Lore

How much of the Lore skill does it take to identify mundane items? I'm actually losing money because I can't sell junk off the goblins unless I identify it, and it costs more to do that than I get for selling it. And I really need my skill points, so I only want to use as many as I need. (I have no idea why it's so hard to say, "This is a crossbow", even for a character as stupid as mine).

Offhand, 5 to 10.

With 15 points of lore its almost certain that you can identify most items, both mundane and common magical items found.

I invested 5 points in lore, then got myself two rings of lore (+5 each). For anything else, I uses the altar of Kalas.

Yeah, Lore 5 let me identify javelins, which seem to be the best mundane drops from the goblins. I keep forgetting the alter of Kalas, though. I need to remember that.