How to raid and loot in Dwarf Fortress

Dwarf Fortress is a game of choice. You can do exactly what you want to do, with hardly any limits. So, if you want to wage war and loot or raid another civilization, then you can do exactly that. You’ll need to build up a squad or two, ready them for battle, and then send them off on a mission of your choosing and design. Here is how to raid and loot in Dwarf Fortress.

How to raid and loot in Dwarf Fortress

Reading a squad for battle

In order to send out raiding parties, you’ll need a squad or two. But assembling your squads doesn’t mean they’re fit for battle, no.

Related: How to assemble a squad in Dwarf Fortress

Use your workshops to create armour and weapons. The better equipped they are, the more likely they’ll survive and return home. They don’t need to all be armed to the teeth, as long as they are in number and competent. The larger your squad size, however, the more likely they’ll caught if you try to perform a covert raid operation.

Make sure that your fortress itself is protected, as you will most likely cause war and receive some sort of retaliation in the future.

Oh, and before you send them, just expect that dwarves will die.

Sending them on their way

In the very bottom right corner is a map icon. Click it. you will be taken to the world map, where other races and civilizations and strongholds lie. You must choose your target. Hovering your mouse over one will tell you all the information you need.

Population estimates, your relation, the type of civilization, and so much more. It will also tell you how far away the target is. When you click on it, a mission will be created. Go into your mission tab to modify the mission and send a squad on their way.

The top set of buttons are the types of missions you can embark on, each one having different goals, consequences, and rewards. You can tailor your squad or squads to the type of mission you want them to perform. Along the bottom are tasks that your dwarves can perform whilst there, adding more complexity and possible rewards to the mission.

Once you have modified the mission to your liking, select the squad or squads you want to embark and then click ‘done’ in the corner. They will move off immediately.

They will eventually return. When they do, you can assess the success of the mission. You can see how many resources they claimed, what prisoners they released, or if any died or got captured. You can check the map screen again and hover over the target to see if you are not at war, and to see what prisoners they may have captured.

Keep an eye on Gamer Journalist for more gaming and Dwarf Fortress content, such as our farming guide.