Difference between revisions of "Dark maul"

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{{flavour|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.
 
{{flavour|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.
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[[File:dark maul.png]] '''''the +6, +6 dark maul'''''
 
[[File:dark maul.png]] '''''the +6, +6 dark maul'''''
  
+6, +6 maul (44 damage, -2 accuracy, 300% speed)<br>
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+10 maul (52 damage, -2 accuracy, 300% speed)<br>
 
[[Vorpal]] brand<br>
 
[[Vorpal]] brand<br>
 
Wieldable by human-size creatures
 
Wieldable by human-size creatures
  
 
==Desirability==
 
==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 [[aut]]s 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.
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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 [[aut]]s to attack; this is over twice the delay of the slowest normal weapons. Is this trade off actually worth it? At low M&F skill levels, probably not. Each of your successful attacks will likely eradicate whatever you struck, but will also effectively leave you [[paralysis|paralyzed]] for two turns, and even with the +10 enchantment bonus, you might still miss often enough to leave yourself in dangerous situations. At higher M&F skill levels, this issue becomes less pronounced. Better accuracy and reduced attack delay means you'll be leaving fewer enemies alive long enough to swing at you, and those that do will have less time to capitalize on it.
  
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.
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This weapon is gruesomely effective in most situations, but truly shines against enemies with significant [[AC]] scores. A character with a [[quick blade]] may be able to deliver ten attacks in the time it takes an untrained character to swing the dark maul once, but if your opponent has powerful defenses, the maul will make the bigger impact. As such, it helps to know when to use the maul and when to put it away for something less overkill-prone. Try to avoid using the dark maul when facing multiple opponents at once, and if your character has found several good sources of [[slaying]] this game, you may want to ignore it entirely; slaying's value is very dependent on your attack speed. Finally, if at all possible, keep yourself [[haste]]d (or under the effect of Finesse for you [[Okawaru]] worshipers) when you find yourself facing serious opponents.
  
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.
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Despite its immense weight and delay, [[formicid]]s 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.
  
True to its description, this weapon is pretty inferior to a good [[giant spiked club]], making the choice easy for [[ogre]]s. Despite its immense weight and delay, [[formicid]]s 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.
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==History==
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Prior to [[0.16]], the dark maul had ''only'' 44 base damage and a meager +6 enchantment level.
  
==History==
 
 
The dark maul will receive a significant boost to damage output in [[0.16]].
 
The dark maul will receive a significant boost to damage output in [[0.16]].
  

Revision as of 05:06, 29 June 2015

Version 0.16: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.


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.”
-Prince Dajmiech, “Kajko and Kokosz: The Battle with Dajmiech”, Janusz Christa

Dark maul.png the +6, +6 dark maul

+10 maul (52 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 is over twice the delay of the slowest normal weapons. Is this trade off actually worth it? At low M&F skill levels, probably not. Each of your successful attacks will likely eradicate whatever you struck, but will also effectively leave you paralyzed for two turns, and even with the +10 enchantment bonus, you might still miss often enough to leave yourself in dangerous situations. At higher M&F skill levels, this issue becomes less pronounced. Better accuracy and reduced attack delay means you'll be leaving fewer enemies alive long enough to swing at you, and those that do will have less time to capitalize on it.

This weapon is gruesomely effective in most situations, but truly shines against enemies with significant AC scores. A character with a quick blade may be able to deliver ten attacks in the time it takes an untrained character to swing the dark maul once, but if your opponent has powerful defenses, the maul will make the bigger impact. As such, it helps to know when to use the maul and when to put it away for something less overkill-prone. Try to avoid using the dark maul when facing multiple opponents at once, and if your character has found several good sources of slaying this game, you may want to ignore it entirely; slaying's value is very dependent on your attack speed. Finally, if at all possible, keep yourself hasted (or under the effect of Finesse for you Okawaru worshipers) when you find yourself facing serious opponents.

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

Prior to 0.16, the dark maul had only 44 base damage and a meager +6 enchantment level.

The dark maul will receive a significant boost to damage output in 0.16.

The dark maul was added in 0.14.