Editing Starting build

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:''This is not a tutorial, a FAQ, or a new player's guide. This is a mildly advanced theoretical treatment for someone ready to take the plunge and make all the decisions about their own fortress. The following are intended for beginners:''

A '''starting build''' is a personal strategy for choosing the initial supplies, equipment, and [[skill]]s of your initial seven dwarves when starting a new game in [[fortress mode]] (see [[Sample Starting Builds]]). The skills and items which you assign to your dwarves will have a large impact on life in your new fortress, especially in its first year.

Starting builds can and should vary based upon a number of other variables. [[embark#Choosing_a_Site|Where you choose to settle]] will dictate what raw materials are available, and thus require different skill sets to utilize, not to mention different threats from native wildlife based on [[biome]], [[surroundings|savagery]], and [[surroundings|alignment]]. Which dwarven civilization you chose will restrict the materials with which you can start. Making choices about these variables is not part of a starting build. What you choose for skills and items because of these choices is part of your starting build, and so some general guidelines about different environments is given last.

:* Balancing the desire to create [[wealth]] ''(with high-value products)'' with the need to maintain [[thought|morale]] ''(with low-value but commonly-used products, like [[bed]]s, which normally are made from [[wood]])''

All production* skills add one or both of two things to your fortress: higher [[quality]] goods, and/or faster production of those goods. That second should not be quickly dismissed - for example, although higher skill produces no quality in [[booze]], your fortress will consume quite a lot of it, so having a dwarf skilled as a [[brewer]] means significantly less time spent at that task, freeing them to do other things. This, in effect, "adds" dwarfpower to your fortress by reducing the time needed for predictable and necessary tasks. Such skills are labor multipliers - less time spent means more time doing something else, like hauling or crafting items.

 

: (* There are also military skills, which add nothing except killing locals that threaten your fortress. It has been observed, generally speaking, that dead dwarves produce considerably less than living dwarves.

 

: There are also some other, rarely used skills that are still important, e.g. [[Appraiser]] and [[Judge of intent|Judge of Intent]], among others, but those are not part of a basic introduction.)

 

 

That said, there are some skills which will be '''used''', to one extent or another, by virtually every starting/growing fortress - but that doesn't mean you '''need''' or even want to invest points in them to start. You could even manipulate the fortress (see [[challenge]]) to completely avoid one or more of the following, but these are the skills you will find it exceptionally hard to avoid creating jobs for:

** Inexperienced [[miner]]s work very slowly. Mining can be leveled up quite quickly by mining [[soil#soil|soil]], but taking at least one dwarf with some starting skill in mining is recommended in most cases.

*[[Masonry]] - to fashion dwarven [[furniture]] from stone, and build [[building]]s and [[constructions]] from stone.

The very fact that you ''will'' use these skills can make many of them desirable to choose as starting skills for your dwarves. Of the above, Mining, Masonry, Growing, Cooking, and Mechanics are generally worth considering as "highly desirable".  However, '''any skill can be used untrained, and/or get trained on the job''' - it just means a slower process and/or average lower quality product than if done by a dwarf with a higher [[experience|skill level]]. Some skills (e.g. [[Record keeper]]) are rarely worth investing initial points in even though you will almost always use them; you can simply let the dwarf learn on the job. Others (e.g. Mining, Carpentry) may be worth investing points in depending on your goals or the tempo with which you want to achieve them. (Mining is easy to train so you could forgo initial investment and just train on the job, but this could force you to spend longer on the surface, increasing your exposure to dangers. A skilled carpenter can contribute a lot to fortress mood, but won't produce much [[value]]; see the discussion of Quality below.)

*1 Axe Dwarf/Woodcutter

*1 Mechanic/Carpenter

*1 Stone Carver/ Judge of Intent 1/Appraiser 1

Some skills are harder to gain experience in than others - requiring valuable resources or taking an extended period of time, and thus inconvenient to train from scratch. Investing in some of these skills for your initial dwarves can make those industries much less painful to start. For example, [[metal]]-related skills generally eat metal [[bar]]s, and thus the less time you spend training metal workers up to a decent level, the faster they'll be churning out high-quality items and the fewer raw materials (bars and [[fuel]]) they'll waste in training. On the other hand, despite its importance, skills like mining train relatively quickly and barring extenuating circumstances (expected need to accomplish particular digging projects in the first month or you'll get mauled by a [[Giant]] for example) there's little need to actually invest your starting skills in it - they can learn on the job.

[[Quality]] is an important part of ''Dwarf Fortress''. Higher-quality items produce better and more frequent happy [[thought]]s and are worth more money in [[wealth]] and [[trade]]. When choosing skills that produce objects of quality, the desire to produce valuable goods for trade will often conflict with the desire to produce objects that will make your dwarves happy. Built items that are frequently encountered tend to be things like [[furniture]] (especially [[bed]]s) which tend to have low material values and thus low total value despite the quality of the work. Further, these things tend to be inconvenient to trade (due to [[weight]] and storage constraints). It is often best to strike a balance between dwarves who produce valuable trade goods and dwarves who produce quality items that will make your population happy - and thus be able to achieve both goals simultaneously.

Food outside will also spoil a lot faster than food inside, so making a cellar of some sort to store your food in will increase the longevity of your food supplies. The rate at which food spoils depends on ambient temperature, so the urgency of making a cellar will depend on where you settled.{{verify}} Food doesn't rot on stockpiles or in minecarts, though vermin may consume it. Fat or alcohol doesn't rot, however. The only way you can avoid thinking about food storage in the first year is if you collect food and make alcohol as needed - i.e., by using an herbalist to collect local plants - which can avoid needing to mine at all.

Delving a shelter requires mining, which means having picks to dig with. One can always bring one or more picks at embark, but it's also possible to bring the supplies necessary to make them. See [[Starting build#Finished product or do-it-yourself|finished product or do it yourself]].

An aboveground shelter can be made with stone, wood or possibly more exotic materials.  Stone of course requires mining, and thus picks. Wood can be had with an axe assuming trees are present, and axes, like picks, can similarly be brought at embark or made on site. It is of course possible to bring sufficient raw materials to build walls and a roof with, but this is far less efficient than just bringing a pick or an axe, although it could make a fun challenge.

Many items come in containers such as [[barrel]]s and [[bag]]s, including [[food]], liquids, [[seed|seeds]], and [[powder]]s. The cost to embark with these items can be cheaper than the cost of the container itself, and each different type of item for each category will come in its own container. [[Meat]] barrels are grouped by animal type, so if you get horse tripe and horse meat they'll combine in one barrel, but horse meat and donkey meat will come in separate barrels. This applies to [[Fish]] as well; the two genders will come in the same barrel, but different fish species will come with their own barrels. [[Egg|Eggs]] and [[Milk]] also come in barrels, again with each type getting its own barrel. [[Plump_helmet|Plump Helmets]] come in a barrel, while other [[Crop|Garden Vegetables]] come in bags. Similarly, each [[seed]] type comes with its own bag. Powders, such as [[sand]] and [[Gypsum_plaster|gypsum]], get a bag for each unit. [[Lye]] can be brought for another cheap barrel.

[[Alcohol]] gets a new barrel after every 5th unit, despite normally being able to hold 25. Other items don't get additional containers at low enough amounts to matter for this trick. Other [[Extracts]] also come in barrels, though most have no use other than trading, with no easy way to free up the barrel. They are also grouped by animal type, so if you really want some sheep [[blood]] with your sheep milk, go for it.

Diversifying your initial food supply with 1 of each low-cost food item will net you a large number of barrels. As stockpiling and some jobs are container-limited, getting as many free containers as you can will free up labor (and possibly valuable materials) that would otherwise be used making containers. Note, however, that this behavior is considered by some to be an [[exploit]] since it provides substantial advantage at no cost.

Rather than buy an item before embark, you can buy (some of) the raw materials, and just make the item after the game starts. The trade off is time lost vs cost saved - how long will it take you to make what you need, how soon will you need it, and how much "other stuff" can you buy instead?

The most common scenario involves [[make your own weapons|forging your own picks and weapons]]. While not usually too much of a hardship, it can be dangerous to delay having any weapons if you expect possible hostile creatures. Furthermore, you will lose time - possibly 1/4 to 1/2 the first month - if you forge your own picks.  However, if your weaponsmith is skilled (even just a couple ranks), the finished item can be much higher quality than what you can buy (which is always "lowest quality"), which is important for weaponry, but makes no difference for mining. Dwarves can fight unarmed (especially small wild animals), so you have to balance the expected danger of your selected [[embark]] site against the savings.

Another consideration is how difficult it will be to find and gather the necessary resources on your map.  Bringing a few logs/stones/blocks lets you start building some [[workshop]]s immediately upon arrival, with [[fire-safe]] stones/blocks you can build a [[furnace]] and [[smelter]], and with an [[anvil]] a [[forge]].  If you want [[steel]] weapons, bringing some iron and flux stone will almost certainly be faster than mining deep for it ''(and definitely will be if you have an [[aquifer]] to deal with)''.  

 

 

Bottom line, '''''any''''' finished good can be made if you've brought the raw materials, but most of them are not essential like the above, and thus you can generally wait until you find suitable resources on site or buy them from [[caravan]]s.

The only free equipment you get in [[fortress mode]] is the wagon (which can be broken down for some logs), its draft animals, and your dwarves' clothes. Unfortunately, your dwarves don't get any free equipment based on their skills. This is in contrast to [[Adventure mode]], in which the only equipment available on starting is free equipment.

Each fortress [[Embark#Choosing_a_Site|location]] offers particular challenges and opportunities, and can make different demands on your starting build. Your starting build may need to be adjusted depending on the [[region]] your fort occupies, the specific vision you have of your fortress, and what it will take to [[losing|stay alive]] where you're going!

Flatlands with at least some trees and gatherable plants can also make for highly successful fortresses. Advantages over mountain zones include abundant trees and plants and (unless frozen) more abundant water. More water also means a high likelihood of an [[aquifer]] being present. Make sure to check on embark.

With many features in common with some of the above locations, [[beach]]es are often a mix of ease intermingled with bouts of extreme difficulty. Minerals and trees are often abundant, as well as farmland and sand, but there is often no drinking water unless the biome has flowing [[water]] of some sort.