ALL ABOUT METALS PT 1 - Tutorial DWARF FORTRESS Alloy Guide

[@Slangnegativ]

Lead mugs is a lore friendly way to explain dwarven behavior

[@mattmorgan2525]

I like to put lead floors at the bottom of pit traps. Fall damage is calculated based on how heavy the colliding things are, so heavy floors do a lot more damage than light floors.

[@torgrimhanssen5100]

that is kind of hilarious though water is as hard as concrete if you land flat

[@incription]

not sure how that makes any sense. Shouldn't it depend on the hardness of the floor?

[@kenjethao7774]

@@incriptionidk hardness = heaviness in DF?

[@auracle6184]

@@kenjethao7774 I guess the right word is 'density' as lead is a very dense material.

[@virtualmartini]

@@torgrimhanssen5100 Concrete is harder than water no matter how you land. You're just repeating an aphorism that doesn't hold true.

[@vitamanbgaming7146]

My last fort was built atop a volcano on a desert island where there was an abundance of sand, galena ore and little else but magma smelters and glass furnaces running non-stop obviously I wanted to make silver and glass knick-knacks rather than lead to trade for wood, steel, and food so I used the overabundance of lead bars to make bins for finished goods, tables, chairs, cabinets, coffers, and as a primary building material for walls, fortifications, and workshops as I had more lead than all my combined stone by a huge margin. The value of smelted metal is higher than non-economic stone so in terms of fortress value and making dwarves happy with basic chests, chairs and cabinets it made the place seem more put together than your average fortress of random rock-make and most dwarves were ecstatic at how orderly and uniform the furnishings were. Obviously it makes the dwarves move slower because everything is so heavy but it also makes the dwarves stronger over time so all your lazy idlers are actually getting jacked carrying around furniture and bringing trade goods to market - carrying boulders and chunks of ore in a wheelbarrow is light work in comparison. Sadly one of my children wrestled a weredonkey to a draw as the mother smashed its skull with a silver mace but a critical ass-munch during the fight penetrated her pig tail dress. She became a weredonkey and was summarily smashed but not before infecting three more dwarves and from those the weredonkey menace spread to the militia commander and then the entire melee squad at which point the decision was made to lock everyone inside and flood the halls with magma just to make sure the infection doesn't spread like a herd of undead reindeer.

[@Ic0nGaming]

Thanks for sharing this story - I never would have thought that carrying shit tons of Lead would have such benefits for your dwarves. Damn Weredonkeys though, these guys would have deserved some more glorious ending :D

[@marcelo55869]

Do you know if there is lead poisoning in dwarf fortress? I mean, what if i make lead barrels, would it make my dwarfs poisoned?

[@Ic0nGaming]

@@marcelo55869 According to my research its tagged as not (yet) implemented.

[@augustday9483]

​@Marcelo Pinheiro Even though it's not implemented, let's be real: do our dwarves ever live long enough to get lead poisoning anyways? 😂

[@Eidenhoek]

Pig tail dress. teehee

[@PerfectDeath4]

Some other used for lead: Loading lead objects like lead bars into a shotgun minecart would definitely hurt a lot. Studding lead onto crafts can help boost your craft value, but you can also stud ammo with lead if you want to add weight to those bolts. Floors made of lead deal more damage because fall damage is calculated as if the floor impacts into the creature.

[@jonne7725]

I remember someone loading lead coins into a danger room and instakilling a full squad

[@hushpool3915]

If you could use lead for Warhammers, it could do quite a HEAVY damage. Minecarts works too, I guess.

[@PerfectDeath4]

@@hushpool3915 Pray to Armok your strange mood weaponsmith grabs platinum for a mace/hammer. =P Though of note, its possible to use other objects as weapons like a book. Dunno if you could make a lead bound codex.

[@cocoamuggins7155]

Thank you SO MUCH for the metal guide, I’m so glad to have them explained with examples. Incredibly helpful!

[@michaeldoucet-morokael]

I make Crowns out of lead, for training Neck Strength. I trade it to the Elves, so they don't hurt themselves when they look down their noses at people!

[@matthhiasbrownanonionchopp3471]

😂😂😂 best comment by far

[@informitas0117]

Now this is my type of video. When I used to play I would pause every time a new mineral showed up and just pour over the wiki and Wikipedia. I used to love minerals and alloys. This game is pretty unique in this regard.

[@igortakesabride1139]

I love how this great game gets it's due update and all these kickass tutorials are coming lickety split! Thanks!!

[@hezky90]

Hey, recent subscriber here. Your Tutorial videos for Dwarf Fortress are top notch. Thank you so much for saving my game for me. What sets your videos apart is that you teach game basics, rather than teaching specific playstyle basics. Thank you again and happy holidays

[@Ic0nGaming]

Happy Holidays to you as well and thanks for your comment!

[@siedzihector9938]

About Lead... Lead in DF has some usage. - lead Mace is quite heavy, so it can strike hard (any heavy materials works with maces) - good to use it to produce bridges and chains with the strength of steel at low costs (its solid metal, but heavy) - anti-invasion minecarts (because they are heavy, so they strike hard) - can be used to smelt low-value lead+copper+tin alloys (Lay pewter) in great numbers to mass produce cheap furnitures or floors with better ratio than smelting just a copper+tin alloys. On Steam version it has nice silver like, metalic and shinny color (its very cheap material, you can get a lot of it, alloy has higher value than raw metal bars)

[@okonkwojones]

You can’t make Lead weapons by default though right? Don’t You need a strange mood and a lot of luck to get a blunt weapon?

[@rbjnytfcuhvj]

You can't make lead weapons in vanilla DF. If you could, they would actually be worse than silver - while it would be more dense, lead has worse material properties for both impact and shear damage. It's even worse than copper. It might have some use as bolts, I suppose. It's reasonably useful for chains, but because of its weight it's difficult to haul. I wouldn't make my bridges out of lead, because it's not even fire safe, let alone magma or dragonfire safe. They are useful as weaponized minecarts, because then you're not using steel that would be better used for weapons, or platinum that would be better used for decorations. Lay pewter is fine, but I usually find myself with more copper than tin and lead, making it more reasonable to make bronze, which has military applications in addition to a better value. And of course lay pewter looks great visually; it's cheaper than silver and pretty good for that smooth "sterile" kinda look.

[@iniudan]

Fine pewter is better then lay pewter, if you have a surplus of cassiterite over copper ore. As you can make 16 fine pewter bar from a single ore smelt operation and it has the same material value then bronze. The only reasons to ever smelt galena by itself are: to train legendary metal crafter on lead, while keeping the silver for exclusive use of weaponsmith, armorsmith and legendary metal crafter; to get the silver to make mace; that you want lead, lay pewter, silver, sterling silver, black bronze for a dwarf preference or personal aesthetic preference. If you have copper ore or gold ore the better use of galena is to make billon or electrum alloy at the ore smelt operation, as it will act like you had gotten 4 silver bar from your galena, while you only get 2 on average smelting the galena by itself, those 2 extra theoretical silver bar are over twice has valuable then the 4 lead bar you always get.

[@jacobthehollow]

As a long time player who returned after the Steam drop, this is a very informative video for both newbies and people who just want to refresh their memory. A+

[@davidburton9690]

I like how the Goblin Caravans regularly deliver shipments of Iron.

[@Argonova]

I loved your Songs of Syx videos, and here I was just hoping you'd take up Dwarf Fortress and lo, KZbin brings your video right up.

[@storytsunami]

I didn't really think about the weight of different metals. In my game Zinc is probably the most common metal I've found. So much so that my main export has been Zinc Goblets and crafts. I probably will try making containers out of it, especially since there's an Elven nation that requests I only chop down at most 25 trees. Thank you for the video Ic0n :D.

[@Ic0nGaming]

I keep being baffled about the depth of every single angle of this game.

[@storytsunami]

@@Ic0nGaming Yeah, it's quite interesting! When you get big enough, you might receive delegations from the elves where they ask you to limit your tree chopping to 'X number of trees' for a year and then they'll be back. The consequences will probably be dire if you disobey unless you have a strong military. I think you can get around it by getting wood through trade though.

[@stephenchurch1784]

Yeahh, that limit will keep getting lower and lower until you cant make beds anymore. Most people seize elven caravans and just embrace the fact that you'll end up at war with them sooner or later

[@storytsunami]

@@stephenchurch1784 it hasn't happened to me yet. In fact, it actually went up to 37 lol

[@tiagopesce]

you know you can bribe them giving "gifts" in caravan, actually im allowed usually to fall like 60trees per visit just giving the exceding ugliest gems (always cutted, because quality control streamlined process sends all rough ones to the jeweller stockpile) ... but i use mooshroom wood actually and im not bribing up those pointy-ear-woodlicking-sons-of-a-tree

[@chalisblur]

Perfect! Concise, informative, clear, and detailed links and labels to each video chapter. Thank you Icon!

[@jonne7725]

missed point about aluminium, hammers made out of them doesn't necessarily instakill criminals meaning that you can actually have hammerers in your fortress without someone being terminated for a small scuffle in the bar

[@torymiddlebrooks]

Waiting patiently for the next part.

[@LIONHEARTE944]

I like to make my water containers out of lead.

[@saitamablz1512]

not safe ? health

[@do0myk]

I like how you have to account for how good of a melee weapon crossbow will be because this is absolutely how the dwarfs will be using it

[@Ic0nGaming]

One might even assume they put a hammerhead somewhere on the crossbow frame cause that's how Urist likes them to be made.

[@korootz]

This vid is a great help 👍 Definitely one of the most convoluted topics in the game. As a new player I've figured out everything I needed to maintain a prosperous fort in my first ~50h but still struggle with metal industry. The workshop UI doesn't seem too newb friendly to me and I never remember which rock can be smelted into which bars, etc.

[@Ic0nGaming]

Yeah, DF really has it's issues with UI clarity to put it into friendly words. And lots of the material differences are literally impossible to perceive just by looking at something. All the necessary information to understand the stuff is hidden from the user, it's a real nightmare ^^ That being said, the game is still amazing and I can't wait for future iterations. Cause once the UI hell is fixed, there is little to nothing to complain about this game.

[@korootz]

@@Ic0nGaming For the most part UI is managable. My biggest gripe is with squads, lack of creature filters (as we have on engrave slabs) and smelter tasks. Surprisingly it's the only workshop that highlights available tasks, which is a nice thing, it even says what is required but once it's available it's not shown >.>. But other than that it's messed up and inconsistent: when making alloys it tells you what you get ("Make brass bars"), but when making bars from ore like i.e. copper bars from tetrahedrite it says only "Smelt tetrahedrite ore" - how the hell am I supposed to know the outcome of smelting tetrahedrite? I'm fine with some stuff being hidden from the player, it's fun to investigate, but bad UX and inconsistencies like these are just too annoying.

[@MarioVelezBThinkin]

First video I've seen of yours. Love the info in this, made a lot of stuff clearer for me. I pray you have already received a better mic.

[@jacques-dev]

Thank you so much for this video! I am excited for part 2.

[@dahunlee_acousticguitar_covers]

thank you for great information. I've played DF for ages but still feel like I know so little. I chuckled a little when I saw the 'part 1' in the title; that's DF in a nutshell haha, so much info you need a wiki lol.

[@Ic0nGaming]

Well I'm personally a total newcomer. These tutorials are kinda like part of my own learning process. Basically summarizing my own lesson and then sharing it for you guys to profit from me pretzeling my brain about this. I actually wanted to make only one video :D But. So. Many. Alloys. Detail level of this game is beyond insane, but it's actually a very fun part about it. As long as you have joy in hyper realistic simulations.

[@dahunlee_acousticguitar_covers]

@@Ic0nGaming Awesome, DF is a super fun game, I hope you enjoy your time with it. Thanks again for the tutorial(s), I'm sure they will help a lot of people.

[@fremenGaming]

@Ic0n Gaming you can select specific material of furniture in task manager with the magnifier button... you can choose any specific mat, no need to hack/config stockpiles...

[@Ic0nGaming]

Yeah, I overlooked that. Although sometimes the stockpile fiddling is necessary with certain industries. Thanks for pointing it out!

[@Paulsinke]

Thankyou for mentioning silver warhammers! they really do pack a punch and anyone who has never used them should give them a shot. Steel armor and silver hammers make a killer anti-goblin squad. Great videos!

[@P7ab]

They've been tested and it's not true

[@Guts3570]

i could be wrong, but im pretty sure metal weapons are more likely to penetrate armor made of softer material. iron penetrates copper, steel penetrates iron, etc. so for crossbow bolts, wouldn't iron have better armor penetration than copper since a bolt is a piercing attack and not a blunt attack?

[@ErinsAaron]

Thank you for this helpful and informative video

[@ErinsAaron]

I make stacks of lead goblets for all my human visitors.

[@nolans3420]

Im on my second base and I cannot seem to find any of the flux stone that it said was there so instead of steel weapons I’ve been making silver hammers because it’s such a good hammer material. Crazy how the makeup of the rock layers led me to have my warrior class be all hammer dwarves since that’s what’s available. The depth of strategy never ceases to amaze me.

[@nolans3420]

Also, to answer your question about what lead is good for. I have limited knowledge and the documentation isn’t great, but lead is one of the densest elements and not as malleable as the precious metals so I’m assuming it’s also pretty good for hammers.

[@DeathKorpsLt-]

@@nolans3420 It's not particularly durable, so while heavy, lead weapons don't take a lot to break. Platinum is hands down the best blunt weapon material, heaviest and durable. Lead itself doesn't have a ton of uses, I personally use it for decorations and statues.

[@stephenchurch1784]

The embark screen only looks at the exact tile your mouse cursor is hovering over. Its pretty easy to end up straddling tiles with various resource distributions without realizing it. Try digging an exploratory shaft in the northwest corner of your map to find it. Your cursor is in the northwest corner of the embark footprint when you put it down so that should be where it is

[@Njordin2010]

@@stephenchurch1784 this is 100% true. Took me a while to find out.

[@newtonbomb]

​​@@DeathKorpsLt-I refuse to use lead for anything because I just don't feel right giving my dwarves or visitors lead poisoning 😂

[@maybehesbornwithitmaybeits9318]

I like to make my goblets out of lead

[@Ic0nGaming]

Dorfs don't mind ^^

[@keithgreen1263]

Dam how deep is this game and i dont mean Z levels. thanks for the info.

[@Ic0nGaming]

Yeah I always keep being surprised myself. When I prepped for this video I really thought I'd be able to get alloy and metal in one video.

[@lcarus42]

The more I learn the less I know...

[@fiachhoffman9590]

the best part is that the complexity arises less from contrivance and more emergently from the game's constituent systems...it all feels so much more natural

[@Ic0nGaming]

@@fiachhoffman9590 That's a very good summary.

[@augustday9483]

​@Fìach Hoffman Very true! I love how all the different metals have uses because of their inherent properties. Some are heavier, some are more durable, some are sharper, some are more valuable, and that's what informs their uses. It all feels very natural and realistic.

[@SevenIsaCannibal7]

Bro your set up with your workshops along side your stockpile is brilliant. I am shamelessly stealing its design

[@Niskirin]

I thought lead existed to make goblets for your nobles.

[@sketchyviper5162]

I encrust my bolt ammunition with lead, specifically into spikes because I believe in lead poisoning for my dwarfs. Elves deserve no better.

[@sharkymalone]

Thanks so much for this video! I hope newcomers like me find this info/video easily. It's a huge help

[@redRum2k11]

Thank you very much! Unbelievable useful information.

[@CokenOpi]

i had a fort once that had so much gold i was just giving it away to traders LOL

[@hushpool3915]

I'm using tin mostly for military purposes as flasks for water.

[@darksquirtle3041]

I am so making a lead minecart now!

[@Ic0nGaming]

May it crash well =)

[@linkolek]

Filling it with lead coins... I wonder if coins are better than bars? A lot of small objects is more consistent, but single big hit might do more raw damage.

[@RandomGuy0987]

Thanks for the guide

[@Xseleon]

Is lead not poisonous in Dwarf Fortress? I laughed when you suggested making lead crafts/toys that would be handled most likely by children.

[@Ic0nGaming]

Somehow I have found no evidence of lead being poisonous in DF. Prolly the dwarves are resistant? Idk :D

[@mattmorgan2525]

It's not poisonous, and neither are radioactive rocks like pitchblende. Quite a few players like to make lead goblets or plumbing as an inside joke.

[@HansLemurson]

My head-canon is that Dwarves are immune to Lead poisoning, and indeed to all heavy metals and probably carbon monoxide too. They laugh at the weak-blooded surface dwellers who have no stomach for *real* smelting.

[@stephenchurch1784]

Sadly it isn't. Doesn't stop me from pretending it is and selling lead crafts to the elves to tell them what I think of their darn tree-cutting caps

[@virtualmartini]

Just because lead is poison to humans doesn't mean it would be to Dwarves.

[@feorh1919]

damned elite living in platinum rooms! dwarven proletariat unite!

[@Captain-Ruddy]

This guy sounds like Christoph Waltz Kinda cool.

[@jamiehughes5573]

It would be funny if they made it so you can make medicine with bismuth as a nod to Pepto Bismol

[@aque9608]

'lead toys' and 'lead mugs' sound like bad ideas ;P

[@Ic0nGaming]

Ah dwarves ain't not gonna worry about that :D

[@kerbalette156]

Great video thank you!

[@unnamedshadow1866]

I hope they add cannons and gunsmiths in the future, would give Lead a lot of use for Ammo. I mean Dwarfs do use guns depending on some Fantasy Settings.

[@Ic0nGaming]

I'd love me some Firearms mod at least indeed! We already got Saltpeter included as well ^^

[@entropic-decay]

lead is pretty decent as far as mundane metals go for bludgeoning weapons (war hammers and maces). this is due to its sheer weight and being decently durable, which are both used to calculate weapon damage for bludgeoning weaponry.

[@gabrote42]

I wonder what metals are good for cutting weapons, aside from the sweet one. I also use lead on pits, because the fall damage is calculated by throwing the floor at the fallen Goblinite deposit.

[@okonkwojones]

Iron and best being steel, and then iron, outside of the spoiler ones. There’s some really great other ones, but you have to get a mood and luck to get those. Also there are some uses for non-optimal weapon combos: like using your lightest possible material to issue to your fort’s hammerer-because lightweight blunt weapons are really low damage, it greatly reduces the chances that they maim/kill the dwarf they’re punishing. You used to be able to give them training maces made out of the lightest producible wood, (I think it’s called featherwood? The elves can bring it, not sure if it spawns in a biome)-It would be incapable of even bruising iirc. but I’m not sure a wooden training weapon is considered a valid item for a hammerer. I know you can’t use training axes for woodcutters anymore.

[@gabrote42]

@@okonkwojones How cool

[@okonkwojones]

@@gabrote42 ty for the tip on lead floors, btw I’ll try that. I didn’t know it worked that way!

[@gabrote42]

@@okonkwojones One can find a lot of information on the forums and wiki if you don't mind spoilers :)

[@JuanMrDude]

Is there any in-game resource that I can check to learn about the properties of the metals and the alloys?

[@docdoom1987]

Not sure if true or not, but I've heard people say silver has a hidden value fighting undead creatures too.

[@Ic0nGaming]

I haven't found any information about that in the DF wikipedia, but that doesn't mean you aren't onto something. Hope somebody knows more. I was wondering if Silver hadn't had a hidden interaction with Werebeasts in general. Cause, pure metal and stuff. But haven't found official info on that either.

[@twomillion8383]

Only because silver is heavy, so has a high blunt modifyer. Silver mace and warhammer can pulverising undead so they can’t be reraised. Sharp weapons cut off limbs that can be raised.

[@briankorsedal]

When in Rome, do as the Romans do, make lead pipes! What could go wrong?

[@TheKerberos84]

I assume there are no slings in the game. Lead could be useful as projectile. Do Tools have wear and tear?

[@stephenchurch1784]

No to slings and yes to item degradation. Dwarves are also unreasonably angry about wearing poor quality socks. "Seriously Urist? The fort has been under siege for the past year by a necromancer, you've watched your own children die then killed them again yourself when they were raised but you're going to go into a murderous rage now because your toe is sticking out from your sock."

[@DeathBean89]

Warm feet are happy feet, what can I say?

[@diazinth]

@@DeathBean89 I dunno, Happy feet are movies about penguins.

[@Battlewear]

How did you do platinum walls?

[@shaylethorne2387]

Lol... You know you play too much DF when you start advocating lead goblets, cups, dyes, and toys for kids!!!!

[@colbyboucher6391]

Ayyy I was wondering about this. On the surface materials don't seem to matter much so I found it odd just how many there are.

[@Ic0nGaming]

Yeah, that's one typical Dwarf Fortress thing. I also thought that things looked so samey on the surface when I started out, but no. Definitely no :D

[@babyninjajesus2669]

>bismuth is not good for weapons or stuff BUT WHY? what is the thought process going into making that type of decision

[@Ic0nGaming]

Statwise it's almost identical to regular bronze - don't ask me what the devs intention was. I'm not that much of a metallurgy geek myself either to be able to lead a proper discussion about it.

[@uaputte]

Nice video, do you have one whit stone and sead to?

[@Ic0nGaming]

No, but those are pretty good ideas =)

[@Bobylein1337]

Tin doens't seem to be much lighter than iron according to the wiki

[@Jegge_100]

Doesn't silver make good bolts because like copper it's very heavy

[@Ic0nGaming]

Should definitely work well. It's mostly a question about availability. Are you swimming in silver? Then why not. If not, you should probably prefer some bolts made of something more available.

[@ENVE5]

AH! THANK YOU!!!!!

[@NeXtarProducts]

Bauxite isn't aluminum ore?

[@Ic0nGaming]

Yes it is. But somehow the Dwarves aren't high tech enough to use it yet.

[@antondingir884]

pls teach us how to make iron weapons from start to finish and other metals for sale

[@Blxz]

Smelt iron bearing rock, make iron weapons. What do you need to know? It's the least tricky material and comes in multiple different ores - limonite, magnetite, and hematite being the most common I've encountered. Now steel, that's slightly more difficult.

[@HelciusCabral]

In the most basic sense, you'll need a wood burning workshop to make wood -> coal for basic fuel, then an smelter workshop to make fuel + iron bearing ore -> iron bars, then a metalsmith's workshop to make iron weapons of your choice (iirc you also need fuel in the metalsmith's workshop)

[@qnicks23434]

Can you kill vampires with silver weapons?

[@Ic0nGaming]

Silver has no intrinsic quality in killing off unholy beings in this game.

[@lhumanoideerrantdesinterne8598]

So... my takeaway is that metals are interesting.

[@markrobertshaw886]

Would lead or platinum maces be pretty powerful

[@Ic0nGaming]

Platinum - very much so, but sadly you can't assign your smiths to use it as a weapon material. You need to wait for an Artifact Inspiration and get lucky. Lead on the other hand isn't listed as a good material. If I understood the system correctly it's mainly cause lead is very soft and would wear down extremely fast.

[@ivyivyyiivvvyyyyvy]

Great video, thank you! Here are some notes I took if anyone might find them useful: Aluminum (native aluminum): Rare, very lightweight, very valuable - good for making valuable furniture items (statues, etc). could also sorta be used for containers because of their weight, but really only good as a decorative material. Bismuth (bismuthinite): Low value, relatively heavy - used to make bismuth bronze, which is like upgraded copper, and basically nothing else. Copper (native copper, malachite, tetrahedrite, maybe more?): Extremely versatile - can make lots of good alloys. With copper and tin can make bronze which will totally upgrade value. Can make brass out of it. On its own is good for picks. The pick does not care about material until it’s used for combat, doesn’t affect mining speed, so is good for picks. Also makes great crossbows and bolts. Relatively heavy, good for melee with crossbows. Bolts have good armor penetration values due to their weight. Also cheap and abundant. Alright for containers, can make all of them, but relatively heavy. Also good for training weapon and armorsmiths. Gold (native gold): Valuable, rare, similar uses to aluminum - decorative (cause good value). Too soft and too heavy for weapons and armor. Good for alloys. Good for constructing valuable environments to make nobles happy (like aluminum). Can use native gold ore (before smelting) at stonemason to create golden furniture. Requires trickery to do, but can make more types of gold furniture this way. Iron (hematite, limonite, magnetite, maybe more?): Abundant, versatile. Used in production of steel. if you have no access to bronze, iron is a great, easy go-to to make all of your melee weapons and armor. Iron is the best middleground for melee weapons and armor, only topped by steel and otherworldy metals, so really easy choice for new players who don’t know everything about metals). Iron isn’t the worst for ranged weapons either. One of only two ways to make anvils (other being steel). Lead (galena): Low value, heavy. Used in one alloy combination. Good material for crafts because it’s not good for much else. Good for smashing things with minecart traps because it’s really heavy. Good for bottom of pit traps because fall damage is calculated based on weight of surface fallen on. Good for bridges and chains (strength of steel but low cost). Nickel (garnierite): Good alloy metal, magma-safe. If you’re not using it for the sake of alloying, it can be used for some other niche stuff. Tin (cassiterite): Very lightweight. Almost as lightweight as aluminum, but much less rare. Therefore great for making lightweight containers like barrels, bins and pots to conserve wood. It’s main quality, however is for alloying. Can be used to make bronze, puter, and glaze for clay. Platinum (native platinum): Super heavy, super valuable. Good for heavy blunt weaponry, but has to be made as artifacts. Silver (horn silver, galena, tetrahedrite): Often found in ores that give other metals. Good for alloying, also good for value. Good niche for war hammers and maces. Almost as powerful as platinum but gets damaged quickly. Consider alloying BEFORE smelting tetrahedrite or galena. Good for decent value furniture as well. Zinc (sphalerite): Very lightweight, good for containers, things that have to be carried around, etc. not very high value. Alloy friendly too. Good alternative if you don’t have much wood. Alloys always use the word “make” and raw metals say “smelt _______ ore”.

[@greedsin555]

bru you can make led paint and toys? that's got to hurt your dwarfs life expectancy

[@bigfishoutofwater3135]

So make flasks, goblets, and children's toys out of lead. What could possibly go wrong?

[@DemonAbyss10]

Thinking Ideally Lead for a minecart for a minecart shotgun. Might be worth experimenting with different materials for "ammo".

[@adlhbgreqk]

Can you make bolts for crossbow and maces from lead if it's so heavy? or is there better choice?

[@Ic0nGaming]

As far as I've understood the material background, lead is too soft for both jobs. But it's really quite tough to get behind the combat mechanics of this game. Best idea: Give it a try and report your experiences! At least you will have a use for that Lead then :D

[@lichlord1810]

silver makes the best blunt weapons due to it's density, but like said they wear faster then say an iron counterpart. It's the difference between a hammer that hit's like a truck but you need to replace a bit more often, or a hammer you don't need to replace as often that does less damage to your enemies.

[@stephenchurch1784]

Lead is a extremely fragile metal so it's not really any good for weapon making. As to what the best bolt material is, steel seems likely but actually running the numbers would be too much of a pain for a quick youtube content. To expand on lichlord's comment and give you an idea of how hard it is to determine the "best" weapon material, silver is great for hammers not only because of its density but also because its impact elasticity and the force needed to fracture it (in kilopascals) works well with the contact area and swing velocity of hammer type weapons. Each of those properties are determined by real world physics of the weapon. Add to that the fact that certain weapon type and material combos work better against unarmored, chain armored and plate armored enemies and you begin to see why the steel for edged weapons and silver for blunt weapons mantra is really just a guideline for what will be a reasonable, general purpose weapon

[@ParGellen]

What is pig iron?

[@Ic0nGaming]

A pre-product used in the steel production. It's basically a worse alloy of iron, but you need to put 1 pig iron and 1 iron together for making steel. So it basically only exists for the purpose of being transmuted into steel.

[@CATASTEROID934]

It's a very high-carbon carbon-iron alloy that's brittle due to the large carbon content (as a result it has the [BRITTLE] tag like bismuth does in the game's metal definition files), it is combined with very low-carbon iron like wrought iron to produce a steel with an ideal carbon content to not be too soft or too brittle while still being superior to the base iron. The process of producing steel is abstracted a bit but I assume it involves a blast furnace to produce pig iron which is then forge welded to wrought iron or similar and worked to homogenise the resulting bar.

[@SleepyGaryBASS]

👍👍

[@leonelbritto]

Obrigado, aguardo por um dia entender mais sobre os metais que nunca tive acesso ... até!

[@emilianozamora399]

Metal bins can store multiple times more than wooden bins, depending on quality

[@mikatuomaala1186]

I can't find documentation supporting this anywhere? It states its 6000 squareCM for one bin. Is this really true the material will increase this?

[@Starius2]

I literally thought they were just style and nothing more...

[@drpebbs]

Nice video but its BIS-MuhTH not BIS-MOOSE

[@drpebbs]

Lead goblets making your dwarves insane should totally be added to the game

[@xexzersy]

is lead poisoning a thing?

[@HansLemurson]

I like to imagine that Dwarves are immune. Sadly the game doesn't even model it for humans or elves either.

[@xexzersy]

@@HansLemurson welp nothing is perfect

[@linkolek]

According to wiki, dwarfs are immune to metal poisoning. Have to check other races.

[@Wenkebach]

Why doesn't the game just give us these stats? Seems to be the most frustrating thing as a new player, I can't just figure it out on my own, I have to turn to video's (which are great an much appreciated) by people that have played for a decade or more. The game should just tell us what these ores can make, how they combine, the stats on weapons/armor, doing such and such produces this or that.

[@krongusblung8305]

"Bismooth" "Meleeee" Breh

[@Ic0nGaming]

Boohoo? I'm sorry, I'm no native speaker and therefore am learning every day a bit about pronounces.

[@krongusblung8305]

@@Ic0nGaming please do not butcher my native tongue

[@Ic0nGaming]

@@krongusblung8305 Hmmm, so you write stuff like "breh" and feel like I'm butchering your language? I'm gone out of this discussion mate. Easy solution: Stop watching my stuff, it helps 100% guaranteed =)

[@torrent6181]

@@krongusblung8305 "Please do not butcher my native tongue" > uses the term "Breh" Do you realize how xenophobic you sound? Don't gate-keep our language.

[@torrent6181]

@@Ic0nGaming Bismuth is pronounced "bizz-myth" and melee is pronounced "may-lay". Thank you for making this video, it was super helpful for me!

[@MrDannyArcher]

Iron is pronounced ai-uhn

[@TheGlock30owner]

The number of mispronounced words hurts my brain.

[@Ic0nGaming]

Well, I'm a non native speaker, thanks for your kind words! /s

[@TheGlock30owner]

@@Ic0nGaming Such a lame excuse for lazyiness.

[@Ic0nGaming]

@@TheGlock30owner Yeah, sure whatever mate. Merry Christmas!

[@Nightweaver1]

@@TheGlock30owner Don't be like that, man, he's trying to help everyone and he's doing his best.