Lightsaber

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Lightsabers are weapon-tools found in the variants SLASH'EM and dNetHack. In each variant they are powerful melee weapons whose use is highly restricted.

SLASH'EM

) Lightsaber.png
Name green / blue / red lightsaber
Appearance lightsaber
Damage vs. small see article
Damage vs. large see article
To-hit bonus -3
Weapon skill lightsaber
Size one-handed
Base price 500 zm
(+10/positive
enchant)
Weight 60
Material [[see article]]
) Double lightsaber.png
Name double red lightsaber
Appearance double lightsaber
Damage vs. small 6 + d9 + d9
Damage vs. large 10 + d11 + d11
To-hit bonus -4
Weapon skill lightsaber
Size two-handed
Base price 1000 zm
(+10/positive
enchant)
Weight 60
Material platinum

Use as a weapon

Lightsabers in SLASH'EM have their own weapon skill. All roles in SLASH'EM are restricted in this skill, but can reach Basic if they have it unrestricted by crowning. (The Jedi role, available as a patch, can reach Expert skill in lightsaber.)

The four varieties are green, blue, red and double red. Green, blue, and red lightsabers are single-handed, have a -3 to-hit penalty, and do the same amount of damage on average, but with damage variance increasing in that order. See the table below.

Double red lightsabers are not randomly generated, but can be wished for. They are two-handed, have a -4 to-hit penalty, and do an extra d9 damage against small monsters and d11 against large monsters (beyond the damage for a basic red lightsaber) when in double mode.

From SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2/objects.c#line825:

Color Small monster Large monster
green 9 + d3 13 + d5
blue 8 + d5 12 + d7
red 6 + d9 10 + d11
red double (not implemented) 6 + d9 + d9 10 + d11 + d11 (d15/d21) in double mode

Lightsabers must be ignited in order to do full damage, so much of their usefulness is lost if they are allowed to run out of power. They can be recharged with a scroll of charging. Lightsabers recharge by the same rules as oil lamps: an uncursed scroll adds 750 turns and a blessed scroll adds 1500. The total charge will never exceed a maximum of 1500 turns.

Lightsabers turn off automatically when they are unequipped, although if you are fast enough, you can dual-wield lightsabers, or even stick a lit one in your bag of holding! Note that this currently does not damage your containers in any way.

All lightsabers are made of platinum, except green lightsabers, which are made of plastic.

Enchantment

Lightsabers can be enchanted like other weapon-tools. This is important, since it can considerably help to offset the large to-hit penalty they will always carry, given that one can never become skilled in the use of a lightsaber. To-hit and damage bonuses from enchantment do not apply when the lightsaber is not lit, so using a lightsaber for long periods of time is usually only practical if you have plentiful charging. The Platinum Yendorian Express Card is best for this, though a magic marker (to write scrolls of charging) can also suffice if you don't need to write many other scrolls.

Hits monsters as a +4 weapon

SLASH'EM introduces a new property, the "Need +x weapon to hit". This means that some monsters can only take damage from a weapon with an enchantment above a certain minimum.

Lightsabers can do damage to all monsters regardless of enchantment, charges or ignition. A +0 lit lightsaber will damage Vecna, but also a +0 uncharged one. That an unlit lightsaber hits like a +4 weapon is probably a bug.

Use as a tool

Ignited lightsabers can be used to burn Elbereth and to burn through doors, statues and solid rock, in the manner of a pick-axe with the force command, making them invaluable, even when not used for combat. Be careful: if you dig downwards with a lightsaber, you'll create a hole through the floor instead of a pit, and fall through to the next level. You will only create a pit if you burn through a tomb on the floor.

dNetHack

The variant dNetHack also features lightsabers, which behave somewhat differently. Incantifier Anachrononauts start with a +3 lightsaber.