Elemental Crafting: Difference between revisions

*** Basic 'iron' armors may also fall into a hierarchy. Chain mail is usually the weakest type, and may be reserved for light-weight warriors. This extends all the way up to scale, and eventually the sort of plate armor you think of when people mention the [[Knight in Shining Armor]]. Just as with all examples, the historical design or function is moot. It doesn't matter that a breastplate defended against arrows well or that the buckler was the most advanced [[Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me|shield type]] (during the Renaissance) - materials and type have a defined hierarchy that ignores this.

** ''Precious Metals'' - For some reason, precious metals like silver, gold, or even platinum are often treated as stronger than iron. Never mind that the durability, weight, and sharpness of these elements is in no way helped by the material being rare or expensive. Very slightly [[Truth in Television]]. It's fairly common for weapons and armor on display in museums to be gold-coated. That's because they're ornamental pieces, made for nobility and monarchs, essentially [[Gorgeous Period Dress]] for men. The more practical stuff tended not to be treated very delicately, so it was much less likely to last long enough to be exhibited.

*** ''Gold'' - Soft and malleable even when cold and pretty much worthless outside of having a good electrical conductivity and resistance to corrosion. This is why some works try to justify 'gold' weapons as being actually gold-''plated'', or otherwise extensively decorated with the metal in question (though it ''still'' happens to be stronger than the plain stuff).

** ''Fantastic Metals'' - At a certain point on the scale, fantastic materials start getting thrown into the mix, which have properties which border on (or are) magical. Common examples include [[Mithril]], [[Orichalcum]], Adamantium, Neutronium, [[Unobtainium]], [[Thunderbolt Iron]], or any old [[Phlebotinum]].