What are the implications of the starting skills?

[Katie]

Are there any skills that are must-haves at the start of the game? Is the game setup in a way where it's possible to make things harder for yourself in the long term?

[RamMack]

At least 1 character should have pet pal skill. I wouldn't say a must have, you get more info and quests with it. I didn't have it at first, I think I missed some stuff, or made life harder.

[Robin of Spiritwood]

STATS:-
The game combat engine is built almost entirely around Spells or "Special Skills"( which are essentially Spells), and they come in 3 flavours:

Intelligence Spells: 4 Elemental schools & Witchcraft
Dexterity Spells: Scoundrel & Expert Marksman
Strength Spells: Man-at-Arms alone

So as a general rule of thumb, Intelligence stat gives the most versatility to any build. Rogues, Rangers and Fighters all benefit the most by adding some Intelligence to access Int-based Spell Schools.

The ONLY stat that is indispensable other than the main combat stats is Perception.

Without at least one character on the team with a good perception level, your squad will die to traps. You will never find half the treasure. Rooms requiring spotting hidden buttons will remain closed. How much? Well Perception of 7 should get you through Cyseal, Perception of 9-10 will do for Luculla, and you will benefit from about 12 by end-game. However you can get a lot from gear bonuses, so investing around 3-4 points over the course of the game should be the most you need to do.

The Talent "Light Stepper" gets you 2 points effectively in Perception- and you can get Perception bonus stats on helms & amulets, Bows and so on. It will pay off - big time.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Utility SKILLS:-

Only needed on ONE character. Can be a hireling you bench at the base, if you are OCD about spending points, but you can do fine investing on any one of your people.

Crafting Loremaster and Blacksmithing are all useful. You can get away with investing just one point in each, if careful. Gear and the Scientist perk can do the rest, and one of the hired Companions already comes with that Perk built in. So Crafting & Blacksmith on the same person. Preferably somebody strong, as they will be carrying goods, metal, ore, etc.

Or you can just take "PAckMule" talent. Or just move items round between people.

Loremaster is the most useful one in the field. Use the Loremaster to Examine enemies ( R-click on them) to spot weaknesses. Loremaster also lets you use gear as you find it - just get a magnifying glass item to scan items. Loremaster can go on anyone. A hired companion Ranger has points invested here if you take her.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Indispensable one point wonders:

Take Scoundrel Skill. ONE point. You can then get Haste, Invisibility and Winged Feet( immune to surfaces) on that character. Preferably the one with Perception. This is your Recon man.

It's not essential, but some Telekinesis on the Recon is great for getting things/moving stuff around. He can do all the stealing, trapspotting, secret door opening, etc before you bring in the heavy hitters.

____________________________________________________________________________

Most Underrated Investment:

LEADERSHIP.

Leadership points makes the whole team stronger. Very very valuable.

[Mup]

Originally posted by Robin of Spiritwood:

STATS:-
The game combat engine is built almost entirely around Spells or "Special Skills"( which are essentially Spells), and they come in 3 flavours:

Intelligence Spells: 4 Elemental schools & Witchcraft
Dexterity Spells: Scoundrel & Expert Marksman
Strength Spells: Man-at-Arms alone

So as a general rule of thumb, Intelligence stat gives the most versatility to any build. Rogues, Rangers and Fighters all benefit the most by adding some Intelligence to access Int-based Spell Schools.

The ONLY stat that is indispensable other than the main combat stats is Perception.

Without at least one character on the team with a good perception level, your squad will die to traps. You will never find half the treasure. Rooms requiring spotting hidden buttons will remain closed. How much? Well Perception of 7 should get you through Cyseal, Perception of 9-10 will do for Luculla, and you will benefit from about 12 by end-game. However you can get a lot from gear bonuses, so investing around 3-4 points over the course of the game should be the most you need to do.

The Talent "Light Stepper" gets you 2 points effectively in Perception- and you can get Perception bonus stats on helms & amulets, Bows and so on. It will pay off - big time.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Utility SKILLS:-

Only needed on ONE character. Can be a hireling you bench at the base, if you are OCD about spending points, but you can do fine investing on any one of your people.

Crafting Loremaster and Blacksmithing are all useful. You can get away with investing just one point in each, if careful. Gear and the Scientist perk can do the rest, and one of the hired Companions already comes with that Perk built in. So Crafting & Blacksmith on the same person. Preferably somebody strong, as they will be carrying goods, metal, ore, etc.

Or you can just take "PAckMule" talent. Or just move items round between people.

Loremaster is the most useful one in the field. Use the Loremaster to Examine enemies ( R-click on them) to spot weaknesses. Loremaster also lets you use gear as you find it - just get a magnifying glass item to scan items. Loremaster can go on anyone. A hired companion Ranger has points invested here if you take her.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Indispensable one point wonders:

Take Scoundrel Skill. ONE point. You can then get Haste, Invisibility and Winged Feet( immune to surfaces) on that character. Perferably the one with Perception. This is your Recon man.

It's not essential, but some Telekinesis on the Recon is great for getting things/moving stuff around. He can do all the stealing, trapspotting, secret door opening, etc before you bring in the heavy hitters.

____________________________________________________________________________

Most Underrated Investment:

LEADERSHIP.

Leadership points makes the whole team stronger. Very very valuable.

Great Tips. Thanks

[Ssenkrad_II]

Great advice Robin! Here is my thread:

http://steamcommunity.com/app/373420/discussions/0/451848854986496111/

A few notes on Robin's post:

- "Burn My Eyes" will add +2 to perception, as well as potions and gear; you might need such a high "base stat" in Per end game if you use skills/potions correctly!

-Winged Feet should be "Hoverfeet"

A few notes to OP:

- If you are playing on "Normal" you shouldn't have a problem with anything, any class will do fine the entire game and it is REALLY hard to make the game "unbeatable", even the end game

- Summons such as "summon spider" are some of the most useful early game skills on any difficulty, followed by the heavy CC's such as "Battering Ram" which can hit multiples

- As Robin pointed out, Int and Int builds are the more versatile, but not only that deal the most damage end game on any difficulty. Can you beat the game on any difficulty without them? I am sure you can, but it is much easier with them. Hail Storm is the most talked about skill in the game currently and it comes in the Hydro skill tree, which also contains your healing spells. A level 4 in Hydro is a no brainer.

[TradeGy]

Some skills that I have found useful on Tactician/Honour mode.

If you're planning on making a Dex/Str based character these are pretty good as Int does not actually have an influence over the success on these.

• Summon Spider (Geomancy)
  
• Boulder Bash (Geomancy)
  
• Midnight Oil (Geomancy)
  
• Teleportation (Aerotheurge)
  
• Regeneration (Hydrosophist)

The Geomancy skills (Boulder/Oil) are best paired with the Flare (Pyromancy) skill preferably on the other character.

I'd recommend starting out specialized and branching out as you progress. In the beginning I'd recommend focusing on either Int or Str as Dex based weapons are weak towards the majority of the early enemies, this is mostly importent when playing on Tactician/Honour.

EDIT for spelling errors.

[Raisa]

Played about 64 hours.
Pet pal is fun to have.
Leadership skill is good to have.
The rain spell and teleport is also good early spells.
You definitly need some early healing spell at lvl 1 or 2.
Pods do not nearly heal you as much as a good spell does.
Also, every summon spell is godlike.
Quantity -> Quality.

[Ssenkrad_II]

Originally posted by Mfoman:

Played about 64 hours.
Pet pal is fun to have.
Leadership skill is good to have.
The rain spell and teleport is also good early spells.
You definitly need some early healing spell at lvl 1 or 2.
Pods do not nearly heal you as much as a good spell does.
Also, every summon spell is godlike.
Quantity -> Quality.

You have put in a single hour into the Enhanced Edition. Too much has changed for you to give advice without playing amigo... Might want to look up some information on the changes yourself!

EDIT: you also have <30% of the achievements and have yet to even complete the game once?