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[Sloth-Man96]

Right now I'm stuck with only wooden weapons, and i'm not sure how to make better weapons. I'm smelting sphalerite and a dwarf that was taken by a fey mood used that instead of iron. So, will I be able to make weapons with sphalerite? If so, what steps do I need to take? And if not, then where can I find some iron? Thanks for all the help.

[wierd]

Did the dwarf take the raw sphalerite, or the metal bars?

Raw sphalerite is a rock, and will not have a good edge stat. It will probably make poor weapons.
The metal bar will do better.

EDIT
Sphalerite is an ore of iron and zinc, but DF only treats it like an ore of zinc.  Zinc would make an OK hammer too.

[Sloth-Man96]

Did the dwarf take the raw sphalerite, or the metal bars?

Raw sphalerite is a rock, and will not have a good edge stat. It will probably make poor weapons.
The metal bar will do better.

EDIT
Sphalerite is an ore of iron and zinc, but DF only treats it like an ore of zinc.  Zinc would make an OK hammer too.

I've been choosing the option "smelt sphalerite ore" at the smelter. After I did that, the dwarf took it. So what should i do to get better weapons in this situation?

[Magnumcannon]

Did the dwarf take the raw sphalerite, or the metal bars?

Raw sphalerite is a rock, and will not have a good edge stat. It will probably make poor weapons.
The metal bar will do better.

EDIT
Sphalerite is an ore of iron and zinc, but DF only treats it like an ore of zinc.  Zinc would make an OK hammer too.

I've been choosing the option "smelt sphalerite ore" at the smelter. After I did that, the dwarf took it. So what should i do to get better weapons in this situation?

Check the workshop with "T" to see if there is any bar. If there is, go to a forge and...well, do your weapons!

[Sloth-Man96]

Did the dwarf take the raw sphalerite, or the metal bars?

Raw sphalerite is a rock, and will not have a good edge stat. It will probably make poor weapons.
The metal bar will do better.

EDIT
Sphalerite is an ore of iron and zinc, but DF only treats it like an ore of zinc.  Zinc would make an OK hammer too.

I've been choosing the option "smelt sphalerite ore" at the smelter. After I did that, the dwarf took it. So what should i do to get better weapons in this situation?

Check the workshop with "T" to see if there is any bar. If there is, go to a forge and...well, do your weapons!

Just did, I've got a bunch of zinc bars. But im looking at the "weapons and amunition" part of the Metalsmith's forge and i'm not seeing zinc.

[Magnumcannon]

Huh...so i think zinc isn't usable as a weapon material then. Do you have any other kind of ore around, like Hematite, Magnetite, Limonite? Those are all iron ores. If you happen to find one of them, make good use! Also, if you happen to find silver, make sure you craft blunt weapons, they're far more effective than silver edge-weapons.

[Romegypt]

you can't use zinc to make weapons, it's only use in the game is mixed with copper, you will get bronze.
Dig deep enough, and you will probably find copper. I almost always find copper deep down when I see sphalerite.

[Magnumcannon]

you can't use zinc to make weapons, it's only use in the game is mixed with copper, you will get bronze.
Dig deep enough, and you will probably find copper. I almost always find copper deep down when I see sphalerite.

Isn't tin you mix with copper to get bronze?

[taptap]

With copper (most embarks have at least some copper) and zinc you can make a brass minecart, which is almost a weapon. Now you only have to load the minecart, e.g. with brass crafts, and accelerate them and shoot them through a fortification -> weapon with zinc.

[Col_Jessep]

Zink is not really much of a use for weapons. You want copper, iron or silver. Silver only for blunt weapons like hammers and maces.
Copper ores are native copper, tetrahedrite and malachite. With tin (cassiterite) you can make bronze which is almost comparable to iron for weapons and armor.
Iron can be smelted from hematite, limonite and magnetite. If you found any of those ores you are golden. Just make iron stuff, it's pretty good and you can deal with steel later once you have more experience.

Sometimes your embar area just doesn't have any easily accessible, useful ores. Your best option then is to buy iron stuff from the caravans and smelt it down. Or you can ask your outpost liaison to bring you ores and bars next year. You won't get a lot this way but it will be enough to get off the ground.

[EvilBob22]

I find that the best, and most common, ore is goblinite.

[Romegypt]

herp derp I was thinking cassiterite. You need zinc for BISMUTH bronze

[Dirst]

Zink is not really much of a use for weapons. ...

Just to clarify, an artifact can be made out of "inappropriate" materials.  So you could have an axe made of soap or a throne made of dog leather.  Just because you see an artifact made a certain way doesn't mean that your fort suddenly gains the ability to make those things routinely.  Even the Dwarf who made the original artifact doesn't seem to be able to duplicate the feat.

[Magnumcannon]

herp derp I was thinking cassiterite. You need zinc for BISMUTH bronze

Isn't bismuth bronze made out of tin, copper and bismuth? The only alloys you can do with zinc are Brass and Nickel Silver.

[Col_Jessep]

Anyway, SlothMan, the wiki contains a lot of great lists with ores and alloys. Some articles I can recommend:

http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Ore
http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Alloy#Alloys_2
http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:The_Non-Dwarf%27s_Guide_to_Rock

But what you want to watch out for are ores for iron. Iron works great and you don't need to worry about alloys (for now). If you don't have any iron ores you will have to settle for copper or bronze. And if you can find some silver you can make war hammers. War hammers can break bones through armor and are effective against armored goblins.