Ogresmasher

)   Ogresmasher
Base item	war hammer
Damage vs. small	1d4+1 x2
Damage vs. large	1d4 x2
To-hit bonus	+1d5
Bonus versus	ogres
Weapon skill	hammer
Size	one-handed
Affiliation	unaligned
When carried	(none)
When wielded	(none)
When invoked	(none)
Base price	200 zm
Weight	50
Material	iron

Ogresmasher is an unaligned war hammer that grants a +1d5 to-hit bonus and does double damage against ogres; it also sets the wielder's constitution to 25.

Strategy

Like most of the Banes, Ogresmasher is considered weak due to its target class of monster being both uncommon and relatively not very dangerous. Ogresmasher is further hampered by its weak base item damage of 1d4 against its target class—to the point that a regular +0 long sword does more damage on average than the +0 artifact—and as such, it is considered the most worthless by far.

As of NetHack 3.6.1, the wielding effect gives it a rather niche use: a character with 25 constitution will gain 1 more HP per level over a character with 18 constitution, and at level 11 or above, they will regenerate slightly more HP depending on the character's experience level (up to 21 HP per three turns at level 30). An elven character might consider sacrificing for Ogresmasher and wielding it before leveling up to gain additional 3 HP per level.

History

Before NetHack 3.6.1, Ogresmasher did not change the wielder's constitution.

Variants

Many variants ported over the additional wielding affect of Ogresmasher after the change in 3.6.1.

dNetHack

In dNetHack, Ogresmasher grants warning against ogres and instakills them upon hitting; it also sets constitution to 25 when wielded, and can also be two-weaponed. Characters in dNetHack who aren't capable of two-weaponing and have no need of the second weapon slot can get increased max HP by keeping Ogresmasher in the off-hand. The 25 constitution will grant a character 14 consitution about 5/3 as much health, since it applies retroactively to all health gained from leveling up.

FIQhack

In FIQHack, Ogresmasher's double damage is replaced by a +1d20 damage bonus.

SporkHack

In SporkHack and UnNethack, it sets the wielder's constitution to 25 when wielded. It also deals an extra +d4 damage to all monsters and has a 50% chance of instantly killing ogres.

UnNetHack

In UnNethack, Ogresmasher also grants warning against ogres, deals an extra +d4 damage to all monsters and has a 50% chance of instantly killing ogres. It sets the wielder's constitution to 25 when wielded.

This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.

It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.6.4. Information on this page may be out of date.

Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-364}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.