Metal

There are five metals and five alloys in ATT. With regards to the picture, the top row contains the basic metals: Copper, Iron, Gold, Silver and Mythril. Then, the bottom row has the five alloys: Pallidium, Red Iron, Electrum, Viridium and Valyan.

are metallic mixtures that allows a seasoned Blacksmith to make better use of the five basic metals that are found in the Mines. Typically, the durability, damage and heat retention (How hard it is to smith) of an alloy is related to one of the ingredient metals. For example, Red Iron combines the damage and heat retention of iron with the durability of copper for an overall improvement. For this reason, most veteran players prefer using alloys over basic metals.

Relative values
Through experimentation, it is suspected that all alloys do more damage than either of its ingredients. Furthermore, as of 0.0.22.1, it is suspected that relative damage ranking of the alloys and metals are as follows:

Gold (16.4%) < Copper(19.7%) < Iron(20.8%) < Pallidium(32.9%) < Red Iron(38.4%) < Electrum(43.9%) < Silver(43.9%) < Viridium (54.9%) < Mythril(87.9%) < Valyan(100%)

These values are from player testing and should not be taken as exactly true. However, Effort was put in to try and obtain the best data. The percentiles following the name of the alloy or metal is the strength of the metal relative to Valyan. Although this data was created from a slashing type weapon, it is consistent with other types of damage.

As a result, the strongest tools and weapons (damage wise, not durability) are made from Valyan.

Other aspects to consider though are the Durability and the Heat retention of an alloy. Durability corresponds to how long a tool/weapon will last, so this is a major consideration for long-term use or heavy exp grinding. As of 0.0.23.0, Pallidium has the best durability and Valyan has slightly above mid-ranged durability.

Finally, Heat retention is related to how easy it is to forge a weapon. Tools with low heat retention cool quickly and require that players repeatedly place them into the Smithy to re-heat. Red iron has amazing heat retention and Valyan has the worst.