Two-handed sword
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| |
|---|---|
| Name | two-handed sword |
| Appearance | two-handed sword |
| Damage vs. small | 1d12 (1-12) |
| Damage vs. large | 3d6 (3-18) |
| To-hit bonus | +0 |
| Weapon skill | two-handed sword |
| Size | two-handed |
| Base price | 50 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 150 |
| Material | iron |
A two-handed sword is a kind of melee weapon that appears in NetHack. It is one of the most damaging non-artifact weapons in the game, and one of the most damaging among two-handed weapons.
Contents
Generation
A +0 two-handed sword is one of the possible starting swords for Barbarians.[1] Two-handed swords make up about 2.2% of randomly generated weapons (on the ground, as death drops, and in shops).
A two-handed sword is one of the weapons that can be given to a strong humanoid monster with a weapon attack, the ability to wield weapons and no other ruleset governing its monster starting inventory, unless they are being generated on the Rogue level: the base odds are 1⁄14 for normal monsters, 1⁄12 for a monster that is a lord or nasty, 1⁄10 for a monster that is an overlord or both a lord and nasty, and 1⁄8 for a monster that is both nasty and an overlord.[2]
Croesus is always generated with a two-handed sword if Fort Ludios appears in a game.[3] One of the weapons guarded by the ghost on the Rogue level has a 50% chance of being a two-handed sword, with an enchantment ranging from -1 to +3 and a 3⁄4 chance of generating as cursed.[4]
Player monsters, including those on the Astral Plane, have an approximate 1.9% chance of generating with a two-handed sword before role replacements - barbarians have a 1⁄4 chance of receiving a two-handed sword in place of their initial primary weapon, bringing their odds to roughly 27%.[5]
Two-handed sword skill
| Two-handed sword | |
|---|---|
| Max | Role |
| Basic | |
| Skilled | |
| Expert | |
The two-handed sword skill covers the use of two-handed swords and tsurugi. The Tsurugi of Muramasa is an artifact tsurugi that uses the skill.
Strategy
Two-handed swords are solid early game weapons for their high damage rolls, particularly for weaker roles like Tourists - but they can become a nuisance when cursed, making it an unpopular choice to use past the mid-game. The #tip command can be used to get curse removal items out of a carried bag, but most players will still prefer a one-handed and/or curse-resistant weapon to avoid this issue entirely.
History
The two-handed sword has been present in the game since Hack 1.21, a variant of Jay Fenlason's Hack.
From Hack 1.0 to NetHack 3.0.10, a two-handed sword can be named Orcrist, giving it a bonus d10 damage against orcs; prior to Hack 1.0.2, naming Orcrist was not restricted to requiring this weapon. Until NetHack 3.0.0, it is possible to have multiple "Orcrists" by naming two-handed swords this way - NetHack 3.0.0 made artifacts unique, and Orcrist used the two-handed sword as its base item until NetHack 3.1.0, which made it an elven broadsword instead.
Variants
SLASH'EM
SLASH'EM adds Deathsword, an artifact two-handed sword.
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, Thiefbane is an artifact two-handed sword carried by the black market proprietor One-eyed Sam.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, Aurumach Rilmani will generate with a gold two-handed sword enchanted to at least +4, and wandering githyanki pirates are generated with a two-handed sword.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, Lifestealer and The Sword of Kas are artifact two-handed swords.
