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THINGS I WISH I'D KNOWN EARLIER - Spells, Skills, and Combat Arts

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* AE skills or spells with green backgrounds on their icons will only hit mobs that are part of the same group. AE skill or spells with blue backgrounds will hit everything around you, regardless of whether or not it is engaged. Be wary with these, as you can quickly engage a lot of otherwise non-aggro mobs when they are caught in the AoE effect.

* You can upgrade your spells and combat arts. They start at apprentice 1, commonly abbreviated as "app1". App2 skills are sold on vendors in town. App3 and App4 skills are made by tradeskilling players using commonly available materials. Adept1 are found in chests off mobs. Adept2 does not currently exist. Adept3 is made by tradeskillers using rare materials. Master1 drops off raid level mobs and very, very rarely off normal mobs. It is definitely worth your time to try and acquire app4 or adept1 levels for your skills. Look on the brokers to see what's on sale.

* Class Trainers can be found in the same area as their archetype's writ-givers in whichever city allows that particular class.  For example, the Coercer Class Trainer is found in the Academy of Arcane Science in North Freeport, since only Freeporters can be Coercers.  The Dirge Class Trainer can be found either at the Elddar Tree in Elddar Grove (Qeynos) or the Seafury Buccaneers' ship in South Freeport, since both cities allow Dirges.  The exception to this is Monks, who's class trainer is in the dojo in Elddar Grove.

* At level 20, you can purchase a "fun" spell that is based on your class. These spells are generally insignificant things that do not affect your efficiency in-game, but are meant to provide humor or an "ooh aah" factor.  More of these become available at later levels.

* Some spells or combat arts can only be found through certain Adventure Packs or Expansions.

* If you are looking on the broker for spells and combat art upgrades, try using Advanced Search.  Set your class, the minimum level to either 1 or slightly below your current level, and the maximum level to your current level or slightly above. Along with a keyword such as "adept" or "app", this will bring up only the skills relevant to your class and level.

* The concentration bar is the 5 little bubbles which appear directly underneath your name. As you use abilities that require concentration, these will light up. If you hold your mouse over an active bubble, you will see the name of the spell/effect it is linked to. Right clicking on it will allow you to cancel it. You can also cancel these effects from your maintained effects window. If you lost the maintained effects window, press alt-m to restore it.

* If you are a melee based character, concentrate on upgrading your armor and weapons before your skills. Upgrading melee skills adds little effectiveness to your character. If you are a casting based character, concentrate on upgrading your skills -- going from app1 to adept1 will make a huge difference in your effectiveness.

* Combat Arts and Spells above level 50 are not given automatically when you level - they must be crafted, looted, or purchased from Class Trainers or other players.  Class Trainers can be found in the same area as their archetype's writ-givers in whichever city allows that particular class.  For example, the Coercer Class Trainer is found in the Academy of Arcane Sciences in North Freeport, since only Freeporters can be Coercers.  The Dirge Class Trainer can be found either at the Elddar Tree in Elddar Grove (Qeynos) or the Seafury Buccaneers' ship in South Freeport, since both cities allow Dirges.

* At varying levels, you will be able to customize your character with traits, tactics, and training. Here is a chart of when you receive these abilities:

   Character Traits
      Level 8 - 1st
      Level 18 - 2nd
      Level 22 - 3rd
      Level 28 - 4th
      Level 36 - 5th
      Level 42 - 6th
      Level 46 - 7th
      Level 48 - 8th

   Racial Traditions
      Level 10 - 1st
      Level 20 - 2nd
      Level 30 - 3rd
      Level 40 - 4th
      Level 50 - 5th
      Level 60 - 6th
      Level 70 - 7th
	  
   Enemy Mastery
      Level 12 - Gnolls or Orcs
      Level 16 - Ghosts, Skeletons or Zombies
      Level 26 - Centaurs, Giants or Treants
      Level 32 - Bixies, Fairies, Goblins or Golems
      Level 35 - Bugbears, Kobolds or Minotaurs  
      Level 38 - Elementals, Lizardmen, Nightbloods or Shadowmen
      Level 49 - Brownies, Clockworks or Werewolves
      Level 52 - Cyclopses, Djinn, Harpies or Naga
      Level 62 - Aviaks, Droags, Gazers or Ravasects

   Specialized Training
      Level 14 - 1st
      Level 24 - 2nd
      Level 34 - 3rd
      Level 44 - 4th
      Level 54 - 5th
      Level 64 - 6th

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