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[kuniqs]

Sparring sucks - not only your dwarves need decent fighter skill to even start, they don't even use their weapons! I've made some tests, embarking with lots of food and gear for everyone, so they will do nothing but train 'till the caravan arrives.
   Things that have no effect on skill gain:
      - Weapon type
      - Training weapons vs. real ones
      - Personal weapon preferences
      - Dwarf's physique/personality
      - Active/inactive mode
      - Squad's size

   Things that have noticeable affect:
      - How crowded the training room is
      - Dwarf's stamina

   One thing I've noticed during tests is that dwarves assigned all to 1-tile training room gained skills slower than those with large rooms or individually assigned to different armor stands. Those in crowded conditions gained at most Proficent level 'till the caravan, those in spacious conditions managed to go as far as Adept.
   Other thing - those that were slow to tire and more fared much better that those who were quick to tire. I guess they made less breaks. There was about 3 levels of difference between the extremes.

   So, do NOT set your training squads as active because they will keep teaching themselves dabbling levels of everything over and over again. Squads who spend their time on individual combat drills acquire, on average, 1 weapon/fighter/discipline level per season. You might want to make officers from high stamina dwarves, as they will develop skills faster. Once you have >Proficent Fighter soldiers you can set them to active so they will spar and train dodging/shield user.

[crossmr]

No...
my squads are all set active. They train with the weapon you've assigned them. If you are letting them pick their choice they might pick random weapons.

They also won't spar if they dont' have the same weapon.

so you should ideally have 3 man squads, set minimum 2 to train
assign them all the same weapon and let them go. They won't do anything at all like you've described.

[caknuck]

Training is slow, but does appear to be working.

Mine seem to spend most of their time organizing dodging demonstrations. (I always envision Urist McPatches throwing mechanisms at dorfs... "If you can dodge a mechanism, you can dodge a bolt!")

[kuniqs]

Mine dwarf always punch themselves no matter what weapon they have. Maybe it was fixed now?

[Codyo]

I believe it helps to have a combat veteran as the leader of your squad as well.

[greycat]

No...
my squads are all set active. They train with the weapon you've assigned them. If you are letting them pick their choice they might pick random weapons.

When you say "train with", do you mean they equip the weapon, or they spar with the weapon?  Because it's a known bug that they don't spar with their equipped weapons in 0.40.04 or 0.40.05.  (They sparred occasionally with their equipped weapons in 0.40.01 ~ 0.40.03.)

They also won't spar if they dont' have the same weapon.

I'm pretty sure I've had a dwarf holding a sword spar with a dwarf holding an axe, in the same squad.  But I'm not 100% sure.

[Maklak]

While Toady is at it, he could add a simple tweak to demonstrations: They shouldn't happen unless the teacher is at least Competent in that skill. This would save a lot of everyone's time from watching kicking demonstration by dabbling kickers and the like.

[crossmr]

No...
my squads are all set active. They train with the weapon you've assigned them. If you are letting them pick their choice they might pick random weapons.

When you say "train with", do you mean they equip the weapon, or they spar with the weapon?  Because it's a known bug that they don't spar with their equipped weapons in 0.40.04 or 0.40.05.  (They sparred occasionally with their equipped weapons in 0.40.01 ~ 0.40.03.)

They also won't spar if they dont' have the same weapon.

I'm pretty sure I've had a dwarf holding a sword spar with a dwarf holding an axe, in the same squad.  But I'm not 100% sure.

My dwarves sparred pretty frequently with their weapons. They have pretty high levels for their weapon skill (from 0). My 3 dwarf squad is level 7, 12, and 13 in sword.

bugs not withstanding, they'll train with what they've been equipped with.


The prevailing advice on setting up squads has always been as I describe as the most efficient way of getting them to train as well as spar and previously others had mentioned that they should have the same weapons (for a variety of reasons). Someone doing an axe demonstration if the others have swords is useless and sparring.

[Arcvasti]

I thought .40.04 and beyond had fixed the "Nope, we don't need no weapons" bug. Haven't played fort mode in the newest version yet, so can't confirm it.

As it is, I'm sort of wondering how Discipline skill is trained. Because it seems pretty critical. It SEEMS like military training ought to raise it, but I'm not sure that's the case.

[Agent_Irons]

I thought .40.04 and beyond had fixed the "Nope, we don't need no weapons" bug. Haven't played fort mode in the newest version yet, so can't confirm it.

As it is, I'm sort of wondering how Discipline skill is trained. Because it seems pretty critical. It SEEMS like military training ought to raise it, but I'm not sure that's the case.

They fight with weapons, but spar with fists. Discipline is trained by individual combat drills. Probably also some other things, but individual combat drills is effective.

[clinodev]

I'm curious, how are you measuring discipline skill levels? I can't seem to find it in DT, for instance.

[Telgin]

Probably just by looking up the skill level on the dwarf directly and comparing the skill's level description to the known levels to get its numerical level.  You can't look at the exact experience amount that way, but the actual skill level is visible at least.

[clinodev]

Ah, I'm embarrassed by my reliance on aftermarket tools once again. Thanks much, it's 'v', and make sure 'b' is toggled... er, actually, "Discipline" shows up whether 'b' is toggled or not, interesting.

[Larix]

they should have the same weapons (for a variety of reasons). Someone doing an axe demonstration if the others have swords is useless and sparring.

Has this changed? In .34.11, dwarfs with different weapons in the same squad worked perfectly fine, and usually _better_ than squads using the same weapon. That's because demonstrations would only trigger if there were students available who already had experience in a skill: an axedwarf would never give demonstrations to a swordsdwarf who had precisely zero axe skill (a single swing would be enough, but if the prospective student never touched an axe - no problem). I did some pretty extensive testing and never saw pointless cross-training when there were no shared skills; i had some good success with deliberately mixed-weapons squads.

[Nikita]

Ah, I'm embarrassed by my reliance on aftermarket tools once again. Thanks much, it's 'v', and make sure 'b' is toggled... er, actually, "Discipline" shows up whether 'b' is toggled or not, interesting.

Discipline is a combat skill, so v-c.