MY BRAIN DONT UNDERSTAND METALS

[Luck]

I WANT MY DWARFERS TO NOT DIE IN BATTLE BUT I DONT KNOW WHICH MATERIAL IS BEST I DONT CARE HOW COSTLY IT IS

[TerraSleet]

Well trained dorfers are vastly more effective than well armed dorfers. An unarmed legendary wrestlerdwarf can pin and choke out enemies much bigger and better equipped than them. I've even heard tales of yore of dwarves pinning dragons - not sure if this is possible anymore. With that said though you'll definitely want armed dwarves to quickly dispatch enemies - unarmed dwarves quickly get outnumbered and overwhelmed. Steel is great but most metals will do fine if you're lacking resources, what's more important is getting them training and getting talented squad leaders to train them faster. Give them any old armor and weapons until you have a thriving industry.

Get your militia on a strict training regimen and they'll be slaying pointy-eared hippies in no time.

[The Former]

引用自 Frank McFuzz：

引用自 AlP：

Steel cuts through iron and lower.

Iron cuts through bronze and lower.

Bronze cuts through copper and lower.

It's not just cutting. Bronze hammers are better than iron hammers because bronze is denser.

And silver's almost as good for bashers, too, because silver is also dense.

Damage-wise, but what about durability? Does the game respect that bronze and silver are softer metals that are prone to dent and roll against iron?

[AlP]

引用自 Frank McFuzz：

In my current fort I have no flux stone

You should have marble somewhere.

引用自 Ni Sam Bith：

Damage-wise, but what about durability? Does the game respect that bronze and silver are softer metals that are prone to dent and roll against iron?

There is no real durability here.

The weapon either cuts (sword) or bashes (hammer) through armor. The sharper the metal, the better it is at cutting (steel, candy). The heavier the metal, the better is at bashing (lead, silver, platinum).

Steel is the best general metal for everything. There is not much difference if you use a steel hammer or a silver one.

[Gedsaro]

引用自 Ni Sam Bith：

引用自 Frank McFuzz：

It's not just cutting. Bronze hammers are better than iron hammers because bronze is denser.

And silver's almost as good for bashers, too, because silver is also dense.

Damage-wise, but what about durability? Does the game respect that bronze and silver are softer metals that are prone to dent and roll against iron?

I believe material does matter for combat wear, whether its enough difference to matter much, I'm not sure as haven't looked into it much

Also, if I remember right, if the item in question is artifact level quality, I'm 99% certain it can't suffer normal durability damage?

Also for flux stone and the like, depending who you have to trade with, you may be able to get at least small amounts from trade, to use for a few important items.

[The Former]

引用自 Gedsaro：

Also, if I remember right, if the item in question is artifact level quality, I'm 99% certain it can't suffer normal durability damage?

That would certainly make sense. Can't have legendary generation-spanning weapons if they don't hold up through the generations!

[The Former]

Wiki has clarified:

Armor and weapons can also suffer wear as a result of combatv0.43.04. For weapons, the chances of suffering wear depend on the material properties of the body tissues or armor encountered during an attack, while armor suffers wear depending on the material properties of the body part/weapon hitting it. The chance depends on their relative fracture, yield, and possibly strain-at-yield, impact or shear depending on the type of attack. For example, a leather helm will rapidly deteriorate if you let its wearer suffer a few dog bites, while bone or shell helms will degrade much slower (being equivalent to tooth in shear values).

[AlP]

Ah, it must have been changed at some point.

[Arcanua]

引用自 Arzanyos：

Steel best. Iron little bit better than bronze. Copper bad. Silver bad, except for hammers, where really good.

You forgot maces with silver. Easier way to think denser = blunt weapons, lighter = sharp weapons.

Dwarf Fortress considers density and other traits to metals as they are for us so you can worst case use that to figure out such things too and not persay need to use the wiki.

[AlP]

引用自 Arcanua the Death Mage：

引用自 Arzanyos：

Steel best. Iron little bit better than bronze. Copper bad. Silver bad, except for hammers, where really good.

You forgot maces with silver. Easier way to think denser = blunt weapons, lighter = sharp weapons.

Dwarf Fortress considers density and other traits to metals as they are for us so you can worst case use that to figure out such things too and not persay need to use the wiki.

Maces are complete ♥♥♥♥, and silver is only marginally better. Use steel.

[Morkonan]

引用自 Luck：

I WANT MY DWARFERS TO NOT DIE IN BATTLE BUT I DONT KNOW WHICH MATERIAL IS BEST I DONT CARE HOW COSTLY IT IS

Once you get to Steel... you're basically done. It's all you really need to focus on until you get it. For the rest, check the wiki:

https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Metal

Getting to steel is all you should focus on during the game if you haven't yet been able to craft it. After you've got that up and running, most other bits that are situationally better are just gravy. (Some exceptions, but Steel "everything" is still very, very, strong. ('cept for crossbows. Use copper, there, in case your dorfs have to use them as maces. You can buy silver (IIRC) crossbows from Humans, IIRC, to give you a tiny increase in blunt dmg. But, they're rarely offered, so grab them when you see them.)

[Snake Bit]

Uhhh.... Picks can be used as pretty effective weapons if you've no other metal weaponry on hand. Iron or better picks can both cut and smash, right?

[Snake Bit]

引用自 Morkonan：

引用自 Luck：

I WANT MY DWARFERS TO NOT DIE IN BATTLE BUT I DONT KNOW WHICH MATERIAL IS BEST I DONT CARE HOW COSTLY IT IS

Once you get to Steel... you're basically done. It's all you really need to focus on until you get it. For the rest, check the wiki:

https://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Metal

Getting to steel is all you should focus on during the game if you haven't yet been able to craft it. After you've got that up and running, most other bits that are situationally better are just gravy. (Some exceptions, but Steel "everything" is still very, very, strong. ('cept for crossbows. Use copper, there, in case your dorfs have to use them as maces. You can buy silver (IIRC) crossbows from Humans, IIRC, to give you a tiny increase in blunt dmg. But, they're rarely offered, so grab them when you see them.)

Crossbows can be made of wood and do great shooting damage however their bolts should be made of iron or similar.

[Darzan]

I really can not see any good reason not to make most of your weapons and armor from anything but steel right after arriving to site. Naturally you could make some wooden crossbows and silver warhammers but steel be nearly as good.

引用自 Mungrul：

"Candy" is the best material, but comes with certain... challenges.

Let me guess - it is vulnerable to licking.

[Khan Boyzitbig of Mercia]

引用自 Darzan：

I really can not see any good reason not to make most of your weapons and armor from anything but steel right after arriving to site. Naturally you could make some wooden crossbows and silver warhammers but steel be nearly as good.

引用自 Mungrul：

"Candy" is the best material, but comes with certain... challenges.

Let me guess - it is vulnerable to licking.

Making stuff from candy is a bit more work on the overseer's end than anything else, don't know if medical dwarves were stopped from using it for sutures but that was one major issue with candy gear once you had actually obtained the candy.

As for steel, not all sites have flux stone and some don't have iron ores so you may need to make do with what you can, though goblinite usually provides some iron/bronze if you can farm it.

[Morkonan]

引用自 Snake Bit：

...
Crossbows can be made of wood and do great shooting damage however their bolts should be made of iron or similar.

Yes.

But, making them out of denser materials improves their blunt damage when Crossbowdorfs use them as clubs when they run out of bolts. :)