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[Eviltane01]

Hello .
I'm starting up a squad of crossbow dwarfs and besides rock metal is my most common raw material. 
My ranged squad will be mostly concentrated around my entrance in cover behind fortfications.

Since movement speed  is not a great factor (not even sure if its affected by metal) is not an issue  I wanted to deck out my ranged squad in all steel armor. Can anyone tell me if this will negatively affect my crossbow dwarfs. Also  i was wondering if Metal cross bows were actually better then wooden or bone ones.

I couldnt find nothing about these questions on the wiki.

Thanks for your help.


edit: Wrong forum  could someone move it for me ? 

[tfaal]

Theoretically, weight can reduce speed, and reduced speed means reduced firing rate. However, in all of my testing not a single dwarf has been even slightly encumbered by a full set of steel equipment, including gauntlets, boots, leggings, chain shirt, breastplate, helm, crossbow, and thirty bolts. Still, I would advise against outfitting marksdwarves in full steel; they're going to be protected by fortifications, so only the occasional ranged attack will make it through, and a single bolt is unlikely to kill a dwarf. Obviously, I don't know how abundant coal and iron are in your fort, or how good your smithing industry is, but a helmet and breastplate will make you damn near invincible to ranged fire, which is all they're gonna be taking. I'd save the full armor for melee troops, who tend to be more effective. Oh, and to address your other question, only the quality of a crossbow affects it's accuracy, so the material you make them out of should be a matter of how skilled your metalsmiths, bone carvers and bowyers are.

[Eviltane01]

awesome!  thanks tfaal!

[tfaal]

I should note that on further inspection, my "darn near invincible" statement was a bit of an exaggeration. Even through a fortification and a steel helmet, an iron arrow can still find it's way to delicious dwarven gray matter. Additionally, it's almost impossible for armor to completely absorb a blow, so a blocked arrow can still chip bones. Given this information, it probably isn't a bad idea to go all-out on marksman armor. As long as it won't leave melee forces unprotected, I say go for it.

[Quadricwan]

In 31.xx, if you're on a map with Iron and Flux to begin with, odds are you'll have so much of both, that steel isn't a longterm problem anyway ... Marksdwarves are tricky enough to get going right now, that it's worth protecting them once they are active.

[Sensei]

Better materials only affect the melee damage of a crossbow- that is to say, when dwarves whack things over the head with it. Ideally they should never have to do that.

[HatfieldCW]

That about covers it, yeah.  If you're digging for features, though, I strongly advise you to armor up those shooters and also teach them a thing or two about hammer-type weapons, then give them high-quality metal crossbows.  You never know when you'll be called upon to deploy them to a cavern network where melee combat will become necessary, and the armor and hammer skills (smacking baddies with a crossbow is a check against the hammer skill) will turn them from glass cannons into CQB experts.  A heavy metal crossbow in the hands of a skilled hammerdwarf can really dole out the harshness in those unexpected hand-to-hand situations, either when the baddies get through the hail of bolts or when ammo runs out.