View source for The Tsurugi of Muramasa

{{artifact weapon
  |color=metal color
  |name=The Tsurugi of Muramasa
  |base=tsurugi
  |smalldmg=1d16 '''+1d8'''
  |largedmg=1d8+2d6 '''+1d8'''
  |tohit=<nowiki>+2</nowiki>
  |skill=two-handed sword
  |size=two-handed
  |affiliation=<ul><li>[[lawful]]</li><li>[[Samurai]]</li><li>[[intelligent artifacts|intelligent]]</ul>
  |whencarried=<ul><li>acts as [[luckstone]]</li></ul>
  |whenwielded=<ul><li>bisection</li><li>[[protection]]</li></ul>
  |cost=4500
  |weight=60
  |material=metal  
}}

'''The Tsurugi of Muramasa''' is the [[Samurai]] [[quest artifact]]. It is the prize for completing the [[samurai quest]], and is [[lawful]] for [[wish]]ing purposes. Its [[base item]] is a [[tsurugi]], a type of [[two-handed sword]].

==Description==
The Tsurugi has +2 to-hit and deals +[[d notation|d8]] bonus damage. It has a 5% chance of [[bisect]]ing and [[Instadeath|instantly killing]] [[Physical size|medium-size]] or smaller [[monster]]s that it hits, as well as any monster [[engulf]]ing you; large-or-bigger monsters instead take [[double damage]]. When carried, it acts as a [[luckstone]], and when wielded, it provides extrinsic [[protection]], augmenting your [[magic cancellation]] as with a [[ring of protection]], but not cumulative with one. Unlike most other quest artifacts, it cannot be [[invoke]]d or [[applied]].

==Strategy==
The chance of bisection makes it dangerous for Samurai to face their [[quest nemesis]] [[Ashikaga Takauji]] in melee. Those facing him may employ ranged attacks, [[Polymorph control|controlled]] [[polymorph]], a [[boulder fort]], or a [[wand of death]] to liberate the artifact from him.

As a two-handed weapon, if the Tsurugi becomes [[cursed]], you will need to #[[tip]] an uncursing item out of your bag to regain use of your hands. However, as an [[intelligent artifact]] it resists the [[curse items]] monster spell 80% of the time, making it much safer than most other two-handed weapons. Beyond that, the Tsurugi's extra Luck and protection renders it barely noteworthy among lawful artifacts for non-Samurai, if not artifacts in general.

Unfortunately for Samurai themselves, that it uses the two-handed sword skill may prove a deterrent for those looking to [[twoweapon]] or use a [[shield]]. While they can attain Expert level in the skill, most samurai may already be comfortable with the easier-obtained [[Excalibur]] or [[Snickersnee]] as their main weapon and their starting [[katana]] or another [[long sword]] as their off-hand weapon. In addition to dealing roughly similar damage outside of the Tsurugi's bisection, there is a much less significant risk of item curses welding both weapons to your hands.

===Average damage calculation===
The base damage range of the Tsurugi of Muramasa is 2&ndash;24 against small monsters, and 4&ndash;28 against large monsters before doubling damage. The average damage calculations in the following table do not include bonuses from [[Skill|weapon skills]], [[strength]], or from using a [[blessed]] weapon against [[undead]] or [[M2_DEMON|demons]]. Also, they do not include the 5% chance of either instantly killing the target (if it is a small monster) or doing double the damage (if it is a large monster). Furthermore, the [[twoweapon]] skill bonuses are not included for the damage calculations when using Excalibur with a [[katana]].

{|class="wikitable"
!Weapon
!Small monsters
!Large monsters
|-
| +0 Tsurugi of Muramasa
|{{sfrac|1+16|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;{{sfrac|1+8|2}}&nbsp;=&nbsp;'''13'''
|{{sfrac|1+8|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;{{sfrac|2+12|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;{{sfrac|1+8|2}}&nbsp;=&nbsp;'''16''' 
|-
| +7 Tsurugi of Muramasa
|{{sfrac|1+16|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;{{sfrac|1+8|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;7&nbsp;=&nbsp;'''20'''
|{{sfrac|1+8|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;{{sfrac|2+12|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;{{sfrac|1+8|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;7&nbsp;=&nbsp;'''23'''
|-
| +0 Excalibur and +0 Katana
| {{sfrac|1+8|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;{{sfrac|1+10|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;{{sfrac|1+10|2}}&nbsp;=&nbsp;'''15.5'''
| {{sfrac|1+12|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;{{sfrac|1+10|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;{{sfrac|1+12|2}}&nbsp;=&nbsp;'''18.5'''
|-
| +7 Excalibur and +7 Katana
| {{sfrac|1+8|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;{{sfrac|1+10|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;7&nbsp;+&nbsp;{{sfrac|1+10|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;7&nbsp;=&nbsp;'''29.5'''
| {{sfrac|1+12|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;{{sfrac|1+10|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;7&nbsp;+&nbsp;{{sfrac|1+12|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;7&nbsp;=&nbsp;'''32.5'''
|-
| +9 Excalibur and +7 Katana
| {{sfrac|1+8|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;{{sfrac|1+10|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;9&nbsp;+&nbsp;{{sfrac|1+10|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;7&nbsp;=&nbsp;'''31.5'''
| {{sfrac|1+12|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;{{sfrac|1+10|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;9&nbsp;+&nbsp;{{sfrac|1+12|2}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;7&nbsp;=&nbsp;'''34.5'''
|}

==History==
The Tsurugi of Muramasa was introduced along with most of the other quest artifacts in [[NetHack 3.1.0]].

The Tsurugi of Muramasa gained extrinsic protection while wielded in [[NetHack 3.6.0]].

==Origin==
{{wikipedia|Muramasa}}
Muramasa Sengo (千子 村正) was a famous Japanese swordsmith who founded the Muramasa school and lived during the Muromachi period (14th to 16th centuries) in Kuwana of Ise Province. They were originally reputed as fine blades favored by the shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu and his vassals, but gradually became a symbol of the anti-Tokugawa movement. 

The idea of Muramasa's swords being bloodthirsty and compelling the wielders to murder or suicide is a product of both the aforementioned political shift and of 18th century Japanese lore and popular culture, such as ''kabuki'' dramas - this is also likely the source for the idea that Muramasa passed his own violence and bloodlust on to the blades he forged.

==Variants==
===SLASH'EM===
In [[SLASH'EM]], the Tsurugi of Muramasa doesn't provide protection or magic cancellation. Keep in mind that SLASH'EM doesn't have the #tip command, so wielding a cursed two handed weapon is much more serious. As is true of any artifact weapon that simply does extra damage in slashem, it has been considerably improved. The Tsurugi does +8 extra damage instead of +1d8.  Moreover, the bisection effect activates 10% of the time, as opposed to 5%.

However, the ability in SLASH'EM to [[twoweapon|dual-wield]] artifact weapons diminishes the Tsurugi's appeal considerably. Combining [[Excalibur]] and [[Snickersnee]] is an excellent option for Samurai, since both weapons are easily available to them, use the same weapon skill, and both have a flat damage bonus against all monsters.  On average this will do much more damage than the Tsurugi, although it lacks the instakill chance against small monsters. A Samurai who can get his hands on one of the better lawful swords, such as [[Fire Brand]], [[Frost Brand]], [[Grayswandir]], or the SLASH'EM-specific [[Sword of Justice]] can be even more powerful.

The following table summarizes the best-case scenario average damage for the Tsurugi of Muramasa versus two-weaponing the most powerful one-handed lawful swords. The following table does not include applicable strength or ring-based damage bonuses.

{| class="prettytable striped"
|-
! Weapon(s)
! Average damage vs. small
! Average damage vs. large
|-
| Tsurugi of Muramasa
| 28 + 10% instakill
| 33
|-
| [[Snickersnee]] + [[Excalibur]]
| 49
| 52
|-
| [[Snickersnee]] + [[Sword of Justice]] 
| 51
| 54
|-
| [[Snickersnee]] + [[Fire Brand]] or [[Frost Brand]]
| 51
| 56
|-
| [[Snickersnee]] + [[Grayswandir]] 
| 61
| 62
|-
| [[Excalibur]] + [[Sword of Justice]] 
| 52
| 56
|-
| [[Excalibur]] + [[Fire Brand]] or [[Frost Brand]]
| 52
| 58
|-
| [[Excalibur]] + [[Grayswandir]]
| 62
| 64
|-
| [[Sword of Justice]] + [[Fire Brand]] or [[Frost Brand]]
| 54
| 60
|-
| [[Sword of Justice]] + [[Grayswandir]]
| 64
| 66
|-
| [[Fire Brand]] + [[Frost Brand]]
| 53
| 61
|-
| [[Fire Brand]] or [[Frost Brand]] + [[Grayswandir]]
| 64
| 68
|}

Note: Best case for all listed weapons assumes expert in the relevant skill ([[two-handed sword]] or [[two-weapon combat]] and [[long sword]] and/or [[saber]]), attacking an undead monster or demon with a blessed weapon, enchanted to +7, and the following additional restrictions apply to each weapon:
*Excalibur: none
*Snickersnee: none
*Sword of Justice: not [[lawful]]ly aligned
*Fire Brand: not [[fire resistant]]
*Frost Brand: not [[cold resistant]]
*Grayswandir: [[silver-hating]] (only demons are both silver-hating and suffer blessed damage)

===UnNetHack===
In [[UnNetHack]], the Tsurugi of Muramasa confers [[half physical damage]] while wielded.

===FIQHack===
In [[FIQHack]], the Tsurugi of Muramasa does double damage rather than +1d8, and can be invoked to uncurse itself.

===EvilHack===
In [[EvilHack]], the Tsurugi of Muramasa confers [[half physical damage]] while wielded.
 
==Encyclopedia entry==
{{encyclopedia|
This most ancient of swords has been passed down through the
leadership of the Samurai legions for hundreds of years.  It
is said to grant luck to its wielder, but its main power is
terrible to behold.  It has the capability to cut in half any
creature it is wielded against, instantly killing them.
}}

{{nethack-366}}
[[Category:Quest artifacts|Tsurugi of Muramasa]]
[[Category:Artifact weapons|Tsurugi of Muramasa]]
[[Category:Luck items|Tsurugi of Muramasa]]