To keep your Dwarves from dying from dehydration in Dwarf Fortress, you must give them a source to drink from. Unlike other settlement games, Dwarves drink mead or wines rather than water. Players that want to make enough drinks in Dwarf Fortress will need to set up the proper production buildings and supply the necessary resources, like fruits and vegetables. Keep reading for a full guide on keeping your people hydrated in Dwarf Fortress.
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How to Make Drink in Dwarf Fortress
Drink is indicated in your Stocks menu at the top of the screen, to the right of Food. To make a drink in Dwarf Fortress, players must build a Still, then select the Brew drink from plant option. Players should set up Work orders to continually brew a drink to provide a steady stream of drinks to a fortress.
Building a Still
To construct a Still, click Structures (b), Workshops (o), then Farming (f). Finally, select Still (l) and place the still in an area close to a Stockpile. For your Still to produce the brew required, you’ll need a steady supply of plants that can be gathered with the Gather (g) command or that can be harvested via farming.
For a steady supply of Drink, players should farm rather than rely on the fruit and vegetables that freely grow, as the reliability of these is random, especially in the winter.
See our Dwarf Fortress Farming Guide for more details on creating a sustainable farm.
Creating an Inn/Tavern
Inns/Taverns are Zones that players can set to distribute the Drink they produce and attract new characters to their Fortress. In addition to providing a meeting place for your Dwarves, Taverns also increase overall happiness by giving them a place to socialize.
To create a Tavern, click Zones (z), then click Meeting Area. Click and drag over the area to set the Inn/Tavern Zone, then select the small + sign in the shield icon and select New inn/tavern. Put some tables and chairs in the Zone to complete the process.
Players may want to create a closed space for their Taverns/Inns.
Creating a Well
While Dwarves prefer mead or Dwarven wine over water, Wells in Dwarf Fortress serves as a backup if you completely run out of drink produced at the Still.
To create a Well,
- Click Structures (b).
- Select Machines/fluids (m).
- Click Well (L).
- Place the Well in the water next to a walkable area for your Dwarves.
Your Dwarves should automatically go to the Well when you are out of Drink. As a warning, the Well may freeze up during winter, and characters can breach into your Fortress through Wells.
Required Supplies for a Well
Wells requires a few different parts from your production buildings, including:
- Wood Block x1 (Carpenter)
- Wood Bucket x1 (Carpenter)
- Chain or Rope x1 (Clothier, Forge)
- Mechanism x1 (Mechanic)
Drinking in Dwarf Fortress is just as important as eating for your citizens. Settlements that don’t have a steady flow of drink will end up collapsing in the long run, so make sure that you’re setting up your production buildings properly when you start a new world so that your people don’t succumb to dehydration.
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