Vorpal Blade
| ) Vorpal Blade (No tile) | |
|---|---|
| Base item | long sword |
| Damage vs. small | 1d8 +1 (2–9) |
| Damage vs. large | 1d12 +1 (2–13) |
| To-hit bonus | +1d5 |
| Bonus versus | (any) |
| Weapon skill | long sword |
| Size | one-handed |
| Affiliation | |
| When carried |
(none) |
| When wielded |
|
| When invoked |
(none) |
| Base price | 4000 zm |
| Weight | 40 |
| Material | iron |
Vorpal Blade is an artifact that appears in NetHack. It is neutral-aligned, and its base item is a long sword.
One of the randomly generated epitaphs on a grave may read "Here lies The Lady's maid, died of a Vorpal Blade".
Contents
Generation
A long sword 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 1⁄6 chance of being made into Vorpal Blade.
A neutral hero may receive Vorpal Blade as a possible sacrifice gift. Vorpal Blade is the default neutral crowning gift for a neutral hero in most roles: the only exceptions are neutral Monks and Wizards, who can only receive it this way by carrying their role's crowning gift spellbook (finger of death for Wizards, and restore ability for Monks) when they are crowned.
Player monsters on the Astral Plane that generate with a long sword have a 1⁄2 chance of that long sword being turned into an available compatible artifact, which then has a 1⁄6 of being made into specifically Vorpal Blade assuming no compatible artifacts have already been generated.[1]
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 b1a5a9c3, Demonbane's base item is a changed to a mace, so any long sword made into an artifact has a 1⁄5 chance of being made into Vorpal Blade.
The odds of a randomly generated object being made into a compatible object now also lowers depending on how many artifacts are already generated: 1⁄30 if one artifact has been found, 1⁄40 if two have been found, etc.
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.
Vorpal Blade requires a sacrifice of at least 5 value, and will always have +1 added to its enchantment when randomly generated or given as a sacrifice gift.Description
Vorpal Blade has +1d5 to-hit and +1 damage bonuses against all monsters, with a 1⁄20 chance (5%) of instantaneously killing monsters it hits by beheading them—this deals damage equal to twice that monster's HP, ignoring any damage penalties, and due to its calculation method is not considered a "true" instadeath. This also applies to a hero hit with Vorpal Blade: if they are polymorphed into a monster and decapitated, they will die and be returned to their base form as usual.[2] If Vorpal Blade hits a jabberwock (including a hero in the form of one), it will always behead them.[3] If a monster (including the hero) would be beheaded with Vorpal Blade and has a head, but they are also unsolid, the sword will slice through the neck without beheading them and deal normal damage.[4]
How many heads the victim actually has (e.g. ettins and their zombie/mummy forms) has no bearing on the beheading effect: so long as they are corporeal and have a head, Vorpal Blade can behead and kill them.[5] However, if the target has no head at all, or else the hero is attacking a monster currently engulfing them with the artifact, it instead has a 1⁄20 chance (5%) of missing completely and dealing no damage in those cases.[6]
Strategy
While often overlooked by some players due to its low bonuses to hit chances and damage, others seek out Vorpal Blade for its ability to insta-kill, either to wield for themselves or to keep out of the hands of hostile monsters.
Instakill probability table
The following table summarizes the damage done by Vorpal Blade. For example, if you expect to hit a monster ten times, you can assume a 40% chance of beheading it. You have also done an average of 55 points of physical damage to it. The odds of beheading a monster are above 50% if you can expect to hit it 14 times, which entails inflicting about 77 points of damage anyway.
| Hits | Cumulative instakill probability | Damage at +0 to small monsters (avg) | Damage at +0 to large monsters (avg) | Additional damage at +7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5% | 2–9 (5.5) | 2–13 (7.5) | 7 |
| 2 | 9.75% | 4–18 (11) | 4–26 (15) | 14 |
| 3 | 14.26% | 6–27 (16.5) | 6–39 (22.5) | 21 |
| 4 | 18.5% | 8–36 (22) | 8–52 (30) | 28 |
| 5 | 22.6% | 10–45 (27.5) | 10–65 (37.5) | 35 |
| 10 | 40.1% | 20–90 (55) | 20–130 (75) | 70 |
| 15 | 53.7% | 30–135 (82.5) | 30–195 (112.5) | 105 |
| 45 | 90.0% | 90–405 (248) | 90–585 (338) | 315 |
Monsters wielding Vorpal Blade
Vorpal Blade is a very dangerous weapon to find in the hands of a monster for the same reason it is sought by players—melee combat with any monster wielding Vorpal Blade can easily end in tragedy, especially since you may not be aware until it is too late. In particular, if Vorpal Blade has not already been created in your game, the player monsters in the Astral Plane each have a chance of their weapon being turned into an artifact, naturally including long swords possibly being turned into Vorpal Blade.
Definitely avoid close combat in the Astral Planes until you can be certain that your target does not have Vorpal Blade, and attack such targets from a distance when possible; using a bullwhip to disarm them may be a last measure in especially dire situations. An amulet of life saving is highly recommended, as even without player carelessness an irreversible YASD can still occur. While the chances are incredibly low, a player monster with the weapon and two weapon attacks can potentially behead you twice in a row.
If you kill a monster wielding Vorpal Blade but do not plan on using it at that time (or at all), leaving it in a well-protected container (i.e. at least with a scroll of scare monster over it) or stashing it within a bag in your inventory is highly recommended—at minimum, it will be kept out of enemies' hands.
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.
Monsters now pick up containers and can loot unlocked containers (excluding cursed bags of holding). Dropped scrolls of scare monster no longer scare any @ or unique monster.History
Vorpal Blade is introduced in NetHack 3.1.0.
Origin
Vorpal Blade originates from the poem "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll, an excerpt of which is included in the encyclopedia entry below. The unnamed adventurer's "vorpal blade" is used to cut through the eponymous jabberwock and behead it, an action inspiring its potential in NetHack (and its variants) to behead monsters and always behead jabberwocks.
Messages
- Vorpal Blade <beheads/decapitates> the <monster>!
- A monster was instantly killed by the artifact's special beheading attack.
- Vorpal Blade <beheads/decapitates> it!
- As above, with an unseen monster.
- Somehow, you miss the <monster> wildly.
- You would have beheaded a monster with Vorpal Blade, but it lacks a head and thus takes no damage.[6]
- Vorpal Blade slices through <monster>'s neck.
- As above. but the monster was unsolid and not headless (e.g. a ghost or shade) and takes normal damage.[4]
- Vorpal Blade decapitates you!
- You were beheaded by a monster wielding Vorpal Blade.
- Somehow, <foo> misses you wildly.
- As above, but you were in a headless form.[6]
- Vorpal Blade slices through your neck.
- As above, but you were in an unsolid form with a head.[4]
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, Vorpal Blade beheads targets 1⁄10 (10%) of the time, making it considerably more powerful. A similar weapon, Thiefbane, has a 10% chance of beheading any @.
Despite their monster type, vorpal jabberwocks in SLASH'EM are not subject to decapitation on any hit of Vorpal Blade as with normal jabberwocks, instead having the same chance as any other monster.
Below is a table describing the probability of Vorpal Blade hitting and instantly killing a vulnerable target:
| Hits | Cumulative instakill probability |
|---|---|
| 1 | 10% |
| 2 | 19% |
| 3 | 27.1% |
| 4 | 34.4% |
| 5 | 41.0% |
| 10 | 65.1% |
| 15 | 79.4% |
| 22 | 90.1% |
NetHack brass
In NetHack brass, Vorpal Blade has a +1d15 to-hit bonus, but deals no extra damage.
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, Vorpal Blade deals +1d8 damage to all monsters, warns of jabberwocks and other monsters in the jabberwock monster class while wielded, and instakills vorpal jabberwocks on hit as well as regular jabberwocks. The average damage for an unenchanted Vorpal Blade is 9 versus small monsters and 11 versus large ones.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, Vorpal Blade's base damage dice are doubled for each hit, dealing 2d8 + 2 versus small monsters and 2d12 + 2 versus large monsters. In addition, its damage rolls use exploding dice that roll another 1d8 or 1d12 for each die with a maximum roll (including the extra dice), applying a flat +1 bonus to those dice—the damage dealt is doubled when hitting a jabberwock.
A decapitating blow from Vorpal Blade is not an instant kill, but rather deals bonus damage equal to (2d12! + x) * 20) + 8d20, where x is the weapon enchantment and 2d12 uses exploding dice—this is more than enough in practice to instantly kill most normal targets even with the helm partially reducing the damage (and likely being destroyed as a result of the blow), and most hostile monsters short of demon lords and princes will not survive the blow.
xNetHack
In xNetHack, Vorpal Blade deals +1d8 damage to all monsters, similar to UnNetHack.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, Vorpal Blade is made of steel, warns of jabberwocks and vorpal jabberwocks while wielded, causes any monster of either type that sees it to become hostile, and additionally protects against beheading attacks while wielded.
Cerberus is immune to decapitation by Vorpal Blade, as he will instantly grow a new head in its place before the other two can be removed.
Vorpal Blade can be combined with Dramborleg at a forge to create Ithilmar, an artifact set of runed barding.
Encyclopedia entry
This entry is shared with the jabberwock.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
He took his vorpal sword in hand;
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
References
- Jump up ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 270: Artifact generation for Astral Plane player monsters
- Jump up ↑ src/artifact.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1337
- Jump up ↑ src/artifact.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1296
- ↑ Jump up to: 4.0 4.1 4.2 src/artifact.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1312
- Jump up ↑ include/artilist.h in NetHack 3.6.7, line 145: the artifact entry notes that allowing for unusual messages, e.g. when decapitating multi-headed monsters, would cause more trouble than worth addressing
- ↑ Jump up to: 6.0 6.1 6.2 src/artifact.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1304
