Editing v0.34:Armorsmith

{{Skill
| color      = 0:1
| skill      = Armorsmith
| specialty  = Armorer
| profession = [[Metalsmith]]
| job name   = [[Armoring]]
| tasks      =
* Forge [[armor]]
| workshop   =
* [[Metalsmith's forge]]
* [[Magma forge]]
| attributes =
* Strength
* Agility
* Endurance
* Creativity
* Spatial Sense
* Kinesthetic Sense
}}
{{av}}{{Quality|Exceptional|09:35, 9 June 2010 (UTC)}}

The '''armorsmith''' skill is used to make all [[metal]] [[armor]] and [[shield]]s at a [[metalsmith's forge]] (or [[magma forge]]).  The corresponding [[labor]] is [[armoring]].  The construction of [[leather]] armor is done by a [[leatherworker]].

Like all artisans in Dwarf Fortress, skilled armorsmiths make armor more quickly, and of a higher [[quality]], than unskilled dwarves.  The higher the quality of armor, the more damage it can block, which helps to minimize  casualties in [[combat]].  A [[legendary]]+5 armorsmith is potentially the most valuable dwarf any fortress could hope to have.  This makes armorsmith skill a very popular choice in [[starting builds]].

== Training armorsmiths ==

To train an armorsmith to legendary (or legendary+5, better still), you must have him or her make hundreds of pieces of armor.  Use [[iron]] for this (or [[copper]], if you have a lot of it): save your precious steel or bronze for after the training is done (though you may opt to make a few steel suits early on for your soldiers to wear).  

These hundreds of pieces of armor will rapidly [[clutter]] the forge, greatly slowing down the smithy's progress.  To keep up with a high-skill armorsmith, you must employ several full-time [[hauler|haulers]] to clear out the shop: either item haulers, to drag the pieces to nearby armor [[stockpile]]s, or refuse haulers, to drag the items to a nearby [[dump]].  (Dumping, however, requires periodically redesignating the area over the forge ({{k|d}}-{{k|b}}-{{k|d}}) in order to mark its contents for dumping.)  Setting up several forges and having the smith move from one to the next when they get cluttered works well in concert with multiple haulers.  You can also employ a spare metalsmith of any sort to keep destroying and rebuilding the forges to clear them out.

Alternatively, you can have some of your farmers, fishers, and hunters (or anybody else who has no moodable skills) forge a single piece of armor and hope that one of them enters a [[strange mood]], as producing a piece of [[artifact]] armor will instantly push them to Legendary+1 (unless they were unlucky and got Possessed).

{{Skills}}