Skill Point Spending Strategies
Take a look at some common Skill Point Spending Strategies

Starting Skills
All 7 player character classes start with the same 2 basic skills - Attack and Throw.

"Attack" attacks with the equipped weapon (or weapons, in the case of the Barbarian). "Throw" throws a throwing weapon.

Characters also start with the "Unsummon" skill to destroy minions previously summoned by the player.

Necromancers start with a Wand with +1 to Raise Skeleton.

Number of Skills
Each character class may develop 30 more unique skills. These 30 additional skills are divided into 3 skill tabs (approximately 10 per tab). The skills in each tab are arranged into a Skill Tree -- much like a Tech-Tree in a real-time strategy game.

Passive and Active Skills
There are two general classes of skills - Passive and Active. Active skills require you to explicitly cast or use them. Passive skills are not cast, but have implicit or automatic effects. Masteries (a type of Passive skill) are in effect whenever the item or skill to which the Mastery applies is used. The Paladin's Auras (another type of Passive skill) are in effect whenever readied as the right mouse skill button. Aura skill button icons are golden.

All Active skills except Attack, Throw, Unsummon and Sacrifice use Mana. Most Passive skills do not use Mana. The Mana cost and other information about a skill is shown, when you move the cursor over the skill icon. Sometimes when you place enough points in a skill it no longer requires Mana or a very low amount of Mana.

Red Skill Icons
When a Skill icon is red; the Skill cannot be used - either because of a lack of Mana, because an item that the skill requires is not equipped, because there is a Casting Delay, or because that skill cannot be used in town.

Synergies
Synergy bonuses are designed to boost the effectiveness of the higher-level skills based upon the number of points allocated to the lower-level (synergizing) skills. Players are rewarded for using skill points earlier rather than hoarding them all for later 'cookie-cutter' distribution to high-level skills. A skill that has a Synergy lists other skills that will help improve the skill you are looking at. This guide lists the bonuses as they are listed in the game so there won't always be complete information about what each Synergy does.

Items that give bonuses to skills and skill levels will not add to Synergy bonuses. For example, an Orb with +3 to Fireball, when equipped, does not give any bonus to Firebolt.

Additional Skill Points
You receive one extra skill point to distribute each time your character reaches another level of experience.

Some quests give extra skill points for a reward. These can only be used one time per difficulty level.

Skill Points from Items
Staves, Wands, Scepters and Class-specific items give from 1 to 3 extra skill points. You will receive the skill points only when you have the item or weapon equipped. These items will allow you to use skills that you have researched or spent a skill point. These bonus skill points do not allow you to advance down the skill tree unless you already have a point in that skill. So an item that gives +1 to Teeth for the Necromancer does not enable you to place one point into Corpse Explosion at level 6 until you put at least one point into Teeth.

Some Items give +1 to +2 to all class Skills. These items will only add skill points to those skills, which you already have at least one skill point. You cannot use these items to unlock all of your skills.

Some Unique and Set Items give +1 to +2 to all skills (not class specific). These items will also only give additional skill points to those skills that you already have at least one skill point.

Some Items give +1 to +3 to all Skill Tab Skills such as +1 to all Combat Skills (Paladin), or +3 to all Curses (Necromancer Curses). These items will only give +1 to +3 skill points in skills in that specific Skill Tab. These items will also only give additional skill points to those skills which you already have at least one skill point. These items will not allow character classes use these skills if they don't normally have these skills available.

Skill Points that work for Any Class ("oskill" Skill Points)
The Trang-Oul's Avatar Set gives +18 to Fireball and +13 to Fire Wall. The boost to fireball (as well as Frostwind's arctic blast bonus and a whole lot of other items) are examples of what's internally known as an "oskill". These are skill bonuses that work for any class. If a Necromancer is wearing a Trang-Oul set, he'll get +18 fireball and any +X To All Skills equipment can further increase this. The same applies to all other non-sorceress class wearing a part of that set.

However, oskills work differently for classes that "own" that skill. In this case, it's a Sorceress getting a bonus to Fireball. In the other case, it was a Druid getting a bonus to Arctic Blast. If a character gets an oskill bonus to a skill that class "owns," the bonus is restricted to a maximum of +3. If a Barbarian is dual-wielding Call to Arms runeword weapons, the +3 cap is applied to the total from both weapons. This is all intentional, in order to balance these items.

Skill Caps
There is a skill level cap of 20. You cannot put more than 20 Skill points into a specific skill. You can however raise a skill over the 20 skill point limit by using items that give +1 to +3 to skills, etc and the Barbarian Warcry Battle Command.

You can only put another skill point into a skill for each character level past the required level for that skill. For example if a skill requires your character to be level 6 you have to wait until your character is level 7 before you can assign another skill point into that skill. You can however save up skill points and put one skill point into all of the skills that open up when your character reaches the next level in the skill tree (6, 12, 18, 24, 30). For example if you save all your skill points into level 6 you can put one point into each of the Level 6 skills.

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