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Author Topic: Health monitor and defending  (Read 1347 times)

janamdo

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Health monitor and defending
« on: February 20, 2020, 07:53:17 am »

There is a health monitor in the right bottom corner ..it  is installed by DF hack i  think?
The total number of dwarfs are visible, together with seven states of health conditions.

-What health conditions are those colors standing for ?

At the moment i see that all dwarves are stressed, depicted by a red arrow and there is 1 dwarf with a red number ,and 6 with a yellow number and 3 with a with number : tottal of 10 dwarves

The most difficult part to start to build a start fortress (one year old ) is to feed the dwarves and facing goblin enemies
How to defend the fortress at maximum at the start of building it ..i placed some cages for the entrance, because how to get a soldier/defending dwarf with no weapons ( is this possible?)

 
 

   
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Cathar

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Re: Health monitor and defending
« Reply #1 on: February 20, 2020, 09:00:40 am »

So...lot of questions.

The monitor : It's a stress monitor as far as I know. Red means they are losing it, green is estatic, white is normal. Stressed dwarves are more likely to depress / attack other dwarves / destroy buildings in tantruming rage.

I advise you to start a fortress far from the war to begin with. Starting a military is something quite counter intuitive, and it's better if you do without enemy pressure. You can start squads with no weapons and they will train martial arts. However when the shit hits the fan and the goblins attack you with 150-200 armored units plus warbeasts, a wrestling squad will not be very useful. Trade for weapons ; axes are very easy to find and you can make wooden shields. Those are enough to start your first squad. With 10 dwarves, tho, a military may not be your priority to begin with.

Feeding your fortress is easy as long as you can maintain fields. Outdoor fields stress your dwarves faster but are generally more productive. A potato field, a still and a kitchen will keep your dwarves fed and boozed up until you feel confident enough to diversify.

Also a bit of advice : always play with the wiki open. You can't "guess" dwarf fortress, as it is notoriously counter intuitive.

janamdo

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Re: Health monitor and defending
« Reply #2 on: February 20, 2020, 10:34:29 am »

Thanks!
Yes, it is not that easy to understand DF, it's tough   

« Last Edit: February 20, 2020, 02:30:02 pm by janamdo »
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PatrikLundell

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Re: Health monitor and defending
« Reply #3 on: February 20, 2020, 11:37:42 am »

If you're in a mountain biome you can't farm on the surface anyway. However, if nobody is building the plot (which you'd then find supports no crops), you don't have anyone with the farming skill enabled.
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janamdo

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Re: Health monitor and defending
« Reply #4 on: February 20, 2020, 02:31:28 pm »

Thanks.. i struggle further with DF
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anewaname

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Re: Health monitor and defending
« Reply #5 on: February 20, 2020, 08:52:01 pm »

...
How to defend the fortress at maximum at the start of building it ..i placed some cages for the entrance, because how to get a soldier/defending dwarf with no weapons ( is this possible?)
You can start training soldiers before you have metal weapons. Give them a wooden shield and a training axe, and let them train at a barracks near the entrance. They will be able to stop kobolds, goblin snatchers, and animals, but will fail against were-creatures, undead, and goblin sieges.
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janamdo

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Re: Health monitor and defending
« Reply #6 on: February 21, 2020, 10:06:30 am »

Thanks!
i got a Goblin siege and was not prepared to defend myself
The number of soldiers in a squad must be  always 10  ?
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delphonso

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Re: Health monitor and defending
« Reply #7 on: February 21, 2020, 10:32:45 am »

Nope, you can make a squad and leave it at just one. They'll train by themselves and see minor improvement in their skill.

With more, they'll spar and share skills more. After one or two migrant waves, you usually have enough dwarves to make a 5 or 10 person squad, though.

Hyndis

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Re: Health monitor and defending
« Reply #8 on: February 21, 2020, 11:50:03 am »

Wrestling is still a fantastic place to start training up. Have your new recruits start wrestling as soon as possible. You may not have any armor, axes, or shields, but they can wrestle immediately.

While your smiths are producing quality equipment, your new recruits have been wrestling. This improves all of their physical stats (strength, agility, endurance) while also increasing their ability to dodge and their fighting skills. Not only will these new recruits move much faster and be able to carry heavy armor without slowing down, they'll have a head start on training with real weapons.

Think of wrestling like gym class. Its prep for real combat class. Its also a good idea to have everyone practice wrestling even if only for a little bit. Even the non-military dwarves should practice wrestling if only for the physical stat boosts. Haulers will haul faster (not only movement speed but also the ability to carry heavier things without slowing down). Armorsmiths will craft armor faster. Engravers will engrave faster. Everything improves.

That said, absolutely do make good quality armor, shields, and weapons! Axes are probably the best weapon in game. Masterwork steel axes chop through sieges with frightening speed. Heavy steel shields can be effective blunt weapons, too. Armor is critically important, especially helmets. If a dwarf is downed the quality of their helmet is often the only thing that keeps them alive. A masterwork steel or adamantine helmet can protect a downed dwarf for a surprisingly long time, long enough for the rest of the squad to save her.
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Pancakes

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Re: Health monitor and defending
« Reply #9 on: February 21, 2020, 12:55:59 pm »

Thanks!
i got a Goblin siege and was not prepared to defend myself
The number of soldiers in a squad must be  always 10  ?

You don't need 10 dwarves per squad, and some people even prefer to have fewer. For myself, I typically only make squads of 6 dwarves. The number of dwarves in a squad changes a few things, like how many dwarves can be given orders at once, and how they train or perform orders through the schedule menu.

To just get a few dwarves training for rudimentary defense (note that the following is for melee, not marksdwarves):

1) Build a weapon rack or armor stand at a workshop. Currently, it doesn't matter which one you choose to make.
2) Construct the weapon rack / armor stand somewhere in your fort that you want your dwarves to train. It's a good idea to place this somewhere near an entrance to your fort, so that your troops are able to get into position quicker.
3) Once built, use the 'q' menu to enable training at that location.
4) Now, press 'm' to open the military screen, and press 'c' to create a militia commander, if you haven't already. If you select 'No uniform' when you do this, the dwarves will simply wear their current clothes and not pickup any weapons.
5) Next, add the dwarves you ould like to be in the military to the squad. You might want to avoid adding miners, woodcutters, or hunters to a squad due to a bug
6) Go back to your built weapon rack / armor stand, and  use the 'q' menu to allow the squad you just created to train at that location.

If you would like me to walk through how to setup schedules, setup uniforms, setup marksdwarves, supplies, posts, alerts, equipment, or anything else, feel free to ask! Cheers!
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janamdo

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Re: Health monitor and defending
« Reply #10 on: April 16, 2020, 10:21:10 am »

If you would like me to walk through how to setup schedules, setup uniforms, setup marksdwarves, supplies, posts, alerts, equipment, or anything else, feel free to ask! Cheers!
Thanks!
Reading thrue post again
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