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[Larix]

It's a bit of a weird question, but i wonder if others have any insights:

i've noticed that the "chain animal" job needed to tie up my goblin prisoners is only ever taken by very few dwarfs. If none of those are available/willing, the jobs can stay dormant for weeks, no matter how many idlers are present. In addition, only one chaining job will exist at a time. If ten goblins are assigned to chains, they'll still be moved one at a time (i.e. there's always at most one goblin in transit and the next job doesn't get lined up before the previous finishes).

The only common thing i've seen among the goblin handlers is that they all have the "animal training" labour active, and in fact seem to include _all_ animal trainers (i have only four in total), as demonstrated by looking at the "train animal" option in the z-animal screen, which only gives active trainers for "assign training by individual dwarf". Have others observed this as well, or is there some other skill/labour around that's a better fit? If no-one has animal training active, who chains the goblins? - or will they remain unchained?

Something similar seems to be going on with "cage large creature" jobs, but i haven't watched those in detail - i'm more attentive of goblin chaining, because i'm afraid one might get loose, so observe those jobs closely. The "one job at a time" rule does apply to caging jobs, but i don't know how picky they are concerning dwarfs.

Bring to pasture/throw into a pit work differently, those are proven non-labour jobs and multiple can be active simultaneously.

[vanatteveldt]

Who cains goblins?

I don't, I just throw them into magma. Much easier!

[Larix]

Exactly, that's why it's a weird question. Anyone actually got an answer?

[scionkirk]

If you plan properly, with pitting, you shouldn't have to if you want to drop water or lava on them.  But sometimes I do it, like if I'm going to make some obsidian, I'll chain a few goblins up in the room, just to add that extra sparkle to the obsidian.  But, no I haven't paid close enough attention to see if they do it one at a time tho.  Pitting I know will do all there are workers available to do.

[Garath]

I usually release them from a cage (with lever) into the target range or pasture them in the main barracks. No chains required

[Larix]

Okay, i'm moving this.
This was not an "o noes what shall i do" thread.

This was a call for research help, all this "don't chain" bullshit was 110% beside the point.

Has anyone actual answers, i.e. has anyone looked into what determines who performs "chain animal" and possibly "cage large creature" jobs? I'll be thankful for answers to that question, and will lock and discard the thread if unsolicited advice keeps coming.

Note to admin: argh, i messed up the "move" thing and can't seem to get it back out of ADMIN. Could someone please lock it? I only wanted it moved from "Game Questions" to "Wiki". Thanks.

[Swonnrr]

If no one answer this, i might do some science on this later when i have time this week. I am also interested by the answer.

[Quietust]

The answer is this: only dwarves with the "Animal Training" labor enabled will remove hostile creatures from cages (to either a chain or another cage); pitting them seems to not require any labor.

[Larix]

Thanks!

So my hunch was not too far off - animal training is the relevant skill. I had in the meantime worked out that caging _tame_ creatures can be done by anybody. Going by your info, the difference here is not cage vs. chain but rather tame vs. hostile/wild. Good to know. I'll see if i can fit this into the wiki if it's not already documented.