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[iFreshco]

Yes, I know the thread is titled strangely.

What you embark with can really determine quality of life up to the first 2 or 3 migrant waves.  I typically go with 2 miners, a woodcutter/carpenter, 2 mason/engraves with one having a point in mechanics, a grower/brewer, and a specialized leader, meaning I specifically gave him leader stats like judge, appraise, record keeper, etc. 

My question is this:  Is having a specialized leader that important for the first year or so, or would I be better off getting a food gatherer, a cook, another farmer etc who just has a point in a leader skill?  I have never successfully traded with a caravan and dont see what I stand to gain from it other than possibly weapons if I don't have a forge going, and I always settle in good forests with flux and soil.

[jc6036]

I generally give my leader mining and a bunch of social skills, and give him a bunch of noble positions. When he hits legendary in mining, I give him the title of supreme overlord.. Its good to have one dwarf to do book keeping and stuff right off the bat, but it all depends on what skills you give him. He could be either the most useful or least useful dwarf in the fort.

[Shmo]

I've never had any non-genocide-related happiness issues and I spend exactly 0 points on skills at embark, so it's really up to you.

For my manager/bookkeeper I appoint the first useless migrant to show his face and even at max precision there are no delay issues. Same with the trader - just make sure to do lots of small trades
and he'll rank up real quick. I think embark points are more useful spent on extra food, drink and animals - or a fully-equipped soldier (this one does get some skills) if embarking somewhere unsettling.

[thatkid]

I've found having someone as an appraiser out of the box is incredibly useful for trading.

Otherwise, that and diagnosis are really the only two non-production skills that I've found necessary. You can train up book-keeping fairly easily, and unless there are specific problems where you need to keep track of valuable resources early on it isn't even necessary to have a book-keeper until three or four years in. Or so I've found.

Generally I go with a Miner/Mason, Miner/Mechanic/Mason, Woodcutter/Carpenter, Grower/Brewer, Stonecraft5/Appraisal1/The Doctor Skills, Dodge/Teacher, Weaponsmith/Armorsmith

[orrey]

According to the wiki, the actual 'leader' skill is used for military.  Lately I've been embarking with Miner, Miner, Mason, Grower, Carpenter, Military skills/Leader/Teacher, and Doctor (I like to keep dwarves pretty specialized).  It seems to work out, as setting up a teacher/leader as militia commander can have new recruits at multiple Legendary skills in 2-3 years without using a danger room.  Doctor is nice just because medical skills are harder to train up early on. The others are pretty stock choices; embark supplies will usually sustain you until the first wave of migrants comes, who get recruited into being a stonecrafter/brewer/cook.

[Mushroo]

"Quality of life" is a non-issue for the first few seasons. Your dwarves can sleep on the ground and eat plump helmets for the first several months, they will not tantrum. I don't worry about nonsense like beds, dining rooms, bookkeeper, etc. until after the first caravan. All efforts up to that point are spent on crafting/production so that I can buy out the entire caravan. Appraiser is a waste of embark points because it is instantly trained up at the first caravan trade.

They are starting to get a little grumpy by the start of winter, but a statue, legendary dining room, and soapy bath takes care of that no problem. The social skills train up very quickly once they start congregating in the dining hall.

[Dutchling]

Expedition leader his skills? Mine is just a random dwarf from my starting seven. It's not like he does anything special (does he?)

[thegoatgod_pan]

I don't spend any points on social skills, those happen naturally, and I dont develop manager or bookkeeper, since both skills train very quickly upon being forced to update stockpile records and manage brew 30 orders.

[sambojin]

It depends on what version you are playing. In some versions of DF the dwaves liason turns up to talk to the expedition leader about a trade agreement (which lets you order more or less of any goods in the next caravan). Sometimes he decides to meet you in the oddest places. Like over the other side of a mountain, right beside the skeletal horse pack. This means that its handy to have a military dwarf as you expedition leader, just so he'll make the agreement more easily.

Note that your broker doesn't have to be your leader. In fact it's a lot better if he isn't. Brokers trade. Expedition leaders make trade agreements, console dwarves and look tough while mining through piles of rock. Those are two entirely different jobs done by two very different dwarves.

[jc6036]

Just now have I felt the pain of not having a consoler when my entire military was unhappy due to not having anybody to cry on. I guess somebody developed the skill eventually, though, because I hardly ever see that thought.