Doomblade
) Doomblade 
| |
|---|---|
| Base item | orcish short sword |
| Damage vs. small | 1d5 +10 +5d4 (25% chance) |
| Damage vs. large | 1d8 +10 +5d4 (25% chance) |
| To-hit bonus | +0 |
| Bonus versus | (any) |
| Weapon skill | short sword |
| Size | one-handed |
| Affiliation | |
| When carried |
(none) |
| When wielded |
(none) |
| When invoked |
(none) |
| Base price | 1000 zm |
| Weight | 30 |
| Material | iron |
Doomblade is a SLASH'EM-specific chaotic artifact orcish short sword. It deals a flat extra 10 damage against all monsters, with a 25% chance of dealing an extra 5d4 damage every attack. This is indicated by the message "You plunge the Doomblade deeply into <monster>"; however, it still deals extra damage to incorporeal or tiny monsters. You can still do this even if wielding Doomblade as an offhand weapon (which is allowed for artifacts in SLASH'EM).
Strategy
One might consider this weapon the useful big brother to Grimtooth. Although it is somewhat rarely seen, given the multitude of artifacts in SLASH'EM, it is actually one of the best weapons in the game. On average, it will deal an extra 13.125 damage, which is better than Excalibur, Snickersnee, and the new Skullcrusher. Oftentimes, the extra 5d4 damage is just the thing to finish off a difficult monster, and it occurs often enough to be useful, as opposed to an occasional bonus. Even if one is unlucky with its random damage bonus, it is a perfectly viable weapon, even in SLASH'EM's end game. Chaotic players who are restricted in clubs may very well find this a worthwhile wish.
