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[Angel Of Death]

This has been an issue for me for quite some time. I can't deal with useless migrants at all. I've tried mass executing them, but that just makes them come back as (more) annoying ghosts. I've tried to draft them to the military, which has been less than useful. Except for one time when a "useless" migrant was the last dwarf left in the fort and bisected a blue diamond FB in a single punch. I've tried making them adept masons, forging the legendary empires of the dwarf, often dying in the process. This has also been less than useful due to how goddamn long it takes for them to build anything.

I've tried everything I can currently think of that won't take a week in real life time.

[Loud Whispers]

a blue diamond FB in a single punch

Damn, I would've killed for such an FB :/

Bah, back to the topic. Have you tried making your migrants farmers/professional master wrestlers? That way they feed themselves, provide for industry and help your military, and if they become useful soldiers, you can deck em with whatever weapons you can nab, hey presto, moving carpet of angry stabby midgets.

[Angel Of Death]

I've tried. But it seems to take too long for the food to grow (or I'm just goddamn useless), so they just end up eating my food. They usually die too fast, too, turning them into useless ghosts and turning all dwarfs who knew them into annoying emos.

[Loud Whispers]

I've tried. But it seems to take too long for the food to grow (or I'm just goddamn useless), so they just end up eating my food. They usually die too fast, too, turning them into useless ghosts and turning all dwarfs who knew them into annoying emos.

Burial receptacles, rock pots and LOTS OF FARMS OHMAHGOD WHY ARE THERE PIG TAILS ON MY EYES [/etc]

[Blailus]

I just set them to hauling labors + pump operators to go live in the screw pump gym I've made. They end up getting pretty decent stats and will eventually be drafted into the military (I generally wait until they're legendary pump operators prior to drafting them since my military is already decently large (30-40 dwarves). I generally do have quite a few idlers, but when goblinite makes an appearance it doesn't take very long to haul it all down to the smelters for melting.

[kardwill]

I never have too much haulers, herborists and meatshields. That way, the professional dorves can do their work safely and without interruption.   

[Garath]

yup. I can just turn off hauling duties for the specialists. Then I also don't have to worry about burrows too much

[Obsidian]

Try setting up a "concentration camp" burrow for useless migrants where they just pump out stone blocks, plump helmets, quarry bush bags, and other low-value, labor-intensive commodities for usage by the rest of the fortress. Their diet can consist of the aforementioned plump helmets as well as water, and they can all sleep in a crowded barracks.

If the whole thing is above your fortress, you could even have a pit to drop down the goods without letting them meet each-other.

[Starver]

+1 to the basic "haulers" suggestion.

There's always smoothers (I'm OCD that way) and masons (I need specific types of stone blocks, peoples! <- Ok, so again with the OCD), but at the very least the dumping subset of the hauling (from what should be a nice, empty cavern or pit-bottom) is a full-time many-staffed job.

Anyone with significant (especially "better than all those currently doing the job") vocational skills will be given that task, if it's not fish-related or (except when I am training) animal-related.  Anyone with significant (indeed, any >dabbling) military skills will be assessed for the military, perhaps drafted through a boot-camp unit for basic hand-to-hand before their specific weapon skills get them shipped off into a specialist unit or their lack of specific weapon skills gets them used to bolster an under-utilised unit-type for which I have may have (or may need to make) spare weapons.

I usually up my pop-caps, and a 5yo fort with >200 dwarves generally works on this principle.  There are very few jobs that aren't open to sharing and will be reluctantly farmed out to other dwarves.  Bookkeeper (even after absolute accuracy achieved and bringing in others might be handy cross-training for them), Trader (unless skills get utterly surpassed), architect (likewise, but difficult given the intense and uninterrupted regime of construction planning I grant my first architect-designate), the Leader/Mayor (rarely gets ousted from his position (but then he's also often Bookmaker and Trader as required, and his actual job is quite often Stonecrafter, and Legendary quite quickly once the rest has been sorted), bur also rarely gets selected as duly appointed permanent Noble).

With the Duke, Baron, Count, this guy is usually the one with the most favourable preference-set, and yet not yet indispensable in his day-job.  Obviously that's not directly related to the mass of immigrants, except that as each new wave hoves into view I particularly check their preferences (prior to the choice having been made) to see if there are any more suitable candidates than whichever soul(s) I'd previously earmarked as possibilities.  With a lot of variation to go on, there's significant good chance that you'll find a candidate who fits perfectly to Your Vision, and the rest can just go Haul (as can this guy, until the decision itself).


I never actually isolate immigrants from existing inhabitants, although under the new, vampiric, developments, I shall probably have to consider doing something of this kind.  Organising twin-quarters to be occupied by all new arrivals, with a little production line facility in a side-room, perhaps, to keep them occupied while still in the first stage of quarantine.  And probably overkill.

[Garath]

I never actually isolate immigrants from existing inhabitants, although under the new, vampiric, developments, I shall probably have to consider doing something of this kind.  Organising twin-quarters to be occupied by all new arrivals, with a little production line facility in a side-room, perhaps, to keep them occupied while still in the first stage of quarantine.  And probably overkill.

Quarantined untill proven free of infections +1 to good idea

[Azated]

Try setting up a "concentration camp" burrow for useless migrants where they just pump out stone blocks, plump helmets, quarry bush bags, and other low-value, labor-intensive commodities for usage by the rest of the fortress. Their diet can consist of the aforementioned plump helmets as well as water, and they can all sleep in a crowded barracks.

If the whole thing is above your fortress, you could even have a pit to drop down the goods without letting them meet each-other.

If only you could build stockpiles in open space, that would be the default function of all useless migrants.

Selective dwarven slavery; it powers the world.

[kefkakrazy]

Dwarf Therapist is really handy for handling migrant waves. It has an option to filter dwarves into which migrant wave they arrive in (generally, at least; it's always worked pretty well for me at least).

If you do that, then pick the newest migrant wave, you can filter through it for the "useless" dwarves. Typically, I have one "catchall" class that I throw those dwarves into, something like "Worker" or something like that. "Workers" do a host of fortress tasks that aren't terribly skill-dependent; they are my butchers, my tanners, my millers and my siege operators, my pump operators and lye makers, wood burners and smelters. I lose out on some efficiency by having so many dwarves have such a wide range of labors, since I don't typically build up skills and get the fast working speed associated with high skills, but at the same time it also means I don't have a butcher who spends half the year idling.

I'll even typically give them all Masonry and set my mason's workshops to have a skill floor of something like Novice, so the Workers will pitch in and help construct walls when not busy.

[Maklak]

I turn them into recruits and generalists. All jobs that aren't skill dependent, like hauling, butchering, milking, furnace operating, and many others are assigned to them. Masonry and mechanics as well, and all workshops have minimum skill requirements.  Basically what kefkakrazy said. I typically have some idlers, and see them as reserve for activity spikes, like siege cleanups. If I really want to give them something to do, they get to haul all that useless stone to quantum stockpiles.

[Nan]

For the most part, you can never have too many marksdwarves (provided you have a staple source of bolts materials). I take all my haulers / non-specialists and put them into marksdwarves squads. These squads have no barracks/archery range, and remain permanently set to inactive, inactive squads automatically activate when stationed then automatically deactivate when the station command is cancelled. Since they wear their uniform even when inactive, it also allows me to arm and armor everyone.

Along with their utility in fighting off sieges, it is also very cool when the haulers whip out their crossbows and gun down buzzards, goblins and other annoying things. Most recently I had a moody weaver, because I couldn't get him any granite, of all things, he eventually went berserk. And immediately got head-shotted by a lye marker. Which I'm certain was cooler than whatever artifact he was going to make .

[Maklak]

I tried a civilian defense program in an 80-100 Dwarf fort, and couldn't do it. There was just too much things to provide for my Dwarves. Metal crossbows were easy, but good quality ~10 pieces of armor and ~20 pieces of clothing was not. Only lader did I learn to order a lot of leather from caravans. My Dwarves would always 'soldier cannot follow order' and wear incomplete crap. In addition I made hundreds of bolts, and they used them up for archery range, then charged goblins into melee and died.