Just wondering... My 3.4.3 priest has obtained Sunsword from Archon
that is shining! That is, it behaves like a radius 2 permanent lamp.
I can drop it and see its light from the distance then come back and
pick it up again. Radius 2 is standard for Sunsword in 3.4.3 AFAIK
but I always thought it was supposed to be wielded?

My guess, not necessarily correct, is that killing the wielder does
not unwield the sword, so it keeps shining forever. Not sure if
this is a bug or a feature and have no intention to wield and then
unwield it myself at this stage as the priest has no magic lamp (yet).
I'd rather keep it as a light source for the time being. Maybe later.
But can someone comment on the validity of the guess itself?

(Some likely irrelevant info just in case. Sunsword is blessed, and
most likely picked up while still blind after battling Archon. Not
formally identified yet.)

On 20.12.2022 07:00, Paulus wrote:
> Just wondering... My 3.4.3 priest has obtained Sunsword from Archon
> that is shining! That is, it behaves like a radius 2 permanent lamp.
> I can drop it and see its light from the distance then come back and
> pick it up again. Radius 2 is standard for Sunsword in 3.4.3 AFAIK
> but I always thought it was supposed to be wielded?

Yes, it has to be wielded. (Can be confirmed by an explore mode game.)

>
> My guess, not necessarily correct, is that killing the wielder does
> not unwield the sword, so it keeps shining forever.

I seem to faintly recall a former report (or was it own experience?)
where such an effect had already been reported and was classified as
a bug. (But it could also have been a bones file remains weld by the
former player, with the same effect.)

> Not sure if
> this is a bug or a feature and have no intention to wield and then
> unwield it myself at this stage as the priest has no magic lamp (yet).

I also seem to recall that wielding and unwielding that artifact will
"fix" that wrong effect. (So the effect can be exploited meanwhile.)

> I'd rather keep it as a light source for the time being. Maybe later.
> But can someone comment on the validity of the guess itself?

Sorry, but only faint memories here. Since the report I have in mind
was posted long ago there's a chance that it's fixed meanwhile and a
comparison of the 3.4.3 and 3.6 or 3.7 source files would confirm that.

Janis

On Tuesday, 20 December 2022 at 17:40:54 UTC+10, Janis Papanagnou wrote:
> I seem to faintly recall a former report (or was it own experience?)
> where such an effect had already been reported and was classified as
> a bug.

I had a similar (but very vague) memory and so have just checked the
3.4.3 bug page on wiki. It indeed lists a bug C343-106 "Sunsword
continues to glow after its wielder dies" but... the additional
info says "It continues to glow if you petrify a monster wielding it
(and then recover it from the statue) or if you snag it out of a
monster's hands with a bullwhip". I am very confident none of those
has been the case. It was a normal melee, the Archon definitely
wasn't stoned and there was no whip involved. Archon has summoned
some monsters and, having been blind, I couldn't see all the details
of the battle but I am pretty sure none of the whip-wielding monsters
were present. (Will check the nearby stash later though just in case
there is a whip near the top.)

On 20.12.2022 09:43, Paulus wrote:
> On Tuesday, 20 December 2022 at 17:40:54 UTC+10, Janis Papanagnou wrote:
>> I seem to faintly recall a former report (or was it own experience?)
>> where such an effect had already been reported and was classified as
>> a bug.
>
> I had a similar (but very vague) memory and so have just checked the
> 3.4.3 bug page on wiki. It indeed lists a bug C343-106 "Sunsword
> continues to glow after its wielder dies" but... the additional
> info says "It continues to glow if you petrify a monster wielding it
> (and then recover it from the statue) or if you snag it out of a
> monster's hands with a bullwhip". [...]

The official page (http://nethack.org/v343/bugs.html) just says:
"Sunsword continues to glow after its wielder dies."
Clear enough, I'd say, without any "additional info" provided there.

Janis

On Tuesday, 20 December 2022 at 19:01:50 UTC+10, Janis Papanagnou wrote:
> The official page (http://nethack.org/v343/bugs.html) just says:
> "Sunsword continues to glow after its wielder dies."
> Clear enough, I'd say, without any "additional info" provided there.

Indeed, the bugfix comment linked from wiki (and the changes to code,
although my understanding of it is superficial at most) suggests the
behaviour was not specific to the cause of wielder's demise. Funny
that I never noticed it before, but I guess the Sunsword-wielding
monsters tend to appear later in the game, so in many scenarios it is
either completely obscured by magic lamp or quickly ends up upon
wielding (maybe even bagging) the sword. Not the first thing I never
noticed until eventually noticing anyway. Thanks!