Werebane
| ) Werebane (No tile) | |
|---|---|
| Base item | silver saber |
| Damage vs. small | 1d8 x2 +(1d20) |
| Damage vs. large | 1d8 x2 +(1d20) |
| To-hit bonus | +1d5 |
| Bonus versus | werecreatures |
| Weapon skill | saber |
| Size | one-handed |
| Affiliation | |
| When carried |
(none) |
| When wielded |
|
| When invoked |
(none) |
| Base price | 1500 zm |
| Weight | 40 |
| Material | silver |
Werebane is an artifact weapon that appears in NetHack. It is unaligned, and its base item is a silver saber.
Contents
Generation
A randomly generated silver saber has a 1⁄20 chance of being generated as an artifact, which has a 1⁄2 chance of being Werebane (and will otherwise be Grayswandir, the other artifact silver saber) if no artifacts have already been generated. Any character can receive Werebane as a sacrifice gift, but it will never be the first gift given.
Description
Werebane has +1d5 to-hit and deals double damage to werecreatures, which is applied before the extra d20 of silver damage. While wielded, Werebane prevents a player character from being infected with lycanthropy.
Strategy
Among the Banes, Werebane is one of the more powerful artifacts against its target monsters, but against other monsters it is a slightly better silver saber, and thus unremarkable: the artifact can be a fine option in the early game for characters that would ordinarily have trouble with werewolves, but players able to compensate for such a power gap will have less use for the weapon. The trait that holds Werebane back the most is the fact that its bonus only applies to three monsters, all of which are primarily found in a particular stage of the game - once a character advances past that stage, they will be contending with non-werecreature monsters more often, and usually can attain the resources to make werecreatures themselves a non-issue.
One perk to receiving Werebane as a sacrifice gift is that it unrestricts the saber skill for characters that have either already found Grayswandir randomly or via bones, or else plan to wish for it later. A silver saber with a to-hit bonus is also a servicable weapon, though it cannot be two-weaponed in the offhand.
History
Werebane first appears in NetHack 3.0.0, where it is a lawful artifact long sword. NetHack 3.1.0 changes the base item to a silver saber, and NetHack 3.3.0 changes its alignment to unaligned.
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, Werebane has a 1⁄6 chance of canceling werecreatures that it strikes.[1]
Changes to other artifact mechanics, polymorph mechanics and the addition of several stronger werecreatures make Werebane a more viable weapon: polymorphed monsters (including werecreatures) revert to their base form upon death - combined with the werecreature's regeneration and summoning, they can be quite difficult to kill permanently, making Werebane much more valuable against them. Werebane can also be twoweaponed in the offhand with another artifact weapon, making it an attractive secondary option.
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, Werebane grants warning versus werecreatures.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, Werebane has +1d10 to hit and deals +1d20 damage against werecreatures and demihumans, and has a 1⁄10 chance of cancelling such monsters it hits, subject to monster magic resistance scores. Werebane also protects from lycanthropy while wielded, and does not resist being held second to other weapons - however, doing so incurs a -20 to-hit penalty unless the character is Expert in two-weapon fighting.
FIQHack
In FIQHack, Werebane deals +1d20 damage against werecreatures instead of double damage.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, Werebane can be twoweaponed with another artifact weapon.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, Werebane can be combined with Stormbringer at a forge to create Shadowblade.
