Identification

Identification is by some considered the heart of NetHack. Most items in the game start as unidentified things only described by their appearance. There are numerous methods to identify them.

Straightforward identification

All these methods don't base on the item behavior, are universal, and result in identification by the game engine (don't require naming).

Initial knowledge

You will always know the identity of all stuff that you carried with yourself to the dungeon. This is particullary useful for wizards, which will have 2 spellbooks, 3 scrolls, 2 rings and 1 wand ID-ed from the beggining. Besides, depending on your role you will have some knowledge in weapons and armors.

Magical identification

Scroll of identify

When reading a scroll of identify, you will be allowed to ID one or more of your possessions depending on it's beatitude. The odds are:

Beatitude	1 item	2 items	3 items	4 items	everything
Blessed	1/5*	1/5	1/5	1/5	1/5
Uncursed	21/25	1/25	1/25	1/25	1/25
Cursed	always	never	never	never	never

• If your luck is positive, you would identify 2 items instead of one.

Spell of identify

Main article Spellbook of identify

Casting this divination spells has the same effect as the blessed scroll of identify.

Sitting on a throne

One of the posiible throne effects is acting as if read a blessed scroll of identify.

Indirect identification

These methods require some knowledge (aquired from spoilers or experience), they often lack universality and not always result in formal identification of an item, sometimes giving an ambigous information.

Price identification

Although the price is based on your charisma and slightly randomised, you can get some information about an item by the price a shopkeeper demands for it. This method is useless for gems, as they would try to fool you selling you glass for a high price. The simplest and most commonly used is price identification of the scroll of identify (the cheapest of the scrolls). For other - consult spoilers about different classes of items.

Behaviour identification

Identification by using

Especially armour, rings, potions and scrolls can be ID-ed this way. Some items are identified instantly when you wear/quaff/put them on. Many of th potions act this way, but also some rings, some armour (boots of speed, elven cloak etc) Some require a little time until you notice (e.g. ring of slow digestion) Some when some special thing occurs (rings of different risistances, amulet of reflection, amulet of magical breathing) You can also use enlightment to identify intrinsic-providing items.

Always remember to take utmost care when use-identify things. Check it's beatitude using a pet or altar. Check the potions using unihorn (although some players advice to just quaff and heal yourself considering the risk of turning your unihorn into random tool). Don't read unidentified scrolls when confused or when you are wearing some precious part of armour.

Wand engrave identification

Here is a wand identification procedure:

1. Engrave the name of the wand (for example, balsa), with your fingers.
2. Engrave "Elbereth" with the wand on the same square.

The possible results can be found in the wan1-343.txt spoiler. Remember, that they are often ambigous.

If the balsa wand was a wand of teleport, then the word "balsa" will disappear. Use the '\' command to see your discoveries. Actually, a wand of make invisible has the same effect. If the balsa wand was instead a wand of fire, you will identify the wand, and have Elbereth burned into the floor as a bonus. This is why so many NetHack players write Elbereth when testing their wands; it might be a wand of fire or wand of digging. However, you have to write something else on the square before you engrave with the wand; this is to avoid confusing a wand of make invisible with a wand of nothing.

Hopefully, with your wands identified, when that soldier ant appears and you need to flee to the staircase, but the fast ant will kill you first, then you can use a wand of slow monster or wand of sleep to slow the ant. All you know is that those bugs on the floor stopped moving, so maybe it is a wand of death. Be careful not to zap yourself by bouncing the bolt off a wall.

Death-drop identification

Some monsters are more likely to possess some items. E.g. nymphs are generated with potion of monster detection, elves with elven cloak and elven boots.

Artifact naming trick

If you have an item, and there is an artifact that is the same item type as that item, you cannot singly #name the item (answer 'y' at the prompt) the name of the artifact (unless it is a #name-created artifact such as Sting) -- your hand will slip. This can be used to identify certain items. Most notably, a Helm of Brilliance cannot be named "The Mitre of Holiness", and a luckstone cannot be named "The Heart of Ahriman". If you try naming an unid'd helm or gray stone accordingly, and your hand slips, you know what you have -- otherwise you know one thing you don't have.

Also check

At Yet Another NetHack Site, they have The NetHack Object Identification Spoiler, written by David Damerell and converted to HTML by Kate Nepveu.

This page is a stub. Should you wish to do so, you can contribute by expanding this page.

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

"This could potentially be our biggest article."