The Tsurugi of Muramasa

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)   The Tsurugi of Muramasa   Tsurugi.png
Base item tsurugi
Damage vs. small 1d16 +1d8
Damage vs. large 1d8+2d6 +1d8
To-hit bonus +2
Bonus versus (any)
Weapon skill two-handed sword
Size two-handed
Affiliation
When carried
When wielded
When invoked

(none)

Base price 4500 zm
Weight 60
Material metal

The Tsurugi of Muramasa is the Samurai quest artifact. It is the prize for completing the samurai quest. It is lawful for wishing purposes.

It is a tsurugi, a type of two-handed sword. It does 4-28 base damage, with a 5% chance of either instantly killing a small monster (or a monster engulfing you) by bisection, or doing double damage to large monsters. When wielded, it provides extrinsic protection, augmenting your magic cancellation as a ring of protection, but not cumulative with one.

Its disadvantage is being two-handed; if it becomes cursed in a fight you will need to #tip an uncursing item out of your bag to regain use of your hands. The Tsurugi is still safer than most two-handed weapons, because as an intelligent artifact it resists the curse items monster spell 80% of the time.

Average damage calculation

The average damage calculations in the following table do not include bonuses from weapon skills, strength, or from using a blessed weapon against undead or 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.

One thing most samurai will have to consider is two-weaponing vs the Tsurugi. As it is very easy to get Excalibur via dipping, it is worth noting that using Excalibur with the starting Katana does roughly the same amount of damage ( minus 5% bisection bonus ) as the Tsurugi. This benefits the player by not having to deal the detrimental aspects of the Tsurugi, and still doing very good damage.

Weapon Small monsters Large monsters
+0 Tsurugi of Muramasa \frac{1+16}{2}+\frac{1+8}{2}=\bold{13} \frac{1+8}{2}+\frac{2+12}{2}+\frac{1+8}{2}=\bold{16}
+7 Tsurugi of Muramasa \frac{1+16}{2}+\frac{1+8}{2}+7=\bold{20} \frac{1+8}{2}+\frac{2+12}{2}+\frac{1+8}{2}+7=\bold{23}
+0 Excalibur and +0 Katana \frac{1+8}{2}+\frac{1+10}{2}+\frac{1+10}{2}=\bold{15.5} \frac{1+12}{2}+\frac{1+10}{2}+\frac{1+12}{2}=\bold{18.5}
+7 Excalibur and +7 Katana \frac{1+8}{2}+\frac{1+10}{2}+7+\frac{1+10}{2}+7=\bold{29.5} \frac{1+12}{2}+\frac{1+10}{2}+7+\frac{1+12}{2}+7=\bold{32.5}
+9 Excalibur and +7 Katana \frac{1+8}{2}+\frac{1+10}{2}+9+\frac{1+10}{2}+7=\bold{31.5} \frac{1+12}{2}+\frac{1+10}{2}+9+\frac{1+12}{2}+7=\bold{34.5}

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 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.

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 or demon with a blessed weapon, enchanted to +7, and the following additional restrictions apply to each weapon:

Origin

A tsurugi is just a Japanese straight double-edged sword.

Muramasa Sengo (千子 村正), was a famous swordsmith of 15th century Japan. He was reputed violent and a bit mad, a trait that supposedly passed on to his blades. It was believed that Muramasa blades were bloodthirsty and compelled the wielders to murder or suicide. Not the best choice of a name for a lawful weapon in Nethack.

Encyclopedia entry

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.


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