Here's the thing: DF materials are all templated. Black bear leather is just as good as blue shark leather is just as good as capybara leather, because they all use the Leather template for the material properties. Some of them are more valuable than others, but that's a function of the source, not the inherent properties. E.g. unicorn products are more valuable than dog products, but not more useful.
Same with cloths made from wool, silk and plant fiber, each of which has its own template for material properties. Silk behaves differently than cloth, but otherwise it doesn't matter what kind of silk or cloth. Bone, shell and horn/hoof are all based off the bone template (at least I'm fairly certain of that). Any two woods are the same and any two stones are the same, with the exception of density (which currently only effects collision physics and weight).
Concerning worn items specifically, metals are where material starts to become important. Each metal in the game is modeled as realistically as possible concerning hardness, brittleness (for [MAX_EDGE] purposes) and density. So for weapons1 and armor you should use steel whenever you can find it, or iron when you can't find steel (i.e. pretty much all the time) and you should avoid copper and silver if at all possible2.
The other factor you should pay attention to is Item Quality, which is actually a value recorded in the game. You'll notice that some items are a -silk sock- or an *iron helm* or whatever; those surrounding symbols are a marker of the quality of the item. Any two -Iron Spear- in the game will be functionally identical (decorations make no difference except to look pretty and cost more, so they can be ignored) but an +Iron Spear+ will be better than any -Iron Spear-.
I hope that helps... kind of a wordwall but then again, if you don't have the patience for reading, you probably won't like DF much...
P.S. It took me waaaay too long to figure out what a "hand long story short" is and how I could give you one.
1 This goes for edged weapons only, as softer metals don't hold an edge well and thus make inferior slashing/piercing weapons. For blunt weapons -- or for that matter, blunt attacks with edged weapons (such as pommel strikes) -- all metals are pretty comparable, with copper and silver having a very slight edge. Pun very much intended.
2 Even for adventurers with decent Strength and/or Dexterity, a full set of copper armor can actually be a liability: adventuring often leads the player into scenarios where they are outnumbered, in which cases the ability to make a fighting retreat is invaluable; being encumbered by armor means not only that the wolf pack or goblin ambush or whatnot you're up against gets more attacks against you than you get against them, but you won't have the option of stringing them along and fighting one at a time. They'll swarm you and surround you, which no amount of armor will counteract. If all you can find is copper, it may be better to limit yourself to a helm, shield and breastplate/mail shirt.
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Topic: item quality questions from noob (Read 780 times)