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[Mimodo]

At long last, I have managed to manoeuvre around all the caverns and for the first time I have struck the magma sea, and a bunch of adamantine... YAY!!!

Now, before I do anything hasty and lose this extremely valuable resource, I just want to know how I should go about tackling this magma sea to safely retrieve all of the adamantine. Also, once I have retrieved all of this stuff, what is the process of turning it into useful stuff (armour). I recently decided to assign all my war animals to one legendary axeman and fighter (accidentally), so I decided he can become my "hero". I literally just gave him some steel armour (with what little steel was available without flux stone), and his own squad to look after (he seems to like leadership). I wanted to outfit him with the adamantine armour, but of course, being the most valuable material in the game, I want it of the highest quality. I understand that it takes a little more than the normal metals to process adamantine, so what skills will I need to have well trained dwarves in? I have a legendary armoursmith, so he will do the final smithing of it, but is there anything to ensure quality before that?

Ok, so I just went on a rant there -.- anyway, basically, safest way to navigate the magma sea and obtain all adamantine, and what I need to obtain the highest quality adamantine products at the end...


And if you feel like explaining, how can I utilise the magma sea to finally get myself some magma furnaces and save on all that lignite smelting

Thanks guys

[DTF]

I wanted to outfit him with the adamantine armour, but of course, being the most valuable material in the game, I want it of the highest quality. I understand that it takes a little more than the normal metals to process adamantine, so what skills will I need to have well trained dwarves in? I have a legendary armoursmith, so he will do the final smithing of it, but is there anything to ensure quality before that?

You have a legendary armorsmith: you are all set. Neither the strand extraction (raw ad. -> ad. strands) nor the smelting (strands -> wafers) will influence the quality of your armor pieces.

http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2012:Armor#Headgear
The material size column tells you how many wafers you'll need.

Ok, so I just went on a rant there -.- anyway, basically, safest way to navigate the magma sea and obtain all adamantine, and what I need to obtain the highest quality adamantine products at the end...

Obtaining ALL adamantine will result in huge amounts of Fun. Trying to access circus-safe adamantine embedded in the magma sea will result in less Fun, though I can't think of a way to do it right now... other than draining the magma like a madman (and even that might only work for the first z-level of the sea or not at all). If you do not know what I mean by Fun and circus...eh, you'll soon enough.

And if you feel like explaining, how can I utilise the magma sea to finally get myself some magma furnaces and save on all that lignite smelting

A magma workshop needs at least 4/7 of magma below one of its tiles, think of it as a well that needs to be constructed over at least 4/7 of water to work.
Amongst the safest ways to obtain magma is to channel into the sea from a z-level above and pump it into a sort of canal that will power your workshops. If you plug up the hole (where you channeled into the magma sea) with a floor grate or bars, nothing can enter from the sea yet the pump will still work.
There are many more safe and easy ways to make magma accessible, I bet other people will tell you their most favorite.
If you do not feel like working all the way at the bottom of the map, you can move magma up z-levels with either a pump stack, a magma piston or with minecarts.

[Mimodo]

Thanks so, legendary armour smith and I'm set, no worries...

I know the term fun (and have experienced it once or twice - never with magma), although I'm not sure what you mean about circus... Is it related to HFS??? If so I don't think I'm ready for that :p

My main problem I believe will be traversing the lava lake safely to get to the adamantine. I penetrated into the sea from above, so if I construct an up staircase on the level below, can I begin making floors to get across to it?

Also, would you recommend creating a way to completely block off the magma sea? It's currently all connected by a single block staircase, but is there a chance of scary things coming to get me and cause even more fun?

Lastly, I think pushing the magma up to higher levels would be the most efficient, due to my entire crafting industry being 3 levels below the surface... I'll look into pump stacks and getting the power for them.

Thanks for the helP

[miauw62]

You may want to use spoiler tags, i heard they are great to get the stuff!

[DTF]

My main problem I believe will be traversing the lava lake safely to get to the adamantine. I penetrated into the sea from above, so if I construct an up staircase on the level below, can I begin making floors to get across to it?

The ad. spires might be higher than you'd think (and easier accessible), try digging around above the magma sea first.
If the level above the magma is 'open space', sure you can build floors there.

Also, would you recommend creating a way to completely block off the magma sea?

Thats like asking "Should I wall off the caverns or should I lay out a red carpet for the occasional FB?".
Hence my note about the the floor grate by the pump.

[Garath]

candy strands are notorious for being used by doctors in surturing, try not to get injuries. Also, don't make it into clothes.

[MonkeyHead]

Channeling a 1 tile square down into the sea and building a smelter/forge so the inaccessible square is over the hole will give you 100% safe magma access for metal work.

[Saiko Kila]

I don't like adamantine, especially for weapons, because it is sometimes worse than steel or even copper. All weapons have "blunt" mode of attack, and adamantine is hopeless when used that way. During last siege a merchant dwarf killed a goblin with a shaft of his copper spear, impossible with adamantine.

However, I use it for clothing and for armour, so one thing to note: even Legendary+5 armorsmith makes low quality armour from time to time (lev 2-4, the highest is lev.5), and even thirsty and hungry one can make masterwork (lev.5), which means this is still random to a degree. So you can expect some (I say: most) of the wafers to be wasted, unless you are content with sub-masterwork quality. Remember to set the workshop's profile of your magma forge for Legendary as minimum. I'd suggest also using two craftsdwarf's workshops for metal extraction only, because it may take some time to extract in the beginning.

[misko27]

I don't like adamantine, especially for weapons, because it is sometimes worse than steel or even copper. All weapons have "blunt" mode of attack, and adamantine is hopeless when used that way. During last siege a merchant dwarf killed a goblin with a shaft of his copper spear, impossible with adamantine.

However, I use it for clothing and for armour, so one thing to note: even Legendary+5 armorsmith makes low quality armour from time to time (lev 2-4, the highest is lev.5), and even thirsty and hungry one can make masterwork (lev.5), which means this is still random to a degree. So you can expect some (I say: most) of the wafers to be wasted, unless you are content with sub-masterwork quality. Remember to set the workshop's profile of your magma forge for Legendary as minimum. I'd suggest also using two craftsdwarf's workshops for metal extraction only, because it may take some time to extract in the beginning.

Yes, but the particularities of candy make it great as fast armor. Also, silver is perfect as the opposite of candy in that respect that it is awesome in regards to smashing thing  . But yeah, when in doubt, steel, always steel. Actually, the difference between steel and silver hammers is slight, relationg to whether the opponent is wearing armor. The difference is silver is cheap. Also, tests between silver warhammers and candy sword showed them as equal.

Obtaining ALL adamantine will result in huge amounts of Fun. Trying to access circus-safe adamantine embedded in the magma sea will result in less Fun, though I can't think of a way to do it right now... other than draining the magma like a madman (and even that might only work for the first z-level of the sea or not at all).

Well, do what I did a while back, link it to a pool of water in the caverns, then drain it to get to the magma. Trust me, you get candy AND some free obsidian!

[Garath]

unless you mod a bit, adamantine clothing degrades just like regular clothing (or was it changed) and is thus not the best investment

[Sutremaine]

All weapons have "blunt" mode of attack

Picks don't.

[Mimodo]

I realise the armoursmith work is random, even at legendary, but am I right in assuming that the minimum standard does increase slightly, and the chance masterwork increases dramatically?

Since I'm here, short of steel and adamantine, what is the best metal to use for my military? I'm in an area without flux stones, so I've only been able to salvage enough steel to make one suit of armour and weapon for my awesome dwarf. Everyone else is in iron armour and weapons

[Corai]

I realise the armoursmith work is random, even at legendary, but am I right in assuming that the minimum standard does increase slightly, and the chance masterwork increases dramatically?

Since I'm here, short of steel and adamantine, what is the best metal to use for my military? I'm in an area without flux stones, so I've only been able to salvage enough steel to make one suit of armour and weapon for my awesome dwarf. Everyone else is in iron armour and weapons

Import marble for more steel.

[Mimodo]

If only they bought more than 3 or 4 each time. What are other flux stones I can request?

[Sutremaine]

The five flux stones are marble, limestone, calcite, dolomite, and chalk.