Editing 40d:Starting build design

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

===A basic build ===

* either a herbalist/grower, or a [[fisherdwarf]]/X, or a [[hunter]]/X.  The first gets you lots of brewable plants on maps with plants, the second gets you food and [[bone]]s on maps with water (in maps with dangerous fish such as [[carp]] fishing is suicidal so be careful), and the third gets you meat and bones on maps with [[animals]].  Herbalism is usually the safest of the three.

* 30 [[plump helmet]]s - They're good to eat and produce 5 units of [[alcohol|booze]] for each one brewed at a [[still]].

* 20 [[plump helmet]] spawn - for planting.

=== Metalbashing/Glassworking ===

Heavy metalbashing and glassworking requires a site with 1) abundant fuel and 2) raw materials - ores and sand.  Magma is ideal as well but large coal seams or a forest will also suffice.  A site with [[sedimentary]] [[layer]]s and [[flux]] should mean nearly unlimited [[steel]].  Any site with [[sand]] (not "loamy sand" or the like) will permit [[glassmaker|glassworking]].  Your biggest choice when setting up is whether to optimize for a fast start or long-term success.

===Do it yourself ===

This is based on taking only the minimum needed to get things started, plus some hard-to-find items in case they are needed later.  This is both weapons/tools and seeds - you just don't need a lot of seeds if you have a half-decent [[Grower]].  Read the [[Make your own weapons]] article for more info and possible variations on the tools, and [[grower]] for an idea of how fast seeds can multiply.

* Ambush 1, Axedwarf 1, Appraise 1, Judge of Intent 1, Building designer 1, & 5 more points in any military skills - your Leader, Outdoors, Security

* Mason 5/Stone Crafter 5  

* Grower 5/____ 5 (skilled profession of your choice - Gems, Glass, Bowyer, Carpenter, Clothier, you name it.  Part-time is better paired w/ Grower.)

The one Miner dives into soil first, only mining stone as needed, and is Legendary by mid-summer, ready to haul and build [[siege engine]]s while other dwarves take their turns training up to about Proficient Miner (again, to not interfere with chosen moodable skills). The Leader/Outdoors dwarf does untrained Wood Cutting and Plant Gathering, and all Animal Training so the 4 wardogs stay with him until assigned or restrained.  Someone covers Carpenter and untrained, and several part-time Wood Burners, Furnace Operators and Butchers/Tanners cover those areas for the first year until immigrants arrive to specialize the support workforce.  

 

:* Anvil

:*  1 copper pick (to get digging with no delay)

* Alcohol:

:*16 alcohol A (4 barrels)  

:* 16 alcohol B (4 barrels)  

:* 11 alcohol C (3 barrels)  

:*  6 Dwarven wine (2 barrels) (more can be quickly brewed from Plump helmets, below)

:*  3 Plump Helmet spawn (solid starting crop; you'll have more seeds after brewing the PH's below)

:*  3 seeds each x other 4 crop seeds for the rest (enough to get started, they'll multiply after season one)

:*  2 Dimple cup seeds (not a food crop, just enough to get started)

:* 11 Plump helmets (2 barrels)

:* 11 Turtle (2 barrels)

:*  2 Cave lobster (for rare shells)

:*  1 ''each'' fish or meat that costs less than 8 pts (availability will vary depending on civilization)

:*  4 wood (plus 3 from wagon, enough to get started)

:*  4 [[bauxite]] stone

:*  8 [[bituminous coal]]

:*  1 [[copper]] ore (copper nuggets or malachite)

:*  6 [[tetrahedrite]] ore (for [[silver]] potential)

:*  3 [[cassiterite]] (tin) ore (for [[bronze]])

:* 2 [[bismuthinite]] ore (to make [[bismuth bronze]])

:* 3 [[galena]] ore (for silver potential)

:* 2 [[sphalerite]] ore (for zinc, to make brass)

:* 3 cheap leather (to be made into bags)

:* 1 cheap leather bag (for immediate use)

* Animals:

:* 4 dogs (outdoor dwarf will train)

:* 2 cats (for breeding, to produce leather, bones, meat)

The 3 alcohols (A, B and C) are non-wine ''(you'll brew more of that yourself, as your 11 Plump Helmets will make 55 wine)'', the final mix based on any dwarves' [[preference]]s for alcohol.  If you wish to change the mix, that's fine - 49 total, 13 barrels (including wine), in lots of 1, 6, 11, 16, or 21 each.

It's possible that "too many" cheap food/fish may be available and you will not be able to afford them all - you're looking for ''at least'' 30 food, 35-40 is better, and any more are for the cheap barrels.

On a low-wood map, a few more wood and less ore.  If one or more ores are unavailable, buy more food, wood or other ores.   

 

Later, smelt the tetrahedrite and galena into bars - odds are very good that you'll get at least two bars of silver for [[Weapon#Material_damage_modifiers|lowest-damage]] practice weapons, plus the copper (for quick chains) & lead (for grates).  The silver weapons will be made by '''non'''-weaponsmiths for lowest quality - you don't want high quality, that's dangerous! Forbid or stash the unusual ores (and shells) for later moods & mandates.

===A Generalist Build===

This build sacrifices an anvil for highly skilled dwarves and plenty of other equipment.  With 4 free "slots" to buy to max proficiency, this can form the backbone of a build for nearly any playing style.

 

 

:This guy will be your mining foreman while establishing a fortress, and will reach legendary soon enough to not waste too much ore, gems, etc.  5 points into Stone Crafter may seem like a waste given how common the material is, but a Proficient Stone Crafter will create items over 3 times as valuable, on average, as a no-skill one.  On more difficult maps, tripling the stuff you get from the first caravan may be the difference between starvation and glory.  If you're trying to get a metal industry up fast, quality crafts will make trading for an anvil much easier.

:This guy will be your trader and most likely Expedition Leader.  It's not really necessary to buy any managerial skills (Organizer or Record Keeper) as those are very easy to train.  A good mix would be [[Intimidator]] 5, Appraiser 2, Judge of Intent 1, and 2 points to other social skills, such as Negotiator and Persuader.  It may also be helpful to activate his Wood Cutter labor, as that will cause him to carry a battleaxe everywhere, including to the trade depot.  Proficient Intimidation combined with a large, shiny axe ''may'' help convince penny-pinching merchants to give him better deals.

 

:Even if you'll be on a heavily forested map, starting with wood will save time, as unskilled wood cutting is rather slow, and skipping early cutting allows all 7 dwarves to dig.  At only 3 units per log, why not put your leftover points here?  If your embark site has no trees, buy as much wood as you can afford.

*1-2 cages

:Be very careful if you embark with 2 cats!  If you do, you may want to construct a cage and cage one of the cats ''immediately'', to avoid a [[catsplosion]].  That way, if the other cat meets with misfortune, you still have a spare.

 

 

 

Since mining is not a full-time job, allowing one of your miners to either make glass, stone crafts or cut gems is a good way to stop them from slacking off.

 

Again, your miner isn't always busy, so let them handle the furnace and make some nice metal stuff.

 

Dwarf 3: Competent Wood Cutter / Herbalist / Competent Axedwarf / (Ambusher / Thresher / Cook)

Your woodcutter should collect outside plants, to allow saplings to grow. Axedwarf means thieves and wild animals can be dealt with. Ambusher is useful for supplying you with meat and leather, while Thresher and Cook allow for a variety of crops to be used.

 

 

A mason should be busy making furniture, but mechanisms are always important, especially before you have a military. Stone Crafter or Gem Cutter are filler, but don't use them if you have them on a miner.

 

Carpenting, wood crafting and either crossbow-making or siege engineering go hand in hand. Make sure your dwarf has good siege engineering, quality is important and wood is limited.

 

High-quality weapons and armor are always a boon to a fortress, but hard to train efficiently. If you aren't going to be forging for a while, make him your broker or bookkeeper.

 

 

Embarking on a predictably dangerous area and you ancticipate needing a more serious military presence from the get-go?  This build condenses critical skills as much as possible, leaving 3 dwarves ready for full-time duty as needed.

 

 

Dwarves receive 5 points to each of their skills, unless otherwise noted.

:This guy digs holes, makes rocks, and turns the rocks into useful things.  Very dwarfy.

:Leatherworker is vital in the early game, as your dwarves will be dependent on leather armor for quite awhile.  Later on, he can make and sell leather crafts.  For broker skills, 1 point into Judge of Intent and 2 each to Appraisal and Intimidator should be fine.

:Early on, put him to work as a wood cutter, miner, or hauler.  He'll be worth his weight in adamantine once you acquire an anvil and metal.  You could also use him as an unskilled mechanic initially, to help reinforce your fort's defenses.

:Other than weapon skills, Shield User and Armor User are very important, and relatively slow to train.  Wrestler can be trained fairly easily by sparring, but is very important in combat.  One Weapon skill should be maxed, with the rest of the points going into a mixture of Shield User, Armor User, and Wrestler, depending on your priorities.

 

:This should usually include at least one axe, so that you can chop wood.

:All dogs, trained or not, will lay down their lives to protect their dwarven friends, without hesitation.  War dogs can inflict some very respectable damage, to boot.  With only 3 soldiers, you'll likely be relying on dogs to do much of your early fighting.

 

 

 

 

 

If you wish more than "1" of something - perhaps 11 turtle, for instance, for the [[shell]]s (and ''two'' barrels!), then change the number after "ITEM:" to that value.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

''Add the next directly with the above to include all 4 dwarfbuck meats...''{{verify}}<br />

 

<!-- Grimelings leave no meat-->

[ITEM:1:MEAT:NONE:MOLE_DOG_NAKED:NONE]<br />

[ITEM:1:MEAT:NONE:RAT_LARGE:NONE]<br />

[ITEM:1:MEAT:NONE:RAT_GIANT:NONE]<br />

<!-- Satyrs are not-butcherable, no meat-->

[ITEM:1:FISH:NONE:LOBSTER_CAVE:NONE]<br><br />

==Challenge Builds==

If you feel you've got DF mastererd ([[fun|heh]]) and really want a challenge, then consider a [[challenges|challenge build]].

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{{Category|Fortress defense| }}

{{Category|World}}

{{Category|Design}}