This I wish I knew as a first time player

[Kasa]

Figured while we wait we can compile a little list of neat things we learned that we wish we knew sooner.
I'll go first!

In your first base make sure to bring a dog and rope, you can tie the dog the rope near the entrance of your fort and if any Kobolds try to sneak in the dog will bark and alert you to their presence.

We can't have those pesky Kobolds trying to rescue kidnap our little dwarf children ya?

[McFuzz]

There's no stick, you just build the rope any old place and assign the dog to it. But I haven't played in a while so maybe there's a stick now lol.

[Kasa]

Originally posted by Frank McFuzz:

There's no stick, you just build the rope any old place and assign the dog to it. But I haven't played in a while so maybe there's a stick now lol.

Nah I'm probably just misremembering as it's been a while since I last played lol

Edited the original post as to not spread misinformation and confuse players.

[McFuzz]

Lol all good, you confused me tbh. Well, here's me actually contributing to the thread lol:
-Put a lever room in or near the dining hall or whatever is your most popular meeting hal.
-If your biome isn't wood-rich, use rock for pots; rock pots store food and drink, so you don't need barrels, so all the wood can go to beds.
-Your military should be roughly 10% of your fort pop
-Don't bring a male cat if you respect your FPS lol.

[Kasa]

lol all good!
Here is another one.

When selecting your starting equipment don't select empty barrels as they cost point to select, instead just select 1 of any cheap item as that item will come IN a barrel and so once you empty out that item you will have a empty barrel as well.

A efficient way to "abuse" this is to select 1 of every different type of meat as each meat type works the same way in food preparation but will come in it's own barrel instead of being stacked into 1 barrel, you can then just transfer all the meat types to 1 barrel and use the empty barrels for other things.

[Vanir]

-Don't forget an anvil
-Bring plump-helmet seeds
-At-least 2 axes and picks (in-case one gets 'lost')
-Enough beer to last until your farming is fruit-full

[Imradon]

On your first embark, choose an embark site containing Soil in its layers. As soon as you have arrived, dig straight into the mud and clay, go on and carve vast rooms in this layer.

This has several advantages : it trains your miners, so that they can dig even faster in harder stone layers.
As soon as you have breached the first cavern layer (wich can be done right at the start) fungal spores will start colonizing the muddy rooms you dug out.
You can then turn those fertile grounds either into farms (moss and fungi increase farm plots fertility if i remember well) and you can designate pastures in those spaces, for your pets to graze in the safety of the underground.

[Mordiaky]

Sell all of your chopped up wood to the elves, and tell them where to stick it!

[Imradon]

When the trade caravan from the Mountainhomes come at last during autumn, and once they have unloaded all their goods in your brand new Trade Depot, don't forget to destroy said Trade Depot right away ! You shall acquire many goods for a very cheap price indeed...
It's an old dwarven custom for new settlers. It aims to emphasize their newly gained independence from the motherland.

[Imradon]

Never hesitate to abuse this old dwarven custom with elven caravans. They absolutely love our old customs and traditions.

[AmesNFire]

Instructions unclear, brought 10 male cats and lots of empty barrels.

[Imradon]

Originally posted by AmesNFire:

Instructions unclear, brought 10 male cats and lots of empty barrels.

That's fine, you may also milk those male cats to fill your empty barrels, and sell the whole thing to the elves.

[AmesNFire]

Originally posted by Imradon:

Originally posted by AmesNFire:

Instructions unclear, brought 10 male cats and lots of empty barrels.

That's fine, you may also milk those male cats to fill your empty barrels, and sell the whole thing to the elves.

That way I can afford the anvil and some other useful things right?

[McFuzz]

Originally posted by AmesNFire:

Instructions unclear, brought 10 male cats and lots of empty barrels.

Technically 10 male cats is as bad as 1 male cat. You only need 1 male animal in a fortress and it will breed all of the others through spores. It would be way worse if you brought 1 male cat and 9 female cats lol.

[Imradon]

Indeed ! This all new "Dwarven Elixir of the Depth" is very prized because of its mysterious origins. Only the dwarves know the secrets of its making, and Elves crave it !

[AlP]

You can get a lot of wood easily. Use it with a carpenter to craft a ton of wooden spiked balls for trading.

Later you'll have more valuable items to trade, but you can make wooden spiked balls immediately, giving you enough time to get enough of them by the time the first trade caravan arrives. Don't forget to build a trade depot.