Quiconque

Yes. I doubt it's possible to reach it, unless there are respawning monsters that are fairly high level.

Well, he did go out of his way to raise the skill cap from 30 to 40. The attractiveness of 1,2,3,5 or something along those lines is that this allows you to max out at an effective level of 20. Alternately -- this is how it's done in the BoE code -- perhaps the game specifies certain sp values to pay attention to. That could even give us ...16, 18, 20, 23, 26, 30, 35, 40.

Again, it may look like it does because you get a crappy roll followed by a great roll. It doesn't. As always, I welcome proof otherwise.

Wait until you get to 20 Parry! Seriously.

Alorael -- you are basically right about armor, but there is a random factor involved. The best guess I have seen is Thuryl's from Nethergate: Resurrection, that each individual point of damage has a chance of being blocked equal to your armor/resistance score.

Assuming it works that way, it should be free at 37 or 38 depending on cap implementation. But I still use up SP at 39. Perhaps I'm wrong entirely, or perhaps the cap goes 1, 2, 3, 5 and doesn't give credit for the 29-30 step.

Update: At 40 Magical Efficiency, ALL SPELLS COST ZERO SPELL ENERGY. That's right... infinite mana! Who knew you could reach infinity by counting to 40? This is actually be achievable in-game by a PS/NM character, and without using all of their skill points. There are 10 points available from equipment and 1 from a basin, and there is a ME trainer. Actually, forget the PS/NM part, as NM only contributes +4 even at level 30. You can do this with a DT/PS character. At level 30, the character will have 7 free points of ME. Add the other 11, that's 18 points. The trainer gets you to 21. The cost of another 19 points of ME? 166 skill points. Maybe not that practical, but it is doable.

By popular demand. Please let me know if you notice anything I've overlooked (or misstated).

Unless otherwise specified, bonuses listed in red are applied once per point of the skill you buy. The exception is effects marked with (10-cap). These effects occur once for each point of the skill from 1-10, once every other point between 11-20, once every third point between 21-30, and so on. For armor and resistances provided by skills, each skill acts kind of like one extra piece of equipment. For example, with 5 Hardiness, you get a 10% bonus to armor and resistances that is multiplied together with your other resistances, just as with equipment. Note that armor and all resistances are capped at 90%. Each point of Attack Bonus grants +5% to hit; the number of dice you roll when calculating attack damage is increased by 0.75 for each point of Attack Bonus (rounded down). OFFENSIVE SKILLS (HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT) STRENGTH (Base: 2, Cost: 6 -- No Trainers) +1 to Attack Bonus for melee/pole weapons +5 lbs to Encumbrance Limit (Base of 30) +3% Stun Resistance +1 towards the fairly low requirements to turn a few wheels Need to buy 2 points to unlock Gymnastics Need to buy 4 points to unlock Blademaster (--> Riposte, Lethal Blow) MELEE WEAPONS (Cost: 4 -- Train: 225, 248, 216 per sp @ Eastern Great Cave) +1 to Attack Bonus for melee weapons +1 towards Battle Discipline requirements Need to buy 6 points of this or Poles to unlock Quick Strike Need to buy 7 points of this or Poles to unlock Dual Wielding Need to buy 7 points of this or Poles to unlock Anatomy (--> Lethal Blow) Need to buy 9 points of this or Poles to unlock Blademaster (--> Riposte, Lethal Blow) POLE WEAPONS (Cost: 4 -- Train: 383, 421, 367 per sp @ Fort Remote) +1 to Attack Bonus for pole weapons +1 towards Battle Discipline requirements Need to buy 6 points of this or Melee to unlock Quick Strike Need to buy 7 points of this or Melee to unlock Dual Wielding Need to buy 7 points of this or Melee to unlock Anatomy (--> Lethal Blow) Need to buy 9 points of this or Melee to unlock Blademaster (--> Riposte, Lethal Blow) BLADEMASTER (Cost: 5 -- No Trainers) +1 to Attack Bonus for pole/melee weapons +5% chance each round of 1 pt Fatigue Reduction Unlocks after buying 4 Strength, 9 Melee or Pole Weapons Need to buy 5 points of this to unlock Lethal Blow Need to buy 6 points of this to unlock Riposte QUICK ACTION (Cost:1 -- No Trainers) +4% chance of double strike on all melee/pole attacks (10-cap) Improves Initiative ANATOMY (Cost: 4 -- Train: 175, 193, 168 per sp @ Eastern Great Cave) +3% to total damage for melee/pole weapons when attacking humanoids Slightly increases Health and Energy restored after battles Unlocks after buying 2 Intelligence, 7 Melee or Pole Weapons Need to buy 5 points of this to unlock Lethal Blow DUAL WIELDING (Cost:2 -- 850, 935, 680 per sp @ Fort Remote) Reduces dual wielding damage penalty by about 2% (Base: 20% penalty) Reduces dual wielding hit chance penalty semi-randomly by 5-30% (Base: -30 to -15% penalty) Unlocks after buying 2 Dexterity, 7 Melee or Pole Weapons LETHAL BLOW (Cost: 4 -- Train: 510, 561, 490 per sp @ Fort Remote) +4% chance of +40% to total damage for melee/pole weapons, ranged weapons, and single target or spray type magic attacks (10-cap) Unlocks after buying 5 Blademaster, 5 Anatomy OFFENSIVE SKILLS (RANGED COMBAT) DEXTERITY (Base: 2, Cost: 6 -- No Trainers) +1 to Attack Bonus for bows/thrown weapons +5% to Evasion (10-cap) Improves Initiative Need to buy 2 points to unlock Sharpshooter Need to buy 2 points to unlock Dual Wielding Need to buy 3 points to unlock Quick Strike Need to buy 3 points to unlock Parry (--> Riposte) Need to buy 3 points to unlock Resistance Need to buy 4 points to unlock Gymnastics BOWS (Cost: 2 -- No Trainers) +1 to Attack Bonus for bows +0.5 towards Battle Discipline requirements Need to buy 6 points of this or Throws to unlock Sharpshooter THROWN WEAPONS (Cost: 2 -- No Trainers) +1 to Attack Bonus for thrown weapons +0.5 towards Battle Discipline requirements Need to buy 6 points of this or Bows to unlock Sharpshooter SHARPSHOOTER (Cost: 2 -- Train: 175, 193, 168 per sp @ Eastern Great Cave) +1 to Attack Bonus for bows/thrown weapons Unlocks after buying 2 Dexterity, 6 Bows or Thrown Weapons MAGIC SKILLS MAGE SPELLS (Cost: 5 -- 180, 198, 180 per sp @ Fort Duvno) +1 to Attack Bonus for mage spells +1 towards Mage Spell requirements PRIEST SPELLS (Cost: 4 -- No Trainers) +1 to Attack Bonus for priest spells +1 towards Priest Spell requirements SPELLCRAFT (Cost: 3 -- 400, 440, 360 per sp @ Tower Colony) +1 to Attack Bonus for mage/priest spells Need to buy 5 points to unlock Magical Efficiency INTELLIGENCE (Base: 2, Cost: 6 -- No Trainers) Determines Base Spell Energy (main multiplier) +3% Mental Resistance Need to buy 2 points to unlock Pathfinder Need to buy 2 points to unlock Anatomy (--> Lethal Blow) Need to buy 4 points to unlock Magical Efficiency MAGICAL EFFICIENCY (Cost: 3 -- Train: 480, 528, 432 per sp @ Tower Colony) +5% average reduction to Spell Energy used (10-cap) Unlocks after buying 4 Intelligence, 5 Spellcraft DEFENSIVE SKILLS HARDINESS (Cost: 1 -- No Trainers) +2% to Armor, Fire, Cold, Energy, Poison, and Acid Resistances Need to buy 7 points to unlock Resistance RESISTANCE (Cost: 5 -- 120, 132, 120 per sp @ Fort Duvno) +3% to Fire, Cold, Energy, Poison, and Acid Resistances Unlocks after buying 3 Dexterity, 4 Endurance, 7 Hardiness PATHFINDER (Cost: 1 -- No Trainers) +5% to Poison and Acid Resistances Unlocks after buying 2 Intelligence, 6 Nature Lore LUCK (Cost: 2 -- No Trainers) (NB: before v1.01, was cost: 4) +2% to Armor and All Resistances (10-cap) (NB: before v1.01, was +1%) +2% to Evasion (10-cap) +2% to Hit Rate for all attacks DEFENSE (Cost: 2 -- No Trainers) +3% to Evasion (10-cap) Need to buy 5 points to unlock Parry (--> Riposte) GYMNASTICS (Cost: 4 -- Train: 105, 116, 101 per sp @ Fort Duvno) +5% to Evasion (10-cap) Improves Initiative Unlocks after buying 4 Dexterity, 2 Strength PARRY (Cost: 3 -- Train: 453, 499, 408 per sp @ Fort Remote) +3% chance to parry hand-to-hand attacks (Max: 50%) +2% chance to parry ranged attacks +1% chance to parry missile-based magic attacks Unlocks after buying 3 Dexterity, 5 Defense Need to buy 6 points of this to unlock Riposte RIPOSTE (Cost: 5 -- No Trainers) +3% chance to riposte hand-to-hand attacks (10-cap) (Max: 50%) Unlocks after buying 6 Parry, 6 Blademaster ENDURANCE (Base: 2, Cost: 5 -- No Trainers) Determines Base Health (main multiplier) +2% Poison Resistance +1% Acid Resistance Need to buy 4 points to unlock Resistance OTHER SKILLS TOOL USE (Cost: 1 -- No Trainers) +1 towards requirements to open/unlock/activate stuff NATURE LORE (Cost: 1 -- 500, 550, 300 per sp @ Gnass) +1 towards requirements to uncover items from caches +1 towards requirements to pacify weak wild animals Need to buy 6 points to unlock Pathfinder ARCANE LORE (Cost: 1 -- 700, 770, 420 per sp @ Gnass) +1 towards requirements to learn spells from spellbooks +2% Mental Resistance FIRST AID (Cost: 1 -- No Trainers) Slightly increases Health and Energy restored after battles QUICK STRIKE (Cost: 3 -- No Trainers) Each round, a PC with Quick Strike gets two separate chances to get a bonus AP. Each chance has a success rate equal to 5% per point of Quick Strike. You can receive 0, 1, or 2 bonus APs each round. Unlocks after buying 3 Dexterity, 6 Melee or Pole Weapons

Hit Chance = (Base Hit Chance) + (5% * Weapon/Spell Power) + (5% * Attack Bonus) + (2% * Luck) - (Defender's Evasion) Base Hit Chance is 50% for most physical attacks and 100% for most magical attacks. Average Damage for Spells = Base Damage + (Spell Multiplier * Spell Power) + (Spell Multiplier * Attack Bonus * 0.75) Average Damage for Weapons = Base Damage + (Weapon Multiplier * Attack Bonus * 0.75) Melee Attack Bonus = Strength + Melee Weapons + Blademaster Poles Attack Bonus = Strength + Pole Weapons + Blademaster Bows Attack Bonus = Dexterity + Bows + Sharpshooter Throws Attack Bonus = Dexterity + Thrown Weapons + Sharpshooter Mage Attack Bonus = Mage Spells + Spellcraft Priest Attack Bonus = Priest Spells + Spellcraft

Important update: Lethal Blow DOES NOT add anything to magical attacks. I've tried repeatedly and have never gotten it to activate even with 40 Lethal Blow.

Dual Wielding is worth putting points into, but isn't really a priority -- the damage increase is less than what you'll get out of comparable investment in basic attack skills, in Quick Action, and even in Anatomy.

Originally Posted By: Thuryl Originally Posted By: Margerine Eclipse Note that because the skribbane turn-in XP scales with your level, you get the same XP for turning in 100 skribbane at level 1 as you do at level 50. This means you are also far better off holding onto all of your skribbane until close to the end of the game, since most XP does scale down with level. Well, only if you're optimising for endgame power. But by the endgame you're powerful enough to take everything on anyway, so optimising for endgame power beyond a certain point is silly. If you want to gain a level right now, then it's perfectly reasonable to turn in your skribbane right now. Here I'm not sure I agree. The thing to remember is that turning in your skribbane early is kind of like taking skribbane: you get a little boost for a little while, but after a few levels it gradually fades away. If you wait until you're already levelled past the base level for most XP rewards anyway, it will take longer to fade away. The boost, of course, is much, much less dramatic than skribbane's, so it doesn't matter so much. Really it's a question of getting 5 or 10 skill points earlier for a few levels, or 5 or 10 more total towards the end, and maybe getting a few points of trait bonuses earlier for a few levels, or a few extra points of trait bonuses towards the end.

Note that because the skribbane turn-in XP scales with your level, you get the same XP for turning in 100 skribbane at level 1 as you do at level 50. This means you are also far better off holding onto all of your skribbane until close to the end of the game, since most XP does scale down with level.

The skill (and spell) descriptions in Jeff's games have been about 80-90% accurate for all games after the original Nethergate. (Not sure how A1-3 fare wrt this, actually.) Unfortunately, 80-90% accurate is not accurate enough, and is at times pretty misleading. As an example, EVERY SINGLE Geneforge game has claimed that creation Dex increases breath attack damage, but it doesn't, creation Str does. Perhaps it would be helpful if I compiled a list of every single effect of every single skill?

Alorael -- That's not your own idiosyncrasy -- I share it, and I'm pretty sure others do as well. Fael -- Mainly because of battle disciplines, which are incredibly useful for all characters including spellcasters, and which it is drastically easier to get the best of with the racial weapon bonuses.

Bump - 1st post is updated with new info. So Dual Wielding and Arcane Lore are the worst values of all, followed at a distance by Nature Lore. (I'm not including Lethal Blow since its unlock requirements are so steep.)

Thanks for looking into that. I'm glad there is finally proof of the truth.

Wow, that was a lot of posts in one half hour. Snipage. In all fairness, Thuryl is probably the most balanced of all us compulsive optimizers, and his advice is probably the best to follow -- though mine may be more rigorously grounded in theory, or Alorael's more accessible, Thuryl's is probably best.

No. I'm very good at starting projects on time. The problem is finishing them.

To explain better: try opening Exile 2 in 16 colors and then changing to 256 once it's open. Or maybe it was changing to Thousands, or opening in Thousands, or opening in 256... I forget what I did, but I think I ended up doing something like this. I'm not sure if that was what fixed the not-opening problem though. More ideas: - Try restarting (within OS 8) and holding down shift to disable extensions. - Re the 32-bit question, just look around in the control panels. I think it's in the Memory panel. What kind of ROM are you using with Basilisk ][?

DEX does just as much as STR -- it just does things that are typically less useful. A full list of the effects of DEXTERITY: - Increases initiative - Increases evasion by 5% per point (10-cap applies to this only) - Increases Bow and Missile damage by 75% a level of damage per point - Increases Bow and Missile hit rate by 5% per point - Needed to unlock skills (Parry, Riposte, Dual Wielding, Sharpshooter, Quick Strike, Resistance, Gymnastics)

My experience is that most SW games have hiccups if you switch apps when in full screen mode. However, A6 in windowed mode works flawlessly even when switching between several high memory apps.

I think Thuryl's hit upon a key point. And I think this happens less with books for several reasons. One: games are often a social phenomenon. This is particularly true among kids and teenagers playing popular games, who will inevitably talk about them at school. So popularity ramps up. For books which become social phenomenon (Harry Potter, Twilight) I suspect the sequels-sell-more may be true. Two: games series are almost always designed so that you can jump in at any point. There is some intentionality to the sales figures going up -- the designers don't want you to have to go back and play the older installments. This is not true in the same way of book series. While it is often possible to start in the middle, and many people do this, if story is the main thing you are getting, and you don't have distractions like game mechanics, it is harder not to feel you are missing something. This also means that somebody who is introduced to, say, Harry Potter today, is as likely as not to start with the first book; if they read a later book and get hooked they might decide to go back and read them in order. However, somebody who plays Final Fantasy XII is highly unlikely to go back and play the original Final Fantasy, and not just because the original release and its system haven't been on the market in 15 years. This is a more extreme case but the same thing applies to somebody who plays Avernum 6. If they go back and try out Avernum 1, maybe they'll love it and buy it -- but quite possibly not.

*facepalm*