Smithing, Pick Pocketing, Detect Traps, the list goes on... are all physical skills. Detect Item Status is more a Mental/Spiritual skill, maybe not the best words.

Anyway, my point is, it probably takes some years to learn. Unless magically of course. Can Ruun do this, I really do not know.

Game-breaking if he can, not at all. Edit - Why, because by the time one would get this skill into the highs, the PC is already walking around with gallons of water and libraries of scrolls of identify and has easy access to altars.

Let's see what others think.

I like it as flavor. Even if the skill was given "for free", by the time most PCs reach Dwarftown, Detect Item Status does little more than letting you know if that potion or scroll you found is blessed and thus usable right away.

Detect Item Status is _really_ hard to level up for most classes, +1/+1d3 at 45 skill level are common. If leveling up skill with normal identifying on pickup will be nerfed (really easy to push it to 100 atm) - some Ruun quest to acquire Detect Item Status would be good.

Perhaps converting elemental altar? This way ultra-ending would not be even more easier, and normal endings will be slightly more convenient.

Pardon me, for not understanding. Could you elaborate a little?

Was kind of on the fence about this. I think it kind of takes away the trade-offs involved with unburdened/burdened/strained. People are very rarely going to be burdened if they can equip-ID pretty much every weapon and armor they come across without having to waste a scroll of ID / uncursing. I think this might be something that should be saved for classes that are most affected by burdened status like Monks and Duelists.

You have to be crowned to convert any of the altars in the Temples, IIRC.

[edit]FWIW, I'm sort of against any and all quests that tend to make classes more similar than they already are. Yes, DIS isn't super useful in the later game, but it is a nice feature for those classes + ratlings that have it and is something that makes them somewhat unique. If this were going to be implemented, I'd suggest making it mutually exclusive with an existing quest. Say, Ruun will give you DIS and maybe a few religious-themed items in exchange for the golden gladius.

Of course, how narrow-minded slow-witted of me. Yeah, sounds like a fitting alternative.

Am I the only one that thinks that Detect Item Status is actually a very good skill, even in the not-so-early game?

When I don't have it, I only try a small minority of the weapons/armor that I find (those looking very promising in terms of weight, type and so on). When I do have it, I try a much larger fraction of the stuff I find, which means that it's way more likely that I end up wielding good ego weapons and getting armor with nice numerical modifiers. So my characters with Detect Item Status actually have a significantly larger chance to survive than those without it.

Of course I know I can just drop stuff on an altar, but this usually means walking around very burdened, which is not a good thing. And apart from that, it's pretty tedious to do that on a very frequent basis, so I just end up ID'ing the more promising items and missing good "hidden" items.

I really like the idea of having more trade-offs in the game, a la the two Terinyo quests. That said, is the choice between DiS and Tactics (plus the rest of the Bart bonuses) really a difficult one? Who'd pick DiS?

Edit: What if you had to give him a gift from a god? Crowning (plus pre and post) artifacts are flagged as such, right?

Are you suggesting that the Gladius be traded for DiS, or am I slow-witted again?

Yes, I was commenting on JellySlayer's suggestion up above.

Giving up Bart is rather severe, IMHO. How about exchanging ankh (religious symbol)?

I think I'd give up Bart for DiS most of the time. But the ankh? Ruun can try and pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

I voted no.
Because when I played unspoiled, I didn't know that blessed scrolls of identify are so good and that they can be easily made in great quantities with holy water (which, surprisingly, can also be received in large amounts). As a result, I didn't know BUC status of most items unless I was playing as a priest. I tried to use some other means (altar, selling price, appraising, etc) to avoid equiping cursed items. Still, I often ended up walking locked in cursed equipment... The priest's skill was invaluable to me (I often played as a priest at that time), and I still consider it too useful and powerful to give it to other classes.

I'm only in favour if there is some interesting new quest attached. Just trading the golden gladius or the ankh is boring.

In fact, why not make DiS the reward for an ogre quest instead?