Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[madmenyo]

Previously i havent bothered to much with the skills and items you get on embark apart from adding a hunter instead of a fisher or adding some seeds. I recently started wondering what would be good to start off with, especially skills and especially those for noble jobs as it is too random to get them in migrant waves, and if you find a good manager he is usually a vampire .

What i currently have is 1 full miner that has his other 5 skill points invested in brokering, i'll just have to turn off digging and he will trade with the caravan.
Novice negotiator,
Adequate judge of intent,
Adequate Appraiser,
Proficient miner.

I could lower his miner skill and add to his broker skills since mining will level up pretty fast, just starting to dig out the first couple of rooms will take some more time.


Then i have my other miner being just novice at it have the rest of the points to be a good leader (i know the leader skill is for millitary purpose only), but also do the managing and book keeping eventually turning mining off. Now i think of it, i usally end up with a crap load of farmers and fishers and i could just as well appoint my initial one for these tasks.
Novice Miner/fisher/farmer
Adequate Record keeper
Adequate Organizer
Adequate Consoler
Adequate Pacifier
Novice appraiser

Would this be a good setup for my nobles or are initial skills far more superior?

And what about military? Should i give my woodcutter some leader and teacher skill points?

What embark setups are you guys usually using?

[Mushroo]

I used to just use the Play Now option, because I had it memorized.

Lately however, I've been embarking with 0 points in all skills, and tons of raw materials. Rather than waste the first year digging, farming, chopping wood, etc., I put my guys to work right away cooking seeds, weaving cave silk threads, making crafts, etc. and they skill up from dabbling pretty quickly, in time to sell some stuff to the 1st autumn's caravan. Only once the migrants start to show do I worry about digging tunnels, making beds/tables/chairs/barrels, raising a military, appointing nobles, etc.

An interesting thing I've noticed about the new release is that migrants seem heavily skewed toward skills you don't have. Therefore an argument can be made that, rather than embark with an Adequate Weaponsmith, for example, to embark with no smiths at all, increasing the odds that a High Master or better Weaponsmith will arrive by migration. Just a theory I am testing out...

[Garath]

I usually like to bring an armorer, weaponssmith and a farmer, the rest is optional.

[robertheinrich]

Yeah, the only really important skills are weaponsmith and armorer. Because you are going to waste metal ore to skill them up otherwise. Everything else can be skilled without much loss, so no real need to bother with that pre-embark.

[nightwhips]

Well, on this last fort, I was on evil, so I launched with a hardcore miner, a decent mason and a decent woodchopper, and four military dwarves, in order to throw up walls and have defense immediately.

However, every dwarf I've gotten with medical skills so far has been a vamp. I'd put a few points at least in Diagnosis for a dwarf I intend to be the chief medical dwarf.

The conventional wisdom around here is that you don't need Appraiser any more. The moment your designated broker hits the depot, they will gain a skill point, and you'll be able to see the values of everything. I've never added points to things like negotiator or judge of intent. I have added points to teacher for some of my military dwarves with the idea they'll get the rookies going, but the zombie-> tantrum spiral I had in the first two years cost me all my original seven, so that didn't pan out at all.

Also, don't make your woodcutter a miltary dwarf - there're still issues with uniform switching and axes for miners, hunters and cutters, as I understand it.

[robertheinrich]

The conventional wisdom around here is that you don't need Appraiser any more. The moment your designated broker hits the depot, they will gain a skill point, and you'll be able to see the values of everything.

Yeah, and I find that a bit disappoing, actually. My broker went from zero to proficient with the very first caravan. Which is a bit unrealistic, isnīt it?

[Mushroo]

The only reason to embark with Appraiser (in my opinion) is that it can be very helpful for new players to know/understand how much the various goods cost. "Rock mugs are worth X and serrated steel disks are worth Y; I'm going to make serrated steel disks!"

More experienced players likely have a handle on which industries are profitable and can survive without an appraiser until the caravans arrive.

[madmenyo]

However, every dwarf I've gotten with medical skills so far has been a vamp.

They excel in blood transfusion, but you knew that right?

Anyway, real good tips here, so noble tasks are not that important? I never brought a weapon/armor smith, most of the time i have been lucky enough to get one before i pierce the magma. And i usually embark on sites with 5K+ iron ore/fuel. How much better are weapons made by a good craftsdwarf, damage wise?

I might go without any miners this time and just appoint 2 useless migrants once the first wave arrives.

[Mushroo]

There are a few tricks to getting legendary armor/weaponsmiths.

My personal favorite is to train several dwarfs up to Novice as their only moodable skill. Then they will get the strange mood and become legendary without wasting the ore to train them up.

Also I believe that if your novice weaponsmith is also a legendary miller or something, this will skew the migration odds toward giving you more weaponsmiths.

[Flying Dice]

I typically do this:

1x Carpenter/woodcutter/architect
2x Mason/Mechanic/Architects
1x Mason/Stonecrafter
1x Farmer/Cook/Brewer/Butcher
1x Doctor/Trader (who also works as a hauler)
1x Metalsmith.


Don't waste points giving them mining levels. Just take howevermany picks and assign the labor after embarking, and mining will still be the first to legendary by far for most of them.

[Mushroo]

Soil/loam/sand/clay layers are a quick way to train up Miners. As a side bonus they will be  your future tree farms/pastures when you breach the caverns.

I don't stress about the Starting 7 because no matter how awesome I make them, they will only be 7% of thee fortress population at 100 dwarfs, or 3.5% at population 200 (if they even survive that long).

[Loud Whispers]

Dwarf 1
Proficient Miner

Dwarf 2
Proficient Miner

Dwarf 3
Proficient Grower
Proficient Herbalist

Dwarf 4
Proficient Grower
Proficient Herbalist

Dwarf 5
Proficient HammerDwarf
Proficient Teacher

Dwarf 6
Proficient HammerDwarf
Proficient Shield user

Dwarf 7
Proficient HammerDwarf
Proficient Dodger

[GhostDwemer]

Tatter's Ragtime Band (slightly modified) has always served me well

1. Expedition Leader: Appraiser, Judge of Intent, Negotiator, Organizer and Record Keeper
2. Mason/Architect
3. Carpenter/Chief Medical Dwarf (1 point in all five medical skills)
4. Grower/Gem cutter
5. Brewer/Leatherworker
6. Cook/Armorer
7. Mechanic/Weaponsmith

[knutor]

I went back to using an Anvil with 34.05. No more giant female hunting bat, til Dungeon Master is fixed, I guess.  Wah!

Code: [Select]

[PROFILE]
[TITLE:KNUTOR]
[SKILL:1:MINING:5]
[SKILL:2:MINING:5]
[SKILL:3:CROSSBOW:1]
[SKILL:3:SNEAK:1]
[SKILL:3:SITUATIONAL_AWARENESS:2]
[SKILL:3:RANGED_COMBAT:1]
[SKILL:7:DESIGNBUILDING:1]
[ITEM:2:WEAPON:ITEM_WEAPON_PICK:INORGANIC:COPPER]
[ITEM:1:WEAPON:ITEM_WEAPON_AXE_BATTLE:INORGANIC:COPPER]
[ITEM:1:ANVIL:NONE:INORGANIC:STEEL]
[ITEM:20:DRINK:NONE:PLANT_MAT:MUSHROOM_HELMET_PLUMP:DRINK]
[ITEM:40:DRINK:NONE:PLANT_MAT:GRASS_TAIL_PIG:DRINK]
[ITEM:10:SEEDS:NONE:PLANT_MAT:MUSHROOM_HELMET_PLUMP:SEED]
[ITEM:5:SEEDS:NONE:PLANT_MAT:GRASS_TAIL_PIG:SEED]
[ITEM:10:SEEDS:NONE:PLANT_MAT:GRASS_WHEAT_CAVE:SEED]
[ITEM:5:SEEDS:NONE:PLANT_MAT:POD_SWEET:SEED]
[ITEM:10:SEEDS:NONE:PLANT_MAT:BUSH_QUARRY:SEED]
[ITEM:5:SEEDS:NONE:PLANT_MAT:MUSHROOM_CUP_DIMPLE:SEED]
[ITEM:15:PLANT:NONE:PLANT_MAT:MUSHROOM_HELMET_PLUMP:STRUCTURAL]
[ITEM:5:THREAD:NONE:PLANT_MAT:GRASS_TAIL_PIG:THREAD]
[ITEM:5:CLOTH:NONE:PLANT_MAT:GRASS_TAIL_PIG:THREAD]
[ITEM:5:BOX:NONE:PLANT_MAT:GRASS_TAIL_PIG:THREAD]
[ITEM:5:CHAIN:NONE:PLANT_MAT:GRASS_TAIL_PIG:THREAD]
[ITEM:3:QUIVER:NONE:CREATURE_MAT:DOG:LEATHER]
[PET:2:DOG:FEMALE:STANDARD]
[PET:1:DOG:FEMALE:CHILD]
[PET:1:DOG:MALE:STANDARD]
[PET:2:CAT:FEMALE:STANDARD]
[PET:1:CAT:FEMALE:CHILD]
[PET:1:CAT:MALE:STANDARD]
[PET:2:BIRD_CHICKEN:FEMALE:STANDARD]
[PET:1:BIRD_CHICKEN:FEMALE:CHILD]
[PET:1:BIRD_CHICKEN:MALE:STANDARD]
I give Hunter, butcher and woodhauling.  And make the Builder dwarf my leader, so he stands idle a bunch, until needed, raising his socials.  Unless he's a follower at heart.  The highest agil of the remaining 3 gets the Axe to cut wood, but he doesn't haul it.  The last two are jack of all trades, blanket coverage, builder-haulers, they don't haul wood either.  Only the hunters haul wood.  They're journey to recover wood is done, half the time stealth.   

[slink]

Until today I've been going with seven unskilled Dwarves, seven picks, two battles axes, a rope, an anvil, five turkeys, two cats, two dogs, nine seeds each of quarry bush, sweet pod, cave wheat, and pig tail, 30 seeds of plump helmet, 40 barrels of each drink, and the rest in 2-Dwarfbuck meats.  This seems to be a reasonably successful setup.  I can get food and water supplies set up before winter arrives, and the forge area set up within the first year.

Today I began taking three pigs, with fewer drinks, meat, and plump helmet seeds to cover their cost.  Pigs don't need grazing and can be milked as well as eaten, which will give my fortress cheese as well as eggs.  I haven't gotten this setup really tested yet.  My first test offered no anvil for sale at embark time, and the merchant made a fuss over my broker's "childish games" when I tried to find out what he would take for an anvil when the caravan came, so I had to rob him to get what we needed.  That's not a fair test of the setup, with all the extra supplies.