While they've been a terror for countless fledgling fortbuilders, goblin sieges in Dwarf Fortress become predictably trivial once you've got a good amount of mountainhome management under your belt. That's about to change: On November 3, Dwarf Fortress gets its awaited Siege update, and a lot of dwarves are going to be a lot less safe.
While Dwarf Fortress history is dense with elaborate defensive superstructures like weaponized magma flows, pits full of war bears, and the trusty dwarven atom smasher, the underlying strategy has been defined by a simple principle: Goblin war hosts can only follow the paths you leave open. As a result, if the only way into your fortress is a meat grinder of boulder traps, sawblades, and entrenched dwarven infantry, goblin besiegers have had no choice but to march headlong into red ruin.
Once the siege update lands in a couple weeks, however, invading forces will be leveling the playing field. In a brief preview video, Dwarf Fortress creator Tarn Adams outlined the new siegecraft tactics invaders will employ to break apart and circumvent fortress defenses, forcing players to rethink years of defensive strategy.
During a demonstrational siege of Adams' test fortress, goblin invaders—now supplemented by monstrous war mounts, a scattering of beastly reinforcements, and a demonic commander—brought battering rams for smashing in fortress gates. And marching alongside them were trolls with pickaxes and building materials, acting as siege engineers who can destroy player-built fortifications and build their own floors and stairs for crossing the obstacles that might stall their advance.
They'll follow new behaviors, with some units hanging back while others charge and even learning to avoid areas that have proven dangerous for their presumably-mangled comrades. Most terrifying of all, Adams said that "if it comes down to it, they can dig slowly underground through natural walls."
Luckily, invaders won't be the only ones with new tricks to employ. Existing dwarven siege weaponry like ballistas and catapults will be getting buffs, and dwarves will be able to construct new bolt throwers: crossbow emplacements holding up to 100 bolts of ammo that can be fired in automatic bursts in any direction. These were previewed in a short clip a couple weeks ago, and they look extremely effective.
And after all, some truths about siege defense remain unchanged. "There are the old standbys of drowning and magma, which are still effective," Adams said.
If that all sounds like a bit too much to tackle at once, there'll be settings letting players toggle off enemy digging, defense deconstruction, and building behaviors if they prefer the traditional siege experience. In the meantime, I'll be encasing all my fortress tunnels in some freshly-built stone walls, just in case.
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