art1-343.txt Last edited 2006-10-24 for NetHack 3.4.3
Artifacts and their properties in NetHack 3.4
Compiled for 3.2.2 by Kevin Hugo.
Updated for 3.4.3 by Dylan O'Donnell <
[email protected]>.
ARTIFACT ITEM COST GENER ALN +HIT +DAM ATTACK DEFEND
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
Demonbane long sword $2500 aborw L +d5 x2 demons
Excalibur long sword 4000 bcdw L ! +d5 +d10 lev, search
Grayswandir silver saber 8000 borw L +d5 x2 silver hallu
Snickersnee katana 1200 borw LS +0 +d8
Sunsword long sword 1500 aborw L +d5 x2 undead
O Detection crystal ball 2500 bq w LA! mgc, spell
S Might mace 2500 bq w LC! +d5 x2 align mgc
M Mirr Merlin mirror 1500 bq w LK! mgc
Mitre Holiness helm brllnce 2000 bq w LP! undead, fire
T Muramasa tsurugi 4500 bq w LS! +0 +d8 bisect luck
Cleaver battle axe 1500 b orw NB +d3 +d6
Giantslayer long sword 200 b orw N +d5 x2 giants
Magicbane athame 3500 b orw NW +d3 +d4 magic mgc, curse
Mjollnir war hammer 4000 b orw NV +d5 +d24 elec
Vorpal Blade long sword 4000 bcorw N +d5 +d1 behead
H Ahriman luckstone 2500 b q w NB! +5 x2 luck stealth
S Aesculapius quarterstaff 5000 b q w NH! +0 x2 lev lev, regen
Eyes Overworld lenses 2500 b q w NM! mgc
PYEC credit card 7000 b q w NT! mgc, spell
Orb of Fate crystal ball 3500 b q w NV! luck spell, phys
Eye Aethiopica amulet ESP 4000 b q w NW! mgc, spell
Grimtooth orcish dagger 300 b orw C +d2 +d6
Orcrist elv brdswd 2000 bnorw C +d5 x2 orcs
Sting elv dagger 800 bnorw C +d5 x2 orcs warn, web
Stormbringer runesword 8000 bcorw C ! +d5 +d2 lev lev
L Diana bow 4000 b q w CRa! +d5 0 reflect
M Key Thievery skeleton key 3500 b q w CRo! warn, phys
Dragonbane broadsword 500 borw +d5 x2 dragon
Fire Brand long sword 3000 borw +d5 x2 fire fire
Frost Brand long sword 3000 borw +d5 x2 cold cold
Ogresmasher war hammer 200 borw +d5 x2 ogres
Trollsbane morning star 200 borw +d5 x2 trolls
Werebane silver saber 1500 borw +d5 x2 were were
Bell Opening silver bell 5000 g
Can Invocation candelabrum 5000 g
Book Dead papyrus spbk 10000 g
Amulet Yendor amulet Yendor 30000 g
Artifacts are listed above by alignment, then alphabetically with the
Quest Artifacts listed later. The name of each ARTIFACT may have been
abbreviated to fit in the table above; see below for the official name.
Artifacts are special instances of ordinary objects, and have all of the
behaviors and properties of the ordinary ITEM in addition to those
granted by the particular artifact; they are however considerably more
valuable, as indicated by the COST field.
The GENER field specifies all of the possible ways that a particular
artifact may be generated. Each artifact can only be generated _once_
per game -- it cannot be generated again, even if the player never found
the artifact, if the artifact is stolen, or if the artifact is destroyed.
Note that in some cases, an ordinary object may be converted into an
artifact, but no artifact will be converted into another artifact. The
meaning of the letters are as follows:
a Humanoid angelic species have a 5% chance of being generated with a
blessed, rustproof Demonbane or Sunsword; 100% for Archons.
b All artifacts on the current level are saved when a character dies
and creates a bones file. If a new character visits the same level
and loads the bones file, the same artifacts will be created, except
under the following conditions. If the artifact was already created
in the new player's game or is the new player's Quest Artifact, then
the artifact reverts to its ordinary object. The Unique Items
(Bell of Opening, Candelabrum of Invocation, Book of the Dead, and
Amulet of Yendor) will revert into ordinary objects (cursed bell,
pile of used candles, cursed spellbook of blank paper, and cursed
fake amulet of Yendor, respectively).
c If you pray and your god is very pleased, you may be crowned and get
a good artifact, though Wizards and Monks may instead receive a
spellbook of finger of death or restore ability respectively. If a
lawful character is wielding an ordinary long sword when crowned, it
becomes Excalibur. Neutrals get Vorpal Blade, regardless of what they
are wielding (if already wielding it, it goes "snicker-snack!").
Chaotics get Stormbringer, regardless of what they are wielding. You
can only be crowned once. If you were restricted to unskilled in the
weapon class of your alignment's artifact, the restriction is removed
so you may advance to basic skill.
d If you #dip a single ordinary long sword in a fountain, are at least
experience level 5, and Excalibur doesn't already exist in your game,
then there is a 1/6 chance of something special happening to your
long sword. If you are lawful, the long sword is converted into
the blessed, rustless, uncorroded, damageproof Excalibur and you
exercise your wisdom. If you are neutral or chaotic, your long
sword is cursed, loses its rustproofing, may lose an enchantment,
and you abuse your wisdom.
g This Unique Item is an essential part of the game, and can only be
obtained by killing (or stealing it from) the appropriate Nemesis.
These items are specially protected from being destroyed. They
also do not count toward the number of artifacts that have been
generated.
n An ordinary item can be converted into this artifact by #naming it.
The item must be singular, not already an artifact, of the same type
as the new artifact, and the new artifact must not already exist.
Answer that you want to #name a single item, and provide the short
name of the artifact (i.e. "Sting" instead of "elven dagger named
Sting").
o This item may be given (non-cursed, and erodeproof if applicable) as
a gift from your god when #offering corpses. You must sacrifice a
fresh corpse at a co-aligned altar, be in good standing with your god,
have non-negative luck, and be at least experience level 3. You will
only get artifacts that are of your alignment or none, and some
classes get certain artifacts as their first gift (if available).
Your first gift will always be co-aligned.
Orcs will never receive elven weapons, or vice versa.
The chance that you will be given a gift depends on the number of
artifacts already created in the game and how many of them were
gifts; the chance is 1/(10+(2*artifacts*gifts)).
If you receive a weapon artifact this way and were restricted in
its weapon class to unskilled, the restriction is removed so you
may advance to basic skill.
r This artifact may be randomly generated in place of a regular item
(1/20 chance for each weapon). In particular, antique weapons
outlets appear to frequently carry artifacts because a large number
of weapons are randomly generated there. The player-monsters on the
Astral Plane also have a 50% chance that the weapon they are
generated will be upgraded to one of these random artifacts.
q This is a Quest Artifact. If you are of the same class as the
artifact, you can only obtain it by completing your Quest.
Otherwise it can only be obtained by bones levels or wishing.
If you are neither the same class nor the same alignment, you cannot
pick it up, wield it, or wear it.
w This artifact can be wished for. You may specify either the short
name of the artifact (e.g. "Magicbane") or the long name ("athame
named Magicbane"); capitalization does not matter. You cannot wish
for Unique Items or your own Quest Artifact; there are also
limitations on wishing for other classes' Quest Artifacts based on
your class and alignment (see "q" above). The chance of getting an
artifact from each wish depends on the number of artifacts already
created in the game:
ARTIFACTS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 n
CHANCE 100% 100% 2/3 2/4 2/5 2/6 2/7 2/(n+1)
The first letter of the ALN column indicates the alignment of the artifact
(Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic), if any. When playing a class which can have
multiple alignments, the alignment of the Quest Artifact will be adjusted
to match the character's starting alignment. A second letter specifies
the class aligned to the artifact; alignments of these artifacts will also
be adjusted if necessary. It also indicates which Quest Artifact belongs
to each class, and for artifacts available as sacrifice gifts denotes that
the artifact is the guaranteed first gift for that class. Intelligent
artifacts are indicated with a ! symbol. All three conditions are
considered each time you attempt to wish for, pick up, wield, wear,
invoke, apply, or steal an artifact:
* If the artifact is intelligent, then in order to touch the artifact
safely, you must have the same alignment as the artifact, must be of
the same class (or no class is specified), must have non-negative
alignment, and must not be in the form of something the artifact
specially attacks. Otherwise, you will be blasted by the artifact's
power, sustain 4d10 damage (2d10 if you have magic resistance), and
abuse your wisdom.
If you are of the wrong class and fail at least one of the other
conditions above, then the artifact will furthermore "evade your
grasp!" and you will not be able to use it at all.
* If the artifact is not intelligent, then you have only a 1/4 chance
of being blasted if you have a different alignment from the artifact
or have negative alignment (these two criteria not applying for
unaligned artifacts), or are in the form of something the artifact
specially attacks; damage is 4d4 (2d4 if you have magic resistance).
In any case, you will be able to use the artifact.
* Orcrist and Sting will never blast non-orcs.
Intelligent artifacts furthermore have an 80% chance of resisting being
cursed by "malignant aura"-type curses.
The +HIT column specifies any bonuses when calculating to-hit, and +DAM
lists any bonuses or multiplier to damage. For some artifacts, these
adjustments only apply when hitting a specific type of monster. See
weap-343.txt to find out how these values are used in weapons calculations.
Additional damage due to level drain, bisecting, or beheading are not
included in the table above, but are listed in the weapon descriptions
below. Note that the chance of certain weapon artifact effects are
based on your to-hit die roll. This means that if you always hit a
monster, the effect occurs with the published percentage; however, if
you only hit a monster 1 in 20, then every hit you make causes the effect.
The ATTACK and DEFEND fields list a brief summary of the offensive and
defensive effects of each artifact; see the sections below for full
descriptions of each artifact's abilities. The effects of the Bell of
Opening, Candelabrum of Invocation, and Book of the Dead are documented
in tool-343.txt. The powers of the Amulet of Yendor are listed in
amul-343.txt.
Lawful artifacts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Adapted from the spoilers "artifacts" by Boudewijn Waijers and "damages"
by Henri Block and Hisashi Yoshida.]
Demonbane
(lawful long sword)
Carried
No effect.
Wielded
+d5 to hit and x2 damage only against demons (all & except Death,
Pestilence, Famine, the mail daemon, sandestins, and djinn).
Invoked
No effect.
Excalibur
(lawful long sword)
Carried
No effect.
Wielded
+d5 to hit and +d10 damage to all monsters.
Confers level drain resistance and automatic searching.
Manual and automatic searching have their chance of success modified
by Excalibur's enchantment.
Even eyeless monsters will be able to locate you.
Demon princes will be generated hostile.
Invoked
No effect.
Grayswandir
(lawful silver saber)
Carried
No effect.
Wielded
+d5 to hit and x2 damage to all monsters.
Confers hallucination resistance.
Silver damage against silver-hating creatures (a normal effect of
silver sabers).
Invoked
No effect.
Snickersnee
(lawful katana)
Carried
No effect.
Wielded
+d8 damage to all monsters.
Invoked
No effect.
Note: Do not confuse this artifact with Vorpal Blade.
Sunsword
(lawful long sword)
Carried
No effect
Wielded
+d5 to hit and x2 damage only against undead (ghosts, shades, and
all LMVWZ).
Acts as a light source.
Prevents blinding from light-based sources.
Invoked
No effect.
The Orb of Detection
(lawful* Archeologist crystal ball)
Carried
Confers magic resistance and telepathy.
Half damage when attacked by spells.
Invoked
Toggles invisibility on/off.
The Sceptre of Might
(lawful* Caveman mace)
Carried
Confers magic resistance.
Wielded
+d5 to hit and x2 damage only against monsters not of its alignment.
Invoked
Toggles conflict on/off.
The Magic Mirror of Merlin
(lawful Knight mirror)
Carried
Confers magic resistance and telepathy.
Knights get double damage when: turning undead in any way; using
a spell of force bolt, magic missile, unskilled/basic cone of
cold, or drain life; or using a wand of striking.
Applied or wielded
Speaks to you (gives random rumour, from the true file if blessed,
the false file if cursed, or either if uncursed).
Invoked
No effect.
The Mitre of Holiness
(lawful* Priest helm of brilliance)
Carried
Confers fire resistance.
Worn
Priests take half damage from undead (ghosts, shades, and all LMVWZ)
and demons (all & except Death, Pestilence, Famine, the mail daemon,
djinn, and sandestins).
Increase in intelligence and wisdom (normal helm effects).
Invoked
Boost in spell energy.
The Tsurugi of Muramasa
(lawful Samurai tsurugi)
Carried
Acts as luckstone.
Wielded
+d8 damage to all monsters.
5% chance (based on your to-hit roll) of extra damage:
Monsters engulfing you are instantly killed.
Damage is doubled against big monsters.
All other monsters are instantly killed.
Invoked
No effect.
Neutral artifacts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Adapted from the spoilers "artifacts" by Boudewijn Waijers and "damages"
by Henri Block and Hisashi Yoshida.]
Cleaver
(neutral* battle axe)
Carried
No effect.
Wielded
+d3 to hit and +d6 damage to all monsters.
Invoked
No effect.
Giantslayer
(neutral long sword)
Carried
No effect.
Wielded
+d5 to hit and x2 damage only against giants, stone giants, hill
giants, fire giants, frost giants, storm giants, giant mummies,
giant zombies, Cyclops, and Lord Surtur. Note that it does not
affect ettins or titans.
Invoked
No effect.
Magicbane
(neutral* athame)
Carried
No effect.
Wielded
+d3 to hit to all monsters; +d4 damage to monsters that do not resist.
May also probe, stun, scare, cancel, or confuse (see art2-343.txt).
Confers magic resistance.
Protects inventory against 95% of curses.
Invoked
No effect.
Note: You can also engrave "Elbereth" with any non-cursed athame and
it won't dull the weapon.
Mjollnir
(neutral* war hammer)
Carried
No effect.
Wielded
+d5 to hit and +d24 damage against monsters that are NOT shock-
resistant.
May explode rings (other than shock resistance) or wands (other than
lightning) carried by the target.
Can only be thrown when you have strength 25 (such as with gauntlets
of power) and you are wielding it. When thrown by Valkyries there is
a 99% chance that the artifact will return to you: if you are not
confused, stunned, blind, hallucinating, or fumbling, there is a
further 99% chance it will return directly to your hand, otherwise it
will either land at your feet or hit you (50/50 chance).
Can only be kicked one square.
Invoked
No effect.
Note: Does NOT provide shock resistance!
Vorpal Blade
(neutral long sword)
Carried
No effect.
Wielded
+d5 to hit and +1 damage to all monsters.
Instantly kills Jabberwocks.
5% chance (based on your to-hit roll) of instantly killing monsters
by beheading. Monster must not be headless, amorphous, non-corporeal,
or swallowing you. Worms must be hit on their head segment.
Invoked
No effect.
Note: Do not confuse this artifact with Snickersnee.
The Heart of Ahriman
(neutral* Barbarian luckstone)
Carried
Confers stealth.
+d5 to hit if thrown or slung at a monster; x2 damage if slung.
Invoked
Levitation; you can stop this levitation with '>' at will, or by
invoking the Heart again.
The Staff of Aesculapius
(neutral Healer quarterstaff)
Carried
No effect.
Wielded
x2 damage to all non-level-drain-resistant monsters (all except
undead, demons, were-creatures, and Death).
Drains levels (1 to 8 hp) from non-level-drain-resistant monsters.
Confers hungerless regeneration and protection from level drain.
Invoked
Heals half hp loss, cures sickness, unblinds (except from cream or
venom) and unslimes.
The Eyes of the Overworld
(neutral* Monk lenses)
Carried
Confer magic resistance.
Worn
Confer astral vision (X-ray vision and blinding immunity).
Prevent stunning effect of Archons' radiant gaze.
Invoked
Enlightenment.
The Platinum Yendorian Express Card
(neutral Tourist credit card)
Carried
Confers magic resistance and telepathy.
Half damage when attacked by spells.
Invoked
Charges objects like a scroll of charging with the same blessed/
cursed status. Only Tourists can perform blessed charging.
The Orb of Fate
(neutral* Valkyrie crystal ball)
Carried
Confers warning and half spell damage.
Half damage when attacked physically.
Acts as a luckstone.
Invoked
Level teleport.
The Eye of the Aethiopica
(neutral* Wizard amulet of ESP)
Carried
Confers magic resistance and faster energy regeneration.
Half damage when attacked by spells.
Worn
Confers telepathy (normal amulet effect).
Invoked
Transports you to the closest visited level of any dungeon branch you
have already visited. Will not work if you have the Amulet of Yendor
or are in the endgame.
Chaotic artifacts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Adapted from the spoilers "artifacts" by Boudewijn Waijers and "damages"
by Henri Block and Hisashi Yoshida.]
Grimtooth
(chaotic orcish dagger)
Carried
No effect.
Wielded
+d2 to hit and +d6 damage to all monsters.
Invoked
No effect.
Orcrist
(chaotic elven broadsword)
Carried
No effect.
Wielded
+d5 to hit and x2 damage only against orcs (all o, orc mummies, and
orc zombies).
Invoked
No effect.
Sting
(chaotic elven dagger)
Carried
No effect.
Wielded
+d5 to hit and x2 damage only against orcs (all o, orc mummies, and
orc zombies).
Confers the warning intrinsic, specifically attuned to orcs.
Cuts through all webs.
Invoked
No effect.
Stormbringer
(chaotic runesword)
Carried
No effect.
Wielded
Attacks tame and peaceful monsters without confirmation.
+d5 to hit and +d2 damage to all non-level-drain-resistant monsters
(all except undead, demons, were-creatures, and Death).
Drains levels (1 to 8 hp) from non-level-drain-resistant monsters,
healing the wielder by half (rounded down) the damage so inflicted.
Protects from level drain.
Invoked
No effect.
The Longbow of Diana
(chaotic* Ranger bow)
Carried
Confers telepathy.
Wielded
Confers reflection.
+d5 to hit when firing arrows against all monsters.
Invoked
Creates 7-16 uncursed arrows if uncursed, 7-21 blessed arrows if
blessed, 6-11 cursed arrows if cursed.
The Master Key of Thievery
(chaotic Rogue skeleton key)
Carried
Confers warning and teleport control.
Half damage when attacked physically.
Applied or wielded
Speaks to you (gives random rumour, from the true file if blessed,
the false file if cursed, or either if uncursed).
Invoked
Untraps boxes and doors with 100% success.
Unaligned artifacts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Adapted from the spoilers "artifacts" by Boudewijn Waijers and "damages"
by Henri Block and Hisashi Yoshida.]
Dragonbane
(unaligned broadsword)
Carried
No effect.
Wielded
+d5 to hit and x2 damage only against dragons (all D).
Invoked
No effect.
Fire Brand
(unaligned long sword)
Carried
No effect.
Wielded
+d5 to hit and x2 damage against monsters that are NOT fire-resistant.
May boil potions or burn paper (other than scrolls of fire, spellbooks
of fireball, or the Book of the Dead) carried by the target.
Confers fire resistance.
Invoked
No effect.
Frost Brand
(unaligned long sword)
Carried
No effect.
Wielded
+d5 to hit and x2 damage against monsters that are NOT cold-resistant.
May freeze potions (other than oil) carried by the target.
Confers cold resistance.
Invoked
No effect.
Ogresmasher
(unaligned war hammer)
Carried
No effect.
Wielded
+d5 to hit and x2 damage only against ogres (all O).
Invoked
No effect.
Trollsbane
(unaligned morning star)
Carried
No effect.
Wielded
+d5 to hit and x2 damage only against trolls (all T).
Invoked
No effect.
Werebane
(unaligned silver saber)
Carried
No effect.
Wielded
+d5 to hit and x2 damage only against were-creatures in both human
and creature forms.
Attacks of were-creatures will not transfer lycanthropy.
Silver damage against silver-hating creatures (a normal effect of
silver sabers).
Invoked
No effect.
* These artifacts are adjusted if necessary to match the starting
alignment of a player of their class.
Acknowledgements
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Corrections and clarifications provided by Joe Bednorz, Patrick Clot,
Bruce Cox, David Damerell, Kieron Dunbar, Rob Ellwood, Harold Hill,
Scott Hill, Olli Mannisto, Greg Nowak, Jaakko Rajakallio, Pat Rankin,
Martin Read, Newell Rose, Darshan Shaligram, and Stanislav Traykov.
