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[nanomage]

on the matter of metals- My metalcrafter forged an artifact silver spear. What does this mean?

this a legendary smith i guess.
Don't know what to do with spear, silver blades do not usually pierce goblin armour and shaft bash is quite a weak attack anyway. I'd still give it to my speardwarf if he hasn't named weapon yet.

[EveryZig]

The silver spear is not that great in combat but can be put in a weapon trap as an extremely valuable decoration.

There is one thing that copper does best out of all unmodded metals: Shields. (Heavier shields are more effective in combat and copper is the heaviest metal you can make shields out of without moods.

[Lexx]

The silver spear is not that great in combat but can be put in a weapon trap as an extremely valuable decoration.

There is one thing that copper does best out of all unmodded metals: Shields. (Heavier shields are more effective in combat and copper is the heaviest metal you can make shields out of without moods.

Better than steel for shields?

[Marthnn]

The silver spear is not that great in combat but can be put in a weapon trap as an extremely valuable decoration.

There is one thing that copper does best out of all unmodded metals: Shields. (Heavier shields are more effective in combat and copper is the heaviest metal you can make shields out of without moods.

Better than steel for shields?

Yes. Better than steel. Shield blocks are the same for any shield material. What changes is the Shield bash attack, a blunt strike somewhat like a mace, warhammer or melee crossbow. So the heavier the better.

[antymattar]

The silver spear is not that great in combat but can be put in a weapon trap as an extremely valuable decoration.

There is one thing that copper does best out of all unmodded metals: Shields. (Heavier shields are more effective in combat and copper is the heaviest metal you can make shields out of without moods.

Better than steel for shields?

steel is light weight. Thanks for the advice. I will do that RIGHT NOW!!!

[GreatWyrmGold]

so what should I make with th copper?

Doy you have silver? No? Make warhammers and armor. Armor first.

on the matter of metals- My metalcrafter forged an artifact silver spear. What does this mean?

It'll be sharper than normal, but would still be best used as a bludeoning weapon. Of course, that same military that insists on slapping enemies with training swords will try and stab the spear through +iron armor+.

[Alastar]

Blunt weapons are rather pointless (pun intended). Anything below full iron armour doesn't warrant specialised can openers, copper spears will do at least as well - and they're somewhat useful against beasts. Since many invaders will have exposed limbs, picks are a decent compromise.
If you want blunt weapons for flavour reasons, all non-adamantine materials seem about equal in usefulness. There are reproducable differences, but they seem to be both minor and complex (what's best may depend on wielder stats, exact weapon and victim. For example, silver often seemed ahead against armour but behind against unarmoured opponents)

Copper and silver made the best bolts next to bronze in my tests, again with subtle difference depending on what you want to shoot (in my tests: bronze against armour, silver against unarmoured flesh). Others reported that steel does well too, they have been disappointing when I tried. Not sure what's going on there.

If you want to get your military kitted out before you have better materials, copper stops slashing attacks reasonably well and it doesn't get much better against projectiles. If weight is an issue, you can supplement it with bone.

*

Regarding shields: I don't understand the mechanics behind blocking, but in my tests adamantine shields were better than other metals which were better than wood. I'm not at all sure that copper is particularly desirable.

[antymattar]

If only copper bolts did'nt disappear once shot.

[FrisianDude]

I have a similar situation. Well, had. I just made silver warhammers and then set a single smith to making copper armour so he'd have some skill when I'd buy iron. However, I *just* found some cassiterite. So I'm switching to bronze soon. Is bronze better for spears and swords as well or is copper a better choice for that? 'cause I have a speardwarf who's made seven kills with her -bronze spear- already which does not seem unreasonable.

[Passive Fist]

Bronze is great, a little less effective as armor than steel.

[Lexx]

The silver spear is not that great in combat but can be put in a weapon trap as an extremely valuable decoration.

There is one thing that copper does best out of all unmodded metals: Shields. (Heavier shields are more effective in combat and copper is the heaviest metal you can make shields out of without moods.

Better than steel for shields?

Yes. Better than steel. Shield blocks are the same for any shield material. What changes is the Shield bash attack, a blunt strike somewhat like a mace, warhammer or melee crossbow. So the heavier the better.

Thanks for clarifying that. Good to know!

[ferok]

copper bolts maybe marginally worse than silver or steel or bronze ones, but it's negligible anyway - all metal bolts are roughly the same againts goblin-quality armor.
howerever, i don't see the point in making copper bolts if you can make silver ones with tetrahedrite.

You can also mod billon to be forged into bolts - after all, if silver and copper can, why can't their alloy?

Thanks for this, I was not aware that the difference was negligible.  I have tons of silver laying around my fort (the ores available to me are tetrahedrite, galena, and raw silver) and was looking for something to do with it.  It's already leveling up my weaponsmith, but since I've got far more silver warhammers/maces than I'll ever use, bolts would be a nice alternative.

[Lagslayer]

With your native materials, copper picks are probably the best, followed by silver war hammers or maces. Copper is heavier than any other normal armor material, and is worse than any other metal in terms of protection, but is still better than leather, wood, and bone.

[FrisianDude]

Blunt weapons are rather pointless (pun intended). Anything below full iron armour doesn't warrant specialised can openers, copper spears will do at least as well - and they're somewhat useful against beasts. Since many invaders will have exposed limbs, picks are a decent compromise.

But what is more fun than smacking a goblin so hard that his peanut-brain comes rolling out of his mouth?

[EveryZig]

Blunt weapons are rather pointless (pun intended). Anything below full iron armour doesn't warrant specialised can openers, copper spears will do at least as well - and they're somewhat useful against beasts. Since many invaders will have exposed limbs, picks are a decent compromise.
If you want blunt weapons for flavour reasons, all non-adamantine materials seem about equal in usefulness. There are reproducable differences, but they seem to be both minor and complex (what's best may depend on wielder stats, exact weapon and victim. For example, silver often seemed ahead against armour but behind against unarmoured opponents)

I have fount that in 10 v 10 teams of dwarfs, silver warhemmers still to about as well as (and in some tests, slightly better than) addy battle axes in fights between unarmored grandmaster dwarfs.

Regarding shields: I don't understand the mechanics behind blocking, but in my tests adamantine shields were better than other metals which were better than wood. I'm not at all sure that copper is particularly desirable.

Against what weapons? In my tests heavier shields did better, but it may be weapon dependent