Industry

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v50.14 · v0.47.05 This article is about the current version of DF. Note that some content may still need to be updated. More Info · V

Humans busy with their own industry.

All dwarves love money, and a complete industry in all its glory is the easiest way to make lots and lots of money.

Traditionally, industries have been broken into primary (resource extraction), secondary (the refining and reprocessing of these resources into goods), and tertiary (provision of services). Although dwarves are not typically known for their intellectual pursuits, with the introduction of libraries, your fortress can even have a quaternary sector "industry" (science, information generation and sharing).

Industries in Dwarf Fortress can be broken into the following categories. These categories are based on Economy Sectors. Note that the end products of one industry are often the inputs to another, and some industries can fit into more than one category.

Primary industries

• Wood industry: Growing and cutting wood to produce items, including furniture and fuel. To start wood crafting, a carpenter's workshop is needed. Wood can be used for making pretty much anything, but note that wooden weapons will become training weapons instead (great for a danger room) and that wood is definitely not magma-safe (obvious). Those tree-hugging elves will whine and send a diplomat begging you to stop if you chop too many trees down.
• Stone industry: Exploration and mining stone to produce buildings and items. Stone is a versatile material and can be used to make furniture and crafts, or build stone walls to protect your squishier dwarves. Note that any type of wall cannot currently be destroyed by any invader/monster, no matter the material (wood, stone, clay,...) but for role-playing purposes, having stone walls sounds so much better than having wooden ones.
• Farming industry: The gathering and farming of plants for food and textiles.
• Fishing industry: Fish are harvested and processed into food and shells. Fishermen will automatically fish in nearby pools and rivers unless you designate a fishing area. Shells are great for making crafts and/or encrusting them in finished goods.
• Meat industry: Animals are processed into meat, leather, bones, teeth, horns and skulls. Meat rots away pretty fast, so don't overdo it if you already have an abundance of food. Leather is great for clothing as well as making backpacks, quivers and waterskins. Farming animals for their bones is a great idea since a legendary bone carver can encrust your finished goods with said bones masterfully, thus increasing the value of your fort dramatically (and making your dwarves get more happy thoughts). Small teeth are useless, but larger teeth and horns are valuable items for making crafts or encrusting furniture/finished goods. If you have too many skulls lying around, make totems. Masterful skull totems of even unremarkable animals, such as turkeys, may fetch 120 dwarfbucks per totem. Note that having many animals on-site will tank your FPS.
• Beekeeping industry: Bees are collected into hives, which produce honeycomb and royal jelly.
• Poultry industry: Raising egg-laying animals primarily to collect and consume the eggs. Excess animals can be used in the meat industry as a byproduct. Crundles produce a ton of eggs, and hatch in adult form, making them a great source of eggs, meat, bones and skulls (nasty but effective).

Secondary industries

• Alcohol industry: The production of alcohol to keep dwarves hydrated and content. Dwarves drink as many times as you blink per day. They are also massive alcoholics, and if you cut their supply of booze they will get very cranky and show withdrawal symptoms. Alcohol is made at the still and can be used to make food too.
• Armor industry: Metal, wood, leather, and bone are used to produce armor to keep your dwarves safe. Wood, leather, and bone provide minimal protection. Metal is key, but note that armor is meaningless against Titans, as a blow from them would probably turn your dwarf into a bloody pulp.
• Ceramic industry: Clay is used to create moderate quality containers, bricks, crafts, and statues. Kilns are also used to produce gypsum plaster for Healthcare and pearlash for the Glass industry.
• Finished goods industry: Almost all materials can be used to produce crafts for export. The base of your economy, crafts can be massed produced and thus are a valuable trading commodity.
• Food industry: Cooking of items such as meat, eggs, flour, and plants to make meals for hungry dwarves.
• Fuel industry: The production of fuel to support the metal, glass and ceramics industries either with charcoal or coal.
• Furniture industry: Using stone, wood, and metal to produce furniture, primarily for installation in your outpost.
• Glass industry: Sand is used to create low-quality gems, plus an assortment of other goods.
• Gem industry: Raw gems are cut, some into finished goods, while most are then used to decorate ("encrust") a multitude of items.
• Metal industry: Raw ore is refined into metal bars, which may be used for weapons, armor, furniture, and crafts. Prioritize your weapon-grade metals (bronze, steel, iron, etc...) to make weapons and tools. Gold is useful if you want to bump up the value of certain rooms or satisfy your roleplaying needs (gold throne, gold chains that hold the most exotic pets, gold doors leading to your monarch's room, etc...)
• Soap industry: The production of soap to be used in healthcare.
• Textile industry: Plant fiber, spider silk, and wool/hair thread are woven into cloth to produce clothing, rope, bags, and bandages, and to decorate crafts.
• Extract industry: Vermin and plants can be processed into valuable extracts for export.
• Weapon industry: Metal, wood, stone, and bone are used to produce weapons to keep the goblins away.
• Paper industry^v0.42.01: Papyrus, cloth plants, or animal hide with milk of lime are processed into paper sheets. These are used for quires and scrolls. Written-on quires and parchments can be bound into a book and they show up in the "artifacts" menu.

Tertiary industries

• Administration: Dwarves who process work orders, keep the inventory, administer justice, and meet with foreign diplomats. Also good at pulling levers.
• Healthcare: Patching up your inevitably-wounded dwarves.
• Military: Brave dwarves put themselves in danger so that others may live in peace.
• Trading: Fortress goods are exchanged for materials and goods from other civilized places.
• Entertainment: Attract visitors to your fort using Taverns.

Quaternary industries

• Library: Dwarves and visiting scholars will discuss new ideas about life, the universe and everything else. Quires and scrolls can be filled with the acquired knowledge and can be read by your dwarves for happy thoughts (or be copied and sold for profit).
• Temple: Religious activities

  V · T · E Industries
  Primary	Beekeeping · Farming · Fishing · Gathering · Meat · Poultry · Stone · Wood
  Secondary	Alcohol · Armor · Arms · Ceramic · Extract · Finished goods · Fuel · Furniture · Gem · Glass · Metal · Paper · Soap · Textile
  Tertiary	Military · Health care · Noble · Trade · Tavern
  Quaternary	Library · Temple