Skull of Zonguldrok
| The skull of a legendary necromancer, seemingly parted from the rest of its body. When held, it seems disinclined to explain the precise circumstances of its ending up in this state, but offers no objection to others siphoning what considerable necromantic power still remains in its ancient bones. |
the skull of Zonguldrok
Orb
Adds the reaping brand to your weapon, which has a chance to convert slain enemies into spectral things.
+1 hat slot
rN+
Intelligence +4
Evil
Desirability
The skull of Zonguldrok[1] is an orb that offers a few stats, an extra item slot, and a reaping passive. The lack of a negative side effect makes the rN+ and Int +4 at least competitive with standard-quality orbs, and a spare randart-level hat can significantly improve the skull's viability. The reaping ego is also generally great — allies that scale with the strength of the threats you face are great, though spellcasters have to go out of their way to kill opponents with their weapons instead of using their spells, which can expose them to unnecessary danger.
Being an offhand item means the skull has several caveats to its usefulness, however: melee characters are limited to one-handed weapons and can't use shields nor offhand attacks, which can gut their damage and/or defenses; while ranged weapons users are screwed out of most strong weapons outside of the slow-firing hand cannons. This potential loss of damage means, alongside the fact reaping will only provide value once you've already killed an enemy, that evaluating your options is important to know whether the skull is your best option or if you're giving up too much damage or utility in order to wield it.
Prevents
- Reaping souls with the skull's effect will offend the good gods.
- Yredelemnul already reaps zombies, so the reaping brand is useless.
- Gozag and Okawaru prevent reaping entirely.
History
- In 0.33, this unrand was added to the game, replacing the Sword of Zonguldrok.
- ↑ art-data.txt:1855 (0.33.1)
