Elven broadsword

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Name	elven broadsword
Appearance	runed broadsword
Damage vs. small	1d6+1d4
Damage vs. large	1d6+1
To-hit bonus	+0
Weapon skill	broadsword
Size	one-handed
Base price	10 zm (+10/positive enchant)
Weight	70
Material	wood

An elven broadsword is a type of one-handed melee weapon that appears in NetHack. It is made of wood like other elven weapons and appears as a runed broadsword when unidentified.

The elven broadsword uses the broadsword skill, and is the base item for Orcrist, which can be created by naming any elven broadsword Orcrist.

Generation

Elven broadswords make up about 0.4% of randomly generated weapons (on the floor, as death drops, or in shops).

All non-undead elves have a ¹⁄₃ to being generated with an elven broadsword.^[1]

Strategy

Elven broadswords are a solid choice for twoweaponing, particularly due to their higher damage average against small monsters compared to normal broadswords. They also outdamage another common two-weapon candidate in the long sword dealing 6 damage on average versus the long sword's 4.5; however, the long sword has a better damage average against large monsters 6.5 compared to 4.5.

Naming an elven broadsword Orcrist can be used to make Stormbringer more likely to appear as a [[sacrifice gift].

Average damage calculation

We assume the player is skilled in broadsword (the highest possible skill level for the weapon with any playable class), which gives a +1 damage bonus. A blessed weapon deals 1d4 extra damage against demons and undead. The worst case scenario is against a non-undead, non-demon, large monster. The best case scenario is against a undead, demon, small monster.

Weapon	Against regular small monsters	Against regular large monsters	Worst case scenario	Best case scenario
Blessed Elven broadsword +0	$\frac{1+6}{2}+\frac{1+4}{2}+1=\bold{7}$	$\frac{1+6}{2}+1+1=\bold{5.5}$	$\frac{1+6}{2}+1+1=\bold{5.5}$	$\frac{1+6}{2}+\frac{1+4}{2}+\frac{1+4}{2}+1=\bold{9.5}$
Blessed Elven broadsword +7	$\frac{1+6}{2}+\frac{1+4}{2}+1+7=\bold{14}$	$\frac{1+6}{2}+1+1+7=\bold{12.5}$	$\frac{1+6}{2}+1+1+7=\bold{12.5}$	$\frac{1+6}{2}+\frac{1+4}{2}+\frac{1+4}{2}+1+7=\bold{16.5}$
Blessed Elven broadsword +9	$\frac{1+6}{2}+\frac{1+4}{2}+1+9=\bold{16}$	$\frac{1+6}{2}+1+1+9=\bold{14.5}$	$\frac{1+6}{2}+1+1+9=\bold{14.5}$	$\frac{1+6}{2}+\frac{1+4}{2}+\frac{1+4}{2}+1+9=\bold{18.5}$