Broad axe

Version 0.12: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Name	Broad axe
Skill	Axes
Damage	12
Accuracy	-2
Base delay (%)	16 (160%)
Min delay	7 (18)
Hands	1H
Size	Medium
Ranged?	No

A war axe improved with langets, spikes, a lengthened haft and a single-bladed crescent head. It can inflict grievous wounds, but is cumbersome to manoeuvre with just one hand due to its length and weight. "Weapon, shapely, naked, wan! Head from the mother's bowels drawn! Wooded flesh and metal bone! limb only one, and lip only one! Gray-blue leaf by red-heat grown! helve produced from a little seed sown! Resting the grass amid and upon To be lean'd, and to lean on." -Walt Whitman, _Song of the Broad-Axe_, l. 1-6. 1867

This weapon falls into the Axes category. It can be used with one hand, or more effectively with two (i.e. when not using a shield), and it is better for the strong.

Broad axes are the most powerful axes you can wield that allow shields, but since many axe-wielders prefer to use two-handed weapons and the double sword long blade outperforms it, they aren't terribly popular.

Like all the axes, this weapon allows the player to cleave, which can help compensate somewhat for its relative mediocrity.

	Common	Dwarven	Orcish
Mundane
Magical
Artifact		N/A	N/A

	Unrandart Broad Axes
Obsidian Axe

History

Prior to 0.12, broad axes had 13 base damage and no cleaving.