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Skills

Training Points · Training Costs · Bonuses · Skill List

Skills represent how well a character can perform the basic functions of an Adventurer in Elanthia. The basic character skills in GemStone IV are:

Armor Use
Blunt
Brawling
Edged
Pole Arms
Ranged
Shield Use
Thrown
Two-Handed
Climbing
Disarm Traps
First Aid
Perception
Pick Locks
Pick Pockets
Stalk & Hide
Survival
Swimming
Trading
Ambush
Combat Maneuvers
Dodging
Multi-opponent
Two Weapon Combat
Physical Fitness

Arcane Symbols
Harness Power
Magic Item Use
Mana Control
Lore, Elemental
Lore, Mental
Lore, Sorcerous
Lore, Spiritual

Spell Aiming
Spell Research

To learn all of those skills, you must spend training points. Each level, you trade training points for skill ranks.

Training Points

Training points are determined using the following equations:

Physical TP
(25 + (((Aura + Discipline)/2 + Strength + Constitution + Dexterity + Agility)/20))

Mental TP
(25 + (((Aura + Discipline)/2 + Logic + Intuition + Influence + Wisdom)/20))

Note: Prime Requisites count double wherever they are in the training point equations.

Example

For a Bard, with Prime Requisites of Influence and Aura, training points are calculated as:

Physical TP
(25 + (((2*Aura + Discipline)/2 + Strength + Constitution + Dexterity + Agility)/20))

Mental TP
(25 + (((2*Aura + Discipline)/2 + Logic + Intuition + 2*Influence + Wisdom)/20))

Prime Requisites

Profession Prime Requisites Mana Stat(s)
Bard Influence & Aura Influence & Aura
Cleric Wisdom & Intuition Wisdom
Empath Wisdom & Influence Wisdom & Influence
Paladin Strength & Wisdom Wisdom
Ranger Dexterity & Intuition Wisdom
Rogue Agility & Dexterity Aura & Wisdom
Sorcerer Aura & Wisdom Aura & Wisdom
Warrior Strength & Constitution Aura & Wisdom
Wizard Aura & Logic Aura

 

Training Costs
Each skill has two costs: Physical Point Cost and Mental Point Cost. For example, a skill rated as "1,2" would require one physical point, and two mental points in order to successfully train in it.

In addition, you will see a third number in parentheses: (2) This indicates the number of times you may train in a particular skill at each level. IMPORTANT: For multiple training, the skill costs will double for each additional purchase.

Example:

You are a rogue, training in Climbing Skill, which is listed as: "2,1 (2)". You train in it once for a cost of two physical points and one mental point, and then the skill is displayed as: "4,2 (1)". You train in it one more time, and the (1) is changed to (0), meaning you can no longer train in that skill for this level. The next time you go up a level, the cost will be back to "2,1 (2)" and you continue from there.

See the profession pages for skill training costs.

Bonuses
Each time you train in a skill, you will generate a bonus (usually applied to die rolls). The bonuses, as your skill increases, are subject to the law of diminishing returns. The amount of bonus per skill is higher at lower levels (usually about +5 per training) but gradually lessens at higher bonuses to an accumulated value of +1 per training.

Skill List

Armor & Weapon Skills

Armor Use
Armor provides the basic defensive and protective mechanism during combat and melee, so learning to maneuver successfully when wearing it is important.

Less cumbersome types of armor allow you greater mobility, therefore enabling you to evade hits more successfully. Heavier types of armor fend off damage better, but more blows land, since you are not able to evade as quickly. For instance, although full plate armor will make it difficult for a sword to cleave your arm off, you will find yourself getting rather steadily beat up, because you cannot dodge the blows. Some spell attacks may also be modified by degrees depending on armor type worn. Heavier armors will make you more resistant to certain magics (such as Disruption effects) but more vulnerable to others (chain mail and lightning bolts are not a good combination, at least for the wearer).

Spellcasters will find that wearing armor inhibits their magic. Elemental Spellcasters may fail to cast a spell while wearing almost any armor with more bulk than the lightest of soft leather. Leather armor will not restrict any of the spiritual spellcasters, but metal armor will.

Blunt
Training in blunt provides skill in using blunt weapons that crush on impact, rather than slash or puncture. This includes among others, mace, war hammer, morning star, and whips.

Brawling
Brawling is skill in hand-to-hand fighting. It consists of bare-fisted combat, punching, hitting, and striking other targets. This skill is useful if you must defend yourself without a weapon, but there are also a wide variety of brawling weapons which can be used to enhance your brawling skill.

Edged
Edged training allowing you skill bonuses when wielding one-handed edged weapons such as swords, knives, daggers, and axes.

Pole Arms
Training in pole arms provides skill in the use of long-handled or thrusted arms. Pole arms include the javelin, spear, harpoon, trident, lance, and halberd.

Wielders of pole arms may TRIP their opponents in addition to using standard combat moves.

Ranged
Ranged skill provides the ability to use ranged weapons. This group of weapons includes crossbows, both light and heavy, composite bows and short and long bows.

Shield Use
Skill training in shield use allows the character to defend better when using a shield in the left hand. Some factors that also affect how well the shield protects the user are the STANCE you are in (type STANCE HELP in the game for a more in depth description of the various stances) and the quality of the shield you are using. Shields are one of the major factors in defending against any type of missile weapon, including thrown weapons, ranged weapons or magical bolt type attacks.

Thrown
Thrown ability gives one skill and precision when HURLing held weapons. Any weapon may be thrown.

Two-Handed
Skill training here enhances your ability to use those weapons that are so heavy or awkward, you are required to be grasped with both hands. Naturally, if you can use them skillfully, they inflict large amounts of damage. Included in two-handed weapons are both crushing and slashing weapons such as battle axes, clubs, cudgels, picks, flails, war mattocks, staves, and two-handed swords.

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General Skills
In addition to the major skills of arms and spells, your persona can develop many skills that will be useful in moving about the world, fighting, surviving, sojourning, interacting with other players and NPCs, and adding to your enjoyment of the world as a whole. Again, certain professions will find development of some skills easier and more useful than others.

Climbing
Helpful in ascending and descending cliffs, ladders, slopes, and rugged terrain. Reduces the likelihood of falling when crossing certain obstacles, scaling slopes or walls of varying heights.

Climb will allow you to use your Climb skill with your success or failure determined by a modified die roll.

Disarm Traps
Determines your chances of success when neutralizing traps. Some creatures carry chests and other containers, and these are often trapped. In general, the greater your skill in this area, the less likely you are to damage yourself and those in your vicinity when disarming the many varieties of traps you will encounter.

DISARM will allow you to use your Disarm Traps skill with your success or failure determined by a modified die roll.

First Aid
Without a healer nearby, the First Aid skill will help you with the immediate treatment of wounds. First Aid is utilized in order to accurately DIAGNOSE another’s wounds, as well as TEND more severe wounds. If there are medicinal herbs and remedies available, training in the First Aid skill reduces the roundtime incurred. Like the Survival skill, First Aid contributes to the success of skinning certain beasts, whose pelts can then be sold. When skinning an animal, one rank of the First Aid skill is equal to one rank of the Survival skill when factoring success. Using the APPRAISE command, First Aid training assists in estimating the price of creature skins. This skill also increases resistance against certain poisons and diseases as well as the success of properly piercing (PIERCE) another character with piercing jewelry.

Perception
First and foremost, the Perception skill affects how much information your character is able to gather from the surroundings. Watching or searching an area, room, object or being can reveal important features that you can use to your advantage.

It is also possible to SEARCH for characters, depending upon your Perception skill versus the Stalking and Hiding skill of the concealed individuals. The Perception skill is automatically factored in if someone tries to hide in the room from you or stalk you. Additionally, the Perception skill assists in spotting players attempting to move stealthily in and out of the area.

The Perception skill allows for greater success in foraging (FORAGE), spotting traps (DISARM), and spotting characters that may attempt to STEAL from you.

In combat, the Perception skill provides a bonus to strike at an AIMed body location on a specified target. This skill also provides an attack strength (AS) bonus for ranged attacks and a defense strength (DS) bonus for users of missile weapons.

Pick Locks
As in disarming traps, this helps you to open locks, assuming you have the necessary equipment.

PICK will allow you to try the Pick Lock skill, with the right tools. Your success at opening the lock is determined by a die roll, your statistics (Wisdom and Dexterity), your skill, magical aids given by spells, and the difficulty of the lock you are attempting to open.

Syntax:

PICK CHEST WITH LOCKPICK

Pick Pockets
One way of supplementing your income, if you are prepared to face the consequences. Includes the ability to appropriate the wealth of other players and inhabitants of town.

Thieves and others who wish to delve into the purse or pocket of another character or frisk a creature, hopefully without its knowledge, can give it a whirl by using the command STEAL <target>.

Stalk & Hide
Training in this skill allows you to hide and to follow another while remaining hidden. Success is determined by your own skill at Stalking and Hiding and the Perception skill of your quarry. This skill is often combined with the Ambush skill.

Survival
This skill represents a character's ability to survive in the wilderness. Success in performing actions such as foraging for edible or medicinal herbs, finding certain hidden passageways, building a fire, or skinning an animal is affected by this skill. When skinning an animal, one rank of the Survival skill is equal to one rank of the First Aid skill when factoring success. Training in the Survival skill also assists in moving through rough, treacherous, or otherwise cumbersome terrain, as well as avoiding some natural hazards.


Swimming
Useful in preventing drowning when traversing bodies of water, intentionally or unintentionally.

Swim will allow you to use your Swimming skill with your success or failure determined by a modified die roll.

Trading
Skill training in trading gives you an advantage when dealing with the merchants who supply you with the necessities you require in order to embark on your adventure and maintain yourself while in the world of Elanthia.

Trading skills are brought to bear when you deal with the merchants in the shops of the Landing. By using the command ORDER you initiate bartering.

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Magic Skills

Magic skills are not easy to master in Elanthia, for the bending of Elements to your will and the maintenance of spiritual mana from the deities takes great dedication, study and perseverance. However, the power that can eventually be acquired is considerable. As you might expect, pure spell users such as wizards and clerics have the least difficulty in mastering skill levels for magic use. Hybrid spell users (sorcerers) have slightly higher costs, and semi-spell users (bards and rangers) must expend yet more energy. Rogues and warriors have a very difficult time learning the mystic arts.

Arcane Symbols
Skill with scrolls will allow you to decipher, examine and read runes and special spells inscribed on paper, scrolls, parchment, and similar material.

Harness Power
By training in this skill, the character becomes more capable of tapping into the mana weave that encompasses and infuses Elanthia. Each training will increase the character's maximum Mana capacity.

Lore, Elemental

Fire
A character training in this skill will be more adept in the use of fire-related magic. This can include casting more powerful fire spells, better control over spells that are normally random in elemental effect, and access to spells that are not available to those ignorant of the secrets of Fire magic.

Earth
A character training in this skill will be more adept in the use of earth-related magic. This can include casting more powerful earth-related spells, better control over spells that are normally random in elemental effect, and access to spells that are not available to those ignorant of the secrets of Earth magic.

Water
A character training in this skill will be more adept in the use of water-related magic. This can include casting more powerful water and ice spells, better control over spells that are normally random in elemental effect, and access to spells that are not available to those ignorant of the secrets of Water magic. When coupled with training in Air Lore, a character may also become more adept in using Storm/Electrical magic.

Air
A character training in this skill will be more adept in the use of air-related magic. This can include casting more powerful air and wind spells, better control over spells that are normally random in elemental effect, and access to spells that are not available to those ignorant of the secrets of Air magic. When coupled with training in Water Lore, a character may also become more adept in using Storm/Electrical magic.

Lore, Mental

Telepathy
A character training in this skill will be more adept in the use of Mental sphere magic involving thought and emotion-affecting spells.

Divination
A character training in this skill will be more adept in the use of Mental sphere spells that provide knowledge, such as portents of the future and visions of distant places.

Transference
A character training in this skill will be more adept in the use of Mental sphere magic involving displacement, teleportation, and supernatural travel.

Transformation
A character training in this skill will be more adept in the use of Mental sphere magic involving the transformation of their physical condition. Empathic healing falls under this school of training, as do abilities such as turning the caster's limbs into fierce claws or a sharp blade, or hardening the caster's skin to protect against attacks.

Manipulation
A character training in this skill will be more adept in the use of Mental sphere magic involving the manipulation of matter, such as telekinetically moving a large boulder that blocks a path, or causing an object to burst into flames.

Lore, Sorcerous

Necromancy
A character training in this skill will be more adept in the use of necromantic skills and magic.

Demonology
A character training in this skill will be more adept in the use of skills and magic involving the demonic realms.

Lore, Spiritual

Religion
This skill represents knowledge and understanding of the doctrine and principles of the Arkati pantheon, in general. Clerics with advanced training in this skill will have a focus on the doctrine and principles of the deity with which they are aligned, and will experience an improved ability to channel spiritual power from their patron deity.

Blessings
This skill represents knowledge and understanding of the many prayers, rituals, and invocations used to gain the favor of the lesser and greater spirits. While all casters with access to spells of blessing will gain benefits from those spells, knowledge of this lore improves the caster's ability when obtaining blessings.

Spirit Summoning
This skill represents advanced knowledge of summoning rites for lesser and greater spirits.

Magic Item Use
Staves, rods and wands are powerful magical items, which take skill to use and practice to master and wave effectively. They are items that have inherent spells that can be used regardless of the caster's level, and the built-in ability to cast those spells when used properly and skillfully. More powerful wands require more skill to use effectively.

Mana Control (Elemental, Spiritual, Mental)

The skill of sharing mana involves the transfer of energy, or mana points, between individuals. Any race or profession may develop the capacity to transfer mana points to another character, in order to allow the recipient to use those points toward spellcasting.

This skill determines a character's ability to manipulate mana in the appropriate sphere (elemental, spiritual, mental), allowing the character to transfer mana to others who have this skill and providing greater control over the use of mana in some Elemental spells.

The command to transfer mana points between two spell users is SEND, in the form SEND <amount> <name of recipient>. The one to receive the mana must be in the same room as you are. The amount of mana successfully transferred will depend on the sender's Mana Share skill, and the skill of the recipient.

Spell Aiming
Aimed spells are the magical equivalent of weapons in the sense that they create and focus natural force, hurling it at one or more targets. Skill development in aimed spells applies only to elemental spells, such as major and minor fire, shocks and the like.

Spell Research
When you choose to develop your skill in spell research, you will be told the cost in training points per rank, the number of times you are permitted to raise that skill during any one training phase, and then you will be asked which circle you wish to attempt to learn. Training points represent the amount of your character's development devoted to discovering the basic concepts involved in the use of spells, through reading, meditation, and study.

After allocating the required number of training points, you are asked to choose the particular spell circle you wish to attempt to learn. Up to three options will appear, depending on which profession you have chosen, from among the minor spell circles, major spell circles, and profession-based spell circles.

Different professions must expend different training costs to learn spells.

Note that the spells of each circle must be learned in consecutive order. To learn the 10th spell of the empath circle, you must first learn spells one through nine. If you have the training points, you can learn multiple spells/level, however you can only cast spells which are your level or below. A level 3 wizard can learn a level 4 spell, but cannot actually use the spell until level 4.

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Combat Skills

Ambush
This is the ability to make a very precise attack, employing the element of surprise. To use your ambush skill, you must approach your target undetected and be able to strike before the quarry can react to defend or strike back. You first hide, and then, while hidden, make your attack. Enhanced skill in Ambush then modifies your attack by increasing the amount of damage once you have succeeded in hitting the target.

Click here to learn more about ambushing opponents.

Combat Maneuvers
Combat maneuvers training is a rather broad skill that covers many of the subtle "tricks of the trade" for melee combat. The more obvious benefits of the skill are the bonuses to attack and defense it provides. The bonus is dependant upon the stance you are in. When in more offensive stances it will help you hit harder, while in more defensive stances it will help you defend better compared to someone without it. The subtle aspects of the skill are found when trying to dodge special "maneuver" type attacks that one might face. Combat maneuvers skill figures into some but not all of these situations.

View the Combat Maneuvers Skill List.

Dodging
A character training in this skill learns combat techniques to deflect or avoid blows, provided that the character is not completely incapacitated (sleeping, paralyzed, etc.). The character's Defensive Strength (DS) and ability to avoid many maneuver attacks take the Dodging skill into account.

Multi-opponent Combat
Multi-opponent combat training is designed to give the character an advantage when fighting more than one enemy. Some aspects of it are the ability to strike rapidly more than once at one or more enemies, to defend oneself better than an untrained character against multiple attackers, and the ability spellcasters to use certain spells more effectively against more than one creature.

Click here to learn more about combating multiple opponents.

Physical Fitness
The Physical Fitness skill is the primary factor that determines how much damage your character can withstand before succumbing to death. Every time you train in this skill, your character’s health points (HP) will increase (usually around 1 to 10 health points). The maximum attainable health is based on your character’s race (see the table below) plus your character’s Constitution bonus. For example, the maximum HP for a Dwarf with a Constitution bonus of 23 would be 140 for being a Dwarf plus 23 for Constitution bonus, for a total of 163.

Race  

Max HP

Aelotoi   120
Burghal Gnome   90
Dark Elf   120
Dwarf   140
Elf   130
Erithian   120
Forest Gnome   100
Giantman   200
Half-Elf   135
Half-Krolvin   165
Halfing   100
Human   150
Sylvankind   130

Physical Fitness also helps with HP recovery, stamina pool and stamina recovery, some swimming, some climbing, some maneuvers, as well as resisting disease and poison. Training in the Physical Fitness skill also helps to reduce fatigue time from MSTRIKE and is the primary contributing factor to Damage Reduction.

Two Weapon Combat
Two weapon training gives the character the ability to use a weapon effectively with the left hand. If the character devotes the same amount of training to two-weapon combat as he or she does to a weapon skill, they will swing that weapon just as well with the left hand. This will effectively give the character two attacks at once instead of one when holding weapons they have trained with in both hands. This added offense comes not without price however. Without a shield their defenses will be lower, especially to any missile or bolt type weapon. In addition to the lower defenses, most characters will find that swinging two weapons will slow them down compared to swinging one weapon at a time. This slowness can be mitigated somewhat by experimenting with smaller, faster weapons for speed.

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