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Author Topic: wooden shields  (Read 8888 times)

thebigJ_A

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wooden shields
« on: October 11, 2010, 10:24:00 pm »

Hey all.

I was just wondering. Wooden shields, are they any good? Or are they like the wooden training weapons? I tried the wiki, but it only talks about metal and leather.

I mean, in real life, the majority of shields were made of wood (or at least wood reinforced with metal). My metal industry is pitiful at due to lack of workers (for some reason, every frickin migrant wave I get is almost half kids; I didn't realize I was playing Oregon Trail!). Being able to make shields for my dorfs out of wood would be a big help.
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LealNightrunner

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Re: wooden shields
« Reply #1 on: October 11, 2010, 10:29:10 pm »

Wood I believe is the most inferior material for both weapons and armor.  Pick the densest wood you can find and go for it *shrug*.
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JoRo

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Re: wooden shields
« Reply #2 on: October 11, 2010, 11:05:10 pm »

As near as I can tell, shield material doesn't matter because attacks blocked by the shield are completely blocked and won't go through an inferior material like a strike against armor.  It's possible that material changes the chance to block, but I never use anything but wooden shields and I haven't noticed any anomalies.
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slothen

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Re: wooden shields
« Reply #3 on: October 11, 2010, 11:10:14 pm »

you can test this for yourself in arena mode.  I'm not sure how a wood shield would compare to no shield since I don't know exactly how blocking works, but based simply on the properties of wood as any other armor, it will be pierced by metal weapons about 98% of the time, and at best would only provide modest protection against other wooden weapons and maybe some medium-sized creatures.
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JoRo

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Re: wooden shields
« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2010, 11:23:41 pm »

Quick test in arena, one grandmaster shield user with a featherwood shield against an unskilled opponent with a spoiler longsword.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

That's like 30 blocks before the shield user got tagged.  Using fresh fighters and a shield of the same material as the sword, it took slightly longer before the first stab got past the shield but with a sample size of two that could mean anything.  This time around, for instance, the sword user got bashed in the hand a few ticks in so that may have slowed him down. 

If material mattered, the sword would have gone through the wooden shield like it wasn't there.
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Kobold Troubadour

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Re: wooden shields
« Reply #5 on: October 11, 2010, 11:28:38 pm »

It seems that shield material is irrelevant...as as of now they are impenetrable/unbreakable. Although bucklers still have a lower block chance than shields I think...but I guess better quality stone/metal shields are still better for bashing than wooden ones (specially silver?).
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LealNightrunner

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Re: wooden shields
« Reply #6 on: October 11, 2010, 11:45:22 pm »

While it may be the case the material doesn't matter for blocking, I'm willing to bet it certainly does matter if you're stuck bashing.
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thebigJ_A

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Re: wooden shields
« Reply #7 on: October 11, 2010, 11:49:36 pm »

Thanks, JoRo. That's what I wanted to hear!

So, wood shields work great for defense, not so much as weapons. Since I'm supplying proper weapons to my lil guys, that's a non-issue.
I'm assuming shields also add to your overall armor, so it helps to use better materials in that respect, but I'm still struggling just to equip everyone in iron, so as long as the wood shields block properly, I'm happy.

What with bucklers being worse, what's the point of them? Why would I ever build a buckler instead of a shield?
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candylord

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Re: wooden shields
« Reply #8 on: October 12, 2010, 02:15:34 am »

I think, don't quote me on this, but I think material in shields works similarly to quality, that is, a better shield will give you a better bonus to your block roll
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rephikul

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Re: wooden shields
« Reply #9 on: October 12, 2010, 03:24:31 am »

Side question: is there a skill that improve shield bash and does shield bash increase any skills?
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candylord

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Re: wooden shields
« Reply #10 on: October 12, 2010, 03:28:17 am »

Logically?
Shield user would make bashing more effective
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RenoFox

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Re: wooden shields
« Reply #11 on: October 12, 2010, 06:05:29 am »

Side question: is there a skill that improve shield bash and does shield bash increase any skills?

When my underequipped military trains with shields but no weapons, they raise their "Misc. Object User" skill. I'd guess that includes bashing with anything that isn't a weapon.

Funtimes

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Re: wooden shields
« Reply #12 on: October 12, 2010, 06:36:01 am »

What with bucklers being worse, what's the point of them? Why would I ever build a buckler instead of a shield?

2 handed weapon + buckler.

or 1 handed weapon + shield.

Important for shootydorfs.
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rephikul

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Re: wooden shields
« Reply #13 on: October 12, 2010, 06:38:21 am »

What with bucklers being worse, what's the point of them? Why would I ever build a buckler instead of a shield?

2 handed weapon + buckler.

or 1 handed weapon + shield.

Important for shootydorfs.
What's the difference would that make? Does markdorf refuse to pick up crossbow or shield if i've assigned them that 2?
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Zaik

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Re: wooden shields
« Reply #14 on: October 12, 2010, 06:45:24 am »

What with bucklers being worse, what's the point of them? Why would I ever build a buckler instead of a shield?

2 handed weapon + buckler.

or 1 handed weapon + shield.

Important for shootydorfs.
What's the difference would that make? Does markdorf refuse to pick up crossbow or shield if i've assigned them that 2?

Marksdwarves can wear shields and shoot just fine. I thought the same thing until i actually said to hell with it and tried it.
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