War hammer
) 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | war hammer |
| Appearance | war hammer |
| Damage vs. small | 1d4+1 (2-5) |
| Damage vs. large | 1d4 (1-4) |
| To-hit bonus | 0 |
| Weapon skill | hammer |
| Size | one-handed |
| Base price | 5 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 50 |
| Material | iron |
A war hammer is a type of weapon that appears in NetHack. It is a one-handed melee weapon that can also be thrown, and is made of iron.
The war hammer is the base item for the artifacts Mjollnir and Ogresmasher.
Contents
Generation
The war hammer makes up 3⁄200 (1.5%) of all weapons that are randomly generated on the ground, in general shops or as death drops. Used armor dealerships and antique weapons outlets can also stock war hammers. A war hammer generated this way has a base 1⁄20 chance of being made into an artifact, which will either be Mjollnir or Ogresmasher assuming no artifacts have been generated.[1]
Player monsters, including those generated on the Astral Plane, have a low 5⁄388 chance (effectively ~1.29%) of generating with a war hammer as their weapon before the following adjustments are applied:[2]
- Valkyries have a 1⁄2 chance of forcing a war hammer as their weapon, raising their effective chance to ~50.64%.[3]
- As with other player monster weapons on the Astral Plane, the war hammer has a 1⁄2 chance of being made into either Mjollnir or Ogresmasher if it is not replaced and neither artifact has been generated.[4]
- Player monsters that retain the war hammer as their weapon are given gauntlets of power.[5]
Hammer skill
| Hammer | |
|---|---|
| Max | Role |
| Basic | |
| Skilled | |
| Expert | |
The war hammer is the only weapon to use the hammer skill.
Despite its name, the lucern hammer is a type of polearm and uses that skill instead.
Description
The war hammer deals 1d4+1 damage to small monsters and 1d4 damage to large monsters, and gains a +2 to-hit bonus when thrown.[6][7] A hero can use a war hammer to shatter iron bars, with the chance dependent on the hero's strength, whether they throw the weapon or force-fight with it, and the war hammer's enchantment.[8]
Strategy
The war hammer is generally an unremarkable weapon, with lower damage against monsters than a long sword or even a mace. As a weapon skill, it is most relevant for heroes that obtain Ogresmasher or Mjollnir.
Average damage calculation
The average damage calculations in the following table do not include bonuses from weapon skills, strength, or from using a blessed weapon against undead or demons.
| Weapon | Small monsters | Large monsters |
|---|---|---|
| +0 war hammer | 
|
|
| +7 war hammer | 
|
|
History
The war hammer first appears in NetHack 3.0.3: In previous versions, the lucern hammer (which first appears in NetHack 1.3d) was erroneously classified as using the hammer skill rather than polearm skill—this mistake was carried over from early editions of Dungeons & Dragons and retained across several versions, leading to Thunderfist (the predecessor of Mjollnir) and Ogresmasher each having the base item of a lucern hammer when they were introduced in NetHack 3.0.0. The addition of the war hammer is meant to correct this mistake.
The ability of a war hammer to break iron bars is added in NetHack 5.0.0 via commit f61e1e8e.
Origin
The war hammer is a weapon that was formerly used in warfare, dating back to as far as the 2nd century BCE. Real-world war hammers were quite versatile weapons and were important for facing heavily-armored opponents, much like maces. The blunt hammerhead would deliver concussive force through thick armor–including most chain mail and even plate mail–and the pick end on the opposite face could be used for grappling as well as punching through armor or the odd skull.
The war hammer's hit dice are derived from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.
Variants
NetHack variants created prior to NetHack 5.0.0 may not add the war hammer's ability to break bars.
SLASH'EM
SLASH'EM adds a new type of hammer in the heavy hammer, which is stronger than the war hammer and used as the base item for Mjollnir—this change is derived from NetHack Plus and SLASH 6.
dNetHack
dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack add the church-hammer, smithing hammer and seismic hammer as weapons that use the hammer skill.
The war hammer itself is improved as a weapon: it deals 1d8+1 bludgeoning damage to small monsters and 1d8 bludgeoning damage to large ones, and can be thrown with no to-hit penalty as in NetHack. A hero wielding a war hammer while they are at Skilled or better in hammers gains the "hew", "stunning strike" and "penetrate armor" expert traits.
Gold golems have a 1⁄6 chance of being generated with a golden war hammer. Iron golems have a 1⁄3 chance of generating with a weapon set that includes an iron war hammer.
xNetHack
In xNetHack, the war hammer is a two-handed weapon that deals 2d6 damage to small monsters and 2d8 to large ones.
EvilHack
EvilHack adds the heavy war hammer as a stronger type of hammer, and it acts as the base item for Mjollnir, Ogresmasher and the Hammer of the Gods (which EvilHack introduces as an artifact).
A war hammer can be created at a forge by combining a flail and a mace. War hammers can be used to create a few other items:
- Two war hammers can be combined to create a heavy war hammer.
- A war hammer can be combined with a spear to create a bec de corbin.
- A war hammer can be combined with a knife to create a dented pot.
SlashTHEM
In addition to SLASH'EM details, SlashTHEM also adds the mallet as a weapon that uses the hammer skill.
Encyclopedia entry
They had come together at the ford of the Trident while the battle crashed around them, Robert with his warhammer and his great antlered helm, the Targaryen prince armored all in black. On his breastplate was the three-headed dragon of his House, wrought all in rubies that flashed like fire in the sunlight. The waters of the Trident ran red around the hooves of their destriers as they circled and clashed, again and again, until at last a crushing blow from Robert's hammer stove in the dragon and the chest behind it. When Ned had finally come on the scene, Rhaegar lay dead in the stream, while men of both armies scrambled in the swirling waters for rubies knocked free of his armor.
References
- ↑ src/mkobj.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 889-L893: artifact generation
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 150: 1⁄2 to get a random weapon—the designated range of objects covers weapons from the spear to the bullwhip inclusively in objects.h, and uses normal generation odds
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 233-L234
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 264-L266
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 285-L286
- ↑ src/dothrow.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1437: list of throwing weapons
- ↑ src/dothrow.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 2184-L2185: to-hit bonuses for throwing weapons
- ↑ src/mthrowu.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1473-L1490
