Armures (armors)

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L'armure est un équipement de protection utilisé pour réduire/détourner les dommages durant le combat. Elle est composée de plusieurs pièces, chacune protégeant une partie du corps particulière. Notez que le plastron protège seulement les parties inférieures/supérieures du torse, alors que les chemises de mailles couvrent aussi les bras. Les oreilles, le nez, les lèvres et les dents sont exposés, même en armure complète, bien que les robes et les capes ont tendances à couvrir la gorge.

L'efficacité d'une pièce d'armure dépends de(s) l'arme(s) utilisée(s) contre elle.

En ayant à l'esprit les différents types d'ennemis que vous allez sans doute rencontrer, il est recommandé d'équiper vos nains militaires avec au moins une armure en fer. Des tests dans le mode Arène montrent que les nains équipés d'armures ont un énorme avantage sur ceux sans armure, ne prenant généralement pas de dégâts tout en ne faisant qu'une bouchée de leurs adversaires. (Mais vous ne devriez pas avoir besoin de ce wiki pour comprendre cela.) Dans les versions récentes, les armures ralentissent beaucoup plus les nains qu'elles ne le faisaient auparavant, rendant ainsi la compétence Porteur d'Armure (Armor User) beaucoup plus importante. Pour le moment, la vitesse de déplacement et de combat est affecté par le poids de l'armure.

Notions de Bases

Usage

L'usage des armures est simple: Permettre à vos nains de mieux résister aux dégâts pendant le combat. Quand un nain sans protection est touché par une arme, il va immanquablement en subir les dégâts. A l'inverse, un nain correctement protégé n'encaissera qu'une partie du coup, à moins que celui-ci ne rebondisse sur l'armure sans faire de dégâts. Les coups puissants ne seront qu'éraflures tandis que les blessures mortelles seront simplement sérieuses. Les Vêtements (clothes), bien que pas considérés comme des armures par le jeu fonctionnent néanmoins comme telles et bloquent les attaques les plus faibles.

Un nain habillé ne met que quelques secondes pour mourir face à une Embuscade (Ambush). Alors que s'il était vêtu d'un ensemble complet d'armure en acier de qualité exceptionnelle, il aurait pu recevoir la totalité des munitions d'une escouade de gobelin et les occuper pendant une demi-minute avant de finalement mourir. Les Nains équipés seulement avec des armes sont une réponse suffisante aux voleurs et à la faune locale, mais une armée digne de votre forteresse requiert une armure tout aussi digne.

Types d'armures

Dans les nomenclatures, les armures peuvent être classés en trois catégories. Premièrement, les Vêtements : fabriqués à partir de Cuir ou de Tissu. Les vêtements ne peuvent dévier que les très faibles attaques , mais ils peuvent atténuer les dommages. La plupart des nains pourront portés des vêtements : tous sauf ceux dont le moral est au plus bas, les bébés et ceux devenus fous. Le deuxième type correspond aux armures en cuir et os. Elles sont faibles, mais c'est toujours mieux que rien. Enfin, l'armure de metal , fabriquée dans une Forge (Metalsmith's Forge)par un Armurier (Armorsmith), qui devrait être utilisé par tout militaire sérieux.

Bien que tous les vêtements peuvent protéger contre les dommages, une "véritable" armure se compose des pièces suivantes, une pièce de chaque colonne.

Torse	Tête	Mains + poignets	Haut + Milieu jambes	Pieds / jambes inférieures	Boucliers (bloque les attaques)
Côte de Mailles (le haut du corps + bras) et/ou Plastron (haut du corps)	Casque (Helmet)	Gantelets (Gauntlets	Jambières en plaques (Greaves)	Bottes (pieds + bas des jambes) (High Boots)	Bouclier (Shield)
Armure de cuir (haut du corps)	Capuche (Cap)	Gants (Mittens)	Leggings, en chaînes	Bottines (pieds) (Low boot)	Bouclier (Buckler)

La première ligne est le choix le plus efficace, tandis que la deuxième ligne est une alternative offrant moins de protection.

Compétence d'armure

L'utilisation d'une armure augmente la compétence Porteur d'Armure (Armor User). Alors que la qualité d'une armure détermine les chances de bloquer un coup, la compétence d'armure détermine la vitesse de mouvement d'un nain avec son armure. Un grand maître en armure peut se déplacer deux fois plus vite d'un débutant, tous deux avec une armure lourde. Une vitesse plus rapide signifie plus de mobilité, que ce soit en patrouillant ou pendant un combat. Ainsi, des nains entrainés auront plus d'opportunités de frapper, de bloquer et d'esquiver en combat.

Chaque fois qu'un nain pare un coup grâce à son armure ("the attack was deflected by his/her <armor>"), il reçoit 30 expérience.

Compétence au bouclier

De la même manière, l'utilisation d'un bouclier améliore la compétence Porteur de Bouclier (Shield User). Les boucliers sont une pièce spéciale de l'amure qui sont tenue à une main (et ne peuvent pas être combinés avec une arme à deux mains) et qui peuvent être utilisés pour bloquer les attaques de manière plus efficace qu'une armure portée, accroissant de manière significative les chances de survie des nains. La compétence augmente la fréquence à laquelle le nain sera capable de bloquer une attaque avec son bouclier. Elle augmente chaque fois qu'une attaque est parée (de 30 points d'expérience).

Matériau

Voir également : ici

Matériau	Atelier	Profession	Notes
Métal (Metal)	Forge (Metalsmith's Forge)	Batteur d'Armure (Armorsmith)	Meilleur choix : voir plus loin
Os (Bone)	Atelier d'artisanat (Craftsdwarf's Workshop)	Tailleur d'Os (Bone Carver)	Seulement jambières légères (leggings), jambières lourdes (greaves), gantelets (gauntlets) et casques (helm).
Cuir (Leather)	Travail du cuir (Leather works)	Maroquinier (Leatherworking)	Armure légère peu encombrante, faible protection.
Tissu (Cloth)	Atelier du tailleur (clothier's shop)	Couturier (Clothier)	Protection très limitée, inutile contre des armes en métal.
Bois (Wood)	Menuiserie (Carpenter's Workshop)	Menuisier (wood worker)	Boucliers (shield/buckler) uniquement (sauf pour les Elfes)

La plupart des armures en métal doivent être forgée dans un matériau compatible (acier, fer,... pas d'armure en étain ou en zinc). La seule exception apparait quand un nain est pris d'une Humeur étrange (strange mood). Dans ce cas une pièce d'armure peut être créée à partir de n'importe quel métal disponible dans autour de la forge. Le matériau utilisé pour l'armure est primordial en combat. Vos nains en armure de fer avec leur épée courte en fer ne tiendront pas face à ces agresseurs en acier. En général, les armes tranchantes auront des difficultés à percer une armure faites d'un métal de niveau équivalent, les coups à l'arme perforante seront fortement atténués tandis que les armes contondantes briseront les os à travers n'importe quelle couche d'armure. Les armures rigides n'accordent qu'une protection limitée face aux armes contondantes et les côtes de mailles (chain mail shirts) et les jambières (leggings) n'en accordent aucune. Même une armure d'adamantine n'absorbe que 13% des coups.
Voilà qui montre l'efficacité du marteau de guerre (war hammer), lent mais sans surprise.

Certains armes sont étonnamment efficaces pour transpercer les armures. Un fouet (whip) en cuivre (copper) lacérera le crâne à travers un casque en acier et des carreaux de cuivre passeront au travers des plastrons d'acier comme s'il n'y avait rien.

Comparaison des armures en métal.
Minime	Bonne	Excellente	La meilleure
Cuivre	Fer/Bronze*	Acier	Adamantine

• L'armure de Cuivre (Copper) est l'armure de métal de plus bas niveau, mais c'est la plus facile à obtenir. Il requiert au choix : un filon de cuivre, des malachites ou des tetrahedrite, disponible sur tout site de débarquement contenant plus d'un métal.
• Le Bronze est un alliage de cuivre et d'Étain (Tin) demandant de la cassiterite. Il est plus efficace que le cuivre pour les armures, ces propriétés sont meilleure que celles du fer, mais il est aussi plus lourd.
• Le Bismuth bronze est juste un alliage du bronze avec le bismuth. Il a les même propriété que le bronze, est un peut plus cher et il a une couleur particulière. Il permet d'économiser un peu d'étain.
• Le Fer (Iron) peut être fondu à partir d'hematite, de limonite ou de magnetite, Il est facile à trouver dans les couches sédimantaire. Il est comparable au bronze, mais sa fabrication est moins compliquée.
• L'Acier (Steel) est le meilleur des métaux non-fantaisistes pour ce qui est de la création d'armes et d'armures. Les objets en acier sont de valeur aussi élevée que ceux en or. Aussi, forger beaucoup d'armure d'acier est un moyen sur d'attirer l'attention. Enfin, au moins ils seront reçus en armures brillantes...
• L'Adamantine se trouve seulement sous la troisième couche de cavernes, remontant depuis les profondeur de la mer de magma. On l'utilise pour créer des armures exceptionnelles, mais la production prend du temps. En plus de cela, la prospection et le minage peuvent être dangereux. Sa valeur est immense.

Qualité et humeur étrange (strange mood)

La qualité d'une armure est un facteur important à prendre en compte. Les pièces d'armure ont un bonus qui dépend de la qualité de l'objet. Une pièce de niveau chef d’œuvre a un bonus (x2) tandis qu'un artefact légendaire à un bonus (x3).

Cela signifie qu'un chef d’œuvre fabriqué par un Batteur d'Armure (Armorsmith) légendaire divise par deux les dégâts reçus. Étant donné la nécessité de produire beaucoup d'armures, on comprend pourquoi on souhaite ardemment avoir des armuriers en Humeur étrange (strange mood). Il existe plusieurs astuces pour influencer ce type d’événement.

Les nains en humeur étrange peuvent produire des artefacts légendaires trois fois plus puissants qu'une pièce d'armure courante. Cependant, les artefacts peuvent être fabriqués avec des matériaux complètement inappropriés avec des valeurs de défense de base si basses qu'elles compenseront le multiplicateur x3.

Lors d'une humeur étrange, seule une barre de métal est nécessaire pour fabriquer un objet. Le reste pourrait être collecté pour de la décoration.

Attachement

Les nains qui utilisent une pièce d'armure ou une arme particulière depuis un bon moment peuvent s'attacher à elle. C'est à dire qu'il auront une pensée négative si on leur reprend cet objet. Cela ne pose aucun problème pour une paire de gantelets en acier (☼Steel Greaves☼), mais c'est plus ennuyeux avec une armure donnée 'faute de mieux pour le moment'. Cela arrive moins souvent avec une armure qu'avec une arme. A chaque fois, ces évènements sont annoncés par : 'NomDuNain has grown attached to the ObjetEnQuestion'

Mechanics

There is no hard difference between clothing and armor, something accentuated by regular clothing's ability to block attacks. Armor can be thought of as metal clothing, thicker and made of materials that have a much better chance of blocking attacks. Armor is, however, different in that it is not subject to wear, and the fact that only non-clothing garments increase the armor user skill.

The availability of specific articles of clothing varies by civilization, and each has its own set of clothing that it can produce. In Fortress mode, sandals and shoes are in the same clothing class, but only the latter can be produced by dwarves, where the former must be stripped off of dead enemies. It is important to understand that dwarves are gender-insensitive; a male dwarf may well put on a dress.

Non-armor clothing can provide some defense, most importantly to areas that are not covered by regular armor. The ears, nose, lips, and teeth are always exposed, even in full armor. Robes and capes will cover the throat and provide a bulwark of low-level protection, making them useful for military dwarves, especially those you plan to send through the danger room.

Layers

The layers are, in order from inner to outer:

• Under
• Over
• Armor
• Cover

Types of Protection

The number of regular metal bars needed to make a piece of metal armor is equal to the material size divided by 3, rounded down with a minimum of one. The number of adamantine wafers or stacks of cloth required to create armor is equal to the material size.

Headgear

Clothing Type	Armor Level*	Material Size	Materials	Size	Permit	Layer	Coverage %	Bars
Cap[S]	+	1	C,L,M	10	15	Over	50%	1
Helm[S]	1+	2	L,B,S,M	30	20	Armor	100%	1
Hood		2	C,L	10	100	Cover	100%	N/A
Mask†[S]		2	C,L	20	10	Under	50%	N/A
Turban†		2	C,L	20	100	Over	50%	N/A
Head Veil†		2	C,L	10	100	Over	50%	N/A
Face Veil†		2	C,L	10	100	Under	50%	N/A
Headscarf†		2	C,L	10	100	Over	50%	N/A

Upper Body

Clothing Type	Armor Level*	Material Size	Materials	Size	Permit	Layer	Coverage %	UBSTEP	LBSTEP	Bars
Dress		5	C,L	10	50	Under	100%	MAX	MAX	N/A
Shirt		3	C,L	10	50	Under	100%	MAX	0	N/A
Tunic		3	C,L	10	50	Under	100%	0	1	N/A
Toga		5	C,L	30	100	Over	100%	1	1	N/A
Vest		2	C,L	10	50	Over	50%	0	0	N/A
Robe		6	C,L	20	100	Over	100%	MAX	MAX	N/A
Coat		5	C,L	20	50	Over	100%	MAX	1	N/A
Leather Armor[S]	1	6	L	20	50	Armor	100%	1	1	N/A
Mail Shirt	2	6	M	15	50	Over	100%	1	1	2
Breastplate[S]	3	9	M	20	50	Armor	100%	0	0	3
Cloak		5	C,L	15	150	Cover	100%	MAX	1	N/A
Cape†		5	C,L	10	300	Cover	50%	0	0	N/A

Quiver and Backpack are also worn on upper body, counting towards layer permit size.

Hands

Clothing Type	Armor Level*	Material Size	Materials	Size	Permit	Layer	Coverage %	UPSTEP	Bars
Gloves		1	C,L	10	10	Under	100%		N/A
Gauntlets[S]	2	2	B,S,M	20	15	Armor	100%	1	1
Mittens		1	C,L	15	20	Cover	150%		N/A

Each crafting job produces a pair of gloves, gauntlets or mittens -- one right-handed and one left-handed. The items from a single job may have different quality levels.

Lower Body

Clothing Type	Armor Level*	Material Size	Materials	Size	Permit	Layer	Coverage %	LBSTEP	Bars
Trousers		4	C,L	15	30	Over	100%	MAX	N/A
Leggings[S]	1+	5	L,B,S,M	15	30	Armor	100%	MAX	1
Greaves[S]	3	6	B,M	15	30	Armor	100%	MAX	2
Loincloths†		1	C,L	10	30	Under	50%	0	N/A
Thongs†		1	C,L	10	30	Under	25%	0	N/A
Skirts (Short)†		2	C,L	10	100	Over	100%	0	N/A
Skirts†		2	C,L	10	100	Over	100%	1	N/A
Skirts (Long)†		2	C,L	10	100	Over	100%	MAX	N/A
Braies†		3	C,L	10	30	Under	100%	1	N/A

Footwear

Clothing Type	Armor Level*	Material Size	Materials	Size	Permit	Layer	Coverage %	UPSTEP	Bars
Socks		1	C,L	10	15	Under	100%		N/A
Sandals†		1	C,L	25	15	Over	100%		N/A
Shoes		1	C,L	20	15	Over	100%		N/A
Low Boots	1	1	L,M	25	15	Armor	100%		1
High Boots	1+	2	L,M	25	15	Armor	100%	1	1 each
Chausses (sockmail)†		3	L,M	10	15	Under	100%	MAX	1

Each crafting job produces one pair of footwear. Unlike gloves, footwear items are interchangeable (they are not right- or left-footed). The two items from a single crafting job may have different quality levels.

Shield

Clothing Type	Armor Level*	Material Size	Materials	Size	Permit	Layer	Coverage %	UPSTEP	Bars
Buckler	1	2	L,M,W	NA	NA	NA		1	1
Shield	2	4	L,M,W	NA	NA	NA		2	1

• * = Items without an armor rating are considered clothing. Armor levels 1-3 were referred to as 'leather', 'chain' or 'plate' in earlier versions.
• + = The armor level of an item with a "+" can be increased by one if made from metal.
• † = This article cannot be crafted by dwarves (except for artifacts), but may be purchased in trade.
• [S] = shaped item, max one [S] per body slot (e.g. plate mail cannot be worn with leather armor, but can be worn with chain mail, and greaves and leggings cannot be combined).
• Materials can be Cloth, Leather, Bone, Shell, Metal, or Wood.

Equipping Clothing

Items in Dwarf Fortress must be equipped in a specific order. A dwarf must equip a layer type of Under before he equips a layer of type Over, for example. The complete order goes: Under, Armor, Over, Cover. It is common among civilians to see a dwarf equip pants with no undergarments due to this restriction, even when an undergarment is available. This is typically not an issue with soldiers, however.

There is no restriction on wearing multiple items of the same type (Unless the item is shaped [S]). You can, for example, wear 3 cloaks without penalty.

Process for equipping a new piece of clothing

The following variables will be used in the logic below:

Current Item refers to the specific item being equipped.

Total Size refers to the size of all items equipped on that body part, excluding the item to be equipped (while including those on a different layer).

Permit refers to the maximum allowable size of items equipped on the same or lower level as the item to be equipped.

In order to equip a new item, the dwarf (or other creature) ...

• will determine if he is eligible to wear the item in question (Perhaps the body part is missing/severed).
• must start with the lowest layer first, continuing to the next layer when no other items of that layer need to be equipped
• checks if the item is shaped [S], and will only equip the item if no other shaped items are equipped on that body part.
• will equip items with lowest permit level first. If two items share the same permit value, the highest size item will be equipped firstModèle:Verify.
• then checks if his total size (excluding the current item) is less than the current item's permit.
• If all above logic is true, the dwarf will equip the item.

Equipment process example

Each item is listed in order of being equipped, the primary focus of this example is that the total size must be equal to, or less than the permit size of the item being equipped. Like above, the total size excludes the size of the item being equipped.

Item Type	Size	Permit	Total Size*
Breastplate [S]	20	50	0
Mail Shirt	15	50	20
Mail Shirt	15	50	35
Mail Shirt	15	50	50
Mail Shirt	15	50	65
Cloak	15	150	65
Cloak	15	150	80
Cloak	15	150	95
Cloak	15	150	110
Cloak	15	150	125
Cloak	15	150	140
Cloak	15	150	155

• * = Total Size include the size of all equipped items, but does not include the item being equipped
• Red Text = This item cannot be equipped, because the total size is larger than the item's permitted size.

Size, Permit, and layering armor

The Size and Permit values govern how much clothing or armor can be worn.

Under the old system the lowest "permit" value for any given body part is used: for instance, if a dwarf is wearing a dress (permit value: 50) and a total of 50 or more size worth of clothing on the upper body, it cannot put any more clothing on the upper body. (This explains why the old dungeon masters tend to wear several cloaks: they arrive at the fortress wearing only a cloak on the upper body (permit 150), and can put on a total of 10 of them, at 15 size each.)

Unfortunately, [LAYER:COVER] items are the only items playing by the old rules. This much is certain from testing in arena mode.

• If the item to be add is a [LAYER:COVER] item, add the total item size on the body part, if this sum is less than or equal to the item's permit value then evaluate as true.
• If a [LAYER:ARMOR] item is present or to be added and if the sum of the non [LAYER:COVER] items would be less than the sum of the [LAYER:ARMOR] size+permit values then evaluate as true.
• If one or more items of the same non-[LAYER:COVER] layer as the one being added are present and if the sum of their size values is less than the smallest permit value then evaluate as true.
• If the sum of the size values for all items on the body part are less than or equal to the permit value of the item about to be added then evaluate as true.

The item is allowed if all rules either evaluate to true or are not applicable. This is in addition to the rule allowing only one shaped item on a given body part at a time.

Example: A helm (30 size,20 permit) means you can put on a mask (20,10) or two head veils (10,100). Either of these configurations can fit 6 additional hoods if desired.

Example: Wearing a cap (10,15) allows only one face veil (10,100), because they are both [LAYER:UNDER], but an additional combined total of up to 9 head veils and hoods is possible.

Note that the armor value of socks and other clothing is unknown under the new system - however, wearing them under "armor" such as boots is recommended for an adventurer.

Adventurer mode follows the arena rules so it is possible to have three chain mail shirts (15,50), a breastplate (20,50), and 25 capes (10,300) on ones upper body plus a helm and six hoods on ones head. Confirmation is needed to see if fortress mode follows the old rules or the new arena rules. (I tested this and found that Urist McNopants follows a totally different set of rules than either of these. His rules tell him to forget both caps all of the hoods both socks and his trousers, and each sucessive time he gets dressed he feels the need to do it differently.)

Some more workaround about Size, Permit and Layering

• You can only have one shaped armor piece (marked with [S]) per body part.
• The total size of non-cover items must be lower than any armour piece's permit + size total.
• The total size of all items of any layer on any body part must be lower than the lowest permit value (excluding that item).
• The total size of all items on any body part must be lower than the size + permit value of any cover item.
• All items are put on in order of their layer.

As an example, lets say you want to kit out your soldiers upper body. Try walking through this in arena mode to get a feel for it.

You start off with a steel breastplate. This has a size of 20 and a permit of 50. It is also shaped, so you can't add any other shaped items; no more breastplates and no leather armor.

Now you want to add mail shirts. Each one has a permit of 50 and a size of 15. You can add three of these if you want. It checks the size against each of the armour pieces permit + size (or rather, the permit value ignoring that items size in the calculation), like so;

• Against each of the mail shirts, you have 2 x 15 = 30 total size in mail shirts, + 20 from the breastplate, matching the 50 permit.
• Against the breastplate you have 3 x 15 = 45 < 50, fine.

Now if you add a fourth mail shirt these test will fail. However, because of the layering order (mail shirts being armour layer 2, the breastplate armour layer 3) the breastplate is added after the shirts. This results in the breastplate being dropped.

Because this reaches the 50 permit limit for the mail shirts, you can't add more non-cover items without substituting them for existing items. If you want a robe (size 20), for example, you need to remove two of the mail shirts to clear a total size of 30, which then lets you add an extra size 10 shirt, vest or whatever.

However, you can add cover layer items. In this case, cloaks. Each cloak has a size of 15 and a permit of 150. Taking into account the 50 size already on the upper body, we can add 100 size worth of cloaks. This lets us add 6 (x 15 = 90) cloaks over the existing armour.

Going through like this for the rest of the body (most of it is simpler) gives you a final setup of;

Armor
1 x breastplate
3 x mail shirts
6 x cloaks

Armor (cheap)
6 x dress
3 x robe
3 x cloak

Legs
3 x long skirts
1 x greaves

Legs (no foreign items)
2 x trousers
1 x greaves

Legs (cheap)
2 x trousers
1 x leggings

Helm
1 x helm
6 x hood

Gloves
1 x pairs of gauntlets
1 x pairs of mittens

Gloves (cheap)
2 x pairs of gloves
1 x pairs of mittens

Boots
1 x pairs of chausses
1 x pairs of high boots

Boots (no foreign items)
1 x pairs of socks
1 x pairs of high boots

Boots (cheap)
1 x pairs of socks
1 x pairs of shoes

Of course, so long as the bugs are still around, we are likely to see dwarves wearing more than this or refusing to put parts on because they found their boots before their socks.

Note: "Cheap" implies the set can be made from secondary materials such as bone and cloth with item types not overlapping with the other, more combat oriented set which use metal, leather and cloth (for socks). As a rule of thumb, combat sets provide better protection but cheap sets are lighter and easier to mass produce.

Coverage

The value of coverage of an armor piece is the percentage probability that an attack made against a body part covered by said armor piece actually hits the armor. Example: Helms and caps both cover only the head (facial features excluded). 100% of attacks against the head of a helm-wearing dwarf are affected by the helm's protective capabilities, because helms have 100% coverage. In the case of a cap-wearing dwarf, only 50% of attacks made against the head are affected by the cap - the remaining 50% bypass it and land directly on the head, because caps have only 50% coverage. The value of coverage has an additional role in determining how well the armor protects against contaminants and temperature effects.

By default, armor pieces cover only a single body part, at which they are 'anchored' (hands, feet, lower body, upper body or head)Modèle:Verify . Their coverage is extended to other body parts using the following three tags:

[UBSTEP]

This token, when applied to torso armor, controls how far 'up' the body an item of armor reaches. Basically you can think of it as going out in stages along the body. It doesn't cover legs. It doesn't cover body parts with certain tags (notably [HEAD], [GRASP] and [STANCE], or the head). It can cover the children of such body parts (such as parts of the face) if it extends beyond them. The upper body and lower body are counted as 0 steps away, and so both always covered.

Breastplates have a default of 0, meaning they only cover the torso.
Mail shirts have [UBSTEP:1], so cover the upper arms and throat.

A number of clothing items have [UBSTEP:MAX]. What exactly this covers depends on a certain bug, but unless you are making adamantine robes you probably won't get that much extra protection this way anyway. This would mean, for example, they would cover the upper arm, lower arm, skip the hand, then cover the fingers. The same goes for facial features (and, oddly, the throat) after skipping the head and the toes after skipping the entire legs and feet.
The clothes with these properties seem to be robes, cloaks, coats, shirts and dresses. However, of these only robes and dresses also have [LBSTEP:MAX] (see below) and so I'm not sure if anything else would actually cover toes or not. Needs additional testing.

Testing in arena: in three 15x15 dwarves battles where both sides was equiped with iron battle axes and iron full armor and one of the teams was enforced with leather robes, team with robes was a victorious (2-3 survivors).

[LBSTEP]

This token, when applied to torso armor or pants, controls how much of the legs an item covers. Legs in this case are defined as [LIMB] body parts that end in a [STANCE] body part (eg, foot). Arms are [LIMB]s, but end in a [GRASP] hand instead. Because the upper and lower body are effectively zero steps from each other, torso armor can extend this way easily.

Both greaves and leggings have [LBSTEP:MAX] and so cover the entire leg to the best of their ability.
Mail shirts have [LBSTEP:1] and so can protect the upper legs. A range of other clothes (including cloaks) and leather armor also have this. As mentioned above, robes and dresses have [LBSTEP:MAX] and so cover the entire legs. These also have [UBSTEP:MAX] and so cover the entire body. Although not the strongest armor, a leather (or maybe adamantine?) robe or dress gives you maximum coverage.

[UPSTEP]

This token, when applied to gloves or shoes, determines how far up the limb the armor protects. As with [LBSTEP], this doesn't cover anything but the [LIMB] tag body parts, but it does cover arms as well as legs.

Low boots literally only cover the foot.
High boots have [UPSTEP:1], so cover the lower leg. If you consider the upper legs can covered by [LBSTEP] from above, you can effectively have an entire layer of chain armor on the legs from high boots and a mail shirt even before adding leg armor. This is why I go with greaves for a plate layer. Gauntlets have [UPSTEP:1], so cover the lower arms. Because there is no other protection for arms as there is for legs, you need gauntlets and mail shirts to protect your arms fully. Chausses are a very rare sock substitute, but they are the only items to have [UPSTEP:MAX] and so offer full leg coverage while being exactly the same size as regular socks. The perfect undergarment.

The whole method is pretty nifty with just two problems.

• Faces can't be covered by head armor.
• Throats cannot be protected by metal armor (except adamantine cloth).

Toes and fingers are protected by the relevant armor type (e.g. gauntlets cover fingers and boots cover toes).

Other Restrictions

In fortress mode, "under" layers cannot be put on over "over" layers, so, for instance, a dwarf cannot put on socks unless it first removes its shoes. They can wear over layers without putting an under layer on first, which explains their fondness for "going commando" (trousers without loincloth). Dwarves will only put on the specific armor they are told to put on -- unless they are not told what to wear.

Also, if you do not tell dwarves to replace clothing with a uniform, they will wear it alongside the uniform and possibly come into conflict with layering and sizes/permits, making them unable to wear assigned items.

In adventurer mode, you have direct control over what armor you put on, and are only limited by permit and "one only" (shaped) restrictions. This means you can wear three suits of chain mail (total size 45) plus another suit of chain or plate on top of them. On top of this, you can add six cloaks.

Bugs

In adventurer mode, putting a pair of socks (or any under-layer foot wear) on before putting on a pair of boots (or any over-layer foot wear) will keep you from putting on the last boot. So the order sock, sock, boot, boot doesn't work, but changing the order to sock, boot, sock, boot does. This is a very minor bug.