Scroll of identify
? 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | identify |
| Appearance | random |
| Base price | 20 zm |
| Weight | 5 |
| Ink to write | 7–13 |
| Monster use | Will not be used by monsters. |
A scroll of identify is a type of magical scroll that appears in NetHack.
Contents
Generation
Monks may be given a scroll of identify as the random scroll in their starting inventory.[1] Wizards may be given a non-cursed scroll of identify as any of the three random scrolls in their starting inventory.[2]
Scrolls of identify make up 9⁄50 (18%) of all randomly-generated scrolls. General stores, second-hand bookstores and rare books shops can sell scrolls of identify.
Writing a scroll of identify with a magic marker takes up 7 to 13 charges.
Description
Reading the scroll of identify will auto-identify the scroll and reveal the full identity of at least one chosen item in the hero's open inventory, with the amount of items identified dependent on its beatitude:[3] if a scroll would identify a number of items less than the amount of unidentified items in the inventory, the hero chooses which items to identify.[4]
A cursed scroll of identify will only identify one item.[5] If the scroll is blessed or uncursed, it will identify 1, 2, 3, 4, or all items in the inventory, with the probability of each number given in the table below:
| Scroll BUC |
Number of items | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | all | |
| Blessed | 1⁄5 | 1⁄5 | 1⁄5 | 1⁄5 | 1⁄5 |
| Uncursed | 21⁄25 | 1⁄25 | 1⁄25 | 1⁄25 | 1⁄25 |
| Cursed | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
In practice, if the hero's luck is positive, a blessed scroll of identify will always identify at least two items, with a 3⁄5 chance of identifying more.[6] If a scroll of any beatitude is read while confused, it will auto-identify itself with no further effect.[7]
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.
Per commit 0a575bef, if a cursed scroll of identify is read when the scroll has not yet been identified, it will act the same as if the scroll had been read while confused.Strategy
Scrolls of identify are always safe to read, but non-cursed scrolls usually identify more items. Before reading any scroll(s) of identify, be sure to have as many unidentified items in your open inventory as is reasonably possible; if you have holy water to spare, you can bless your scroll(s) beforehand to increase the chance of identifying more items. If reading the scroll(s) of identify in a shop, you can also use price identification to prioritize which of the shop's wares to formally identify and get the most out of your scrolls.
A role such as Priest or Wizard that can learn the identify spell and train divination spells to Skilled or better can potentially render scrolls of identify redundant, though they may still be useful if the spell is forgotten at any point (e.g., you have also forgotten several other item identities due to a mind flayer or an ill-advised scroll of amnesia). A reliably-cast identify spell in combination with a source of energy such as The Eye of the Aethiopica lets you identify any object soon after you discover it, even if you only want to know its beatitude.
Identification
The scroll of identify is the only scroll with a base price of 20zm, making price identification trivial; it is also one of the most common scrolls randomly generated in the dungeon, to the point that the largest stack of unidentified scrolls in your inventory has a decent-but-unreliable chance of being a stack of identify scrolls.
History
The scroll of identify first appears in Hack 1.21 and Hack for PDP-11, which are based on Jay Fenlason's Hack, and is included in the initial item list for Hack 1.0.
Messages
- What do you want to identify first?
- You read a scroll of identify, auto-identifying it and prompting you to select an item in your inventory that is not fully identified.
- You identify this as an identify scroll.
- You read a scroll of identify while confused.
Variants
SporkHack
In SporkHack, every role begins the game with knowledge of the random label for the scroll of identify.
xNetHack
In xNetHack, to counterbalance the removal of the identify spell, scrolls of identify are made more reliable: Blessed scrolls always identify 7 items, and uncursed scrolls always identify 4, while cursed scrolls only identify 1 item. Reading a scroll of identify while confused will "identify yourself" and grant enlightenment.
When reading a cursed scroll of identify, the game may randomly print the phrase "Do you want your possessions identified?" in place of the usual prompt.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, the scroll of knowledge is a scroll with the same base price as the scroll of identify; 1 out of roughly every 10 scrolls that cost 20 zorkmids will be a scroll of knowledge, making price identifying scrolls of identify slightly less trivial.
EvilHack
EvilHack incorporates the SporkHack change that gives every role starting knowledge of the scroll of identify.
Hack'EM
Hack'EM incorporates the SporkHack change granting every role knowledge of the scroll of identify (via EvilHack) and adds the scroll of knowledge from SpliceHack—due to the former change, the scroll of knowledge's base price is raised to 50zm in order to make it less trivial to identify via price.
