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Author Topic: Best way to train the (new) Mason skill?  (Read 1660 times)

Tamren

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Best way to train the (new) Mason skill?
« on: January 11, 2023, 12:05:07 pm »

Now that Mason has replaced Architect and is no longer used for making stone blocks/furniture, what is the quickest way to powerlevel a Mason for higher quality structures? Do they get the same amount of experience per designed item regardless of how many materials are used? Do they get Mason experience for building the item as well as designing it if it is made of stone?

In previous versions the best way to powerlevel Architecture was to design a bunch of supports and then deconstruct them before they are actually built, this lets the architect return to the same tile and re-design another support for fast xp. I'm just wondering if anything changed in the new version, or if Mason is simply the same skill with a new name.
« Last Edit: January 11, 2023, 09:35:00 pm by Tamren »
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Mobbstar

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Re: Best way to train the (new) Mason skill?
« Reply #1 on: January 11, 2023, 04:15:42 pm »

According to this wiki page on Labor, Masonry does not affect building quality.  Only stonecutting does.  The wiki page on Masonry requests verification on whether or not quality is affected.

The wiki page on Supports is not updated yet, but judging from the previous pages, the old tactic does not work anymore, and a quick test in-game doesn't seem to result in any Mason experience.

Blue_Dwarf

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Re: Best way to train the (new) Mason skill?
« Reply #2 on: January 11, 2023, 04:23:14 pm »

You can try building a bunch of archery targets or bridges, that does seem to give mason exp.
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anewaname

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Re: Best way to train the (new) Mason skill?
« Reply #3 on: January 11, 2023, 05:42:33 pm »

It used to take 17 uses of a skill at 30 xps each to gain a rank in architect, so put an unskilled dwarf in a locked rooms with 34 blocks, then save and test building 17 four-tile bridges (will use 2 blocks). You'll find if you get more than 30xp for multi-item constructions and what skill it trains.
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Tamren

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Re: Best way to train the (new) Mason skill?
« Reply #4 on: January 11, 2023, 09:37:40 pm »

All I have managed to figure out so far is that bridges and trade depots created with proficient masonry are "pretty" enough to give nearby dwarves happy thoughts.
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Blue_Dwarf

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Re: Best way to train the (new) Mason skill?
« Reply #5 on: March 11, 2023, 10:24:07 am »

It doesn't look like masonry can be trained by building archery targets or bridges.

I built 190 archery targets out of gabbro blocks, using my starting proficient mason. No levels were gained, and he constructed only two masterpiece archery targets to boot.

Also something like 50 2x2 bridges, with smaller ones to fill the gaps.
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anewaname

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Re: Best way to train the (new) Mason skill?
« Reply #6 on: March 11, 2023, 11:11:14 am »

That might be a bug then; you use the skill to build it but gain no experience.

In the future when testing experience gain, start with a dwarf that has no experience at all in the skill, so you can check the dwarf's skill list and when the skill shows up as "Dabbling Mason", then you know that construction/task gives xps.
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Blue_Dwarf

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Re: Best way to train the (new) Mason skill?
« Reply #7 on: March 11, 2023, 12:00:49 pm »

That might be a bug then; you use the skill to build it but gain no experience.

In the future when testing experience gain, start with a dwarf that has no experience at all in the skill, so you can check the dwarf's skill list and when the skill shows up as "Dabbling Mason", then you know that construction/task gives xps.
Dwarves do become dabbling masons with those, so they gain exp. How much exp, though, since 190 archery targets don't even give less than 1000exp?
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Nihilich

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Re: Best way to train the (new) Mason skill?
« Reply #8 on: March 24, 2023, 10:09:11 pm »

That might be a bug then; you use the skill to build it but gain no experience.

In the future when testing experience gain, start with a dwarf that has no experience at all in the skill, so you can check the dwarf's skill list and when the skill shows up as "Dabbling Mason", then you know that construction/task gives xps.
Dwarves do become dabbling masons with those, so they gain exp. How much exp, though, since 190 archery targets don't even give less than 1000exp?

sounds like it's at most 5 xp
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Blue_Dwarf

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Re: Best way to train the (new) Mason skill?
« Reply #9 on: March 25, 2023, 02:35:18 am »

That might be a bug then; you use the skill to build it but gain no experience.

In the future when testing experience gain, start with a dwarf that has no experience at all in the skill, so you can check the dwarf's skill list and when the skill shows up as "Dabbling Mason", then you know that construction/task gives xps.
Dwarves do become dabbling masons with those, so they gain exp. How much exp, though, since 190 archery targets don't even give less than 1000exp?

sounds like it's at most 5 xp
It's probably even less, since 190 archery targets would then give 950 exp, plus all the bridges before that, and you only need 1000 to go from proficient to talented.

I'm using a guild to train a new mason, it's going much faster.
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