- v50 information can now be added to pages in the main namespace. v0.47 information can still be found in the DF2014 namespace. See here for more details on the new versioning policy.
- Use this page to report any issues related to the migration.
User:Resident Mario
Basics
Native vs. foreign
Weapons fall into two categories: those that you can produce, and those that you can't. Weaponsmiths can produce seven types of native weapons at a metalsmith's forge, but there are also fourteen foreign weapons that can be bought from trading caravans. These cannot be reliably produced by your dwarves, and may use skills they are unfamiliar with. It is also impossible to buy them in bulk, and considering they are of variable quality and material and usually quite expensive, they are rarely worth it, except when they are products of strange moods (see strange moods, below). Since they are bread-and-butter for other nations, it is important to understand their properties when you have to fight enemies wielding them.
Types of weapons
One can divide weapons in dwarf fortress into three categories. The first is slashing weapons, like the shortsword and battle axe. These weapons work by concentrating their force along a blade, allowing them to make gashes in or completely sever body parts, and given the opportunity, make the quickest work of their foes. They are far less effective against armored targets, however, as armor will block most hits and convert them into weaker blunt damage.
The second is piercing weapons, like the spear and foreign pike. These weapons work by concentrating their force at a point, allowing them to punch through armor and damage internal organs, often getting stuck and giving their wielder further leverage on the target. Note that ranged weapons - crossbows, bows, and blowguns - are effectively piercing weapons with range to them. When used in melee, these weapons function like weaker war hammers.
The third is crushing weapons, like the war hammer and mace. These weapons work by concentrating their force behind a large, blunt mass, putting dents in armor and breaking bones beneath their blows. These weapons are slow to kill their targets - dwarves have a habit of breaking every bone in their opponent's body before moving on to the next target - but are the most effective weapons against heavy and heavily armored foes which shrug off damage more easily.
There's also training weapons. Training weapons are all wooden, and all made at the carpenter's workshop. Training axes, spears, and short swords can be constructed in dwarf fortress mode. They used to be useful for avoiding sparring injuries, but since dwarves sparring generally no longer carries that risk, they are mostly useless, except in danger rooms.
Types of targets
One can divide the types of foes you will meet in dwarf fortress into three categories. The first is organic and unarmored (or poorly armored) enemies, like thieves, non-sentient creatures (be it local wildlife or siege mounts), semi-megabeasts and megabeasts besides the Bronze colossus. Weapons that deal slashing damage work best and quickest against these types of enemies, severing whole body parts and leaving them severely incapacitated.
The second is organic and armored enemies, like ambushers and siegers. The way armor works, slashing blows that are countered by a piece of armor are converted into generally less effective blunt damage; the best damage against these kinds of enemies are piercing weapons, which punch through armor and damages their internal organs, incapacitating them and allowing the wielder to finish them off. Crushing weapons work as well, although they are slower.
The third and most dangerous types of enemies are inorganic enemies (or ones that don't feel pain), which are titans, forgotten beasts, the Bronze Colossus, and hidden fun stuff. These enemies have no internal organs, and depending on the material they are made of, may be very difficult to slash at (although a forgotten beast made of, for instance, mud is laughably easy to kill). Against these enemies, crushing weapons are the best, because they can chip their foes until they collapse from cumulative damage
Details
- If you find your dwarves wearing more than one weapon -- or any unwanted armor, for that matter -- one way to get rid of them is to dump the weapon from their v-i inventory screen. This does not always work, as they might re-equip the item. Another option is to remove any weapons and/or shields listed on their military equip screen. This too does not always work. At least "left-handedness" seems to not pose a problem. If you cancel the work by v-p and selecting a job that needs a tool they will sometimes put it back in the pile. Example: Miners use picks, cancel their mining job and they will put the pick away AFTER you ordered it to be dumped.
- Using weapons is much more effective than unarmed combat -- an untrained swordsdwarf with an iron weapon can defeat a grand master wrestler, provided neither is wearing armor.
- Larger weapons with more heft tend to do more damage. How damage is calculated is currently not fully understood, and this is an area requiring more research.
- The size for a weapon is its volume in cm3.
- Attacks of type EDGE will either slice or pierce their target, depending on the contact area and penetration depth, while BLUNT attacks tend to damage internal organs without necessarily causing significant damage to outer layers.
- The contact area represents the area of contact of the weapon, and the penetration determines how deep the attack goes (and is apparently ignored entirely for BLUNT attacks -- indicated by numbers in parentheses). Large contact areas combined with low penetration represent slashing attacks, while small contact areas with high penetration behave as piercing attacks.
- The velocity seems to adjust the amount of actual force used during the attack (otherwise based on the size of the weapon, the material from which the weapon is made, and the strength of the wielder) - for example, war hammers have a 2x velocity multiplier, presumably to model the fact that the hammer's mass is concentrated at the tip which, when combined with a long handle, permits swinging it harder than a weapon whose mass is evenly distributed (such as a sword).
- Crossbows can be made of metal, wood, and bone. Metal crossbows are made by a weaponsmith at a forge, while wood and bone crossbows are made by a bowyer at a bowyer's workshop. The material of a crossbow does not affect its firing ability, only its melee damage. A dwarf's marksmanship skill is only affected by the core quality of the bow. This may be a consideration when deciding which dwarf you want outfitting your marksdwarves: a legendary bowyer is a better choice than a proficient weaponsmith.
Weapons as tools
Hunters, Woodcutters and Miners use weapons for their work and if need be will also fight using them. Hunters seem to be limited to crossbows while miners and woodcutters use picks and axes respectively.
Dwarf-manufactured weapons
Type | Size | Attack | Attack type | Contact Area | Penetration | Velocity | Skill Used | Hands Used | Metal | Wood | Bone | Obsidian |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Battle Axe | 800 | Hack | Edge | 40000 | 6000 | 1.25x | Axe | Multigrasp? | Yes | No | No | No |
Flat slap | Blunt | 40000 | (6000) | 1.25x | ||||||||
Pommel strike | Blunt | 100 | (1000) | 1x | ||||||||
Crossbow (Melee) | 400 | Bash | Blunt | 10000 | (4000) | 1.25x | Hammer | Singlegrasp? | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Mace | 800 | Bash | Blunt | 20 | (200) | 2.0x | Mace | Singlegrasp | Yes | No | No | No |
Pick | 500 | Strike | Edge | 100 | 4000 | 2.0x | Mining | Singlegrasp | Yes | No | No | No |
Short Sword | 300 | Slash | Edge | 20000 | 4000 | 1.25x | Sword | Singlegrasp | Yes | No | No | Yes |
Stab | Edge | 50 | 2000 | 1.0x | ||||||||
Flat slap | Blunt | 20000 | (4000) | 1.25x | ||||||||
Pommel strike | Blunt | 100 | (1000) | 1.0x | ||||||||
Spear | 400 | Stab | Edge | 20 | 10000 | 1.0x | Spear | Singlegrasp | Yes | No | No | No |
Shaft bash | Blunt | 10000 | (6000) | 1.25x | ||||||||
War Hammer | 400 | Bash | Blunt | 10 | (200) | 2.0x | Hammer | Singlegrasp | Yes | No | No | No |
Training Weapons
All training weapons must be made of wood at the carpenter's workshop.
Type | Size | Attack | Attack type | Contact Area | Penetration | Velocity | Skill Used |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Training Axe | 800 | Hack | Blunt | 30000 | (6000) | 1.25x | Axe |
Flat slap | Blunt | 30000 | (6000) | 1.25x | |||
Pommel strike | Blunt | 100 | (1000) | 1.0x | |||
Training Sword | 300 | Slash | Blunt | 20000 | (4000) | 1.25x | Sword |
Stab | Blunt | 50 | (2000) | 1.0x | |||
Flat slap | Blunt | 20000 | (4000) | 1.25x | |||
Pommel strike | Blunt | 100 | (1000) | 1.0x | |||
Training Spear | 400 | Stab | Blunt | 200 | (10000) | 1.0x | Spear |
Shaft bash | Blunt | 10000 | (6000) | 1.25x |
Foreign weapons
In fortress mode, foreign weapons can only be constructed by a dwarf experiencing a strange mood, out of any material. They may also be acquired from other races through trade or looting. Elves construct these out of wood, while other races construct them out of metal. Many dwarf-made weapons can be made by foreign civilizations as well, the Used by column is in no way all the weapons that race can make.
Using any multigrasp weapon in a single hand (ie. with a shield in the other hand) gives you a disability to hit.
Type | Size | Attack | Attack type | Contact Area | Penetration | Velocity | Skill Used | Used by | Hands Used |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2H Sword | 900 | Slash | Edge | 100000 | 8000 | 1.25x | Sword | Goblin, Human | Multigrasp |
Stab | Edge | 50 | 4000 | 1.0x | |||||
Flat slap | Blunt | 100000 | (8000) | 1.25x | |||||
Pommel strike | Blunt | 100 | (1000) | 1.0x | |||||
Blowgun (Melee) | 150 | Bash | Blunt | 10000 | (4000) | 1.25x | Sword | Subterranean animal peoples | Singlegrasp? |
Bow (Melee) | 300 | Bash | Blunt | 10000 | (4000) | 1.25x | Sword | Elf, Goblin, Human, Kobold | Singlegrasp? |
Flail | 500 | Bash | Blunt | 200 | (4000) | 2.5x | Mace | Goblin, Human | Singlegrasp |
Great Axe | 1300 | Hack | Edge | 60000 | 8000 | 1.25x | Axe | Goblin, Human | Multigrasp |
Flat slap | Blunt | 60000 | (8000) | 1.25x | |||||
Pommel strike | Blunt | 100 | (1000) | 1.0x | |||||
Halberd | 1200 | Slash | Edge | 20000 | 8000 | 1.25x | Axe | Goblin, Human | Multigrasp |
Stab | Edge | 50 | 2000 | 1.0x | |||||
Shaft bash | Blunt | 20000 | (6000) | 1.25x | |||||
Dagger (Large) | 200 | Slash | Edge | 1000 | 800 | 1.25x | Dagger | Goblin, Kobold | Singlegrasp |
Stab | Edge | 5 | 1000 | 1.0x | |||||
Pommel strike | Blunt | 20 | (600) | 1.0x | |||||
Long Sword | 700 | Slash | Edge | 60000 | 6000 | 1.25x | Sword | Elf, Goblin, Human | Singlegrasp |
Stab | Edge | 50 | 3000 | 1.0x | |||||
Flat slap | Blunt | 60000 | (6000) | 1.25x | |||||
Pommel strike | Blunt | 100 | (1000) | 1.0x | |||||
Maul | 1300 | Bash | Blunt | 100 | (6000) | 2.0x | Hammer | Goblin, Human | Multigrasp |
Morningstar | 500 | Bash | Edge | 10 | 500 | 2.0x | Mace | Goblin, Human | Singlegrasp |
Pommel strike | Blunt | 50 | (1000) | 1.0x | |||||
Pike | 800 | Stab | Edge | 20 | 12000 | 1.0x | Pike | Goblin, Human | Multigrasp |
Shaft bash | Blunt | 10000 | (6000) | 1.25x | |||||
Scimitar | 300 | Slash | Edge | 20000 | 4000 | 1.25x | Sword | Goblin, Human | Singlegrasp |
Stab | Edge | 50 | 2000 | 1.0x | |||||
Flat slap | Blunt | 20000 | (4000) | 1.25x | |||||
Pommel strike | Blunt | 50 | (1000) | 1.0x | |||||
Scourge | 300 | Lash | Edge | 10 | 50 | 2.0x | Whip | Goblin | Singlegrasp |
Whip | 100 | Lash | Blunt | 1 | (10) | 5.0x | Whip | Goblin, Human | Singlegrasp |
Weapons and Size
Weapons have a minimum size to use at all, and a minimum size to use one-handed. Adult dwarves vary in size between 33750 and 93750 (average 60000) based on their height and broadness, so not all dwarves can use all weapons. The following table shows approximately how many dwarves can use each weapon one or two handed.
Type | Min Size
(Two-Handed) |
Min Size
(One-Handed) |
Dwarves
Can't Wield |
Dwarves Wield
Two-Handed |
Dwarves Wield
One-Handed |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Battle Axe | 42500 | 47500 | 1/49 | 10/49 | 38/49 |
Crossbow (Melee) | 15000 | 0 | - | - | 49/49 |
Mace | 32500 | 37500 | - | 1/49 | 48/49 |
Pick | 42500 | 47500 | 1/49 | 10/49 | 38/49 |
Short Sword | 32500 | 37500 | - | 1/49 | 48/49 |
Spear | 5000 | 47500 | - | 11/49 | 38/49 |
War Hammer | 32500 | 37500 | - | 1/49 | 48/49 |
Training Axe | 42500 | 47500 | 1/49 | 10/49 | 38/49 |
Training Sword | 32500 | 37500 | - | 1/49 | 48/49 |
Training Spear | 42500 | 47500 | 1/49 | 10/49 | 38/49 |
2H Sword | 62500 | 77500 | 32/49 | 14/49 | 3/49 |
Blowgun (Melee) | 15000 | 0 | - | - | 49/49 |
Bow (Melee) | 15000 | 0 | - | - | 49/49 |
Flail | 42500 | 47500 | 1/49 | 10/49 | 38/49 |
Great Axe | 62500 | 77500 | 32/49 | 14/49 | 3/49 |
Halberd | 62500 | 77500 | 32/49 | 14/49 | 3/49 |
Dagger (Large) | 5000 | 27500 | - | - | 49/49 |
Long Sword | 52500 | 57500 | 11/49 | 7/49 | 31/49 |
Maul | 62500 | 77500 | 32/49 | 14/49 | 3/49 |
Morningstar | 32500 | 37500 | - | 1/49 | 48/49 |
Pike | 62500 | 77500 | 32/49 | 14/49 | 3/49 |
Scimitar | 32500 | 37500 | - | 1/49 | 48/49 |
Scourge | 22500 | 27500 | - | - | 49/49 |
Whip | 22500 | 27500 | - | - | 49/49 |
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=101379.msg3029579#msg3029579
Quality Level
Weapons have a to-hit bonus based on quality.
Designation | Description | Value Modifier |
Weapon To-Hit / Armor Deflect Modifier | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Item Name | — | 1x | 1x | ||
-Item Name- | Well-crafted | 2x | unknown | ||
+Item Name+ | Finely-crafted | 3x | unknown | ||
*Item Name* | Superior quality | 4x | unknown | ||
≡Item Name≡ | Exceptional | 5x | unknown | ||
☼Item Name☼ | Masterful | 12x | 2x | ||
Unique name | Artifact | 120x | 3x | ||
«Item Name» | Decorated object | Varies | unknown |
Weapon Material Quality
Metal | Value | Density | Impact yield | Impact fracture | Impact elasticity | Shear yield | Shear fracture | Shear elasticity | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adamantine | 300 | 0.200 | 5000 | 5000 | 0 | 5000 | 5000 | 0 | |
Steel | 30 | 7.85 | 1505 | 2520 | 940 | 430 | 720 | 215 | |
Bismuth bronze | 6 | 8.25 | 602 | 843 | 547 | 172 | 241 | 156 | |
Bronze | 5 | 8.25 | 602 | 843 | 547 | 172 | 241 | 156 | |
Iron | 10 | 7.85 | 542 | 1080 | 319 | 155 | 310 | 189 | |
Copper | 2 | 8.93 | 245 | 770 | 175 | 70 | 220 | 145 | |
Silver | 10 | 10.49 | 350 | 595 | 350 | 100 | 170 | 333 | |
Bone | 1 | 0.50 | 200 | 200 | 100 | 115 | 130 | 100 | |
Wood | 1 | 0.50 | 10 | 10 | 1000 | 40 | 40 | 1000 | |
Shell | 1 | 0.50 | 200 | 200 | 100 | 115 | 130 | 100 | Only available as Artifact Weapons. |
Obsidian | 3 | 2.67 | 120 | 120 | 100 | 15 | 15 | 100 | Only available for Short Swords. |
Crystal glass | 10 | 2.6 | 1000 | 1000 | 2222 | 33 | 33 | 113 | Only available as Trap Components. |
Clear glass | 5 | 2.6 | 1000 | 1000 | 2222 | 33 | 33 | 113 | Only available as Trap Components. |
Green glass | 2 | 2.6 | 1000 | 1000 | 2222 | 33 | 33 | 113 | Only available as Trap Components. |
- Combat information is used internally by the game to determine the combat properties of weapons and armor made from this metal:
- Density: Used in conjunction with other factors - heavier weapons (higher numbers) hit with more force, light weapons tend to have less penetration. Value shown here is g/cm3, which is the raw value divided by 103
- Impact yield: Used for blunt-force combat; higher is better. This is the raw value divided by 103 (i.e., kPa).
- Impact fracture: Used for blunt-force combat; higher is better. This is the raw value divided by 103 (i.e., kPa).
- Impact strain at yield: Used for blunt-force combat; lower is better. This is the raw value.
- Shear yield: Used for cutting calculations in combat; higher is better. This is the raw value divided by 103 (i.e., kPa).
- Shear fracture: Used for cutting calculations in combat; higher is better. This is the raw value divided by 103 (i.e., kPa).
- Shear strain at yield: Used for cutting calculations in combat; lower is better. This is the raw value.
- General Term Explanations (From Wikipedia)
- Yield Strength - The stress at which material strain changes from elastic deformation to plastic deformation, causing it to deform permanently.
- Fracture Strength - The stress coordinate on the stress-strain curve at the point of rupture.
- Stress - Force per area = F/A
- Strain - Deformation of a solid due to stress = Stress/Young's Modulus
Explanation
- Yield Strength is the amount of stress required to permanently deform (bend) a material (plastic deformation).
- Fracture Strength is the amount of stress required to permanently break (rupture) a material.
- Strain at yield is the amount of deformation (bending) that occurs at the yield point.
Inmplications
Yield strength combined with strain at yield can tell what a material will do under stress (be it from a hammer, axe, or arrow); higher yield means that it takes more stress to deform, while lower strain at yield means that it will deform less when stress is applied.
Combat Testing & Analysis
Adamantine and steel take first and second place respectively, with iron the third best material in the game. Beyond which, bronze is in a close tie with copper as to being the second worst material. Silver is the worst weapon material available (no longer beneficial with wooden training weapons being available now) in regards to edged weaponry. Additionally, with regards to blunt weapons almost all of the non-adamantine materials perform equally well, with a very slight edge towards steel and silver. Here is the thread with the details:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=53571.0
Keep in mind with how unbelievably complicated this system is nothing should be taken as word of law yet.
Best | Better | Good | Fair | Poor | Terrible | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Armor | Adamantine | Steel | Iron | Bronze, Bismuth Bronze | Copper | ||
Edged Weapons | Adamantine (worst for missiles) |
Steel | Iron | Bronze, Bismuth Bronze | Copper | Silver | For piercing iron armor, copper is better than bronze. For piercing copper or bronze armor, bronze is better than copper. |
Blunt Weapons | Steel, Silver | Copper, Bismuth Bronze, Bronze, Iron | --- | --- | --- | Adamantine | All six non-adamantine metals perform nearly identically. Steel has a slightly higher rate of critical wounds, while silver is slightly more likely to penetrate armor. |
Cross refrencing this table with the table at the top of this section seems to indicate that low densities, high impact fractures, and high shear fractures contribute to the killing power of edged weapons.
Arena Testing
Testing of weapons (15 dwarves vs. 15 dwarves combats) in the object testing arena shows that the best dwarven-made weapon against humanoids is the silver war hammer v0.31.12.
Even in 15×(steel armor+silver war hammer) versus 15×(adamantine armor+adamantine battle axe) matches, hammerdwarves won with less than 50% casualties (mostly one-strike kills). However, when the dwarves in question were without armor or only wearing leather/cloth, the result was inverted — axedwarves won with less than 50% casualties. In battles against megabeasts, 6 silver hammerdwarves were barely able to scratch a bronze colossus (attacks were glancing away) due to bronze being a better "weapon" material.
This is because silver has the highest solid density of all materials that can regularly be made into weapons by dwarves. Tests show that indeed gold and platinum (increasingly dense) do increasing amounts of damage, and that war hammers remain the tool of choice, however they can only be produced by a moody dwarf (and a very lucky one at that).
More arena tests are available in the Military testing article.
Ammunition
- Main article: Ammunition
Ammunition is fired from ranged weapons like crossbows and blowguns, and is stored in ammunition stockpiles, sometimes in quivers. Ammunition may also refer to the stones and ballista arrows fired from siege engines: For more information about these weapons, see the siege engine article.
Weapon-Dwarf Relationships
Dwarves can become attached to a weapon, even a low quality weapon, which can make it difficult or impossible to get them to upgrade later.
In addition, the game tracks kills not only by entity but also by weapon. A weapon that has racked up enough kills might be named by its wielder. When this happens the game will pause and bring up a dialog box, similar to discovering a new cavern. Once named, the weapon will appear in the artifact list, albeit in blue.