Gate Network Guide

Gate Network Guide

This guide explains how to run a Dwarfgate network in normal play: finding destinations, dialing safely, moving people/items, and defending your gate with an iris.

At a Glance

• A working link needs a Dwarfgate and a linked dial home device (DHD).
• You discover new destinations by decoding glyph parchment.
• Planet destinations are available earlier; orbit destinations require deeper research.
• Gate travel is extremely dangerous at activation if pawns stand in front of the gate.

Core Gate Components

• Dwarfgate: The portal itself.
• dial home device (Ancient): Basic controller for dialing, closing, and exploration management (no external power needed).
• dial home device (Tau'ri): Faster dialing, requires power, longer link distance, remote iris control.
• glyph parchment: Consumable item used to unlock/add destinations.
• iris installation kit: Upgrades a gate with defensive iris hardware.
• remote gate control: Wall control for iris open/close.
• gate modification equipment: Required for orbital dialing and advanced gate-site visibility features.

Gate Setup

1. Place or claim a Dwarfgate.
2. Place/claim a DHD close enough to link (use facility connection lines while placing).
3. Check the gate inspect panel for Gate address.
4. Start destination progression (next section) if your DHD has no dial targets yet.

Important placement rules:

• Only one active Dwarfgate is allowed per map.
• Gates cannot be placed in pocket maps.
• You cannot uninstall/reinstall a gate while it is active.

Unlocking Destinations

1) Research prerequisites

• glyph deciphering is required before pawns can decode parchments.
• gate modification is required before orbit-only glyphs can be decoded.

2) Decode glyph parchment

• Select a pawn, right-click a parchment, choose Decode symbols.
• Decoding can fail (better Intellectual + manipulation helps).
• Successful decode starts a gate quest and adds a destination to your address book.
• One parchment is consumed per decode.

3) Understand limits

• Global address book cap is 11 total addresses.
• In practice, a DHD typically shows up to 10 dialable addresses from your current map.
• Restricted connections cap is 2 active restricted sites at once.
• If you hit caps, use Abandon exploration from a DHD to clear stale exploration links.

Dialing a Gate

1. Select a pawn.
2. Right-click a linked DHD.
3. Choose Dial ... and pick a destination.
4. Wait for lock and gate activation.

Dial behavior:

• Base DHD lock delay is about 500 ticks (~8.3 seconds).
• Tau'ri DHD dials in half time.
• You cannot dial if the gate is already active, receiving an incoming wormhole, unlinked, or out of valid destinations.
• Orbit addresses additionally require powered gate modification equipment linked to a DHD.

Entering and Sending Through a Gate

• Right-click an active gate and use Enter ... to send selected pawns.
• Multi-select is supported for sending multiple reachable pawns.
• Bring selected to ... can send downed pawns, corpses, and many claimable items/buildings.

Critical safety notes:

• The first moments of activation produce an unstable vortex in front of the gate that can destroy anything in its path.
• The receiving side is for arrivals. Walking into an incoming/receiving gate is lethal.

Iris Defense

Installing an iris

1. Research gate iris.
2. Craft an iris installation kit.
3. Use the kit and target a gate with no iris installed.

Using the iris

• Toggle from the gate, Tau'ri DHD, or Remote gate control.
• Closed iris blocks inbound reintegration (incoming matter is destroyed).
• Iris hardware adds extra power draw (shown on gate inspect panel).
• If power fails, the iris becomes non-functional and opens automatically.

DHD Controls You Should Use

• Close gate: Ends an active outgoing connection.
• Abandon exploration: Removes existing exploration links/sites from your known network list.
• Inspect panel counters:
  • Addresses known
  • Restricted connections

Note: incoming wormholes cannot be forcibly disengaged from the DHD.

Transit Sites (Caravan Network Expansion)

• Caravans carrying a Dwarfgate get a Create new transit site command.
• Creating a site establishes a permanent world-map gate location for future network use.
• Some landmarks/tiles are blocked from transit-site setup.
• Transit sites can be renamed and may be scavenged/looted if left unmanaged.

Emergency and Edge Cases

• Ruined dial home device: After DHD logic research, pawns can attempt emergency dialing from a destroyed DHD.
• Emergency dialing does not let you pick a destination and uses a risky emergency routine.
• Emergency dialing is risky and can fail catastrophically (destroying the ruined DHD).
• Active gates cannot be removed cleanly until closed.

Troubleshooting Quick Reference

• Cannot dial: no gate connected:
  • Your DHD is not linked to a gate.
• Cannot dial: no available destinations:
  • Decode more glyphs or free address slots.
• Cannot dial: missing mod equipment:
  • You tried an orbital destination without active modification equipment.
• Cannot dial: locked out:
  • Restricted-connection cap reached (2/2).
• Cannot enter portal: not active:
  • Dial first or wait for lock.
• Cannot enter portal: iris closed:
  • Open iris (and ensure power is available if needed).
• Cannot place gate:
  • One-per-map rule, pocket-map restriction, or address book cap.