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A machine that fires bolts via applied alchemy. Some enchant their projectiles to fall forward instead of down, others bewitch their bolts with a fatal attraction to their targets. All are slow, loud, and blast out thick smoke with each shot.
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Hand cannons are the strongest one-handed ranged weapons, allowing for the use of a shield while being much stronger than a sling. However, they fire slowly, with a mindelay of 1.0. In addition:
- Hand cannons are particularly loud - they make a noise of 11 with every shot (only slightly quieter than shouting), which is enough to attract nearby monsters.
- Hand cannons create harmless, transparent clouds whenever fired.
Hand cannons are quite rare. Kobold blastminers in the Orcish Mines may occasionally carry a hand cannon, and certain rooms in The Vaults have a higher chance of holding a hand cannon, but mostly you'll just have to wait until you find one on the floor, in a shop, or perhaps in a scroll of acquirement.
History
- Prior to 0.31, this item was known as a hand crossbow. Hand crossbows only had 15 base damage, but were half as loud and didn't create clouds when shot. Also, it was less likely for one to generate with a good brand.
- Prior to 0.30, hand crossbows had 17 base damage.
- In 0.29, hand crossbows were made heavier (previous stats: 12 damage, +5 accuracy, 15 base delay), and became designated for later portions of the game. They were affected by the ranged weapons rework that applied to all launchers, including the removal of the dedicated Crossbows skill and bolts. Prior to this version, Hunters and Arcane Marksmen could start with this weapon.
- In 0.15, hand crossbows (as well as arbalests and triple crossbows) were introduced, replacing the standard crossbow.
- In very old versions of Crawl, the hand crossbow was a one-handed ranged weapon which fired darts.
