steel vs bone

[Lumin]

Couldn't find the answer in the wiki, so I figured I'd ask here.

When you're dealing with bone weapons that can be made out of steel too (spear and bagh-nakh are the ones I'm specifically thinking of) does the steel version do significantly more damage? Or is the only bonus the slower rate of decay?

Also, how does bronze compare to steel and iron?

[Sunni Daez]

slow the rate of decay? and significantly increase the hours needed for repair!!! (mummbles something about crowbars being disposable...)

[El_Skwidd]

I would hope that a steel spear does significantly more damage than a bone spear. Bone is, well... bone. Steel is tempered metal. Plus it's harder to make, so it would be fair in a game sense if it did.

Don't break my heart, ProgD...

[Sho]

The steel weapons are better, though I don't have any figures on how much.

[Chris Johnson]

Don't break my heart, ProgD...

Alas it is not ProgD, Weapon effectiveness, decay rates, repair rates, naming and descriptions are all the Resource Department , ProgD has to break peoples hearts in much more fundemental ways .

Generally steel weapons are more effective in terms of damage than their bone counterparts. I believe bronze weapons are somewhere in-between both types but the Resource Dept may have to confirm that

[El_Skwidd]

Thanks for not breaking my heart, RD. And ProgD.

I can continue on with life.

[Lumin]

That's good to hear. Steel weapons are a b**** to make, not to mention repair, so the extra damage is definitely welcome.

[Nick]

Steel bagh nakhs are worse than longbows.

[Sho]

Or pickaxes, even.

[Lumin]

Too bad.

I guess anyone with a little steel would be better off saving it for a tool or something. Can't believe longbows do more damage though, considering how easy they are too make.

Would have made a great weapon for an assassin, too...

Edit: It would be nice if someone in the know would make a post in the Wiki that would give people an idea of how much damage various weapons do. I know it's hard to give exact numbers when skills and strength can be so different, but something like a list that ranks the weapons (and tools that can be used as weapons) from weakest to strongest would be extremely helpful.

Like...how does a scimitar compare to a sabre? I can't be the only one curious about things like that.

There are tons of weapons on the manufacturing list, but it seems like there are only a handful that people actually build. And it's not like many people are going to use precious iron and steel and time experimenting, knowing they could wind up with something useless and it could all go to waste. (Being able to melt or disassemble items and reuse the materials would be a way to encourage people to try different things, but that's probably quite a ways in the future...)

[HoH]

Well, I guess for some things it all depends.

I mean, come on, if you aren't in some sort of militia or army or guard, or a hunter, or stuff like that, you really don't need a steel weapon. My charrie's do just fine without em. Bone is plenty good.

Now, my charrie in the army, has steel weaponry. If she didn't I'm sure she'd throw some sort of fit over how she was expected to serve the army well, and she couldn't without better weaponry and protection. Blah blah blah. She's a hotheaded one.

So, yeah, it all depends.

[Talapus]

Actually pickaxes are better weapons then longbows, although only slightly. It is axes that are slightly worse then longbows. I have been assembling a list of weapon powers by comparing weapons that single characters have. I will try to get around to posting what I have already acquired.

[Sho]

I have been assembling a list of weapon powers by comparing weapons that single characters have. I will try to get around to posting what I have already acquired.

That's also being done on the wiki, at http://cantr.net/mwiki/index.php/Category:Weapons. It would be great if you could post your information there, though if you put it here I can add it myself.

[Lumin]

Yes, I agree that the kind of weapon you need depends on the situation. Not every character has to have the best weapon, even if it were possible, but if someone actually did have access to iron and steel, and was, say, getting together an army, or trying to figure out how to outfit the town guards, or just trying to decide what weapon they should make for themselves, it would be good to have access to every kind of information.

Amount of damage it does, time it takes to make, time it takes to repair, materials required, tools required, whether their was a cheaper/faster/easier substitute that would work almost as well...all that stuff would go into the decision making process. ("Should I have the militia make bone spears, which are pretty good, or do I spring for steel ones? Though if I'm making steel weapons anyway maybe it would be best to go all out and make some kind of swords...but they do require leather and twice the steel. Do they do at least twice the damage, or are they more work that they're worth?" etc.)

@Talapus and Sho - Great! That's definitely a start, and maybe more people will be encouraged to add to it now. At least the more common weapons should be easy to cover.

[Talapus]

There, I added a few updates to the page. And one of my characters will be acquiring a few more tools and weapons soon, so I will be able to make more changes (as if 3 crossbows and a claymore were not enough for him).