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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 55653" data-attributes="member: 177">Okay, here's one major reason why one shouldn't try too hard to include "real" science in analysis of game materials.  The dynamics of doing damage, and of the mercurial greatsword, are not nearly so simple as they have been portrayed.Putting cutting edges aside for a moment...The damage done to a body by a strike is generally not a direct function of the energy of the striking object.  After all, an automobile imparts roughly the same energy to you speeding you up to highway speeds as it does when you crash it into the bridge abutment.  The second is harnmful, the first is not.The damage done by a weapon is only peripherally related to it's kinetic energy.  It is more directly related to the "impulse" (the change in momentum) it imparts to the target.  The impulse is more directly related to the force with which you hit than to the total kinetic energy of the weapon.So, the question isn't one of how much energy you hit with as it is one of how hard you hit.  The mercurial greatsword doesn't do more damage because it is heavier, but because it's center of mass shifts during the swing, so that it can strike with greater force.And yes, this does work in the real world.  IIRC, some of the guidelines for construction of aluminum baseball bats are there specifically to prevent these shenanigans.And when you start talking about cutting edges and flesh and bone, things get more complicated.  So over-analysis is not your friend.  Relax a bit about technical details, and worry more about whether it gives you a good story and imagry.</blockquote>

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