Wand of probing

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Name	probing
Appearance	random
Abundance	3%
Base price	150 zm
Weight	7
Type	beam
Maximum charges	8
Monster use	Will not be used by monsters.

A wand of probing is a type of wand that appears in NetHack.

Description

Zapping a wand of probing in a given direction will reveal information about monsters and containers in the path of its beam. Zapping the wand downward will reveal any items that are buried on that square. Probed monsters will have their name, alignment, level, HP, AC, and statuses shown, along with their inventory - this does not anger peaceful monsters. Probed statues will have their contents displayed like containers do.

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.

As of commit 44a649b, the wand of probing will reveal map squares locations in the beam's path, though it will stop at walls or doors. As of commit 412a996, the wand also reveals tin contents.

Strategy

The wand or probing is usually neglected in favor of a stethoscope, which is a slightly lighter item that can reveal most of the same information about an adjacent monster minus its inventory - it is also not limited by charges and can be used once per turn as a free action. However, the wand has many distinct advantages over a stethoscope due to its ranged applications, and is at least viable as a situational substitute, especially if you have not yet found a stethoscope.

Monsters

A wand of probing can display the inventory of pets for purposes of supplying them with equipment, and you can also check the inventory of monsters with predefined items such as shopkeepers and soldiers to informally identify those items. The wand of probing can also locate and identify invisible monsters in its path, which is easier if you have a source of warning on hand.

The wand even has a late game application: it can be used on the Astral Plane to see if you are near the correct temple by probing the high priest.

Item hunting

The wand can check peaceful monsters for useful desired items (such as a dwarf's mithril coat, or a watch captain's silver saber or long sword) before deciding whether or not to risk killing them, whether you do so directly and risk murder penalties or have a pet do the job for you. It can also reveal if other monsters have a valuable known amulet or other similar items, e.g. finding a Sokoban amulet of reflection that you suspect has gone missing, or else tracking down a pesky nymph that has stolen your amulet of life saving and possibly devising a method to liberate the amulet without it being used up.

Hidden items and containers

Zapping the wand of probing downward can also reveal buried objects, such as those in graves and filled pits. It can also be used to check bags that are found in bones to decide if a suspected bag of holding is worth uncursing right away. It can also be used to check statues for items, minimizing the amount of historical statues broken for Archeologists.

Conducts and speed play

Wands of probing have a niche use for game-time speed ascension, which often requires a player to write many scrolls of charging via magic marker to replenish their power - such players also make frequent use of an air elemental polyself for speed, e.g. to find the vibrating square, and are blind while in that state; a wand of probing reveals the object appearance of a freshly-written scroll, making it readable. This also gives it a use case for zen conduct players to reveal objects, provided they are lucky enough to find and identify one.