Dwarf Fortress > DF Suggestions

Big Compiled List of All Combat Ideas

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Jetman123:
Since there have been so many combat ideas, I think I might as well compile them all into one big post for ease of use. A lot of these are mine but I have indeed also taken ideas from other suggesters. Feel free to claim credit here, I didn't mean to cause offense.  :)1. Interface options.Dwarves should have better military interface options. Squads should be able to be set as "skirmishers" (who should avoid melee if at all possible while using ranged weapons), to directly control and target enemies from the squads menu, and to set "fire or engage at will" so you have direct control whether your dwarves attack a target or not. This would mainly apply to ranged combat, since meleedwarves will defend themselves if they get attacked whether or not they've been told to engage.Squads should be able to be set as "guards", who will not follow the leader when he goes to get a drink but rather take shifts guarding a certain area at their station point.2. Weapons and armorWeapons selection needs to be fleshed out. Dwarves need to be able to carry two types of weapons. Instead of merely selecting to carry two weapons of the same type, individual dwarves should have inventories of armor, shields and weapons assigned to them, so they can indeed carry an axe _and_ a shortsword, and you can make sure your champion gets that artifact full plate armor.Dwarves should be able to make, carry, and arm themselves with daggers even if they aren't in the military. Knives should be tools as much as weapons and carried broadly along with handaxes and light hammers as backup weapons, for both military and civilian dwarves (especially the nobles). 3. The line between military and civilianCivilian behaviour when attacked needs to be tweaked. Dwarves should run from a threat they can outrun and fight things that they feel they can handle, whether alone or in a group. If a dwarf is attacked while running, they should stop immediately and fight until their target is immobilized, at which point they will resume running again. Make them go for the legs and the like. If other civilians see a dwarf fighting somebody, they should make a decision (based on personality) whether to keep running or to turn around and wade in to help.The Fortress Guard should specifically be tasked with not only arresting wrongdoers but protecting the populace. If a dwarf is attacked and is within range of other dwarves who can relay the warning, the Fortress Guard should dispatch dwarves to investigate. For instance, a dwarf who's being attacked and another dwarf nearby who runs for the fortress to alert the guard, who then respond.Also, see above about daggers. Civilians should as per the devnotes carry basic weapons around the fortress.4. Damage and other concernsDamage from spears needs to be toned up for non-critical hits. Damage from spear critical hits needs to be toned down (so that it only pierces ONE lung, damn it). Same with bolts or other piercing weapons.5. BerserkersInsane dwarves need to be captured and drafted into the military as berserkers, a fearsome combat force that is released to the enemy and will fight to the death. However, they could also attack your dwarves. Berserk rage dwarves don't need to be the only ones - melancholy dwarves will want to kill themselves and at least this way they can go out in a blaze of glory. Insane dwarves can charge into battle naked.6. MoraleSquad and military morale needs to be implemented. Squads can break and rout (run for a regrouping point) if they face too much. At the same time, a commander, general, or just a squad leader can bolster their confidence. Lots of things affect morale, including and not limited to:Positive effects:Having the flanks secure (dwarves on both sides of the squad while they engage an enemy in the front)
Outnumbering the enemy
Having a general or other leader in or near the unit
A general or other leader rallying the unit through a special ability
Seeing the enemy morale break and their troops run
Having better equipment than the enemy
Inflicting large amounts of casualties on the enemyNegative effects:Having the flanks attacked (being attacked from the sides, usually by a larger force, while engaging an enemy in front)
Being outnumbered by the enemy
A squad leader or general dying nearby
An enemy unit taunting or an enemy general screaming at the other side
Seeing other dwarves break and run from the battlefield
Having worse equipment than the enemy (facing a horde of full plate steel pikemen with a copper axe and leather armor is not settling at all)
Taking large amounts of casualtiesWhen squads break and run, other enemies can more easily target them as they're considered to be facing away from the enemy, meaning they can be cut down before they ever have a chance to regroup (usually via cavalry). Dwarves can of course kill the enemy while they run, too.Squads will get away from the battle before they regroup and regain their morale. If an enemy unit is chasing them, they will not regroup - only once they're out of sight of the enemy and feel safe will they regroup. If their morale is really, really poor they might not regroup at all and hide somewhere until the crisis is over.Generals can make routing troops return to the field via rallying.Morale should not always be plainly visible. A good squad leader (perhaps with Judge of Intent) should be able to gauge the morale of his squad, which is shown in the squad menu among other controls.7. Z-levelsCombat should be easier if facing an enemy from a higher position. Marksdwarves and other ranged troops should get a bonus when firing downwards. At the same time, firing or fighting upwards is more difficult. quote:A hammerdwarf of mine was attacking a goblin at the top of a cliff. The hammer struck a mighty blow and the goblin flew horizontally off the cliff... and then continued that way for about five tiles. Only when the "Flying" from the hammer had worn off, did the goblin fall downwards. At the moment (correct me if I'm wrong) creatures operate on the same rules as a bolt where the object moves to its target, ignoring wind, gravity or momentum, heeding only its preset lifespan, at the conclusion of which it stops moving (after which, another part of the physics engine moves in). While this is fine for tiny, aerodynamic bolts, the bigger and awkwarder the object gets, the more noticeable this fudged physics is.So I'd suggest a more complex system that decides not just how forcefully the creature's moved, but also the horizontal/vertical ratio of that strike. He can fly sideways as before, but the game moves him down one for every tile; if he's at ground level it'd be as if he'd stuck a wall (adding bounce would be cool too). He could also fly upwards but the energy runs out quicker because every tile up requires two units of force (one to get him up there, another to negate gravity). This would shred the (already slim chance) of hitting creature B with creature A and stunning them both, but it would make the physics more believable (now each hammer has rifling and the goblins move like they're on hover-boots*) as well as adding another element of chaos to the fights and making it possible that the goblin flies straight upwards and knocks out your champion hammerdwarf on the descent (losing's fun, remember?). -Skizelo8. SiegesAs many have suggested, sieges need to be improved. Ladders, battering rams, seige towers, pitch and the like...I'll go over some of the basics here for convenience.The idea of a siege is to wear down the enemy's defenses through a prolonged assault. Because most city centers are well fortified (especially dwarves'!) a direct assault would be completely useless and you'd need about three times as many troops as the defenders had. Hence over the years we've developed many ways to both defend against sieges, and get over the walls and doors and fortifications.- Battering rams.Battering rams should be able to force open closed doors, or knock down walls. They could range from large ones designed to take out towers and large spans of doors to small one-man-portable ones to take down singular doors.- Ladders
Ladders allow somebody to get on top of a wall. This may or may not be useful, but if there's a way to get down from the wall onto the other side (whereupon you could open the gates for somebody else) it's a very viable strategy. It can also be used to get marksmen up on top of the walls so they can provide fire against the enemy from their own walls. Ladders were usually employed by raising multiple ones against walls, so that troops could enter the walltop single-file from multiple points, hopefully faster than the enemy could knock the ladders off. Fighters on the top of the wall should be able to try to topple the ladder backwards, knocking everyone off it.-Siege towersThe ladder's bigger brother. Siege towers were used to get on top of the walls and then down past them, as with ladders, but on a bigger scale. All the troops would form up on the top level of the ladders, and the whole siege tower would then move into position and drop a massive ramp onto the enemy walls. Alternately, the siege tower could be moved into place, the troops could get up on the top level, and THEN the troops would storm the walls. Siege towers could also be used as an elevated position to fire arrows/bolts from at the defenders on top of the wall.- TrebuchetsBig, not very mobile (sometimes fixed) large catapaults designed to knock down walls with thrown stones. Need some skilled engineers to operate, and are so advanced not everybody can build them.- SappingSo-called "sappers" would dig into the ground and dig tunnels under enemy fortifications, to bypass them. Some would even cause a controlled cave-in under enemy towers, so they would crash to the ground leaving an open spot in the wall. A military application for miners! Yay!On the defensive side:- PitchEssentially liquid coal or resin, pitch is taken from swamps and is quite flammable. By firing flaming arrows at it from a wall, you can cause entire sections of the ground in front of the wall to be set alight, burning attackers. It was a quite common trap.- Rolling logsSetting logs on the walls which can be dropped, to roll into enemies and bowl them over, usually killing or maiming them, was a favored defensive tactic in certain castles. A good brother to the falling stone trap.- BallistaeBallistas were often used on the walls (and yes, I am aware they're already in the game) to fire _down_ at enemy troops. Ballistae should be able to shoot on more than just one Z-level. Ballistae should also be very good against siege weapons.- MangonelUsually put in towers, this is essentially a stone shotgun. Fires boulders in a spray which will hopefully smash enemy troop brains in.9. Horns and bells and alarms, oh my!Various systems should be put in place to alert dwarves that a siege is in progress, that dwarves should gather weapons and report to their posts immediately, or even on a related non-combat note that a religious ceremony is beginning. Horns, bells, and other methods can be used for this.Generals should have a horn to help rally fleeing troops (see morale, above).10. DefendersDefending dwarves should be able to at least throw things (like rocks) from on top of walls with good efficiency. Would give a reason to have high walls and troops on top of them aside from just missile troops. Javelins or spears could also suffice and military dwarves could indeed be armed with them.11. FormationsDwarves should fight in formation. The simplest formation is a shoulder-to-shoulder "square" style. The troops could loosen up to avoid casualties from missile fire (harder to hit if you're not all clustered together).Other formations include the arrowhead, wedge, long thin wall, etc. From the squad screen you should be able to choose the facing of the squad from the station point. If a squad is attacked while patrolling they immediately turn their line to face the threat and adopt a formation. Facing enemies on the side of a formation should be harder and result in a morale penalty.You could of course choose to keep dwarves in a "freeform" style patrol formation like they are now.12. MountsDwarves won't use mounts too well (war elephants, maybe, but not horses) but other races should use cavalry extensively, especially the humans. Spears or other polearms like pikes should be generally effective against cavalry, and different types of cavalry should be implemented.Dragoons: Highly mobile troops that move on horseback but dismount in order to fight. Better defensive capabilities as they can move to intercept threats easier than most infantry.
Cavalry: Troops that both move and fight on horseback. Lances and swords or other weapons with long reach are preferred. Cavalry usually charges with spears or lances to transfer their momentum to the end of the weapon, and then switches to their other weapon while they fight. good offense, however, the horse has a tendency to come crashing down. Also, the horse and rider are a much bigger target.
Mounted archers: Troops that fire bows or slings from horseback. Minor melee capability, but highly mobile.13. Racial variations in militariesGoblins fight using smaller mounts, ambushes, and cunning machinery. They are not the type to make a direct assault. Kobolds fight using ambushes and massed charges as well as covert agents. Humans prefer cavalry and heavy infantry with polearms. Elves prefer light infantry and missile troops. Dwarves prefer heavily armored troops with axes, hammers, or other weapons that do a lot of damage.14. RanksSquads need commanding officers, generals, and subleaders who take over leading the squad if the leader needs to go take a drink. Commanding officers in increasing rank have increasing experience in both combat and the ability to lead their men, and prevent them from breaking under morale damage. There should be a noble position of general who can create patrols, divisions, armies, etc of squads grouped together under a large banner who move and fight together when fully mobilized.15. TrainingThere should be a military position of "drill sergeant" who helps other dwarves train, and can even train civilians if he has the time. He watches the sparring sessions, and every so often shows a dwarf how to do better in training. He also  reduces the risk of training wounds to vital areas, though he can't stop bruises or broken limbs.Dwarves should have training schedules and automatic on/off duty timers, so that you can stagger the squads that are on duty and off duty while training.16. LogisticsCurrently soldiers are only able to carry two food rations and some water. This won't cut it if the soldiers are gonna be away from home for a while. You need pages, serfs, squires or peasants or whatever-you-want-to-call-them who are in charge of making camp, preparing food from supply wagons, and keeping food and water/booze rolling in from home, as well as carting wounded soldiers back to your fortress. They could even serve as emergency troops (you could structure your army so that the soldiers in training serve as the logistics support for your professional troops) if you're pressed for manpower.17. Human shieldsUnfortunately I'm too lazy so I must quote myself: quote:I love chokeholds. Snapping necks would be even more fun to do. I want more usages for the ambusher skill, so sneaking in, snapping the mayor's neck, and sneaking out (especially once toady gets around to implementing the crime changes so nobody knows it was me ) if he gives me a crappy mission and all my companions die.Human shields, also yes. Hell, make it so that unless you're shooting at them, people of the same race hesitate to attack you. It could even apply to melee attacks - you could position yourself between them and an attacking enemy, making him either think twice (50% chance of hitting your hostage on an attack, but of course lowers your ability to attack) about attacking, or try to get behind you.In addition to this, you could also have grander effects - like hiding in a village of elves and putting that village under martial law, so the elves hesitate to siege you there for fear that you'll kill 'em. Ties into diplomacy somewhat.That's all I can find/think of for now. Hope this is useful to somebody. More may be coming later.Feel free to add more suggestions that you find on the board (or in-depth combat suggestions you want to have here). I'll edit them into this post if you want, just make sure you number 'em correctly.  :)

Dasleah:
Here's something: Practice Dummy. For when you don't want your Dwarves to chop each other to pieces. Has the caveat of taking twice as long to get a skill gain (as any shmuck can hit a strawman) unless they're mechanised, in which case they allow skill gain at 3/4 or even full rate. I'd suggest putting a cap on this as well - say, no reaching Elite status / Legendary from a Practice Dummy?They would work like an Archery Target now (and would replace them), only you could designate them to be either Archery, Combat, or Cavalry. Archers would shoot at them, Close-combat Dwarves would smack them, and Mounted Dwarves would charge at them, turn around, and charge again.And a massive YES on Dwarven Cavalry. Finally a use for all those [MOUNT] and [MOUNT_EXOTIC] tags. Perhaps you could train creatures with those tags at a Kennel to become a Riding variation (Riding Elephant, Riding Dog) - or I suppose simple War training would suffice (perhaps Riding Beasts could be the zippy-quick type)

Duke 2.0:
Different attack focuses. Basically, it would increase the chance of hitting specific body parts. Want to make the enemy prone? Aim for the legs. Want to take out their weapons? Aim for the arms. Just want to kill 'em? Aim for the body/head. This would get rid of he random appendage flailing done now. Naturally it would be a chance, as the enemy is moving around and has body parts getting in the way. Units with high defensive stats would be better at steering hits away from wherever the enemy is aiming, and any hits not hitting the preferred appendages would be a bit weaker. Now when I want to just slash the sleeping guards head off, I won't go chopping off his fingers.

Mikademus:
I suggest somebody registered there to add this one to the Wiki list of recommended threads.

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