Gyre and Gimble

Version 0.29: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Two quick blades joined by a chain. Swinging one compels the wielder to swing the other, as if they have minds of their own.

the +12 pair of quick blades "Gyre" and "Gimble"

+12 quick blade

Protection brand
Each swing attacks twice
Always two-handed (Except for formicids)

Desirability

Gyre and Gimble are an unusual weapon - thematically two weapons, they are treated in-game as a single two-handed weapon that just so happens to get twice as many attacks as a normal quick blade would. As quick blades already attack extraordinarily fast, this amounts to an absurd number of hits before the enemy can react to you. At minimum delay (requires a paltry 8 Short Blades skill), you'll essentially be getting in an attack every 1.5 auts. When hastened, this goes up to an attack every aut.

However, the actual effectiveness of these attacks depends on two things: your slaying bonuses and the enemy's AC.

• A quick blade doesn't deal very much damage per hit, unless it has a set damage brand like distortion, electrocution, or pain. Gyre and Gimble has protection, and while it does help increase your survivability, it does absolutely nothing to increase your damage output. Slaying increases your damage per hit, regardless of how strong your weapon is.
• Gyre and Gimble fires weak attacks rapidly, which works fine against low-AC, but means that high-AC opponents are difficult. Enough slaying bonuses, liberal use of potions of might, and easy access to berserk rage will overcome this issue, allowing Gyre and Gimble to be effective against armoured foes and absolutely devastating against the unarmoured. Finding such extensive slaying sources may be easier said than done, however.

Note that auxiliary attacks aren't performed any faster than with an ordinary quick blade. But as a quickblade, these attacks are still fired rapidly (3 aut). Species with aux attacks may prefer a quickblade of any type.

Alternatively, if you happen to have a reliable, renewable way to stab enemies (confusion, invisibility, blindness), it functions as a phenomenally deadly weapon.

Do note that most tactics that make the best use of Gyre and Gimble can also work adequately with any other type of short blade -- Gyre and Gimble's main advantage is simply their exceptional attack speed. Whether or not it's worth sacrificing use of your off-hand is up to you, but a well-branded, fully-enchanted quick blade and a good shield (or perhaps an orb) may be the smarter choice in some cases. Formicids, of course, don't have to worry about losing their shield slot, though whenever they'd prefer this over a heavy, normally two-hander is another question.

Trivia

Gyre and Gimble are a reference to the poem "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carrol.

History

• In 0.29, the enchantment was changed from +7 to +12.
• Prior to 0.24, Gyre and Gimble had a +5 enchantment, the vorpal brand, and a -3 penalty to Dexterity.
• Gyre and Gimble were added in 0.16.