Artifacts and their properties in NetHack 3.4

art1-343.html Last edited 2004-12-24 for NetHack 3.4.3
Compiled for 3.2.2 by Kevin Hugo.
Updated for 3.4.3 by Dylan O'Donnell <psmith@spod-central.org>.
HTML Conversion by Kate Nepveu <knepveu@steelypips.org>; HTML re-synchronized 2005-08-29 by Dan Fabulich.

Contents

ARTIFACT ITEM COST GENER ALN +HIT +DAM ATTACK DEFEND
LAWFUL
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 brilliance 2000 bq w LP!       undead, fire
T Muramasa tsurugi 4500 bq w LS! +0 +d8 bisect luck
NEUTRAL
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 of ESP 4000 b q w NW!       mgc, spell
CHAOTIC
Grimtooth orcish dagger 300 b orw C +d2 +d6    
Orcrist elv broadsword 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
NON-ALIGNED
Dragonbane broadsword 500 borw   +d5 x2 dragons  
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
SPECIAL
Bell Opening silver bell 5000 g
Can Invocation candelabrum 5000 g
Book Dead papyrus spbook 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 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.
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, 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:

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.html 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.html. The powers of the Amulet of Yendor are listed in amul-343.html.

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 is more likely to succeed.
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. Undead include all liches (L), all mummies (M), all vampires (V), all wraiths/wights (W), all zombies (Z), ghosts, and shades.
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 and demons. Undead include all liches (L), all mummies (M), all vampires (V), all wraiths/wights (W), all zombies/ghouls (Z), ghosts, and shades. Demons are 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:

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, or cancel (see art2-343.html).
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.
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 Patrick Clot, Bruce Cox, David Damerell, Kieron Dunbar, Rob Ellwood, Harold Hill, Scott Hill, Greg Nowak, Jaakko Rajakallio, Pat Rankin, Newell Rose, Darshan Shaligram, and Stanislav Traykov.


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