Need help with swords

[abt79]

Every historical reference I've read and every video game says Copper > Bronze > Iron > Steel. Even the friggin' Bible. Having said that: I know that making Martial class weapons like swords are a bit more complicated (you have to fold the metal, etc.) the thing is anyone that properly alloys Bronze into a useable weapon probably know what they are doing and iron is just ya know iron... so anyone who makes something isn't automatically skilled at making stuff. When a new
technology come out its not going to be a superior to already established older technology. When television came out, it wasn't automatically better than radio: Radio technology had been established and evolved for several decades. Television had more "potential" than radio, but when you apply the saying "don't quit your day job" you can see that radio still gets used.

Quite a few video games put bronze above iron tho.

Like what?

That would be both unrealistic and unRunescape-istic, so erm

[hazzor]

I think that the reason behind bronze being superior has less to do with the material and more to do with the number of steps involved in making the weapon, it doesn't quite feel right if you think about it too realistically, but it's a game after all...

pretty much every time in history that bronze and iron clashed the armies wielding iron won out, but there are a lot of reasons for that aside from the qualities of the metals. Iron was much easier to mass produce compared to bronze, so iron wielding armies would be able to arm themselves more completely, and perhaps another effect of this would be that they'd make larger and heavier weapons from iron because there was more to go around. Most bronze swords I've seen have been either quite short, or curved and thin like a kopesh, compared to viking iron swords which are thicker and longer, even in their simplest form.

if you simply put two identical swords against one another, one made of bronze and the other iron, It's easy to imagine the iron sword being massively superior, iron will take an edge better and is much less likely to get damaged when blocking hits or hitting armour compared to a bronze sword, it is however lighter than bronze, if only slightly, and that could depend on how you make the iron, but maybe you could argue that with that difference you could get a harder hit with a bronze sword, but I don't think that'd make a huge difference...

so I went on about that a bit much, and really yeah, iron swords, if forged well, are generally sturdier and can be made sharper than a bronze sword, but when you look at the two in game, the wrought iron sword is a nasty thing compared to the bronze sword, and like I said at the start, the simple fact of the matter is that games have to be balanced, if the bronze sword was worse than the iron, it may aswell not exist because of the extra work involved in making them.

[banok]

does it really matter when ppl make steel in the first week? may as well not even be in the game

[g1real]

Every historical reference I've read and every video game says Copper > Bronze > Iron > Steel. Even the friggin' Bible. Having said that: I know that making Martial class weapons like swords are a bit more complicated (you have to fold the metal, etc.) the thing is anyone that properly alloys Bronze into a useable weapon probably know what they are doing and iron is just ya know iron... so anyone who makes something isn't automatically skilled at making stuff. When a new
technology come out its not going to be a superior to already established older technology. When television came out, it wasn't automatically better than radio: Radio technology had been established and evolved for several decades. Television had more "potential" than radio, but when you apply the saying "don't quit your day job" you can see that radio still gets used.

Quite a few video games put bronze above iron tho.

Like what?

That would be both unrealistic and unRunescape-istic, so erm

Modded minecraft.

[Garfy]

You guys don't know anything about metalurgy.

Cast iron is useless for making weapons. You literally cannot forge it into swords.
Wrought Iron is acceptable for making weapons, it's not as tough or hard as steel but it can be used. But no one uses it, because cast iron or steel are just superior to it for their specific uses.
Bronze is great at making weapons. It's incredibly tough and very unlikely to break (even tougher than steel), it holds an edge well too. Problem is bronze is really heavy so you cannot make big weapons with it. It's also soft (hardness and toughness are not the same).
Steel isn't just one type of metal. It comes in grades, each grade has it's own properties. Some are trash for making weapons (stainless steel for example is too brittle and will shatter like glass), where as some steels are amazing for weapons (1060 carbon steel is great for weapons, it's tough but hard enough to hold an edge).

[Cajoes]

The folding of the steel to make a sword has nothing to do with martial properties, its a method to remove impurities in the metal... A method europe perfected and abandoned 2000 years before the Japanese did.

Another fun fact, the terms golden age, bronze age, iron age and came from the Greek philosophists bemoaning the advent of brittle wrought iron weapons replacing solid and functional (but increasingly expensive) bronze weapons. And is basicly just a ancient idiom for old men stating things were better in their day.

[Owls]

so how's the hafen?

is the chases/fights ,are better then in haven?

http://screenshot.sh/mFzcqee078Ly4
http://screenshot.sh/n9nl035F6WxVU

if the fights r happening even yet,can sum1 post screenies.

[Itanu]

From Wikipedia: Bronze:
"Though bronze is stronger (harder) than wrought iron, the Bronze Age gave way to the Iron Age; this happened because iron was easier to find."
cum on guys I know nothing about metallurgy; it ain't that hard to just do a little research.