Skills

There are a number of skills, each of which has a different effect. Some skills have prerequisite skill requirements, and a few skills are available only to certain classes or only to natives or outsiders. Skills are bought with experience points (XP).

Your character level is determined by counting the current number of skills that you have learned.

Learning an initial skill costs 100 XP. After that, each learned skill costs 25 XP more than the previous one. Hence the formula for a skill's XP cost is 100 + 25 * (your current level).

Buying all 25 skills (for Settlers, Villagers, Soldiers, and Warriors) requires a total of 10,000 XP. Buying all 23 skills (for everyone else) requires a total of 8,625 XP.

Generic Skills

• Basic Language - Understand the smaller words of foreign languages
  • Advanced Language - Better understanding of foreign languages
    • Expert Language - Full comprehension of foreign languages

• Close quarter combat - Gain 10% to hit with melee attacks (e.g. 20% to 30% with machete)
  • Advanced close quarter combat - Gain 15% to hit with melee attacks (e.g. 30% to 45% with machete)

• Body building - Increases melee damage (+1 damage; e.g. 2 to 3 with machete)
  • Stamina - Increases max HP by 20

• Sixth Sense - Sense presence of and hear spirits

• Ghostly whisper - Allows spirits to speak (1 AP)
  • Haunting scream - Attract other spirits and scare nearby living players (1 AP, does 1 damage)
    • Shocking Shriek - Scare nearby living players (2 AP, ??% chance to do 1-3 damage)
      • Banshee Wail - Frighten nearby living players (?? AP, ??% chance to do 4 damage)

• Exploration - Helps you remember some of the places you've been

The Map button works, and gives you large-scale overview of everywhere you've visited with a working GPS unit.

• Cartography - Stops you forgetting anywhere you've visited

Forgetting map information seems rare. Meta-gamers can use the Shartak overlay.

• Trekking - Faster movement through most of Shartak

Movement through jungles, villages, grasslands, and beaches costs 0.5 AP instead of 1 AP.

• Swimming - Faster movement through water

Movement through water costs 1 AP instead of 2 AP; deep water costs 2 AP instead of 3 AP.

• Basic Tracking - With some difficulty, you can track animals and people. (2 AP, e. g. "wild boar went south")

See Tracking to contribute more information.

• Advanced Tracking - You can track animals and people who were here recently. (1.5 AP, often gives 3-6 most recent tracks)

• Expert Tracking - You can track animals and people who were here several days ago. (1? AP)

• Clan Leadership - Allows you to start your own clan or help lead one.

• Triage - Be able to tell who is most injured
  • Natural Medicine - Heal 10 hp (gain 10 XP) with healing herbs (Native only)
  • First Aid - Heal 10 hp (gain 10 XP) with first-aid kit (Outsider only)

Settler/Villager Exclusive Skills

• Animal Affinity - Lessens the chance of animals attacking (Settler and Villager only)
• Scavenging - Improves Search Odds by an unknown amount in certain (unknown) areas (Settler and Villager only)

Soldier Exclusive Skills

• Firearms Training - Gain 20% on firearms attacks (20% to 40%; Soldier only)
  • Advanced Firearms Training - Gain 20% on firearms attacks (40% to 60%; Soldier only)

Warrior Exclusive Skills

• Blowpipe Training - Gain 20% on blowpipe accuracy (Warrior only)
  • Advanced Blowpipe Training - Gain another 20% on blowpipe accuracy (Warrior Only)

Native Only

• Outsider knowledge - Natives gain basic outsider knowledge

This skill allows natives to use and recognise items that would generally only be usable by outsiders. Includes:

• Use of Rifle (and Bullets)
• Use of First Aid Kit
• Use of GPS Unit

Outsider Only

• Native knowledge - Outsiders gain basic native knowledge

This skill allows outsiders to use and recognise items that would generally only be usable to natives. Includes:

• Use of Blowpipe (and Poison Darts)
• Use of Healing Herbs (seen as dried herbs to outsiders before skill is attained)
• Correct identification of tasty and poison berries (indistinguishable before skill is attained)