%%%% Buggy Buggy (It's a bug if you ever see this.) %%%% Fighting Apart from making you more proficient in hand-to-hand combat, Fighting also increases your maximum hitpoints. Fighting can be trained up to level 2 by attacking plants or fungi, afterwards only real opponents count. %%%% Short Blades Being skilled with a particular type of weapon will make it easier to fight with all weapons of this type and make you deal more damage with them. It is generally recommended to concentrate your efforts on one or two weapon types to become more powerful in them. Short Blades have a reputation for producing rather little damage in the late game, but on the other hand they are the best implements for stabbing. If you're already skilled in Short Blades, it is easier to become skilled in Long Blades. %%%% Long Blades Being skilled with a particular type of weapon will make it easier to fight with all weapons of this type and make you deal more damage with them. It is generally recommended to concentrate your efforts on one or two weapon types to become more powerful in them. If you're already skilled in Short Blades, it is easier to become (more) skilled in Long Blades. %%%% Axes Being skilled with a particular type of weapon will make it easier to fight with all weapons of this type and make you deal more damage with them. It is generally recommended to concentrate your efforts on one or two weapon types to become more powerful in them. Being skilled in Axes makes learning to fight with Maces or Polearms easier. %%%% Maces & Flails Being skilled with a particular type of weapon will make it easier to fight with all weapons of this type and make you deal more damage with them. It is generally recommended to concentrate your efforts on one or two weapon types to become more powerful in them. Being skilled in Maces & Flails makes it easier to also become skilled when fighting with Axes. %%%% Polearms Being skilled with a particular type of weapon will make it easier to fight with all weapons of this type and make you deal more damage with them. It is generally recommended to concentrate your efforts on one or two weapon types to become more powerful in them. Being skilled in Polearms eases training in Axes or Staves. %%%% Staves Being skilled with a particular type of weapon will make it easier to fight with all weapons of this type and make you deal more damage with them. It is generally recommended to concentrate your efforts on one or two weapon types to become more powerful in them. Being skilled in Staves makes becoming skilled in Polearms easier. %%%% Slings Being skilled in a particular type of ranged attack will let you deal more damage when using the appropriate launcher and ammunition. If you're already trained in Throwing, you'll pick up the Slings skill faster, and vice versa. %%%% Bows Being skilled in a particular type of ranged attack will let you deal more damage when using the appropriate launcher and ammunition. %%%% Crossbows Being skilled in a particular type of ranged attack will let you deal more damage when using the appropriate launcher and ammunition. %%%% Darts Being skilled in a particular type of ranged attack will let you deal more damage when using the appropriate launcher and ammunition. %%%% Throwing Training Throwing will make thrown weapons (as opposed to ones fired from a launcher) more effective. In particular, it makes weapons of returning more likely to actually return to their thrower. If you're already trained in Slings, you'll pick up the Throwing skill faster, and vice versa. %%%% Armour Armour skill increases the AC gained by wearing heavy armour, and it also helps lessen the hinderance of heavy armour on moving, spellcasting and other actions. %%%% Dodging Obviously, the Dodging skill will affect your chance of dodging an attack, be it melee, ranged or magical. You cannot dodge enchantments, sadly. Rather, to resist them, you'll need magic resistance. %%%% Stealth By training stealth, you can make it less likely that monsters will notice you. This skill is trained by moving in the vicinity of unaware monsters. Note that monsters become more suspicious and observant as you descend. %%%% Stabbing Stabbing is the skill that governs the likeliness of doing a great amount of damage on a distracted or helpless creature. Some gods may disapprove of this. %%%% Shields A high Shields skill helps blocking a melee or ranged attack with your equipped (or a magical) shield. %%%% Traps & Doors A character trained in Traps & Doors will be more observant to his or her surroundings and be quicker in noticing traps and secret doors. %%%% Unarmed Combat A character trained in unarmed combat will occasionally do an additional melee attack, provided they have the means to do so. Of course, this skill also trains your proficiency in barehanded combat. %%%% Spellcasting Now that you have the basic Spellcasting skill, you can learn and cast spells, if you wish to. In addition, gaining another level in Spellcasting will occasionally grant you more magic and "spell slots" to spend on new spells. Spellcasting skill and your intelligence are the only factors countering spell hunger. %%%% Conjurations Being skilled in a magical "school" makes it easier to learn and cast spells of this school. Many spells belong to a combination of several schools, in which case the average skill in these schools will decide on spellcasting success and power. Conjurations are battle oriented spells, all dealing damage in various ways. %%%% Enchantments Being skilled in a magical "school" makes it easier to learn and cast spells of this school. Many spells belong to a combination of several schools, in which case the average skill in these schools will decide on spellcasting success and power. Enchantments try to affect nearby beings in manifold possibilities. This includes a list of beneficial Enchantments, like Haste. %%%% Summonings Being skilled in a magical "school" makes it easier to learn and cast spells of this school. Many spells belong to a combination of several schools, in which case the average skill in these schools will decide on spellcasting success and power. %%%% Necromancy Being skilled in a magical "school" makes it easier to learn and cast spells of this school. Many spells belong to a combination of several schools, in which case the average skill in these schools will decide on spellcasting success and power. Necromancy is the art of draining and gaining life, although most often associated with zombies and other undead. %%%% Translocations Being skilled in a magical "school" makes it easier to learn and cast spells of this school. Many spells belong to a combination of several schools, in which case the average skill in these schools will decide on spellcasting success and power. Translocations focus on spatial movement of beings or objects. %%%% Transmutation Being skilled in a magical "school" makes it easier to learn and cast spells of this school. Many spells belong to a combination of several schools, in which case the average skill in these schools will decide on spellcasting success and power. Transmutations deal with changing shapes. It is possible to become a powerful dragon, for example. %%%% Divinations Being skilled in a magical "school" makes it easier to learn and cast spells of this school. Many spells belong to a combination of several schools, in which case the average skill in these schools will decide on spellcasting success and power. Divinations are concerned with detection of instances far away. %%%% Fire Magic Being skilled in a magical "school" makes it easier to learn and cast spells of this school. Many spells belong to a combination of several schools, in which case the average skill in these schools will decide on spellcasting success and power. Being skilled in Fire Magic makes Ice Magic harder to learn, and vice versa. %%%% Ice Magic Being skilled in a magical "school" makes it easier to learn and cast spells of this school. Many spells belong to a combination of several schools, in which case the average skill in these schools will decide on spellcasting success and power. Being skilled in Ice Magic makes Fire Magic harder to learn, and vice versa. %%%% Air Magic Being skilled in a magical "school" makes it easier to learn and cast spells of this school. Many spells belong to a combination of several schools, in which case the average skill in these schools will decide on spellcasting success and power. Being skilled in Air Magic makes Earth Magic harder to learn, and vice versa. %%%% Earth Magic Being skilled in a magical "school" makes it easier to learn and cast spells of this school. Many spells belong to a combination of several schools, in which case the average skill in these schools will decide on spellcasting success and power. Being skilled in Earth Magic makes Air Magic harder to learn, and vice versa. %%%% Poison Magic Being skilled in a magical "school" makes it easier to learn and cast spells of this school. Many spells belong to a combination of several schools, in which case the average skill in these schools will decide on spellcasting success and power. Poison magic is particularly useful early on as many monsters are resistant to poison in the later game. There are poison spells of high utility throughout the game, though. %%%% Invocations Your Invocations skill affects the likelihood that an attempt to use a divine ability will be successful. Also, the Invocations skill affects your magical reserve, just as the Spellcasting skill does, but to a lesser degree. %%%% Evocations Evocations is all about using magical items like wands, decks or other uncommon objects. The higher your skill, the more likely is a positive outcome when evoking items. Also, high skill may let you determine the amount of charges a zapped wand has left. %%%%