So, you have mastered the fundamentals in our Dwarf Fortress newbie’s information (opens in new tab). You have gotten your dwarf fortress off the bottom, a considerably purposeful outpost among the many wilds able to make a go of it.
However there are risks on the market. Animals, thieves, and warlike enemies simply ready to take all you have earned. You will must be able to battle again—whether or not that is by intelligent protection, stout partitions, or a band of extremely skilled troopers, you will want a great way to both take down or keep away from your enemies.
Battle is inevitable in Dwarf Fortress, however being ready for it is not.
Dwarf Fortress protection fundamentals
Begin with a drawbridge
The hands-down finest option to defend your fort is a heavy stone drawbridge. In contrast to numerous different issues within the recreation code (like doorways), a dwarven drawbridge shouldn’t be a capital-b Constructing, however a Building, which can not be destroyed. It is a flooring when down, or it is a wall when up: So beneath Dwarf Fortress guidelines it could actually’t be destroyed by even the biggest enemies.
To make a pleasant drawbridge, have your masons make some stone blocks. Use these Blocks to construct your bridge, however you’ll want to select it as a Elevating bridge within the icons that pop up and be certain it raises to the proper path. Top and size do not matter right here.
Then use a Mechanic’s Workshop to make some Mechanisms out of good arduous stone. You need to use these to construct a Lever in your widespread space, then extra Mechanisms to attach that Lever to your bridge. Telling dwarves to tug the lever will elevate the bridge. Bonus factors for those who fill a pleasant deep pit beneath it with upright spikes and look forward to enemies to face on it earlier than giving the order to boost—they’re going to all fall off into the spikes.
A scrappy militia is healthier than no militia
By urgent the Q shortcut or clicking the banner icon within the decrease proper you will deliver up the Militia menu. That is the place you possibly can create and mobilize squads of navy dwarves. You need to use the sword icon right here to ship them after particular targets, and the arrow icon to ship them to defend a selected location. Notice that they’re going to routinely go after any enemy they see from there—no such factor as battle self-discipline in Dwarf Fortress.
It is helpful at first to simply begin a squad and fill it along with your dwarves, giving them the Leather-based armor preset. Even with no correct tools to offer them, a pack of dwarves along with your default copper bring-along weapons can defeat a number of examples of harmful native wildlife: Dingos, wolverines, thieving keas, or notably indignant geese.
Later you will need to make a correct squad and inform them to equip correct armor and weapons, when you have got them, or create customized units of apparatus for those who do not.
Coaching your navy
Construct a barracks
As soon as the fort is operating decently, normally by the primary autumn or winter, you will need to dig out or construct a room for a barracks. That is normally a decent-sized 10×10 room with 10 beds, some chests, some cupboards, and some armor and weapon racks for taste. It is good to place it someplace close to the doorway, or close to the place you count on enemies to return from.
As soon as created, you should utilize the Zone interface to inform sure squads to coach, sleep, and retailer their stuff right here. Placing your first few squads of militia dwarves on a schedule of partial coaching is an effective name: They will practice for 3 months out of each six, and do regular work as assigned for the opposite three. They’ll function auxiliaries for giant enemy assaults.
When you get sufficient dwarves that you just really feel secure sending some to coach full time, begin placing migrants with out helpful abilities right into a navy squad that is advised to coach full-time and sleep within the barracks as effectively. Set their schedule to Fixed Coaching and fill the squad over time, then begin a brand new one. I wish to have 20 full-time navy dwarfs in a fortress of 200, with a reserve of 30-40 as part-time militia.
Good navy candidates embody dwarves with virtually ineffective abilities like legendary soapers, potash-makers, and millers—however actually anybody with out traits like weak, frail, and sickly will do positive. Don’t be concerned about making coaching weapons, or something like that—you do not want them.
Migrant hunters are wonderful candidates for squads of crossbow-wielding marksdwarves. Whenever you need these, you possibly can construct a pleasant vary for them to follow in—put it subsequent to the barracks and you’ll want to give it one entrance, on the aspect they’re taking pictures from.
Arm your navy
Spears, battle axes, and warfare hammers are the mainstays of dwarven militaries. Armor and weapons are usually finest when steel, however leather-based, bone and even wooden can do in a determined pinch.
This is your common order of high quality with metals:
- Copper
- Bronze (bismuth or common)
- Iron
- Metal
Silver makes horrible chopping weapons however nice hammers—it’s extremely heavy.
In case you’re wealthy in metals and time be at liberty to edit your steel armor tools setup to incorporate each a Metallic Mail Shirt and Metallic Breastplate to raised maximize protection. In any other case you will need a Metallic Helm, Metallic Gauntlets, Metallic Greaves, and Metallic Excessive Boots for best-armored dwarves.
Most nasty enemies are finest taken down with chopping weapons, so battle axes do effectively towards them by eradicating limbs. I like to recommend battle axes in your first squad, then warfare hammers in your second. Properly-armored enemies like goblin sieges are finest killed with warfare hammers or maces, which crush by armor. Warfare hammers are particularly vital towards undead and Necromancer assaults as a result of they destroy (“pulp”) limbs fairly than sever them, as a result of a severed limb can simply… animate and maintain attacking.
There are two exceptions to supplies guidelines:
- Shields are positive fabricated from any materials however require common alternative and do not assist offensively when fabricated from wooden or leather-based.
- Crossbows might be fabricated from actually something for equal impact when taking pictures. The bolts, nonetheless, are higher when fabricated from metals, however bone bolts fired from bone crossbows are arduous to argue with once they’re so plentiful.
I am going to additionally be aware that your workforce of miners could make an amazing auxiliary militia squad: The ability used to assault with a decide is mining, in order that they’ll be superb at it. Simply make a brand new outfit of all-metal armor for them to put on.
…or go for unarmed fight, as an alternative
Not sufficient steel for good weapons and armor? Dwarves could make remarkably good wrestlers, and even when you do not have sufficient weapons for them to equip they’re going to fortunately practice in unarmed fight. Dwarven MMA will get the job accomplished numerous the time, and will help if and when your dwarf is disarmed mid-fight. That mentioned, even an armed novice can trump an unarmed grasp.
You can too get lots accomplished with animals. The simplest option to beat back kobold thieves and goblin kidnappers is to place a pen/pasture zone close to the doorway to your fort for the canine, then practice these canine as Warfare Canine within the Items menu, Pets tab. Commerce with the people and elves for one thing like grizzly bears, gorillas, and even elephants if you wish to take this philosophy additional—or seize and practice them your self.
I, personally, am a really large fan of skilled Warfare Grizzly Bears.
Set traps
Traps, traps, and extra traps
Not a lot beats a hallway crammed with traps. Your personal residents will not set off them, nor will guests, and softening up attackers by operating down a protracted corridor of harmful sharp issues works wonders. A really efficient early protection is only a corridor crammed with Stone-fall Traps, which simply drop a heavy rock on the unhealthy guys. It will not cease a troll, however it would cease a wolf.
As you improve your navy’s weapons I counsel placing the outdated ones into weapon traps. It is also an amazing use of extra bone: Carve it into bone crossbows and bone bolts to arrange a ton of vicious crossbow traps. For bonus factors (from me) make weapons that may solely go into traps in your metalsmith’s workshop:
- Large axe blades
- Spiked steel balls
- Giant, serrated discs
I do not advocate cage traps an excessive amount of early on. They’re enjoyable to catch enemies and wild animals with later, however require slightly extra administration than newcomers will need to fuss with.
As soon as you have acquired your toes beneath you, attempt making extra complicated traps. A favourite is a drowning chamber: A sealed room with drawbridges at each ends and floodgates within the ceiling, every of which has a channel above it linked to a water supply. Enemies enter, you pull the levers to boost the bridges. Then pull the levers to flood the room. As soon as they drown, you pull a ultimate set to open the decrease floodgates and drain the room into one thing like an underground cavern or sea.
Dwarf Fortress enemies to be careful for
We’ll shut out with some descriptions of what would possibly come for you. No spoilers.
Sieges, robbers, and raids
💰 Robbers are teams of kobolds who need to steal your stuff or goblins who need to kidnap your kids. They are not seen to you till a dwarf spots them. The very best protection right here is to make certain that animals like canine are all the time close to the fort entrance: They will sniff em out so you possibly can ship the militia after them. Notice that robbers will bypass traps!
🦹♂️ Ambushes are equally hidden teams of attackers that, fairly than steal, need to trigger mayhem. They’re smaller and might be very harmful in your remoted woodcutter or herbalist working outdoors the fort, however might be run off by even a small militia.
🗡 Sieges are giant assaults of enemies that need to destroy your fort. Goblins and elves will cost proper in, fortunately operating into trap-filled hallways. You possibly can kill sufficient of them that they run or wait them out—they’re going to ultimately go away. Elves are normally straightforward to kill as a result of they solely use wood weapons and armor, however typically they’re going to deliver big animals as allies. Human sieges might be nasty as a result of they’re going to truly simply arrange camp outdoors and wait you out, harassing dwarfs that go away the fort and killing inbound commerce caravans. Necromancer assaults are a horror, in order a newbie… simply do not begin anyplace that claims you have got a necromancer as a neighbor.
Megabeasts
Megabeasts are nasties that embody dragons, colossi, giants, and titans, all method of horrors. They typically assault from above floor and are very able to destroying buildings and doorways. Some, like Bronze Colossi and dragons, are extraordinarily harmful because of their unbelievable resilience and/or fiery breath. That is usually a case the place discretion is the higher a part of valor for those who lack confidence or a powerful navy: Seal up the drawbridge and look forward to it to go away.
The deeps beneath
🦇 Underground natives exist, together with cave fish-men, bat-men, reptile-men, and rat-men, and might be both peaceable or hostile in direction of your fortress. When you open up a degree of the caves, hostile cavern dwellers will ship raids and ambushes towards you each every now and then. They will come extra usually for those who lower down a number of mushroom timber and do a number of underground fishing. Make sure that to defend your underground fort entrances simply in addition to these above.
🕷 Forgotten beasts in fact, these experiments the gods forgot throughout creation additionally lurk, sealed within the caverns beneath the earth. I will not say a lot, however be cautious of them, particularly in the event that they spit webs, exhale poison fuel, or are fabricated from an exceptionally resilient-sounding substance. The warnings for megabeasts apply right here.
Issues that go bump within the evening
Dwarf Fortress additionally has vampires and werecreatures, which may both assault outright or infiltrate your fortress disguised as migrants. Werecreatures particularly are bothered with a contagious situation that may break your fort. I am going to go away you to determine how finest to defeat these enemies… however be particularly conscious of any suspiciously pale migrants who’re tons of of years outdated and have very excessive abilities.
Too greedily, too deep
There are in fact older and fouler issues than goblins within the deep locations of the world, the place historic and anonymous issues gnaw upon the pillars of creation.
