Well the gates were closed for a bit. So I decided to sit outside light up some femfendar and :GASP: write since I'm bored. I just wanted to write a little skills guide for the young'uns to bolster what's already in written near the outside of our guild.

I'll start with terms and skills. I've noticed a lot of the newer rogues sacrificing skills I would consider "must have" skills in order to learn useless things or the "crucial" skills from other rogues.

*Note: This is for rogues who are between levels 1 and 13(approx.)

Some of ya young rogues didn't know what I was talking about when I said some things to yas.

1. Double Hide-- To activate paint, then HIDE using your stealth skill. As a result you should be hidden, with the Lurk spell in your mind.
2. Leap-- the act of attacking from the shadows. AKA jumping out, backstab, assass attempt
3. Re-leap-- the thief manuever or act of automatically leaping back into the shadows after attacking from the shadows. AKA double releap, auto re leap, assass releap, all types of crap.

You should be about level 5 upon entering the guild. The road is hard at first but here are the skills that I feel are most important to learn.

1. Physical Training(aka PT)--The higher this skill, the more health you will recover when resting. The higher this skill, THE MORE HPS YOU WILL GAIN AT LEVEL. Why Learn? More HPs, duh. Learn this as soon as you can. A girl thief and a boy thief enter the lands at level 1. The girl learns Physical Training to Beginner and the boy stays at apprentice or has none. At level 2 the boy will find he has less HPs than the girl. Also, you should not attain a land level that is higher than your next guild portal. This will result in you NOT learning your Physical Training(among other skills) at the lowest level possible.
2. One-Handed Weapons(aka OHW)--This skill determines your skill with any weapon that can be wielded with one hand. It determines balance time of ALL attacks. By all attacks, I mean the higher you One Handed Weapons skill, the better your balance time is when ATTACKING(A/ATTACK), AIMING(AIM), and CHARGING (CH/CHARGE). Why learn? It makes you hit harder and faster. It is not possible to assassinate a creature with a Missile Weapon.
3. Dodging-- The higher this skill the less you get hit in combat.
Why learn? We are not fighters so we don't have high constitutions and PT, thus we have less HPS. Getting hit less really does help, you may not realize it but if you compare your hp loss from before the skill was attained you will see there is a difference. Your chance to dodge is GREATLY decreased when in Berserk Stance(as are all defensive skills).

-Remove Traps-- this skill increases chance of automatically disarming a trap upon entering a room or touching/unlocking which is trapped.
-Riding-- increases damage when charging and MAY improve balance time slightly.(OHW improves balance time for sure on a charge) For those who charge alot this may be an option, other than that I would only suggest learning enough to ride the mount you intend to purchase.
-Barter-- more gold when selling items/cheaper prices
-Resilience-- resistance to elemental attacks
-Spell Resistance-- resistance to magical attacks
-Awareness-- at least to apprentice. You will NOT be able to find some things if awareness is not on your skill list.
-Pick Locks-- a thief has the ability to unlock a door with apprentice skill. This should suffice for all doors and chests.(at least the ones I've encountered) This is an option for decreasing your unlock time, which can be useful in some rare situations.
-Pick Pockets-- this skill allows a thief to steal from monsters and innocents. This is a nice way to get some extra gold.(PICKPOCKET or PICKITEM )

It is hopeful that you are level 8, glevel 8 by this point. That way you will be as powerful as you can be by level 8, not to mention getting that PT so you can have more hps by the time you reach level 9 and level 10.

1. Physical Training
2. One Handed Weapons
3. Poison-- The higher the skill, the greater your poison's intensity and the more charges. Why learn? You do more damage. You do Divine Damage. Damage is good, it is of the gods.
4. Multiple Attacks(aka MA, MAttack if yer talking to a monk *wink*)-- The higher this skill, the higher the chance of you getting more consecutive attacks on monsters. Why learn? Damage, duh. But this skill also helps you assassinate more. When you leap from the shadows with a multiple attack each attack is a possible assassination; Two attacks, two attempts.
5. Called Shot(aka CS, CShot)-- This skill allows you to strike a creature in a vital area and cause more damage. Used the same as as ATTACK(A) but you must type AIM to attack with a called shot. The higher the skill, the more damage you will cause when typing aim.

Why learn? Damage. Highly underestimated skill, learn it early though it may not serve you better than using ATTACK/A at first, there will come a time when most of your attacks are done with AIM. Your balance time is a bit longer with aim. The better you become in OHW, the LESS the BALANCE TIME will be . The better you become at Called Shot, the MORE DAMAGE you do upon landing a called shot. Called shot does NOT INCREASE the chance of assassination, NOR DOES IT DECREASE.

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