Got a Real-World Weapon or Armor Question? Mk. IX

[Spiryt]

Changing the question: How much will the material of the weapon change penetration?

Let's say we take an iron-headed arrow, and try to shoot it through a shirt of steel mail armour. How much difference will there be if the arrowhead is common steel instead? Would there be much of a change if pattern-welded steel or damscus/wootz stuff was used?

There's not really way to call something "common steel" and tell much from it.....

Steel arrowhead could generally achieve better results, because of generally greater hardness and ability to hold the edge and shape -compared to most iron used.

Hard to say how much difference that would make against mail shirt all in all.

As far as pattern welding goes or whatever goes - it's even harder to answer.

Depending on exact patterns of different material, micro structures, or whatever we're talking about, we would have very different things to talk about.

Generally, techniques like that would be very time consuming processes to create nice, reliable piece of quality blade, especially where one couldn't otherwise count on material having proper qualities.

I doubt that usage of it would make much difference in case of small piece of arrowhead - even if anyone would use such time consuming and usually expensive techniques for thing that is ultimately disposable, as arrow.

In short, RPG's and stuff love to form :

Bronze < Iron < Steel < Wootz < Ceramite < Phytoplankton

Chains, but reality obviously is not simple as that, probably from visible lack of molecules of "betterness" and "worseness" in Universe so far.