Character Training
What are all those skills good for anyway?
This guide is a brief attempt to remove some of the mystery surrounding all the skills available in the character manager every level.
The Simutronics documents can be very vague about how all those skills are actually used by the various game systems. Some of the skills are rather obvious, such as edged weapons allows you to use one handed swords. Many of them may seem obvious, yet they have hidden benefits for various professions and/or must be combined with other skills. This section is intended to cover each of the skills listed in the character manager and tell a little bit about what each of them actually do.
Be aware that how individuals train will be heavily dependent on their profession and personal character interests. This is not intended as a training guide for the most part, but simply to help familiarize players with the various benefits of each of the skills.
It is possible that some of the information is incorrect and highly likely that I left something out. If anyone notices any errors or omissions, please let me know so that I may make corrections.
For information on the skill training costs for your profession go to the main Gemstone site and click on Info and follow the links to the profession descriptions.
ARMOR: Armor is one of the most complex systems in the game and this is not the place to try and explain how it all works. Basically, the heavier the armor the better protection you get, the more spell hindrance it has, and the more training effort it takes. Spell casters tend to stay in soft leather or scale (rigid leather) armor, semis tend to use scale, chain or plate and the weapon users tend to train up to plate armor. Each armor group is broken down into sub-armors, based on what body parts they cover.
How many ranks of armor use is needed will depend on which armor you are training to wear. Each armor has base RT, maneuver and spell penalties. When you are undertrained for the armor, these penalties will be higher. In order to be considered fully trained for the armor, you must have enough ranks to bring the penalties down to their base number. (Consult the armor chart provided in my cleric and new player guide in the Temple section for RT and spirit spell hindrance information. For maneuver and elemental spell info, use Amerlise's chart available at www.mentors.play.net.) Armor use is a primary redux skill.
SHIELD: A shield gives you a great deal of defense when you use one handed weapons or when you are trained to use one and carry it around in between wielding a two handed weapon. Certain attacks in the game such as ranged weapons and bolt spells bypass weapon parry defenses, making a shield very important to help fend them off.
A shield automatically gives you a +20 bonus to your DS (Defensive Strength) when held in the left hand. The enchant of the shield and your shield training then add on to that bonus, how much is stance dependent. At the upper levels shield training is the only way to increase your DS so it can become very important. This means that even spell casting professions need to devote a great deal of effort to their shield training. Most people who use one handed weapons single this skill every level at a minimum. Shield use is a primary redux skill.
COMBAT MANEUVERS: This is a multi-purpose skill. For melee weapon users, one additional point of AS (Attack Strength) is added for every two ranks of CM gained. This is parryable AS, meaning that in all stances other than offensive, it gets converted into DS. How much depends on stance, just like with a shield. CM also helps aid aiming melee weapon attacks from the open using the ambush verb to target body parts of your foe. CM can also help with dodging some maneuver attacks in the game. This is a relatively expensive physical combat skill for most professions and only those who wield a weapon will devote much training to it. CM is a primary redux skill.
EDGED: The edged weapon skill is to be able to wield one handed edged weapons. This is the most common melee weapon skill for all professions. There is an almost infinite variety of edged weapons in the game, so finding something that suits your character is almost always possible. The advantage to training in one handed edged is you can use a shield at the same time to maximize your protection in combat. The drawback to edged training is that edged weapons don't do a lot of damage to the target without additional training in other combat skills and this becomes very noticeable at the post-50th levels. Edged is a weapon redux skill.
BLUNT/CRUSHING: These are also one handed weapons. They basically have the same advantages and disadvantages of edged weapons. For some professions, training in blunts is cheaper. Blunt weapons are not available in as wide a variety as edged and it can be more difficult to find a really good one. On the other hand they also tend to be cheaper to purchase than edged weapons. Blunts are a weapon redux skill.
TWO HANDED: This skill allows you to use big weapons that take two hands to wield. The advantage is that two handed weapons deal out a lot more damage to your foe and can often make quick work of them. The disadvantage is that you aren't able to use a shield so are more vulnerable to counter attacks. Training in two handers allows you to use both two handed edged and blunt weapons. People with good Dexterity and Reflex stats do better with two handers in order to counteract the slow weapon speed. Two handers are a weapon redux skill.
POLEARMS: Polearm training allows you to use any type of polearm weapon in the game. They come in both one handed and two handed styles. The one handed weapons allow you to also use a shield for more protection, but the weapons themselves are not very effective. Two handed polearms like the lance and awl-pike are very powerful weapons, but like two handers, very slow to wield so require good stats for speed. The two handed poles can be used to attempt to trip your opponent in combat, giving you an upper hand. They also provide a slight DS bonus to simulate being farther away from your opponent. Polearms are a weapon redux skill.
THROWN WEAPONS: The throwing skill was only recently implemented in the game and I am not familiar with the various weapon styles. There are weapons made specifically for throwing, but regular weapons like daggers and swords can also be thrown at an opponent. Being able to throw well is almost totally dependent on your Strength stat. Only those with a high Strength bonus are able to throw weapons that deal more damage without hurting themselves and being stuck in long round times. This skill should not be relied upon as a primary attack form, but as a combat supplement and/or just for fun.
RANGED WEAPONS: Also known as archery. This skill allows you to use bows and crossbows. Ranged weapons are a difficult path in Gemstone as there is no engagement system. Distance from your opponent is only simulated and not very well. Ranged weapons can be very effective, especially since they bypass the opponent's shield defenses. But the user is often at great risk during combat and needs to train in other supplemental skills like hiding and brawling in order to make the best use of archery. The Strength stat can be important to this skill as it will effect your roundtime for activities like cocking your crossbow. Your Dexterity bonus is what determines your AS.
BRAWLING: Brawling is an up close and personal form of combat. It includes using your bare fist (not very effective) or small weapons held in or worn on the hand. A shield can be used while brawling. A whole slew of new brawling weapons have been released in the game recently, making brawling a more effective form of combat. Though they still do not deal out the damage like a blunt or edged weapon. Brawling is most effective when supplemented with two weapon training, multi-opps training and/or hiding and ambush training. Brawling is the skill applied to using the Voln martial arts maneuvers.
The other main use for brawling is to provide parry defense to those who have an open hand in combat. This might be spell casters who wish to take advantage of open handed casting for RP or mechanics reasons, people who drag a lot of bodies in dangerous areas and archers who often have a hand free in between firing their bow. Brawling is a weapon redux skill.
TWO WEAPON COMBAT: This skill cannot be trained on its own. It must be trained in addition to a melee weapon type in order to be useful, making it a very expensive training path. Though it is one of the more exciting forms of combat. The two weapon skill allows you to wield a weapon in both your right and left hand, giving you a double attack each time. Generally speaking, edged and brawling are the two best weapon forms for using two at a time. Some blunts can be used, but many can't, which is very limiting.
Since your hands are full, you obviously don't get the benefit of also using a shield, making you fairly vulnerable. You get a slight defensive bonus for wielding two weapons in order to simulate your extra parry ability and a main gauche gives an additional DS bonus as it is a weapon designed specifically to be used in this combat style. Basically, the two weapon skill is what determines your AS with your left hand while your regular melee weapon training determines right hand AS. (This is a simplified explanation.)
MULTI-OPPONENT COMBAT: Currently MO has two main uses, but this is likely to be expanded in the future. Training in MO allows use of the mstrike attack, which is a multi-strike ability in a single attack. For melee weapon users of all types, this is a very handy skill, though it has serious drawbacks at times also, leading to long and dangerous roundtimes if not wise in when it is used. If trained along with two weapons and/or brawling, it can make for a fast and wild flurry of attacks. The other current use is for the Focused Implosion spell learned by sorcerers. If sorcerers train in MO, it can increase the number of nearby creatures that are stunned by side effects of the focused spell. MO is a primary redux skill.
MSTRIKE EXPLAINED: Mstrike roundtime is based solely on the speed of the weapon being wielded. Character stats and spells (like Haste) have no effect. This means that small weapons are significantly faster than slow weapons like two handers and two handed poles. Every 5 ranks of MO adds a swing at an additional creature in the same attack. The first swing is "free" for calculating RT, and then each additional swing gets an added RT increment based on the weapon being used. RT can be higher than expected due to being undertrained for armor and/or being encumbered. Mstrike is highly sensitive to encumbrance.
At 40 ranks of MO, the attack can be focused on a single target, giving you two swings at one opponent, rather than several different creatures. For each additional 20 ranks gained, an additional focused swing is added. There is no way for the player to specify number of swings, it is calculated on ranks only for both unfocused and targeted mstrike.
What all this means is, if you have 10 ranks of MO and are using a falchion, you will swing at three creatures and have a 10 second RT. If you have 15 ranks of MO and are using a lance, you would swing at four creatures and have a 27 second RT. Ouch. If you have 40 ranks of MO and are using a claid and used the focused attack, you would have two swings and get an 8 second RT. Or not using focused, you could swing at a total of 9 creatures and get a whopping 64 second RT. Really ouch. What it boils down to is, using mstrike can increase your effectiveness in combat, but only if used wisely.
CLIMBING: This is a base utility skill used to get around to various areas in the game. How much climbing is needed depends on various factors such as where the climb is and often what level you are. As in, some climbs require higher ranks of climbing the younger you are in relation to the creatures in the hunting area. Some climbs have a strict level requirement in addition, where no matter how well you can climb, you still have to be a certain level in order to gain entrance. Once you can gain entrance, your climbing skill usually dictates (along with other factors such as your Dexterity and encumbrance) how safely you can navigate the climb.
If you have more than enough ranks you can usually skip up the hill with no problems. If you barely have enough, you risk falling and hurting or killing yourself. You also often have to compensate for poor climbing skill by doing things like being in an offensive stance, possibly with your hands free. (Some climbs require everyone to have hands free.) In order to cross the Dragonspine Mountains everyone must have at least 4 ranks of climbing. This is a strict check and if you get stuck because you didn't have enough, the GM's won't help you out. Generally speaking it's a good idea to be about 25-30% trained for your level, but this is just a general guideline. Your profession and personal training interests will determine how much you actually train. (The old standby of having 10 ranks by or soon after level 20 is still a good one.) Climbing is a primary redux skill.
SWIMMING: Swimming is the twin of climbing, but of course has to do with water, not mountains. The significant difference at this time is, there are extremely few places in the game that need more than 2-3 ranks of swimming. The biggest exception is the Rift, but you have plenty of time to work on your swimming between the low levels and level 90. Just because swimming is underutilized in the game at the present time doesn't mean that people should ignore it however. When I started playing climbing wasn't used in many places yet it is now. Swimming is a primary redux skill.
DISARMING TRAPS: This skill helps you discover if a box has a trap on it and then helps you disarm it if there is one. Currently, double training the skill will allow people to disarm most traps on boxes from creatures their level. Perception must also be trained alongside disarming in order to be able to see the traps. The Wisdom bonus is very important to disarming.
PICKING LOCKS: This skill is used to open locked boxes with a lockpick. Currently the skill should be either triple trained or the locksmith should double train and learn spell 403 in order to pick their own boxes past level 30 or so. If they don't, they will end up losing money because of the cost of broken lockpicks. The Wisdom bonus is very important to this skill. Hobbyist locksmiths who can only single train or less in disarm and picking can still make good use of the skill opening boxes for low level characters, but they can't ever expect to open their own boxes.
STALKING & HIDING: This is a skill that anyone can train in to have a bit of fun with, but in order to be able to hide in combat, it needs to be singled at a minimum, double training is the standard and triple training for rogues is most effective. How skilled you are will dictate who sees you hide or if you even can hide. The more perceptive a person or creature is, the more skill you need to remain unnoticed.
Stalking can only be done on other characters, not creatures. Stalking can be used for fun or to aid you in combat, such as stalking the group leader in a hunting area to set up an ambush attack. Hiding is most often used in tandem with the ambush skill in order to strike the foe from hiding and make a more effective attack with a melee weapon. Hiding can also be used for sniping with ranged and thrown weapons.
PERCEPTION: Perception is a skill that has been expanding in usefulness over the years. The two primary uses are to detect traps on boxes (along with disarm) and to search out hidden paths/entrances in the game. (I personally believe it also plays a role in finding the treasure on specific creatures like kiramon and glacei, but that has never been proven.) The theft system is being overhauled and perception will likely play a larger role.
The other main use of perception is by archers. Perception training allows archers to aim their arrow at specific body parts to try and hit a critical target. Because of the expanding usefulness of perception in the game, it's a good idea to be 50% trained at a minimum, close to singled is an even better idea. (With locksmiths and archers devoting even more effort to it.)
SPELL RESEARCH: This is the skill that allows characters to learn spells in the game. Which spells you can learn is dependent on your profession. How much you should train and what spells you should learn depend entirely on your profession and specific character goals. Seek out a good profession guide for further information. (My cleric guide is available on this site under the Temple section.) For information on the spell circles and individual spells, go to the Gemstone web site and click on Info.
SCROLL READING: This is mostly an auxiliary skill in the game. Training in it allows you to read what spells are contained on scrolls and then attempt to invoke them. You hold a scroll in your right hand and must have your left hand free in order to invoke the spell. The more ranks of the skill you have, the higher the spell level you can read and eventually invoke. Being able to read a spell on a scroll does not determine how well you can invoke it however. Your profession will determine bonuses and penalties to invoking spells inside and outside your native spell circles and those combined with your skill and a dice roll determine success or failure.
For most people it's a good idea to eventually work your way up to around 20 ranks or so. Some spells incorporate the scroll reading skill into their effectiveness in the pure casting professions. So it's a good idea to learn if that's true for your profession and train accordingly. Once you successfully invoke the scroll, either cast the spell or release it before trying to invoke again. If you don't, you will be in for a very unpleasant surprise.
MAGIC ITEM USE: This allows a character to make use of waveable wands and rods. They can either be wands found on creatures or ones that have been imbedded with a spell by an elementalist. Effectiveness is based on your Aura bonus. With a 25 bonus, maximum effectiveness is usually reached around 37 ranks, though the skill is quite useful with much less than that. It will depend on the spell in the wand/rod and which spells are native to your profession (like scrolls). If you want to be able to wave bolt spell wands at creatures, you must also fully train in the Spell Aiming skill.
It has been stated by the GM's that there are plans to increase the requirements for MIU in the game, making more types of magical items use the skill in order to activate them. (This would be items containing spells, not things like magical metal weapons.) Because of this, it's a good idea for even warriors and rogues to devote some attention to this skill.
MANA SHARING: This skill allows characters to channel their mana with each other. How much mana is actually shared will depend on the training of both people. Full effectiveness for channeling is reached at 102 skill/24 ranks. This means that two people each with 24 ranks will get all the mana through from the sender to the receiver. Someone who is "overtrained", meaning having gained more than 24 ranks, can make up for someone who is undertrained.
Mana sharing is valuable for sending mana to empaths and clerics who are helping with the injured and dead, for sending mana to someone to cast defensive spells on you and for sending mana to spell casters in your hunting party who may need the extra juice. Just like scroll reading, mana sharing is also incorporated into some spells. So again, learn what is needed for your specific profession to determine your personal training plan.
SPELL AIMING: This is primarily used for bolt spells. It is the skill that will determine your AS for your attack, along with your Dexterity bonus. It should be trained with the same dedication as a weapon type for anyone intending to use these types of spells. Lackluster training will make the skill unusable. Spell aiming has also been incorporated into spells for sorcerers, so talk to educated sorcerers for profession specific training information.
AMBUSH: Ambush has two primary uses. When you are trained in ambush and attack from hiding, you will add to the critical impact of your melee weapon blow. When using the ambush verb, you aim your weapon at a specific body part. If you train in ambush and do this from the open, you will not add any crit ranks, but you will increase your accuracy in hitting your intended target. (Coupled with your CM skill.) Ambush is a primary redux skill.
PHYSICAL TRAINING: This skill determines how many HP's (health points) you have, along with your Constitution stat. Most people "max" the skill by training up to the point where they aren't gaining any more HP's per level because they have the max allowed for their Con. How quickly this is done depends on the profession and interests of each individual character.
Some people, primarily warriors and rogues, "overtrain" the skill in order to increase their HP regeneration rate and to add ranks to their redux. Some warriors have claimed they believe that overtraining to a significant degree (this would be more than single trained) assists in reducing damage by some types of maneuver attacks, like Boil Earth. PT is a primary redux skill.
FIRST AID: First aid is currently use in three systems. One is tending bleeding wounds, a second is determining RT for eating herbs and the third is skinning creatures. The more skill you have, the bigger the bleeder you can tend and in less time. All herbs have a base RT in which to ingest them. The more ranks of FA you have, the more you can reduce that RT, down to its minimum of 3 seconds. In regards to skinning it will effect both how frequently you obtain a skin and the quality of the skin when you do. (Weapon, stance and body position also effect quality of skins.) FA training decisions are usually made on an individual basis according to the interests of the character. It is suggested to get at least 10 ranks as a minimum in order to be able to fully diagnose people and to have a basic skill at tending. Beyond that is personal taste. Being singled will make you a decent skinner. (Skinning also takes Dexterity into account.)
TRADING: Trading helps with both buying and selling. Some merchants offer discounts to people who have skill in trading, more skill gives larger discounts. Not all merchants do this and the ones who do don't always offer significant discounts. When selling items to the pawnshop and gemshop people with more skill get better prices for the things they sell. While individually these discounts and higher payments may not seem like much, over time it can make a rather large difference. Currently trading is not required for anything in the game and training in it is based purely on the interests and personality of the individual character.
PICK POCKETS: This is the skill used in the pickpocketing/theft system in Gemstone. Currently the theft system has some significant problems and is being overhauled. But the basics will likely remain the same, with the details making for a better system in regards to both thieves and their marks. This is a purely RP skill and should only be used by those willing to accept responsibility for their antisocial actions and willing to use it in a manner that is not disruptive to other players.
Training in PP can also help protect yourself from thieves, but it takes dedicated training, equivalent to that of the thief, in order to have a significant effect. (Meaning, don't expect to get 5 ranks and think your pockets are safe.) Your best protection against thieves is to always deposit your silvers at the bank and either sell your gems or keep them in a closed container.