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Author Topic: Shields... How do they even?  (Read 2462 times)

Frontestro

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Shields... How do they even?
« on: July 06, 2012, 10:35:53 am »
So I heard once that the material used in a shield doesn't matter for deflection/blocking purposes so that a copper shield is as good as a steel shield in that it can be used to block attacks and that wooden shields are only bad because of fire. Is this correct and if so why should I use a shield made of steel over one made of copper?

The reason I ask is because I just had a farmer go legendary bone carver on me by constructing a shield entirely of bones.
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crazysheep

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Re: Shields... How do they even?
« Reply #1 on: July 06, 2012, 10:38:34 am »
Shield quality affects deflection and blocking purposes, so artifact shields such as the one you got will have a higher deflection and blocking percentage. On the other hand shield material matters for speed penalties and blunt attacks from shield bashing, which is why steel shields would be preferable for stronger blunt attacks in melee.
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"Don't be in such a hurry to grow up, for there's nothing a kid can't do."

weenog

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Re: Shields... How do they even?
« Reply #2 on: July 06, 2012, 10:39:55 am »
A shield either blocks or it doesn't, material doesn't much matter for its primary purpose (though IIRC, wooden shields can catch fire blocking dragon breath).  Material matters for bashing purposes (heavier is better, as presumably is harder) and for how much it slows the dwarf's movement down (lighter is better).
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Listen up: making a thing a ‼thing‼ doesn't make it more awesome or extreme.  It simply indicates the thing is on fire.  Get it right or look like a silly poser.

It's useful to keep a ‼torch‼ handy.

MonkeyHead

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Re: Shields... How do they even?
« Reply #3 on: July 06, 2012, 10:41:03 am »
Copper shields are the shield fo choice for strong dwarves due to the higher weight allowing for more damaging bashing attacks. Wood shields are very useful if you dont want to encumber your soldiers, espcially marksdwarves as they shouldnt ever find hemselves in melee combat where the metal shield comes into play.
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Frontestro

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Re: Shields... How do they even?
« Reply #4 on: July 06, 2012, 10:43:03 am »
So my Hare Bone shield with no flammable parts weighing in at less than 1 Urist is a very good shield for blocking and deflecting but it will never hurt anything...
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weenog

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Re: Shields... How do they even?
« Reply #5 on: July 06, 2012, 10:44:29 am »
The shield bash generally shouldn't be a primary or even frequent attack form, anyway.
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Listen up: making a thing a ‼thing‼ doesn't make it more awesome or extreme.  It simply indicates the thing is on fire.  Get it right or look like a silly poser.

It's useful to keep a ‼torch‼ handy.

Frontestro

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Re: Shields... How do they even?
« Reply #6 on: July 06, 2012, 10:47:13 am »
Well I have to applaude that dwarf then for creating the most useful artifact I have ever gotten in my past few months of playing DF. Good job Urist McBonecarver you did me well.
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weenog

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Re: Shields... How do they even?
« Reply #7 on: July 06, 2012, 10:51:15 am »
Now that he's a legendary bone carver he can make you some pretty nice cheapass bolts, too.  Though you'll need to keep an eye on his morale until your hunters/marksdwarves prove their skill, losing a lot of masterwork bolts to creatures that got bolts stuck in and left the map alive can lead quickly to insanity.
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Listen up: making a thing a ‼thing‼ doesn't make it more awesome or extreme.  It simply indicates the thing is on fire.  Get it right or look like a silly poser.

It's useful to keep a ‼torch‼ handy.

SharkForce

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Re: Shields... How do they even?
« Reply #8 on: July 06, 2012, 11:19:07 am »
Quote from: weenog on July 06, 2012, 10:51:15 am
Now that he's a legendary bone carver he can make you some pretty nice cheapass bolts, too.  Though you'll need to keep an eye on his morale until your hunters/marksdwarves prove their skill, losing a lot of masterwork bolts to creatures that got bolts stuck in and left the map alive can lead quickly to insanity.

just start him off on encrusting furniture with bone or something like that. once he's got a nice big selection of masterwork encrustings (on stuff that won't leave the map), *then* you can start with making bolts.
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