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[IT 000]

So with the new metal scarcity I might actually be putting non-metal armor to good use. So what is better? Leather, bone, shell or wood?

[Girlinhat]

Generally, cloth - leather - wood - bone - metal, but it also depends on the wood.  Not all wood is made equal.  Overall though, hard protection works better than any soft protection, so wood armor is debatably better than adamantine clothing.  Just keep in mind that leather is the only thing dwarves can uniformly work with.  Bone and shell aren't available for all armor types, and wood is only crafted by elves.

[PopeRichardCorey]

I like using Wood armor until I can slowly filter up enough iron.  It gives the elves a use, and makes it that much more unjust when I manage to slay them later.

[Urist Imiknorris]

Generally, cloth - leather - wood - bone - metal, but it also depends on the wood.  Not all wood is made equal.  Overall though, hard protection works better than any soft protection, so wood armor is debatably better than adamantine clothing.  Just keep in mind that leather is the only thing dwarves can uniformly work with.  Bone and shell aren't available for all armor types, and wood is only crafted by elves.

You can't make leather gauntlets.

[Cheese]

Is leather better protecting against blunt weaponry?

[MarcAFK]

.....
I had no idea bone/wood armour was even useful =/

[Samrobot]

I have a huge copper ore or is it silver with 20% of copper vein to use.

[j0nas]

You know what is better?  Descriptive thread titles.

[slink]

I definitely prefer Classic to Lite.

[Mickey Blue]

Really the conundrum of this thread is a great example of why I love the new metal system, it forces you to actually consider other armor types.

Seriously, raise of hands, how many people regularly used anything other then metal armor (at least for the armor types where metal is an option)?

Don't get me wrong, I look forward to the caravan upgrades to make it so we can buy metal more effectively, however its nice not to just basically jump from 'no armor' to 'steel armor' with minimal effort.

-MB

[Girlinhat]

I only used masterwork steel, I admit.  Very easy to get a high master armorsmith after a few migrant waves, and then spam out some steel until you get masterpieces.  I'm overall enjoying the amount of thought and "scraping together resources" right now.

[Eric Blank]

I rarely produced armor, especially not masterwork by any means. My militia scrounges off the goblins that dodge into the pit o' doom at the entrance.

Just go for wooden shields and breastplates and boots from the elves, bone leggings, helms, and gauntlets, and make leather cloaks, socks and robes for your troops as an under-layer. Then salvage iron from the goblins and smelt it for steel, even if flux has to be imported.

This can all be supported by the continual export of animal wools and pottery.

[AngelaChristine]

It often takes me years to get around to making steel armor. 

http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Metal#Weapon_.26_Armor_Quality

If I'm reading the wiki right Silk has the best shear yield and shear fracture of anything but adamantine, which would make it great against cutting weapons if not for the terrible shear elasticity.  Oh well, looks like silk is still a better choice than plant cloth.  Yarn isn't listed yet. 

Bone and shell look the by far the best.  Much better than wood or leather.  If you have a fisherman that keeps pulling up stacks of mussels or turtles, you are set.

[slink]

I added the wool entry to the wiki.  The animal raws say that wool is hair, so I used the material raws for that.

[PopeRichardCorey]

I only used masterwork steel, I admit.  Very easy to get a high master armorsmith after a few migrant waves, and then spam out some steel until you get masterpieces.  I'm overall enjoying the amount of thought and "scraping together resources" right now.

Yeah, I'm in the same place.  I was enjoying it so much that I actually embarked on an aquifer to up the ante.

And despite having absolutely no stone and barely having enough junk to buy everything I need from the cravans, I'm about to round out my second autumn and I have almost 60 dwarves already.  I think I underestimated the value of cooked meals.

Trying to figure out how to do everything without any stone is a hoot; I've deforested the entire surface and I"m still fighting.  I think I'll be doing this more often, and I'm actually starting to hope that metal levels aren't tweaked up much in the next version.