Dragonbane

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)   Dragonbane   (No tile)
Base item broadsword
Damage vs. small 2d4 x2
Damage vs. large 1d6+1 x2
To-hit bonus +1d5
Bonus versus dragons
Weapon skill broadsword
Size one-handed
Affiliation

unaligned

When carried

(none)

When wielded

reflection

When invoked

(none)

Base price 500 zm
Weight 70
Material iron

Dragonbane is an artifact that appears in NetHack. It is unaligned, and its base item type is a broadsword.

Generation

Any broadsword that is randomly generated on the ground has a base 120 chance (5%) of being made into an artifact, which will always be Dragonbane if it has not yet been generated. Dragonbane can be given to any hero as a sacrifice gift, though it will never be the first one given.

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.

Sacrifice gifts have been overhauled and Dragonbane can now be granted as the first sacrifice gift.

Player monsters on the Astral Plane that generate with a broadsword have a 12 chance of that broadsword being turned into Dragonbane if it has not yet generated.[1]

Description

While wielded, Dragonbane grants reflection, and has +1d5 to-hit and deals double damage against dragons.

Strategy

Though most Banes are not considered useful due to their narrow ranges for damage bonuses, Dragonbane is much more viable for general use than the others by strength of its reflection, and dragons are fairly valuable and dangerous targets - Dragonbane is also more spellcasting-friendly than a shield of reflection, though most spell-casting heroes will highly prefer the amulet of reflection or silver dragon scale mail. In some cases, two-weaponing Dragonbane with a good offhand weapon offers better damage than a single weapon and shield.

Dragonbane is especially useful for procuring dragon scales from reverse genocided dragons to convert into dragon scale mail, particularly for wishless conduct. Though not at all necessary, Cavemen that receive Dragonbane as a sacrifice gift can use it to deal with the Chromatic Dragon.

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.

Some players may prefer one of the new extrinsics granted by non-silver dragon scale mail, and one of the new amulets over the amulet of reflection. For these characters, Dragonbane offers reflection in a slot that doesn't usually grant extrinsics, allowing more flexibility in your ascension kit.

History

Dragonbane first appears in NetHack 3.0.0.

Dragonbane's ability to grant reflection while wielded is added in NetHack 3.6.1 via commit 06bd0d42.

Variants

Variants based on NetHack 3.4.3 and earlier versions may or may not give Dragonbane the reflection it possesses in later versions of NetHack, and some variants opt to change Dragonbane significantly.

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, Dragonbane does not grant reflection, its to-hit bonus is a flat +5, and it has a 320 chance of canceling any dragon it hits.

SporkHack

In SporkHack, Dragonbane is changed to an artifact dwarvish spear that grants all elemental resistances while wielded, has +1d5 to-hit and deals +1d4 damage to all monsters, and has a 12 chance of instantly killing any dragon it hits.

UnNetHack

UnNetHack adapts the version of Dragonbane used in SporkHack, with the chance of instantly killing dragons reduced to 15.

dNetHack

Main article: Dragonlance

In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, Dragonbane is replaced with Dragonlance.

FIQHack

Main article: Dragonbane (FIQHack)

In FIQHack, Dragonbane is changed to a lawful artifact lance that is the first sacrifice gift for Knights: it has half the weight of a normal lance, never breaks when jousting, grants reflection, and deals +1d20 damage against dragons.

EvilHack

Main article: Dragonbane (EvilHack)

In EvilHack, Dragonbane is changed to a pair of dragonhide gloves.

Encyclopedia entry

And now the youth
was to enter the line of battle with his lord,
his first time to be tested as a fighter.
His spirit did not break and the ancestral blade
would keep its edge, as the dragon discovered
as soon as they came together in combat.

[ Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney ]

References

  1. src/mplayer.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 270: Artifact generation for Astral Plane player monsters