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Author Topic: Gold as armor material?  (Read 11692 times)

Addled

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Gold as armor material?
« on: February 06, 2011, 10:47:41 pm »

I had a dwarf create a golden mail shirt artifact. With gold's high density will the armor be good?
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Fayrik

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Re: Gold as armor material?
« Reply #1 on: February 06, 2011, 11:01:06 pm »

...If I know anything about metals... Gold will be terrible as an armour.
It's really soft, I think. I mean, it's one of the first metals to ever be discovered and used in real life, since it doesn't always have to be mined out of the ground, and doesn't require smelting from an ore.

I think steel is probably the best you can get in game. If you could make it, I think Titanium may be even better than that. Not really sure how the blue stuff works compared to that though.
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Addled

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Re: Gold as armor material?
« Reply #2 on: February 06, 2011, 11:18:37 pm »

I know in real life it would suck but in DF doesn't density make armor better? I think Gold is second only to platinum.
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Lagslayer

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Re: Gold as armor material?
« Reply #3 on: February 06, 2011, 11:19:06 pm »

Gold is bad for armor, worse than copper.

Titanium is quite hard (surpassed by very few expensive pure metals and alloys) and relatively lightweight, but doesn't have the sharpness of adamantine by a longshot.

edit: platinum is the most dense metal available in game, followed by gold. In reality, however, there are a few elements that are more dense than either of those.

http://www.blurtit.com/q507776.html
« Last Edit: February 06, 2011, 11:24:51 pm by Lagslayer »
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Tarran

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Re: Gold as armor material?
« Reply #4 on: February 06, 2011, 11:29:35 pm »

I know in real life it would suck but in DF doesn't density make armor better? I think Gold is second only to platinum.
No, you're thinking of blunt weapons. Think about it; soft stuff can get pierced, bent, and cut much easier than something like Steel which is tough. Weight has nothing to do with how effective armor will be. In fact, it just makes armor worse. If you don't believe me, check it out; in your logic, silver would be more effective than copper or bronze for being heavier. Yet, in the wiki it says that Silver is the worst metal for armor(see bottom).
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NecroRebel

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Re: Gold as armor material?
« Reply #5 on: February 06, 2011, 11:31:50 pm »

Density is undesirable for armor, actually, as it just effects weight, which makes it slow down weak, unskilled armor users. Adamantine is incredibly lightweight but is by far and away the best armor material. Copper is denser than steel, but far worse for armor. What matters, statwise, for armor isn't entirely clear, but the various impact, compressive, tensile, torsion, shear, and bending yield, fracture, and strain values are probably what are important. Gold's values for all of those values are lower, which is a bad thing. Gold sucks for armor.
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Uristocrat

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Re: Gold as armor material?
« Reply #6 on: February 07, 2011, 01:32:01 am »

Gold is bad for armor, worse than copper.

Titanium is quite hard (surpassed by very few expensive pure metals and alloys) and relatively lightweight, but doesn't have the sharpness of adamantine by a longshot.

edit: platinum is the most dense metal available in game, followed by gold. In reality, however, there are a few elements that are more dense than either of those.

http://www.blurtit.com/q507776.html

From your link:  "Osmium is very rare and also very hard. It is a silver blue metal."

Blue metal?  Very rare?  Very hard!?  Oooooh, so *that's* what adamantine is! ;)

(Well, actually, it's also very dense, so they're not at all the same, but other than that...)
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Buttery_Mess

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Re: Gold as armor material?
« Reply #7 on: February 07, 2011, 12:43:03 pm »

Gold mail might not be that effective, but it is awesome. Give it to an appropriate noble.
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Internet Kraken

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Re: Gold as armor material?
« Reply #8 on: February 07, 2011, 02:02:54 pm »

Give it to the Captain of your Fortress Guard. That's what I usually do when I get an artifact weapon/armor that seems cool but is useless for practical purposes.
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qoonpooka

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Re: Gold as armor material?
« Reply #9 on: February 08, 2011, 09:23:47 am »

Unless there's mods in play, the gold armor is probably EXTREMELY good, as it's an artifact. (Gold can't make armor, AFAIK, except by mood.)  Give it to a champion. :P
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Quietust

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Re: Gold as armor material?
« Reply #10 on: February 08, 2011, 11:50:50 am »

Yet, in the wiki it says that Silver is the worst metal for armor(see bottom).
I'm curious how that information is even relevant, considering you can't make armor from silver...
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Tarran

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Re: Gold as armor material?
« Reply #11 on: February 08, 2011, 01:35:45 pm »

Yet, in the wiki it says that Silver is the worst metal for armor(see bottom).
I'm curious how that information is even relevant, considering you can't make armor from silver...
I was just pointing out that density does not help how effective the armor is. I didn't know Silver could never be used as armor. Getting a little rusty from not reaching that critical point in DF in a while. Still, it proved my point; density does not affect effectiveness.
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Quote from: Phantom
Unknown to most but the insane and the mystics, Tarran is actually Earth itself, as Earth is sentient like that planet in Avatar. Originally Earth used names such as Terra on the internet, but to protect it's identity it changed letters, now becoming the Tarran you know today.
Quote from: Ze Spy
Tarran has the "Tarran Bug", a bug which causes the affected character to repeatedly hit teammates while dual-wielding instead of whatever the hell he is shooting at.

MonkeyHead

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Re: Gold as armor material?
« Reply #12 on: February 09, 2011, 04:16:01 pm »

Unless there's mods in play, the gold armor is probably EXTREMELY good, as it's an artifact. (Gold can't make armor, AFAIK, except by mood.)  Give it to a champion. :P

Most certanly not, since the material re-write at least. Material is now far more important than quality.
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Mantonio

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Re: Gold as armor material?
« Reply #13 on: February 09, 2011, 04:40:53 pm »

It would be nice for armoring dwarves you don't care about though.

Like if you a map with nothing but diorite and gold. You look at the useless dwarfs (that you've turned into Wrestlers because why not) then at the mountains of gold bars.

Then back at the Wrestlers.

Then back at the gold bars.

Then you have a FABULOUS idea.
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