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Labor
v50.14 · v0.47.05 This article is about the current version of DF.Note that some content may still need to be updated. |
"To get a job done, a dwarf has to do it." - Boss Urist Mc Overstates-the-obvious
Introduction to Labor
At the most basic level, labor is how you things get done. When you want your dwarf to do a job of work you must assign that dwarf to a "labor" type that corresponds with the job. You, as the fortress overseer, create jobs to be done by designating them, and the dwarves who have been assigned the corresponding labor type appropriate to the job will complete the job. Your dwarves function as semi-autonomous entities, fulfilling their own basic needs as they see fit, while also meeting the demand of work to be done when time and conditions allow. Assigning specific labors to your dwarves tells them what type of work you want them to do. A labor "preference" simply designates whether a dwarf is allowed do a particular job or not. Multiple labors can be assigned to a single dwarf, (unless they are exclusive - see below) but specialization within a category is usually best as this will result in highly skilled (faster/ higher quality) labor.
Basic Terminology
- Labor: the ability to complete a job specific to a given type of work, which must be assigned individually to each Dwarf.
- Preference: a somewhat ambiguous term associated with process of assigning a labor to a Dwarf. Dwarves do not prefer assigned labors over unassigned labors, rather they will only do jobs associated with labors that they "prefer".
- Skill: the level of proficiency a dwarf has when performing a specific labor. Skill increases with experience in completing the work. (The term labor and skill are NOT synonyms. Skill is a measure of proficiency for a given labor, while a labor is the ability to do the work.)
- Profession: Each dwarf is assigned a professional title, which is determined from the dwarf's assigned / preferred labors that has the highest skill level.
- Job: a specific task or work order queued to be completed, which can only be completed by a dwarf assigned to the labor that corresponds to the job. Typically there are multiple jobs that can be completed by a specific labor.
- Social Skill: Social skills are not labors, in that no work is performed using them, but they are similar in that they are unique abilities which will increase in competency the more they are used.
- Miscellaneous Abilities: are similar to labors and social skills, but again are not used in the performance of work. An example is swimming.
Assigning Labors
There are several steps required to assign a particular labor to a dwarf. For an example, lets say you have designated a section of underground rock to be mined in order to make a tunnel for your fortress. This designation of work is a "job", and will now appear in your j job's menu as "dig". In order for a dwarf to complete the job, you must assign a dwarf the mining labor. This can be done as follows:
- From the main map screen, select the unit list menu, u, which will list all your Dwarves and show their current activity.
- Alternatively, you can use view v on the main map, or simply select a dwarf that is visible on your map using the cursor.
- From the unit list menu, arrow scroll down to select the dwarf whom you want to assign a labor to then select c to zoom to their location. Your view will change to the main map, and the dwarf you have chosen should be flashing on and off. In the task window on the right you will see information about the selected dwarf, in the Dwarf Details menu.
- The default view for the selected dwarf in the Dwarf Details menu is 'general' g, which will list the dwarf's nickname or first name, dwarvish last name, and profession, followed below by their nickname or first name and last name as it reads in english, and their noble title if they are a noble. This is followed by a list that shows the current job (or lack thereof) in blue text, combat role c, labors b, and miscellaneous social skills and abilities m. To see only the current labors, turn the combat c and miscellaneous m sections off.
- From the Dwarf Details screen, select p for preference, and then l for labor. This will take you to the Labor Categories screen, which categorizes the individual labor options into various categories based on similarity of work. (See Labor Categories below.)
- Note that Mining is unique on the list, as it is the only item that is a labor in its own right, and not a category of several labors.
- Scroll through the list using the + or - keys, select a category, and scroll through the individual labor list, and once you have the desired labor selected, press Enter. For this example, since Mining is a labor and not a category you need only select Mining from the category menu.
- Exiting: To return to the Dwarf Details screen, select preference p then general g, and you should see the new assigned labor in the list. You can also exit directly to the main screen by selecting {k|Esc}
Note: The word "preference" can be confusing, as it suggest that a Dwarf will do work associated with any labor, but will 'prefer' and prioritize work associated with labors you have assigned. This is not the case. A dwarf will only do work associated with assigned preferred labors, so it is not a preference, but is in fact functions as a switch to enable or disable the labor. (Prioritization of work is based on several factors that are not fully understood, but are presented in micromanagement tricks.)
Labor & Tool Requirements:
For certain jobs, such as mining in our example, a tool is also required for the job to be completed. Miners need picks, Woodcutters need an axe, and Hunters need a crossbow. If a labor needs a tool, the labor is considered exclusive such that you can only assign one of the three labors listed to any single Dwarf. Additionally, the assignment of these tools overrides any uniform assigned to a dwarf's squad, so military dwarves should never be assigned any of the aforementioned labors.
Labor & Facility Requirements:
Many jobs require a workshop or some other facility in order to be completed. Jobs are designated by way of the workshop, and any dwarf with the corresponding labor associated with the workshop will go to the shop, provided they are not eating, sleeping, drinking, etc..., and begin to complete the task. Most workshop jobs also require some raw materials in order to complete the production.
Labor Categories
Labor is divided in the game into the following related categories, which include specific labor associated with each category:
- Mining: In this case, this is the individual labor, and not a category of labor.
- Woodworking: Carpentry, Crossbow-making, Wood Cutting
- Stoneworking: Masonry, Stone Detailing
- Hunting/Related: Animal Training, Animal Care, Hunting, Trapping, Small Animal Dissection
- Healthcare: Diagnosis, Surgery, Setting Bones, Suturing, Dressing Wounds, Feed Patients/Prisoners, Recovering Wounded
- Farming/Related: Butchery, Tanning, Farming (Fields), Dyeing, Soap Making, Wood Burning, Potash Making, Lye Making, Milling, Brewing, Plant Gathering, Plant Processing, Cheese Making, Milking, Shearing, Spinning, Cooking, Beekeeping
- Fishing/Related: Fishing, Fish Cleaning, Fish Dissection
- Metalsmithing: Furnace Operating, Weaponsmithing, Armoring, Blacksmithing, Metalcrafting
- Jewelry: Gem Cutting, Gem Setting
- Crafts: Leatherworking, Woodcrafting, Stonecrafting, Bone Carving, Glassmaking, Weaving, Clothesmaking, Strand Extraction, Pottery, Glazing, Wax Working
- Engineering: Siege Engineer, Siege Operating, Mechanics, Pump Operating
- Hauling: Stone Hauling, Wood Hauling, Item Hauling, Burial, Food Hauling, Refuse Hauling, Animal Hauling, Push/Haul Vehicles
- Other Jobs: Architecture, Alchemy, Cleaning
Managing Labor
You can view a list of all current, queued, and suspended jobs on the jobs menu. A list of what job each dwarf is currently performing is visible on the units menu.
Once designated as a labor preference, a single skill can possibly be applied to many different jobs. For instance, a dwarf with the bone carving labor designated might carve a totem out of a skull, craft bone practice bolts for a crossbow, create bone armor, or carve bone crafts to trade. Each of these is a different possible job allowed by designating the associated labor, which in each of these cases is governed by the "bone carving" skill.
Labor, Skill, and product quality
The experience a dwarf has with a certain labor will determine how well he goes about performing this labour. A higher experience will get the job done faster in all labors (which doesn't apply for labors in which no experience can be gained, like the nursing and hauling labours). However, only certain (typically crafting oriented) labors will produce products that have a quality tag. The table below lists in which labors the dwarf's experience will impact the quality of produced items and in which labours a higher experience will only be beneficial for the speed of production.
Labor Design
Managing your Dwarves can be a tricky, and time consuming business.
Many labor preferences, especially hauling, have no associated skill, do not generate experience, and do not improve with practice.
The mining, wood cutting, and hunting labors require the dwarf to either pick up and wield a pick, battle axe, or crossbow. For this reason, a dwarf cannot be assigned to any combination of mining, wood cutting, or hunting at the same time.
Jobs that are not labors: eating, drinking, sleeping, going on break, partying, cleaning themselves, and resting. A few things are listed as "No Job" but can be considered labors in a different sense: running scared, not having a path to anyplace useful, and being insane.
Viewing labors
You may have noticed that the UI for managing dwarves is a bit difficult to use. If you are using a supported operating system, Dwarf Therapist and DFHack can make this much easier.
To change a dwarf's labor preferences, access the labor screen by viewing the dwarf, then select preferences and labor. Use + and - to move the cursor up and down to highlight different categories or skills to enable or disable.
Using u can help you locate dwarves. Select a dwarf, hit c for "zoom to creature" and you'll automatically be placed in view mode on that dwarf. Use p-l to get to the labor configuration menu.
Labors are divided into skill trees - for instance, accessing metalsmithing allows you to enable various jobs that are related to working with metal, such as weaponsmithing and armorsmithing.
A category is dark gray if there are no labors under it enabled, light gray if there are some jobs enabled, and white if all jobs are enabled. (These distinctions can sometimes be very hard to tell apart in the default color scheme.)
The Woodcutting, Mining and Hunting labors are mutually exclusive, since they each require the dwarf to equip a different tool.
Note that changes in labors will not always take effect immediately - if a labor is deselected on a dwarf, say Mining, who is performing the job, they will first finish mining the current tile and then stop mining.
| Category | Labors |
|---|---|
| Mining | |
| Woodworker | |
| Stoneworking | |
| Hunting/Related | |
| Healthcare | |
| Farming/Related | |
| Fishing/Related | |
| Metalsmithing | |
| Jewelry | |
| Crafts | |
| Engineering | |
| Hauling |
|
| Other Jobs |
|
| Category | Labors | Quality-effects? | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mining | no | speed only | |
| Woodworker | yes | item, furniture, and designed building quality | |
| yes | weapon quality | ||
| no | speed only | ||
| Stoneworking | yes | item, furniture, and designed building quality | |
| yes | engraving quality, speed only for smoothing and track carving | ||
| Hunting/Related | yes | training quality | |
| no | not implemented | ||
| no | success rate tends to rise from increasing ambusher and marksdwarf skills | ||
| no | success rate?[Verify] | ||
| no | speed only | ||
| Healthcare (Doctoral) | yes | success chance, accuracy (and speed) of treatment | |
| Healthcare (Nursing) | no | unskilled | |
| Farming/Related | no | speed only | |
| no | speed only | ||
| yes | crop yield (stack size) | ||
| yes | dye quality | ||
| no | speed only | ||
| no | speed only | ||
| no | speed only | ||
| no | speed only | ||
| no | speed only | ||
| no | speed only | ||
| yes | success and plant yield (stack size) | ||
| no | speed only | ||
| no | speed only | ||
| no | speed only | ||
| no | speed only | ||
| no | speed only | ||
| yes | meal and ingredient quality | ||
| no | speed only | ||
| no | speed only[Verify] | ||
| Fishing/Related | yes | fish stack size | |
| no | speed only | ||
| no | speed only | ||
| Metalsmithing | no | speed only | |
| yes | weapon quality | ||
| yes | armor quality | ||
| yes | item, furniture, designed building quality | ||
| yes | craft, item, decoration, designed building quality | ||
| Jewelry | yes | gem craft quality | |
| yes | decoration quality | ||
| Crafts | yes | clothing, decoration, craft quality | |
| yes | craft quality | ||
| yes | craft quality | ||
| yes | craft, decoration quality | ||
| yes | craft, item, furniture quality | ||
| yes | cloth quality | ||
| yes | clothing, decoration quality | ||
| no | speed only | ||
| yes | craft, item, furniture quality | ||
| no | no experience gain Bug:4577 | ||
| yes | craft quality | ||
| Engineering | yes | part, ammunition quality | |
| yes | accuracy | ||
| yes | mechanism, furniture quality | ||
| no | - | ||
| Hauling |
|
no | unskilled |
| Other Jobs | yes | building design quality | |
| no | not implemented | ||
| no | unskilled | ||
|
no | unskilled | |
|
no | unskilled |