Rapier

Version 0.31: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Name	Rapier
Skill	Short Blades
Damage	7
Accuracy	+4
Base delay (%)	12 (120%)
Min delay	5 at skill 14
Hands	1H
Size	Medium
Ranged?	No

A slender, sharply pointed sword, with an uncommonly elegant design.

This weapon falls into the 'Short Blades' category. It is a one handed weapon.

The rapier is the short blade with the highest base damage. It is a desirable choice for stabbing and actual melee combat, at least if you have some skill with Short Blades.

Strategy

Rapiers are a fairly uncommon weapon. Some early- and mid-game monsters wield them (such as Eustachio, Nikola, and residents of the Elven Halls). Coupled with a flat-damage brand such as electrocution, pain, or distortion, and a rapier can be a devastating weapon.

A quick blade is usually stronger than a rapier, especially when stacked with flat-damage bonuses (like slaying, auxiliary attacks, and flat-damage brands). However, quick blades are much rarer weapons.

Daggers are better at stabbing at all realistic levels of skill. However, using a rapier to stab means not having to waste time switching weapons. Against sleeping monsters, for instance, swapping to the dagger can give the foe enough time to wake up.

	Common
Mundane
Magical
Artifact
	Unrandart
Captain's cutlass
Arc blade

History

• Prior to 0.29, rapiers had a base damage of 8.
• Prior to 0.19, rapiers had a base damage of 7.
• Rapiers were added in 0.16, replacing cutlasses.