Dwarf Fortress: 10 Must-Know Tips For New Players
Shortcuts for your shorties.
1. PRESS THE H KEY TO SET YOUR CAMERA VIEWPOINTS
If you press (h) you can hotkey viewpoints to your F1-F8 keys. Think of it like a security camera system, but you can only view one camera at a time. One of the biggest irritations about Dwarf Fortress, even with Steam graphics, was that I had to scroll through dozens of Z-levels to see what was happening all the time. It was exhausting.
Setting your camera to the most important spots in your fortress using the (h) key immediately made my playtime easier. Once I got past this, I started to feel as though I could play this game. So, set up your camera points!
2. AS OF MARCH 2023, BOLTS AND ARROWS ARE BROKEN
There is a bug involving ammunition (bolts and arrows) currently well into 2023. If you set up an archer squad they will usually equip the bolts, but only if you use the default archer uniform. If you accidentally right-clicked the uniform that came as default, then it’s gone FOREVER unless you go back to a previous save.
Only right-click the default uniforms if you want them gone forever. You get no on-screen warning. If you do this by accident, it might not seem like a big deal, but even if you try to make a new uniform exactly like the archer defaults, your dwarves will not equip the new bolts. Also, archers will only pick up bolts out of bins right now too.
If you’d like to read more into the issue, you can check out this thread on Reddit. Some say the issue isn’t with the uniform but with certain arrows being undesignated based on material type. Either way, it’s confusing and at some point, those fresh archers are going to just stop picking up bolts. Hopefully, this will be resolved soon.
3. JOIN THE SUBREDDIT r/DwarfFortress
The subreddit for Dwarf Fortress is the best place to get quick and up-to-date answers from other players. There is a bi-weekly question thread for all questions about the game. If you don’t post your question there a bot will remove it, but if you do post there you will get an analysis team on your Dwarf Fortress situation very quickly.
It’s also a great place to learn about the game, hear stories from other players, and learn about mechanics that you didn’t know about before.
The best thing for me personally from the subreddit has been this cheat sheet by u/mxsifr. This thing is invaluable for new players.
4. HAVE A PLANNED DEFENSE FOR SIEGES
Having a solid defense plan for sieges is crucial in Dwarf Fortress, as the game’s world is fraught with danger, and enemies can strike at any time. The first step in developing a defense plan is to assess your colony’s strengths and weaknesses.
This includes evaluating your dwarves’ combat skills, the resources you have available, and the layout of your fortress. Once you have a good understanding of your colony’s capabilities, you can begin to develop a plan that takes advantage of your strengths while minimizing your weaknesses.
One important element of any defense plan is to have a well-equipped military. This means training your dwarves in combat skills, arming them with high-quality weapons and armor, and having them stationed in strategic locations throughout your fortress.
In addition, you should build defensive structures such as walls, traps, and fortifications to help keep enemies at bay. You should also ensure that you have enough food and water stockpiled to survive a prolonged siege. By developing a strong defense plan, you can help ensure the safety and security of your colony.
5. PICK AN EXPORT AND SPECIALIZE IN IT
Specializing in a single export can be a powerful strategy in Dwarf Fortress, as it allows you to focus your resources and efforts on producing one valuable item. This can be anything from crafts and furniture to metal goods and gems. By focusing on a single export, you can optimize your production processes, reduce waste, and maximize your profits.
By becoming known for your high-quality exports, you can attract traders and visitors to your fortress, which can open up new opportunities for trade and diplomacy. However, it is important to ensure that your colony is self-sufficient and has access to all the necessary resources to produce your chosen export.
Specializing in a single export can be a risky strategy too. If market conditions change or if your production is disrupted by external factors such as sieges or disasters. Therefore, it is important to have a backup plan and to remain flexible in your approach to trade and production.
6. YOU DON’T HAVE TO MAKE AN ENTIRE ROOM FOR A TOMB
You don’t have to have a coffin for every dwarf to keep the ghosts away, a simple slab for each dwarf will suffice. One strategy to save your time and effort is to wait for a ghost to appear before making a slab for them, but if you’re like me and you enjoy the roleplay aspect it behooves you to make a coffin and designate it as a tomb for each of your late dwarves.
You don’t actually have to make an entire room for a tomb to be placed and a body to be designated for burial. Simply place the coffin on a single tile as usual and then simply make a one-time tomb zone on top of the coffin. The body will be retrieved and placed. Note: You can not use the “multi-paint” tool to paint multiple tombs this way. Each tomb zone must be placed one at a time.
Dwarves are communal creatures so mass tombs in one chamber are not too farfetched. Of course, your favorite and/or noble dwarves can get the premium setup when you have the time and hands to do so.
7. TRY TO KEEP THE BATTLES OUTSIDE YOUR WALLS
One thing that bums out most dwarves is seeing dead bodies, especially those of their relations. When the horde comes to your doorstep, expect blood and bodies to be the next few months of your dwarves’ lives. Why do they leave loved ones baking in the sun? Who knows? Apparently, burial is not a top priority in Dwarf Fortress.
You can make it easier on yourself by keeping the melee skirmishes outside of your fortress, across your moat, or whatever kind of perimeter you have set. Winding and narrow trap-laced corridors are effective at handling goblins and are the typical go-to for most players. Still, if that hallway is the one way into your fortress, your dwarves will wish they had died in the siege after trampling over their kin’s corpses every time they go out to gather plants, hunt, or whatever business they have on the surface.
8. SITES ON THE WORLD MAP WITH A 10 OR LESS POPULATION ARE TYPICALLY EMPTY
If you send out your dwarves on a mission to pillage and destroy a site this will not remove the site, because the ruins, just like fortresses, will always be there for someone to claim.
So if you sent out dwarves to kill a population of goblins at some pit and then afterward it shows the “10>” population count chances are the place is empty and sending your dwarves back there other for other than scavenging will result in very boring mission reports that will make you feel like you wasted your time if you were looking to remove the site from the map or combat experience.
9. INVEST IN WAR DOGS
When you depart bring a few extra dogs of both sexes. When you have a fortress full of puppies that means you have a fortress full of future killers. They don’t need food, they quickly, and they can all be trained to hunt stealthily or kill ruthlessly.
When nearly every dwarf in your fortress has a personal bodyguard it makes the day-to-day attacks from wildlife or sieges a bit less daunting. I personally like to give each child a protective war animal just in the off-chance they were to be out beyond my walls and child snatchers show up.
Dogs don’t breed at high a rate as cats, so make sure are actively aware of how many male/female dogs you have at your fort and try to get them together in a pen or something. Light candles, bring out the spaghetti whatever you have to do to set the mood. You want those dogs.
10. WHEELBARROWS, BINS, AND BARRELS KEEP YOUR FORTRESS CLUTTER-FREE
Bins, barrels, and wheelbarrows are essential tools for keeping a fortress clutter-free. These items provide a way to store large quantities of items in a small space, making it easier to organize and manage resources. Bins and barrels are used to store food, drinks, and other materials, while wheelbarrows are used to transport large quantities of items from one place to another. With the help of these tools, dwarves can efficiently manage their resources and keep their fortress clean and organized.
Bins and barrels are especially useful for storing perishable items such as food and drink. By placing these items in a bin or barrel, dwarves can keep them fresh for a longer period of time, preventing them from spoiling and wasting valuable resources. These containers also help to keep the fortress tidy by keeping loose items contained and preventing them from cluttering up the fortress.
Wheelbarrows are vital for moving large quantities of items quickly and efficiently. They can be used to transport materials such as stone, wood, and ore from a mining site to a workshop or storage area, making it easier for dwarves to manage their resources and keep the fortress organized.
You could use “quantum” stockpiles, but it is an exploit in my book. That’s MY playstyle choice and doesn’t have to be yours. I’m a bit of a purist about my games and oftentimes the minority.
One last tip, although elves will not buy things made of wood or animal products they will buy things OUT of wood bins brought to the trade depot. So you can bring a bin of goods up to your depot and hand-pick what you want to sell to them. Be careful, they hate most things. They won’t even buy glass because the ash was used for the heating process.
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