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Dragonfire

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Revision as of 15:26, 8 February 2023 by Zippy (talk | contribs) (Replaced image with animated one.)
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This article is about the current version of DF.
Note that some content may still need to be updated.

Dragonfire preview anim.gif
Dragonfire. The goblin survived nearly a year before finally failing a shield block; the tin goblet, however, remained undamaged.
The Dragonfire seen here was aimed at a dwarf 1 z-level below, and can be seen affecting both that z-level and the z-level above.

Dragonfire is a very powerful form of fire that is produced by dragons. Dragonfire forms a rough cone shape, with a range of approximately 20 tiles and a spread of 10 tiles[1]. In versions v0.47 and earlier, dragonfire did not spread vertically through additional z-levels (although dragons did target visible creatures on other z-levels). However, in version v0.50, dragonfire has been seen spanning at least 2 z-levels, though the resulting grass-fire's spread was limited to the z-level it started on. Despite its powerfully destructive nature, dragonfire can effectively be blocked by a simple shield better than 99% of the time.

Legends claim that dragonfire can reach temperatures up to 50000 °U . At that temperature, almost all materials should be destroyed (the dragon's own body and its butchering products are exceptions). However, research has shown that dragonfire is quite particular about which objects it affects. When in a tile with dragonfire, organic materials will ignite, even including nether-cap wood with its fixed temperature. Non-flammable common stone, glass, and ceramic items will melt and boil away. In previous versions, such as v0.43.03 and earlier, metal objects and buildings were immune to dragonfire, even non-fire-safe metals like tin.Bug:6517 Dragonfire is similarly ineffective against water, producing no steam or evaporation. Buildings (but not constructions) are affected by dragonfire on their tile, making non-dragonfire-safe doors immune as long as they remain closed. Objects and buildings (and creatures) made out of slade are also immune to dragonfire, since the raws do not define a specific heat for slade.

Objects ignited by dragonfire drop to and continue to burn at their standard combustion temperature, however, repeated blasts of dragonfire can sustain much higher combustion temperatures, sufficient even to eventually melt nearby adamantine.

Dragonfire is powerful enough to burn and kill creatures who are immune to conventional fire, like fire imps or magma crabs. The only creatures immune to dragonfire are dragons themselves, as well as their subterranean cave dragon cousins, despite the latter not being able to breathe dragonfire. All Hidden Fun Stuff creatures are also immune to it.

Dragonfire-safe materials

There are very few materials which can withstand the immense heat of dragonfire. Here is the full list:

Type Material Appearance Melting point Solid density Specific heat Value multiplier Notes


Metal Divine metal Varies None 1000 7500 300 Found mostly in vaults
Leather Fire imp leather ß None 500 420 3
Bone Fire imp bone ² None 500 1000 3
Bone Dragon bone ² None 500 30000 15
"Dragonfire" in other Languages Books-aj.svg aj ashton 01.svg
Dwarven: måmgoz-ziril
Elvish: vutheni-inira
Goblin: kusnath-zedan
Human: tamun-usmok