Giantkiller

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)   Giantkiller   (No tile)
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
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 120 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 320 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.