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[Zamithal]

I recently killed some goblins and got my first few pieces of armor, thinking i would be smart about it. I stripped down nude to make sure I could put all my new gear on. foolishly I started pressing R then a rapidly, before i knew it I had disequipped my backpack and was dropping things. Honestly adventure mode sounds fun, but the inventory has me overwhelmed, currently I have like 5 or so chain-mail shirts on, and that's about it. I'm not sure what I did with my shield nor am I sure if I even still have it. so I have quite a few item related questions for you...

1. What are the wearable slots, how many of each type of item should I be wearing? (should I be wearing 5 chain-mails in upper body slot?)
2. As a noob, I'm picking up everything anything drops, what items are important to keep?
3. How can I check my weapon and shield (how do I know if I'm wielding them outside of combat?)
4. What are your tips on keeping inventory organized?
5. What should I do with all my junk (wolf kidney's) Drop it?

Iv actually stopped playing adventurer mode due to needing to figure out the inventory, any help?

[Garn]

everything you need to know about armor is right here
http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2012:Armor
if his is TL;DR however, then read this instead, the optimal armor sets, and by optimal, i mean having the most armor

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Armor
1 x breastplate
3 x mail shirts
6 x cloaks

Armor (cheap)
6 x dress
3 x robe
3 x cloak


Legs
3 x long skirts
1 x greaves

Legs (no foreign items)
2 x trousers
1 x greaves

Legs (cheap)
2 x trousers
1 x leggings


Helm
1 x helm
6 x hood(somehow I managed to wear 8 hoods at once with a helm in a vanilla game) don't ask


Gloves
1 x pairs of gauntlets
1 x pairs of mittens

Gloves (cheap)
2 x pairs of gloves
1 x pairs of mittens


Boots
1 x pairs of chausses
1 x pairs of high boots

Boots (no foreign items)
1 x pairs of socks
1 x pairs of high boots

Boots (cheap)
1 x pairs of socks
1 x pairs of shoes

[Zamithal]

Ok I think Iv gotten all equipped, your model guide was helpful, however I still need help finding a way to better manage my inventory or im going to spend all my play time picking up all the random junk, any advice?

[TheCoolSideofthePIllow]

Ok I think Iv gotten all equipped, your model guide was helpful, however I still need help finding a way to better manage my inventory or im going to spend all my play time picking up all the random junk, any advice?

Don't pick it up if you don't need it.

Protip: You don't need much.

[Garn]

if you still want some advice, keep in mind that wool/hair is the worst type of cloth for pretty much everything

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

plant fiber cloth is more than 3 times as dense as all the other cloths and leather, and is therefore the best if you don't like getting hit by sharp projectiles

silken cloth is roughly twice as good at not breaking and not permanently deforming when cut than plant fiber cloth is
silken cloth is 10 times or more better than not getting cut up by non-projectiles than leather and woolen/hair cloth is
the only advantage of wearing leather is that the piece of armor has "twice" as much of two attributes that prevents blunt damage compared to all forms of cloth
silken cloth is even better at not being broken/deformed by edged attacks than most metal is, though metal tends to outclass silk for that purpose anyway because it usually has an armor value of + or higher; silken cloth often ends up just turning edged damage into blunt damage though

wood is somewhat better than leather at not being damage or deformed by edged attacks, but it is 100 times harder to bend it than it is to bend all types of cloth/leather, and candy cane armor is actually very bad at deflecting sharp projectiles because of its density, which is lower than that of cloth/leather, though it is the best armor in other regards

if you see something that says mail shirt, breastplate, greaves, gauntlets, helm, cap, low/high boots, armor, or chain leggings, and you don't have anything like any of these for the appropriate slot, then get it, even if it is wooden, or "leather armor" and wear it
greaves>chain leggings, helms>caps

if you see "chausses" get them unless they're non-masterwork/artifact wool/animal hair
as is obligatory to be said, metal is always better than non-metal, unless you come across an item produced by a bug or a strange mood, such as artifact shell/bone armor and if it exists stone armor, and weapons made out of gems
I actually have seen a gray chalcedony slicing knife btw, but I restarted on that world elsewhere, and I hadn't gotten to test it out
in comparison to iron, bronze is harder to bend and easier to break, and is a bit more dense, more than marginally so; by break I don't think it means xbronze breastplatex, but don't take my word for that

if you come across items that you want to keep forever, such as gems or money for a nearby civ, or something's head, kill some guy in a lair and put the item in there, it should stay there forever, unless ofc something fucked up happens there like lava suddenly bursting from the otherwise habitable ground, which I have actually seen before; though you shouldn't need to worry about that

as far as you should be concerned, gems, live vermin, coins, and teeth weigh nothing
edit:spoilered the technical stuff

[Pirate Bob]

I tend to leave all my "valuables" that I don't want to carry (meaning everything except the armor I'm wearing, a small amount of food and water, and my current weapon) in the keeps in the middle of cities (keeps are the sqarish towers in the middle of castles with nobles inside).  The ones in fortresses work too, but I prefer the ones in cities as they're easier to find and there's less of them so I don't get confused where I left my stuff.  Nothing inside will ever move around inside of a keep, and nobody will care what you take or leave there (including the largish amounts of loot usually found in them).

Night creature lairs are also a great place to stash your loot if you like more of the "batcave" feel, just keep track of which lair you used, as there tend to be a very large number of them.

[GrizzlyAdamz]

Meh, money's all but worthless in the game currently. All you need is food, but if you want to carry a bit of wealth with you just in case there's something in a shop you want, (which there won't be, compared with the loot you find for free in a castle, or hell, the cabinets in back of the shop), then bags are useful for inventory organization. They can be loaded into your backpack and keep their contents separated with an indentation.

I'd also recommend looking at weight-to-value ratios, and crafting symbols like +-* actually multiply the value, so an *+*iron teacup*+* might be worth many dozens times more than that large, heavy steel battleaxe you found, despite the difference in functionality and material type. That being said, materials pay per-pound, and that 14lb battleaxe will still fetch a handsome price- the same as a truck full of copper.

Anyway, no point in saving up, as the shops only sell garbage.
Lastly, try to drop your backpack before a fight. It slows you down.

[Ajonos]

Helm
1 x helm
6 x hood(somehow I managed to wear 8 hoods at once with a helm in a vanilla game) don't ask

According to the rules of http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2012:Armor the cap for number of hoods under a helm is 8, so that sounds right. Don't think its ever been 6, don't know when people started assuming that.

[TheCoolSideofthePIllow]

Helm
1 x helm
6 x hood(somehow I managed to wear 8 hoods at once with a helm in a vanilla game) don't ask

According to the rules of http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2012:Armor the cap for number of hoods under a helm is 8, so that sounds right. Don't think its ever been 6, don't know when people started assuming that.

I can't seem to wear anything other than a helm on my head. If I have a helm, it doesn't allow anything else to be worn on my head.