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[yiggdrasill]

I know its the worst metal I can use for weapons and armour, but even with asking the caravan for tons of iron and bronze im still having a real weapons shortage (armour isn't even a consideration right now). is it reasonable to say "any weapon is better than no weapon"? or is it just a waste of time?

[Saiko Kila]

Yes, it is quite good in vanilla, especially for blunt weapons and for bolts. Not so for armour, because it's heavy and has low stats. Still, experienced soldiers can move quick in copper armour and chop of heads with copper axes no problem.

In modded games copper may be worse, because enemies use more and better quality armour.

By the way, be thankful you do have copper at least. Recently I embarked on a site which has no weapon grade metal ores except adamantine, which is too deep to dig to be practical.

Also, my sites usually have no iron present, and I still eventually clad everyone in steel, thanks to goblinite and caravans, so it's doable. I start with steel helmets.

[Cathar]

Well, copper is lighter than bronze, but can be perfored by any weapon grade material. With that said, a copper weapon is infinitely superior to a wooden weapon, especially against early threats.

As soon as you can, buy some tin and start producing bronze, which can resist to iron weaponry. As Saiko said, copper blunties can do a number on armored enemies, while copper slashies are very good against unarmored opponents. The problem arises when you start to face organized enemies with armors such as goblins.

But should you meet a werebeast in the early game, you'll be very glad to have a set of copper swords and axes

[PatrikLundell]

Any weapon is better than no weapon, and "obsidian swords" can be produced in a pinch. It should also be noted that unskilled militia move like drugged turtles (or some visiting mercs/caravan guards...) if wearing heavy armor, so you may want to consider leather/bone armor early on. As Saiko Kila said, metal gear on the head is a priority when you move over to metal armor.

[anewaname]

You will always need some military dwarfs to chase away job-cancelling wildlife.

Consider a uniform of copper axe/mailshirt/helm/gauntlets/highboots, bone leggings, and a wood shield. It weighs about 30 urists. It gives full armor coverage for training armor skill, and protects against wildlife. The copper mail shirt seems worth the weight because of the coverage it gives (neck, torso, and upper legs). Against claw attacks, mail can be the difference between a bruise and a torn artery. The mail and high boots already help protect the legs, so the lighter bone leggings should be enough. The skill increase from that uniform will prepare the dwarfs for the additional of 40 urists from breastplate and greaves. I make copper armor and weapons for early squads even when I have iron available.

[yiggdrasill]

Well, copper is lighter than bronze, but can be perfored by any weapon grade material. With that said, a copper weapon is infinitely superior to a wooden weapon, especially against early threats.

As soon as you can, buy some tin and start producing bronze, which can resist to iron weaponry. As Saiko said, copper blunties can do a number on armored enemies, while copper slashies are very good against unarmored opponents. The problem arises when you start to face organized enemies with armors such as goblins.

But should you meet a werebeast in the early game, you'll be very glad to have a set of copper swords and axes

this was exactly my worry. thanks all
one final question, can I actually smelt bars together? I have no metal at all so its all imported as bars. im very happy to make bronze if I can.

[Urist9876]

Yes.

If you order tin bars and you mine copper, you can make bronze.

Some reactions give better value when smelting directly instead of using bars. That is hardly a consideration if you only have copper and need something better.

[ShaveDaWookie]

dont underestimate cloth and leather armor, ive met many a veteran player who still only uses metal armor and wonders why his dwarfs take to many broken toes/fingers

[Bumber]

I have no metal at all so its all imported as bars.

You should be ordering ores, too.

[andrei901]

Well, copper is lighter than bronze, but can be perfored by any weapon grade material. With that said, a copper weapon is infinitely superior to a wooden weapon, especially against early threats.

As soon as you can, buy some tin and start producing bronze, which can resist to iron weaponry. As Saiko said, copper blunties can do a number on armored enemies, while copper slashies are very good against unarmored opponents. The problem arises when you start to face organized enemies with armors such as goblins.

But should you meet a werebeast in the early game, you'll be very glad to have a set of copper swords and axes

this was exactly my worry. thanks all
one final question, can I actually smelt bars together? I have no metal at all so its all imported as bars. im very happy to make bronze if I can.

Yes you can. If you make axes, you can even smelt those down for a 0.2 bar profit to upgrade them to bronze.

I would say that two axes, two helmets, and two mail shirts should be made immediately of any weapon grade materials, just because that's the minimum for dealing with any werebeast reliably. After that worry about whether you have good materials or not. Gauntlets, high boots, and legs are secondary to head and torso, especially with any bare minimum hospital. Plus, it won't slow them down as much as a full shell.

[Erk]

Small aside, I've been getting my dwarves to wear a mail shirt with leather armour on top in lieu of a breastplate, when I'm metal limited. It actually works pretty well. Would fit this situation. I also plunk a leather cap beneath the metal helmet.

[Sarmatian123]

I know its the worst metal I can use for weapons [...]

You kidding me? o.O

Copper short of rare platinum, which you additionally need to mod in txt file to be able to use for weapons, is the best metal for war-hammers, maces and hunters' crossbows. Not guards' crossbows of course, as those need to be as light as possible... hehehe...

Wood would be perfect for shields, if Dwarves stopped calling those cheap "use&throw away" things names and consistently putting them into my fortress adamantine artifact list. Grrr! Bad Dwarves BAD! Grrr!

Adamantine is the best metal for edge weapons and armor though. Easy to dig for too, if you're save scamming like me. Just edit in raw/objects/unorganic_metal.txt and change those inefficient waffles into bars first.

[ShaveDaWookie]

I know its the worst metal I can use for weapons [...]

You kidding me? o.O

Copper short of rare platinum, which you additionally need to mod in txt file to be able to use for weapons, is the best metal for war-hammers, maces and hunters' crossbows. Not guards' crossbows of course, as those need to be as light as possible... hehehe...

Wood would be perfect for shields, if Dwarves stopped calling those cheap "use&throw away" things names and consistently putting them into my fortress adamantine artifact list. Grrr! Bad Dwarves BAD! Grrr!

Adamantine is the best metal for edge weapons and armor though. Easy to dig for too, if you're save scamming like me. Just edit in raw/objects/unorganic_metal.txt and change those inefficient waffles into bars first.

from the wiki:
Silver has the highest density of all the weapon-grade metals; its additional weight enhances the performance of bludgeoning weapons such as maces, mauls, and war hammers. However, a low shear strength means silver-made edged weapons such as spears or swords are quite terrible compared to other weapons-grade metals.

if you use DF hacks reveal command when embarking to a new site you can look at all the layers and see if it has what you want, then you can unreveal and play like normal, this wont show candy or the circus, or the magma sea

[Fleeting Frames]

Using the prospect command, or embark-assistant plugin might be better option as then you don't have to embark. Also, in my experience reveal does show the magma sea, miracle poles nonwithstanding - was it changed recently?

Named wood shields won't break when dwarves use them to hit enemies with, and they're familiar to the dwarves, so they have superior performance over unnamed ones. But I suppose you could rotate the shields while (initially?) keeping track with Dwarf Therapist, or just plain assign second weapon instead of shield (and don't let them be evaporated by dragons).

[andrei901]

Using the prospect command, or embark-assistant plugin might be better option as then you don't have to embark. Also, in my experience reveal does show the magma sea, miracle poles nonwithstanding - was it changed recently?

Named wood shields won't break when dwarves use them to hit enemies with, and they're familiar to the dwarves, so they have superior performance over unnamed ones. But I suppose you could rotate the shields while (initially?) keeping track with Dwarf Therapist, or just plain assign second weapon instead of shield (and don't let them be evaporated by dragons).

Named wooden shields will also catch fire and burn eternally. Watch your dragons!