Naming artifacts
The naming artifacts trick is a bug exploitation that lets you identify certain item types.
The way NetHack keeps track of which items are artifacts is through their names; this saves memory and allows a flexible artifact set (i.e., multiple artifacts can be of the same item type). As a consequence of this mechanic, naming a long sword "Excalibur" would turn it into Excalibur, for example. So if you try to name a non-artifact with the name of an artifact of the same base type, the game will prevent you and you will mis-engrave. ("Your hand slips...")
For example, naming a helmet "The Mitre of Holiness" will fail if and only if the helmet is a helm of brilliance. The key is that this only works on the same item type, even if appearances are randomized. And you must name, not call, the object in question (answer yes when it asks you to "Name an individual object?").
Some players disapprove of this exploit as an abuse of unintentional behavior; note, however, that despite being well-known it does not appear on the NetHack.org bug list for 3.4.3.
By this exploit, you can identify (or rule out) the following items:
| Appearance | Item type | Artifact name |
|---|---|---|
| amulet | amulet of ESP | The Eye of the Aethiopica |
| gray stone | luckstone | The Heart of Ahriman |
| magic helmet* | helm of brilliance | The Mitre of Holiness |
*: The appearances of magic helmets are: plumed helmet, etched helmet, crested helmet, and visored helmet.
A possible fix is to prevent the naming of any item with the name of an artifact (so no items at all could be named "The Eye of the Aethiopica"), or perhaps just those with the same appearance as the artifact (so no gray stones could be named "The Heart of Ahriman", but, say, frost horns could). We have more info on how this bug might be fixed on our talk page, Talk:Naming artifacts.
Note: This bug was quietly fixed on popular NetHack server Nethack.alt.org in June 2012; it is no longer possible to name any item the same as any of the artifacts: your hand will always slip.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, the artifact naming trick is even more effective due to the many new artifacts.
| Appearance | Item type | Artifact name |
|---|---|---|
| bag | bag of holding | Wallet of Perseus[1] |
| candle | magic candle | The Candle of Eternal Flame[2] |
| amulet | amulet of ESP | The Eye of the Aethiopica |
| gray stone | luckstone | The Heart of Ahriman |
| magic boots | speed boots | Whisperfeet |
| magic cloak | cloak of displacement | Deluder |
| magic gloves | gauntlets of dexterity | Gauntlets of Defense |
| magic helmet | helm of brilliance | The Mitre of Holiness |
| magic helmet | helm of telepathy | The Crown of Saint Edward |
| whistle | magic whistle | The Storm Whistle[3] |
| amulet | amulet of ESP | The Medallion of Shifters (defunct Doppelganger quest artifact) |
| white gem | diamond | The Arkenstone (defunct Dwarf quest artifact) |
| ring | ring of invisibility | The One Ring (defunct Hobbit quest artifact) |
History
The origin of this feature is funny. It originates from nethack 3.0.0, which didn't have an artifact marker on items, but instead checked the name and object base type of an item to determine whether it's an artifact. That is why naming Sting or Orcrist worked, but the game had to forbid naming attempts that would create other artifacts.
In the code, see NetHack_3.0.0/do_name.c#line157 which causes your hand slip if you try – although with a different message. See NetHack_3.0.0/weapon.c#line58 for a call from the weapons code to the spec_abon function that determines the to-hit bonus of an artifact (or line143 or NetHack_3.0.0/mhitu.c#line674 for other similar calls); NetHack_3.0.0/artifact.c#line237 for the definition of spec_abon which calls the function get_artifact to determine whether an item is an artifact; and finally the implementation of get_artifact in line109 which simply compares the base type and name of the item to those in the artifact tables above.
References
This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.
It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.4.3. Information on this page may be out of date.
Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-343}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.
