Dwarves, armor and swimming

[Viceroy Günther von Lichler]

Theoretically with enough swimming skill is there any point where a dwarf in heavy armor will ever be able to swim a few tiles to dry land?
I always want the moat you know, but they yeet eachother so much in combat everyone thats NOT supposed to go into the moat end up there and drown too, hehe.

I play the classic version if that matters.

[Fel]

They don't even need that many levels since armor only slows them down.
As long as they are now stunned and drowning when entering the water they are pretty much guaranteed to get out alive (profided they don't faint and such from wounds or very low stamina from combat).

The main issue is getting them to learn the first few levels of swimming because that's definitely tricky.

[AlP]

Originally posted by Fel:

The main issue is getting them to learn the first few levels of swimming because that's definitely tricky.

A retracting bridge over a drainable pool should do the trick.

[Whimpy]

Originally posted by Fel:

The main issue is getting them to learn the first few levels of swimming because that's definitely tricky.

I tried to drown a goblin spy in my prison but since your dwarfs only fill ponds up to 6/7 he got really good at swimming insted. I locked the door and ~1-2 years later he's at level 30+. I don't know if he eats but there's a big pot of food there too.

That gave me the idea to convert some of my prison cells to a Tauntrum pool where my kids can cool off. It's basically a 3x3 prison cell with a floor grate in the roof (to fill it with water) and, in the back of the room, a floodgate infront a floor grate (in the floor), to drain the water, and a 1x1 toy stockpile.

The room above just have the floor grates above the cells zoned as Ponds and close access to water.

The room below is just big, muddy and empty, but I just realised I could improve my water works by collecting the water and recycle it back into the cells.

Once you locked someone in the cell you just tell them to start filling the pond which will fill to 6/7. They will learn swimming very fast but you got to drain the water from time to time to let them sleep, eat and drink or they'll starve and dehydrate. At least the kids, I don't know about adults.

It might be better if you do it with personal bedrooms to give them moodbuffs from their own nice item and then throw them out when they swim good enough. They don't seem to sleep in the prison beds but pass out on the muddy floor.

[Judaspriester]

Speaking about swimming, is there any good option to lure out invaders that are hiding in the water?

Got a brunch of them right now sitting below a bridge I've build in the caverns. If I send my military over there they tend to jump off the bridge (or get kicked off it?) and afterwards drown because they don't manage to get back up again.

Given the fact that I play on a map with a vulcano, I could set up a pipeline to cut the water supply from the edge of the map and afterwards drain the lake, but that would feel like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

[Saver Sigonith]

Originally posted by AlP:

A retracting bridge over a drainable pool should do the trick.

Doesn't even need to be drainable. Just have the exit be a ramp to a lockable door, leave 'em there for a few days but remember not to cancel the 'station' command until everyone's out of the water or they'll dump a bunch of old clothes on the floor ^^'
For bonus points, having another lockable exit that requires climbing several tiles to escape can slowly teach 'em to climb too. I always find it really satisfying to give everyone swimming lessons for some reason.

...Wait this is a really old post. Next time you should make a new post rather than commenting on an old one Whimpy.

[Viceroy Günther von Lichler]

Is there a way to set it up to be completely passive tho?
Have them be forced to path through some water and over time develop swimming skills?

[Saver Sigonith]

Originally posted by Viceroy Günther von Lichler:

Is there a way to set it up to be completely passive tho?
Have them be forced to path through some water and over time develop swimming skills?

I find they train quite quickly with a dedicated swimming pool and that the 'automatic' minecart setups can get clogged pretty easily. But yep, what you're describing exists too.
https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Swimming_pool

[Fel]

You can make holes in the floor of the barracks so they fall in the swimming pool while sparring, it works pretty well for the military at least since dodging doesn't care about the surroundings.
The downside is that sparring gets cut short fairly often, leading to less skill experience.

[Whimpy]

Originally posted by Fel:

You can make holes in the floor of the barracks so they fall in the swimming pool while sparring, it works pretty well for the military at least since dodging doesn't care about the surroundings.
The downside is that sparring gets cut short fairly often, leading to less skill experience.

They might take fall damage now too.

[Saver Sigonith]

Make the floor out of willow or featherwood blocks.

[Fel]

If they fall into water (especially if it's about 5 or 6 deep) and only one floor high, there is no chance of taking damage.

[Saver Sigonith]

I actually don't think water impacts fall damage at all? And I have technically had dwarves injure themselves falling naked and alone into a pool even with willow floor - but the naked part was the problem :/
Have the dumbasses wear clothing and they should be ok.

[AlP]

Water does slow fall damage:

https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Water

[Saver Sigonith]

Ah neat. Odd that they can still be injured then - dwarf physics tends to be very random.

[Fel]

Well, water lowering the fall damage is also why dwarves that dodge off a cliff and into a river several z-levels down tend to not take much damage (if at all) from the fall but often end up drowning because they are stunned by the sudden fall into a 7/7 water.