Giantkiller

The Giantkiller is a melee weapon which always deals critical hits to Elites and Bosses. This item is exclusive to the Rise of the Giant DLC.

Details

• Special Effects:
  • Deals ~3.66x damage (465 critical DPS) to Elites and Bosses.
• Breach Bonus: 1 / 1 / 1 / 1
  • Base Breach Damage: 50 / 70 / 200 / 300 (180 / 238 / 900 / 960)
  • Base Breach DPS: 253 (930)
• Combo Duration: 2.45 seconds
  • First Hit: 0.45 (0.3 + 0.15 + 0)
  • Second Hit: 0.45 (0.3 + 0.15 + 0)
  • Third Hit: 0.8 (0.6 + 0.2 + 0)
  • Fourth Hit: 0.75 (0.45 + 0.3 + 0)
• Tags: HeavyWeapon, UnlockInPublicEvent, NoBackpackItem
• Legendary Version:
  • Forced Affix: God Slayer
    • "The third hit increases your damage done by 0.25. This effect can stack but stops after 30 sec or if you are dealt damage."

Synergies

• The Hunter's Grenade can be used to artificially elite enemies if the player can still extract a blueprint from the enemy, which will enable the crit condition. Slaying the artificial elite will drop the previously used Hunter's Grenade, allowing for an endless cycle.
  • The mutation Tainted Flask can be used in conjunction with the Hunter's Grenade.
• Secondary weapons, particularly specialized crowd control weapons such as Symmetrical Lance and War Spear can compensate for Giantkiller's low damage in biomes.
• The mutation Counterattack can be used to compensate for the Giantkiller's low damage on non-elite and non-boss enemies.

Notes

• To truly take advantage of Giantkiller's very high damage, the player needs to land the third and fourth hit of the attack combo, which puts them at risk of getting hit due to their slow wind-up. Therefore, using Giantkiller against normal enemies is even further disincentvised.
• The Giantkiller cannot be stored in the backpack.
  • This is for balancing reasons to prevent the player from easily defeating bosses while still being able to wreak havoc on normal enemies.
    • This can be partially circumvented by dropping the Giantkiller and replacing it with the other desired weapon for the level before returning and equipping it while placing the other weapon in the backpack.
  • The Cursed Sword, by contrast, needs no such limitation since the core tradeoff of that weapon (very high damage and fast attack rate, at the cost of being cursed) isn't compromised by the backpack mechanic: the curse downside still applies even when the weapon is stored away.

Trivia

• When this weapon was originally introduced, it was only available through the Daily Run. It was impossible to unlock the Giantkiller under normal gameplay and was thus only obtainable through modding.
• The Giantkiller may have initially been conceived as a spear, like the one originally used to "kill" the Giant, but was changed to a sword at some point before being added to the game files.
• The in-game model for the Giantkiller appears to be a sword with a long, straight-edged blade, with a white glow. This model is currently also used for the Seismic Strike and the Swift Sword.
• The flavor text is a reference to the phrase "The bigger they are, the harder they fall".

History

0.6: Introduced. 1.2: Can now be dropped by the Giant. 1.9: Base price decreased from 3500 to 2500. 3.0: Added the Legendary Affix "God Slayer". 3.5: Changed the Legendary Affix's effect from "Your last attack deals 2 times more critical damage" to "The third hit increases your damage done by 0.25. This effect can stack but stops after 30 sec or if you are dealt damage".

Weapons

Melee Rusty Sword • Balanced Blade • Spite Sword • Assassin's Dagger • Blood Sword • Twin Daggers • Broadsword • Shovel • Cursed Sword • Sadist's Stiletto • Swift Sword • GiantkillerRotG • Shrapnel Axes • Seismic Strike • War Spear • Impaler • Symmetrical Lance • Rapier • Meat Skewer • Nutcracker • Spartan Sandals • Spiked Boots • Hayabusa Boots • Hayabusa Gauntlets • Valmont's Whip • Wrenching Whip • Oiled Sword • Torch • Frantic Sword • Flawless • Flint • Tentacle • Vorpan • Flashing FansTBS • Scythe ClawTBS • Rhythm n' BouzoukiTBS • Crowbar • Snake FangsFF • Iron StaffFF • Ferryman's LanternFF • Hattori's Katana • Tombstone • Oven Axe • ToothpickRotG • Machete and Pistol • Hard Light Sword • Pure Nail • Bone • Abyssal TridentTQatS • Hand HookTQatS • Maw of the DeepTQatS • Bladed TonfasTQatS • Wrecking BallTQatS • Queen's RapierTQatS • Dagger of Profit • Gold Digger • Panchaku • Baseball Bat • King Scepter • Starfury • Alucard's SwordRtC • Morning StarRtC • BibleRtC • Whip Sword, sword formRtC • TransformationRtC • Vampire KillerRtC • Death's ScytheRtC • Sewing Scissors • Giant Comb • Misericorde Ranged Beginner's Bow • Multiple-nocks Bow • Bow and Endless Quiver • Marksman's Bow • Sonic CarbineRotG • Infantry Bow • Quick Bow • Ice Bow • Heavy Crossbow • Repeater Crossbow • Ice Crossbow • Explosive Crossbow • Alchemic Carbine • Boomerang • HemorrhageRotG • The Boy's AxeRotG • War JavelinRotG • Hokuto's Bow • Nerves of Steel • Throwing Knife • Electric Whip • Firebrands • Ice Shards • Pyrotechnics • Lightning Bolt • Fire Blast • Frost Blast • Magic MissilesRotG • BlowgunTBS • Barrel Launcher • Killing DeckTQatS • Gilded YumiTQatS • Money Shooter • Magic Bow • Peril Glyphs • Throwable Objects • Laser Glaive • CrossRtC • Throwing AxeRtC • Medusa's HeadRtC • Anathema Shield Old Wooden Shield • Front Line Shield • Cudgel • Punishment • Knockback Shield • Rampart • Assault Shield • Bloodthirsty Shield • Greed Shield • Spiked Shield • Parry Shield • Force Shield • Thunder ShieldRotG • Ice Shield • Alucard's ShieldRtC