Ogresmasher
| ) Ogresmasher (No tile) | |
|---|---|
| Base item | war hammer |
| Damage vs. small | 1d4+1 x2 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d4 x2 |
| To-hit bonus | +1d5 |
| Bonus versus | ogres |
| Weapon skill | hammer |
| Size | one-handed |
| Affiliation | |
| When carried |
(none) |
| When wielded |
|
| When invoked |
(none) |
| Base price | 200 zm |
| Weight | 50 |
| Material | iron |
Ogresmasher is an artifact that appears in NetHack. It is unaligned, and its base item is a war hammer.
Contents
Generation
A war hammer 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 1⁄2 chance of being made into Ogresmasher (and will otherwise be made into Mjollnir), assuming no artifacts have yet been generated. Ogresmasher 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 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 Ogresmasher can be given as first gifts, though they are less likely to be given than a co-aligned artifact in this case. Ogresmasher requires a sacrifice of any positive non-zero 5 value, and will always have +2 added to its enchantment when randomly generated or given as a sacrifice gift.Description
While wielded, Ogresmasher sets the wielder's constitution to 25, and has a +d5 to-hit bonus and does double damage against ogres.
Strategy
Like most of the Banes, Ogresmasher is considered weak due to its target class of monster being both uncommon and relatively not very dangerous. Ogresmasher is further hampered by its weak base damage, to the point that it is outperformed by a regular +0 long sword.
However, its other effect gives it a somewhat niche application, where it can be wielded before leveling up to improve HP gains per level: a hero with 25 constitution will gain 1 more HP per level over a character with 18 constitution, and at experience level 11 or above they will regenerate slightly more HP depending on the hero's experience level (up to 21 HP per three turns at level 30). In this regard, Ogresmasher may be of interest to elven heroes and other low-HP characters.
History
Ogresmasher is introduced in NetHack 3.0.0, where its base item is a lucern hammer—both this and Thunderfist are the result of a likely error on the DevTeam's part that confused a lucern hammer for an actual war hammer. Ogresmasher has its base item changed to a war hammer in NetHack 3.0.3, while Thunderfist is replaced with Mjollnir.
Ogresmasher's ability to boost the wielder's constitution is introduced in NetHack 3.6.1 and adapted from SporkHack.
Variants
SporkHack
In SporkHack, Ogresmasher sets the wielder's constitution to 25 when wielded. It also deals an extra +d4 damage to all monsters and has a 1⁄2 chance of instantly killing ogres.
UnNetHack
In UnNethack, Ogresmasher grants warning of ogres, sets the wielder's constitution to 25 when wielded, deals an extra +d4 damage to all monsters, and has a 1⁄2 chance of instantly killing ogres it hits.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, Ogresmasher sets the wielder's constitution to 25, grants warning of ogres]] and instakills them upon hitting, and can also be used in the offhand for two weapon combat.
Heroes who incapable of two-weaponing and have no need of the second weapon slot can get increased max HP by keeping Ogresmasher in the off-hand: The 25 constitution will grant a herpo with 14 consitution about 5⁄3 as much health, since it applies retroactively to all health gained from leveling up.
FIQhack
In FIQHack, Ogresmasher's double damage is replaced by a +1d20 damage bonus. Additionally, wielding Ogresmasher set your constitution to 25.
xNetHack
In xNetHack, Ogresmasher's base cost is now 1200zm, and it has been significantly buffed: it deals +d8 to all monsters and has heavy critical hits, which crush and instakill small or tiny monsters and disable medium or larger monsters.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, Ogresmasher warns of ogres and has a chance of slamming monsters into the ground, creating a pit and doing an extra 2d5 damage.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, Ogresmasher warns of ogres, and its base item is change to a heavy war hammer, which deals significantly more damage. Ogresmasher can also send smaller monsters hurtling backward up to multiple squares with its blows.
Ogresmasher can be forged together with Trollsbane to create Ashmar, an artifact dwarvish roundshield that retains Ogresmasher's ability to set the player's constitution to 25 and can send monsters hurtling backward by deflecting blows.
