CiscoHannah Embark Profile /u/CiscoHannah

 CiscoHannah Embark Profile /u/CiscoHannah


There are quite some embark profiles around, but at least

those that I have seen are either heavily specialized or rather aim

at beginners. This embark is balanced having the following three

main goals beyond mere survival in mind:


(1) military might

(2) dwarven happiness

(3) fortress wealth


I think every overseer should try out his/her own routes. Hence this

profile is intended to be read after you stuck a dead end and do not

optimize your embark any longer. Whenever you are eager to get another

perspective. Otherwise I would recommend you try your own paths first.


The following might SPOIL this priceless experience.


As for the DWARVEN SKILLS: There is a myriad of possibilities to play

and there is not a best way to do so. Hence there is also not an only or

best embark profile.


Having said that, I am convinced that


1) the WEAPONSMITH is your single most important dwarf. It is arguably

the most important skill for (1) your military, and it is also the skill

which may create (2) the largest wealth. A weapon trap may transfer

this wealth to room value and hence happiness.


2) the ARMORSMITH is a close second, who traces the weaponsmith

regarding the wealth aspect and is slightly more easy to train.

Eventually he/she will spent even longer hours in the forge because

there are more armor pieces to forge.


3)-7) (+3) The next five skills are on a more equal footing, their

relative importance depends very much on playstyle, and they might even

be substituted by other skills such as stone crafter or glassmaker.


MECHANIC: You need some basic defense such as traps or a draw bridge

sooner than later, and these must work properly without fails caused

by mechanisms of poor quality. Traps may also contribute heavily to your

wealth.


MASON: This one is more on your happiness side. You need on the long

run a lot of furniture, if you go for individual bedrooms for all

or for your most precious dwarfs. If possible these should be

at least partially masterwork to trigger some happy thoughts. You have,

on the other hand, a lot of stones to get rid of. This calls for a

mason working 24/7.


METAL CRAFTER: Many embark profiles or walkthroughs call for a

stonecrafter. Craftworks are more expensive than furniture and

contribute more to your wealth than the happiness aspects. Hence

you are a bit more flexible how many to make as with furniture,

and it is way more preferable to make them from precious metals

than cheap stones. What if you find some gold or

platinum. If not you can import it and take some ore for making brass

with you on embark. These are the reasons why I personally prefer the

metal crafter, but it is a matter of taste.


TEACHER(+ARMORUSER) You need someone to efficiently teach your

military squads. Hence take one dwarf with you on embark for this task.

He should have a second military skill such as armoruser so that your

new recruits learn fast not to be slowed down by their armor.


MINER(+TACTICIAN+TEACHER) You need someone at the start, digging out

your fortress and down to the magma. This guy does not need much skill

in mining. I prefer 1-2 points in mining to make this process slightly

faster when using only a single miner. On the long run you can easily

train new migrants in mining. Hence this guy should eventually move to

another task. He/she will be a well skilled military pick dwarf soon.

Hence what better use than to give him some military skills. Teaching

is once more very important. If you consider military expeditions, as

I do, some tactical skills would be great and this one can be your

military commander. If military is less important, you may combine this

with the previous teacher dwarf.


11-15) The next skills I consider less important as the previous ones.

But since points on skills are well spent (you have more than enough

money), it is better to train these than to buy even more ore/animals.


ARCHITECT Bridges and wells can be quite expensive and give you happy

thoughts. This certainly is not a 24/7 occupation but also difficult

to train.


CARPENTER Mainly good to have some nice beds for happy thoughts, also

you need some barrels for your syrup, buckets, and shields for your

soldiers before large quantities of leather are available.


COOK Some people get their wealth from serrated glass disk traps or

stone crafting. I rather go for metal weapons and traps as well as

crafts, and cooking as an additional source of wealth. If you combine

some expensive ingredients (milled plants from a millstone, dwarven

syrup, cheese bought from the traders) with ingredients that come in

large quantities (alcohol) you can easily get a few dozens roasts

each valued a few ten thousand dwarf bucks within 6 months. You might

consider this an exploit, but in my view it is less so than getting

hundreds of serrated glass disks from a single tile of sand at a

price that is irrational for such a useless asset. I also

try to optimize my embark for metal industry and iron which often

means that there is no sand or at least there are the prospects of

having no sand. Not to forget sooner or later you need a food industry.


As input to the cook it is good to have (but not absolutely necessary

and the herbalist is of course useless in e.g. a mountain biome

without plants and trees):


A GROWER and a HERBALIST This does not give any quality modifier but

you harvest larger quantities which increases the wealth per lavish

meal.


As you have noticed these are 15 professions. Below I will also add

1 skill point for APPRAISER and DIAGNOSER. This is not absolutely

necessary, but might help a bit for an overview or if someone gets

wounded, respectively.


[PROFILE]

\[TITLE:BALANCED PROS\]


How to distribute these 17 professions among your 7 dwarfs? Again

there is not an only way, there are many possibilities also here.


I prefer having the important forge jobs at a single dwarf who will

spent most of his/her life at the forge. At embark I also make him a

wood cutter and let him cut down a dozen trees to spend the time well

before bronze is smelted.

\[SKILL:1:FORGE\_WEAPON:5\]

\[SKILL:1:FORGE\_ARMOR:5\]


The following is an obvious combination and efficient as the same guy

can just continue the job if you use stone (blocks) for all building

requiring an architect. At the beginning I have a dormitory bedroom

and there is a common dining hall. Hence this guy can also burn some

wood, make potash for fertilizing your fields, mill plants and process

your sweet pods into barrels to regain seeds. Some of these tasks

can also be done by your next guy, the Mechanic.

\[SKILL:2:MASONRY:5\]

\[SKILL:2:DESIGNBUILDING:5\]


This guy can start right away with carpentry and later on make and

link mechanisms, and help the mason with the farmhand tasks. Besides

the above mentioned you also would like to butcher your pack animals

and do some leather work.

\[SKILL:3:MECHANICS:5\]

\[SKILL:3:CARPENTRY:4\]

\[SKILL:3:DIAGNOSE:1\]


The herbalist should have a secondary profession that can wait

somewhat when he/she is picking fruits or similar. He/she is also

more exposed to danger, hence the other profession should be disposable.

\[SKILL:4:HERBALISM:4\]

\[SKILL:4:METALCRAFT:5\]

\[SKILL:4:APPRAISAL:1\]


My fields are not far away from the kitchen, and you might want to

slow your cook down a bit so that no meal gets rotten in the kitchen.

A combination cook+carpenter is also quite good. This guy also trains

1-2 dogs while the miner is digging the farm plots (e.g. 3 with 7

tiles each). I also let the cook brew 4-5 times alcohol to have enough

before a new immigrant takes over.

\[SKILL:5:COOK:5\]

\[SKILL:5:PLANT:5\]


Your military teacher, already explained above. Make this guy your

furnace operator at the beginning. If you have no coal, you need a

lot of wood burning, he should do this instead and e.g. your

Weaponsmith operates the furnace, too. I typically let the

mason/architect build an outside smelter for the bronze and brass

(the teacher can train 1-2 dogs meanwhile), but then have the forge

just below it on the inside.

\[SKILL:6:ARMOR:5\]

\[SKILL:6:TEACHING:5\]


Miner at the beginning. Military Commander later on.

\[SKILL:7:MINING:2\]

\[SKILL:7:TEACHING:3\]

\[SKILL:7:MILITARY\_TACTICS:5\]


You must have an anvil to make one:

\[ITEM:1:ANVIL:NONE:INORGANIC:IRON\]


The next two might in principle be forged. However, for spending your

labor well it is, in my view, preferable to spent your embark money

here and to start mining and wood cutting right away. Also allows you

to fight off some wolves or whatever right away.

\[ITEM:1:WEAPON:ITEM\_WEAPON\_PICK:INORGANIC:COPPER\]

\[ITEM:1:WEAPON:ITEM\_WEAPON\_AXE\_BATTLE:INORGANIC:COPPER\]


To make sure you can make at least some weapons from steel

(requires embark with flux stone).

\[ITEM:11:BOULDER:NONE:INORGANIC:HEMATITE\]

My first armor sets and some picks, axes, spears are from bronze.

My 4 nest boxes (reuse by slaughtering/rebuilding), goblets,

wheelbarrows from brass. I also like my still being made from brass...

\[ITEM:10:BOULDER:NONE:INORGANIC:CASSITERITE\]

\[ITEM:6:BOULDER:NONE:INORGANIC:SPHALERITE\]

\[ITEM:16:BOULDER:NONE:INORGANIC:NATIVE\_COPPER\]

For magma proof nickel minecarts and pipes (to build a magma smelter

where your flux stone is). If not available replace by iron.

\[ITEM:3:BOULDER:NONE:INORGANIC:GARNIERITE\]

Processing bituminous coal (even lignite) is much more efficient

than cutting trees, hauling logs and and burning wood.

\[ITEM:28:BOULDER:NONE:INORGANIC:COAL\_BITUMINOUS\]

\[ITEM:1:BAR:NONE:COAL:COKE\]

To built your smelter, carpentry and masonry right away:

\[ITEM:3:BOULDER:NONE:INORGANIC:PETRIFIED\_WOOD\]


As already mentioned, sweet pods are best for wealth (if your starting

season allows for planting them)

\[ITEM:2:SEEDS:NONE:PLANT\_MAT:MUSHROOM\_HELMET\_PLUMP:SEED\]

\[ITEM:2:SEEDS:NONE:PLANT\_MAT:GRASS\_TAIL\_PIG:SEED\]

\[ITEM:2:SEEDS:NONE:PLANT\_MAT:GRASS\_WHEAT\_CAVE:SEED\]

\[ITEM:15:SEEDS:NONE:PLANT\_MAT:POD\_SWEET:SEED\]

\[ITEM:2:SEEDS:NONE:PLANT\_MAT:BUSH\_QUARRY:SEED\]

\[ITEM:2:SEEDS:NONE:PLANT\_MAT:MUSHROOM\_CUP\_DIMPLE:SEED\]

To make sure you have something to brew and to get more seeds.

\[ITEM:2:PLANT:NONE:PLANT\_MAT:MUSHROOM\_HELMET\_PLUMP:STRUCTURAL\]


For moods and early hospital requirements.

\[ITEM:1:THREAD:NONE:CREATURE\_MAT:SPIDER\_CAVE:SILK\]

\[ITEM:1:THREAD:NONE:CREATURE\_MAT:SHEEP:HAIR\]

\[ITEM:1:CLOTH:NONE:CREATURE\_MAT:SPIDER\_CAVE:SILK\]


At some points your dwarfs will need a drink. Having one drink/dwarf

makes sure it is available and indicates you now need to

start brewing and cooking.

\[ITEM:2:DRINK:NONE:PLANT\_MAT:POD\_SWEET:DRINK\]

\[ITEM:2:DRINK:NONE:PLANT\_MAT:GRASS\_WHEAT\_CAVE:DRINK\]

\[ITEM:3:DRINK:NONE:PLANT\_MAT:GRASS\_TAIL\_PIG:DRINK\]


For some early defense, meat and leather later

\[PET:4:DOG:FEMALE:STANDARD\]

\[PET:2:DOG:MALE:STANDARD\]

For pest control

\[PET:1:CAT:MALE:STANDARD\]

For eggs and leather bags for your milled plants. I typically let one

nest box alone (door locked) for offspring.

\[PET:8:BIRD\_TURKEY:FEMALE:STANDARD\]

\[PET:1:BIRD\_TURKEY:MALE:STANDARD\]

For a bit diversity

\[PET:1:BIRD\_CHICKEN:FEMALE:STANDARD\]

\[PET:1:BIRD\_GUINEAFOWL:FEMALE:STANDARD\]


The profile above should enable your professional dwarfs to pile up

within 6 months wealth of a several hundred thousand to a few million

dwarf bucks, depending on how much you go for wealth vs. other aspects

(serrated steel disks and spiked bronze ball traps vs. more practical

weapons and armor), how many immigrants show up, whether you find

any valuable metals such as iron, silver, gold, or platinum, and

whether coal is available on embark. At the same time you should be

able to set up a basic military with full armor and weapons. Your

mason and building designer should already have created a few

buildings/furniture that give a happy thoughts. I also go for a mill,

windmill powered waterfall and a magma forge close to the flux stone

layer.


As for your the first two small migrant waves I typically assign a


1) Furnace operator (freeing the teacher for military training)

2) Miner     (freeing the military commander for military training)

3) Brewer    (brewing 24/7)

4) Wood burner (if there is no coal)

5) Recruit

6) Farm hand and leather worker


PS: If you want to try this out yourself just copy everything to embark\_profilke.txt (everything not in "\[...\]" just counts as a comment).