Sword of the Dread Knight

File:Sword of the dread knight.png the +13 sword of the Dread Knight

+13 great sword

Decimate brand - deals up to 10% (avg. 5%) of the defender's max health in damage, weighted towards the average, which cannot be resisted by any means.
Will+
It has a 1% chance of silencing you when hit (*Silence)
Drains the user on unequip (^Drain)

Desirability

The sword of the Dread Knight has a great enchantment level and brand, decent base type, and the Will+ is nice too. However, the *Silence is a massive downside - it can prevent you from using scrolls and god abilities when you most need them. The ^Drain also discourages you from unequipping it when you're in danger or need to escape. Therefore, it is often outclassed by a mundane triple sword of flaming or freezing.

The Decimate brand is unaffected by the damage of your hits, similar to electrocution, pain, etc., so your damage rating isn't as important as with other brands.

• Against some of the beefier late game enemies like orbs of fire and juggernauts, Decimate does an average of 10 damage per hit.
• Against iron golems, it deals an average of 20 damage, and against Antaeus, the healthiest enemy, it averages 45.
• Decimate starts to outdamage electrocution at 70 real HP.

Overall, this weapon will outdamage regular two-handed swords and deals irresistible damage, but another weapon is often preferred to avoid *Silence.

History

• Prior to 0.34, this item was named the sword of the Doom Knight; it was renamed to account for the Doom mechanic.
• Prior to 0.33, the sword of the Doom Knight had -Cast, which prevented spellcasting entirely, instead of *Silence.
• The sword of the Doom Knight was re-added in 0.32 with a new brand.
• In 0.19, this great sword was removed. The old version had the pain brand and lacked ^Drain.