So, why is it that a Bronze Sword is easier to fight with than one made from Mithril?
Smithing perspective
Blacksmithing is a complicated skill and art. Learning how to raise metal to the right temperature in order to shape it, and how best to temper it, doing things like dunking a hot blade in a barrel of oil, etc. would take a lot of experience and time.
I am certainly not educated in the ways of metalworking.
I am not surprised that there would be some metals which would be much more easily malleable and forgiving to craft with, so it is sensible that a less experienced blacksmith would find making a sword out of bronze to be much easier than doing the same with steel.
It seems to me, though, that it would make a lot more real-world sense for certain metals to simply take longer to smith, and perhaps have a higher chance of failure.
Not that a video game needs to make real-world sense, obviously.
Fighting perspective
When it comes to the use of various weapons in combat, there are a few things that I would consider important:
The strength, stamina, height and arm length of the combatant
The combat experience, specific weapon experience, reaction speed and overall dexterity of the combatant
The weight, design, complexity, magical and technical spects of the weapon
It's really not very sensible that someone desperately fighting for their life would glance at some weapons on a table, and say to themself, "Golly, that [mithril] sword looks like it's made of metal I can't possibly wield, I guess I'll take that dagger instead, at least I know what iron is like!"
I am sympathetic to the idea that it's quite helpful to practice with a particular weapon, or a particular class of weapon or possibly even a specific metal, but to be entirely unable to wield a familiar type of weapon just because of the metal it's made out of would require a magical explanation, in my opinion.
29-Nov-2020 13:55:53
