Silver saber
) 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | silver saber |
| Appearance | silver saber |
| Damage vs. small | 1d8+(1d20) |
| Damage vs. large | 1d8+(1d20) |
| To-hit bonus | +0 |
| Weapon skill | saber |
| Size | one-handed |
| Base price | 75 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 40 |
| Material | silver |
A silver saber is a type of weapon that appears in NetHack. It is a one-handed weapon that uses the saber skill, and is made of silver.
The silver saber is the base item for the artifacts Grayswandir and Werebane.
Contents
Saber skill
| Saber | |
|---|---|
| Max | Role |
| Basic | |
| Skilled | |
| Expert | |
The silver saber is the only weapon to use the saber skill.
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.
Per commit 296a3ac2, the scimitar skill is merged into the saber skill, and Barbarians can reach Skilled in saber to maintain consistency with the former scimitar skill.Generation
Silver sabers make up about 0.6% of randomly generated weapons created on the floor, as death drops, or in shops - they can be sold in general stores and weapon shops.
Watch captains and Yendorian army captains have a 1⁄2 chance of being generated with a silver saber.[1]
In a game with Orcish Town, the orc-captain that acts as leader of the invading horde has a 1⁄2 chance of carrying the watch captain's silver saber.[2]
Strategy
The silver saber is a respectable weapon in its own right, and is a common secondary weapon when #twoweaponing for the bonus damage it deals against silver-hating monsters such as shades, demons, werecreatures, and vampires. Due to their rarity, players seeking a silver saber often consider killing the watch captain in Minetown for one.
Players who desire a saber but cannot find one, including either bad luck with the watch captain's weapon generation or aversion to risking themselves or their pets that that stage of the game, can search Fort Ludios if they encounter it or head towards the Castle, by which point they may also encounter at least a captain or two.
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 | Not silver-hating | Silver-hating |
|---|---|---|
| +0 silver saber | 
|
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| +7 silver saber | 
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History
The silver saber first appears in NetHack 3.1.0, which introduces Grayswandir and changes Werebane from a long sword to a silver saber.
Origin
The saber is a curved, single-edged sword with a cross-guard connecting to the pommel (tip of the hilt). It descends from the similar West Asian scimitar, which has a simple cross-guard. The blade of a saber is backward-curved as opposed to the forward curving associated with many similar swords, and was designed for use by mounted cavalry, such as the Central European hussars and the light cavalry of the 16th-to-19th centuries. The saber's cross-guard was improved as the development of firearms made many forms of armor ineffective.
Variants
Variants with object materials may change the item's name to simply the saber, and may also change its default material of iron, giving it the possibility of generating as silver. Some variants also add additional weapons that use the saber skill.
In variants that incorporate the Convict role, prison guards have a 1⁄2 chance of being generated with a silver saber.
SLASH'EM
SLASH'EM adds the rapier as a weapon that uses the saber skill.
NetHack brass
In NetHack brass, silver sabers are replaced with iron sabers. Grayswandir retains its silver damage as a unique property of the artifact, rather than an intrinsic property of the base item. The scimitar skill is also merged into the saber skill.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, the silver saber is simply known as a saber, but has a default material of silver and always shows the material's name. dNetHack also adds the rapier, crow-quill and rakuyo as new weapons that use the saber skill - the rakuyo itself can be detached into a rakuyo-saber form for the main hand, and a rakuyo-dagger for the off-hand.
The Rebel Ringleader, the quest nemesis for the default Noble quest, will always generate with a silver saber. Argentum golems have a 1⁄6 chance of their starting silver dagger being replaced with a silver saber.
The November NetHack Tournament
In The November NetHack Tournament, the deathmatch opponent will always generate with a blessed and erodeproof +5 to +7 silver saber if they represent an archeologist or a tourist character that does not have a weapon.
xNetHack
In xNethack, sabers have a default material of iron and can generate as silver. Grayswandir and Werebane are still generated as silver sabers.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, sabers have a default material of iron and can generate as silver. Grayswandir and Werebane are still generated as silver sabers.
A saber can be created at a forge by combining a long sword and a scimitar; a fauchard can be created by combining a saber with a spear.
SlashTHEM
In SlashTHEM, the Rebel Ringleader retains her silver saber and serves as the nemesis for all Nobles.
Hack'EM
In Hack'EM, Hack'EM adds the rapier from SLASH'EM and the falchion from SpliceHack as weapons that use the saber skill; Hack'EM merges the scimitar skill (which SpliceHack falchions use) into the saber skill.
Sabers behave as in EvilHack, and upgrading a saber will produce a rapier and vice versa.
Encyclopedia entry
Flashed all their sabres bare,
Flashed as they turned in air,
Sab'ring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wondered:
Plunged in the battery smoke,
Right through the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reeled from the sabre-stroke
Shattered and sundered.
Then they rode back, but not--
Not the six hundred.
