Identification

Identification is considered by some to be the heart of NetHack. Most items in the game start unidentified, and are described only by their appearance. There are many methods of identifying them. =Straightforward identification= None of these methods are based on the item's behavior, all are universal, and all result in identification by the game engine (don't require naming).

Initial knowledge
Items that you start with are automatically identified for you. This is particularly useful for wizards, which will have 2 spellbooks, 3 scrolls, 2 rings and 1 wand identified from the beginning. In addition, depending on your role you may have some knowledge in weapons and armors.

Scroll of identify
When reading a scroll of identify, you will be allowed to ID one or more of your possessions depending on the scroll's beatitude. The odds are:
 * If your luck is positive, you will identify 2 items instead of one.

Spell of identify
Main article Spellbook of identify

Casting this divination spell has the same effect as reading a blessed scroll of identify, except that positive luck will not increase the number of identified items from 1 to 2.

Sitting on a throne
One of the possible throne effects is the same as that of reading a blessed scroll of identify.

=Indirect identification= These methods require some knowledge (aquired from spoilers or experience), often lack universality, and don't always result in formal identification of an item as they sometimes give ambiguous information.

Price identification
Although the price a shopkeeper charges is based on your charisma and slightly randomised, it is still helpful to some extent. (However, this method is useless for gems, as shopkeepers charge the same amount for a piece of worthless glass as they would for a precious gem) The simplest and most common application of price identification is identification of the scroll of identify (the cheapest of the scrolls). For other items - consult spoilers or price charts.

Identification by using
Rings, potions, scrolls, and especially armour can be ID-ed this way. Some items are identified instantly when you wear/quaff/put them on. Many potions do this, as well as some rings and armour (boots of speed, elven cloak etc.) Some require a little time before you notice (e.g. ring of slow digestion) Some are identified when some special thing occurs (rings of different resistances, amulet of reflection, amulet of magical breathing) You can also use enlightenment to identify intrinsic-providing items.

Always remember to take the utmost care when use-identifying things. Check its beatitude using a pet or altar. Check potions using a unihorn (although some players just quaff and heal themselves, since dipping a unihorn into an unID'ed potion that turns out to be polymorph will polymorph that unihorn into a random tool). Don't read unidentified scrolls when confused or when wearing a precious piece of armour.

Wand engrave identification
Here is a wand identification procedure: The possible results can be found in the wan1-343.txt spoiler. Remember that they are often ambiguous.
 * 1) Engrave the name of the wand (for example, balsa), with your fingers.
 * 2) Engrave "Elbereth" with the wand on the same square.

If the balsa wand was a wand of teleportation, then the word "balsa" will disappear. Use the '\' command to see your discoveries. (It could also have been a wand of make invisible or a wand of cancellation - both have the same effect of causing engravings to vanish) If the balsa wand was instead a wand of fire or a wand of lightning, 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/lightning or a wand of digging. However, you should always write something on the square before you engrave with the wand; this helps avoid confusing a wand of e.g. 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 faster 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 certain items. E.g. nymphs are often generated with a potion of object detection, and elves with an 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 #name the item (answer 'y' at the prompt) with 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 unidentified helm or gray stone accordingly, and your hand slips, you know what you have -- otherwise you know one thing you don't have.