Spoilers incoming. Large images incoming.Disclaimer: Aside from the initial catching of the webbing demon, everything else is untested at the point of creating this thread. Everything is subject to change.
Hi, I'm Mitchewawa. You may remember me from such fortresses as Deathgate, Swordthunders, and many others. Now, I'm a fan of practicality; I don't often build mega-projects unless they have a tangible use. However, I've been itching for more. 'What can I do that hasn't been done before?', thought I. Well, with the new vampires, weres and husks, no one has been turning their attention to the usual frontier; hell. Looking back, there's been some talk about the properties of webbing demons in the past; their silk is magma proof.
This is, of course, revolutionary. But during my (failed) attempt to catch one alive, I discovered another property; their webbing
can stun other demons. Therefore, their webbing should, in theory, be able to catch demons.
Think about it. Caged demons! This was far too good to pass up, and with my practical skills I set out to catch a webbing demon. It took a few embarks and a few days, but I finally got it right. On with the guide.
I haven't done
everything there needs to be doing at this point in time. I will be posting in updates, editing my first, second and third posts. Also, I did this using the Masterwork Mod. It isn't necessary; it actually makes it harder. You see, it adds its own demons to hell, which usually adds disparity to the amount of vanilla demons there are. This means your chances of embarking over an underworld that has webbing demons is
much, much lower. I used Fortress Defence as well, but that only makes surviving long enough to take on hell harder.
Update schedule subject to change.
Done:
Update 1 - Added the how-to for catching a webbing demon.
Update 2 - How to use the webbing demon to catch
other demons
To come:
Update 3 - How to set up a webbing demon silk farm for magma-proof clothes
Update 4 - Fire demon turrets
Update 5 - BONUS: I discovered a way to make your siege operators not run away at the sight of enemies! HAHAHA
Update 6 - To be determined
Prerequisites:- You will need a ton of mechanisms, cages and a few expendable miners (I chose my legendaries). The base components for this experiment aren't that hard, but...
- You need to have a basic understanding of hell and cave-ins. I recommend
beating hell before doing this, if only for the sheer triumph of it. Aah, I remember my first time...
- This takes a few in-game years, especially the bridge-linking. Have something else to occupy yourself at the same time.
- Not every map is the same, and you must be able to change the layout without compromising the whole thing. Remember, this isn't a step-by-step tutorial (okay, it is step-by-step), it's a guide.
Step one: EmbarkOkay, here's mine...
Not exactly ideal, but it had what I needed. I originally hoped to be able to turn a spare demon into a thrall, but alas, this place does not have mist. So I'm stuck with it. First thing is first; save and exit. You'll need to, because you'll be save scumming in a minute. Get back onto your map, use DFhack's reveal or whatever, and dig down the the adamantine spires. Then breach them.
Take note of every demon, and find one that can fly and shoots webs. This is the most important part! If you breach hell only to find that it doesn't have webbing demons, you will have wasted a lot of time.
Here's one I prepared earlier:
If it does have one, save scum and make a fortress proper. Go on, I can wait. I did mine at about population 100, 4 years after embark.
Step 2: How to catch your webbing demon:Don't breach hell just yet! When you have a spare miners, mechanics and time, begin to construct this:
First, dig z+1 and z-1. Then put (retract) bridges over the ramps. Then, link them up
to one, and only one, lever. The dug out area in the middle and the constructed walls were how I got my mechanics to get to the bridges. This step takes the longest, and you haven't even seen a demon yet.
After it is done, pull the lever and test to see if each bridge opened up. Forbid all stones in that area (don't want masons getting caught now). You aren't done however, now you must create what I call a 'Safety Hatch'.
Demons can't break them from below. A forbidden hatch can block
anything. This is in case something makes it past the trap; and it happened for me. Luckily, I locked the hatch in time, sent in the army and killed the demon without incident. Now, send in an expendable miner:
The demons will flood through your opened trap, try to keep an eye out for your webbing demon. I had to keep cutting the pathing using the safety hatches until the warbler demon got into my trap. It will look like this:
Now, pull the lever again! The bridges will close over the ramps, though some will break. Not all, but any that have a demon flying over the ramp. Find your demon, and assess the situation. Did the bridges lock him in? Did one next to him break? If so, then follow the following steps.
This is not necessary if
both bridges in his segment closed over properly (in front and behind).
Cave in behind (and/or in front) of your demon. This will separate your demon from most of the others, but its okay if he has some buddies in the same segment as him. Again, this is not necessary if
both bridges in his segment closed over properly (in front and behind).
Okay, now you need to do the same thing, but only leading from his segment instead of hell. Do not breach just yet; test to see if all the bridges are working. This will be far easier this time, you don't need a trap as long.
The arrow points to my warbler demon, who was hidden behind a rock that I forgot to hide.
Once everything is ready, send in another miner.
Same process as before, but this time you need to time your lever pull properly. Your demon must be on his own this time; a buddy will just require another segment-separation.
Okay, take a break. You earned it kiddo. Soon to come; using the webbing demon to catch other demons, and fashion some delicious silk undergarments to protect you from the summer heat!
Step three: Catching other demons in cagesThis isn't particularly necessary to my main aim (dwarves clad in magmaproof silk), however, I just plain like it. It's easy, quick and has a good use later on. Want fire-demon turrets? Done. How about syndrome-spattered drop pits? Its all yours. Now, you
could do this with a GCS, but fire-demons tend to scorch them through fortifcations. Same with FBs. Demons are fireproof. Also, the stage for setting up a cage from and a silk farm is the same, and you can swap between the two with ease. Here goes:
WARNING: I changed a lot of the design; do not follow this directly. Add a raise bridge under the door to the cage traps, and fortifications to protect the raise bridge that blocks the webbing demon shooting at the cages (so your dwarfs can pick them up). I only added this image so you can see how to lead your webbing demon into the trap.
This is what the end product should look like:
This is a short update, because I spent most of my time setting up the logistics for a silk industry. Coming soon.