Tool and Weapon Durability Testing

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Marcuson
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Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2021 1:29 am

Tool and Weapon Durability Testing

Post by Marcuson »

I want to preface this by saying that I'm not a data guy. I was just curious about a few things related to tool and weapon durability, so I decided to test them. My methods and results might be completely off, so keep that in mind as you read this. I'll give a summary of my testing up front.
  • Question: Does item quality influence a tool's durability level?
    Answer: No. Only the material type affects tool durability.
  • Question: Are bronze tools more durable than iron ones?
    Answer: Barely. There doesn't seem to really be much difference in durability between bronze and iron - as far as saws go, anyway.
  • Question: Does quenching an annealed weapon actually change anything?
    Answer: In terms of tool durability, no - a quenched dagger used in crafting was damaged just as quickly as an annealed one. In terms of combat use, the results are inconclusive: a quenched dagger dealt slightly more damage on average but had worse durability compared to an annealed one. This needs further testing.

I was curious about whether or not a fine-quality iron saw lasted longer than an average bronze one, so I decided to compare them in a test. While I was at it, I decided to also test an average iron saw, an average copper saw, and a fine steel saw. With each type of saw, I carved two logs into long hewn timbers and carved one short plank into two wheel felloes. This is a total of 360 steps - or 30 minutes of work. Below, I'll show you the saws and their resulting durability from best-performing to worst:
  1. fine steel saw: It appears to be in good repair (81%).
  2. average bronze saw: It appears to be scuffed (73%).
  3. fine iron saw: It appears to be scuffed (72%).
  4. average iron saw: It appears to be scuffed (72%).
  5. average copper saw: It appears to be scuffed (63%).

During this, I also tested whether or not there were any differences between quenched and non-quenched weapons. The metalworking guide on the wiki tells us that we're supposed to quench blades after sharpening them. For this test, I used two fine iron daggers (keen-edged) as tools in carving two logs into long hewn timbers and one short plank into two wheel felloes. Again, this is 360 steps, or 30 minutes, per dagger. The first dagger was quenched twice after sharpening, and the other was not quenched at all after sharpening. This is the result:
  • first fine iron dagger, quenched twice: It appears to be in good repair (92%).
  • second fine iron dagger, not quenched: It appears to be in good repair (92%).
I also tested both daggers in combat against restless skeletons by performing 50 strikes in order to wear down the daggers. I made sure I was unencumbered the entire time and that all other factors were equal. (You can see the raw data here.) Here's what each of the daggers look like after 50 strikes:
  • first fine dagger, quenched twice: It appears to be scuffed (66%).
  • second fine dagger, not quenched: It appears to be scuffed (71%).
Additionally, the first dagger seemed to do a little more damage on average than the first one, but this could still be due to random variables.
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Marcuson
Posts: 226
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Re: Tool and Weapon Durability Testing

Post by Marcuson »

I forgot to list the durability of each of the tested materials!
  • Copper: 5
  • Iron: 6
  • Bronze: 7
  • Steel: 10
These values can be found here: https://cogg.contrarium.net/wiki/index. ... ials#Metal
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Marcuson
Posts: 226
Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2021 1:29 am

Re: Tool and Weapon Durability Testing

Post by Marcuson »

Today I decided to test the durability of five fully-repaired pickaxes of various qualities and metals. I tested these pickaxes at Two Falls Mine with a Mining skill of 100 and an encumbrance of 1. With each pickaxe, I mined for 120 steps (9 seconds each) before stopping to compare the resulting durabilities:

• average copper pickaxe: It appears to be scuffed (61%).
• average iron pickaxe: It appears to be scuffed (70%).
• fine iron pickaxe: It appears to be scuffed (70%).
• average bronze pickaxe: It appears to be scuffed (74%).
• fine steel pickaxe: It appears to be in good repair (80%).

With the two tests in this thread, I conclude that a tool's quality has no effect on its durability. (To be clear, no one ever said it did! This was something I mistakenly believed.) These durabilities also roughly match up with the hardness posted on the wiki's materials list.
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