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[jonveck]

Given that my current fortress in the late stages before FPS death sets in, I've been doing a lot of experimentation with sacrificing weapons and armor to Armok and having my inventor running reactions continuously.  I've netted a lot of very interesting gear.  However, from the best I can tell, while things like Dragon Shields (90% block chance) are exponentially better than Tower Shields (30% block chance), other pieces like the Indestructible Armor is no different than Doomknight Armor or Armor of War, and all three appear inferior to Full Plate.

Weapons are a completely different matter since their stats can vary so much more.  I've noticed that there are some decidedly epic items such as the Morningstar of the Heavens, Pike of the Dragonslayer, and Maul of Armok.  Not to say that one damage type is better or worst than another (since there's a time and place for all three/four), but has anyone found certain weapons to be especially effective or ineffective?  Any weapons that transcend their stats?

I was thinking about arming a 10-dwarf squad with bifrost Frostbrands.

EDIT:  And what the heck are the kits (e.g. Legion Kit, Auxilla Kit) Meph?

[Meph]

And what the heck are the kits (e.g. Legion Kit, Auxilla Kit) Meph?

Orcish Weapons. Check their manual, smakemupagus made those weapons.

[jonveck]

Ah, thanks Meph.  I've never tried the orcs so I was totally ignorant of their gear.

[AJC]

the kits are basically 2 weapons in one thing with a few having stuff like ranged weapon firing stuff with a melee weapon attacks.

[Urist McTeellox]

I don't yet have Orcish meadhall running for the weapon-kits, but my Warchief is wielding a mithril welded daikatana one-handed (Uruks for the win). It's pretty sweet.

Having said that, orcs have a pretty nasty bite. One of my soldiers ran onto the battlefield without a weapon, and proceeded to tear off drow limbs with his teeth. It was glorious to behold.

[hera35]

Still crossbows due to overabundance of skin rotting warlock snatchers / invasions and very cheap materials.
But I've been starting to experiment with melee as well, mainly for suicidal cleanup squads. Gemforge weapons seem to be extremely effective relative to their ease of acquisition.

Peeking at the raws for the first time now and I'm a bit confused with the multiple different GEM materials that have varying shear yields and densities. At least judging by practical tests (and the manual mentions "the created weapons are extremely sharp") they seem to be above steel for cutting but I'm wondering how they would perform as blunt weapons or armor.

Also another question related to weapons and armor. When upgraded at the weaponry / armory / engineer's forge (for traps) do they retain their previous quality levels / does the original quality affect the end product? I've done a few embarks starting with a trained gem cutter / glass maker for the purpose of arming my military with cheap but effective weaponry and haven't really delved into to the upgrade system yet. Looking at the workshops in question it seems they're operated by weapon / armor smiths and engineers and started to wonder if I should just focus on those skills instead.
Same question with pottery. The shaping and drying are done by Stonecrafter/Potter labor while the actual end product is created by an Oven Operator.

[jonveck]

@Hera:

The original weapon/armor is lost in those reactions, with a wholly new product created with the reagent's material.  Your mundane, no-quality gemstone swords can be turned into masterwork by a legendary weaponsmith at the weapon workshop.

[Tierre]

Or the other way around:) Masterwork into mundane:)

[jonveck]

@Tierre:

I was trying to go the glass half-full route, thank you very much! ;-)