Skills

skills

Skills are abilities that come with your levels, or, in some cases, that you learn from various teachers located throughout the realms. Skills differ from spells in that some skills may be continuously in effect once you learn them or while others may be invoked by simply using the skill name.

For example, dodge, once learned, is automatically applied whenever applicable, while a thief looking to pick a lock simply uses 'pick <target>'. Spells, however, must be invoked using either 'cast' (for most classes that possess magical abilities) or 'mind' (for psionists).

'skills' opens the Skills tab of the Character pane: a tab for each of your classes, with every skill and spell it learns, the level each comes at and how well you know it. From there you can use them, star them, put them on the hotbar and read their help.

The Skills tab's Other tab lists skills none of your classes has that teachers out in the world will teach you, such as spot from the archer: who teaches each, where, for how much gold and how far. Go to the teacher and type 'practice <skill>'. A greyed skill needs a higher level first.

You learn every skill and spell of your classes as you reach its level, at 70%. From there you get better by using them: a failure may teach you something ("You learn from your mistake"), and a success has a 1 in 20 chance of teaching a little, up to 95%. Skills that work by themselves (dodge, parry, dual wield, find traps, avoid back attack) learn the same way, and so does track.

The order of the levels of skill is: awful, bad, poor, fair, good, very good, and superb.

For every skill, and who learns it when, see ALLSKILLS.

See also: CHARACTER, ALLSKILLS, PRACTICE, STUDY, GAIN, CLASSES, CHECK, CAST, MIND