Difference between revisions of "Adventurer mode"

{{Quality|Exceptional|Jan 2016}}

:''This is a detailed reference guide for Adventurer Mode. For a beginner tutorial, see the [[Adventure mode quick start]].  

:''See [[Adventure mode quick reference]] to quickly look up key commands.

In '''Adventurer mode''' (also called "Adventure mode" or simply "Adventure") you create a single adventurer, be they [[dwarf]], [[human]], [[elf]], [[goblin]], or one of the varieties of [[animal people]], who start out somewhere in one of your generated worlds. You can learn about what ails the world, and go on [[quest]]s to end those troubles (or get brutally murdered trying), and you can venture into the wilderness to find [[cave]]s, [[shrine]]s, [[lair]]s, abandoned [[Tower_(necromancy)|tower]]s, and other [[Site|towns and settlements]]. You can even visit your previously abandoned/retired [[fortress]]es and take all the precious items you yourself once created. Unlike [[fortress mode]], Adventurer mode is a sort of advanced [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandbox_game open world] RPG version of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_%28computer_game%29 Rogue] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nethack Nethack] taking place in the same procedurally-generated worlds used for fortress mode. Whereas in fortress mode, you are in charge of a large group of people in real-time, restricted to a small parcel of land, in adventurer mode you control a single character (or the party leader in 47.01) in a turn-based manner, roaming the entire world freely.

You can play adventure mode in any world that has a civilization with the [[Entity_token#Gameplay|ADVENTURE_TIER]] token (which are elves, dwarves, humans, and goblins, as well as animal people{{version|0.42.01}}). Humans inhabit cities, towns, and the occasional above-ground fortress. Elves inhabit [[forest retreat]]s. Dwarves are spread between "deep sites" which sometimes do not contain a direct connection to the surface, [[Fortress|fortresses]] which are built into the surface, and almost always connect to the underground, and "hill dwarves" which inhabit a loose collection of [[hillock|mounds]] built into hillsides. Goblins typically live in [[dark fortress|dark fortresses]]. Lastly, animal people can live with any civilization, in virtually any location. Human cities and towns, and dwarven fortresses, are currently the only sites with shops and other places to officially buy goods, not including taverns (which can also exist in elven sites, but only sell rooms and drinks). If you have previously built a fort in the world that you select, your adventurer will be able to go visit it. If you have selected to "retire" the fortress rather than abandon it, you will likely be able to encounter all the inhabitants from fortress mode. However, they will likely not have the same level of activity as they would in a bustling fortress-mode fort.

===Race and civilization===

Any race from an {{token|ALL_MAIN_POPS_CONTROLLABLE|e}} civilization is playable in adventure mode. In most standard games, this includes dwarves, elves, and humans. All three races can complete the same quests. If an {{tt|[ALL_MAIN_POPS_CONTROLLABLE]}} civilization never existed, adventure mode cannot be played.

* '''Humans''' begin with bronze, copper, or iron weapons. They also start with the widest variety of weapon skills. Humans are larger than the other main races, meaning armor from other civilizations is too small to be worn. Human-sized clothes and armor are commonly found in hamlets and towns.

* '''Goblins''' are only playable when a population is present in an {{tt|[ALL_MAIN_POPS_CONTROLLABLE]}} civilization. They possess the same body size as dwarves and elves, and can wear whatever weapons and armor the civilization which adopted/conquered them allows. They require no food or water to live.

 

 

==== Guide to intelligent wilderness creatures ====

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, in adventure mode, [[syndrome]]s work 72 times slower than in fortress mode. So, in the vanilla game, you can kill your victim with weapons 5 times over, before the venom kills it. To make combat-relevant syndromes work properly in both modes, you can mod their timing for adventure mode (by dividing all their timers by 72) and then add DWF_STRETCH:72 after them to slow down the effect in fort mode so they don't take effect instantly.

Honorable mentions: Strong pain syndromes may force foes to "give in to pain" faster. So, animal men with strong pain venom, like [[Adder man]] or [[Bark scorpion man]] may be a nice plus.

===== Amphibious =====

Amphibious creatures can breathe in or out of water, making them great for water exploration. The best ones are:

* [[Elephant seal man]], males are the biggest one (but females are much smaller)

* [[Pond turtle man]], also able to retract in his shell (the shell becomes the only body part exposed to attacks)

Alligator and Saltwater crocodile men look cool in this context, but some other amphibious animal men are bigger, and they are unable to jump like the animals they are based on.

 

 

 

 

 

* [[mosquito man|Mosquito women]] can suck blood with their trunks, which can be useful if you play a vampire.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Retracting in its shell protects from many attacks, as the shell becomes the only body part exposed to these. [[Giant Tortoise men]] are the biggest animal men able to do this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outsiders are adventurers that aren't from a civilization. They can begin at any site and are strangers to all. Only humans can be outsiders in vanilla by default. Other races can be played as outsiders if {{token|OUTSIDER_CONTROLLABLE|c}} is added to the creature's raws. At least one {{tt|[ALL_MAIN_POPS_CONTROLLABLE]}} civilization must have existed in the world in order to play as an outsider, though the civilization does not need to be alive. A human (or in this case, dwarven) civilization is not strictly required.

 

Outsiders will always try to begin in a populated site. Caves and even lairs with [[megabeast]]s will be chosen when there are no occupied civ sites. When starting from a lair, be sure to escape from the site '''immediately''', as soon as the game starts, to avoid an instant death.

 

 

 

The number of skill points is less significant than the number of attribute points because the time it takes to go from Peasant to Demigod in skill terms is much less than what it would take to go from Peasant to Demigod in attribute terms.

 

 

[[Attribute|Attributes]] are divided into Body and Soul attributes. This section provides some guidance for allocating attributes as it relates to adventurer mode.

*'''Strength''': Contributes to melee attack momentum, adding velocity and force, and leg strength to movement velocity. Strength determines encumbrance limits, and higher capacity reduces the speed penalty of carrying burdens. Increases to muscle layer mass proportionately improves damage resistance but also reduces speed; proportionately larger characters benefit more from the extra layer thickness and suffer more from the speed penalty.

*'''Agility''': This attribute is directly related to a character's Speed. All combat skills, especially defensive ones, rely on it. Increases attack velocity and potential attack rate.

*'''Toughness''': Reduces physical damage inflicted on you. Also relates to defensive combat skills.

*'''Endurance''': Reduces the rate at which the adventurer becomes exhausted. Exhaustion progressively penalizes physical skills and rate of movement to the point of immobility and [[unconscious]]ness.

*'''Analytical Ability''': Useful for Tracker, Knapping and Student. Analytical Ability seems to have an influence on the quality of written creations, such as poems, as well as ability to speak about ideals.{{version|0.42.01}}

 

*'''Focus''': Affects Archer, Ambusher, Observer.

 

*'''Willpower''': Affects Fighter, Crutch Walker and Swimmer. Willpower helps resist the negative effects of status ailments such as Pain, Stunned, Unconscious, and all states of exhaustion and food/drink/sleep deprivation.

 

*'''Creativity''': This influences quality of poems, songs, and dances and crafts. It may also influence "make believe", now able to be performed by children.{{version|0.42.01}}

 

 

*'''Memory''': Memory is applied to the Student and Reading skills. Higher Student skill improves the ability to learn from demonstrations in fortress mode, but it isn't certain whether it has any application in adventurer mode. It's also unknown what benefits come from of higher Reading capability.

 

 

 

 

 

*'''Social Awareness''': Increases the number of followers you can have at a given [[reputation|fame]] level. Normally, you start with a limit of two. Increasing this stat by one level raises that to three, etc. Your [[reputation|fame]] still plays a big part in whether you can recruit followers or not. This attribute also helps with Persuader and Judge of Intent.

 

 

 

This section will specifically address starting skills as they relate to adventure mode. For a full description of combat skills see [[Combat skill]]. Other skills that you can't start with, but which can be increased in-game (such as Butchery) are described elsewhere.

The weapon you start out with will be based on which of these plus the unarmed combat skills is the highest. In other words, even if Swordsman is your highest weapon skill, you won't start with a sword if your Wrestler or Striker skills are better. Usually the best choice anyway is to specialize in just one melee weapon skill. Regardless of weapon skills, a '''large copper dagger''' will always be included in the starting equipment, which is handy for throwing at enemies that are just a step away or finishing off a foe pinned down by a stuck weapon. If you don't select any offensive skills, you will also start with a spear, just as an outsider would.

Not all races/civilizations can start with all of these skills. Dwarves can't start with Bowman, Pikeman, or Lasher. Elves can only use Swordsman, Bowman, and Spearman. Of the playable races, only humans have access to Pikeman and Lasher. Strangely, only outsiders can start with Knife User.

 

Crossbowman is an exception. Dwarves call this skill Marksdwarf, although bow skill is referred to as Bow Dwarf as you'd expect. Elite Axe and Hammer dwarves are referred to as Lords.

 

*'''[[Swordsman]]''': allows characters to use blowguns and bows in melee, long swords, scimitars, short swords, and two-handed swords more effectively. Useful for cutting, stabbing, and whacking, but less effective than more dedicated weapons.

These skills form the basis for combat effectiveness. There is no maximum value to their utility, so if you begin with a rank equal or higher to your chosen weapon you'll become better able to benefit from other weapons when necessity or strategic advantage requires. Starting versatility can pay off early; you may choose your starting weapon, but the ''best'' available weapon is beyond your control or prediction.

*'''[[Fighter]]''': This increases with, and contributes to, melee combat whether armed or unarmed. It appears that the purpose of it is to allow melee experience to contribute to melee combat in general regardless of weapon. Repeatedly wrestling (grabbing and releasing) even a small creature will raise this skill.

*'''[[Archer]]''': This increases with, and contributes to, ranged combat including throwing. It works similarly to Fighter except for ranged attacks. It can be easily raised by repeatedly throwing rocks, making it advisable for archers to practice their marksmanship with rock throwing before using up the more finite and expensive forms of ammunition. Shooting at a wall with adjacent upward ramp one level below and picking back projectiles is also a good idea (such places often happen to be in keeps and fortresses). See the FAQ section on [[#How do I increase my skills and attributes?|increasing your skills and attributes]] for information on raising bowman/marksman skills.

==== Defensive ====

 

*'''[[Shield user]]''': Ability to block attacks with shields. Starting with even novice skill in this means that the adventurer will start with a shield. This is a no-brainer unless you're creating a two handed weapon user, and lack a broadness or height modifier on your character - necessary for one-handing any two-handed weapon, without penalty.

*'''[[Armor user]]''': A higher level of this skill reduces the encumbrance penalties of armor, allowing you to move faster when wearing it. It also affects how well armor protects you, and this makes a huge difference. Unskilled armor users gain little protection. This is noticeable, as you'll begin seeing far more combat reports about hits either striking you though armor, (you managed to use your armor to lessen the force of the blow) or being deflected by your armor (you used your armor to avoid the hit entirely) as your skill rises, and you learn to actually use your armor to deflect hits. It is highly advised to train your armor skill before entering battle with it, as the speed penalties of lower levels can be a serious handicap.

*'''[[Dodger]]''': Ability to dodge out of the way of attacks. Dodger is incredibly important and will allow you to avoid many, many hits that would have otherwise injured you. Especially important when you are fighting unarmored and can't afford a battle axe in the chest. Boost this to talented, or at least close to it.

 

*'''[[Wrestler]]''': Ability to grapple, restrain, take-down, throw opponents, etc. Higher skill means all of these moves succeed more often. See [[#Wrestling and Unarmed Attacks]] for details. Can be raised very easily in-game.

*'''[[Striker]]''': Punching ability. Turns handy when weapons get stuck and there is no time to wrest them back.

*'''[[Kicker]]''': Kicking ability. Same as Striker. Kicks are slower but more deadly than punches; heavy kicks are particularly good at crushing and exploding heads.

*'''[[Biter]]''': Biting ability. Biting is surprisingly effective even with non-animal races, as after biting you can shake opponents around by your teeth, causing great damage and possibly ripping off body parts, although with sapient races this tends to lean more towards fingers or toes, perhaps the occasional hand or foot.

*'''[[Thrower]]''': Throwing any miscellaneous object including rocks, knives, axes, swords, heads, etc. Skill affects accuracy and damage caused.

*'''[[Miscellaneous object user]]''': Ability to beat things to death with anything that comes to hand, from bags to coins to their own severed body parts. Also somewhat more commonly used for shield bashing. This skill affects combat with any object, from a rock to a beehive. There are no separate skills for different items. Items actually intended to be weapons, like swords or axes, are unaffected by this skill.

*'''[[Observer]]''': Helps one to notice things like ambushes, enemies who are "sneaking" (stealth movement), and traps. Detection range increases with skill, up to a maximum of 3 tiles away. Higher levels give more information regarding opponents. Hard to train. Adding some points here is advisable.

*'''[[Swimmer]]''': Allows movement through water without drowning. A Novice swimmer can swim but will revert to being unable to swim if stunned, which happens when falling even 1 z-level into the water, or possibly after an unfriendly encounter with a creature ''in'' the water. An Adequate swimmer can swim normally (not drown) while stunned. For this reason, ''starting out as an Adequate swimmer is advisable.'' If you don't, at least start as Novice and go get some swimming practice right away.

*'''[[Ambusher]]''': The skill of {{K|S}}neaking around unobserved. This can be raised fairly easily by sneaking around while travelling from place to place when speed is not important. Enemies will have "sight ranges" from where they can detect a sneaking adventurer. The red zone of sight is where they will see you immediately and begin chasing you; the yellow is where they might see you. Staying out of sight will allow you to silently assassinate your foes, as they rarely seem to notice a knife in the back in time.

*'''[[Climber]]''': The skill of climbing up walls, into trees, and around the edges of gorges. Higher levels reduce the chance of falling and increase the speed of a climbing character.

*'''[[Tracker]]''': The skill of tracking your quarry, whether it be animals or goblins. Higher levels will let you spot more tracks and help you distinguish different tracks.

*'''[[Crutch-walker]]''': The skill of standing and walking with a crutch for support. This skill only becomes available when attempting to move with a crutch in inventory, and can be developed with or without legs. At Legendary levels, a crutch walker walks with no speed reduction, and simply keeping it in hand will continue to increase attributes.

 

 

 

 

*'''[[Writer]]''': Your adventurer's ability to craft/write upon books and scrolls, you can choose the topic as well. It is hard to acquire the materials, however. Checking in libraries and old dwarven fortresses may prove profitable.

 

 

 

Almost all of these are only used in arguments.  

 

*'''[[Judge of intent]]''': Allows you to tell how the opponent is arguing, unknown if higher levels change anything.

*'''[[Flatterer]]''': Increases your ability to flatter your way out of the argument.

 

These are your general performance skills, similar to fighter skill, in that they enhance rolls for many different skills and can be leveled easily.

 

*'''[[Musician]]''': Increases quality of all instrument-based performances, this is your all-around instrument skill, very similar to speaker and fighter, except with instruments.

*'''[[Speaker]]''': Your all-around speaking skill increases quality of all performances that involve speaking out loud, includes reading poetry, singing etc. Very similar to "Fighter" skill, except it's with performance rolls, not fighting rolls. May also effect arguments {{verify}}.

 

 

 

 

There are also procedural skills for every different kind of instrument, dance and poetic form, these will vary from world to world and by civilization, and cannot be chosen at character generation, but can be leveled in play.

*'''[[Reader]]''': Allows you to read books, signs, and writing in Adventurer mode. Novice level is required in order to become a [[Necromancer]]. Can be trained slowly by reading books (if you can read). Adding more points is a waste, as novice allows you to read anything.

*'''[[Butcher]]''': The art of turning corpses into piles of delicious prepared meat for food. Butchering also makes corpses and body parts less useful to enemy necromancers (''assuming the character has the zombie-making faculty to begin with''). You can allocate points here during character creation, but doing so is a waste because the skill doesn't really affect anything anyway. Except the taste, of course.

*'''[[Wordsmith]]''': It is unknown exactly what this skill affects, but likely it affects the quality of books, poems, and other written materials.

=== Character appearance and preferences ===

You are able to customise your adventurer's appearance, [[need]]s and [[Personality trait|preferences]]. Just like with any citizen in fortress mode, their needs will have to be fulfilled or else the character suffers from distraction.

In the current version, some of these are unable to be fulfilled in adventurer mode.

== Gameplay ==

=== Moving around ===

 

[[File:Advmode_normaltravel_DF2014.png|thumb|400px|An image of normal travel mode. A list of the closest (but not necessarily close) sites is in the top-left corner. On the right side are minimaps of the next two levels down, relative to the player. Along the bottom is information about the player.]]

{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"

 

 

Use {{k|s}} to sit/lie down. Moving while laying down (crawling) will let you move past NPCs which are standing in your way. Also note that you will frequently get knocked to the ground in combat, and if you don't hit {{k|s}} to stand back up then you will crawl slowly along the ground, giving your opponent a lot of opportunity to attack you.

 

{{k|S}}neak will allow you to move around invisibly, limited by your Ambusher skill and the Observer skill of nearby creatures.  Enemies will have sight cones indicating where they can detect a sneaking adventurer. The central zone of sight (red, violet, or cyan) is where they will see you immediately and begin chasing you; their peripheral vision (yellow) is where they might see you. Violet and cyan central zones indicate the enemy is on a different level than yours, while red means they are on the same level. Staying out of sight will allow you to silently assassinate your foes, as they rarely seem to notice a knife in their back in time. Note that sneak is also affected by a variety of other factors detailed on the {{k|S}}neak screen, such as light level and weather.

 

 

[[File:Advmode_fasttravel_DF2014.png|thumb|400px|Fast Travel screen. The player is in a hamlet, between the houses to the right and the mead hall in the top-left area of the map. The asterisk represents a group of creatures (in this case unfriendly goblins). The world map (in sepia) is on the far right.]]

{| class="wikitable" style="border:1px solid #ccc;"

 

Along the top of the map is a line showing the sky, and the position of the sun and/or moon from west to east. This primarily helps you determine how long you have before it gets dark, at which point you won't be able to see very far, will risk getting attacked by bogeymen, and will be more vulnerable to attack in general. If you are not near any sites, the {{k|m}} key will toggle a world map, colored in sepia tone (matching the map you see in the quest log). If you are near a site, then {{k|m}} cycles between a list of significant structures where your player is, a regional map (matching what you travel on when away from any site), and the aforementioned world map. The {{k|c}} key will only show clouds on the region map (the one you travel on outside of sites). Some clouds will be visible regardless of the state of this option.

 

The {{k|h}} key will cycle through various amounts of the bottom bar of content hidden. The effects of each press are:

 

* 1 press: hide key reference. Allows you to see status effects on your character if obscured by the key list.

* 2 presses: hide most local name, reducing the bar to one line of text.

* 3 presses: hide less local name, eliminating the bar entirely.

| {{k|a}}

| {{k|z}}

If you're not sure what a tile is, the {{k|l}}ook command will tell you. In addition to being useful for identifying tiles and creatures, you can also view creatures' equipment and what items are sitting on the ground in a given tile. If in doubt, try the look command.

Move the cursor to the tile you want to look at using direction keys and {{k|Shift}}+direction. It's possible to look up and down z-levels (assuming you have line of sight) using the {{k|<}} and {{k|>}} keys. This, for example, allows you to find out if any flying creatures are above you. Hit {{k|Esc}} to exit look mode and go back to movement mode.

The game makes frequent use of messages on the screen to tell you what is going on. If there are a lot of these you may need to use {{k|Space}} to display the rest of the messages that won't fit on the screen. You can always go back and view old messages by pressing {{k|a}}.

Hit the {{k|Esc}} key at any time and select {{DFtext|Save Game}} to save your game. You can then come back to it later by using the {{DFtext|Continue Playing}} option in the main menu.

| {{k|L}}

The {{k|u}} key can be used to do stuff like pull levers in an abandoned fort. It is also used to lower and raise the bucket when standing right next to a well, so you can get water to refill your waterskin with.

{{k|L}} will perform a thorough search of the area that you're standing in, possibly revealing some small creatures.

=== Managing equipment ===

| {{k|i}}

| {{k|d}}

| {{k|g}}

| {{k|p}}

| {{k|r}}

| {{k|w}}

| {{k|I}}

| Interact with an object in an advanced way. (unstick a weapon, refill waterskin etc.)

| {{k|q}}

| Sheath your weapons and shield. (Frees your hands for tasks such as climbing or grabbing)

 

Press {{k|i}} to display a list of what you are currently carrying. Press {{k|-}} {{k|+}} {{k|*}} {{k|/}} to scroll the list. This list will show you if items are being worn, held in hands, stuck on your body, or are inside a container. Detailed information about an object can be viewed by pressing the key associated with the item.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While normally, one would only be able to equip one item in each hand, removing items from your inventory results in them being wielded regardless of whether one's hands are full.{{bug|9817}} This is especially useful with shields, as every shield will contribute a block chance to each incoming attack.

Once equipped, weapons and shields can be quickly drawn and sheathed with {{k|q}}, instantly preparing for attack or freeing your hands. Any number of weapons can be strapped, but only one for each hand will be drawn. Others can be manually {{k|r}}emoved for use, and stowed again without occupying other inventory containers.

It should be noted that ''Dwarf Fortress'' does not enforce one particular hand as dominant for everyone (e.g. some characters may be left-handed), so do not be surprised if your character holds the weapon and [[Armor#Shields and Bucklers|shield]] in hands you yourself would not hold them in.

During advanced combat interactions, it's worth noting that the first item you picked up with empty hands shows up at the top of the interaction menu. This means picking up a shield first will mean pressing {{k|a}} will bash with the shield. Being consistent in the order you equip weapons will allow you to easily memorize attacks.

The {{k|I}} key allows "complex interaction" with objects in your inventory.

This is used for removing arrows and weapons stuck in wounds which will appear in your inventory when they become stuck in you. Removing stuck arrows can cause bleeding so it is not always a good idea mid combat, but stuck objects will slow you down as you are encumbered by their weight. It's best to remove them as soon as possible when it is safe and you are not in danger of bleeding to death.

Advanced interaction can also be used to steal enemy  equipment. Use [[wrestling]] to grab hold of a piece of enemy equipment, such as their weapon, or a helmet protecting their squishy brain and it will appear in the advanced interaction menu. Simply grab the item with a free hand and pull away. If successful, you will now be holding that item in your hands.

 

 

====Sheathing====

People will also be less likely to be scared of you on first sight if you don't appear to be ready to attack. Keep in mind that while strapping will put away ''everything'' you have in your hands, pressing it again will only cause you to put items into hands that are currently empty, meaning if you had multiple items in one hand you'll have to {{k|r}}emove them manually to use them again.

 

=== Time and weather ===

| {{k|D}}

| Date

| Weather/Time

 

 

 

Eventually, your character will become {{DFtext|Drowsy|1:0}}, and this will get worse until you get sufficient sleep.

 

 

Though sleeping inside can be safe, it's also limiting: any quest site you want to go to has to be within a daytime's round-trip time of a safe habitation, and you have to make your way there by hopping from one habitation to the next, sleeping at each along the way.  A way to avoid this is to travel with companions.  If you have any companions with you then [[bogeymen]] won't attack you.  You'll still have to sleep at night, though, both to avoid sleep deprivation and because there's no visibility at night.  You can still be ambushed at night by wildlife, but that's much less likely than being ambushed by [[bogeymen]] when traveling alone. If you find yourself alone at night with nowhere safe to sleep, the safest bet is to keep traveling until dawn, even if that means running around in circles. You will eventually feel unwell from sleep deprivation, but this can take a considerable amount of time. You can make up for lost sleep once you've found your way to safety. Note that sleeping in lairs, shrines, and labyrinths makes you safe from ambush, assuming that you or someone else has killed whatever was living there. If you have sufficient shrines/lairs/etc between you and your goal and they are either uninhabited or inhabited by things you are capable of killing, then you can travel from lair to lair, using each as a safe lodging. This is much safer than sleeping out in the open, day or night, even with companions.

If no other options are available, completely surrounding yourself with campfires will keep night marauders at bay as they cannot pass through the fires; the fires will go out after several hours and enable you to move on (you may also be able to jump over the fires). The bogeymen or other enemies may be outside your line of sight, which will prevent you from firing arrows or throwing things at them. In this case, you will have to <s>perform music, preferably playing guitar</s> stand up and lie down {{K|s}} or wait 10 ticks {{K|.}} repeatedly until the enemies wander into your range, the fires go out and the enemies can path to you, or dawn breaks. It should be noted that, as of DF2014, climbing trees and sleeping on them will sometimes prevent [[bogeyman]] attacks, as well.  This is especially useful if you prefer to play solo, and do not wish to have an army of followers in your employ.  This is also useful if you prefer to engage enemies at your own pace (such as via stealth), rather than having your entire following party immediately charge at anything that is hostile to you. Be wary though, as bogeymen may still be able to reach you by climbing or flying.

=== Food and drink ===

| {{k|e}}

| Eat or drink something

To find water, you must find a river, stream, or well in a town and fill your waterskin (or any container) from it, or drink from it directly. Water that may be covering you or your items will not be able to satisfy your thirst. Note that drinking vampire blood will turn you into a vampire instantly. You can only eat and drink up to stomach capacity; after that you become increasingly nauseous and unable to retain your stomach contents (though if you needed a source for vomit, that's one way to acquire it.) You can reset stomach capacity by offloading the map (travel, rest, wait, etc,) which can only be done in safe locations and circumstances. Over time, food contents are converted to stored fat, even if you remain active, and this will increase your fat layer mass and potentially reduce your speed. Fast traveling also resets food contents (as of v: 43.03) though the hunger and thirst timers are still satisfied by consumption.  If you find yourself in need of both food and hydration, make sure to take care of the most urgent problem first, as if you are moderately hungry but severely dehydrated and eat three times, you may die before you have another chance to drink. If the temperature is low enough that you might have trouble finding liquid water, snow and ice can be heated into water by first making a campfire with {{k|g}} and then performing an advanced interaction with {{k|I}} on the ice or snow in your inventory to heat it. Advanced interactions with your waterskin (or any container) can also be used to gather water from water sources, or snow from the ground.  

====Announcements when eating====

=== Combat ===

| {{k|8}} {{k|2}} {{k|4}} {{k|6}} {{k|7}} {{k|9}} {{k|1}} {{k|3}}

| {{k|A}}

| Attack an adjacent creature.

| {{k|f}}

| {{k|C}}

[[Combat]] is the fine art of using physical force to cause injury and death, and it is particularly fun in ''Dwarf Fortress''.

 

 

Hostile creatures can be attacked using a non-aimed attack by simply advancing towards your enemy using the arrow keys. Doing a non-aimed attack will also have a chance of freeing up any stuck weapon, though you are more likely to accomplish this by moving away from the enemy, or doing a complex interaction with the weapon.

 

Any creature can be attacked by standing next to it and pressing {{k|A}}. Attacking a friendly or unconscious creature (which includes wild animals for elves) will further require a confirmation, given using  {{k|alt}}+{{k|y}}.

 

After selecting (and maybe confirming) which creature you want to attack, {{k|a}} will allow you to make an '''aimed attack'''. You must first select the body part that you want to attack. Look at the difficulty rating for various possible attacks. Impossible attacks will be nearly impossible to land and Easier attacks will be very easy to land. The difficulty rating for an attack does not change depending on your weapon skill. Based on player experiences, a Grand Master weapon user can almost always land a "Tricky" strike, while a Novice generally cannot. Attacks on various locations will also have limits on how "squarely" they can land (due to being out of reach, for example). Square and very square attacks will deal more damage.{{Verify}} Attacks which "can't land squarely" are generally still effective.

 

Attacks aimed at the head are the most effective; a single attack to the cranium with a weapon will usually put an end to the fight. Aimed attacks are especially useful for dismembering opponents. Opponents who are missing a foot will fall over, thereby greatly lowering their speed, and giving you an immediate edge in the fight. Cutting off both hands is also highly recommended for obvious reasons. After all, a field full of armless, one-legged enemies can be a big experience booster for your character and your companions.

 

Aimed attacks are also especially helpful when fighting giant beasts. Some enemies like giant desert scorpions have lots of redundant body parts, and random attacks waste valuable time on low priority areas while the scorpion is busy injecting venom into the whole party. Lastly, aimed attacks allow you to grab trophies that are not available via butchering. For example, a minotaur's horns can be cut off during a fight, but since it's a humanoid, most adventurers will refuse to butcher its corpse after the fight. However, in DF2014, all butcherable corpses are able to be butchered, as long as the corpse isn't too mangled.

 

There are several options below the hitting menu. '''Quick attacks''' are faster than regular attacks but weaker. '''Heavy attacks''' are slower but hit harder. '''Wild attacks''' are faster and hit harder but are inaccurate. '''Precise attacks''' are very slow but are much more likely to hit. '''Multi-attacks''' allow you to attack several times in a row, at a great cost to the effectiveness of any one of the chosen attacks.

 

In addition to aimed attacks, pressing {{k|A}} also allows for the three defensive maneuvers: blocking, dodging and parrying. They do not have fixed keys because their order changes if one or more is impossible (e.g. no blocking without a shield). When dodging you will be able to pick a direction, and your character will move on step in this direction, possibly avoiding any number of attacks. Note that you can dodge even if you are not being attacked. When blocking or parrying you can pick one attack and attempt to stop it. If several attacks are incoming the remaining attacks will not be affected.

 

To attack with a ranged weapon press the {{k|f}} key with a ranged weapon (bow, crossbow, etc.) equipped on one hand and select the square where you want to attack. Note that you need to have some sort of ammo, corresponding to the type of ranged weapon you are using (for example, bows use arrows, crossbows use bolts). Otherwise, a message stating "You have nothing left to fire." is displayed in brown. Similarly use the {{k|t}} key to throw any random object in the same manner. Random objects appear to make a random attack if they happen to have more than one possible type.{{Verify}} For example, if you throw a sword it may hit with a blunt impact, a stabbing impact, or a slicing impact. Throwing crossbow bolts with sufficient throwing skill and strength seems to have an effect similar to firing them, although less powerful. On the plus side, you will never lose ammo if you throw it.

It is not possible to aim for specific body parts with ranged or thrown attacks.

{{k|t}}hrowing is generally a good skill to have for any adventurer, as it allows you to slow down fleeing foes, both on the ground and in the air without the need of equipping a (cross)bow. Just like {{k|l}}ooking, you can use throwing to view and hit enemies multiple Z levels away from you. If you're lucky, you can simply land a hit that causes the flying enemy to give in to pain, and then let gravity do the rest of the work. Even if the fall doesn't kill them, they will most likely be stunned long enough for you to run up and slaughter them.

 

 

'''[[Wrestling]]''' (grappling) can be performed by selecting an enemy via {{k|A}} followed by {{k|b}} to wrestle. You can wrestle any enemy. Wrestling works somewhat like a targeted attack: Once you grab a creature by some body part, you may be able to make another wrestling attempt that will allow you to perform a throw or takedown. For a detailed list of moves, such as takedowns, throws, choke holds, etc., see [[Wrestling]]. It's also possible to punch, kick, and bite. These are not in the wrestling menu, but are performed like normal targeted attacks with {{k|A}}.

 

 

 

 

If you get wounded during combat, there's not much that you can do except perhaps run before you get more wounded. Be aware that movement speed while stunned, nauseous or winded is reduced, and might leave you open to fatal blows.  Your wounds will heal over time, so just travel around or sleep in a safe place. Some wounds, however, may never heal, leaving you permanently crippled. Obtaining a crutch may help with this. Or, if you are not already a vampire, then you can get bitten by a werebeast during full moon, which will heal all injuries once per month. If you have some bolts or arrows stuck in your body, they can be removed by using the complex interaction menu {{k|I}}. Select the stuck bolt or arrow from the list and then pull it out with {{k|a}} You'll probably start bleeding after you pull it out, but the bleeding is rarely anything to worry about.

 

 

At any time during gameplay (except fast travel mode), you can press {{k|C}} to open the Combat Preferences menu. There are three different preferences you can set: Attack, Dodge and Charge Defense. These have a few different sub-preferences each: