# Lightsaber

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Lightsabers are weapon-tools found in the variants SLASH'EM and dNetHack.  In each variant they are powerful melee weapons whose use is highly restricted.

Contents

1 SLASH'EM

1.1 Use as a weapon

1.1.1 Enchantment
1.1.2 Hits monsters as a +4 weapon

1.2 Use as a tool

2 dNetHack

2.1 Lightsaber Colors
2.2 Lightsabers
2.3 Beamswords
2.4 Double Lightsabers
2.5 Kamerel Vajra

SLASH'EM

) 

Name

green / blue / red lightsaber

Appearance

lightsaber

Damage vs. small

see article

Damage vs. large

see article

To-hit bonus

-3

Weapon skill

lightsaber

Size

one-handed

Base price

500 zm(+10/positive enchant)

Weight

60

Material

[[see article]]

) 

Name

double red lightsaber

Appearance

double lightsaber

Damage vs. small

6 + d9 + d9

Damage vs. large

10 + d11 + d11

To-hit bonus

-4

Weapon skill

lightsaber

Size

two-handed

Base price

1000 zm(+10/positive enchant)

Weight

60

Material

platinum

Use as a weapon
Lightsabers in SLASH'EM have their own weapon skill.  All roles in SLASH'EM are restricted in this skill, but can reach Basic if they have it unrestricted by crowning.  (The Jedi role, available as a patch, can reach Expert skill in lightsaber.)
The four varieties are green, blue, red and double red.  Green, blue, and red lightsabers are single-handed, have a -3 to-hit penalty, and do the same amount of damage on average, but with damage variance increasing in that order.  See the table below.
Double red lightsabers are not randomly generated, but can be wished for.  They are two-handed, have a -4 to-hit penalty, and do an extra d9 damage against small monsters and d11 against large monsters (beyond the damage for a basic red lightsaber) when in double mode.
From SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2/objects.c#line825:

Color

Small monster

Large monster

green
9 + d3
13 + d5

blue
8 + d5
12 + d7

red
6 + d9
10 + d11

red double (not implemented)
6 + d9 + d9
10 + d11 + d11  (d15/d21) in double mode

Lightsabers must be ignited in order to do full damage, so much of their usefulness is lost if they are allowed to run out of power.  They can be recharged with a scroll of charging.  Lightsabers recharge by the same rules as oil lamps: an uncursed scroll adds 750 turns and a blessed scroll adds 1500.  The total charge will never exceed a maximum of 1500 turns. Note that a cursed lightsaber won't ignite even if still charged, and will still weld to your hand should you wield it.
Lightsabers turn off automatically when they are unequipped, although if you are fast enough, you can dual-wield lightsabers, or even stick a lit one in your bag of holding!  Note that this currently does not damage your containers in any way.
All lightsabers are made of platinum, except green lightsabers, which are made of plastic.

Enchantment
Lightsabers can be enchanted like other weapon-tools.  This is important, since it can considerably help to offset the large to-hit penalty they will always carry, given that one can never become skilled in the use of a lightsaber.  To-hit and damage bonuses from enchantment do not apply when the lightsaber is not lit, so using a lightsaber for long periods of time is usually only practical if you have plentiful charging.  The Platinum Yendorian Express Card is best for this, though a magic marker (to write scrolls of charging) can also suffice if you don't need to write many other scrolls.

Hits monsters as a +4 weapon
SLASH'EM introduces a new property, the "Need +x weapon to hit".  This means that some monsters can only take damage from a weapon with an enchantment above a certain minimum.
Lightsabers can do damage to all monsters regardless of enchantment, charges or ignition.  A +0 lit lightsaber will damage Vecna, but also a +0 uncharged one.  That an unlit lightsaber hits like a +4 weapon is probably a bug.

Use as a tool
Ignited lightsabers can be used as a tool by using the #force command.  In general, they will behave exactly like pick-axes (albeit with different messages), with the following exceptions:

Digging downwards will create a hole without first creating a pit.  Digging up graves or digging downwards on undiggable levels will instead produce a pit.
#Forcing a lit lightsaber towards a locked container will attempt to force the container open.  This behaves like a blunt weapon, having a chance of destroying the container and its contents.
"Digging" towards a monster merely produces the message "I don't think 

<monster> would appreciate that", rather than attacking them.
"Digging" towards a shopkeeper as a Jedi will produce YAFM without angering them.
Note that digging with a lightsaber takes a considerable amount of time, consuming power.  Pre-quest, most Jedi will still prefer to use a pick-axe for digging, in order to ensure their saber is sufficiently charged for dangerous fights and engraving Elbereth.  Once they have the eternally-charged Lightsaber Prototype, they can drop their pick-axe to save weight.

dNetHack
The variant dNetHack also features lightsabers, which behave somewhat differently. dNethack has a variety of lightsaber types, including basic lightsabers, beamswords, double lightsabers, and Kamerel vajra.
All lightsabers must be lit to be fully effective.  While lit, most lightsabers are 3x damage melee weapons (surpassing almost all artifacts in terms of damage output), though vajra and some artifact lightsabers may be less powerful.  Lit lightsabers sunder any weapon held by the target, and ignore equipped armor.  Lit lightsabers can cut through many terrain obstructions, included iron bars, trees, and drawbridges (make sure to stand off to one side if using a lightsaber to cut through a drawbridge!).  Use #force and a direction to do so.  Notably, lightsabers are unable to cut through solid rock squares.  Finally, lit lightsabers allow you to escape from webs and beartraps without wasting a turn, and free you from pit traps while consuming only a single turn.
Falling down stairs while wielding a lit lightsaber is dangerous.  The character will attempt to switch off the lightsaber before coming into contact with it, with a luck and dex based chance of succeeding (Note that vajra and some artifact lightsabers can't be switched off!).  If the character does come into contact with the lightsaber, they take damage as if they had been struck by the saber.
Deactivated lightsabers are also useful weapons, though not nearly as powerful as when lit.  The precise effects vary between types of lightsaber, but all are more effective than bashing with an ordinary tool.
Lightsabers are charged weapons and will eventually run out of power.  They can be re-charged an unlimited number of times.  A single charging is good for 750 hits, or 1500 hits if blessed charging was used.  Just being lit also consumes charge, but at a much reduced rate.  100 turns of being lit consumes as much charge as a single hit.  Other activities consume charge as fast as combat.
Finally, there are special skills related to the propper use of lightsabers.  See the lightsaber forms page for details.

Lightsaber Colors
Basic, double lightsabers, and beamswords all have colored blades. A lightsaber's color is purely cosmetic, and can be changed by swapping out the focusing crystal.  To change the crystal, drop the lightsaber on the ground and #loot while standing over it.  Worthless glass gems produce 'red' blades, valuable gems produce other colors.  This can be used to informally id valuable gems.
A table of the lightsaber colors, by gem:

Gem
Appearance

magicite crystal
brilliant blue

dilithium crystal
twisting rainbow

diamond
coruscating white

star sapphire
star blue

ruby
ruby

jacinth
sunset

sapphire
sapphire

black opal
smoke

emerald
emerald

turquoise
turquoise

morganite
pink

citrine
citrine

aquamarine
aquamarine

amber
amber

topaz
brown

jet
mirrored

opal
rainbow

chrysoberyl
yellow

garnet
deep red

amethyst
amethyst

jasper
crimson

fluorite
violet*

fluorite
blue*

fluorite
white*

fluorite
green*

obsidian
gray

agate
orange

jade
jade

any worthless glass
red

Note that no valuable gem gives a lightsaber color of red, and no two valuable gems have the same color.  Garnets are deep red and rubies are ruby-colored, so you can be certain any gem that yields a red lightsaber is worthless.

Lightsabers

) 

Name

lightsaber

Appearance

sword hilt

Damage vs. small

1d8

Damage vs. large

1d8

To-hit bonus

-3

Weapon skill

broadsword

Size

one-handed

Base price

500 zm(+10/positive enchant)

Weight

10

Material

silver

Incantifier Anachrononauts start with a +3 lightsaber.
Lightsabers are one-handed weapons using the saber skill.  Lightsabers must be activated via apply.  A lit lightsaber has a base damage of 1d8 to large and small targets, and therefore does 3d8 + 3xEnchantment damage on a hit.
When unlit, lightsaber hilts can be used as a martial-arts aid.  They deal 1d4+Enchantment damage to small and large targets, modifed by your unarmed fighting/martial arts skill bonus.  Note that this is inferior to the damage provided by dedicated martial-arts artifacts.  Most lightsaber hilts are silver, and so add the usual +1d20 silver damage vs. silver-hating targets.
Artifact lightsaber
The Annulus can be shifted into the form of a lightsaber, and this is the mode in which it is typically used.  While in this form, the Annulus can be applied a second time to ignite a second blade, making it a 6x overall weapon (though, the second blade is smaller and deals only 3d3+3xEnchantment damage).

Beamswords

) File:Beamsword.png

Name

beamsword

Appearance

broadsword hilt

Damage vs. small

1d10

Damage vs. large

1d10

To-hit bonus

-3

Weapon skill

broadsword

Size

one-handed

Base price

500 zm(+10/positive enchant)

Weight

20

Material

gold

Beamswords are one-handed weapons using the broadsword skill.  Beamswords must be activated via apply.  A lit beamsword has a base damage of 1d10 to large and small targets, and therefore does 3d10+3xEnchantment damage on a hit.
When unlit, beamsword hilts can be used as a martial-arts aid.  They deal 1d4+Enchantment damage to small and large targets, modifed by your unarmed fighting/martial arts skill bonus.  Note that this is inferior to the damage provided by dedicated martial-arts artifacts.  Most beamsword hilts are made of gold, and so may add extra blessed or cursed damage to holy- or unholy-hating targets.
Artifact beamsword
The Atma Weapon is an artifact beamsword.  Because it runs off the life-force of the wielder, it is only a 2x damage weapon unless it is wielded by a non-drain resistant character.

Double Lightsabers

) 

Name

double lightsaber

Appearance

long grip

Damage vs. small

1d10

Damage vs. large

1d10

To-hit bonus

-6 per blade

Weapon skill

quarterstaff

Size

one-handed

Base price

1000 zm(+10/positive enchant)

Weight

30

Material

platinum

Double lightsabers also exist, and three of these are guaranteed in any Anachrononaut game.  One is placed on the locate level, one is placed on the goal level, and one on every lower filler level.  
Double lightsabers are two-handed weapons using the quarterstaff skill.  They must be activated via apply, and can be activated a second time to ignite a second blade (a third apply deactivates both blades).  They deal 1d10 damage base to both small and large targets, and thus deal 3d10+3xEnchantment per blade (i.e., 6d10+6xEnchantment with both blades lit).
When unlit, double lightsaber hilts can be used as a martial-arts aid.  They deal 1d4+Enchantment damage to small and large targets, modifed by your unarmed fighting/martial arts skill bonus.  Note that this is inferior to the damage provided by dedicated martial-arts artifacts.  Most double lightsaber hilts are made from platinum, which doesn't have any special damage effects.
Artifact double lightsaber
Infinity's Mirrored Arc is an artifact double lightsaber.  Because it works by focusing ambient light into a blade, it is either lit or unlit, it can't be switched on and off and never runs out of charge.  Additionally, unless the wielder is standing in a lit square in range of an additional lightsource the Arc deals less than 3x damage.  A lit square alone results in a 2x blade, and a dark square in range of a light source results in a 1x blade.

Kamerel Vajra

) File:Kamerel vajra.png

Name

kamerel vajra

Appearance

short mace

Damage vs. small

1d6

Damage vs. large

1d6

To-hit bonus

+0

Weapon skill

mace

Size

one-handed

Base price

800 zm(+10/positive enchant)

Weight

20

Material

gold

Kamerel vajra are one-handed weapons using the mace skill.  A vajra is either lit or unlit, it can't be switched on and off and never runs out of charge.  A lit vajra has a base damage of 1d6 to large and small targets, but has a variable damage multiplier and additional special effects.
If wielded by an Ara Kamerel, a Kamerel Vajra is a 3x weapon and deals an additional 6d6 electrical damage (damaging wands as normal for electrical damage), for 9d6 + 3xEnchantment damage total vs. non-shock resistant targets and 3d6+3xEnchantment damage vs. shock resistant targets.  Additionally, the target is blinded for 1d50 turns.
If wielded by another creature, but while there is an Ara Kamerel present on the level (incarnate or unincarnate), a Kamerel Vajra is a 2x weapon and deals and additional 2d6 electrical damage (damaging wands 1/3rd of the time), for 4d6 + 2xEnchantment damage total vs. non-shock resistant targets and 2d6+2xEnchantment damage vs. shock resistant targets.  The target is still blinded for 1d50 turns.  In this case, the Kamerel Vajra counts as a lit lightsaber, and can be used with lightsaber fighting forms (note that the player character never counts as an Ara Kamerel, and thus can't use vajras at full power).
If wielded by another creature without an Ara Kamerel on the level, a vajra is a 1d6 damage mace, dealing 1d6+Enchantment damage to large targets and 1d6+1+Enchantment damage to small ones.
There are no artifact vajra.

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