40d:Weapon

Weapons are items that increase the damage dealt by creatures in melee combat. In fortress mode, after accessing the military screen with m, pressing w gives a list of which weapons you desire your dwarves to use. Regardless of your choice here, civilians will not wield weapons until drafted.

Weapons have different properties that affect the way they deal damage. Blunt weapons like hammers and maces tend to deal large amounts of damage to external body parts, and never get stuck in targets. Slashing or cutting weapons such as axes or swords have a tendency to sever limbs on good hits, but sometimes get stuck in their victims. Impaling weapons such as spears or crossbow bolts have a high chance to deal damage to internal organs, possibly resulting in instant kills, but have the highest chance to get stuck in victims. Weapons that get stuck in their victims cannot be reused until pulled free, which can leave the attacker vulnerable. While stuck, the weapon can be twisted in the wound, possibly causing the victim to pass out from pain.

Not all weapons can be wielded by dwarves. Larger weapons like bows cannot be wielded by the stubby dwarves, they use the smaller crossbows instead. Merchant caravans will happily sell you weapons too big for you to wield, so if you are purchasing weapons for your fortress, be sure they are usable by dwarves.

Dwarves can also create weapons themselves. Wooden and bone crossbow bolts can be created at the craftsdwarf's workshop. Higher quality bolts and melee weapons can be created at a metalsmith's forge. Dwarves can only create weapons they themselves can wield.

Weapons can be iron, silver, copper, bronze, steel, bismuth bronze, or adamantine.

There are a few enormous weapons that no race can wield, these are only usable when mounted into weapon traps. These are the menacing spike, the large, serrated disc, the spiked ball, enormous corkscrew, and the giant axe blade.

In most cases, dwarves will go to pick up an assigned weapon upon being drafted. However, there are a few special cases. A woodcutter uses a battle axe even as a civilian, so if a woodcutter is assigned to use an axe as a weapon he or she will not need to prepare (except to wear any assigned armor). A hunter usually carries a crossbow, bolts and even light armor, all of which can carry over to the military if the settings are appropriate. And miners carry their picks at all times; picks make mediocre weapons, but they use the civilian "mining" skill in combat, so miners don't have to train as soldiers to be effective fighters.

Picks will only be used as weapons by miners who are not instructed to wield any other weapon (in other words, the dwarves must be set to "unarmed" and drafted while carrying a pick).