Crysknife
) 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | crysknife |
| Appearance | crysknife |
| Damage vs. small | 1d10 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d10 |
| To-hit bonus | +3 |
| Weapon skill | knife |
| Size | one-handed |
| Base price | 100 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 20 |
| Material | mineral |
A crysknife is a weapon that can only be produced by enchanting a worm tooth. It has a +3 to-hit bonus and does d10 damage against both small and large monsters, making it a nice choice for #twoweaponing. However, if it leaves your possession, it reverts back into a worm tooth (when fixed, this only happens 10% of the time). It can safely be put in a container without reverting, as long as that container remains in your possession.
Crysknives count as throwing weapons, so they get a to-hit bonus when thrown. Because of their reversion property, throwing them is typically not a good idea.
Contents
Slash'EM
Slash'EM changes the damage for crysknives to 1d20 against small and 1d30 against large. The Ice Mage, Flame Mage and Necromancer roles can gain Skilled in knife, Healer can gain Expert, and Yeomen can gain Basic. A healer can benefit seriously from the Crysknife, since they have little weapon choice other than darts, but still can achieve expert in knives, this can be the most lethal weapon (see below) for a healer in Slash'EM.
Generation
Crysknifes are not normally generated, but instead created by the player through enchanting a worm tooth. Over the course of the game the player is bound to have encountered several long worms. Should the player desire one, it may worthwhile to try reverse genocide. Other methods include create monster (for Healers), as well as loitering. It is not generally worth using a wish (which should be instead be used to wish for a magic marker to write the scrolls, for instance).
As long worms sometimes split when the nail is attacked, it may be worth farming should one, for some reason, be trying to get multiple copies.
- Reverse Genocide. A cursed scroll of genocide will create 4-6, for an average of 5 worm teeth for every scroll; thus, to get a worm tooth in such a way, one needs at least one scroll of genocide and at least two scrolls of enchant weapon (if the user wishes to immediately have it fixed.)
- Create Monster. Note that long worms will refuse to spawn if the average of the player level and the dungeon level is less than nine; this means that for a level 14 player (such as post-quest) you must be on at least dungeon level four, and no greater a level than 54; they are listed as quite rare, and so this could take considerable time.
Average damage calculation
NetHack
We assume the player has expert skill in knife, which gives a +2 damage bonus. A blessed weapon deals 1d4 extra damage against demons and undead. The worst case scenario is against a non-undead, non-demon monster. The best case scenario is against a undead/demon monster. Further, this damage calculation is based per 3.4.3, and not SLASH'EM.
| Weapon | Against regular small monsters | Against regular large monsters | Worst case scenario | Best case scenario |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blessed crysknife +0 |  |
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| Blessed crysknife +7 |  |
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| Blessed crysknife +9 |  |
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SLASH'EM
We assume the player has expert skill in knife, which gives a +2 damage bonus. A blessed weapon deals 1d4 extra damage against demons and undead. The worst case scenario is against a non-undead, non-demon small monster. The best case scenario is against a undead/demon large monster.
| Weapon | Against regular small monsters | Against regular large monsters | Worst case scenario | Best case scenario |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blessed crysknife +0 |  |
 |
|
|
| Blessed crysknife +7 |  |
 |
|
|
| Blessed crysknife +9 |  |
 |
|
|
Because of this increase in damage, the SLASH'EM crysknife compares favorably even to artifacts such as Excalibur. Against large monsters, it actually does more damage than the similarly enchanted Excalibur.
Throwing
At d10, the highest of any projectile weapon (above even the shuriken and boomerang), it begs to be used as such. However, as per the table below, this usually isn't worth the trouble. The table assumes the crysknife in question is fixed, as throwing an unfixed knife is best reserved for sheer desperation or complete and utter stupidity.
| Confidence | 50% | 55% | 60% | 65% | 70% | 75% | 80% | 85% | 90% | 95% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Throws | 6.58 | 7.58 | 8.7 | 9.96 | 11.43 | 13.16 | 15.28 | 18.01 | 21.85 | 28.43 |
The confidence level represented is the chance that the knife will be reverted, NOT that you will keep it. It is the answer to the question "If I throw six point five eight crysknives, how likely am I to lose at least one?" Thus, a stack of five (as from reverse genocide above) is only expected to last 39.82 throws. Quite problematic if you were expecting to throw four per monster.
Mythology
The crysknife and the concept of worm teeth are from Frank Herbert's science fiction novel Dune.
Encyclopedia entry
[The crysknife] is manufactured in two forms from teeth taken
from dead sandworms. The two forms are "fixed" and "unfixed".
An unfixed knife requires proximity to a human body's
electrical field to prevent disintegration. Fixed knives
are treated for storage. All are about 20 centimeters long.
This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.
It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.4.3. Information on this page may be out of date.
Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-343}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.
