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Advanced marksdwarf training guide

2016-05-24T19:16:04Z

Greycat: /* Stopping Melee Charges */

{{Quality|Exceptional|21:40, 11 May 2015 (UTC)}}
Marksdwarves are fairly buggy, and often refuse to use archery ranges, or stand in front of them, and fail to fire their crossbows. This guide goes into details explaining known bugs, and getting your Marksdwarves to train properly, as well as going into details regarding various ranged weaponry.

== Understanding Ranged Weaponry ==

In vanilla Dwarf Fortress, the raws define three types of ranged weapons, each with their own skill and ammo.

{| class="wikitable"
!colspan="4" |Ranged Weapons
|-
!Ranged Weapon
!Ranged Skill
!Melee Skill
!Ammo
|-
|Crossbow
|Marksdwarf
|Hammerdwarf
|Bolts
|-
|Bow
|Bowman
|Swordman
|Arrows
|-
|Blowgun
|Blowgunner
|Swordman
|Darts
|-
|}

Of these, dwarfs can only craft crossbows and bolts. Bows and blowguns are gained either through trade or recovery from downed enemies. If playing a modded game, replace crossbow in the following with one of the above weapons, and proper ammo type.

== Equipping Your Marksdwarfs ==

=== The Minimum Outfit ===
At a minimum, each dwarf requires the following to successfully use the crossbow.
* One crossbow
* One quiver
* One stack of bolts for each marksdwarf to fire

A quiver is equipped on the upper body slot. Due to a bug, sometimes a marksdwarf will fail to pickup a quiver if wearing heavy armor. A workaround for this is given below. Wood and metal bolts are generated in stacks of 25. Bone bolts are generated in stacks of 5.

=== Crossbows ===
Crossbows can be made with wood or bone at a bowyer's workshop, or out of metal at a metalsmith/magma forge. Metal crossbows can be forged out of copper, bronze, bismuth bronze, iron, steel, or adamantine. Quivers must be made of leather at a leatherworks. The base material of a crossbow appears to have no effect on the lethality of ranged bolts. However, when marksdwarves end up in melee, they will use their crossbow as a hammer, thus it is recommended to make dense metal crossbows.

=== Quivers and Bolts ===
Please note that bolts are assigned to a ''squad'', not to individual dwarves. If you have a squad of 10 marksdwarves, you need to assign ''at least'' 250 bolts to the squad. 500 is better.

Quivers can hold between 25 and 49 bolts, and dwarves will pick up multiple stacks if necessary to reach a number in this range. In other words, dwarves will continue picking up stacks of bolts until they've got at least 25 in their quiver (or they run out of squad-assigned bolt stacks). Bolt stacks are collected in last-in-first-out order (LIFO); that is, dwarves will always go for the newest bolts in your fortress, even if there is an ammo stockpile three steps away from them. Each squad with marksdwarves must be assigned ammo; as they deplete it, Dwarf Fortress will automatically add additional ammo to the squad if there are some in the fortress, again following the principle of LIFO.

=== Avoiding 'Equipment Mismatch' Issues ===
Miners, wood cutters, and hunters have a default uniform. When these labors are enabled, a dwarf will carry the equipment appropriate to that job, making it unavailable for the military, and causing issues if that dwarf is then drafted. In general, it's safe to put miners and wood cutters in ranged squads, and hunters in melee squads, as this prevents them from equipping the same type of item twice.

When drafting hunters, clear their labors, and '''confirm''' that your hunter has put his quiver and crossbow away. If you don't, he'll generate equipment mismatches. Furthermore, a mismatch may be cause when a marksdwarf grabs a quiver that was once used by a hunter which still has bolts in it. This can be resolved by looking at the dwarf in the {{K|k}} menu, then open his inventory, find the quiver, and forbid the bolts in it. He'll dump them, and properly reload.

If you don't use hunters, you may want to remove their bolt assignments from the ammunition screen.

== Setting your Marksdwarf's barrack ==

=== Understanding Possible Training Activities ===
The first rule of marksdwarf training is you do *not* assign them a normal barrack. If they have that, they will prefer to train as hammerdwarves with their crossbows vs. actually shooting bolts. Furthermore, as the game gives precedence to melee training, they will almost never use an archery range even if one is assigned if they have a choice.

When training, a dwarf has four possible options, which they will take in roughly this order:
- Squad Training
- Individual Combat Drill
- Spar
- Archery Training

Squad training and sparring require multiple dwarfs (and yes, marksdwarves *will* spar as long as they're novice hammerdwarves, training their melee skills while doing so). Except for archery training, dwarves require a standard barracks to conduct any of the above activities. Notably, it is possible to actually train marksdwarves via demonstration, both Crossbow and Archery skills are trainable via demonstrations. By combining this with training orders, it is possible to make Archery Training the only valid option, and thus get them to train consistently.

=== Building Archery Ranges ===
Thus, the first step is to build a room with a bunch of archery ranges. The room must be large enough that the marksdwarf has a one gap space between them and the target; I just make their "barrack" 10x10, and put an ammo stockpile in it. Notably, (and this is a change from previous versions) the dwarves *must* be able to walk up to the the target; placing a channel in front of it will prevent them from training.

Once you build your range, you must define it as a room. Make it so it touches the far wall, and don't worry, range rooms can overlap. You have to do this for each. Make sure the shooting direction is correct! In addition, your marksdwarf squad MUST at minimum have train set on each archery target. One dwarf can use one target at any given time.

[[File:Archery_range_setup.png|A properly setup archery target]]

Repeat this for each range; you'll have 5-10 targets overlapping each other and assigned to your marksdwarves squad (in these screenshots, they are the "Home Guard")

===The Military Management Screen===

This is by far the most difficult part. Fear the 'm' menu, for it eats children. The {{K|m}} menu is confusing on the best days, but this guide will walk you through it.

The first and default page is the positions page. Ignore it for now, because you want to make the right uniform for your marksdwarves. Press {{K|n}} to bring up the uniforms screen. Do yourself a favor and just delete the default archer uniform. It's wrong and will not work properly.

Create a new uniform with {{K|c}} and add the following:
- crossbow (do NOT use individual choice, ranged; you *will* end up with dwarves who think an axe is a ranged weapon)
- shield (optional)
- leather armor
- leather headwear
- leather legwear
- leather handwear
- leather footwear

Press {{K|m}} to switch from "Partial matches" to "Exact matches" in the upper right. This appears to fix most of the issues that result in your dwarves not picking up quivers. You might be able to get away with over clothing however.

Here's what it should like if you did it right:

[[File:Working_training_uniform.png|400px|Uniform that gets them training]]

Now press {{K|p}} to go back to the positions menu. When you create the squad, it will ask for a uniform. Normally, this works as you'd expect it, assigning the uniform to an entire squad. However, if done with the captain of the guard position, it will *only* assign to that spot. You can look at the top of the screen to see what your dwarfs will train as (i.e. 10/10 Marksdwarfs). If needed, after selecting your recruits, then switch to the {{K|e}} menu. Select your squad, and then a position, then press {{K|U}} (that's capital U) to bring up the uniform selection screen.

Highlight your crossbow uniform, and press {{K|shift}} + {{K|enter}} to assign it to all positions in the squad. If you then check the positions screen, at the top, it will say 10/10 marksdwarves, instead of 1/1 markdwarf 9/9 wrestlers, which is what will happen if you leave it on defaults.

[[File:10_marksdwarves.png|400px|10/10 Marksdwarves]]

=== Handling Ammo ===
We're almost done. Go to the ammo screen.

[[File:ammo_screen.png|400px|Ammo]]

If you're setting this by hand, here's what to know. Each squad needs the correct ammo. Bolts are assigned on a "per-item" basis, i.e., a given stack of bolts thats marked for training will only be used for training and via versus. Unfortunately, an old bug prevents this from working; if you have multiple ammo types, and some are set Training-only, and others are set combat-only, your marksdwarves *will* get stuck and fail to train, or fail to fire. The only way to get this to work is if all ammo assignments in the fortress are set to both "CT" in the UI.

==== Switching Bolts Types Reliably ====
Forbidding/Dumping is respected by the game when assigning ammo, so you can use the stocks screen to dump wooden/bone bolts when you're not training, and then have them load metal bolts for fighting. The easiest way to just use wooden/bone bolts when you're training (setting both CT flags on it in the ammo screen), and when you need them to switch, delete the ammo assignment for the training bolts, dump them from the stocks screen (DFHack's enhanced inventory is useful from this), and add the new metal bolts to the screen. Reverse the process to get them to change back.

=== Squad Training Orders ===

Now, for the magic bit that gets them doing nothing *but* training. Open the schedule screen with {{K|s}} and look at the orders. The default is "Train, 10 minimium". '''This is WRONG!'''

[[File:default_training_order.png|400px|Default Training Order]]

Press {{K|x}} to delete the order. The schedule screen will change to show no scheduled orders.

[[File:No_orders.png|400px|no_orders]]

Press {{K|o}} to pull up the give order screen. Press {{K|o}} until 'Train' is set, and then press {{K|+}} so it shows minimum 1, like this. Then press shift-done to give the order. The screen will look like this:

[[File:Train_1.png|400px|train 1]]

[[File:given_train_1_order.png|400px|after giving train 1 order]]

Now do it again, until you have as many orders as total members of your squad (using a [[macro]] will allow you to repeat the process easily). You can give more than 5 orders, you just have to scroll in the orders screen to see it. When you're done it should look like this, after doing it 10 times.

[[File:multiple_train_1.png|400px|Multiple train one orders]]

Copy and paste the order to all the months. You can also set Sleep in Barrack at need to increase their training time, though this will raise the stress levels of dwarves in the squad due to tired thoughts.

You're almost done. Activate your squad, and after they finish picking up equipment, watch your bolt supplies vanish as your marksdwarves do nothing *but* archery training.

=== Why This Works ===
Squad training and sparring require multiple dwarves (and yes, marksdwarves *will* spar as long as they're novice hammerdwarves). Training, minimum of 1 forces them to work solo. Since they don't have a normal barrack, they can't drill, which leaves Archery Training as the only possible way to train. Since reloading on marksdwarves continues to be erratic, they'll frequently report "No Orders" or similiar once they've finished archery training until the game notices that a given dwarf is out of ammo, in which case they'll go pick up more.

Archery training grants less experience than live fire (8XP per bolt vs. 30XP), but no micromanagement, no hauling, one setup, and you can ignore it until you get that glorious announcement that Urist McMarksdwarf has become an Elite Marksdwarf.

== Stopping Melee Charges ==

DON'T USE the [[Scheduling#Stations|station scheduling order]]!

When a dwarf has line of sight on an enemy, they'll do one of two things: run away; or run up and fight. While they're running up to the enemy, dwarves will fire bolts if they have any, but then engage the enemy using their crossbows as hammers instead of firing. Therefore, it's imperative that you create physical barriers which make it impossible for your marksdwarves to charge the enemy. Nothing else will suffice.

Some sources claim a Defend Burrows order may restrict marksdwarves to the area defined by the burrow. The full effectiveness of Defend Burrow orders at stopping a melee charge is unknown.{{verify}}

The easiest way to accomplish this is to use fortification pillboxes (also known as [[archery tower]]s), with a [[Scheduling#Orders|patrol order]] that causes them to break line of sight.

For patrol routes, marksdwarves will not reliably take a Pickup Equipment order as long as they have line of sight on their enemy; they will usually stand there and glare. Have them go through a door or something, and as soon as they lose sight of the goblin/forgotten beast/demon, they'll immediately go find bolts and reload.

An alternative approach is to forego all of this scheduling stuff, and use direct move orders. Station (move) your marksdwarves to the spot where you want them to stand, making sure that this spot is physically separated from the enemy. Remember that each dwarf will actually select a random spot within 3 tiles of your station-spot, on the same Z level, and try to walk to that spot. Make sure every such reachable spot is on ''your'' side of the fortifications.

In all cases, you must remember that dwarves '''can and will climb''' walls or fortifications to reach the enemy. To prevent marksdwarves from suicide-diving over the fortifications onto the killing ground below, build a roof (a [[floor]] on the next Z-level up) to physically block their vertical movement.

{{Military}}

[[Category:DF2014:Military]]

Advanced marksdwarf training guide

2016-05-24T18:49:09Z

Greycat: /* Avoiding 'Equipment Mismatch' Issues */

{{Quality|Exceptional|21:40, 11 May 2015 (UTC)}}
Marksdwarves are fairly buggy, and often refuse to use archery ranges, or stand in front of them, and fail to fire their crossbows. This guide goes into details explaining known bugs, and getting your Marksdwarves to train properly, as well as going into details regarding various ranged weaponry.

== Understanding Ranged Weaponry ==

In vanilla Dwarf Fortress, the raws define three types of ranged weapons, each with their own skill and ammo.

{| class="wikitable"
!colspan="4" |Ranged Weapons
|-
!Ranged Weapon
!Ranged Skill
!Melee Skill
!Ammo
|-
|Crossbow
|Marksdwarf
|Hammerdwarf
|Bolts
|-
|Bow
|Bowman
|Swordman
|Arrows
|-
|Blowgun
|Blowgunner
|Swordman
|Darts
|-
|}

Of these, dwarfs can only craft crossbows and bolts. Bows and blowguns are gained either through trade or recovery from downed enemies. If playing a modded game, replace crossbow in the following with one of the above weapons, and proper ammo type.

== Equipping Your Marksdwarfs ==

=== The Minimum Outfit ===
At a minimum, each dwarf requires the following to successfully use the crossbow.
* One crossbow
* One quiver
* One stack of bolts for each marksdwarf to fire

A quiver is equipped on the upper body slot. Due to a bug, sometimes a marksdwarf will fail to pickup a quiver if wearing heavy armor. A workaround for this is given below. Wood and metal bolts are generated in stacks of 25. Bone bolts are generated in stacks of 5.

=== Crossbows ===
Crossbows can be made with wood or bone at a bowyer's workshop, or out of metal at a metalsmith/magma forge. Metal crossbows can be forged out of copper, bronze, bismuth bronze, iron, steel, or adamantine. Quivers must be made of leather at a leatherworks. The base material of a crossbow appears to have no effect on the lethality of ranged bolts. However, when marksdwarves end up in melee, they will use their crossbow as a hammer, thus it is recommended to make dense metal crossbows.

=== Quivers and Bolts ===
Please note that bolts are assigned to a ''squad'', not to individual dwarves. If you have a squad of 10 marksdwarves, you need to assign ''at least'' 250 bolts to the squad. 500 is better.

Quivers can hold between 25 and 49 bolts, and dwarves will pick up multiple stacks if necessary to reach a number in this range. In other words, dwarves will continue picking up stacks of bolts until they've got at least 25 in their quiver (or they run out of squad-assigned bolt stacks). Bolt stacks are collected in last-in-first-out order (LIFO); that is, dwarves will always go for the newest bolts in your fortress, even if there is an ammo stockpile three steps away from them. Each squad with marksdwarves must be assigned ammo; as they deplete it, Dwarf Fortress will automatically add additional ammo to the squad if there are some in the fortress, again following the principle of LIFO.

=== Avoiding 'Equipment Mismatch' Issues ===
Miners, wood cutters, and hunters have a default uniform. When these labors are enabled, a dwarf will carry the equipment appropriate to that job, making it unavailable for the military, and causing issues if that dwarf is then drafted. In general, it's safe to put miners and wood cutters in ranged squads, and hunters in melee squads, as this prevents them from equipping the same type of item twice.

When drafting hunters, clear their labors, and '''confirm''' that your hunter has put his quiver and crossbow away. If you don't, he'll generate equipment mismatches. Furthermore, a mismatch may be cause when a marksdwarf grabs a quiver that was once used by a hunter which still has bolts in it. This can be resolved by looking at the dwarf in the {{K|k}} menu, then open his inventory, find the quiver, and forbid the bolts in it. He'll dump them, and properly reload.

If you don't use hunters, you may want to remove their bolt assignments from the ammunition screen.

== Setting your Marksdwarf's barrack ==

=== Understanding Possible Training Activities ===
The first rule of marksdwarf training is you do *not* assign them a normal barrack. If they have that, they will prefer to train as hammerdwarves with their crossbows vs. actually shooting bolts. Furthermore, as the game gives precedence to melee training, they will almost never use an archery range even if one is assigned if they have a choice.

When training, a dwarf has four possible options, which they will take in roughly this order:
- Squad Training
- Individual Combat Drill
- Spar
- Archery Training

Squad training and sparring require multiple dwarfs (and yes, marksdwarves *will* spar as long as they're novice hammerdwarves, training their melee skills while doing so). Except for archery training, dwarves require a standard barracks to conduct any of the above activities. Notably, it is possible to actually train marksdwarves via demonstration, both Crossbow and Archery skills are trainable via demonstrations. By combining this with training orders, it is possible to make Archery Training the only valid option, and thus get them to train consistently.

=== Building Archery Ranges ===
Thus, the first step is to build a room with a bunch of archery ranges. The room must be large enough that the marksdwarf has a one gap space between them and the target; I just make their "barrack" 10x10, and put an ammo stockpile in it. Notably, (and this is a change from previous versions) the dwarves *must* be able to walk up to the the target; placing a channel in front of it will prevent them from training.

Once you build your range, you must define it as a room. Make it so it touches the far wall, and don't worry, range rooms can overlap. You have to do this for each. Make sure the shooting direction is correct! In addition, your marksdwarf squad MUST at minimum have train set on each archery target. One dwarf can use one target at any given time.

[[File:Archery_range_setup.png|A properly setup archery target]]

Repeat this for each range; you'll have 5-10 targets overlapping each other and assigned to your marksdwarves squad (in these screenshots, they are the "Home Guard")

===The Military Management Screen===

This is by far the most difficult part. Fear the 'm' menu, for it eats children. The {{K|m}} menu is confusing on the best days, but this guide will walk you through it.

The first and default page is the positions page. Ignore it for now, because you want to make the right uniform for your marksdwarves. Press {{K|n}} to bring up the uniforms screen. Do yourself a favor and just delete the default archer uniform. It's wrong and will not work properly.

Create a new uniform with {{K|c}} and add the following:
- crossbow (do NOT use individual choice, ranged; you *will* end up with dwarves who think an axe is a ranged weapon)
- shield (optional)
- leather armor
- leather headwear
- leather legwear
- leather handwear
- leather footwear

Press {{K|m}} to switch from "Partial matches" to "Exact matches" in the upper right. This appears to fix most of the issues that result in your dwarves not picking up quivers. You might be able to get away with over clothing however.

Here's what it should like if you did it right:

[[File:Working_training_uniform.png|400px|Uniform that gets them training]]

Now press {{K|p}} to go back to the positions menu. When you create the squad, it will ask for a uniform. Normally, this works as you'd expect it, assigning the uniform to an entire squad. However, if done with the captain of the guard position, it will *only* assign to that spot. You can look at the top of the screen to see what your dwarfs will train as (i.e. 10/10 Marksdwarfs). If needed, after selecting your recruits, then switch to the {{K|e}} menu. Select your squad, and then a position, then press {{K|U}} (that's capital U) to bring up the uniform selection screen.

Highlight your crossbow uniform, and press {{K|shift}} + {{K|enter}} to assign it to all positions in the squad. If you then check the positions screen, at the top, it will say 10/10 marksdwarves, instead of 1/1 markdwarf 9/9 wrestlers, which is what will happen if you leave it on defaults.

[[File:10_marksdwarves.png|400px|10/10 Marksdwarves]]

=== Handling Ammo ===
We're almost done. Go to the ammo screen.

[[File:ammo_screen.png|400px|Ammo]]

If you're setting this by hand, here's what to know. Each squad needs the correct ammo. Bolts are assigned on a "per-item" basis, i.e., a given stack of bolts thats marked for training will only be used for training and via versus. Unfortunately, an old bug prevents this from working; if you have multiple ammo types, and some are set Training-only, and others are set combat-only, your marksdwarves *will* get stuck and fail to train, or fail to fire. The only way to get this to work is if all ammo assignments in the fortress are set to both "CT" in the UI.

==== Switching Bolts Types Reliably ====
Forbidding/Dumping is respected by the game when assigning ammo, so you can use the stocks screen to dump wooden/bone bolts when you're not training, and then have them load metal bolts for fighting. The easiest way to just use wooden/bone bolts when you're training (setting both CT flags on it in the ammo screen), and when you need them to switch, delete the ammo assignment for the training bolts, dump them from the stocks screen (DFHack's enhanced inventory is useful from this), and add the new metal bolts to the screen. Reverse the process to get them to change back.

=== Squad Training Orders ===

Now, for the magic bit that gets them doing nothing *but* training. Open the schedule screen with {{K|s}} and look at the orders. The default is "Train, 10 minimium". '''This is WRONG!'''

[[File:default_training_order.png|400px|Default Training Order]]

Press {{K|x}} to delete the order. The schedule screen will change to show no scheduled orders.

[[File:No_orders.png|400px|no_orders]]

Press {{K|o}} to pull up the give order screen. Press {{K|o}} until 'Train' is set, and then press {{K|+}} so it shows minimum 1, like this. Then press shift-done to give the order. The screen will look like this:

[[File:Train_1.png|400px|train 1]]

[[File:given_train_1_order.png|400px|after giving train 1 order]]

Now do it again, until you have as many orders as total members of your squad (using a [[macro]] will allow you to repeat the process easily). You can give more than 5 orders, you just have to scroll in the orders screen to see it. When you're done it should look like this, after doing it 10 times.

[[File:multiple_train_1.png|400px|Multiple train one orders]]

Copy and paste the order to all the months. You can also set Sleep in Barrack at need to increase their training time, though this will raise the stress levels of dwarves in the squad due to tired thoughts.

You're almost done. Activate your squad, and after they finish picking up equipment, watch your bolt supplies vanish as your marksdwarves do nothing *but* archery training.

=== Why This Works ===
Squad training and sparring require multiple dwarves (and yes, marksdwarves *will* spar as long as they're novice hammerdwarves). Training, minimum of 1 forces them to work solo. Since they don't have a normal barrack, they can't drill, which leaves Archery Training as the only possible way to train. Since reloading on marksdwarves continues to be erratic, they'll frequently report "No Orders" or similiar once they've finished archery training until the game notices that a given dwarf is out of ammo, in which case they'll go pick up more.

Archery training grants less experience than live fire (8XP per bolt vs. 30XP), but no micromanagement, no hauling, one setup, and you can ignore it until you get that glorious announcement that Urist McMarksdwarf has become an Elite Marksdwarf.

== Stopping Melee Charges ==

The short version: DON'T USE the [[DF2014:Scheduling#Stations|station scheduling order]]!

When a dwarf has line of sight on an enemy, they'll do one of two things: run away; or run up and fight. While they're running up to the enemy, dwarves will fire bolts if they have any, but then engage the enemy using their crossbows as hammers instead of firing. The easiest way to prevent this is either use fortification pillboxes (also known as [[DF2014:Archery_tower|archery towers]]), with a [[v0.34:Scheduling#Orders|patrol order]] that causes them to break line of sight, or defend burrows orders, which will keep them in the area defined by the burrow and prevent them from running up to the enemy.

For patrol routes, marksdwarves *will* not take a Pickup Equipment order as long as they have line of sight on their enemy. Have them go through a door or something, and as soon as they lose sight of the goblin/forgotten beast/demon, they'll immediately go find bolts and reload.

The full effectiveness at Defend Burrow orders at stopping a melee charge is unknown.

{{Military}}

[[Category:DF2014:Military]]

Advanced marksdwarf training guide

2016-05-24T18:48:04Z

Greycat: /* Quivers and Bolts */

{{Quality|Exceptional|21:40, 11 May 2015 (UTC)}}
Marksdwarves are fairly buggy, and often refuse to use archery ranges, or stand in front of them, and fail to fire their crossbows. This guide goes into details explaining known bugs, and getting your Marksdwarves to train properly, as well as going into details regarding various ranged weaponry.

== Understanding Ranged Weaponry ==

In vanilla Dwarf Fortress, the raws define three types of ranged weapons, each with their own skill and ammo.

{| class="wikitable"
!colspan="4" |Ranged Weapons
|-
!Ranged Weapon
!Ranged Skill
!Melee Skill
!Ammo
|-
|Crossbow
|Marksdwarf
|Hammerdwarf
|Bolts
|-
|Bow
|Bowman
|Swordman
|Arrows
|-
|Blowgun
|Blowgunner
|Swordman
|Darts
|-
|}

Of these, dwarfs can only craft crossbows and bolts. Bows and blowguns are gained either through trade or recovery from downed enemies. If playing a modded game, replace crossbow in the following with one of the above weapons, and proper ammo type.

== Equipping Your Marksdwarfs ==

=== The Minimum Outfit ===
At a minimum, each dwarf requires the following to successfully use the crossbow.
* One crossbow
* One quiver
* One stack of bolts for each marksdwarf to fire

A quiver is equipped on the upper body slot. Due to a bug, sometimes a marksdwarf will fail to pickup a quiver if wearing heavy armor. A workaround for this is given below. Wood and metal bolts are generated in stacks of 25. Bone bolts are generated in stacks of 5.

=== Crossbows ===
Crossbows can be made with wood or bone at a bowyer's workshop, or out of metal at a metalsmith/magma forge. Metal crossbows can be forged out of copper, bronze, bismuth bronze, iron, steel, or adamantine. Quivers must be made of leather at a leatherworks. The base material of a crossbow appears to have no effect on the lethality of ranged bolts. However, when marksdwarves end up in melee, they will use their crossbow as a hammer, thus it is recommended to make dense metal crossbows.

=== Quivers and Bolts ===
Please note that bolts are assigned to a ''squad'', not to individual dwarves. If you have a squad of 10 marksdwarves, you need to assign ''at least'' 250 bolts to the squad. 500 is better.

Quivers can hold between 25 and 49 bolts, and dwarves will pick up multiple stacks if necessary to reach a number in this range. In other words, dwarves will continue picking up stacks of bolts until they've got at least 25 in their quiver (or they run out of squad-assigned bolt stacks). Bolt stacks are collected in last-in-first-out order (LIFO); that is, dwarves will always go for the newest bolts in your fortress, even if there is an ammo stockpile three steps away from them. Each squad with marksdwarves must be assigned ammo; as they deplete it, Dwarf Fortress will automatically add additional ammo to the squad if there are some in the fortress, again following the principle of LIFO.

=== Avoiding 'Equipment Mismatch' Issues ===
Miners, wood cutters, and hunters have a default uniform. When these labors are enabled, a dwarf will carry the equipment appropriate to that job, making it unavailable for the military, and causing issues if that dwarf is then drafted. In general, its safe to put miners and wood cutters in ranged squads, and hunters in melee squads, as this prevents them from equipping the same type of item twice.

When drafting hunters, clear their labors, and '''confirm''' that your hunter has put his quiver and crossbow away. If you don't, he'll generate equipment mismatches. Furthermore, a mismatch may be cause when a marksdwarf grabs a quiver that was once used by a hunter which still has bolts in it. This can be resolved by looking at the dwarf in the {{K|k}} menu, then open his inventory, find the quiver, and forbid the bolts in it. He'll dump them, and properly reload.

If you don't use hunters, you may want to remove their bolt assignments from the ammunition screen.

== Setting your Marksdwarf's barrack ==

=== Understanding Possible Training Activities ===
The first rule of marksdwarf training is you do *not* assign them a normal barrack. If they have that, they will prefer to train as hammerdwarves with their crossbows vs. actually shooting bolts. Furthermore, as the game gives precedence to melee training, they will almost never use an archery range even if one is assigned if they have a choice.

When training, a dwarf has four possible options, which they will take in roughly this order:
- Squad Training
- Individual Combat Drill
- Spar
- Archery Training

Squad training and sparring require multiple dwarfs (and yes, marksdwarves *will* spar as long as they're novice hammerdwarves, training their melee skills while doing so). Except for archery training, dwarves require a standard barracks to conduct any of the above activities. Notably, it is possible to actually train marksdwarves via demonstration, both Crossbow and Archery skills are trainable via demonstrations. By combining this with training orders, it is possible to make Archery Training the only valid option, and thus get them to train consistently.

=== Building Archery Ranges ===
Thus, the first step is to build a room with a bunch of archery ranges. The room must be large enough that the marksdwarf has a one gap space between them and the target; I just make their "barrack" 10x10, and put an ammo stockpile in it. Notably, (and this is a change from previous versions) the dwarves *must* be able to walk up to the the target; placing a channel in front of it will prevent them from training.

Once you build your range, you must define it as a room. Make it so it touches the far wall, and don't worry, range rooms can overlap. You have to do this for each. Make sure the shooting direction is correct! In addition, your marksdwarf squad MUST at minimum have train set on each archery target. One dwarf can use one target at any given time.

[[File:Archery_range_setup.png|A properly setup archery target]]

Repeat this for each range; you'll have 5-10 targets overlapping each other and assigned to your marksdwarves squad (in these screenshots, they are the "Home Guard")

===The Military Management Screen===

This is by far the most difficult part. Fear the 'm' menu, for it eats children. The {{K|m}} menu is confusing on the best days, but this guide will walk you through it.

The first and default page is the positions page. Ignore it for now, because you want to make the right uniform for your marksdwarves. Press {{K|n}} to bring up the uniforms screen. Do yourself a favor and just delete the default archer uniform. It's wrong and will not work properly.

Create a new uniform with {{K|c}} and add the following:
- crossbow (do NOT use individual choice, ranged; you *will* end up with dwarves who think an axe is a ranged weapon)
- shield (optional)
- leather armor
- leather headwear
- leather legwear
- leather handwear
- leather footwear

Press {{K|m}} to switch from "Partial matches" to "Exact matches" in the upper right. This appears to fix most of the issues that result in your dwarves not picking up quivers. You might be able to get away with over clothing however.

Here's what it should like if you did it right:

[[File:Working_training_uniform.png|400px|Uniform that gets them training]]

Now press {{K|p}} to go back to the positions menu. When you create the squad, it will ask for a uniform. Normally, this works as you'd expect it, assigning the uniform to an entire squad. However, if done with the captain of the guard position, it will *only* assign to that spot. You can look at the top of the screen to see what your dwarfs will train as (i.e. 10/10 Marksdwarfs). If needed, after selecting your recruits, then switch to the {{K|e}} menu. Select your squad, and then a position, then press {{K|U}} (that's capital U) to bring up the uniform selection screen.

Highlight your crossbow uniform, and press {{K|shift}} + {{K|enter}} to assign it to all positions in the squad. If you then check the positions screen, at the top, it will say 10/10 marksdwarves, instead of 1/1 markdwarf 9/9 wrestlers, which is what will happen if you leave it on defaults.

[[File:10_marksdwarves.png|400px|10/10 Marksdwarves]]

=== Handling Ammo ===
We're almost done. Go to the ammo screen.

[[File:ammo_screen.png|400px|Ammo]]

If you're setting this by hand, here's what to know. Each squad needs the correct ammo. Bolts are assigned on a "per-item" basis, i.e., a given stack of bolts thats marked for training will only be used for training and via versus. Unfortunately, an old bug prevents this from working; if you have multiple ammo types, and some are set Training-only, and others are set combat-only, your marksdwarves *will* get stuck and fail to train, or fail to fire. The only way to get this to work is if all ammo assignments in the fortress are set to both "CT" in the UI.

==== Switching Bolts Types Reliably ====
Forbidding/Dumping is respected by the game when assigning ammo, so you can use the stocks screen to dump wooden/bone bolts when you're not training, and then have them load metal bolts for fighting. The easiest way to just use wooden/bone bolts when you're training (setting both CT flags on it in the ammo screen), and when you need them to switch, delete the ammo assignment for the training bolts, dump them from the stocks screen (DFHack's enhanced inventory is useful from this), and add the new metal bolts to the screen. Reverse the process to get them to change back.

=== Squad Training Orders ===

Now, for the magic bit that gets them doing nothing *but* training. Open the schedule screen with {{K|s}} and look at the orders. The default is "Train, 10 minimium". '''This is WRONG!'''

[[File:default_training_order.png|400px|Default Training Order]]

Press {{K|x}} to delete the order. The schedule screen will change to show no scheduled orders.

[[File:No_orders.png|400px|no_orders]]

Press {{K|o}} to pull up the give order screen. Press {{K|o}} until 'Train' is set, and then press {{K|+}} so it shows minimum 1, like this. Then press shift-done to give the order. The screen will look like this:

[[File:Train_1.png|400px|train 1]]

[[File:given_train_1_order.png|400px|after giving train 1 order]]

Now do it again, until you have as many orders as total members of your squad (using a [[macro]] will allow you to repeat the process easily). You can give more than 5 orders, you just have to scroll in the orders screen to see it. When you're done it should look like this, after doing it 10 times.

[[File:multiple_train_1.png|400px|Multiple train one orders]]

Copy and paste the order to all the months. You can also set Sleep in Barrack at need to increase their training time, though this will raise the stress levels of dwarves in the squad due to tired thoughts.

You're almost done. Activate your squad, and after they finish picking up equipment, watch your bolt supplies vanish as your marksdwarves do nothing *but* archery training.

=== Why This Works ===
Squad training and sparring require multiple dwarves (and yes, marksdwarves *will* spar as long as they're novice hammerdwarves). Training, minimum of 1 forces them to work solo. Since they don't have a normal barrack, they can't drill, which leaves Archery Training as the only possible way to train. Since reloading on marksdwarves continues to be erratic, they'll frequently report "No Orders" or similiar once they've finished archery training until the game notices that a given dwarf is out of ammo, in which case they'll go pick up more.

Archery training grants less experience than live fire (8XP per bolt vs. 30XP), but no micromanagement, no hauling, one setup, and you can ignore it until you get that glorious announcement that Urist McMarksdwarf has become an Elite Marksdwarf.

== Stopping Melee Charges ==

The short version: DON'T USE the [[DF2014:Scheduling#Stations|station scheduling order]]!

When a dwarf has line of sight on an enemy, they'll do one of two things: run away; or run up and fight. While they're running up to the enemy, dwarves will fire bolts if they have any, but then engage the enemy using their crossbows as hammers instead of firing. The easiest way to prevent this is either use fortification pillboxes (also known as [[DF2014:Archery_tower|archery towers]]), with a [[v0.34:Scheduling#Orders|patrol order]] that causes them to break line of sight, or defend burrows orders, which will keep them in the area defined by the burrow and prevent them from running up to the enemy.

For patrol routes, marksdwarves *will* not take a Pickup Equipment order as long as they have line of sight on their enemy. Have them go through a door or something, and as soon as they lose sight of the goblin/forgotten beast/demon, they'll immediately go find bolts and reload.

The full effectiveness at Defend Burrow orders at stopping a melee charge is unknown.

{{Military}}

[[Category:DF2014:Military]]

Advanced marksdwarf training guide

2016-05-24T18:47:43Z

Greycat: /* Quivers and Bolts */

{{Quality|Exceptional|21:40, 11 May 2015 (UTC)}}
Marksdwarves are fairly buggy, and often refuse to use archery ranges, or stand in front of them, and fail to fire their crossbows. This guide goes into details explaining known bugs, and getting your Marksdwarves to train properly, as well as going into details regarding various ranged weaponry.

== Understanding Ranged Weaponry ==

In vanilla Dwarf Fortress, the raws define three types of ranged weapons, each with their own skill and ammo.

{| class="wikitable"
!colspan="4" |Ranged Weapons
|-
!Ranged Weapon
!Ranged Skill
!Melee Skill
!Ammo
|-
|Crossbow
|Marksdwarf
|Hammerdwarf
|Bolts
|-
|Bow
|Bowman
|Swordman
|Arrows
|-
|Blowgun
|Blowgunner
|Swordman
|Darts
|-
|}

Of these, dwarfs can only craft crossbows and bolts. Bows and blowguns are gained either through trade or recovery from downed enemies. If playing a modded game, replace crossbow in the following with one of the above weapons, and proper ammo type.

== Equipping Your Marksdwarfs ==

=== The Minimum Outfit ===
At a minimum, each dwarf requires the following to successfully use the crossbow.
* One crossbow
* One quiver
* One stack of bolts for each marksdwarf to fire

A quiver is equipped on the upper body slot. Due to a bug, sometimes a marksdwarf will fail to pickup a quiver if wearing heavy armor. A workaround for this is given below. Wood and metal bolts are generated in stacks of 25. Bone bolts are generated in stacks of 5.

=== Crossbows ===
Crossbows can be made with wood or bone at a bowyer's workshop, or out of metal at a metalsmith/magma forge. Metal crossbows can be forged out of copper, bronze, bismuth bronze, iron, steel, or adamantine. Quivers must be made of leather at a leatherworks. The base material of a crossbow appears to have no effect on the lethality of ranged bolts. However, when marksdwarves end up in melee, they will use their crossbow as a hammer, thus it is recommended to make dense metal crossbows.

=== Quivers and Bolts ===
Please note that bolts are assigned to a [i]squad[/i], not to individual dwarves. If you have a squad of 10 marksdwarves, you need to assign [i]at least[/i] 250 bolts to the squad. 500 is better.

Quivers can hold between 25 and 49 bolts, and dwarves will pick up multiple stacks if necessary to reach a number in this range. In other words, dwarves will continue picking up stacks of bolts until they've got at least 25 in their quiver (or they run out of squad-assigned bolt stacks). Bolt stacks are collected in last-in-first-out order (LIFO); that is, dwarves will always go for the newest bolts in your fortress, even if there is an ammo stockpile three steps away from them. Each squad with marksdwarves must be assigned ammo; as they deplete it, Dwarf Fortress will automatically add additional ammo to the squad if there are some in the fortress, again following the principle of LIFO.

=== Avoiding 'Equipment Mismatch' Issues ===
Miners, wood cutters, and hunters have a default uniform. When these labors are enabled, a dwarf will carry the equipment appropriate to that job, making it unavailable for the military, and causing issues if that dwarf is then drafted. In general, its safe to put miners and wood cutters in ranged squads, and hunters in melee squads, as this prevents them from equipping the same type of item twice.

When drafting hunters, clear their labors, and '''confirm''' that your hunter has put his quiver and crossbow away. If you don't, he'll generate equipment mismatches. Furthermore, a mismatch may be cause when a marksdwarf grabs a quiver that was once used by a hunter which still has bolts in it. This can be resolved by looking at the dwarf in the {{K|k}} menu, then open his inventory, find the quiver, and forbid the bolts in it. He'll dump them, and properly reload.

If you don't use hunters, you may want to remove their bolt assignments from the ammunition screen.

== Setting your Marksdwarf's barrack ==

=== Understanding Possible Training Activities ===
The first rule of marksdwarf training is you do *not* assign them a normal barrack. If they have that, they will prefer to train as hammerdwarves with their crossbows vs. actually shooting bolts. Furthermore, as the game gives precedence to melee training, they will almost never use an archery range even if one is assigned if they have a choice.

When training, a dwarf has four possible options, which they will take in roughly this order:
- Squad Training
- Individual Combat Drill
- Spar
- Archery Training

Squad training and sparring require multiple dwarfs (and yes, marksdwarves *will* spar as long as they're novice hammerdwarves, training their melee skills while doing so). Except for archery training, dwarves require a standard barracks to conduct any of the above activities. Notably, it is possible to actually train marksdwarves via demonstration, both Crossbow and Archery skills are trainable via demonstrations. By combining this with training orders, it is possible to make Archery Training the only valid option, and thus get them to train consistently.

=== Building Archery Ranges ===
Thus, the first step is to build a room with a bunch of archery ranges. The room must be large enough that the marksdwarf has a one gap space between them and the target; I just make their "barrack" 10x10, and put an ammo stockpile in it. Notably, (and this is a change from previous versions) the dwarves *must* be able to walk up to the the target; placing a channel in front of it will prevent them from training.

Once you build your range, you must define it as a room. Make it so it touches the far wall, and don't worry, range rooms can overlap. You have to do this for each. Make sure the shooting direction is correct! In addition, your marksdwarf squad MUST at minimum have train set on each archery target. One dwarf can use one target at any given time.

[[File:Archery_range_setup.png|A properly setup archery target]]

Repeat this for each range; you'll have 5-10 targets overlapping each other and assigned to your marksdwarves squad (in these screenshots, they are the "Home Guard")

===The Military Management Screen===

This is by far the most difficult part. Fear the 'm' menu, for it eats children. The {{K|m}} menu is confusing on the best days, but this guide will walk you through it.

The first and default page is the positions page. Ignore it for now, because you want to make the right uniform for your marksdwarves. Press {{K|n}} to bring up the uniforms screen. Do yourself a favor and just delete the default archer uniform. It's wrong and will not work properly.

Create a new uniform with {{K|c}} and add the following:
- crossbow (do NOT use individual choice, ranged; you *will* end up with dwarves who think an axe is a ranged weapon)
- shield (optional)
- leather armor
- leather headwear
- leather legwear
- leather handwear
- leather footwear

Press {{K|m}} to switch from "Partial matches" to "Exact matches" in the upper right. This appears to fix most of the issues that result in your dwarves not picking up quivers. You might be able to get away with over clothing however.

Here's what it should like if you did it right:

[[File:Working_training_uniform.png|400px|Uniform that gets them training]]

Now press {{K|p}} to go back to the positions menu. When you create the squad, it will ask for a uniform. Normally, this works as you'd expect it, assigning the uniform to an entire squad. However, if done with the captain of the guard position, it will *only* assign to that spot. You can look at the top of the screen to see what your dwarfs will train as (i.e. 10/10 Marksdwarfs). If needed, after selecting your recruits, then switch to the {{K|e}} menu. Select your squad, and then a position, then press {{K|U}} (that's capital U) to bring up the uniform selection screen.

Highlight your crossbow uniform, and press {{K|shift}} + {{K|enter}} to assign it to all positions in the squad. If you then check the positions screen, at the top, it will say 10/10 marksdwarves, instead of 1/1 markdwarf 9/9 wrestlers, which is what will happen if you leave it on defaults.

[[File:10_marksdwarves.png|400px|10/10 Marksdwarves]]

=== Handling Ammo ===
We're almost done. Go to the ammo screen.

[[File:ammo_screen.png|400px|Ammo]]

If you're setting this by hand, here's what to know. Each squad needs the correct ammo. Bolts are assigned on a "per-item" basis, i.e., a given stack of bolts thats marked for training will only be used for training and via versus. Unfortunately, an old bug prevents this from working; if you have multiple ammo types, and some are set Training-only, and others are set combat-only, your marksdwarves *will* get stuck and fail to train, or fail to fire. The only way to get this to work is if all ammo assignments in the fortress are set to both "CT" in the UI.

==== Switching Bolts Types Reliably ====
Forbidding/Dumping is respected by the game when assigning ammo, so you can use the stocks screen to dump wooden/bone bolts when you're not training, and then have them load metal bolts for fighting. The easiest way to just use wooden/bone bolts when you're training (setting both CT flags on it in the ammo screen), and when you need them to switch, delete the ammo assignment for the training bolts, dump them from the stocks screen (DFHack's enhanced inventory is useful from this), and add the new metal bolts to the screen. Reverse the process to get them to change back.

=== Squad Training Orders ===

Now, for the magic bit that gets them doing nothing *but* training. Open the schedule screen with {{K|s}} and look at the orders. The default is "Train, 10 minimium". '''This is WRONG!'''

[[File:default_training_order.png|400px|Default Training Order]]

Press {{K|x}} to delete the order. The schedule screen will change to show no scheduled orders.

[[File:No_orders.png|400px|no_orders]]

Press {{K|o}} to pull up the give order screen. Press {{K|o}} until 'Train' is set, and then press {{K|+}} so it shows minimum 1, like this. Then press shift-done to give the order. The screen will look like this:

[[File:Train_1.png|400px|train 1]]

[[File:given_train_1_order.png|400px|after giving train 1 order]]

Now do it again, until you have as many orders as total members of your squad (using a [[macro]] will allow you to repeat the process easily). You can give more than 5 orders, you just have to scroll in the orders screen to see it. When you're done it should look like this, after doing it 10 times.

[[File:multiple_train_1.png|400px|Multiple train one orders]]

Copy and paste the order to all the months. You can also set Sleep in Barrack at need to increase their training time, though this will raise the stress levels of dwarves in the squad due to tired thoughts.

You're almost done. Activate your squad, and after they finish picking up equipment, watch your bolt supplies vanish as your marksdwarves do nothing *but* archery training.

=== Why This Works ===
Squad training and sparring require multiple dwarves (and yes, marksdwarves *will* spar as long as they're novice hammerdwarves). Training, minimum of 1 forces them to work solo. Since they don't have a normal barrack, they can't drill, which leaves Archery Training as the only possible way to train. Since reloading on marksdwarves continues to be erratic, they'll frequently report "No Orders" or similiar once they've finished archery training until the game notices that a given dwarf is out of ammo, in which case they'll go pick up more.

Archery training grants less experience than live fire (8XP per bolt vs. 30XP), but no micromanagement, no hauling, one setup, and you can ignore it until you get that glorious announcement that Urist McMarksdwarf has become an Elite Marksdwarf.

== Stopping Melee Charges ==

The short version: DON'T USE the [[DF2014:Scheduling#Stations|station scheduling order]]!

When a dwarf has line of sight on an enemy, they'll do one of two things: run away; or run up and fight. While they're running up to the enemy, dwarves will fire bolts if they have any, but then engage the enemy using their crossbows as hammers instead of firing. The easiest way to prevent this is either use fortification pillboxes (also known as [[DF2014:Archery_tower|archery towers]]), with a [[v0.34:Scheduling#Orders|patrol order]] that causes them to break line of sight, or defend burrows orders, which will keep them in the area defined by the burrow and prevent them from running up to the enemy.

For patrol routes, marksdwarves *will* not take a Pickup Equipment order as long as they have line of sight on their enemy. Have them go through a door or something, and as soon as they lose sight of the goblin/forgotten beast/demon, they'll immediately go find bolts and reload.

The full effectiveness at Defend Burrow orders at stopping a melee charge is unknown.

{{Military}}

[[Category:DF2014:Military]]

Champion

2016-03-29T18:26:18Z

Greycat: Appointment requires *being* a barony, not having a visiting baron arrive.

{{Quality|Superior|09:57, 18 May 2015 (UTC)}}
{{Noble
| noble=Champion
| demands=1
| function=
*Instructs military dwarves
| arrival=
*After [[Baron]] is appointed
}}{{av}}
:''This page is about the noble-appointed position and its room requirements. For more information on the military side of a champion, see [[Soldier#Champion|Soldier]].

A '''Champion''' is a [[noble]] position appointed by the player to a dwarf. The chosen dwarf can be freely replaced. The Champion will lead combat demonstrations in barracks, much like a [[militia captain]] would. This position has no room requirements and the dwarf selected needs no special skills or qualifications, and does not need to be active in the military.

In previous versions of the game, Champions were dwarves that had achieved a [[legendary]] [[combat skill]]. This is no longer the case - such dwarves are now called [[Hero]]es -, and any dwarf can become the Champion after your fortress becomes a [[Baron]]y.

{{Translation
| dwarven = akur
| elvish = atafo
| goblin = umal
| human = zilar
}}

{{gamedata| [POSITION:CHAMPION]
[NAME:champion:champions]
[SITE]
[REQUIRES_MARKET]
[NUMBER:1]
[RESPONSIBILITY:BUILD_MORALE]
[APPOINTED_BY:DUKE]
[APPOINTED_BY:COUNT]
[APPOINTED_BY:BARON]
[PRECEDENCE:65]
[MENIAL_WORK_EXEMPTION]
[PUNISHMENT_EXEMPTION]
[DO_NOT_CULL]
[COLOR:7:0:1]
[ACCOUNT_EXEMPT]
[DUTY_BOUND]
[DEMAND_MAX:1]}}
{{Nobles}}
{{Military}}

{{Category|Appointed Nobles}}
{{Category|Military Ranks}}

Reclaim fortress mode

2016-02-07T02:46:29Z

Greycat: /* Bugs */

{{Quality|Exceptional}}
{{av}}{{buggy}}
Sometimes, a favorite fort in a remarkably wonderful location is [[Fun|extinguished]] for one reason or another. Sometimes, you just have to go back and try again. Thankfully, this mechanic has been built into the game in the form of '''Reclaim Fortress Mode'''.

==How to reclaim or unretire a fortress==
During world generation, sites can become ruins which you are able to reclaim in Fortress Mode. At the embark screen, press {{k|R}} in order to bring up a list of potential reclaim locations. There will be a list of locations you are able to scroll through. Pressing {{k|tab}} will select a site and give you a history of when the site was created, and how the fortress fell. If you previously retired or abandoned a fortress, those will also be available to unretire or reclaim respectively.
Reclaiming a fortress is little different than a normal embark. The prepare-for-journey screen is identical to a normal embark, with the same number of points for item selection.
Unretiring a fortress has no prepare-for-journey screen and immediately brings you to the fortress.

==What you will find==
===Reclaim===
{{Migrated_section}}
On arrival at your old ruined fortress location, the player's initial impression will be one of untidiness.
* All items that existed at the lost fortress will be [[forbid|forbidden]] and randomly strewn across the map and all accessible levels
* Dwarves that were present during the fall of the last fortress will be scattered across the map along with the rotten [[corpse|carcasses]] of whatever [[livestock]] was left behind
* If you have reclaimed the same fortress more than once, there may also be [[ghost]]s of citizens from attempts prior to the most recently lost fortress. These tortured souls will have no corresponding bodies - these poor spirits of repeated failed attempts must be [[slab|memorialised]]
* [[Food]] ingredients in [[barrel]]s rot away for the reclaim and all [[alcohol]] barrels will be empty, however any [[prepared meal]]s are still dwarf-edible and will be scattered everywhere (and initially forbidden as above)
* Enemies that existed during abandonment will still be there if you reclaim the fortress immediately afterwards and may be lurking in [[ambush]]
* Enemy invasion forces like [[goblin]] ambush parties may have changed to be peaceful, for some reason. Warning: if another siege turns up of the same race then those already present may revert to enemy again!
* If your fortress fell to a [[tantrum]] spiral, there may be berserk dwarves lurking in ambush for your embark party. Be prepared to deal with whatever destroyed your fortress before.
* Constructed buildings will have remained standing, including small buildings like [[cage]]s and [[bed]]s. [[Buildings]], like items, must be reclaimed before they can be used
* [[Stockpile]]s will no longer exist, and anything held within them will have been scattered and forbidden along with everything else
* Any [[workshop]]s that had [[manager#Setting workshop profiles|profiles]] will continue to have those profiles, even when there is no manager assigned. If you assign a [[manager]], you can edit those profiles, potentially allowing the workshops to be used again.

===Unretire===
*Item positions are conserved
*Assigned dwarf labors are conserved
*Farm plot settings are conserved
*Stockpiles and their settings are conserved
*Pasture settings are cleared, however the pastures themselves still exist
*Pending constructions are removed
*Designations are not conserved
*Dwarf positions are not conserved and seem to be randomly scattered throughout the entire fortress
*Caverns and the magma sea will be '''un-revealed''' if you build constructions that block revealing them
**This results in constructed walls being right next to unrevealed terrain

=== Pre-existing Ruins ===
The forts most commonly brought to ruin during [[world generation]] (amongst dwarven civilizations) are cavern fortresses, which consist of a large, often empty building on the surface connected to multiple settlements in (or just below) the different cavern layers by a mineshaft. There may be roads leading out of the settlement on the surface or in the caverns. The settlements themselves will usually consist of unfurnished 2x2 bedrooms, relatively large meeting/dining halls, and many, many [[smelter|smelters]] and [[metalsmith's forge|metalsmiths' forges]], all of which will be smoothed and decorated by statues. Discovering the extent of the central mineshaft and pacifying/sealing off any dangerous underground areas might be a good idea upon arrival at such a location.

Note that when [[goblin]]s successfully take over a site during world generation, it remains an active settlement under their civ's control and thus unreclaimable. However, there seems to be a bug where if a non-dwarf civilization reclaims a site, it will still be considered a ruin, and can be reclaimed. The most common cause of actual ruin for dwarven sites is the arrival of an [[forgotten beast|unexpected guest]], with whom any reclaimers will need to deal eventually.

== Reclaiming buildings ==
In order to reclaim a building for your dwarves to use, say a [[smelter]], you will need to reclaim all of the items that make up that [[workshop]]. You can do this two ways. First, you can hit {{key|t}} and move the cursor over the building, which will show all of the items within the building. This includes the materials used to build it. Hit {{key|f}} on each one to reclaim those items.

It is also possible to designate multiple items and workshops by using {{key|d}}-{{key|b}}-{{key|c}}.

If you have limited who can use the workshop prior to reclaiming, the workshop will remain locked until you change the settings.

==Time==
Each time a fortress is reclaimed or unretired, two weeks pass on the [[calendar]], just as with a regular embark. Currently, there is a bug where the fortress may be reclaimed by some other dwarven party during this time. This will likely cause a crash.

==Bugs==
* Reclaiming a fortress can make FPS drop to unplayable levels.{{Bug|3825}}
* The [[mud]] normally found in [[cave]] systems is gone on reclaim. {{Bug|133}} This may interfere with your [[farming]] and/or wood cutting plans (depending if you rely on the [[underground forest]]s for [[wood]]).
* If for whatever reason you walled off a section of your fort (to wall a [[berserk|very unhappy]] dwarf in their bedroom, for example) the walled off section will be invisible on reclaim. On removal of the wall, the section will still be blacked out, and can be designated for [[mining]]. Miners will attempt to dig, fail, and walk away only to try again a few seconds later. To get around this, mine a tile adjacent to the invisible room and it will be revealed, allowing you to continue as normal. {{Bug|1871}}
* When a dwarf changes jobs and tried to store an item it will constantly say: "Item is misplaced and can't be stored" forever.
* Scattered items seem to only be placed on walkable paths from the edge of the map. Walls and raising drawbridges (in the up position) block the scattering of objects. This can be exploited to concentrate reclaimed items in a small area.
* Floors designated but not placed in previous embark are bugged. In the reclaimed embark they block construction of new items as if they were built. To fix, remove the floor as if it was there: {{key|d}}-{{key|n}}. If possible, don't abandon a fortress with anything designated to be built to prevent this from being an issue.
* Items strewn outside of the fortress may not be forbidden.
{{Category|Fortress mode}}
* Reclaimed [[bin]]s and [[barrel]]s will not be used to store items. They also cannot be traded, the only option is to destroy them. (see: [[dwarven atom smasher|waste disposal]])
** Many reclaimed items won't even be properly dumped, making it impossible to clean up the map without external tools.
* Occasionally, the incomplete message "(dwarf) has" appears in the purple-pink reserved for death messages. Zooming to the location of the message yields a (probably) random location; no corpse can be seen on the zoomed-to tile, and no correspondence between the dwarf named and the location viewed is yet known.
* If a fortress has been reclaimed several times, military alert states that call civilians to burrows may not function correctly.
* Previously built slabs cannot be engraved.

Reclaim fortress mode

2016-02-07T02:46:20Z

Greycat: /* Bugs */ Guess: the first one referred to bugs 3825/7796

{{Quality|Exceptional}}
{{av}}{{buggy}}
Sometimes, a favorite fort in a remarkably wonderful location is [[Fun|extinguished]] for one reason or another. Sometimes, you just have to go back and try again. Thankfully, this mechanic has been built into the game in the form of '''Reclaim Fortress Mode'''.

==How to reclaim or unretire a fortress==
During world generation, sites can become ruins which you are able to reclaim in Fortress Mode. At the embark screen, press {{k|R}} in order to bring up a list of potential reclaim locations. There will be a list of locations you are able to scroll through. Pressing {{k|tab}} will select a site and give you a history of when the site was created, and how the fortress fell. If you previously retired or abandoned a fortress, those will also be available to unretire or reclaim respectively.
Reclaiming a fortress is little different than a normal embark. The prepare-for-journey screen is identical to a normal embark, with the same number of points for item selection.
Unretiring a fortress has no prepare-for-journey screen and immediately brings you to the fortress.

==What you will find==
===Reclaim===
{{Migrated_section}}
On arrival at your old ruined fortress location, the player's initial impression will be one of untidiness.
* All items that existed at the lost fortress will be [[forbid|forbidden]] and randomly strewn across the map and all accessible levels
* Dwarves that were present during the fall of the last fortress will be scattered across the map along with the rotten [[corpse|carcasses]] of whatever [[livestock]] was left behind
* If you have reclaimed the same fortress more than once, there may also be [[ghost]]s of citizens from attempts prior to the most recently lost fortress. These tortured souls will have no corresponding bodies - these poor spirits of repeated failed attempts must be [[slab|memorialised]]
* [[Food]] ingredients in [[barrel]]s rot away for the reclaim and all [[alcohol]] barrels will be empty, however any [[prepared meal]]s are still dwarf-edible and will be scattered everywhere (and initially forbidden as above)
* Enemies that existed during abandonment will still be there if you reclaim the fortress immediately afterwards and may be lurking in [[ambush]]
* Enemy invasion forces like [[goblin]] ambush parties may have changed to be peaceful, for some reason. Warning: if another siege turns up of the same race then those already present may revert to enemy again!
* If your fortress fell to a [[tantrum]] spiral, there may be berserk dwarves lurking in ambush for your embark party. Be prepared to deal with whatever destroyed your fortress before.
* Constructed buildings will have remained standing, including small buildings like [[cage]]s and [[bed]]s. [[Buildings]], like items, must be reclaimed before they can be used
* [[Stockpile]]s will no longer exist, and anything held within them will have been scattered and forbidden along with everything else
* Any [[workshop]]s that had [[manager#Setting workshop profiles|profiles]] will continue to have those profiles, even when there is no manager assigned. If you assign a [[manager]], you can edit those profiles, potentially allowing the workshops to be used again.

===Unretire===
*Item positions are conserved
*Assigned dwarf labors are conserved
*Farm plot settings are conserved
*Stockpiles and their settings are conserved
*Pasture settings are cleared, however the pastures themselves still exist
*Pending constructions are removed
*Designations are not conserved
*Dwarf positions are not conserved and seem to be randomly scattered throughout the entire fortress
*Caverns and the magma sea will be '''un-revealed''' if you build constructions that block revealing them
**This results in constructed walls being right next to unrevealed terrain

=== Pre-existing Ruins ===
The forts most commonly brought to ruin during [[world generation]] (amongst dwarven civilizations) are cavern fortresses, which consist of a large, often empty building on the surface connected to multiple settlements in (or just below) the different cavern layers by a mineshaft. There may be roads leading out of the settlement on the surface or in the caverns. The settlements themselves will usually consist of unfurnished 2x2 bedrooms, relatively large meeting/dining halls, and many, many [[smelter|smelters]] and [[metalsmith's forge|metalsmiths' forges]], all of which will be smoothed and decorated by statues. Discovering the extent of the central mineshaft and pacifying/sealing off any dangerous underground areas might be a good idea upon arrival at such a location.

Note that when [[goblin]]s successfully take over a site during world generation, it remains an active settlement under their civ's control and thus unreclaimable. However, there seems to be a bug where if a non-dwarf civilization reclaims a site, it will still be considered a ruin, and can be reclaimed. The most common cause of actual ruin for dwarven sites is the arrival of an [[forgotten beast|unexpected guest]], with whom any reclaimers will need to deal eventually.

== Reclaiming buildings ==
In order to reclaim a building for your dwarves to use, say a [[smelter]], you will need to reclaim all of the items that make up that [[workshop]]. You can do this two ways. First, you can hit {{key|t}} and move the cursor over the building, which will show all of the items within the building. This includes the materials used to build it. Hit {{key|f}} on each one to reclaim those items.

It is also possible to designate multiple items and workshops by using {{key|d}}-{{key|b}}-{{key|c}}.

If you have limited who can use the workshop prior to reclaiming, the workshop will remain locked until you change the settings.

==Time==
Each time a fortress is reclaimed or unretired, two weeks pass on the [[calendar]], just as with a regular embark. Currently, there is a bug where the fortress may be reclaimed by some other dwarven party during this time. This will likely cause a crash.

==Bugs==
* Reclaiming a fortress can make FPS drop to unplayable levels.{{Bug||3825}}
* The [[mud]] normally found in [[cave]] systems is gone on reclaim. {{Bug|133}} This may interfere with your [[farming]] and/or wood cutting plans (depending if you rely on the [[underground forest]]s for [[wood]]).
* If for whatever reason you walled off a section of your fort (to wall a [[berserk|very unhappy]] dwarf in their bedroom, for example) the walled off section will be invisible on reclaim. On removal of the wall, the section will still be blacked out, and can be designated for [[mining]]. Miners will attempt to dig, fail, and walk away only to try again a few seconds later. To get around this, mine a tile adjacent to the invisible room and it will be revealed, allowing you to continue as normal. {{Bug|1871}}
* When a dwarf changes jobs and tried to store an item it will constantly say: "Item is misplaced and can't be stored" forever.
* Scattered items seem to only be placed on walkable paths from the edge of the map. Walls and raising drawbridges (in the up position) block the scattering of objects. This can be exploited to concentrate reclaimed items in a small area.
* Floors designated but not placed in previous embark are bugged. In the reclaimed embark they block construction of new items as if they were built. To fix, remove the floor as if it was there: {{key|d}}-{{key|n}}. If possible, don't abandon a fortress with anything designated to be built to prevent this from being an issue.
* Items strewn outside of the fortress may not be forbidden.
{{Category|Fortress mode}}
* Reclaimed [[bin]]s and [[barrel]]s will not be used to store items. They also cannot be traded, the only option is to destroy them. (see: [[dwarven atom smasher|waste disposal]])
** Many reclaimed items won't even be properly dumped, making it impossible to clean up the map without external tools.
* Occasionally, the incomplete message "(dwarf) has" appears in the purple-pink reserved for death messages. Zooming to the location of the message yields a (probably) random location; no corpse can be seen on the zoomed-to tile, and no correspondence between the dwarf named and the location viewed is yet known.
* If a fortress has been reclaimed several times, military alert states that call civilians to burrows may not function correctly.
* Previously built slabs cannot be engraved.

Need

2016-02-05T20:05:46Z

Greycat: explain low- and high-priority need fulfillment jobs

{{Quality|Fine|19:42, 22 December 2015 (UTC)}}
{{av}}
{{new in v0.42}}

'''Needs''' affect a creature's focus. Needs that are unmet for long enough will become bad [[thought]]s.

The need system replaces the generalized [[on break]] feature of previous versions. Dwarves will sometimes perform jobs that satisfy their personal needs, instead of working for the betterment of the fortress. These personal fulfillment jobs generally come in two varieties: low-priority (indicated by green text, e.g. {{DFtext|Listen to Poetry|2:1}}), or high-priority (magenta text with an exclamation point, e.g. {{DFtext|Pray to Lorsïth!|5:1}}). Low-priority jobs may be cancelled to undertake a fortress job. High-priority jobs will not be cancelled for fortress jobs.

Needs are affected by [[personality trait]]s. For instance, a dwarf that values romance will be unfocused "after being unable to make romance", while a dwarf that personally values nature will be unfettered "after seeing animals".

Needs are shown in a dwarf's [[thoughts and preferences]] description page, which can be accessed by {{k|v}}iewing that dwarf then {{k|p}}, {{k|z}}, {{k|Enter}}, or from the {{k|u}}nit menu with {{k|v}}iew, {{k|Enter}}.

Degree of focus/unfocus:
* {{DFtext|Unfettered|2:1}}
* {{DFtext|Level-headed|2:0}}
* {{DFtext|Untroubled|7:1}}
* {{DFtext|Not distracted|7:0}}
* {{DFtext|Unfocused|6:0}}
* {{DFtext|Distracted|6:1}}
* {{DFtext|Badly distracted|4:1}}

{| class = "wikitable sortable"
!Positive
!Negative
!Related [[Belief]] or [[Facet]]
|-
|spending time with people
|being away from people
|GREGARIOUSNESS
|-
|drinking
|being kept from alcohol
|IMMODERATION
|-
|communing with [deity] / meditation
|being unable to pray (to [deity])
|
|-
|staying occupied
|being unoccupied
|HARD_WORK, ACTIVITY_LEVEL
|-
|doing something creative
|doing nothing creative
|
|-
|doing something exciting
|leading an unexciting life
|EXCITEMENT_SEEKING
|-
|learning something
|not learning anything
|KNOWLEDGE, CURIOUS
|-
|being with family
|being away from family
|FAMILY
|-
|being with friends
|being away from friends
|FRIENDSHIP
|-
|hearing eloquent speech
|being unable to hear eloquent speech
|ELOQUENCE
|-
|upholding tradition
|being away from traditions
|TRADITION
|-
|self-examination
|a lack of introspection
|INTROSPECTION
|-
|making merry
|being unable to make merry
|MERRIMENT
|-
|practicing a craft
|being unable to practice a craft
|CRAFTMANSHIP
|-
|practicing a martial art
|being unable to practice a martial art
|MARTIAL_PROWESS
|-
|practicing a skill
|being unable to practice a skill
|SKILL
|-
|taking it easy
|being unable to take it easy
|LEISURE_TIME
|-
|making romance
|being unable to make romance
|ROMANCE
|-
|seeing animals
|being away from animals
|NATURE
|-
|seeing a great beast
|being away from great beasts
|?
|-
|acquiring something
|being unable to acquire something
|GREED
|-
|eating a good meal
|a lack of decent meals
|IMMODERATION
|-
|fighting
|being unable to fight
|VIOLENT
|-
|causing trouble
|a lack of trouble-making
|HARMONY, DISCORD
|-
|arguing
|being unable to argue
|FRIENDLINESS
|-
|being extravagant
|being unable to be extravagant
|IMMODESTY
|-
|wandering
|being unable to wander
|NATURE
|-
|helping somebody
|being unable to help anybody
|ALTRUISM
|-
|thinking abstractly
|a lack of abstract thinking
|ABSTRACT_INCLINED
|-
|admiring art
|being unable to admire art
|ARTWORK
|}

{{Category|Creatures}}

Burrow

2016-02-05T19:50:25Z

Greycat: /* Broker to the Depot, STAT */ no more on break

{{quality|Fine}}{{av}}{{buggy}}

'''Burrows''' are user-defined areas in your fort where selected dwarves live and work. You can assign these areas like zones and assign one or more dwarves to them. You may assign the same dwarf to multiple burrows, if desired. Dwarves will only perform jobs (use workshops, dig walls, use rooms, etc.) in burrows they are assigned to, though dwarves not assigned to any burrow may still perform jobs located in a burrow assigned to other dwarves.

Military dwarves that are on duty will ignore burrows. Off-duty military dwarves will respect their burrows in the same ways as civilian dwarves. If a military dwarf's training area is outside of his burrow, that dwarf will not train when off duty.

[[Image:Burrow.png|right|thumb|240px|An illustration demonstrating that a burrow does *not* restrict a dwarf's movement--the metalcrafter marched right out of his burrow to pull the right lever.]]
'''Burrows do not restrict a dwarf's movements'''; they only restrict the locations where dwarves may perform jobs (including picking up items, eating, sleeping, etc.). An idle dwarf can still go anywhere, regardless of burrows. (Note: a [[#Civilian Alerts|Civilian Alert]] overrides this behavior.)

Additionally, burrows can be toggled ({{k|w}} in the burrow menu) to restrict workshops inside the burrow to only use items from inside the burrow. Note that all items for the job must be located inside the burrow (including [[fuel]] for furnaces and [[barrel]]s for brewing). This feature is new and should be used with caution since it can result in less-than-obvious workshop job cancellations.

== Defining a new burrow ==

To enter the "define burrow" mode, press {{k|w}}.

You'll be presented with a list of all of your existing burrows. Change which burrow is selected with your secondary selection keys.

To add a new burrow to the list, press {{k|a}}. The new burrow created this way starts with no tiles and a default name.

To configure an existing burrow, select it with {{k|+}},{{k|-}},{{k|*}}, & {{k|/}}.

Press {{k|enter}} to set the burrow's name ({{k|n}}), {{k|c}}hange the symbol used, and define what tiles it encompasses. Defining the burrow's tiles can be done using rectangles much like other mass-selection or mass-designation situations elsewhere in the game, or you can paint with the mouse. Unlike other zone selections (but like designations,) burrow selections can take place over multiple z-levels, meaning that you can select cuboids, rather than rectangles, or create multiple non-contiguous spaces. This may become important if you burrow citizens for an extended period of time, as you can include the dining hall, food & alcohol stockpiles, and bedrooms to keep your dwarves away from hungry/thirsty/tired states. Workshop stockpiles will need to be included within the burrow for craft-type dwarves (e.g. mason, bone carver, etc.) to do these jobs. '''Press {{k|r}} to set whether you're adding or subtracting tiles from the burrow.''' Also like zone selections, they may overlap. You can also set the colors and symbols used for different burrows to help tell them apart.

Unlike [[activity zone]]s, burrows can also be extended through not-yet revealed tiles.

After defining the area of the burrow, you can add citizens with {{k|c}} on the selection screen, however they will stand wherever they happen to be until assigned a task inside the burrow, which they can path to. Note, however, that citizens may walk from one point of the burrow to another point even if the path they walk on is not part of the burrow. If you define a burrow which is split into two areas, the citizens may walk between those two areas, outside of the burrow you defined. The order of the dwarves in the list is based on an internal ID number, which doesn't correspond with any in game characteristic of the dwarf.

== Deleting Burrows ==

Deleting a burrow is easy, just enter "define burrow" mode by pressing {{k|w}}, select the burrow to delete, then press {{k|d}}, and confirm with {{k|y}}.

== Uses for Burrows ==
=== Defending an Area ===
''Full article: [[Scheduling]]

Burrows are one of the ways you can give passive orders to [[squads]] and civilians during [[Scheduling#Alert levels|alerts]]. Under the squad schedule menu (Press {{k|m}} {{k|s}}) you can add an order to any particular month for the chosen alert with {{k|o}} or edit their existing orders with {{k|e}}. On the Give Orders menu, use {{k|o}} to cycle through the orders given to squads. The order "Defend Burrows" '''cannot''' be given without first creating burrows to assign defenders to. Under a "Defend Burrows" order, dwarves in the squad are stationed in the specific area and will defend it proactively.

=== Civilian Alerts ===

Normally, you need to add citizens to a burrow manually when defining it to have them respect the boundaries. However, a [[civilian alert]] will automatically confine all non-military dwarves to the burrows defined in the alert for as long as the alert is active. When you set the civilian alert level to an alert including a defined burrow, your civilian dwarves will ignore their normal burrow-based job restrictions even if their burrow is one of those in the civilian alert.

See [[User:Khearn/CivilianAlertBurrow|these beginner-friendly instructions]] on how to create and use a civilian alert burrow.

=== Broker to the Depot, STAT ===

You can define your trade depot as a burrow, then when the traders appear, add your broker to that burrow. He will then only accept jobs at the trade depot, though he may be delayed if he is asleep or fulfilling an urgent [[need]]. This is particularly useful if your broker insists on performing other jobs instead of manning the depot.

===Alternative to Hot Keys===
You can define small burrows to areas you would like to zoom to. Then by pressing "w", select the burrow, "z" to 'center on burrow' your view will be moved to that spot like a hot key. This is useful when you run out of hotkey slots.

== Bugs ==

Burrows can be powerful tools, but that also means they have the potential to cause many problems. {{bugl|434}}, a longstanding burrow bug, was converted to an optional workshop restriction feature in v0.40.07. Unfortunately, this feature can be enabled accidentally (pressing {{k|w}} twice enters the burrow menu and toggles workshop restrictions for the first burrow).

* Haulers in burrows stand around contemplating hauling jobs they can't perform.{{bug|600}}

* [[Dwarf cancels Store Item: Item inaccessible]]" message spam results from idle dwarves being in a burrow that contains a stockpile but not the item the stockpile wants to have.{{bug|5062}}

* Civilians assigned to a burrow while hauling constantly spam "drop-off inaccessible".{{bug|597}}

* Dwarves cancel repeating workshop jobs which they personally cannot complete due to their burrow lacking materials.{{bug|2262}}

* Burrow-assigned dwarves abandon [[wheelbarrow]]s when passing through non-burrow tiles.{{bug|6484}}

* Mothers spam cancellations when attempting to recover a baby outside of their burrow.{{bug|765}}

* Harvest plants job unaffected by burrows.{{bug|5454}}

* Build construction job unaffected by burrows.{{bug|8414}}

* Dwarves get stuck trying to perform jobs at edge of burrow.{{bug|2416}}

* Dwarves may remain restricted to a deleted burrow.{{bug|1735}}

* Spouse room assignments behave oddly when spouses are in different burrows.{{bug|2442}}

* Dwarves try to party outside of burrow, "cancel attend party: no floor space".{{bug|3390}}

{{Category|Fortress mode}}

Burrow

2016-02-05T19:48:17Z

Greycat: /* Uses for Burrows */ Remove the "goblins are chasing me in circles" section, because it contained completely incorrect information

{{quality|Fine}}{{av}}{{buggy}}

'''Burrows''' are user-defined areas in your fort where selected dwarves live and work. You can assign these areas like zones and assign one or more dwarves to them. You may assign the same dwarf to multiple burrows, if desired. Dwarves will only perform jobs (use workshops, dig walls, use rooms, etc.) in burrows they are assigned to, though dwarves not assigned to any burrow may still perform jobs located in a burrow assigned to other dwarves.

Military dwarves that are on duty will ignore burrows. Off-duty military dwarves will respect their burrows in the same ways as civilian dwarves. If a military dwarf's training area is outside of his burrow, that dwarf will not train when off duty.

[[Image:Burrow.png|right|thumb|240px|An illustration demonstrating that a burrow does *not* restrict a dwarf's movement--the metalcrafter marched right out of his burrow to pull the right lever.]]
'''Burrows do not restrict a dwarf's movements'''; they only restrict the locations where dwarves may perform jobs (including picking up items, eating, sleeping, etc.). An idle dwarf can still go anywhere, regardless of burrows. (Note: a [[#Civilian Alerts|Civilian Alert]] overrides this behavior.)

Additionally, burrows can be toggled ({{k|w}} in the burrow menu) to restrict workshops inside the burrow to only use items from inside the burrow. Note that all items for the job must be located inside the burrow (including [[fuel]] for furnaces and [[barrel]]s for brewing). This feature is new and should be used with caution since it can result in less-than-obvious workshop job cancellations.

== Defining a new burrow ==

To enter the "define burrow" mode, press {{k|w}}.

You'll be presented with a list of all of your existing burrows. Change which burrow is selected with your secondary selection keys.

To add a new burrow to the list, press {{k|a}}. The new burrow created this way starts with no tiles and a default name.

To configure an existing burrow, select it with {{k|+}},{{k|-}},{{k|*}}, & {{k|/}}.

Press {{k|enter}} to set the burrow's name ({{k|n}}), {{k|c}}hange the symbol used, and define what tiles it encompasses. Defining the burrow's tiles can be done using rectangles much like other mass-selection or mass-designation situations elsewhere in the game, or you can paint with the mouse. Unlike other zone selections (but like designations,) burrow selections can take place over multiple z-levels, meaning that you can select cuboids, rather than rectangles, or create multiple non-contiguous spaces. This may become important if you burrow citizens for an extended period of time, as you can include the dining hall, food & alcohol stockpiles, and bedrooms to keep your dwarves away from hungry/thirsty/tired states. Workshop stockpiles will need to be included within the burrow for craft-type dwarves (e.g. mason, bone carver, etc.) to do these jobs. '''Press {{k|r}} to set whether you're adding or subtracting tiles from the burrow.''' Also like zone selections, they may overlap. You can also set the colors and symbols used for different burrows to help tell them apart.

Unlike [[activity zone]]s, burrows can also be extended through not-yet revealed tiles.

After defining the area of the burrow, you can add citizens with {{k|c}} on the selection screen, however they will stand wherever they happen to be until assigned a task inside the burrow, which they can path to. Note, however, that citizens may walk from one point of the burrow to another point even if the path they walk on is not part of the burrow. If you define a burrow which is split into two areas, the citizens may walk between those two areas, outside of the burrow you defined. The order of the dwarves in the list is based on an internal ID number, which doesn't correspond with any in game characteristic of the dwarf.

== Deleting Burrows ==

Deleting a burrow is easy, just enter "define burrow" mode by pressing {{k|w}}, select the burrow to delete, then press {{k|d}}, and confirm with {{k|y}}.

== Uses for Burrows ==
=== Defending an Area ===
''Full article: [[Scheduling]]

Burrows are one of the ways you can give passive orders to [[squads]] and civilians during [[Scheduling#Alert levels|alerts]]. Under the squad schedule menu (Press {{k|m}} {{k|s}}) you can add an order to any particular month for the chosen alert with {{k|o}} or edit their existing orders with {{k|e}}. On the Give Orders menu, use {{k|o}} to cycle through the orders given to squads. The order "Defend Burrows" '''cannot''' be given without first creating burrows to assign defenders to. Under a "Defend Burrows" order, dwarves in the squad are stationed in the specific area and will defend it proactively.

=== Civilian Alerts ===

Normally, you need to add citizens to a burrow manually when defining it to have them respect the boundaries. However, a [[civilian alert]] will automatically confine all non-military dwarves to the burrows defined in the alert for as long as the alert is active. When you set the civilian alert level to an alert including a defined burrow, your civilian dwarves will ignore their normal burrow-based job restrictions even if their burrow is one of those in the civilian alert.

See [[User:Khearn/CivilianAlertBurrow|these beginner-friendly instructions]] on how to create and use a civilian alert burrow.

=== Broker to the Depot, STAT ===

You can define your trade depot as a burrow, then when the traders appear, add your broker to that burrow. He will then only accept jobs at the trade depot, though he may be delayed if he is [[on break]] or asleep. This is particularly useful if your broker insists on performing other jobs instead of manning the depot.

===Alternative to Hot Keys===
You can define small burrows to areas you would like to zoom to. Then by pressing "w", select the burrow, "z" to 'center on burrow' your view will be moved to that spot like a hot key. This is useful when you run out of hotkey slots.

== Bugs ==

Burrows can be powerful tools, but that also means they have the potential to cause many problems. {{bugl|434}}, a longstanding burrow bug, was converted to an optional workshop restriction feature in v0.40.07. Unfortunately, this feature can be enabled accidentally (pressing {{k|w}} twice enters the burrow menu and toggles workshop restrictions for the first burrow).

* Haulers in burrows stand around contemplating hauling jobs they can't perform.{{bug|600}}

* [[Dwarf cancels Store Item: Item inaccessible]]" message spam results from idle dwarves being in a burrow that contains a stockpile but not the item the stockpile wants to have.{{bug|5062}}

* Civilians assigned to a burrow while hauling constantly spam "drop-off inaccessible".{{bug|597}}

* Dwarves cancel repeating workshop jobs which they personally cannot complete due to their burrow lacking materials.{{bug|2262}}

* Burrow-assigned dwarves abandon [[wheelbarrow]]s when passing through non-burrow tiles.{{bug|6484}}

* Mothers spam cancellations when attempting to recover a baby outside of their burrow.{{bug|765}}

* Harvest plants job unaffected by burrows.{{bug|5454}}

* Build construction job unaffected by burrows.{{bug|8414}}

* Dwarves get stuck trying to perform jobs at edge of burrow.{{bug|2416}}

* Dwarves may remain restricted to a deleted burrow.{{bug|1735}}

* Spouse room assignments behave oddly when spouses are in different burrows.{{bug|2442}}

* Dwarves try to party outside of burrow, "cancel attend party: no floor space".{{bug|3390}}

{{Category|Fortress mode}}

Defense guide

2016-01-28T16:02:43Z

Greycat: /* Early warning */

{{Quality|Masterwork|12:08, 21 July 2015 (UTC)}}
{{av}}




:''This page is one of several inter-related articles on the broader topic of defending your fortress and your dwarves. The '''defense guide''' is a general overview of the threats that will challenge your fortress and things to consider when preparing a standard defense. For tips on laying out your architecture to protect your military, see '''[[security design]]'''. For complex traps that are not a minor/optional part of a larger defensive plan (but might be adapted or plugged into one), see '''[[trap design]]'''. For specific advice on how to get your soldiers prepared for any threat, see '''[[military design]]'''.

In Dwarf Fortress, you will often find yourself beset by hostile creatures looking to murder your dwarves or take their treasures. Protecting your fortress from intruders is a challenging task and a broad, complex topic. A wide variety of [[creature]]s can threaten your dwarves, and there is no one approach or philosophy that perfectly addresses every possibility. Fortress layout, military organization and training, traps and more, all contribute to the overall "defense" and survivability of your fortress and the dwarves that live and work both within there and in the world around it, and likewise no one article can include every last detail. This guide will pull from many other articles, but will prefer to refer to those rather than re-post information that is already found (and better placed) there.

There are three important things to consider when planning the defenses for your fortress. First, you must protect the fortress itself - the buildings, the hallways, the dwarves within it. But second, protecting the dwarves outside and topside as they go about their work is also important. These two goals can often be rather divergent, as your dwarves may need to wander the open countryside to collect herbs, cut trees, hunt, fish, and while outside the bounds of your fortress they can find themselves quite vulnerable. 
Lastly, there is game style - you want the game to be "fun" for you, and with some strategies it's quite possible to defend yourself into complete boredom, or just go down a road that is not attractive style-wise. While this article cannot tell you how to have fun, it will comment on this when appropriate, and you should keep it in mind as well.

'''Note''' - There is not room in this article to expand adequately on every sub-topic - ''please'' see specific articles for a ''complete'' discussion as desired.

==General guidelines==

While admitting that "Rules are made to be broken", there are some general recommendations that have a proven value in defending a fortress:

* '''Minimize fortress entrances:''' Have a strong and clear distinction between inside and outside. This usually corresponds to underground and surface, but not always - you can have a complete medieval-style castle complex on the surface. But each point of entry should be hardened against attack. Don't make more entrances than really necessary. If there is a useless or redundant opening, seal it off, one way or another. (Some creatures can destroy [[door]]s if they can reach them, but [[bridge|drawbridges]] are safe.)

* '''Concentric circles:''' Think redundancy - one wall may not be enough. With the existence of door-destroying and bow-wielding attackers, double or multiple hard barriers between the inside and the outside are essential to fend off the worst assaults, and if they get inside one barrier it's nice to have another behind that. Sometimes captives will escape their [[cage]]s ''inside'' your fortress. The choke points between the circles are where you build traps and lockable doors, and station troops.

* '''Assume the worst:''' Build up your defenses ''before'' the enemy shows up - like right now! Plan on being [[siege]]d by scores of [[goblin]] archers, door-breaking [[troll]]s, invisible [[kobold]] master thieves, dive-bombing [[giant eagle]]s, flame-breathing [[fire imp]]s, angry [[elephant]]s, and a [[bronze colossus]] - ''all at once''. Hopefully, you will never have to face that kind of threat, but being ready for anything is the best bet, and, more realistically, when things go wrong (and with dwarves, they will, just believe it) you will have a buffer of defense to fall back on.

==Threats==
Danger comes in a variety of forms in Dwarf Fortress. Understanding the diverse threats is the first step to keeping your dwarves alive.

:*'''Wild animals'''
::Creatures vary in threat and habits. Some [[animal]]s are quite dangerous, but most are easily excluded by the humble [[door]] or [[Hatch cover|hatch]], even if it's not [[forbidden]]. Some few are able to destroy doors and hatches, statues and other [[building]]s, and some are thieves (see below), or will eat your food (such as [[Grizzly_bear|bear]]s). A lone animal, even a clear predator, will usually flee from a stronger force, but some [[undead]] and evil creatures can be blindly aggressive. Combat is random, and any animal can kill any dwarf - and vice versa.

::Wild animals can appear from the topside, but also from the [[cavern]]s that you may accidentally open up while mining (in fact, the worst ones are often from below). In evil or savage [[surroundings]], the creatures can be both much tougher and more aggressive.

:*'''Thieves & child snatchers'''
::Many creatures are "thieves" in the general sense, and offer their own potential headaches - a [[raccoon]] or small tribe of [[rhesus macaque]] or [[mandrill]] monkeys can enter an unsecured area unannounced, grabbing items of value and running, and it doesn't matter how many you kill if one or three make off with some prized possessions. But a creature with a listed ( {{k|u}} ) [[profession]] of [[Thief]] has a few additional nasty surprises, namely being invisible until spotted by your dwarves or [[domestic animal]]s, being able to bypass locked or forbidden doors, being armed with a real weapon, and some imperfect ability to avoid triggering traps (though some seem better at it than others). [[Kobold]]s and [[goblin]]s are individually more dangerous than animals, but when spotted there's a special message, either "'''Protect the hoard!'''" or "'''Protect the children!'''", as appropriate.

:*'''Ambushes'''
::An [[ambush]] is a small number of enemies (less than ten) that are invisible until spotted, but are easier to spot than thieves. The alert message is "'''An ambush! Curse them!'''" They skulk around the outside of your fortress, unseen until they strike, looking for wandering dwarves or caravans entering or leaving. They will often flee off the map if challenged.

:*'''Siege'''
::A [[siege]] is a large number of armed and organized attackers that are announced as soon as they appear on the map. The alert message varies by race - the most common being a goblin siege announcement: "A vile force of darkness has arrived!". While siegers are on the map, the word "SIEGE" appears in the top corners of the screen. Siegers are organized into a number of squads, each squad having a different weapon choice. Some sieges bring dangerous creatures to aid the armed attackers. If you are at [[war]] with a civilization, expect annual sieges at least.

:*'''Enemy archers'''
::Attackers with bows or [[crossbow]]s are worth separate mention as they are much, ''much'' more threatening than those with melee weapons. Out-shooting them with your marksdwarves is risky, as is charging them with inexperienced melee fighters. Well-trained, well-armored melee dwarves or special techniques are recommended to shield your dwarves from the deadly rain of arrows.

:*'''Building destroyers'''
::Some creatures have the [[Creature token|BUILDINGDESTROYER tag]] in their [[Raw file]]. This gives them the fearful capacity of tearing apart your doors and workshops. Constructions built with the {{k|b}} + {{k|C}} keys are safe, and so are [[bridge]]s.

:*'''Flying animals'''
::Currently, tame flying animals cannot fly{{bug|4776}}. Thus, the only flying creatures will be either wild animals (e.g. mundane birds, [[roc]]s, some [[titan]]s) or affiliated with a different (usually hostile) civilization (e.g. some [[animal people]], certain [[exotic mount]]s).

::Melee units sit there and do nothing against flying enemies, slowly losing their teeth from attacks from usually weak fliers like buzzards. Therefore you need to make sure you have flak. Often the case is that the ranged weapons disable the enemy such that they can't fly and the melee units finish them off. This is especially the case with flying Forgotten Beasts.

:*'''Werebeasts'''
::A [[werebeast]] is a humanoid cursed by a deity to transform into a savage animal form every full moon. When in animal form, they are stealthy (invisible until spotted) and extremely strong, and they avoid traps and can destroy buildings. If a dwarf is bitten by a werebeast in animal form, he may be infected.

:*'''Vampires'''
::A [[vampire]] is n humanoid cursed by a deity to become a bloodthirsty undead horror. They will disguise themselves as an ordinary dwarf (or other person), with a false name, history, list of relationships, etc. Their immortality gives them plenty of opportunity to practice skills (particularly social ones), so they will often be elected to a position like mayor. Once inside your fortress, they will drink the blood of sleeping dwarves, which is usually fatal. They have enhanced speed, strength, stamina, and pain resistance in combat, and do not need food, water, booze or air (thus cannot be drowned).

:*'''Megabeasts'''
::A [[megabeast]] is a particularly powerful and dangerous creature, such as a [[dragon]] or [[hydra]]. Megabeasts appear alone, with an alert message that mentions the beast by name. They often have unique characteristics which present unusual challenges, but are universally dangerous.

:*'''Titans and Forgotten Beasts'''
::[[Titan]]s and [[forgotten beast]]s are similar to megabeasts in terms of size and strength, but are procedurally generated from random creature parts and may have procedurally generated special attacks (such as fire breath or web shooting) as well. Titans and forgotten beasts appear alone, with an alert message that mentions the creature by name. The two are very similar; titans attack from outdoors and forgotten beasts attack through underground caverns, but otherwise they present the same challenge. A titan from a benign biome will not attack your fort.

:*'''War'''
::Before hitting that {{k|e}} and embarking, {{k|tab}} to civilizations on the pre-embark screen, and see if you are at [[war]] with anyone. If so, things can get hot fast, with more and larger ambushes and sieges, and sooner. This is unusual, but a nasty surprise if you didn't check.

==Elements of a defense==

Dwarf Fortress is very open-ended, and any number of defensive, engineering, fortification and military principles that have worked in reality will work in DF. Combine different elements into the defense you want.

A [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moat moat] with a drawbridge is perhaps the simplest defense known to Dwarvenkind, and not a bad start. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortifications Fortifications article on Wikipedia] is also a good source of inspiration. But simply shutting the outside world out and allowing invaders to mill about outside your moat is not always a desirable solution. Enemies will still prevent [[caravan]]s and [[migrant]]s from arriving, will kill [[liaison]]s, and prevent any desired outdoor activities. In addition, Dwarf Fortress players often find it enjoyable to perpetrate mass slaughter of invaders rather than helplessly glare at them from inside their caves.

For this, you will need a more complicated defense than a passive ditch and walls. One common method of defense is to build a walled structure above the entrance to your fortress, stationing Marksdwarves on the second floor overlooking the drawbridge-entrance. Another is to engineer a very long but narrow entrance, at the end of which are [[ballista]]e waiting to unload at unfortunate monsters in the field of fire. The variations are infinite.

===Physical layout===
These are the [[wall]]s, [[floor]], [[fortification]]s and so on that create the [[archery tower|towers]] and perimeters of your fortress, acting as physical barriers for your dwarves and against threats. However, they always work in conjunction with the other elements. Creative use of layouts can achieve some quite satisfying results.

For reference, arrow fire is usually about 20 tiles, though stray shots can travel further, and firing from higher elevations actually reduces the range about 1:1.

=====Terrain=====
:The lay of the land can be your friend, but the way of the dwarf is to shape the land as needed. Removing [[Ramp|slopes]] can create safe, private terraces and valley walls that prevent all access. Chasms and [[river]]s (not brooks!) create hard barriers, but an open chasm or magma vent can be a source of dangerous creatures. Small hills can serve as vantage points for [[archer]]s (yours or theirs!), but if carved with stairs leading up from within, they can be quick strategic strongpoints. Narrow valleys can become chokepoints for entrances, where your [[marksdwarf]]s can overlook any who come and go. Augmented by [[construction]]s below, the terrain becomes your first option for defense.

:Some players take quite a while before their first unpause, using that time to look around and think about the terrain, planning their fortress entrance and envisioning basic defenses.

=====Walls=====
:Constructing walls around your entrance is the simplest start, and an essential part of fortress defense, but a wall alone is not a complete defense. Currently, no creature can knock down a wall but they can climb on 1 z high walls. Not only does it keep enemies out, your archers can stand on top of the wall and fire down. Keep in mind that this makes them vulnerable to enemy fire. To help protect against that, build [[fortification]]s.

Also, keep in mind that flying enemies (such as swarms of birds) can fly over a wall, so you might want to build a ceiling to seal off particularly important areas.

=====Fortifications=====
:[[Fortification]]s are the marksdwarf's friend. They do not allow passage, but allow hand-held missile weapons to pass through, and are often placed on top of walls for tactical advantage. Projectiles have a chance of being blocked, based on the firer's skill and distance to the fortification. There's no chance of the missile being blocked if the firer is adjacent to the fortification, with increasing chances as any distance increases. Keep your marksdwarves close and keep enemies away - if an enemy archer can walk up to your fortifications, now they're adjacent too, and the fortifications will have zero effect. Build fortified firing platforms above ground level and put a nice wide moat between the wall and the enemy. Fortifications have no effect on [[siege engine]]s.

:Like Fortifications, Vertical [[Bars]] and Wall [[Grate]] will also allow projectiles to fire through them while impeding units' movement, but these constructions provide no defense - the missile fire works both ways equally. Unlike Fortifications, Bars and Grates may be connected to a [[Lever]], and opened or closed remotely - thus, they are good for forming a portcullis.

:: Consider a wall of fortifications, then further away from your fort a wall of Bars. Your marksmen are always adjacent to the Fortifications however the enemies can only ever get as a close as the bar wall. While the wall doesn't offer any extra protection it does stop the enemy at the fortification problem. Also can be achieved by a ditch in front of the fortification.

=====Doors (& Hatches)=====
:[[Door]]s are the simplest way to keep an enemy out. (A [[floor hatch]] in this sense is just a [[Z-level|Z-axis]] door, and in most ways works the same.) Most creatures will be stopped by any door or hatch, though some others can smash them. With a little tinkering, doors can be made 3 tiles wide or more, but this remains mostly for aesthetics without much practical use, as [[caravan|wagons]] will still not be able to pass them. You can [[forbid]] doors to keep (most) hostile humanoids and creatures out, and your dwarves in.

:Additionally doors can specifically be closed only against animals, to keep beloved [[pet]]s from wandering into enemy fire (they may pile up at the door and use the chance to slip out with a dwarf).

:Forbidding all doors and entrances breaks the pathfinding of enemies, making them lurk at the map border where they entered, which can be quite inconvenient in the case of an invisible ambush that then rushes at your fort in just the moment your civilian dwarves move out to, say, cut trees.

=====Floodgates=====
:[[Floodgate]]s, alone or in a line, may be used as removable walls since they need no support and disappear when "opened" remotely, although using a wide drawbridge will be much more economical in terms of materials and [[mechanism]]s. (Be aware that [[building destroyer]]s can batter down closed floodgates, and ''any object'' can prevent a floodgate from closing again, even a single, stray crossbow bolt or [[monarch butterfly]] remains.)

:A floodgate can be used just like a door, with two differences: A floodgate can be placed anywhere, unlike a door, which needs to be adjacent to a wall. A floodgate is closed by default, and can only be opened with a lever. Be careful not to trap your dwarves.

=====[[Moat]]s=====
:Channeling a ditch is a fast and effective defense. Creating an effective moat requires several steps, including designating ramp removal. The moat doesn't have to be filled with water or magma. A dry moat is actually a better defense than a water-filled moat, because many creatures can swim across a water-filled moat. If you want to build an access/escape route for your moat, consider where it leads - the enemy might use that too.

:Keep in mind that moats filled with water will freeze periodically in Temperate climates. This can work against you, letting the enemy cross it with ease and waltz right up to your defenses, but they can also work in your favor if the enemy happens to be swimming or treading on it as it freezes or thaws, respectively. A compromise would be if the moat and wall combination had at least five z-levels (preferably block walls) to climb above the water level; then the enemy would still have to climb.

:A moat cuts off access for your dwarves as well, so a retractable- or drawbridge is usually included in the design. But a moat with a non-retractable bridge is still potentially useful: It keeps enemy archers away from your fortifications, and it channels enemies into a narrow and predictable path. A drawbridge without a moat can be a big remote control door, sealing an entrance when it's "up". (This doesn't work with retracting bridges.) However, an actual [[door]] activates immediately and is more suitable for smaller-scale one-tile doors.

=====Bridges=====
:Bridges come in 3 forms - a permanent construction ''(a [[floor]] or top of a [[wall]] built out over a void)'', a retractable bridge, and a drawbridge. The movable type have a maximum size of 10x10 (including one solid "anchor" line of tiles at the base), and require a lever and two mechanisms to link them to be raised. Permanent bridges can be designed or later modified to include the latter.

:A retractable/raise-able [[bridge]] over a deep trench is a simple and almost air-tight defense - only flying creatures can pass it (''once the bridge is raised''). The raised bridge also blocks arrow fire for anything behind it. [[Channel]]s may be dug to form ditches, or moats - be aware of what might exist or be planned for the next [[z-level]] down. For defensive purposes they do not need to be filled with anything - as in the middle ages, a dry ditch is more than enough to prevent ground units from approaching (though of course, projectiles may be launched over it with impunity). With a retracting [[bridge]] over the moat, any units or items on top of the bridge will be dropped into the moat (and, if the moat is filled with water, drown unless they can swim out; if it is filled with magma, they burn to death.)

:Bridges can throw creatures a distance (in a random direction) when the bridge is raised/retracted, possibly injuring them on landing. Creatures on top of drawbridges will be utterly destroyed if they are flush against wall and have a floor tile above them, as will anything, friend, foe or object, on a floor that is covered when the drawbridge is lowered. This offensive use of drawbridges is known as the [[Dwarven Atom Smasher]].

:A drawbridge works as a door when "raised", sealing the passage it raises against. Consider this when choosing the direction a drawbridge is to raise.

:There are three important things to remember:
:# Always build the bridge to raise towards the ''inside'' (so that it completes your wall).
:# The [[lever]] has to be pulled by a civilian or off-duty militiadwarf, not a full-time soldier.
:# Water can freeze solid in cold weather.

:Also, some rare creatures can cross fluids, even magma. Nothing but flying creatures can get out of a channel.

====Remote control====
:*'''Barriers'''
::If you link a [[lever]] to a door, hatch cover or floodgate, it becomes impossible for your dwarves to open and close it normally. Pulling the lever is the only way to open it. This keeps your dwarves locked in as well as keeping enemies out. (It's unknown if [[thief|thieves]] can bypass a closed door once it's linked to a lever or pressure plate.) There is often a frustrating delay between ordering a lever pulled and when a dwarf pulls it, and another shorter one between pulling the lever and the barrier responding.

::Any item or creature in an open barrier at the moment it tries to close will not only prevent that barrier from closing, but that "close" signal will be lost. Any lever will have to be pulled twice more - to reset to "open", and then to (try to) close again. This is not the case with drawbridges, which crush anything and everything below them when they close.

:*'''Automated barriers & traps'''
::You can automate a barrier or trap by using a [[pressure plate]] instead of a lever, but there are complications there. Unless the 'Citizen' setting is set, only "enemies" or wild creatures will trigger a pressure plate; your dwarves and tame animals can walk on it all day long. If the 'Citizen' setting is set, dwarves, diplomats, traders, and tame animals can also activate the pressure plate. No device, trap or barrier, can be constructed in a tile where a pressure plate is - that is the only constructed object that can be there. But with creativity, this can still be a powerful addition to your fortress defense.

===Traps===
:''Full article: [[Trap design]]

Walls, bridges and fortifications provide barriers that stop intruders. However, the easiest way to ''kill'' intruders is to use [[trap]]s. A line of traps can wipe out an entire ambush, and inflict significant damage on a siege. However, be aware that a design using vast numbers of traps has the potential to take some of the [[fun]] and challenge out of the game - use accordingly. Also, some creatures avoid traps (kobolds, forgotten beasts) and will simply walk right over them with impunity, unless they fall unconscious or get webbed while on one.

===Defensive Engineering===
There are several types of [[trap]]s that a [[mechanic]] can place in a single tile and that target a single creature, but there are larger, more complex traps that only you can design, using [[lever]]s, [[pressure plate]]s or other constructions. The limiting factor is your own imagination. Some examples of the more common designs include:

====The drowning chamber====
Take reservoir filled with water, and put a retracting bridge over it. When enemies are on the bridge, retract it -- they will fall (or be flung) into the water and drown. Variant one: use magma instead of water. Variant two: trap the enemies in a room and then flood it.

If you allow a way to remove the water temporarily, you can even retrieve their [[:goblinite|belongings]] for your own use.

====The dodge-em trap====
One of the disadvantages of the weapon trap is that skilled or lucky enemies can dodge the pointy bits. The dodge-em trap uses the targets' dodging ability against them. Create a narrow, elevated walkway with empty space on the sides. Place weapon traps on the walkway. The goal of the weapon traps is not to kill the enemy, but rather, to make the enemy ''dodge'' -- typically into the open space on one side of the walkway. [[Gravity]] takes over at that point, and the deceleration trauma at the end of the trip has the final say. The higher the walkway is, and the more dense the floor material at the landing site, the more damage the enemies will take upon impact.

Using lots of low-power weapons (such as training spears or spiked wooden balls) in the traps can increase the chances of forcing a dodge, rather than impaling the enemy ''in situ'' and [[Trap#Weapon_Trap|jamming]] the trap.

Don't let your dwarves engage the enemy in melee on the walkway. Your dwarves will dodge and fall.... Firing crossbow bolts at enemies on the walkway from behind fortifications is fine, though.

===Military===
:''Full article: [[Military]]

A [[training|trained]], [[weapon|armed]], and [[armor]]ed [[military]] is the only way to bring the fight to the enemy. Building defenses to keep them safe is easy - keeping your military ready and in position is the tricky part.

A sufficiently large military can be used as a reactive force to rescue ambushed dwarves and safeguard the passage of caravans through unknown dangers, or even to sally out and meet a sieging force ''mano a mano''. The disadvantages are many -- soldiers must physically move to the conflict zone which may be many screens away from the nearest entrance to your fortress, by which point dwarven lives may have already been lost. Training is slow and erratic unless carefully micromanaged (or unless a [[danger room]] is employed). On-duty dwarves will not retreat under any circumstances, and ''hold your position'' is way beyond their tactical ability, so battles may quickly spill out of your control. Therefore, keeping a lot of dwarves in a squad will increase your odds of survival when someone picks a fight with a pack of [[undead|zombie]] [[troglodyte]]s. Dwarves are also failure-prone -- even when not injured, they need time off for sleeping, eating and drinking.

Nevertheless, a military force gives you options not available any other way. See [[military design]] for various possibilities.

===Early warning===
Some threats (sieges, titans, ...) are announced upon arrival, but others are sneaky. Thus, it's helpful to detect the more subtle threats before they start gutting everyone in your library.

Some animals (see below) make excellent, albeit expendable, sentries. In the case of building destroyers, you can set up statues, doors, and other furniture. These may serve not only as alerts, giving you a notification when a statue is toppled, but also as lures or delays. While the enemy is distracted by all the pretty doors, you have time to get your military into position.

===Animals===
Any animal (or dwarf) can act as a sentry - if a hidden enemy comes close to them, that enemy may be revealed (depending on the sentry's [[Observer]] skill). If that happens, an [[announcement]] is generated and the game is paused. Most animals aren't strong enough to take more than one armored goblin warrior, and enemies with bows are even worse. The real purpose of guard animals is to spot thieves. Anything will do here, even a kitten will do the job, and some players prefer not to risk a useful animal. You can also use this as opportunity to [[pasture]] some unwanted pets in strategic locations.

Guard animals are a good second line of defense in open entrances after your traps. A wardog can usually tear a thief apart, and will (briefly) delay goblin warriors while you respond. Also, the death of any animal will be [[announcement|announced]] (but the game will not pause), alerting you to the threat if you were not already aware of it. (Note - Some [[tame]]d animals will not fight goblins!)''

Most enemies will go after your animals just as blindly as they attack your dwarves. An expendable chained animal can bait enemies into dangerous passages, even into places unconnected to your fortress. Such an animal chained out on the far side of the map can alert you to ambushes that start there before they threaten your local dwarves.

[[Restraint|Restrain]] animals in narrow corridors (width 1 or 2), or in matched pairs against the walls of 3-wide corridors, preferably in places where enemy archers can't easily fire at them.

Or, if you feel like being <strike>evil</strike> resourceful, you could attempt to get a dragon (good luck), and watch as goblins run towards it and get burned to ashes. (Be careful not to ignite your dwarves!)

===Siege engines===
:''Full article: [[Siege engine]]

Siege engines take some planning to use effectively, and have a range of about 100 tiles compared to a crossbow's 20 or so. Both catapults and ballistae can be very deadly, but both have their drawbacks -- they take time to reload and can only hit targets at the same z-level, and they are woefully inaccurate in the hands of unskilled operators or when loaded with low-quality bolts. Furthermore, they're manned by civilians, who will abandon their posts should the enemy get too close.

==Considerations==
Now you know what you might face, and what cards you have in your hand. To that we add complications, things that make defense so much [[fun]]...

===Surface jobs===
There are many times when dwarfs want to work on the surface. [[Wood cutting]], [[Herbalist|gathering plants]], [[hunting]], [[fishing]], [[mining]] exposed [[vein]]s or [[gem]]s, building defenses or other structures, [[grower|growing]] above-ground [[crop]]s, [[Health care|helping wounded comrades]] or recovering dropped items are only the most likely. Often they are alone and vulnerable to [[creature|wild beasts]] or [[ambush]]es.

[[Burrow]]s are one option to handle civilian eagerness, but only [[squads|soldiers]] can currently be broken up by burrow - civilians are all grouped into the same category, so when you try to restrict civilians to one burrow to stop them from going outside, you should make sure they can still access the whole of your fort (especially if it's still expanding). You can try to wall in huge areas of the map, possibly with drawbridge gates that can open for caravans, but the larger the area, the vaster the project, the further your dwarves will be from existing defenses, and the more time they will spend working above ground.

Making smaller enclosures in key areas with underground tunnels leading to them can be an easier first step. Likewise, tunneling to the inside of an exposed vein of ore keeps your miners sealed from the outside until you are prepared to mine the last tiles, possibly after placing doors or walls just inside that tunnel. Having military stationed or patrolling nearby is another option.

* '''Burrows.''' Making effective use of the burrow system, it's very easy to set a safe place designated as an emergency burrow and restrict civilians to it. Setting that alert state when there are enemies about causes your dwarves to immediately run to the emergency burrow and stay there until the alert is turned off.

* '''Lock the front doors.''' It takes a truly airtight fortress to keep the entrance open while there are still enemies outside. If there's even one exit, your dwarves will use it. Try testing this while it's safe: Raise the bridges, just like you would in a siege, and designate some trees for cutting. If there's a way out, your woodcutters will find it.

* '''Forbid dropped equipment and corpses.''' Mark every item on the battlefield as [[forbidden]]. This includes any items dropped by dead merchants or scuttled wagons. You can have this done automatically for dwarf and enemy corpses and inventories in the '''orders''' {{key|o}} menu at the '''forbid options''' {{key|F}}.

* '''Delete stockpiles and turn off tombs.''' As a preemptive measure, you can easily delete your Graveyard [[stockpile]]s. Dwarves don't haul things if there's no stockpile to place them in. Turning off or removing [[coffin]]s stops burials as well.

* '''Keep them busy.''' Make a bunch of busy-work for your dwarves, just to keep them underground. It's not perfect but it helps. Time to re-organize your stockpiles.

===Water sources===
Access to [[water]] can be vital. Wounded dwarves need water, so if there's not an underground water source you'll lose valuable soldiers to thirst. Try to have a [[well]] or cistern your dwarves can use safely. Remember to keep an extra [[bucket]] or two available.

Some water sources are good locations for [[fishing]], providing food during longer sieges.

===Civilians trapped outdoors===
Anything that blocks intruders will also block your dwarves. This can cause the problem of dwarves being trapped outside with the enemy, and the enemy ''will'' find them. Having more than one entrance can be useful here, but each requires adequate defenses - the weakest link and all that. If you make these entrances accessible by drawbridge only, with a (short) moat outside that, and keep the drawbridge up most of the time, having lots of entrances shouldn't be too much of a problem.

===Trade depot & caravans===
Factoring in 3-tile wide access to the [[trade depot]] adds a layer of complexity. Letting merchants in while keeping enemies out requires a careful balance. The merchants can reveal ambushes and thieves like any other creature, and their arrival is frequently accompanied by an ambush or a [[siege]]. If the merchants run into an enemy squad, they can be slaughtered before reaching your doors, and that hurts your reputation (as well as possibly causing your civilian dwarfs to want to go running out and collect their dropped items). Consider sending heavily armored escorts when expecting a caravan (usually the middle of the third month of each season, except winter). Unless it's an elven caravan, it will have some guards escorting it, and you can take advantage of the distraction to attack an enemy from both sides, but keep in mind that if the merchants themselves are under attack, they will flee.

You will possibly want to build the depot inside your walls/defenses with retractable-/draw-[[bridge]]s, so you can seal an enemy out while you conduct your trading. Keeping the Depot at the center of the map also lets your dwarfs drag things to it faster, and leaves it to the caravan to do the hauling.

A common trade depot design involves ''two'' separately sealable paths: one from the outside to the depot, and the other from the depot to the inside of the fortress. This "airlock" design helps keep your inner fortress safe even if the trade depot becomes compromised.

The Depot Access command ({{k|D}}) shows three-tile-wide paths a caravan's wagons can take. Caravans ''still appear where those paths meet the edge of the map'', even if they have no wagons (elves don't use them). By choosing a brook bed recessed into the ground, or building floors to block travel around the edge of the map, it is possible to keep a caravan path only a few squares wide at the edge of the board, which is completely separate from all other visitors to the map. In this way you can leave the path to your Depot open all the time with virtually no risk from sieges and random creatures unless they enter one of those few squares.

===Branching corridors===
Enemies will take the most direct path to your fortress, (even if it's not very direct at all). You can use this to your advantage. Have two paths to the fortress: a long, twisting, three-wide road, and a shorter, one tile wide, trap-filled passage. Attackers will usually prefer the short and deadly path. This makes a good line of fire for a ballista, too.

Alternately, you can have a primary, convenient, direct 3-wide path to your fortress open most of the time, with a convoluted detour that is forced (by drawbridges) only during sieges, lined with traps and overseen by marksdwarves. The possibilities are infinite.

===Levers===
Be careful where you place the [[lever]]s controlling your various entrances, traps and other defenses. Or any lever at all, for that matter. Make sure they are either central or close to locations of idle dwarfs, or both - near a [[Activity zone|meeting area]] or bedrooms of [[nobles]] is often a good plan. Make sure that the entire path to each lever is [[underground]] or your dwarves might be unable to reach them if told to stay in certain warrens (test this during peacetime!) Try putting all your defense-related levers in a single room, perhaps down a staircase from your meeting area, and put a door (or hatch) on the entrance(s). Then you can lock your lever-puller inside to ensure rapid response time.

Another solution to the problem of rapid response time is to make your lever room double as a [[Screw pump|pump]] room. Pumping is a good way to build up your dwarves' [[attribute]]s regardless of whether the pump is doing work or not. If you want a dedicated lever operator or three, turn off all their labors except pumping, and set the pumps up so that they can be operated exclusively by your dedicated lever operators. Rotate these positions every so often so the attribute gain will be distributed among multiple dwarves.

For the truly ambitious, the lever room could be spread over multiple levels, and the pumps could work together to power one or more artificial [[waterfall]]s. (Waterfalls work well in this case because their operation is not fortress-critical, and your dwarves like the mist they produce.)

Use [[Note]]s to label each lever and attached device and trap clearly - if you come back to a game after a week and can't remember your levers, they are useless (or, worse, <s>dangerous</s> [[Fun]]!) Color code your levers with different color [[mechanism]]s if that works for you.

==General Suggestions==

===First concerns===

====Pre-embark decisions====
Defense starts before the game does, at embark when you're choosing your location, your dwarves' starting skill mixes, and your starting equipment and supplies. If you expect trouble (an evil biome, perhaps), then it can be crucial to bring at least one axe. Picks make decent weapons. A supply of wood means you don't have to chop trees for a while, and similarly a few simple stone (a few [[bauxite]] can't hurt) allows you to make immediate workshops even before your miner has swung her pick. While an untrained dwarf can usually wrestle most small and medium beasts, one unarmored (semi-)military dwarf with an axe or crossbow can be a big edge against most early threats.

For most starts, unless your embark location is very close to the mouth of an open [[volcano]] or you are starting in an [[evil]] biome, there should be no serious immediate threats. Unless you are at [[war]] with a civilization (visible on the pre-embark screen), sieges and ambushes don't start until you've created some wealth, the first winter at the earliest. So wild animals are your only concern, predators that might prey on lone dwarfs and thieving animals that will target your valuables.

====Striking the earth====
First, look around. At the terrain, at the animals present. Scan the {{k|u}} menu before un-pausing the game at the start, and regularly. More animals will enter the map, constantly and without warning, so keep an eye on visitors.

One of your first priorities is to get things underground or otherwise secure, to prevent rot but also to prevent theft. Carving out a channel/moat, or removing the slopes to a hill, or building a wall, or a combination of those will work fine, but better if you don't have an unwanted entrance to wall up later. Soil is very fast to dig out, and just as strong against enemies, but may not be desirable for a later, mature fortress. Balance convenience against your long-range plans and visible threats.

Consider and plan the entrance to your fortress - perhaps a ramp leading down, or a tunnel into the side of a hill or cliff. A long, narrow entrance (a valley and/or tunnel) allows you to control it, with archers, with traps, with a siege engine at the end. It gives you time to prepare your military. However, it also means that your dwarfs will have to walk that entire distance every time they enter and leave your fortress, and be that much further from help should they need it. Entrances vary from a few tiles to many dozens. Start with something smaller for now, but plan on how to develop the entrance you want later.

An L-bend, or several, or drops in z-level may provide better security, or a firing platform for siege engines and/or archers. Many complex traps involve several levels beneath the entrance (for drainage of liquids or other diabolical purposes.) Using some of the principles above, it might look something like this...

####################
(a)? (-trap ...#
? area-) . .# (A's/SE)
################...#
# #
#D D#
# #
<Inner Fortress> (Not to Scale)

(a) = bait animal, on [[restraint]]
# = tunnel walls, above-ground walls, valley walls with slopes removed, and/or channels
? = ramp up, drawbridge, moat, defensive structures, or combination of all
traps = mechanic's traps and/or complex death traps, as you wish.
...
. . = area open to sky, to prevent "dwarves staying inside" from archers outside entrance
...
D = wardog on [[restraint]]
(A's/SE) = future site for archers and/or [[siege engine]]s (planning ahead)

The above might be longer or shorter, partially or entirely above or below ground, or have more turns. The "inner fortress" might only be a Trade Depot, with another similar entryway behind that. Instead of the turn, it might drop a level and dive below the sight of the Siege Engines. Since the first caravan won't arrive for at least 6 months, you can dig a 1-tile wide tunnel for now, or a staircase, and then dig out to another location for a more formal entrance. This is only a very rough, very simple example of combining possibilities.

====It's mine!====
Consider how you will secure your valuables, your entrance, and any land you want to claim as "dwarf only" - by channeling, removing the slopes from nearby hills, maybe walls? At first, consider including at least enough above-ground terrain for any [[farm plot]]s and [[Activity zone|meeting area]]s. This could perhaps be as small as a 5x5 walled enclosure, or be multiple compounds, but some players aim at claiming (most of) the entire map. Any barrier limits your dwarfs, but keeps enemies out until you have your fortress up and running at a basic level and are prepared to respond properly. Due to thieves' ability to get past locked doors, and a caravan needing a path that's 3-wide, you won't be able to create a hard "gate" that you can open and shut until you have a [[mechanic's workshop]] and some [[mechanism]]s for levers, to link to a [[drawbridge]].

====Inside vs. outside====
Not "above ground" vs "subterranean", but the border where the inside of your fortress starts, what you claim as "yours" vs "out there". Some fortresses just have one main gate, some try to own the entire map. Some have an "airlock", a middle ground (remembering multiple, layered defenses!) where a Trade Depot is kept, that visitors can access and is protected, but then a deeper, even more secure inner fortress - think of a castle courtyard - inside the walls but not yet inside the castle itself. A safe zone for friends, still unfriendly for enemies but taking extra precautions against full intrusion.

This can be above ground or deep underground, a direct line or a maze of z-levels - that's all up to you, how much work you think "security" is worth. Hey, it's not like ''you'' have to do the heavy lifting.

That line of defense - any line - can be passive (walls and barriers and traps only) or active, with military, either on permanent duty or with stations to report to when activated. Use remote controlled bridges to create movable walls and closed gates or open hidden moats to reroute visitors, enemies and/or your dwarves depending on the situation, so there is no one "configuration", but several different options all side by side.

====Mechanic's traps====
Traps are a good friend for the starting player. We're talking the simple traps that a mechanic places - complex death traps are up to you. Stone traps are a good start - they're easy, effective against all but the biggest creatures, and ammo is plentiful if you're mining in stone. When goblins show, they can number less than a dozen to start, but grow over time. Start with a row in an early chokepoint, maybe your entry hall or outside it, make that one row into a few, and go from there. But lead your target - count on the next attack being larger than the last.

If you want to breed monkeys for skin, bone and meat, or amuse yourself with live goblins, a row or five of cage traps at the very entrance of your fort would be a good start. Leave room for this when you place your stone traps - killing the monkeys first won't allow live monkeys to be caged. (You still get the meat & etc. from those corpses, just not breeding stock.)

As your dwarfs create weapons, or you trade for them, or (later) as you [[goblinite|gather]] those of your fallen enemies, [[Trap#Weapon_Trap|weapon traps]] will become attractive. There is no hard rule or formula for all this - be creative.

====Complex traps====
Between levers, pressure plates, water and magma, much [[fun]] can be had. But this article won't deal with any specifics. (See [[Trap design]] for those.) We will say - plan ahead. Think about what you might want to do, and leave ample room for it, in all 3 dimensions.

====Military====
To start, you will probably have few if any full-time military standing guard over your dwarfs - there is just too much to do at first, and serious threats are (hopefully) several seasons away. If you are going to make weapons and armor, have stockpiles near where your draftees work and rest, perhaps near an entrance/exit, but not so close that it might get over-run before your dwarfs can equip. Eventually you might have perhaps a quarter (or more or less) of your dwarfs as full-time military, and they'll need a barracks where they will sleep and practice, archery ranges if that's their weapon of choice, and quick, safe routes to their battle stations or patrol areas. When to begin a full-time military presence is personal choice and influenced by your game situation, but plan on eventually having them live and practice near where they will be fighting as much as possible. See [[Military design]] for a more complete discussion on planning and deploying military and militia.

==Different philosophies==
There are many, ''many'' ways to play DF. Some players play hard and tight, and some fast and loose. Some take no risks and protect every last dwarf and cat, and others happily leave a highway of dwarf and animal bodies for the next immigration wave to follow. Some live for the slaughter of ASCII goblins, and others for the mega-project. No one "defense" will serve everyone's tastes.

===Losing is fun===
There is no final "win" in Dwarf Fortress, no end point or Easter egg that says "Congratulations!" - it just keeps going, until, inevitably and unavoidably, you will lose. That's part of the game. So it's all about how you play until then, and finding your type of fun in that process.

==="Fun" vs. security===
It's not hard to create an acre of traps that, realistically, simply no threats can survive. If you want to pursue a megaproject (that is not a defensive trap) in peace and security, this may be a good plan. However, if you look forward to the military end of things, then you want to allow, or at least be able to invite combat at your choosing. Inexperienced players are recommended to use the hall-of-traps entryway, at least to start. Many experienced players challenge themselves by limiting their use of simple traps, or other voluntary handicaps. It's all about what you think is [[fun]]. To prevent ambushes and sieges altogether, <code>[INVADERS:NO]</code> can be set in [[d_init.txt]].

===Turtling===
The fewer surface jobs your dwarves have to run, the less exposed they will be to potential harm. There are a number of ways to reduce surface exposure while keeping your fortress well-stocked:
* Hunting requires chasing animals across the map, almost invariably far from home. For maximum safety, you're better off disabling your hunters.
* Woodcutting requires trees to chop down, and trees grow on the surface. Once you discover the [[cavern]]s, you can build [[Tree farming|tree farm]]s underground to solve your wood needs.
* Grazing livestock require grassy pastures. Once you discover caverns, you can likewise establish pastures underground, on well-grown underground floor.
* Giving water to the wounded requires fresh water. Internalize your water supply with a [[well]].
* [[Caravan]]s need to get in while ambushers and siegers need to stay out. Using the fact that wagons need a three-tile-wide path to your trade depot, you can place strategic constructions around the map to force them to always take one easily-defended route.

==See also==
:*[[Siege engine]]

{{Military}}

{{Category|Guides}}
{{Category|Fortress defense}}
{{Category|Design}}

Defense guide

2016-01-28T15:53:49Z

Greycat: /* Threats */ charging archers is not necessarily "worse"

{{Quality|Masterwork|12:08, 21 July 2015 (UTC)}}
{{av}}




:''This page is one of several inter-related articles on the broader topic of defending your fortress and your dwarves. The '''defense guide''' is a general overview of the threats that will challenge your fortress and things to consider when preparing a standard defense. For tips on laying out your architecture to protect your military, see '''[[security design]]'''. For complex traps that are not a minor/optional part of a larger defensive plan (but might be adapted or plugged into one), see '''[[trap design]]'''. For specific advice on how to get your soldiers prepared for any threat, see '''[[military design]]'''.

In Dwarf Fortress, you will often find yourself beset by hostile creatures looking to murder your dwarves or take their treasures. Protecting your fortress from intruders is a challenging task and a broad, complex topic. A wide variety of [[creature]]s can threaten your dwarves, and there is no one approach or philosophy that perfectly addresses every possibility. Fortress layout, military organization and training, traps and more, all contribute to the overall "defense" and survivability of your fortress and the dwarves that live and work both within there and in the world around it, and likewise no one article can include every last detail. This guide will pull from many other articles, but will prefer to refer to those rather than re-post information that is already found (and better placed) there.

There are three important things to consider when planning the defenses for your fortress. First, you must protect the fortress itself - the buildings, the hallways, the dwarves within it. But second, protecting the dwarves outside and topside as they go about their work is also important. These two goals can often be rather divergent, as your dwarves may need to wander the open countryside to collect herbs, cut trees, hunt, fish, and while outside the bounds of your fortress they can find themselves quite vulnerable. 
Lastly, there is game style - you want the game to be "fun" for you, and with some strategies it's quite possible to defend yourself into complete boredom, or just go down a road that is not attractive style-wise. While this article cannot tell you how to have fun, it will comment on this when appropriate, and you should keep it in mind as well.

'''Note''' - There is not room in this article to expand adequately on every sub-topic - ''please'' see specific articles for a ''complete'' discussion as desired.

==General guidelines==

While admitting that "Rules are made to be broken", there are some general recommendations that have a proven value in defending a fortress:

* '''Minimize fortress entrances:''' Have a strong and clear distinction between inside and outside. This usually corresponds to underground and surface, but not always - you can have a complete medieval-style castle complex on the surface. But each point of entry should be hardened against attack. Don't make more entrances than really necessary. If there is a useless or redundant opening, seal it off, one way or another. (Some creatures can destroy [[door]]s if they can reach them, but [[bridge|drawbridges]] are safe.)

* '''Concentric circles:''' Think redundancy - one wall may not be enough. With the existence of door-destroying and bow-wielding attackers, double or multiple hard barriers between the inside and the outside are essential to fend off the worst assaults, and if they get inside one barrier it's nice to have another behind that. Sometimes captives will escape their [[cage]]s ''inside'' your fortress. The choke points between the circles are where you build traps and lockable doors, and station troops.

* '''Assume the worst:''' Build up your defenses ''before'' the enemy shows up - like right now! Plan on being [[siege]]d by scores of [[goblin]] archers, door-breaking [[troll]]s, invisible [[kobold]] master thieves, dive-bombing [[giant eagle]]s, flame-breathing [[fire imp]]s, angry [[elephant]]s, and a [[bronze colossus]] - ''all at once''. Hopefully, you will never have to face that kind of threat, but being ready for anything is the best bet, and, more realistically, when things go wrong (and with dwarves, they will, just believe it) you will have a buffer of defense to fall back on.

==Threats==
Danger comes in a variety of forms in Dwarf Fortress. Understanding the diverse threats is the first step to keeping your dwarves alive.

:*'''Wild animals'''
::Creatures vary in threat and habits. Some [[animal]]s are quite dangerous, but most are easily excluded by the humble [[door]] or [[Hatch cover|hatch]], even if it's not [[forbidden]]. Some few are able to destroy doors and hatches, statues and other [[building]]s, and some are thieves (see below), or will eat your food (such as [[Grizzly_bear|bear]]s). A lone animal, even a clear predator, will usually flee from a stronger force, but some [[undead]] and evil creatures can be blindly aggressive. Combat is random, and any animal can kill any dwarf - and vice versa.

::Wild animals can appear from the topside, but also from the [[cavern]]s that you may accidentally open up while mining (in fact, the worst ones are often from below). In evil or savage [[surroundings]], the creatures can be both much tougher and more aggressive.

:*'''Thieves & child snatchers'''
::Many creatures are "thieves" in the general sense, and offer their own potential headaches - a [[raccoon]] or small tribe of [[rhesus macaque]] or [[mandrill]] monkeys can enter an unsecured area unannounced, grabbing items of value and running, and it doesn't matter how many you kill if one or three make off with some prized possessions. But a creature with a listed ( {{k|u}} ) [[profession]] of [[Thief]] has a few additional nasty surprises, namely being invisible until spotted by your dwarves or [[domestic animal]]s, being able to bypass locked or forbidden doors, being armed with a real weapon, and some imperfect ability to avoid triggering traps (though some seem better at it than others). [[Kobold]]s and [[goblin]]s are individually more dangerous than animals, but when spotted there's a special message, either "'''Protect the hoard!'''" or "'''Protect the children!'''", as appropriate.

:*'''Ambushes'''
::An [[ambush]] is a small number of enemies (less than ten) that are invisible until spotted, but are easier to spot than thieves. The alert message is "'''An ambush! Curse them!'''" They skulk around the outside of your fortress, unseen until they strike, looking for wandering dwarves or caravans entering or leaving. They will often flee off the map if challenged.

:*'''Siege'''
::A [[siege]] is a large number of armed and organized attackers that are announced as soon as they appear on the map. The alert message varies by race - the most common being a goblin siege announcement: "A vile force of darkness has arrived!". While siegers are on the map, the word "SIEGE" appears in the top corners of the screen. Siegers are organized into a number of squads, each squad having a different weapon choice. Some sieges bring dangerous creatures to aid the armed attackers. If you are at [[war]] with a civilization, expect annual sieges at least.

:*'''Enemy archers'''
::Attackers with bows or [[crossbow]]s are worth separate mention as they are much, ''much'' more threatening than those with melee weapons. Out-shooting them with your marksdwarves is risky, as is charging them with inexperienced melee fighters. Well-trained, well-armored melee dwarves or special techniques are recommended to shield your dwarves from the deadly rain of arrows.

:*'''Building destroyers'''
::Some creatures have the [[Creature token|BUILDINGDESTROYER tag]] in their [[Raw file]]. This gives them the fearful capacity of tearing apart your doors and workshops. Constructions built with the {{k|b}} + {{k|C}} keys are safe, and so are [[bridge]]s.

:*'''Flying animals'''
::Currently, tame flying animals cannot fly{{bug|4776}}. Thus, the only flying creatures will be either wild animals (e.g. mundane birds, [[roc]]s, some [[titan]]s) or affiliated with a different (usually hostile) civilization (e.g. some [[animal people]], certain [[exotic mount]]s).

::Melee units sit there and do nothing against flying enemies, slowly losing their teeth from attacks from usually weak fliers like buzzards. Therefore you need to make sure you have flak. Often the case is that the ranged weapons disable the enemy such that they can't fly and the melee units finish them off. This is especially the case with flying Forgotten Beasts.

:*'''Werebeasts'''
::A [[werebeast]] is a humanoid cursed by a deity to transform into a savage animal form every full moon. When in animal form, they are stealthy (invisible until spotted) and extremely strong, and they avoid traps and can destroy buildings. If a dwarf is bitten by a werebeast in animal form, he may be infected.

:*'''Vampires'''
::A [[vampire]] is n humanoid cursed by a deity to become a bloodthirsty undead horror. They will disguise themselves as an ordinary dwarf (or other person), with a false name, history, list of relationships, etc. Their immortality gives them plenty of opportunity to practice skills (particularly social ones), so they will often be elected to a position like mayor. Once inside your fortress, they will drink the blood of sleeping dwarves, which is usually fatal. They have enhanced speed, strength, stamina, and pain resistance in combat, and do not need food, water, booze or air (thus cannot be drowned).

:*'''Megabeasts'''
::A [[megabeast]] is a particularly powerful and dangerous creature, such as a [[dragon]] or [[hydra]]. Megabeasts appear alone, with an alert message that mentions the beast by name. They often have unique characteristics which present unusual challenges, but are universally dangerous.

:*'''Titans and Forgotten Beasts'''
::[[Titan]]s and [[forgotten beast]]s are similar to megabeasts in terms of size and strength, but are procedurally generated from random creature parts and may have procedurally generated special attacks (such as fire breath or web shooting) as well. Titans and forgotten beasts appear alone, with an alert message that mentions the creature by name. The two are very similar; titans attack from outdoors and forgotten beasts attack through underground caverns, but otherwise they present the same challenge. A titan from a benign biome will not attack your fort.

:*'''War'''
::Before hitting that {{k|e}} and embarking, {{k|tab}} to civilizations on the pre-embark screen, and see if you are at [[war]] with anyone. If so, things can get hot fast, with more and larger ambushes and sieges, and sooner. This is unusual, but a nasty surprise if you didn't check.

==Elements of a defense==

Dwarf Fortress is very open-ended, and any number of defensive, engineering, fortification and military principles that have worked in reality will work in DF. Combine different elements into the defense you want.

A [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moat moat] with a drawbridge is perhaps the simplest defense known to Dwarvenkind, and not a bad start. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortifications Fortifications article on Wikipedia] is also a good source of inspiration. But simply shutting the outside world out and allowing invaders to mill about outside your moat is not always a desirable solution. Enemies will still prevent [[caravan]]s and [[migrant]]s from arriving, will kill [[liaison]]s, and prevent any desired outdoor activities. In addition, Dwarf Fortress players often find it enjoyable to perpetrate mass slaughter of invaders rather than helplessly glare at them from inside their caves.

For this, you will need a more complicated defense than a passive ditch and walls. One common method of defense is to build a walled structure above the entrance to your fortress, stationing Marksdwarves on the second floor overlooking the drawbridge-entrance. Another is to engineer a very long but narrow entrance, at the end of which are [[ballista]]e waiting to unload at unfortunate monsters in the field of fire. The variations are infinite.

===Physical layout===
These are the [[wall]]s, [[floor]], [[fortification]]s and so on that create the [[archery tower|towers]] and perimeters of your fortress, acting as physical barriers for your dwarves and against threats. However, they always work in conjunction with the other elements. Creative use of layouts can achieve some quite satisfying results.

For reference, arrow fire is usually about 20 tiles, though stray shots can travel further, and firing from higher elevations actually reduces the range about 1:1.

=====Terrain=====
:The lay of the land can be your friend, but the way of the dwarf is to shape the land as needed. Removing [[Ramp|slopes]] can create safe, private terraces and valley walls that prevent all access. Chasms and [[river]]s (not brooks!) create hard barriers, but an open chasm or magma vent can be a source of dangerous creatures. Small hills can serve as vantage points for [[archer]]s (yours or theirs!), but if carved with stairs leading up from within, they can be quick strategic strongpoints. Narrow valleys can become chokepoints for entrances, where your [[marksdwarf]]s can overlook any who come and go. Augmented by [[construction]]s below, the terrain becomes your first option for defense.

:Some players take quite a while before their first unpause, using that time to look around and think about the terrain, planning their fortress entrance and envisioning basic defenses.

=====Walls=====
:Constructing walls around your entrance is the simplest start, and an essential part of fortress defense, but a wall alone is not a complete defense. Currently, no creature can knock down a wall but they can climb on 1 z high walls. Not only does it keep enemies out, your archers can stand on top of the wall and fire down. Keep in mind that this makes them vulnerable to enemy fire. To help protect against that, build [[fortification]]s.

Also, keep in mind that flying enemies (such as swarms of birds) can fly over a wall, so you might want to build a ceiling to seal off particularly important areas.

=====Fortifications=====
:[[Fortification]]s are the marksdwarf's friend. They do not allow passage, but allow hand-held missile weapons to pass through, and are often placed on top of walls for tactical advantage. Projectiles have a chance of being blocked, based on the firer's skill and distance to the fortification. There's no chance of the missile being blocked if the firer is adjacent to the fortification, with increasing chances as any distance increases. Keep your marksdwarves close and keep enemies away - if an enemy archer can walk up to your fortifications, now they're adjacent too, and the fortifications will have zero effect. Build fortified firing platforms above ground level and put a nice wide moat between the wall and the enemy. Fortifications have no effect on [[siege engine]]s.

:Like Fortifications, Vertical [[Bars]] and Wall [[Grate]] will also allow projectiles to fire through them while impeding units' movement, but these constructions provide no defense - the missile fire works both ways equally. Unlike Fortifications, Bars and Grates may be connected to a [[Lever]], and opened or closed remotely - thus, they are good for forming a portcullis.

:: Consider a wall of fortifications, then further away from your fort a wall of Bars. Your marksmen are always adjacent to the Fortifications however the enemies can only ever get as a close as the bar wall. While the wall doesn't offer any extra protection it does stop the enemy at the fortification problem. Also can be achieved by a ditch in front of the fortification.

=====Doors (& Hatches)=====
:[[Door]]s are the simplest way to keep an enemy out. (A [[floor hatch]] in this sense is just a [[Z-level|Z-axis]] door, and in most ways works the same.) Most creatures will be stopped by any door or hatch, though some others can smash them. With a little tinkering, doors can be made 3 tiles wide or more, but this remains mostly for aesthetics without much practical use, as [[caravan|wagons]] will still not be able to pass them. You can [[forbid]] doors to keep (most) hostile humanoids and creatures out, and your dwarves in.

:Additionally doors can specifically be closed only against animals, to keep beloved [[pet]]s from wandering into enemy fire (they may pile up at the door and use the chance to slip out with a dwarf).

:Forbidding all doors and entrances breaks the pathfinding of enemies, making them lurk at the map border where they entered, which can be quite inconvenient in the case of an invisible ambush that then rushes at your fort in just the moment your civilian dwarves move out to, say, cut trees.

=====Floodgates=====
:[[Floodgate]]s, alone or in a line, may be used as removable walls since they need no support and disappear when "opened" remotely, although using a wide drawbridge will be much more economical in terms of materials and [[mechanism]]s. (Be aware that [[building destroyer]]s can batter down closed floodgates, and ''any object'' can prevent a floodgate from closing again, even a single, stray crossbow bolt or [[monarch butterfly]] remains.)

:A floodgate can be used just like a door, with two differences: A floodgate can be placed anywhere, unlike a door, which needs to be adjacent to a wall. A floodgate is closed by default, and can only be opened with a lever. Be careful not to trap your dwarves.

=====[[Moat]]s=====
:Channeling a ditch is a fast and effective defense. Creating an effective moat requires several steps, including designating ramp removal. The moat doesn't have to be filled with water or magma. A dry moat is actually a better defense than a water-filled moat, because many creatures can swim across a water-filled moat. If you want to build an access/escape route for your moat, consider where it leads - the enemy might use that too.

:Keep in mind that moats filled with water will freeze periodically in Temperate climates. This can work against you, letting the enemy cross it with ease and waltz right up to your defenses, but they can also work in your favor if the enemy happens to be swimming or treading on it as it freezes or thaws, respectively. A compromise would be if the moat and wall combination had at least five z-levels (preferably block walls) to climb above the water level; then the enemy would still have to climb.

:A moat cuts off access for your dwarves as well, so a retractable- or drawbridge is usually included in the design. But a moat with a non-retractable bridge is still potentially useful: It keeps enemy archers away from your fortifications, and it channels enemies into a narrow and predictable path. A drawbridge without a moat can be a big remote control door, sealing an entrance when it's "up". (This doesn't work with retracting bridges.) However, an actual [[door]] activates immediately and is more suitable for smaller-scale one-tile doors.

=====Bridges=====
:Bridges come in 3 forms - a permanent construction ''(a [[floor]] or top of a [[wall]] built out over a void)'', a retractable bridge, and a drawbridge. The movable type have a maximum size of 10x10 (including one solid "anchor" line of tiles at the base), and require a lever and two mechanisms to link them to be raised. Permanent bridges can be designed or later modified to include the latter.

:A retractable/raise-able [[bridge]] over a deep trench is a simple and almost air-tight defense - only flying creatures can pass it (''once the bridge is raised''). The raised bridge also blocks arrow fire for anything behind it. [[Channel]]s may be dug to form ditches, or moats - be aware of what might exist or be planned for the next [[z-level]] down. For defensive purposes they do not need to be filled with anything - as in the middle ages, a dry ditch is more than enough to prevent ground units from approaching (though of course, projectiles may be launched over it with impunity). With a retracting [[bridge]] over the moat, any units or items on top of the bridge will be dropped into the moat (and, if the moat is filled with water, drown unless they can swim out; if it is filled with magma, they burn to death.)

:Bridges can throw creatures a distance (in a random direction) when the bridge is raised/retracted, possibly injuring them on landing. Creatures on top of drawbridges will be utterly destroyed if they are flush against wall and have a floor tile above them, as will anything, friend, foe or object, on a floor that is covered when the drawbridge is lowered. This offensive use of drawbridges is known as the [[Dwarven Atom Smasher]].

:A drawbridge works as a door when "raised", sealing the passage it raises against. Consider this when choosing the direction a drawbridge is to raise.

:There are three important things to remember:
:# Always build the bridge to raise towards the ''inside'' (so that it completes your wall).
:# The [[lever]] has to be pulled by a civilian or off-duty militiadwarf, not a full-time soldier.
:# Water can freeze solid in cold weather.

:Also, some rare creatures can cross fluids, even magma. Nothing but flying creatures can get out of a channel.

====Remote control====
:*'''Barriers'''
::If you link a [[lever]] to a door, hatch cover or floodgate, it becomes impossible for your dwarves to open and close it normally. Pulling the lever is the only way to open it. This keeps your dwarves locked in as well as keeping enemies out. (It's unknown if [[thief|thieves]] can bypass a closed door once it's linked to a lever or pressure plate.) There is often a frustrating delay between ordering a lever pulled and when a dwarf pulls it, and another shorter one between pulling the lever and the barrier responding.

::Any item or creature in an open barrier at the moment it tries to close will not only prevent that barrier from closing, but that "close" signal will be lost. Any lever will have to be pulled twice more - to reset to "open", and then to (try to) close again. This is not the case with drawbridges, which crush anything and everything below them when they close.

:*'''Automated barriers & traps'''
::You can automate a barrier or trap by using a [[pressure plate]] instead of a lever, but there are complications there. Unless the 'Citizen' setting is set, only "enemies" or wild creatures will trigger a pressure plate; your dwarves and tame animals can walk on it all day long. If the 'Citizen' setting is set, dwarves, diplomats, traders, and tame animals can also activate the pressure plate. No device, trap or barrier, can be constructed in a tile where a pressure plate is - that is the only constructed object that can be there. But with creativity, this can still be a powerful addition to your fortress defense.

===Traps===
:''Full article: [[Trap design]]

Walls, bridges and fortifications provide barriers that stop intruders. However, the easiest way to ''kill'' intruders is to use [[trap]]s. A line of traps can wipe out an entire ambush, and inflict significant damage on a siege. However, be aware that a design using vast numbers of traps has the potential to take some of the [[fun]] and challenge out of the game - use accordingly. Also, some creatures avoid traps (kobolds, forgotten beasts) and will simply walk right over them with impunity, unless they fall unconscious or get webbed while on one.

===Defensive Engineering===
There are several types of [[trap]]s that a [[mechanic]] can place in a single tile and that target a single creature, but there are larger, more complex traps that only you can design, using [[lever]]s, [[pressure plate]]s or other constructions. The limiting factor is your own imagination. Some examples of the more common designs include:

====The drowning chamber====
Take reservoir filled with water, and put a retracting bridge over it. When enemies are on the bridge, retract it -- they will fall (or be flung) into the water and drown. Variant one: use magma instead of water. Variant two: trap the enemies in a room and then flood it.

If you allow a way to remove the water temporarily, you can even retrieve their [[:goblinite|belongings]] for your own use.

====The dodge-em trap====
One of the disadvantages of the weapon trap is that skilled or lucky enemies can dodge the pointy bits. The dodge-em trap uses the targets' dodging ability against them. Create a narrow, elevated walkway with empty space on the sides. Place weapon traps on the walkway. The goal of the weapon traps is not to kill the enemy, but rather, to make the enemy ''dodge'' -- typically into the open space on one side of the walkway. [[Gravity]] takes over at that point, and the deceleration trauma at the end of the trip has the final say. The higher the walkway is, and the more dense the floor material at the landing site, the more damage the enemies will take upon impact.

Using lots of low-power weapons (such as training spears or spiked wooden balls) in the traps can increase the chances of forcing a dodge, rather than impaling the enemy ''in situ'' and [[Trap#Weapon_Trap|jamming]] the trap.

Don't let your dwarves engage the enemy in melee on the walkway. Your dwarves will dodge and fall.... Firing crossbow bolts at enemies on the walkway from behind fortifications is fine, though.

===Military===
:''Full article: [[Military]]

A [[training|trained]], [[weapon|armed]], and [[armor]]ed [[military]] is the only way to bring the fight to the enemy. Building defenses to keep them safe is easy - keeping your military ready and in position is the tricky part.

A sufficiently large military can be used as a reactive force to rescue ambushed dwarves and safeguard the passage of caravans through unknown dangers, or even to sally out and meet a sieging force ''mano a mano''. The disadvantages are many -- soldiers must physically move to the conflict zone which may be many screens away from the nearest entrance to your fortress, by which point dwarven lives may have already been lost. Training is slow and erratic unless carefully micromanaged (or unless a [[danger room]] is employed). On-duty dwarves will not retreat under any circumstances, and ''hold your position'' is way beyond their tactical ability, so battles may quickly spill out of your control. Therefore, keeping a lot of dwarves in a squad will increase your odds of survival when someone picks a fight with a pack of [[undead|zombie]] [[troglodyte]]s. Dwarves are also failure-prone -- even when not injured, they need time off for sleeping, eating and drinking.

Nevertheless, a military force gives you options not available any other way. See [[military design]] for various possibilities.

===Animals===
Any animal (or dwarf) can act as a sentry - if a hidden enemy comes close to them, that enemy may be revealed (depending on the sentry's [[Observer]] skill). If that happens, an [[announcement]] is generated and the game is paused. Most animals aren't strong enough to take more than one armored goblin warrior, and enemies with bows are even worse. The real purpose of guard animals is to spot thieves. Anything will do here, even a kitten will do the job, and some players prefer not to risk a useful animal. You can also use this as opportunity to [[pasture]] some unwanted pets in strategic locations.

Guard animals are a good second line of defense in open entrances after your traps. A wardog can usually tear a thief apart, and will (briefly) delay goblin warriors while you respond. Also, the death of any animal will be [[announcement|announced]] (but the game will not pause), alerting you to the threat if you were not already aware of it. (Note - Some [[tame]]d animals will not fight goblins!)''

Most enemies will go after your animals just as blindly as they attack your dwarves. An expendable chained animal can bait enemies into dangerous passages, even into places unconnected to your fortress. Such an animal chained out on the far side of the map can alert you to ambushes that start there before they threaten your local dwarves.

[[Restraint|Restrain]] animals in narrow corridors (width 1 or 2), or in matched pairs against the walls of 3-wide corridors, preferably in places where enemy archers can't easily fire at them.

Or, if you feel like being <strike>evil</strike> resourceful, you could attempt to get a dragon (good luck), and watch as goblins run towards it and get burned to ashes. (Be careful not to ignite your dwarves!)

===Siege engines===
:''Full article: [[Siege engine]]

Siege engines take some planning to use effectively, and have a range of about 100 tiles compared to a crossbow's 20 or so. Both catapults and ballistae can be very deadly, but both have their drawbacks -- they take time to reload and can only hit targets at the same z-level, and they are woefully inaccurate in the hands of unskilled operators or when loaded with low-quality bolts. Furthermore, they're manned by civilians, who will abandon their posts should the enemy get too close.

==Considerations==
Now you know what you might face, and what cards you have in your hand. To that we add complications, things that make defense so much [[fun]]...

===Surface jobs===
There are many times when dwarfs want to work on the surface. [[Wood cutting]], [[Herbalist|gathering plants]], [[hunting]], [[fishing]], [[mining]] exposed [[vein]]s or [[gem]]s, building defenses or other structures, [[grower|growing]] above-ground [[crop]]s, [[Health care|helping wounded comrades]] or recovering dropped items are only the most likely. Often they are alone and vulnerable to [[creature|wild beasts]] or [[ambush]]es.

[[Burrow]]s are one option to handle civilian eagerness, but only [[squads|soldiers]] can currently be broken up by burrow - civilians are all grouped into the same category, so when you try to restrict civilians to one burrow to stop them from going outside, you should make sure they can still access the whole of your fort (especially if it's still expanding). You can try to wall in huge areas of the map, possibly with drawbridge gates that can open for caravans, but the larger the area, the vaster the project, the further your dwarves will be from existing defenses, and the more time they will spend working above ground.

Making smaller enclosures in key areas with underground tunnels leading to them can be an easier first step. Likewise, tunneling to the inside of an exposed vein of ore keeps your miners sealed from the outside until you are prepared to mine the last tiles, possibly after placing doors or walls just inside that tunnel. Having military stationed or patrolling nearby is another option.

* '''Burrows.''' Making effective use of the burrow system, it's very easy to set a safe place designated as an emergency burrow and restrict civilians to it. Setting that alert state when there are enemies about causes your dwarves to immediately run to the emergency burrow and stay there until the alert is turned off.

* '''Lock the front doors.''' It takes a truly airtight fortress to keep the entrance open while there are still enemies outside. If there's even one exit, your dwarves will use it. Try testing this while it's safe: Raise the bridges, just like you would in a siege, and designate some trees for cutting. If there's a way out, your woodcutters will find it.

* '''Forbid dropped equipment and corpses.''' Mark every item on the battlefield as [[forbidden]]. This includes any items dropped by dead merchants or scuttled wagons. You can have this done automatically for dwarf and enemy corpses and inventories in the '''orders''' {{key|o}} menu at the '''forbid options''' {{key|F}}.

* '''Delete stockpiles and turn off tombs.''' As a preemptive measure, you can easily delete your Graveyard [[stockpile]]s. Dwarves don't haul things if there's no stockpile to place them in. Turning off or removing [[coffin]]s stops burials as well.

* '''Keep them busy.''' Make a bunch of busy-work for your dwarves, just to keep them underground. It's not perfect but it helps. Time to re-organize your stockpiles.

===Water sources===
Access to [[water]] can be vital. Wounded dwarves need water, so if there's not an underground water source you'll lose valuable soldiers to thirst. Try to have a [[well]] or cistern your dwarves can use safely. Remember to keep an extra [[bucket]] or two available.

Some water sources are good locations for [[fishing]], providing food during longer sieges.

===Civilians trapped outdoors===
Anything that blocks intruders will also block your dwarves. This can cause the problem of dwarves being trapped outside with the enemy, and the enemy ''will'' find them. Having more than one entrance can be useful here, but each requires adequate defenses - the weakest link and all that. If you make these entrances accessible by drawbridge only, with a (short) moat outside that, and keep the drawbridge up most of the time, having lots of entrances shouldn't be too much of a problem.

===Trade depot & caravans===
Factoring in 3-tile wide access to the [[trade depot]] adds a layer of complexity. Letting merchants in while keeping enemies out requires a careful balance. The merchants can reveal ambushes and thieves like any other creature, and their arrival is frequently accompanied by an ambush or a [[siege]]. If the merchants run into an enemy squad, they can be slaughtered before reaching your doors, and that hurts your reputation (as well as possibly causing your civilian dwarfs to want to go running out and collect their dropped items). Consider sending heavily armored escorts when expecting a caravan (usually the middle of the third month of each season, except winter). Unless it's an elven caravan, it will have some guards escorting it, and you can take advantage of the distraction to attack an enemy from both sides, but keep in mind that if the merchants themselves are under attack, they will flee.

You will possibly want to build the depot inside your walls/defenses with retractable-/draw-[[bridge]]s, so you can seal an enemy out while you conduct your trading. Keeping the Depot at the center of the map also lets your dwarfs drag things to it faster, and leaves it to the caravan to do the hauling.

A common trade depot design involves ''two'' separately sealable paths: one from the outside to the depot, and the other from the depot to the inside of the fortress. This "airlock" design helps keep your inner fortress safe even if the trade depot becomes compromised.

The Depot Access command ({{k|D}}) shows three-tile-wide paths a caravan's wagons can take. Caravans ''still appear where those paths meet the edge of the map'', even if they have no wagons (elves don't use them). By choosing a brook bed recessed into the ground, or building floors to block travel around the edge of the map, it is possible to keep a caravan path only a few squares wide at the edge of the board, which is completely separate from all other visitors to the map. In this way you can leave the path to your Depot open all the time with virtually no risk from sieges and random creatures unless they enter one of those few squares.

===Branching corridors===
Enemies will take the most direct path to your fortress, (even if it's not very direct at all). You can use this to your advantage. Have two paths to the fortress: a long, twisting, three-wide road, and a shorter, one tile wide, trap-filled passage. Attackers will usually prefer the short and deadly path. This makes a good line of fire for a ballista, too.

Alternately, you can have a primary, convenient, direct 3-wide path to your fortress open most of the time, with a convoluted detour that is forced (by drawbridges) only during sieges, lined with traps and overseen by marksdwarves. The possibilities are infinite.

===Levers===
Be careful where you place the [[lever]]s controlling your various entrances, traps and other defenses. Or any lever at all, for that matter. Make sure they are either central or close to locations of idle dwarfs, or both - near a [[Activity zone|meeting area]] or bedrooms of [[nobles]] is often a good plan. Make sure that the entire path to each lever is [[underground]] or your dwarves might be unable to reach them if told to stay in certain warrens (test this during peacetime!) Try putting all your defense-related levers in a single room, perhaps down a staircase from your meeting area, and put a door (or hatch) on the entrance(s). Then you can lock your lever-puller inside to ensure rapid response time.

Another solution to the problem of rapid response time is to make your lever room double as a [[Screw pump|pump]] room. Pumping is a good way to build up your dwarves' [[attribute]]s regardless of whether the pump is doing work or not. If you want a dedicated lever operator or three, turn off all their labors except pumping, and set the pumps up so that they can be operated exclusively by your dedicated lever operators. Rotate these positions every so often so the attribute gain will be distributed among multiple dwarves.

For the truly ambitious, the lever room could be spread over multiple levels, and the pumps could work together to power one or more artificial [[waterfall]]s. (Waterfalls work well in this case because their operation is not fortress-critical, and your dwarves like the mist they produce.)

Use [[Note]]s to label each lever and attached device and trap clearly - if you come back to a game after a week and can't remember your levers, they are useless (or, worse, <s>dangerous</s> [[Fun]]!) Color code your levers with different color [[mechanism]]s if that works for you.

==General Suggestions==

===First concerns===

====Pre-embark decisions====
Defense starts before the game does, at embark when you're choosing your location, your dwarves' starting skill mixes, and your starting equipment and supplies. If you expect trouble (an evil biome, perhaps), then it can be crucial to bring at least one axe. Picks make decent weapons. A supply of wood means you don't have to chop trees for a while, and similarly a few simple stone (a few [[bauxite]] can't hurt) allows you to make immediate workshops even before your miner has swung her pick. While an untrained dwarf can usually wrestle most small and medium beasts, one unarmored (semi-)military dwarf with an axe or crossbow can be a big edge against most early threats.

For most starts, unless your embark location is very close to the mouth of an open [[volcano]] or you are starting in an [[evil]] biome, there should be no serious immediate threats. Unless you are at [[war]] with a civilization (visible on the pre-embark screen), sieges and ambushes don't start until you've created some wealth, the first winter at the earliest. So wild animals are your only concern, predators that might prey on lone dwarfs and thieving animals that will target your valuables.

====Striking the earth====
First, look around. At the terrain, at the animals present. Scan the {{k|u}} menu before un-pausing the game at the start, and regularly. More animals will enter the map, constantly and without warning, so keep an eye on visitors.

One of your first priorities is to get things underground or otherwise secure, to prevent rot but also to prevent theft. Carving out a channel/moat, or removing the slopes to a hill, or building a wall, or a combination of those will work fine, but better if you don't have an unwanted entrance to wall up later. Soil is very fast to dig out, and just as strong against enemies, but may not be desirable for a later, mature fortress. Balance convenience against your long-range plans and visible threats.

Consider and plan the entrance to your fortress - perhaps a ramp leading down, or a tunnel into the side of a hill or cliff. A long, narrow entrance (a valley and/or tunnel) allows you to control it, with archers, with traps, with a siege engine at the end. It gives you time to prepare your military. However, it also means that your dwarfs will have to walk that entire distance every time they enter and leave your fortress, and be that much further from help should they need it. Entrances vary from a few tiles to many dozens. Start with something smaller for now, but plan on how to develop the entrance you want later.

An L-bend, or several, or drops in z-level may provide better security, or a firing platform for siege engines and/or archers. Many complex traps involve several levels beneath the entrance (for drainage of liquids or other diabolical purposes.) Using some of the principles above, it might look something like this...

####################
(a)? (-trap ...#
? area-) . .# (A's/SE)
################...#
# #
#D D#
# #
<Inner Fortress> (Not to Scale)

(a) = bait animal, on [[restraint]]
# = tunnel walls, above-ground walls, valley walls with slopes removed, and/or channels
? = ramp up, drawbridge, moat, defensive structures, or combination of all
traps = mechanic's traps and/or complex death traps, as you wish.
...
. . = area open to sky, to prevent "dwarves staying inside" from archers outside entrance
...
D = wardog on [[restraint]]
(A's/SE) = future site for archers and/or [[siege engine]]s (planning ahead)

The above might be longer or shorter, partially or entirely above or below ground, or have more turns. The "inner fortress" might only be a Trade Depot, with another similar entryway behind that. Instead of the turn, it might drop a level and dive below the sight of the Siege Engines. Since the first caravan won't arrive for at least 6 months, you can dig a 1-tile wide tunnel for now, or a staircase, and then dig out to another location for a more formal entrance. This is only a very rough, very simple example of combining possibilities.

====It's mine!====
Consider how you will secure your valuables, your entrance, and any land you want to claim as "dwarf only" - by channeling, removing the slopes from nearby hills, maybe walls? At first, consider including at least enough above-ground terrain for any [[farm plot]]s and [[Activity zone|meeting area]]s. This could perhaps be as small as a 5x5 walled enclosure, or be multiple compounds, but some players aim at claiming (most of) the entire map. Any barrier limits your dwarfs, but keeps enemies out until you have your fortress up and running at a basic level and are prepared to respond properly. Due to thieves' ability to get past locked doors, and a caravan needing a path that's 3-wide, you won't be able to create a hard "gate" that you can open and shut until you have a [[mechanic's workshop]] and some [[mechanism]]s for levers, to link to a [[drawbridge]].

====Inside vs. outside====
Not "above ground" vs "subterranean", but the border where the inside of your fortress starts, what you claim as "yours" vs "out there". Some fortresses just have one main gate, some try to own the entire map. Some have an "airlock", a middle ground (remembering multiple, layered defenses!) where a Trade Depot is kept, that visitors can access and is protected, but then a deeper, even more secure inner fortress - think of a castle courtyard - inside the walls but not yet inside the castle itself. A safe zone for friends, still unfriendly for enemies but taking extra precautions against full intrusion.

This can be above ground or deep underground, a direct line or a maze of z-levels - that's all up to you, how much work you think "security" is worth. Hey, it's not like ''you'' have to do the heavy lifting.

That line of defense - any line - can be passive (walls and barriers and traps only) or active, with military, either on permanent duty or with stations to report to when activated. Use remote controlled bridges to create movable walls and closed gates or open hidden moats to reroute visitors, enemies and/or your dwarves depending on the situation, so there is no one "configuration", but several different options all side by side.

====Mechanic's traps====
Traps are a good friend for the starting player. We're talking the simple traps that a mechanic places - complex death traps are up to you. Stone traps are a good start - they're easy, effective against all but the biggest creatures, and ammo is plentiful if you're mining in stone. When goblins show, they can number less than a dozen to start, but grow over time. Start with a row in an early chokepoint, maybe your entry hall or outside it, make that one row into a few, and go from there. But lead your target - count on the next attack being larger than the last.

If you want to breed monkeys for skin, bone and meat, or amuse yourself with live goblins, a row or five of cage traps at the very entrance of your fort would be a good start. Leave room for this when you place your stone traps - killing the monkeys first won't allow live monkeys to be caged. (You still get the meat & etc. from those corpses, just not breeding stock.)

As your dwarfs create weapons, or you trade for them, or (later) as you [[goblinite|gather]] those of your fallen enemies, [[Trap#Weapon_Trap|weapon traps]] will become attractive. There is no hard rule or formula for all this - be creative.

====Complex traps====
Between levers, pressure plates, water and magma, much [[fun]] can be had. But this article won't deal with any specifics. (See [[Trap design]] for those.) We will say - plan ahead. Think about what you might want to do, and leave ample room for it, in all 3 dimensions.

====Military====
To start, you will probably have few if any full-time military standing guard over your dwarfs - there is just too much to do at first, and serious threats are (hopefully) several seasons away. If you are going to make weapons and armor, have stockpiles near where your draftees work and rest, perhaps near an entrance/exit, but not so close that it might get over-run before your dwarfs can equip. Eventually you might have perhaps a quarter (or more or less) of your dwarfs as full-time military, and they'll need a barracks where they will sleep and practice, archery ranges if that's their weapon of choice, and quick, safe routes to their battle stations or patrol areas. When to begin a full-time military presence is personal choice and influenced by your game situation, but plan on eventually having them live and practice near where they will be fighting as much as possible. See [[Military design]] for a more complete discussion on planning and deploying military and militia.

==Different philosophies==
There are many, ''many'' ways to play DF. Some players play hard and tight, and some fast and loose. Some take no risks and protect every last dwarf and cat, and others happily leave a highway of dwarf and animal bodies for the next immigration wave to follow. Some live for the slaughter of ASCII goblins, and others for the mega-project. No one "defense" will serve everyone's tastes.

===Losing is fun===
There is no final "win" in Dwarf Fortress, no end point or Easter egg that says "Congratulations!" - it just keeps going, until, inevitably and unavoidably, you will lose. That's part of the game. So it's all about how you play until then, and finding your type of fun in that process.

==="Fun" vs. security===
It's not hard to create an acre of traps that, realistically, simply no threats can survive. If you want to pursue a megaproject (that is not a defensive trap) in peace and security, this may be a good plan. However, if you look forward to the military end of things, then you want to allow, or at least be able to invite combat at your choosing. Inexperienced players are recommended to use the hall-of-traps entryway, at least to start. Many experienced players challenge themselves by limiting their use of simple traps, or other voluntary handicaps. It's all about what you think is [[fun]]. To prevent ambushes and sieges altogether, <code>[INVADERS:NO]</code> can be set in [[d_init.txt]].

===Turtling===
The fewer surface jobs your dwarves have to run, the less exposed they will be to potential harm. There are a number of ways to reduce surface exposure while keeping your fortress well-stocked:
* Hunting requires chasing animals across the map, almost invariably far from home. For maximum safety, you're better off disabling your hunters.
* Woodcutting requires trees to chop down, and trees grow on the surface. Once you discover the [[cavern]]s, you can build [[Tree farming|tree farm]]s underground to solve your wood needs.
* Grazing livestock require grassy pastures. Once you discover caverns, you can likewise establish pastures underground, on well-grown underground floor.
* Giving water to the wounded requires fresh water. Internalize your water supply with a [[well]].
* [[Caravan]]s need to get in while ambushers and siegers need to stay out. Using the fact that wagons need a three-tile-wide path to your trade depot, you can place strategic constructions around the map to force them to always take one easily-defended route.

==See also==
:*[[Siege engine]]

{{Military}}

{{Category|Guides}}
{{Category|Fortress defense}}
{{Category|Design}}

Defense guide

2016-01-28T15:48:43Z

Greycat: /* Threats */ weres and vamps

{{Quality|Masterwork|12:08, 21 July 2015 (UTC)}}
{{av}}




:''This page is one of several inter-related articles on the broader topic of defending your fortress and your dwarves. The '''defense guide''' is a general overview of the threats that will challenge your fortress and things to consider when preparing a standard defense. For tips on laying out your architecture to protect your military, see '''[[security design]]'''. For complex traps that are not a minor/optional part of a larger defensive plan (but might be adapted or plugged into one), see '''[[trap design]]'''. For specific advice on how to get your soldiers prepared for any threat, see '''[[military design]]'''.

In Dwarf Fortress, you will often find yourself beset by hostile creatures looking to murder your dwarves or take their treasures. Protecting your fortress from intruders is a challenging task and a broad, complex topic. A wide variety of [[creature]]s can threaten your dwarves, and there is no one approach or philosophy that perfectly addresses every possibility. Fortress layout, military organization and training, traps and more, all contribute to the overall "defense" and survivability of your fortress and the dwarves that live and work both within there and in the world around it, and likewise no one article can include every last detail. This guide will pull from many other articles, but will prefer to refer to those rather than re-post information that is already found (and better placed) there.

There are three important things to consider when planning the defenses for your fortress. First, you must protect the fortress itself - the buildings, the hallways, the dwarves within it. But second, protecting the dwarves outside and topside as they go about their work is also important. These two goals can often be rather divergent, as your dwarves may need to wander the open countryside to collect herbs, cut trees, hunt, fish, and while outside the bounds of your fortress they can find themselves quite vulnerable. 
Lastly, there is game style - you want the game to be "fun" for you, and with some strategies it's quite possible to defend yourself into complete boredom, or just go down a road that is not attractive style-wise. While this article cannot tell you how to have fun, it will comment on this when appropriate, and you should keep it in mind as well.

'''Note''' - There is not room in this article to expand adequately on every sub-topic - ''please'' see specific articles for a ''complete'' discussion as desired.

==General guidelines==

While admitting that "Rules are made to be broken", there are some general recommendations that have a proven value in defending a fortress:

* '''Minimize fortress entrances:''' Have a strong and clear distinction between inside and outside. This usually corresponds to underground and surface, but not always - you can have a complete medieval-style castle complex on the surface. But each point of entry should be hardened against attack. Don't make more entrances than really necessary. If there is a useless or redundant opening, seal it off, one way or another. (Some creatures can destroy [[door]]s if they can reach them, but [[bridge|drawbridges]] are safe.)

* '''Concentric circles:''' Think redundancy - one wall may not be enough. With the existence of door-destroying and bow-wielding attackers, double or multiple hard barriers between the inside and the outside are essential to fend off the worst assaults, and if they get inside one barrier it's nice to have another behind that. Sometimes captives will escape their [[cage]]s ''inside'' your fortress. The choke points between the circles are where you build traps and lockable doors, and station troops.

* '''Assume the worst:''' Build up your defenses ''before'' the enemy shows up - like right now! Plan on being [[siege]]d by scores of [[goblin]] archers, door-breaking [[troll]]s, invisible [[kobold]] master thieves, dive-bombing [[giant eagle]]s, flame-breathing [[fire imp]]s, angry [[elephant]]s, and a [[bronze colossus]] - ''all at once''. Hopefully, you will never have to face that kind of threat, but being ready for anything is the best bet, and, more realistically, when things go wrong (and with dwarves, they will, just believe it) you will have a buffer of defense to fall back on.

==Threats==
Danger comes in a variety of forms in Dwarf Fortress. Understanding the diverse threats is the first step to keeping your dwarves alive.

:*'''Wild animals'''
::Creatures vary in threat and habits. Some [[animal]]s are quite dangerous, but most are easily excluded by the humble [[door]] or [[Hatch cover|hatch]], even if it's not [[forbidden]]. Some few are able to destroy doors and hatches, statues and other [[building]]s, and some are thieves (see below), or will eat your food (such as [[Grizzly_bear|bear]]s). A lone animal, even a clear predator, will usually flee from a stronger force, but some [[undead]] and evil creatures can be blindly aggressive. Combat is random, and any animal can kill any dwarf - and vice versa.

::Wild animals can appear from the topside, but also from the [[cavern]]s that you may accidentally open up while mining (in fact, the worst ones are often from below). In evil or savage [[surroundings]], the creatures can be both much tougher and more aggressive.

:*'''Thieves & child snatchers'''
::Many creatures are "thieves" in the general sense, and offer their own potential headaches - a [[raccoon]] or small tribe of [[rhesus macaque]] or [[mandrill]] monkeys can enter an unsecured area unannounced, grabbing items of value and running, and it doesn't matter how many you kill if one or three make off with some prized possessions. But a creature with a listed ( {{k|u}} ) [[profession]] of [[Thief]] has a few additional nasty surprises, namely being invisible until spotted by your dwarves or [[domestic animal]]s, being able to bypass locked or forbidden doors, being armed with a real weapon, and some imperfect ability to avoid triggering traps (though some seem better at it than others). [[Kobold]]s and [[goblin]]s are individually more dangerous than animals, but when spotted there's a special message, either "'''Protect the hoard!'''" or "'''Protect the children!'''", as appropriate.

:*'''Ambushes'''
::An [[ambush]] is a small number of enemies (less than ten) that are invisible until spotted, but are easier to spot than thieves. The alert message is "'''An ambush! Curse them!'''" They skulk around the outside of your fortress, unseen until they strike, looking for wandering dwarves or caravans entering or leaving. They will often flee off the map if challenged.

:*'''Siege'''
::A [[siege]] is a large number of armed and organized attackers that are announced as soon as they appear on the map. The alert message varies by race - the most common being a goblin siege announcement: "A vile force of darkness has arrived!". While siegers are on the map, the word "SIEGE" appears in the top corners of the screen. Siegers are organized into a number of squads, each squad having a different weapon choice. Some sieges bring dangerous creatures to aid the armed attackers. If you are at [[war]] with a civilization, expect annual sieges at least.

:*'''Enemy archers'''
::Attackers with bows or [[crossbow]]s are worth separate mention as they are much, ''much'' more threatening than those with melee weapons. Out-shooting them with your marksdwarves is risky, and charging them with melee fighters is even worse. Special techniques are needed to shield your dwarves from the deadly rain of arrows.

:*'''Building destroyers'''
::Some creatures have the [[Creature token|BUILDINGDESTROYER tag]] in their [[Raw file]]. This gives them the fearful capacity of tearing apart your doors and workshops. Constructions built with the {{k|b}} + {{k|C}} keys are safe, and so are [[bridge]]s.

:*'''Flying animals'''
::Currently, tame flying animals cannot fly{{bug|4776}}. Thus, the only flying creatures will be either wild animals (e.g. mundane birds, [[roc]]s, some [[titan]]s) or affiliated with a different (usually hostile) civilization (e.g. some [[animal people]], certain [[exotic mount]]s).

::Melee units sit there and do nothing against flying enemies, slowly losing their teeth from attacks from usually weak fliers like buzzards. Therefore you need to make sure you have flak. Often the case is that the ranged weapons disable the enemy such that they can't fly and the melee units finish them off. This is especially the case with flying Forgotten Beasts.

:*'''Werebeasts'''
::A [[werebeast]] is a humanoid cursed by a deity to transform into a savage animal form every full moon. When in animal form, they are stealthy (invisible until spotted) and extremely strong, and they avoid traps and can destroy buildings. If a dwarf is bitten by a werebeast in animal form, he may be infected.

:*'''Vampires'''
::A [[vampire]] is n humanoid cursed by a deity to become a bloodthirsty undead horror. They will disguise themselves as an ordinary dwarf (or other person), with a false name, history, list of relationships, etc. Their immortality gives them plenty of opportunity to practice skills (particularly social ones), so they will often be elected to a position like mayor. Once inside your fortress, they will drink the blood of sleeping dwarves, which is usually fatal. They have enhanced speed, strength, stamina, and pain resistance in combat, and do not need food, water, booze or air (thus cannot be drowned).

:*'''Megabeasts'''
::A [[megabeast]] is a particularly powerful and dangerous creature, such as a [[dragon]] or [[hydra]]. Megabeasts appear alone, with an alert message that mentions the beast by name. They often have unique characteristics which present unusual challenges, but are universally dangerous.

:*'''Titans and Forgotten Beasts'''
::[[Titan]]s and [[forgotten beast]]s are similar to megabeasts in terms of size and strength, but are procedurally generated from random creature parts and may have procedurally generated special attacks (such as fire breath or web shooting) as well. Titans and forgotten beasts appear alone, with an alert message that mentions the creature by name. The two are very similar; titans attack from outdoors and forgotten beasts attack through underground caverns, but otherwise they present the same challenge. A titan from a benign biome will not attack your fort.

:*'''War'''
::Before hitting that {{k|e}} and embarking, {{k|tab}} to civilizations on the pre-embark screen, and see if you are at [[war]] with anyone. If so, things can get hot fast, with more and larger ambushes and sieges, and sooner. This is unusual, but a nasty surprise if you didn't check.

==Elements of a defense==

Dwarf Fortress is very open-ended, and any number of defensive, engineering, fortification and military principles that have worked in reality will work in DF. Combine different elements into the defense you want.

A [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moat moat] with a drawbridge is perhaps the simplest defense known to Dwarvenkind, and not a bad start. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortifications Fortifications article on Wikipedia] is also a good source of inspiration. But simply shutting the outside world out and allowing invaders to mill about outside your moat is not always a desirable solution. Enemies will still prevent [[caravan]]s and [[migrant]]s from arriving, will kill [[liaison]]s, and prevent any desired outdoor activities. In addition, Dwarf Fortress players often find it enjoyable to perpetrate mass slaughter of invaders rather than helplessly glare at them from inside their caves.

For this, you will need a more complicated defense than a passive ditch and walls. One common method of defense is to build a walled structure above the entrance to your fortress, stationing Marksdwarves on the second floor overlooking the drawbridge-entrance. Another is to engineer a very long but narrow entrance, at the end of which are [[ballista]]e waiting to unload at unfortunate monsters in the field of fire. The variations are infinite.

===Physical layout===
These are the [[wall]]s, [[floor]], [[fortification]]s and so on that create the [[archery tower|towers]] and perimeters of your fortress, acting as physical barriers for your dwarves and against threats. However, they always work in conjunction with the other elements. Creative use of layouts can achieve some quite satisfying results.

For reference, arrow fire is usually about 20 tiles, though stray shots can travel further, and firing from higher elevations actually reduces the range about 1:1.

=====Terrain=====
:The lay of the land can be your friend, but the way of the dwarf is to shape the land as needed. Removing [[Ramp|slopes]] can create safe, private terraces and valley walls that prevent all access. Chasms and [[river]]s (not brooks!) create hard barriers, but an open chasm or magma vent can be a source of dangerous creatures. Small hills can serve as vantage points for [[archer]]s (yours or theirs!), but if carved with stairs leading up from within, they can be quick strategic strongpoints. Narrow valleys can become chokepoints for entrances, where your [[marksdwarf]]s can overlook any who come and go. Augmented by [[construction]]s below, the terrain becomes your first option for defense.

:Some players take quite a while before their first unpause, using that time to look around and think about the terrain, planning their fortress entrance and envisioning basic defenses.

=====Walls=====
:Constructing walls around your entrance is the simplest start, and an essential part of fortress defense, but a wall alone is not a complete defense. Currently, no creature can knock down a wall but they can climb on 1 z high walls. Not only does it keep enemies out, your archers can stand on top of the wall and fire down. Keep in mind that this makes them vulnerable to enemy fire. To help protect against that, build [[fortification]]s.

Also, keep in mind that flying enemies (such as swarms of birds) can fly over a wall, so you might want to build a ceiling to seal off particularly important areas.

=====Fortifications=====
:[[Fortification]]s are the marksdwarf's friend. They do not allow passage, but allow hand-held missile weapons to pass through, and are often placed on top of walls for tactical advantage. Projectiles have a chance of being blocked, based on the firer's skill and distance to the fortification. There's no chance of the missile being blocked if the firer is adjacent to the fortification, with increasing chances as any distance increases. Keep your marksdwarves close and keep enemies away - if an enemy archer can walk up to your fortifications, now they're adjacent too, and the fortifications will have zero effect. Build fortified firing platforms above ground level and put a nice wide moat between the wall and the enemy. Fortifications have no effect on [[siege engine]]s.

:Like Fortifications, Vertical [[Bars]] and Wall [[Grate]] will also allow projectiles to fire through them while impeding units' movement, but these constructions provide no defense - the missile fire works both ways equally. Unlike Fortifications, Bars and Grates may be connected to a [[Lever]], and opened or closed remotely - thus, they are good for forming a portcullis.

:: Consider a wall of fortifications, then further away from your fort a wall of Bars. Your marksmen are always adjacent to the Fortifications however the enemies can only ever get as a close as the bar wall. While the wall doesn't offer any extra protection it does stop the enemy at the fortification problem. Also can be achieved by a ditch in front of the fortification.

=====Doors (& Hatches)=====
:[[Door]]s are the simplest way to keep an enemy out. (A [[floor hatch]] in this sense is just a [[Z-level|Z-axis]] door, and in most ways works the same.) Most creatures will be stopped by any door or hatch, though some others can smash them. With a little tinkering, doors can be made 3 tiles wide or more, but this remains mostly for aesthetics without much practical use, as [[caravan|wagons]] will still not be able to pass them. You can [[forbid]] doors to keep (most) hostile humanoids and creatures out, and your dwarves in.

:Additionally doors can specifically be closed only against animals, to keep beloved [[pet]]s from wandering into enemy fire (they may pile up at the door and use the chance to slip out with a dwarf).

:Forbidding all doors and entrances breaks the pathfinding of enemies, making them lurk at the map border where they entered, which can be quite inconvenient in the case of an invisible ambush that then rushes at your fort in just the moment your civilian dwarves move out to, say, cut trees.

=====Floodgates=====
:[[Floodgate]]s, alone or in a line, may be used as removable walls since they need no support and disappear when "opened" remotely, although using a wide drawbridge will be much more economical in terms of materials and [[mechanism]]s. (Be aware that [[building destroyer]]s can batter down closed floodgates, and ''any object'' can prevent a floodgate from closing again, even a single, stray crossbow bolt or [[monarch butterfly]] remains.)

:A floodgate can be used just like a door, with two differences: A floodgate can be placed anywhere, unlike a door, which needs to be adjacent to a wall. A floodgate is closed by default, and can only be opened with a lever. Be careful not to trap your dwarves.

=====[[Moat]]s=====
:Channeling a ditch is a fast and effective defense. Creating an effective moat requires several steps, including designating ramp removal. The moat doesn't have to be filled with water or magma. A dry moat is actually a better defense than a water-filled moat, because many creatures can swim across a water-filled moat. If you want to build an access/escape route for your moat, consider where it leads - the enemy might use that too.

:Keep in mind that moats filled with water will freeze periodically in Temperate climates. This can work against you, letting the enemy cross it with ease and waltz right up to your defenses, but they can also work in your favor if the enemy happens to be swimming or treading on it as it freezes or thaws, respectively. A compromise would be if the moat and wall combination had at least five z-levels (preferably block walls) to climb above the water level; then the enemy would still have to climb.

:A moat cuts off access for your dwarves as well, so a retractable- or drawbridge is usually included in the design. But a moat with a non-retractable bridge is still potentially useful: It keeps enemy archers away from your fortifications, and it channels enemies into a narrow and predictable path. A drawbridge without a moat can be a big remote control door, sealing an entrance when it's "up". (This doesn't work with retracting bridges.) However, an actual [[door]] activates immediately and is more suitable for smaller-scale one-tile doors.

=====Bridges=====
:Bridges come in 3 forms - a permanent construction ''(a [[floor]] or top of a [[wall]] built out over a void)'', a retractable bridge, and a drawbridge. The movable type have a maximum size of 10x10 (including one solid "anchor" line of tiles at the base), and require a lever and two mechanisms to link them to be raised. Permanent bridges can be designed or later modified to include the latter.

:A retractable/raise-able [[bridge]] over a deep trench is a simple and almost air-tight defense - only flying creatures can pass it (''once the bridge is raised''). The raised bridge also blocks arrow fire for anything behind it. [[Channel]]s may be dug to form ditches, or moats - be aware of what might exist or be planned for the next [[z-level]] down. For defensive purposes they do not need to be filled with anything - as in the middle ages, a dry ditch is more than enough to prevent ground units from approaching (though of course, projectiles may be launched over it with impunity). With a retracting [[bridge]] over the moat, any units or items on top of the bridge will be dropped into the moat (and, if the moat is filled with water, drown unless they can swim out; if it is filled with magma, they burn to death.)

:Bridges can throw creatures a distance (in a random direction) when the bridge is raised/retracted, possibly injuring them on landing. Creatures on top of drawbridges will be utterly destroyed if they are flush against wall and have a floor tile above them, as will anything, friend, foe or object, on a floor that is covered when the drawbridge is lowered. This offensive use of drawbridges is known as the [[Dwarven Atom Smasher]].

:A drawbridge works as a door when "raised", sealing the passage it raises against. Consider this when choosing the direction a drawbridge is to raise.

:There are three important things to remember:
:# Always build the bridge to raise towards the ''inside'' (so that it completes your wall).
:# The [[lever]] has to be pulled by a civilian or off-duty militiadwarf, not a full-time soldier.
:# Water can freeze solid in cold weather.

:Also, some rare creatures can cross fluids, even magma. Nothing but flying creatures can get out of a channel.

====Remote control====
:*'''Barriers'''
::If you link a [[lever]] to a door, hatch cover or floodgate, it becomes impossible for your dwarves to open and close it normally. Pulling the lever is the only way to open it. This keeps your dwarves locked in as well as keeping enemies out. (It's unknown if [[thief|thieves]] can bypass a closed door once it's linked to a lever or pressure plate.) There is often a frustrating delay between ordering a lever pulled and when a dwarf pulls it, and another shorter one between pulling the lever and the barrier responding.

::Any item or creature in an open barrier at the moment it tries to close will not only prevent that barrier from closing, but that "close" signal will be lost. Any lever will have to be pulled twice more - to reset to "open", and then to (try to) close again. This is not the case with drawbridges, which crush anything and everything below them when they close.

:*'''Automated barriers & traps'''
::You can automate a barrier or trap by using a [[pressure plate]] instead of a lever, but there are complications there. Unless the 'Citizen' setting is set, only "enemies" or wild creatures will trigger a pressure plate; your dwarves and tame animals can walk on it all day long. If the 'Citizen' setting is set, dwarves, diplomats, traders, and tame animals can also activate the pressure plate. No device, trap or barrier, can be constructed in a tile where a pressure plate is - that is the only constructed object that can be there. But with creativity, this can still be a powerful addition to your fortress defense.

===Traps===
:''Full article: [[Trap design]]

Walls, bridges and fortifications provide barriers that stop intruders. However, the easiest way to ''kill'' intruders is to use [[trap]]s. A line of traps can wipe out an entire ambush, and inflict significant damage on a siege. However, be aware that a design using vast numbers of traps has the potential to take some of the [[fun]] and challenge out of the game - use accordingly. Also, some creatures avoid traps (kobolds, forgotten beasts) and will simply walk right over them with impunity, unless they fall unconscious or get webbed while on one.

===Defensive Engineering===
There are several types of [[trap]]s that a [[mechanic]] can place in a single tile and that target a single creature, but there are larger, more complex traps that only you can design, using [[lever]]s, [[pressure plate]]s or other constructions. The limiting factor is your own imagination. Some examples of the more common designs include:

====The drowning chamber====
Take reservoir filled with water, and put a retracting bridge over it. When enemies are on the bridge, retract it -- they will fall (or be flung) into the water and drown. Variant one: use magma instead of water. Variant two: trap the enemies in a room and then flood it.

If you allow a way to remove the water temporarily, you can even retrieve their [[:goblinite|belongings]] for your own use.

====The dodge-em trap====
One of the disadvantages of the weapon trap is that skilled or lucky enemies can dodge the pointy bits. The dodge-em trap uses the targets' dodging ability against them. Create a narrow, elevated walkway with empty space on the sides. Place weapon traps on the walkway. The goal of the weapon traps is not to kill the enemy, but rather, to make the enemy ''dodge'' -- typically into the open space on one side of the walkway. [[Gravity]] takes over at that point, and the deceleration trauma at the end of the trip has the final say. The higher the walkway is, and the more dense the floor material at the landing site, the more damage the enemies will take upon impact.

Using lots of low-power weapons (such as training spears or spiked wooden balls) in the traps can increase the chances of forcing a dodge, rather than impaling the enemy ''in situ'' and [[Trap#Weapon_Trap|jamming]] the trap.

Don't let your dwarves engage the enemy in melee on the walkway. Your dwarves will dodge and fall.... Firing crossbow bolts at enemies on the walkway from behind fortifications is fine, though.

===Military===
:''Full article: [[Military]]

A [[training|trained]], [[weapon|armed]], and [[armor]]ed [[military]] is the only way to bring the fight to the enemy. Building defenses to keep them safe is easy - keeping your military ready and in position is the tricky part.

A sufficiently large military can be used as a reactive force to rescue ambushed dwarves and safeguard the passage of caravans through unknown dangers, or even to sally out and meet a sieging force ''mano a mano''. The disadvantages are many -- soldiers must physically move to the conflict zone which may be many screens away from the nearest entrance to your fortress, by which point dwarven lives may have already been lost. Training is slow and erratic unless carefully micromanaged (or unless a [[danger room]] is employed). On-duty dwarves will not retreat under any circumstances, and ''hold your position'' is way beyond their tactical ability, so battles may quickly spill out of your control. Therefore, keeping a lot of dwarves in a squad will increase your odds of survival when someone picks a fight with a pack of [[undead|zombie]] [[troglodyte]]s. Dwarves are also failure-prone -- even when not injured, they need time off for sleeping, eating and drinking.

Nevertheless, a military force gives you options not available any other way. See [[military design]] for various possibilities.

===Animals===
Any animal (or dwarf) can act as a sentry - if a hidden enemy comes close to them, that enemy may be revealed (depending on the sentry's [[Observer]] skill). If that happens, an [[announcement]] is generated and the game is paused. Most animals aren't strong enough to take more than one armored goblin warrior, and enemies with bows are even worse. The real purpose of guard animals is to spot thieves. Anything will do here, even a kitten will do the job, and some players prefer not to risk a useful animal. You can also use this as opportunity to [[pasture]] some unwanted pets in strategic locations.

Guard animals are a good second line of defense in open entrances after your traps. A wardog can usually tear a thief apart, and will (briefly) delay goblin warriors while you respond. Also, the death of any animal will be [[announcement|announced]] (but the game will not pause), alerting you to the threat if you were not already aware of it. (Note - Some [[tame]]d animals will not fight goblins!)''

Most enemies will go after your animals just as blindly as they attack your dwarves. An expendable chained animal can bait enemies into dangerous passages, even into places unconnected to your fortress. Such an animal chained out on the far side of the map can alert you to ambushes that start there before they threaten your local dwarves.

[[Restraint|Restrain]] animals in narrow corridors (width 1 or 2), or in matched pairs against the walls of 3-wide corridors, preferably in places where enemy archers can't easily fire at them.

Or, if you feel like being <strike>evil</strike> resourceful, you could attempt to get a dragon (good luck), and watch as goblins run towards it and get burned to ashes. (Be careful not to ignite your dwarves!)

===Siege engines===
:''Full article: [[Siege engine]]

Siege engines take some planning to use effectively, and have a range of about 100 tiles compared to a crossbow's 20 or so. Both catapults and ballistae can be very deadly, but both have their drawbacks -- they take time to reload and can only hit targets at the same z-level, and they are woefully inaccurate in the hands of unskilled operators or when loaded with low-quality bolts. Furthermore, they're manned by civilians, who will abandon their posts should the enemy get too close.

==Considerations==
Now you know what you might face, and what cards you have in your hand. To that we add complications, things that make defense so much [[fun]]...

===Surface jobs===
There are many times when dwarfs want to work on the surface. [[Wood cutting]], [[Herbalist|gathering plants]], [[hunting]], [[fishing]], [[mining]] exposed [[vein]]s or [[gem]]s, building defenses or other structures, [[grower|growing]] above-ground [[crop]]s, [[Health care|helping wounded comrades]] or recovering dropped items are only the most likely. Often they are alone and vulnerable to [[creature|wild beasts]] or [[ambush]]es.

[[Burrow]]s are one option to handle civilian eagerness, but only [[squads|soldiers]] can currently be broken up by burrow - civilians are all grouped into the same category, so when you try to restrict civilians to one burrow to stop them from going outside, you should make sure they can still access the whole of your fort (especially if it's still expanding). You can try to wall in huge areas of the map, possibly with drawbridge gates that can open for caravans, but the larger the area, the vaster the project, the further your dwarves will be from existing defenses, and the more time they will spend working above ground.

Making smaller enclosures in key areas with underground tunnels leading to them can be an easier first step. Likewise, tunneling to the inside of an exposed vein of ore keeps your miners sealed from the outside until you are prepared to mine the last tiles, possibly after placing doors or walls just inside that tunnel. Having military stationed or patrolling nearby is another option.

* '''Burrows.''' Making effective use of the burrow system, it's very easy to set a safe place designated as an emergency burrow and restrict civilians to it. Setting that alert state when there are enemies about causes your dwarves to immediately run to the emergency burrow and stay there until the alert is turned off.

* '''Lock the front doors.''' It takes a truly airtight fortress to keep the entrance open while there are still enemies outside. If there's even one exit, your dwarves will use it. Try testing this while it's safe: Raise the bridges, just like you would in a siege, and designate some trees for cutting. If there's a way out, your woodcutters will find it.

* '''Forbid dropped equipment and corpses.''' Mark every item on the battlefield as [[forbidden]]. This includes any items dropped by dead merchants or scuttled wagons. You can have this done automatically for dwarf and enemy corpses and inventories in the '''orders''' {{key|o}} menu at the '''forbid options''' {{key|F}}.

* '''Delete stockpiles and turn off tombs.''' As a preemptive measure, you can easily delete your Graveyard [[stockpile]]s. Dwarves don't haul things if there's no stockpile to place them in. Turning off or removing [[coffin]]s stops burials as well.

* '''Keep them busy.''' Make a bunch of busy-work for your dwarves, just to keep them underground. It's not perfect but it helps. Time to re-organize your stockpiles.

===Water sources===
Access to [[water]] can be vital. Wounded dwarves need water, so if there's not an underground water source you'll lose valuable soldiers to thirst. Try to have a [[well]] or cistern your dwarves can use safely. Remember to keep an extra [[bucket]] or two available.

Some water sources are good locations for [[fishing]], providing food during longer sieges.

===Civilians trapped outdoors===
Anything that blocks intruders will also block your dwarves. This can cause the problem of dwarves being trapped outside with the enemy, and the enemy ''will'' find them. Having more than one entrance can be useful here, but each requires adequate defenses - the weakest link and all that. If you make these entrances accessible by drawbridge only, with a (short) moat outside that, and keep the drawbridge up most of the time, having lots of entrances shouldn't be too much of a problem.

===Trade depot & caravans===
Factoring in 3-tile wide access to the [[trade depot]] adds a layer of complexity. Letting merchants in while keeping enemies out requires a careful balance. The merchants can reveal ambushes and thieves like any other creature, and their arrival is frequently accompanied by an ambush or a [[siege]]. If the merchants run into an enemy squad, they can be slaughtered before reaching your doors, and that hurts your reputation (as well as possibly causing your civilian dwarfs to want to go running out and collect their dropped items). Consider sending heavily armored escorts when expecting a caravan (usually the middle of the third month of each season, except winter). Unless it's an elven caravan, it will have some guards escorting it, and you can take advantage of the distraction to attack an enemy from both sides, but keep in mind that if the merchants themselves are under attack, they will flee.

You will possibly want to build the depot inside your walls/defenses with retractable-/draw-[[bridge]]s, so you can seal an enemy out while you conduct your trading. Keeping the Depot at the center of the map also lets your dwarfs drag things to it faster, and leaves it to the caravan to do the hauling.

A common trade depot design involves ''two'' separately sealable paths: one from the outside to the depot, and the other from the depot to the inside of the fortress. This "airlock" design helps keep your inner fortress safe even if the trade depot becomes compromised.

The Depot Access command ({{k|D}}) shows three-tile-wide paths a caravan's wagons can take. Caravans ''still appear where those paths meet the edge of the map'', even if they have no wagons (elves don't use them). By choosing a brook bed recessed into the ground, or building floors to block travel around the edge of the map, it is possible to keep a caravan path only a few squares wide at the edge of the board, which is completely separate from all other visitors to the map. In this way you can leave the path to your Depot open all the time with virtually no risk from sieges and random creatures unless they enter one of those few squares.

===Branching corridors===
Enemies will take the most direct path to your fortress, (even if it's not very direct at all). You can use this to your advantage. Have two paths to the fortress: a long, twisting, three-wide road, and a shorter, one tile wide, trap-filled passage. Attackers will usually prefer the short and deadly path. This makes a good line of fire for a ballista, too.

Alternately, you can have a primary, convenient, direct 3-wide path to your fortress open most of the time, with a convoluted detour that is forced (by drawbridges) only during sieges, lined with traps and overseen by marksdwarves. The possibilities are infinite.

===Levers===
Be careful where you place the [[lever]]s controlling your various entrances, traps and other defenses. Or any lever at all, for that matter. Make sure they are either central or close to locations of idle dwarfs, or both - near a [[Activity zone|meeting area]] or bedrooms of [[nobles]] is often a good plan. Make sure that the entire path to each lever is [[underground]] or your dwarves might be unable to reach them if told to stay in certain warrens (test this during peacetime!) Try putting all your defense-related levers in a single room, perhaps down a staircase from your meeting area, and put a door (or hatch) on the entrance(s). Then you can lock your lever-puller inside to ensure rapid response time.

Another solution to the problem of rapid response time is to make your lever room double as a [[Screw pump|pump]] room. Pumping is a good way to build up your dwarves' [[attribute]]s regardless of whether the pump is doing work or not. If you want a dedicated lever operator or three, turn off all their labors except pumping, and set the pumps up so that they can be operated exclusively by your dedicated lever operators. Rotate these positions every so often so the attribute gain will be distributed among multiple dwarves.

For the truly ambitious, the lever room could be spread over multiple levels, and the pumps could work together to power one or more artificial [[waterfall]]s. (Waterfalls work well in this case because their operation is not fortress-critical, and your dwarves like the mist they produce.)

Use [[Note]]s to label each lever and attached device and trap clearly - if you come back to a game after a week and can't remember your levers, they are useless (or, worse, <s>dangerous</s> [[Fun]]!) Color code your levers with different color [[mechanism]]s if that works for you.

==General Suggestions==

===First concerns===

====Pre-embark decisions====
Defense starts before the game does, at embark when you're choosing your location, your dwarves' starting skill mixes, and your starting equipment and supplies. If you expect trouble (an evil biome, perhaps), then it can be crucial to bring at least one axe. Picks make decent weapons. A supply of wood means you don't have to chop trees for a while, and similarly a few simple stone (a few [[bauxite]] can't hurt) allows you to make immediate workshops even before your miner has swung her pick. While an untrained dwarf can usually wrestle most small and medium beasts, one unarmored (semi-)military dwarf with an axe or crossbow can be a big edge against most early threats.

For most starts, unless your embark location is very close to the mouth of an open [[volcano]] or you are starting in an [[evil]] biome, there should be no serious immediate threats. Unless you are at [[war]] with a civilization (visible on the pre-embark screen), sieges and ambushes don't start until you've created some wealth, the first winter at the earliest. So wild animals are your only concern, predators that might prey on lone dwarfs and thieving animals that will target your valuables.

====Striking the earth====
First, look around. At the terrain, at the animals present. Scan the {{k|u}} menu before un-pausing the game at the start, and regularly. More animals will enter the map, constantly and without warning, so keep an eye on visitors.

One of your first priorities is to get things underground or otherwise secure, to prevent rot but also to prevent theft. Carving out a channel/moat, or removing the slopes to a hill, or building a wall, or a combination of those will work fine, but better if you don't have an unwanted entrance to wall up later. Soil is very fast to dig out, and just as strong against enemies, but may not be desirable for a later, mature fortress. Balance convenience against your long-range plans and visible threats.

Consider and plan the entrance to your fortress - perhaps a ramp leading down, or a tunnel into the side of a hill or cliff. A long, narrow entrance (a valley and/or tunnel) allows you to control it, with archers, with traps, with a siege engine at the end. It gives you time to prepare your military. However, it also means that your dwarfs will have to walk that entire distance every time they enter and leave your fortress, and be that much further from help should they need it. Entrances vary from a few tiles to many dozens. Start with something smaller for now, but plan on how to develop the entrance you want later.

An L-bend, or several, or drops in z-level may provide better security, or a firing platform for siege engines and/or archers. Many complex traps involve several levels beneath the entrance (for drainage of liquids or other diabolical purposes.) Using some of the principles above, it might look something like this...

####################
(a)? (-trap ...#
? area-) . .# (A's/SE)
################...#
# #
#D D#
# #
<Inner Fortress> (Not to Scale)

(a) = bait animal, on [[restraint]]
# = tunnel walls, above-ground walls, valley walls with slopes removed, and/or channels
? = ramp up, drawbridge, moat, defensive structures, or combination of all
traps = mechanic's traps and/or complex death traps, as you wish.
...
. . = area open to sky, to prevent "dwarves staying inside" from archers outside entrance
...
D = wardog on [[restraint]]
(A's/SE) = future site for archers and/or [[siege engine]]s (planning ahead)

The above might be longer or shorter, partially or entirely above or below ground, or have more turns. The "inner fortress" might only be a Trade Depot, with another similar entryway behind that. Instead of the turn, it might drop a level and dive below the sight of the Siege Engines. Since the first caravan won't arrive for at least 6 months, you can dig a 1-tile wide tunnel for now, or a staircase, and then dig out to another location for a more formal entrance. This is only a very rough, very simple example of combining possibilities.

====It's mine!====
Consider how you will secure your valuables, your entrance, and any land you want to claim as "dwarf only" - by channeling, removing the slopes from nearby hills, maybe walls? At first, consider including at least enough above-ground terrain for any [[farm plot]]s and [[Activity zone|meeting area]]s. This could perhaps be as small as a 5x5 walled enclosure, or be multiple compounds, but some players aim at claiming (most of) the entire map. Any barrier limits your dwarfs, but keeps enemies out until you have your fortress up and running at a basic level and are prepared to respond properly. Due to thieves' ability to get past locked doors, and a caravan needing a path that's 3-wide, you won't be able to create a hard "gate" that you can open and shut until you have a [[mechanic's workshop]] and some [[mechanism]]s for levers, to link to a [[drawbridge]].

====Inside vs. outside====
Not "above ground" vs "subterranean", but the border where the inside of your fortress starts, what you claim as "yours" vs "out there". Some fortresses just have one main gate, some try to own the entire map. Some have an "airlock", a middle ground (remembering multiple, layered defenses!) where a Trade Depot is kept, that visitors can access and is protected, but then a deeper, even more secure inner fortress - think of a castle courtyard - inside the walls but not yet inside the castle itself. A safe zone for friends, still unfriendly for enemies but taking extra precautions against full intrusion.

This can be above ground or deep underground, a direct line or a maze of z-levels - that's all up to you, how much work you think "security" is worth. Hey, it's not like ''you'' have to do the heavy lifting.

That line of defense - any line - can be passive (walls and barriers and traps only) or active, with military, either on permanent duty or with stations to report to when activated. Use remote controlled bridges to create movable walls and closed gates or open hidden moats to reroute visitors, enemies and/or your dwarves depending on the situation, so there is no one "configuration", but several different options all side by side.

====Mechanic's traps====
Traps are a good friend for the starting player. We're talking the simple traps that a mechanic places - complex death traps are up to you. Stone traps are a good start - they're easy, effective against all but the biggest creatures, and ammo is plentiful if you're mining in stone. When goblins show, they can number less than a dozen to start, but grow over time. Start with a row in an early chokepoint, maybe your entry hall or outside it, make that one row into a few, and go from there. But lead your target - count on the next attack being larger than the last.

If you want to breed monkeys for skin, bone and meat, or amuse yourself with live goblins, a row or five of cage traps at the very entrance of your fort would be a good start. Leave room for this when you place your stone traps - killing the monkeys first won't allow live monkeys to be caged. (You still get the meat & etc. from those corpses, just not breeding stock.)

As your dwarfs create weapons, or you trade for them, or (later) as you [[goblinite|gather]] those of your fallen enemies, [[Trap#Weapon_Trap|weapon traps]] will become attractive. There is no hard rule or formula for all this - be creative.

====Complex traps====
Between levers, pressure plates, water and magma, much [[fun]] can be had. But this article won't deal with any specifics. (See [[Trap design]] for those.) We will say - plan ahead. Think about what you might want to do, and leave ample room for it, in all 3 dimensions.

====Military====
To start, you will probably have few if any full-time military standing guard over your dwarfs - there is just too much to do at first, and serious threats are (hopefully) several seasons away. If you are going to make weapons and armor, have stockpiles near where your draftees work and rest, perhaps near an entrance/exit, but not so close that it might get over-run before your dwarfs can equip. Eventually you might have perhaps a quarter (or more or less) of your dwarfs as full-time military, and they'll need a barracks where they will sleep and practice, archery ranges if that's their weapon of choice, and quick, safe routes to their battle stations or patrol areas. When to begin a full-time military presence is personal choice and influenced by your game situation, but plan on eventually having them live and practice near where they will be fighting as much as possible. See [[Military design]] for a more complete discussion on planning and deploying military and militia.

==Different philosophies==
There are many, ''many'' ways to play DF. Some players play hard and tight, and some fast and loose. Some take no risks and protect every last dwarf and cat, and others happily leave a highway of dwarf and animal bodies for the next immigration wave to follow. Some live for the slaughter of ASCII goblins, and others for the mega-project. No one "defense" will serve everyone's tastes.

===Losing is fun===
There is no final "win" in Dwarf Fortress, no end point or Easter egg that says "Congratulations!" - it just keeps going, until, inevitably and unavoidably, you will lose. That's part of the game. So it's all about how you play until then, and finding your type of fun in that process.

==="Fun" vs. security===
It's not hard to create an acre of traps that, realistically, simply no threats can survive. If you want to pursue a megaproject (that is not a defensive trap) in peace and security, this may be a good plan. However, if you look forward to the military end of things, then you want to allow, or at least be able to invite combat at your choosing. Inexperienced players are recommended to use the hall-of-traps entryway, at least to start. Many experienced players challenge themselves by limiting their use of simple traps, or other voluntary handicaps. It's all about what you think is [[fun]]. To prevent ambushes and sieges altogether, <code>[INVADERS:NO]</code> can be set in [[d_init.txt]].

===Turtling===
The fewer surface jobs your dwarves have to run, the less exposed they will be to potential harm. There are a number of ways to reduce surface exposure while keeping your fortress well-stocked:
* Hunting requires chasing animals across the map, almost invariably far from home. For maximum safety, you're better off disabling your hunters.
* Woodcutting requires trees to chop down, and trees grow on the surface. Once you discover the [[cavern]]s, you can build [[Tree farming|tree farm]]s underground to solve your wood needs.
* Grazing livestock require grassy pastures. Once you discover caverns, you can likewise establish pastures underground, on well-grown underground floor.
* Giving water to the wounded requires fresh water. Internalize your water supply with a [[well]].
* [[Caravan]]s need to get in while ambushers and siegers need to stay out. Using the fact that wagons need a three-tile-wide path to your trade depot, you can place strategic constructions around the map to force them to always take one easily-defended route.

==See also==
:*[[Siege engine]]

{{Military}}

{{Category|Guides}}
{{Category|Fortress defense}}
{{Category|Design}}

Werebeast

2016-01-28T15:35:15Z

Greycat: /* Defending your fort against werebeasts */

{{Quality|Superior|18:31, 27 October 2013 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

'''Werebeasts''' {{Tile|Ñ|6:0}} are [[night creature|night creatures]] that are procedurally created during worldgen. [[Deity|Deities]] may curse sentient creatures (including any animal man) to transform into an animal form on the night of a full moon. Sentient creatures bitten by werebeasts are cursed to become werebeasts themselves.{{cite forum|126618}}

Werebeasts may take the form of mammals or reptiles, including animals that do not exist in Dwarf Fortress, like iguanas.

The behaviour of vanilla werebeasts in worldgen (i.e. fleeing town upon being cursed and conducting raids from their new lair) appears to be caused by the cursed individual's beast form having the [NIGHT_CREATURE_HUNTER] tag; removal of this tag from a generated werebeast extracted from a world.dat file and jimmied into the standard raws caused those cursed to behave no differently from any other unnaturally-immortal individual.

==Werebeasts in Fortresses==
In some regions, the full moon will herald the attack of werebeasts upon your fortress (triggering a message similar to the one that is shown when a Megabeast attacks), or instead the unwilling transformation of your own citizens into their bestial forms. The cursed will attack anyone they can find for the duration of the full moon, spreading their affliction even further.
Werebeasts of the same species will cooperate with each other and not normally fight, but those of different species will treat each other no differently than enemies.

==Defending your fort against werebeasts==

If you have not established an early-detection defensive perimeter (see [[defense guide]] and note, werebeasts are [[trapavoid]]), it is quite likely that if a werebeast attacks, a dwarf will be attacked and bitten. The best defense against this is to keep civilians off the surface (unless they are inside high walls), and rely on warning systems to tell you when to trigger a [[Burrow#Civilian_Alerts|civilian alert]] and close your [[bridge|drawbridges]]. A werebeast retains its infectious form for only a few days, during the full moon. After that, it reverts to an ordinary humanoid form, and will typically flee.

Warning systems may include [[pasture]]d or [[restraint|restrained]] animals, or outdoor [[statue]]s. If you get notices of toppled statues with no visible cause, it's probable there is a werebeast nearby.

If a dwarf is attacked by a werebeast but not bitten, he will be just fine (if he survives the ordeal). If a dwarf has been bitten by a werebeast and survives, however, he has a high chance to change when the next full moon comes. If a full moon passes without the dwarf changing, he is safe and may be removed from quarantine.

There is no cure. To protect your other dwarves you should either keep the infected dwarf in an inaccessible pit so he does not infect your whole fortress, or if you do not want to take care of him, just kill him.

Infected dwarves will not die of old age{{Verify}} and do not need food and drink. They may go mad, however, so if you want to make him work (or use him for a [[stupid dwarf trick]]) you should try to keep him happy. This can be difficult because werebeasts will not sleep or eat, though they will drink if alcohol is available.

Or maybe you want something exceedingly more [[fun]] instead? Try the following.

==Infecting your entire fort==

Yes, it is possible. Having only infected dwarves does not end your game.

'''Pros:'''
* Super-effective hospital service, your dwarves are fully healed once per month. No need for crutches or something.
* No need for food or drink, though you can keep alcohol around for happy thoughts and to avoid alcohol withdrawal
* No need for beds or bedrooms other than those for nobles
* When transformed, civilian dwarves are less vulnerable
* Dwarves will happily discard their old tattered clothing and pick up fresh clothes every month.
* Unhappy thoughts are less severe as the process of being bitten and biting others tends to make your dwarves very resilient to tragedy.
* Go for were-elephants or were-badgers for extra dwarven points
* Fun
'''Cons:'''
* Exceedingly difficult to set up, quite long as well
* May kill your most important dwarves
* When transformed, fortress activity grinds to a halt, and for a few days afterwards as civilians run around finding new clothing
* Werebeasts are building destroyers, so you'll constantly need to remake workshops and most furniture
* Trading is especially difficult
* <s>May</s> WILL cause issues with military when transformed : dwarf armor is too small for werebeasts, though they will hold onto their weapons and shields, and even quivers/bolts during transformation.
* May be exceedingly fun for [[Thought|dwarven]] [[Tantrum|sanity]]... but then again you ''were'' looking for fun in the first place

There are several ways to attempt to infect your whole fort, some with higher success rates than others. The trick is to have your uncursed dwarves be bitten but not die, and also to have your cursed dwarves survive any retribution.

One method is to equip a squad of dwarves with training weapons and send them to an isolated area with one or two of your werebeasts. Ideally the dwarves who get injured will back away while the others hold back the werebeast. In reality it can be hard to balance the battle, which leads to either the werebeast killing off the injured dwarves or being pummeled into submission without spreading his curse. The main problem is when an attack by either the werebeast or a dwarf happens at the moment of transformation, it is considered a dwarf on dwarf attack, which leads to a minor [[loyalty cascade]].

Another method is to simply lock a werebeast in a room with a civilian(s) and hope that the civilian survives long enough for the werebeast to turn back. This reduces (but does not eliminate) the chance of a loyalty cascade, because only the werebeast is attacking. The main problem is that werebeasts become legendary fighters/wrestlers very quickly and are more than capable of killing/fatally wounding half a dozen dwarves in a single transformation.

The most successful method discovered is to lock a werebeast in a room with civilians, but be sure the room is completely covered in cage traps. Many injuries inflicted by werebeasts can knock a dwarf unconscious due to pain or strangulation, and an unconscious dwarf will be trapped by a cage trap. In the cage, dwarves are free to recover from their wounds, safe from any further attacks. In addition, a dwarf who is released from a cage gets an enormous happiness boost that will help him cope with the loss of family and friends who were not so lucky. Further improvements to this technique, such as assigning the uncursed to squads with no uniform (or just a helmet) that replaces clothing in order to allow every bite to break the skin, have pushed successful conversion rates to near 50%. It is also recommended to release dwarves from their cages immediately (via constructing the cages and attaching them to a lever) to prevent insanity due to unhappiness.

==Werebeast Military==

A somewhat less drastic (though potentially even more [[fun]]) option is to start a Werebeast super-soldier breeding program. Some Werebeasts can hold and use weapons in Wereform, and whatever combat skills they have as dwarves also apply while transformed. Being infected gives dwarves a large increase to their physical attributes (which can still be increased further, unlike vampires), and they need not worry about being wounded in combat as long as they survive until their next transformation. Add to this the Wereform's large size of 80000 and inability to feel pain, which partially makes up for its lack of armor, and you end up with a potentially devastating military force, if you can manage to keep them from murdering each other and the rest of your fortress.

Were-soldiers are mostly useful when their Wereform is of the variety that can use weapons and preferrably also shields, which obviously requires hands of some sort. Weregophers for example can use either a shield or a one-handed weapon, but not both, and may even equip crossbows as well as quivers and bolts. It is unknown if dwarves in Wereform can wield weapons that are normally too large for them, such as pikes. If they cannot use weapons they may still be useful as soldiers if their Wereform is of the dangerous sort, for example in the case of werelions <s>and tigers and bears</s>.

Transformed military dwarves respect their stations, alerts and uniforms (when applicable) and ignore the civilian alert, but will still attack anything they regard as an enemy, such as their fellow dwarves or any destroyable buildings. They must therefore be kept away from the rest of the fortress with walls and bridges, as they will destroy any non-artifact doors. Note that as of 40.24 there is a nasty bug which lets sparring dwarves teleport through 1-tile walls, so make sure the walls to their prison are at least 2 tiles thick, and install two 1-tile bridges connected to one lever as a door. Bonus points if you also install a dump chute in the room to give them new weapons and booze. Designate a stockpile under the chute, set it to take from links only, disable bins and set it to allow booze, empty barrels, weapons, shields and possibly ammo. Supplying the were-soldiers with booze both keeps them happy and prevents them from wandering into your fortress to look for it. Be aware that they can and will jump out of a hole directly above them, so either make the chute at least 2 z-levels high and smooth the walls, or keep it firmly locked with a hatch cover.

Once their containment room has been built, add a piece of furniture, designate a large barracks from it and set them to train there. The were-soldiers will destroy the barracks while transformed unless it is an artifact, so wall it in after the room has been defined. Remember to use 2-tile thick walls because of the sparring bug above.

An important thing to remember is the following: If two or more transformed dwarves have any sort of active military order (either from an alert or direct orders), and can see each other at the moment they change ''back'' from Wereform, then they will instantly begin fighting to the death, causing a loyalty cascade. To avoid this, either train your were-soldiers alone in separate rooms (slower due to lack of sparring), or make sure to set their alert to Inactive and cancel all their orders before they change back to dwarves. Once they've changed back, they can be set to train or given orders again. If they do start fighting each other, canceling all their orders and setting them to Inactive will make them stop.

The soldiers will not train while transformed, but if they were sparring during the transformation they will continue to spar in wereform, which can be entertaining to watch. The combat log for sparring dwarves in wereform will be gray instead of the normal cyan.

==Transformation Dates==

There are exactly thirteen full moons in a Dwarven year, so werebeasts transform on exactly the same dates every year:

*25th granite
*23rd slate
*21st felsite
*19th hematite
*17th malachite
*15th galena
*13th limestone
*11th sandstone
*8th timber
*6th moonstone
*4th opal
*2nd obsidian
*28th obsidian

==Werebeasts in Adventure Mode==
In adventurer mode, werebeasts are usually found living in small lairs on the edges of civilization. Young adventurers will often be called upon to slay them, with instructions along the line of 'he assumes a bestial form' along with a description of what type of metal they are vulnerable to. However, as long as they are not visited on the night of their transformation, they are just common peasants, and can be dispatched easily. It would behoove these individuals to hide themselves among townsfolk, but what can ya do?

===Becoming a Werebeast===
To become a werebeast, you must either happen upon a werebeast in its beastly form or seek one out on the night of their transformation. It is recommended to wear no armor except for your head as only bites that break the skin will infect you with the were-virus. Once bitten, you will not transform immediately.

{{new in v0.42}}
'''As of v42''' : it is now additionally possible to become a werebeast by toppling statues in a temple or sanctuary. Walk up to the statue and topple it with {{K|u}} then {{K|a}}. Toppling a statue in this way will lead you to being cursed: the curse will be either Werebeast or [[DF2014:Vampire|Vampirism]]. Which curse you get appears to be randomly decided at the time you topple the statue (reloading the game and toppling it again has been confirmed to give the alternate curse.)

===Implications of being an adventuring Werebeast===
'''Pros:'''
*Every full moon all injuries are instantly healed.
*Big strength and agility boost.

'''Cons:'''
*Attacked if you visit any towns during your transformation.
*Having to re-equip yourself every transformation unless transformed size is similar enough to your race's size.
*If enemies are wielding weapons of a material your new form is weak against, damage taken can be devastating.

==Werebeast Characteristics==
All werebeasts are described as having glowing eyes of some random color, and are "crazed for blood and flesh" meaning they attack everything that is not their own race, including undead.

The transformation to a Werebeast seems to only affect physical attributes, mental attributes are not changed though the descriptions will be relative to the Wereform's average. A Werebeast never gets hungry, thirsty or drowsy, and will not drown when in Wereform. Werebeasts in Wereform are type 2 Building Destroyers, so doors and vertical bars will not contain them, however bridges or walls will.

When transforming to Wereform, all health regenerates, including missing limbs, and thirsty dwarves will have their thirst <s>replaced with bloodthirst</s> removed. The same happens when transforming back. Effects induced by insanity are not reversed, so berserking soldiers that transform will still not follow orders.

Infected dwarves are removed from any burrows when they transform, and cannot be burrowed while in Wereform. They will however still remember the civilian alert burrow, so issuing a civilian alert while a dwarf is transformed will send that dwarf straight to your <s>slaughterhouse</s> emergency room if they can path their way there.

If the Werebeast cannot use weapons in Wereform (i.e. no hands), only the natural abilities of the creature are available for combat. These abilities differ from creature to creature (Claws/Hooves/venomous Bite etc.), but only their bites cause the Werebeast curse to be transmitted. Werebeasts have been confirmed to have the ability to arrive at your fortress both armed and stealthed.

Dwarves that die in Wereform will not be available for burial and will not come back as ghosts, but you can engrave slabs for them.

If you become a werebeast and transform in adventure mode, you can pick up your weapon and shield that were dropped in the transformation, but, seeing as werebeasts seem to have minimum body size of about 80000, armor will become too [[Clothing#Size|small]] for you to fit in. Hauled items will also be dropped on Fast Travel.

Werebeasts also tend to change back into humanoid form at the worst moment, like when they are charging a group of axedwarves. Sometimes a werebeast's humanoid form is more dangerous than the werebeast form, most obviously for [[Serpent man|snake man]] werebeasts.

Even if the werebeast is dispatched while in animal form, werebeast kills are listed as being of the original race.

Baby werecreatures are neutral, and while you can order your military to kill them the order will not be followed.

{{D for Dwarf}}
Sometimes a werebeast arrives in humanoid form, and the game then announces the arrival of a normal, intelligent creature as if it was some terrible beast. The naked, confused creature usually runs away, probably scared by your dwarves' laughter.

Seed

2016-01-22T17:23:25Z

Greycat: /* Bugs */ 9219

{{Quality|Superior|20:28, 29 May 2013 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

:''Looking for information on world generation seeds? See [[Advanced_world_generation#Seed_Values|Advanced world generation]].''
:''For information on seed management, see [[How do I manage my seeds and crops]]?''

'''Seeds''' are used in [[farming]] to grow [[crop]]s. They can be stored in [[bag]]s (100 seeds per bag), which can in turn be stored in [[barrel]]s or [[pot]]s (10 bags per barrel/pot). Different seeds generally can't be mixed within a bag, so storing seeds of 10 different types requires 10 (or more) different bags (though a bug does cause dwarves to combine seeds occasionally).

Seeds can be brought on embark or obtained by [[trading]]. They can also be produced from plants (acquired by [[plant gathering]] or growing the respective [[crop]]s). When a plant is eaten or used in [[brewing]], [[milling]] or [[plant processing]], it leaves one or two plantable seeds (see below for details). The exceptions are [[valley herb]], [[bloated tuber]], [[kobold bulb]], and [[muck root]], which will not leave behind seeds after processing. [[Cooking]] plants in a [[kitchen]] never produces seeds.

__TOC__
==Seed List==

The seeds of the following 155 plants can be stockpiled:

* [[Single-grain wheat]] seeds
* [[Two-grain wheat]] seeds
* [[Soft wheat]] seeds
* [[Hard wheat]] seeds
* [[Spelt]] seeds
* [[Barley]] seeds
* [[Buckwheat]] seeds
* [[Oats]] seeds
* [[Alfalfa]] seeds
* [[Rye]] seeds
* [[Sorghum]] seeds
* [[Rice]]
* [[Maize]]
* [[Quinoa]] seeds
* [[Kaniwa]] seeds
* [[Bitter vetch]] seeds
* [[Pendant amaranth]] seeds
* [[Blood amaranth]] seeds
* [[Purple amaranth]] seeds
* [[Red spinach]] seeds
* [[Elephant-head amaranth]] seeds
* [[Pearl millet]]
* [[White millet]]
* [[Finger millet]]
* [[Foxtail millet]]
* [[Fonio]]
* [[Teff]]
* [[Flax]] seeds
* [[Jute]] seeds
* [[Hemp]] seeds
* [[Cotton]] seeds
* [[Ramie]] seeds
* [[Kenaf]] seeds
* [[Papyrus sedge]] seeds
* [[Artichoke]] seeds
* [[Asparagus]] seeds
* [[Bambara groundnut]]
* [[String bean]]
* [[Broad bean]]
* [[Beet]] seeds
* [[Bitter melon]] seeds
* [[Cabbage]] seeds
* [[Caper]] seeds
* [[Wild carrot]] seeds
* [[Cassava]] seeds
* [[Celery]] seeds
* [[Chickpea]]
* [[Chicory]] seeds
* [[Cowpea]]
* [[Cucumber]] seeds
* [[Eggplant]] seeds
* [[Garden cress]] seeds
* [[Garlic]] seeds
* [[Horned melon]] seeds
* [[Leek]] seeds
* [[Lentil]]
* [[Lettuce]] seeds
* [[Mung bean]]
* [[Muskmelon]] seeds
* [[Onion]] seeds
* [[Parsnip]] seeds
* [[Pea]]
* [[Peanut]]
* [[Pepper]] seeds
* [[Potato]] seeds
* [[Radish]] seeds
* [[Red bean]]
* [[Rhubarb]] seeds
* [[Soybean]]
* [[Spinach]] seeds
* [[Squash]] seeds
* [[Sweet potato]] seeds
* [[Taro]] seeds
* [[Tomato]] seeds
* [[Tomatillo]] seeds
* [[Turnip]] seeds
* [[Urad bean]]s
* [[Watermelon]] seeds
* [[Winter melon]] seeds
* [[Lesser yam]] seeds
* [[Long yam]] seeds
* [[Purple yam]] seeds
* [[White yam]] seeds
* [[Passion fruit]] seeds
* [[Grape]] seeds
* [[Cranberry]] seeds
* [[Bilberry]] seeds
* [[Blueberry]] seeds
* [[Blackberry]] seeds
* [[Raspberry]] seeds
* [[Pineapple]] seeds
* [[Abaca]] seeds
* [[Banana]] seeds
* [[Carambola]] seeds
* [[Cashew]]s
* [[Coffee]] beans
* [[Durian]] seeds
* [[Guava]] seeds
* [[Papaya]] seeds
* [[Paradise nut]]s
* [[Rambutan]] seeds
* [[Tea]] seeds
* [[Avocado]] pits
* [[Lime]] seeds
* [[Pomelo]] seeds
* [[Citron]] seeds
* [[Orange]] seeds
* [[Bitter orange]] seeds
* [[Finger lime]] seeds
* [[Round lime]] seeds
* [[Desert lime]] seeds
* [[Kumquat]] seeds
* [[Custard-apple]] seeds
* [[Date palm]] seeds
* [[Lychee]] seeds
* [[Macadamia]] nuts
* [[Olive]] pits
* [[Pomegranate]] seeds
* [[Almond]]s
* [[Apple]] seeds
* [[Apricot]] Pits
* [[Bayberry]] seeds
* [[Cherry]] Pits
* [[Ginkgo]] seeds
* [[Hazel]] nuts
* [[Peach]] pits
* [[Pear]] seeds
* [[Pecan]]s
* [[Persimmon]] seeds
* [[Plum]] pits
* [[Sand pear]] seeds
* [[Walnut]]s
* [[Plump helmet]] spawn
* [[Pig tail]] seeds
* [[Cave wheat]] seeds
* [[Sweet pod]] seeds
* [[Quarry bush|Rock nuts]]
* [[Prickle berry]] seeds
* [[Strawberry]] seeds
* [[Longland grass]] seeds
* [[Rat weed]] seeds
* [[Fisher berry]] seeds
* [[Rope reed]] seeds
* [[Dimple cup]] Spawn
* [[Blade weed]] seeds
* [[Hide root]] seeds
* [[Sliver barb]] seeds
* [[Sun berry]] seeds
* [[Whip vine]] seeds
* [[Oak|Acorns]]
* [[Acacia]] seeds
* [[Chestnut]]s
* [[Candlenut]]s
* [[Mango tree|Mango]] pits
* [[Cacao tree|Cacao]] beans

==Seed Production==

Seeds are produced by brewing (at a [[still]]), milling (at a [[millstone]] or [[quern]]), processing (at a [[farmer's workshop]]), or by dwarves eating the plants raw (uncooked). For information on where to grow, gather, or process specific plants consult the specific plant's page or the general [[crop]]s page.

In order to prevent your fortress becoming cluttered with millions of seeds there is a cap of 200 seeds for each type of plant and a global cap of 3000 seeds. Seed producing activities will only produce seeds if your fortress contains fewer than 200 seeds of that type. You can exceed the 200 seed cap by buying seeds from caravans, and seed production will restart when your stocks fall below 200. Seed production is not affected by the global cap; rather, the oldest seeds in the fortress will be periodically removed to remain at or around 3000. Note that this removal may affect "strategic seed stockpiles" (i.e. seeds forbidden for use in case of dwarf stupidity), any crops that you grow only occasionally, and potentially any crops which have been prevented from producing seeds by the specific type cap. Both of these limits can be modified in the [[d_init.txt]] file.

'''Note:''' In case you are confused about getting spam of messages like "Urist McFarmer cancels Plant seeds: Needs [seed name]", while you are sure that you have enough seeds, no burrow restrictions or closed doors, the reason for this is most likely this: the haulers see a seed somewhere and take the whole seed bag from stockpile to go pick it up, making the farmer cancel his job. The problem is exacerbated when barrels are used on the seed stockpile, because the dwarves will additionally store the seed bags inside barrels, blocking even more seeds during each hauling job and extending hauling jobs by first bringing the seed bag to the seed, then returning to the stockpile, picking up the barrel to bring it to the bag, storing the bag in the barrel and only then bringing the barrel bag to the stockpile. During all this time, the seed barrel and all its contents will be blocked from access by any other job.

You can simply disallow barrels from the stockpile, which requires a somewhat larger stockpile but makes seed collection jobs much shorter and less disruptive. Bags will always be used to store seeds in stockpiles, you cannot forbid that.

Another way to deal with this problem is this: set up 2 seed stockpiles, with the larger (primary) one set to only accept items from links ({{k|a}}). Set the secondary (smaller) pile to take from {{k|a}}nywhere and {{k|g}}ive to the main stockpile. Now, when a seed shows up in your dining room or brewery, the dwarves should try to put it into the secondary pile first, which shouldn't have anything in it for long (so no bag for world tour). Once the seed arrives in the secondary stockpile, a new job will be created, moving the seed over into the main stockpile. Now the bag will be picked up to move that seed into it, but if the piles are next to each other it should only be in transit for a few seconds reducing the likelihood of cancellation spam.

As a workaround, you can finally make use of the peculiarities of stockpile commands: setting a stockpile to "take" from a mill, still or farmer's workshop will prevent the workshop from sending its products to any other stockpile. If the stockpile in question doesn't accept seeds, all seeds produced by the workshop will stay in the building, readily accessible to farmers. This can be handy if the workshop is directly adjacent to the farm plot, but can cause cluttering of the workshop if other products like barrels of booze aren't moved out of the shop regularly.

{{Translation
| dwarven = lenod
| elvish = are
| goblin = ösmosp
| human = ase
}}
==Bugs==

*Dwarves compulsively store seeds in bags.{{bug|7869}}
*Planted seeds removed from field by seed cap.{{bug|8107}}
*Seeds carried by merchants count against fortress seed cap.{{bug|8108}}
*Conflict between the two seed caps can remove an entire type of seed.{{bug|8091}}
*SEED-type growths are never gathered.{{bug|8609}}
*Dye stored in barrels without bags.{{bug|9219}} This bug is believed to apply to seeds as well, based on the [http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/ 01/19/2016 dev-log note]: "stop dumping dye/flour/seed/etc. bags out into barrels improperly".

Strange mood

2016-01-22T17:04:51Z

Greycat: /* Timing */

{{Quality|Exceptional|00:23, 18 May 2015 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

{{buggy|bugsection=Bugs}}
{{minorspoiler}}
Periodically, individual dwarves are struck with an idea for a [[legendary artifact]] and enter a '''strange mood'''. Dwarves which enter a strange mood will stop whatever they are doing and pursue the construction of this artifact to the exclusion of all else. They will not stop to eat, drink, sleep, or even run away from dangerous creatures. If they do not manage to begin construction of the artifact within a handful of months, they will go [[#Failure|insane]] and die soon afterward.

Note: All controllable civilizations with the [STRANGE_MOODS] token are able to enter strange moods, though by default the only civilization this applies to is dwarves.

==Overview==

# The conditions necessary for a strange mood to occur are not fully understood, although they may possess even dwarf children.
# The game will pause, center on a dwarf, and announce that the dwarf has entered one of five different types of strange moods. The [[#Types of moods|types of moods]] are listed below. While in a mood, a dwarf will display a blinking exclamation point (see [[Status icon|status icons]]).
# For the duration of the mood, the dwarf will claim a workshop related to the skill that the mood affects (not all skills are eligible), kick out any dwarf who was using it, and render it otherwise unusable until the mood has ended. If a moody dwarf does not claim a workshop, it is because the appropriate workshop does not exist. (See [[#Skills and workshops|skills and workshops]] below to determine which workshop(s) might be required.) A moody dwarf will ''not'' be able to build a needed workshop; another dwarf with the appropriate [[labor]] designation must do so for them, if one is necessary. Furnaces are also counted as a workshop.
# After claiming a workshop, the dwarf will set about collecting the required materials for their artifact. If the dwarf remains idle inside the workshop, it's because they cannot find the right material. Reference the [[#Demands|demands]] section to determine what may be required. Important Note: They will only collect these materials in the order that they require them. In other words, you have to determine where they are on the list of required materials and then provide the next one before they will continue collecting other materials.
# Once all materials have been gathered, the game will once again pause and center, and the moody dwarf will begin construction. Upon completion the dwarf will create a semi-random artifact related to the skill affected and gain [[legendary]] (or higher) status in that skill (unless the mood type is [[#Possessed|possessed]]). See the [[#Skills and workshops|skills and workshops]] for information on which skills can be gained, or the [[#Artifacts created|artifacts created]] section for more details on the artifacts themselves.

== Types of moods ==
For each of the following types of moods, the first message is how the mood is [[Announcement|announced]]; the second message appears in the dwarf's profile when he or she is viewed with the {{K|v}} key. All moody dwarves will have "Strange Mood" listed as their active task and are "quite content", regardless of any recent [[thought]]s they may have had.

=== Fey ===
* {{Gametext|<dwarf> is taken by a fey mood!|7:1}}
: ''Has the aspect of one fey!''

This is the most basic strange mood. Fey dwarves will clearly state their demands when the workshop they are in is examined.

=== Secretive ===
* {{Gametext|<dwarf> withdraws from society...|7:0}}
: ''Peculiarly secretive...''

Secretive moods are the same as fey moods, except a secretive dwarf will sketch pictures of their required materials instead of clearly stating their demands if they cannot find what they need. Descriptions of all these [[#Demands|secretive requirements]] can be seen only by viewing the workshop that the moody dwarf has claimed, with {{k|q}}, and then only while the dwarf is waiting inside it. More than one "picture" is likely; these will cycle through the entire list automatically if any one is not available. (Since materials are gathered ''in order'', it's quite possible that only one of a long list is needed to allow the moody dwarf to continue on their project. If the dwarf has gathered some of the materials (seen as "tasked" when looking at the workshop with {{k|t}}), then the next in the list is what they are looking for.)

=== Possessed ===
* {{Gametext|<dwarf> has been possessed!|5:1}}
: ''Possessed by unknown forces!''

Possessed dwarves have cryptic material requests, and have the unfortunate distinction of not receiving any experience upon successful construction of an artifact. No controllable circumstances lead to a possessed mood instead of one of the more desirable fey or secretive moods. It is pure luck-based. Possessed dwarves will mutter the name of the artifact they are working on (which, under some circumstances, might end up being ''their own name'') once they have all the materials they need.

A possession is the only mood that does '''''not''''' result in a jump in [[experience]].

A possessed dwarf that "keeps muttering <name of the artifact>..." has already gathered everything it needs.

=== Fell ===
* {{Gametext|<dwarf> looses a roaring laughter, fell and terrible!|5:0}}
: ''Has a horrible fell look!''

A dwarf that goes into a fell mood will always take over a [[butcher's shop]] or a [[tanner's shop]]. If neither are available, any other workshop will be used instead. The dwarf will then ''murder'' the nearest dwarf, drag the corpse into the shop and make some sort of object out of dwarf [[leather]] or [[bone]]. Once the artifact is completed, the fell dwarf will become a legendary [[bone carver]] or [[leatherworker]]. Only unhappy dwarves may enter a fell mood.

Amusingly, it seems fell dwarves can murder [[ghost]]s as well.

Aside from the loss of a potentially important dwarf in the wrong place at the wrong time, there doesn't seem to be any downside to a fell mood. The end result is always an artifact and a legendary craftsdwarf. Since the only ingredient used (a dwarf) is available in abundance, a fell mood will only fail if the fell dwarf is completely isolated from other dwarves, or if the proper workshop does not exist.

If no one is around to witness the murder, whichever dwarf Urist McEmo decides to slaughter will be reported as missing some time after his death. If the murder is witnessed (or if the <s>idiot</s> dwarf in fell mood reports himself), the moody dwarf will be subject to dwarven [[justice]].

=== Macabre ===
* {{Gametext|<dwarf> begins to stalk and brood...|0:1}}
: ''Brooding darkly...''

Macabre moods are similar to fell moods, but the dwarf will not murder a fellow dwarf. A macabre dwarf may require bones, skulls{{verify}}, or vermin remains; if you do not happen to have any, you will have to make some, e.g. by butchering an animal and/or allowing a [[cat]] to go hunting, or let the moody dwarf go insane. Like fell moods, only unhappy dwarves can enter macabre moods.

==Caveats==
* Shells are perhaps the most difficult to obtain material for a strange mood, though there are several {{catlink|Shell|creatures}} that produce shells. Some of these, such as [[armadillo]]s and [[common snapping turtle]]s, are butcherable. Vermin from [[fishing]] are the easiest and most renewable source of shells. [[Pond turtle]]s are common in many embarks in [[murky pool]]s, but usually only appear in small numbers, and can go extinct easily. A stream or river almost guarantees a functionally inexhaustible supply of [[mussel]]s. [[Nautilus]]es can also serve as sources of shells when cleaned at a fishery. Nevertheless, shells are rare and hard to acquire. Currently, the only way of trading for shells is to hope that the [[elven]] caravan brings some tamed shell-producing large creature. Traded [[cave lobster]]s and [[turtle]]s are ''processed'' fish (with the shells already removed). Tamed vermin with shells cannot be butchered for their shells, since the only way to get a vermin's shell is to [[Fish cleaning|clean]] it. Since all shelled non-vermin animals are [[exotic pet|exotic]], only elves will bring them. If you should be fortunate enough to acquire some breeding shelled butcherable animals, it's probably worth keeping a breeding pair around in case of future need. Only dwarves with a [[preference]] for shells will demand shells in a strange mood.
* However, a dwarf will never demand any material that you have not yourself produced (for instance, it will never demand steel if you haven't smelted any). Importing from caravans doesn't count.
* Should the claimed workshop be a [[magma forge]] and lose power due to insufficient magma beneath it, the mood will fail immediately and the dwarf will go [[insanity|insane]]. Should the forge be in danger of losing power, you should forbid it before it is claimed and wait until it is powered up reliably. Once magma forges are built, at least some dwarves will no longer be satisfied with a regular forge.
* Similarly, if a workshop claimed by a dwarf is deconstructed, destroyed or [[Creature_token#BUILDING_DESTROYER|toppled]] the mood will immediately fail and the dwarf will go insane.
* The mood's primary material will only be mentioned ''once'' in the dwarf's requests, even if the dwarf wants more than one unit of it. [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=75139.0]
* The item type of the artifact to be created is not decided until the instant the mood ''ends''. Saving (even after a dwarf has begun to gather materials) will allow you to reload and the result may be a different artifact (unless the moody dwarf's preferences force a particular item type). If you want to get an artifact platinum warhammer, make sure to have platinum nearby and/or block access to any other materials. You can reload the artifact creating process, even after the dwarf has gathered most of components by forbidding the claimed items (use {{k|t}} to view the contents of the workshop, select the undesired material, and press {{k|f}} to forbid it). If other items of that type are available, the dwarf will immediately switch to them.
* Requests for bones are actually requests for any kind of bone stacks, not individual bones. Slaughter a puppy. [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=105002.0]

== Demands ==
Once a workshop is claimed, the dwarf will begin collecting materials. Each artifact will require 1-3 "base items" and up to 7 additional items for decorations. The dwarf may well need several items of one material! If the moody dwarf remains idle, then the necessary materials are not available. [[Forbid|Forbidden]] items must be reclaimed ({{K|d}} - {{K|b}} - {{K|c}}) before they may be used, but moody dwarves will ignore settings regarding [[economic stone]]. Press {{K|q}} and highlight the workshop to receive a series of clues about what the dwarf needs. Hints that stay active for longer than 2 seconds mean that multiple pieces of that material will be required; each single demand will be displayed for 2 seconds, so if it says "gems... shining" for 6 seconds, 3 gems are demanded. However, the mood's '''primary''' material will always be shown for only 2 seconds even if more than one is required. Materials will always be fetched ''in order'', so if at least one item has already been retrieved (the items will show up with "TSK" ("task") next to them when the workshop is viewed with the {{K|t}} context menu), it will usually be possible to tell what item is required next.

If you want your dwarves to construct their artifacts out of valuable materials instead of whatever useless thing happens to be close at hand, you can selectively forbid types of material through the stocks screen so that only the material you want them to use is available; though this might interfere with the normal crafting operations of your fortress, the disruption is generally short-lived (as long as you remember to unforbid them again afterwards!). You can even forbid something a moody dwarf is carrying (which may be necessary sometimes, since while they are not waiting in the workshop they will not tell you what they need); the dwarf will finish hauling it to the workshop, but then immediately go searching for another. This trick can mean the difference between a bauxite statue decorated with moss agates and a native platinum statue encrusted with diamonds. Be aware that this may not always work - see below for more information.

Burrows allow even better control over a moody dwarf's material usage. Simply by creating a burrow around the claimed workshop and another part over the desired material, a moody dwarf can be controlled without forbidding every single stone in the fortress. A moody dwarf will follow the burrow-definitions just like a regular worker, but be mindful that they will not leave the burrow to get materials that are outside of their assigned burrow. A problem can arise when bones from an outside refuse stockpile are needed by a moody dwarf that is assigned to a burrow.

The various demands are translated here:

:{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left;width:90%;"
|-
! Material
! Fey
! Secretive
! Possessed
|-
|
| <dwarf> screams "I must have <demand>!"
| <dwarf> sketches pictures of <demand>.
| <dwarf> mutters "<artifact> needs <demand>..."
|-
| [[Stone]]
| rock
| a quarry
| stone... rock
|-
| Stone/metal [[block]]s
| rock blocks
| square blocks
| blocks... bricks
|-
| [[Wood]]
| wood logs
| a forest
| tree... life
|-
| Metal [[bar]]
| metal bars
| shining bars of metal
| bars... metal
|-
| [[Gem]]s (cut)
| cut gems
| cut gems
| gems... shining
|-
| [[Gem]]s (raw)
| rough gems
| rough gems
| rough... color
|-
| Green [[glass]]
| raw green glass
| glass
| raw... green
|-
| Clear glass
| raw clear glass{{verify}}
| glass and burning wood
| raw... clear
|-
| Crystal glass
| raw crystal glass{{verify}}
| rough gems and glass
| raw... crystal
|-
| [[Bone]] [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=105002.0;topicseen stack] {{verify}}
| bones
| skeletons
| bones... yes
|-
| [[Shell]]{{verify}}
| shells
| shells
| a shell...
|-
| [[Leather]]
| tanned hides
| stacked leather
| leather... skin
|-
| [[Cloth]] (plant fiber)
| plant cloth
| stacked cloth
| cloth... thread
|-
| [[Cloth]] (silk)
| silk cloth
| stacked cloth
| cloth... thread
|-
| [[Cloth]] (yarn)
| yarn cloth
| stacked cloth
| cloth... thread
|-
| [[Skull]]{{verify}}
| body parts
| death
| a corpse
|}

Dwarves in macabre moods will list their demands in the same fashion as those in fey moods (though with them brooding "Yes. I need <item>." instead of screaming "I must have <item>!"). They may also say "Leave me. I need... things... certain things", in which case they want special items such as [[skull]]s or vermin [[remains]].

Related to the above behavior, moody dwarves demanding rock blocks will also accept blocks forged from metal bars.

*The first item demanded by the dwarf is based on the mood skill being used - stoneworkers (miners, engravers, masons, stone crafters, and mechanics) will demand boulders, woodworkers (carpenters, wood crafters, and bowyers) will demand logs, leatherworkers and tanners will demand leather, weavers and clothiers will demand cloth, metalworkers will demand metal bars, gem cutters/setters will demand rough gems, glassmakers will demand raw glass, and bone carvers will demand bones.
**Metalworkers will demand adamantine wafers if any are available (unforbidden). If not, they will demand a preferred metal '''if''' you have smelted any bars of it - fey moods will state this outright, while for secretive moods and possessions you will need to check the dwarf's [[preferences]] to see which metal they like. Otherwise, they will select any available metal(s).
**Weavers and clothiers will demand [[adamantine]] cloth if any is available (unforbidden). If not, they will demand a generic type of cloth (silk, plant fiber, or yarn) that matches a specific cloth preference (e.g. a dwarf that likes cave spider silk will require ''any'' type of silk cloth, and a dwarf who likes more than one type of cloth will demand whichever one appears first in their list). Dwarves without a cloth preference will demand a generic type at random.
**Glassmakers will demand their preferred type of glass, whether you've produced it or not; if they don't prefer any type of glass, they will randomly select one type of glass you've produced (though they will always assume you have created green glass). Note that acquiring raw glass from a caravan does '''not''' count as producing it.
**Dwarves in macabre moods will select either 1 vermin remains, 1 stack of bones, or 1-3 skulls.
**Bone carvers will demand shells if they like a type of shell; if not, they will demand bones.
*The remaining "decoration" items are selected randomly from the following list: wood logs, metal bars, small gems, rock blocks, rough gems, boulders, bones, leather, plant/silk/yarn cloth, or green/clear/crystal glass (based on what you've produced).
**Decoration items will never be the same type as the primary mood material.
**Certain mood professions will also explicitly avoid using certain items for decorations - most of these match up with the primary mood material, but miners, engravers, masons, and stone crafters will additionally avoid requesting rock blocks.
**If you have not produced any raw glass in your fortress, moody dwarves will never request it.
**Dwarves in macabre moods have a 50% chance to request additional remains, bones, or ''nothing'' (in previous versions, they would request additional skulls) instead of one of the above items.
*Gem cutters and gem setters have a 50% chance of only gathering a single rough gem and nothing else, producing a perfect gem with a single decoration.

Once all materials have been gathered, viewing the workshop with {{K|q}} will display a special message depending on the type of mood:
* Fey - "<dwarf> works furiously!"
* Secretive - "<dwarf> works secretly..."
* Possessed - "<dwarf> keeps muttering <artifact>..."
* Macabre - "<dwarf> works, darkly brooding..."
* Fell - "<dwarf> works with menacing fury!"

== The mechanics of moods ==

=== Frequency===
When a fortress is started, an internal counter is set to 1000. Every 100 frames (12 times per day), this counter is decremented by 1, running down to zero in about 3 months. When the counter would ordinarily be decremented when it has already reached zero, there is a 1 in 500 chance that a strange mood will strike. This means that, once all conditions are met and the clock is ticking, while there is approximately a 2.4% chance of a strange mood per day, or a ~52% chance of at least one strange mood per month, there is no guarantee when a mood will strike - might be sooner, might be (almost) never.

=== Conditions ===
In order for a dwarf to be struck with a strange mood, three conditions must be met:
:* There is no currently active strange mood,
:* The maximum number of artifacts is not met,
:* There are at least 20 eligible dwarves ''(see below)'', including dwarves who have already created artifacts.

If all three of these conditions are true, the game may trigger a strange mood according to the frequency.

==== Maximum number of artifacts ====
The maximum number of artifacts in any one fortress is limited by the lower of:
* The number of items created divided by 100.1 Mined-out rock '''does''' count as an "item created", though it is not clear whether bolts or units of drink are counted individually.
* The number of revealed [[subterranean]] tiles divided by 2304 (this is an area equivalent to a 48x48 square). Once you discover and explore the [[cavern]]s and [[magma sea]], this limit becomes largely irrelevant, and using a [[utilities#DFHack|"reveal" utility]] will eliminate it altogether, though strip-mining an area entirely and exposing it to the surface will count ''against'' this.
:1 - actually the sum of all items by type '''and''' by type+subtype+material, divided by 200. Furthermore, destroying items does '''not''' decrement these counters, so casting and mining [[obsidian]] will count toward this.

==== Eligibility ====
The deciding factor for eligibility is a dwarf's actual [[profession]]. ''(Note that "[[Skill#Custom profession labels|custom professions]]" have no effect on this!)'' Thus, dwarves may enter strange moods regardless of what skills they have or don't have, so long as they are of an acceptable profession. Dwarves who have already created an artifact are not eligible to create another, and since every mood ends in either an artifact or death, every dwarf may enter at most one mood. Dwarves who have obtained one or more legendary skills without creating artifacts '''may''' enter strange moods and will simply become even ''more'' legendary.

Dwarves with a [[Soldier#Soldier professions|military profession]] other than "Recruit" '''cannot''' enter moods. Incidental military skills make no difference - eligibility (and weighting) depends purely on the actual ''[[profession]]'' as listed at the time, so soldiers '''can''' enter moods if they are ''off duty'' and thus in Civilian mode. Children may enter moods, but babies will not.

Any other profession is eligible to enter a mood, but not all have the same ''chance'' to enter a mood...

:''('''Note''' - Specifically, and to avoid previous misunderstandings, [[Strand extractor]], [[Clerk]]/[[Administrator]]/[[Trader]], [[Doctor]] (and related), [[Building designer|Architect]], [[Soldier#Recruits|Recruit]] and [[Child]] '''are''' moodable professions.)''

There are several additional factors which will prevent a dwarf from entering a mood:
* Being unable to pick up items ("cannot grasp")
* Being dragged by another unit (off to [[jail]])
* Dragging another unit (leading livestock to a [[cage]], [[chain]], [[pasture]], [[Activity zone#Pit/Pond|pit/pond zone]], or to the [[butcher's shop]] or [[farmer's workshop]].)

=== Chance ===
When determining who will have a strange mood, each eligible dwarf is put into a weighted lottery, where the chance of being selected is based on the dwarf's [[profession]]. Most professions receive 6 tickets, but some receive additional tickets to improve their odds.

{| class="wikitable" cellspacing="0" border="2" cellpadding="5"
|-
! Weighting
! Professions

|-
| 21 ||Armorer, Blacksmith, Bone Carver, Clothier, Craftsdwarf, Jeweler, Gem Cutter, Gem Setter, Glassmaker, Leatherworker, Metalcrafter, Metalsmith, Stonecrafter, Weaponsmith, Weaver, Woodcrafter
|-
| 11 ||Bowyer, Carpenter, Stoneworker, Mason, Woodworker
|-
| 6 ||Engraver, Mechanic, Miner, Tanner, & all other [[profession]]s (including Peasant).

|}

:'''''Example:''' What this means is: if you had 21 dwarves, made up of 20 eligible farmers, furnace operators, miners, woodcutters etc. (with 6 chances each) plus one Armorer (with 21 chances), that one Armorer would have a 21 in 141 chance (20 dwarves x 6 chances each = 120 + 21 chances more = 141 total) of the mood striking them. That's about 1 in 7, while the other 20 have a 6 in 141 chance each, or about 1 in 24. The odds are still against the armorer, but much better than for any other single dwarf.''

Note that not every profession is from a moodable skill. A Soaper, Architect, Furnace Operator or Strand Extractor can be taken by a mood, but that will not make those skills legendary, nor will they create an artifact bar of soap, building, bar of metal or wafer of adamantine.

=== Fuel ===

{{D for dwarf}}

Curiously, [[metalsmith]]s in strange moods do not seem to require any [[fuel]] to complete their [[metal]] [[artifact]]s. It is believed that they, consumed by artistic passion, fuel the forges with their own beards, vigorously fanning the flaming hairs while they feed the furnace more beard. Such a sacrifice is a dwarf's own beard, that only an artifact merits its removal. Only an artifact's completion can mollify its creator's shame; dwarves unable to complete this great pursuit go insane, not because of its failure, but because they cannot endure the inevitable humiliation.

Legend has it, that the world's first [[elf]] once attempted to forge the world's most powerful artifact, imbued with magic to control all dwarves. But, because he could not suffer to cut a tree for fuel, he was unable to do so. Faced with no alternative, he kidnapped each of the seven ancient dwarves by tempting them with [[booze]], an unfamiliar drink to the first dwarves. He then forcefully shaved them, and created [[charcoal]] from their beards.

Enraged by their loss, the dwarves set out to find the elf's home, based in the world's first tree. They startled the engrossed elf who fled with nothing but a handful of the tree's unborn children. After reclaiming the beard-charcoal, the dwarves set fire to this tree. Alight in flames hotter than the sun, the tree burnt in what is believed to have been the world's hottest fire -- a fire so hot, that the tree's roots melted the inside of the earth, creating a worldwide [[magma sea]]. The elf watched this fire, and swore revenge on the dwarves.

After realizing their beards could not be recovered from their charred state, the dwarves agreed to sprinkle the charcoal over the earth, as a gift and reminder to future dwarves. In doing so, they created the world's [[bituminous coal]] deposits. They then spent the next years searching for a way to create the drink they had been given. Discovering new drinks along their pursuit, the dwarves eventually perfected the hidden art of brewing booze and passed this emerging knowledge to coming generations.

=== Skills and workshops ===

{| class="wikitable sortable" cellpadding="4" style="border:1px solid black;border-collapse:collapse;text-align:left;float:right;margin:0 0 20px 30px;vertical-align:top;"
|-
! Highest skill
! Workshop required
|-
| [[Armorsmith]]
| [[Metalsmith's forge]] (or [[Magma forge]])
|-
| [[Bone carver]]
| [[Craftsdwarf's workshop]]
|-
| [[Bowyer]]
| [[Bowyer's workshop]]
|-
| [[Carpenter]]
| [[Carpenter's workshop]]
|-
| [[Clothier]]
| [[Clothier's shop]]
|-
| [[Engraver]]
| [[Craftsdwarf's workshop]]
|-
| [[Gem cutter]]
| [[Jeweler's workshop]]
|-
| [[Gem setter]]
| [[Jeweler's workshop]]
|-
| [[Glassmaker]]
| [[Glass furnace]] (or [[Magma glass furnace]])
|-
| [[Leatherworker]]
| [[Leather works]]
|-
| [[Mason]]
| [[Mason's workshop]]
|-
| [[Mechanic]]
| [[Mechanic's workshop]]
|-
| [[Metal crafter]]
| [[Metalsmith's forge]] (or [[Magma forge]])
|-
| [[Metalsmith]]
| [[Metalsmith's forge]] (or [[Magma forge]])
|-
| [[Miner]]
| [[Mason's workshop]]
|-
| [[Stone crafter]]
| [[Craftsdwarf's workshop]]
|-
| [[Tanner]]
| [[Leather works]]
|-
| [[Weaponsmith]]
| [[Metalsmith's forge]] (or [[Magma forge]])
|-
| [[Weaver]]
| [[Clothier's shop]]
|-
| [[Wood crafter]]
| [[Craftsdwarf's workshop]]
|-
| <none>
| [[Craftsdwarf's workshop]]
|}

A dwarf will claim a workshop according to their highest applicable skill, and upon completion of the artifact, gain 20,000 [[experience]] in that skill (excepting [[Strange mood#Possessed|possessed]] dwarves). This will give the dwarf a legendary-level [[skill]] (specifically, "legendary+1" or higher, depending on the dwarf's initial skill level). The table to the right describes all applicable skills and their potential workshop requirements - there are only 20 skills that determine the workshop and that can be affected by a mood (sometimes referred to as '''moodable''' skills.) If a dwarf does not possess at least one of the moodable skills listed to the right, they will take over a [[craftsdwarf's workshop]] and gain one of [[bone carver]], [[stone crafter]], or [[wood crafter]] skills, producing an artifact [[craft]].

When selecting the desired mood skill, only the level itself is checked, and if the highest level found is shared by multiple skills, then one will be selected randomly.

This fact can be utilized to maximize the possibility of getting a dwarf with the specific legendary skill you want: since ''non''-moodable skills are ignored, whenever possible make sure that each dwarf's highest ''moodable'' skill is one of those you want. Have all your peasants, [[farmer]]s, non-professional military and other dwarves without any moodable skills do a tiny bit of work in the skill(s) you most want; if a "[[experience|dabbling]]" skill is the highest moodable skill they have, that is the skill that will be used.

[[Weaponsmith]], [[Armorsmith]], [[Bowyer]], [[Leatherworker]], [[Clothier]], and [[Mechanic]] are the only skills that provide a uniquely beneficial item other than an extremely valuable trinket or piece of furniture. Note that artifact furniture is useful for increasing [[room value]].

=== Timing ===

A dwarf will go insane after exactly 50000 ticks (which, at 1200 ticks per day, works out to 41.66 days, or almost a month and a half) waiting for an item they demand. However:
*The insanity countdown is reset after every item they bring to the workshop
*It doesn't run while they are out getting something, working on their construction or on their way to claim a workshop. Only during time spent idling without either the required workshop or a required item do they spiral towards madness.
*Dwarves under strange moods do not feel hunger, thirst or drowsiness.

== Artifacts created ==
The type of artifact created depends on the type of mood, the dwarf's highest moodable skill, and the base material. Masons and miners will always create some kind of stone furniture; bone carvers, a bone or shell object (including furniture); carpenters, a piece of wooden furniture; engravers and stone crafters, a stone craft; metalworkers, metal crafts, weapons, or armor (depending on the type of metalworker); weavers and clothiers, an article of clothing; tanners and leatherworkers, a leather armor or object. If a dwarf has no moodable skills, they will randomly select stone crafting, wood crafting, or bone carving as their mood skill and produce their artifact accordingly. The precise type of craft created is usually somewhat random, but if a dwarf has a personality preference for a particular item type, such as gauntlets or floodgates or crowns, and that thing is an available choice given the dwarf's profession, they are guaranteed to create an object of that type (if multiple preferences match, one will be randomly selected).

The first object grabbed by the dwarf will be the base material; all other materials will be used as [[decoration]]s. If a dwarf grabs a piece of [[chalk]] and makes a statue, for instance, it will be a "chalk statue", but an artifact can potentially include bone, cloth, gems, leather, metal, shell, stone, and wood decorations all at once. In some cases, a moody dwarf will produce an item which normally cannot be made from that material, leading to such odd constructions as an [[obsidian]] [[bed]], [[ruby]] [[floodgate]], or turtle [[shell]] [[cage]], but the actual item types available for each mood type are still very much restricted (e.g. only a glassmaker or jeweler can make a [[window]], and a moody clothier cannot produce an article of clothing that could not normally be made from cloth).

{| class="wikitable" cellpadding="4" style="border:1px solid black;border-collapse:collapse;text-align:left;"
|-
! Mood / Skill
! Artifact type
|-
| [[Armorsmith]]
| Each equipment item with [METAL] (mail shirt, breastplate, leggings, greaves, gauntlet, low boot, high boot, cap, helm, mask), any shield
|-
| [[Bone carver]] (bone)
| Each equipment item with [BARRED] (leggings, greaves, gauntlet, helm), any shield, instrument, toy, door, bed, chair, table, statue, coffer, bin, armor stand, weapon rack, cabinet, coffin, floodgate, hatch cover, grate, chain, cage, animal trap, figurine, amulet, scepter, crown, ring, earring, bracelet, any weapon, any trap component†
|-
| [[Bone carver]] (shell)
| Each equipment item with [SCALED] (leggings, gauntlet, helm), figurine, amulet, crown, ring, earring, bracelet, chain, cage, animal trap, instrument, toy
|-
| [[Bowyer]]
| Crossbow, bow, blowgun
|-
| [[Carpenter]]
| Door, bed, chair, table, statue, chest, bin, armor stand, weapon rack, cabinet, coffin, floodgate, hatch cover, grate, cage, barrel, bucket, animal trap, splint, crutch
|-
| [[Clothier]]
| rowspan=2| Each equipment item with [SOFT] (dress, shirt, tunic, toga, vest, robe, coat, cloak, cape, trousers, loincloth, thong, short skirt, skirt, long skirt, braies, glove, mitten, sock, sandal, shoe, chausses, cap, hood, mask, turban, head veil, face veil, headscarf), bag, rope
|-
| [[Weaver]]
|-
| [[Engraver]]
| Figurine, amulet, scepter, crown, ring, earring, bracelet, goblet, instrument, toy
|-
| Fell Mood
| rowspan=3| Each equipment item with [LEATHER] (dress, shirt, tunic, toga, vest, robe, coat, cloak, cape, armor, trousers, loincloth, thong, short skirt, skirt, long skirt, braies, leggings, glove, mitten, sock, sandal, shoe, chausses, low boot, high boot, cap, hood, mask, turban, head veil, face veil, headscarf, helm), any shield, bag, backpack, quiver, instrument
|-
| [[Leatherworker]]
|-
| [[Tanner]]
|-
| [[Gem cutter]]
| rowspan=3| Perfect gem‡, door, bed, chair, table, statue, box, armor stand, weapon rack, cabinet, coffin, floodgate, hatch cover, grate, figurine, amulet, scepter, crown, ring, earring, bracelet, chain, flask, goblet, cage, barrel, bucket, animal trap, window, instrument, toy
|-
| [[Gem setter]]
|-
| [[Glassmaker]]
|-
| Macabre Mood (vermin remains)
| Amulet, bracelet, earring
|-
| [[Mason]]
| rowspan=2| Door, bed, chair, table, statue, quern, millstone, coffer, armor stand, weapon rack, cabinet, coffin, floodgate, hatch cover, grate
|-
| [[Miner]]
|-
| [[Mechanic]]
| Mechanism
|-
| [[Metal crafter]]
| Figurine, amulet, scepter, crown, ring, earring, bracelet, chain, flask, goblet, instrument, toy
|-
| [[Metalsmith]]
| Door, bed, chair, table, statue, coffer, armor stand, weapon rack, cabinet, anvil, coffin, floodgate, hatch cover, grate, cage, barrel, bucket, animal trap, pipe section†, splint, crutch
|-
| [[Stone crafter]]
| Figurine, amulet, scepter, crown, ring, earring, bracelet, goblet, instrument, toy
|-
| [[Weaponsmith]]
| Any weapon, any trap component†
|-
| [[Wood crafter]]
| Figurine, amulet, scepter, crown, ring, earring, bracelet, goblet, instrument, toy
|}
:† ''chance of selection for this entry is reduced by 90%''
:‡ ''this item will always be made from exactly one rough gem and will never use any additional decoration materials''

If your dwarf does not have a preference for any possible items, the game will randomly select one from the list. Entries with "any" are treated as collective entries with a single chance and will randomly choose a subtype which your civilization is capable of making. This explains why bowyers and clothiers will regularly produce foreign artifacts, while weaponsmiths will not.

== Success ==
Once created, most [[artifact]]s will be available for use just like a normal item of its type. Artifact [[armor]] and [[weapon]]s gain extra bonuses in combat, while artifact clothing is immune to [[wear]]. Artifact mechanisms installed in weapon traps will improve attack rolls. Artifact furniture is useful for raising the value of a [[noble]]'s room. Artifact mechanisms, trap components, or weapons in [[weapon trap|weapon trap]]s can also boost a room's value considerably. Other artifacts that can be used in construction (such as [[barrel]]s, [[bucket]]s, and [[anvil]]s) may be used similarly. Artifact [[door]]s and [[hatch]]es are immune to [[building destroyer]]s. Artifact crafts are currently useless, and artifact [[cage]]s should ''not'' be used to hold hostile creatures--due to a bug they can escape.

Successfully creating an artifact grants a very strong happy [[thought]] (enough to make the creator totally ecstatic for several months) as well as granting the creator partial '''immunity to insanity''' - even if your fortress enters a [[tantrum]] spiral, any dwarf who has created an artifact is exempt from going [[insane]] due to prolonged unhappiness. The dwarf may also cry, found as a coating of dwarf tears on both their eyes.

== Failure ==
If you can't provide the desired workshop and all the required component materials within a couple of months, the dwarf will go [[insanity|insane]], which cancels the mood and the artifact. As if that's not bad enough, any dwarf who goes insane will soon die, one way or another.

A dwarf who is '''stark raving mad''', '''melancholy''', or '''catatonic''' is harmless to others (until they die and start a [[tantrum]] spiral), but a '''berserk''' dwarf will attack other dwarves and possibly pull levers at random. You may want to station a squad nearby or assign a few war dogs to the dwarf on the chance that they will lash out. If you build your workshops inside enclosed rooms with doors you can also lock the moody dwarf in the room until he or she starves. In extreme cases, building a wall around an open workshop is the best precaution.

==Bugs==
There are many bugs reported related to moody dwarves. As has been the case in 40d, most turned out to be (understandable) failures of the player to grasp the mechanics of artifact creation and demands. ([http://bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view_all_bug_page.php Bug tracker])
* If a dwarf dies due to failing to complete an artifact, a memorial made to the dwarf will read that the dwarf did create it, despite the failure, and will even list the name of the artifact that never came to be. {{bug|3640}}
* When producing an item that is normally made in pairs (gloves, boots, etc.), only a single artifact will be created.
* Attacking a dwarf who fails his mood with your milita may result in a loyalty cascade. {{bug|7107}}

== Troubleshooting ==

'''Problem''': Moody dwarf does not claim a workshop
:'''Solution''': Check for highest moodable skill and build the corresponding workshop. If no moodable skills, build a craftsdwarf's workshop. Once [[magma forge]]s have been built, some dwarves may demand to work at a magma forge. Note that [[forbid]]den workshops cannot be claimed.

'''Problem''': Moody dwarf waits in claimed workshop
:'''Solution''': Desired material is unavailable. Determine which material is requested next (materials are collected in the same order as shown in the dwarf's request list), and make some available, if possible. Note that dwarves with [[preference]]s may demand a specific type of material ([[brass]] bars or [[yarn]] cloth, for example). [[Forbid]]den and inaccessible materials cannot be collected, nor can material located outside the moody dwarf's [[burrow]].

'''Problem''': No dwarf has entered a mood for a long time
:'''Solution''': Strange moods require at least 20 dwarves; if you have that many you've probably hit one of the two caps. Exploring the caverns can increase the number of revealed tiles very quickly, while [[craft]]ing [[goblet]]s will quickly raise your item count; [[exploratory mining]] will count toward ''both'' caps, simultaneously revealing tiles and producing boulders, though slower than exploring or crafting. Exposing excavated terrain to the sky is counterproductive, as it will '''lower''' your artifact cap (since the cap only counts revealed ''subterranean'' tiles).

{{Category|Dwarves}}

Metal

2016-01-22T15:00:16Z

Greycat: /* Weapon and armor quality */

{{Quality|Exceptional|00:03, 18 May 2015 (UTC)}}
{{av}}
'''Metal''' is a [[material]] extracted from [[ore]] at a [[smelter]], turning the ore into '''bars''' of pure metal. (One [[adamantine|special metal]] becomes wafers instead of bars.) The metal bars resulting from [[smelting]] are used to make items such as [[weapon]]s, [[armor]], [[furniture]], and [[crafts]] at a [[Metalsmith's forge|forge]].

Metals may sometimes be combined to form an '''alloy''' metal ([[#Alloys|see below]]), which is also measured by the bar. An alloy usually improves on the properties of its components to give more uses or increased [[Item value|value]].

Smelting pure ores into the corresponding bars raises the base value from that of stone (3) to that of bars (5). This value is then multiplied against the [[value#Material multipliers|material multiplier]] of the metal to give the final value for the bar.

==Alloys==
There are eleven pure metals in Dwarf Fortress (plus a twelfth [[Adamantine|special metal]]). Many of these can be mixed together to create '''alloys''' of one type or another, of which there are another fourteen. In some cases making alloys will result in an overall increase in value, or the resultant alloy will be more powerful when used to forge weapons or armor, though many alloys result in no overall increase in utility or [[Wealth|created wealth]]. (These increases in value can be compared in the "Difference" column of the below table.)

There are many uses for alloys:
* Increased performance for armor or weapons.
* Increased value (particularly when a silver-bearing ore is substituted for silver)
* Stretching your supply of scarce metals.
* Creating items with distinct colors (for instance, [[rose gold]] is [[Color scheme|magenta]]) for furniture, color-coding rooms or levers, or artistic constructions (including [[floor]] mosaics).
* Increasing [[thought|happiness]] or perceived [[room]] value for a dwarf who particularly likes a given alloy.
* Decreased [[fuel]] consumption if making the alloy directly from ores (e.g. [[bronze]] requires only one smelter task to make 8 bars from 2 ores).

The number of bars used to create an alloy always equals the number of bars produced: the number of bars input equals the number of bars of output. However, the number of bars produced from smelting ores is four times greater (X ores in = 4X bars out).

== List of metals ==

===Standard Metals===

{{v0.34 pure metal table head}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Aluminum|color={{Tile|≡|7:1}}{{Tile|‼|7:7:1}}7:7:1|source=[[Native aluminum]]|notes=|soliddensity=2.70|mp=11188|val=40|valinc=+0|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=1421|shearyield=20|shearfracture=50|shearelasticity=77
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Bismuth|color={{Tile|≡|5:1}}{{Tile|‼|5:5:1}}5:5:1|source=[[Bismuthinite]]|notes=Only useful for alloying into [[bismuth bronze]]|soliddensity=9.78|mp=10488|val=2|valinc=+1|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=3484|shearyield=30|shearfracture=50|shearelasticity=250
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Copper|color={{Tile|≡|6:0}}{{Tile|‼|6:4:0}}6:4:0|source=[[Native copper]], [[Malachite]], [[Tetrahedrite]]|notes=Can be used to forge all weapons, armor, ammunition, and picks|soliddensity=8.93|mp=11952|val=2|valinc=+0, +0, -1*|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=771|shearyield=70|shearfracture=220|shearelasticity=145
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Gold|color={{Tile|≡|6:1}}{{Tile|‼|6:6:1}}6:6:1|source=[[Native gold]]|notes=|soliddensity=19.32|mp=11915|val=30|valinc=+0|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=600|shearyield=50|shearfracture=100|shearelasticity=185
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Iron|color={{Tile|≡|0:1}}{{Tile|‼|0:7:1}}0:7:1|source=[[Hematite]], [[Limonite]], [[Magnetite]]|notes=Can be used to forge all weapons, armor, ammunition, picks, and [[anvil]]s|soliddensity=7.85|mp=12768|val=10|valinc=+2|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=635|shearyield=130|shearfracture=200|shearelasticity=159
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Lead|color={{Tile|≡|0:1}}{{Tile|‼|0:7:1}}0:7:1|source=[[Galena]]|notes=|soliddensity=11.34|mp=10589|val=2|valinc=-3*|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=2348|shearyield=10|shearfracture=12|shearelasticity=179
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Nickel|color={{Tile|≡|7:0}}{{Tile|‼|7:3:0}}7:3:0|source=[[Garnierite]]|notes=|soliddensity=8.80|mp=12619|val=2|valinc=+0|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=660|shearyield=20|shearfracture=160|shearelasticity=26
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Platinum|color={{Tile|≡|7:1}}{{Tile|‼|7:7:1}}7:7:1|source=[[Native platinum]]|notes=|soliddensity=21.40|mp=13182|val=40|valinc=+0|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=470|shearyield=100|shearfracture=200|shearelasticity=164
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Silver|color={{Tile|≡|7:1}}{{Tile|‼|7:7:1}}7:7:1|source=[[Native silver]], [[Horn silver]], [[Galena]] (50%), [[Tetrahedrite]] (20%) |notes=Can be used to forge melee weapons and ammunition|soliddensity=10.49|mp=11731|val=10|valinc=+0, +0, +5*, +7*|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=1080|shearyield=100|shearfracture=170|shearelasticity=333
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Tin|color={{Tile|≡|7:0}}{{Tile|‼|7:3:0}}7:3:0|source=[[Cassiterite]]|notes=|soliddensity=7.28|mp=10417|val=2|valinc=+0|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=1862|shearyield=12|shearfracture=100|shearelasticity=66
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Zinc|color={{Tile|≡|7:0}}{{Tile|‼|7:3:0}}7:3:0|source=[[Sphalerite]]|notes=|soliddensity=7.13|mp=10755|val=2|valinc=+0|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=1542|shearyield=50|shearfracture=150|shearelasticity=116
}}

|}
''Legend:''
:* '''Tile Color''' corresponds to how items made from that metal are displayed in game, foreground and background colors.
:*'''Source Ore(s)''' indicates the specific ores that can provide a metal. If production of the metal is not guaranteed, a percent chance is indicated following the ore.
:*'''Density''' is used to determine the different weight of finished objects.
:*'''Melting point''' is used to determine if a material is [[magma-safe]] or not: magma is 12000°U.
:*'''[[Material value]]''' is what the base value of an object made of this metal is multiplied by to determine its worth.
:*'''Value difference''' indicates the difference in material value between the metal and the ore, separated with commas in cases where multiple ore values differ.
::'''*''' - Values marked with an asterisk denote ores that can yield multiple metals. On average, the expected difference in value from smelting [[tetrahedrite]] is +1 and [[galena]] is +2.

===Alloys===
''(Unless specified, ores of the ingredients may be used instead of bars for alloy reactions)''
{{v0.34 alloy metal table head}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Billon|color={{Tile|≡|7:0}}{{Tile|‼|7:3:0}}7:3:0|source=[[Silver]] + [[Copper]]|notes=Can be made with [[Tetrahedrite]] or [[Galena]] instead of [[Silver]] for increased value (Tetrahedrite + Tetrahedrite: +3, Copper ore + Tetrahedrite: +3.5, Copper ore + Galena: + 2.5, Tetrahedrite + Galena: + 2). |soliddensity=8.93|val=6|valinc=+0|mp=11952|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=771|shearyield=70|shearfracture=220|shearelasticity=145
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Bismuth bronze|color={{Tile|≡|6:1}}{{Tile|‼|6:6:1}}6:6:1|source=1 [[Tin]] + 2 [[Copper]] + 1 [[Bismuth]] '''!'''|notes=Can be used to forge all weapons, armor, ammunition, and picks|soliddensity=8.25|val=6|valinc=+4|mp=11868|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=600|shearyield=137|shearfracture=241|shearelasticity=200
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Black bronze|color={{Tile|≡|5:0}}{{Tile|‼|5:6:0}}5:6:0|source=2 [[Copper]] + 1 [[Silver]] + 1 [[Gold]] '''!'''|notes=Unique color|soliddensity=8.93|val=11|valinc=+0|mp=11952|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=771|shearyield=70|shearfracture=220|shearelasticity=145
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Brass|color={{Tile|≡|6:1}}{{Tile|‼|6:6:1}}6:6:1|source=[[Zinc]] + [[Copper]]|notes=Value difference is +4.5 if [[Tetrahedrite]] is used instead of [[Copper]]|soliddensity=8.55|val=7|valinc=+5|mp=11656|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=600|shearyield=200|shearfracture=550|shearelasticity=200
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Bronze|color={{Tile|≡|6:0}}{{Tile|‼|6:4:0}}6:4:0|source=[[Tin]] + [[Copper]]|notes=Can be used to forge all weapons, armor, ammunition, and picks. Value difference is +2.5 if [[Tetrahedrite]] is used instead of [[Copper]]|soliddensity=8.25|val=5|valinc=+3|mp=11868|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=600|shearyield=137|shearfracture=241|shearelasticity=200
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Electrum|color={{Tile|≡|6:1}}{{Tile|‼|6:6:1}}6:6:1|source=[[Silver]] + [[Gold]]|notes=Can be made with [[Tetrahedrite]] or [[Galena]] instead of [[Silver]] for increased value (Gold + Tetrahedrite: +3.5, Gold + Galena: +2.5).|soliddensity=8.65|val=20|valinc=+0|mp=11828|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=600|shearyield=50|shearfracture=100|shearelasticity=185
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Fine pewter|color={{Tile|≡|7:1}}{{Tile|‼|7:7:1}}7:7:1|source=3 [[Tin]] + 1 [[Copper]]|notes=Value difference is +2.75 if [[Tetrahedrite]] is used instead of [[Copper]]|soliddensity=7.28|val=5|valinc=+3|mp=10417|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=1862|shearyield=12|shearfracture=100|shearelasticity=66
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Lay pewter|color={{Tile|≡|3:0}}{{Tile|‼|3:7:0}}3:7:0|source=2 [[Tin]] + 1 [[Copper]] + 1 [[Lead]] '''!'''|notes=Unique color|soliddensity=7.28|val=3|valinc=+1|mp=10417|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=1862|shearyield=12|shearfracture=100|shearelasticity=66
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Nickel silver|color={{Tile|≡|7:1}}{{Tile|‼|7:7:1}}7:7:1|source= 2 [[Nickel]] + 1 [[Copper]] + 1 [[Zinc]] '''!'''|notes=|soliddensity=8.65|val=3|valinc=+1|mp=11620|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=600|shearyield=20|shearfracture=160|shearelasticity=26
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Pig iron|color={{Tile|≡|0:1}}{{Tile|‼|0:7:1}}0:7:1|source=[[Iron]] + [[flux]] stone + [[fuel]] '''!'''|notes=Only used to make [[steel]]|soliddensity=7.85|val=10|valinc=+0|mp=12106|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=635|shearyield=130|shearfracture=200|shearelasticity=159
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Rose gold|color={{Tile|≡|5:1}}{{Tile|‼|5:5:1}}5:5:1|source=3 [[Gold]] + 1 [[Copper]] '''!'''|notes=Unique color|soliddensity=19.32|val=23|valinc=+0|mp=11915|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=600|shearyield=50|shearfracture=100|shearelasticity=185
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Steel|color={{Tile|≡|0:1}}{{Tile|‼|0:7:1}}0:7:1|source=[[Iron]] + [[Pig iron]] + [[flux]] stone + [[fuel]] '''!'''|notes=Can be used to forge all weapons, armor, ammunition, picks, and [[anvil]]s|soliddensity=7.85|val=30|valinc=+20|mp=12718|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=675|shearyield=520|shearfracture=860|shearelasticity=500
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Sterling silver|color={{Tile|≡|7:1}}{{Tile|‼|7:7:1}}7:7:1|source=3 [[Silver]] + 1 [[Copper]] '''!'''|notes=|soliddensity=10.49|val=8|valinc=+0|mp=11602|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=1080|shearyield=100|shearfracture=170|shearelasticity=333
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Trifle pewter|color={{Tile|≡|7:0}}{{Tile|‼|7:3:0}}7:3:0|source=2 [[Tin]] + 1 [[Copper]]|notes=Value difference is +1.67 if [[Tetrahedrite]] is used instead of [[Copper]]|react=|soliddensity=7.28|val=4|valinc=+2|mp=10417|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=1862|shearyield=12|shearfracture=100|shearelasticity=66
}}

|}
''Legend:''
:* '''Tile Color''' corresponds to how items made from that metal are displayed in game, foreground and background colors.
:*'''Reaction''' indicates the basic recipe for an alloy - this does not include any [[fuel]] necessary to operate the smelter. See the article for that alloy or [[smelting]] for possible alternatives.
::'''!''' - ''You can use only [[bar]]s of metal in this reaction, not ores.
:*'''Density''' is used to determine the different weight of finished objects.
:*'''Melting point''' is used to determine if a material is [[magma-safe]] or not: magma is 12000°U.
:*'''[[Material value]]''' is what the base value of an object made of this metal is multiplied by to determine its worth.
:*'''Value difference''' indicates the difference between the average [[value]] of the required bars of metals vs. the value of the resulting bars of alloy - what went in vs. what comes out, measured per bar. "+0" indicates that the resulting alloy is a perfectly average value of the component metals. Note that substituting tetrahedrite for copper ore always results in a value decrease, while substituting tetrahedrite or galena for silver ore always results in a value increase.

===Special metals===
{{minorspoiler}}
{{v0.34 pure metal table head}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Adamantine|color={{Tile|≡|3:1}}{{Tile|‼|3:3:1}}3:3:1|source=[[Raw adamantine]]|notes=<nowiki/>
* Cannot be smelted directly; must be [[Strand extractor|extracted]] first.
* Can be used to forge anything except beds
* Blades are 10x sharper than standard metals
|soliddensity=0.200|mp=25000|val=300|valinc=+50|impactyield=5.00|impactfracture=5.00|impactelasticity=0|shearyield=5000|shearfracture=5000|shearelasticity=0
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Divine metal|color={{Tile|≡|7:0}}{{Tile|‼|0:0:1}}0:0:1|source=none|notes=<nowiki/>
* Procedurally generated names associated with [[deity|deities]].
* Blades are 1.2x sharper than standard metals
* Absurdly strong yield and fracture values allow even blunt weapons of this light material to be dangerous
* Overall stats make it stronger than steel but weaker than adamantine.
|react=|soliddensity=1|val=300|valinc=|mp=none|mps=
}}

|}

== Weapon and armor quality ==

:''Note: all of the testing and results in this section are from version 0.31. Results may be out of date.''

{{v0.31 material metal table head}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Adamantine|color={{Tile|/|3:1}}3:3:1|source=[[Raw adamantine]]|notes=Can be used to forge anything except beds |soliddensity=0.200|mp=25000|val=300|valinc=+50|impactyield=5000|impactfracture=5000|impactelasticity=0|shearyield=5000|shearfracture=5000|shearelasticity=0
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Steel|color={{Tile|/|0:1}}0:7:1|source=[[Iron]] + [[Pig iron]] + [[flux]] stone + [[fuel]] '''!'''|notes=Can be used to forge all weapons, armor, ammunition, picks, and [[anvil]]s|soliddensity=7.85|val=30|valinc=+20|mp=12718|impactyield=1505|impactfracture=2520|impactelasticity=940|shearyield=430|shearfracture=720|shearelasticity=215
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Bismuth bronze|color={{Tile|/|6:1}}6:6:1|source=2 [[Copper]] + 1 [[Tin]] + 1 [[Bismuth]] '''!'''|notes=Can be used to forge all weapons, armor, ammunition, and picks|soliddensity=8.25|val=6|valinc=+4|mp=11868|impactyield=602|impactfracture=843|impactelasticity=547|shearyield=172|shearfracture=241|shearelasticity=156
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Bronze|color={{Tile|/|6:0}}6:4:0|source=[[Tin]] + [[Copper]]|notes=Can be used to forge all weapons, armor, ammunition, and picks|soliddensity=8.25|val=5|valinc=+3|mp=11868|impactyield=602|impactfracture=843|impactelasticity=547|shearyield=172|shearfracture=241|shearelasticity=156
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Iron|color={{Tile|/|0:1}}0:7:1|source=[[Hematite]], [[Limonite]], [[Magnetite]]|notes=Can be used to forge all weapons, armor, ammunition, picks, and [[anvil]]s|soliddensity=7.85|mp=12768|val=10|valinc=+2|impactyield=542|impactfracture=1080|impactelasticity=319|shearyield=155|shearfracture=310|shearelasticity=189
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Copper|color={{Tile|/|6:0}}6:4:0|source=[[Native copper]], [[Malachite]], [[Tetrahedrite]]|notes=Can be used to forge all weapons, armor, ammunition, and picks|soliddensity=8.93|mp=11952|val=2|valinc=+0, +0, -1*|impactyield=245|impactfracture=770|impactelasticity=175|shearyield=70|shearfracture=220|shearelasticity=145
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Silver|color={{Tile|/|7:1}}7:7:1|source=[[Native silver]], [[Horn silver]], [[Galena]] (50%), [[Tetrahedrite]] (20%) |notes=Can be used to forge melee weapons and ammunition|soliddensity=10.49|mp=11731|val=10|valinc=+0, +0, +5*, +7*|impactyield=350|impactfracture=595|impactelasticity=350|shearyield=100|shearfracture=170|shearelasticity=333
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Platinum|color={{Tile|/|7:1}}7:7:1|source=[[Native platinum]]|notes= Only available as [[artifact]] weapons.|soliddensity=21.4|mp=13182|val=40|valinc=+?, +?, +?, +?|impactyield=350|impactfracture=700|impactelasticity=152|shearyield=100|shearfracture=200|shearelasticity=164
}}

|}
*''Combat information'' is used internally by the game to determine the [[material science|combat properties]] of weapons and armor made from this metal:
:'''Density''': Used in conjunction with other factors - heavier weapons (higher numbers) hit with more force, light weapons tend to have less penetration. Value shown here is g/cm3, which is the raw value divided by 103
:'''Impact yield''': Used for blunt-force combat; ''higher'' is better. This is the raw value divided by 103 (i.e., kPa).
:'''Impact fracture''': Used for blunt-force combat; ''higher'' is better. This is the raw value divided by 103 (i.e., kPa).
:'''Impact elasticity''': Used for blunt-force combat; ''lower'' is better. This is the raw value.
:'''Shear yield''': Used for cutting calculations in combat; ''higher'' is better. This is the raw value divided by 103 (i.e., kPa).
:'''Shear fracture''': Used for cutting calculations in combat; ''higher'' is better. This is the raw value divided by 103 (i.e., kPa).
:'''Shear elasticity''': Used for cutting calculations in combat; ''lower'' is better. This is the raw value.

*General Term Explanations (From Wikipedia)
:'''Yield Strength''' - The stress at which material strain changes from elastic deformation to plastic deformation, causing it to deform permanently.
:'''Fracture Strength''' - The stress coordinate on the stress-strain curve at the point of rupture.

:'''Stress''' - Force per area = F/A
:'''Strain''' - Deformation of a solid due to stress = Stress/Young's Modulus

So...
:Explanations!
::'''Yield Strength''' is the amount of stress required to permanently deform (bend) a material (plastic deformation)
::'''Fracture Strength''' is the amount of stress required to permanently break (rupture) a material
::'''Elasticity''' (or ''IMPACT_STRAIN_AT_YIELD'' in RAWs) is the amount of deformation (bending) that occurs at the yield point
:Implications to Dwarf Fortress Combat
::Yield combined with Elasticity can tell what a material will do under stress (be it from a hammer, axe, or arrow)
::Higher yield means that it takes more stress to deform
::Lower elasticity means that it will deform less when stress is applied

'''Preliminary Combat Testing & Analysis'''

Adamantine and Steel take first and second place respectively, with Iron the third best material in the game. Beyond which, bronze is in a close tie with copper as to being the second worst material. As in older versions, silver continues to hold steady as the worst material available (no longer beneficial with wooden training weapons being available now) in regards to edged weaponry.

Additionally, with regards to blunt weapons all of the standard materials (except Adamantine) perform respectably well, with a very slight edge towards steel and silver. Here is the thread with the details:

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=53571.0

Keep in mind how unbelievably complicated this system is; nothing here should be taken as word of law. These results also ignore the impact of the ''weight'' of equipment on your dwarves. Dwarves, especially weak ones without high [[Combat skill#Equipment_skills|Armor User]] skill, will move much more slowly when wearing heavy armor and carrying heavy weapons and ammunition. This may be a more important consideration than a marginal improvement in protection.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#999999"
!
! Best
! Better
! Good
! Fair
! Poor
! Terrible
! Notes
|-
| Armor
| Adamantine
| Steel
| Iron
| Bronze, Bismuth Bronze
| Copper
|
|
|-
| Edged Weapons
| Adamantine
| Steel
| Iron
| Bronze, Bismuth Bronze
| Copper
| Silver
| For piercing iron armor, copper is better than bronze. For piercing copper or bronze armor, bronze is better than copper.
|-
| Ammunition
| Steel, Iron, Bronze, Bismuth Bronze, Copper, Silver
|
| Adamantine
|
|
|
| Adamantine bolts deflect off of adamantine armor, but otherwise their performance is on par with bolts made out of other metals.
|-
| Blunt Weapons
| Platinum ( [[artifact]] only )
| Steel, Silver
| Copper, Bismuth Bronze, Bronze, Iron
|
|
| Adamantine
| All six standard weapon metals perform nearly identically. Steel has a slightly higher rate of critical wounds, while silver is slightly more likely to penetrate armor. Platinum (only available as [[artifact]] weapons) has twice the density of silver and several other improved properties, making it the best metal for impact weapons, though very limited in production.
|}

Cross referencing this table with the table at the top of this section seems to indicate that low densities, high impact fractures, and high shear fractures contribute to the killing power of edged weapons

==See also==
*Some [[User:Shinziril#Weapons_and_Armor|outstanding research]] on armor vs. different weapon types by Shinziril.
*[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=116151.0 Dwarven Research: A Comparison Study on the Effectiveness of Bolts vs Armors].

{{Translation
| dwarven = kel
| elvish = lethi
| goblin = snusm
| human = rigu
}}

{{Category|Metals}}{{Category|Materials}}
[[ru:DF2012:Metal]]

Door

2016-01-17T03:27:02Z

Greycat: /* Usage */ more on levers

{{Quality|Exceptional|21:45, 11 May 2015 (UTC)}}
{{av}}
{{Buggy|withoutbugsection=1}}
[[Image:Doors!.png‎|thumb|right|It is important to have many doors, but don't get carried away.]]
'''Doors''' are a piece of [[furniture]] used mainly to control the movement of dwarves, [[pet]]s and liquids and define the exits of [[room]]s. A door must be built next to a [[wall]] or other form of support. Doors appear using different glyphs depending on their material.

==Materials==
Doors can be made of [[stone]] ({{Raw Tile|┼|0:7:0}}), [[metal]] ({{Raw Tile|≡|6:4:0}}), [[glass]] ({{Raw Tile|O|2:2:1}}), and [[wood]] ({{Raw Tile|║|0:6:0}}). [[Artifact]] doors can also be made from [[gem]] ({{Raw Tile|☼|7:2:0}}) and [[bone]] ({{Raw Tile|║|0:7:0}}). A glass door is called a '''portal'''.

While [[stone]], [[wood]], and [[glass]] doors require only a single building material, [[metal]] doors require 3 bars to produce.

==Usage==
A door has three main settings:
*'''Forbid Passage''': The door can not be passed unless it is permitted again or destroyed. [[Dwarf|Dwarves]], [[animals]], both wild and tame, and most [[invader]]s will all be unable to pass. However, [[Thief|thieves]] can pick the locks of forbidden doors, and [[Building destroyer|building destroyers]] such as [[Troll|trolls]] will simply smash them down.
*'''Keep tightly closed''': Animals will not be able to pass through the door, but dwarves and invaders will not be hindered. (A dwarf that passes through the door can accidentally let in the animals... {Or say a goblin that just so happened to be one of the 50 goblins that ambushed you was to open this door and let out these 500 ravenous [[Dog|Wardogs]].}) Because of pathfinding issues, this setting has been known to cause game lag.{{bug|797}}
*'''Set as internal''': When designating rooms, a door set as internal will not block room expansion.

Doors can be connected to [[lever]]s or [[pressure plate]]s to open on command. A door that is connected to a lever ''cannot'' be opened and closed by a dwarf or animal any longer; it can only be opened and closed by pulling the lever.

Doors also halt the movement of liquids ([[water]] and [[magma]]) in the manner of [[floodgate]]s, and can be used in the same ways if a passageway is narrow enough. The main differences between a door and a floodgate for fluid containment are:
* There is a delay when operating a floodgate with a lever, but no delay on a door.
* A door that's not linked to a lever can be opened or closed by a dwarf or an animal (unless forbidden and/or tightly closed); usually this is ''not'' what you want when there is an enormous amount of liquid on the other side of the door.

==Advanced Door Construction==
The ''placement'' requirement for a door is that it must be positioned cardinally adjacent to a wall ''at the time of placement designation''. That wall does not need to exist when the door is being constructed, nor does that wall need to exist for the door to continue to exist after it has been constructed. Thinking on this, one might discover that doors can be placed side by side in continuous strings, given a little extra effort.
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You will normally begin the process by anchoring your first door placement designation against a constructed wall. Immediately afterwards, you can use the {{K|d}}esignations menu to {{K|n}}Remove constructions to clear a space for the next door. Once the space is clear, you can designate the construction of a second door, even before the first door has been constructed. Repeat the process for your third, fourth, fifth, etc. door until you are satisfied. You can continue the process indefinitely as long as you possess doors and constructed walls to anchor your placement designations. Note that natural stone walls do '''not''' work this way; digging out a natural wall will deconstruct any adjacent no-longer-supported doors.

You can also use this strategy to unhook doors from walls and leave them as free standing structures. Why you would want to do this is up to you, but some players may find this useful for baiting [[building destroyer|Building destroyers]] away from your fortress.

==Notes==
*Any item on the same tile as a door will cause the door to be propped open, which makes it impossible to lock and will allow fluids in. Such will also jam mechanically linked doors, needing to be cleared out and the lever or pressure plate triggered again to shut.

*Doors destroy any fluid on their tile when they close.

*If invaders move past a door, they will "take" control of the door and you will be unable to issue it {{K|q}}ommands. If you can successfully move a squad through a door, it will be retaken, but the door will be returned in an unforbidden state. A door set to be tightly-closed will remain tightly closed when you retake it.

*Doors are a vital, if somewhat double-edged, component of [[Fortress defense]]. You could build your own shogunate castle by replacing your walls with doors, a tactic which will disorient your enemies with unlimited pathfinding options and provide your Hammerdwarves with excellent ambushing potential. Be warned though, just like rice-paper walls have trouble keeping grown men at bay, you're going to have some [[fun]] with building destroyers. And thieves. Your haulers won't mind.

*Artifact doors are indestructible, and may be used to [[DF2012 Talk:Door#Artifact doors indeed indistructible|filter out building destroyers]].

*Doors block [[trade depot]] access, regardless of their settings. And no, you cannot build three-wide doors as a caravan garage door. You're better off using a [[bridge]] or linked [[floodgate|floodgates]] for that.

*All doors are watertight, but dwarfs may allow small amounts through when they open a door to pass. If you need doors to a watery area such as a reservoir for an artificial waterfall or flood trap, you can limit the mess from escaping water by making the exits "airlocks", two doors enclosing a one or two tile room between the tank and the main hallway. The small amount of water that escapes will be contained in the room and evaporate. If the water level can potentially get too high to evaporate, channeling a drain and placing [[grate]]s or floor bars is even more effective.

==See also==
*[[Floor hatch]]

{{Translation
| dwarven = tun
| elvish = beÿa
| goblin = sustgo
| human = as
}}

{{buildings}}

Workshop

2016-01-15T20:02:05Z

Greycat: /* Operation */ k macros

{{Quality|Superior|13:14, 20 April 2013 (UTC)}}{{av}}
[[Image:DFflowchart.png|thumb|200px|'''Production flowchart for most workshops'''. Not all items are represented! ''(Click to enlarge)'']]

'''Workshops''' are where materials are processed by dwarves into more valuable or useful items. There are a total of 31 workshops: 14 first tier, 11 second tier and 6 third tier.

==Description==

Anything that is created, refined, cooked, altered, or decorated, or generally "produced" is processed at a workshop. There are many different types of workshops, for different purposes and different finished products. Just as they have specific products associated with them, they have specific labors that are required by dwarves to build them or to work there, and dwarves with more of the appropriate skill tend to produce higher [[quality]] objects*, and/or produce them faster.

(* If the finished product has any quality modifiers - not all do. Processed milk is just [[cheese]], a [[stone]] block is just a stone [[block]], and a tanned hide is just [[leather]], etc.)

You can use [[manager#Setting_workshop_profiles|workshop profiles]] to restrict the use of individual workshops to named dwarves, or to dwarves with specified minimum and maximum levels of skill.

Almost all workshops measure 3 tiles square, 3x3, but a few are 5x5, or even a single tile. Not all squares of all workshops are passable, in fact some, like the jewelry workshop, have three [[impassable tile]]s down one side. These squares appear a dark green color during initial placement. Be careful not to block access when building.

===Operation===

When there are items ordered at a workshop, the workshop will generate item creation jobs until it finds a suitable dwarf with appropriate labors (and skill level and so on if those are set in the workshop orders). When the dwarf is found, an A will appear next to the job in the workshop queue, and the following will happen:

# The dwarf comes to the workshop.
# The dwarf finds a suitable nearby raw material. (if any stockpiles are set to {{K|g}}ive to the workshop, only linked stockpiles will be looked in!)
# The dwarf fetches all the necessary ingredients and brings them to the workshop.
# The dwarf labors in the workshop for a while and creates the item.
# The dwarf brings the finished item to the nearest suitable stockpile. (see #2 for linked stockpiles)
# At this point the workshop goes to the next queued item, and starts looking for a suitable dwarf again - it's most probable that the dwarf who just finished the item is nearby and will be recruited again for another job.

If you have no [[stockpile]]s to put finished objects in, workshops will become [[clutter]]ed. You can see the clutter by checking the contents of the workshop with {{K|t}}. The more items there are, the longer tasks will take.

If you have only one dwarf with the appropriate labors, and the task of fetching items takes a long time because the stockpiles are far away, then he will execute far fewer jobs before it's time for a break. If you have many dwarfs, then recruitment of another one will waste time since he is far away. Therefore, in either situation, it's in your interest to put the stockpiles as close as possible to the workshop.

==Tier System==

The tier system was developed to help understand how far removed a workshop is from the basic raw materials that can be found throughout your average map. A Tier-1 workshop processes raw materials directly; a Tier-2 workshop processes the output of a Tier-1 workshop (but may also include new raw materials); and a Tier-3 workshop processes the output of a Tier-2 workshop (but may also include inputs from lower levels) Note that containers (cloth and leather bags) are considered Tier 1 materials even though they are produced at a higher tier. This is because these items are reusable; your dwarves will not need to create a new bag each time they want to mill some flour. In some cases, a workshop may fit into multiple tiers, (ex. [[Mechanic's workshop]]). In these cases, the workshop is listed in the lowest applicable tier for its primary purpose.

Tier 1 workshops use Tier 0 materials (animals, ore, wood, plants, bone, etc.).

Tier 2 workshops use Tier 1 materials (processed Tier 0 materials) and possibly Tier 0 materials.

Tier 3 workshops use Tier 2 materials (processed Tier 1 materials) and possibly Tier 0 and/or Tier 1 materials.

===Tier 1 Workshops===
*{{K|b}} [[Bowyer's workshop]]:
**Uses Tier 0 material: [[Wood]]
**Can also use higher-tier material: [[Bone]]
**Produces Tier 1 Weapon: [[Crossbow]]
*{{K|c}} [[Carpenter's workshop]]: Uses wood from trees to produce various goods.
**Uses Tier 0 materials: [[Wood]]
**Produces Tier 1 materials:
***Armor: [[Buckler]], [[Shield]]
***Weapons: [[Training weapon|Training Axes]], [[Training weapon|Training Swords]], [[Training weapon|Training Spears]]
***Containers: [[Barrel]], [[Bin]], [[Bucket]], [[Casket]]
***Building Materials: [[Block]], [[Grate]], [[Pipe section]]
***Furniture: [[Bed]], [[Chair]], [[Table]], [[Cabinet]], [[Chest]], [[Armor stand]], [[Weapon rack]]
***Furniture: [[Door]], [[Floodgate]], [[Hatch cover]]
***Trap Components: [[Cage]], [[Enormous corkscrew]], [[Menacing spike]], [[Spiked ball]]
***Finished Goods: [[Crutch]], [[Splint]]
***Tools: [[Animal trap]], [[stepladder]], [[wheelbarrow]], [[minecart]]
*{{K|j}} [[Jeweler's workshop]]:
**Uses Tier 0 Item: Rough [[gem]]
**Can also use higher-tier items: Cut [[gem]]s, Encrustable objects
**Produces: Cut [[gem]], Encrusted objects
*{{K|m}} [[Mason's workshop]]:
**Uses Tier 0 Item: [[Stone]]
**Produces Tier 1 Items: [[Armor stand]], [[Block]], [[Throne]], [[Coffin]], [[Door]], [[Floodgate]], [[Hatch cover]], [[Grate]], [[Cabinet]], [[Coffer]], [[Statue]], [[Table]], [[Weapon rack]], [[Quern]], [[Millstone]], [[Slab]]
*{{K|u}} [[Butcher's shop]]:
**Uses Tier 0 Items: [[Tame animals]], Corpses of untamed non-sentient animals
**Produces Tier 1 Items: [[Skin]], [[Fat]], [[Meat]], [[Bone]], [[Prepared organs]], [[Skull]], [[Scale]], [[Hoof]], [[Ivory]], [[Tooth]]
*{{K|t}} [[Mechanic's workshop]]:
**Uses Tier 0-1 Items: [[Stone]], [[Table]], [[Rope]]
**Produces Tier 1 Item: [[Mechanism]]
**Produces Tier 3 Item: [[Traction bench]]
*{{K|w}} [[Farmer's workshop]]:
**Uses Tier 0 Items: [[crop]], [[Animal]]
**Can use Tier 1 Reusable Items: [[Container|Bags, barrels, vials]], [[Bucket]]s
**Produces Tier 1 Items: [[Pig tail]] or [[Rope reed]] [[thread]], [[Quarry bush]] leaves, [[Dwarven syrup]], Plant [[extracts]], [[Milk]], [[Cheese]]
*{{K|h}} [[Fishery]]:
**Uses Tier 0 Items: Raw [[fish]]
**Produces Tier 1 Items: [[Meat|Fish meat]], [[Shell]]s, [[Captured live fish]]
*{{K|r}} [[Craftsdwarf's workshop]]:
**Uses Tier 0 Items: [[Stone]], [[Wood]]
**Can also use higher-tier items: [[Bone]], [[Shell]], [[Ivory]], [[Tooth]], [[Horn]], [[Pearl]], [[Cloth]], [[Leather]], [[Slab]]s
**Produces: [[Finished goods]], [[Pot]]s, [[Jug]]s, [[Tool]]s, [[Memorial]]s
*{{K|s}} [[Siege workshop]]:
**Uses Tier 0 Item: [[Wood]]
**Can also use higher-tier item: [[Ballista arrowhead]]
**Produces: [[Catapult]] parts, [[Ballista]] parts, [[Ballista arrow]]s
*[[Wood furnace]]:
**Uses Tier 0 Item: [[Wood]]
**Produces: Fuel ([[Charcoal]]), [[Ash]]
* [[Magma smelter]]: (Requires [[magma]] access)
**Uses Tier 0 Items: [[Coal]], [[Ore]], [[Flux]]
**Can also use higher-tier items: Fuel ([[Charcoal]], [[Coke]]), [[Metal]] [[bar]]s, scrap [[weapon]]s, [[armor]], etc.
**Produces: [[Metal]] [[bar]]s, [[Coke]]
* [[Magma kiln]]: (Requires [[magma]] access)
**Uses Tier 0 Items: [[Gypsum]], [[Alabaster]], [[Selenite]], [[Satinspar]], [[Kaolinite]], [[Clay]], [[Silty clay]], [[Sandy clay]], [[Clay loam]], [[Fire clay]], [[Cassiterite]]
**Can also use higher-tier items: [[Ash]], [[Potash]]
**Produces: [[Pearlash]], [[Gypsum plaster]], [[Ceramic]]s ([[Jug]], [[Block|Bricks]], [[Statue]], [[Large pot]], [[Craft]]s, [[Hive]]), [[Glaze]]d items
* [[Magma glass furnace]]: (Requires [[magma]] access)
**Uses Tier 0 Items: [[Sand]] [[bag]], Raw [[rock crystal]]
**Can also use higher-tier item: [[Pearlash]]
**Produces: Raw crystal/clear/green [[glass]], [[Block]]s, [[Vial]]s, [[Toy]]s, [[Instrument]]s, [[Goblet]]s, [[Trap]] [[weapons]], [[Window]]s, [[Furniture]]

===Tier 2 Workshops===
*{{K|n}} [[Tanner's shop]]:
**Uses Tier 1 Item: [[Skin|Hide]]
**Produces Tier 2 Item: [[Leather]]
*{{K|o}} [[Loom]]:
**Uses Tier 1 Items: [[Adamantine]] strands, [[Cave spider]] [[silk]] [[Cloth|thread]], [[Giant cave spider]] [[silk]] [[Cloth|thread]], [[Phantom spider]] [[silk]] [[Cloth|thread]], [[Pig tail]] [[Cloth|thread]], [[Rope reed]] [[Cloth|thread]]
**Produces: [[Cloth]]
*{{K|l}} [[Still]]:
**Uses Tier 0 Item: [[Alcohol#Brewable plants|Brewable Plant]]
**Uses Tier 1 Reusable Item: [[Barrel]]
**Produces: [[Drink]]
*{{K|y}} [[Ashery]]:
**Uses Tier 1 Item: [[Ash]]
**Can use Tier 1 Reusable Item: [[Bucket]]
**Produces Tier 2 Items: [[Lye]], [[Potash]]
*{{K|z}} [[Kitchen]]:
**Uses Tier 1 Items: [[Meat|Fish]], [[Meat]], [[Cheese]], [[Dwarven syrup]], [[Milk]], [[Prepared organs]], [[Fat]]
**Can also use lower-tier items: [[Plants]], [[Seed]]s, [[Egg]]s
**Can also use higher-tier items: [[Alcohol]], [[Dwarven sugar]], [[Flour]], [[Tallow]]
**Produces: [[Food|Prepared meals]], [[Tallow]]
*{{K|p}} [[Screw press]]:
**Uses Tier 1 Items: [[Honeycomb]]
**Uses Tier 1 Reusable item: [[Jug]]
**Can also use higher-tier item: [[rock nut|Rock nut paste]]
**Produces: [[Honey]], [[Wax]], [[rock nut|Rock nut press cake]], [[rock nut|Rock nut oil]]
* [[Smelter]]:
**Uses Tier 1 Items: Fuel ([[Charcoal]], [[Coke]])
**Uses Tier 0 Items: [[Coal]], [[Ore]], [[Flux]]
**Can also use higher-tier items: [[Metal]] [[bar]]s, can [[melt]] metal [[weapon]]s, [[armor]], etc.
**Produces: [[Coke]], [[Metal]] [[bar]]s
*{{K|q}} [[Quern]]:
**Uses Tier 0 Items: [[Blade weed]], [[Cave wheat]], [[Dimple cup]], [[Hide root]], [[Longland grass]], [[Sliver barb]], [[Sweet pod]], [[Whip vine]], [[Rock nut]]s
**Uses Tier 1 Reusable Item: [[bag]]
**Produces: [[Flour|Dwarven wheat flour]], [[Dwarven sugar]], [[Flour|Longland flour]], [[Whip vine flour]], [[Dimple dye]], [[Emerald dye]], [[Redroot dye]], [[Sliver dye]], [[rock nut|Rock nut paste]]
*{{K|M}} ({{K|Shift}}+{{K|m}}) [[Millstone]]:
**Requires: Mechanical Power Source ([[Water wheel]] or [[Windmill]]), and a Millstone (Constructed at [[Mason's workshop]])
**Uses Tier 0 Items: [[Blade weed]], [[Cave wheat]], [[Dimple cup]], [[Hide root]], [[Longland grass]], [[Sliver barb]], [[Sweet pod]], [[Whip vine]], [[Rock nut]]s
**Uses Tier 1 Reusable Item: [[bag]]
**Produces: [[Emerald dye]], [[Flour|Dwarven wheat flour]], [[Dimple dye]], [[Redroot dye]], [[Flour|Longland flour]], [[Sliver dye]], [[Dwarven sugar]], [[Whip vine flour]], [[rock nut|Rock nut paste]]
* [[Kiln]]:
**Uses Tier 0 Items: [[Gypsum]], [[Alabaster]], [[Selenite]], [[Satinspar]], [[Kaolinite]], [[Clay]], [[Silty clay]], [[Sandy clay]], [[Clay loam]], [[Fire clay]], [[Cassiterite]]
**Uses Tier 1 Items: Fuel ([[Charcoal]], [[Coke]]), [[Ash]], [[Potash]]
**Produces: [[Pearlash]], [[Gypsum plaster]], [[Ceramic]]s ([[Jug]], [[Block|Bricks]], [[Statue]], [[Large pot]], [[Craft]]s, [[Hive]]), [[Glaze]]d items
* [[Glass furnace]]:
**Uses Tier 0 Items: [[Sand]] [[bag]], Raw [[rock crystal]]
**Uses Tier 1 Items: Fuel ([[Charcoal]], [[Coke]])
**Uses Tier 2 Item: [[Pearlash]]
**Produces: Raw crystal/clear/green [[glass]], [[Block]]s, [[Vial]]s, [[Toy]]s, [[Instrument]]s, [[Goblet]]s, [[Trap]] [[weapons]], [[Window]]s, [[Furniture]]

===Tier 3 Workshops===
*{{K|e}} [[Leather works]]:
**Uses Tier 2 Item: [[Leather]]
**Produces: [[Leather]] [[Clothing]], [[Leather]] [[Armor]], [[Leather]] [[Shield]], [[Leather]] [[Quiver]], [[Leather]] [[Bag]], [[Leather]] [[Backpack]], [[Leather]] [[Waterskin]], [[Decoration|Leather Images]] (decoration)
*{{K|d}} [[Dyer's shop]]:
**Uses Tier 2 Item: [[Dye]], [[Cloth]]
**Can also use lower-tier item: [[Thread]]
**Produces: Dyed [[Thread]], Dyed [[Cloth]]
*{{K|k}} [[Clothier's shop]]:
**Uses Tier 2 Item: [[Cloth]]
**Can also use higher-tier item: Dyed [[Cloth]]
**Produces: [[Backpack]], [[Bag]], [[Clothing]], [[Quiver]], [[Rope]]
*{{K|f}} [[Metalsmith's forge]]:
**Uses Tier 1 Item: Fuel ([[Charcoal]], [[Coke]])
**Uses Tier 2 Item: [[Metal]] [[bars]]
**Produces: [[weapon]]s, [[trap]] components, [[bolts]], [[ballista arrowhead|ballista arrowheads]], [[armor]], [[chain|chains]], [[craft|crafts]], [[coins]], [[goblet|goblets]], [[stud|studding]], [[anvil]]s, [[block]]s, [[furniture]], animal traps and mechanisms.
*{{k|v}} [[Magma forge]] (requires [[magma]] access):
**Uses Tier 2 Item: [[Metal]] [[bar]]s
**Produces: [[Armor]], [[Weapon]], [[Chain]], [[Crafts]], [[Furniture]]
*{{K|S}} ({{K|Shift}}+{{K|s}}) [[Soap maker's workshop]]:
**Uses Tier 2 Items: [[Tallow]], [[Lye]]
**Can also use higher-tier item: [[Rock nut oil]]
**Produces: [[Soap]]

Note that some specific products can be higher-tier than indicated above. For example, production of [[Steel]] weapons requires: producing [[Coke|fuel]], producing [[Iron]] [[bar]]s, producing [[pig iron]] bars, producing [[steel]] bars, then finally forging weapons (a Tier-5 process).

==Management==
As your fortress continues to grow and diversify, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep your workshops fruitfully busy without causing overproduction or underproduction or depleting your resources. Though no process can be truly automated, there are a few tricks to keeping your workshops productive.

===Standing orders===
[[Standing orders]] provide a rudimentary form of automation for some specific workshops in Dwarf Fortress. Certain goods or materials are only useful for one thing, having no other use and requiring refinement before they can be made into something useful. Thus, standing orders automate certain tasks, queuing them up whenever input materials are available; this behavior may be configured in the "set workshop orders" menu ({{k|o}} - {{k|W}}). Note that this rudimentary automation performs poorly with multiple workshops, often queuing dwarves to carry the materials to the farthest available workshop.
* The [[Tanner's shop]] will automatically enqueue "{{k|t}}an a hide" whenever a hide becomes available, generally as a [[butcher's shop|butchering]] product. The shop has no other function, and hides have no other use and will [[rot]] if left untreated; thus you can build a tanner's shop (preferably close to your butcher and refuse stockpile), make sure some dwarves have [[tanning]] enabled, and then leave it untouched for the duration of the game.
* Similarly, the [[loom]]'s function is to collect [[web]]s and turn silk, plant thread, and yarn, into usable cloth. All [[weaving]] jobs are automated. However, it can be beneficial to build an additional loom near the caverns specifically for web collection, and assign a profile that keeps your legendary weaver safe making high-quality cloth in the fortress proper. Unfortunately, the automation process cannot adapt to such an arrangement, but the automatic jobs can be suspended to prevent undesirable assignments.
* A [[fishery]] will have "Process a live fish" automation enabled by default. Uncooked fish cannot be eaten as they are, and must be processed before being edible. Additionally, raw fish will [[rot]] if not processed quickly, and have no other uses. Fishery automation, with one or more dedicated [[fish cleaner]]s, is recommended.
* When an animal is marked for slaughter or a butcherable corpse is nearby, "Butcher a dead animal" is added to a butchery automatically; a [[butcher]] will process the corpse into various [[meat]]s and [[material]]s. Butcherable corpses have no other use, and will [[rot]] if not processed quickly.
* The [[Kitchen]] includes automation for [[tallow|rendering fat into tallow]]. The resulting tallow is useful for making [[soap]] and as a low-value "solid" cooking ingredient, however you will likely end up with an overabundance of tallow. Since the original fat apparently doesn't rot, and the rendering job is slow and tends to distract your head cook when he should be cooking the quickly-expiring meat instead, it is often more convenient to disable the automatic rendering and manually queue the job (on an auxiliary kitchen) if you somehow run low on tallow.

===Repetition===
You can queue up to ten tasks in any workshop, and tell the dwarves to repeat any or all of them for as long as possible. This is most useful if you want to process all of a resource that you have into something usable (such as [[lye]] and [[tallow]] into [[soap]]), but don't know how much you have, or can't be bothered with exact numbers. If you want to keep a workshop busy, repeating a task for a period of time is the best way; most fledgling fortresses have craftdwarves making stone crafts 24/7. It is necessary to check back on your stocks every one in a while, however, as you might forget about your mason for a while and upon placing furniture discover that you have 99 doors but no tables. The easiest example would be gem cutting; just queue up all of the gems you've dug up on repeat, and use the cancellation messages to monitor progress through the stack. Note that if you place multiple jobs on repeat your dwarves will cycle through them, so you can have your mason make doors, cabinets, coffers, tables, and thrones (the "welcome to the fortress" package) in equally large numbers.

===Manager===
Appointing a [[manager]] [[noble]] allows you to queue work orders using the job manager interface, though your manager will need time to approve work orders before production begins. Using the job manager interface has two major advantages. Firstly, it allows you to produce an exact number of items as opposed to putting a workshop on repeat, and secondly, it allows easier management of complex tasks: although you will get cancellation spam, the tasks will simply re-queue, to be fulfilled as soon as the prerequisites are in order. This makes complicated processes, such as the production of twenty steel breastplates for your military, much simpler and less time-consuming. You will be notified when your work orders are completed, so it has the advantage of timely organization as well.

===Workflow===
Finally, for those who find the other automation options lacking, the [[Utility:DFHack|dfhack]] "workflow" plug-in allows for automated job processing for many applications (e.g. auto process plants, auto mill plants, auto brew, auto make soap, etc.). Unfortunately, setting up the necessary rules can require some trial and error and a considerable investment of time, but the results can be well worth the trouble, at least until comprehensive automation support is added to the game itself.

{{workshops}}

Metal

2016-01-11T18:36:16Z

Greycat: rework the intro a bit

{{Quality|Exceptional|00:03, 18 May 2015 (UTC)}}
{{av}}
'''Metal''' is a [[material]] extracted from [[ore]] at a [[smelter]], turning the ore into '''bars''' of pure metal. (One [[adamantine|special metal]] becomes wafers instead of bars.) The metal bars resulting from [[smelting]] are used to make items such as [[weapon]]s, [[armor]], [[furniture]], and [[crafts]] at a [[Metalsmith's forge|forge]].

Metals may sometimes be combined to form an '''alloy''' metal ([[#Alloys|see below]]), which is also measured by the bar. An alloy usually improves on the properties of its components to give more uses or increased [[Item value|value]].

Smelting pure ores into the corresponding bars raises the base value from that of stone (3) to that of bars (5). This value is then multiplied against the [[value#Material multipliers|material multiplier]] of the metal to give the final value for the bar.

==Alloys==
There are eleven pure metals in Dwarf Fortress (plus a twelfth [[Adamantine|special metal]]). Many of these can be mixed together to create '''alloys''' of one type or another, of which there are another fourteen. In some cases making alloys will result in an overall increase in value, or the resultant alloy will be more powerful when used to forge weapons or armor, though many alloys result in no overall increase in utility or [[Wealth|created wealth]]. (These increases in value can be compared in the "Difference" column of the below table.)

There are many uses for alloys:
* Increased performance for armor or weapons.
* Increased value (particularly when a silver-bearing ore is substituted for silver)
* Stretching your supply of scarce metals.
* Creating items with distinct colors (for instance, [[rose gold]] is [[Color scheme|magenta]]) for furniture, color-coding rooms or levers, or artistic constructions (including [[floor]] mosaics).
* Increasing [[thought|happiness]] or perceived [[room]] value for a dwarf who particularly likes a given alloy.
* Decreased [[fuel]] consumption if making the alloy directly from ores (e.g. [[bronze]] requires only one smelter task to make 8 bars from 2 ores).

The number of bars used to create an alloy always equals the number of bars produced: the number of bars input equals the number of bars of output. However, the number of bars produced from smelting ores is four times greater (X ores in = 4X bars out).

== List of metals ==

===Standard Metals===

{{v0.34 pure metal table head}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Aluminum|color={{Tile|≡|7:1}}{{Tile|‼|7:7:1}}7:7:1|source=[[Native aluminum]]|notes=|soliddensity=2.70|mp=11188|val=40|valinc=+0|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=1421|shearyield=20|shearfracture=50|shearelasticity=77
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Bismuth|color={{Tile|≡|5:1}}{{Tile|‼|5:5:1}}5:5:1|source=[[Bismuthinite]]|notes=Only useful for alloying into [[bismuth bronze]]|soliddensity=9.78|mp=10488|val=2|valinc=+1|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=3484|shearyield=30|shearfracture=50|shearelasticity=250
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Copper|color={{Tile|≡|6:0}}{{Tile|‼|6:4:0}}6:4:0|source=[[Native copper]], [[Malachite]], [[Tetrahedrite]]|notes=Can be used to forge all weapons, armor, ammunition, and picks|soliddensity=8.93|mp=11952|val=2|valinc=+0, +0, -1*|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=771|shearyield=70|shearfracture=220|shearelasticity=145
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Gold|color={{Tile|≡|6:1}}{{Tile|‼|6:6:1}}6:6:1|source=[[Native gold]]|notes=|soliddensity=19.32|mp=11915|val=30|valinc=+0|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=600|shearyield=50|shearfracture=100|shearelasticity=185
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Iron|color={{Tile|≡|0:1}}{{Tile|‼|0:7:1}}0:7:1|source=[[Hematite]], [[Limonite]], [[Magnetite]]|notes=Can be used to forge all weapons, armor, ammunition, picks, and [[anvil]]s|soliddensity=7.85|mp=12768|val=10|valinc=+2|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=635|shearyield=130|shearfracture=200|shearelasticity=159
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Lead|color={{Tile|≡|0:1}}{{Tile|‼|0:7:1}}0:7:1|source=[[Galena]]|notes=|soliddensity=11.34|mp=10589|val=2|valinc=-3*|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=2348|shearyield=10|shearfracture=12|shearelasticity=179
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Nickel|color={{Tile|≡|7:0}}{{Tile|‼|7:3:0}}7:3:0|source=[[Garnierite]]|notes=|soliddensity=8.80|mp=12619|val=2|valinc=+0|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=660|shearyield=20|shearfracture=160|shearelasticity=26
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Platinum|color={{Tile|≡|7:1}}{{Tile|‼|7:7:1}}7:7:1|source=[[Native platinum]]|notes=|soliddensity=21.40|mp=13182|val=40|valinc=+0|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=470|shearyield=100|shearfracture=200|shearelasticity=164
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Silver|color={{Tile|≡|7:1}}{{Tile|‼|7:7:1}}7:7:1|source=[[Native silver]], [[Horn silver]], [[Galena]] (50%), [[Tetrahedrite]] (20%) |notes=Can be used to forge melee weapons and ammunition|soliddensity=10.49|mp=11731|val=10|valinc=+0, +0, +5*, +7*|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=1080|shearyield=100|shearfracture=170|shearelasticity=333
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Tin|color={{Tile|≡|7:0}}{{Tile|‼|7:3:0}}7:3:0|source=[[Cassiterite]]|notes=|soliddensity=7.28|mp=10417|val=2|valinc=+0|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=1862|shearyield=12|shearfracture=100|shearelasticity=66
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Zinc|color={{Tile|≡|7:0}}{{Tile|‼|7:3:0}}7:3:0|source=[[Sphalerite]]|notes=|soliddensity=7.13|mp=10755|val=2|valinc=+0|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=1542|shearyield=50|shearfracture=150|shearelasticity=116
}}

|}
''Legend:''
:* '''Tile Color''' corresponds to how items made from that metal are displayed in game, foreground and background colors.
:*'''Source Ore(s)''' indicates the specific ores that can provide a metal. If production of the metal is not guaranteed, a percent chance is indicated following the ore.
:*'''Density''' is used to determine the different weight of finished objects.
:*'''Melting point''' is used to determine if a material is [[magma-safe]] or not: magma is 12000°U.
:*'''[[Material value]]''' is what the base value of an object made of this metal is multiplied by to determine its worth.
:*'''Value difference''' indicates the difference in material value between the metal and the ore, separated with commas in cases where multiple ore values differ.
::'''*''' - Values marked with an asterisk denote ores that can yield multiple metals. On average, the expected difference in value from smelting [[tetrahedrite]] is +1 and [[galena]] is +2.

===Alloys===
''(Unless specified, ores of the ingredients may be used instead of bars for alloy reactions)''
{{v0.34 alloy metal table head}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Billon|color={{Tile|≡|7:0}}{{Tile|‼|7:3:0}}7:3:0|source=[[Silver]] + [[Copper]]|notes=Can be made with [[Tetrahedrite]] or [[Galena]] instead of [[Silver]] for increased value (Tetrahedrite + Tetrahedrite: +3, Copper ore + Tetrahedrite: +3.5, Copper ore + Galena: + 2.5, Tetrahedrite + Galena: + 2). |soliddensity=8.93|val=6|valinc=+0|mp=11952|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=771|shearyield=70|shearfracture=220|shearelasticity=145
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Bismuth bronze|color={{Tile|≡|6:1}}{{Tile|‼|6:6:1}}6:6:1|source=1 [[Tin]] + 2 [[Copper]] + 1 [[Bismuth]] '''!'''|notes=Can be used to forge all weapons, armor, ammunition, and picks|soliddensity=8.25|val=6|valinc=+4|mp=11868|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=600|shearyield=137|shearfracture=241|shearelasticity=200
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Black bronze|color={{Tile|≡|5:0}}{{Tile|‼|5:6:0}}5:6:0|source=2 [[Copper]] + 1 [[Silver]] + 1 [[Gold]] '''!'''|notes=Unique color|soliddensity=8.93|val=11|valinc=+0|mp=11952|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=771|shearyield=70|shearfracture=220|shearelasticity=145
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Brass|color={{Tile|≡|6:1}}{{Tile|‼|6:6:1}}6:6:1|source=[[Zinc]] + [[Copper]]|notes=Value difference is +4.5 if [[Tetrahedrite]] is used instead of [[Copper]]|soliddensity=8.55|val=7|valinc=+5|mp=11656|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=600|shearyield=200|shearfracture=550|shearelasticity=200
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Bronze|color={{Tile|≡|6:0}}{{Tile|‼|6:4:0}}6:4:0|source=[[Tin]] + [[Copper]]|notes=Can be used to forge all weapons, armor, ammunition, and picks. Value difference is +2.5 if [[Tetrahedrite]] is used instead of [[Copper]]|soliddensity=8.25|val=5|valinc=+3|mp=11868|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=600|shearyield=137|shearfracture=241|shearelasticity=200
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Electrum|color={{Tile|≡|6:1}}{{Tile|‼|6:6:1}}6:6:1|source=[[Silver]] + [[Gold]]|notes=Can be made with [[Tetrahedrite]] or [[Galena]] instead of [[Silver]] for increased value (Gold + Tetrahedrite: +3.5, Gold + Galena: +2.5).|soliddensity=8.65|val=20|valinc=+0|mp=11828|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=600|shearyield=50|shearfracture=100|shearelasticity=185
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Fine pewter|color={{Tile|≡|7:1}}{{Tile|‼|7:7:1}}7:7:1|source=3 [[Tin]] + 1 [[Copper]]|notes=Value difference is +2.75 if [[Tetrahedrite]] is used instead of [[Copper]]|soliddensity=7.28|val=5|valinc=+3|mp=10417|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=1862|shearyield=12|shearfracture=100|shearelasticity=66
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Lay pewter|color={{Tile|≡|3:0}}{{Tile|‼|3:7:0}}3:7:0|source=2 [[Tin]] + 1 [[Copper]] + 1 [[Lead]] '''!'''|notes=Unique color|soliddensity=7.28|val=3|valinc=+1|mp=10417|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=1862|shearyield=12|shearfracture=100|shearelasticity=66
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Nickel silver|color={{Tile|≡|7:1}}{{Tile|‼|7:7:1}}7:7:1|source= 2 [[Nickel]] + 1 [[Copper]] + 1 [[Zinc]] '''!'''|notes=|soliddensity=8.65|val=3|valinc=+1|mp=11620|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=600|shearyield=20|shearfracture=160|shearelasticity=26
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Pig iron|color={{Tile|≡|0:1}}{{Tile|‼|0:7:1}}0:7:1|source=[[Iron]] + [[flux]] stone + [[fuel]] '''!'''|notes=Only used to make [[steel]]|soliddensity=7.85|val=10|valinc=+0|mp=12106|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=635|shearyield=130|shearfracture=200|shearelasticity=159
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Rose gold|color={{Tile|≡|5:1}}{{Tile|‼|5:5:1}}5:5:1|source=3 [[Gold]] + 1 [[Copper]] '''!'''|notes=Unique color|soliddensity=19.32|val=23|valinc=+0|mp=11915|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=600|shearyield=50|shearfracture=100|shearelasticity=185
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Steel|color={{Tile|≡|0:1}}{{Tile|‼|0:7:1}}0:7:1|source=[[Iron]] + [[Pig iron]] + [[flux]] stone + [[fuel]] '''!'''|notes=Can be used to forge all weapons, armor, ammunition, picks, and [[anvil]]s|soliddensity=7.85|val=30|valinc=+20|mp=12718|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=675|shearyield=520|shearfracture=860|shearelasticity=500
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Sterling silver|color={{Tile|≡|7:1}}{{Tile|‼|7:7:1}}7:7:1|source=3 [[Silver]] + 1 [[Copper]] '''!'''|notes=|soliddensity=10.49|val=8|valinc=+0|mp=11602|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=1080|shearyield=100|shearfracture=170|shearelasticity=333
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Trifle pewter|color={{Tile|≡|7:0}}{{Tile|‼|7:3:0}}7:3:0|source=2 [[Tin]] + 1 [[Copper]]|notes=Value difference is +1.67 if [[Tetrahedrite]] is used instead of [[Copper]]|react=|soliddensity=7.28|val=4|valinc=+2|mp=10417|impactyield=1.08|impactfracture=1.08|impactelasticity=1862|shearyield=12|shearfracture=100|shearelasticity=66
}}

|}
''Legend:''
:* '''Tile Color''' corresponds to how items made from that metal are displayed in game, foreground and background colors.
:*'''Reaction''' indicates the basic recipe for an alloy - this does not include any [[fuel]] necessary to operate the smelter. See the article for that alloy or [[smelting]] for possible alternatives.
::'''!''' - ''You can use only [[bar]]s of metal in this reaction, not ores.
:*'''Density''' is used to determine the different weight of finished objects.
:*'''Melting point''' is used to determine if a material is [[magma-safe]] or not: magma is 12000°U.
:*'''[[Material value]]''' is what the base value of an object made of this metal is multiplied by to determine its worth.
:*'''Value difference''' indicates the difference between the average [[value]] of the required bars of metals vs. the value of the resulting bars of alloy - what went in vs. what comes out, measured per bar. "+0" indicates that the resulting alloy is a perfectly average value of the component metals. Note that substituting tetrahedrite for copper ore always results in a value decrease, while substituting tetrahedrite or galena for silver ore always results in a value increase.

===Special metals===
{{minorspoiler}}
{{v0.34 pure metal table head}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Adamantine|color={{Tile|≡|3:1}}{{Tile|‼|3:3:1}}3:3:1|source=[[Raw adamantine]]|notes=<nowiki/>
* Cannot be smelted directly; must be [[Strand extractor|extracted]] first.
* Can be used to forge anything except beds
* Blades are 10x sharper than standard metals
|soliddensity=0.200|mp=25000|val=300|valinc=+50|impactyield=5.00|impactfracture=5.00|impactelasticity=0|shearyield=5000|shearfracture=5000|shearelasticity=0
}}

{{v0.34 metal table row|name=Divine metal|color={{Tile|≡|7:0}}{{Tile|‼|0:0:1}}0:0:1|source=none|notes=<nowiki/>
* Procedurally generated names associated with [[deity|deities]].
* Blades are 1.2x sharper than standard metals
* Absurdly strong yield and fracture values allow even blunt weapons of this light material to be dangerous
* Overall stats make it stronger than steel but weaker than adamantine.
|react=|soliddensity=1|val=300|valinc=|mp=none|mps=
}}

|}

== Weapon and armor quality ==

{{v0.31 material metal table head}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Adamantine|color={{Tile|/|3:1}}3:3:1|source=[[Raw adamantine]]|notes=Can be used to forge anything except beds |soliddensity=0.200|mp=25000|val=300|valinc=+50|impactyield=5000|impactfracture=5000|impactelasticity=0|shearyield=5000|shearfracture=5000|shearelasticity=0
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Steel|color={{Tile|/|0:1}}0:7:1|source=[[Iron]] + [[Pig iron]] + [[flux]] stone + [[fuel]] '''!'''|notes=Can be used to forge all weapons, armor, ammunition, picks, and [[anvil]]s|soliddensity=7.85|val=30|valinc=+20|mp=12718|impactyield=1505|impactfracture=2520|impactelasticity=940|shearyield=430|shearfracture=720|shearelasticity=215
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Bismuth bronze|color={{Tile|/|6:1}}6:6:1|source=2 [[Copper]] + 1 [[Tin]] + 1 [[Bismuth]] '''!'''|notes=Can be used to forge all weapons, armor, ammunition, and picks|soliddensity=8.25|val=6|valinc=+4|mp=11868|impactyield=602|impactfracture=843|impactelasticity=547|shearyield=172|shearfracture=241|shearelasticity=156
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Bronze|color={{Tile|/|6:0}}6:4:0|source=[[Tin]] + [[Copper]]|notes=Can be used to forge all weapons, armor, ammunition, and picks|soliddensity=8.25|val=5|valinc=+3|mp=11868|impactyield=602|impactfracture=843|impactelasticity=547|shearyield=172|shearfracture=241|shearelasticity=156
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Iron|color={{Tile|/|0:1}}0:7:1|source=[[Hematite]], [[Limonite]], [[Magnetite]]|notes=Can be used to forge all weapons, armor, ammunition, picks, and [[anvil]]s|soliddensity=7.85|mp=12768|val=10|valinc=+2|impactyield=542|impactfracture=1080|impactelasticity=319|shearyield=155|shearfracture=310|shearelasticity=189
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Copper|color={{Tile|/|6:0}}6:4:0|source=[[Native copper]], [[Malachite]], [[Tetrahedrite]]|notes=Can be used to forge all weapons, armor, ammunition, and picks|soliddensity=8.93|mp=11952|val=2|valinc=+0, +0, -1*|impactyield=245|impactfracture=770|impactelasticity=175|shearyield=70|shearfracture=220|shearelasticity=145
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Silver|color={{Tile|/|7:1}}7:7:1|source=[[Native silver]], [[Horn silver]], [[Galena]] (50%), [[Tetrahedrite]] (20%) |notes=Can be used to forge melee weapons and ammunition|soliddensity=10.49|mp=11731|val=10|valinc=+0, +0, +5*, +7*|impactyield=350|impactfracture=595|impactelasticity=350|shearyield=100|shearfracture=170|shearelasticity=333
}}

{{v0.31 material metal table row|name=Platinum|color={{Tile|/|7:1}}7:7:1|source=[[Native platinum]]|notes= Only available as [[artifact]] weapons.|soliddensity=21.4|mp=13182|val=40|valinc=+?, +?, +?, +?|impactyield=350|impactfracture=700|impactelasticity=152|shearyield=100|shearfracture=200|shearelasticity=164
}}

|}
*''Combat information'' is used internally by the game to determine the [[material science|combat properties]] of weapons and armor made from this metal:
:'''Density''': Used in conjunction with other factors - heavier weapons (higher numbers) hit with more force, light weapons tend to have less penetration. Value shown here is g/cm3, which is the raw value divided by 103
:'''Impact yield''': Used for blunt-force combat; ''higher'' is better. This is the raw value divided by 103 (i.e., kPa).
:'''Impact fracture''': Used for blunt-force combat; ''higher'' is better. This is the raw value divided by 103 (i.e., kPa).
:'''Impact elasticity''': Used for blunt-force combat; ''lower'' is better. This is the raw value.
:'''Shear yield''': Used for cutting calculations in combat; ''higher'' is better. This is the raw value divided by 103 (i.e., kPa).
:'''Shear fracture''': Used for cutting calculations in combat; ''higher'' is better. This is the raw value divided by 103 (i.e., kPa).
:'''Shear elasticity''': Used for cutting calculations in combat; ''lower'' is better. This is the raw value.

*General Term Explanations (From Wikipedia)
:'''Yield Strength''' - The stress at which material strain changes from elastic deformation to plastic deformation, causing it to deform permanently.
:'''Fracture Strength''' - The stress coordinate on the stress-strain curve at the point of rupture.

:'''Stress''' - Force per area = F/A
:'''Strain''' - Deformation of a solid due to stress = Stress/Young's Modulus

So...
:Explanations!
::'''Yield Strength''' is the amount of stress required to permanently deform (bend) a material (plastic deformation)
::'''Fracture Strength''' is the amount of stress required to permanently break (rupture) a material
::'''Elasticity''' (or ''IMPACT_STRAIN_AT_YIELD'' in RAWs) is the amount of deformation (bending) that occurs at the yield point
:Implications to Dwarf Fortress Combat
::Yield combined with Elasticity can tell what a material will do under stress (be it from a hammer, axe, or arrow)
::Higher yield means that it takes more stress to deform
::Lower elasticity means that it will deform less when stress is applied

'''Preliminary Combat Testing & Analysis'''

Adamantine and Steel take first and second place respectively, with Iron the third best material in the game. Beyond which, bronze is in a close tie with copper as to being the second worst material. As in older versions, silver continues to hold steady as the worst material available (no longer beneficial with wooden training weapons being available now) in regards to edged weaponry.
Additionally, with regards to blunt weapons all of the standard materials perform respectably well, with a very slight edge towards steel and silver. Here is the thread with the details:

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=53571.0

Keep in mind with how unbelievably complicated this system is nothing should be taken as word of law yet.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#999999"
!
! Best
! Better
! Good
! Fair
! Poor
! Terrible
! Notes
|-
| Armor
| Adamantine
| Steel
| Iron
| Bronze, Bismuth Bronze
| Copper
|
|
|-
| Edged Weapons
| Adamantine
| Steel
| Iron
| Bronze, Bismuth Bronze
| Copper
| Silver
| For piercing iron armor, copper is better than bronze. For piercing copper or bronze armor, bronze is better than copper.
|-
| Ammunition
| Steel, Iron, Bronze, Bismuth Bronze, Copper, Silver
|
| Adamantine
|
|
|
| Adamantine bolts deflect off of adamantine armor, but otherwise their performance is on par with bolts made out of other metals.
|-
| Blunt Weapons
| Platinum ( [[artifact]] only )
| Steel, Silver
| Copper, Bismuth Bronze, Bronze, Iron
|
|
| Adamantine
| All six standard weapon metals perform nearly identically. Steel has a slightly higher rate of critical wounds, while silver is slightly more likely to penetrate armor. Platinum (only available as [[artifact]] weapons) has twice the density of silver and several other improved properties, making it the best metal for impact weapons, though very limited in production.
|}

Cross referencing this table with the table at the top of this section seems to indicate that low densities, high impact fractures, and high shear fractures contribute to the killing power of edged weapons

==See also==
*Some [[User:Shinziril#Weapons_and_Armor|outstanding research]] on armor vs. different weapon types by Shinziril.
*[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=116151.0 Dwarven Research: A Comparison Study on the Effectiveness of Bolts vs Armors].

{{Translation
| dwarven = kel
| elvish = lethi
| goblin = snusm
| human = rigu
}}

{{Category|Metals}}{{Category|Materials}}
[[ru:DF2012:Metal]]

Giant cave spider

2016-01-01T02:10:15Z

Greycat: /* Fighting */ tidy up

{{Quality|Exceptional|18:29, 23 August 2014 (UTC)}}

{{Creaturelookup/0
|wiki=no
|contrib=no
|meat=19
|fat=18
|heart=1
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{{av}}
{{creaturedesc}}

'''Giant cave spiders''' (also known as GCS) are far different from your regular [[cave spider]]s; those are just treats for your [[cat]]. Giant cave spiders are as big as [[grizzly bear]]s and will make treats ''of'' cats, dwarves, and the occasional careless adventurer. You can find giant cave spiders in, obviously, caves, caverns and most underground areas. They are '''the''' most dangerous creature in the caverns, excluding some [[forgotten beast]]s, as they feel no pain, cannot be stunned, can [[syndrome|poison]] creatures and have the ability to shoot [[web]]bing to ensnare their prey.

They do not pose a big threat to a fortress when undisturbed, but when a dwarf ''does'' disturb one, Armok bless the soul of the unlucky dwarf.

Giant cave spiders are not a rarity with dozens present in the underground caverns, deep below the surface. They can be extremely hard to kill. On occasion, however, a lucky dwarf might pound one to death within a few attacks by punching its skull into its brain, which can be a godsend after an unfortunate cavern breaching exercise.

Webs are quite useful when they aren't being used in an attack against you. Giant cave spider [[silk]] is worth twice as much as plant-derived textile and, given the [[silk farming|proper setup]] and victims, can be produced in endless amounts.

If you see a giant cave spider in adventurer mode, an announcement, "You've spotted a Giant Cave Spider!" will appear.

==Fighting==
Giant cave spiders fight by throwing impressively large amounts of web at their enemies and biting them. Once an enemy is webbed, the spider goes for the head.

Giant cave spider venom appears to be a neurotoxin which causes progressive [[syndrome|paralysis]] and is ultimately fatal due to suffocation as the victim's diaphragm succumbs and ceases to function. The poison's effects set in relatively quickly, with complete paralysis after 720 seconds (10 [[time|time units]]) and with death usually occurring after 1300 seconds. In terms of Fortress mode, and depending on the speed of the victim, the venom will paralyze an infected dwarf within two steps and cause death by suffocation soon after.

Giant cave spider venom is only deadly on relatively small creatures, unlike [[giant desert scorpion]] venom. It only tends to induce mild paralysis of members on large creatures such as giants, meaning a giant cave spider cannot typically kill large creatures. However, it will incapacitate and exhaust them very well.

To give you a feeling of how deadly they are in melee, a lone giant cave spider can take on and fight equally with all of the semimegabeasts and most of the megabeasts (with the notable exception of dragons, due to !!giant cave spider!! syndrome). They cannot kill them, but not even a bronze colossus is immune to webs. They are ''more'' dangerous than [[cave dragon]]s and the only thing in the caverns that can reliably win against them is a forgotten beast with webs or ranged attack.

Due to giant cave spiders only attacking the head of a webbed dwarf, a few dwarves armored with steel helmets should be a match for a lone GCS. The coding for all creatures sets headshots as the number one priority if possible, and the web ensures that a headshot is indeed always possible. You may want to avoid using untrained dwarves for this though, because the spider will still counterattack if the dwarf misses, potentially landing a blow on an unprotected area of the dwarf. One way to minimize this problem is to make the dwarf wear full armour.

Fortunately (or unfortunately...), giant cave spiders tend to take time to kill their prey, giving you time to kill the GCS and save the dwarf, if you are so inclined of course. You may however not be able to save the dwarf from the GCS poison.

==Capturing==
Due to the considerable value of giant cave spider silk, many players attempt to capture a live spider and set up a silk farm to boost their fortress's economy. While simply opening a path to the [[cavern]]s and lining it with cage traps may eventually work, a much more effective method is to take advantage of one peculiar behavior of [[building destroyer]]s: simply build a '''[[wood]]en''' [[door]] within the caverns and surround it with cage traps (to a distance of at least 2 tiles), and any giant cave spider (or [[giant toad]], [[giant olm]], [[cave crocodile]], etc.) that wanders relatively close enough to the door will immediately charge toward it and be captured. Or, if you have enough mechanisms, cages and dwarfpower to spare, cage trap all of the cavern exits. If you are extremely lucky, a migrant will arrive with an already tamed GCS.

==Farming Silk==
{{main|Silk farming}}

Giant cave spiders can be a very lucrative and nearly-inexhaustible source of [[silk]] [[thread]] for your [[weaver]]s. The general idea is to expose the spider to a target, causing it to spew [[web]]s which can later be collected. Well-designed silk farms can maximize safety and production, and greatly increase fortress [[wealth]].

==Live training==
:{{main|Live training}}

Pit an entirely metal-armored dwarf (the metal used seems to be unimportant) against a wild giant cave spider. Enjoy as the dwarf gets webbed, then the GCS attempts to bite the dwarf, but fails due to armor.

As it will never attempt any other attack, the GCS will keep biting metal, fail to injure the dwarf, and each attack will train your dwarf in armor using far faster than training or sparring.

As you probably don't want to kill something as rare and precious as a giant cave spider for just training armor user on a dwarf, you may want to set the training area on a lever-linked bridge, then pull the lever and fling/let fall the GCS on cage traps, therefore separating harmlessly the dwarf and the GCS.

{{gamedata}}
{{Creatures}}
{{Category|Animals}}
[[ru:Giant Cave Spider]]

Tavern

2016-01-01T01:32:57Z

Greycat: visitors and tavern rooms

{{Quality|Fine|01:02, 29 September 2013 (UTC)}}
{{av}}
{{new in v0.42}}

==Fortress mode==
A '''Tavern''' is a designated [[location]] in [[Fortress mode]]. It is a place where dwarves and visitors can socialize and entertain each other. Depending on the furnishings, patrons may also drink, eat, or rent a room for sleeping.

A tavern may be designated from a [[meeting area]], or from a [[dining room]]. However, it has [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=154505.0 been reported] that the [[tavern keeper]] occupation only works if there is a meeting area associated with the tavern.{{verify}} Upon creation, the tavern is given a random name; the name may be changed by pressing {{k|n}} in the location screen.

Buildings that are helpful to taverns are [[table]]s and [[chair]]s as well as [[container]]s for storing [[instrument]]s and [[DF2014:Finished_goods#Goblets|goblets]]. There should also be some amount of empty space (''dance floor''). In addition, [[bedroom]]s can be assigned to a tavern by {{k|q}}uerying the [[room]] and selecting {{k|l}}ocation. When bedrooms are assigned to a tavern, they are called "rented rooms" on the location screen. [[Visitor]]s who have petitioned and been granted long-term residency status will assign themselves a rented room in a tavern, if one is available, when they are ready to sleep.

Players who don't think of [[mist]] generators as an overpowered [[exploit]] (or are willing to build them anyway) would be well served putting one in the tavern, since every fortress occupant will find a reason to be there once in a while.

[[Occupation]]s assignable to taverns are [[performer]]s and [[tavern keeper]]s. Tavern keepers serve drinks to patrons in goblets. Tavern patrons can include mercenaries, monster slayers, bandits, diplomats and performers. Performers will entertain the public regardless of how well-equipped the tavern is, but the tavern keepers are hardly ever seen working. Reportedly, the only way to make them not completely useless is to place an [[alcohol]] [[stockpile]] somewhere inside the tavern's location.{{verify}}

==Adventure mode==
Taverns are also generated in settlements in [[Adventure mode]]. Taverns are also visible in the structures list of [[legends]] mode. One similar structure in [[Fortress mode]] is a [[dining room]].

{{Category|Adventurer mode}}

Elk bird

2016-01-01T01:10:52Z

Greycat: tidy up

{{Quality|Exceptional|19:41, 5 July 2010 (UTC)}}
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|fat=10
|horn=2
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|kidney=2
|brain=1
|skull=1
|horn=2
|skin=hide
|gizzard_stone=1
|contrib=no
}}
{{av}}
{{creaturedesc}}

'''Elk birds''' are large flightless birds that can be used as mounts by [[goblin]] siegers. Though they are generally non-hostile, they will interrupt tasks throughout the fortress and, if engaged, will usually kill an untrained dwarf (or even a war dog) in one-on-one combat.

In addition to their meat, bones, organs, etc., elk birds will also produce a single [[feather]] and a [[gizzard stone]] when butchered. They are one of the more common creatures that leave gizzard stones.

Unlike [[elk]], both genders of elk bird have [[horn]]s. This is nice, because elk bird parts are worth even more than elk parts, with a [[value]] multiplier of three.

[[Image:Elkbird.jpg|thumb|left|An elk bird hatchling]]Tamed elk birds require a [[pasture]] to survive. They are notoriously difficult to [[breed]], as an elk bird hen will starve herself to death rather than abandon her [[nest box]]. A well-fed hen can hatch one clutch of eggs before being returned to a nest-box-less pasture to graze; however, infertile eggs or multiple clutches in a row are still problematic.{{bug|4637}}

{{gamedata}}
{{Creatures}}
{{Category|Animals}}

Wagon (embark)

2015-12-29T15:28:44Z

Greycat: rearrange text a bit; a wagon is not useless, so remove that bit

{{Quality|Exceptional|14:00, 31 May 2014 (UTC)}}
{{av}}
:''For information on wagon "creatures" used by [[caravan]]s, see [[Wagon]].''

In [[Fortress mode]], you usually start with a single ''immobile'' '''wagon''' that represents the transportation vehicle for all your supplies. An embark wagon is not a [[wagon|real vehicle]], and never moves - it simply sits there at the start of the game, representing where your dwarves decided to stop. It contains any and all supplies that you selected at [[embark]] and bought with points; supplies cannot be bought later, but your dwarves can (try to) [[trade]] for whatever the seasonal [[caravan]]s bring. Embarking with a large enough quantity of supplies can potentially result in receiving multiple wagons.

In rare cases you might start on a level or spot that doesn't have a 3x3 square (e.g. mountain peak). In this case, your wagon (and its constituent logs) will be missing, but your supplies will still be present, lying in a pile on the ground. In an even rarer case, your dwarves can decide to stop in the middle of a frozen [[river]]. This can be [[fun]] if it is surrounded by [[cliff]]s.

To empty a wagon, your dwarves need the appropriate [[hauling]] [[labor]] enabled (all are enabled by default at embark), no other jobs to distract them, an appropriate [[stockpile]] designated, and a valid [[path]] between the stockpile and the items. And, depending on how many items you brought, patience.

You can break down your wagon into three [[log]]s by pressing {{K|q}} or {{K|t}}, highlighting the wagon, and pressing {{K|x}}. A dwarf with the [[Carpentry]] labor enabled will then deconstruct the wagon into its component logs. Any unhauled supplies will then be scattered in a slightly wider pattern in that same location.

If that dis-assembly is finished while a dwarf is returning to the wagon to [[haul]] an item to a stockpile, the dwarf will cancel that [[job]]. An [[announcement]] will be generated, to the effect of "Job Item lost or misplaced". Don't panic - nothing has been lost, except that dwarf's train of thought, as the item they were retrieving is no longer in the wagon but instead on the ground. They may adopt another hauling job, that same one or a different one, and sooner or later that item will get hauled, but that particular job is cancelled for that moment.

Dismantling the wagon when it's very near (1-2 tiles) the edge of the map or a [[river]] can cause you to lose part of your embark equipment if it lands where your dwarves can't go. If it's within a couple tiles of such a location, it's recommended you wait until the wagon is 100% empty before dismantling it.

Unless/until you formally designate a new one, your wagon is a default [[Activity zone#Meeting Area|Meeting Area]] or [[Meeting hall|Meeting Hall]]. A meeting zone is where any [[domestic animal]]s or [[On break|idle]] dwarves will congregate in their spare time; their presence provides some measure of defense for your possessions from any [[rhesus macaque]]s or [[kobold]] [[thief|thieves]] before you finish securing your valuables. If you deconstruct your wagon but do not define a new meeting area, your dwarves and animals will wander aimlessly across ''the entire map''. Depending on where you embarked, this will be either a nuisance or dangerously [[fun]].

If you embark in a [[Glacier]] biome and are slow in moving your embark items underground, you will lose them and the wagon to [[wear]].

Of note is the fact that channeling out and collapsing of the ground under a wagon does not allow the wagon to survive. The wagon will drop three logs and be destroyed, though any items in the wagon will endure.

{{d for dwarf}}
In the hands of particularly creative [[Modding|modders]], the starting wagon has been known to become a fireball-throwing ultimate defense weapon against sieges.
It should also be noted that wagons are dropped by a trained Roc, which is how they can embark on such strange and improbable locations such as a mountain-top, a [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=76193.msg1929368#msg1929368 Roof], or a volcano.

The wagon can at times also serve as an altar to Armok by spawning on top of Fun, like a pair of named alligators

{{Buildings}}

{{Category|Buildings}}
{{Category|Fortress mode}}

Vampire

2015-12-29T14:22:18Z

Greycat: /* Identification */ no more On Break, no more DT name exploit

{{Quality|Exceptional|05:09, 17 May 2015 (UTC)}}
{{av}}
{{buggy}}
{{minorspoiler}}

'''Vampires''' {{Tile|Ñ|4:0}} are [[night creature]]s that feed on blood, cursed during [[world generation]] by profaning against their [[Deity|gods]]. In [[fortress mode]], they occasionally appear in migrant waves and hide themselves amongst your dwarves. Vampirism can be further spread by [[thirst|drinking]] either vampire [[blood]] or [[water]] contaminated by said vampire blood.

==Description==
Vampires, like other [[night creature]]s, are created during [[world generation]]. Every once in a while a deity will curse a worshiper who smites their temple or otherwise offends them, cursing them to become either a vampire or [[werebeast]]. By far most vampires will be human or dwarven, but since civilizations can have members not of their foundation race, the occasional vampiric [[goblin]] or [[elf]] will also occur. The amount of vampires created during world generation is closely related with world size, population, and history.

Vampires are much more powerful than normal humanoids, possessing enhanced speed, strength, stamina, and pain resistance in combat, don't need [[food|food]], do not need to breathe (and thus cannot drown), and never get [[sleep|drowsy]]. They do, however, get thirsty, albeit not in the normal way; vampires thirst for warm fresh [[blood]], and will suck [[unconscious]] [[creature]]s (usually others of their own kind) dry given the chance, usually killing them. In the rare case that the victims survive and recover, they will not remember what happened to them, and may very well fall victim once more. It appears that when a vampire feeds successfully they receive a large happiness boost.

Vampires do not [[age]], and most vampires live for hundreds or even thousands of years. Thus all but the youngest vampires are more [[skill]]ed and more experienced than their peers, spurred on by the countless lives detailed on their [[kill list]]s and they are hiding their true identities. This makes them natural candidates for leadership, and thus vampiric [[monarch]]s are a not uncommon sight atop [[civilization]]s, which do not seem to wonder as to how their king has been alive for so many centuries.

Younger vampires stalk the streets of towns and cities, indistinguishable from the average mortal, and drink the blood of unsuspecting innocents. Elder vampires, those with power and ambition, mislead the gullible and power-hungry into forming vampire cults dedicated to worshipping and feeding their master. Should a vampire rise to a position of power in mortal society, it may deign to expose itself and impose a rule of tyranny upon the subjects who so unknowingly elevated it to power.

None of your seven starting dwarves will ever be vampires, nor will [[child]]ren or babies, [[caravan]]s, [[siege]]s{{verify}}, [[ambush]]es{{verify}}, or [[thief|thieves]]{{verify}}, but any of the rest of your dwarves can be. (Foreign diplomats can be vampires, and will be labeled as such.)

== Habits ==
Vampires are secretive and, for better or for worse, a fairly common occurrence. Many fortresses can expect to see a vampire resident within the first few years, and some may see two or more. Vampires arrive with a false name and hide their true name and kill list until they are discovered. They act as do any other dwarves, performing jobs which are assigned to them and generally acting as expected, except for differences too small to notice easily in any sizable population: They do not eat, drink or sleep. They can be [[military|drafted]], assigned to [[burrow]]s, be given [[room]]s (because they do not sleep, Vampires will not claim rooms on their own{{verify}}), and own items.

The most important difference is that sometimes (when? how often?), they drink the blood of dwarves that they catch sleeping. If any tame animals somehow fall asleep (for instance, via a syndrome), vampires will drink their blood as willingly as they will a dwarf's. If a vampire is in the military and has current station orders he may ignore them and search out a victim, still displaying 'station'. If the orders are canceled they will switch to 'on break'.{{verify}}

If vampires are caught in the act of draining a victim, their crime will be reported in the [[justice]] [[menu|screen]] as murder (they will not, however, stop drinking when caught). If only the corpse is discovered, the crime will be labeled as a murder sans suspects, and the player can accuse dwarves of the act. Even in the case that someone is accused, be aware that the deceitful vampire is capable of framing others for its crimes to send suspicion away for a time.

If a vampire is killed, the corpse will bear the original name of the creature rather than that of the dwarf who was seen to die, which might lead to some confusion among managers of such things. A [[coffin]] will be designated for burial of the vampire's cover identity, with the corpse bearing the original name entombed in it. Memorial slabs will be dedicated to the vampire's original name.

== Identification ==
It might be smart to scan the [[thoughts and preferences]] screens of incoming migrants before welcoming them to their new home, as a safety measure; it really sucks when you don't discover you have a vampire until ''after'' they've drained your only legendary [[armorsmith]] of blood.

A dwarf who is suddenly pale or faint for no explained reason is a good but rare indicator that a vampire is around. He was most likely fed upon by a vampire, but survived. Dwarven [[corpse]]s being discovered "drained of blood" are more common; a vampire fed upon them and killed them, and their body was discovered. These dwarves should be buried well, lest an axe-crazy [[ghost]] arise from their death. Dwarves inexplicably going missing for more than a week are another indicator, although this might be the result of dwarven stupidity (e.g. falling down a [[well]], walking off a [[waterfall]], etc.) as well.

Once you suspect you have a vampire, you probably want to know who it is. There are a number of good indicators of a vampire and the more points a dwarf hits, the more likely he is, indeed, a vampire. The difficult vampires to identify are young ones, as they have not had time to build up the indicators that are obvious on older bloodsuckers.

Firstly, there are the consequences of their age. Vampires tend to be high in multiple (4-5+) [[social skill|social]], high in at least one [[military]] [[skill]], and "great" or better in at least one domestic skill. The biggest indicator of a vampire in this version{{verify}} is that they will almost always have more skills (10-15+ easily) at Novice or better than any of your other dwarves. If your new Great Hunter is also a Novice Milker, Shearer, Farmer, Tanner, Carpenter, Stonecrafter, Furnace Operator, Soap Maker, Fisherdwarf, Fish Cleaner, and Fish Dissector... they're almost certainly a vampire. They also tend to have very long lists of [[Thoughts and preferences#Civilization membership|group associations]], on the order of dozens, far more than your normal dwarves. They have abnormally long lists of [[relationships|relations]] and often many, many children, but none of them are present in the fortress (in stark contrast to the spouses, children and siblings whom most dwarves will share their home with). If they are married to a dwarf that is not present in the fortress, this should be treated as especially strong evidence. Note, however, that lacking relatives within the fortress is not a good indicator of being a vampire.

In addition to the brevity of surface thoughts, if you were unfortunate enough to have a dwarf die to a vampire, the culprit will have the "took joy in slaughter lately" thought.

Their [[Personality trait|personality]] can also be scrutinized for abnormalities. Their biographies may indicate that they "have the appearance of somebody who is (x) years old," a very good indicator of a vampire in cases where they have too many children or too many civilization associations to be that young. As vampires do not eat, sleep, or drink, they will never have recent thoughts about meals, drinks, beds, dining rooms, or chairs, leaving their thoughts especially bare and suspicious. In the case of vampires who have been in the fort for a while, a comment may be added to the effect that "s/he could really use a drink," "s/he has not had a drink in far, far too long," or "can't even remember the last time s/he had some." This is an indicator that they need blood. In any case, if alcohol is available, it makes an excellent distinguishing mark.{{verify}}

There are two "normal" ways to be absolutely sure a dwarf is a vampire. The first is to catch them in the act; the dwarf will be clearly marked for the duration of the attack (i.e. Urist McUrist, Vampire on the [[unit list]], in red). A vampire does not mind if the player is currently "watching" or even following it. The second is to have a dwarf witness the event happening. This will permanently uncover their identities, but almost always results in a dead dwarf first. More arcane are indicators based on their physical abilities; vampires with injured guts do not [[vomit]], vampires with injured lungs have no problem "breathing", and submerged vampires will not [[drown]] (evoking the concept of an olden witch test for finding vampirism). Technically being undead, animated corpses will not evoke cancellation spam when a vampire sees them. An easy (albeit, [[exploit|cheap]]) way of screening migrants is to send them through a hallway with a zombie on the other side of fortifications/windows in clear sight. Normal dwarves will run away from the horrible sight of a harmless zombie but vampire dwarves will walk right through.

Vampires often will accuse an innocent dwarf of their murders. This can point the savvy fort manager to the culprit as quickly as an honest witness to the crime. If an accusation from a single witness appears in the justice screen, it is likely false. Monitor the accused dwarf until you see them eat, drink, or sleep, which proves them innocent.

<strike>Feeding is treated as a job by the game, and thus appears in the Job List with the text 'On Break' in cyan. It is possible that the genuine 'On Break' (teal) and the fake 'On Break' (cyan) occupy different positions in the Job List.</strike> (Version 0.42 has no more "On Break", so we need to research this.)

Looking at the [[deity|deities]] that the dwarf believes in (in the {{k|r}}elationships screen) can be quite helpful. As long as only "cursed" vampires immigrate (and not blood drinking ones), one of the deities of a vampire should have a "cursed the dwarf [untrue alias] . . ." Lacking this clause in their deities seems to be a clear sign that you do ''not'' have a vampire. This non-bugged way of checking a vampire is linked to the "cheap" bugged way of checking of vampires, which is described in the final paragraph.

Then there are the (in Dwarf Fortress, inevitable) bugged ways. As mentioned in the [[#Bugs|bugs]] section, vampires can be discovered and identified in [[statue]]s and [[engraving]], through their refusal to claim [[bed]]rooms, through [[pet|adoption events]], and through [[weapon]] [[kill list]]s. Additionally, if you have the vampire on follow, their title will change from their usual one ("Dwarf A") to "Dwarf A Vampire" when they are doing certain activities.

There are a few "cheap" ways as well. [[Utilities#DFHack|DFHack]] has a special command, "cursecheck," which returns the count of cursed creatures on a tile, and will report vampires. Checking out a drained dwarf in [[Legends]] mode will tell you that "In the year Z X was drained of all blood by Y."

To see if a vampire was cursed by a deity that it worships, look under the <s>vampire's</s> dwarf's relationships and view the deities that are listed. Give the dwarf a nickname and, when viewing the deity relationship, it will say: "In the [season description] of [year], [deity] cursed the dwarf vampire [nickname you chose] [dwarf's original name] to prowl the night in search of blood in [original location]". Since the nickname applies retroactively, this is a sure way to identify a vampire that happens to worship the deity that cursed it. This method is very tedious when looking at many suspects, and may apply to only a small fraction of vampires, so you should probably use it after trying the more obvious signs (like many former associations, or tags after "needs alcohol to get through the working day").

Finally, a suspected vampire will have an unusually large amount of kills, if you are using a utility such as [[Utilities#Dwarf Therapist|Dwarf Therapist]] and you go to the military tab and filter by kills, they will have a very high amount of kills

== Defense ==
Vampires attack and drink from dwarves who are sleeping, so one defense is to force all dwarves to sleep and meet in the same room, increasing the likelihood of eyewitnesses catching the monster in the act. Curiously, even if convicted of a vampiric murder, a vampire will not necessarily be killed, but given a normal justice penalty such as temporary imprisonment. If you want to get rid of him/her you will have to take [[justice]] into your own hands and introduce the leech to a pit of lava, bottomless pit, arena fight, dropping tower, or other elimination method of your choice. Take note that vampires do not breathe, so using drowning chambers will not work. Using burning chambers(like drowning chambers, but with magma instead of water), however, will work. This can be facilitated through the use of burrows, but you will need to be fast when using those because vampires do ''not'' respect burrow restrictions if they decide to get another [[Blood|drink]]. However, one must take care that the vampire is properly memorialized because even the ghosts of vampires will seek out your sleeping citizens and kill them.

== Uses ==
If you can correctly identify a vampire and isolate it from the rest of your population, you can make use of them without fear of blood feedings. A lone vampire in a sealed room will never die of hunger or thirst, doesn't need to sleep, and will never age. The only way a vampire can die (without your vengeful intervention) is in combat or through syndromes. Sealing it somewhere prevents those. The only remaining risk is that the vampire may turn mad eventually, which without access to other dwarfs to [[relationships|relate to]] shouldn't be very likely. Even [[insanity]] is not the end for a vampire - since they remain physically needless, an insane vampire can still live forever, and non-berserk insane vampires remain citizens of your fort. They will be completely unusable for any work, but a locked-up melancholic or stark raving mad vampire is just as immortal as a sane one and can't be elected mayor. If they get loose, they will not drain your citizens of blood, but melancholic vampires may attempt to end their own existence, given the opportunity.

Once you have your sealed vampire, your fortress becomes effectively eternal, since the vampire will always be alive even if the infamous [[Losing|fun]] claims your entire population. Be wary of [[ghost]]s, though, as they are the only being capable of reaching your vampire's eternal prison. Simply wait for the fun to pass and new immigrants to repopulate your otherwise abandoned fort.

Consider placing a chair and table in your vampire's sealed room and making them an undead accountant. As they have nothing to do but sit around for eternity, once they get their skills up, they may make exceedingly effective [[manager]]s/[[record keeper]]s. Work orders and stockpile updates currently seem to be psychically transmitted from the desk of the dwarf assigned to those labors, so entombing them in their office isn't an issue. However, vampire dwarves are still alcoholics, yet cannot drink anything but blood; the resulting job performance penalty from the "can't even remember the last time he/she had some" level of [[Drink|alcohol withdrawal]] significantly reduces the usefulness of vampires in this sort of role.

A cloistered vampire can also be used as a sleepless, un-eating and drinking dwarf who is always ready for some [[pull lever|lever pulling]], even if the rest of your dwarves die. With all that said, having an eternally cloistered vampire is not without drawbacks. As vampires do not drink, yet are still alcohol-dependent, they will eventually suffer performance penalties and take longer breaks. This can have fatal consequences if you need the lever to keep the goblin siege outside pulled ''now''. Since dwarves get unhappy [[thought]]s from having their clothes rot away, a vampire that's been naked for years is quite prone to [[tantrum]]ing or going [[insanity|insane]], which can lead to [[Fun|even worse outcomes]] should he be assigned to the lever room. Of course, you could drop him some clothes from a chute, but what fun is that when there are [[cave-in|other]] [[dwarven atom smasher|things]] [[Magma|to]] [[Goblin|drop]] [[Kobold|from]] [[Noble|above?]] Or you could assign the vampire to a squad and supply him with a set of armor, as armor doesn't wear out. Another way to mitigate cloistered vampire unhappiness is to convict them of one or more of their murders after they've been sealed in; they will eventually derive happiness from having their punishment "delayed".

Vampires do increase their stats like other dwarves, so that a weak vampire may be easily upgraded into a mighty one by using him as a miner or easily trained into a legendary swimmer. A vampire craftsdwarf may be burrow-limited to his workshop plus a stockpile or a miner restricted to specific mining levels, avoiding any other miners. It will be safe, if all of the miners have separate, assigned bedrooms.

If a vampire gets injured enough to lose teeth and control of their limbs, the vampire may be in and out of the [[hospital]] frequently for a long time which gives your medical team lots experience fast. This can be very useful if the [[biome]] and [[surroundings]] make it so the hospital doesn't see too many patients.

If you have no better idea you can use a vampire to explore the caverns; they are usually good fighters with military experience and will not run off to refill their waterskin.

So, in general, when under control, vampires tend to be much more useful and valuable than most of your non-bloodsucking dwarves. Without access to any sleeping places or hospitals, they tend to be totally harmless to other dwarves.

== Unfortunate accidents ==
Although keeping a single vampire in eternal solitary confinement can be a bonus for any fortress, it is always important to be capable of killing them whenever necessary (especially if the peasants unwittingly elect one as their leader and an [[unfortunate accident]] becomes necessary). However, vampires have certain abilities which will make it more difficult to properly take care of them - they cannot drown, and their physical strengths could make them tougher to kill with regular weapons. Fortunately, they are not resistant to [[Dwarven atom smasher|high-tech particle physics experimentation]].

==Playing as a vampire==
By drinking the blood of a vampire in adventure mode, you immediately become a vampire. You will be able to feed on other creatures by using {{k|e}} and choosing the "Feed" option on an unconscious target. On becoming a vampire, Strength, Agility and Toughness are doubled. This is a multiplier effect applied to these attributes and while the effected stats are doubled, the displayed attributes in the statistics menu will not change. As a result, your adventurer can have average strength in the attributes menu but their description will show them as extremely muscular. Physical attributes such as endurance are still able to increase after becoming a vampire.

If you have become a vampire, all warm, blood-bearing bodies that you can't directly see from your position will appear as {{Raw Tile|☼|4:0:1}} tiles. Your {{DFtext|Thirsty}} indicator will also show up as red, instead of blue.

Due to such conditions, it is relatively impossible to quench your thirst (on any member of a civilization) without antagonizing any of your companions, and even if you don't have any, there's still that chance that your victim might wake up in the middle of your feast and effectively set a whole civilization against you. One way to counter this is to raid goblin/bandit camps, concentrating on one lone weak unit far from any comrades, beat them till they give in to pain (but not to death) and then feed on them directly. You can do the same with wildlife, although some of them may be more aggressive and most might die too quickly. You can also try to strangle your foes; they instantly pass out and will not die unless you keep on strangling them for a long time. For instructions on chokeholds, see the [[Wrestler#Chokehold and strangling|relevant article]]. Another solution is finding some indoor place with people inside and Sleep so you wake up while they are sleeping. Your companions go wait outside while you sleep, so you have a brief time-window to suck someone who is asleep.

After becoming a vampire, you become invincible to zombies, since you're now a night creature. It is usually preferred to raid a necromancer tower alone, because bringing companions will only get them killed, and your agility when you become a vampire will rise drastically anyway, causing you to outrun them. This increased agility will also give you better odds against bogeymen and night trolls, since you'll be quicker than both.

Playing as a vampire is a strong advantage, assuming you can manage your bloodthirst. The most convenient method of drinking blood is to wield a blunt weapon such as a mace: as long as you don't strike the head, enemies rarely bleed out or suffocate from blunt damage and it's easy to force them to give in to the pain. Interestingly, your allies don't seem to care if you drink blood from enemies (Actually as of 40.24 it seems companions actually do care and this can cause a loyalty cascade. It doesn't seem to matter if it's an animal or a sentient being), and blood can be drunk in a single turn in combat (occasionally killing the creature, depending on its size and your thirst). Vampire bloodthirst shows up less often than normal thirst, and can usually be slaked in a single feeding from a human-sized opponent. Feeding from smaller animals, such as dingos, is possible but multiple feedings may be necessary.

Vampires, as noted before, do not need to eat, nor drink (normal fluids), nor sleep. As an adventurer, this is a huge advantage, as you don't need to stop, or worry about carrying consumables. As long as there's living, pain-feeling enemies, you can feed. Vampires also do not need to breathe and do not tire. They can swim as long as necessary and cannot drown, even to the extent of being able to swim oceans. A sufficiently skilled and armed vampire is essentially immortal for all intents and purposes.

== Adventure Mode ==

=== Finding the Vampire ===

There are several ways to find a vampire in Adventure Mode.

* Ask local citizens (not nobles, hearthpersons or travelers) about "troubles" and "beasts" will usually point out the nearest ones first.
* Filter the Events list of the Log or the rumor list in conversation for a location nearby. Vampires will be included among 'Beast' entries in the log, in rumor topics they vaguely identify someone's presence in a location and you will have to ask the rumor to get particulars.

Note: Always check the Log Entry's text for the date, as many stale reports will remain active rumors. Ask a knowledgeable traveler to learn their most recent location. If they can't guide you within the site of their last reported location, the vampire is most likely already slain.

Vampires will always have a flashing sprite. If the vampire has been outed, they may also be hostile. If not, you may simply examine NPC's for bone jewelry. This is not fool-proof in 40.11, as veteran soldiers and mercenaries may also wear bone trophies, and more recent vampires may wear none. Accusing the suspect of being a night creature will reveal for certain. A vampire exposed either way also becomes an enemy of the site government and civilization, and therefore fair game to kill.

=== Killing the Vampire ===

Vampires in Adventure Mode that are in hiding always wield the basic knife all villagers wield and basic clothing. They may also wear jewellery. Their lousy weapons make them a lower threat than you might think. Old vampires with large kill lists still may not be all that effective in combat, since most of their kills are likely stealthy, non combat kills a la Fortress Mode vampires. In some cases the vampire may be accompanied by cultists who will assist the bloodsucker in combat.

Vampires don't breathe or feel pain, so don't bother trying to strangle them or trying to use blunt weapons. Instead just slice them up with something edged, so they rapidly bleed to death, try to decapitate them or use wrestling to break their weapon arm and then finish them off at your leisure.

Vampires attack anyone around them once exposed, so if you like you can allow him to begin attacking random civilians and target him while he's busy or even allow them to weaken him.

=== Becoming a vampire by toppling statues ===

{{new in v0.42}}
As of v42 it is now additionally possible to become a vampire by toppling statues in a temple or sanctuary.

Walk up to the statue and topple it with {{K|u}} then {{K|a}}. Toppling a statue in this way will lead you to being cursed: the curse will be either Vampirism or [[DF2014:Werebeast|Werebeast]]. Which curse you get appears to be randomly decided at the time you topple the statue (reloading the game and toppling it again has been confirmed to give the alternate curse.)

==Modding==

It is possible to create your own unique vampire strain by editing the raws. These custom vampires can be outfitted with various abilities only limited by your own creativity. An example would be shapeshifting vampires, firebreathing vampires, superfast vampires, and even vampires with the ability to raise corpses are fairly easy to make by creating a custom ''interaction_customvampirenamehere'' note document.

== Bugs ==
* Dwarven vampires remain dependent on alcohol but will not drink anything except blood in fortress mode, so inevitably end up showing symptoms of [[Alcohol#Consequences of a Sober Fortress|alcohol withdrawal]]. This has not been acknowledged as a bug. {{bug|5189}}
* Statues and engravings may identify dwarves as vampires before it is common knowledge, and may even depict them sucking blood.{{bug|5209}}
* Likewise, [[pet]]s adopted by vampires will identify them as vampires in the adoption [[announcement]].{{bug|5942}}
* Vampires do not bother claiming bedrooms, which doesn't help their disguise.{{bug|5642}}
* Weapon kill lists identify vampires.{{bug|5635}}
* Soldiers will not attack vampires caught red-handed, and can be fooled by their counter-accusations.{{bug|5087}}

{{category|humanoids}}

Vampire

2015-12-29T14:13:09Z

Greycat: /* Habits */ v42 has no more "on break", but we don't know what replaces it for vamps yet

{{Quality|Exceptional|05:09, 17 May 2015 (UTC)}}
{{av}}
{{buggy}}
{{minorspoiler}}

'''Vampires''' {{Tile|Ñ|4:0}} are [[night creature]]s that feed on blood, cursed during [[world generation]] by profaning against their [[Deity|gods]]. In [[fortress mode]], they occasionally appear in migrant waves and hide themselves amongst your dwarves. Vampirism can be further spread by [[thirst|drinking]] either vampire [[blood]] or [[water]] contaminated by said vampire blood.

==Description==
Vampires, like other [[night creature]]s, are created during [[world generation]]. Every once in a while a deity will curse a worshiper who smites their temple or otherwise offends them, cursing them to become either a vampire or [[werebeast]]. By far most vampires will be human or dwarven, but since civilizations can have members not of their foundation race, the occasional vampiric [[goblin]] or [[elf]] will also occur. The amount of vampires created during world generation is closely related with world size, population, and history.

Vampires are much more powerful than normal humanoids, possessing enhanced speed, strength, stamina, and pain resistance in combat, don't need [[food|food]], do not need to breathe (and thus cannot drown), and never get [[sleep|drowsy]]. They do, however, get thirsty, albeit not in the normal way; vampires thirst for warm fresh [[blood]], and will suck [[unconscious]] [[creature]]s (usually others of their own kind) dry given the chance, usually killing them. In the rare case that the victims survive and recover, they will not remember what happened to them, and may very well fall victim once more. It appears that when a vampire feeds successfully they receive a large happiness boost.

Vampires do not [[age]], and most vampires live for hundreds or even thousands of years. Thus all but the youngest vampires are more [[skill]]ed and more experienced than their peers, spurred on by the countless lives detailed on their [[kill list]]s and they are hiding their true identities. This makes them natural candidates for leadership, and thus vampiric [[monarch]]s are a not uncommon sight atop [[civilization]]s, which do not seem to wonder as to how their king has been alive for so many centuries.

Younger vampires stalk the streets of towns and cities, indistinguishable from the average mortal, and drink the blood of unsuspecting innocents. Elder vampires, those with power and ambition, mislead the gullible and power-hungry into forming vampire cults dedicated to worshipping and feeding their master. Should a vampire rise to a position of power in mortal society, it may deign to expose itself and impose a rule of tyranny upon the subjects who so unknowingly elevated it to power.

None of your seven starting dwarves will ever be vampires, nor will [[child]]ren or babies, [[caravan]]s, [[siege]]s{{verify}}, [[ambush]]es{{verify}}, or [[thief|thieves]]{{verify}}, but any of the rest of your dwarves can be. (Foreign diplomats can be vampires, and will be labeled as such.)

== Habits ==
Vampires are secretive and, for better or for worse, a fairly common occurrence. Many fortresses can expect to see a vampire resident within the first few years, and some may see two or more. Vampires arrive with a false name and hide their true name and kill list until they are discovered. They act as do any other dwarves, performing jobs which are assigned to them and generally acting as expected, except for differences too small to notice easily in any sizable population: They do not eat, drink or sleep. They can be [[military|drafted]], assigned to [[burrow]]s, be given [[room]]s (because they do not sleep, Vampires will not claim rooms on their own{{verify}}), and own items.

The most important difference is that sometimes (when? how often?), they drink the blood of dwarves that they catch sleeping. If any tame animals somehow fall asleep (for instance, via a syndrome), vampires will drink their blood as willingly as they will a dwarf's. If a vampire is in the military and has current station orders he may ignore them and search out a victim, still displaying 'station'. If the orders are canceled they will switch to 'on break'.{{verify}}

If vampires are caught in the act of draining a victim, their crime will be reported in the [[justice]] [[menu|screen]] as murder (they will not, however, stop drinking when caught). If only the corpse is discovered, the crime will be labeled as a murder sans suspects, and the player can accuse dwarves of the act. Even in the case that someone is accused, be aware that the deceitful vampire is capable of framing others for its crimes to send suspicion away for a time.

If a vampire is killed, the corpse will bear the original name of the creature rather than that of the dwarf who was seen to die, which might lead to some confusion among managers of such things. A [[coffin]] will be designated for burial of the vampire's cover identity, with the corpse bearing the original name entombed in it. Memorial slabs will be dedicated to the vampire's original name.

== Identification ==
It might be smart to scan the [[thoughts and preferences]] screens of incoming migrants before welcoming them to their new home, as a safety measure; it really sucks when you don't discover you have a vampire until ''after'' they've drained your only legendary [[armorsmith]] of blood.

A dwarf who is suddenly pale or faint for no explained reason is a good but rare indicator that a vampire is around. He was most likely fed upon by a vampire, but survived. Dwarven [[corpse]]s being discovered "drained of blood" are more common; a vampire fed upon them and killed them, and their body was discovered. These dwarves should be buried well, lest an axe-crazy [[ghost]] arise from their death. Dwarves inexplicably going missing for more than a week are another indicator, although this might be the result of dwarven stupidity (e.g. falling down a [[well]], walking off a [[waterfall]], etc.) as well.

Once you suspect you have a vampire, you probably want to know who it is. There are a number of good indicators of a vampire and the more points a dwarf hits, the more likely he is, indeed, a vampire. The difficult vampires to identify are young ones, as they have not had time to build up the indicators that are obvious on older bloodsuckers.

Firstly, there are the consequences of their age. Vampires tend to be high in multiple (4-5+) [[social skill|social]], high in at least one [[military]] [[skill]], and "great" or better in at least one domestic skill. The biggest indicator of a vampire in this version{{verify}} is that they will almost always have more skills (10-15+ easily) at Novice or better than any of your other dwarves. If your new Great Hunter is also a Novice Milker, Shearer, Farmer, Tanner, Carpenter, Stonecrafter, Furnace Operator, Soap Maker, Fisherdwarf, Fish Cleaner, and Fish Dissector... they're almost certainly a vampire. They also tend to have very long lists of [[Thoughts and preferences#Civilization membership|group associations]], on the order of dozens, far more than your normal dwarves. They have abnormally long lists of [[relationships|relations]] and often many, many children, but none of them are present in the fortress (in stark contrast to the spouses, children and siblings whom most dwarves will share their home with). If they are married to a dwarf that is not present in the fortress, this should be treated as especially strong evidence. Note, however, that lacking relatives within the fortress is not a good indicator of being a vampire.

In addition to the brevity of surface thoughts, if you were unfortunate enough to have a dwarf die to a vampire, the culprit will have the "took joy in slaughter lately" thought.

Their [[Personality trait|personality]] can also be scrutinized for abnormalities. Their biographies may indicate that they "have the appearance of somebody who is (x) years old," a very good indicator of a vampire in cases where they have too many children or too many civilization associations to be that young. As vampires do not eat, sleep, or drink, they will never have recent thoughts about meals, drinks, beds, dining rooms, or chairs, leaving their thoughts especially bare and suspicious. In the case of vampires who have been in the fort for a while, a comment may be added to the effect that "s/he could really use a drink," "s/he has not had a drink in far, far too long," or "can't even remember the last time s/he had some." This is an indicator that they need blood. In any case, if alcohol is available, it makes an excellent distinguishing mark.{{verify}}

There are two "normal" ways to be absolutely sure a dwarf is a vampire. The first is to catch them in the act; the dwarf will be clearly marked for the duration of the attack (i.e. Urist McUrist, Vampire on the [[unit list]], in red). A vampire does not mind if the player is currently "watching" or even following it. The second is to have a dwarf witness the event happening. This will permanently uncover their identities, but almost always results in a dead dwarf first. More arcane are indicators based on their physical abilities; vampires with injured guts do not [[vomit]], vampires with injured lungs have no problem "breathing", and submerged vampires will not [[drown]] (evoking the concept of an olden witch test for finding vampirism). Technically being undead, animated corpses will not evoke cancellation spam when a vampire sees them. An easy (albeit, [[exploit|cheap]]) way of screening migrants is to send them through a hallway with a zombie on the other side of fortifications/windows in clear sight. Normal dwarves will run away from the horrible sight of a harmless zombie but vampire dwarves will walk right through.

Vampires often will accuse an innocent dwarf of their murders. This can point the savvy fort manager to the culprit as quickly as an honest witness to the crime. If an accusation from a single witness appears in the justice screen, it is likely false. Monitor the accused dwarf until you see them eat, drink, or sleep, which proves them innocent.

Feeding is treated as a job by the game, and thus appears in the Job List with the text 'On Break' in cyan. It is possible that the genuine 'On Break' (teal) and the fake 'On Break' (cyan) occupy different positions in the Job List.

Looking at the [[deity|deities]] that the dwarf believes in (in the {{k|r}}elationships screen) can be quite helpful. As long as only "cursed" vampires immigrate (and not blood drinking ones), one of the deities of a vampire should have a "cursed the dwarf [untrue alias] . . ." Lacking this clause in their deities seems to be a clear sign that you do ''not'' have a vampire. This non-bugged way of checking a vampire is linked to the "cheap" bugged way of checking of vampires, which is described in the final paragraph.

Then there are the (in Dwarf Fortress, inevitable) bugged ways. As mentioned in the [[#Bugs|bugs]] section, vampires can be discovered and identified in [[statue]]s and [[engraving]], through their refusal to claim [[bed]]rooms, through [[pet|adoption events]], and through [[weapon]] [[kill list]]s. Additionally, if you have the vampire on follow, their title will change from their usual one ("Dwarf A") to "Dwarf A Vampire" when they are doing certain activities.

There are a few "cheap" ways as well. If you use [[DF2012:Utilities#Dwarf Therapist|Dwarf Therapist]], dwarves will be listed by their true name there, and if you find a dwarf on the games' unit screen that is not in the Dwarf Therapist list, or the other way round, you know you've got a vampire. [[DF2012:Utilities#DFHack|DFHack]] has a special command, "cursecheck," which returns the count of cursed creatures on a tile, and will report vampires. Checking out a drained dwarf in [[Legends]] mode will tell you that "In the year Z X was drained of all blood by Y."

To see if a vampire was cursed by a deity that it worships, look under the <s>vampire's</s> dwarf's relationships and view the deities that are listed. Give the dwarf a nickname and, when viewing the deity relationship, it will say: "In the [season description] of [year], [deity] cursed the dwarf vampire [nickname you chose] [dwarf's original name] to prowl the night in search of blood in [original location]". Since the nickname applies retroactively, this is a sure way to identify a vampire that happens to worship the deity that cursed it. This method is very tedious when looking at many suspects, and may apply to only a small fraction of vampires, so you should probably use it after trying the more obvious signs (like many former associations, or tags after "needs alcohol to get through the working day").

Finally, a suspected vampire will have an unusually large amount of kills, if you are using a utility such as [[DF2012:Utilities#Dwarf Therapist|Dwarf Therapist]] and you go to the military tab and filter by kills, they will have a very high amount of kills

== Defense ==
Vampires attack and drink from dwarves who are sleeping, so one defense is to force all dwarves to sleep and meet in the same room, increasing the likelihood of eyewitnesses catching the monster in the act. Curiously, even if convicted of a vampiric murder, a vampire will not necessarily be killed, but given a normal justice penalty such as temporary imprisonment. If you want to get rid of him/her you will have to take [[justice]] into your own hands and introduce the leech to a pit of lava, bottomless pit, arena fight, dropping tower, or other elimination method of your choice. Take note that vampires do not breathe, so using drowning chambers will not work. Using burning chambers(like drowning chambers, but with magma instead of water), however, will work. This can be facilitated through the use of burrows, but you will need to be fast when using those because vampires do ''not'' respect burrow restrictions if they decide to get another [[Blood|drink]]. However, one must take care that the vampire is properly memorialized because even the ghosts of vampires will seek out your sleeping citizens and kill them.

== Uses ==
If you can correctly identify a vampire and isolate it from the rest of your population, you can make use of them without fear of blood feedings. A lone vampire in a sealed room will never die of hunger or thirst, doesn't need to sleep, and will never age. The only way a vampire can die (without your vengeful intervention) is in combat or through syndromes. Sealing it somewhere prevents those. The only remaining risk is that the vampire may turn mad eventually, which without access to other dwarfs to [[relationships|relate to]] shouldn't be very likely. Even [[insanity]] is not the end for a vampire - since they remain physically needless, an insane vampire can still live forever, and non-berserk insane vampires remain citizens of your fort. They will be completely unusable for any work, but a locked-up melancholic or stark raving mad vampire is just as immortal as a sane one and can't be elected mayor. If they get loose, they will not drain your citizens of blood, but melancholic vampires may attempt to end their own existence, given the opportunity.

Once you have your sealed vampire, your fortress becomes effectively eternal, since the vampire will always be alive even if the infamous [[Losing|fun]] claims your entire population. Be wary of [[ghost]]s, though, as they are the only being capable of reaching your vampire's eternal prison. Simply wait for the fun to pass and new immigrants to repopulate your otherwise abandoned fort.

Consider placing a chair and table in your vampire's sealed room and making them an undead accountant. As they have nothing to do but sit around for eternity, once they get their skills up, they may make exceedingly effective [[manager]]s/[[record keeper]]s. Work orders and stockpile updates currently seem to be psychically transmitted from the desk of the dwarf assigned to those labors, so entombing them in their office isn't an issue. However, vampire dwarves are still alcoholics, yet cannot drink anything but blood; the resulting job performance penalty from the "can't even remember the last time he/she had some" level of [[Drink|alcohol withdrawal]] significantly reduces the usefulness of vampires in this sort of role.

A cloistered vampire can also be used as a sleepless, un-eating and drinking dwarf who is always ready for some [[pull lever|lever pulling]], even if the rest of your dwarves die. With all that said, having an eternally cloistered vampire is not without drawbacks. As vampires do not drink, yet are still alcohol-dependent, they will eventually suffer performance penalties and take longer breaks. This can have fatal consequences if you need the lever to keep the goblin siege outside pulled ''now''. Since dwarves get unhappy [[thought]]s from having their clothes rot away, a vampire that's been naked for years is quite prone to [[tantrum]]ing or going [[insanity|insane]], which can lead to [[Fun|even worse outcomes]] should he be assigned to the lever room. Of course, you could drop him some clothes from a chute, but what fun is that when there are [[cave-in|other]] [[dwarven atom smasher|things]] [[Magma|to]] [[Goblin|drop]] [[Kobold|from]] [[Noble|above?]] Or you could assign the vampire to a squad and supply him with a set of armor, as armor doesn't wear out. Another way to mitigate cloistered vampire unhappiness is to convict them of one or more of their murders after they've been sealed in; they will eventually derive happiness from having their punishment "delayed".

Vampires do increase their stats like other dwarves, so that a weak vampire may be easily upgraded into a mighty one by using him as a miner or easily trained into a legendary swimmer. A vampire craftsdwarf may be burrow-limited to his workshop plus a stockpile or a miner restricted to specific mining levels, avoiding any other miners. It will be safe, if all of the miners have separate, assigned bedrooms.

If a vampire gets injured enough to lose teeth and control of their limbs, the vampire may be in and out of the [[hospital]] frequently for a long time which gives your medical team lots experience fast. This can be very useful if the [[biome]] and [[surroundings]] make it so the hospital doesn't see too many patients.

If you have no better idea you can use a vampire to explore the caverns; they are usually good fighters with military experience and will not run off to refill their waterskin.

So, in general, when under control, vampires tend to be much more useful and valuable than most of your non-bloodsucking dwarves. Without access to any sleeping places or hospitals, they tend to be totally harmless to other dwarves.

== Unfortunate accidents ==
Although keeping a single vampire in eternal solitary confinement can be a bonus for any fortress, it is always important to be capable of killing them whenever necessary (especially if the peasants unwittingly elect one as their leader and an [[unfortunate accident]] becomes necessary). However, vampires have certain abilities which will make it more difficult to properly take care of them - they cannot drown, and their physical strengths could make them tougher to kill with regular weapons. Fortunately, they are not resistant to [[Dwarven atom smasher|high-tech particle physics experimentation]].

==Playing as a vampire==
By drinking the blood of a vampire in adventure mode, you immediately become a vampire. You will be able to feed on other creatures by using {{k|e}} and choosing the "Feed" option on an unconscious target. On becoming a vampire, Strength, Agility and Toughness are doubled. This is a multiplier effect applied to these attributes and while the effected stats are doubled, the displayed attributes in the statistics menu will not change. As a result, your adventurer can have average strength in the attributes menu but their description will show them as extremely muscular. Physical attributes such as endurance are still able to increase after becoming a vampire.

If you have become a vampire, all warm, blood-bearing bodies that you can't directly see from your position will appear as {{Raw Tile|☼|4:0:1}} tiles. Your {{DFtext|Thirsty}} indicator will also show up as red, instead of blue.

Due to such conditions, it is relatively impossible to quench your thirst (on any member of a civilization) without antagonizing any of your companions, and even if you don't have any, there's still that chance that your victim might wake up in the middle of your feast and effectively set a whole civilization against you. One way to counter this is to raid goblin/bandit camps, concentrating on one lone weak unit far from any comrades, beat them till they give in to pain (but not to death) and then feed on them directly. You can do the same with wildlife, although some of them may be more aggressive and most might die too quickly. You can also try to strangle your foes; they instantly pass out and will not die unless you keep on strangling them for a long time. For instructions on chokeholds, see the [[Wrestler#Chokehold and strangling|relevant article]]. Another solution is finding some indoor place with people inside and Sleep so you wake up while they are sleeping. Your companions go wait outside while you sleep, so you have a brief time-window to suck someone who is asleep.

After becoming a vampire, you become invincible to zombies, since you're now a night creature. It is usually preferred to raid a necromancer tower alone, because bringing companions will only get them killed, and your agility when you become a vampire will rise drastically anyway, causing you to outrun them. This increased agility will also give you better odds against bogeymen and night trolls, since you'll be quicker than both.

Playing as a vampire is a strong advantage, assuming you can manage your bloodthirst. The most convenient method of drinking blood is to wield a blunt weapon such as a mace: as long as you don't strike the head, enemies rarely bleed out or suffocate from blunt damage and it's easy to force them to give in to the pain. Interestingly, your allies don't seem to care if you drink blood from enemies (Actually as of 40.24 it seems companions actually do care and this can cause a loyalty cascade. It doesn't seem to matter if it's an animal or a sentient being), and blood can be drunk in a single turn in combat (occasionally killing the creature, depending on its size and your thirst). Vampire bloodthirst shows up less often than normal thirst, and can usually be slaked in a single feeding from a human-sized opponent. Feeding from smaller animals, such as dingos, is possible but multiple feedings may be necessary.

Vampires, as noted before, do not need to eat, nor drink (normal fluids), nor sleep. As an adventurer, this is a huge advantage, as you don't need to stop, or worry about carrying consumables. As long as there's living, pain-feeling enemies, you can feed. Vampires also do not need to breathe and do not tire. They can swim as long as necessary and cannot drown, even to the extent of being able to swim oceans. A sufficiently skilled and armed vampire is essentially immortal for all intents and purposes.

== Adventure Mode ==

=== Finding the Vampire ===

There are several ways to find a vampire in Adventure Mode.

* Ask local citizens (not nobles, hearthpersons or travelers) about "troubles" and "beasts" will usually point out the nearest ones first.
* Filter the Events list of the Log or the rumor list in conversation for a location nearby. Vampires will be included among 'Beast' entries in the log, in rumor topics they vaguely identify someone's presence in a location and you will have to ask the rumor to get particulars.

Note: Always check the Log Entry's text for the date, as many stale reports will remain active rumors. Ask a knowledgeable traveler to learn their most recent location. If they can't guide you within the site of their last reported location, the vampire is most likely already slain.

Vampires will always have a flashing sprite. If the vampire has been outed, they may also be hostile. If not, you may simply examine NPC's for bone jewelry. This is not fool-proof in 40.11, as veteran soldiers and mercenaries may also wear bone trophies, and more recent vampires may wear none. Accusing the suspect of being a night creature will reveal for certain. A vampire exposed either way also becomes an enemy of the site government and civilization, and therefore fair game to kill.

=== Killing the Vampire ===

Vampires in Adventure Mode that are in hiding always wield the basic knife all villagers wield and basic clothing. They may also wear jewellery. Their lousy weapons make them a lower threat than you might think. Old vampires with large kill lists still may not be all that effective in combat, since most of their kills are likely stealthy, non combat kills a la Fortress Mode vampires. In some cases the vampire may be accompanied by cultists who will assist the bloodsucker in combat.

Vampires don't breathe or feel pain, so don't bother trying to strangle them or trying to use blunt weapons. Instead just slice them up with something edged, so they rapidly bleed to death, try to decapitate them or use wrestling to break their weapon arm and then finish them off at your leisure.

Vampires attack anyone around them once exposed, so if you like you can allow him to begin attacking random civilians and target him while he's busy or even allow them to weaken him.

=== Becoming a vampire by toppling statues ===

{{new in v0.42}}
As of v42 it is now additionally possible to become a vampire by toppling statues in a temple or sanctuary.

Walk up to the statue and topple it with {{K|u}} then {{K|a}}. Toppling a statue in this way will lead you to being cursed: the curse will be either Vampirism or [[DF2014:Werebeast|Werebeast]]. Which curse you get appears to be randomly decided at the time you topple the statue (reloading the game and toppling it again has been confirmed to give the alternate curse.)

==Modding==

It is possible to create your own unique vampire strain by editing the raws. These custom vampires can be outfitted with various abilities only limited by your own creativity. An example would be shapeshifting vampires, firebreathing vampires, superfast vampires, and even vampires with the ability to raise corpses are fairly easy to make by creating a custom ''interaction_customvampirenamehere'' note document.

== Bugs ==
* Dwarven vampires remain dependent on alcohol but will not drink anything except blood in fortress mode, so inevitably end up showing symptoms of [[Alcohol#Consequences of a Sober Fortress|alcohol withdrawal]]. This has not been acknowledged as a bug. {{bug|5189}}
* Statues and engravings may identify dwarves as vampires before it is common knowledge, and may even depict them sucking blood.{{bug|5209}}
* Likewise, [[pet]]s adopted by vampires will identify them as vampires in the adoption [[announcement]].{{bug|5942}}
* Vampires do not bother claiming bedrooms, which doesn't help their disguise.{{bug|5642}}
* Weapon kill lists identify vampires.{{bug|5635}}
* Soldiers will not attack vampires caught red-handed, and can be fooled by their counter-accusations.{{bug|5087}}

{{category|humanoids}}

Vampire

2015-12-28T17:22:16Z

Greycat: /* Habits */ there'

{{Quality|Exceptional|05:09, 17 May 2015 (UTC)}}
{{av}}
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'''Vampires''' {{Tile|Ñ|4:0}} are [[night creature]]s that feed on blood, cursed during [[world generation]] by profaning against their [[Deity|gods]]. In [[fortress mode]], they occasionally appear in migrant waves and hide themselves amongst your dwarves. Vampirism can be further spread by [[thirst|drinking]] either vampire [[blood]] or [[water]] contaminated by said vampire blood.

==Description==
Vampires, like other [[night creature]]s, are created during [[world generation]]. Every once in a while a deity will curse a worshiper who smites their temple or otherwise offends them, cursing them to become either a vampire or [[werebeast]]. By far most vampires will be human or dwarven, but since civilizations can have members not of their foundation race, the occasional vampiric [[goblin]] or [[elf]] will also occur. The amount of vampires created during world generation is closely related with world size, population, and history.

Vampires are much more powerful than normal humanoids, possessing enhanced speed, strength, stamina, and pain resistance in combat, don't need [[food|food]], do not need to breathe (and thus cannot drown), and never get [[sleep|drowsy]]. They do, however, get thirsty, albeit not in the normal way; vampires thirst for warm fresh [[blood]], and will suck [[unconscious]] [[creature]]s (usually others of their own kind) dry given the chance, usually killing them. In the rare case that the victims survive and recover, they will not remember what happened to them, and may very well fall victim once more. It appears that when a vampire feeds successfully they receive a large happiness boost.

Vampires do not [[age]], and most vampires live for hundreds or even thousands of years. Thus all but the youngest vampires are more [[skill]]ed and more experienced than their peers, spurred on by the countless lives detailed on their [[kill list]]s and they are hiding their true identities. This makes them natural candidates for leadership, and thus vampiric [[monarch]]s are a not uncommon sight atop [[civilization]]s, which do not seem to wonder as to how their king has been alive for so many centuries.

Younger vampires stalk the streets of towns and cities, indistinguishable from the average mortal, and drink the blood of unsuspecting innocents. Elder vampires, those with power and ambition, mislead the gullible and power-hungry into forming vampire cults dedicated to worshipping and feeding their master. Should a vampire rise to a position of power in mortal society, it may deign to expose itself and impose a rule of tyranny upon the subjects who so unknowingly elevated it to power.

None of your seven starting dwarves will ever be vampires, nor will [[child]]ren or babies, [[caravan]]s, [[siege]]s{{verify}}, [[ambush]]es{{verify}}, or [[thief|thieves]]{{verify}}, but any of the rest of your dwarves can be. (Foreign diplomats can be vampires, and will be labeled as such.)

== Habits ==
Vampires are secretive and, for better or for worse, a fairly common occurrence. Many fortresses can expect to see a vampire resident within the first few years, and some may see two or more. Vampires arrive with a false name and hide their true name and kill list until they are discovered. They act as do any other dwarves, performing jobs which are assigned to them and generally acting as expected, except for differences too small to notice easily in any sizable population: They do not eat, drink or sleep. They can be [[military|drafted]], assigned to [[burrow]]s, be given [[room]]s (because they do not sleep, Vampires will not claim rooms on their own{{verify}}), and own items.

The most important difference is that when they go [[on break]]s they will use them for drinking the blood of dwarves that they catch sleeping. If any tame animals somehow fall asleep (for instance, via a syndrome), vampires will drink their blood as willingly as they will a dwarf's. If a vampire is in the military and has current station orders he may ignore them and search out a victim, still displaying 'station'. If the orders are canceled they will switch to 'on break'.

If vampires are caught in the act of draining a victim, their crime will be reported in the [[justice]] [[menu|screen]] as murder (they will not, however, stop drinking when caught). If only the corpse is discovered, the crime will be labeled as a murder sans suspects, and the player can accuse dwarves of the act. Even in the case that someone is accused, be aware that the deceitful vampire is capable of framing others for its crimes to send suspicion away for a time.

If a vampire is killed, the corpse will bear the original name of the creature rather than that of the dwarf who was seen to die, which might lead to some confusion among managers of such things. A [[coffin]] will be designated for burial of the vampire's cover identity, with the corpse bearing the original name entombed in it. Memorial slabs will be dedicated to the vampire's original name.

== Identification ==
It might be smart to scan the [[thoughts and preferences]] screens of incoming migrants before welcoming them to their new home, as a safety measure; it really sucks when you don't discover you have a vampire until ''after'' they've drained your only legendary [[armorsmith]] of blood.

A dwarf who is suddenly pale or faint for no explained reason is a good but rare indicator that a vampire is around. He was most likely fed upon by a vampire, but survived. Dwarven [[corpse]]s being discovered "drained of blood" are more common; a vampire fed upon them and killed them, and their body was discovered. These dwarves should be buried well, lest an axe-crazy [[ghost]] arise from their death. Dwarves inexplicably going missing for more than a week are another indicator, although this might be the result of dwarven stupidity (e.g. falling down a [[well]], walking off a [[waterfall]], etc.) as well.

Once you suspect you have a vampire, you probably want to know who it is. There are a number of good indicators of a vampire and the more points a dwarf hits, the more likely he is, indeed, a vampire. The difficult vampires to identify are young ones, as they have not had time to build up the indicators that are obvious on older bloodsuckers.

Firstly, there are the consequences of their age. Vampires tend to be high in multiple (4-5+) [[social skill|social]], high in at least one [[military]] [[skill]], and "great" or better in at least one domestic skill. The biggest indicator of a vampire in this version{{verify}} is that they will almost always have more skills (10-15+ easily) at Novice or better than any of your other dwarves. If your new Great Hunter is also a Novice Milker, Shearer, Farmer, Tanner, Carpenter, Stonecrafter, Furnace Operator, Soap Maker, Fisherdwarf, Fish Cleaner, and Fish Dissector... they're almost certainly a vampire. They also tend to have very long lists of [[Thoughts and preferences#Civilization membership|group associations]], on the order of dozens, far more than your normal dwarves. They have abnormally long lists of [[relationships|relations]] and often many, many children, but none of them are present in the fortress (in stark contrast to the spouses, children and siblings whom most dwarves will share their home with). If they are married to a dwarf that is not present in the fortress, this should be treated as especially strong evidence. Note, however, that lacking relatives within the fortress is not a good indicator of being a vampire.

In addition to the brevity of surface thoughts, if you were unfortunate enough to have a dwarf die to a vampire, the culprit will have the "took joy in slaughter lately" thought.

Their [[Personality trait|personality]] can also be scrutinized for abnormalities. Their biographies may indicate that they "have the appearance of somebody who is (x) years old," a very good indicator of a vampire in cases where they have too many children or too many civilization associations to be that young. As vampires do not eat, sleep, or drink, they will never have recent thoughts about meals, drinks, beds, dining rooms, or chairs, leaving their thoughts especially bare and suspicious. In the case of vampires who have been in the fort for a while, a comment may be added to the effect that "s/he could really use a drink," "s/he has not had a drink in far, far too long," or "can't even remember the last time s/he had some." This is an indicator that they need blood. In any case, if alcohol is available, it makes an excellent distinguishing mark.{{verify}}

There are two "normal" ways to be absolutely sure a dwarf is a vampire. The first is to catch them in the act; the dwarf will be clearly marked for the duration of the attack (i.e. Urist McUrist, Vampire on the [[unit list]], in red). A vampire does not mind if the player is currently "watching" or even following it. The second is to have a dwarf witness the event happening. This will permanently uncover their identities, but almost always results in a dead dwarf first. More arcane are indicators based on their physical abilities; vampires with injured guts do not [[vomit]], vampires with injured lungs have no problem "breathing", and submerged vampires will not [[drown]] (evoking the concept of an olden witch test for finding vampirism). Technically being undead, animated corpses will not evoke cancellation spam when a vampire sees them. An easy (albeit, [[exploit|cheap]]) way of screening migrants is to send them through a hallway with a zombie on the other side of fortifications/windows in clear sight. Normal dwarves will run away from the horrible sight of a harmless zombie but vampire dwarves will walk right through.

Vampires often will accuse an innocent dwarf of their murders. This can point the savvy fort manager to the culprit as quickly as an honest witness to the crime. If an accusation from a single witness appears in the justice screen, it is likely false. Monitor the accused dwarf until you see them eat, drink, or sleep, which proves them innocent.

Feeding is treated as a job by the game, and thus appears in the Job List with the text 'On Break' in cyan. It is possible that the genuine 'On Break' (teal) and the fake 'On Break' (cyan) occupy different positions in the Job List.

Looking at the [[deity|deities]] that the dwarf believes in (in the {{k|r}}elationships screen) can be quite helpful. As long as only "cursed" vampires immigrate (and not blood drinking ones), one of the deities of a vampire should have a "cursed the dwarf [untrue alias] . . ." Lacking this clause in their deities seems to be a clear sign that you do ''not'' have a vampire. This non-bugged way of checking a vampire is linked to the "cheap" bugged way of checking of vampires, which is described in the final paragraph.

Then there are the (in Dwarf Fortress, inevitable) bugged ways. As mentioned in the [[#Bugs|bugs]] section, vampires can be discovered and identified in [[statue]]s and [[engraving]], through their refusal to claim [[bed]]rooms, through [[pet|adoption events]], and through [[weapon]] [[kill list]]s. Additionally, if you have the vampire on follow, their title will change from their usual one ("Dwarf A") to "Dwarf A Vampire" when they are doing certain activities.

There are a few "cheap" ways as well. If you use [[DF2012:Utilities#Dwarf Therapist|Dwarf Therapist]], dwarves will be listed by their true name there, and if you find a dwarf on the games' unit screen that is not in the Dwarf Therapist list, or the other way round, you know you've got a vampire. [[DF2012:Utilities#DFHack|DFHack]] has a special command, "cursecheck," which returns the count of cursed creatures on a tile, and will report vampires. Checking out a drained dwarf in [[Legends]] mode will tell you that "In the year Z X was drained of all blood by Y."

To see if a vampire was cursed by a deity that it worships, look under the <s>vampire's</s> dwarf's relationships and view the deities that are listed. Give the dwarf a nickname and, when viewing the deity relationship, it will say: "In the [season description] of [year], [deity] cursed the dwarf vampire [nickname you chose] [dwarf's original name] to prowl the night in search of blood in [original location]". Since the nickname applies retroactively, this is a sure way to identify a vampire that happens to worship the deity that cursed it. This method is very tedious when looking at many suspects, and may apply to only a small fraction of vampires, so you should probably use it after trying the more obvious signs (like many former associations, or tags after "needs alcohol to get through the working day").

Finally, a suspected vampire will have an unusually large amount of kills, if you are using a utility such as [[DF2012:Utilities#Dwarf Therapist|Dwarf Therapist]] and you go to the military tab and filter by kills, they will have a very high amount of kills

== Defense ==
Vampires attack and drink from dwarves who are sleeping, so one defense is to force all dwarves to sleep and meet in the same room, increasing the likelihood of eyewitnesses catching the monster in the act. Curiously, even if convicted of a vampiric murder, a vampire will not necessarily be killed, but given a normal justice penalty such as temporary imprisonment. If you want to get rid of him/her you will have to take [[justice]] into your own hands and introduce the leech to a pit of lava, bottomless pit, arena fight, dropping tower, or other elimination method of your choice. Take note that vampires do not breathe, so using drowning chambers will not work. Using burning chambers(like drowning chambers, but with magma instead of water), however, will work. This can be facilitated through the use of burrows, but you will need to be fast when using those because vampires do ''not'' respect burrow restrictions if they decide to get another [[Blood|drink]]. However, one must take care that the vampire is properly memorialized because even the ghosts of vampires will seek out your sleeping citizens and kill them.

== Uses ==
If you can correctly identify a vampire and isolate it from the rest of your population, you can make use of them without fear of blood feedings. A lone vampire in a sealed room will never die of hunger or thirst, doesn't need to sleep, and will never age. The only way a vampire can die (without your vengeful intervention) is in combat or through syndromes. Sealing it somewhere prevents those. The only remaining risk is that the vampire may turn mad eventually, which without access to other dwarfs to [[relationships|relate to]] shouldn't be very likely. Even [[insanity]] is not the end for a vampire - since they remain physically needless, an insane vampire can still live forever, and non-berserk insane vampires remain citizens of your fort. They will be completely unusable for any work, but a locked-up melancholic or stark raving mad vampire is just as immortal as a sane one and can't be elected mayor. If they get loose, they will not drain your citizens of blood, but melancholic vampires may attempt to end their own existence, given the opportunity.

Once you have your sealed vampire, your fortress becomes effectively eternal, since the vampire will always be alive even if the infamous [[Losing|fun]] claims your entire population. Be wary of [[ghost]]s, though, as they are the only being capable of reaching your vampire's eternal prison. Simply wait for the fun to pass and new immigrants to repopulate your otherwise abandoned fort.

Consider placing a chair and table in your vampire's sealed room and making them an undead accountant. As they have nothing to do but sit around for eternity, once they get their skills up, they may make exceedingly effective [[manager]]s/[[record keeper]]s. Work orders and stockpile updates currently seem to be psychically transmitted from the desk of the dwarf assigned to those labors, so entombing them in their office isn't an issue. However, vampire dwarves are still alcoholics, yet cannot drink anything but blood; the resulting job performance penalty from the "can't even remember the last time he/she had some" level of [[Drink|alcohol withdrawal]] significantly reduces the usefulness of vampires in this sort of role.

A cloistered vampire can also be used as a sleepless, un-eating and drinking dwarf who is always ready for some [[pull lever|lever pulling]], even if the rest of your dwarves die. With all that said, having an eternally cloistered vampire is not without drawbacks. As vampires do not drink, yet are still alcohol-dependent, they will eventually suffer performance penalties and take longer breaks. This can have fatal consequences if you need the lever to keep the goblin siege outside pulled ''now''. Since dwarves get unhappy [[thought]]s from having their clothes rot away, a vampire that's been naked for years is quite prone to [[tantrum]]ing or going [[insanity|insane]], which can lead to [[Fun|even worse outcomes]] should he be assigned to the lever room. Of course, you could drop him some clothes from a chute, but what fun is that when there are [[cave-in|other]] [[dwarven atom smasher|things]] [[Magma|to]] [[Goblin|drop]] [[Kobold|from]] [[Noble|above?]] Or you could assign the vampire to a squad and supply him with a set of armor, as armor doesn't wear out. Another way to mitigate cloistered vampire unhappiness is to convict them of one or more of their murders after they've been sealed in; they will eventually derive happiness from having their punishment "delayed".

Vampires do increase their stats like other dwarves, so that a weak vampire may be easily upgraded into a mighty one by using him as a miner or easily trained into a legendary swimmer. A vampire craftsdwarf may be burrow-limited to his workshop plus a stockpile or a miner restricted to specific mining levels, avoiding any other miners. It will be safe, if all of the miners have separate, assigned bedrooms.

If a vampire gets injured enough to lose teeth and control of their limbs, the vampire may be in and out of the [[hospital]] frequently for a long time which gives your medical team lots experience fast. This can be very useful if the [[biome]] and [[surroundings]] make it so the hospital doesn't see too many patients.

If you have no better idea you can use a vampire to explore the caverns; they are usually good fighters with military experience and will not run off to refill their waterskin.

So, in general, when under control, vampires tend to be much more useful and valuable than most of your non-bloodsucking dwarves. Without access to any sleeping places or hospitals, they tend to be totally harmless to other dwarves.

== Unfortunate accidents ==
Although keeping a single vampire in eternal solitary confinement can be a bonus for any fortress, it is always important to be capable of killing them whenever necessary (especially if the peasants unwittingly elect one as their leader and an [[unfortunate accident]] becomes necessary). However, vampires have certain abilities which will make it more difficult to properly take care of them - they cannot drown, and their physical strengths could make them tougher to kill with regular weapons. Fortunately, they are not resistant to [[Dwarven atom smasher|high-tech particle physics experimentation]].

==Playing as a vampire==
By drinking the blood of a vampire in adventure mode, you immediately become a vampire. You will be able to feed on other creatures by using {{k|e}} and choosing the "Feed" option on an unconscious target. On becoming a vampire, Strength, Agility and Toughness are doubled. This is a multiplier effect applied to these attributes and while the effected stats are doubled, the displayed attributes in the statistics menu will not change. As a result, your adventurer can have average strength in the attributes menu but their description will show them as extremely muscular. Physical attributes such as endurance are still able to increase after becoming a vampire.

If you have become a vampire, all warm, blood-bearing bodies that you can't directly see from your position will appear as {{Raw Tile|☼|4:0:1}} tiles. Your {{DFtext|Thirsty}} indicator will also show up as red, instead of blue.

Due to such conditions, it is relatively impossible to quench your thirst (on any member of a civilization) without antagonizing any of your companions, and even if you don't have any, there's still that chance that your victim might wake up in the middle of your feast and effectively set a whole civilization against you. One way to counter this is to raid goblin/bandit camps, concentrating on one lone weak unit far from any comrades, beat them till they give in to pain (but not to death) and then feed on them directly. You can do the same with wildlife, although some of them may be more aggressive and most might die too quickly. You can also try to strangle your foes; they instantly pass out and will not die unless you keep on strangling them for a long time. For instructions on chokeholds, see the [[Wrestler#Chokehold and strangling|relevant article]]. Another solution is finding some indoor place with people inside and Sleep so you wake up while they are sleeping. Your companions go wait outside while you sleep, so you have a brief time-window to suck someone who is asleep.

After becoming a vampire, you become invincible to zombies, since you're now a night creature. It is usually preferred to raid a necromancer tower alone, because bringing companions will only get them killed, and your agility when you become a vampire will rise drastically anyway, causing you to outrun them. This increased agility will also give you better odds against bogeymen and night trolls, since you'll be quicker than both.

Playing as a vampire is a strong advantage, assuming you can manage your bloodthirst. The most convenient method of drinking blood is to wield a blunt weapon such as a mace: as long as you don't strike the head, enemies rarely bleed out or suffocate from blunt damage and it's easy to force them to give in to the pain. Interestingly, your allies don't seem to care if you drink blood from enemies (Actually as of 40.24 it seems companions actually do care and this can cause a loyalty cascade. It doesn't seem to matter if it's an animal or a sentient being), and blood can be drunk in a single turn in combat (occasionally killing the creature, depending on its size and your thirst). Vampire bloodthirst shows up less often than normal thirst, and can usually be slaked in a single feeding from a human-sized opponent. Feeding from smaller animals, such as dingos, is possible but multiple feedings may be necessary.

Vampires, as noted before, do not need to eat, nor drink (normal fluids), nor sleep. As an adventurer, this is a huge advantage, as you don't need to stop, or worry about carrying consumables. As long as there's living, pain-feeling enemies, you can feed. Vampires also do not need to breathe and do not tire. They can swim as long as necessary and cannot drown, even to the extent of being able to swim oceans. A sufficiently skilled and armed vampire is essentially immortal for all intents and purposes.

== Adventure Mode ==

=== Finding the Vampire ===

There are several ways to find a vampire in Adventure Mode.

* Ask local citizens (not nobles, hearthpersons or travelers) about "troubles" and "beasts" will usually point out the nearest ones first.
* Filter the Events list of the Log or the rumor list in conversation for a location nearby. Vampires will be included among 'Beast' entries in the log, in rumor topics they vaguely identify someone's presence in a location and you will have to ask the rumor to get particulars.

Note: Always check the Log Entry's text for the date, as many stale reports will remain active rumors. Ask a knowledgeable traveler to learn their most recent location. If they can't guide you within the site of their last reported location, the vampire is most likely already slain.

Vampires will always have a flashing sprite. If the vampire has been outed, they may also be hostile. If not, you may simply examine NPC's for bone jewelry. This is not fool-proof in 40.11, as veteran soldiers and mercenaries may also wear bone trophies, and more recent vampires may wear none. Accusing the suspect of being a night creature will reveal for certain. A vampire exposed either way also becomes an enemy of the site government and civilization, and therefore fair game to kill.

=== Killing the Vampire ===

Vampires in Adventure Mode that are in hiding always wield the basic knife all villagers wield and basic clothing. They may also wear jewellery. Their lousy weapons make them a lower threat than you might think. Old vampires with large kill lists still may not be all that effective in combat, since most of their kills are likely stealthy, non combat kills a la Fortress Mode vampires. In some cases the vampire may be accompanied by cultists who will assist the bloodsucker in combat.

Vampires don't breathe or feel pain, so don't bother trying to strangle them or trying to use blunt weapons. Instead just slice them up with something edged, so they rapidly bleed to death, try to decapitate them or use wrestling to break their weapon arm and then finish them off at your leisure.

Vampires attack anyone around them once exposed, so if you like you can allow him to begin attacking random civilians and target him while he's busy or even allow them to weaken him.

=== Becoming a vampire by toppling statues ===

{{new in v0.42}}
As of v42 it is now additionally possible to become a vampire by toppling statues in a temple or sanctuary.

Walk up to the statue and topple it with {{K|u}} then {{K|a}}. Toppling a statue in this way will lead you to being cursed: the curse will be either Vampirism or [[DF2014:Werebeast|Werebeast]]. Which curse you get appears to be randomly decided at the time you topple the statue (reloading the game and toppling it again has been confirmed to give the alternate curse.)

==Modding==

It is possible to create your own unique vampire strain by editing the raws. These custom vampires can be outfitted with various abilities only limited by your own creativity. An example would be shapeshifting vampires, firebreathing vampires, superfast vampires, and even vampires with the ability to raise corpses are fairly easy to make by creating a custom ''interaction_customvampirenamehere'' note document.

== Bugs ==
* Dwarven vampires remain dependent on alcohol but will not drink anything except blood in fortress mode, so inevitably end up showing symptoms of [[Alcohol#Consequences of a Sober Fortress|alcohol withdrawal]]. This has not been acknowledged as a bug. {{bug|5189}}
* Statues and engravings may identify dwarves as vampires before it is common knowledge, and may even depict them sucking blood.{{bug|5209}}
* Likewise, [[pet]]s adopted by vampires will identify them as vampires in the adoption [[announcement]].{{bug|5942}}
* Vampires do not bother claiming bedrooms, which doesn't help their disguise.{{bug|5642}}
* Weapon kill lists identify vampires.{{bug|5635}}
* Soldiers will not attack vampires caught red-handed, and can be fooled by their counter-accusations.{{bug|5087}}

{{category|humanoids}}

Ivory

2015-12-23T20:16:49Z

Greycat: Tusks.

{{Quality|Fine|08:16, 10 August 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

'''Ivory''' is a resource used to create or decorate crafts at the [[craftsdwarf's workshop]]. The exact material category when crafting is "ivory/tooth", signifying that specific kinds of teeth (the tusks of large animals) are needed for the job.

Tusks are obtained from [[butcher]]ing or slaughtering certain animals at the [[butcher's shop]]: elephants, gorlaks, narwhals, walruses, warthogs, and wild boars. [[Troll]]s also have tusks, but dwarves will not butcher them.

[[Combat]] may knock teeth loose from the mouths of dwarves, animals and invaders. Such knocked-out teeth are not usable for crafting. As a rule, if the creature does not drop teeth or ivory when butchered, its teeth are not craft-worthy.

[[Goblin]]s will often wear [[jewelry]] made of [[troll]] ivory.

{{Translation
| dwarven = sosad
| elvish = ciquara
| goblin = stuz
| human = bemeh
}}

Mass pitting

2015-12-23T13:27:43Z

Greycat: /* Bugs */

{{TipBox2|titlebg=#c00|textbg=#ffd|Warning!|There have been multiple reports of hostile creatures escaping confinement while pitting. In previous versions, only "thief" type creatures, flyers, or large creatures like titans would escape using this system. The 0.40 behavior is still being investigated. If in doubt, build the cage manually or have sufficient military hanging around the top stockpile area.}}

{{Quality|Exceptional|18:43, 24 January 2014 (UTC)}}
{{projects}}
{{av}}
{{buggy}}

'''Mass pitting''' refers to [[Activity_zone#Pit.2FPond|pitting]] many [[cage]]d creatures at one time without having to build each cage and link it to a lever. This allows you to recycle many cages quickly, freeing them up for reuse in [[Trap#Cage_Trap|cage traps]] in minimal time.

=Mass Pitting System=
:Also called the '''Mass Cage Recycling System'''.
Here's a simple design that keeps you from having to build cages before releasing hostile creatures from them. This is safe for most hostiles, but see warnings below.

==Building==

#Dig out a room and another room of at least the same size directly below it.
#In the upper room [[channel]] out openings into the lower room which are evenly spaced and exactly 2 tiles away from each other ''(see image below)''.
#Build floor [[hatch]]es and place them over all of the openings.
#Mark each hatch [[forbid]]den and [[Door#Usage|tightly closed]] to pets (''not'' "locked"). ''(In experiments this has been shown to help stop normal creatures in 0.40.xx from escaping.)''
#Place one big [[Stockpile#Animal|animal stockpile]] over the room such that every tile in the stockpile is adjacent ([[orthogonal]]ly or diagonally) to one of the hatches. Disable "empty cages" on the stockpile.
#Create '''one''' large [[Activity_zone#Pit.2FPond|pit zone]] that covers '''all''' of the openings such that all of them are part of the same pit zone. This is critical to prevent hostiles from being led around and spooking your civilians.
#Disable all other animal stockpiles except for one empty-cage-only "animal" stockpile somewhere.
#See [[Mass pitting#The Pit|below]] for some suggestions on what to drop your invaders into.

The top room should end up looking something like this:

<diagram>

=========
=[@6:0][#0:0]¢[#@]==[@6:0][#0:0]¢[#@]==[@6:0][#0:0]¢[#@]=
=========
=========
=[@6:0][#0:0]¢[#@]==[@6:0][#0:0]¢[#@]==[@6:0][#0:0]¢[#@]=
=========

= Stockpile

[@6:0][#0:0]¢[#@] Hatch cover

</diagram>

The bottom room can look like whatever you want as long as all of the openings you channeled out lead into it from the ceiling.

Obviously you can scale the design with more or fewer hatch openings to get a larger or smaller stockpile area in the upper room, but a 6x9 room with 6 hatches in allows you to empty out 48 cages very quickly, without spooking dwarves, which is ample for most players - ymmv.

Variations of this design exist, but they all use the same basic principle - that is, all hostiles in cages must be directly adjacent to a suitable pit. Dwarves must not be required to haul hostile creatures across any distance or else they can become startled and release the dangerous creature, then free to do as it will.

==Use==

Before pitting your captives, you may wish to [[Cage#How_to_disarm_hostiles_in_cages|disarm them]] -- depending on what you've built for them to fall into.

Now, wait for the stockpile above to fill and assign creatures to the pit all in one shot. Being pitted through the hatches will keep dwarves from being spooked by hostile creatures below and with all cages directly adjacent to pits creatures can be dumped in instantly without having to be led around.

A mass of dwarves will pile into the room, pit the creatures at the about same time, and haul the empty cages off to your empty cage stockpile. The poor pathetic creatures they pitted will then be left to the mercy of whatever is at the bottom of the pits.

==The Pit==

After your dwarves have dumped out the cages the inhabitants will be dropped into the room below. Here you can find some suggestions on its construction:

====Drowning chamber====

Fill up the room below with water and watch as the invaders drown. Requires only some buckets and a water source. May be difficult or troublesome to recover anything dropped into the waters below. Consider a filling and draining method using floodgates bordered by fortifications. Ensure that the hatches over the openings are permamently set to forbidden, otherwise things can and will swim back into the room above resulting in [[Losing|fun]]. Dwarves will not have an issue dumping things through the forbidden hatches.

EX

This is a possible drowning pit where water flows through a tunnel to the right and drains out the left. Be sure they are hooked to separate levers, and remember the fortification keeps dead things from flowing out, not live things from swimming out. A door along the bottom of this design allows dwarfs in to loot the spoils, and or clear out any unwanted buildup of bodies ETC.

░░░░░░░░░░░░
░ ░
░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░
FX X
░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░
░ ░
░░░░░X░░░░░░
░ ░

X=Floodgate
F=Fortification

====Lava Pool====

Alternatively you can fill the room with magma and watch as the hostiles are instantly incinerated! Requires an [[aqueduct]] and/or magma safe materials.

====Weapon Trap Hallway====

On the level below the pit opening place weapon traps in a 1 square wide hallway. The dumped creature will run for the exit through the weapon traps until dead. You can put a cage trap at the end just in case the creature successfully escapes with his life.

Level 1
░░░░░
░nnn░
░░░░░░░npn░
cDnnn░
░░░░░░░░░░░

Level -1
░░░░░░░
░TTTT ░
░T░░░ ░
░T░T░ ░ <-- align p n Lvl 1 with center T n this level.
░TTT░ ░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░
cD ░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░

p=Pit opening
D=Door
c=cage trap
T=weapon trap
n=cage staging area

====Empty Room====

Leaving the room down below empty has its benefits. When your melee military has nothing better to do beating [[Cage#How_to_disarm_hostiles_in_cages|unarmed]] goblins will train fighting skills quickly. Be sure to haul off corpses before [[miasma]] begins forming.
If you are planning to kill your goblins by pitting them into an empty room, remember that height alone is not a reliable method of enemy disposal. Even if your empty room is 10-15 z-levels below, you will still get a high number of survivors and some will escape unharmed - especially when falling on top of enemies pitted previously.

====Goblin Training====

Through the use of [[trap|spike traps]], goblins can be trained in the same manner as a standard [[danger room]]. Uses for these master goblin fighters include extended target practice, an expendable military addition to be dumped on particularly nasty [[forgotten beast|forgotten beasts]], or a last resort contingency plan against non-goblin invader-induced [[fun]].

====Fortifications====

[[Image:Pitting_room.png|thumb|right|200px|Marksdwarf training room]]
By lining the pit room with fortifications you are able to safely train your marksdwarves. This provides a feasible and quick alternative to the slow process of using archery targets. By ordering your military to use [[bone]] [[bolts]] and leaving your hostiles fully armored even a small group of goblins will live to be used as target practice for months. Miasma produced during this time may give dwarves unhappy [[thoughts]]. To avoid this stagger fortifications with solid walls in such a way that diagonal gaps are between you and the rot.

Remember that goblin marksmen will still be able to shoot through fortifications if they are armed sufficiently. To avoid this exclude or [[Cage#How_to_disarm_hostiles_in_cages|disarm]] them.

Also remember that you must keep civilians out of sight of the fortifications. Despite blocking the pathing of the hostiles, it does not prevent civilians from canceling jobs when they see the baddies through your fortifications.

'''''Note''''' if you use 2-wide fortifications then your marksdwarves won't fire through them unless they are journeyman or higher. You can avoid this by alternating fortifications and walls for the first layer of wall, then blocking the outer orthogonal tiles adjacent to the fortifications with walls; though you will still need to force the marksdwarves to stand adjacent to the fortifications in order for them to fire through.

====Long Term Maintenance====

In order to protect frame rate, spread of miasma if you are using this for melee training, gather any remaining loot that was not removed before pitting the creatures, or simply a desire for fortress cleanliness, you can make a bridge as part or all of one wall to the pit. When retracted it acts as a wall and removes any danger of escaping prisoners, but when all are dead or sufficient military is waiting, you may lower this to retrieve any bodies or valuables. If you do not like having a pit unavailable during this time, you may consider building a second to alternate uses between which one is being filled and which one is being emptied.
Another alternative is to build a raising (instead of a retracting) bridge and use it to atomize all of the miasma producing corpses instead of hauling them topside.

==Alternative Minecart Design==

It is possible to automate a mass pitting system with [[minecart]]s. Minecart "shotgunning" is when a minecart traveling at significant speed encounters an obstacle and "launches" its contents. Cages which were in the minecart, and which encounter an obstacle while traveling at significant speed will similarly "shotgun" their contents, launching their inhabitants. This can empty an entire minecart full of cages simultaneously, without fear of escape. Note, however, that [[flying]] creatures may still be problematic.

==Bugs==
* Intelligent creatures do not appear in the list for chains, cages or pitting.{{bug|9271}}{{version|0.42.03}}

Mass pitting

2015-12-23T13:27:01Z

Greycat: bug 9271

Steel

2015-12-23T02:40:09Z

Greycat: emphasize charcoal equality

{{Quality|Masterwork|23:34, 27 April 2013 (UTC)}}
{{Alloy3
|name=Steel
|color=0:7:1
|color1=0:0:1
|color2=0:0:1
|color3=7:0:1
|tile3=•
|uses=
* [[weapon|Melee Weapons]]
* [[Crossbow]]s
* [[Bolt]]s
* [[Pick]]s
* [[Armor]]
* [[Anvil]]
* [[Metalsmith's forge|Metal crafting]]
|recipe=
* 1 [[iron]] [[bar]]
* 1 [[pig iron]] [[bar]]
* 1 [[flux]] [[stone]]
* 1 [[fuel|coal]] [[bar]]
|properties=
* [[Material value]] 30
}}{{av}}

'''Steel''' is the best common metal for smithing most [[weapon]]s and [[armor]]. Steel also has the third highest value of all metals, tied with that of [[gold]].

Steel can be created at a [[smelter]] by a [[dwarf]] with the [[furnace operator]] [[labor]] activated.

==Sedimentary Layers==

To smelt steel, you will need [[iron]] [[bar]]s, [[flux]] stone, and [[fuel]]. Flux is used to remove impurities including carbon during the smelting process, while fuel (charcoal or coke) removes oxygen and puts back in a small amount of carbon. The end result is steel: iron with just the right amount of carbon in it. The three ores of iron (hematite, magnetite, and limonite) can only be found in [[sedimentary layer]]s, with the exception of hematite, which can occasionally be found in igneous extrusive layers. Furthermore, four of the five [[flux]] stones (calcite, chalk, dolomite, and limestone) are found only in sedimentary layers, as well as both [[coal]] ores (bituminous coal and lignite).

If you have no sedimentary layers at your fortress site, your only hope to make steel is with:
* hematite from [[igneous extrusive]] layers, or iron ore imported from [[trade]] caravans, or [[melt]]ing iron items brought by [[siege]]rs and caravans
* marble from [[metamorphic]] layers, or imported [[flux]]
* [[charcoal]] from [[wood]], or coke from imported [[bituminous coal]] or [[lignite]]

If you embark in a forest [[biome]], you can produce thousands of units of wood from the surface trees alone, without even tapping into the [[cavern]]s. Charcoal requires more labor per unit than coke, but is often easier to acquire.

Note that bituminous coal, like most stones, costs only 3☼ at embark or from caravans. With [[Sample_Starting_Builds#Minmax_build|a cunning enough starting build]], it is possible to embark with enough for several hundred units of coke. This is only possible if your parent [[civilization]] has access to coal; otherwise it will not be available at all.

==Recipe==
Steel production is fairly complex compared to the creation of other [[alloy]]s. ''Important note'': in steelmaking, [[coke]] or [[charcoal]] is also used as an ingredient, apart from its use as [[fuel]]. A conventional (non-magma) smelter will require an additional unit of fuel in each reaction.

The first step is '''to create [[pig iron]]''':

:*1 bar of [[iron]]
:*1 [[flux]] stone
:*1 unit of [[fuel]] (as a source of carbon)
:*1 unit of fuel, or magma (to heat the forge)
:'''Produces''':
:*1 bar of pig iron

[[Image:SteelSword.png|thumb|right|200px|''A [[steel]] [[short sword]].'']]

The second step combines the pig iron with plain iron '''to produce steel''':

:*1 bar of iron
:*1 bar of pig iron
:*1 [[flux]] stone
:*1 unit of fuel (as a source of carbon)
:*1 unit of fuel, or magma (to heat the forge)
:'''Produces''':
:*2 bars of steel

The overall reaction consumes 2 bars of iron, 2 units of flux, and 2 units of fuel as ingredients (plus an extra 2 fuel at a conventional smelter for heating). This produces 2 bars of steel.

Remember that smelting [[iron]] [[ore]] also requires 1 unit of fuel at a conventional smelter, producing 4 bars of [[iron]], which translates to half a unit of additional fuel used in the recipe above (although you will need a full unit up front.)

[[File:SteelChart.png|center|485px]]



{{Translation
| dwarven = deler
| elvish = inire
| goblin = zodsto
| human = kadest
}}

{{gamedata}}
{{metals}}

Paper industry

2015-12-18T02:09:48Z

Greycat: /* Processing */ Overview diagram, from Hellzon in http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=140163.msg6672493#msg6672493

{{av}}
{{new in v0.42}}
The '''paper industry''' deals with the creation and processing of paper [[sheet]]s, and further processing into [[quire]]s and [[scroll]]s.

=== Raw material ===
There are three kinds of raw material that can be processed into paper sheets:
*[[Papyrus_sedge|Papyrus]]
*Cloth plants
**[[rope reed]]
**[[pig tail]]
**[[hemp]]
**[[cotton]]
**[[ramie]]
**[[flax]]
**[[jute]]
**[[kenaf]]
*Animal [[skin|hide]]

=== Processing ===
Papyrus can be directly made into papyrus sheets at a [[farmer's workshop]]. Cloth plants are [[miller|milled]] to slurry in a [[mill]], then [[pressing|pressed]] to sheet in a [[screw press]]. Processing animal hides is more complex; you need to produce [[quicklime]] from [[calcium carbonate]] stones at a [[kiln]], then process the quicklime to milk of lime at an [[ashery]]. Finally, the hide and and milk of lime are used in a [[tanner's shop]] to create a parchment sheet.
If the hide is from a cow, it's called "vellum sheet", otherwise it will take on the name of the animal (i.e. pig parchment sheet, sheep parchment sheet).

[[File:paper_industry_diagram.png|center|Paper industry overview]]

=== Finished goods ===
The sheets are then used to make quires or scrolls (with rollers). Quires can be bound into codices.
{{Category|Industry}}
{{Industry}}

File:Paper industry diagram.png

2015-12-18T02:08:42Z

Greycat:

Tavern

2015-12-10T13:52:02Z

Greycat: /* Fortress mode */ tavern keeper bug, not in bug tracking system yet(?)

{{Quality|Fine|01:02, 29 September 2013 (UTC)}}
{{av}}
{{new in v0.42}}

==Fortress mode==
A '''Tavern''' is a designated [[location]] in [[Fortress mode]]. It is a place where dwarves and visitors can socialize and entertain each other. Depending on the furnishings, patrons may also drink, eat, or rent a room for sleeping.

A tavern may be designated from a [[meeting area]], or from a [[dining room]]. However, it has [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=154505.0 been reported] that the [[tavern keeper]] occupation only works if there is a meeting area associated with the tavern.{{verify}} Upon creation, the tavern is given a random name; the name may be changed by pressing {{k|n}} in the location screen.

Buildings that are helpful to taverns are [[table]]s and [[chair]]s as well as [[container]]s for storing [[instrument]]s and [[DF2014:Finished_goods#Goblets|goblets]]. There should also be some amount of empty space (''dance floor''). In addition, [[bedroom]]s can be assigned to a tavern by selecting the [[room]] with {{k|q}} and selecting {{k|l}}ocation. When bedrooms are assigned to a tavern, they are called "rented rooms" on the location screen.

[[Occupation]]s assignable to taverns are [[performer]]s and [[tavern keeper]]s. Tavern keepers serve drinks to patrons in goblets. Tavern patrons can include mercenaries, monster slayers, bandits, diplomats and performers. Performers will entertain the public regardless of how well-equipped the tavern is, but the tavern keepers are hardly ever seen working. Reportedly, the only way to make them not completely useless is to place an [[alcohol]] [[stockpile]] somewhere inside the tavern's location.{{verify}}

==Adventure mode==
Taverns are also generated in settlements in [[Adventure mode]]. Taverns are also visible in the structures list of [[legends]] mode. The equivalent structure in [[Fortress mode]] is a [[dining room]].

{{Category|Adventurer mode}}

Bookcase

2015-12-09T21:04:59Z

Greycat:

{{av}}
{{new in v0.42}}

{{furniture|name=Bookcase
|tile=≡
|wood=y
|stone=n
|metal=y
|glass=y
|rooms=
* [[Library]]
}}


Bookcases are [[furniture]] used in [[library|libraries]].

Bookcases are {{k|b}}uilt using {{k|Alt}}+{{k|c}}.

Bookcases can be crafted from 1 log in the [[Carpenter's workshop]], 1? bar in the [[Metalsmith's forge]], 1 bag of [[sand]] in the [[Glass furnace]], or 1 stone in the [[Craftsdwarf's workshop]].

Tavern

2015-12-09T17:57:37Z

Greycat: /* Fortress mode */

{{Quality|Fine|01:02, 29 September 2013 (UTC)}}
{{av}}
{{new in v0.42}}

==Fortress mode==
A '''Tavern''' is a designated [[location]] in [[Fortress mode]]. It is a place where dwarves and visitors can socialize and entertain each other. Depending on the furnishings, patrons may also drink, eat, or rent a room for sleeping.

A tavern may be designated from a [[meeting area]], or from a [[dining room]]. Once created, the tavern is given a random name.

Buildings that are helpful to taverns are [[table]]s and [[chair]]s as well as [[container]]s for storing [[instrument]]s and [[DF2014:Finished_goods#Goblets|goblets]]. There should also be some amount of empty space (''dance floor''). In addition, [[bedroom]]s can be assigned to a tavern by selecting the [[room]] with {{k|q}} and selecting {{k|l}}ocation. When bedrooms are assigned to a tavern, they are called "rented rooms" on the location screen.

[[Occupation]]s assignable to taverns are [[performer]]s and [[tavern keeper]]s. Tavern keepers serve drinks to patrons in goblets. Tavern patrons can include mercenaries, monster slayers, bandits, diplomats and performers. Performers will entertain the public regardless of how well-equipped the tavern is, but the tavern keepers are hardly ever seen working. Reportedly, the only way to make them not completely useless is to place an [[alcohol]] [[stockpile]] somewhere inside the tavern's location.{{verify}}

==Adventure mode==
Taverns are also generated in settlements in [[Adventure mode]]. Taverns are also visible in the structures list of [[legends]] mode. The equivalent structure in [[Fortress mode]] is a [[dining room]].

{{Category|Adventurer mode}}

Trap component

2014-11-22T15:22:35Z

Greycat: /* Enormous corkscrew */

{{Migrated_article}}
{{quality|unrated}}{{av}}
Any [[weapon]] in Fortress Mode can be placed into a [[Trap#Weapon Trap|weapon trap]]. However, there are five '''trap components''', or '''trap weapons''', that are ''specifically'' for weapons traps (and two also have additional uses). As with any weapon, a total of up to 10 of these can be put in a single weapon trap, creating a true "Indiana Jones" type of threat to any beast of any size, and potentially simply making a fine mince (or paste, depending on the weapons) of lesser creatures.
In the order they appear on the various menus, they are the '''menacing spike''', the '''serrated disc''', the '''spiked ball''', the '''enormous corkscrew''', and the '''giant axe blade'''.



All trap component weapons can be made out of [[metal]]s (by a [[weaponsmith]]) or [[glass]] (by a [[glassmaker]]), with appropriate damage. Three can also be made out of [[wood]] (by a [[carpenter]]), as noted below, which can be useful in getting some heavy weapons traps set up before you have a steady [[smelting]] operation going, or if you are short on metal. Each trap component takes one unit of the material that you are using (e.g. Each menacing iron spike will take one [[bar]] of [[iron]]). Note that although it is not possible to make giant axe blades or serrated disks out of wood, wooden ones can sometimes be bought from the embark screen. This is presumably a bug.

Trap weapons also provide the highest return of any weapon for [[melt]]ing, 120%-150%, compared to 90-120% for conventional weapons, which can be [[exploit]]ed for generating metal and training [[weaponsmith]]s. Trap components are a separate sub-section of a [[forge]] menu, but are at the bottom of the general [[glass furnace]] or [[carpenter's workshop]] menus.

Most of these weapons do make good trade goods, particularly large serrated discs and spiked balls.

==The 5 trap weapons==
===Menacing spike===

The '''menacing spike''' can be mounted in both traditional [[Trap#Weapon_trap|weapon traps]] and [[Trap#Upright_Spear/Spike|upright spike traps]], which act quite differently. Its small contact size and high penetration depth makes it a decent choice against enemies with impale-able internal organs.

Menacing spikes can also be made from [[wood]].

===Large, serrated disc===
'''Large, serrated discs''' deal large amounts of damage, and have a tendency to sever their victims' limbs. While amusing, this can create several [[hauling]] tasks for [[dwarves]] as they have to move each severed body part to a [[butcher's shop]] or [[stockpile|refuse pile]]. Large serrated discs attack three times, giving them a very high damage potential.

===Spiked ball===
The '''spiked ball''' doesn't deal a blunt attack at all, but it does do three attacks with its spikes. Like the menacing spike, it has only a small contact area, but has a very low penetration depth compared to the menacing spike.

Low penetration depth edged attacks can still break bones with impact damage, just like blunt attacks do. In addition, if an edged weapon is unable to cut the material of the target's armor, its attack is converted to blunt type. Because the small contact area concentrates the force, spiked balls should be more effective against targets in superior armor than either serrated discs or giant axes.

Spiked balls can also be made from [[wood]]. If trees are not in short supply then wooden spiked balls make [[exploit|excellent]] trade items (except to the elves) due to the fact that spiked balls have an extremely high item value, almost to the extent of being a bug.

===Enormous corkscrew===

'''Enormous corkscrews''' can be used as components in [[Trap]]s as well as for [[screw pump]]s. As a result, the corkscrews from unneeded screw pumps can be used to make serviceable weapon traps.

The enormous corkscrew performs a deeply penetrating attack with a small contact area, much like the menacing spike. It is currently unknown which of these two trap components is the strongest overall.

Enormous corkscrews can also be made from [[wood]].

===Giant axe blade===

The '''giant axe blade''' is a very similar weapon to the large, serrated disc, but only strikes once, compared to the disc's three attacks. However, due to its larger size, its single attack is stronger than each of the large, serrated disc's. It is currently unknown which of these two trap components is the strongest over all.

However, if the variables behave like those of the wieldable weapons, size determines mass (along with material density) and mass determines impact (BLUNT) damage. An edged weapon, like the giant axe, only deals this type of damage when it is unable to penetrate armor, or if the target is large compared to its penetration depth.

This suggests that a steel serrated disc's multiple attacks will outweigh the giant axe blade's somewhat larger size in most cases. If only inferior materials are available, the giant axe '''might''' be better at hurting armored targets, but the disc's three attacks probably still outweigh this advantage.

==Data & comparison==

{|cellpadding="2" border="1" class="wikitable sortable" style="width:75%"
! Name !! Size !! Number of hits !! Contact Area !! Penetration Depth !! Wood? !! Base Value
|-
| Giant axe blade || 1600 || 1 || 100000 || 10000 || No || 66
|-
| Enormous corkscrew† || 1600 || 1 || 100 || 10000 || Yes || 66
|-
| Spiked ball || 1000 || 3 || 10 || 200 || Yes || 126
|-
| Large, serrated disc || 1000 || 3 || 100000 || 10000 || No || 126
|-
| Menacing spike‡ || 1600 || 1 || 10 || 6000 || Yes || 66
|}
† ''This trap component can also be used in [[screw pump]]s.'' ‡ ''This trap component can also be used in [[Trap#Upright_Spear/Spike|upright spike traps]].''

:''(Most of this data has been compiled from raw/objects/item_trapcomp.txt)''

== Forging and Melting ==
=== Giant axe blades ===
* Metal giant axe blades cost '''one''' [[metal]] bar to [[forge]], or '''five''' [[adamantine]] wafers.
* When a non-adamantine metal giant axe blade is [[melt|melted down]], it will return '''1.5''' metal bars, for an '''efficiency of 150%'''.
* When an adamantine giant axe blade is melted down, it will produce '''1.5''' wafers, for an '''efficiency of 30%'''.

=== Enormous corkscrew ===
* Metal enormous corkscrews cost '''one''' [[metal]] bar to [[forge]], or '''five''' [[adamantine]] wafers.
* When a non-adamantine metal enormous corkscrews is [[melt|melted down]], it will return '''1.5''' metal bars, for an '''efficiency of 150%'''.
* When an adamantine enormous corkscrew is melted down, it will produce '''1.5''' wafers, for an '''efficiency of 30%'''.

=== Spiked ball ===
* Metal spiked balls cost '''one''' [[metal]] bar to [[forge]], or '''four''' [[adamantine]] wafers.
* When a non-adamantine metal spiked ball is [[melt|melted down]], it will return '''1.2''' metal bars, for an '''efficiency of 120%'''.
* When an adamantine spiked ball is melted down, it will produce '''1.2''' wafers, for an '''efficiency of 30%'''

==See also==
*[[Weapon]]
*[[Trap]]

{{Gamedata|{{raw|DF2012:item_trapcomp.txt|}}}}
{{Category|Weapons}}
{{Category|Traps}}

DF2014:Bugs

2014-08-26T17:21:52Z

Greycat: Redirected page to DF2014:Known bugs and issues

#REDIRECT [[DF2014:Known bugs and issues]]

Magma

2014-08-23T22:45:20Z

Greycat: /* Minecarts */ some notes on the various wheelbarrow/stockpile tricks

{{av}}{{Quality|Exceptional|21:13, 6 July 2010 (UTC)}}
'''Magma''' is red-hot [[fluid|molten rock]] that wells up from deep within the earth (but not so deep that it cannot be found by dwarves), entering the map either by the edges or by the area beneath a magma pool. Magma that emerges aboveground is called '''Lava'''; however the substance itself remains the same. Magma is very [[Fun]].

Magma serves as a heat source, replacing [[fuel]] in [[magma smelter]]s, [[magma forge]]s, [[magma glass furnace]]s, and [[magma kiln]]s. Magma is ''extremely'' hot which can lead to even more [[Fun]]. Materials that can withstand the temperature of magma are called '''[[magma-safe]]''', and the list is rather extensive.

Magma never cools, but can [[evaporation|evaporate]] if left at a depth of 1/7 for long enough. When magma is mixed with water it forms [[obsidian]] (and [[steam]]). Note that magma located above [[semi-molten rock]] will be listed as a Magma Flow; magma in magma flow tiles will disappear when mixed with water (instead of cooling into obsidian).

Without [[screw pump]]s to impart [[pressure]], magma flows rather slowly (though no more slowly than unpressurized water). A pipe to bring magma across the full map can take as much as a year to fill. This, combined with the fact that it will evaporate, can make filling a reservoir difficult and tedious. As a rule of thumb, the area coming out of a 1-wide-pipe shouldn't be more than three squares wide and 20 squares long, or else it will evaporate as fast as you fill it.

==Magma sources==

Magma occurs in several different geological formations:
===[[Magma pool]]s===
Although the name suggests them as pools, they are more like pipes. They can be found underground, however they rarely reach the upper z-levels (40+). Most end a few z-levels above the magma sea, though some may span more than 100 z-levels.
Magma pools seem to be always connected to a magma sea, and the sea and pipe can occasionally reach up to the same level, making them hard to separate. However, magma pools can be identified by the obsidian walls which surround them.
Magma pools will slowly refill themselves, giving the player an infinite source of magma. The entire embark tile containing the pool will produce sporadic bursts of magma until the magma within it is at its natural level (i.e. the magma level at embark) or until it is halted by a bridge, floor, or bottom of a wall.

===[[Volcano]]es===
Volcanoes are magma pools that extend all the way to the surface. Volcanoes are an endless source of magma as they will always refill themselves. They never erupt, unlike their real-life counterparts. Volcanoes are geographical features visible on the [[location]] screen, making them much easier to find when choosing a site for your fortress.

===[[Magma sea]]===
The magma sea is a large body of magma deep under the earth. Nearly all maps will include a magma sea at the lowest z-levels, though its inconvenient placement may inspire your dwarves to [[#Bringing Magma Up|bring the magma up]] to the fortress proper.

== Finding magma ==

Nearly all maps will have magma available at the lowest z-levels, but it can be advantageous to select a site with a more easily accessible source, particularly when starting out.

Volcanoes are visible on the "local" screen in the starting location chooser. It is represented as a red ˜ mark (a double tilde) - essentially it looks like red water. Note that red ˜ marks in the "region" screen mean something different entirely (e.g. red sand).

After you have chosen to embark in a place that has a volcano, and once your dwarves have arrived at their target destination, you should see a large red pool of lava on your map. If you don't, you should expect your volcano to be somewhere underground. You then have to use [[exploratory mining]] to find it. If you can find a large patch of obsidian on the surface that is devoid of boulders, chances are there is a magma vent below, so that would be a good place to start your mining.

Much harder than simply finding a volcano is finding a volcano that is also near suitable terrain for building. Depending on your requirements - you may be looking for a source of running [[water]], or a [[mountain]] for minerals, or a healthy [[tree]] population, a layer of [[flux]] for [[steel]] production or even all four - suitable building sites can be extremely scarce.

==Working with magma==

Although magma is a liquid, it does not move via [[pressure]] unless it has been pumped. This reduced rate of flow can allow miners to survive digging into a magma reservoir, ''if'' they are lucky enough. There are ways to minimize this risk however:

'''Digging From Above:'''
If you can find a suitable position above the magma, your miner can dig a [[channel]] while remaining above the level of the magma. Be warned, however, that your dwarves might take the ramp down into the magma channel as a shortcut; preemptively designating the channel for restricted [[traffic]] is recommended.

'''Diagonal Digging:'''
Magma moves more slowly diagonally than orthogonally, giving the miner more time to escape. However, slower flow means you must keep in mind the evaporation. You should dig a smaller channel, wait for it to fill up, and extends the channel by Digging From Above. Workers that dig into a magma reservoir are not instantly killed as the magma touches them, but they are set on fire, which will kill them very quickly. For this reason, taking steps to ensure there is adequate water available to extinguish flaming dwarves running in random directions is advised before digging into any magma pools from the side. Channeling a single square wide pit across the planned magma pipe one tile away from the wall to breach and filling it with 2/7 water using the [[Activity zone#Pit/Pond|pond zone]] tool is recommended, so the panicking dwarves have no choice but to run through the water, and the water itself turns into an obsidian wall as soon as the magma flows into it.

'''Busy To Leave:'''
[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=111883.0]
Dwarves who dig into magma often die not because they are unable to flee but because they choose not to. By ensuring a dwarf has another task waiting (ideally far away) they will immediately move away from the ensuing magma flow.

Simply mine up to the corner of a lava tube and then smooth the last tile. Dig a staircase within a few tiles of the place where you will be breaching that leads up and back into your fortress, this will allow your dwarf to get out before the magma gets him. Now designate the smoothed corner to be carved into a fortification. Now immediately when the dwarf begins to carve the fortification, (and this is the most important part!), designate a bunch of other tiles to be smoothed/carved. It's not important that your dwarves actually smooth, carve, or engrave those tiles, what is important is that your dwarf immediately takes another smooth/carve/engrave task elsewhere in the fortress when they finish the current one. If they do not then they will pause for the briefest of instants as they pick a new task, resulting in their death. If they have the job though, they will instantly turn and head up the staircase, stopping the magma from catching and killing them."

'''Exploit From Below:'''
[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=110724.0]
Miners are able to mine out tiles diagonally above them '''even if there is a bridge over their heads'''. First you dig out your magma tunnel to feed magma to wherever in your fort you need it and dig it right up against the volcano pipe. Then you channel a trench against the pipe that can be the width of the tunnel if you wish. Build a magma-safe bridge over the trench, making sure to cover it completely, and then seal off access to the magma tunnel. Dig a new separate path to access the now bridged-over trench. Finally, designate the magma wall '''on the Z level of the magma tunnel''' for mining. Your dwarves will stand in the trench beneath the bridge but will somehow still mine out the squares diagonally above them, causing the magma to flow safely onto the bridge leaving your dwarves unscathed."

Example (use {{k|<}}{{k|>}} to navigate):
<diagram>
<frame type="level" level="0">
Z=0
[%205][%205][%205][%205][%205]╗[#F00]≈≈≈[#]
....[#080]╥[#000][@880][%186][@][#F00]≈≈≈[#]
....[#080][%186][#000][@880][%186][@][#F00]≈≈≈[#]
....[#080]╨[#000][@880][%186][@][#F00]≈≈≈[#]
[%205][%205][%205][%203][%205][%185][#F00]≈≈≈[#]
[%186]X[%186][#F00]≈≈≈[#]
[%200][%205][%188][#F00]≈≈≈[#]
</frame>
<frame type=level level=1>
Z=1
[#F00]≈≈≈[#]
[#F00]≈≈≈[#]
[#F00]≈≈≈[#]
[#F00]≈≈≈[#]
[%205][%205][%205][%205][%205][%187][#F00]≈≈≈[#]
....X[%186][#F00]≈≈≈[#]
[%205][%205][%205][%205][%205][%188][#F00]≈≈≈[#]
</frame>
<frame type="level" level="-1">
Z=-1
[%201][%205][%187][#F00]≈≈≈[#]
║▲║[#F00]≈≈≈[#]
║▲║[#F00]≈≈≈[#]
║▲║[#F00]≈≈≈[#]
║.║[#F00]≈≈≈[#]
║X║[#F00]≈≈≈[#]
[%200][%205][%188][#F00]≈≈≈[#]
</frame>
</diagram>

Make sure the top z-level is sealed off from miners and '''[[dig]]''' ({{k|d}}-{{k|d}}) the highlighted tiles on the upper z-level.

== Bringing Magma Up ==

Magma can be brought to the surface by three different methods: [[pump|pump stack]]s, magma pistons, and minecarts. Pump stacks are conceptually the simplest, but require an enormous amount of in-game time to make. Magma pistons tend to be faster to make, but require more time to understand how to build them. Minecarts are a simple solution, but require more management than pump stacks because they can overfill a reservoir.

=== Pump stacks ===
Pumping magma up from the [[magma sea]] via a conventional [[pump#Example layouts#pump stack|pump stack]] is a lot of work, requiring dozens of pumps and significant amounts of power. Making all of the pumps [[magma safe]] also requires a lot of precious materials like iron, or a functioning glass industry.

=== Magma pistons ===
[[Magma piston]]s are another way to move magma near the surface. Magma pistons require less time and fewer precious materials to construct than pump stacks. However, magma pistons are a bit more complicated than pump stacks, so it takes more time to understand how to operate and build them.

=== Minecarts ===
[[Minecart]]s submerged in 7/7 magma (or possibly less, but 2/7 is not enough) will fill with magma. Each minecart holds 2/7 worth of magma, which is subtracted from the amount of magma in the tile. The minecart is then shown as containing magma [833]. Minecarts used for this must be [[magma-safe]].

Minecarts full of magma can be tipped at a track stop, which will pour the magma in a specified direction from the stop. Therefore, the challenge is to get the minecart full of magma to the track stop. There are several ways to accomplish this.

The first task is to separate the minecart from the tile of magma. The "obvious" way is to build [[roller]]s in magma to pull the minecarts out; such rollers would also need to be magma-safe. Another way is to drain the magma, and then wait for evaporation. A third way is to pump the magma out of the minecart filling area.

The second task is to move the liberated magma-laden minecart(s) to the track stop. There are, again, multiple valid approaches to this. The "obvious" way is to build tracks from the magma sea to the surface. A minecart track can be operated by dwarves or fully automatic, using powered rollers or [[Minecart#Impulse ramps|Impulse ramps]]. Depending on the placement of the track stop, dangerous overflow can be prevented by making the track stop of a material that will melt/burn once the reservoir begins to overflow.

A less obvious way to move the minecarts up is to simply ''carry'' them. Dwarves can safely haul a minecart full of magma (albeit slowly, due to its weight). [[Wheelbarrow]]s may be used to speed the hauling enormously; however, if the wheelbarrows are not [[magma-safe]] (e.g. if they are [[wood]]en), they will [[wear]] quickly, most likely disintegrating in the middle of the hauling job. If a minecart is left stranded (either because the hauler got tired, or the wheelbarrow burned up), another hauling task is assigned to move it, either back to its origin stockpile, or farther along to its destination. Be sure your stockpile settings account for these possibilities, so you don't waste a lot of time moving a minecart halfway up, then back down, in a loop.

==== Design 1 ====
In [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=125679.msg4217863#msg4217863 one design] posted to the forums by gchristopher, a pump can provide power to the [[roller]], making the ramp eligible for building the roller, and keeping the trench at 7 magma so the carts fill instantly.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▒▒▒
▒#▒ # {{=}} floor grate
▒%▒ % {{=}} south facing pump
▒%▒▒
▒▲▲▒ Left ramp ▲ has a left-pushing roller
▒▒▒▒ Right ramp ▲ has a retracting bridge
}}

If you drop minecarts in directly from at least 2 z-levels above onto the right ramp, this setup has the magical property that it can handle an arbitrary number of minecarts, and dispense them at a constant controlled rate. Carts are pushed up the left ramp by the roller.

If you extend the right bridge, that tile ceases to be a ramp. Exactly one minecart will fall onto the tile and stay there, and all other minecarts dropped from above will form a quantum pile 1 z-level up.

The last time I [gchristopher] built one, I timed the cart dispensing rate at 1 per 8 ticks. This is slow enough that carts can be brought to the surface using an impulse ramp spiral, but fast enough that you can still quickly cover a large area with magma.

The same design works with water, for giving you a lot of flexibility creating tall waterfalls without pump stacks, quickly and cheaply.

==== Design 2 ====
Rafal99 posted [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=109460.msg3374816#msg3374816 another design] using dwarf-powered [[wheelbarrow]]s to transport the magma-filled minecarts from one minecart stockpile to another.

<pre>
▒ddddd=====S==<<Zccccc Near the surface (top view)
U

▒bbbbb== ==<<Xaaaaa Near the magma (side view)
\7777/

\7777/ - Magma reservoir, with tracks in it and rollers to bring minecart up the ramp
U - Here we want magma
aabbccdd - Stockpiles accepting minecarts
===<< - Track and rollers
S - Track stop, set to lowest friction (so it doesn't stop the minecart), set to dump the contents into the U
XZ - Track stops set to dump their contents to the left
▒ - Wall to stop minecarts
</pre>

# Empty minecarts are put into stockpile aaaaa.
# There is a hauling route with one stop on X, with assigned vehicle, set to take furniture->minecarts from stockpile aaaaa.
# Empty minecarts are put into the minecart on track stop X, the track stop dumps them to the left, placing them on the rollers.
# Rollers move the empty minecarts into the magma reservoir, they get filled with magma, then the roller on ramp moves them up. They follow the track, then go out of it and stop at the wall; effectively the minecart with magma is being placed in stockpile bbbbb.
# Stockpile ccccc is set to take from stockpile bbbbb and has assigned 3 wheelbarrows. Dwarves safely transport the minecarts with magma inside wheelbarrows up to the surface into stockpile ccccc.
# There is a hauling route with one stop on Z, with assigned vehicle, set to take furniture->minecarts from stockpile ccccc.
# Magma minecarts are put into the minecart on track stop Z, and the track stop dumps them to the left, placing them on the rollers. (Same as in 3.)
# Rollers move the magma minecarts along the track. They pass through the track stop S and dump the magma in the destination point U, then they follow the track, go out of it and stop at the wall; effectively the emptied minecart is being placed in stockpile ddddd.
# Stockpile aaaaa is set to take from stockpile ddddd. Dwarves haul the empty minecarts back underground near the magma into stockpile aaaaa.
Then we go back to start and the whole thing repeats.

==== Design 3: Minimalist magma moving ====

You'll need two magma-safe pumps, a magma-safe wheelbarrow, and at least one magma-safe minecart. If you get lucky, the first dwarven caravan will bring all the tools you need. If not, you can forge your own by melting down the surplus of anvils that caravans carry, or just embark with a couple chunks of iron ore.

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
sideview
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░░ %% ░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░░░░░░░░░▲%% ░░░░░░░░░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░7777777░░░
}}

# Dig down to the magma sea and channel a tile above the magma
# Build the first pump to pull magma up into a 1x1 room with a ramp (▲)
# Build the second pump to pull the magma out of the 1x1 room and dispose of it (a 3x3 evaporation chamber works fine)
# Designate a garbage dump zone in the 1x1 room and dump all your magma-safe minecarts
# Wait for all the minecarts to be carried down to the dump zone
# Operate pump 1 briefly, then stop it and activate pump 2 briefly (the minecarts should now contain magma)
# Designate a minecart stockpile near your desired magma workshops, and set it to use your magma-safe wheelbarrow
# Unforbid your minecarts and wait for your dwarves to wheelbarrow them up to the stockpile
# Build a dumping track stop to place the magma where you want it
# Create a new hauling route, specify a new stop on the constructed track stop, and assign one of the magma minecarts to the route
# Unassign the cart, and mark it for dumping; once you've emptied all the carts return to step 5

This design is only useful for moving small amounts of magma, but it is simple and flexible. With any luck you can have your topside magma workshops up and running in a year.

==Using magma==
The primary use for magma is to <s>flood your fortress</s> power [[magma smelter]]s, [[magma glass furnace]]s, [[magma kiln]]s, and [[magma forge]]s. To power a building with magma at least one of the external eight squares must be a hole above a square of magma on the level below. Placing one of the workshop's [[impassable tile]]s above the magma conveniently prevents clumsy dwarves from falling in. Magma used for power is not consumed; a single tile of magma can operate the furnace indefinitely.

Other uses for magma include [[obsidian farming]], [[DF2012:Trap_design#Magma_and_fire_traps|trap design]], melting [[ice]], igniting [[fire]]s, and even [[garbage disposal]].

==Properties of magma==
Magma behaves the same way as water with the exception of not being affected by [[pressure]] (except when being moved by a [[screw pump]]) and apparently not showing [[flow]]. Magma will turn into [[obsidian]]1 if it touches [[water]]. In the game, magma's temperature is {{ct|12000}}. See the list of '''[[magma-safe]]''' materials for more information on what can (or cannot) be safely submerged in magma.

Tiles directly adjacent to magma will be heated to a temperature of {{ct|10075}}, causing revealed unmined tiles to flash with {{Tile|☼|6:4:1}} when placing digging designations and causing unrevealed mining-designated tiles to cancel their designation (with a "warm stone" warning) once they are revealed.

[[Construction]]s ([[wall]]s, [[floor]]s, etc.) of any material can safely contain magma. Non-construction [[building]]s ([[door]]s, [[bridge]]s, [[Screw pump|pump]]s, etc.) that come into contact with magma should be built entirely of [[magma-safe]] materials. Non-magma-safe components will eventually melt and the building will deconstruct. Any [[mechanism]]s likely to come into contact with magma should also be made of magma-safe materials.

1 - specifically, one of the inorganic materials having the [LAVA] tag, selected randomly ''per biome'' during worldgen.

==Dangers of magma==
Any contact with magma results in nearly instant immolation, followed by death if water is not close at hand. Additionally, dropping large items into magma will generate clouds of [[magma mist]] which can set your haulers on fire if you aren't careful. Magma is also home to various fiery creatures which can present a significant threat to unprepared fortresses.

{{D for Dwarf}}

Magma is very well known for being the perfect solution to any problem encountered by dwarves. Giant badger invasion? Pour magma on it. Noble being his usual snotty, useless, arrogant self? Pour magma on it. Door locked due to invaders? Pour magma on it! Flooded your fortress with magma? [[Fun|Congratulations, you just won the game!]]

{{gamedata|{{raw|DF2012:hardcoded_materials.txt|MATERIAL|INORGANIC}}}}
{{Magma FAQ}}

{{Category|Physics}}

How do you create a custom stockpile that accepts only prepared foods?

2014-08-16T01:07:48Z

Greycat: Limiting barrels? What does that have to do with large stacks? Nothing, that's what.

On the stock{{k|p}}ile menu, select {{k|t}} for Custom Settings. Disable all categories except "Food" and "Additional Options" (press {{k|d}} on each other category), then highlight "Food" and press {{k|b}} to disable everything classified as food. Finally, press {{k|u}} to enable the "Prepared Food" option on the lower right. Now hit {{k|Esc}} and draw your custom prepared food stockpile as normal.

Note that some [[stack]]s of prepared food are too large to fit in a [[barrel]], or even a [[large pot]]. These stacks will be stored directly on the floor. There is nothing you need to do (or ''can'' do) about this.

{{Farming FAQ}}

Irrigation

2014-08-16T01:03:21Z

Greycat: /* via Buckets */

{{Migrated_article}}
{{Quality|Masterwork|23:39, 27 April 2013 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

[[Farming]] is only possible on [[mud]] and [[soil]]. Any terrain can be made muddy, and therefore suitable for farming, by dumping water on it. In Dwarf Fortress, 'Irrigation' is used as a fancy word for dumping water onto terrain that isn't useful for farming, in order to make it so. Once your floor is successfully muddied no further irrigation will be required, unless you somehow remove the mud (by building a [[construction|constructed]] floor, for instance).

Any amount of water dropped, pumped, or otherwise transported onto a tile will leave behind at least 'a dusting of mud', and this is sufficient for farming. Farm plots cannot be built on terrain with [[water depth|a water level of more than 1/7]], and more mud has no apparent effect on farm output, so it's best to use a minimum of water to irrigate.

Irrigation is especially useful in [[biome|biomes]] with little soil, and deep underground. However, no amount of irrigation will make it possible to grow surface plants in a hostile [[biome]], such as mountains. This is a matter of climate, not soil conditions.

Farm plots can be built on unsuitable ground but doing so will display a warning message. If even a one tile of the plot lacks mud or soil, the entire plot will be unusable. (However, note that when placing an outdoor farm plot, the game will always erroneously report that there is no usable mud/soil. This is a bug - if the plot is green it will function correctly.)

[[Magma]] cannot be used to irrigate, as it does not leave behind mud. It's usually best not to confuse molten rock and liquid water, although the use of both in tandem may help with schemes to irrigate [[glacier|glaciers]].

All types of [[soil]] can be farmed with no need for irrigation, even [[sand]]. Irrigation is '''''not''''' required for farming. Any soil underground can be used to farm; irrigation is only required on stone.

[[Cavern|In certain conditions]], irrigation can convert rock floors into soil floors. This can be useful for transporting valuable soil like [[fire clay]] or [[sand]] closer to [[magma]].

== Easy Irrigation ==

At its simplest, all that's required for irrigation is a water source, a drop-off point, and a dwarf with a bucket.

Very little land is required to provide all the farm field resources a fortress needs to survive and prosper, so this method should suffice in most cases. Of course, we have many other methods documented here for more ambitious sorts.

=== via Buckets===

This method relies on [[activity zone]]s, as water for irrigation can't simply be dropped on the ground, but must fall from the level above.

Step one: Designate a water source activity zone over the edge of a body of water. In a saltwater biome, a [[well]] must be constructed, instead.

Step two: Dig out or construct a drop-off point just above where you want your farms to be. This most often takes the form of a balcony, catwalk, or scaffolding. Alternately, [[mining|channel]] out a shaft and/or staircase all the way up to the surface. Water can safely fall any distance.

Step three: Designate a [[activity zone#Pit/Pond|pit/pond zone]] at the drop-off point, or several if you'd prefer speed over conservation of buckets. By default, these zones are pits; make sure to switch them to ponds, and to remove them once you have all the mud you need.

That's it!

=== via Murky Pool===

Most areas contain [[murky pool]]s, full of stagnant water. Though unpleasant to drink, in DF terms it's as useful as any water for irrigation. Like any other body of water, it can be used as a source for buckets, but the limited quantity also helps a simple plan to dig into or around it, and drain it out to create farmland.

The final [[water depth|water level must be less than 2/7]] in order for the water to evaporate and provide access to the muddy tiles for farming. When using this method, it's easier to use smaller pools.

There are two approaches to reducing the final water level, without using pumps. One is to leave plenty of room. If the area to be irrigated is 5-6 times the size of the pool, the water inside will evaporate on its own, even in [[temperate]] climates. The other way is to leave a route for the water to flow out. If the pool and the dug out area are separate, [[mining|channeling]] can be used to connect them with no danger of drowning.

== Complex Irrigation ==
The following methods of irrigation take longer to build, but they can be more powerful, better-looking, and, of course, much more [[fun]].

=== via Screw Pump ===
A [[screw pump]] can be used to lift water and dump it into a chamber directly next to the water source. There are many ways to go about this, but one particularly simple, easy, and safe method requires a chamber dug out or constructed next to a body of water, with an outlet to allow it to drain back to its source. If the water the pump is free to collect water to spread inside, the water is contained by barriers, and water in the area is free to drain out, nearly any size area can be irrigated quickly and without danger.

This method is most useful around rivers that pass by or through hills, or through canyons, as irrigation isn't much use on most outdoor tiles. If terrain at a higher elevation than the river isn't available nearby, water can drain through a tunnel down to the caverns or toward the edge of the map, instead. Although the edge of the map cannot be dug out, it can be smoothed and carved into fortifications. Fortifications allow water to pass through, providing easy drainage at any depth.

Here's one example of this method:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~ [#FFF]l[#FFF]e[#FFF]g[#FFF]e[#FFF]n[#FFF]d
▓...▓▓▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈ ▓ stone
▓.....[#880]%[#880]%[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~ . floor
▓...▓▓▓[#0F0].[#FFF]+[#FFF]+[#FFF]+ [#880]%[#880]% pump
▓...▓▓▓▓[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~ [#00F]≈[#00F]~ water
▓.......[#FFF]+[#FFF]+[#FFF]+ [#FFF]+ "bridge" (constructed floor tiles)
▓...▓▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~
▓▓▓▓▓[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~
}}

=== via Reservoir ===
[[File:Irrigation1.png‎|thumb|right|A reservoir system which provides enough water for 8 fields. Upper level]]
[[File:Irrigation2.png‎|thumb|right|The irrigated bottom level.]]

Water reservoirs can be used as an intermediate step in any irrigation plan. This requires a large source of [[water]] to be of much use. Using reservoirs effectively involves some calculations, a worked example is shown below.

For this example, each 7x7 farm plot needs:
:* a [[floodgate]]
:* a [[hatch cover]]
:* 4 [[mechanism]]s (for linking)
:* a [[door]]

Also needed is:
:* 2 Mechanisms for the [[lever]]s
:* at least one additional door (if you have enough time to set up a wall or floodgate as well)

Here is the pattern:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▓▓▓▓▓ ▓▓▓▓▓ [#FFF]l[#FFF]e[#FFF]g[#FFF]e[#FFF]n[#FFF]d
▓...▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓...▓ ▓ stone
▓.[#0FF]¢..[#888][#CCC]X.......[#888][#CCC]X..[#0FF]¢.▓ . floor
▓...▓▓▓▓▓.▓▓▓▓▓...▓ [#0FF]¢ floor hatch
▓▓▓▓▓▓[#FF0]1▓▓.▓ ▓▓▓▓▓▓ [#888][#CCC]X floodgate
▓[#FFF]<.[#888][#CCC]┼.▓ ▓▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈ [#00F]≈ water source
▓[#0FF]2▓▓.▓ ▓▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]~ [#888][#CCC]┼ door
▓▓▓▓.▓▓▓[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~ [#FFF]< up stairs
▓▓[#FFF][#444]▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈▓▓ [#FF0]1 -> lever 1
▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~▓▓▓ [#0FF]2 -> lever 2
▓[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]~▓▓▓
upper level, plumbing}}

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▓.[#FFF]t[#FFF]o.[#FFF]f[#FFF]o[#FFF]r[#FFF]t.▓ [#FFF]l[#FFF]e[#FFF]g[#FFF]e[#FFF]n[#FFF]d
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓...▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ [#880]≈ farm plot
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓...▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓ [#888]═ stockpile
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓...▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓ (customized
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓[#888]═[#888]═[#888]═▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓ for seeds)
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#888][#CCC]┼[#888]═[#888]═[#888]═[#888][#CCC]┼[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓[#888]═[#888]═[#888]═▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓▓▓▓▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓ ▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓
lower level, farms}}

After the pattern has been dug out, the tiles for each hatch are channeled out. Then, the hatch covers are placed and linked to the first lever.

Floodgates are placed and linked to the second lever. To start the irrigation, channel out the last tile to the river / murky pool. Engage the floodgate-lever to fill the reservoirs and disengage it once they're full. Finally, pull the lever for the hatches to release the water to the lower level.

This reservoir contains 70 units of water (10x7). 9 units of water are lost to the ground of the reservoir (61 left). Roughly 10 units evaporate while spreading (~51). The water should be just enough to cover the whole farm plot and evaporate quickly.

{{Farming FAQ}}
{{Category|Agriculture}}
{{Category|Guides}}

Irrigation

2014-08-16T00:59:58Z

Greycat: fix links

{{Migrated_article}}
{{Quality|Masterwork|23:39, 27 April 2013 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

[[Farming]] is only possible on [[mud]] and [[soil]]. Any terrain can be made muddy, and therefore suitable for farming, by dumping water on it. In Dwarf Fortress, 'Irrigation' is used as a fancy word for dumping water onto terrain that isn't useful for farming, in order to make it so. Once your floor is successfully muddied no further irrigation will be required, unless you somehow remove the mud (by building a [[construction|constructed]] floor, for instance).

Any amount of water dropped, pumped, or otherwise transported onto a tile will leave behind at least 'a dusting of mud', and this is sufficient for farming. Farm plots cannot be built on terrain with [[water depth|a water level of more than 1/7]], and more mud has no apparent effect on farm output, so it's best to use a minimum of water to irrigate.

Irrigation is especially useful in [[biome|biomes]] with little soil, and deep underground. However, no amount of irrigation will make it possible to grow surface plants in a hostile [[biome]], such as mountains. This is a matter of climate, not soil conditions.

Farm plots can be built on unsuitable ground but doing so will display a warning message. If even a one tile of the plot lacks mud or soil, the entire plot will be unusable. (However, note that when placing an outdoor farm plot, the game will always erroneously report that there is no usable mud/soil. This is a bug - if the plot is green it will function correctly.)

[[Magma]] cannot be used to irrigate, as it does not leave behind mud. It's usually best not to confuse molten rock and liquid water, although the use of both in tandem may help with schemes to irrigate [[glacier|glaciers]].

All types of [[soil]] can be farmed with no need for irrigation, even [[sand]]. Irrigation is '''''not''''' required for farming. Any soil underground can be used to farm; irrigation is only required on stone.

[[Cavern|In certain conditions]], irrigation can convert rock floors into soil floors. This can be useful for transporting valuable soil like [[fire clay]] or [[sand]] closer to [[magma]].

== Easy Irrigation ==

At its simplest, all that's required for irrigation is a water source, a drop-off point, and a dwarf with a bucket.

Very little land is required to provide all the farm field resources a fortress needs to survive and prosper, so this method should suffice in most cases. Of course, we have many other methods documented here for more ambitious sorts.

=== via Buckets===

This method relies on [[activity zone]]s, as water for irrigation can't simply be dropped on the ground, but must fall from the level above.

Step one: Designate a water source activity zone over the edge of a body of water. In a saltwater biome, a [[well]] must be constructed, instead.

Step two: Dig out or construct a drop-off point just above where you want your farms to be. This most often takes the form of a balcony, catwalk, or scaffolding. Alternately, [[mining|channel]] out a shaft and/or staircase all the way up to the surface. Water can safely fall any distance.

Step three: Designate a pit/pond area at the drop-off point, or several if you'd prefer speed over conservation of buckets. By default, these zones are pits, make sure to switch them to ponds, and to remove them once you have all the mud you need.

That's it!

=== via Murky Pool===

Most areas contain [[murky pool]]s, full of stagnant water. Though unpleasant to drink, in DF terms it's as useful as any water for irrigation. Like any other body of water, it can be used as a source for buckets, but the limited quantity also helps a simple plan to dig into or around it, and drain it out to create farmland.

The final [[water depth|water level must be less than 2/7]] in order for the water to evaporate and provide access to the muddy tiles for farming. When using this method, it's easier to use smaller pools.

There are two approaches to reducing the final water level, without using pumps. One is to leave plenty of room. If the area to be irrigated is 5-6 times the size of the pool, the water inside will evaporate on its own, even in [[temperate]] climates. The other way is to leave a route for the water to flow out. If the pool and the dug out area are separate, [[mining|channeling]] can be used to connect them with no danger of drowning.

== Complex Irrigation ==
The following methods of irrigation take longer to build, but they can be more powerful, better-looking, and, of course, much more [[fun]].

=== via Screw Pump ===
A [[screw pump]] can be used to lift water and dump it into a chamber directly next to the water source. There are many ways to go about this, but one particularly simple, easy, and safe method requires a chamber dug out or constructed next to a body of water, with an outlet to allow it to drain back to its source. If the water the pump is free to collect water to spread inside, the water is contained by barriers, and water in the area is free to drain out, nearly any size area can be irrigated quickly and without danger.

This method is most useful around rivers that pass by or through hills, or through canyons, as irrigation isn't much use on most outdoor tiles. If terrain at a higher elevation than the river isn't available nearby, water can drain through a tunnel down to the caverns or toward the edge of the map, instead. Although the edge of the map cannot be dug out, it can be smoothed and carved into fortifications. Fortifications allow water to pass through, providing easy drainage at any depth.

Here's one example of this method:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~ [#FFF]l[#FFF]e[#FFF]g[#FFF]e[#FFF]n[#FFF]d
▓...▓▓▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈ ▓ stone
▓.....[#880]%[#880]%[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~ . floor
▓...▓▓▓[#0F0].[#FFF]+[#FFF]+[#FFF]+ [#880]%[#880]% pump
▓...▓▓▓▓[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~ [#00F]≈[#00F]~ water
▓.......[#FFF]+[#FFF]+[#FFF]+ [#FFF]+ "bridge" (constructed floor tiles)
▓...▓▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~
▓▓▓▓▓[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~
}}

=== via Reservoir ===
[[File:Irrigation1.png‎|thumb|right|A reservoir system which provides enough water for 8 fields. Upper level]]
[[File:Irrigation2.png‎|thumb|right|The irrigated bottom level.]]

Water reservoirs can be used as an intermediate step in any irrigation plan. This requires a large source of [[water]] to be of much use. Using reservoirs effectively involves some calculations, a worked example is shown below.

For this example, each 7x7 farm plot needs:
:* a [[floodgate]]
:* a [[hatch cover]]
:* 4 [[mechanism]]s (for linking)
:* a [[door]]

Also needed is:
:* 2 Mechanisms for the [[lever]]s
:* at least one additional door (if you have enough time to set up a wall or floodgate as well)

Here is the pattern:

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▓▓▓▓▓ ▓▓▓▓▓ [#FFF]l[#FFF]e[#FFF]g[#FFF]e[#FFF]n[#FFF]d
▓...▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓...▓ ▓ stone
▓.[#0FF]¢..[#888][#CCC]X.......[#888][#CCC]X..[#0FF]¢.▓ . floor
▓...▓▓▓▓▓.▓▓▓▓▓...▓ [#0FF]¢ floor hatch
▓▓▓▓▓▓[#FF0]1▓▓.▓ ▓▓▓▓▓▓ [#888][#CCC]X floodgate
▓[#FFF]<.[#888][#CCC]┼.▓ ▓▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈ [#00F]≈ water source
▓[#0FF]2▓▓.▓ ▓▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]~ [#888][#CCC]┼ door
▓▓▓▓.▓▓▓[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~ [#FFF]< up stairs
▓▓[#FFF][#444]▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈▓▓ [#FF0]1 -> lever 1
▓▓[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]~▓▓▓ [#0FF]2 -> lever 2
▓[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]~[#00F]≈[#00F]≈[#00F]~▓▓▓
upper level, plumbing}}

{{diagram|spaces=yes|\
▓.[#FFF]t[#FFF]o.[#FFF]f[#FFF]o[#FFF]r[#FFF]t.▓ [#FFF]l[#FFF]e[#FFF]g[#FFF]e[#FFF]n[#FFF]d
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓...▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ [#880]≈ farm plot
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓...▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓ [#888]═ stockpile
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓...▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓ (customized
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓[#888]═[#888]═[#888]═▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓ for seeds)
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#888][#CCC]┼[#888]═[#888]═[#888]═[#888][#CCC]┼[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓[#888]═[#888]═[#888]═▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓▓▓▓▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓
▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓ ▓[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈[#880]≈▓
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓
lower level, farms}}

After the pattern has been dug out, the tiles for each hatch are channeled out. Then, the hatch covers are placed and linked to the first lever.

Floodgates are placed and linked to the second lever. To start the irrigation, channel out the last tile to the river / murky pool. Engage the floodgate-lever to fill the reservoirs and disengage it once they're full. Finally, pull the lever for the hatches to release the water to the lower level.

This reservoir contains 70 units of water (10x7). 9 units of water are lost to the ground of the reservoir (61 left). Roughly 10 units evaporate while spreading (~51). The water should be just enough to cover the whole farm plot and evaporate quickly.

{{Farming FAQ}}
{{Category|Agriculture}}
{{Category|Guides}}

Farm size calculations

2014-08-15T00:02:12Z

Greycat: /* Approaches */

{{Migrated_article}}
{{Quality|Fine|21:40, 3 April 2012 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

[[Dwarves]] require approximately 2 units of [[food]] and 4 units of [[drink]] each season. [[Farming]] can produce enough [[crop]]s to satisfy part or all of these requirements. However, be aware that the more and larger your farms are, the more time and effort must be accorded to their maintenance.

==The math==
Your dwarves can plant 1 [[seed]] per tile on each [[farm plot]], and depending on the crop, the [[skill]] of the [[grower]], and whether the farm plot was [[fertilizer|fertilized]], each planted tile will yield a stack of 0-12 (average: 5) edible, [[mill|millable]], [[brewing|brewable]], or otherwise [[farmer's workshop|processable]] plants each harvest cycle. Brewing always quintuples stack sizes; for example, a stack of [[cave wheat]]s [5] is brewed into a [[barrel]] of [[Dwarven beer]] [25] at a [[still]]. Processing [[quarry bush]] plants into quarry bush leaves at a farmer's workshop also quintuples stack size, as does processing [[sweet pod]]s into [[Dwarven syrup]]. [[mill|Milling]] sweet pods into [[Dwarven sugar]] does ''not'' increase stack size. [[Pig tail]]s and [[plump helmet]]s grow faster than other crops, and as long as the mature plants are harvested promptly, it is not hard to grow multiple crops of either plant each season from the same plot.

{| class="wikitable"
! Plant Name
! Active Seasons
! Days Per Harvest
! Harvests Per Tile Per Season
! Harvests Per Tile Per Year
! Average Plants Harvested Per Tile Per Year
! Average Processed Food/Drink Per Tile Per Year
|-
|Plump helmet
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Pig tail
|2
|25
|3
|6
|30
|150
|-
|Cave wheat
|2
|42
|2
|4
|20
|100
|-
|Sweet pod
|2
|42
|2
|4
|20
|100
|-
|Quarry bush
|3
|42
|2
|6
|30
|150
|-
|Prickle berry
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Wild strawberry
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Longland grass
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Rat weed
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Fisher berry
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Rope reed
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Sliver barb
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Sun berry
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Whip vine
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|}

Each dwarf (age 1 year or greater) consumes 4 [[Main:urist|urist]]s of booze and 2 urists of food per season, or 16 booze and 8 food per year.
A 100 dwarf fortress (not counting infants) therefore needs 1600 booze and 800 food per year.

A single farm tile, with fertilizer, configured for 3 quarry bush seasons + 1 plump helmet season, can produce 150 units of food (quarry bush leaves, 3 seasons * 2 crops per season * 5 plants per crop * 5 leaves per plant) and 75 units of booze (plump helmet wine, 1 season * 3 crops per season * 5 plants per crop * 5 booze per plant). Another tile dedicated solely to booze can produce 300 units (plump helmet wine, as above but 4 seasons), at the expense of variety. Together, they produce 375 booze and 150 food, which is enough for 18.75 dwarves, with some booze left over. That's 9.375 dwarves per farm tile, if the tiles are split in this manner. A 100 dwarf fortress therefore could ''theoretically'' get by with about 11 tiles of farmland, if the dwarves were willing to subsist on a single type of food and booze, and did not need any clothing.

In practice, however, you want booze variety to avoid bad [[thought]]s, and your dwarves are going to need some [[clothing]]. If you grow crops for textiles to make this clothing, that will add more farmland. This calculation also assumes you use fertilizer, which is a dubious practice given the difficulty in maintaining a steady supply of wood. Why use 11 tiles with fertilizer when you could just use 20 tiles with no fertilizer, especially when the latter would use less labor? Finally, the calculation assumes all your planters have Legendary skill, and that there are enough of them to avoid any labor shortages at planting times. This may eventually be true in a long-running fortress, but is not typical in most forts.

==Approaches==
Many fortresses begin with a single large farm (5x5) with [[plump helmet]]s, or several smaller farms (3x3 or 1x5 are common) with a wider variety of crops. Given the small number of dwarves, a single smaller farm (2x4 or 3x3) is probably best for beginning fortresses. As the growers [[experience|level up]] and farm yields increase the farm can be expanded and newer, smaller farms with different crops can be added to enable new growers to practice their skills. The more tiles of farm plot you have, the more growers (and harvesters) you will need.

If you plan to [[farming|fertilize]], farm plots should ideally be one less than a multiple of 4 tiles -- ex. (1x3), (1x7), (3x5), (3x9), (5x7), (7x9)

{{Template:Farming FAQ}}

Farm size calculations

2014-08-14T23:59:05Z

Greycat: /* The math */ Let's show some actual numbers, and draw some realistic conclusions.

{{Migrated_article}}
{{Quality|Fine|21:40, 3 April 2012 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

[[Dwarves]] require approximately 2 units of [[food]] and 4 units of [[drink]] each season. [[Farming]] can produce enough [[crop]]s to satisfy part or all of these requirements. However, be aware that the more and larger your farms are, the more time and effort must be accorded to their maintenance.

==The math==
Your dwarves can plant 1 [[seed]] per tile on each [[farm plot]], and depending on the crop, the [[skill]] of the [[grower]], and whether the farm plot was [[fertilizer|fertilized]], each planted tile will yield a stack of 0-12 (average: 5) edible, [[mill|millable]], [[brewing|brewable]], or otherwise [[farmer's workshop|processable]] plants each harvest cycle. Brewing always quintuples stack sizes; for example, a stack of [[cave wheat]]s [5] is brewed into a [[barrel]] of [[Dwarven beer]] [25] at a [[still]]. Processing [[quarry bush]] plants into quarry bush leaves at a farmer's workshop also quintuples stack size, as does processing [[sweet pod]]s into [[Dwarven syrup]]. [[mill|Milling]] sweet pods into [[Dwarven sugar]] does ''not'' increase stack size. [[Pig tail]]s and [[plump helmet]]s grow faster than other crops, and as long as the mature plants are harvested promptly, it is not hard to grow multiple crops of either plant each season from the same plot.

{| class="wikitable"
! Plant Name
! Active Seasons
! Days Per Harvest
! Harvests Per Tile Per Season
! Harvests Per Tile Per Year
! Average Plants Harvested Per Tile Per Year
! Average Processed Food/Drink Per Tile Per Year
|-
|Plump helmet
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Pig tail
|2
|25
|3
|6
|30
|150
|-
|Cave wheat
|2
|42
|2
|4
|20
|100
|-
|Sweet pod
|2
|42
|2
|4
|20
|100
|-
|Quarry bush
|3
|42
|2
|6
|30
|150
|-
|Prickle berry
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Wild strawberry
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Longland grass
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Rat weed
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Fisher berry
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Rope reed
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Sliver barb
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Sun berry
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|-
|Whip vine
|4
|25
|3
|12
|60
|300
|}

Each dwarf (age 1 year or greater) consumes 4 [[Main:urist|urist]]s of booze and 2 urists of food per season, or 16 booze and 8 food per year.
A 100 dwarf fortress (not counting infants) therefore needs 1600 booze and 800 food per year.

A single farm tile, with fertilizer, configured for 3 quarry bush seasons + 1 plump helmet season, can produce 150 units of food (quarry bush leaves, 3 seasons * 2 crops per season * 5 plants per crop * 5 leaves per plant) and 75 units of booze (plump helmet wine, 1 season * 3 crops per season * 5 plants per crop * 5 booze per plant). Another tile dedicated solely to booze can produce 300 units (plump helmet wine, as above but 4 seasons), at the expense of variety. Together, they produce 375 booze and 150 food, which is enough for 18.75 dwarves, with some booze left over. That's 9.375 dwarves per farm tile, if the tiles are split in this manner. A 100 dwarf fortress therefore could ''theoretically'' get by with about 11 tiles of farmland, if the dwarves were willing to subsist on a single type of food and booze, and did not need any clothing.

In practice, however, you want booze variety to avoid bad [[thought]]s, and your dwarves are going to need some [[clothing]]. If you grow crops for textiles to make this clothing, that will add more farmland. This calculation also assumes you use fertilizer, which is a dubious practice given the difficulty in maintaining a steady supply of wood. Why use 11 tiles with fertilizer when you could just use 20 tiles with no fertilizer, especially when the latter would use less labor? Finally, the calculation assumes all your planters have Legendary skill, and that there are enough of them to avoid any labor shortages at planting times. This may eventually be true in a long-running fortress, but is not typical in most forts.

==Approaches==
Many fortresses begin with a single large farm (5x5) with [[plump helmet]]s, or several smaller farms (3x3 or 1x5 are common) with a wider variety of crops. Given the small number of dwarves, a single smaller farm (2x4 or 3x3) is probably best for beginning fortresses. As the growers [[experience|level up]] and farm yields increase the farm can be expanded and newer, smaller farms with different crops can be added to enable new growers to practice their skills. The more tiles of farm plot you have, the more growers (and harvesters) you will need.

To minimize the cost of [[fertilize|fertilization]], farm plots should ideally be one less than a multiple of 4 tiles -- ex. (1x3), (1x7), (3x5), (3x9), (5x7), (7x9)

{{Template:Farming FAQ}}

Hatch cover

2014-08-14T02:19:07Z

Greycat: Dumping science.

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A '''hatch cover''' (also called a '''floor hatch''' or just '''hatch''') is, in effect, a [[door]], but controlling the passage between Z-levels instead of along the same Z-level. They can be placed over [[stairs]] or [[ramp]]s, or open space as long as they are supported by an adjacent floor tile.

Like doors, they can be linked with [[mechanism]]s, or locked, or kept tightly closed to keep out water, pets and foes alike. They can be set as internal, but as [[room]]s cannot occupy multiple Z-levels, this has no effect.

When closed, hatches appear as {{Raw Tile|¢|0:7:1}}; they are not visible when open. A hatch cover's color is determined by the [[material]] it is made from.

As [[building destroyer]]s can only destroy buildings on other z-levels under [[Building destroyer#Destroying from underneath|certain conditions]], hatch covers can be quite effective at keeping out enemies if used properly.

They can be constructed from a [[Mason's workshop]], [[Metalsmith's forge]], [[Carpenter's workshop]], or [[Glass furnace]] from [[stone]], [[metal]], [[wood]], or [[glass]] respectively. Once {{k|b}}uilt, they may be placed with {{k|H}}.

A dwarf falling down stairs will be stopped by a closed floor hatch. A dwarf standing on a floor hatch over stairs will not start falling if the hatch is opened. A dwarf standing on a floor hatch above a ramp or open space will start falling if the hatch is opened.

If a hatch cover is placed over a hole (natural or [[channel]]ed), a [[garbage dump]] designated on the hatch will cause items to be dumped in a pile on top of the hatch. If the hatch is subsequently opened (by means of a triggered mechanism), the items will fall into the hole. If the hatch is opened at the time of dumping, the items will be thrown directly into the hole.

If a garbage dump is designated ''next to'' a hole with a hatch cover on it, the behavior depends on the state of the hatch cover. If the hatch cover is not linked to a mechanism at all, items will be piled on the hatch cover. If the hatch cover is linked and opened, the items will be thrown directly into the hole. If the hatch cover is linked and closed, the items will be piled on the ground (in the garbage dump tile).

{{buildings}}
{{Category|Furniture}}

Hatch cover

2014-08-14T00:50:09Z

Greycat: Correct basic fact, even though I do not understand the point of the paragraph.

{{Migrated_article}}
{{Quality|Superior|15:35, 22 October 2013 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

A '''hatch cover''' (also called a '''floor hatch''' or just '''hatch''') is, in effect, a [[door]], but controlling the passage between Z-levels instead of along the same Z-level. They can be placed over [[stairs]] or [[ramp]]s, or open space as long as they are supported by an adjacent floor tile.

Like doors, they can be linked with mechanisms, locked, or kept tightly closed to keep out water, pets and foes alike. They can be set as internal, but as [[room]]s cannot occupy multiple Z-levels, this has no effect.

When closed, hatches appear as {{Raw Tile|¢|0:7:1}}; they are not visible when open. A hatch cover's color is determined by the [[material]] it is made from.

As [[building destroyer]]s can only destroy buildings on other z-levels under [[Building destroyer#Destroying from underneath|certain conditions]], hatch covers can be quite effective at keeping out enemies if used properly.

They can be constructed from a [[Mason's workshop]], [[Metalsmith's forge]], [[Carpenter's workshop]], or [[Glass furnace]] from [[stone]], [[metal]], [[wood]], or [[glass]] respectively. Once {{k|b}}uilt, they may be placed with {{k|H}}.

A dwarf falling down stairs will be stopped by a closed floor hatch. A dwarf standing on a floor hatch over stairs will not start falling if the hatch is opened. A dwarf standing on a floor hatch above a ramp or open space will start falling if the hatch is opened.

Using a hatch cover, a garbage dump can be designed to drop items on the same Z level as the dwarf doing the dumping, thus removing risk of falling items causing injuries. This is done by channeling one square, and then constructing the hatch over the hole. Designate a dump zone over the hatch, and haulers will neglect to open the hatch, leaving the hauled items on the hatch instead.

{{buildings}}
{{Category|Furniture}}

Quantum stockpile

2014-08-13T23:23:07Z

Greycat: Redirected page to DF2014:Exploit#Quantum stockpiles

#redirect [[DF2014:Exploit#Quantum stockpiles]]

Garbage dump

2014-08-13T23:19:37Z

Greycat:

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[[File:Stockpile.png|thumb|350px|right|Garbage dumps are used most often for clearing out large areas of leftover stone - for instance, when constructing a [[stockpile]] (note that since the changes made in version 0.34.10, [[mining]] doesn't generate quite so many leftover stones, though the number is still significant).]]

Garbage dump zones are areas in which dwarves will throw items designated for dumping - either with by using {{k|k}}-{{k|d}} (one item at a time), or {{k|d}}-{{k|b}}-{{k|d}} (area dumping; note that this designates ''all'' items on the tiles for dumping, even placed [[furniture]]). Garbage dumps are ''not'' the same as [[Refuse#Refuse|refuse]] stockpiles, which can be designated to accept any specific type(s) of refuse, such as animal [[corpse]]s or [[bones]], and then are randomly filled by haulers whenever the items appear on the map.

The garbage dump may be inappropriately named, as it's more of a matter compression zone. The specifics are beyond human understanding; however, dwarves are in fact capable of compressing an infinite amount of matter into only one tile, as long as it is specified as a garbage dump. If for some reason [[Main:Urist|Urist]] is yet again incapable of locating his favorite pair of cave troll leather socks, he should think to look among the black hole of matter that is the nearest garbage dump, as they could be snugly lodged between a few billion rocks.

Garbage dumps only accept items that have been marked for dumping, require dwarves to have [[refuse hauling]] [[labor]] enabled, and are subject to refuse [[standing orders]] ({{k|o}}-{{k|r}}). Most notably, dwarves will ''not'' dump items that are outside unless you allow them to ({{k|o}}->{{k|r}}->{{k|o}}). To place a garbage dump, trace a zone on either a relatively empty plot of land or adjacent to a cliff face or hole. If a garbage zone is designated beside a [[cliff]] or hole (both natural or dwarf made) garbage will be thrown off/in the z-space. Each ground tile within that zone is considered a garbage dump tile; thus, if you want to place a single-tile zone, place the zone onto a ground tile (optionally adjacent to a cliff or [[pit]]), not onto an [[open space]]. Items dumped into [[magma]] that are not [[magma safe]] will permanently disappear, which is useful for disposing of clutter and increasing [[FPS]]. Otherwise a single tile (either a dump zone, or the ground below the open space) will hold any number of dumped objects. Dumping items into [[magma]] can be [[fun|dangerous]] due to the [[magma mist]] generated when objects fall into magma. It is advised to dump items into magma from a hole several z-levels up to avoid [[Fire|!!Dwarves!!]] running around the fortress.

Dumped items are automatically marked as [[forbid]]den, preventing dwarves from touching them. If you wish to use dumped items, you need to reclaim them. Press {{k|k}} to view the item and {{k|f}} to toggle forbid status. You may also use the reclaim [[designation]] to reclaim simultaneously all of the items dumped by using {{k|d}}-{{k|b}}-{{k|c}} and tracing the designation over the objects in question. If you designate items for dumping, but forget to mark an active garbage dump, your dwarves will continue hauling / using the item, until an active garbage dump is marked.

If a garbage dump is located next to open space, dwarves will always stand on a garbage dump square when throwing ''into'' that open space, even if it could potentially be done more efficiently. If a garbage dump is located next to multiple tiles of open space, they seem to prefer the one farthest to the northwest. If a tile to the north and a tile to the west are the only tiles available, they will throw to the west. Such garbage dumps can be a very efficient method of moving materials to the lower levels of your fortress. However care must be taken to prevent dwarves and livestock from being struck by falling objects, perhaps with [[traffic]] designations. Dwarves usually throw dumped items in the nearest available garbage dump, although this is not an ironclad rule. If a nearer zone becomes available after they have already started the job they will ignore it. They also have a preference for open space dumps.

Probably due to a bug, dwarves occasionally ignore items that are meant to be dumped; viewing the item by pressing {{k|k}} then toggling forbid and dump status on, then off again ({{k|f}}-{{k|f}}-{{k|d}}-{{k|d}}) seems to correct this problem. Previously dumped items are regarded as 'refuse' and will not be recognized (or re-dumped) unless 'gather refuse from outside' is enabled in your orders.

Garbage dumps are great space savers because they can hold an infinite number of items on one tile; with some micromanagement they can even compress large, one-item-per-tile [[stockpile]]s into single-tile [[quantum stockpile]]s (although this requires additional work and is usually considered an [[exploit]]). The most common use for garbage dumps is for cleaning away loose stones left in your fortress by your [[miner]]s: mark them for dumping, wait for the jobs to be completed, and then reclaim them ({{k|d}}-{{k|b}}-{{k|c}}) for use by your stonemasons; bonus points if you do this next to a stoneworking workshop and then re-designate the tile as a stone stockpile. If the dump is designated inside a workshop, the workshop will not become cluttered. However, if you put a garbage dump inside a magma workshop with the intent of dumping ores there, make sure the zone does not overlap any open pits of magma you may have carelessly left around, or as per intended behavior, items will be dumped into the magma.

{{Category|Designations}}

Zone

2014-08-13T23:18:43Z

Greycat: /* Garbage dump */

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'''Activity zones''' are areas to which [[dwarf|dwarves]] are constrained when performing specific tasks, such as [[fishing]], dumping objects, or collecting [[water]]. Activity zones are optional for the performance of certain tasks (fishing, collecting water) but obligatory for certain others (dumping), and are used primarily to keep dwarves out of [[fun|danger]].

Activity zones can be placed in any [[revealed tile]], including in [[open space]] or over a [[river]] or on top of a [[building]] or [[stockpile]]. They are placed in one of three ways: rectangular, flow, or floor flow. From within the Zones [[menu]], ({{k|i}})Pressing {{k|e}} in the Zones menu cycles through each method, and pressing {{k|Enter}} begins designation. Rectangular zones are placed in the same manner as stockpiles, specifying two corners of the rectangle. The numbers in brackets after each type of zone indicate how many selected floor tiles can be used for that type of zone. Flow and floor flow are placed similarly to designating rooms from pieces of furniture using {{k|+}}/{{k|-}} to adjust the size (floor flow excludes walls). After that the zone has to be assigned to one of the listed tasks to become functional, by pressing the proper key. In some cases ([[healthcare|hospital]], pit/pond) additional orders can then be set from the same menu. The location of a zone is only visible while in the Zones menu, and any object lying on the ground will hide the presence of a zone tile. The maximum size of an activity zone is 31x31.

== Water source ==
:{{k|w}}
Dwarves will use these zones to draw water, to satisfy booze-less [[thirst]], tend to another thirsty dwarf (with the Give Water job), or to fill a [[#Pit/Pond|Pond zone]]. Only tiles ''adjacent'' to water qualify as usable water sources - thus, if you want to place a single-tile zone, place the zone onto a ground tile next to the water, not over the water itself. This zone should ''not'' be used with [[well]]s - this is redundant as they are already considered their own water source.

== Fishing zone ==
:{{k|f}}
Dwarves will preferably use these zones when [[fish]]ing, using them up until their supply is exhausted before on to the next water source (and exclusively if designated as such by [[standing orders]]: {{k|o}}-{{k|z}}). As with water sources, only tiles ''adjacent'' to water qualify as usable tiles. Far-flung fisherdwarves fishing off a distant [[river]] or [[pool]] are a serious defensive liability in case of an attack, and moreover building a [[Fishing industry#Industry management|fishing inlet]] is an easy and logistically rewarding project, so it is recommended to eventually construct one and designate it as the fortress's fishing area by combining an activity zone and a change in the standing orders settings. You can fish through a [[grate]] or even a [[well]], provided there is water in the well 1 z-level below the activity zone, and you can defend against swimming building destroyers pathing into your fortress through this route by using [[fortification]]s.

The [[Captured live fish|capture live fish]] job can ''only'' be carried out at a designated fishing zone.

== Garbage dump ==
{{main|Garbage dump}}
:{{k|g}}
Garbage dump zones are areas in which dwarves will throw items designated for dumping - either with by using {{k|k}}-{{k|d}} (one item at a time), or {{k|d}}-{{k|b}}-{{k|d}} (area dumping; note that this designates ''all'' items on the tiles for dumping, even placed [[furniture]]). Garbage dumps are ''not'' the same as [[Refuse#Refuse|refuse]] stockpiles, which can be designated to accept any specific type(s) of refuse, such as animal [[corpse]]s or [[bones]], and then are randomly filled by haulers whenever the items appear on the map.

The garbage dump may be inappropriately named, as it's more of a matter compression zone. The specifics are beyond human understanding; however, dwarves are in fact capable of compressing an infinite amount of matter into only one tile, as long as it is specified as a garbage dump. If for some reason [[Main:Urist|Urist]] is yet again incapable of locating his favorite pair of cave troll leather socks, he should think to look among the black hole of matter that is the nearest garbage dump, as they could be snugly lodged between a few billion rocks.

Be aware that if a garbage zone is designated beside a cliff or hole (any open space, either natural or dwarf made), garbage will be thrown into the open space.

== Pen/Pasture ==
{{main|Pasture}}
:{{k|n}}

A pen or a pasture is used to contain tame animals. Once one is created, animals must be assigned to it individually by pressing {{k|N}} from the zone information screen. Dwarves will drag the assigned animals to the pen or pasture automatically. Domestic animals tend to aggregate at [[meeting area]]s instead, as will herbivorous ones, which will lead to probably starvation unless your meeting area is overgrown with [[grass]] or fungi for some reason. Any tame creature with the "grazer" token in the raws should be assigned to a pasture. This includes mules, cows, goats, horses, yaks, unicorns etc. Animals will not typically wander out of their assigned pasture even if it is not walled in, however animals will abandon their posts and will have to be dragged back to them if they are threatened by enemies, and an exposed pasture may lead to premature slaughter at the hands of invaders. Since pets can be assigned to pen/pastures and a zone can be created under a [[dwarven atom smasher]], this is one of the easiest ways to prevent [[catsplosion]]s.

== Pit/Pond ==
:''See also: [[Mass pitting]]''
:{{k|p}}

{{TipBox2|titlebg=#c00|textbg=#ffd|Warning!|There have been multiple reports of hostile creatures escaping confinement while pitting. In previous versions, only "thief" type creatures, flyers, or large creatures like titans would escape using this system. The 0.40 behavior is still being investigated.}}

A Pit/Pond requires a [[ramp]] or hole with adjacent flooring on which a dwarf can stand. Designate the zone from the top of the ramp or hole, such that the zone designation is floating in the open space above the floor of the pit/pond. By default, the zone will be a pit. To change it to a pond, press {{k|P}} then {{k|f}}. It can be changed back to a pit the same way. Creatures can be assigned to a pit/pond through the {{k|P}} menu. If the creature is [[cage]]d, a dwarf will release it from the cage (rather than bringing the cage to the pit). The dwarf will lead the beast to the pit and throw it in. If the pit is a ramp rather than a hole, the creature will then wander back out, as it will if the pit has some other exit path (which would include straight back up the hole for flying creatures). Note that some (or possibly all?) hostile creatures may escape on being released from their cage, possibly attacking the dwarf who opened the cage. See [[Mass pitting]] for more information on pit design involving hostile creatures. Additionally, dwarves refuse to pit dwarves, hostile or not.

The only real difference between a pit and a pond is that dwarves will attempt to fill a pond with [[water]], carried by [[bucket]] from a water source. They will stand on the floor adjacent to the top of the ramp or hole, and toss the water onto the ramp or into the hole. Each bucketful increases the depth of the water in the tile below by 1/7. Once the water is dumped from the bucket, the dwarf will either drop the bucket and perform a different task, or choose to fill a pond zone tile again using the bucket (s)he currently holds. Dwarves will stop scheduling the Fill Pond job when the water depth reaches 6/7. Specifying a pond zone is one technique used for [[irrigation]], in order to make [[mud]] for [[farming]] on areas without soil. Currently, no matter how large the designated pond area, only one dwarf at a time will try to fill the pond. In order to fill a large area quickly, it is necessary to designate multiple smaller pond zones (or several zones overlapping the same area). If you have more than one pond designated as a water source, your dwarves may endlessly try to fill each pond with the other pond's water, making a loop of useless duty; this may be undesirable, although otherwise-idle dwarves performing this task won't be making any friends.

Only dwarves with the [[Hauling#Water_hauling|Water hauling]] labor enabled will fill ponds.

== Sand collection ==
{{main|Glass industry#Collecting sand}}
:{{k|s}}
A '''sand collection''' zone allows dwarves with the [[item hauling]] labor active to fill an unused [[bag]] with [[sand]] for use in the [[glass industry]]. The collect sand task is created at a [[glass furnace]].

== Clay collection ==
{{main|Ceramic industry#Clay collection}}
:{{k|c}}
A '''clay collection''' zone allows dwarves with the [[item hauling]] labor active to create [[clay]] for use in the [[ceramic industry]]. The collect clay task is created at a [[kiln]].

== Meeting area ==
:{{k|m}}
Meeting area zones are zones in which idle dwarves and animals will congregate, similar to [[meeting hall]]s. Additionally, [[immigration|immigrants]] will collect at a meeting area until their "migrant" status wears off. Note that the [[wagon (embark)|wagon]] you [[embark|arrive with]] constitutes a meeting area until you designate the first meeting area of your own. If you start in hostile surroundings it is important to do so so as to get your dwarves and animals out of danger quickly. It is a good idea to have at least one meeting area of one form or another: It allows you to make off-duty dwarves and animals gather in an area where they are not vulnerable within the fortress. A meeting area filled with dwarves increases the [[social skill]]s of idlers. It makes idle dwarves a little less idle. Because almost every dwarf visits a meeting area at least occasionally, it's an ideal place to site valuable objects and buildings. A meeting area exposed to sunlight will additionally prevent dwarves from becoming [[cave adaptation|cave-adapted]]. Note that having dwarves socialize will often result in them forming [[relationship]]s.

It is not advisable to have animals mill around in crowded meeting areas for a prolonged time as they will pick fights with dwarves and other animals. While this may be negligible in the case of a hen, it also applies to your [[Dog#War dogs|war dogs]] (although this can be partly beneficial, since all your dwarves will get combat experience from being bitten occasionally, especially the children, who mill around constantly). Designating a meeting area is done via the zone menu; type {{k|i}}, set up a zone, and mark it both "active" and "meeting".

== Hospital ==
{{main|Healthcare#Setting_up_a_Hospital}}
:{{k|h}}

A hospital zone allows [[wound]]ed dwarves to rest and receive care and [[healthcare|treatment]]. Dwarves can be rested and (mostly) treated in any free fortress bed but [[traction bench]]es can only be constructed in hospital zones and designating a zone allows healthcare to reserve healthcare supplies: [[plaster powder]], [[splint]]s, [[crutch]]es, [[thread]], [[cloth]], [[soap]], and [[bucket]]s so long as [[container]]s are available in the zone. The limits of storage in containers can be set in the zones menu by using ({{k|i}}) selecting the hospital zone and then {{k|H}}.

== Animal training ==
{{main|Animal trainer}}
:{{k|t}}

An animal training zone allows [[Animal trainer|animal training]]. Animals cannot be trained unless they are in a training zone or [[pasture]] or on a [[restraint]].
To be tamed, they must be in a [[cage]]. For making an animal training zone, it is advisable to create a small room with a [[Door|tightly shut door]]. The training zone should be combined with a pasture to keep in wild animals. This will make sure your animals don't escape when they are not being trained.

Make your own weapons

2014-08-12T23:36:01Z

Greycat: not all copper ores are 6 pts

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'''Making your own weapons''' on [[embark]] can save embark points and kick-start your [[metal industry]]. It can also serve as a minimalist embark and add an early-game challenge for advanced players. Just keep in mind, that you'll need time to forge your axes and picks, potentially leaving your [[wood cutter]] and [[miner]] standing around waiting. Also, you'll probably have other concerns during your first year; choose wisely.

Nevertheless, making your own weapons is quite easy. Currently a [[wood]]en training axe created at a [[carpenter's workshop]] is capable of [[wood cutting|felling trees]], which is by far the least expensive option for your fortress's early woodcutting (requiring no embark supplies). Picks are slightly more complicated, requiring [[metal]], an [[anvil]], and [[fuel]].

The embark savings can be quite considerable, allowing you to concentrate points on other skills or supplies, or even an early steel-equipped military. Occasionally a [[civilization]] may not have access to an iron anvil but curiously has access to a steel one which cost 300 points; any savings are much harder to obtain with such a large expenditure up-front. Copper is the cheapest material for creating mining [[pick]] axes and a metal battle axe provides a [[wood cutter]] with a better weapon to defend themselves from dangerous wildlife. However, Bronze is a better material for creating [[military]] grade weapons and armor if your [[civilization]] has access to it.

==Crude copper supplies==
The basic item selection in "Prepare for the journey carefully" comes with two [[copper]] [[pick]]s (at 44 points each), two copper [[battle axe]]s (68 points each), and an iron anvil (100 points). Since copper ores (except [[tetrahedrite]]) cost 6 points each, and bituminous coal costs 3 points each (and you already have an anvil included), you can carry the supplies necessary to create FOUR copper items for less than a third of the cost of ONE copper battle axe:
* 1 copper ore ([[native copper]] or [[malachite]]): 6 points
* 1 [[wood]] (for [[charcoal]] to smelt the coal): 3 points
* 1 [[bituminous coal]] (for 9 fuel to create weapons): 3 points
* 2 stone (for fire safe buildings): 6 points
* Total points: 18

Once embarked you must build a [[wood furnace]] to make a bar of charcoal, once done disassemble the furnace. Build a [[smelter]] and process your bituminous coal to fuel. Smelt the copper ore into 4 copper bars. Build a [[metalsmith's forge]] and start creating copper equipment. Battle axes and picks cost 1 bar each so you can create 2 of each with 1 bar. If you plan to bring more than one copper ore, consider upgrading to bronze instead.

Note: if your embark has trees you can avoid spending points on fuel or wood. Deconstruct your wagon to yield 3 logs, build a [[carpenter's workshop]], create a [[wood]]en training axe, and cut wood and process to [[charcoal]] as necessary for fuel. This process requires more effort and takes a little longer but it saves a few more points.

Note: [[Ash]] counts as a "fire-safe bar" and can be used to construct the [[smelter]] and [[metalsmith's forge]].

==Better bronze supplies==
For a minimal increase in costs you can upgrade to [[bronze]] equipment. An additional 6 points will provide up to EIGHT bronze items:
* 1 copper ore (native copper or malachite): 6 points
* 1 [[cassiterite]]: 6 points
* 1 [[wood]] (for [[charcoal]] to smelt the coal): 3 points
* 1 [[bituminous coal]] (for 9 fuel): 3 points
* 2 stone: 6 points
* Total: 24 points

Build a wood furnace, make a bar of charcoal, then disassemble the furnace. Build a smelter and process your bituminous coal to fuel. Smelt the ores into 8 bronze bars. Build a forge and start creating bronze equipment.

==Superior steel supplies==
Unfortunately, iron ores will cost you 24 points each, and steel-making requires an equal investment in flux stone, so if you're hoping to go directly for [[steel]] equipment you'll need:
* 1 iron ore (any type): 24 points
* 4 [[flux]] (any type): 24 points
* 1 [[wood]] (for [[charcoal]] to smelt the coal): 3 points
* 2 [[bituminous coal]] (for 17 fuel): 6 points
* 2 stone: 6 points
* Total: 63 points

Build a wood furnace, make a bar of charcoal, then disassemble the furnace. Build a smelter and process your bituminous coal to fuel. Smelt the iron ore into 4 iron bars. Smelt two iron bars into pig iron. Smelt the pig iron into steel. Build a forge and start creating steel equipment.

== Minimalist challenge ==

For the hardcore survivalist dwarves only.

Start out with ''only''
:* 1 [[iron]] [[anvil]]
:* 1 [[copper]] [[ore]].

And figure it out from there. Real dwarves (or real DF players) won't need to peek.

{{Spoil small|
* Deconstruct the initial wagon for the 3 wood it provides.
* Build a wood furnace with the copper nugget.
* Make 1 ash and 2 charcoal from the wood.
* Deconstruct the wood furnace.
* Build a smelter with the ash ''(a fire-safe "bar")''.
* Smelt the copper ore into 4 copper bars.
* Deconstruct the smelter.
* Build a metalsmith's forge with the anvil and ash bar.
* Forge a copper battle axe.
* Chop down 2 trees.
* Build a wood furnace with a copper bar.
* Make 2 charcoal.
* Forge 2 copper picks.
... and proceed as normal.
''(this procedure can be shortened considerably if you are willing to cut down trees with a training axe)''
|Step-by-step}}