CHOOSING YOUR SKILLS & TRAINING YOUR CHARACTER

So, now your wondering, WHY THE HELL DID I PUT MY 2 MOST IMPORTANT STATS LAST?!?!?!?!?!?!? Leme show ya and put yer whinin' at ease.

 

As a Giantman Warrior, Strength and Constitution will grow EVERY single year until they hit 70, . . . an INCREDIBLE growth rate!! Which not only is wasted if you put higher numbers here, the stats you DO put last with grow frightfully slow, crippling their/your growth, AND your overall training points. Also, with your Racial modifier, each will STILL give you wonderful benefits.

 

Now ya decide what yer ugly mug is gonna look like, and so on. After that, Your Character will walk into the training room:

Now, Training points are calculated as follows:

Physical Points =

(DIS + AURA + STR + CON + RFLX + DEX) / 10

Mental Points =

(DIS + AURA + LOG + CHR + WIS + INT) / 10

 

Time to put these numbers to work for ya.

 

Since your mental stats (Logic, Intelligence, and Wisdom) grow very slowly, putting your lowest numbers here would only hurt you in the long run. Placing them in 5th thru 8th will give you (usually) bonuses for them (good) rather then penalties (bad). Since Warriors don't use these skills for much other then Mental Training Point generation, placing them higher is not to your benefit, as it will hurt your ability to move and recover from a swing (RT).

 

Ok, now its time to train. These are the skills available to you, with their inherent Physical/Mental Point cost. Note that EACH time you train in a skill, the cost DOUBLES for the next time you train in that SAME skill. Also, there are a limited number of times you can train in each skill. Finally, don't sacrifice initial or CORE skills in favor of experimentation,

 

as 1 poor choice can hurt you for many trains. Write down what you want to train in BEFORE you get started, and enter the selections carefully when the time comes. The key to a TRULY devastating Warrior, is dedication. Once you have your training choices figured out,

STICK WITH THEM!!!

 

* Primary/Core skill & should be trained for life/to max

Skill \ cost (P/M)		1st Train	2nd Train	3rd Train
Two Weapon Combat		5/1	10/2	--	lets you use 2 weapons or Main Gauche in left hand effectively
Armor Use	*	2/0	4/0	8/0	every 20 removes 1 sec RT from heavier armors
Shield Use	*	2/0	4/0	8/0	increases your ability to use a shield effectively, modified by stance
Combat Maneuvers	*	4/3	8/6	--	every 2 ranks +1 AS, and helps avoid maneuver attacks
Edged Weapons	*	2/1	4/2	--	easiest weapons to get in the lands, huge variety
Blunt Weapons	*	2/1	4/2	--	tend to hit harder then Edged, but harder to find
Two-Handed Weapons	*	4/1	8/2	--	these hit VERY hard (Claidhmores=GODlike damage)
Ranged Weapons		3/2	6/4	--	Bows, Crossbows, etc.. not a lot of variety, poor damage
Thrown Weapons		4/1	8/2	--	barely supported (some Javelins) crappy damage
Pole Arm Weapons	*	4/1	8/2	--	True Lance has best damage/ AvD of ANY weapon in lands
Climbing		4/1	8/2	--	many areas REQUIRE 50+ to access
Swimming		3/0	6/0	--	same as Climb
Multi-Opponent Combat		5/2	10/4	--	when implemented, will further help Maneuver based Attacks
Disarming Traps		2/4	4/8	--	w/perception & dexterity, will help in finding & disarming traps
Picking Locks		2/4	4/8	--	w/perception & dexterity, will help in picking locks
Stalking and Hiding		3/2	6/4	--	w/dexterity & reflex, will help you hide/stay hidden undetected.
Perception	*	0/3	0/6	--	helps you spot hidden things/folks, w/Disarm Traps helps find traps
Spell Research		0/160	--	--	DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT
Scroll Reading		0/7	--	--	cast spells you will need to stay alive later, but not needed when young
Magic Item Use		0/10	--	--	useless, as most wands require Spell Aiming as well
Mana Sharing		0/25	--	--	will need this very badly later in life, so casters will 'spell' you up
Spell Aiming		5/25	--	--	useless, helps direct 'aim' based wand & spell attacks
Ambush	*	4/4	8/8	--	your best friend, helps direct your swings at critical areas
Physical Training	*	2/0	4/0	8/0	w/Constitution, gives you more blood
First Aid		1/3	2/6	--	helps you tend bleeding areas, and w/Dexterity helps you skin critters
Trading		0/4	0/8	--	useless, w/Charisma, helps getting minor discounts at merchants/events
Pick Pockets		3/3	6/6	--	used to aid your catching pickpockets, but no longer
Brawling	*	2/1	4/2	--	your 2nd best friend, helps your empty handed defense, and Voln-Fu

* Primary/Core skill & should be trained for life/to max

  

Some old geezers will swear that triple training in armor is the only way to go, as you get to wear Full Plate with virtually no RT penalty at a much earlier age. They will also brag about having good numbers in other skills, such as Mana Share. However, upon further investigation, these same folks are well past their 60th training, and have had plenty of time to catch up on all the stuff they had to sacrifice while being young. They also aren’t about to tell you what a burden they were on their friends, and the limitations they had to deal with while growing up. There are areas like 'The Ledge' and Darkstone Castle which now suck away all your protective spells, where the critters have MUCH higher casting ability, or just defend themselves and attack better then they ever could have in the past. The fact is, overspecialization breeds in weakness and obsolescence. The modern Warrior must be adaptable. Personally, if you are careful with your training, and find you CAN afford it, go for it, just don't sacrifice other important skills.

 

That being said, we have a few basics.

Pick a weapon and
	double
	in it for LIFE.

 

One Handed Edged Weapons are fairly cheap, easy to find, and have an excellent variety to choose from. Longswords tend to have a better swing time, Waraxes have the best AvD & do the best damage vs. heavier armors, and Falchions tend to have the best over-all damage against lighter armor types. I personally use several Waraxes, depending on the situation.

 

One Handed Blunt Weapons are harder to find, but tend to hit harder over-all, against all armor types. Flails are probably the best of all the Blunts.

 

In the 2-Handed class, the Greatest bladed Weapon in the Lands is the Claidhmore. It's important to note that you do NOT need to train in OHE or OHB to use ANY 2-Handed Edged or Blunt weapon. Claidhmores have Masterful Crit Weighting by default, with the exception of a few weapons which for some STUPID reason have the name but are actually nothing more then a basic 2-handed sword (Razor sharp Steel Claidhmore comes to mind), without a single bit of Crit weighting. Remember, you can't bless a weapon that has Crit Weighting (the ability to do Critical damage upon a successful hit) or Elemental Flares (magical bursts of various types of energy which tend to do extra damage), and if a weapon has Flares, it CANT be weighted. Its either/or, not both.

 

Finally, we have Pole-arms. Again, its important to note that you DON'T have to train in 2-Handed Weapons to use 2-Handed Pole-Arms. Good Pole-arms are very hard to come by, in either 1 or 2 handed form. The only decent 1-Handed Poles are Spears & Tridents, and though relatively weak in respect to other weapon types, some have nice Damage weighting. Several 2-Handed Poles are nice. The Weapons Shop sells a Naginata in its back room, which is naturally +20 (4x) and can be E-bladed to +40 (8x) or blessed very easily. Halberds and Voulges are nice, as are Glaives. The Ultimate Pole is the True Lance, which has a better AvD to Damage rate then even a Claidhmore (but slightly lesser Crit Modifier, regardless of weighting). Unfortunately, the weapon comes with a price, that being it takes nearly TWICE as long to swing as any other in the lands. But GODS the damage it does makes it worth the trouble.

So here is a sample-training schedule for CORE skills:

 

2x/3x	Armor	for LIFE (or until you don't have any RT from the armor you wear, for Plate that can be up to skill of 240)
2x	Shield	for LIFE (unless you only train in a 2-Hander/Pole) remember, you don't need Shield training to USE a shield
2x	Combat Maneuvers	for LIFE
2x	Weapon of Choice	for LIFE (never falter or waiver)
1 x	Perception	for LIFE
1 x	Ambush	for LIFE (unless you only train Pole-arms,you cant Ambush with a Pole arm)
1x	Physical Training	(till Max'ed in Blood, overtraining only helps recover blood faster)
2x	Brawling	for LIFE (greatly aids your unarmed defense, and Voln-Fu is based on Brawling)

Ok, I train in BOTH OHE AND 2-Handers, and can still afford to train in all my other skills
(heh, heh, heh, good numbers from the Grinder, and better
	placement REALLY pays off) but most Warriors can't.

 

Lets look at cost: 

	Physical	Mental
2x Armor =	6	0		Total Training Points Required: 42 Physical 22 Mental
2x Shield =	6	0
2x Combat =	12	9		**Note** 2 Mental Points can be used as 1 Physical and vs./vs.
2x Edged =	6	3
1x Percep =	0	3		Most folks with good numbers can easily afford this, with lots of points to spare for Additional Skill training,
1 x Ambush =	4	4
1 x Physical =	2	0
2x Brawling =	6	3

speaking of which . . lets get to work ON those other skills.

 

to consider are as follows, listed by priority. Save your extra training points, and get these skills as often as you can or points allow:

Mana Share       is FANTASTIC,	if only for the simple fact that folks are much more likely to spell you up if you can ease the cost TO him or her for doing so. Also, the casters in hunting parties are MUCH happier if they get a little 'quick-fix' in the form of mana during an outing. Save your extra points and get this as often as possible.
Climbing &       Swimming	are BOTH required to get into many Hunting areas, and are Mandatory when you get older. Alternate in these, as its not REALLY needed until later in life. I suggest either/or after each Share.
Disarm	is VERY helpful when combined with the Warrior Skill Batter Barriers to open fused/locked boxes. Understand that until after Title, you're very likely to miss nasty traps & blow yerself up. STICK WITH IT!
First Aid	helps with those nasty cuts and bleeders when you're out of herbs, and helps skinning for cash generation
Scroll Reading	is nice too, as it lets you cast ANY spell in the lands, without having to actually KNOW it. Very nice if you like to hunt alone, as many critters drop scrolls, providing you with a means of spelling yourself up. You don't need this till you're a bit older, at which time you will have even MORE training points to work with
**Note**
Stalking and Hiding	is very popular, as it helps your ambushing, targeted or otherwise. However unless you double in it every year, many critters notice your attempt, especially in heavier armor, incurring a nasty RT & free shots for the critter! I single every year just for special occasions.

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Web page last updated 9/25/2000