Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[comicraider]

More a curiosity, but is there any way to narrow down what kind of artifact or what it's made of when a dwarf goes into a mood? I mean like forbidding certain materials, changing labours and generally positioning said dwarf nearby the materials I want? I'm hoping to try and get a mooded dwarf to eventually make artifact weapons or something. Is it possible or do I just have to hope that the RNG gods are with me?

[PatrikLundell]

- As far as I understand, training can direct dorfs to desired workshops when they mood (which doesn't work for my fortresses, as all the kid mood well before they're old enough to be set to train anything, so they all end up in the craftdwarf shops).
- I also think preferences for both materials and items influence what's produced, so hacking those might affect the outcome.
- What's produced isn't determined when the mood sets in: reloading a killed game at a position where items are still being collected can result in different outcomes, and it might be that the result isn't actually determined until completion: I don't know when it gets fixed, only that reloading due to a (sometimes intentional) killing of DF can result in a different item (but with the same name).

[Leonidas]

I've seen discussions of using burrows to force the use of specific materials to create mega-valuable artifacts. The key, IIRC, is to assign the burrow the moment the mood hits. If you wait until the next tick, then the workshop and materials are all set.

As for the type of workshop they choose, that's a question of training dwarves to have the moodable skill you want.

[TubaDragoness]

Something I've noticed in previous versions (but haven't tested recently): if you forbid items after the mood!dwarf grabs them, he brings them back, then drops them and goes to get something different. This only works on the decorations though; if you try to forbid the first (base) item after it's been acquired, the dwarf immediately considers the mood failed. So mass banning materials as soon as you see the workshop chosen is the best way to determine what your artifact is made out of.

[anewaname]

This wiki section 'artifact created' shows what types of artifacts will be created based on the dwarf's current labor skill levels.

So, to get more artifact weapons, you need weaponsmith/bowyer to be the highest moodable skill. Sometimes players will set up "training" at forges, setting the workshop profile to one dwarf and queuing 9 copper bolts, so that fisherdwarf can gain 540 xps in weaponsmith and get to rank 1, so if they mood, it is in weaponsmith.

[Saiko Kila]

Changing material is usually easy after he started the mood. It's especially easy with quantum stockpiles, when for example you have all stones in one list (he will take the bottom most which is not forbidden). You can forbid items after they are taken, though I would always advise to archive-savefirst, to be able to retry in case of screw-up.

If you could be satisfied with iron, then forbid the main material once the dwarf started working on it, assuming there are decorations too. I recently did it with peafowl bone craft, being created by a dwarf woman with baby on hand. When I used f-orbid to deny her the material, she continued working, but the final artefact (ring in this case) was iron instead of peafowl bone. She became Legendary Bone Carver without using a single bone! This was in v0.44.10. As usual, save first and keep the save until you got the artefact, just in case.

If you have moods with more than one base material, for example a miner with need for three stones, then you can safely forbid the stones he already collected in the workshop, if he didn't start working yet. When he returns with the next one, the count of collected items drops, and he goes to collect more. This way you can exchange every one of them. The artefact will have the first stone carried and used (or top most) as its main material, apparently. Now, if instead you forbid all stones then the artefact won't be created, if there are no decorations. However, you can forbid one or two, and the topmost of remaining ones will be the main material (I tried all this in v0.44.10).

Therefore, it is best to have moods with decorations, if you want to be able to change the main material to iron (like with bonecarver example), or multiple base materials, if you want to change the main material to one of your choice (like with miner example). It's no good if there is only one material and no decorations. But it seems rare.

By the way, since miners have the same artefacts as mason, which are usually quite good, then you can train most of you haulers (wannabe crafters) to be miners too. They don't need to be good, and it trains quickly. Once the highest moodable skill is miner, you can revert them to hauler life.

[Sanctume]

My current fort is trained towards making weapons and armors. 

First I look at dwarf preferences via Dwarf Therapist. 
Those who like weapons are setup to train weaponsmithing. 

For armor, I choose only Shields, mail shirts, breastplate, greaves, and helms.  I avoid one boot or one gauntlet moods. 

The rest, I determine acceptable stone furnitures: coffers, cabinets, tables, door, thrones.  These will be candidates for miners because miners conflict with forges in terms of mood.  So these guys become miner, mason, and mechanic. 

Engraving also can mess up highest moodable skills.

So, I first setup 4 forges, later expanded to 7 or 8.  Each forge is profiled to each dwarf that needs training, and each with it's own work order.  Make bolts ~ x32 for weaponsmithing+3 skill. 

For armor, I make 3 sets: boots, gauntlets, helm, mail shirt, greaves, and breast plate as they take 10 bars for each set, then I make 2 metal shields.  I seem to get 1 armorsmith to 5 weaponsmith. 

After someone moods, they are qualified to do other moodable labors that I need such as mining, crafting, leather working, clothier, gems or glass making.

I also have 1 display pedestal to hold the artifact until the maker is trained. 

I had one newbie recruit make a steel war hammer, who joined a charge, lost his hammer in the fight, and the undead goblin picked up his artifact and used it against him.

As for kids, they are part of the pool of moodable dwarfs after population 20.  Can cheat using DT to enable them labors and go to smithing training via profile also.

p.s. Some dwarfs like pig iron in their preference, and will not begin a mood if a pig iron is not grabbed first.  I did not know that you can forbid and allow them to pick another metal after they start gathering.  I usually use stock screen and forbid all bars except steel, unless that dwarf likes war hammer and I have platinum bars available.