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Protecting your fortress from intruders is a complex task. There's a variety of threats to consider, and many ways to counter them.  
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<!-- THIS ARTICLE IS GENERAL THEORY, "THINGS TO CONSIDER".  
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THERE IS NOT ROOM FOR DETAILS OR SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS.
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Specifics should be put into related articles.-->
  
=General Guidelines=
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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.
  
* '''Minimize fortress entrances:''' Have a strong distinction between inside and outside. This usually corresponds to underground and surface, but not always. Each point of contact needs to be hardened against attack. Don't make more entrances than necessary. If there is a useless opening, wall it off.
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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.<br>
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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.
  
* '''Concentric circles:''' One wall may not be enough. With the existence of door-destroying and bow-wielding attackers, a double wall between the inside and the outside is essential to fend off the worst assaults. The choke points between the circles are where you build traps and doors. Station troops between the walls.
 
  
* '''Assume the worst:''' Build up your defenses ''before'' the enemy shows up. Plan on being [[siege]]d by hordes of [[goblin]] archers, [[troll]]s, [[kobold]] master thieves, [[giant eagle]]s, angry [[elephants]], 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.
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For specific discussion, suggestions, descriptions and blueprints for...
  
=Threats=
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* '''fortress layout''', see [[Defense design]].
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* '''soldiers & military''', see [[Military design]].
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* '''traps''', see [[Trap design]].
  
==Wild animals==
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'''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.
The first, and easiest, threat you will have to deal with is the local wildlife. [[Animal]]s are easily excluded by the humble [[door]] or [[hatch]], even if it's not [[forbidden]]. [[Elephant]]s are not nearly as aggressive as they were in the days of [[Boatmurdered]]. The main threat from animals are those that steal items, like [[raccoon]]s or eat your food, like [[bear]]s.
 
  
With [[cage]] [[trap]]s and an [[animal trainer]] (or [[Dungeon master]]) animals can be useful. Dwarves love [[zoo]]s, merchants will gladly take your caged animals, and they provide a [[food]] source in times of need.
 
  
==Thieves & snatchers==
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==General guidelines==
Any creature with a career title of [[thief]] or master thief has a few nasty abilities. First, they are invisible until spotted by your dwarves or tame [[animal]]s. When spotted, there's an [[alert]] message, either "Protect the hoard!" or "Protect the children!" depending on the type of thief. Second, they can open [[forbidden]] [[door]]s. Not just for themselves either, the door stays open until a military dwarf "secures" the door, allowing any random creature to walk in. This can be a nasty surprise for players who aren't expecting it. Third, they bypass your [[trap]]s. Thankfully, they don't disarm them the way they neutralize doors. This trap avoidance isn't perfect, there's some element of luck involved, and kobold thieves seem to be a lot better at it than goblins. A thief caught in a cage trap will be revealed automatically, even if no dwarf is in sight of the trap. Last of all, they make dangerous prisoners. Unlike military captives, thieves will break free and attack if you attempt to transfer or [[pit]] them.
 
  
==Ambushes==
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While admitting that "Rules are made to be broken", there are some general recommendations that have a proven value in defending a fortress:
An [[ambush]] is a small number of enemies (less than ten) that are invisible until spotted, like thieves, but somewhat easier to detect. The alert message is "An ambush! Curse them!" They skulk around the outside of your fortress, looking for a target of opportunity. They will often attack [[caravan]]s as they move to your depot. Ambushers have random weapons, and typically have a leader (with a career title of "guard") with a different weapon from the rest.
 
  
If you have [[woodcutter]]s or [[hunter]]s roaming the surface, they are likely to be the first to encounter the ambush. This can provide a kind of early alert system, but you'll lose a few of them.
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* '''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 doors and drawbridges if they can reach them.)
  
==Sieges==
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* '''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 is 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.
''See [[Siege]]''
 
  
A siege is a large number of attackers that are announced as soon as they appear on the map. The alert message is "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. A siege can be lead by a leader figure, often a master warrior. Goblin siegers sometimes bring along creatures such as [[troll]]s or [[beak dog]]s.
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* '''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.
  
==Enemy archers==
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==Threats==
Attackers with [[bow]]s or [[crossbow]]s 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. Advanced techniques are needed to shield your dwarves from the deadly rain of arrows.  
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Danger comes in a variety of forms in Dwarf Fortress. Understanding the diverse threats is the first step to keeping your dwarves alive.
  
==Building destroyers==
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:*'''Wild animals'''
Some creatures have BUILDINGDESTROYER [[creature tokens]] in the data files. This gives them the fearful capacity of tearing apart your doors and bridges. Trolls have this ability, as do some megabeasts. This doesn't allow creatures to knock down constructed walls.  
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::Creatures vary in threat and habits.  Some [[animal]]s are quite dangerous, but most are easily excluded by the humble [[door]] or [[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.
  
==Flying animals==
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::Wild animals can appear from the topside, but also from an [[underground river]] or [[underground pool|pool]] that you find by mining into it. In evil or savage [[surroundings]], the creatures can be both much tougher and more aggressive.
Currently, the only flying creatures are wild animals, like the [[giant eagle]]. Be aware.  
 
  
==Megabeasts==
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:*'''Thieves & child snatchers'''
A [[megabeast]] appears alone, with an alert message that mentions the beast by name. These creature are quite powerful. Approach with caution.  
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::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 [[alert]] message, either "'''Protect the hoard!'''" or "'''Protect the children!'''", as appropriate.
  
==Death from below==
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:*'''Ambushes'''
There are threats below the surface as well as above. If you breach a [[chasm]], underground [[river]] or lake, wild [[animal]]s and hostile [[humanoid]]s will occasionally emerge to attack your dwarves. They rarely attack in numbers, and can usually be defeated by ordinary traps and doors.  
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::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.
  
Underground threats may be more common in future versions. Underground roads may allow other [[civilization]]s to siege you from below. {{version|0.28.181.39c}}
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:*'''Siege'''
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::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 is "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.
  
=Elements=
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:*'''Enemy archers'''
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::Attackers with [[bow]]s 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.
  
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:*'''Building destroyers'''
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::Some creatures have the [BUILDINGDESTROYER] [[creature token|tag]] in their [[Raw file]]. This gives them the fearful capacity of tearing apart your doors and floodgates and almost anything else.
  
==Soldiers==
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:*'''Flying animals'''
The core of any defense plan is the soldiers. A [[sparring|trained]], [[weapon|armed]], and [[armor]]ed [[military]] is the only way to bring the fight to the enemy. Keeping them in position is the tricky part.  
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::Currently, without modding, the only flying creatures are wild animals, like the [[giant eagle]]. Being aware of their presence is often all you can do until they choose to come to you.
  
===Roughing it===
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:*'''Megabeasts'''
Always have your soldiers carry food. They will each need  a [[backpack]] to carry it. This keeps your soldiers from wandering off to eat. You can also have them carry [[water]] in [[waterskin]]s or [[flask]]s, but this isn't recommended for the long term, as it keeps your soldiers from drinking [[alcohol]]. For an around the clock guard, have them sleep on the ground while on duty. Hopefully the sounds of combat will wake them up before they get killed. Sleeping on the floor causes unhappy [[thought]]s.  
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::A [[megabeast]] is a particularly powerful and dangerous creature, such as a [[dragon]] or [[titan]].  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.
  
===Daylight training room===
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:*'''War'''
Put a [[weapon rack]] on the surface near your entrance and make it a training room. Training dwarves will be in position if there's trouble. This also helps prevent [[cave adaption]] in your military. You can use an [[archery target]] this way, too.  
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::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.
  
==Doors and hatches==
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==Elements of a defense==
The most obvious way to keep any enemy out is with a [[door]].  You can [[forbid]] doors to keep [[humanoid]] enemies out, and your dwarves in. Outer doors can be closed against animals, to keep beloved [[pet]]s from wandering into enemy fire. A [[floor hatch]] is just a vertical door.
 
  
==Walls==
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Dwarf Fortress is very open-ended, and any number of defensive, engineering, fortification and military principles will work in DF that have worked in reality. Combine different elements into the defense you want.
Constructing walls around your entrance is an essential part of fortress defense. Currently, no creature can knock down a wall. 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 protect against that, build fortifications.  
 
  
==Fortifications==
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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.
Fortifications block movement, and allow some missiles to pass through. Projectiles have a chance of being blocked, based on the firer's skill and distance to the fortification. There's no miss chance if the firer is adjacent to the fortification. Keep your marksdwarves close and keep enemies away. Build fortified firing platforms above ground level and put a nice wide moat between the wall and the enemy.  
 
  
==Moats and bridges==
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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 |ballista]]e waiting to unload at unfortunate monsters in the field of fire.  The variations are infinite.
A retractable [[bridge]] over a [[moat]] is an almost airtight defense. The moat keeps building-destroyers away from the bridge, and the raised bridge blocks arrow fire. There are two important things to remember: Always build the bridge to raise towards the ''inside''. The [[lever]] has to be pulled by a civilian, not a soldier.  
 
  
The moat doesn't have to be filled with water or magma. Arguably, a dry moat is a better defense. If you want to build an escape rout out of your moat, make sure is leads to the outside, and is barred by a door (at least).  
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===Physical layout===
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These are the [[wall]]s, [[floor]], [[fortification]]s and so on that create the 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.
  
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 area.  
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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.
  
A drawbridge without a moat is just a big remote control door. This doesn't work with retracting bridges!
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=====Terrain=====
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:The lay of the land can be your friend, but the way of the dwarf is to shape the land as needed.  Removing slopes can create safe, private terraces and valley walls that prevent all access.  Chasms and rivers (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 archers (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 marksdwarves can overlook any who come and go.  Augmented by constructions below, the terrain becomes your first option for defense.
  
==Remote control doors==
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:Some players take quite a while before initially unpausing the game to look around and think about the terrain, planning their fortress entrance and envisioning basic defenses.
If you link a [[lever]] to a door, 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 thieves can open a door once it's linked.  
 
  
A [[floodgate]] can be used just like a door, with two differences: A floodgate can be placed next to another floodgate, 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.  
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=====Walls=====
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: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. 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.  
  
A [[hatch cover]] can also be used this way.  
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=====Fortifications=====
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:[[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.
  
As mentioned, a drawbridge works as a door
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:Like Fortifications, Vertical [[Bars]] and Wall [[Grate]]s 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.
  
You can use automate a door by using a [[pressure plate]] instead of a lever, but there are many complications there.  
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=====Doors (& Hatches)=====
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:[[Door]]s are the simplest way to keep an enemy out. (A [[floor hatch]] in this sense is just a vertical door, and in all 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 [[Door#Free-standing_doors|3-tile 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 [[humanoid]]s and creatures out, and your dwarves in.  
  
==Traps==
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: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).  
The most reliable way to stop intruders is lots of [[trap]]s. A thief's trap avoidance is subject to chance. A line of traps can wipe out an ambushes entirely, and inflict a lot of damage on a siege.  
 
  
===Stone fall trap===
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: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.
This is the easiest trap to build, so you can easily build them in large numbers. Building lots of them is an easy way to earn experience for your [[mechanic]], and add to your fort's defenses at the same time. Surround every intersection and stairway.  
 
  
===Cage trap===
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=====Floodgates=====
A very strong type of trap. Maybe even too strong. Currently, even a wooden or glass [[cage]] can hold indefinitely any creature, even trolls and megabeasts. Also, a cage trap never fails. A large creature can shrug off damage from a stone or weapon trap, but nothing can escape from a cage. Use cage traps as your outermost traps to catch the occasional wandering animal. A wounded [[elephant]] or [[unicorn]] in your front courtyard is not good at all.  
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:[[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 [[Mechanism]]s. (Be aware that [[Megabeast]]s can batter down both raised floodgates and drawbridges, and ''any object'' can prevent a floodgate from closing again, even a single, stray crossbow bolt or confused animal.)
  
===Weapon trap===
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:A floodgate can be used just like a door, with two differences: A floodgate can be placed next to another floodgate, 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.
The gold standard of traps. This is the only simple trap that works repeatedly without reloading. They do get jammed, however. View the trap with the '''items in room''' {{key|t}} mode, and if there's a corpse inside the trap, it's jammed. None of the weapons on a jammed trap will function. It may be wiser to have several weapon traps with fewer weapons, rather than a smaller number of ten-weapon traps.  
 
  
Using [[crossbow]]s in weapon traps avoids the problem of jamming, but they must be kept loaded with [[ammo]].  
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=====Moats=====
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:Channeling a ditch is a fast and effective defense. The moat doesn't have to be filled with water or magma. Arguably, a dry moat is a better defense. If you want to build an access/escape route for your moat, consider where it leads - the enemy might use that too.
  
==Guard animals==
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: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.)
[[Chain]]ed animals are sentries, not fighters. Most animals aren't strong enough to take more than one goblin warrior. Enemies with bows are even worse. The real purpose of guard animals is to spot thieves. Anything will do here, a cat is fine. Don't use something useful, like a war dog. Put animals in narrow corridors, in places where enemy archers can't see them.  
 
  
===Meeting hall as defense===
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=====Bridges=====
You can use a meeting hall [[zone]] to attract animals to a given area. This makes a pretty poor defense in general, but in the very early game, it's a way to defend your wagon and stockpiles from thieving animals. Remove the zone later, or it attracts idle dwarves and children.  
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: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.
  
===Bait animals===
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: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 moat keeps building-destroyers away from the bridge, and the raised bridge 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.) With a drawbridge, they will be flung some tiles in a random direction, possibly being injured when they land.
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.
 
  
==Siege engines==
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:Drawbridges can throw creatures a distance (in a random direction) when the bridge is raised, 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]].
[[Siege engine]]s are not very useful in the current version. Catapults are only useful for training and stone disposal. Ballistas are deadly, but fire expensive ammunition, and hit both friend and foe alike.  
 
  
Remember that [[siege operator]]s are civilians. Fortunately, siege engines can fire through fortifications, just like normal projectiles.  
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:A drawbridge works as a door when "raised", sealing the passage it raises against.  Consider this, as well as security from [[building destroyer]]s, when choosing the direction a drawbridge is to raise.
  
==Turrets==
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:There are three important things to remember: 1) Always build the bridge to raise towards the ''inside'' (so it cannot be destroyed when raised), 2) the [[lever]] has to be pulled by a civilian, not a soldier, and 3) 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.
Build a tower specifically to post archers on. This lets you open fire before the enemy approaches your gates. A turret can be attached to your walls, or separate, so that the only access is from the tunnels below. Carve fortifications on the second or third floor, so your dwarves can fire out. For extra usefulness, build a [[barracks]], [[archery target]], [[food]] [[stockpile]], and [[dining room]] in or near the turret.  
 
  
===Siege engine turrets===
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====Remote control====
If it's big enough, build a siege engine inside a turret. The device needs to be on ground level. Only a single tile of fortifications is needed to fire through the wall. You may want to build a moat or secondary wall to keep enemies at a distance. Build the tower in line to fire parallel your outer wall or moat, where invaders tend to congregate. Since [[siege operator]]s are civilians, the "dwarves stay underground" order must be off.  
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:*'''Barriers'''
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::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 [[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.
  
=Considerations=
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::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.
  
==Civilians stay underground==
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:*'''Automated barriers & traps'''
This setting, in the [[orders and options]] menu is the easiest way to keep your non-military dwarves out of sight of the enemy. It is far from perfect, as dwarves will do the "entrance dance." They will attempt to leave the fortress, and only cancel jobs once they reach the surface.  
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::You can automate a barrier or trap by using a [[pressure plate]] instead of a lever, but there are complications there.  Only "enemies" or wild creatures will trigger a pressure plate - your dwarves and tame animals can walk on it all day long.  Also, 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===
 +
{{main|Trap design}}
 +
The most reliable way to stop intruders is lots of [[trap]]s, which, large or small, can become an essential part of your fortification design. A line of traps can wipe out an entire ambush, and inflict significant damage on a siege. A thief's trap avoidance is subject to chance, so the more the better.  However, be aware that vast numbers of traps have the potential to take some of the [[fun]] and challenge out of the game - use accordingly.
 +
 
 +
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 or [[pressure plate]]s.  (See [[Trap design]].)
 +
 
 +
Note that a few creatures and enemies have the "trap avoid" token, potentially negating this defense against them.
 +
 
 +
===Military===
 +
{{main|Military}}
 +
A [[sparring|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 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.  And while squad organization may make ordering a large army easier, a squad commander who is sleeping, eating, or drinking prevents his entire squad from responding.  At best, an army should be considered supplemental for defending dwarves outside your fortress.See [[military design]] for different options.
 +
 
 +
===Animals===
 +
Any animal (or dwarf) can act as a sentry - if a hidden enemy comes adjacent to them, that enemy is revealed and an [[announcement]] is generated and the game paused (even by wild animals!).  Most animals aren't strong enough to take more than one armoured 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. ''
 +
 
 +
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.
 +
 
 +
[[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.
 +
 
 +
===Siege engines===
 +
{{main|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. See [[siege weapon]] for more on the ballistas and catapult.
 +
 
 +
==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 dwarves want to work on the surface. [[Wood cutting]], [[gathering plants]], [[hunting]], [[fishing]], [[mining]] exposed [[vein]]s or gems, 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.
 +
 
 +
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 another example of dwarves working above ground.
 +
 
 +
Making smaller enclosures in key areas with underground tunnels leading to them can be easier as a 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.
 +
 
 +
===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 stay underground===
 +
This setting, in the [[Standing_orders|orders and options]] menu is the easiest way to keep your non-military dwarves out of sight of the enemy. It is far from perfect, as dwarves will do the "entrance dance" - they will attempt to leave the fortress, and only cancel jobs once they reach the surface, as defined by the first "above ground" tiles they hit.  Having entries with a "skylight" a distance before the actual exit can solve this - and building walls around the skylight prevents archers from shooting down into it.  Doesn't protect against flying creatures, though.
 +
 
 +
Similarly, keep in mind that the military access to defensive chokepoints should be outside. If you try to set up your defense at the edge of your underground area, ordering your civilian dwarves to "stay inside" has the result that your carefully designed "kill zone" will be chock full of your own dwarves at the critical moment.
  
 
It takes a truly airtight fortress to turn this setting off while there are still enemies outside. It's only safe to turn this setting off once the drawbridges and such have sealed off your fortress entirely. 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.  
 
It takes a truly airtight fortress to turn this setting off while there are still enemies outside. It's only safe to turn this setting off once the drawbridges and such have sealed off your fortress entirely. 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.  
Line 132: Line 180:
 
* '''Seal the entrance.''' Prevents the entry dance, but also blocks your soldiers, which can trap them underground.  
 
* '''Seal the entrance.''' Prevents the entry dance, but also blocks your soldiers, which can trap them underground.  
  
* '''Forbid dropped equipment and corpses.''' Mark every item on the battlefield as [[forbidden]]. This includes any items dropped by dead merchants or scuttled wagons.
+
* '''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.
 +
 
 +
===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 a 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 they can arrive in the middle of a [[siege]]. If they do, they can be slaughtered before reaching your doors, and that hurts you, (as well as possibly causing your civilian dwarves to want to go running out and collect their dropped items.)  Consider sending heavily armoured escorts when expecting a caravan.
 +
 
 +
Only [[wagon]]s need a three tile wide path to the depot, so the [[elves]] and some of the dwarven and human merchants can still get through if it's only 1-tile wide. You will possibly want to build the depot underground, so civilian dwarves can access the depot and goods. Wagons can't use stairs, so you need a three-tile [[ramp]], unless you can dig into the face of a cliff.
 +
 
 +
===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 dwarves, or both - near a [[meeting area]] or bedrooms of [[noble]] 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 underground" (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 [[Notes]] 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, dangerous!)  Color code your levers with different color [[stone]] 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, and a dwarf with the proper mix of [[ambusher]] skill starts with a [[Ambusher#Free equipment|free equipment]] - a suit of [[leather armor]], a [[crossbow]] and several dozen steel [[bolt]]s.  A supply of wood means you don't have to chop trees for a while, and similarly a few simple stone (a few [[bauxite]]?) 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 a [[chasm]] mouth or open [[magma vent]], or you are starting in an [[evil]] biome ''(and that is only recommended for experienced players, so why are you reading this?)'', 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 dwarves and thieving animals that will target your valuables.
  
* '''Delete stockpiles and turn off tombs.''' As a preemptive measure, you can delete your stockpiles. Dwarves don't haul things if there's no [[stockpile]] to place them in. Turning off or removing [[coffin]]s stops burials as well.  
+
====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.
  
* '''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.  
+
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.  
  
==Lever room==
+
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 dwarves 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 a many dozen.  Start with something smaller for now, but plan on how to develop the entrance you want later.
Be careful where you place the [[lever]]s controlling your drawbridge. Or any lever at all, for that matter. Make sure that the entire path to each lever is [[underground]] or your dwarves might keep canceling the "pull lever" job. You can test this during peacetime, too. Try putting all your defense-related levers in a single room, and put a door on the entrance. Then you can lock your lever-puller inside to ensure rapid response time.
 
  
==Trade depot==
+
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...
Factoring in access to the [[trade depot]] adds a layer of complexity. Letting merchants in while keeping enemies out requires a careful balance. The merchants do reveal ambushes, and they can arrive in the middle of a [[siege]].  
 
  
[[Wagon]]s need a three tile wide path to the depot. You will probably want to build the depot underground, so civilian dwarves can access the depot. Wagons can't use stairs, so you need a three-tile [[ramp]], unless you can dig into the face of a cliff.
+
      #####################
 +
  (a)  ?  (-trap      .....#
 +
      ?    area-)  .  .# (A's/SE)
 +
      ################....#
 +
                      #    #
 +
                      #D  D#
 +
                      #    #
 +
                  <Inner Fortress>
 +
                        <sub>(Not to Scale)</sub>
 +
     
 +
        (a)  = bait animal, on [[restrain]]t
 +
        #    = 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 [[restrain]]t
 +
      (A's/SE)= future site for archers and/or [[siege engine]]s (planning ahead)
 +
       
  
==Airlock defenses/buffer zone==
+
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.
Build two walls, each with a drawbridge. Build the trade depot in the buffer zone between them. Keep the outer bridge open, and the inner one closed. When the merchants appear, put crossbows on the walls to guard their approach. Once all the merchants are safely inside, close the outer bridge. Once there's no enemies left in the buffer zone, open the inner bridge so your civilians can start loading up the depot.  
 
  
The airlock pattern can be useful even without putting the depot there. Let a few siegers in at a time, and crush them. Reset the traps, Rest up the soldiers, and repeat.
+
====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 [[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 dwarves, 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]].
  
==Civilians trapped outdoors==
+
====Inside vs. outside====
Anything that blocks intruders will also block your dwarves. This can cause the problem of dwarves being trapped outside with the enemy. Having more than one entrance can be useful here, but that presents other difficulties.
+
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.  
  
==Branching corridors==
+
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.
Enemies will take the most direct path to your fortress. 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.
 
  
This isn't a perfectly reliable method, but surprisingly effective.  
+
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.  Remote controlled bridges 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.
  
===AI abuse===
+
====Mechanic's traps====
Taking advantage of pathfinding AI is a whole guide in itself. Try leaving a door un-forbidden during an attack. When the bad guys approach the door, forbid it, and the enemy will wander off. Unlock it again, and they turn around and head back towards the door again. You can get enemies to march back and forth over a set of traps this way. This might count as an [[exploit]].
+
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.
  
===Roach motel===
+
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.)
Build a long, narrow, and twisty passage, accessible from the outside, but unconnected to your fortress. Build as many traps as you like. Place a bait animal inside. Enemy attackers walk right in, and get torn apart by the traps. If any manage to make it to the end, and kill the useless animal, they're surrounded by traps, and no closer to your fortress.  
 
  
If the roach motel is deep enough underground, you can build a tunnel above it, channel down, and mark the channel a [[pit]]/pond. That way, you can "reload" a new bait animal.  
+
As your dwarves creates weapons, as you trade for them, or (later) as you gather those of your fallen enemies, [[weapon trap]]s will become attractive. There is no hard rule or formula for all this - be creative.
  
==Water sources==
+
====Complex traps====
Access to [[water]] can be important. Wounded dwarves need water, so if there's not an underground water source, you'll loose 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.  
+
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.
  
=Examples=
+
====Military====
 +
To start, you will probably have few if any full-time military standing guard over your dwarves - 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 dwarves can equip.  Eventually you might have perhaps a quarter (or more or less) of your dwarves 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.
  
==3 Bridges==
+
==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.
  
[[Image:defense_3bridges.png|thumb|right]]
+
===Losing is fun===
An example of some advanced defensive construction tactics to deal with vile forces of "any" size. (See picture).
+
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.
  
*'''Bridge 1''' seals off the entire base
+
==="Fun" vs. security===
*'''Bridge 2''' forces everyone to take the long, winding, heavily trapped path of death.
+
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.  New 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]].
*'''Bridge 3''' seals the inside of the fortress
 
  
Clever triggering of the bridges allows you to break the hostile forces into smaller chunks to be trapped in the courtyard while being caught in traps and a crossfire of arrows from the fortifications around.
+
== See also ==
 +
*[[Siege engine]]
 +
*[[Siege]]
  
[[Category:Guide]]
+
{{Category|Guides}}
 +
{{Category|Fortress defense| }}
 +
{{Category|Design}}

Latest revision as of 15:00, 2 November 2015

This article is about an older version of DF.

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 creatures 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.


For specific discussion, suggestions, descriptions and blueprints for...

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[edit]

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 doors and drawbridges if they can reach them.)
  • 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 is 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 cages 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 sieged by scores of goblin archers, door-breaking trolls, invisible kobold master thieves, dive-bombing giant eagles, flame-breathing fire imps, angry elephants, 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[edit]

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 animals are quite dangerous, but most are easily excluded by the humble door or hatch, even if it's not forbidden. Some few are able to destroy doors and hatches, statues and other buildings, and some are thieves (see below), or will eat your food (such as bears). 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 an underground river or pool that you find by mining into it. 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 ( u ) profession of Thief has a few additional nasty surprises, namely being invisible until spotted by your dwarves or domestic animals, 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). Kobolds and goblins are individually more dangerous than animals, but when spotted there's a special alert 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 is "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 crossbows 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 [BUILDINGDESTROYER] tag in their Raw file. This gives them the fearful capacity of tearing apart your doors and floodgates and almost anything else.
  • Flying animals
Currently, without modding, the only flying creatures are wild animals, like the giant eagle. Being aware of their presence is often all you can do until they choose to come to you.
  • Megabeasts
A megabeast is a particularly powerful and dangerous creature, such as a dragon or titan. 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.
  • War
Before hitting that e and embarking, 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[edit]

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

A moat with a drawbridge is perhaps the simplest defense known to Dwarvenkind, and not a bad start. The 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 caravans and migrants from arriving, will kill liaisons, 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 ballistae waiting to unload at unfortunate monsters in the field of fire. The variations are infinite.

Physical layout[edit]

These are the walls, floor, fortifications and so on that create the 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[edit]
The lay of the land can be your friend, but the way of the dwarf is to shape the land as needed. Removing slopes can create safe, private terraces and valley walls that prevent all access. Chasms and rivers (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 archers (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 marksdwarves can overlook any who come and go. Augmented by constructions below, the terrain becomes your first option for defense.
Some players take quite a while before initially unpausing the game to look around and think about the terrain, planning their fortress entrance and envisioning basic defenses.
Walls[edit]
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. 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 fortifications.
Fortifications[edit]
Fortifications 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 engines.
Like Fortifications, Vertical Bars and Wall Grates 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.
Doors (& Hatches)[edit]
Doors are the simplest way to keep an enemy out. (A floor hatch in this sense is just a vertical door, and in all 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-tile wide or more, but this remains mostly for aesthetics without much practical use, as 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 pets 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[edit]
Floodgates, 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 Mechanisms. (Be aware that Megabeasts can batter down both raised floodgates and drawbridges, and any object can prevent a floodgate from closing again, even a single, stray crossbow bolt or confused animal.)
A floodgate can be used just like a door, with two differences: A floodgate can be placed next to another floodgate, 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.
Moats[edit]
Channeling a ditch is a fast and effective defense. The moat doesn't have to be filled with water or magma. Arguably, a dry moat is a better defense. If you want to build an access/escape route for your moat, consider where it leads - the enemy might use that too.
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.)
Bridges[edit]
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 moat keeps building-destroyers away from the bridge, and the raised bridge blocks arrow fire for anything behind it. Channels 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.) With a drawbridge, they will be flung some tiles in a random direction, possibly being injured when they land.
Drawbridges can throw creatures a distance (in a random direction) when the bridge is raised, 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, as well as security from building destroyers, when choosing the direction a drawbridge is to raise.
There are three important things to remember: 1) Always build the bridge to raise towards the inside (so it cannot be destroyed when raised), 2) the lever has to be pulled by a civilian, not a soldier, and 3) 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[edit]

  • 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 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. Only "enemies" or wild creatures will trigger a pressure plate - your dwarves and tame animals can walk on it all day long. Also, 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[edit]

Main article: Trap design

The most reliable way to stop intruders is lots of traps, which, large or small, can become an essential part of your fortification design. A line of traps can wipe out an entire ambush, and inflict significant damage on a siege. A thief's trap avoidance is subject to chance, so the more the better. However, be aware that vast numbers of traps have the potential to take some of the fun and challenge out of the game - use accordingly.

There are several types of traps 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 levers or pressure plates. (See Trap design.)

Note that a few creatures and enemies have the "trap avoid" token, potentially negating this defense against them.

Military[edit]

Main article: Military

A trained, armed, and armored military is the only way to bring the fight to the enemy. Building defenses to keep them safe is easy - keeping 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. And while squad organization may make ordering a large army easier, a squad commander who is sleeping, eating, or drinking prevents his entire squad from responding. At best, an army should be considered supplemental for defending dwarves outside your fortress.See military design for different options.

Animals[edit]

Any animal (or dwarf) can act as a sentry - if a hidden enemy comes adjacent to them, that enemy is revealed and an announcement is generated and the game paused (even by wild animals!). Most animals aren't strong enough to take more than one armoured 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.

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 announced (but the game will not pause), alerting you to the threat if you were not already aware of it. (Note - Some tamed 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.

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.

Siege engines[edit]

Main 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. See siege weapon for more on the ballistas and catapult.

Considerations[edit]

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[edit]

There are many times when dwarves want to work on the surface. Wood cutting, gathering plants, hunting, fishing, mining exposed veins or gems, building defenses or other structures, growing above-ground crops, helping wounded comrades or recovering dropped items are only the most likely. Often they are alone and vulnerable to wild beasts or ambushes.

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 another example of dwarves working above ground.

Making smaller enclosures in key areas with underground tunnels leading to them can be easier as a 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.

Water sources[edit]

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 stay underground[edit]

This setting, in the orders and options menu is the easiest way to keep your non-military dwarves out of sight of the enemy. It is far from perfect, as dwarves will do the "entrance dance" - they will attempt to leave the fortress, and only cancel jobs once they reach the surface, as defined by the first "above ground" tiles they hit. Having entries with a "skylight" a distance before the actual exit can solve this - and building walls around the skylight prevents archers from shooting down into it. Doesn't protect against flying creatures, though.

Similarly, keep in mind that the military access to defensive chokepoints should be outside. If you try to set up your defense at the edge of your underground area, ordering your civilian dwarves to "stay inside" has the result that your carefully designed "kill zone" will be chock full of your own dwarves at the critical moment.

It takes a truly airtight fortress to turn this setting off while there are still enemies outside. It's only safe to turn this setting off once the drawbridges and such have sealed off your fortress entirely. 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.

  • Screen the entrance. Build a simple wall around your entryway. This will keep your dwarves safe from enemy fire while doing the entrance dance.
  • Seal the entrance. Prevents the entry dance, but also blocks your soldiers, which can trap them underground.
  • 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 o menu at the forbid options F.
  • Delete stockpiles and turn off tombs. As a preemptive measure, you can easily delete your Graveyard stockpiles. Dwarves don't haul things if there's no stockpile to place them in. Turning off or removing coffins 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.

Civilians trapped outdoors[edit]

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[edit]

Factoring in a 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 they can arrive in the middle of a siege. If they do, they can be slaughtered before reaching your doors, and that hurts you, (as well as possibly causing your civilian dwarves to want to go running out and collect their dropped items.) Consider sending heavily armoured escorts when expecting a caravan.

Only wagons need a three tile wide path to the depot, so the elves and some of the dwarven and human merchants can still get through if it's only 1-tile wide. You will possibly want to build the depot underground, so civilian dwarves can access the depot and goods. Wagons can't use stairs, so you need a three-tile ramp, unless you can dig into the face of a cliff.

Branching corridors[edit]

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[edit]

Be careful where you place the levers 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 dwarves, or both - near a meeting area or bedrooms of noble 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 underground" (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 pump room. Pumping is a good way to build up your dwarves' attributes 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 waterfalls. (Waterfalls work well in this case because their operation is not fortress-critical, and your dwarves like the mist they produce.)

Use Notes 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, dangerous!) Color code your levers with different color stone if that works for you.

General Suggestions[edit]

First concerns[edit]

pre-embark decisions[edit]

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, and a dwarf with the proper mix of ambusher skill starts with a free equipment - a suit of leather armor, a crossbow and several dozen steel bolts. A supply of wood means you don't have to chop trees for a while, and similarly a few simple stone (a few bauxite?) 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 a chasm mouth or open magma vent, or you are starting in an evil biome (and that is only recommended for experienced players, so why are you reading this?), 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 dwarves and thieving animals that will target your valuables.

Striking the earth[edit]

First, look around. At the terrain, at the animals present. Scan the 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 dwarves 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 a many dozen. 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 engines (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![edit]

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 plots and meeting areas. 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 dwarves, 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 mechanisms for levers, to link to a drawbridge.

Inside vs. outside[edit]

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. Remote controlled bridges 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[edit]

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 dwarves creates weapons, as you trade for them, or (later) as you gather those of your fallen enemies, weapon traps will become attractive. There is no hard rule or formula for all this - be creative.

Complex traps[edit]

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[edit]

To start, you will probably have few if any full-time military standing guard over your dwarves - 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 dwarves can equip. Eventually you might have perhaps a quarter (or more or less) of your dwarves 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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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. New 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.

See also[edit]