Giantslayer
| ) Giantslayer (No tile) | |
|---|---|
| Base item | long sword |
| Damage vs. small | 1d8 ×2 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d12 ×2 |
| To-hit bonus | +1d5 |
| Bonus versus | giants |
| Weapon skill | long sword |
| Size | one-handed |
| Affiliation | |
| When carried |
(none) |
| When wielded |
(none) |
| When invoked |
(none) |
| Base price | 200 zm |
| Weight | 40 |
| Material | iron |
Giantslayer is an artifact that appears in NetHack. It is neutral-aligned, and its base item is a long sword.
Contents
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 Giantslayer, assuming no artifact long swords have been generated. A neutral hero may receive Giantslayer as a sacrifice gift.
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, the chance of an artifact long sword being Giantslayer is raised to 1⁄5 as a result of Demonbane's base item being changed to a mace.
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.
Giantslayer requires a sacrifice of at least 4 value, and will always have +2 added to its enchantment when randomly generated or given as a sacrifice gift.Description
Giantslayer has a +1d5 to-hit bonus and deals double damage against giants.
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (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.
Wielding Giantslayer now grants steadfastness, preventing the wielder from being sent flying by attacks.Strategy
Like most of the Banes, Giantslayer has too narrow a damage range to be particularly useful: most giants are not especially threatening on their own for the point they are encountered, and in situations where they become a threat they can also be dispatched through other means, including artifact weapons that cover a wider range of monsters and/or deal more damage overall. Unlike some of the other Banes, Giantslayer may still be fine enough as an artifact weapon for an early neutral character - a long sword is an acceptable base weapon, and receiving it via sacrifice can unrestrict long swords for characters looking to use other long sword artifacts (e.g., Frost Brand) that they either discover randomly or via bones.
History
Giantslayer first appears in NetHack 3.0.0.
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, Giantslayer is replaced with Giantkiller, a neutral axe with the same to-hit bonus and double damage range. This also applies to SlashTHEM.
GruntHack
In GruntHack, Giantslayer additionally grants warning of giants.
SporkHack
In SporkHack, Giantslayer's base item is changed to a sling. It still has +1d5 to-hit, and its bonus damage is changed to +1d8 against giant humanoids. While wielded, it warns of giant humanoids and sets the wielder's strength to 18/** - this can happen even if the artifact occupies the alternate weapon slot.
UnNetHack
| ) Giantslayer (UnNetHack) [[Image:Giantslayer (UnNetHack).png]] | |
|---|---|
| Base item | sling |
| Damage vs. small | 1d2 ×2 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d2 ×2 |
| To-hit bonus | +1d5 |
| Bonus versus | giants |
| Weapon skill | sling |
| Size | one-handed |
| Affiliation | |
| When carried |
(none) |
| When wielded |
|
| When invoked |
(none) |
| Base price | 1200 zm |
| Weight | 3 |
| Material | leather |
In UnNetHack, Giantslayer's base item is also changed to a sling. It has +1d5 to-hit and deals double damage against giants, and while wielded it warns of giants and sets the wielder's strength to 18/** - as in SporkHack, this can happen even if the artifact occupies the alternate weapon slot.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, Giantslayer is unaligned, and its base item is changed to an axe. Giantslayer does not resist being twoweaponed in the offhand, but incurs a -20 to-hit penalty when used this way unless the character has Grand Master skill in two weapon combat (which only a Monk can achieve in practice).
Giantslayer deals +1d4 bonus damage against small monsters and +2d4 against large monsters - against large monsters, it also gains +1d10 to-hit and +1d20 damage. Carrying Giantslayer grants warning of giants and other boulder-throwing monsters, and hitting such a monster with Giantslayer reduces their movement points by 6 and has a 1⁄10 chance of attempting to cancel the target (subject to their MR score).
DynaHack
In DynaHack, Giantslayer grants warning of giants.
FIQHack
In FIQHack, Giantslayer's double damage versus giants is replaced with a +1d20 damage bonus.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, Giantslayer additionally warns of giants while wielded and prevents the wielder from being knocked back by attacks.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, Giantslayer's base item is changed to a spear. While wielded, Giantslayer sets the wielder's strength to 25, provides knockback resistance, warns of giants, and has a chance of instakilling any giants it strikes (which is flavored as death by evisceration), making it very dangerous if a giant hero encounters a hostile monster wielding it. Giants that see a hero wielding Giantslayer will become hostile, and giant shopkeepers will bar that hero from their shop.
Giantslayer is the crowning gift for Cavepeople that are not of the giant race, with lawful Cavepeople obtaining the artifact by wielding a spear at the time of crowning, while neutral Cavepeople will have the artifact gifted and placed at their feet—giant Cavepeople of either alignment will instead be given Keolewa in its place both circumstances.
Giantslayer can be combined with Keolewa at a forge to create Harbinger, an artifact aklys that has the giant-killing properties of Giantslayer.
Hack'EM
In Hack'EM, Giantslayer behaves as it does in SpliceHack, with a chance of instakilling giants as in EvilHack.
