# Spellbook of finger

spellbook of  +   finger   

Appearance

random

Base price

200 zm

Weight

50

Turns to read

3

Ink to write

10–19

Spell type

divination

Level

2

Power cost

10 Pw

Direction

directional

Not to be confused with finger of death.
In NetHack: The Next Generation and SlashTHEM, the spellbook of finger teaches the finger spell. It is a level 2 divination spell, and the spellbook takes roughly 3 turns to read.

Effect
When cast, the spell has a similar effect to zapping a wand of probing - a beam is cast in a selected direction that reveals the status and inventory of any monster in its path, as well as revealing buried items and the contents of statues and containers. There are a few significant differences, however: the spell will usually anger any peaceful monsters you cast it at, though it has no effect on tame monsters. Additionally, the spell may wake up sleeping monsters, and will also not reveal the identity of invisible monsters. 

Strategy
Once you can cast the spell of finger reliably and have sufficient energy to do so, it can be a decent  substitute for the wand of probing or stethoscope when performing maintenance on pets, or else checking the status of hostile monsters. The spell can let you save wand of probing charges for low-energy situations, and can even substitute for a cursed stethoscope in some situations (especially since it does not require that you be adjacent).