Demon blade

Version 0.31: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Name	Demon blade
Skill	Long Blades
Damage	13
Accuracy	-1
Base delay (%)	13 (130%)
Min delay	6 at skill 14
Hands	1H
Size	Medium
Ranged?	No

A terrible weapon, forged in the fires of Hell. "Quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit: occidentis telum est." "A sword by itself does not slay; it is merely the weapon used by the slayer." -Lucius Annaeus Seneca, _Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium_, Letter XXXVII: Some arguments in favor of the simple life, l. 30. ca. 65. A.D. trans. Richard Mott Gummere, 1917.

This weapon falls into the Long Blades category. It is a one handed weapon.

Demon blades are one of the best one-handed Long Blades you can find. Although double swords deal more damage, demon blades are slightly faster, with roughly the same damage/turn.

Worshippers of good gods cannot attack with them without suffering penance. However, worshippers the Shining One can convert a demon blade into a eudemon blade, with better stats and the holy wrath brand. You can reverse the process with Kikubaaqudgha's or Lugonu's blessing.

Strategy

Demon weapons are often found on the hell knights in the Depths and the Vestibule of Hell, often with good enchantment levels and brands.

Compared to double sword

On most species, double swords are about equivalent to demon blades. If both weapons are at minimum delay, a +0 demon blade is 1% stronger than a +0 double sword against a 0 AC opponent. As the demon blade attacks faster, it is penalized more by AC, though it benefits more from slaying and auxiliary attacks.

Overall, the differences are too small to make an impact. A +9 demon blade is enough to win you the game, as is a +9 double sword. Generally, the sword you get first should be the sword that you use. (The sword you get first can benefit first from scrolls of enchant weapon).

For small/tiny species (Kobold and Spriggan), the demon blade will usually come out ahead, because it does not use the shield slot.

Demon blade	Eudemon blade

	Image
Mundane
Magical
Artifact
	Unrandarts
"Leech"

History

• In 0.28, Long Blades lost riposte. Damage was increased back to pre-riposte levels.
• In 0.19, Long Blades gained riposte. Demon blades were reduced by 1 base damage to compensate.
• Prior to 0.14, demon blades dealt slightly more damage than normal in the hands of demonspawn characters.