Mailshirt vs Breastplate

[Crow Daddy 69]

What's the difference?

[HotPotatas]

Mail is a layer you can wear under a breastplate for extra protection. If you're not wearing both, mail covers more of the arms and throat while plate covers less but has a higher armor value.

[Crow Daddy 69]

So could I in theory use steel for breastplates as main armour and all the spare copper as mail shirts for extra protection or is that redundant?

[Toot]

Originally posted by Chicken Slayer:

So could I in theory use steel for breastplates as main armour and all the spare copper as mail shirts for extra protection or is that redundant?

you can and its theoretically better than only steel breastplate but if something pierces a steel breastplate the only way copper mail would help is with a lot of luck

[Sinclair]

Originally posted by Chicken Slayer:

So could I in theory use steel for breastplates as main armour and all the spare copper as mail shirts for extra protection or is that redundant?

You absolutely can. The more layers the better (but also heavier) the protection afforded by armor. Don't forget to give your milirary dwarves some capes/cloaks to get a dodge bonus.

[Crow Daddy 69]

Originally posted by Toot:

Originally posted by Chicken Slayer:

So steel breastplate the only way copper mail would help is with a lot of luck

So would steel mailshirt underneath it make the game check twice for piercing?

Originally posted by Sinclair:

Originally posted by Chicken Slayer:

So . Don't forget to give your milirary dwarves some capes/cloaks to get a dodge bonus.

Very helpful thank you!

[Teemo]

Originally posted by Toot:

Originally posted by Chicken Slayer:

So could I in theory use steel for breastplates as main armour and all the spare copper as mail shirts for extra protection or is that redundant?

you can and its theoretically better than only steel breastplate but if something pierces a steel breastplate the only way copper mail would help is with a lot of luck

Little more detail here: As an attack comes in, it has a "sharpness", "hardness", "momentum", these types of values are compared against the material the attack is hitting. So if something came in with enough momentum and was hard enough and sharp enough to pierce the breastplate (and not turn into a blunt attack), then it will have some residual momentum to the next layer. So your next layer (the mail shirt) will now have an attack hitting it with reduced momentum, and a copper mail shirt could be enough to stop it. A better approach would be steel mail shirt under steel breastplate., but copper is still better than nothing.

[Tonus]

Also note that a large amount of heavy armor reduces the speed of your dwarves, unless they have high armor skill. Fully armored dwarves have much less opportunities to block or dodge incoming attacks. And sometimes they don't have time to attack as well.

[Узник Узбекистана]

Mail covers upper and lower torso, neck, upper hands. Good against slashing and piercing weapons but awful against blunt. and not so heavy.
Plate covers only upper nad lower torso, heavy, protects same as mail against slashing/piercing, and better than mail against blunt.

[Crow Daddy 69]

If dwarves are assigned to a squad with barracks (and storage) they remove items between combat right? So the weight issue is a concern for combat only?

[McFuzz]

Originally posted by Tonus:

Also note that a large amount of heavy armor reduces the speed of your dwarves, unless they have high armor skill. Fully armored dwarves have much less opportunities to block or dodge incoming attacks. And sometimes they don't have time to attack as well.

All this being true, I'd still rather have my dwarves in full metal armour, than leather, or only partial heavy.
Sure, the professional dwarves should never get hit, but it's nice for them to be protected when they come up against something more skilled than them.

[Teemo]

Originally posted by Chicken Slayer:

If dwarves are assigned to a squad with barracks (and storage) they remove items between combat right? So the weight issue is a concern for combat only?

They train with their gear on, when the dwarves are on duty (training, patroling, stationing, fighting), they are in armor.

[Teemo]

Originally posted by Tonus:

Also note that a large amount of heavy armor reduces the speed of your dwarves, unless they have high armor skill. Fully armored dwarves have much less opportunities to block or dodge incoming attacks. And sometimes they don't have time to attack as well.

This is just evidence that you need to start training early, not that you should avoid armor. Armor is vital to protecting valuable dwarves that have been trained for combat. It's always worth getting more armor.

[vonsch]

Originally posted by Chicken Slayer:

If dwarves are assigned to a squad with barracks (and storage) they remove items between combat right? So the weight issue is a concern for combat only?

That's a setting when equipping the squad or in their barracks. Or both.

[Crow Daddy 69]

So if they are set to eb off duty or are in rotation and are not currently training they'll leave their gear in the barracks/stockpiles? Is there a way to at least force them to carry weapons with them in case they get jumped in the caverns?

[Teemo]

Originally posted by Chicken Slayer:

So if they are set to eb off duty or are in rotation and are not currently training they'll leave their gear in the barracks/stockpiles? Is there a way to at least force them to carry weapons with them in case they get jumped in the caverns?

The only way to really do this is to make them an axe squad that are all woodcutters as well. Then they'll have an axe with them when off duty.