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[Wandering_Saint]

Hey, all. I think this question might be a little too specific for the general warlock discussion, and I'm genuinely curious; How do you begin your Warlock fortresses? Take us through the first few years.
Do you put more focus into building zombies and skeletons?
Do you order your minions to ravage the countryside, seeking more materials for your ghouls to eat?
Do you begin to start work on your dark, despair-filled tower made of Shale?

Let everyone know how evil begins!

[Arcvasti]

First thing I do is murder some wildlife and make an Ethereal Gate thingy. Then I build a small shelter of black ethereal over some stairs down. I often cram most of the workshops into the first soil layer and leave the stone layers for engraved Warlock rooms and Libraries. Then I start with Necromancy. Usually I build one Skeleton for each job I use a lot and then stop. I also like building a tall slender tower of black ethereal and using it as a barracks. Sometimes I put workshops I think are extra cool[Tome of Sator, Grand Convocation] at the very summit of the tower because that just feels good. Meanwhile, I train up some ghouls into a good military and usually extirpate the first siege thrown at me and use their scalps for my library. I often spend a lot of time and resources raiding for thematic porpoises too. Plus it gives me gems, which I'm normally too lazy to dig for.

[Mithril Leaf]

First things first, I dig myself a nice little hidey hole into the first couple soil layers. Then inside that, I build a Graveyard or two, which I then use to get the parts for enough for each of my warlocks. Searching for spare corpses levels up necromancy, which in turn improves the rate at which you can harvest free souls, which in turn allows you to increase the speed of your warlocks, which increases the speed of your soul harvesting. A few months in, one of my warlocks breaks off and starts working at an ethereal gate to summon blocks until I've got far more than I can use in the short term. Build a stone forge to process those into various things I need, have it manned by a skeleton. The many old corpses and souls I get allow me to easily build a horde of skeletons to take the first siege. After I've got a good defense force, I have some ghouls get to work on hunting and butchering everything on the map. Soon after I toss up an Ethereal Forge or two, so that I can arm my skeletons with bows and arrows in massive quantities and they can thereafter take out most threats with acceptable causalities. Once everything else is established, I start to level up the engraving of some skeletons and send them down to the stone levels to get to work on my warlock's rooms.

[Fairin]

Step one, determine my resources, if starting with just a pick or an axe its more FUN!, however i normally bring along 3 anvils some hour glasses, a pittance of stone and wood enough picks and axes for all of my skeletons, i aim to start with at least 2 ghouls, and at least 2 warlocks, and 2 weapon grade bars (bloodsteel/mithril/steel)

step two. forge weapons for the pair of ghouls (scourges) put them in a milita and begin training / slaughtering wildlife, while everyone else starts up the camp, butchery / tanner / soul syphon / forge / mason / crematorium / corrupted forge / carpenter / blood winery / etheral gate / stonecutter

step three, milita kills wildlife, execute prisoners in chamber for 2 more ghouls put them in milita, (dont meta game and make more because you -can- from two prisoners, cheater) set up a bloodsteel industry ON the surface , build a 1x1 wall, a ramp up and a floor to make a roof for a barracks outside, make 2 sets of leather clothing. make full suits of bloodsteel armor for your 4 milita, try not to have them chase wildlife everywhere all the time

step four make skeletons up to 10 before the first migrant wave make them all pick's (bloodsteel, there is a reason) melt your old picks if not bloodsteel. your goal by autumn is to have 4 ghouls and 5 skeletons (perferably bloodsteel skeletons), ghouls with scourges, skeles with pick's for the first siege / ambush with your warlocks safely tucked away in their bed chambers below the surface, it would be wise to set up a gated doorway to the inner fortress before hand because elves tend to RUSH your meeting hall for some reason.

step five, winter, After cleanup of the first local sacrifice of meat/scalps/souls/bones make a few Dreadnought weaponry for your minions, tap out your bone/ash supply making a bunch of ironbone. make a few anvils, move everything downstairs, res any skeletons that died, laugh at any ghouls that died.

step six spring, Graveyard summons ghouls for meat, its 1 in 20 tries so keep queing it. don't set it to repeat, i tend to keep my ghoul count low, up to you however, multiple graveyards speed this process up tremendously. make Extravagant royal palace rooms for all your warlocks, complete with their own dining rooms. tombs and whatnot, be sure to have a little dorm for the ghouls (each assigned their own bed not just a "dorm") start making some gems from rocks, and upgrading a skele to your master crafter, takes 50 souls and 150 cut gems to give it legendary weapon/armor/metal/blacksmithing/leatherworking/cooking/brewing/engraving/clothier/tanner by next year make another, top them off with dreadnought for grins. remake your milita gear (9 sets of masterwork bloodsteel!) or at the least their weapons, then play with magma if you like. get some to your magma corrupted forges to make it more effortless.

Step seven, once your groundwork is completed your miltia of 9~10 is training constantly do whatever you like, no siege is gonna break it, res the skeletons replace the ghouls ect. if your ghouls are having issues training becuase 2 are elite and 2 are raw recruits, put the elite in the 4 horsemen positions, and make 2 more recruits for a milita, consider making Death a scythe weilding Skeleton, at least ONE horsemen needs to be an archer, for annoying birds...

[Mithril Leaf]

Step one, determine my resources, if starting with just a pick or an axe its more FUN!, however i normally bring along 3 anvils some hour glasses, a pittance of stone and wood enough picks and axes for all of my skeletons, i aim to start with at least 2 ghouls, and at least 2 warlocks, and 2 weapon grade bars (bloodsteel/mithril/steel)

step two. forge weapons for the pair of ghouls (scourges) put them in a milita and begin training / slaughtering wildlife, while everyone else starts up the camp, butchery / tanner / soul syphon / forge / mason / crematorium / corrupted forge / carpenter / blood winery / etheral gate / stonecutter

step three, milita kills wildlife, execute prisoners in chamber for 2 more ghouls put them in milita, (dont meta game and make more because you -can- from two prisoners, cheater) set up a bloodsteel industry ON the surface , build a 1x1 wall, a ramp up and a floor to make a roof for a barracks outside, make 2 sets of leather clothing. make full suits of bloodsteel armor for your 4 milita, try not to have them chase wildlife everywhere all the time

step four make skeletons up to 10 before the first migrant wave make them all pick's (bloodsteel, there is a reason) melt your old picks if not bloodsteel. your goal by autumn is to have 4 ghouls and 5 skeletons (perferably bloodsteel skeletons), ghouls with scourges, skeles with pick's for the first siege / ambush with your warlocks safely tucked away in their bed chambers below the surface, it would be wise to set up a gated doorway to the inner fortress before hand because elves tend to RUSH your meeting hall for some reason.

step five, winter, After cleanup of the first local sacrifice of meat/scalps/souls/bones make a few Dreadnought weaponry for your minions, tap out your bone/ash supply making a bunch of ironbone. make a few anvils, move everything downstairs, res any skeletons that died, laugh at any ghouls that died.

step six spring, Graveyard summons ghouls for meat, its 1 in 20 tries so keep queing it. don't set it to repeat, i tend to keep my ghoul count low, up to you however, multiple graveyards speed this process up tremendously. make Extravagant royal palace rooms for all your warlocks, complete with their own dining rooms. tombs and whatnot, be sure to have a little dorm for the ghouls (each assigned their own bed not just a "dorm") start making some gems from rocks, and upgrading a skele to your master crafter, takes 50 souls and 150 cut gems to give it legendary weapon/armor/metal/blacksmithing/leatherworking/cooking/brewing/engraving/clothier/tanner by next year make another, top them off with dreadnought for grins. remake your milita gear (9 sets of masterwork bloodsteel!) or at the least their weapons, then play with magma if you like. get some to your magma corrupted forges to make it more effortless.

Step seven, once your groundwork is completed your miltia of 9~10 is training constantly do whatever you like, no siege is gonna break it, res the skeletons replace the ghouls ect. if your ghouls are having issues training becuase 2 are elite and 2 are raw recruits, put the elite in the 4 horsemen positions, and make 2 more recruits for a milita, consider making Death a scythe weilding Skeleton, at least ONE horsemen needs to be an archer, for annoying birds...

Why exactly bloodsteel and not dreadnought?

[Flare]

Dreadnought requires precious souls per bar, and might be too expensive depending on embark.

[Fairin]

Why exactly bloodsteel and not dreadnought?

flare got it >:}

Dreadnought requires precious souls per bar, and might be too expensive depending on embark.

you need 50 souls to make an ALL legendary crafter, 10 souls per dreadnought skeleton you can make more bloodsteel if your meats all chopped up (scourge/swords) 1 creature chopped up would make about 10 ironbone, 1~5 bloodsteel and 1 dreadnought.
i tend to want to make my first 5 skeletons into drednoughts, so thats 50 souls right there, its a pain to make dreadnought but eventually bloodsteel becomes my decorative metal (or mithril if i get a philosphers stone)

ohhh i forgot the most important thing, ditch masks, use mail hoods, prevents skeleton decap, might try with mail gaunts and boots one day keeping the same setup

Cloak (tough leather)
Mail Chest
Breastplate
Mail Hood
gaunts
greaves
boots
buckler
*weapon* (usually hooked sword for me i try not to use picks but it helps for the first siege)

Mail armor is a "cover" and apparently converts all damage to blunt damage, which of course has to break the bone of a skeleton, causes bruises to flesh and stuff. only circus clowns have ever killed my skeletons this way. "pushing" against their head.

[Flare]

I generally find it easier to use the inscription workshop if I need a master metalsmith. Some things like fishing and tailoring simply don't need high skill since most of the consumers are slave and you never trade.

[Fairin]

its all about the speed flare =), also masterwork tough leather clothing is pritty strong natural armor =) , having to clothe 80something members making 80 sets of clothing, don't need my crafter clogged up with it.

[Mithril Leaf]

Dreadnought requires precious souls per bar, and might be too expensive depending on embark.

I usually have tons of free souls due to putting my warlocks on repeat summoning free souls in the Graveyard when they aren't doing other stuff. Makes sense if you don't do that I guess.

[Flare]

I do that too. But I think when Fairin wrote that he might have taken the OP's condition of the steps of getting off the  ground in the beginning. As far as I've experienced, warlocks are no good at scavenging souls until they hit legendary and they speed up dramatically which is very hard to come by in the first year.

[megahelmet]

Warlock Power Gaming Setup

First, bring along all the dust bags needed to create an alchemist stone. Then I toss in 60 bags of tin dust and 60 marble, and 5 wood, 5 anthracite.

I do not bring any weapons, anvils, or anything made of metal.

Seeds: Strawberries and Fisher Berries (food, booze), Bloated Tubers (glue for books). Rope Reed (cloth).

I buy one of every fish, meat, plant and booze available for the free barrels.

A bunch of food, and bunch of booze. And after skills, the rest into more bags of tin dust.

Skills: One 5/5 in weaponsmith, armorsmith. Two farmers with 5. Military skills for any ghouls.

How to play it: You are going to hang out on the surface for a bit, make a mason's shop and make some blocks. Make a craftshop and make a mortar and pestle. Make an alchemist lab, make the stone. Make the transmutation chamber. Transmute all that worthless tin into mithril bars. Congratulations! You now have 60 bars of mithril to make anvils, picks, weapons, and armor from.

Burn a log. Make a charcoal. Use the charcoal to turn anthracite into coke. Build a smelter, make one anvil. Build a metalsmith. Make a pick an axe and two sets of mithril gear for your ghouls. Proceed to kick ass.

Note: You don't need to bring 60 marble with you. I often go with just 10. That's enough to get you to a pick and you can dig for more. This way, you can bring more tin dust and make more mithril bars. It all depends on just how fast you want your ghouls decked out.