In Dwarf Fortress, there are plenty of dangers, and they all come in different shapes and sizes. With this in mind, players will need to know which weapons are best to give their dwarves a fighting chance. From Spears to Axes, weapons all have their pros and cons, but some are just demonstrably better than others. In fortress mode, weapons can be categorized as foreign and native. Native are those that dwarfs can produce, and foreign are those that they can't produce. There are seven types of native weapons that can be made by using various structures, like a metal smith's forge, compared to fourteen foreign weapons that enemies may drop, or that players can buy from trading caravans.
This list will focus on native weaponry, as foreign weapons cannot be bought in bulk and may require skills that dwarves lack, leaving them useless in some hands. They can also vary in quality and material, so it can be tricky to rank these. Foreign weapons are especially expensive in trading and that counts against them once again. If players have a high-quality foreign weapon, it would make sense to give it to a dwarf, however, the standard native weapons will be more plentiful. All weapons are either edge or blunt types, and then further separated into slashing, piercing, crushing, and ranged.
6 Mace - Bone Crushing Power
A mace is a blunt weapon that can be held in one hand by a dwarf, dealing deadly blunt damage. Warhammers are another blunt native when but when compared to the mace, warhammers fall short of size and contact area. This means that warhammers will be better at targeting armored foes or damaging bones and organs, while maces are much better at taking down unarmored foes due to their large size they can pulverize enemies faster.
Dwarves can forge effective maces out of any metal, though those with higher densities, such as silver, tend to do more damage. Many dwarves can equip maces in one hand though in a few special cases they will use two. They have their strengths in taking down unarmored opponents and undead, but maces fall short in their versatility.
5 Spears - Stick Them With The Pointy End
As dwarves are somewhat vertically challenged, a spear can be a boon in certain instances where distance is key. The piercing weapon can penetrate through unarmored enemies to skewer their vital organs, however, this can be a problem if the dwarves run into undead enemies, in this case, blunt weapons are the better option. There is a foreign version of the spear which is the pike, but most Dwarves are unable to wield pikes due to their short stature. With that said, a spear is a good option as, despite being half the size, it only suffers a 17% difference in penetration to the much longer pike. A key downside to a spear is that they can get stuck in enemies, meaning dwarves will take time retrieving their weapon and potentially be hit in the process.
The use of spears will improve the spear-dwarf skill and will be especially helpful when attacking large beasts. Spears can be made from any weapon-grade metal but metals that hold a better edge are much more suitable for spears. Spears can also be used in spear traps which can be another defensive way for a player to keep their fortress safe. Keeping one or two spear-dwarves in a militia is definitely advisable for when the big beasts are nearby.
4 Crossbows - Packs a Punch at Range
The crossbow is the only ranged weapon, in the vanilla game, that is native to dwarves and therefore can be made in bulk and stockpiled. As with all the weapons in Dwarf Fortress, crossbows are very effective in some circumstances, but not in every circumstance. Being able to support a player's melee troops from a distance or even kill enemies before they can get close, a few crossbow dwarves can be invaluable.
With a clear line of sight, dwarves can fire on enemies from 20 tiles away and players can rest easy as bolts will never hit friendly dwarves. But if any enemy gets close enough to a crossbow dwarf, the dwarf will be at a big disadvantage. Crossbows can be used in melee range to bludgeon an enemy, however, this is not their intended function and will not be very effective.
3 Shortsword - Jack of All Trades Master of None
As established already, enemies come in all shapes and sizes and certain damage types work better than others. A short sword can stab, slash, and pommel strike which counts as a blunt attack. Although they are not great at any one thing, the versatility means that a short sword is a decent option. Swords can stab larger more heavily armored foes or slash at smaller lightly armored enemies, but a true slash or stab weapon would be better at this.
Swords can be a great choice to use as against most enemies they have little counters but will need to be made of high-quality material to be effective. If possible, go for a steel sword to counter the armor of most enemies found in sieges.
2 Battle Axe - Works on Trees and Enemies
Now, overall, if players wished to kit out their army of dwarves with a standard-issue weapon, a set of steel axes would be a great option. Against most unarmored enemies, using a steel battle axe is a solid choice that will lop off any extremities of any average foe. Not only are steel axes good for unarmored enemies, but they are also good all-rounders that really don't have many true “weaknesses”.
Some weapons will fare better than the steel axes, such as the mighty warhammer against heavily armored foes. However, the steel axe doesn't sit far behind and can also be beneficial.
1 Warhammer - Smash and Grab
As Dwarf Fortress players will know, blunt force trauma is painful, and a warhammer can deal considerable blunt damage. Being effective against most enemies is a bonus, but the Warhammer will be especially effective against humanoid opponents, even more so if they are in armor. It does however sacrifice some of its speed for this added heft though. Slashing weapons will have the edge against the warhammer in the case of unarmored enemies but a warhammer can still do some damage. And a key point for players to bear in mind is that most enemies will come with some form of armor when sieging, so a group of dwarves with warhammers will carry that bonus into battle.
Steel warhammers are a very good choice in comparison to other materials, but it is considered a military-grade material and therefore expensive. All the benefits of the weapon will still apply in a weaker material, it will just be less effective. Players may be able to trade for these weapons or the steel that will go into making them. The downside of this weapon is that blunt damage is poor against larger enemies.
Dwarf Fortress is available on PC.