Revision as of 03:50, 9 February 2017

This is a intermediate guide for Adventurer Mode. For a beginner's tutorial see the Adventure Mode Quickstart Guide.

See Adventure Mode quick reference to quickly look up key commands.

Updated to DF 43.05.

This guide focuses on powerplay, that is, building the most powerful combat-oriented character and achieving goals that can be undoubtedly considered "winning the game of Dwarf Fortress". Yet, fun is prioritised so glitch/bug abuse to get an advantage will not be used. For the most part, it is tailored towards players with some adventure mode experience, as there will be no explanation of basic gameplay elements, such as Fast [T]ravelling, [R]emoving an item, [W]earing an armour or [S]tanding up. Also, it is assumed that readers are familiar with the Fortress mode to the point of being able to make at least Steel weapons/armor, as there will be no explanation on this part either.

However, this does not mean, that less experienced players will not benefit from this guide. All the combat mechanics, decisions and picks will be explained most thoroughly without missing any of the steps. As long as one is familiar with hotkeys, he/she is all set for reading this. And don't forget about spoilers!

Generating the world

Example of the well-balanced world for an adventure game

Use the following settings:

World Size: Smaller
History: Short
Number of Civilizations: High
Max. Number of Sites: High
Number of Beasts: Medium (Default)
Natural Savagery: Medium (Default)

While, technically, every world is suitable for adventure mode, any player looking for a decent game should start in a world, that has at least the following features:

A tower
2 or 3 Dark fortresses
A vault

Optional features:

A desert
An island no more than 2 blocks away from mainland
A maze

You can check whether your world has a certain feature by starting the said world in Legends mode.

"Smaller" world size drastically reduces updating times, shortens the distance you will have to travel on foot and makes it more likely to explore more of the world. Don't get confused - even at this degree the generated world is much bigger than you would think, and is more than enough for a lengthy game while still preserving the features from bigger worlds.
"Short" history setting will make the world 125 years old. This is done to ensure, that goblin settlements (a.k.a Dark Pits) are not too abundant. It also prevents a lot of takeover wars, so it is less likely to end up with dead civilization(s) or human towns populated by elves (or what's more likely, goblins).
"High" number of civilizations provides increased chances of Towers and Dark Fortresses appearing. Same applies to the "High" Number of Sites, only that it also influences the amount of creature lairs and encampments in the wild.

Number of beasts determines how many megabeasts will roam the world. It is affected by the world size (e.g. Smaller), so it is left at default value. Same applies to Natural Savagery and Mineral occurence.

IMPORTANT: After creating the desirable world, start a Dwarf Fortress mode game (preferably, at the 2-tiles-away island mentioned above) and play until you create the following masterwork or artifact weapons: Axe(steel/adam), Spear(steel,adam), War Hammer (silver/platinum). Optionally, capture a Forgotten Beast and have the weapons coated with its flesh-eating seizure-inducing paralyzing dust. Optionally, produce a masterwork Nether Cap shield, a couple of masterwork stacks of steel bolts and a suit of adamantine armor. Retire the fort afterwards.

You will return to your fort later on in the adventure mode game to reclaim the weapons for your character's use.

Character Creation

The character creation follows the same order as it appears in game: Race/Civ/Status ->Starting Attributes/Skills->Background->Appearance -> Mental attributes.

Race and Civilization

Human or Dwarf - there is a little difference besides the armour and clothing size, pick whatever you want. Some may argue, that dwarves have an advantage due to being able to wear better armour, made in player fortress. However, as I have realized (and you will realize too): later on masterwork armour is just as useful as standard quality. More on this will be explained in "Armour" section. As for the dwarven "Battle Trance" - this guide emphasizes on NOT finding yourself alone and surrounded most of the time, so it is negligible. Human will be used for this guide.

Status

Peasant: 15 attribute, 35 skill
Hero: 35 attribute, 95 skill
Demigod: 105 attribute, 161 skill

Peasant, Hero and Demigod look completely different, with demigod seemingly holding the most advantage. However, all three are mortal, and all three are capable of becoming unstoppable. The key difference is in starting stats/skills (with demigod beginning with most, Peasant with least) and stats cap (maximum attainable value).

Simply put, the higher the starting stat (e.g Strength), the higher it can be increased over the course of the game. Hence, demigods can have the highest stats in the end by simply having more to start with. Yet, even Peasant adventurer is capable of killing a Demon or Dragon in the endgame, so at the end of the day, all the status does is determine how easy and how fast your starting game will be.

"Hero" is suitable for most players. Pick Demigod for easier early game. For the purposes of this guide, "Peasant" will be used to demonstrate, that these instructions are applicable to every single status.

Starting Attributes and Skills

Body Attributes

All these stats distributions will leave no points wasted.

Peasant:

High Strength (20)
High Agility (20)
Very Low Recuperation (1)
Very Low Disease Resistance (1)
Very Low Creativity (1)
Very Low Musicality (1)
Very Low Empathy (1)
Everything else: Average (5)

Hero:

High Strength (20)
Superior Agility (--)
Very Low Recuperation (1)
Very Low Disease Resistance (1)
Very Low Creativity (1)
Very Low Musicality (1)
Very Low Empathy (1)
Everything else: Average (5)

Demigod:

High Strength (20)
Superior Agility (--)
Superior Memory (--)
High Intuition (20)
Very Low Recuperation (1)
Very Low Disease Resistance (1)
Very Low Creativity (1)
Very Low Musicality (1)
Very Low Empathy (1)
Everything else: Average (5)

Since your character is combat-based, attributes such as Creativity, Empathy and Musicality are absolutely useless, and must be kept low. As for recuperation and disease resistance, they only kick in when you're hurt, and if there is something that I stress in this guide it is "DON'T get hit". This renders those stats useless. Agility and Strength are the MOST important as they affect move speed of the character, and that really matters. Memory is convenient addition, as it lets you memorize the areas you've been to and keep those areas free from fog of war. However, leave it at average unless playing as a demigod.

The concept of pain was revised in 43.05, with thresholds significantly buffed for most creatures. Now a high willpower/toughness can, and will prevent your adventurer(and enemy alike) from passing out due to broken toe. Investing starting points in those stats is still a waste, however, as they are leveled relatively quickly, and do not need to be "Superior" or "Superhuman" to be effective. Endurance can be increased easily by sprinting or swimming. And while it matters at first, later on your character will have unlimited stamina, so don't put anything above average here. With average Social Awareness you can recruit two companions, increasing your fighting skills and kill list will let you recruit more later. Seeing as it is very tedious to manage 3 and above companions (you have to give out orders one by one), this attribute is better left at average (more on Social Awareness will be explained in "Companions" section).

Finally, Intuition lets you see more detailed information on which part of your body the enemy is targeting. It is quickly leveled through any means of close combat, and hence, should be kept on average unless you play as demigod.

Starting skills

All the distributions below have 1 to 4 leftover points. This is nothing to worry about, as skills can be easily improved and have no cap.

Peasant:

Adequate Swimmer (7)
Competent dodger (8)
Novice reader (6)

Hero:

Competent Swimmer (8)
Expert dodger (13)
Novice reader (6)

Demigod:

Skilled Swimmer (9)
Master dodger (17)
Novice reader (6)

Dodge skill is a must take at character creation, as it is one of the skills that cannot be leveled without putting yourself in a harm's way. Same goes for Swimming. Any weapon skills are trainable in absolute safety, as will be described in section "Improving your skills". Reading, on the other hand, cannot be improved during regular play, and is only available for learning at starting skill selection screen, and must be taken in order to read books, containing the secrets of Life and Death. Novice level reading skill allows you to read anything, there is no point in increasing it further.

Background and Gender

It is advised to start as a hearth-person, since your character will begin inside of the human fortress, close to weapons and armor stockpiles. Gender and deity worshiped are insignificant beyond aesthetics and roleplay. Of course, when building a killing machine of a character you'd most likely want him to worship a deity of war (or similar).

Appearance

Visual facial features (e.g long hair, lobed ears, etc.) bear little significance, and are there just for show. The constitution is what really matters - your character might be described as "tall", "having a broad body" or "corpulent/fat/having great sacks of lard" (common when starting as a peasant). Fat does not slow down, and will be burnt away as your character does anything that involves sweating (sprinting or fighting to name a few). Broad body allows wielding of 2-handed weapons in one hand.

However, avoid "tall" or "having a broad body" traits. In my experience, adventurers with these tend to get hit more often than ones with an average build, and two-handed weapons are slow to ever use anyway. Press "r" or "f" to re-roll your character's appearance until it becomes to your liking.

Values and Personality

In DF2016, adventure mode now have implemented a complex personality system akin to that of fortress mode. All those perks and traits that you've seen in Fortress mode (e.g. "He is prone to anger") are now present. This means your character will now have desires that need satisfying besides eating or sleeping. Just as fortress mode units do, adventurers will now want think abstractly, need to socialize, desire to pray to deity, e.t.c , all according to their (fully customizable) values and emotions (represented in green and teal respectively at character creation screen).

Values

Emotions

Though it is not necessary no satisfy the aforementioned needs, meeting most of them applies the "Focused" status. According to my tests, focused character will hit the target more often and dodge with increased effectiveness, so it is definitely worth the effort.

Moreover, your character will have his own dream listed, based on the values you have specified. It is unknown at the moment what benefit fulfilling the dream will provide. Dreams can be easily changed (rerolled) by simply pressing full customization "f" key, then immediately pressing it again.

Your warlike adventurer naturally values (+++) power, martial prowess, skill, cunning, truth, independence, stoicism, self-control, craftsmanship, competition, perseverance and knowledge. At the same time, he despises (---) nature, romance and peace while being indifferent (N/A) to everything else. He dreams of ruling the world (or becoming a legendary warrior).

On the emotional plane, he never falls in love or lust, hates easily though not prone to anger, never gives in to feeling of sadness or anxiety, impervious to stress, has calm demeanor, strives for perfection, likes fighting, cruel, relentless, private to the point of paranoia and fears nothing.

The above values and emotions will provide your character with the following mindset:

As seen in the above image, your warmongering adventurer will have strong desire for crafting, training, practicing, learning, and an insatiable thirst for battle, while barely requiring anything else. This is where the advantage of picking the values and emotions according to the instructions above start to show up: fighting anything will simultaneously satisfy four major needs (training,earning,battling,practicing)while crafting can be easily fulfilled by knapping (making sharp rock). More on satisfying the needs and getting the "Focused" status will be explained in the "Needs and Focus" section.

Take into account, that you will not be able to EVER see this description (except list of needs) again during the regular gameplay. It is only available during character creation stage, so it is in your interests to make a screenshot and save it.

Finalizing the character

Values and personality screen is the last obstacle, that separates you from starting the game. Press Enter to begin the adventure.

Early Game

If you have followed all the instructions so far, you character will begin inside the human fortress. His/her starting items will depend on civilization you've chosen, however, all adventurers start with:

A large copper dagger
A copper spear
A waterskin with 3 units of water
A backpack
5 units of random foodstuffs

Immediate actions

The moment you spawn in the world, the following must be carried out immediately: [R]emove your starting waterskin and [D]rop it. I cannot stress this enough - it is absolutely, astonishingly useless, being able to fit only 3 units of water when your character needs to drink every 2-3 hours. Next, look around for soldiers of the fortress and recruit one of them as a companion. Afterwards, search around the fortress and pick up the following items:

Any 2 bags (chuck out anything that might have been inside)
Full set of armor (Helm, mail shirt, breastplate, gauntlets, greaves, high boots, shield/buckler. These can be of any material for the time being.
An axe and a warhammer. These can be of any material or 2-handed for the time being. If there are training versions of axe or spear, take those as well.
A pike and a whip/scourge (optionally, if there are any available)
5-10 copper or silver bolts

Some fortresses might be under-stocked and lack some items from this list. In this case, fast travel to another fort and search again.

Berry bags are common in human villages

After you got your gear together, equip the armor and a spear (without shield). Travel to the nearest river and fill (I) one of your empty bags with water. This will result in a container with 100 water units - more than enough for a long journey, even though you will be amazed how fast it will disappear.

To follow up, go in the nearby village and search in the peasants' houses for fisher/prickle berry/strawberry bags. All human civs start with fisher berries, so a village is guaranteed to have some. Usually, these bags contain multiple stacks of 20 to 100 berries. As soon as you've found one, drop your starting [5]stack food and pick the largest stack of berries. [P]ut it inside of your second bag.

Your inventory should look similar to what is shown on the image below:

All set, with a lucky find!

Now you are armored and armed, alongside a companion with plenty of food and drink. While still quite far from being combat-worthy, your character is now ready for initial combat training.

Training

At this stage, you are going to train your character's offensive and defensive skills. Even though they can be trained in any order, I suggest that you learn how to defend yourself first. However, it is completely up to you, and whatever training "facilities" you might have. When training, ask your companion to wait nearby at a distance he/she will not notice you fighting. This way, you will have a backup handy if something comes your way.

NOTE: Instructions that follow include a lot of tedious button presses. To make your training experience more comfortable, it is advised that you install the amazing key shortcut tool "AutoHotkey", available free of charge. It is a wonderful utility, that will make a lengthy combination into a matter of a single key press, which counts when typing Aa*gzua repeated 30 times, for example. Quickstart guide for AutoHotkey (along with an example script) can be found under "Tools" section. I personally do not consider this cheating in any way - it is a simple timesaver. By sticking to "hardcore style" button mashing you are not raising the challenge - you're introducing a handicap.

Defensive training

Defensive skill tree is comprised of Dodging and Shield user. These two are crucial to survival, they protect better than any armor, as both completely nullify ANY incoming damage, while armor does not. Armor user skill simply reduces speed penalty associated with wearing armor and is considered quasi-defensive.

Any attack except breath/webs/dust attacks can be dodged. On a successful dodge all damage is nullified.
Any attack except dust/webs/wrestling grabs can be blocked. On a successful block all damage is nullified.

A punch from a bronze colossus that can turn any armored human into paste is rendered completely harmless when blocked or dodged. Considering that around middle stages of the game you will encounter enemies much more fearsome than colossus makes Dodging and Shield User invaluable.

Method:

1.Find a small animal
2.Grab it
3.Let it attack you
4.Train

Explanation:

Make sure you have a weapon and a shield drawn. Prepare by placing your weapon in a backpack, then remove the said backpack and drop it somewhere you can remember. This will free you of unnecessary load. Begin by finding a small animal - cavies make a good choice, so do ducks, peacocks, turkeys, etc. Catch up to the said animal and grab it with your free hand. Now, simply spam the "Wait 10 ticks" button [.] and you will gain dodging/armor user/shield user experience as an animal you're holding attacks you. To gain shield user experience faster, manually block the incoming attacks with the shield.

If the animal you were holding passes out from exhaustion, simply wait, then repeat the above routine. Repeat until Legendary in all three skills.

Be aware, though, that even though your "animal training companion" is small, even a cat or a duck possess enough force to scratch the teeth out or stun with a well placed bite to the head, right through the helmet! Make sure your character is not tired prior to training.

AUTOHOTKEY: Using 1::Send, . script will let you hold down [1] to continuously wait, instead of spamming the [.] dot button
AUTOHOTKEY: Using 2::Send, Aca script will make you instantly block an attack with your shield the moment you press [2]. Combined with [.], you can spam these two keys one after another to level Shield User very quickly.

Offensive training

Every skill that directly that harms the enemy is a part of Offensive skill tree. This includes: any weapon mastery, Improvised weapons skill (misc. object user), wrestling and throwing. Majority of your targets will be dispatched with weapon strikes, some with unarmed strikes and wrestling and in certain cases, by having a heavy/sharp object flung at them. Hence, your character must learn to handle 3 weapon types (at least), punching/kicking, wrestling and throwing. Optionally, misc. object user is recommended, as this skill determines the hit rate (and damage) when bashing with the shield.

By this time, you should have the gear as instructed earlier in "Immediate Actions" section. Make no mistake, ensure you have all the necessary equipment!