Material

Silverite in Dragon Age II

Along with typical crafting materials like iron or steel, the Dragon Age universe features several exotic and mythical materials from which armor and weapons are forged. Each item is tinted with colors corresponding to the material it was made from.

Dragon Age: Origins

In Dragon Age: Origins, materials are ranked by "tiers" according to their quality, from tier 1 to tier 7. Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening introduces tier 8 and tier 9 materials. Higher-tier materials can do more damage, protect against more damage, have more special qualities, and a larger capacity for runes. They also require higher levels of strength, dexterity, or magic to wield.

Leather

Light armor (helmets, chest pieces, gloves, and boots) is made from leather.

• Tier 1 - Rough Hide (10 strength) - beige
• Tier 2 - Cured Hide (11 strength) - brown
• Tier 3 - Leather (12 strength) - red
• Tier 4 - Hardened Leather (14 strength) - green
• Tier 5 - Reinforced Leather (17 strength) - dark grey
• Tier 6 - Inscribed Leather (18 strength) - light blue
• Tier 7 - Drakeskin Leather (20 strength) - deep blue

High-tier materials exclusive to Awakening and Witch Hunt:

• Tier 8 - Dragon Wing (22 strength)
• Tier 9 - High Dragon Hide (24 strength)

Metals

Metals are used to craft waraxes, battleaxes, daggers, greatswords, longswords, maces, mauls, and staves. Medium, heavy, and massive weights of armor are also made from metal, as well as some shields.

Strength requirements for equipping armor varies based on the type of armor (medium, heavy, massive) and its material. Likewise, strength requirements for wielding weapons are based on both the type of weapon (longsword, greatsword, battleaxe) and its material.

• Tier 1 - Iron - grey and red
• Tier 2 - Grey Iron - yellowish-brown and red
• Tier 3 - Steel - white and purple
• Tier 4 - Veridium - greenish-grey and yellow
• Tier 5 - Red Steel - bright red
• Tier 6 - Silverite - shiny white and blue
• Tier 7 - Dragonbone - dark red
• Untiered - Starmetal (the meteorite ore that Starfang, longsword and greatsword, is forged of, shares the stats of tier 8)

High-tier materials exclusive to Awakening and Witch Hunt:

• Tier 8 - White Steel - whitish
• Tier 9 - Volcanic Aurum - golden

Wood

Wood is used to craft crossbows, longbows, and shortbows. Some shields are also made from wood.

• Tier 1 - Elm - dark grey
• Tier 2 - Ash - beige
• Tier 3 - Yew - tan
• Tier 4 - Whitewood - white
• Tier 5 - Ironbark (a wood crafted by the Dalish; stronger than steel) - olive
• Tier 6 - Sylvanwood - tan
• Tier 7 - Dragonthorn - dark red

High-tier materials exclusive to Awakening:

• Tier 8 - Vhenadahl
• Tier 9 - Ancestral Heartwood

Quick reference

Metal

Material	Damage	Armor	Critical	Penetration	PreReq +	Price multiplier	Range	Max runes
Iron	1	1	1	1	0	1	N/A	0
Grey Iron	1.1	1.2	1.1	1.15	2	3	N/A	0
Steel	1.2	1.4	1.2	1.3	4	6	N/A	1
Veridium	1.3	1.6	1.3	1.45	8	9	N/A	1
Red Steel	1.4	1.8	1.4	1.6	14	12	N/A	2
Silverite	1.5	2.1	1.5	1.75	16	15	N/A	2
Dragonbone	1.6	2.5	1.6	2	20	18	N/A	3
White Steel	1.7	2.7	1.7	2.5	25	21	N/A	3
Volcanic Aurum	1.8	3	1.8	3	30	24	N/A	3

Wood

Material	Damage	Armor	Critical	Penetration	PreReq +	Price multiplier	Range	Max runes
Elm	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	N/A
Ash	1.1	1	1.1	1.2	2	3	5	N/A
Yew	1.2	1.33	1.2	1.4	4	6	1.1	N/A
Whitewood	1.3	1.66	1.3	1.6	8	9	1.15	N/A
Ironbark	1.4	2	1.4	1.8	14	12	1.2	N/A
Sylvanwood	1.5	2.33	1.5	2	16	15	1.25	N/A
Dragonthorn	1.6	2.66	1.6	2.2	20	18	1.3	N/A
Vhenadahl	1.7	3	1.7	2.4	24	21	1.4	N/A
Ancestral Heartwood	1.8	3.33	1.8	2.6	30	24	1.5	N/A

Dragon Age II

In Dragon Age II, materials are purely cosmetic, having no effect on item properties. The hidden item level stat is responsible for scaling property power instead.

Group	Material	Notes
Cloth	Scarlet Dyed
	Charcoal Washed
	Silver Threaded
	Gold Threaded
Leather	Crimson
	Jet
	Argent	Argentum is Latin for silver
	Gilt
Metal	Red Steel
	Onyx
	Silverite
	Aurum	Aurum is Latin for gold
Wood	Red Cedar
	Black Walnut
	Silvered Ash
	Gilt Beech