Weapons in Anvil Empires fall into a handful of broad families. Each family is tied to a damage type and to a tier ladder that runs from improvised flint or stone tools through bronze, iron, and superior variants. Higher-tier weapons of the same family roll consistently higher damage on hit, but the family's role and damage type stays the same across tiers. Sample damage values shown below are taken from the most recent pre-alpha build and are subject to balance changes between tests.
Melee Families
Family | Damage Type | Examples (sample damage) |
|---|---|---|
Sword | Slashing | Crude Short Sword (24), Bronze Sword (30), Iron Sword (35), Superior Short Sword (50), Masterwork Short Sword (55) |
Longsword | Piercing | Iron Longsword (55), Fine Longsword (60), Superior Longsword (65); two-handed, cannot pair with a shield |
Mace | Crushing | Iron Mace (28) |
Axe (combat) | Cleaving | Iron Broadax (28, with seven-and-a-half-times armour multiplier) |
Axe (tool) | Slashing | Bronze Axe (8), Iron Axe (8) |
Knife | Slashing | Flint Knife (15), Bronze Knife (20), Iron Knife (25) |
Tool weapons | Varies | Pickaxes, hammers, scythe, fists when unarmed |
Maces deal Crushing damage that hurts stability, making them the standard answer to heavily armoured infantry. Combat Axes (Broadax line) deal Cleaving damage that also damages siege weapons, which makes them a critical part of any anti-siege team. Tool axes have low combat damage and are used primarily for logging.
Hybrid Family: Spears
Spears straddle the melee and ranged line. The family runs Flint Spear (15 impaling), Bronze Spear (28 impaling), Iron Spear (33 impaling), Superior Spear (38 impaling), and the Javelin variant. They can be used as a thrusting melee weapon or thrown for ranged damage at a closer range than a bow. The Iron Spear requires Melee Combat rank 3 and Ranged Combat rank 2; the Superior Spear requires Melee Combat 5 and Ranged Combat 3.
The Javelin sits in the same family and deals 28 damage in melee and roughly 150 missile damage on a thrown hit, which is the highest single-strike output among hand-thrown weapons.
Ranged Family: Bows
Bow | Damage | Range | Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
Crude Short Bow | 40 missile | Short-bow range | Baseline |
Short Bow | 78 missile | 16 m | Baseline |
Long Bow | 131 missile | 32 m | Ranged Combat 5 |
Superior Short Bow | 96 missile | Short-bow range | Ranged Combat 8, Hunting 4 |
All bows deal Missile damage. Damage rolls within a tier-defined range, so the same bow can land different damage values from one shot to the next. The Superior Short Bow is the strongest short-bow option and requires both Ranged Combat and Hunting investment on a named Avatar; see the Avatar System article for attribute progression.
In the most recent build, bows and javelins fire on a flat trajectory and their projectiles are removed once they reach maximum range, and camera panning was removed for direct-fire ranged weapons. Crude Short Bows and Crude Short Bow Arrows were added as a starter ranged option, and arrow variants exist for both the Short Bow and the Long Bow.
Throwables
Throwable | Damage | Effect |
|---|---|---|
Burning Oil | 50 burning | Applies fire damage over time to ground areas and siege engines; thrown by defenders from fort walls |
Oil Flask | 12 siege | Smaller throwable variant of Burning Oil |
Rock Slab | 150 crushing | Stuns; deals roughly half its damage as stability damage to siege engines and structures |
Water Bucket | 100 water | Extinguishes burning effects on structures and players |
Torch | 10 melee / 4 siege | Light source and burning damage tool; useful in the Underworld |
Crude Throwing Axe | 15 slashing | Light throwable for harassment |
Quality Throwing Axe | 25 slashing | Stronger throwable variant |
Siege Ammunition and Specialized Items
Arrows and Scorpion Arrows for ranged volume; the latter fired from emplaced Scorpions on town walls.
Catapult Boulders for the Catapult and similar siege artillery; see Sieges.
Traps placed in chokepoints to slow attackers.
Superior Tier
The Superior tier is the current peak weapon ladder for high-attribute Avatars and consumes both deep Underworld resources and rotating trade goods. Confirmed Superior weapons in the most recent build are the Superior Short Sword (Melee Combat 6), the Masterwork Short Sword (Melee Combat 7), the Superior Longsword (two-handed), the Superior Spear (Melee Combat 5, Ranged Combat 3), the Superior Short Bow (Ranged Combat 8, Hunting 4), and the faction-specific Superior shields covered on the Armours page.
Heavy Armour Restriction
Bows and Spears cannot be armed while wearing Reinforced or Heavy Armours. Skirmisher and archer roles must commit to light armour to keep their weapon up. A heavy-plated infantry line with a hidden bow in their pack will simply find that the bow refuses to draw.
Tier Progression
Most families progress through Crude (improvised) into Bronze, into Iron, and finally Superior. Each tier shifts the weapon's damage range upward; tier improvements come from the Forge and Furnace pipeline. See the Crafting and Resources article for the Furnace-to-Forge ingot flow and the Trade and Economy article for the trade goods that gate Superior production.
Two-Handed Longswords
The two-handed Longsword family landed in the live build as a melee answer to heavily plated infantry. A Longsword deals Piercing damage with good reach, but it occupies both hands and cannot be paired with a shield, so a swordsman trades defence for reach and damage. The family runs through Iron, Fine, and Superior tiers (55, 60, and 65 sample damage), and the Superior Longsword sits alongside the other Superior weapons as a top-tier option.
Announced Weapon | Type | Status |
|---|---|---|
Crossbow | Ranged | Previewed in a development update but not yet in the live roster. Must be reloaded as a separate step and fires Bolts rather than Arrows. Positioned as the ranged counter to Heavy Armour, which is being reworked to deflect ordinary arrow fire. |
The Heavy Armour arrow-deflection rework has since shipped to the live build: Heavy body armour can now deflect arrows and javelins, and both Reinforced and Heavy armour resist being staggered by light projectiles, while Heavy armour is vulnerable to Piercing damage. The Crossbow itself is still previewed and not in the live roster, intended to give ranged lines a way to threaten heavily plated infantry the way the Longsword does for melee. Treat the Crossbow stats as unconfirmed until a test ships them.
Attack Types
Since the MS 67 build every weapon carries three attacks rather than one. The primary swing sits on the left mouse button, a secondary attack on Ctrl with left mouse, and a tertiary attack on Alt with left mouse. The extra attacks are not simply stronger versions of the first: they differ in speed and reach, so weapon choice now sets a small moveset rather than a single output. Short Sword secondary attacks are slower than they were on introduction, Longsword tertiary attacks are faster, and tertiary attacks from every sword family deal extra damage to an opponent's raised guard. See Combat for how these interact with Combat Stamina.
Bows changed in the same build. Indirect fire now deals the same damage as direct fire for every bow type, removing the penalty that made arcing shots a last resort, and the Longbow's indirect range increased by ten percent. Together these make massed archery over a friendly shield line a genuine tactic rather than a way to waste arrows.
MS 68 followed with a numbers pass. The Short Bow and Superior Short Bow gained ten percent damage, Iron and Superior Spears gained fifteen percent ranged damage, and missile damage now deals half damage against a raised guard and no longer damages light structures. Short Bows and Iron Spears are now produced from Wood Planks rather than Deadwood Planks, Sinew Bow String can be made at the Town Workshop, and wolves and bears drop the Strong Sinew that feeds it. Maces also received unique animations for every action.
Related Pages
Armours
Sieges
Crafting and Resources
Avatar System