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[VerdantSF]

I just embarked next to a volcano.  I'm not very familiar with them, so I'm reading through the wiki on magma workshops and such, but any advice on things to watch out for/avoid would be appreciated .  For instance, do I have to worry about fire creatures from the very start, or are they limited to the actual magma sea?

[jaxy15]

I've seen magma crabs appear in volcanos.
They don't appear often.

[Gyvon]

I've seen magma crabs appear in volcanos.
They don't appear often.

Even if they do, they're not dangerous unless you have access to the caldera itself.

Volcano embarks can be difficult.  The convenience of magma smelters and forges is that iron isn't common, and flux is even less common.  However, if you're lucky, there will be veins of hematite and deposits of marble.  If you're really[/i] lucky, you might get a "sedimentary volcano" and have tons of flux and all three flavors of iron.

[UristMcHuman]

Even if you embark on a volcano and dig for a few minutes, you'll find some sort of smelt-able metal ore, like tetrahedrite or galena. Volcanoes are also known to have obsidian nearby, and that can be used in place of metal until you find some. If you don't have flux, then you'll have to deal with what you find.

[Shook]

I've yet to experience any magma crab surfacing, so i wouldn't consider it a huge threat. The main threat is the magma itself, so as long as you manage to avoid flooding your fort with it (which is an awesome way to have Fun), you should be good. Also, mix with water for obsidian. Good luck doing that, though.

Also, what Gyvon said. Iron isn't omnipresent, flux is rather uncommon, and coal is damn near impossible to find on the same biome. If you find a volcano bordering up to other biomes, however, things might be different. It could give you access to VAST QUANTITIES OF STEEL!

[celem]

There might be marble right at the bottom.  Always worth taking a look.  Its usually best hope for volcano flux

Goood gems and metals, might get hematite. For a best shot at iron/coal take as big an embark as you can handle with the volcano at one end.  Preferably into a forested/swampy biome or something, you want out of that rock....I have a lot of success with 3x5

Im on volcanos more often than not.  Never had a crab at caldera level or in my forges.  I use fortifications even though I know its bugged.  Just never happened.

[VerdantSF]

Ah, good info, thanks all.  Now how are fortifications bugged?
Just read the bit about flow sometimes pushing non-vermin creatures through forts.

[CriticallyAshamed]

I see magma crabs in most volcanos. They're usually not a hassle although my latest embark is a flatcano so I'll probably end up irritating the damn thing while pottering about at the top. Can anyone give me any advice on actually breaching them in general however? Usually the peak is high above the rest of the biome making it difficult to get to the magma without !!Dwarves!!.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Since Necro910 hasn't noticed this thread yet...

MAGMAAAAAAA!!!!!! cannon of some sort. It's not hard, put a magma-safe door with natural walls on both sides somewhere high up, dig/fortificate the last square, and link the door up to a lever. Ideally add some fortifications at one end to protect it from building destroyers.

Also, OBSIDIAAAAAAAN!!!!!! farms are a good source of wealth nd emergency weapons. If you try, you can make the MAGMAAAAAAA!!!!!! cannon and the OBSIDIAAAAAAAN!!!!!! farm into one structure.

[Shootandrun]

Who needs an obsidian farm on a volcano biome? If you don't find any your really, really unlucky.

[jamesadelong]

I see magma crabs in most volcanos. They're usually not a hassle although my latest embark is a flatcano so I'll probably end up irritating the damn thing while pottering about at the top. Can anyone give me any advice on actually breaching them in general however? Usually the peak is high above the rest of the biome making it difficult to get to the magma without !!Dwarves!!.

Dig a channel up to the obsidian around the edge and mine into the edge itself. The magmais slow enough to not burn the right away and with a proper escape route, I.E the ramp into the room, the channel floods and you get a nice magma workshop.

[Shmo]

As few experiences:

As far as I know fortifications don't at all stop anything passing through if they're submerged. To be totally safe from the fiery perils below, after tapping the volcano for some magma I close off the tap with solid obsidian by pouring water on it. For mega safety, floor up the top of your volcano (with perhaps a small gap over which to fit a retracting entrance bridge or two, wink wink.)

You can easily explore the magma sea by throwing something down the volcano (aka one of your yaks if you're so inclined). Smaller animals don't always make it all the way to the bottom, and animals dumped from the surface sometimes get stuck and simply melt away in the top layer as opposed to falling.

Avoid the temptation to create big magma flows, since they cause a lot of lag.

[caknuck]

If you're going to breach the volcano wall using fortifications, here's a few handy tips:
1. Temporarily disable the Detail Stone labor on all of your engravers. Enable it on an expendable cheesemaker.
2. When Urist McCheesemakingmagmamagnet starts to carve the fortification to tap the magma, immediately designate another tile to be smoothed a reasonable distance away. This way he'll path out of harm's way right after finishing. I have lost more than one cheesemaker to the folly of admiring a splendid, magma-gushing fortification.
3. Make sure your floodgates and mechanisms are magma-safe

[Fredd]

For the actual magma forges, smelters , all workshops have impassible tiles. Make sure the channel to the magma source below it is at the impassible tile of the future workshop. And build it fast. Magma varmints will crawl up the open space, and start wreaking havoc, if the shop is not built before it arrives.
 When breaching the volcano wall, do it at the level of the workshop. Place a door or two between the pre breach spot, and the forges. With the area excavated below the forges ready for the magma, channel a spot next to the pre breach spot, cover it then with a grate. Then breach the wall.
 

Code: [Select]

S_S_S_S____D___D_FWmmmmW
_________________/WmmmmW S= Shop, _= Floor, D= Door,F= Floorgrate, W= Volcano wall, m= Magma,/= ramp caused by channeling. Or you can excavate the magma reservoir first and tunnel, then channel the spot you will add the floorgrate. Will leave  open space.

 For safetys sake, construct a wall behind the door soonest

[GreatWyrmGold]

Who needs an obsidian farm on a volcano biome? If you don't find any your really, really unlucky.

OBSIDIAAAAAAAN!!!!!! farms are a lot dwarfier, though, and harder to exhaust. So, for once, dwarfy and efficient go hand-in-hand!