Armory mail upgrades affect the hack armor of all human soldiers, heroes, and ships: those trained at the Academy, Barracks, Military Barracks, Counter Barracks, Longhouse, Dock, Migdol, Fortress, or Hill Fort. They do not affect myth units or siege weapons. Hack armor protects a unit against hack attacks, which are generally hand-to-hand attacks such as swords and axes. The armor percentage is the amount by which the attack is reduced.

Copper was made into armor as well as weapons, because even this relatively soft metal provided a better body defense than leather or cloth. We don’t know how common copper armor was, however. Copper was valuable, so only the elite of a warrior society might wear it. When bronze was discovered, many of the existing copper objects were probably destroyed to make the new alloy.