Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Zhaine]

Is there a comprehensive list of weapon (and armor) types and materials that compares the effectiveness as weapon type and/or armor penetration/ naked effectivness in a simple format?

I remember a thread about it but I can't seem to find it again, search is being decidedly unhelpful today.

[KtosoX]

When in doubt, check the wiki!
http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Weapon
http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Metal

[EveryZig]

That does not explain much about efficiency though.
from my experience:
steel/addy battle axes < steel/addy picks < silver war hammers
(Both armored an unarmored)

Spears are good at getting lucky vs huge creatures like megabeasts, and I don't know about swords.

Maces are generally inferior to war hammers, and lashes are much better than warhammers of the same material/quality, but can't be manufactured by you (and are therefore practically always low quality).

Though picks do have the huge advantage that they use the miner skill, so you can train a legendary miner. (Keep in mind that does not give them any of the other combat skills, but weapon skill is one of the most important ones.)

[Zhaine]

I've tended to notice swords are more consistent in what they do, not good not bad but you tend to get the same performance every time, spears are what are throwing me off, they seem to have a tendency to get lucky at the most inappropriate times (damn you berserk dorfs!).


Anyway thanks for the info may need to try out the arena a bit *sigh* this could eat up a few days

[celem]

As for materials on anything not blunt:  Spoiler-Steel-Iron-Bronze-Copper

Bismuth bronze is just slightly more valuable bronze. 
Bronze and iron are really really close.

blunt: silver-steel-copper-iron

After silver its all pretty much the same, trading weight for elasticity and such, iron not so good

[Zhaine]

Does that hold true for all weapons in a category or just 'most'

If it differs are the differences worth worrying about or not? 

[celem]

It holds.  warhammers, crossbows and maces follow the blunt progression.  Everything else uses the other.

The odd point is crossbow bolts which seem best with silver/copper like a blunt weapon.

I believe that bronze is a slightly better armour than iron and a slightly inferior weapon.  Could be other way round and is really minor anyway

[Erkki]

In my experience(emphasis on the word mine), depends on what you're facing, but generally

Warhammer/Mace: hit quick, disable the enemy in just a few hits ignoring armor, but dont decapitate, and dont kill very quick at all. Usually combat log is 4-5 pages in legendary Dorf vs. Goblin. Silver hits best through armor, steel hammers are better against unarmored(Goblins and Elves). Hammers are usually preferred over maces, but in my experience the difference is marginal, and a hit in the head is a kill any way. Dwarf skill plays most important role there.

Spear: good penetration, usually disables the enemy nearly as quick as hammers, but kills them quicker. Simply a must to have in case you meet bigger critters(FBs, Titans, semimegabeasts(excluding bronze colossi), Goblins' mounts(giant bat, giant cave swallow, rutherer and especially jabberer, also Trolls). Against goblins the drawback is that often 1-2 first hits go to shield hand, feet and legs, allowing the bad guy the chance to hit back before they bleed out or are disabled by a torso hit. Good penetration so bronze and iron both work, against typical opponents, as well as steel and candy.

Sword: slash & stab, in my experience kills Goblins and Elves the quickest of all weapons in bigger fights, but only if its made of steel or candy. Iron and bronze made ones, when slashing, dont penetrate iron armor too well(unlike spears), at times not even copper or leather. The stab still works but the penetration depth is bad. If you want to pick just one weapon for all of the military, use swords or spears, and still have a backup squad of the other.

Axe: most powerful single attack, ie. most likely to decapitate one-shot, but like with swords, iron and bronze made ones dont always penetrate iron armor. Slow attack speed means in bigger fights the enemy gets to hit back more often, before getting neutralized, though. Best made out of steel & candy.


As for Dwarves like to keep bashing an already disabled enemy with their hammers and maces, instead of going after the bandits still intact, so you might want to use hammers and axes mixed 50-50% for quick disabling & finishing off, or spears and swords like I usually do(so that instead of 50%, all 100% work against both humanoids and critters) - but preferred weapon(s) of course depends on the enemy and what you have available. Without steel spears and hammers become more attractive, without bronze you can drop swords and axes completely, and without iron, its hammers, maces & crossbows; and pray Armok you never meet a Bronze colossus or worse. 

EDIT: also, http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Military_testing

[Zhaine]

In my experience...
{snip}
...pray to Armok you never meet a Bronze colossus or worse. 

Thanks, this is pretty much the sort of info I was looking for. Anyone else able to confirm these observations?

[Golcondio]

I stand by picks: good steel ones can be bought from caravans, and if you are lucky to have a lot of clay or sand you can build legendary miners fairly quickly.

I don't know the hard numbers, but in my experience picks act like lightsabers: they're fast, they penetrate virtually anything, sever limbs just like a axe and result in a high percentage of headshot instakills.

[nekoexmachina]

Thanks, this is pretty much the sort of info I was looking for. Anyone else able to confirm these observations?

you could test it via Object Testing area all by yourselves.

[Zhaine]

I could, and probably will, later-ish. But if someone has already done it that would rock, I don't expect anyone to do it just to answer me but if you already have the info it would save time.

Yeah I'm lazy but that's why I have dorfs to mine for me xD

[Mechatronic]

The thread you're looking for is this one:

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=53571.0

[Mechatronic]

Things to take from that thread:

Material doesn't matter for blunt weapons. (Except adamantine, which is terrible.) The numbers are all much the same. Hammers are a bit better than maces.

Material makes a huge difference to edged weapons. Adamantine > steel > iron = bronze > copper > silver. Axes being most affected, then swords, then spears.

Axes are the best choice if you have adamantine, and adamantine axes are the best weapon overall all. Hammers are the best if you have silver or copper, although copper spears aren't too bad. Axes are mostly the best if you have steel, though swords are better against bronze armour. With bronze and iron it's hard to say, with different weapons being better against different armour materials, and some weapons being better able to penetrate armour and other worse at that, but doing more serious wounds when they do.

Material makes a huge difference to armour. Adamantine > steel > iron = bronze > copper > silver.

[kotekzot]

Material does matter for blunt weapons though. The heavier the better.

I've also used a silver battle axe as a serviceable weapon by using its blunt attacks.