The Sword of Annihilation
| ) The Sword of Annihilation (No tile) | |
|---|---|
| Base item | long sword |
| Damage vs. small | 1d8 +1d12 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d12 +1d12 |
| To-hit bonus | +1d5 |
| Bonus versus | monsters without disintegration resistance |
| Weapon skill | long sword |
| Size | one-handed |
| Affiliation | |
| When carried |
(none) |
| When wielded |
|
| When invoked |
(none) |
| Base price | 25000 zm |
| Weight | 37 |
| Material | metal |
The Sword of Annihilation is an artifact that appears in EvilHack. It is unaligned, and its base item is a long sword made of steel.
Generation
The Sword of Annihilation can only be created by combining Angelslayer and either The Eye of Vecna or The Hand of Vecna at a forge—it cannot be wished for, and will revert to its base item if left in a bones file.
Description
The Sword of Annihilation grants disintegration resistance while wielded, and has +1d5 to-hit and +1d12 damage bonuses against monsters that do not have disintegration resistance. The Sword of Annihilation is also nigh-indestructible, and in particular cannot be disintegrated or permanently lost in a chasm—it can still potentially be lost if a bag of holding explodes with it inside, however.
Nonresistant monsters hit by The Sword of Annihilation have a 1⁄12 chance of being disintegrated entirely, destroying their inventory along with them and leaving no corpse behind: the exceptions consist of unique monsters, who have this chance reduced to 1⁄100, and the Riders, who will instead instantly reintegrate with full HP (which is the same behavior in response to disintegration as NetHack). Otherwise, there is a separate chance of the target's worn armor being disintegrated on each hit: the chance is 1⁄3 for worn shields, 1⁄4 for worn cloaks, and 1⁄6 for worn body armor.
The Sword of Annihilation can be forged together with Ashmar to create the Armor of Retribution.
Strategy
The Sword of Annihilation's ability to instantly destroy monsters is especially valuable against late-game hostiles in the late game and endgame that have large pools of hit points, though this usually comes at the cost of any valuable loot that they may be carrying. It also offers valuable protection against the breath weapon of black dragons if the hero lacks reflection or is playing without it, and can also help deal with anti-matter vortices.
A user has suggested improving this page or section as follows:
"Expand strategic suggestions."
Encyclopedia entry
Not much is known about this blade, as very few have lived
to tell the tale after encountering the one that wields it.
It is said that everything this sword touches is utterly
destroyed. Probably more rumor than anything...
