Sunsword
| ) Sunsword (No tile) | |
|---|---|
| Base item | long sword |
| Damage vs. small | 1d8 x2 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d12 x2 |
| To-hit bonus | +1d5 |
| Bonus versus | undead |
| Weapon skill | long sword |
| Size | one-handed |
| Affiliation | |
| When carried |
(none) |
| When wielded | |
| When invoked |
(none) |
| Base price | 1500 zm |
| Weight | 40 |
| Material | iron |
Sunsword is an artifact that appears in NetHack. It is lawful, and its base item is a long sword.
Contents
Generation
A long sword randomly generated on the ground (including in a shop) or as a death drop has a base 1⁄20 chance of being made into an artifact, which then has a 1⁄5 chance of being made into Sunsword if no artifact long swords have been generated.[1]
Humanoid angelic beings that are generated by normal monster creation and are generated with a long sword will always have the sword be turned into Sunsword if the monster is a lord to their kind (i.e. an Archon), and will otherwise have a 1⁄20 chance of the sword being turned into Sunsword.[2]
Lawful heroes may receive Sunsword as a sacrifice gift for a sacrifice with a value of 6 or higher[3]—Sunsword will not have anything added to its enchantment when randomly generated or given as a sacrifice gift.
Description
While wielded, Sunsword protects the wielder from light-based blinding and acts as a light source that emits light within a radius centered on the wielder, with its range dependent on the artifact's beatitude:[4] as displayed below, this range is 3 squares if the artifact is blessed, 2 squares if it is uncursed, and 1 square if it is cursed.
Blessed ........... |
Uncursed ........... |
Cursed ........... |
Dropping, stashing or otherwise unwielding Sunsword will cause the light to fade.[5][6]
A hero reading a blessed or cursed scroll of light while not confused and wielding Sunsword has a 1⁄4 chance of blessing or cursing the artifact as though it was dipped in a potion of holy water or unholy water (e.g. the uncursed Sunsword will become cursed after reading a cursed scroll, the cursed artifact becomes uncursed after reading a blessed scroll, and so on).[7][8][9][10][11]
As a weapon, Sunsword has +1d5 to-hit and double damage bonuses against undead, and also scares gremlins that are in the radius of its light while dealing +1d8 damage against them.[12]
Invoking Sunsword can create a beam similar to that of an expensive camera that is capable of blinding a monster it hits, and a gremlin hit by the beam will take 20 damage if the artifact is uncursed, 30 if it is blessed, and 10 if it is cursed—a beam that is aimed up or down will permanently light up the area around the square the hero is standing on, as with a zapped wand of light, while a beam aimed at the hero themselves will blind them unless they are wielding Sunsword at the time, are polymorphed into a monster that lacks eyes or are already blind.[13] This ability can also be used by spending 25 energy if the invoke cooldown timer has not yet expired.[14]
Strategy
Sunsword's use as a light source is generally considered as important as its damage bonus, though it is a viable choice in the absence of a better artifact weapon. Sunsword does hit a far wider range of monsters than most Bane-style artifacts: liches, shades and vampires are among the strongest (and most relevant) targets, and become much more common when passing through the Valley of the Dead and into Gehennom. Clerics face many undead on their quest, making the double damage especially useful for them in theory.
However, since obtaining it as a sacrifice gift unrestricts the long sword skill, Excalibur becomes available and will almost always supersede Sunsword as the hero's primary weapon. Heroes attempting genocideless conduct may still find Sunsword especially useful against liches.
History
Sunsword first appears in NetHack 3.0.0. From this version to NetHack 3.4.3, including some variants based on these versions, the light range does not depend on beatitude and always has a radius of 2—a magic lamp is often preferred as a light source in these versions. Sunsword is also ineffective against shades in these versions, who are undead but take only 1 point of damage from the artifact since it is not made of silver.
NetHack 3.6.0 adjusts Sunsword's light radius and adds the effects of beatitude on it via commit b12d8522, and Sunsword is adjusted via commit 174182f0 so that its bonus damage against undead properly overrides the shade's resistance to non-silver damage. The additional effects of Sunsword's light on gremlins are added in NetHack 3.6.2 via commit bbb81700.
From NetHack 3.1.0 to NetHack 3.6.7 including variants, humanoid angelic beings that are given long swords will have them upgraded into an artifact with a 1⁄20 chance unless the angelic being is a lord to their kind, in which case it will always be made into an artifact:[15][16] the artifact will have a roughly equal chance of being either Demonbane or Sunsword, assuming neither has been generated.[17] It is somewhat common in versions up to NetHack 3.4.3 for players to wish for a figurine of an Archon in order to have a chance at obtaining Demonbane or Sunsword: monsters created from figurines in these versions generate with their starting inventory, which is fixed in NetHack 3.6.0 so that monsters created from figurines will not have their usual starting inventory.
NetHack 5.0.0 reworks artifact balance and sacrifice gifts to their current behavior via commit d87cadaf and commit c2c797fa. NetHack 5.0.0 also adjusts the inventory of humanoid angelic beings via commit c4a1f298 and commit 1d0b8dfc, which is done to accommodate the change of Demonbane to an artifact silver mace (done via commit b1a5a9c3 and commit 67d58202). Furthermore, the blinding ability of Sunsword is introduced via commit c71e8ec8, while the ability to use energy when the cooldown timer is still active is added via commit 758528f0.
Messages
- Sunsword begins to shine <dimly/brightly/brilliantly>!
- You wielded Sunsword, and it is now giving off light.
- Sunsword stops shining.
- You unwielded Sunsword.
- Sunsword shines <brighter/less brightly>.
- The beatitude status of Sunsword changed while it was wielded.
- Light begins shining <nearby/in the distance>.
- A monster wielded Sunsword and its light shone within your range of vision, with the range determining which phrase is used.
- Suddenly, the only light left comes from Sunsword!
- You were wielding Sunsword while either reading a scroll of light that was cursed, or reading any scroll of light while confused.
Variants
NetHack variants created prior to NetHack 5.0.0 may or may not retain Sunsword's abilities from versions of the game past NetHack 3.4.3, and some may add entirely new abilities altogether.
NetHack: The Next Generation
In NetHack: The Next Generation, Sunsword behaves as it does in NetHack 3.1.3. It can be requested from Duri at The Forge for 7000zm.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, Sunsword behaves as it does in NetHack 3.4.3 and earlier contemporary versions.
Sunsword is easier to obtain, since lawful heroes can receive minions that are likely to be generated carrying the artifact as sacrifice gifts: the odds of an angelic being minion being gifted and an artifact being created in their inventory are not affected by previous artifact gifts, and once a minion with Sunsword generates, it can be easily disarmed with a bullwhip. Sunsword also has a much wider use case due to the addition of far more dangerous undead, such as the spellcasting vampire mages and ghoul mages, the fast and hard-hitting gugs, and the regenerating and reviving troll mummies.
Sunsword competes for its niche with the Holy Spear of Light, an artifact silver spear that also acts as a light source. The Holy Spear has a smaller bonus against undead, but its silver material grants the artifact bonus damage against major demons, and rather than being wielded as a light source, it can be invoked to permanently illuminate a portion of the level and damage undead caught in the light burst.
SLASH'EM also makes it possible for the hero to wield artifacts in the off-hand during two weapon combat, so Sunsword is a good candidate for either weapon slot, though it will only provide light if wielded in the primary hand.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, Sunsword is a silvered golden long sword that uses (and trains) the higher of the two between the hero's short sword and long sword skills, which makes it effective even for roles that are restricted in long swords.
Sunsword has +1 to-hit and double damage against demons as well as undead, and grants automatic searching and blindness resistance while wielded on top of acting as a light source. Attacks with Sunsword ignore the target's equipped armor when calculating accuracy and DR, and deal full damage to insubstantial monsters such as shades and Sharab Kamerel—they also have a chance of stoning trolls and reducing gremlins to dust.
FIQHack
In FIQHack, Sunsword behaves as it does in NetHack 3.4.3, but additionally blocks blindness much like The Eyes of the Overworld and has a +1d20 damage bonus against undead instead of a double damage bonus.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, Sunsword can generate as any one-handed sword weapon and is made of crystal gemstone.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, Sunsword is made of crystal gemstone and warns of undead monsters, and any undead monsters that see it will become hostile. Draugr and vampire heroes cannot wield Sunsword, and it will blast them and evade their grasp. Sunsword has a chance of completely destroying any undead that it hits (including an undead hero), and killing zombies while wielding Sunsword causes their corpses to evaporate, preventing their revival.
Sunsword can be combined with Demonbane at a forge to create the Hammer of the Gods, an artifact silver heavy war hammer that retains Sunsword's bonuses and warning versus undead along with its ability to emit light while wielded.
SlashTHEM
In addition to SLASH'EM details, SlashTHEM adds The Forge from NetHack: The Next Generation, where Sunsword can be requested from Duri for 7000zm as before.
Encyclopedia entry
What you seek is a blade of light, a weapon for vengeance.
References
- ↑ src/mkobj.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 889-L893: artifact generation
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 331-L341
- ↑ include/artilist.h in NetHack 5.0.0, line 212
- ↑ src/light.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 899
- ↑ src/light.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 740-L749
- ↑ src/weapon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 918-L928
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 2243-L2245: calls seffect_light()
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1742-L1755: standard scroll effects in seffect_light() function; calls litroom()
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 2518-L2524: cursed scroll effects and call to impact_arti_light() in litroom()
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 2543-L2552: blessed scroll effects and call to impact_arti_light() in litroom()
- ↑ src/potion.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1591-L1621: impact_arti_light() function simulates the effects of (un)holy water, which in turn affects the strength of the light source
- ↑ src/weapon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 333-L334
- ↑ src/artifact.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 2053-L2086: invoke_blinding_ray() function
- ↑ src/artifact.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 2088-L2102: arti_invoke_cost_pw() function
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 329
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 331-L338
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 334
