Artifact weapon

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An artifact weapon is a rare unique weapon, often with special properties. It may be acquired by sacrifice, by finding in a bones file, by finding in the dungeon, by wishing for one, or at the end of a quest. Excalibur may be acquired by dipping an ordinary long sword, provided you are lawful and level 5 and it hasn't already been generated. Excalibur, Vorpal Blade and Stormbringer may be acquired by praying with very good Luck; this is known as crowning.

An artifact weapon resists being wielded as a second weapon when #twoweaponing.[1]

Any artifact weapon given to you by your god will be noncursed and erodeproof, and you will be unrestricted[2] in the appropriate weapon skill if necessary. Certain roles are guaranteed to receive a particular weapon as their first gift[3]: Valkyries receive Mjollnir, Barbarians receive Cleaver, Wizards receive Magicbane, and Samurai receive Snickersnee.

Sunsword and Demonbane might be created in the possession of a humanoid angelic creature; Archons are sure to be generated with one. Sting and Orcrist may be created by #name'ing an ordinary elven dagger or elven broadsword.

Like all other objects, you may wish for an artifact weapon. There are some caveats:

  • If two or more artifacts have already been created, there is a chance that wishing for another will fail.
  • You cannot wish for your own quest artifact, and wishing for another class's quest artifact is only useful if it is of the same alignment as you - otherwise you will be unable to pick it up. If it is of your alignment, you can use it but it will blast you.
  • More generally, an artifact of the wrong alignment has a chance of blasting you every time you attempt to pick it up or wield it. Being blasted is not dangerous unless you are low-level (it only causes a small amount of damage) but it prevents you from picking the item up if it is intelligent. (To be precise, damage is 4d10 if the artifact is intelligent and 4d4 if not intelligent.)
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List of artifact weapons

See Source:artilist.h or the article for each artifact for more details.
Artifact name Base item type Alignment[4] Special properties Mean Damage vs. Small Mean Damage vs. Large Obtaining
Cleaver battle-axe (two-headed axe) neutral +d3 to-hit & +d6 damage. 17.5 19 First sacrifice gift for Barbarians.
Demonbane long sword lawful +d5 to-hit & x2 damage to major demons. 23 (11.5) 27 (13.5) May be given to a new angelic being.
Dragonbane broadsword unaligned +d5 to-hit & x2 damage to dragons. 24 (12) 23 (11.5)
Excalibur long sword lawful +d5 to-hit & +d10 damage. Drain resistance. Searching. Hostile demon princes. Monster tracking. Intelligent. 17 19 May be produced for lawful adventurers at fountains. Lawful crowning gift.
Fire Brand long sword unaligned +d5 to-hit & x2 damage to non-fire-resistant monsters. 23 (11.5) 27 (13.5)
Frost Brand long sword unaligned +d5 to-hit & x2 damage to non-cold-resistant monsters. 23 (11.5) 27 (13.5)
Giantslayer long sword neutral +d5 to-hit & x2 damage to giants. 23 (11.5) 27 (13.5)
Grayswandir silver saber lawful +d5 to-hit & x2 damage. Protection against hallucination. 23 23
Grimtooth orcish dagger (crude dagger) chaotic +d2 to-hit & +d6 damage. 12.5 12.5
The Longbow of Diana bow chaotic +d5 to-hit. Telepathy. Reflection. Intelligent. Quest artifact of Rangers.
Magicbane athame neutral +d3 to-hit. Special damage. Magic resistance. Protects against cursing. First sacrifice gift for Wizards.
Mjollnir war hammer neutral +d5 to-hit & +d24 damage to non-shock-resistant monsters. Can return when thrown. 23 (10.5) 22 (9.5) First sacrifice gift for Valkyries.
Ogresmasher war hammer unaligned +d5 to-hit & x2 damage to ogres. 21 (10.5) 19 (9.5)
Orcrist elven broadsword (runed broadsword) chaotic +d5 to-hit & x2 damage to orcs. 26 (13) 23 (11.5) May be produced by naming an ordinary elven broadsword Orcrist.
The Sceptre of Might mace lawful +d5 to-hit & x2 damage to cross-aligned monsters. Magic resistance. Conflict. Intelligent. 23 (11.5) 21 (10.5) Quest artifact of Cavepeople.
Snickersnee katana (samurai sword) lawful +d8 damage. 17 18 First sacrifice gift for Samurai.
The Staff of Aesculapius quarterstaff (staff) neutral x2 damage & level drain to non-drain-resistant monsters. Hungerless regeneration. Drain resistance. Healing, curses sickness, blindness, & sliming. Intelligent. 25.5 (10.5) 25.5 (10.5) Quest artifact of Healers.
Sting elven dagger (runed dagger) chaotic +d5 to-hit & x2 damage to orcs. Warning of orcs. Cuts through webs. 20 (10) 18 (9) May be produced by naming an ordinary elven dagger Sting.
Stormbringer runesword chaotic +d5 to-hit, +d2 damage & level drain to non-drain-resistant monsters. Drain resistance. Bloodthirsty. Intelligent. 18 (12) 17.5 (11.5) Chaotic crowning gift.
Sunsword long sword lawful +d5 to-hit & x2 damage to undead. Light. Protection from light-based blinding. 23 (11.5) 27 (13.5) May be given to a new angelic being.
Trollsbane morning star unaligned +d5 to-hit & x2 damage to trolls. 24 (12) 23 (11.5)
The Tsurugi of Muramasa tsurugi (long samurai sword) lawful +d8 damage. 5% chance of extra damage, including possible beheading. Luck. Intelligent. [5] [5] Quest artifact for Samurai.
Vorpal Blade long sword neutral +d5 to-hit & +1 damage. 5% chance of beheading. Instantly kills jabberwocks. 12.5[5] 14.5[5] Neutral crowning gift.
Werebane silver saber unaligned +d5 to-hit & x2 damage to werecreatures. 23 (11.5) 23 (11.5)

Source code references

  1. Wield.c#line493
  2. Weapon.c#line994
  3. artilist.h#line43 and following
  4. The hero's quest artifact and any guaranteed sacrifice gifts are adjusted to the hero's starting alignment. For example, for a wizard who starts chaotic, Magicbane and The Eye of the Aethiopica are generated chaotic. See Source:Artifact.c#line54.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Plus 5% chance of beheading.