Artifact
In NetHack, an artifact is a rare, magical and unique version of a specific object, with special qualities compared to their mundane counterparts. Each role that a player character can select has their own special quest artifact associated with them.
Contents
Generation
Items that are randomly generated on the ground have a base 1⁄20 chance (5%) of being made into an appropriate artifact, with an equal probability for each artifact if there are multiple artifacts of that item's type.[1] Sting and Orcrist can be created by naming their base items, while Excalibur is not randomly generated and can only be created by certain methods detailed in its article. Artifacts are not generated in a monster's starting inventory, though monsters can pick up artifacts they come across - the exception to this is the player monsters generated on the Astral Plane.[2]
The odds of an artifact being generated are affected by the amount of artifacts that already exist in the current game, and the more artifacts that have been generated, the less likely it is for another artifact to be generated. This also applies to wishing for artifacts: the odds of obtaining an artifact with a wish steadily decrease for each artifact generated after the second - see the linked section for further details.
Only one of each artifact can be generated in a given game, and artifacts will not generate under their normal circumstances if they already exist elsewhere in the game. Conversely, artifacts left in a bones file will revert to their base item if a character that encounters the bones file has already generated the artifact(s) in question, or else if the artifact belongs to that character's role.
Each character's quest artifact and any guaranteed sacrifice gifts are adjusted to the hero's starting alignment, e.g. Magicbane and The Eye of the Aethiopica are generated as chaotic for chaotic Wizards.[3] Artifacts that have their alignment revert to their base alignment if left in bones.
Sacrifice gifts
Characters that sacrifice to their god while their prayer timeout is zero may be given an artifact as a gift, increasing the prayer timeout; some roles have guaranteed first sacrifice gifts that they will always receive if it has not yet been generated. A gifted artifact will always be either unaligned or the same alignment as the character, and the character's first sacrifice gift will always match their alignment, including their guaranteed gift if applicable.[3]
Quest artifacts
Each role has a special artifact that they are tasked with retrieving for their Quest - these artifacts are only generated on their respective quests, where they are found on the square of their quest nemesis, although they can be wished for or left behind in a bones file. A character cannot ever wish for their role's quest artifact, and their quest artifact will also be reverted to its base item if that character encounters a bones level containing the artifact.
Crowning
If a character prays to their god while they are piously aligned and have at least 10 Luck, there is a chance that they will be crowned, which usually results in an artifact being gifted - the artifact and its generation method depend on the character's alignment, and both are described in the article linked above.
Description
An artifact is a magical version of its base item with additional properties layered on top of the base item's properties, and appear as a named version of that base item while unidentified: for example, Excalibur will appear as "a long sword named Excalibur". Attempting to give an object the name of an artifact will fail if it is of the same base item type as that artifact, with the exception of Sting and Orcrist, and changing an existing artifact's name always fails - these mechanics are the basis for the naming artifacts trick.
Artifacts in shops are sold for four times the normal price, and can be sold to shops for only 1⁄4 of their normal base price.[4][5]
Alignment
Many artifacts are unaligned and can be used by any character, while an artifact that is one of three alignments has a 1⁄4 chance of magically blasting a cross-aligned character that touches it for 4d4 magical damage. Intelligent artifacts will always blast characters that touch them for 4d10 magical damage if they are cross-aligned or attuned to a specific role (i.e. quest artifacts); an intelligent artifact that is both of a different alignment and role from a character will both blast on contact and evade their grasp altogether. Characters that have a poor alignment record will be blasted by an intelligent artifact that is otherwise co-aligned and of their role (if applicable).
Monsters will never touch cross-aligned artifacts, regardless of whether the artifact or the monster themselves are intelligent.
Unique items
While not considered artifacts, there are objects with unique item types that also only appear once per game, and will always revert to mundane items if left behind in a bones file.
List of artifacts
Below is a list of artifacts available in NetHack and their effects[6] - see each artifact's linked article for more specific details.
| Artifact name | Base item type | Alignment | Intelligent | Special properties | Obtaining | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carried | Used (worn, wielded, applied, or read) | Invoked | |||||
| Cleaver | battle-axe (two-headed axe) | neutral | No | +d3 to-hit and +d6 damage. Arc-swing hits up to 3 monsters at once | First sacrifice gift for Barbarians. | ||
| Demonbane | long sword | lawful | No | +d5 to-hit and double damage to major demons. Blocks demon gating. | May be given to a new angelic being. | ||
| Dragonbane | broadsword | unaligned | No | +d5 to-hit and double damage to dragons. Reflection. | |||
| Excalibur | long sword | lawful | Yes | +d5 to-hit and +d10 damage. Drain resistance. Searching. Hostile demon princes. Monsters track player. | May be produced for lawful adventurers at fountains. Lawful crowning gift. | ||
| The Eye of the Aethiopica | amulet of ESP (random amulet) | neutral | Yes | Energy regeneration. Half spell damage. | Magic resistance. Telepathy. | Branchport. | Quest artifact of Wizards. |
| The Eyes of the Overworld | pair of lenses | neutral | Yes | Astral vision. Protection against blindness and gazes. Magic resistance. | Enlightenment. | Quest artifact of Monks. | |
| Fire Brand | long sword | unaligned | No | +d5 to-hit and double damage to non-fire-resistant monsters. Fire resistance. | |||
| Frost Brand | long sword | unaligned | No | +d5 to-hit and double damage to non-cold-resistant monsters. Cold resistance. | |||
| Giantslayer | long sword | neutral | No | +d5 to-hit and double damage to giants. | |||
| Grayswandir | silver saber | lawful | No | +d5 to-hit and double damage. Protection against hallucination. Silver damage | |||
| Grimtooth | orcish dagger (crude dagger) | chaotic | No | +d2 to-hit and +d6 damage. Warning of elves. | |||
| The Heart of Ahriman | luckstone (random gray stone) | neutral | Yes | Stealth. | As projectile, +d5 to-hit and double damage. | Levitation. | Quest artifact of Barbarians. |
| The Longbow of Diana | bow | chaotic | Yes | Telepathy. | +d5 to-hit. Reflection. | Create arrows. | Quest artifact of Rangers. |
| The Magic Mirror of Merlin | mirror (looking glass) | lawful | Yes | Magic resistance. Telepathy. ×2 to some spell damage. | Rumors. | Quest artifact of Knights. | |
| Magicbane | athame | neutral | No | +d3 to-hit. Special damage. Magic resistance. Protects against cursing. | First sacrifice gift for Wizards. | ||
| The Master Key of Thievery | skeleton key (key) | chaotic | Yes | Warning. Half physical damage. Teleport control. | Rumors. As of 3.6.1, automatically untraps when used to unlock. | Untraps. | Quest artifact of Rogues. |
| The Mitre of Holiness | helm of brilliance (random helmet) | lawful | Yes | Fire resistance. | Protection. Half damage from undead and demons. | Energy boost. | Quest artifact of Priests. |
| Mjollnir | war hammer | neutral | No | +d5 to-hit and +d24 damage to non-shock-resistant monsters. Can return when thrown. | First sacrifice gift for Valkyries. | ||
| Ogresmasher | war hammer | unaligned | No | +d5 to-hit and double damage to ogres. 25 constitution when wielded. | |||
| The Orb of Detection | crystal ball (glass orb) | lawful | Yes | Magic resistance. Half spell damage. Telepathy. | Invisibility. | Quest artifact of Archeologists. | |
| The Orb of Fate | crystal ball (glass orb) | neutral | Yes | Half physical damage. Half spell damage. Warning. Luck. | Level teleport. | Quest artifact of Valkyries. | |
| Orcrist | elven broadsword (runed broadsword) | chaotic | No | +d5 to-hit and double damage to orcs. Warning of orcs. | May be produced by naming an ordinary elven broadsword Orcrist. | ||
| The Platinum Yendorian Express Card | credit card | neutral | Yes | Magic resistance. Half spell damage. Telepathy. | Charging. | Quest artifact of Tourists. | |
| The Sceptre of Might | mace | lawful | Yes | (Magic resistance prior to v3.6.0) | +d5 to-hit and double damage to cross-aligned monsters. Magic resistance | Conflict. | Quest artifact of Cavepeople. |
| Snickersnee | katana (samurai sword) | lawful | No | +d8 damage. | First sacrifice gift for Samurai. | ||
| The Staff of Aesculapius | quarterstaff (staff) | neutral | Yes | Double damage and level drain to non-drain-resistant monsters. Hungerless regeneration. Drain resistance. | Healing, cures sickness, blindness, and sliming. | Quest artifact of Healers. | |
| Sting | elven dagger (runed dagger) | chaotic | No | +d5 to-hit and double damage to orcs. Warning of orcs. Cuts through webs. | May be produced by naming an ordinary elven dagger Sting. | ||
| Stormbringer | runesword | chaotic | Yes | +d5 to-hit, +d2 damage and level drain to non-drain-resistant monsters. Drain resistance. Bloodthirsty. | Chaotic crowning gift. | ||
| Sunsword | long sword | lawful | No | +d5 to-hit and double damage to undead. Light. Protection from light-based blinding. | May be given to a new angelic being. | ||
| Trollsbane | morning star | unaligned | No | +d5 to-hit and double damage to trolls. Prevents trolls from reviving. | |||
| The Tsurugi of Muramasa | tsurugi (long samurai sword) | lawful | Yes | Luck. | Protection. +d8 damage. 5% chance of bisection. | Quest artifact for Samurai. | |
| Vorpal Blade | long sword | neutral | No | +d5 to-hit and +1 damage. 5% chance of beheading (100% for jabberwocks). | Neutral crowning gift. | ||
| Werebane | silver saber | unaligned | No | +d5 to-hit and double damage to werecreatures. Silver damage | |||
Variants
Almost all variants change artifact mechanics and the properties of artifacts themselves in some manner, often adding new mechanics and artifacts as well - many variants also ease or remove the restrictions on twoweaponing with artifacts, as well as changing the mechanics of wishing for artifacts. Furthermore, many variants will implement artifact-related ideas suggested for NetHack by other players.
The sections below give a very basic overview of changes to artifact mechanics, along with links to the article for that variant's list of artifacts. Artifact articles will also have information on changes made to them by variants in the appropriate sections.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, artifacts that roll for bonus damage are given flat damage bonuses instead, e.g. Excalibur deals a flat +10 damage, rather than +1d10.
