
====== Skills ======

     You can normally raise as many skills as you have the experience to afford.
The major exception is that you need to choose between becoming a pure
spellcaster, a pure burglar, a spellcaster/fighter/burglar, or a pure fighter.
Any of these, however, can become great at object-creation.


--- The Price of Skills ---

Striking a balance:
     You should strike a balance between focusing on too few skills (the cost to
raise skills goes up rapidly with level) and too many (which fritters away your
hard-earned exp).  Raising too many skills that depend on objects (most kinds of
combat or forging, say) can also cause real problems with managing your
inventory; you won't have enough space for everything.
     As mentioned before, the fewer times you raise skills to defeat a given
opponent, the higher your score.

Minimum experience:
     The minimum experience required to raise skills goes up with character
power, but the experience you get from killing monsters increases very rapidly
as you descend into the dungeon.

Practice:
     The price to raise certain skills goes up if you haven't used that skill
much.  For example, if you've never used edged weapons, and suddenly raise your
Swordsmanship skill 20 points, you can expect to pay considerably over the odds.
This is an excellent reason not to raise a skill too far, too fast.  This only
applies to skills that directly earn you experience - any of the combat skills,
burglary, disarming, magic, and magical devices.
     You practice skills whenever you gain experience and whenever you do
physical damage to a monster.
     When a skill is more difficult to raise because of lack of practice, the
skills screen will display its cost first in grey, then in yellow, orange, and
red.

Reduction in cost for similar skills:
     If you raise a skill, the cost to raise any similar skills up to that level
is reduced.  For example, if you raise Swordsmanship to 30, then also raising
Jousting to 30 costs 1/2 the exp it would normally.  This reduction also applies
to the second skill's effect on your score and on character power.  Therefore,
raising Swordsmanship and Jousting costs a combined total of 18 for all
purposes.


--- Oaths ---

     The most powerful warrior arts and the most awesome magics require intense
commitment.  This commitment is represented by Oaths.  Taking an Oath is
binding; you can never retract it.  You can never take more than one Oath.

The Oath of Iron:
     The Oath of Iron is the greatest of commitments; none who refuse to take it
can learn the most powerful warrior arts.  Inductees can spread their blows out
among weaker monsters, can handle heavy weapons with ease, have better combat
stats, get the most bonuses to missile might and shooting speed, the most
hitpoints, and have access to several very powerful talents.  However, they can
learn no realm of magic, and cannot raise their magical device skill past 50.
     You gain access to the Oath of Iron by raising a combat skill to level 45
or above (the exception being Slings, in which you need 55).

The Magic-users' Oaths:
     Each realm of magic also has an Oath.  Wizards may take the Oath of
Sorcery, Priests subscribe to the Covenant of Faith, Druids join Yavanna's
Fellowship, and Necromancers bind themselves to the Black Mystery.  You gain
access to the magic-user Oaths by choosing that realm of magic, and then
navigating to the specialist skill for that realm (wizardry, holy alliance,
etc.).
     Spellcasters that have taken the Oath associated with their realm cast
spells at full power, have another +2 bonus to their spell stat, and eventually
get plenty of mana.  However, they also are worse for their skill in all kinds
of non-magical combat, have a hard time with heavy armor, and get fewer
hitpoints.  Spellcasters that haven't taken any special Oath have only a few of
these limitations, but get 40% less mana, and cast spells at 75% maximum
strength.

Joining the Burglars' Guild:
     If you have not taken any other Oath, and attain a skill of 20 in Burglary,
you may join the Burglars' Guild.  This lets you take fullest advantage from
further increases in Burglary (otherwise the effect of a skill above 20 is
halved).  Most of the advantages to joining the Guild depend on your Burglary
skill, but all Brothers and Sisters of the Guild get monster awareness bonuses,
which make it safer to navigate darkened rooms.  They also get a +2 bonus to
Dexterity, an increase to critical hit chance when fighting or shooting out of a
darkened area, and can (if skilled at fighting) attack multiple weaker monsters
at once.
     The most important disadvantage to joining the Guild is simply that you
cannot take any other Oath, placing the most powerful magics and warrior
techniques out of your grasp.  You get slightly fewer hitpoints than a normal
character.  Also, shopkeepers are more wary of you:  your charisma drops by 2
(in addition to the penalty for learning how to steal).


--- List of Skills ---

Swordsmanship   (cost - 12):
     Determines hit chance and critical hits with swords and other bladed
weapons.  Allows characters to wield heavier weapons without penalty and handle
two weapons at once more effectively.
     Bladed weapons are relatively light and easy to use.  Many a hero of old
has chosen them; their battle-blades still exist.  However, most swords do not
have the raw power that the greater hafted weapons and polearms possess.
     Swordsmanship reduces the cost of other skills:  Jousting by 1/2, Clubbing
by 1/4.

Clubbing   (cost - 12):
     Determines hit chance and critical hits with blunt weapons.  Allows
characters to wield heavier weapons without penalty and handle two weapons at
once more effectively.
     Hafted weapons tend to be heavy, sometimes very heavy, but potentially do
more raw damage than either swords or polearms.  They are also effective against
monsters that resist edged weapons (swords and polearms).  Critical hits with
blunt weapons occasionally stun monsters.
     Clubbing reduces the cost of other skills:  Swordsmanship by 1/4, Jousting
by 1/4.

Jousting   (cost - 12):
     Determines hit chance and critical hits with pole-mounted edged weapons
(spears, axes, halberds, quarterstaves, etc.).  Allows characters to wield
heavier weapons without penalty and handle two weapons at once more effectively.
Increases any armor bonus that polearms provide (bonus can be up to five times
normal).
     The more powerful polearms often require two hands to use, a real
disadvantage.  However, many polearms grant significant bonuses to armor class,
and critical hits with polearms directly rob monsters of energy.
     Jousting reduces the cost of other skills:  Swordsmanship by 1/2, Clubbing
by 1/4.

Archery - Xbows   (cost - 9):
Archery - Bows   (cost - 9):
Archery - Slings   (cost - 7):
     Determines hit chance, critical hits, and power and number of shots with
crossbows, bows, and slings.  Crossbows get higher missile multipliers, bows get
extra shots, and slings get both.  Characters that have taken the Oath of Iron
get the most bonuses and specialist spellcasters get the fewest.  Slingshot are
considered blunt weapons, and are therefore a good backup for characters who
rely on bladed melee weapons.  Arrows and bolts are considered to be edged.
     Archery - Xbows and Archery - Bows reduce the cost of the other by 1/3rd,
and of Archery - Slings by 1/6th.
     Archery - Slings reduces the cost of both Archery - Xbows and Archery -
Bows by 1/6th.

Throwing   (cost - 9):
     Determines hit chance with any thrown object.  Increases the damage and/or
power of many kinds of thrown potions.  With special throwing weapons,
determines chance of critical hits and damage multiplier.  This skill can make
carrying around flasks of oil, mushrooms, or boulders quite handy, and allow you
to turn potions you wouldn't want to drink and well-balanced weapons into deadly
missiles.

Wrestling   (cost - 10):
     Affects hit chance and damage when wrestling.  Sufficient increases in this
skill increase strength and also dexterity, allow you to bash doors and chests
with greater force, tunnel more rapidly, and recover from stuns more quickly.
Good wrestlers get an HP bonus of up to 50.
     Wrestling requires that you not wield a weapon (You can carry a shield,
however).  This combat method doesn't work on non-material beings unless you are
blessed, and will hurt you if you try it on highly poisonous or acidic
creatures, elementals, or vortexes, but is fully effective against monsters that
resist edged and/or blunt weapons.  Wrestling does a lot of damage and sometimes
allows you to rob monsters of energy by throwing them to the ground.  You need
to be quite strong to be a truly effective wrestler.
     If you are a good enough wrestler, and have taken the Oath of Iron, you can
turn your skin to stone (65) or go into a berserk fury (80) at will.  Very
skilled wrestlers who are not wielding a weapon get special immunities:  free
action at a skill of 86, resist sound and stunning at 92, and resist confusion
at 98.

Karate   (cost - 10):
     Affects hit chance and damage when using karate.  Sufficient increases in
this skill increase dexterity and also strength, allow you to dodge better and
become slightly more stealthy, and recover from stuns more quickly.
     Karate requires that you not wield a weapon (You can carry a shield,
however).  This combat method doesn't work on non-material beings unless you are
blessed, and will hurt you if you try it on highly poisonous or acidic
creatures, elementals, or vortexes, but is fully effective against monsters that
resist edged and/or blunt weapons.  Karate does a fair amount of damage and
often inflicts momentary stunning, confusing, or slowing.  You need to be quite
dexterous (and also strong) to be a truly effective user of karate.
     If you are good enough at karate, and have taken the Oath of Iron, you can
sometimes go into a brief trance-like state (90) in which you are highly
resistant to damage.  Very skilled karate users who are not wielding a weapon
get special immunities:  free action at a skill of 86, resist sound and stunning
at 92, and resist confusion at 98.

Spellcasting   (cost - 16):
     Determines the level of spells that can be cast and the raw power of most
spells.

Magical power   (cost - 12):
     Determines the maximum amount of mana you have to spend on magic spells.
Specialist spellcasters can raise this skill to the maximum, spellcasters that
have not taken an Oath cannot raise it above level 50, and non-spellcasters
cannot raise this skill at all.

Wizardry   (cost - 6):
     Determines spell failure chance and reliability for wizards.  Allows you to
learn about base monster mana faster, and even be able to make good guesses
about current mana (especially for well-known monsters).  Protects against mana
draining attacks.
     If you are not a wizard, learning wizardry grants access to a few of the
spells that wizards use as talents:  detect magic (40), semi-controlled
teleportation (70), and mana recovery (75).

Holy Alliance   (cost - 6):
     Determines prayer failure chance and reliability for priests.  Yields
warnings (above about level 55) of demonic creatures, up to and including real-
time detection.  Provides a substantial degree of protection from their blows,
increases critical hit chance*.  Eventually increases intrinsic light range
(this is the only way to get a light radius of five).  Reduces the damage you
take from light, and eventually renders you invulnerable to holy orbs.  Controls
the duration and effectiveness of protection from evil spells.  Improves your
chance of sensing cursed and blessed items.  You cannot learn both Holy Alliance
and Blood Dominion.
     If you are not a priest, learning holy alliance also gives you two special
talents:  sense evil (30) and restore stats (75).

* The extra critical hit chance and protection granted by Holy Alliance, Nature
Lore, and Blood Dominion is greatest for those who have taken the Oath of Iron,
middling for those without a magic realm, and relatively low for magic-users.

Nature Lore   (cost - 6):
     Determines lore failure chance and reliability for druids, and their
ability to forecast the weather.  Yields warnings (above about level 55) of
natural creatures, up to and including full real-time detection.  Provides a
substantial degree of protection from their blows, increases critical hit
chance.  Makes you learn about any monster faster.  Improves personal protection
and hit chance in forested terrain.  Improves your ability to learn about
mushrooms.
     If you are not a druid, learning nature lore also gives you two special
talents:  detect animals (25) and mend self (50).

Blood Dominion   (cost - 6):
     Determines ritual failure chance and reliability for necromancers.  Yields
warnings (above about level 55) of undead creatures, up to and including full
real-time detection.  Provides a substantial degree of protection from their
blows, increases critical hit chance.  Reduces the damage you take from
darkness, and makes it much less likely that you will get the Black Breath.  You
cannot learn both Holy Alliance and Blood Dominion.
     If you are not a necromancer, learning blood dominion also gives you two
special talents:  sense undead (25) and restore experience (85).

Magical Device   (cost - 15):
     Determines success rate with magical devices and all activatable items
except dragon scale mail, and increases their power when used.  Makes recharging
less likely to blow up items.  Allows you to learn the true effects of magical
devices and activatable items more quickly and to automatically sense charges
(70).

Burglary   (cost - 12):
     Allows you to steal objects from monsters, lock doors, and get highly
effective sneak attacks against sleeping monsters and backstabs against fleeing
ones.  Renders you far more silent in all kinds of non-magical combat, and
allows you to set deadly traps for unwary monsters.  Burglars become worse with
heavy melee weapons but much better with light ones as their skills improve.  If
you raise Burglary to the point at which you can steal (level 4), shopkeepers
start to mistrust you; your Charisma drops by 2.  You must join the Burglars'
Guild to get the full effect of increasing your skill past 20 (otherwise it is
halved).
     Burglary reduces the cost of other skills:  Disarming by 3/4, Stealth by
1/3, Dodging by 1/3.
     Burglary grants three talents:  Detect and Nab objects (40), poison ammo
(55), and hit and run (70).  It also grants three special abilities:  stealing
(4), locking doors (7), and trap-setting (10).
                         See the section on burglary.

Perception   (cost - 7):
     This talent improves your ability to find traps and hidden doors.  A
relatively small investment in it gives you hints on unidentified object quality
much more often (this is very useful, and a good reason to pay attention to this
skill early).  It also improves the chance to get full numerical data on the
power of magical devices and activatable items and to automatically sense
charges.
     Perception biases all sort of sighting and awareness rules in your favour.
For example, it allows you (above about level 18) to sometimes "hear" unseen
monsters nearby.  Take this skill high enough, and you will start to get
precognition messages (which can be extremely helpful for a truly skilled
character).  Perception can even help you find essences.
    Perception grants one talent:  Sense area (55).

Stealth   (cost - 6):
     Decreases the amount of innate noise and also most kinds of directed noise
you make.  When you are deliberately "sneaking", when your skill is high
relative to dungeon depth, or when you are moving about in total darkness, the
effects of this skill are maximized.  Increases the power of various
camouflaging and concealment magics.  Most importantly, stealth makes it more
likely that monsters will be generated asleep and reduces the rate at which they
enter the dungeon.
     Stealth reduces the cost of Burglary by 1/3rd of its own cost.
     Stealth grants two talents:  Sneaking (10) and superstealth (75).

Disarming   (cost - 4):
     Improves your ability to safely disarm traps and chests and unlock doors.
The higher you raise it compared to dungeon depth, the more likely that you will
get guaranteed safe disarming (magic, in contrast, is always slightly chancy),
and be able to automatically avoid any trap you walk onto unawares.  A skill of
100 provides perfect disarming and protection.  With very high skill (or high
skill relative to current depth), you can sometimes loot traps as you disarm
them!
     Disarming reduces the cost of Burglary by 3/4ths of its own cost.

Dodging   (cost - 6):
     Improves ability to retain spellpoints when wearing heavy armor.  Gives you
a guaranteed armor class even if you are wearing no armor.  Is the most
important factor in your ability to dodge missiles, both magical and physical,
and some kinds of traps.  Also gives you protection against melee attacks
(especially attempts to steal).
     Other factors can help or hurt your dodging ability and, in extreme cases,
make the game act as though you had no skill at all.  See the talent "dodging"
for how to maximize your dodging ability.  Your character screen takes all
factors into account.
     Dodging reduces the cost of Burglary by 1/3rd of its own cost.

Spell resistance   (cost - 6):
     Increases your saving throw against magical and mental attacks (blinding,
confusion, paralyzation, etc.).  Attention paid to this skill can save your
life...

Weaponsmithing   (cost - 10):
     Once you raise it to 15, allows you to forge melee and throwing weapons
from components found in the dungeon.  Note:  you also need to be moderately
skilled in using the weapon type you are making to get good results.
     Weaponsmithing reduces the cost of Bowmaking by 2/5ths.

Bowmaking   (cost - 10):
     With a skill of 15, allows you to forge missile weapons and missiles from
components found in the dungeon.  Note:  you also need to be moderately skilled
in using the weapon or ammunition you are making to get good results.
     Bowmaking reduces the cost of Weaponsmithing by 2/5ths.

Armor forging   (cost - 14):
     With a skill of 15, allows you to forge armor from components found in the
dungeon.  Armor forging is very powerful, because there are almost no object
qualities that cannot be had with enough skill, good enough components, and a
dash of luck.

Alchemy   (cost - 8):
     Allows you to create potions, scrolls, rings and amulets.  You need a skill
of 10 to create potions and scrolls, and a skill of 35 to create rings and
amulets.

Magical infusion   (cost - 13):
     Infusion is among the most powerful of skills, because it allows you to use
magical essences to control the powers that armor, weapons, and missiles get,
pack essences into potions that explode violently when thrown, and make more
potions and scrolls using a given number of essences.  You need an infusion
skill of 10 to infuse forged items.
     A relatively high Magical infusion skill is essential for reliably finding
essences, especially deep in the dungeon (Perception also helps a little).  You
cannot search for essences at all unless you have a Magical Infusion skill of 10
or higher.
     Infusion grants one talent:  Recharging with essences (30).















