Miscellaneous Skills

Stamina

For one lowly skill point, Stamina will allow you to use more stamina-based skills before having to rest. That means more sprinting, more swimming, and most importantly more kicking before you run out of juice. Since almost everyone will be kicking enemies over cliffs in every part of the game, this is a must-have skill for most every character.

Endurance

The three levels of Endurance are expensive, but worthwhile for warriors, or anyone who can afford them. Nothing especially mystifying here; the more you spend, the more your maximum health will rise. Endurance also effects the kinds of armors that warriors can wear.

Poison Resistance

At six skill points, Poison Resistance isn’t a cheap investment, but it’s likely also not a necessary one. Poison is annoying, sure, but it can’t kill you; all it will do is bring you down to four or five HP before getting out of your system. Luckily, Antidotes can be found in numerous places throughout the game, especially when you need them most (in the catacombs under the Temple of the Spider, look for the green vases and smash them). Since zombies and spiders are the only poison-causing enemies in the game, it’s best to simply learn to avoid their poisonous attacks, use antidotes when needed, and save your skill points for something more important.

Vitality

If you want large amounts of mana, you'll have to invest in Magic Affinity.

Vitality will increase the health regeneration rate of your character. We never unlocked this on our character, but if it’s anything like the speed which you’ll get back for Mana Regeneration, this should mostly ween you off the need for health potions, since you’ll probably be regenerating up near maximum health after every fight. That said, though, the warrior Souldrinker sword is going to be more effective at regaining you health than the Soulreaver Staff will be for regaining mana for mages. If you’re willing to rely on potions, then this skill is optional, but it’ll be helpful nonetheless for characters that take a lot of damage.

Alertness

At one skill point, this one’s not too bad, but warriors can likely skip it. It’ll highlight hidden items and secret areas if you remain standing still for a moment. We used it throughout the game and will be describing most of what it’ll show you in the walkthrough, so skip it if you don’t think you’ll need it. As a prerequisite, though, mages and rogues will have to have it.

Magic Affinity

A basic skill, Magic Affinity will greatly increase your base maximum mana, eventually increasing it to five times your starting allotment. It’s useful in and of itself, and since it’s required to unlock Mana Regeneration, that’s twice the reason to get it.

Stealth

Stealth is a fairly cheap investment, allowing any character to be a master backstabber for just six skill points. While it’s a small price to pay, it’s worth pointing out that stealth will be one of the more difficult routes to take through the game, since you’ll often have to creep around slowly before backstabbing your foe and attempt to stalk through the darkness where mages or warriors can simply rush in and fling people around. That said, most stealth characters will also have enough points in combat skills to deal with their enemies in a more traditional way, if need be.

Burglar

Allows you to pick the locks on doors and chests. There are plenty of both in the game that don’t have keys, so this skill will open up a shortcut here or there or give you access to some potions. We never accessed it for ourselves in our playthroughs of the game, so we can’t say for sure if it unlocks any super treasures, but we’re kind of doubting it. In any case, it’s never required to proceed through the game.

Mana Regeneration

While mana potions are a lot more efficient than health potions, returning 50 MP per potion used, you’ll still want to invest in Mana Regeneration if you’re a practicing magician, as it’ll let you regenerate your mana way more quickly than you’d be able to otherwise, allowing you to all but do away with mana potions. You’ll still need them in long fights, but Mana Regeneration will let you bust out numerous Telekinesis kills without having to worry too much about running out of mana.