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Author Topic: What is the bad part of vampires?  (Read 6841 times)

Dragonchampion

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What is the bad part of vampires?
« on: March 19, 2012, 07:23:02 am »

Pretty much the title, from what I read they are super strong, super fast, immortal, and don't eat, drink, or sleep. Is there any downside to this besides some dwarves becoming cattle to feed the vamps?
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jaxy15

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Re: What is the bad part of vampires?
« Reply #1 on: March 19, 2012, 07:29:23 am »

You'll see when a vampire kills your legendary weaponsmith.
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Dwarf Fortress: Threats of metabolism.

Dragonchampion

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Re: What is the bad part of vampires?
« Reply #2 on: March 19, 2012, 07:30:38 am »

I plan on making all my vampires legendary. A Master Race, if you will. Will they feed on other vampires?
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Broseph Stalin

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Re: What is the bad part of vampires?
« Reply #3 on: March 19, 2012, 07:44:26 am »

They don't feed on each other. The problem with vampires is that they are HYPOTHETICALLY faster than dwarves, in reality since they don't drink they quickly go into withdrawal and become much slower than any of your remaining dwarves.

robertheinrich

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Re: What is the bad part of vampires?
« Reply #4 on: March 19, 2012, 08:03:00 am »

^ This. I had great plans for my vampire(s). But after a while they become so slow during work that they are almost useless in practice. And if they are not already highly skilled in a job it will take ages to train them to legendary. They do make great bookkeepers though since they spend most of the day in the office.
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BigD145

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Re: What is the bad part of vampires?
« Reply #5 on: March 19, 2012, 10:16:04 am »

They do make great bookkeepers though since they spend most of the day in the office.

They make great bookkeepers and lever pullers when you seal them up in a glass 3x3 coffin at the bottom of an artificial lake.
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Michaelsoftman

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Re: What is the bad part of vampires?
« Reply #6 on: March 19, 2012, 10:18:36 am »

Vamps are great failsafe devices.

Wall them in somewhere, if the rest of your fort dies horribly, the vamp will always be there and you can just wait for migrants to show up.

I left my vamp in a room to update stockpile records, and I have another in a room swimming around in some water.  I want a legendary swimmer.
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ASCIt

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Re: What is the bad part of vampires?
« Reply #7 on: March 19, 2012, 10:21:57 am »

^ This. I had great plans for my vampire(s). But after a while they become so slow during work that they are almost useless in practice. And if they are not already highly skilled in a job it will take ages to train them to legendary. They do make great bookkeepers though since they spend most of the day in the office.

Vampire Cubicles! The mental image sort of reminds me of dinosaur office.
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Mungrul

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Re: What is the bad part of vampires?
« Reply #8 on: March 19, 2012, 10:48:53 am »

Did I read somewhere that they don't gain attributes too? You know, like "He is basically unbreakable". That would put the kibosh on even danger room trained military vampires.
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GhostDwemer

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Re: What is the bad part of vampires?
« Reply #9 on: March 19, 2012, 10:56:37 am »

The slowdown due to alcohol withdrawal is severe and unavaoidable, meaning a vamp that's been in your fort three years will not perform any labors quickly at all. People who think vampires are great just haven't kept one around very long.  They can't even perform bookkeeping or management functions.
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AranC23

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Re: What is the bad part of vampires?
« Reply #10 on: March 19, 2012, 10:57:46 am »

They do make great bookkeepers though since they spend most of the day in the office.

They make great bookkeepers and lever pullers when you seal them up in a glass 3x3 coffin at the bottom of an artificial lake.

But then they start spamming cancelled job messages because they can't go collect some socks they claimed across the map.
Or they get elected mayor and issue mandates and require gold toilet seats and have to be melted down.
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Hotaru

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Re: What is the bad part of vampires?
« Reply #11 on: March 19, 2012, 11:32:50 am »

EDIT: disregard, had outdated info.

However, a hotfix to the vampires getting thirsty problem is in thread

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=101251.75 see last page.

It's also been added to the bug tracker.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2012, 11:37:43 am by Hotaru »
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BigD145

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Re: What is the bad part of vampires?
« Reply #12 on: March 19, 2012, 12:51:53 pm »

They do make great bookkeepers though since they spend most of the day in the office.

They make great bookkeepers and lever pullers when you seal them up in a glass 3x3 coffin at the bottom of an artificial lake.

But then they start spamming cancelled job messages because they can't go collect some socks they claimed across the map.
Or they get elected mayor and issue mandates and require gold toilet seats and have to be melted down.

If you mod out clothing and just reassign mayor, it's not a problem.
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Loud Whispers

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Re: What is the bad part of vampires?
« Reply #13 on: March 19, 2012, 01:10:32 pm »

Did I read somewhere that they don't gain attributes too? You know, like "He is basically unbreakable". That would put the kibosh on even danger room trained military vampires.

Yes. A great Dwarf soldier far outmatches a vampire.

Owlbread

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Re: What is the bad part of vampires?
« Reply #14 on: March 19, 2012, 01:47:04 pm »

Isn't it a bit odd that there is no negative effect on vampires if they don't drink blood? I reckon they should eventually go berserk and weaken until their attributes are as low as they can be. They gradually become more animalistic, thin and drawn. As soon as they feed, they will recover gradually. As much as I love the idea of vampires being kept inside sealed rooms and being used to pull levers, I think on the whole vampires should be nerfed a bit. Why would a vampire, as powerful and ancient and wise as they are, willingly live in a tiny room full of levers and no blood to drink? It just doesn't make any sense.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2012, 01:48:39 pm by Owlbread »
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