Difference between revisions of "Vorpal Blade"
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| − | The '''Vorpal Blade''' is a very useful weapon. It is an [[ordinary]] [[neutral]] [[long sword]], but there is a 5% chance of instantaneously killing monsters by beheading. It is shunned by some players because it only does +1 damage and d5 to-hit, but others find the insta-kill to be quite useful. | + | The '''Vorpal Blade''' is a very useful weapon. It is an [[ordinary]] [[neutral]] [[long sword]], but there is a 5% chance of instantaneously killing monsters by beheading. It is shunned by some players because it only does +1 damage and d5 to-hit, but others find the insta-kill to be quite useful. The beheading only works on monsters with heads. |
The Vorpal Blade originally appears in the poem [[Commons:s:en:Jabberwocky|Jabberwocky]] by [[Commons:s:en:Author:Lewis Carroll|Lewis Carroll]]. In the poem, an unnamed adventurer "took his vorpal sword" in hand and sought the dangerous [[Jabberwock]]: | The Vorpal Blade originally appears in the poem [[Commons:s:en:Jabberwocky|Jabberwocky]] by [[Commons:s:en:Author:Lewis Carroll|Lewis Carroll]]. In the poem, an unnamed adventurer "took his vorpal sword" in hand and sought the dangerous [[Jabberwock]]: | ||
Revision as of 15:36, 10 September 2006
The Vorpal Blade is a very useful weapon. It is an ordinary neutral long sword, but there is a 5% chance of instantaneously killing monsters by beheading. It is shunned by some players because it only does +1 damage and d5 to-hit, but others find the insta-kill to be quite useful. The beheading only works on monsters with heads.
The Vorpal Blade originally appears in the poem Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll. In the poem, an unnamed adventurer "took his vorpal sword" in hand and sought the dangerous Jabberwock:
- "One, two! One, two! And through and through
- The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
- He left it dead, and with its head
- He went galumphing back."
The implication is that the vorpal blade beheaded the Jabberwock. Because of the origin of this weapon, in NetHack it has a 100% chance to behead Jabberwocks.
Instakill probability table
The following table summarizes the damage done by the Vorpal Blade. For example, after you hit a monster ten times, there is a 40% change that you have beheaded it. You have also done an average of 55 points of physical damage to it. The odds of beheading a monster rise above 50% after 14 hits, at which point you have damaged the monster for approximately 77 points anyway.
| Hits | Cumulated instakill probability | Physical damage to small monsters (avg) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5% | 2–9 (6) |
| 2 | 9.75% | 4–18 (11) |
| 3 | 14.26% | 6–27 (17) |
| 4 | 18% | 8–36 (22) |
| 5 | 22.6% | 10–45 (28) |
| 10 | 40% | 20–90 (55) |
| 15 | 53.7% | 30–135 (83) |
| 45 | 90% | 90–405 (248) |
