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
A single swing from the dark maul will crush through virtually any monster's armouring for heavy damage, but even at 27 Maces and Flails skill, it will still take you 16 or 17 auts to attack. This means that its damage output over time is actually decidedly inferior to most "typical" endgame weapons; assuming an average enemy AC, it does a little less than twice as much damage as a +8 claymore of freezing would do while taking almost 2.5x as long to attack. Its performance against well-armored targets, however, would be somewhat more competitive.
Most players would be well-advised not to wield this thing when not at or near max Maces & Flails skill, and even then to combine it with Haste whenever possible. Furthermore, make sure that you won't be facing multiple enemies at once while you swing it.
Players with any significant amount of slaying should avoid this weapon entirely: the slaying bonus will be 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, making the choice easy for ogres. 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
The dark maul will receive a significant boost to damage output in 0.16.
The dark maul was added in 0.14.
