Giantkiller

)   Giantkiller
Base item	axe
Damage vs. small	1d6 x2
Damage vs. large	1d4 x2
To-hit bonus	+5
Bonus versus	giants
Weapon skill	axe
Size	one-handed
Affiliation	neutral
When carried	(none)
When wielded	(none)
When invoked	(none)
Base price	800 zm
Weight	60
Material	iron

Giantkiller is an artifact weapon that appears in SLASH'EM and SlashTHEM, where it replaces the artifact long sword Giantslayer from NetHack. It is in It is neutral, and its base item is a regular axe.

Generation

Any randomly generated axe has a base ¹⁄₂₀ chance of being converted to Giantkiller. Giantkiller can also be given as a sacrifice gift to any neutral character.

Description

Giantkiller has a +1d5 to-hit bonus and deals double damage against giants, with a ³⁄₂₀ chance of cancelling those monsters on each hit.

Strategy

Giantkiller encounters the same pitfalls as its vanilla counterpart Giantslayer: most giants are rarely dangerous enough to be a threat even in vanilla, and SLASH'EM only introduces two new monsters with the M2_GIANT flag: the Largest Giant and the troll mummy. In situations where such monsters constitute a significant threat, not only are other artifact weapons that cover wider ranges of monsters more, but Giantkiller itself is less effective than a normal long sword against giants unless enchanted to +2 or better.

Giantkiller's base item makes it slightly more common than some other artifacts, which in turn may warrant checking weapon shops thoroughly before attempting an artifact wish.