Crossfire Forum

All of the artifact weapons I use only give me two-handed weapon xp. I guess my question is, are there any one handed artifact weapons? If so, what are they?

Yes, there are one handed artifact weapons.

To name some..

Darkblade
Defender +3
Sting +3

There are also a few map specific items that have stats as good as or better then some of the "artifact" weapons (i.e., lightning sticks)

True, there are way more two handed weapons then there is one handed artifact weapons.

I was experimenting today and found that fire brand and frost brand were both two handed weapons, which I found odd, considering the nethack origins of both weapons. Is there a reason for this?

I suspect the real origin of the firebrand/frostbrand were actually AD&D, not nethack.

The short answer why most of the artifact weapons are two handed is play balance - most are very good weapons, and so there is some disadvantage for using them - namely you need two hands so you can not use a shield.