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I am building a wall on a higher level on another wall that exists in the lower level. My dwarf is now stuck on the upper level, how to remedy that?

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3 Answers

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Prevention is the best option and there are several things you can do:

1) Know how dwarves like to build (1 is the favorite spot to build if X is the building): 

537
1X2
648

2) Build corners first.

3) Dwarves generally prefer to avoid standing in a queued construction. Where possible you can designate a wall/building and then Suspend the building, canceling construction after the real construction is finished.

4) Sometimes you have to build a temporary floor, or a quick staircase.

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Although I hear people say #3 all the time, this has never worked for me. – JavadocMD Dec 28 '10 at 5:28
A little testing suggests this is not true in the latest version. I'm pretty sure it was true in 40d though. – aslum Dec 28 '10 at 6:46
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You can either deconstruct walls (d - n, I believe?) until he can get free, or alternatively, build scaffolding up to him -- up/down stairs work well and can easily be stacked.

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This is a fairly common problem when building tall structures and I haven't found a solid way to prevent it. In my experience, dwarves appear to ignore designated construction and don't always build in a "smart" order.

Probably your best bet is building temporary ramps, stairs, or other "scaffolding" systems up to the dwarf so he or she can get down and other dwarves can finish whatever other construction needs to be done up there.

The other option is to designate your wall building one tile at a time, waiting for each wall section to be built before placing the next. I can think of cases where either option would be the lesser of two evils.

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There is a pretty easy way to prevent it -- build your corners first! And remember, dwarves can only construct in the 4 cardinal directions. – Raven Dreamer♦ Dec 27 '10 at 22:33
@RavenDreamer "Build corners first" might work for some floor plans, but certainly not all. – JavadocMD Dec 27 '10 at 22:47
@Javadoc -- the only floor plan I can think of where it doesn't work is when you're building a 1-tile-wide wall above the 1st z-level, in which case, I'd recommend up/down stair scaffolds. – Raven Dreamer♦ Dec 27 '10 at 23:38
As would I, although the ideal solution would be dwarves that could prioritize construction themselves so that no one gets trapped in the first place. (Not that I'm holding my breath.) – JavadocMD Dec 27 '10 at 23:40
Smart dwarves? In my dwarf fortress? – Raven Dreamer♦ Dec 28 '10 at 6:21
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