Lightsaber

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Lightsabers are weapon-tools found in the variants SLASH'EM and dNetHack. In each variant they are powerful melee weapons whose use is highly restricted.

SLASH'EM

) Lightsaber.png
Name green / blue / red lightsaber
Appearance lightsaber
Damage vs. small see article
Damage vs. large see article
To-hit bonus -3
Weapon skill lightsaber
Size one-handed
Base price 500 zm
(+10/positive
enchant)
Weight 60
Material [[see article]]
) Double lightsaber.png
Name double red lightsaber
Appearance double lightsaber
Damage vs. small 6 + d9 + d9
Damage vs. large 10 + d11 + d11
To-hit bonus -4
Weapon skill lightsaber
Size two-handed
Base price 1000 zm
(+10/positive
enchant)
Weight 60
Material platinum

Use as a weapon

Lightsabers in SLASH'EM have their own weapon skill. All roles in SLASH'EM are restricted in this skill, but can reach Basic if they have it unrestricted by crowning. (The Jedi role, available as a patch, can reach Expert skill in lightsaber.)

The four varieties are green, blue, red and double red. Green, blue, and red lightsabers are single-handed, have a -3 to-hit penalty, and do the same amount of damage on average, but with damage variance increasing in that order. See the table below.

Double red lightsabers are not randomly generated, but can be wished for. They are two-handed, have a -4 to-hit penalty, and do an extra d9 damage against small monsters and d11 against large monsters (beyond the damage for a basic red lightsaber) when in double mode.

From Source:SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2/objects.c#line825:

Color Small monster Large monster
green 9 + d3 13 + d5
blue 8 + d5 12 + d7
red 6 + d9 10 + d11
red double (not implemented) 6 + d9 + d9 10 + d11 + d11 (d15/d21) in double mode

Lightsabers must be ignited in order to do full damage, so much of their usefulness is lost if they are allowed to run out of power. They can be recharged with a scroll of charging. Lightsabers recharge by the same rules as oil lamps: an uncursed scroll adds 750 turns and a blessed scroll adds 1500. The total charge will never exceed a maximum of 1500 turns. Note that a cursed lightsaber won't ignite even if still charged, and will still weld to your hand should you wield it.

Lightsabers turn off automatically when they are unequipped, although if you are fast enough, you can dual-wield lightsabers, or even stick a lit one in your bag of holding! Note that this currently does not damage your containers in any way.

All lightsabers are made of platinum, except green lightsabers, which are made of plastic.

Enchantment

Lightsabers can be enchanted like other weapon-tools. This is important, since it can considerably help to offset the large to-hit penalty they will always carry, given that one can never become skilled in the use of a lightsaber. To-hit and damage bonuses from enchantment do not apply when the lightsaber is not lit, so using a lightsaber for long periods of time is usually only practical if you have plentiful charging. The Platinum Yendorian Express Card is best for this, though a magic marker (to write scrolls of charging) can also suffice if you don't need to write many other scrolls.

Hits monsters as a +4 weapon

SLASH'EM introduces a new property, the "Need +x weapon to hit". This means that some monsters can only take damage from a weapon with an enchantment above a certain minimum.

Lightsabers can do damage to all monsters regardless of enchantment, charges or ignition. A +0 lit lightsaber will damage Vecna, but also a +0 uncharged one. That an unlit lightsaber hits like a +4 weapon is probably a bug.

Use as a tool

Ignited lightsabers can be used as a tool by using the #force command. In general, they will behave exactly like pick-axes (albeit with different messages), with the following exceptions:

  • Digging downwards will create a hole without first creating a pit. Digging up graves or digging downwards on undiggable levels will instead produce a pit.
  • #Forcing a lit lightsaber towards a locked container will attempt to force the container open. This behaves like a blunt weapon, having a chance of destroying the container and its contents.
  • "Digging" towards a monster merely produces the message "I don't think <monster> would appreciate that", rather than attacking them.
    • "Digging" towards a shopkeeper as a Jedi will produce YAFM without angering them.

Note that digging with a lightsaber takes a considerable amount of time, consuming power. Pre-quest, most Jedi will still prefer to use a pick-axe for digging, in order to ensure their saber is sufficiently charged for dangerous fights and engraving Elbereth. Once they have the eternally-charged Lightsaber Prototype, they can drop their pick-axe to save weight.

dNetHack

The variant dNetHack also features lightsabers, which behave somewhat differently. dNethack has a variety of lightsaber types, including basic lightsabers, beamswords, double lightsabers, and Kamerel vajra.

All lightsabers must be lit to be fully effective. While lit, most lightsabers are 3x damage melee weapons (surpassing almost all artifacts in terms of damage output), though vajra and some artifact lightsabers may be less powerful. Lit lightsabers sunder any weapon held by the target, and ignore equipped armor. Lit lightsabers can cut through many terrain obstructions, including iron bars (which will leave behind one or more of the bars as items), trees, and drawbridges. (Make sure to stand off to one side if using a lightsaber to cut through a drawbridge!) Use #force and a direction to do so. Notably, lightsabers are unable to cut through solid rock squares. Finally, lit lightsabers allow you to escape from webs and beartraps without wasting a turn, and free you from pit traps while consuming only a single turn.

Falling down stairs while wielding a lit lightsaber is dangerous. The character will attempt to switch off the lightsaber before coming into contact with it, with a luck and dex based chance of succeeding (Note that vajra and some artifact lightsabers can't be switched off!). If the character does come into contact with the lightsaber, they take damage as if they had been struck by the saber.

Deactivated lightsabers are also useful weapons, though not nearly as powerful as when lit. The precise effects vary between types of lightsaber, but all are more effective than bashing with an ordinary tool.

Lightsabers are charged weapons and will eventually run out of power. They can be re-charged an unlimited number of times. A single charging is good for 750 hits, or 1500 hits if blessed charging was used. Just being lit also consumes charge, but at a much reduced rate. 100 turns of being lit consumes as much charge as a single hit. Other activities consume charge as fast as combat.

Finally, there are special skills related to the proper use of lightsabers. See the lightsaber forms page for details.

Lightsaber Colors

Basic, double lightsabers, and beamswords all have colored blades. A lightsaber's color is purely cosmetic, and can be changed by swapping out the focusing crystal. To change the crystal, drop the lightsaber on the ground and #loot while standing over it. Worthless glass gems produce 'red' blades, valuable gems produce other colors. This can be used to informally id valuable gems.

A table of the lightsaber colors, by gem:

Gem Appearance
magicite crystal brilliant blue
dilithium crystal twisting rainbow
diamond coruscating white
star sapphire star blue
ruby ruby
jacinth sunset
sapphire sapphire
black opal smoke
emerald emerald
turquoise turquoise
morganite pink
citrine citrine
aquamarine aquamarine
amber amber
topaz brown
jet mirrored
opal rainbow
chrysoberyl yellow
garnet deep red
amethyst amethyst
jasper crimson
fluorite violet*
fluorite blue*
fluorite white*
fluorite green*
obsidian gray
agate orange
jade jade
any worthless glass red

Note that no valuable gem gives a lightsaber color of red, and no two valuable gems have the same color. Garnets are deep red and rubies are ruby-colored, so you can be certain any gem that yields a red lightsaber is worthless.

Lightsabers

) Lightsaber.png
Name lightsaber
Appearance sword hilt
Damage vs. small 1d8
Damage vs. large 1d8
To-hit bonus -3
Weapon skill saber
Size one-handed
Base price 500 zm
(+10/positive
enchant)
Weight 10
Material silver

Incantifier Anachrononauts start with a +3 lightsaber.

Lightsabers are one-handed weapons using the saber skill. Lightsabers must be activated via apply. A lit lightsaber has a base damage of 1d8 to large and small targets, and therefore does 3d8 + 3xEnchantment damage on a hit.

When unlit, lightsaber hilts can be used as a martial-arts aid. They deal 1d4+Enchantment damage to small and large targets, modified by your unarmed fighting/martial arts skill bonus. Note that this is inferior to the damage provided by dedicated martial-arts artifacts. Most lightsaber hilts are silver, and so add the usual +1d20 silver damage vs. silver-hating targets.

Artifact lightsaber The Annulus can be shifted into the form of a lightsaber, and this is the mode in which it is typically used. While in this form, the Annulus can be applied a second time to ignite a second blade, making it a 6x overall weapon (though, the second blade is smaller and deals only 3d3+3xEnchantment damage).

Beamswords

) File:Beamsword.png
Name beamsword
Appearance broadsword hilt
Damage vs. small 1d10
Damage vs. large 1d10
To-hit bonus -3
Weapon skill broadsword
Size one-handed
Base price 500 zm
(+10/positive
enchant)
Weight 20
Material gold

Beamswords are one-handed weapons using the broadsword skill. Beamswords must be activated via apply. A lit beamsword has a base damage of 1d10 to large and small targets, and therefore does 3d10+3xEnchantment damage on a hit.

When unlit, beamsword hilts can be used as a martial-arts aid. They deal 1d4+Enchantment damage to small and large targets, modifed by your unarmed fighting/martial arts skill bonus. Note that this is inferior to the damage provided by dedicated martial-arts artifacts. Most beamsword hilts are made of gold, and so may add extra blessed or cursed damage to holy- or unholy-hating targets.

Artifact beamsword The Atma Weapon is an artifact beamsword. Because it runs off the life-force of the wielder, it is only a 2x damage weapon unless it is wielded by a non-drain resistant character.

Double Lightsabers

) Double lightsaber.png
Name double lightsaber
Appearance long grip
Damage vs. small 1d10
Damage vs. large 1d10
To-hit bonus -6 per blade
Weapon skill quarterstaff
Size one-handed
Base price 1000 zm
(+10/positive
enchant)
Weight 30
Material platinum

Double lightsabers also exist, and three of these are guaranteed in any Anachrononaut game. One is placed on the locate level, one is placed on the goal level, and one on every lower filler level.

Double lightsabers are two-handed weapons using the two-handed sword (with one blade lit) or quarterstaff (with two blades lit) skill. They must be activated via apply, and can be activated a second time to ignite a second blade (a third apply deactivates both blades). They deal 1d10 damage base to both small and large targets, and thus deal 3d10+3xEnchantment per blade (i.e., 6d10+6xEnchantment with both blades lit).

When unlit, double lightsaber hilts can be used as a martial-arts aid. They deal 1d4+Enchantment damage to small and large targets, modified by your unarmed fighting/martial arts skill bonus. Note that this is inferior to the damage provided by dedicated martial-arts artifacts. Most double lightsaber hilts are made from platinum, which deals extra damage to chaotics.

Artifact double lightsaber Infinity's Mirrored Arc is an artifact double lightsaber. Because it works by focusing ambient light into a blade, it is either lit or unlit, it can't be switched on and off and never runs out of charge. Additionally, unless the wielder is standing in a lit square in range of an additional lightsource the Arc deals less than 3x damage. A lit square alone results in a 2x blade, and a dark square in range of a light source results in a 1x blade.

Kamerel Vajra

) File:Kamerel vajra.png
Name kamerel vajra
Appearance short mace
Damage vs. small 1d6
Damage vs. large 1d6
To-hit bonus +1
Weapon skill mace
Size one-handed
Base price 800 zm
(+10/positive
enchant)
Weight 10
Material gold

Kamerel vajra are one-handed weapons using the mace skill. A vajra is either lit or unlit, it can't be switched on and off and never runs out of charge. A lit vajra has a base damage of 1d6 to large and small targets, but has a variable damage multiplier and additional special effects.

If wielded by an Ara Kamerel, a Kamerel Vajra is a 3x weapon and deals an additional 6d6 electrical damage (damaging wands as normal for electrical damage), for 9d6 + 3xEnchantment damage total vs. non-shock resistant targets and 3d6+3xEnchantment damage vs. shock resistant targets. Additionally, the target is blinded for 1d50 turns.

If wielded by another creature, but while there is an Ara Kamerel present on the level (incarnate or unincarnate), a Kamerel Vajra is a 2x weapon and deals and additional 2d6 electrical damage (damaging wands 1/3rd of the time), for 4d6 + 2xEnchantment damage total vs. non-shock resistant targets and 2d6+2xEnchantment damage vs. shock resistant targets. The target is still blinded for 1d50 turns. In this case, the Kamerel Vajra counts as a lit lightsaber, and can be used with lightsaber fighting forms (note that the player character never counts as an Ara Kamerel, and thus can't use vajras at full power).

If wielded by another creature without an Ara Kamerel on the level, a vajra is a 1d4 damage mace (equivalent to a small mace), dealing 1d4+Enchantment damage to large targets and 1d4+1+Enchantment damage to small ones.

There are no artifact vajra.