Identify rings similar to the way I can identify wands

nethack

In NetHack, zapping the floor with a wand can cause some effects to help you identify it (for example, "The bugs on the floor stop moving!" can be a wand of sleep or death.)

Rings are another common item like wands. However, they can not use the same trick as wands to identify them.

I really hate it when I have a ring of aggravate monster when I'm trying to sneak around, especially if it's cursed.

Is there a method I can use to identify rings in a similar fashion as wands?

Best Answer

Rings are one of the trickier (riskier) items in nethack to identify. Short of using a Scroll of Identify on them or (gasp!) putting it on, you might be interested in dropping them into sinks.

  • Pro: You get a message that helps you figure out what the ring was.
  • Con: You are very likely to loose the ring.

Prior to v3.6, it was recommended to have a duplicate that you can Name. Now you can Name from your discoveries list, and don't actually need to have the "identified" item on your person. ... of course you should Name it something like "Test Subject" first to make sure it's on your discoveries list.

Less effective and less damaging is to try on a ring that you know is uncursed. Altars & Pets are both good techniques for filtering out Cursed items. Unfortunately only a small number of rings are readily identifiable by simply wearing them, and many of those will more likely be cursed...

Ilmari Karonen's excellent comment added in for posterity:

Also, when trying on uncursed rings, be prepared for conflict (don't stand next to a powerful pet or peaceful creature), polymorph (be somewhere safe, and don't wear your best armor) and teleportation (be on a safe level -- or better yet, in Sokoban or some other non-teleport level -- and don't test unpaid rings in a shop unless you can handle Kops and an angry shopkeeper).

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