Demonbane

)   Demonbane   (No tile)
Base item	silver mace
Damage vs. small	1d6+1 x2 (+1d20)
Damage vs. large	1d6 x2 (+1d20)
To-hit bonus	+1d5
Bonus versus	major demons
Weapon skill	mace
Size	one-handed
Affiliation	lawful (Cleric)
When carried	(none)
When wielded	prevents demon gating
When invoked	banishes demons to Gehennom
Base price	2500 zm
Weight	36
Material	silver

Demonbane is an artifact that appears in NetHack. Its default alignment is lawful, and its base item type is a silver mace.

Generation

A silver mace randomly generated on the ground or as a death drop has a base ¹⁄₂₀ chance of being made into Demonbane. Demonbane is the guaranteed first sacrifice gift for Clerics, and lawful heroes may receive it as a sacrifice gift for a with a sacrifice value of 3 or higher—Demonbane will always have +1 added to its enchantment when randomly generated or given as a sacrifice gift.

Angelic beings that are generated by normal monster creation and generated with a silver mace will always have the mace be turned into Demonbane if the monster is a lord to their kind (i.e. an Archon), and will otherwise have a ¹⁄₂₀ chance of the mace being turned into Demonbane.

Description

Demonbane has +1d5 to-hit and double damage bonuses against major demons, and also blocks demon gating while wielded—this does not include generating demons via the summon nasties monster spell, which can occur if the spell is cast by the Wizard of Yendor or used in Gehennom.

Demonbane can be invoked to banish an imp monster or a major demon within the hero's line of sight: this will awaken the demon from sleep and render them hostile, and banishing a demon while on a dungeon level outside of Gehennom will level teleport them to Gehennom, while invoking Demonbane within Gehennom instead teleports them elsewhere on the current level. This ability does not work on a quest nemesis, while demon lords and princes have a chance of resisting the effect, and demons encountered in the hero's quest branch have a much greater chance of resisting if the hero's nemesis is alive. Demonbane also has no effect on the monster summoning that occurs when sitting on the throne in Vlad's Tower, which behaves similarly to the summon nasties spell.

Lawful demon princes will be generated as hostile if the hero is wielding Demonbane during level creation, preventing the hero from bribing them—a lawful demon prince that is generated peaceful will become hostile instead of asking for a bribe if they approach a hero wielding Demonbane.

Strategy

The following information pertains to a recently-released stable version (NetHack 5.0.0) and will be subject to revision as strategy is developed and bugs are discovered and/or fixed.

Changes to base type, Cleric association and invoke ability alter the strategy entirely.

Demonbane's silver base item and gating-blocking ability makes it especially powerful as a Bane against major demons, particularly from the Valley of the Dead onward, and being silver gives it some further applicability against vampires and werecreatures as well. The artifact will also have a minimum enchantment of +3 if it is generated in the possession of an angelic being. However, demons are also vulnerable to several other weapons, ranging from a well-enchanted silver spear or silver saber to artifacts such as Grayswandir and Frost Brand—Demonbane is still a solid option against demons for roles that lack access to the skills for other artifacts or certain silver weapons, though unlike many of those weapons it has a higher chance of falling off in damage during the ascension run once the hero escapes Gehennom.

Clerics will appreciate Demonbane as a damage option for their quest and in Gehennom, whether they use it as their primary anti-demon weapon or supplement offensive spellcasting with it. Grayswandir and Frost Brand may also prove more attractive options than Demonbane, however—the artifact silver mace is similarly not likely to be as useful for other lawful roles that can train maces, since Knights will prefer their Excalibur access while Cave Dwellers will prefer the Sceptre of Might.

Elven Clerics are incapable of forcing Stormbringer as a result of Demonbane being their first gift, and will have to rely on crowning if they want Stormbringer as early as possible.

History

Demonbane first appears in NetHack 3.0.0 as an artifact long sword, where its only special property is its to-hit and bonus damage against demons.

From this version to NetHack 3.4.3, including some variants based on these versions, it is somewhat common to wish for a figurine of an Archon to have a chance at obtaining Demonbane: monsters created from figurines in these versions generate with their starting inventory. NetHack 3.6.0 sets figurines to generate a monster without its usual starting inventory.

Demonbane's ability to block demon gating is introduced in NetHack 3.6.1, and is imported from SporkHack.

From NetHack 3.0.0 to NetHack 3.6.7, including some variants based on those versions, a lawful hero in a role without a first gift can benefit from receiving Demonbane as their first artifact gift, as it will unrestrict the long sword skill if they do not have it and thus enable dipping for Excalibur. The artifact is also a fairly common choice for equipping pets with if the hero has better artifacts to use for themselves, provided that pet is lawful, intelligent and can use weapons.

NetHack 5.0.0 changes Demonbane's base item type, first to a mace via commit b1a5a9c3, then to a silver mace via commit 67d58202—NetHack 5.0.0 also gives the artifact its invoke ability to banish demons.

Messages

<The demon> looks puzzled for a moment.

A demon would have gated in other demons when attacking the hero, but the hero was wielding Demonbane.

<The demon prince> looks very angry...

A lawful demon prince would have offered a bribe, but the hero was wielding Demonbane either during level creation or at the time of bribing.

You feel tension building.

As above, but you cannot see the demon prince.

Variants

NetHack variants created prior to NetHack 5.0.0 often change Demonbane's abilities, and may either retain its long sword base item from previous versions of NetHack or else change the base item type (whether to a mace weapon or something different altogether).

NetHack: The Next Generation

In NetHack: The Next Generation, Demonbane is one of the artifacts that can be created at The Forge, with a base price of 9000zm. Its base item type is a long sword.

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, Demonbane's base item type is a long sword, +1d5 to-hit bonus is converted to a flat +5 bonus as with all artifact weapons, and like other Banes it has a ³⁄₂₀ chance of canceling any demon it hits.

SLASH'EM introduces several angelic beings that are lawful and humanoid, making them eligible to generate with long swords, and those long swords have the same effective ¹⁄₄₀ chance of being made into Demonbane if it has not yet generated: the Planetar and Solar are lords to their kind, and generate with long swords that are guaranteed to be made into either Demonbane or Sunsword, assuming neither artifact has generated.

SporkHack

In SporkHack, Demonbane has its base item changed to a silver mace, and is also subject to some other changes.

UnNetHack

In UnNetHack, Demonbane's base item type is a long sword, and the artifact grants warning versus demons while wielded.

dNetHack

In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, Demonbane's base item type is changed to a silver saber.

While wielded, Demonbane warns of demons and blocks their passive summoning abilities. grants +1d10 to-hit and deals +1d20 bonus damage against demons, and has a ¹⁄₁₀ chance of canceling any demons it hits, subject to a roll against their MR score. Demonbane does not resist being held second to other weapons, but the hero must be Expert skill in two-weapon fighting to use it in the off-hand without a −20 to-hit penalty.

FIQHack

In FIQHack, Demonbane's base item type is changed to a silver saber. It prevents demon gating while wielded as in NetHack and some other variants, and deals +1d20 bonus damage against demons.

xNetHack

In xNetHack, Demonbane is an artifact mace made of silver and is the first sacrifice gift for Priests. The artifact behaves as it does in NetHack 3.7.0.

SpliceHack

In SpliceHack, Demonbane's base item type is a long sword made of silver. It grants warning of demons while wielded, and it can be invoked to toggle flight.

Messages

You sprout three pairs of angelic wings!

You invoked Demonbane, and gained the ability to fly.

Your wings vanish.

You invoked, dropped or stashed Demonbane and lost the ability to fly.

EvilHack

In EvilHack, Demonbane's base item type is changed to a heavy mace made of silver, and it is the first sacrifice gift for Priests. In addition to its traits in NetHack, it grants warning of demons while wielded, and any demons that see the hero wield it will become hostile. Like all "Bane" artifacts in EvilHack, it has a chance of instantly killing any demon it strikes. Infidels that are crowned become demons and thus cannot touch or wield Demonbane.

Angelic beings that can wield weapons can generate with a heavy mace that can be converted into Demonbane if the hero is not a Priest—this will occur with a ¹⁄₂₀ chance normally, and always occurs if the angelic being is a lord to their kind.

Demonbane can be combined with Sunsword at a forge to create the Hammer of the Gods, an artifact heavy war hammer that retains many of Demonbane's traits.

SlashTHEM

In addition to SLASH'EM details, SlashTHEM incorporates The Forge from NetHack: The Next Generation, and Demonbane is available there with the same base price.

Hack'EM

In Hack'EM, Demonbane behaves as it does in EvilHack, but cannot be forged with another artifact.