The simulation title Dwarf Fortress mimics a surprising amount of life, from a need for recreation to the life cycle of a donkey, and more is seemingly packed into the title with every passing year. With this level of simulation, however, comes danger — from goblins that want to kidnap children to the seemingly inevitable monstrous beasts that sleep in deep caverns, players will want to quickly wrap their minds around combat and stand ready to defend their sacred halls. Below, we’ve collected the ten best weapons in Dwarf Fortress, so your dwarves can rest a bit easier knowing they’re protected.
It should be noted that combat in Dwarf Fortress is different than what players from other franchises may have come to expect. Combat does not involve hit points for either side, so there’s no intent to burn through an HP pool before striking a foe down. Instead, various weaponry excels in some situations while failing in others. The general idea of combat is seeking to stun a target, or momentarily render them defenseless, which allows for a killing strike the quickest. Ensure you have a healthy mix of high-quality metal weaponry for your forces, and you should come out on the other side with most of the dwarves alive.
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10) Bow — Exotic
Not to be confused with crossbows, bows are exotic weapons to dwarves, meaning they cannot be forged by dwarves themselves. Instead, they can be bartered for with various traders or looted in the aftermath of a raid. Regardless, they cannot be crafted by your dwarves, meaning you cannot eke out the maximum damage possible with materials and crafter skill. Further, when matched against good-quality crossbows, a bow simply doesn’t offer the velocity and ability to pierce. It’s a step up from the similarly exotic blowgun, but that is far removed from a recommendation. They can be used in a pinch to harry attackers, prior to closing the distance.
9) Long sword — Exotic
The long sword is twice the size of a short sword and can deal out fantastic damage while retaining the option to hold a shield in the second hand. Better damage, one-handed, and appropriately sized for a dwarf. The problem is that they are an exotic weapon, meaning they are foreign implementations for dwarves. Dwarves cannot craft these weapons, meaning players will lose the ability to maximize traits with various metals and crafts — they’ll need to be found from caravans or raiding parties, typically resulting in low-quality weapons.
8) Mace
In testing, maces are consistently the lowest in terms of ability to kill — this includes flails and Morningstars. Even when landing a stunning blow against a smaller creature (goblins and the like), the mace tends to fail to follow up with a kill. This doesn’t mean that they don’t have a place within your military force, but this weapon type should be used sparingly, with multiple pierce weapons (ideal for larger targets) and slashing weapons (for human-sized targets) included alongside it in your arsenal. Hammers tend to be a stronger consideration for weaponry thanks to the blunt force trauma they can inflict, and their tendency of landing stuns.
7. Two-handed sword — Exotic
They’re massive, and offer five times the contact area in comparison to short swords. The two-handed swords can quickly cleave unarmored enemies, rendering most threats moot before they know what’s happening, but they come with a few caveats. First, these weapons are simply too large for most dwarves to use: the largest dwarves in the game can use these, and in extremely rare circumstances can even wield them with one hand, if not for a bug from 2014 that doesn’t properly check dwarf size to equipment. Secondly, these are foreign weapons, meaning dwarves cannot forge them. Instead, they’ll need to be found from raids and trading with caravans, ideally in Adventure Mode so that they can actually be used.
6. Short sword
Short swords have three attacks: a stabbing attack, a slashing attack, and a pommel strike for blunt attacks. This means that it’s relatively versatile and appropriate for combat against anything other than large beasts. They will rarely stun, so it does leave a possibility for your dwarves taking damage as they close the distance and step into the fray, and their disembodiment chance is similarly low. Paired with a few hammers or axes, however, this weapon can truly shine. If a dwarf’s statistics aren’t ideal for combat, offer them a sword and ensure they train to assist your big hitters in the barracks.
5. Crossbow
Crossbows are, on paper, an ideal weapon for anyone concerned about losing their units. In execution, they’re simply outclassed by other weapons. A need for ammunition, and their relatively low impact on armored foes, means that crossbow-equipped dwarves will steadily be outpaced in terms of combat experience by melee fighters. An archery tower or three still wouldn’t be remiss in most fortresses, allowing dwarves to pelt enemies before needing to close the distance with melee, but they cannot handle raids, or most foes, by themselves. Two stocked towers can reliably cripple an attacking force, however, so ensure that you have a few marksmen available with safe areas for firing.
4. Axe
Axes can remove the limbs and heads of unarmored attackers in a singular fell swoop, and they can be best used by dwarves already competent in the weaponry. Even if they aren’t finishing enemies, they can easily cripple an enemy force to the point that your foes will find themselves without their weaponry surprisingly quick. Removing an arm or two is a sure-fire way to ensure that you aren’t getting slashed any more than necessary. A strong all-rounder weapon that will make quick work of unarmored foes, and can hold their own against armored enemies as well.
3. Whip — Exotic
Whips have the highest velocity in the game, and cut through armored and unarmored enemies alike with ease. Regardless of dwarf size, whips can be equipped with one hand, leaving the other hand available for shields. The only foe that you’ll likely not want to use the whip on are monstrous beasts, which are simply better fought with piercing damage. The problem is that whips are an exotic weapon to dwarves, meaning they cannot be crafted with the highest tier of materials — they’ll need to be traded for or looted from raids. Further, while whip damage is astoundingly high, it’s also a bug that Bay 12 has stated they plan to rectify. Take special caution if a foe has a whip equipped — ranged weaponry is ideal to keep your citizens safe. Whips deals blunt damage, while their cousin Scourge deals slashing damage.
2. Hammer
On the pre-embarkation screen, hammer weapons cost the least to bring to the fortress with you. They have the ability to obliterate enemy skulls, can stun enemies consistently, and can mitigate armor to boot. They excel against human-sized enemies and should be used consistently to defend the fortress against anything aside from monstrous beasts. Hammers lose to axes if the foes are unarmored, but the consistent damage offered by hammers, and considering that most foes have some form of armor, gives hammers a sizeable bonus in combat.
1. Spear
Offering a good bit of distance, spears are a consistent winner for your dwarven army. They can safely damage most foes, are surprisingly effective against monstrous beasts like the Giant Cave Spider, and can even be used in the construction of traps. In the event that a miner stumbles across a cavern, your militia will be ready with multiple spears to make short work of whatever ungodly foe lays in the dark. The worst part of spears is that they can get stuck in foes, meaning dwarves will need to spend time to unstick them — have a few axes and hammers ready to close the fray to provide a means of cover to these dwarves, then go back to poking them to death. It should be noted that pikes are more effective than spears, but due to a bug (reported originally in 2014), cannot be used by larger dwarves in Fortress Mode as the dwarf size scaling is improperly implemented.
