- 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.
40d:Equipment and encumbrance
Depending on what equipment you outfit your soldiers with, they can easily become encumbered. A new recruit with no strength attribute, for instance, can only carry 2000Γ before being encumbered, which is less than the weight of a full suit of chain mail, not even including a weapon. A crossbow plus a full stack of metal bolts can weigh as much as 1000Γ by itself.
Armor weight
To begin with, dwarves wearing armor will wear most pieces of a normal dwarven outfit underneath it. These civilian clothes can total as much as 171Γ (if everything is made of leather), or even 247Γ if they are wearing a coat; figure on 165Γ given that silk and cloth items, which weigh 70%-80% less than leather, are typically intermixed with leather items.
A suit of leather armor (plus leather helm, leggings, and high boots) weighs 450Γ (including the civilian clothes dwarves will wear underneath it). Even when combined with a steel shield (392Γ), steel crossbow (314Γ), and a stack of 30 steel bolts (725Γ including quiver), any dwarf can manage this without movement penalties.
A full suit of steel or iron chain mail (mail, leggings, gauntlets, helm, and shield) plus regular clothing weighs 2322Γ; add a typical metal weapon and your dwarves will only be moving at 75% normal speed. A steel-bone hybrid suit (steel plate, helm, high boots, and shield plus bone greaves and gauntlets) weighs almost the same at 2326Γ.
A hybrid steel-bone chain suit (steel chain, helm, high boots and shield, plus bone or shell leggings and gauntlets) is quite manageable at 1715Γ, unless the dwarf is carrying heavy weaponry.
A full suit of steel (or iron) plate, greaves, gauntlets, high boots, helm, and shield plus clothing weighs 3068Γ. Add to this a melee weapon, and you're at 3400Γ; any non-strong dwarf would have his or her movement rate reduced to about 59% as a result. A quiver full of bolts and additional layers of armor can add 1400Γ+ more, resulting in a dwarf reduced to 42% normal speed.
It is possible for dwarves to wear multiple layers of armor; specifically, they can wear leather armor under chain mail, and both leather and chain under plate mail. They can also wear either a leather or cloth cap and a steel cap under any kind of helm. (They will not combine any kind of leggings, greaves, or gauntlets.) A steel cap and leather armor will add 173Γ to a chain suit; cap, leather, and chain under a plate suit will add 761Γ (total 3829Γ). The figures given in the paragraphs above assume no armor layering.
Weapons and ammunition
Weapon weights range from 235Γ for a steel short sword to 628Γ for a steel battle axe. Most dwarf-usable weapons made of steel, including crossbows, weigh 314Γ. Obsidian swords weigh 80Γ, and wooden weapons you can buy from the elven caravan typically weigh 30Γ or less. Wooden or bone crossbows weigh 48Γ or less.
A stack of 25 iron or steel bolts weighs 588Γ; quivers weigh between 13Γ and 19Γ, depending on their material. Dwarves will carry a stack of metal bolts in their quivers if any are available, meaning a fully outfitted marksdwarf will be carrying 650Γ-900Γ worth of weaponry, depending on whether their crossbow is metal or bone/wood. Dwarves carrying crossbows and metal bolts who are not Strong or better should not be assigned more than leather armor (and shield) unless they are being sent into combat.
If you have no bone or wood bolts available, marksdwarves will spar (using their crossbows as hammers) instead of practicing at the archery range. You are better off at this point switching them to "unarmed" and giving them better armor. Conversely, if you have no metal bolts available, marksdwarves will put wood or bone bolts in their quivers, which weigh 90Γ or less per stack of 25; under such circumstances, you can outfit your wimpiest marksdwarves with steel/bone chain without encumbering them.
Non-steel equipment
Steel and iron items have the same the same weight and are interchangeable, in terms of encumbrance. Bronze (and bismuth bronze) items weigh about 5% more than steel or iron. Copper items weigh 14% more. Silver items weigh 34% more (silver weapons, due to their low damage, make good sparring weapons). Bone and shell items weigh about 14% that of steel; leather items weigh 24%; and wood items weigh anywhere from 15% to 1% (in the case of feather tree wood). More specific comparative weights can be looked up in the raws.
Selected pieces of armor can be "downgraded" from the conventional sets by making them unavailable to your dwarves (either by not producing them or forbidding them, as outlined in swapping weapons and armour on the military page). Soldiers set to "plate" armor level can still wear light-but-effective bone greaves, for instance, but only allowing them access to chain instead of plate mail saves 589Γ.
You may also be comfortable having your dwarves wear leather high boots instead of steel (they often do so unbidden anyway), for a savings of 238Γ. Top-quality bone or leather items offer as much protection as no-quality iron items (and are about 50% better than no-quality copper items), so having a legendary bone carver and leatherworker in your fort should be quite welcome. Substituting a high-quality leather shield for a low-quality iron or steel one is also worth considering (a savings of 298Γ). Using a steel buckler instead of a steel shield will reduce encumbrance by 275Γ, although this is not recommended; bucklers supposedly work half as often as shields (although the exact game mechanics are unknown and unlikely to be linear when skill is factored in).
Always put your dwarves in the best helm you can; a steel helm weighs only 157Γ and neck and brain injuries will effectively end a military career.
Backpacks add a negligible amount of weight; 19Γ, plus 5Γ for each unit of food. [What is the weight of waterskins and water?]
Recommended combinations
To avoid excessively slow soldiers, you must ensure that your weaker dwarves carry an appropriate amount of equipment. The following are a set of recommended combinations of equipment and dwarven abilities.
"Steel" means iron or steel (both weigh the same); steel/bone suits have steel for all pieces except for greaves/leggings (plate/chain) and gauntlets. (Other worthwhile substitutions for specific pieces of armor are outlined in non-steel equipment, above.) Steel plate+ means a normal full set of steel plate plus leather armor, steel chain, and a steel cap underneath.
"Effective weight" is the weight of all armor plus 165Γ worth of clothing, plus weapon (if any); armor user skill reduces the weight of clothing and armor, but not weapons or ammo (or shield?), as outlined at armor user. No-strength dwarves can carry 2000Γ worth of equipment; Strong, 3000Γ; Very Strong, 4000Γ; and so on.
If your equipment is bronze instead of steel, encumbrance penalties will be a few percent worse (provided the dwarf is already encumbered); copper equipment will be about 10%-15% worse.
A steel or iron shield is assumed (and recommended) for all configurations.
| Strength | Armor user skill | Equipment | Effective weight | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| none | none | Steel/bone chain | 1715Γ | 100% |
| none | none | Steel chain or Steel/bone plate | 2325Γ | 86% |
| none | (no label) | Steel chain or Steel/bone plate | 1962Γ | 100% |
| none | Talented | Steel plate | 1908Γ | 100% |
| none | Expert | Steel plate+ | 1904Γ | 100% |
| Strong | none | Steel plate | 3088Γ | 96% |
| Strong | none | Steel plate+ | 3849Γ | 71% |
| Strong | Competent | Steel plate+ | 2985Γ | 100% |
| Very Strong | none | Steel plate+ | 3849Γ | 100% |
| Strength | Armor user skill | Equipment | Effective weight | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| none | none | Steel/bone chain | 2029Γ | 99% |
| none | none | Steel chain or Steel/bone plate | 2639Γ | 76% |
| none | Proficient | Steel chain or Steel/bone plate | 1914Γ | 100% |
| Strong | none | Steel plate | 3402Γ | 83% |
| Strong | (no label) | Steel plate | 2897Γ | 100% |
| Strong | Proficient | Steel plate+ | 2867Γ | 100% |
| Very Strong | none | Steel plate+ | 4163Γ | 92% |
| Strength | Armor user skill | Equipment | Effective weight | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| none | none | Steel/bone chain | 2365Γ | 85% |
| none | Competent | Steel/bone chain | 2034Γ | 98% |
| Strong | none | Steel chain or Steel/bone plate | 2985Γ | 100% |
| Strong | none | Steel plate | 3738Γ | 73% |
| Strong | Skilled | Steel plate | 2896Γ | 100% |
| Very Strong | none | Steel plate | 3738Γ | 100% |
| Very Strong | none | Steel plate+ | 4499Γ | 80% |
| Very Strong | (no label) | Steel plate+ | 3851Γ | 100% |
| Extremely Strong | none | Steel plate+ | 4499Γ | 100% |
| Strength | Armor user skill | Equipment | Effective weight | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| none | none | Leather | 1763Γ | 100% |
| none | none | Steel/bone chain | 2636Γ | 76% |
| none | Adept | Steel/bone chain | 2074Γ | 96% |
| Strong | none | Steel/bone chain | 2636Γ | 100% |
| Strong | none | Steel chain or Steel/bone plate | 3256Γ | 89% |
| Strong | (no label) | Steel chain or Steel/bone plate | 2883Γ | 100% |
| Very Strong | none | Steel plate | 4009Γ | 99% |
| Very Strong | none | Steel plate+ | 4770Γ | 72% |
| Very Strong | Competent | Steel plate+ | 3905Γ | 100% |
| Extremely Strong | none | Steel plate+ | 4770Γ | 100% |
Individual item weights
- Clothing
- Most regular pieces of clothing weigh 19Γ (if leather), 15Γ if cloth, or 13Γ if silk.
- Trousers weigh twice as much (38Γ in leather).
- Coats weigh five times as much (95Γ), as does leather armor.
- Armor (in steel)
- Plate armor weighs 1177.5Γ
- Chain armor weighs 588.75Γ
- Greaves weigh 471Γ
- Leggings weigh 314Γ
- Gauntlets weigh 392.5Γ (pair)
- High boots weigh 314Γ (pair)
- Low boots weigh 235.5Γ (pair)
- Helms weigh 157Γ
- Shields weigh 392.5Γ
- Bucklers weigh 117.75Γ
- Caps weigh 78.5Γ
- Weapons (in steel)
- Battle axes weigh 628Γ
- Spears, maces, hammers, and crossbows weigh 314Γ
- Short swords weigh 235.5Γ
- Bolts weigh 23.55Γ each
Consult the figures in non-steel equipment for weights of the above items when made of other materials. For the curious, the "base weight" of any of the above items can be found by dividing by 7.85 (steel's weight multiplier).