobles and when I went to investigate my magma pipe, all I saw were fire imp bones everywhere thanks to my insolent hunters (whom I will sacrifice now too). --Gamli

verify?

"When a fire imp corpse is butchered, clouds of "boiling fire imp fat" will briefly bubble 
out from the Butcher's shop, which can ignite nearby items or clothes (at least one butcher has perished to this fate"

I just butchered 4 imp corpses with no sign of that. They were killed in battle - may this only apply to trap caught live butchered imps?

"Fire imp fat never stops burning. It's also immune to fire damage. 
Therefore you must crush fire imp fat to stop it from burning." 

I also see no sign of that. I turned fat into tallow and put it on my food stockpile - no sign of fire or anything. --Koltom 21:07, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

I can confirm the explosion from fat - it's random, from a small "pfft" to a massive fireball. I strongly suspect that the fat rarely survives this (any more?), and is gone afterward. I've butchered dozens of imps, all from combat, and every time I get some sort of effect, if only a small puff - the butcher has just enough time to run before the explosion, and I don't think(?) I've ever seen "Fire Imp fat" left over afterwards.--Albedo 21:45, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

*headesk* *headesk* *turns on temperature* *headesk* --Koltom 14:03, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

I've seen fire imp fat behave in two ways - sometimes, the fire imp fat will instantly boil away in a red cloud and disappear, and sometimes it'll catch fire and cause horrendous amounts of smoke to emanate from the workshop. In my latest fortress, I managed to get the latter, but when I deconstructed the workshop (as a precursor to preparing a cave-in), the fat simply vanished into thin air. --Quietust 15:07, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

Why their fat boils and stuff

Finally figured out what I think is a solid theory. I've tested it, and everything seems to mesh. Wrestling a fire imp fresh out of the magma will set the wrestler's clothes on fire, without the imp ever breathing fire. Butchering the same imp will result in a cloud of boiling imp fat (though I've yet to see injuries more severe than brown; my butcher rested in bed for literally about 5 real world seconds, then went right back to work). Knocking the imp out on top of flammables can set them on fire, if it remains still long enough. And the meat can set wooden barrels on fire when stored. If the imp is allowed to run around for a season or two, however, it cools down enough to be handled safely (including the fat, which doesn't boil and can be rendered normally). I'm not sure of the minimum time to reach a safe temperature. I also believe it's possible for an imp to reach just the right temperature that the meat doesn't immediately set a barrel on fire, but transfers heat slowly until it appears to spontaneously combust. This has been confirmed by heating iron weapons with magma briefly, then storing them in a wooden bin. Varying temperature is also most likely why some fat boils, some burns, and some makes delicious ≡fire imp tallow roasts≡, though I didn't do enough testing to produce burning imp fat.

Dwarf Fortress is insane. --Arrkhal 02:20, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

Fire imp made it through a locked door???

It ruined my entire map, I had 2 doors connecting the magma pipe to the surface, I had them both locked and sealed tightly, later on I get a warning that someone is bleeding to death, I look, and my entire map is on fire and 2 people are dead. The rest committed suicide.

I reclaimed but somehow the ashy wasteland with unicorn bones everywhere just doesnt feel as mirthful as it used to. --Radical 08:30, 28 January 2010 (EST)

Yep both in 40d and in 2010, they have the canopendoors tag.

That would only permit them to open unlocked doors - opening locked doors would require [LOCKPICKER], which is unique to kobolds and gremlins. --Quietust 21:11, 15 April 2011 (UTC)

Fire imp and olmman teamup

I just watched an olmman chase a mountain goat around the map, curious whether he would catch it, when the goat turned towards the magma pipe. A fire imp was sitting just outside the pipe, so I was looking forward to a fight between the three creatures... but the fire imp just roasted the goat (after a few close misses), then went back to his magma. The olmman survived completely unhurt... well, survived the fight anyway. The !!Mountain Goat corpse!! set fire to the grass and trees around it and that killed the olmman. Talk about a late revenge. The main point is though, the fire imp was completely uninterested in attacking another aggressive creature, but chased the non-aggressive one down as soon as he noticed it. Seems all aggressive wildlife counts as one big team, not just fire beings. --Syndic 18:45, 4 February 2010 (UTC)

If this remains true in DF 2010, then it definitely should be posted under the creatures section. 71.194.101.232 03:27, 13 March 2010 (UTC)