Pillars of Eternity Wiki
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'''Skills''' are a core part of gameplay in {{poe1}} and {{poe2}}. Skills come to play in a variety of different contexts and partially determine how the player character or their followers can interact with the world around them. A character's skill level is represented as a number, which in turn represents their proficiency in performing certain tasks, as well as their knowledge of fields associated with that skill.
'''Skills''' can be used outside of combat for a variety of purposes and they grant auxiliary combat bonuses. The five skills are Stealth, Athletics, Lore, Mechanics and Survival. Every [[class]] gains initial proficiency bonus in two skills, but not limited to them. Non-combat skills are gained separately from combat skills([[Ability|Abilities]], [[Talent]]s) and they do not use the same resources.
 
   
==Description==
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==Gameplay==
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Many skills have a direct impact on game mechanics, and allow your character to perform specialized actions like stealth, detecting traps, picking locks, or reading scrolls. A more skilled individual will perform these tasks with ease, and will have a higher rate of success.
Skill affect character stats, interaction with items and new dialogue options, and can be used to avoided fighting. There will often be ways to avoid fighting. Examples: standard methods of talking your way out of a fight or sneaking around an encounter, but there will be other ways too. Perhaps you can re-sanctify a desecrated cemetery to prevent any further undead from rising, or maybe figuring out a way across a ruined bridge will always avoid the bandits on this side of the river.
 
   
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Some skills grant auxiliary combat bonuses, either directly affecting [[attributes]] - or other combat mechanics.
During any situation where a skill is checked against a challenge’s level of difficulty, the party member with the highest relevant skill is represented as the starting benchmark. If their skill outweighs the difficulty score, the player’s efforts succeed.<ref name="manual"/>
 
   
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Outside of combat, skills play a large part in dialogue and scripted interactions, where they can be "checked" to overcome an obstacle, and determine whether a character succeeds or fails to perform an action. Having more points in a skill can also unlock additional dialogue options with NPCs, which can be invaluable when pursuing a specific outcome for a quest or conversation.
Some items are used in different scenarios to alter how skill checks occur. These items are categorized as ingredients and helpers.
 
Ingredients are used for recipes, and are typically consumed in the process. Helpers come into play during scripted interactions, where
 
the presence of an item during a scenario (e.g. having rope at a ledge) can shift the trajectory of the narrative.<ref name="manual"/>
 
   
==Skill list==
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==Skills==
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{{main|Pillars of Eternity skills|Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire skills}}
{|class="wikitable"
 
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===In ''{{game|poe1}}''===
! style="width:150px;" | Skill
 
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In {{poe1}} the five skills are:
! style="min-width:250px;" | Description
 
 
* [[Stealth]]
! style="min-width:250px;" |Bonus per Point
 
 
* [[Athletics]]
|-
 
! [[Stealth]]
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* [[Lore]]
 
* [[Mechanics]]
| ''Stealth allows characters of any class to attempt to avoid being seen or heard. It is used automatically whenever the character is in [[Scouting mode]]. The higher the character's skill, the closer they can get to enemies before being detected.''
 
 
* [[Survival]]
|style="text-align:center;"|[[File:point1-icon.png]]
 
  +
|-
 
 
Every [[class]] gains an initial proficiency bonus in two skills, but not limited to them. Non-combat skills are gained separately from combat skills ([[Ability|Abilities]], [[Talent]]s), and they do not use the same resources.
! [[Athletics]]
 
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| ''Adventuring is tiring work. Traveling, fighting, and scrambling up fallen statues can take its toll. The Athletics skill counters the effects of accrued Fatigue, allowing characters to go farther and fight longer before they suffer penalties. In conversations and scripted interactions, Athletics is used for physical feats like climbing, swimming, and jumping.''
 
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===In ''{{game|poe2}}''===
| +10% Max Fatigue<br/>-40% Combat Fatigue Gain (1 point)<br/>-80% Combat Fatigue Gain (2 point)<br/>-90% Combat Fatigue Gain (3 point)
 
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{{poe2}} sees a large expansion to the skill system. Many new skills have been added, and are split into two categories – "Active" and "Passive" skills. When the player levels up, skill points are split between the two groups.
|-
 
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! [[Lore]]
 
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{|
| ''Lore represents a character's accumulated miscellaneous knowledge and trivia, often of occult or esoteric topics. Outside of conversations and scripted interactions, Lore is used to activate scrolls. Higher Lore values allow the character to use higher level scrolls.''
 
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| style="vertical-align:text-top" | '''Active:'''
|Use Level 1 Scrolls (1-3 points)<br/>Use Level 2 Scrolls (4-5 points)<br/>Use Level 3 Scrolls (6-7 points)<br/>Use Level 4 Scrolls (8-? points)<br/>Use Level 5 Scrolls (?-? points)<br/>Use Level 6 Scrolls (?-? points)<br/>Use Level 7 Scrolls (?-? points)<br/>Use Level 8 Scrolls (?-? points)
 
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* [[File:Skill_Herbalism.png|20px]] [[Alchemy]]
|-
 
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* [[File:Skill_Arcana.png|20px]] [[Arcana]]
! [[Mechanics]]
 
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* [[File:Skill_Athletics.png|20px]] [[Athletics]]
| ''Traps and locks can be a problem for even the toughest adventurers, draining their resources and maiming or killing those who are unfortunate enough to trigger an unseen floor plate. The Mechanics skill makes it easier to open locks and find and disable traps. Additionally, any character can use the Mechanics skill to place traps of their own. The higher the Mechanics skill, the more accurate the trap. In conversations and scripted interactions, Mechanics can be used to activate or disable a variety of machines.''
 
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* [[File:Skill_Alchemy.png|20px]] [[Explosives]]
|Disarm Difficulty 1 Traps<br/>Pick Difficulty 1 Lock<br/>+3 Trap Accuracy
 
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* [[File:Skill_Mechanics.png|20px]] [[Mechanics]]
|-
 
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* [[File:Skill_Sleight_of_Hand.png|20px]] [[Sleight of Hand]]
! [[Survival]]
 
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* [[File:Skill_Stealth.png|20px]] [[Stealth]]
| ''Survival allows characters to make better use of the food and potion items they find. The higher the character's Survival skill, the longer the duration of such items. Survival can also be used in conversations and scripted interactions that involve wilderness challenges or specialization information.''
 
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| style="vertical-align:text-top" | '''Passive:'''
| +5% Consumable Duration
 
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* [[File:Skill_Bluff.png|20px]] [[Bluff]]
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* [[File:Skill_Diplomacy.png|20px]] [[Diplomacy]]
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* [[File:Skill_History.png|20px]] [[History]]
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* [[File:Skill_Insight.png|20px]] [[Insight]]
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* [[File:Skill_Intimidate.png|20px]] [[Intimidate]]
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* [[File:Skill_Metaphysics.png|20px]] [[Metaphysics]]
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* [[File:Skill_Religion.png|20px]] [[Religion]]
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* [[File:Skill_Streetwise.png|20px]] [[Streetwise]]
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* [[File:Skill_Survival.png|20px]] [[Survival]]
 
|}
 
|}
   
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Passive skills cover checks in dialogues and [[scripted interaction]]s, and otherwise have no bearing on other parts of gameplay. Active skills are also used in these checks, but more importantly provide boosts to other game mechanics (hence "active"). For example, having a higher [[Explosives]] skill improves a characters ability to use bombs.
==Skill Advancement==
 
At first level, characters only have their [[class]] and [[background]] inherent bonuses to skills. Each class confers bonuses in two or three skills and each background in one or two skills.
 
   
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Another addition is the use of "assisted" skill checks, which allows the [[player]] character to benefit from other [[companion]]s' skills. Certain checks are limited to the only checked characters' skill level, while others use an "assisted" value, which applies a bonus which takes into account every other party member's proficiency in that skill. <ref>[http://jesawyer.tumblr.com/post/156585382271/in-the-first-pillars-the-character-progression-was Frog Helms Fan Club – In the first Pillars the character progression was…]</ref>
Upon achieving a new level, characters gain 6 skill points. Advancing a skill costs one point, plus one point per time the skill has already been advanced. Note that class, background, and other bonuses are "free" and do not increase the cost of advancing skills.
 
   
 
==Skill points==
Certain wearable and consumable items can additionally provide temporarily bonuses to skills (see [[Attribute and skill boosts]]).
 
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===Initial bonus===
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A character's [[class]] and [[background]] provides an initial bonus to skills.
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* {{poe1}}:
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** Class - 3 skill points in total, distributed irregularly.
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** Background - 2 skill points in total, distributed irregularly.
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* {{poe2}}:
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** Class - 2 skill points each for 5 different skills. A multiclass character limits this to 1 point, with overlap being added (the note in the character creator regarding "averaging" skill bonuses is misleading).
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** Background - 1 skill point each for 3 different skills (with some exceptions receiving two points in one skill, or 3 points in a 2-1 split).
   
=== Class bonuses ===
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===Leveling===
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At each level, the character will receive skill points that you can distribute as you see fit.
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* {{poe1}}: 6 points to distribute. Advancing a skill costs 1 + the skills current rank, not including bonuses (via items, class, background). At skill level 3, it costs 4 points to advance to the next rank.
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* {{poe2}}: 1 point for [[Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire skills#Active|Active]] skills, 1 point for [[Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire skills#Passive|Passive]] skills.
   
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===Other===
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 900px; text-align: center;"
 
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Items and other bonuses can also increase skills, be it while equipped, permanently, or as a temporary bonus. Items that grant skill buffs are shown for each skill, on the associated page.
|-
 
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! Skill bonus\Class
 
 
{{references}}
![[Barbarian]]!![[Chanter]]!![[Cipher]]!![[Druid]]!![[Fighter]]!![[Monk]]!![[Paladin]]!![[Priest]]!![[Ranger]]!![[Rogue]]!![[Wizard]]
 
|-
 
! [[Stealth]]
 
| [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point-icon.png]] || [[File:point-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]]
 
|-
 
! [[Athletics]]
 
| [[File:point-icon.png]] [[File:point-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point-icon.png]] || [[File:point-icon.png]] || [[File:point-icon.png]] [[File:point-icon.png]] || [[File:point-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]]
 
|-
 
! [[Lore]]
 
| [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point-icon.png]] [[File:point-icon.png]] || [[File:point-icon.png]] || [[File:point-icon.png]] || [[File:point-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point-icon.png]] || [[File:point-icon.png]] [[File:point-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point-icon.png]] [[File:point-icon.png]]
 
|-
 
! [[Mechanics]]
 
| [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point-icon.png]] || [[File:point-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point-icon.png]] [[File:point-icon.png]] || [[File:point-icon.png]]
 
|-
 
! [[Survival]]
 
| [[File:point-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point-icon.png]] [[File:point-icon.png]] || [[File:point-icon.png]] || [[File:point-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point-icon.png]] [[File:point-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]] || [[File:point1-icon.png]]
 
|}
 
   
=== Background bonuses ===
 
[[File:Background_skills.png|640px]]
 
   
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{{Skill navbar}}
=== Consumable bonuses ===
 
[[Rite]]s are a special, [[crafting|non-craftable]] type of [[scroll]]s that temporarily boost specific skills.
 
   
 
[[Category:Ruleset]]
==References==
 
{{references|30em|refs=
 
<ref name="manual">Pillars of Eternity, Game manual</ref>
 
}}
 
[[Category:Character stats]]
 
 
[[Category:Skills| ]]
 
[[Category:Skills| ]]

Latest revision as of 07:38, 6 April 2019

Skills are a core part of gameplay in Pillars of Eternity and Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. Skills come to play in a variety of different contexts and partially determine how the player character or their followers can interact with the world around them. A character's skill level is represented as a number, which in turn represents their proficiency in performing certain tasks, as well as their knowledge of fields associated with that skill.

Gameplay[ | ]

Many skills have a direct impact on game mechanics, and allow your character to perform specialized actions like stealth, detecting traps, picking locks, or reading scrolls. A more skilled individual will perform these tasks with ease, and will have a higher rate of success.

Some skills grant auxiliary combat bonuses, either directly affecting attributes - or other combat mechanics.

Outside of combat, skills play a large part in dialogue and scripted interactions, where they can be "checked" to overcome an obstacle, and determine whether a character succeeds or fails to perform an action. Having more points in a skill can also unlock additional dialogue options with NPCs, which can be invaluable when pursuing a specific outcome for a quest or conversation.

Skills[ | ]

In Pillars of Eternity[ | ]

In Pillars of Eternity the five skills are:

Every class gains an initial proficiency bonus in two skills, but not limited to them. Non-combat skills are gained separately from combat skills (Abilities, Talents), and they do not use the same resources.

In Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire[ | ]

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire sees a large expansion to the skill system. Many new skills have been added, and are split into two categories – "Active" and "Passive" skills. When the player levels up, skill points are split between the two groups.

Active: Passive:

Passive skills cover checks in dialogues and scripted interactions, and otherwise have no bearing on other parts of gameplay. Active skills are also used in these checks, but more importantly provide boosts to other game mechanics (hence "active"). For example, having a higher Explosives skill improves a characters ability to use bombs.

Another addition is the use of "assisted" skill checks, which allows the player character to benefit from other companions' skills. Certain checks are limited to the only checked characters' skill level, while others use an "assisted" value, which applies a bonus which takes into account every other party member's proficiency in that skill. [1]

Skill points[ | ]

Initial bonus[ | ]

A character's class and background provides an initial bonus to skills.

  • Pillars of Eternity:
    • Class - 3 skill points in total, distributed irregularly.
    • Background - 2 skill points in total, distributed irregularly.
  • Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire:
    • Class - 2 skill points each for 5 different skills. A multiclass character limits this to 1 point, with overlap being added (the note in the character creator regarding "averaging" skill bonuses is misleading).
    • Background - 1 skill point each for 3 different skills (with some exceptions receiving two points in one skill, or 3 points in a 2-1 split).

Leveling[ | ]

At each level, the character will receive skill points that you can distribute as you see fit.

Other[ | ]

Items and other bonuses can also increase skills, be it while equipped, permanently, or as a temporary bonus. Items that grant skill buffs are shown for each skill, on the associated page.

References