Orcrist
) Orcrist 
| |
|---|---|
| Base item | elven broadsword |
| Damage vs. small | 1d6+1d4 x2 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d6+1 x2 |
| To-hit bonus | +1d5 |
| Bonus versus | orcs |
| Weapon skill | broadsword |
| Size | one-handed |
| Affiliation | |
| When carried |
(none) |
| When wielded |
|
| When invoked |
(none) |
| Base price | 2000 zm |
| Weight | 70 |
| Material | wood |
Orcrist is a chaotically aligned elven broadsword. It is one of two artifacts in the game that can be created by #name-ing them, along with Sting. To do so type in #name, select a normal elven broadsword, and name it Orcrist. To make sure you did it correctly, you may now try to name the sword into something completely different—all artifacts resist naming. The Orcrist gives a +d5 to hit and double damage against all orcs.
Orcrist can also be given as a gift by sacrificing. This can be useful for elven priests or rangers who want to get Stormbringer: if they name both Orcrist and Sting before sacrificing, they are guaranteed Stormbringer as their first sacrifice gift (provided it hasn't already been generated). Orcish players will never receive Orcrist as a gift.[1]
For a Tourist, a named Orcrist provides a way for you to viably train to basic in a medium-damage weapon early in the game thanks to its to-hit bonus, since orcs are usually plentiful and not particularly hard to hit.
History
In Hack 1.0 and Hack 1.0.1, any weapon can be named Orcrist and do extra damage against orcs; there can even be more than one Orcrist.
Hack 1.0.2 restricted this advantage to two-handed swords. Other weapons could still be named Orcrist, but would do no extra damage.
Orcrist became an elven broadsword in NetHack 3.1.0.
Mythology
This item comes from the Lord of the rings books.
Variants
SLASH'EM changes the alignment of this artifact from Chaotic to Lawful. [2] Additionally, like all artifact weapons in SLASH'EM, it grants the full +5 to hit rather than 1d5 against orcs (which are more varied and can be much more powerful than in Vanilla). It also gives a 15% chance of cancelling any orc it hits.
In SporkHack, it is slightly less useless, since it deals an additional +d4 damage to all foes. It also warns of orcs.
In dNethack, it is more useful, as it also has 1d5 to-hit, warning against, and 2x damage vs demons. However, it's unlikely to be your main weapon when you'll be encountering demons.
Encyclopedia entry
The Great Goblin gave a truly awful howl of rage when he
looked at it, and all his soldiers gnashed their teeth,
clashed their shields, and stamped. They knew the sword at
once. It had killed hundreds of goblins in its time, when
the fair elves of Gondolin hunted them in the hills or did
battle before their walls. They had called it Orcrist,
Goblin-cleaver, but the goblins called it simply Biter.
They hated it and hated worse any one that carried it.
References
This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.
It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.4.3. Information on this page may be out of date.
Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-343}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.
