Potion

Item classes
" Amulets	[ Armor
% Comestibles	$ Coins
* Gems	! Potions
= Rings	? Scrolls
+ Spellbooks	` Statues
( Tools	` Boulders
) Weapons	/ Wands

Potions are magical drinks. They are denoted by an exclamation mark, ! and weigh 20. Some of them are very useful, some can be deadly. The effects of potions take effect when they are drunk ("quaffed"), or sometimes when they are broken (via wielding, throwing, or effects that destroy items). Some potions can also be mixed together to form new potions — that is called alchemy.

Table of potions

Potion	Cost	Weight	Relative Probability	Appearance
water (uncursed)	0	20	6.9%	clear
booze	50	20	4.2%	random
fruit juice	50	20	4.2%	random
see invisible	50	20	4.2%	random
sickness	50	20	4.2%	random
confusion	100	20	4.2%	random
extra healing	100	20	4.7%	random
hallucination	100	20	4%	random
healing	100	20	5.7%	random
holy water	100	20	1.15%	clear
unholy water	100	20	1.15%	clear
restore ability	100	20	4%	random
sleeping	100	20	4.2%	random
blindness	150	20	4%	random
gain energy	150	20	4.2%	random
invisibility	150	20	4%	random
monster detection	150	20	4%	random
object detection	150	20	4.2%	random
enlightenment	200	20	2%	random
full healing	200	20	1%	random
levitation	200	20	4.2%	random
polymorph	200	20	1%	random
speed	200	20	4.2%	random
acid	250	20	1%	random
oil	250	20	3%	random
gain ability	300	20	4.2%	random
gain level	300	20	2%	random
paralysis	300	20	4.2%	random

The table is divided into price groups. See price identification.

Generation

Potions constitute 16% of all randomly-generated items in the main dungeon, 18% in containers, 22% on the Rogue level, and 1% in Gehennom. Potions appear 1/8 cursed, 3/4 uncursed, and 1/8 blessed.

On top of random generation, potions can be found in shops, in bones files, and amongst the possessions of recently deceased monsters.

Identification

There are many ways to identify potions, without resorting to the obvious methods. Note that clear potions are always potions of water, and potions of oil are automatically identified for players starting with an oil lamp.

Monsters

Most monsters will only use, pick up, or be created carrying the following potions:

• confusion
• healing
• extra healing
• full healing
• sleeping
• blindness
• invisiblity
• polymorph (difficulty < 5 only)
• speed
• acid
• gain level
• paralysis.

Nymphs will pick up anything and are created with a potion of object detection half of the time.

Monsters drink useful potions occasionally and, if they are in line of sight when quaffing, the condition of the monster may also be informed. Monsters will never quaff bad potions, but are likely to throw some harmful potions at you.

A user has suggested improving this page or section as follows:

"Do monsters with the Likes_magic attribute pick up unusable potions? Yes, most potions are magical (sickness, fruit juice, booze, acid, oil and water are not). likes_magic covers wizards, dragons, winged gargoyles, salamanders, archons and numerous named monsters"

Dip identification

The following table summarizes the effects of #dipping items into potions (excluding alchemy). In most cases, dipping will consume your potion but In some cases, dipping will change your potion instead: this is listed in the "Resulting potion" column.

Dipped object	Initial Potion	Resulting Potion	Notes
Unicorn horn	Potion of oil	(Potion consumed)	You get the message "Your unicorn horn gleams with an oily sheen."
	Potion of sickness	Potion of fruit juice
	Potion of blindness	Potion of water
	Potion of confusion
	Potion of hallucination
Poisoned projectiles	Potion of healing	(Potion consumed)	The projectiles will be unpoisoned. (Eligible projectiles are arrows, crossbow bolts, darts and shuriken)
	Potion of extra healing
	Potion of full healing
Unpoisoned projectiles	Potion of sickness	(Potion consumed)	The projectiles will be poisoned. (Eligible projectiles are arrows, crossbow bolts, darts and shuriken)
Any polymorphable item	Potion of polymorph	(Potion consumed)	Most items will be polymorphed, but have a chance of resisting. If the item polymorphs into itself, you get the message "Nothing seems to happen."
Any non-polymorphable item			You get the message "Nothing happens."
Amethyst	Potion of booze	Potion of fruit juice	This is also useful for identifying the amethyst.
Lichen corpse	Potion of acid		The corpse will 'turn red around the edges', or orange if the acid is somehow diluted.
Any iron or copper item	Potion of acid	(Potion consumed)	The item will corrode.
Any rusty or corroded weapon	Potion of oil	(Potion consumed)	The weapon will lose one measure of erosion damage

Unicorn horns are incredibly useful for identifying potions. However, carelessly dipping your horn into every unidentified potion might present difficulties if that potion is polymorph, and transforms the horn.

• You can dip a wand of polymorph first—you'll get the message "nothing happens" if the potion is polymorph.
• Players without a spare unicorn horn may want to dip junk items into unidentified potions. Dipping ammunition (such as arrows) has the added benefit of identifying potions of sickness, since they will poison the item.
• Players adhering to polypileless conduct will want to refrain from dipping anything but polymorph wands into potions until they have potions of polymorph identified. Polymorphing in this manner breaks the conduct.
• Conversely, players with spare unicorn horns may want to use potions of polymorph on unicorn horns. Being magical tools, polymorph has a small chance of producing something useful, such as a magic marker.

If dipping a unicorn horn into a potion produced no effect, then the potion is probably safe to drink, although some harmful potions (notably paralysis and sleeping) are not neutralized by a unicorn horn. Potions of booze will not be neutralized, but the negative effects can be cancelled as long as the potion was not cursed.

Creating fruit juice using a unicorn horn or amethyst can also be useful when trying to identify the potion of see invisible, because both fruit juice and see invisible taste like fruit juice.

Dipping unpoisoned projectiles into potions that might be sickness is a good thing to try before quaffing the potion. However, if you are dipping projectiles that you intend to use, you should dip test for polymorph and acid first.

Price identification

Note that the base price is very different than the actual prices in shops, see the price identification article for more detail.

Most price categories have at least one good potion and one bad potion, so price identification needs to be combined with other methods to be useful. Price categories with just one harmful potion can be quaff-tested with very little preparation: for example if you have a carrot to cure blindness, you can quaff-test any 150 zm potion.

Base cost	Potion types	Notes
0	water (uncursed)	Useful to differentiate from holy and unholy water
50	booze fruit juice see invisible sickness	In this category: Sickness is harmful Booze is inconvenient Delicatessens only buy or sell booze and fruit juice
100	confusion extra healing hallucination healing holy water unholy water restore ability sleeping	In this category: (Un)holy water will be clear potions, and can be ruled out instantly Hallucination is harmful Confusion and sleeping are troublesome if enemies are nearby
150	blindness gain energy invisibility monster detection object detection	In this category: Only blindness is harmful, and can be easily cured with a carrot Invisibility will make it hard to leave a shop
200	enlightenment full healing levitation polymorph speed	In this category: Polymorph is harmful, but can easily be identified with a junk item Levitation is a nuisance
250	acid oil	In this category: Oil is very easy to identify by applying. Neither of these are good to quaff
300	gain ability gain level paralysis	In this category: About 40% of potions will be gain ability, which benefit from blessing Cursed gain level can cause you to rise out of a shop with unpaid items Paralysis is dangerous

Applying

Try to apply every new potion you find. If the potion lights, it's oil and autoidentifies. Do not do this when the potion is owned by a shop, or you will be forced to pay for the potion and will be charged Yendorian Fuel Tax.

However, it is possible to avoid the charge, though it may be a bug. When you find a potion in a store that you suspect may be oil, drop everything else that can be applied, then hit a. If the potion is oil, you will be asked what to apply; if it isn't, you will be told that you have nothing that can be applied.

Quaffing

When all else fails, you can always quaff an unknown potion. However this will not always identify it, and there are dangers. See potion quaffing effects for a comprehensive list of potion effects when quaffed.

Before you start quaffing, BUC test the potion. Quaffing a cursed potion is unwise - although you will still be able to identify it, you will miss out on the benefit of useful potions and suffer increased damage from harmful ones.

You should wait for your health to completely heal before quaffing. That way, should you quaff a potion of healing, extra healing, or full healing, your maximum health will increase. In addition, should you quaff a potion of acid or sickness, it will be much less likely to kill you outright.

It is assumed that you tried some of the other potion identification tactics, which will not be repeated here.

Surviving harmful potions

Before drinking a potentially harmful potion, there are some things you can do to prevent or at least minimize the risks. Additionally, after drinking a harmful potion, there are ways to cure the bad effects. These are summarized in the table below.

Potion	Risk minimizers	Cures
sickness	potion is blessed, or you are a Healer	non-cursed potion of restore ability spell of restore ability non-cursed unicorn horn
blindness	you are wearing the Eyes of the Overworld	one of the following potions, non-cursed healing extra healing full healing carrot non-cursed unicorn horn
hallucination	you are wielding Grayswandir	one of the following potions, non-cursed extra healing full healing potion of sickness, if you can drink it safely! non-cursed unicorn horn
polymorph	you have polymorph control, or you have unchanging
paralysis, sleeping	wearing a ring of free action is the best countermeasure if you can't use the ring lock yourself in a closet stay on shallow dungeon levels with easy monsters kill all nearby monsters keep your pets nearby sleep resistance protects against sleeping, not paralysis

Perhaps, a Healer with a ring of free action who is also wielding Grayswandir while wearing the Eyes of the Overworld and an amulet of unchanging would be in a good position to quaff-identify potions without fear. However, most players manage to find a unicorn horn before any of those other items.

Interpreting messages

If the potion is not automatically identified, the message is often helpful to identify it.

Message	Possible potions
You feel great, good, or mediocre	restore ability
You feel better	either restore ability ("Wow! This makes you feel better!"), or healing ("You feel better")|}
tastes like "liquid fire" or "dandelion wine" (maybe "watered down")	booze
you have an "uneasy feeling"	you either quaffed a cursed potion of enlightenment, or quaffed a cursed potion of gain level while being at one of the following the first level without Amulet of Yendor an endgame level Sokoban Fort Ludios the top floor of the Wizard's Tower, Vlad's Tower, or the Quest
it tastes "rotten", "overripe", or its taste has something to do with slime mold or your favorite fruit	either potion of see invisible or fruit juice (aka slime mold juice). However, if you were invisible, could not see invisible already, and were not blind, it must be a fruit juice.
it tastes "foul"	cursed potion of gain ability
you feel "threatened", or you "get the heebie jeebies"	potion of monster detection without monsters on the level
it is something about your leg or legs (they "feel somehow better", or "get a new energy")	potion of speed
your eyes itch, or your eye itches	either a potion of blindness or a potion of hallucination
"you have a strange feeling for a moment, then it passes"	potion of blindness or a potion of hallucination, and you are an eyeless monster
you "rise up, through the ceiling"	cursed potion of gain level
it "burns", or the potion feels sour or tangy	if it was not water (a clear potion), then it was acid

If you have a "peculiar feeling for a moment, then it passes", it can be several cases:

• Potion of hallucination while already hallucinating, or while being hallucination resistant (i. e. via wielding Grayswandir)
• Potion of invisibility while already being invisible, or blind
• Blessed potion of monster detection while already having monster detection
• Potion of confusion while already being confused
• Non-cursed potion of gain ability while having sustain ability
• Potion of levitation while already levitating

If you have a "normal feeling for a moment, then it passes", it can be the same as peculiar feeling while hallucinating, or it can be a potion of blindness or hallucination while you are an eyeless monster.

Damage

Fire and cold attacks can cause potions carried in your main inventory, or on the ground, to boil or freeze and be destroyed. This does not happen to potions in a container, so it is generally advisable to protect potions that way when possible.

Potions boiled by fire attacks are vaporized, which can subject you to the effects of the vapors. Potions frozen by cold attacks will not release any vapors.

Dilution

Most potions will become diluted when they get wet, either through immersion in open water, or dipping into open water, a fountain, or another potion (in alchemy). Note that this will not happen when dipping into holy water or unholy water--those potions change the beatitude of the dipped item without actually getting it wet, and are consumed in the process. Hey, they're magic.

Diluted potions are listed as such in your inventory, and they will not stack with non-diluted potions. This can be a minor hassle if your intention is to bless a group of potions with holy water, or if you have no container and inventory slots are at a premium. But otherwise, diluted potions function largely as full-strength ones do. There are some exceptions, mostly minor, which include:

• A diluted potion of booze will not cure 1HP of damage, as a non-diluted one will.
• A diluted potion of see invisible will give somewhat different messages, though the effect is the same.
• A diluted potion of fruit juice gives half the nutrition of a non-diluted one.

If a diluted potion is diluted a second time, it will lose any blessed or cursed status, and become an uncursed potion of water. This is a vital step in the production of holy water, an activity that will occupy most characters to some extent for much of the game. Even otherwise useless or harmful potions become a vital resource when considered in this light.

This is NetHack, so naturally there are some exceptions to the above principles:

• A potion of acid will not dilute, but instead cause an explosion that does damage to the character. If your character dies as a result of this, the cause of death will be listed as "elementary chemistry." (Acid can be used as a weapon, a cure for stoning, or turned into water via cancellation.)
• A potion of water can not be diluted, which is not surprising, but this means that holy water and unholy water are also immune to dilution, as they are simply blessed or cursed potions of water, and losing beatitude is a consequence of dilution.
• Alchemy will not dilute an already-diluted potion. So it is safe to convert a potion of healing into a diluted potion of extra healing, and this into a diluted potion of full healing--this will not leave you with a very expensive potion of water.

Alchemy is a somewhat complicated process which has a few wrinkles of its own. Players are advised to study that article before alchemizing unless they enjoy picking imaginary shards of glass out of their faces.

Hitting and being hit

Potions may be wielded or thrown in combat, by you or by monsters against you. A monster has an 80% chance of taking 1 HP of damage when hit; you receive 1 to 2 HP of damage. If you don't see the potion hit the monster, you will get the message "Crash!" Whoever is hit by a potion will be affected by the potion, but generally to a lesser extent than from quaffing it. However, a thrown potion has a chance of missing the target, in which case it will shatter without affecting the target. When a potion shatters, it is possible for the vapors to affect the player, if standing in an adjacent square. For this reason, wielding a potion hand-to-hand can be riskier than thowing it from a distance, although in this case the potion will only shatter when it hits the monster. Circumstances might dictate the choice to throw vs. wield a potion, for instance, someone wearing a ring of free action and wielding a potion of paralysis would be able to reliably paralyze a non-resistant foe.

Properties of potion bottles

Potions, or rather the bottles they come in, are one of the more remarkable types of objects in the world of NetHack. Potion bottles are not watertight, because falling in water while carrying them dilutes them. And yet they don't ordinarily spill or leak, because you can carry them for tens of thousands of turns and even fall down stairs without any risk of this happening. The bottle, presumably, evaporates or shatters or otherwise is destroyed when the potion is drunk, or else it could be refilled at any fountain for a practically inexhaustible supply of holy water.

Smoky and milky potions

Smoky and milky potions are special. Regardless of their other properties, quaffing a smoky potion has a chance of releasing a djinni while quaffing a milky potion may release a hostile ghost.

Messages

You have a peculiar feeling for a moment, then it passes.

You quaffed a potion, but it had no noticeable effect. E.g., quaffing a potion of blindness while already blind.

You have a normal feeling for a moment, then it passes.

As above, but you were hallucinating.

That is a potion bottle, not a Klein bottle!

You tried to dip a potion into itself.

External Links

• Potions and their direct effects in NetHack 3.4
• Potions, alchemy, and other miscellaneous properties in NetHack 3.4

Encyclopedia entry

POTABLE, n. Suitable for drinking. Water is said to be
potable; indeed, some declare it our natural beverage,
although even they find it palatable only when suffering
from the recurrent disorder known as thirst, for which it
is a medicine. Upon nothing has so great and diligent
ingenuity been brought to bear in all ages and in all
countries, except the most uncivilized, as upon the
invention of substitutes for water. To hold that this
general aversion to that liquid has no basis in the
preservative instinct of the race is to be unscientific --
and without science we are as the snakes and toads.

[ The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce ]

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