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Pickaxe, strike the earth!

64 (61.5%)

Battleaxe, blood for the blood god!

40 (38.5%)

Total Members Voted: 104

[Necro910]

I've seen people suggest pickaxes and battleaxes as the best weapons, so which is best?

I'm not asking which is dwarfier, I'm asking which one is better at killing.

[Jeoshua]

Depends on whose holding it.

A Legendary +5 Miner can be quite effective with his pick as a weapon, but it doesn't come close to the damage an Axe Lord can dish out.

[Lost Requiem]

Basically, miners are the best fighters starting off because pick damage is based on the user's skill in mining. However, an Axedwarf or Axe Lord with the same material/quality weapon and skill level will be much more devastating.

[Minnakht]

Picks, simply because stone is more important than wood. Oh, and you usually have more miners than woodcutters.

Also, picks are good at piercing, so you can score headsplits with them. Lopping off branches is nice and messy, but not so efficient... a pick can pick someone in a foot/arm to make him incapacitated too, no need for creating more hauler jobs.

[ral]

I don't go out of my way to use picks, but I often put all my miners into a "miner squad" especially if I don't have a real military. But it's not a bad idea to have them in a squad all the time in case a dwarf goes berserk or whatever and you just want the closest guy with a reasonably effective weapon to get there first. I just wouldn't send them out onto the field or anything... they're more of an emergency backup or a way to tell miners to hurry up and kill something if something interrupts their mining.

[MarcAFK]

I think someone tested picks and found they were fairly good at scoring serious wounds through heavy armour, but axes tend to score incapacitating limb removing hits very quickly making them far more effective. I'll see if i can find that thread..

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=75478.msg1898991#msg1898991

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

i had no idea that having miner as a skill made them good at fighting with it. i thought my legendary miner stuck outside with no armour and a iron pick was screwed when a group of 8 goblins turned up.
 he ran away but they caught up with him one at a time, every time they missed on the first strike and he counter striked, every time taking of a limb. there were 8 amputee goblins in a big long line across my map an he got away unscathed

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I have used both pickaxes as weapons in both adventure mode and fortress mode.  They are highly effective and will sever limbs and tear brains on armored and unarmored foes alike.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

...
and as for picks being a bad weapon: i have to disagree, the number of times ive seen my dwarfs hit vitals like nerves is astonishingly regular compared to my other millatery. after a few blows with a pick on the right spots, an apponent almost stops being able to fight back. It seems particularly impressive how it tears the spine tissue very often. wich in battle is as good as a death warrent.

No real science vs armour there but the comments seem to attest good penetration and limb removal, so i'm all for picks as a weapon, just keep in mind that there was a bug with the dwarves dropping their pick and seeking a new one when drafted, i can't remember if toady has fixes it yet.Also Miners stay civilians so there's always an unhappy thought from drafting them.

[Necro910]

I think someone tested picks and found they were fairly good at scoring serious wounds through heavy armour, but axes tend to score incapacitating limb removing hits very quickly making them far more effective. I'll see if i can find that thread..

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=75478.msg1898991#msg1898991

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

i had no idea that having miner as a skill made them good at fighting with it. i thought my legendary miner stuck outside with no armour and a iron pick was screwed when a group of 8 goblins turned up.
 he ran away but they caught up with him one at a time, every time they missed on the first strike and he counter striked, every time taking of a limb. there were 8 amputee goblins in a big long line across my map an he got away unscathed

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I have used both pickaxes as weapons in both adventure mode and fortress mode.  They are highly effective and will sever limbs and tear brains on armored and unarmored foes alike.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

...
and as for picks being a bad weapon: i have to disagree, the number of times ive seen my dwarfs hit vitals like nerves is astonishingly regular compared to my other millatery. after a few blows with a pick on the right spots, an apponent almost stops being able to fight back. It seems particularly impressive how it tears the spine tissue very often. wich in battle is as good as a death warrent.

No real science vs armour there but the comments seem to attest good penetration and limb removal, so i'm all for picks as a weapon, just keep in mind that there was a bug with the dwarves dropping their pick and seeking a new one when drafted, i can't remember if toady has fixes it yet.Also Miners stay civilians so there's always an unhappy thought from drafting them.

Nice. I'm having full-time soldiers, not a militia, so the miner glitch isn't an issue.

[Lost Requiem]

It's not a glitch. I think Toady programmed the pick combat to work like that.

And don't think anyone's undermining a miner as a starting soldier. A lot of times, he's the only thing saving an early fortress from gypsy scum, thievin' kids and crusty jugglers.

[Lagslayer]

A pick, because has the ability to penetrate like a spear, chop like an axe, and bash like a hammer. The best part is that it is all rolled into a single attack, without the chance to do something stupid and ineffective like a pommel strike or a flat slap. Then again, an axe is probably a little better on average if your weapon material outclasses the armor it is striking. Part of the appeal of the pick is that if it can't penetrate the armor, it's big for a 1H weapon and has 2X velocity for good blunt attacks. Mining also has practical use, but doesn't count as a military skill, and you have the minor inconvenience of having to build up a second weapon skill to "master" to prevent unhappy military thoughts. Also also, even woodcutters have to use their axe skill for combat; woodcutting skill has no bearing.

[Necro910]

It's not a glitch. I think Toady programmed the pick combat to work like that.

And don't think anyone's undermining a miner as a starting soldier. A lot of times, he's the only thing saving an early fortress from gypsum skies, grievin' lids and crunchy jugs.

Necro cancels post: Needs rest.

[Syrup Roast]

One of my miners just decapitated a goblin master lasher in one swing with a copper pick.

Then came running for help.

[ZachUSAman]

pick axe can strike the earth and encourage others to donate blood to the blood god.

[Alastar]

Picks are the only edged weapon to combine high velocity with decent size and penetration depth. Contact area is always a trade-off... picks have enough of an edge to take off goblin-sized limbs, while remaining pointy enough to be adequate against armour. Also very effective against things made of tough materials, which shouldn't be a surprise since that's what picks are made for. I consider them the finest general purpose weapons for dwarves, others that stand out in terms of raw power (whips, morningstars) are foreign and don't fit dwarven needs as well anyway.

Edged weapons with a larger contact area are quicker at butchering opponents without relevant armour though... and with iron armour at best against adamantine blades, that's everyone you're likely to face.

[Syrup Roast]

Suppose I was to weaponize picks for a badass miner squad to take down the first wave of clowns. Would cotton candy be better than steel for the picks?

[ancistrus]

gypsy scum

There are people who would crucify you just for that expression.
Somewehere in Brussels, i think.