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[Pyro627]

In the past, I've always been obsessed with giving my military the highest possible quality of equipment, but now that I look at the wiki, I'm unsure how important that quality actually is.

http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Quality#Quality_grades

There's a lack of data, so does anyone know how important it is to, for instance, give my marksdwarves masterwork crossbows? (Also, do materials even matter for crossbows, and if so, what's best?

[Hurize]

the only damage change I've noticed in masterwork items in term of quality is that masterful items do more damage than others

[acetech09]

When it comes to marksdwarves, I know there's at least a 2x hit chance modifier for their melee attack. I am unsure whether masterwork/artifact xbows give any firing bonus. It has been brought up many times before, but I don't think we ever got an answer.

When it comes to melee weapons and armor, there are only three important levels. Non-masterwork, masterwork, and artifact.

Any quality level below masterwork does nothing iirc.

The game handles increased effectiveness in terms of hit chance and block chance, respectively. Wearing masterwork stuff in adventurer mode, you will be able to have a higher chance of landing the "difficult strikes". Armor will deflect more.

Masterwork/Artifact does not make the armor stronger or harder. Just a higher chance of hits.

[Sutremaine]

Quality also affects sharpness.

Masterwork: 100% of max edge
Exceptional: 90% of max edge
Superior: 80% of max edge
Finely-crafted: 70% of max edge
Well-crafted: 60% of max edge
Base: 50% of max edge

[Joben]

Quality also affects sharpness.

Masterwork: 100% of max edge
Exceptional: 90% of max edge
Superior: 80% of max edge
Finely-crafted: 70% of max edge
Well-crafted: 60% of max edge
Base: 50% of max edge

really?!? Why isn't that on the wiki?

I've only ever seen reference to increased to-hit and block rolls for masterwork and artifact.

Interestingly this also suggests quality matters a lot less for blunt weapons...

[Monk321654]

A chunk of metal with a handle will probably do about as well as a professionally made nightstick.
A club is a club.

[Sutremaine]

really?!? Why isn't that on the wiki?

Nobody's gotten around to it yet I guess. The weapons page and some of the info it references needs a general cleanup, but it's kind of a daunting task.

The original post on the subject is here. Weapon damage in 40d and earlier was handled by a single multiplier. Weapon damage in .31 is decided by numerous factors, and only sharpness has been figured out.

[Pyro627]

A chunk of metal with a handle will probably do about as well as a professionally made nightstick.
A club is a club.

It was just discussed above that quality improves hit chance.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Quality is a bit more important than material, unless armor penetration is an issue.
Artifacts made from low-grade materials are usually better than normal, high-quality items made from steel or whatever.

[melphel]

Quality is a bit more important than material, unless armor penetration is an issue.

At least in the case of armor, penetration is the issue, and I think material is far more important.  I had a speardwarf that got unconcious and survived an onslaught of five goblins trying to mash his skull in for three days.  Their silver weapons simply could not get through his steel helmet.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Shields, however, are always best at highest quality (unless shield bash damage or weight are major issues for you)