Price identification

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Price identification is the tactic of using the price of an item to try to identify it. One can use the "buy price," the price of an item in shops, or the "sell price," the price that a shopkeeper offers when you try to sell an item. The sell price is easier to use because it is not affected by your charisma. Even if you have enough scrolls of identify and no conducts in mind, pricing lets you use those scrolls earlier, before you can bless them, because it points out the most important items.

Nethack 3.6.0 introduced small changes to the shopkeeper prices that make older price guides slightly inaccurate (by 1-2zm). The tables below are duplicated for the 3.4.3 and 3.6.0 mechanism.

Prices

Dupe

You are considered a dupe if you are either a Tourist below experience level 15, wearing a shirt without body armor or cloak, or wearing a dunce cap.

Dupes are offered lower sell prices, and charged higher buy prices.

Base price

Base price is the listed price of the item, with following additions[1][2]:

  • Base price for partly eaten food, uncursed water, and (x:-1) wands is 0.
  • For positively enchanted armor and weapon (not weapon tools), 10 zorkmids is added for each point of enchantment. Negative enchantment does not influence the price.
  • Artifacts have their own base prices, and special rules. See below for more information.

Sell price

When you sell an item, the price will be 1/2 the base price of the item, or 1/3 the base price if you are a dupe. There is 25% chance the price will be further reduced by 25%.[3][4] You can avoid this reduction by dropping an item and refusing to sell it repeatedly.

As an exception, for unidentified gems, the price will instead be 3-7, 3-8, or 3-9 zorkmids depending on the shopkeeper. The same shopkeeper will always offer the same price for the same kind of gems.[3][4] (Note that if you know your unidentified gem is a glass, it is profitable to sell it before identifying.)

When you sell a non-empty container, the price of its contents will be added to its price. If you agree for a sale, all it contents becomes the property of the shop.

If the shopkeeper has less money than the sell price, he offers "only" as much as he has, i. e. "Asidanhoppo offers only 123 zorkmids for your diamond."

If the shopkeeper has no money at all, he offers you a credit for 90% of its sell price (or for 1 zorkmid, if this is the price).

Buy price

When you buy a food, the base price is increased if you are hungry or worse. It is doubled if you are hungry, tripled if you are weak, quadrupled if you are fainting.[1][2].

If the base price is 0, it becomes 5 zorkmids (there is no free beer).

If an item is an unidentified glass gem, it is priced as a random precious gem of the same color. The same gem in the same game will be sold for the same price.

If an item is unidentified, but not a gem, there is 25% chance that the price will be multiplied by 4/3.

If you are a dupe, the price is further multiplied by 4/3.

Then the price is further multiplied by a coefficient depending on your charisma:

Charisma: < 6 6, 7 8–10 11–15 16, 17 18 > 18
Buy price multiplier: 2 3/2 4/3 1 3/4 2/3 1/2

3.4.3 vs 3.6.0

In Nethack 3.4.3, all surcharges and price reductions are applied sequentially, using integer arithmetics. For example, if a character with charisma 7 buying an item with base price of 100 who is charged an unidentified surcharge will pay:

  • 100 base price
  • 4/3 unidentified surcharge multiplier = 100*4/3 = 133
  • 3/2 charisma multiplier = 133*3/2 = 199

The 3.6 calculation accumulates (integer) multipliers and divisors for all adjustments, then applies these once at the end to get the correct price. In the example above, the calculation will be:

  • (4/3)*(3/2) = 12/6
  • 100*12/6 = 200

This results in buy/sell prices sometimes 1-2zm higher/lower than would be obtained in previous versions. The stated intention of this change is to make price identification harder by ensuring the answer for double-marked-up items more often equals a valid price, e.g. 200zm not 199zm. Another consequence of this method is that the order adjustments are applied no longer matters.

Artifacts

Artifacts have their own base prices. For example, the price of Excalibur, Vorpal Blade, or Mjollnir is 4000, the price of Sting is only 800, the prices of quest artifacts are from 1500 to 8000. See Source:NetHack_3.4.3/include/artilist.h and Source:NetHack_3.6.0/include/artilist.h for the full table.

When you sell an artifact, its base price is considered as 1/4 of the listed value, and the rules above are applied. For example, the base price of Sting is considered 800/4=200 if you sell it.

When you buy an artifact, all the rules above are applied, and then the final price is multiplied by 4.

Informally it means that artifacts are sold by exorbitant prices, and bought by low prices.

Further strategies

General stores are very useful for price identification because they will offer to buy all types of items. However, you can still price-identify any object (unbreakable or in a bag of holding) in any store by throwing the item in to the shop from outside. If the item is fragile, you can have your pet carry it in, in a container if the item is cursed. Be aware that this will relinquish ownership of the item (and the container, if any) to the shopkeeper, who will then try to sell it to you. You will need to pay the asking price or steal the item to get it back, but in a pinch, this can provide a price point for an object that the shopkeeper would not normally be interested in.

Common uses

The item which is most commonly price-IDed is the scroll of identify, which is far cheaper than the other scrolls.

Also, magic lamps cost more than oil lamps, and enchanted armor costs more than the +0 version.

Price-IDing can also be useful to identify bad items. The scroll of amnesia has a base price of 200 zm, ten times as much as a scroll of identify. A potion of sickness has a base price of 50 zm, a potion of hallucination 100 zm, and a potion of blindness 150 zm.

Spellbooks are useful to price-identify as a non-Wizard, to determine whether they are low enough difficulty level to safely read. The base price for a spellbook in zorkmids is 100 times its difficulty level (the derived sell price is 50 times its difficulty level).

Powerful wands stealing

An expensive wand (base price 500 zm) is either wishing or death. In general, you should have a pet steal such an item; if you don't have a pet, both wands are well worth buying. If you have neither a pet nor the gold, either should be pretty easy to obtain: throw a tripe ration at a wild dog/cat, or just sell junk to the shopkeeper.

One might be tempted to zap the wand (wishing for a wand of death if it's a wand of wishing) at the shopkeeper, but for early characters, this is a bad idea: the death ray might miss, which can easily lead to a quick YASD, given shopkeepers' speed and damage output. Furthermore, wishing for a wand of death from a wand of wishing is generally a waste anyways, given that by the time you really need one, one is guaranteed to exist. If you're truly concerned about your character's ability to survive long enough to buy/steal the wand, wishing for 5000 gold is a safe way to be able to do so, though it is also a waste of a wish. If you really want to kill the shopkeeper, wish for a blessed figurine of an Archon, though be aware that this has a 10% chance of backfiring.

Identifying magical armor

Boots

Prices for Nethack 3.4.3 and earlier
Base Cost Cha<6 Cha 6-7 Cha 8-10 Cha 11-15 Cha 16-17 Cha 18 Cha>18 Selling price Boot types
8 16 (20/26) 12 (15/19) 10 (13/17) 8 (10/13) 6 (8/10) 6 (7/9) 4 (5/6) 4 (3) elven boots, kicking boots
30 60 (80/106) 45 (60/79) 40 (53/70) 30 (40/53) 23 (30/40) 20 (27/36) 15 (20/26) 15 (12) fumble boots, levitation boots
50 100 (132/176) 75 (99/132) 66 (88/117) 50 (66/88) 38 (50/66) 34 (44/59) 25 (33/44) 25 (19) jumping boots, speed boots, water walking boots
Prices for Nethack 3.6.0 and later
Base Cost Cha<6 Cha 6-7 Cha 8-10 Cha 11-15 Cha 16-17 Cha 18 Cha>18 Selling price Boot types
8 16 (21/28) 12 (16/21) 11 (14/19) 8 (11/14) 6 (8/11) 5 (7/9) 4 (5/7) 4 (3) elven boots, kicking boots
30 60 (80/107) 45 (60/80) 40 (53/71) 30 (40/53) 23 (30/40) 20 (27/36) 15 (20/27) 15 (11) fumble boots, levitation boots
50 100 (133/178) 75 (100/133) 67 (89/119) 50 (67/89) 38 (50/67) 33 (44/59) 25 (33/44) 25 (19) jumping boots, speed boots, water walking boots

Note: Amount in parentheses on buying price denotes the price if you are charged either (first number) or both (second number) of the unidentified surcharge or sucker markup. Amount in parentheses on selling price denotes the amount of a randomly discounted offer.

Fumble boots and levitation boots are both 30 zm, but are of different weights. They are often cursed.

Speed boots, jumping boots, and water walking boots are all priced at 50 zm. They are easily identified once worn: speed boots auto-identify if you are not already very fast (potion of speed or spell of haste self), jumping boots allow you to jump, and Boots of water walking are otherwise mundane.

Elven boots cause you to "walk very quietly" and self-identify if you are not already stealthy. Kicking boots are made of metal, and consequently add to spell failure percentage.

Cloaks

Prices for Nethack 3.4.3 and earlier
Base Cost Cha<6 Cha 6-7 Cha 8-10 Cha 11-15 Cha 16-17 Cha 18 Cha>18 Selling price Cloak types
2 10 (12/16) 7 (9/12) 6 (8/10) 5 (6/8) 4 (5/6) 4 (4/6) 2 (3/4) 1 mummy wrapping
40 80 (106/140) 60 (79/105) 53 (70/93) 40 (53/70) 30 (40/53) 27 (36/47) 20 (26/35) 20 (15) orcish ("coarse mantelet"), leather
50 100 (132/176) 75 (99/132) 66 (88/117) 50 (66/88) 38 (50/66) 34 (44/59) 25 (33/44) 25 (19) displacement, dwarvish ("hooded cloak"), oilskin ("slippery cloak"), alchemy smock ("apron"), protection, robe ("robe")
60 120 (160/212) 90 (120/159) 80 (106/141) 60 (80/106) 45 (60/80) 40 (54/71) 30 (40/53) 30 (23) elven ("faded pall"), invisibility, magic resistance
Prices for Nethack 3.6.0 and later
Base Cost Cha<6 Cha 6-7 Cha 8-10 Cha 11-15 Cha 16-17 Cha 18 Cha>18 Selling price Cloak types
2 10 (13/18) 8 (10/13) 7 (9/12) 5 (7/9) 4 (5/7) 3 (4/6) 3 (3/4) 1 (1) mummy wrapping
40 80 (107/142) 60 (80/107) 53 (71/95) 40 (53/71) 30 (40/53) 27 (36/47) 20 (27/36) 20 (15) orcish ("coarse mantelet"), leather
50 100 (133/178) 75 (100/133) 67 (89/119) 50 (67/89) 38 (50/67) 33 (44/59) 25 (33/44) 25 (19) displacement, dwarvish ("hooded cloak"), oilskin ("slippery cloak"), alchemy smock ("apron"), protection, robe ("robe")
60 120 (160/213) 90 (120/160) 80 (107/142) 60 (80/107) 45 (60/80) 40 (53/71) 30 (40/53) 30 (23) elven ("faded pall"), invisibility, magic resistance

The cloaks of displacement and protection both cost 50zm, and are the only ones at that price with a randomized appearance. If the cloaks cost 60zm and come with a randomized appearance, then they are either invisibility, magic resistance, or perhaps a +1 cloak of the first two types.

Other armor

All magical randomized helms (opposite alignment, brilliance, telepathy) cost 50zm; the helmet costs 10zm.

All magical gloves (power, dexterity, gauntlets of fumbling) cost 50zm; leather gloves cost 10zm.

Positive enchantment on a piece of armor increases the base price by 10 zm per point of enchantment. In theory, a +2 or better pair of fumble boots might be confused for one of the much more useful 50 zm boots, but the probability for positive enchantments on harmful items is too low to be worth bothering.

Identifying scrolls

Prices for Nethack 3.4.3 and earlier
Base Cost Cha<6 Cha 6-7 Cha 8-10 Cha 11-15 Cha 16-17 Cha 18 Cha>18 Selling price Scroll types
20 40 (52/68) 30 (39/51) 26 (34/45) 20 (26/34) 15 (20/26) 14 (18/23) 10 (13/17) 10 (8) identify
50 100 (132/176) 75 (99/132) 66 (88/117) 50 (66/88) 38 (50/66) 34 (44/59) 25 (33/44) 25 (19) light
60 120 (160/212) 90 (120/159) 80 (106/141) 60 (80/106) 45 (60/80) 40 (54/71) 30 (40/53) 30 (23) blank paper ("unlabeled scroll"), enchant weapon
80 160 (212/282) 120 (159/211) 106 (141/188) 80 (106/141) 60 (80/106) 54 (71/94) 40 (53/70) 40 (30) enchant armor, remove curse
100 200 (266/354) 150 (199/265) 133 (177/236) 100 (133/177) 75 (100/133) 67 (89/118) 50 (66/88) 50 (38) confuse monster, destroy armor, fire, food detection, gold detection, magic mapping, scare monster, teleportation
200 400 (532/708) 300 (399/531) 266 (354/472) 200 (266/354) 150 (200/266) 134 (178/236) 100 (133/177) 100 (75) amnesia, create monster, earth, taming
300 600 (800/1066) 450 (600/799) 400 (533/710) 300 (400/533) 225 (300/400) 200 (267/356) 150 (200/266) 150 (113) charging, genocide, punishment, stinking cloud
Prices for Nethack 3.6.0 and later
Base Cost Cha<6 Cha 6-7 Cha 8-10 Cha 11-15 Cha 16-17 Cha 18 Cha>18 Selling price Scroll types
20 40 (53/71) 30 (40/53) 27 (36/47) 20 (27/36) 15 (20/27) 13 (18/24) 10 (13/18) 10 (8) identify
50 100 (133/178) 75 (100/133) 67 (89/119) 50 (67/89) 38 (50/67) 33 (44/59) 25 (33/44) 25 (19) light
60 120 (160/213) 90 (120/160) 80 (107/142) 60 (80/107) 45 (60/80) 40 (53/71) 30 (40/53) 30 (23) blank paper ("unlabeled scroll"), enchant weapon
80 160 (213/284) 120 (160/213) 107 (142/190) 80 (107/142) 60 (80/107) 53 (71/95) 40 (53/71) 40 (30) enchant armor, remove curse
100 200 (267/356) 150 (200/267) 133 (178/237) 100 (133/178) 75 (100/133) 67 (89/119) 50 (67/89) 50 (38) confuse monster, destroy armor, fire, food detection, gold detection, magic mapping, scare monster, teleportation
200 400 (533/711) 300 (400/533) 267 (356/474) 200 (267/356) 150 (200/267) 133 (178/237) 100 (133/178) 100 (75) amnesia, create monster, earth, taming
300 600 (800/1067) 450 (600/800) 400 (533/711) 300 (400/533) 225 (300/400) 200 (267/356) 150 (200/267) 150 (113) charging, genocide, punishment, stinking cloud

The most useful scrolls to price-identify are the cheapest scrolls. The scroll of identify is the cheapest, with a base price of only 20 zorkmids. The scroll of enchant weapon is the only 60 zorkmid scroll that has a randomized appearance (the scroll of blank paper is also 60 zm). The scroll of light is the only scroll with a 50 zorkmid base price. Both scrolls with base price 80 zorkmids, the scroll of enchant armor and the scroll of remove curse, are very useful.

Scrolls with base prices of 100 zm or higher might be unsafe to read, and should be identified by scroll or spell, or by read-identifying with proper precautions (100 zm scrolls are safe to read if you have identified the scroll of teleportation, are fire resistant, carry no burnable items, and are wearing no armor, for example).

Identifying potions

Prices for Nethack 3.4.3 and earlier
Base Cost Cha<6 Cha 6-7 Cha 8-10 Cha 11-15 Cha 16-17 Cha 18 Cha>18 Selling price Potion types
0 10 (12/16) 7 (9/12) 6 (8/10) 5 (6/8) 4 (5/6) 4 (4/6) 2 (3/4) 0 water (uncursed)
50 100 (132/176) 75 (99/132) 66 (88/117) 50 (66/88) 38 (50/66) 34 (44/59) 25 (33/44) 25 (19) booze, fruit juice, see invisible, sickness
100 200 (266/354) 150 (199/265) 133 (177/236) 100 (133/177) 75 (100/133) 67 (89/118) 50 (66/88) 50 (38) confusion, extra healing, hallucination, healing, holy water ("blessed clear potion"), unholy water ("cursed clear potion"), restore ability, sleeping
150 300 (400/532) 225 (300/399) 200 (266/354) 150 (200/266) 113 (150/200) 100 (134/178) 75 (100/133) 75 (57) blindness, gain energy, invisibility, monster detection, object detection
200 400 (532/708) 300 (399/531) 266 (354/472) 200 (266/354) 150 (200/266) 134 (178/236) 100 (133/177) 100 (75) enlightenment, full healing, levitation, polymorph, speed
250 500 (666/888) 375 (499/666) 333 (444/592) 250 (333/444) 188 (250/333) 167 (222/296) 125 (166/222) 125 (94) acid, oil
300 600 (800/1066) 450 (600/799) 400 (533/710) 300 (400/533) 225 (300/400) 200 (267/356) 150 (200/266) 150 (113) gain ability, gain level, paralysis
Prices for Nethack 3.6.0 and later
Base Cost Cha<6 Cha 6-7 Cha 8-10 Cha 11-15 Cha 16-17 Cha 18 Cha>18 Selling price Potion types
0 10 (13/18) 8 (10/13) 7 (9/12) 5 (7/9) 4 (5/7) 3 (4/6) 3 (3/4) 0 (0) water (uncursed)
50 100 (133/178) 75 (100/133) 67 (89/119) 50 (67/89) 38 (50/67) 33 (44/59) 25 (33/44) 25 (19) booze, fruit juice, see invisible, sickness
100 200 (267/356) 150 (200/267) 133 (178/237) 100 (133/178) 75 (100/133) 67 (89/119) 50 (67/89) 50 (38) confusion, extra healing, hallucination, healing, holy water ("blessed clear potion"), unholy water ("cursed clear potion"), restore ability, sleeping
150 300 (400/533) 225 (300/400) 200 (267/356) 150 (200/267) 113 (150/200) 100 (133/178) 75 (100/133) 75 (56) blindness, gain energy, invisibility, monster detection, object detection
200 400 (533/711) 300 (400/533) 267 (356/474) 200 (267/356) 150 (200/267) 133 (178/237) 100 (133/178) 100 (75) enlightenment, full healing, levitation, polymorph, speed
250 500 (667/889) 375 (500/667) 333 (444/593) 250 (333/444) 188 (250/333) 167 (222/296) 125 (167/222) 125 (94) acid, oil
300 600 (800/1067) 450 (600/800) 400 (533/711) 300 (400/533) 225 (300/400) 200 (267/356) 150 (200/267) 150 (113) gain ability, gain level, paralysis

Potions may be price-identified however it is generally less useful. It is good to know that a 200 zm potion might be a potion of polymorph, therefore not safe to #dip your only unicorn horn into or to indiscriminately quaff. Also, the 300 zm potions (the potion of paralysis, potion of gain level, and potion of gain ability) are all powerful and situationally useful.

Identifying rings

Prices for Nethack 3.4.3 and earlier
Base Cost Cha<6 Cha 6-7 Cha 8-10 Cha 11-15 Cha 16-17 Cha 18 Cha>18 Selling price Ring types
100 200 (266/354) 150 (199/265) 133 (177/236) 100 (133/177) 75 (100/133) 67 (89/118) 50 (66/88) 50 (38) adornment, hunger*, protection, protection from shape changers, stealth, sustain ability, warning
150 300 (400/532) 225 (300/399) 200 (266/354) 150 (200/266) 113 (150/200) 100 (134/178) 75 (100/133) 75 (57) aggravate monster*, cold resistance, gain constitution, gain strength, increase accuracy, increase damage, invisibility, poison resistance, see invisible, shock resistance
200 400 (532/708) 300 (399/531) 266 (354/472) 200 (266/354) 150 (200/266) 134 (178/236) 100 (133/177) 100 (75) fire resistance, free action, levitation, regeneration, searching, slow digestion, teleportation*
300 600 (800/1066) 450 (600/799) 400 (533/710) 300 (400/533) 225 (300/400) 200 (267/356) 150 (200/266) 150 (113) conflict, polymorph*, polymorph control, teleport control
Prices for Nethack 3.6.0 and later
Base Cost Cha<6 Cha 6-7 Cha 8-10 Cha 11-15 Cha 16-17 Cha 18 Cha>18 Selling price Ring types
100 200 (267/356) 150 (200/267) 133 (178/237) 100 (133/178) 75 (100/133) 67 (89/119) 50 (67/89) 50 (38) adornment, hunger*, protection, protection from shape changers, stealth, sustain ability, warning
150 300 (400/533) 225 (300/400) 200 (267/356) 150 (200/267) 113 (150/200) 100 (133/178) 75 (100/133) 75 (56) aggravate monster*, cold resistance, gain constitution, gain strength, increase accuracy, increase damage, invisibility, poison resistance, see invisible, shock resistance
200 400 (533/711) 300 (400/533) 267 (356/474) 200 (267/356) 150 (200/267) 133 (178/237) 100 (133/178) 100 (75) fire resistance, free action, levitation, regeneration, searching, slow digestion, teleportation*
300 600 (800/1067) 450 (600/800) 400 (533/711) 300 (400/533) 225 (300/400) 200 (267/356) 150 (200/267) 150 (113) conflict, polymorph*, polymorph control, teleport control

An asterisk (*) indicates that this ring is generated cursed 90% of the time.

The most useful rings to price-identify are the most expensive and most powerful rings: the 200 zm and 300 zm rings.

All 200 zm rings, provided they are non-cursed, are useful and safe to wear. These include the ring of free action, the ring of slow digestion, the ring of searching, the ring of levitation, the ring of regeneration, the ring of fire resistance, and the ring of teleportation. It is important to only wear rings from this group known to be non-cursed, since uncontrolled teleportitis or a cursed ring of levitation may be hazardous. The ring of levitation auto-identifies on wearing; the effects of the other 200 zm rings, with the probable exceptions of fire resistance or teleportation if you already have the intrinsics, will eventually become clear if you wear the rings. The ring of regeneration can also be quickly tested for: wear it, throw a non-breakable, shop-owned object up to lose a few hit points, and watch if you re-gain them every turn.

The 300 zm rings include the ring of conflict, the ring of teleport control, the ring of polymorph, and the ring of polymorph control. The first two are among the most coveted items in the game and are frequent wish targets, however the ring of polymorph means that 300 zm rings are not generally safe to wear. Conflict can still be easily identified by wearing it for a turn or two around a peaceful monster (remember that a shopkeeper, aligned priest, or your Quest leader are probably not wise choices.) Teleport control can also be identified by putting on the ring and triggering a teleport (via trap, scroll, wand, etc.) If your 300 zm ring is neither of these, do not wear it; use a scroll, spell, a handy sink or a source of enlightenment to reliably identify the other 300 zm rings. Alternately, a riskier method of determining whether a 300 zm ring is safe to wear is simply to wear it for a few hundred turns without wearing a shirt, cloak, or body armor (or wearing junk armor): that way, if you polymorph you will not break your useful armor.

Identifying wands

Prices for Nethack 3.4.3 and earlier
Base Cost Cha<6 Cha 6-7 Cha 8-10 Cha 11-15 Cha 16-17 Cha 18 Cha>18 Selling price Wand types
100 200 (266/354) 150 (199/265) 133 (177/236) 100 (133/177) 75 (100/133) 67 (89/118) 50 (66/88) 50 (38) light, nothing
150 300 (400/532) 225 (300/399) 200 (266/354) 150 (200/266) 113 (150/200) 100 (134/178) 75 (100/133) 75 (57) digging, enlightenment, locking, magic missile, make invisible, opening, probing, secret door detection, slow monster, speed monster, striking, undead turning
175 350 (466/620) 262 (349/465) 233 (310/413) 175 (233/310) 132 (175/233) 117 (156/207) 87 (116/155) 87 (66) cold, fire, lightning, sleep
200 400 (532/708) 300 (399/531) 266 (356/472) 200 (266/354) 150 (200/266) 134 (178/236) 100 (133/177) 100 (75) cancellation, create monster, polymorph, teleportation
500 1000 (1332/1776) 750 (999/1332) 666 (888/1184) 500 (666/888) 375 (500/666) 334 (444/592) 250 (333/444) 250 (188) death, wishing
Prices for Nethack 3.6.0 and later
Base Cost Cha<6 Cha 6-7 Cha 8-10 Cha 11-15 Cha 16-17 Cha 18 Cha>18 Selling price Wand types
100 200 (267/356) 150 (200/267) 133 (178/237) 100 (133/178) 75 (100/133) 67 (89/119) 50 (67/89) 50 (38) light, nothing
150 300 (400/533) 225 (300/400) 200 (267/356) 150 (200/267) 113 (150/200) 100 (133/178) 75 (100/133) 75 (56) digging, enlightenment, locking, magic missile, make invisible, opening, probing, secret door detection, slow monster, speed monster, striking, undead turning
175 350 (467/622) 263 (350/467) 233 (311/415) 175 (233/311) 131 (175/233) 117 (156/207) 88 (117/156) 88 (66) cold, fire, lightning, sleep
200 400 (533/711) 300 (400/533) 267 (356/474) 200 (267/356) 150 (200/267) 133 (178/237) 100 (133/178) 100 (75) cancellation, create monster, polymorph, teleportation
500 1000 (1333/1778) 750 (1000/1333) 667 (889/1185) 500 (667/889) 375 (500/667) 333 (444/593) 250 (333/444) 250 (188) death, wishing

It is usually better to engrave ID wands to determine their identity, however base 175 zm wands found in shops are all useful (wand of cold, wand of sleep, wand of fire or wand of lightning), price identification can distinguish a wand of sleep from a wand of death without using another charge, any wand that makes engravings vanish that has a base price of 150 zm is a wand of make invisible, and any wand that gives no message when engraved with a base price of 100 zm is a wand of nothing.

Identifying spellbooks

Prices for NetHack 3.6.0 and later
Base Cost Cha<6 Cha 6-7 Cha 8-10 Cha 11-15 Cha 16-17 Cha 18 Cha>18 Selling price Spellbook types
100 200 (267/356) 150 (200/267) 133 (178/237) 100 (133/178) 75 (100/133) 67 (89/119) 50 (67/89) 50 (38) Level 1 books: force bolt, protection, detect monsters, light, sleep, jumping, healing, knock
200 400 (533/711) 300 (400/533) 267 (356/474) 200 (267/356) 150 (200/267) 133 (178/237) 100 (133/178) 100 (75) Level 2 books: magic missile, drain life, create monster, detect food, confuse monster, slow monster, cure blindness, wizard lock
300 600 (800/1067) 450 (600/800) 400 (533/711) 300 (400/533) 225 (300/400) 200 (267/356) 150 (200/267) 150 (113) Level 3 books: remove curse, clairvoyance, detect unseen, identify, cause fear, charm monster, haste self, cure sickness, extra healing, stone to flesh
400 800 (1067/1422) 600 (800/1067) 533 (711/948) 400 (533/711) 300 (400/533) 267 (356/474) 200 (267/356) 200 (150) Level 4 books: cone of cold, fireball, detect treasure, invisibility, levitation, restore ability
500 1000 (1333/1778) 750 (1000/1333) 667 (889/1185) 500 (667/889) 375 (500/667) 333 (444/593) 250 (333/444) 250 (188) Level 5 books: magic mapping, dig
600 1200 (1600/2133) 900 (1200/1600) 800 (1067/1422) 600 (800/1067) 450 (600/800) 400 (533/711) 300 (400/533) 300 (225) Level 6 books: create familiar, turn undead, teleport away, polymorph
700 1400 (1867/2489) 1050 (1400/1867) 933 (1244/1659) 700 (933/1244) 525 (700/933) 467 (622/830) 350 (467/622) 350 (263) Level 7 books: finger of death, cancellation

Determining the level of a spellbook can be very useful for spellcasters, since it can eliminate books that are much too high level to be read, and reveal books that should be easy to read. However, knowing the level of a spellbook is not very helpful unless the book is also BUC identified.

SLASH'EM

Price identification is more complicated in SLASH'EM, partly due to the addition of several new items, and partly due to discriminatory role-based markups:

  • Barbarians pay 3x the base price ("Barbarians are gullible")
  • Rogues pay 2x the base price ("Rogues are untrustworthy")
  • Samurai pay 2x the base price ("Samurai are from out of town")

Furthermore, in the black market, magical items cost 50x the base price, and nonmagical items cost 25x the base price. These markups are applied in this order, after any relevant unidentified item surcharge, sucker markup, and charisma modifier.

Relevant parts of above tables that change are as follows:

Category Base Cost Cha<6 Cha 6-7 Cha 8-10 Cha 11-15 Cha 16-17 Cha 18 Cha>18 Selling price Item types
Rings 100 200 (266/354) 150 (199/265) 133 (177/236) 100 (133/177) 75 (100/133) 67 (89/118) 50 (66/88) 50 (38) adornment, hunger*, mood, protection, protection from shape changers, sleeping* stealth, sustain ability, warning
150 300 (400/532) 225 (300/399) 200 (266/354) 150 (200/266) 113 (150/200) 100 (134/178) 75 (100/133) 75 (57) aggravate monster*, cold resistance, gain constitution, gain dexterity, gain intelligence, gain strength, gain wisdom, increase accuracy, increase damage, invisibility, poison resistance, see invisible, shock resistance
Wands 150 300 (400/532) 225 (300/399) 200 (266/354) 150 (200/266) 113 (150/200) 100 (134/178) 75 (100/133) 75 (57) digging, enlightenment, healing, locking, magic missile, make invisible, opening, probing, secret door detection, slow monster, speed monster, striking, undead turning
175 350 (466/620) 262 (349/465) 233 (310/413) 175 (233/310) 132 (175/233) 117 (156/207) 87 (116/155) 87 (66) cold, draining, fire, lightning, sleep
200 400 (532/708) 300 (399/531) 266 (354/472) 200 (266/354) 150 (200/266) 134 (178/236) 100 (133/177) 100 (75) cancellation, create monster, fear, polymorph, teleportation
300 600 (800/1066) 450 (600/799) 400 (533/710) 300 (400/533) 225 (300/400) 200 (267/356) 150 (200/266) 150 (113) create horde, extra healing, fireball
Potions 50 100 (132/176) 75 (99/132) 66 (88/117) 50 (66/88) 38 (50/66) 34 (44/59) 25 (33/44) 25 (19) blood ("blood-red"), booze, fruit juice, see invisible, sickness
100 200 (266/354) 150 (199/265) 133 (177/236) 100 (133/177) 75 (100/133) 67 (89/118) 50 (66/88) 50 (38) amnesia ("sparkling"), clairvoyance, confusion, extra healing, hallucination, healing, holy water ("[blessed] clear potion"), unholy water ("[cursed] clear potion"), restore ability, sleeping
150 300 (400/532) 225 (300/399) 200 (266/354) 150 (200/266) 113 (150/200) 100 (134/178) 75 (100/133) 75 (57) blindness, ESP, gain energy, invisibility, monster detection, object detection
300 600 (800/1066) 450 (600/799) 400 (533/710) 300 (400/533) 225 (300/400) 200 (267/356) 150 (200/266) 150 (113) gain ability, gain level, invulnerability, paralysis
350 700 (932/1242) 525 (699/931) 466 (621/828) 350 (466/621) 263 (350/466) 234 (311/414) 175 (233/310) 175 (132) vampire blood ("blood-red")
Robes 25 50 (66/88) 37 (49/66) 33 (44/58) 25 (33/44) 19 (25/33) 17 (22/30) 12 (16/22) 12 (9) robe
50 100 (132/176) 75 (99/132) 66 (88/117) 50 (66/88) 38 (50/66) 34 (44/59) 25 (33/44) 25 (19) robe of power, robe of protection, robe of weakness
Cloaks 40 80 (106/140) 60 (79/105) 53 (70/93) 40 (53/70) 30 (40/53) 27 (36/47) 20 (26/35) 20 (15) orcish ("coarse mantelet"), poisonous, leather
60 120 (160/212) 90 (120/159) 80 (106/141) 60 (80/106) 45 (60/80) 40 (54/71) 30 (40/53) 30 (23) elven ("faded pall"), invisibility, lab coat ("white coat"), magic resistance

GruntHack

In GruntHack, shopkeepers that hate your race increase the buy price of every item by 33% (multiplying by 4/3), and cut the sell price of every item by 66% (dividing by 3).

Also, the base price of any item is increased if it has object properties: by 100 for one property, 500 for two properties, 1000 for three properties, and so on.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 [Source:NetHack_3.4.3/src/shk.c#getprice]
  2. 2.0 2.1 [Source:NetHack_3.6.0/src/shk.c#getprice]
  3. 3.0 3.1 [Source:NetHack_3.4.3/src/shk.c#set_cost]
  4. 4.0 4.1 [Source:NetHack_3.6.0/src/shk.c#set_cost]

External links

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