Can archers fire on multiple z levels?

[Zaph]

All in the title really. I know that siege equipment can only fire on one z level and if the fired ammunition drops a z level then it doesn't do any damage. Do archers follow the same rules?

[Moonwarden64]

Nop, one of my dorfs got stabbed by a bolt from an enemy about 6 z levels higher than him

[Sinclair]

Archers do not have a height limitation. However, firing upward reduces their effective range and makes it more difficult to hit the target. Firing downward increases their effective range, but if the enemy gets close enough, they will get obscured by the wall. The general advice when building an archer tower is thus to put the firing slits (fortifications) one level above where you expect the targets to appear.

[BauerHaus]

Archers can fire down, and up, fortifications also allow arrows both ways, iirc enemy units have to be right up next to the fortification.

[Paintrain Cometh]

Originally posted by Sinclair:

Archers do not have a height limitation. However, firing upward reduces their effective range and makes it more difficult to hit the target. Firing downward increases their effective range, but if the enemy gets close enough, they will get obscured by the wall. The general advice when building an archer tower is thus to put the firing slits (fortifications) one level above where you expect the targets to appear.

Interesting. Do you have any hint or data explaining at which height/distance ratio a wall will obscure the enemy for archers? I have foes walking over a magma pit with my archers three tiles away horizontally, but four levels above. They don't seem to notice the goblins walking by.

[Sinclair]

Originally posted by The Paintrain Cometh:

Originally posted by Sinclair:

Archers do not have a height limitation. However, firing upward reduces their effective range and makes it more difficult to hit the target. Firing downward increases their effective range, but if the enemy gets close enough, they will get obscured by the wall. The general advice when building an archer tower is thus to put the firing slits (fortifications) one level above where you expect the targets to appear.

Interesting. Do you have any hint or data explaining at which height/distance ratio a wall will obscure the enemy for archers? I have foes walking over a magma pit with my archers three tiles away horizontally, but four levels above. They don't seem to notice the goblins walking by.

From the wiki:
Dwarves will fire at targets 25 tiles away and are able to engage targets that are up to 3 z-levels up or down without any loss in firing distance. [Verify]
An archer must have a skill level of accomplished or higher to shoot through fortifications from a distance; otherwise they must stand directly next to the fortification to shoot through it.
Marksdwarves often fail to register that there are enemies on the other side of a fortification unless they (the dwarves) are directly next to the fortification. Bug:2697 Having a single-tile hall behind can help.


There might be other reasons why the archers aren't firing. The most common one is that they don't have ammo, or have the wrong ammo for their weapon.