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Warcraft Metallurgy /RP resource\
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Post by
355559
With little to no official word on the qualities of metals in Warcraft, I've taken it upon myself to organize and rate the metals. The entire list is subjective, and is entirely an optional reference, but input is welcome.
Copper: Used by engineers of all factions for wiring, and some construction. Distinctly present in Durotar, and Redridge.
Tin: Used in alloys and commercial application.
Bronze: Alloy of copper and tin, the first military grade metal. Commonly used by ‘lesser races’
Silver: Silver, while mostly ornamental has been known to be mixed certain metals to produce alloys that are both reliable and aesthetically pleasing. Silver is also peculiarly conductive to certain forms of magic, such as augmented jewelry. While globally rare, Silver is so abundant on Azuremyst isle, along with cobalt, it has fused trace amounts into the very ecosystem, painting the isle a pale, shining blue upon even the wildlife.
Iron: Iron in itself is rarely used but for commercial practices in both the horde and the alliance. Found in incredible amounts upon Azeroth, the quality of iron varies from region to region (Azshara having dangerously poor, and Dun Morogh having legendary iron.) While iron is normally stable, with some magical influence it can very easily react to other elements and even energies, forming new materials. Notable ones include:
Dark Iron: Found in Blackrock Mountain, the mountain holds a vast supply of a distinctly more powerful metal. It is innately magical, but less flexible than standard iron.
Fel Iron: Fel Iron is constantly disintegrating, but at a stable enough rate to provide strong, albeit temporary weaponry. There have been instances of seeping fel energies from improperly crafted and stored armaments.
Ghost Iron: When subject to high amounts of spiritual energy, benign or otherwise, iron sometimes transmutes into Ghost Iron, a bizarre metal which is malleable when crafting and while worn, but when struck is harder than most recorded metals. The intensity of energies is so great that ghost iron is incredibly rare in the eastern kingdoms and Azeroth, on occasion extremely busy mines on war fronts have converted into ghost iron mines. However, because of the desirable nature of the metal, they are quite often lost in the conflicts. Because of the spectacular nature of Pandaria, Ghost Iron is produced in unprecedented supplies, which caused a miniature iron rush.
Steel: Iron, mixed with small amounts of carbon, steel is the bread and butter of the horde and alliance war machines, equipping both sides amply with dependable, strong weaponry capable of being mass produced. Each culture produces its own unique alloy, along with forging techniques; the Ironforge dwarves themselves have no less than four officially sanctioned amongst themselves.
Fel Steel: When processed, Fel Iron becomes Fel Steel, an incredibly dangerous but powerful metal which is known to cause corruption at a mere touch. Fel Steel does not decay, and is known to be nigh indestructible. With the remarkable brittleness of fel iron, and flexibility of steel, it is an incredible armament to those bold enough, or reckless enough, to wield it. Forge smiths speculate that it is the fel particles that give it flex, much like carbon does with normal steel, but none have been so bold to truly investigate.
Living Steel: An ancient secret of pandaria, Living Steel is not actually metal, but the condensed essence, or spirit drawn from Ghost Iron. This unbelievable metal takes the qualities of what the blacksmith wishes it to be.
Gold: Considered the lifeblood of the world economy, gold is rarely used for anything other than commerce. However, it does have magical qualities not unlike that of silver, and reacts with other metals in the presence of magic.
Mithril: Mithril is a considerably rare precious metal. While less brittle than steel, and less pliable than copper, mithril’s existence as an armament relies on its incredibly magical nature. Whereas most enchantments are placed on top or even into the metal, Mithril takes the quality of the enchantments imbued upon it, creating an immensely more powerful effect. A well supplied army wearing mithril, in conjunction with properly tooled armaments, including the spells of enchanters and augments of a jeweler, would have a drastic advantage over that of an army wearing traditional steel tooled similarly. As such, Mithril is typically relegated to officers.
Truesilver: In the presence of magic, Mithril reacts with Silver to create the compound Truesilver. Truesilver is priceless material, and considered one of the rarest metals on Azeroth. It emits a soft light and is coveted by jewelers of every nation, the Night Elves and Blood Elves in particular desire it. On top of the effects of Mithril, objects gilded in it are actually weighed as being lighter than before the truesilver was added. Despite its remarkable power, there is no major attempt to truesilver into a staple of warfare, as most suits of truesilver armor go missing, along with their owners.
Thorium: Sometimes referred to as the strong man’s steel, Thorium is primarily used as an engineering component, and more importantly, a reagent in the creation of Arcanite. It is heavier than steel, and very resistant to heat, making it difficult to craft with, and essential in battle against opponents with fire, magical or otherwise.
Arcanite: Arcanite is one of the few distinctly high quality metals that exist in a quantity capable of outfitting entire military units. The elite forces of the horde and the alliance both use Arcanite. The metal is crafted from Thorium and arcane crystals by alchemists, and is capable of being produced in large numbers. Engineers have also been known to hunt for the material, as with it they are capable of producing incredible firearms. Arcanite in itself has led to remarkable advances in ballistics and the engineering of ranged weaponry.
Adamantite: An awesome, exotic metal from beyond the dark portal, Adamantite has only been found in Azeroth where portals have led from that plane to the shattered world of Outland. The creation of this metal is still not yet understood, but its potential is magnificent, being easy to forge, but unbreakable by most weaponry. Many an expedition has set out into the alien world to retrieve it, but none have been successful, and not all have returned.
Hardened Adamantite: More bewildering yet is Adamantite’s ability to condense and draw inward upon itself. While not magnetic, skilled forge masters can draw multiple ingots of adamantite into one super-dense ingot. So far, studies into why this is so have been fruitless.
Eternium: Also drawn from the world of outland, Eternium is a curious metal that reacts specifically to the chaotic elements of Outland. The metal was thought to be unusable in anything but jewelry, until forged with primal earth, and primal air. The product of those efforts was the Lunar Crescent. Weapon smiths are still researching the combinations, and potential, of this metal.
Khorium: While not explicitly valuable in itself, this purple, copper-like metal is required in order to craft to complicated alloys involved in crafting with Adamantite, Fel Steel, and Eternium.
Cobalt: The distinctly blue metal is particularly variable in its application, being supple, and in ample quality upon Northrend. It has begun replacing bronze in both the horde and alliance armies, and is a candidate for replacing steel.
Saronite: This awesome metal is actually a dark black, but glows a pale green in any light. It was once prepared to phase out all other metals in the horde army, despite its extreme difficulty to forge with. Forge masters, engineers, and blacksmiths both reported that the metal seemed to actively fight being shaped. All efforts however, ceased upon light of two facts, that the dark metal was actually the blood of the old god, Yogg-Saron, and that it was impossible to mine, as miners of Saronite were inevitably driven to gibbering madness. The metal was abandoned, despite its incredible abilities and quantities, and the only standing army who uses it now is the Knights of the Ebon Blade. The Deathknights have not shared their forge secrets with anyone since the end of the Second Scourge war.
Titanium: Valuable in the crafting of alloys, Titanium is usually too difficult to manufacture for the crafting of actual armaments.
Titansteel: A legendary material, reputed to be crafted in secret circles of alchemists. Only the most skilled blacksmiths have ever even touched Titansteel, and even fewer soldiers have ever worn it. Its qualities are mostly unknown, and those who do know refuse to give up their secrets.
Obsidium: Obsidium has surfaced recently upon Azeroth, and is thought to be a stone that reacted with Deathwing’s presence. While plentiful, most Obsidium ore is typically poor in quality. In order to form a mostly pure ingot, it takes four times as much ore as an iron ingot does. The finished product however is stronger than Cobalt, but not as flexible. It is generally considered not worth the effort to produce, but nonetheless a solid material.
Elementium: Elementium is known as the most mutable material in existence for the simple fact that every ingot is different in some way from the next. All elementium reacts to the volatile and upset elements stirred by the cataclysm, but each ingot may react to earth, wind, fire, and water differently. A skilled blacksmith can balance the agitation of the elements and metals reacting to each other to create an energized, but ultimately stable armament.
Hardened Elementium: While it loses its reactive qualities, Hardened Elementium is a stable and hearty metal capable of being shaped and taking quite a bit of abuse.
Pyrium: A number of metals combined with namely Pyrite, Pyrium is critical for creating alloys with elementium, and more importantly, creating truegold.
Truegold: Truegold is a recently discovered metal crafted from Pyrite. While still under investigation, this remarkable metal amplifies the natures of any metal it is bonded with in an alloy. The metal itself is heavy, incredibly lustrous, and not found in nature.
Trillium: Trillium is bizarre metal found in two varieties, outward facing black bands, or outward facing white bands. Exceptionally skilled blacksmiths are capable of managing the metal by agitating the both ores, and forcing them to bond. Once bonded, the metals are effectively inseparable. This quality makes Trillium valuable, but hard to apply.
Kyparite: Kyparite, the dried sap of the Kypari trees, is regarded as almost impossible to use. Only the Klaxxi ambersmiths can shape this substance.
By order of effectiveness in armor:
Tin
Copper
Pyrium, Khorium
Iron
Steel
Dark Iron, Truesilver
Cobalt, Obsidium, Fel-Iron
Mithril, Eternium
Arcanite, Ghost Iron, Adamantite
Trillium, Hardened Adamantite, Elementium
Hardened Khorium, Elementium, Fel-Steel
Saronite, Balanced Trillium
Living Steel
Titansteel(?)
(##RESPBREAK##)258##DELIM##Sas148##DELIM##This post was restored after the original author deleted their account. The text here does not identify the person who wrote it and therefore does not require deletion.
Post by
470415
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Post by
Adamsm
I'd put Harden Trillium up higher, as it's taking one of the stronger steels of Pandaria, and processing it to make it even more effective. After all, Living Steel, while used in a wide variety of things, isn't used in the more powerful recipes for Pandarian black smithing.
Post by
355559
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
jebby
Impressive. Well done, I say, well done.
Post by
oneforthemoney
Great job Light. This is very well done.
Post by
Adamsm
I'd put Harden Trillium up higher, as it's taking one of the stronger steels of Pandaria, and processing it to make it even more effective. After all, Living Steel, while used in a wide variety of things, isn't used in the more powerful recipes for Pandarian black smithing.
The question is whether it's the items that make the weapon powerful or the metal. Game mechanics aside it seemed like living steel itself was more powerful but not as easy to mix.
Yeah but Living Steel is made from a Trillium bar...well alright, 6 of them. And since the
Balanced Trillium Bars
are used to make 6 of the strongest crafted items out there(all 6 are 553 after all), I'd say it may be equal to the Steel. Same in regards to Titansteel and Hardened Khorium; as both of those are the 'max' they may be more or less considered to be 'equal' in regards to hardness/toughness and strength.
Post by
355559
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Monday
This is awesome did I mention this is awesome this is awesome.
Totes using this. Totes.
Pretty much this.
Post by
355559
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Adamsm
Well. Balanced Trillium may be fair unto itself, but Trillium, and just Trillium seems to be in a good place.
Actually...I think I dun goofed; looked like it had originally said Trillium Hardened, which is where I may have messed up. I still think that the top metals of each expansion are probably equal, but hey, what can you do right?
Post by
355559
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Stabhorn
Awesome guide!
Post by
Sparkbolt
This is amazing. I'll be using this for my engineer's.
Post by
morginar
Didn't Obsidium/obsidian exsist in vannila wow (in AQ)? And we had obsidian destroyers in WC3 (Tol'vir from northrend).
And the night elves/ druids think obsidian a good metal to make arrows from as seen in
Hyjal Recycling Program
.
but the guide is amazingly done, nevertheless. *pats lights shoulder*
Post by
Persen
Obsidian is actually not a metal, though. But I'm not sure how it is treated in Wow.
Post by
355559
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
morginar
Obsidian is actually not a metal, though. But I'm not sure how it is treated in Wow.
It's been used for blacksmithing and used in wepons and plate armor.
Obsidian might be a form of obsidium, perhaps even the same.
Obsidian is a stone.
Obsidium, is a metal.
Obsidian Edged Blade
Small Obsidian Shard
, it's used as if it was a metal. And ores are seen as stones.
And IRL =/= WoW.
Post by
355559
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Monday
Morg, obsidian is a real thing. They call it volcanic glass. It's rather plentiful where I live. Back in the day, swords in central/south America were lined with obsidian (volcanic glass). They were generally called Macuahuitls.
In WoW, the obsidian edged blade was supposed to represent that. The Obsidian Shard is STONE. You can mine stone. OBSIDIUM is METAL. You can mine metal too.
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