Skill Optimization Guide..ish ThingWhich Skills Do WhatOne thing to note: Most skills give permanent bonuses to stats, most of them at higher ranks. This could be an incentive to max out all the relevant skills of your needed stat, but be warned: many skills only offer bonus points at high ranks.
Disclaimer: This guide is NOT telling you to never put points into some skills. It is merely sharing which skills are better to put points in earlier.
Disclaimer: Some stats may be different from race to race, especially AP.
Leap Attack—
Str + 17, uses 201 AP. Bonuses rank 9 ~ Personally, I don't recommend putting points in this skill over other skills like Smash. You get a humdrum handful of permanent Str, and 200% damage at rank 1, but you might as well use Smash. Especially since Leap Attack is rather hard to train, and has limited usage.
Charge (Assault?) —
Stamina + 45, Str + 13. Uses 207 AP. Bonuses Stamina every rank, Str 9~ Another "meh" skill that is better to put off until later. You can negate some damage of ranged attacks while charging, and the more ranks you put in the further you can charge. At rank 1, you negate 60% of ranged damage and attack with 150% damage.
Defense—
Life +41, +15 to base Defense, uses 205 AP. Bonuses every rank. Defense is a rather nifty skill, in that in increases your base Defense and is easy to train. You may note that it doesn't have challenge ratings (ie, "Kill one BOSS monster"). This means you can throw a rock to piss off a white spider and just keep on defending until you rank up. At rank 1, you increase your Defense by 55, and Protection by 25% for a successful Defense.
Throw Attack—
Str + 13, Will + 19, 148 AP. Str from rank 9, Will every rank. I never did a Giant, so I can't tell you how awesome or not this skill is. At rank 1 you hit with 900% damage.
Lance Charge—
Str + 21, Will + 21, 415 AP. Str & Will from rank 9. This is a moderately expensive skill. Cheap skills cost roughly 200, moderate 400, and expensive 600 (most intermediate magic) to master. I never used any Lance skills, so I can't comment.
Lance Counter—
Dex + 11, 255 AP. Dex from rank 9. Same.
Ranged Combat Mastery—
Dex + 50, Str + 6. 187 AP. Dex every rank, Str from rank 6. You be an archer? If you no put this, you very sad.
*cough* Anyways, you get fifty Dex and +10 min +25 max to damage, ranged. You need this. If only for the Dex. But if you're really going to work, DON'T raise RCM first. You would have to do Refining first, because Refining has stupid failure training, which gets harder with higher Dex. Also, elfs need 279 AP to get RCM to rank 1, and only get 22 Dex for that effort. Devcat does not like elfs.
Magnum Shot—
Dex + 18, 232 AP. Dex from rank 9. The Smash of archers. A must have. You deal 500% damage at rank 1, and always knock over enemies, just like Smash. Even ones with Natural Shield. However, if they're using Defense, they don't get knocked over. Elfs need 235 AP to get the same effect. Magnum Shot also loads faster from rank 9, taking 1.5 seconds instead of 2 for humans. Elfs load it faster than humans, 1.5 until A, 1 second until 6, and 0.5 from 5. So... Devcat doesn't hate elfs
too much.
Mirage Missile—
Elf only. Dex + 23 Int + 14. 201 AP. Dex every rank, Int from A. Cheap and powerful. If you're an elf, you want at least an F in MM.
Stomp—
Stamina + 31, Str + 31, 152 AP. Bonus every rank. Yes. Trains fast and is cheap, and gives much strength. Giants only.
Support Shot—
Dex + 20. 181 AP. Every rank bonus. The good thing about SS is that it not only doesn't break the comboing of a meleeing friend, but that it also increases the next melee hit's damage. 20% at F, 70% at 1.
Smash—
Str + 8, Will + 8. 215 AP & bonuses from 8. The bread and butter of human melee combat is all in Smash. It's the primary damage-dealer. You hit at 500% damage at 1.
Arrow Revolver—
Str +8, Dex+30. Str from 8, Dex every rank. 214 AP The only reason human archers haven't disappeared from the face of the earth is because Arrow Revolver!
It's Human only, and allows you to quickly shoot a bunch of arrows at a target.
Windmill—
Str + 30, Will + 50. Both every rank. 209 AP An excellent skill. The range of Windmill increases at 9, 5, 2. The difference between 9 and 2 is really huge. The 250% damage, which ignores protection bonus, is prone to critical hits.
Actually, I think after the nerfing of Windmill, it doesn't ignore protection.
Counterattack—
Dex + 15, every rank. AP 173 The harder the foe was hitting you, the harder you hit him. At rank 1 you deal twice the foe's and 150% your own damage, with a 10% enhanced critical chance. Though you get little in the way of stat bonuses, this is a nice skill to use, especially in the later dungeons where every hit has the potential to kill you on a critical.
Crash Shot—
Mana + 16, Dex + 31. 490 AP. Mana from 9, Dex every rank. Girlin testifies to the power of Crash Shot. CS also increases the range it leaps to and the number of shards. Strangely, only Crash Shot has the shooter firing from a traditional archer pose.
Final Hit—
Str + 46, Will + 13. 414 AP. Human only. Using two swords you become a fairly invincible powerhouse of destruction. The higher the rank, the further you can TP, and the longer you stay in Final Hit mode. Final Hit enables you to strike without regard for other pesky skills like Counterattack; it's also hard to get because of the various pages, quests, and Final Attack dungeon. If you can get it, get it!
Final Shot—
Stamina +18, Dex+41, 414 AP Elf only. Final Hit with arrows. You aim faster in Final Shot mode. Final Shot is relatively easier to get than Final Hit. Still, the dungeon for it is pretty harsh, with multi-aggro and lots of monsters. Final Shot is best for spamming Magnum Shot. Not as awesome as Final Hit, but still fairly useful.
Evasion—
Dex 4, from rank 4. 91 AP. I don't know about this one. It's sorta useful, but not really. No real bonuses, a cheap 91 AP, limited usage. You can dodge arrows and bolts but have to evade at the correct timing. A niche skill.
Melee Combat Master—
Str + 42, Dex + 10. 230 AP. A must-have, but preferably at a later date. It increases damage by 8 min 18 max, and adds 150 HP. The problem with raising MCM early is that it makes other skills' training hard. A high MCM makes monsters look like AWFUL when they used to be BOSS, or even -blank- instead of BOSS.
Critical Hit—
+45 Will. 132 AP. Unlike most other games, raising Critical Hit doesn't increase the chances of a crit, but increases the damage resulting from it.
Various Weapon Masteries: + 19 to either Str or Dex, and usually cost around 190. Same reason to put AP into Mastery skills as MCM, and same cons, too. Archers must put points into Bow Mastery, though, because bows have weaker damage than their melee cousins.
I'll do Life and Magic skills later. I hope this long post actually helps people, because I have a creeping suspicion that all this information is already somewhere on the net.