Dark maul
| This large iron-shod maul is just the tool you need, if you had some bridge stakes to drive in. It is made for dealing massing blows — we're not talking about a mere concussion, but about remnants of a helmet standing on shoes, or perhaps an outright wet stain. Alas, such power comes at a price: the maul's head is so heavy it takes forever to lift it up for another swing. The maul is sized for a human, so ogres may want to use their customary clubs instead, them being less unwieldy in their large hands.
“This caliber should be appropriate.” |
the +6, +6 dark maul
+6, +6 maul (44 damage, -2 accuracy, 300% speed)
Vorpal brand
Wieldable by human-size creatures
Desirability
Dark maul will crush through virtually anything, but even at 27 Maces and Flails skill, will still take 1.6 or 1.7 turns to attack. Its damage output over time is actually decidedly inferior to most "typical" endgame weapons (it does a little less than twice as much damage as a +8 triple sword of freezing, while taking almost 2.5x as long to attack), but its performance against well-armored targets will be much better than any other weapon. Most players would be well-advised not to wield this thing when not at or near max skill, and to combine it with Haste whenever possible. Furthermore, make sure that there won't be multiple enemies attacking you while you swing it.
Players with any significant amount of slaying should avoid this weapon: the slaying bonus is added less than half as often as it would be with a normal, base delay 7 weapon, making it a far less appealing choice.
True to its description, this weapon is pretty inferior to a good giant spiked club.
Despite its immense weight and delay, formicids can actually wield this weapon with one hand, since it is technically a modified great mace. Whether or not it is desirable for them to do so, what with their limited escape options, is a different question.
History
Dark maul was added in 0.14.
