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[spkarrer]

tl;dr version:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

tested steel-clad dorfs against each other, each weapon fought each other weapon 112 times (one-on-one) and won a number of battles as follows: Spear-256, Mace-220, Sword-310, Axe-273, Hammer-345, Pick-274

I have heard the conventional wisdom, but wanted to do some science for myself (unfortunately, no !!SCIENCE!! here). I tested weapons against armored opponents and hypothesized that the hammer would come out on top, as the wiki says. All testing was done in 34.07 in arena mode with male dorfs.

I set up 112 one-on-one battles of dorfs in all steel gear (helm, breastplate, greaves, gauntlets, high boots, shield and weapon) through copious use of macros. They were untrained in all skills. After the fighting had ceased, I recorded the number of dorfs still alive for that particular weapon and counted that as a win against the opposing weapon. There were a few cases of mutual death, so the end numbers don't always add up to 112. Anyway, here are the results, the weapons along the left were the winners and the top were losers. So, for example, the lower left number 61 indicates that, in 112 one-on-one battles of pick vs spear, the pick won 61 times. The totals on the right are victories per weapon, and the bottom are losses.

	Spear	Mace	Sword	Axe	Hammer	Pick	Total
Spear	X	63	45	49	48	51	256
Mace	49	X	47	47	27	50	220
Sword	67	64	X	58	58	63	310
Axe	63	65	54	X	39	52	273
Hammer	64	85	54	73	X	69	345
Pick	61	62	49	60	42	X	274
Total	304	339	249	287	214	285

The hammer is still king, as expected, but other results were unexpected. For example, the mace was always outperformed, which was unexpected as I assumed it was a good blunt weapon. This is just preliminary research. I plan to expand the number of test subjects and test other variables (skill levels and materials on my radar right now). I'm open to suggestions as well. Also, if this type of thing has been done before and/or better, please let me down gently.

You can see the results here (as above, but better formatting):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhHKKKJZhFsrdDlpV3JJVGhOcnY1VGUtZ0o4bTVsX0E

Bonus results: On a whim, I checked on the wounds of the survivors. Most had zero or superficial injuries (bruised upper arm). About a fifth had more serious injuries to the arms or missing limbs. Very rarely did I find head/torso wounds.

[GhostDwemer]

More complete testing would include results of combats against creatures of different sizes as well. For example, I believe spears would be more effective against, say, dragons.

[khearn]

I've done similar testing in the past. One variable to consider is armor coverage.  I did a lot of my testing with what I call "goblin armor", just a helm and breastplate or mail shirt, since I never see goblins with armor on their limbs. Not much point in testing against armor combinations your dwarves will never face. You'll find that sharp weapons like axes and swords look a lot better if you don't have full armor coverage. Being able to easily chop off an arm or leg makes the fight go a lot better.

I also found that maces seem to underperform. They don't do as bad at high skill levels as they do at low skills, but they still don't ever come up to par with the others. One theory is that they are pretty heavy, and arena dwarves have strength that tends towards average, so most might not be strong enough to effectively use a mace.

[Ross Vernal]

Also, you should try making the bludgeoning weapons out of silver, since most people use that. And under-fabric: socks, tunic, pants.

I like what you are doing. ptw, I suppse...

[peskyninja]

Now try platinum whips vs platinum hammers.

[OscarComrade]

Adamantine edged weapons versus slade bludgeoning weapons.

[krenshala]

This was a good start.  I highly recommend you do the exact same testing using non-armored dwarves, as I believe you will get dramatically different results (e.g., maces will do better, I believe).


[edit] i the entire sentence. ;(

[Bilanthri]

This was a good start.  I highly recommend you do the exact same testing using non-armored dwarves, as I believe you will dramatically different results (e.g., maces will do better, I believe).

Also, this same test might show different results if your dwarves were legendary in their weapon skills, or armor skills, or fighter/dodger. There's a whole lot more permutations to run before any declarative statements can be made, but good job on a very fine start. 

[floundericiousWA]

tl;dr version:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

tested steel-clad dorfs against each other, each weapon fought each other weapon 112 times (one-on-one) and won a number of battles as follows: Spear-256, Mace-220, Sword-310, Axe-273, Hammer-345, Pick-274

I have heard the conventional wisdom, but wanted to do some science for myself (unfortunately, no !!SCIENCE!! here). I tested weapons against armored opponents and hypothesized that the hammer would come out on top, as the wiki says. All testing was done in 34.07 in arena mode with male dorfs.

I set up 112 one-on-one battles of dorfs in all steel gear (helm, breastplate, greaves, gauntlets, high boots, shield and weapon) through copious use of macros. They were untrained in all skills. After the fighting had ceased, I recorded the number of dorfs still alive for that particular weapon and counted that as a win against the opposing weapon. There were a few cases of mutual death, so the end numbers don't always add up to 112. Anyway, here are the results, the weapons along the left were the winners and the top were losers. So, for example, the lower left number 61 indicates that, in 112 one-on-one battles of pick vs spear, the pick won 61 times. The totals on the right are victories per weapon, and the bottom are losses.

	Spear	Mace	Sword	Axe	Hammer	Pick	Total
Spear	X	63	45	49	48	51	256
Mace	49	X	47	47	27	50	220
Sword	67	64	X	58	58	63	310
Axe	63	65	54	X	39	52	273
Hammer	64	85	54	73	X	69	345
Pick	61	62	49	60	42	X	274
Total	304	339	249	287	214	285

The hammer is still king, as expected, but other results were unexpected. For example, the mace was always outperformed, which was unexpected as I assumed it was a good blunt weapon. This is just preliminary research. I plan to expand the number of test subjects and test other variables (skill levels and materials on my radar right now). I'm open to suggestions as well. Also, if this type of thing has been done before and/or better, please let me down gently.

You can see the results here (as above, but better formatting):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhHKKKJZhFsrdDlpV3JJVGhOcnY1VGUtZ0o4bTVsX0E

Bonus results: On a whim, I checked on the wounds of the survivors. Most had zero or superficial injuries (bruised upper arm). About a fifth had more serious injuries to the arms or missing limbs. Very rarely did I find head/torso wounds.

By armok, hammers are still, by far, the best weapon...at least between opponents at equipment/size/etc. parity.

Don't just look at the number of victories, look at the differential... the hammers are +131, Swords are +61, Picks are -11, Axes are -14, Spears are -48, maces are -119.

If I average the wins/losses per weapon:
Spears: 51.2 wins and 60.8 losses
Maces: 44 wins and 69 losses
Sword: 62 wins and 51 losses
Axes: 54.6 wins and 60 losses
Hammer: 69 wins and 41.5 losses
Picks: 54.9 wins and 59 losses

There is certainly a great deal of variation in this... against steel armor, you need to be able to pierce it or hit with enough of a "whump" that you can hurt the creature inside despite the armor. 

As others suggested, a skilled swordsdwarf against a goblin with just mail shirt/helm will carve the goblin.

[Loud Whispers]

But of what material were the weapons? This is a huge variable

[IT 000]

Of course hammers did better because they all had steel armor. Blunt weapons ignore armor entirely. Maces < Hammers due to the mace's larger contact area. If you were to test this on unarmored targets, axes, swords, and spears will prevail far more than the hammer will.

[Urist Da Vinci]

Obviously you have never tested the slicing knives, carving forks, and other kitchen implements. They are superior to actual weapons:

You stab Dwarf 2 in the head with your iron spear, bruising the skin through the steel helm!
...
You stab Dwarf 2 in the head with your iron carving fork, tearing the skin and bruising the muscle, chipping the skull and bruising the brain through the steel helm!
...
You stab Dragon 1 in the head with your iron carving fork, tearing the fat and bruising the muscle and chipping the upper spine's bone and bruising the nervous tissue!
...
You stab Dwarf 2 in the head with your copper slicing knife, tearing the muscle, fracturing the skull and tearing the brain through the adamantine helm!

The point is, the DF weapons system has too many variables and quirks to be tested without rigorous variable control.