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[drilltooth]

animated flayed banana skins.. only have push attacks. but would still make for a decent dodge trap.

[Alastar]

Lead is actually a little worse than the regular metals for blunt weapons (which are pretty much equal. Depending on who's hitting what with what, silver or steel can be ahead).

You want something that's as dense as possible AND reasonably tough/rigid. Lead is just a little bit denser than silver and a LOT weaker.

[Zaerosz]

In DF, blunt weapons are unaffected by any material parameters other than density. As has been said in this very thread at least once before. If it was a platinum hammer it would be even better, but you can't have everything I suppose.

[Wurgel]

ohhh yeah. tremble in the presence of Pride United!

[King DZA]

Should the dream of banana people ever come into fruition, it will mean that I'll going to have to go and dethrone the banana king in order to maintain my title of Omnipotent God-King of Everything...

[Wannazzaki]

Should the dream of banana people ever come into fruition, it will mean that I'll going to have to go and dethrone the banana king in order to maintain my title of Omnipotent God-King of Everything...

And your civvies can wear their skins, making dwarves, in banana skin pijamas...

[khearn]

In DF, blunt weapons are unaffected by any material parameters other than density. As has been said in this very thread at least once before. If it was a platinum hammer it would be even better, but you can't have everything I suppose.

Do you know this for a fact, or are you just repeating "common knowledge"? I just ran 100 fights in arena mode with a gold hammer (density 19.32) versus a steel hammer (density 7.85). You'd think with over double the density that the gold would be the overwhelming victor if only density mattered. The results were gold 57 to steel 43. Gold wins, but certainly not overwhelmingly. I've run similar tests with maces with more metals and found that all the metals I tested (steel, silver, gold, adamantine) were about equal, with the exception of adamantine, which was far worse.

Fights were each in a separate 1x2 room, with both combatants wearing iron helmet, mail shirt and shield (typical goblin armor), and each being Grand Master in fighting, hammer, dodging, shield use and armor use.

[Muttonhawk]

Did you test bismuth? That should be brittle as hell but heavier than anything.

Plus, artifact stuff might change that stuff around.

[khearn]

Did you test bismuth? That should be brittle as hell but heavier than anything.

Plus, artifact stuff might change that stuff around.

Bismuth isn't all that dense, only 9.78. Platinum is the densest metal at 21.40. See http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Metals

Bismuth hammers (density 9.78) vs Steel hammers (7.85), 47-53. Basically a dead heat.

[Muttonhawk]

Ah well, at least bismuth still looks cool.

Now what we need to to is make a hammer exclusively from neutrons! (No wait. That might be slade.)

[khearn]

Just for grins, I just tried platinum (density 21.4) vs aluminum (density 2.70). The densest versus the least dense "non-special" metals. The result: 50-50. I expected platinum to show some advantage at a nearly 8-1 density difference.

So I tried again with iron helms, shields and breastplates (instead of mail shirts). Platinum won 53-47, which is so close that it's not really significant.

So for blunt weapons, against goblin type armor, it seems as if the rule is "Pick any metal you want,as long as it's not blue."

(with apologies to Henry Ford)

[Muttonhawk]

Are you able to change Item quality in arena mode?

[Alastar]

In DF, blunt weapons are unaffected by any material parameters other than density. As has been said in this very thread at least once before. If it was a platinum hammer it would be even better, but you can't have everything I suppose.

That bit of common wisdom is incorrect, and it's slightly annoying if it such gets repeated in a condescending matter to people who actually bothered to test things extensively.

A small weapon relative to the strength of the wielder and an armoured victim seem to favour density. A relatively large weapon and naked victim seem to make toughness/stiffness more relevant.
Some density remains important. Platinum rules supreme, but keep in mind that it's also stiff and reasonably tough (comparable to copper).
Gold performed somewhat better than regular materials overall and lead somewhat worse, although I'm not sure either is strictly so against all opponents. Candy is known to be a joke.

@ khearn: differences between blunt weapons are quite small, individual combats are mostly down to luck. Trends become apparent when you have larger brawls because dwarves who won their fight can help their mates.

[khearn]

@ khearn: differences between blunt weapons are quite small, individual combats are mostly down to luck. Trends become apparent when you have larger brawls because dwarves who won their fight can help their mates.

I disagree for exactly that reason. Mass combats make luck a greater factor. Whichever side gets the first lucky kill suddenly has a big advantage. The first winner joins his neighbor and go 2-1 on his opponent, which is an easy win if other factors (weapons/metals) are anywhere near close. Then they all go 3-1 against the next guy, and on down the line. One lucky shot at the start can make the underdog win in a mass fight. In separate fights, it only adds one win.

[Korenn]

Interesting discussion! Too bad my fortress got parked so I won't see how good it would do in a normal game. It turns out the dwarves were at peace with the gobbo's. derp. I could have dug down into the caves to find some combat there, but that takes a long time and I got distracted with a shiny new fortress project

and banana liqueur is such a common drink that it wouldn't be all that special Though more tropical fruits in DF would be awesome.