Print

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

[McMagma]

i have found lots of hematite and i melted it.. so... now i got plenty of iron, but i dont know what to do.. Axes? Hammers? Armor?

whats the best? Axes? Hammers? Spears? Swords? Maces? etc..

[mdqp]

Do you have any flux stone? If so, you can make pig iron, and then steel, which is the best use for iron. Maybe you could use it to create magma-safe components for pumps, if you don't have sand (but only after you produced enough steel equipment).

[McMagma]

got plenty of limestone (did i write right?), and a volcano close of my fortress..

[tryrar]

Also got lots of iron, but no flux for me so the question is even more relevant; when I get my metalworks going, which weapon is best used for iron?

[mdqp]

Then you really have everything you need (you need charcoal, too, but you just need wood and a wood furnace to produce it). If you have trees, you really have the perfect setting for producing steel (I never got a vulcano in my fortresses...    ). From there, armor and weapons are your friends (if you really have too much iron, you can start building traps and ballista's arrows).

[mdqp]

There isn't really a "best" weapon, as far as I know: maces and war hammers are good at incapacitating enemies (unless they are made of weird, resistant materials); spears are good for one hit wonders (if they pierce, they are likely to kill in one shot, if they get an internal organ); war axes are good to chop enemies and short swords are mix between spears and axes, if I remember correctly. Remember that you have marksdwarves, too, so using crossbows is a nice touch (remember to build fortifications, to avoid exposing them directly to the danger).

[McMagma]

like.. if we got a goblin siege what weapons should we use?

and other question, i cant make Marksdwarf... i have made 3 crossbow(iron) and 6 bolts(iron).Then i made a Squad and disignate 3 dwarf(migrants  ), then disgnate a barracks... they trained to be Hammer Dwarfs... i dont wonder stend help me -.-!

[tryrar]

You need to build an archery range as well and have them train at it for them to train up marksdorf. Trust me, though they are really awesome when you do get them trained up so it's worth the hassle. In Wheelbaldness, my captain of the guard(who is always a marksdorf for me) and his squad one-shotted 12 clowns before being overrun

[mdqp]

When you designated them for the military, did you choose "archers" or did you choose "metal armor"? The normal setting for metal armor lets them choose a melee weapon, but not a crossbow (you can change the setting in the military screen, though, it should be in the "uniform" sub-menu, if I remember correctly). At this point, I would suggest you read the wiki for further informations, as the wiki covers pretty much about everything, and explaining that many things with a single post is actually very difficult.

[MagmaSolutionsInc]

OP: "How do i use my iron?"
Urist McNudgeNudge: "know what I mean, know what I mean, nudge nudge, say no more  "
OP: 

[Jake]

Then you really have everything you need (you need charcoal, too, but you just need wood and a wood furnace to produce it). If you have trees, you really have the perfect setting for producing steel (I never got a vulcano in my fortresses...    ). From there, armor and weapons are your friends (if you really have too much iron, you can start building traps and ballista's arrows).

But start making weapons and armour -in that order!- from plain iron while the smelters are churning out steel, partly to train up your smiths but mainly so your militia have something to fight with in the interim.

[Irenices]

Iron pickaxes make extremely deadly weapons, and if im not mistaken use the mining skill so they are easy to train up.

[Garath]

If you can't make steel, iron will do well enough and is suitable for all weapon types. Not the best, but it will certainly be good enough if you don't have steel

[ledgekindred]

Before I had steel I made some iron short swords.  Fortunately I got a weaponsmith early in the migration waves and she went into a mood.  (Bone sword, woopie, but at least she became Legendary.)  So she started churning out some masterwork iron weapons for me.  Even goblins wearing armor, because it's usually leather/copper stuff, go down like a lawnmower hit them as the sword squad engages.  My speardwarves also somehow manage to chop pieces off of any invaders.  Unless you are playing a mod that allows steel armor for invaders, iron slicey/pointy weapons work pretty well.

[Rude]

"best weapon" is relative. If your worried about sieges, I'd recommend axes. Bc when a gob loses a limb, they lose a bit of the will to fight. Iron is perfectly adequate for any weapon. Steel is noticeably better, but I wouldn't recommend letting your militia go unarmed while you figure out how to make it. Though if you can, steel armor is probably the best way to ensure your soldiers see lots of dead gobs.
I'd say you should build the weapon that seems the most fun at the time.
I prefer to avoid axes bc otherwise the refuse stockpile fills up with hands and legs way to fast. AFAIK maces and hammers are mostly identical unless your anal about statically studying each fight. Head shots are almost always 1 hit kills (unless they are unskilled) but any other hit will more likely disable (at best) than kill.
Spears penetrate "all the way through" (as in if it hits, it often does max damage to organs) which is great for Head shots and sometimes a lung shot will disable an enemy well enough to forget about him until he bleeds out, but its mostly wasted on limb shots.
Swords seem to get lots of severed arteries (quick bleed out) severed tendons and ligaments (disables the limb) and can stab (to damage  organs) so I guess you could call it versatile, but it might be lacking depth on large creatures.
I wouldn't worry about steel weapons too much unless you have time and resources to kill. bc iron is great against anything the gobs can throw at you.

Also, dwarves can dual wield. It wont give you extra attacks (either or, not both at once) but it can give you versatility. xbow / hammer dwarves anyone?

(remember to build fortifications, to avoid exposing them directly to the danger).

This needs more science. In my experience, fortifications do nothing to prevent bolts from going or coming. They only seem to be useful for impeding movement without impeding archery. (as in, to keep your archers from dodging off walls)