Best way to spend training points?

[dookieshed]

Hey everyone,

I'm at level 18 on my Paladin and I've held off on spending training points because A.) It seems like skills will level up on their own, and B.) I don't know if there's something I shoud be saving up for later.

The reason I've decided to make a post about this is that I just started training up 2H Blunt from skill lvl 1. I'm using a Baton of Faith so when I hit 20 I'll be skilled up and ready to do serious damage.
Anyway, the training is grueling and slow.

Is this something worth dumping some training points on, or should I be saving up for something important?

Should I spend points on things that are slow and costly to level, like Bind Wound (just as example, I'm sure there are harder things :p)

Advice appreciated!

[Swiftyfist]

Cap out all your tradeskills with skillpoints while you can!

[loramin]

Here's my treatise on training points (shamelessly stolen from a post I made elsewhere):

Skill points aren't something you need to worry about min/maxing: every skill in the list can be acquired without skill points (well except certain class skills, but they only become available at new levels, when you get a fresh batch of points anyway).

In general the following skills are popular targets for skill points:

Class Skills: Skills like Meditate and Dodge won't start increasing until you spend at least one training point in them, so spending that first point on them is probably the most important use of skill points.

Research: This one is big for Int casters, because Research is a pain to raise without points and you can use points to raise it above 20 (unlike other tradeskills, which cap at 20)

Tradeskills: If you plan to do a tradeskill (eg. Tailoring), you can save yourself some time and money by using points for the first 20 skill ranks (vs. buying and combining stuff repeatedly, which is how you have to raise tradeskills above 20).

Languages: If you ever want to learn (say) Elder Dragon (there's no real in-game reason, it's just for fun) then you can get started by spending a single training point on it. Without that you have to find someone else who knows Elder Dragon and get them to talk to you in-game for awhile until you get a skill rank in it.

Sense Heading: Many people bind this skill to a movement key, so it gets hit constantly and skills up as a result. If you don't do that this skill is a pain to level up, so many people like to use skill points on it.

Swimming: If you don't want to swim in circles for awhile skill points can save you some time.

Weapon Skills: If you use (for instance) a one-hand slashing weapon to level up for awhile, then suddenly one day you find a cool piercing weapon, using that weapon will be painful for awhile. This is because you will have a low Piercing skill and thus will rarely hit anything. If you keep all of your weapon skills close to max this isn't a problem, but if you let one lag behind and later want to improve it skill points can be handy.

I might be forgetting a few, but the main idea is that optimally you want to save them for the skills that have the biggest time/plat cost to raise without the points. But even if you don't use your points optimally, it's really not a huge deal: swimming just takes some time swimming in circles, tradeskills aren't all that expensive for the first 20 points, etc. Just don't miss the first point in new class skills, or you won't get to (say) Meditate for a whole level.

[Baler]

1 point into things that require training.
1 point into every language.

Left over points I'd recommend buffing up a tradekskill (research if you're a caster and or even care)

I advise against dumping points into a weapon skill, language or something else silly like that. You only get them up till you hit 60. Make them count where they can.

You don't need to train...
tradeskills, Swimming, Casting Skills, Alcohol Tolerance, probably others I'm forgetting..
...in order to raise them from 0.

[skarlorn]

1 point into things that require training.
1 point into every language.

Left over points I'd recommend buffing up a tradekskill (research if you're a caster and or even care)

I advise against dumping points into a weapon skill, language or something else silly like that. You only get them up till you hit 60. Make them count where they can.

You don't need to train...
tradeskills, Swimming, Casting Skills, Alcohol Tolerance, probably others I'm forgetting..
...in order to raise them from 0.

[loramin]

I advise against dumping points into a weapon skill, language or something else silly like that. You only get them up till you hit 60. Make them count where they can.

It's true you don't need to train "tradeskills, Swimming, Casting Skills, Alcohol Tolerance" ... but you don't need to train anything else either, except the first point of your class skills. Given enough time you could max out all of your character's skills without spending more than ten points.

The other 290+ points exist only to save time (and, for tradeskills, money). So while it's true that weapon, casting, trade, etc. skills can all be raised "by hand" without points, since you have to spend those points on something the logical choice is "whichever skills that you care about are the biggest pain to raise without points".

If you're level 50 and you just got a new piercing weapon but your Piercing skill is at 5 it's very likely that raising it without points is going to be a hassle . And if you want to speak Elder Dragon but no one you know speaks it, spending one point and then practicing with a friend will be way faster that trying to find someone to teach it to you.

[Cecily]

You really should just use them for primer skills and freebie points for tradeskills. Tradeskills aren't something you should spend any more time on than you have to.

-250 tailor
-250 Brewer
-250 Poison
-235? Fletcher

/wrist.. literally. Got some carpal tunnel symptoms at one point.

[Baler]

I dumped most of my points that I used into research on my mage. Simply because training it was such a time sink. Collecting from all over the world to craft practice runes which don't give guaranteed gains. And if I recall I also spent a few points in JC to help save a lot of plat early on.

I trained 2h blunt with OT hammer from 0 to cap. lol not a point spent there. This actually brings up an interesting idea...

Points in 2h blunt for OT Hammer? Higher skill = more chance to hit = more chance to proc! right? RIGHT?!

Best points you'll ever spend.. 2h blunt. Heard it here first.

[Cecily]

I've got a little skill in everything on Wyntir for her shawl. Cec is ~170 pottery for sealed vials. Rogue WIS made that hands down the worst one I did. 200 or higher fletchering on 3 characters. 200 smithing on Ranger... Yeah.

[Jimjam]

Languages; when you create new chat windows and it bugs out into a strange language you might end up looking slightly less inept.

[Cecily]

Languages were a dumb gimmick with zero functionality on normal servers, and on FV they were a dumb gameplay interrupting gimmick.

[Jimjam]

Don't listen to Cecily, she just wants rogues to maintain their monopoly on Thieves' Cant so they can continue to scheme against you in secret.

[Cecily]

Languages were a dumb gimmick with zero functionality on normal servers, and on FV they were a dumb gameplay interrupting gimmick.

Kind of like trade skills.. ha.

[Baler]

Language is cool for RP or just telling things secretly to other nerds who understand you.
Tradeskills are a plat sink. There's no way around saying it any other way.

While this thread is still active...
Does anyone know how far you can train a tradeskill with points? Is there a limit? I know some skills have limits.

[loramin]

Does anyone know how far you can train a tradeskill with points? Is there a limit? I know some skills have limits.

20 points per tradeskill, except Research (which I believe has no limit).