Dwarf Fortress – Sinister Embark Tips

Tips for Sinister Embark

You will need to set up some sort of shelter really fast (ideally within the first week you should have somewhere either underground or under a roof for your dwarves to escape any nasty weather).

I tend to bring enough building materials, generally 60 – 100 logs, to build a small hut around and over the wagon while my miner digs down a couple levels and then digs out a room that has space for some workshops.

Once I have a carpenter’s workshop, my first order there is a door, so that I can lock out wild animals. It isn’t perfect, but it will stop many threats, and at least slow down the rest a little bit.

If I get a quiet period later, I’ll replace the walls with ones made from stone blocks, and replace simple doors and hatches with bridges.

Don’t plan your food sources around meat & animals. About 50% of evil biomes are reanimating, and having a Yak turn into an undead monster rather than lunch can be a great source of fun.

P.S. Don’t use hunters and don’t let your dwarves die.