Editing 40d:Armor

:''If you are looking for information on one or more of the individual pieces that make up a set of armor, such as a helm or gauntlets, see [[armor piece]].''

:# Formally, '''armor''' (especially "leather armor") is the single main piece that protects the chest/torso area of a dwarf - '''leather armor, chain armor''', or '''plate armor''', as distinct from leggings or helmets or etc.  The game term for metal armors is ('''suit''' of) chain/plate '''mail''', as is the term when forging these.  The heading used in the [[z-stocks]] menu is '''armor'''.   

:# Also in game, '''armor''' can be one of 4 overall '''levels''' of armor, as defined by the game and using the terms '''Clothes''', '''Leather''' (armor), '''Chain''' (armor) and '''Plate''' (armor), in reference to the maximum protection a dwarf will seek to wear when activated into the [[military]].  This is designated by {{k|v}}iewing a dwarf and selecting the {{k|s}}oldier menu - '''Clothes''', '''Leather''', '''Chain''' or '''Plate'''.  (In the {{k|m}}ilitary {{k|w}}eapons menu, these are abreviated as " '''-''' " (none), '''Lth''', '''Chn''' or '''Plt''', and also whether or not to use a Shd or Bkl - shield or buckler).  This defines the maximum class of protection they will seek to wear for each body part (but they may not completely succeed, depending on available items).

:# Informally, anything that protects your dwarf from being injured.  "''Even socks provide armor protection", "[[Fortification]]s are not the same as armor"''.  An '''armor [[stockpile]]''' also uses this meaning, storing any and all armor-type items, clothing as well as leather and metal armor, and any unusual artifact items.

:# Generally any individual item that makes up part of a suit or set of armor (#2); for example, as in... ''"Any armor protects a dwarf in a specific body location", "[[High boot]]s are better armor than low boots", "Adamantine makes the best armor."''   

Generally, armor can range from simple [[clothing]] (including socks and loincloths), to light weight [[shell]], [[bone]] and [[leather]] armor, to heavy chain and plate items.  Giving your dwarves protective garments will help to keep them alive in combat, as well as safe from the elements. It will also protect them against [[sparring]] injuries and will, over time, develop their [[Armor user]] skill.   

Most civilians will not wear armor other than clothing, [[Hunter]]s being the only exception.

The [[Armor_piece#Armor_pieces|body locations]] that different pieces of armor can protect are:

:* head - [[cap]], [[helm]] ''(can be layered)''

:* torso - [[leather armor]], [[chain armor]], [[plate armor]] ''(can be layered*)''

:* upper legs - [[leggings]], [[greaves]] ''(cannot be layered)''

:* feet - [[boot|low boots, high boots]] ''(cannot be layered)''

:* hands - [[gauntlets]] ''(layering n/a)''

:''(* Leather under chain, or chain under plate - not leather under plate. See "[[Armor#Size, Permit, and layering armor|size/permit]]", below.)''

:See also: [[Armor piece]] for more info on armor and body location.

Depending on the type and material, different specific [[labor]]s and [[workshop]]s are needed to make similar items of armor, and different [[skill]]s will apply. While items of [[clothing]] made by a [[clothier]] aren't technically "armor", they do offer limited protection. Shell and bone armors are made by a [[bone carver]] at a [[craftsdwarf's workshop]]. Chain mail and plate mail are made with the [[armoring]] labor at a [[metalsmith's forge]]. Leather armors are made at a [[leather works]] by a dwarf with the  [[leatherworking]] labor enabled. The type of [[metal]] used affects the effectiveness of the armor, but all leather, bones and shells are equal in their protection multiplier (see table below). Higher skilled craftsdwarves, leatherworkers and armorers will, on average, produce items of higher [[quality]], that increases the effectiveness of the armor.

[[Main:Toady|Toady]] has [http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=18021.msg177112#msg177112 stated] that [[Quality|item quality]] increases its protection (or damage, in the case of [[weapon]]s), namely, "Quality has a huge effect on damage and damage reduction... Exceptional is almost double damage/damage block."

|  [[Adamantine]] || 500<!-- confirmed -->

|  [[Steel]] || 133

|  [[Iron]] || 100

|  [[Bronze]] or [[Bismuth bronze]] || 75

|  [[Copper]] || 66

| Other metals/materials ([[leather]], [[cloth]], [[bone]], [[shell]], [[wood]], etc.) || 50

! [[Copper]]

! [[Bronze]]²

! [[Iron]]

! [[Steel]]³

::2) ''includes [[bismuth bronze]]''

::3) ''[[Obsidian]] has the same modifiers as steel, but is only useful for [[short sword]]s, not armor. It is included here for completeness.''

So at a glance we can see that even a no-quality steel item is the equivalent to the best copper item possible, and that no copper item will ''ever'' be as good as a +fine iron+ one. ''(It is not known whether [[artifact]] quality items have ''additional'' modifiers above and beyond "masterpiece" level.)''

[[Adamantine]] items start at a multiplier of 5.00 for no-quality items, and sky-rocket from there.

To tell a [[dwarf]] to wear armor in Fortress Mode, {{k|v}}iew the dwarf, go to {{k|p}}references, then {{k|s}}oldiering.  There you can select the highest level of armor he should wear: clothes, leather, chain, or plate.  Shield level is selected separately.  You can also set the armor level for many dwarves at once on the {{k|m}}ilitary screen, under {{k|e}}quipment.

Upgrading a civilian dwarf's armor level will not take effect unless they are activated as soldiers.  Civilians will not wear armor other than [[clothing]], except for those given the [[Ambusher|Hunting]] [[labor]] (provided their armor level is set above "clothing").  This will, however, cause them to go out into the wilderness and hunt any wild animal they encounter.

If you set dwarves' armor level above their current set of armor (for instance, 'plate' when they are wearing chain armor), they will replace their current armor level and use armor of the better armor level when it is available. Similarly, when set to 'shield' they may pick up a buckler, but switch on their own to a shield as soon as one becomes available. Unfortunately, dwarves do not make a distinction between different [[material]]s or [[quality|item qualities]], so if they are already wearing a [[helm]] (of, say, copper), they will not pick up a steel helm, as they are of the same armor level.

The solution is to set the dwarf's armor level to 'clothes', so that they drop their armor altogether, then station them standing on top of the pieces of armor you want them to wear (typically located on an armor [[stockpile]] or still in the [[forge]]) and set their armor to the desired level again.  Hopefully you can get them to complete the operation without wandering off to find a set of civilian clothes to wear first.  A similar technique can be used to get dwarves to change [[weapon]]s as well (from an iron short [[sword]] to an [[obsidian]] one, for instance). This can be effectively managed by using the ['''q'''] tool to edit stockpiles to store only certain kinds of item materials. You could for instance keep a Stockpile of bone and wood [[bolt]]s as well as silver weapons behind a door near the [[barracks]], so you can lock up the crappy stuff when the [[goblin]]s are at the door.

''(In older versions of the game, armor would be stored on an [[Armor stand]] -- a piece of [[furniture]] which could also be used to define a [[room]] as a barracks.  However, both armor stands and [[weapon rack]]s proved to be buggy, and their "container" status is currently limited to storage of owned weapons and armor (which are restricted to unusable items, such as overly large weapons and goblin armor).  For now, store your armor in a [[stockpile]] dedicated for the purpose.)''

Sometimes dwarves will ignore the armor they are standing on top of, and go put on the armor they had just removed.  The best way to avoid this is to forbid it (or get rid of the inferior armor -- either by [[chasm]]ing it, [[melt]]ing it (if metal), or [[trading]] it away.  This may take some time to carry out, meaning you must leave some of your soldiers at "clothing" armor level for a while until the unwanted pieces are disposed of).  Keep in mind when melting armor pieces that only about 30% of the metal is recovered, so you should avoid making excess quantities with your most precious metal (steel, generally) unless you have a [[legendary]] armorsmith.

Heavy armor can reduce dwarves' [[speed]], especially when they wear several pieces.  Being [[attributes|Strong]] will reduce this problem, as will [[Armor user]] skill (gained by fighting or sparring in armor).  Extremely Strong dwarves can generally wear a complete suit of plate armor without being burdened.  Armor User at "Expert" level is also generally enough to eliminate the burden of a full suit of plate, even for a dwarf without any Strength attribute. Experiment in adventure mode in order to find out more how this system works.

As an emergency measure, a dwarf who is about to be [[justice|hammered]] can be turned into a [[military]] recruit and set to "Plate" armor level; if they manage to don the suit before being captured, it will reduce the damage they take.

There is no real difference between armor and clothing, except that maybe only non-clothing garments may increase the [[armor user]] skill.

!Body Part!!Clothing!!Weight!!Block!![[Cloth|Fiber]]/[[Silk]]!![[Leather]]!![[Bone]]!![[Shell]]!![[Metal]]!![[Wood]]!![[Size]]!![[Armor#Size, Permit, and layering armor|Permit]]!!Layer

Some clothing articles may not be crafted in fortresses of a given [[civilization]] - items marked as 'common' for that civilization are more likely to be craftable.

More weight multipliers can be found in the [[raws]]; the weight multiplier of any given material is its [SOLID_DENSITY] divided by 1000.

In '''[[adventurer mode]]''', the permit of each garment is checked at the time it is put on, which allows you to put on several cloaks (permit 150) on top of several layers of armor.  In [[fortress mode]], the lowest "permit" value for any given body part is used: for instance, if a dwarf is wearing a dress (permit 50) and a total of 50 or more ''size'' worth of clothing on the upper body, it cannot put any more clothing on the upper body.  (This explains why [[dungeon master]]s tend to wear several cloaks: they arrive at the fortress wearing only a cloak on the upper body (permit 150), and can put on a total of 10 of them, at 15 size each.)

Beware! Dwarves can not wear any armor that is named 'large', 'narrow' or 'small' ([[elf|elves]]', [[goblin]]s',[[kobold]]s') (except [[large rat]] leather armor). The smug traders will not warn you of this. Human and goblin metal armor can be melted down and made into dwarf-scale gear, however.  This can be useful on a map without [[iron]] or [[flux]], but it is probably more economical to buy and melt crafts, as they are generally much cheaper.

Creating plate mail requires three [[bar]]s of metal to [[forge]]. Chain mail and greaves require two bars. All other metal armor requires one bar per piece. Note that making gauntlets or boots will always produce a pair (a left and right gauntlet, or two boots) from one bar of metal. A full suit of leather armor requires four leather pieces to manufacture, a full suit of chain armor requires six metal bars, and a full suit of plate armor requires eight metal bars. This does not include shields.

Shields and bucklers come in all the same material flavours as armor, but offer a slightly different form of protection. While armor absorbs some of the damage from all successful attacks, a shield provides complete protection from some attacks. In [[Adventure Mode]], a successful block may also grant the defender an immediate free counterattack. Bucklers weigh less than shields, but also provide less protection.

Shields offer a unique bonus, a chance for an instantaneous deflection.  Shields provide a 20% chance of total deflection, while bucklers provide a 10% chance of deflection.  This chance of deflection is then altered by the wielder's [[Shield user]] skill, although the exact mechanics are unknown.

* You may also find them with other stray items in one or both hands, such as an extra gauntlet or a pair of leggings.  This will make them unable to use their shield or weapon.  Switch them to "clothes" armor level until they drop everything, then back to plate to force them to dress themselves properly.  You can also try designating the excess items for [[dump]]ing, provided you have a dump and an unoccupied dwarf with Refuse Hauling enabled.