Frost Brand

)   Frost Brand   (No tile)
Base item	long sword
Damage vs. small	1d8 ×2
Damage vs. large	1d12 ×2
To-hit bonus	+1d5
Bonus versus	targets without cold resistance
Weapon skill	long sword
Size	one-handed
Affiliation	unaligned
When carried	(none)
When wielded	cold resistance
When invoked	(none)
Base price	3000 zm
Weight	40
Material	iron

Frost Brand is an artifact that appears in NetHack. It is unaligned, and its base item type is a long sword.

Fire Brand is the fire-aligned counterpart of Frost Brand.

Generation

A long sword randomly generated on the ground or as a death drop has a base ¹⁄₂₀ chance of being made into an artifact, which has a ¹⁄₆ chance of being made into Frost Brand, assuming no artifact long swords have been generated. Frost Brand 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 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.

Per commit b1a5a9c3, Demonbane's base item is a changed to a mace, so any long sword made into an artifact has a ¹⁄₅ chance of being made into Frost Brand.

Per commit d87cadaf and commit c2c797fa, artifact balance is substantially reworked: artifacts have 2 additional internal stats—the minimum sacrifice value required to obtain them by sacrificing (which is usually just the difficulty rating of the monster sacrificed), and a flat number added to the weapon's enchantment when it is either randomly generated or gifted.

The aforementioned changes also mean that unaligned artifacts such as Frost Brand can be given as first gifts, though they are less likely to be given than a co-aligned artifact in this case. Frost Brand requires a sacrifice of at least 9 value, and will not have anything added to its enchantment when randomly generated or given as a sacrifice gift.

Description

While wielded, Frost Brand grants cold resistance, and has a +1d5 to-hit bonus and deals double damage against monsters without cold resistance—the cold damage may also destroy potions in the target's open inventory upon hitting.

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.

Per commit 85de51a6, invoking Frost Brand casts an Expert skill cone of cold spell at a targeted square.

Strategy

Frost Brand is more popular than its counterpart Fire Brand, due to many of Gehennom's denizens being fire-resistant demons whose vulnerability can be exploited by the artifact, and it also does not destroy as much valuable loot when used to attack. Frost Brand makes an excellent artifact to utilize as a main weapon in the long term, and is considered the best artifact weapon to have for Gehennom after Grayswandir: it deals slightly more damage on average against non-resistant large monsters that are not weak to silver, though Grayswandir naturally still has the advantage against silver-hating large monsters.

Frost Brand is also weaker than Grayswandir and sometimes even Fire Brand on the Astral Plane, whose denizens will most often resist cold damage but do not always resist fire—at this point, however, the hero is nearing the finish line and will prefer clearing paths to the high altar, rather than becoming bogged down in combat unless it becomes absolutely necessary.

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.

Weapon	Cold-resistant		Not Cold-resistant
	Small monster	Large monster	Small monster	Large monster
+0 Frost Brand	$\frac{1+8}{2}=\bold{4.5}$	$\frac{1+12}{2}=\bold{6.5}$	$\left (\frac{1+8}{2} \right )\times 2=\bold{9}$	$\left (\frac{1+12}{2} \right )\times 2=\bold{13}$
+7 Frost Brand	$\frac{1+8}{2}+7=\bold{11.5}$	$\frac{1+12}{2}+7=\bold{13.5}$	$\left (\frac{1+8}{2}+7\right )\times 2=\bold{23}$	$\left (\frac{1+12}{2}+7\right )\times 2=\bold{27}$

History

Frost Brand is introduced alongside Frost Brand in NetHack 3.0.0.

From NetHack 3.1.0 to NetHack 3.2.3, Frost Brand is neutral-aligned - Frost Brand and Fire Brand become unaligned in NetHack 3.3.0.

Messages

The ice-cold blade <hits/freezes> <you/the monster>!

Frost Brand was used to attack a hero or monster, with "hits" used only if the target has cold resistance.

Variants

Some variants of NetHack enable a hero to pair Frost Brand with Fire Brand in some manner, and may even change the weapon types that both artifacts can generate as.

NetHack: The Next Generation

In NetHack: The Next Generation, Frost Brand is one of the artifacts that can be created by Duri at The Forge, with a base price of 6750 (slightly higher than Fire Brand). This also applies to SlashTHEM.

dNetHack

In dNetHack, Frost Brand and Fire Brand can be generated or wished for as any of the following:

• Gauntlets (for Monks)
• Any bladed weapon that is one-handed for medium-sized characters with the exception of:
  • Any vibroweapon
  • Crow quill
  • Set of crow talons
  • Rakuyo
  • Crystal sword
  • Runesword
  • Mirrorblade

When given as a sacrifice gift, Frost Brand has a ¹⁄₃ chance of being created as a long sword, and will otherwise be created as one of the following, with an equal probability of each: a saber, a scimitar, gauntlets, a broadsword, an axe, a short sword, or an athame. Any valid object that is randomly generated on the ground has the normal chance to be made into a Brand, but once either one has generated, the other can only be generated as the matching object type.

Frost Brand appears as an ice-runed variation of its base item, and has +1 to-hit and deals double cold damage: the damage of its base dice is dealt as explosion damage, making it much harder to resist. Frost Brand does not resist being used in two weapon combat with Fire Brand and vice versa.

Frost Brand can be reshaped into a different base item by dipping it into a fountain, and can be formed into any compatible weapon that is type-identified, in the hero's inventory or uses a weapon skill that the hero is at Skilled level or better in; there are also base item choices that are only available to certain races and roles.

NetHack Fourk

In NetHack Fourk, Frost Brand can be two-weaponed with Fire Brand.

xNetHack

In xNetHack, Frost Brand has its base item changed to a short sword, and it can be two-weaponed with Fire Brand or Mirror Brand.

SpliceHack

In SpliceHack, Frost Brand can generate as any one-handed sword weapon, and can be combined with Fire Brand at a furnace to create Frostburn.

notdNetHack

In notdNetHack, Frost Brand behaves as in dNetHack, but can be generated as a crystal sword.

EvilHack

In EvilHack, Frost Brand has its base item changed to a steel short sword. It can be combined with Fire Brand at a forge to create Dichotomy, an artifact runesword.

Hack'EM

In Hack'EM, Frost Brand has its base item changed to a steel short sword as in EvilHack.

notnotdNetHack

In notnotdNetHack, Frost Brand behaves as in dNetHack, but can be generated as any bladed weapon other than a vibroweapon or runesword.

Encyclopedia

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

[ Fire and Ice, by Robert Frost ]