Best skills to upgrade: a discussion [Heavy Spoilers!]

[Hannya]

Now that I'm on my sixth playthrough I absolutely have favorite skills which I'll upgrade over others, sometimes even skipping learning a new skill to upgrade a better one. Still, I feel like there are others which I could learn their true value, so can we chat a bit about this? I'll list the ones I love and a bit of my reasoning behind it, so BEWARE gameplay spoilers ahead.

It's a game about words and books so let's start with the inks:

*Inks of Power, Inks of Revelation, Inks of Containment, Transformations and Liberations, Insects and Nectars*

It took me a while to understand that Transformations and Insects are "Inks of" skills in disguise. On my Magnate playthrough I was crafting Encaustum Terminale before I opened a third of the house rooms. Their crafting requirements are pretty much linear too, only Inks of Revelation needing a second auxiliary skill to craft the Xanthotic Essence. Rushing Encaustum can make book reading much easier which in turn will open many possibilities for a librarian. That's not even mentioning the other inks or beverages they can craft.


For Tools:

*Sacra Solis Invicti, Sacra Liminae, Lockworks and Clockworks, Resurgences and Emergences*

Starting with the Sacra skills, both can craft Mazarine Fife(perfect tool for Sky assistants) and use two Fifes to craft great persistent memories. We get 6 Sky from the fifes alone so it's not even hard to constantly craft the memories. Out of the two, I give Solis Invicti priority for it's Lantern principle and Uzult crafting. Lockworks is highly praised for the Knock crafts, making it a linear path to the best tool for unlocking rooms, but having high Sky principle earlygame is also great for reading the many sky books we seem to always get. Last and somewhat least, Resurgences is the only skill which can craft Pale Mommet at the Loom. Resurgences + Drums and Dances is my go-to combo for Mommet crafting.

Honorable mention to any skill that can craft Dearday Lens but it's a Prentice craft so it's not really a priority for upgrading.


For Memories:

*Edicts Martial, Drums and Dances, Coil and Chasm, Sacra Skills*

Edicts Martial crafting Old Wound, Wormwood Dream AND Forbidden Epic from the Moon principle is the best we can get. Three persistent memories, each with at least one 3+ principle and craftable with memories... it's almost too strong. With the amount of 2+ Moon memories they're also pretty easy to craft in a Moon altar. Drums and Dances with Heart gives Thunderskin's Paean and turns it into Swaddled Thunder, making it similar to Lockworks in that it's self-sufficient for it's Keeper recipe. It is also the only skill that can craft Hive's Lament, a strong and persistent Nectar memory. Coil and Chasm is a skill I haven't really used yet but it can craft the stronger Scale memories and has it's benefits in the Nectar crafts as well. Sacra Skills with Keeper-level Sky recipes are good for the persistent memories.


And for Easy of Use:

*Pyroglyphics*

It can craft Iotic Essence and Xanthotic Essence at Scholar-level, I'll usually upgrade it as an auxiliary skill for this reason.


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What other skills do you consider good for upgrading? Do you also have favorites? After writing this I feel like I'm behind on my beverage crafting but those I would only look into after getting the above resources and with the update that makes it possible to order beverages it seems like it's not really a priority in terms of investment/reward.

[andersnesbo]

Agreed and same on all fronts on my end. I also love Preliminal Meter for the same reason as Edicts Martial as it gives access to 3 persistent memories (2 rose ones and A Curious Hunch which has 4 knock and 3? grail amongst other things). A bit harder to craft the rose ones in my experiences but well worth it. Persistence crafting is great as it makes it so much easier to upgrade skills as you get them.

[Runix]

I would add Putrefactions & Calcinations to your first list - it's an ink-crafting skill in disguise. Four inks for the early and mid game, very useful.

Weaving & Knotworking is a great skill, not for its namesake crafting, but for Perhibiate, which makes the early game so much easier. You really only need it at its base level, but I often upgrade it once or twice so I can crank out the ink without even having to add memories.

What might actually be useful is a "most useless skills" list - I keep having a hard time deciding which skills to slot into the journal first!

[Ymelia]

I used Purification & Exalatation as a utility skill, it gives Xanthotic essence and Ascend Harmony as a sky peristant memory, I affectionate it cause it was kind of my first step in middle game and it heals corruption.

What your policy for the anti cursed-corruption skill ? I used to select some in my "skill-to-up" roster, but we agree that the aspect you had to provide to "cure" a book is never the same that the one of your healing skill ? (aka you need the healing skill and a bunch of powerful memory/soul to manage it.

[andersnesbo]

For healing as far as i know the only skill that will ever have the "correct" aspects is the Heart/Winter one Quenchings and Quellings. I tend to use persistent memories for them, since the higher level ones tend to have multiple high level aspects to them so you only need a base level part of the soul to reach the corruption level. Perhibiate and yewgall ink are also go to healing items for me.

[Stim The One]

I have a few skills that I found "reliable" for getting rid of book infestations, as some DO have the right aspect combined with the ability to purge an infestation. Quenchings and Quellings, Maggephene Mysteries, Resurgences and Emergences.

Glassblowing and vesselcrafting is usually something I keep low for a second source of amethyst ampoules. Preliminal meter is something almost NEEDED to get that curious hunch and the rose memories.

And how could you NOT mention Resurgences and Emergences as your PRIME method of getting mommets? At least until we get some station where we can use grail and fabric at the same time, that one is almost a requirement.

Hm, never thought to invest that much in Sacra soli. Maybe I should try it sometime. I'm more of a fan of glaziery and lightsmithing because I can make uzult and dearday lenses, usually with auroral contemplations to make refulgin and xanthotic essence. And a great fan of strings and songs because they're easier to find and upgrade, but I did start to see the point of drums and dances.

[somebodybond]

İlk olarak Ymelia tarafından gönderildi:

I used Purification & Exalatation as a utility skill, it gives Xanthotic essence and Ascend Harmony as a sky peristant memory, I affectionate it cause it was kind of my first step in middle game and it heals corruption.

What your policy for the anti cursed-corruption skill ? I used to select some in my "skill-to-up" roster, but we agree that the aspect you had to provide to "cure" a book is never the same that the one of your healing skill ? (aka you need the healing skill and a bunch of powerful memory/soul to manage it.

There are a few skills that have a matching aspect for contamination removal:

• Herbs & Infusions has Nectar for Keeperskin removal.
  
• Meniscate Reflections has Forge for Actinic Theoplasma removal.
  
• Quenchings & Quellings has Heart for Chionic Theoplasma removal.
  
• There may be ones for Bloodlines/Winkwell as well; I haven't actually run into those in-game since I started keeping track, so idk yet.

[somebodybond]

İlk olarak Runix tarafından gönderildi:

What might actually be useful is a "most useless skills" list - I keep having a hard time deciding which skills to slot into the journal first!

At the risk of stating the obvious, languages can/should be slotted in early (or as soon as you get them), since they can't be used for crafting.

[Stim The One]

İlk olarak Ymelia tarafından gönderildi:

• There may be ones for Bloodlines/Winkwell as well; I haven't actually run into those in-game since I started keeping track, so idk yet.

Maggephene mysteries for the moon for winkwell, resurgences and emergences for the moth for bloodlines.