chainmail needs an update

[D3K01]

chainmail is a major waste of metal. the main problem is that in order to make chainmail requires a stupid amount of metal ingots.

when searching through basic information on chainmail i found that a basic short sleeve chainmail chest-plate requires approximately 2000 feet of wire. now if we assume that an ingot in game is approximately the size of a gold bar (7inx3.625inx1.75in) which is a small ingot of material in comparison to the 20in bars (the smallest size) that manufacturing companies, even assuming that it is the small 7in ingot one ingot can produce over a thousand feet of wire. that's while expecting basic material loss and rounding. which means a single chainmail chest-plate requires less than 2 ingots of material.

for those who use the classical metric system instead of the British imperial system that's,  17.78 x 9.2075 x 4.445 centimeters converted to about 335 meters of wire, which makes up more than half of the 609 meters of wire for 1 singular long-sleeve chest-plate.

now in comparison to the amount of ingots required to make a single piece of chain in game, requires the same amount of material as a full chain chest-plate, and then to make a single set of armor requires 20 chains. or 40 ingots to make a full set of chain. 11 chains to make a chest-plate. so in order for you to make a single chain chest-plate requires the equivalent to 11 chest-plates of metal.

now obviously i don't need 100% real life accuracy, i mean we are playing a beautiful game made of blocks, however needing 11 times the amount of material to make a single basic item doesn't make it feel worth the material. i could understand the plates for plate armor being a metal sink especially with it being a stronger set of armor, however even that is a waste of metal with it requiring 66 ingots of metal just to make one set, and the primary waste of metal in making it is the 40 ingots for the chain armor required for making it. it requires 26 ingots for the metal plates, and 40 ingots for the chain, despite the chain being a lighter set of armor.

this really needs to be balanced so it is actually worth making the armour, especially with the lack of metal resources that exists in the game.

TLDR, chain uses more ingots than plate armor, needs balancing.

[Zane Mordien]

1 hour ago, D3K01 said:

 

this really needs to be balanced so it is actually worth making the armour, especially with the lack of metal resources that exists in the game.

TLDR, chain uses more ingots than plate armor, needs balancing.

Sorry if this sounds insulting, but that's probably because you aren't good at finding metal resources yet. With practice you can find so much of everything it isn't even funny. I know it's hard at first. I remember struggling to find copper and tin on my first couple playthroughs, but it's there... trust me.

IF** you watched youtube videos that tell you that you have to find very high readings to mine ore then your life will be miserable. I will go after almost any ore at a reading of poor if it is close to my base. I will follow a prospecting readings to decent if available but I don't make it my mission in the game to find Very High readings. I would never have any ore if I did that. 

Edited July 2, 2025 by Zane Mordien

[Never Jhonsen]

On 7/2/2025 at 12:07 PM, Zane Mordien said:

I will go after almost any ore at a reading of poor if it is close to my base. I will follow a prospecting readings to decent if available but I don't make it my mission in the game to find Very High readings. I would never have any ore if I did that. 

Seconding this

Pretty much, if it shows up on your Prospecting Pick, then there's a chance to find it. Zane said it somewhere else on this forum, but Decent readings is more than enough for a solid hit