Topic

Explanation of Skills! (Particularly those tricky plant-related ones)

In Beta I mostly just stayed away from the brown columns of the skills periodic table because I found it so confusing trying to figure out which plant-related skills did what. There were some for plants and trees, others for crops (aren't crops plants?), and wait, another whole set of skills also for plants and trees?  

Well, yesterday I sat down and made myself a list of every skill and what it does, along with the prerequisites for each skill and the other skills each skill is a prerequisite for. I finally understand the mystery of the plants! It was also just generally helpful for mapping out what skills I want to learn next and what skills I'll need to learn first. 

For the record (and I think this is what was causing most of my confusion): "Plants and trees" refers to what I think of as "trees": Bean trees, fruit trees, bubble trees, wood trees, gas plants, spice plants, and paper trees. It does NOT refer to what you grow in the plots in your garden (like potatoes, corn, spinach, etc.). Those are "crops." And then of course "herbs" refers to the other things you can grow in your garden, but only if you have an herb garden. "Herbs" are things like rookswort and purple. 

This is not the fanciest chart, but hopefully it can be helpful to at least someone besides me. =P This will be totally obscure to someone who is not at all familiar with the game, but it's intended more to clear up the fine distinctions between skills and let you see at a glance (without having to hover over each one) what improvements you get from each advancement along a skill path. 

The key:  
*PRE = prerequisite (you must learn this other skill before you can learn the skill in question). I have not listed the obvious - you need AK1 before you can learn AK2, for example. Sometimes the prereq is an Achievement rather than a skill.

*NEC = the skill in question is necessary for learning another skill. For example, AK2 is needed before you can learn HK, so in the AK2 description it says "*NEC for HK" 

*GIANT NAME = You need to have spent the emblem of this giant before you can learn this skill

 SKILLS 
AK1 - pig, butterfly, chicken: no fail, faster, less energy 
AK2 - more meat, more milk, more grain *NEC for HK 
AK3 - chance of large milk/meat/grain bonuses 
AK4 - more milk/meat, *NEC for AH 
AK5 - no lotion, naming animals 
AK6 - no pet, no massage, 2x/day harvest *HUMBABA 
AK7 - higher xp, frequent rewards *PRE is HK

HK - capture piggies, free backyard animals, *PRE is SA2, AK2, *NEC for RHK 
AH - season & hatch eggs, *PRE is AK4 
RHK - automated milk & meat collection, *PRE is HK, AK6 

SA1 - dig faster, get loam 
SA2 - faster/more xp patch tending, more loam *NEC for G1, HK, Jellisac 
SA3 - patch tending mood boost, less wear, bonus items *NEC for Croppery, Bog 
SA4 - faster/more xp tending & digging *SPRIGGAN 
SA5 - more bonus, more loam, less xp dirt & patches 

LGT1 - watering & petting trees: no fail, less time, gain xp  
LGT2 - xp/faster watering trees, *NEC for Fruit, Bubble, Spice, Gas 
LGT3 - xp/mood watering trees *GRENDALINE 

G1 - Harvest trees: 50% greater yield, *PRE is SA2, LGT1 
G2 - harvest trees 2x/day, xp for harvest 
G3 - less energy, super harvest, bonus from trees *MAB 
G4 - super harvest, xp harvest, bonus from trees 
G5 - super harvest, bonus from trees 

C1 - 2x crop yield, *PRE is SA3, G2 
C2 - less energy on crops, super harvest 
C3 - mood/xp tending crops, 3x super harvest 

B - bean seasoning, poison trees *PRE is SA2, IA 
BS - bigger peat yields, *PRE is SA3, *NEC for H1, Fuelmaking 
JH - fast/less energy jellisac, *PRE is SA2, *NEC for Fuelmaking 
H1 - herb: bonuses, potential double yield herb plant/shuck, *PRE is G2, BS 
H2 - herb: bonuses, potential 3x harvest, 2x shuck 

G - no fail, faster/less energy to make gas, *PRE is LGT2 
FC - no fail, faster/less energy to do fruit change, *PRE is LGT2 
SM - no fail, faster/less energy to do spice milling, *PRE is LGT2 
BT - no fail, faster/less energy to do bubble tuning, *PRE is LGT2 

EZC1 - cutting board, *NEC for C1, B1 
EZC2 - new recipes, more efficient, *PRE is Able Chopper (use board 11 times)

C1 - frying pan, *PRE is EZ1, *NEC for Grill, Sauce 
C2 - new recipes, more efficient, *PRE is Decent Hash Slinger (use pan 11 times)
C3 - recipes, *NEC for MC1

G1 - grill, *PRE is C1, *NEC for MC1 
G2 - new recipes, more efficient, *PRE is Brazier Apprentice (use grill 11 times)
 
S1 - saucepan, *PRE is C1, *NEC for MC1 
S2 - new recipes, more efficient, *PRE is Rolling Boiler (use saucepan 11 times)

B1 - blender/juice, *PRE is EZ1, *NEC for CC1, MC1 
B2 - new recipes, more efficient, *PRE is Pulse,Frappe,Mix,Blend (use blender 11 times)

CC1 - cocktail shaker/cocktails, *PRE is B1
CC2 - new recipes, *PRE is Mediocre Mixologist (use shaker 11 times), *FRIENDLY

MC1 - Awesome pot, *PRE is S1, B1, G1, C3 
MC2 - new recipes, more efficient, *PRE is 1-Star Cuisinartist (use pot 11 times) *POT 

EH - allows elemental pouch, *NEC for A1, R1 
A1 - test tube elements into compounds, *PRE is EH, *NEC for IA, Crystal, Fuel 
A2 - tongs plain metal into fancy metal, *PRE is Smelt 
IA - beaker compounds into powders, *PRE is A1, *Emblem of TII 
C - less wear on crystal chamber, *PRE is A1 

R1 - grind ore into elements, grind barnacles, *PRE is M1, EH, *NEC for Smelt 
R2 - less energy/time to refine 
S - smelt metal rocks into plain metal, *PRE is R1, A1 

M1 - mining, *NEC for R1 
M2 - less time/wear on pick, more gem 
M3 - more gem, more xp, less time, *ZILLE 
M4 - more gem, more xp, less time 

MA1 - focusing orb for mood & energy, *NEC for FM, Teleport, Eyeball 
MA2 - meditation: more mood/energy/xp, *NEC for TR 
MA3 - medtiation: more mood/energy/xp, *COSMA, *NEC for Levitation, Piety 

L - levitation, *PRE is MA3, Rambler 1st Class (visit 251 locations) 
FM - choose energy or mood meditation, *PRE is MA1, *NEC for SS 
TR - mood/energy for others, *PRE is MA2, *NEC for Martial Imagination 
MI -  stun rooks, *PRE is TR 
P - use shrine to defeat rooks, *PRE is BA3, MA3 

[Better learning skills not included at this time, there are a billion forum posts on how these work and to be honest, I'm still confused] 

BA1 - papers = house, subway, *PRE is BL1, Card-Carrying Qualification 
BA2 - permits, *PRE is You Have Papers 

T1 - 1 teleport point, *PRE is BL1, MA1 
T2 - 2 teleport points, less energy 
T3 - 3 points, less energy 
T4 - map teleports, less energy, write tp scripts, *PRE is BL3 
T5 - summon, more map teleports, less energy/cooldown 

T1 - tinkertool repair tools 
T2 - faster, less energy repair 
T3 - faster, self-repair, *NEC for Engineering 
T4 - faster, craft tools (+Engineering = more tools), *ALPH 
T5 - faster, less energy, craft more tools 

P - write notes w paper & quill, *PRE is BL1 

E - scan entire street, *PRE is MA1, BL1, *NEC for SS 
SS - take pictures using camera, *PRE is FM, E 

E - assemble machines, +T4+5 = craft tools, *PRE is T3, *NEC for Blockmaking 
BM - use machines to make blocks, *PRE is Engineering 
FM - use fuelmaker to make fuel cells, *PRE is A1, BS, JH

Posted 14 months ago by Meridian Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • As a newbie who recently joined yesterday, I thank you greatly for this! :) It's an efficient (and effective) way of viewing all the skills in one page. Certainly makes leveling less of a hectic activity. I'm very familiar with the hesitation because I don't like to do such things blindfolded.
    Posted 14 months ago by Siouxsie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Hurray! I am glad it helped. :) I am similarly disinclined to leap into such processes without knowing all my options.
    Posted 14 months ago by Meridian Subscriber! | Permalink
  • This is great!  Thank  you for all the work you put into it and for sharing it with us.
    Posted 14 months ago by Poppy of Detwoit Subscriber! | Permalink
  • handy list, thanks
    Posted 14 months ago by chilirlw Subscriber! | Permalink
  • <3
    Good job explaining it for those who don't know. In Global Chat I always find myself having to tell people that Gardening is for trees and Croppery is for veggies, so I know some people need this info!
    Posted 14 months ago by Biohazard Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Woah. Thanks :)
    Posted 14 months ago by Mookya Subscriber! | Permalink
  • This is excellent!

    ....But Botany is missing "Poison Trees" ;s
    Posted 14 months ago by Negata Subscriber! | Permalink
  • You're so right, Negata! Thanks for pointing that out. I will update it right now.
    Posted 14 months ago by Meridian Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Wow, I thought I had a decent handle on these, but I had totally missed that the Gardening skill set applied not to gardens, but to harvesting from trees. No wonder I'm still shelling out 5 energy to harvest, argh! I will remedy this ASAP thanks to your research and clear explanations. Thank you so much for doing this! 
    Posted 14 months ago by Lilith Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Wow. This is awesome! Do you mind if we use this for the wiki?
    Posted 14 months ago by Victoria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks so much, it turns out I misunderstood those skills completely (and I had them all in Beta...) 
    Can the staff look at this and maybe make the descriptions less confusing?
    Posted 14 months ago by Nevet Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Great work Meridian! Thank you for this. Looks like it has helped and will help a lot of people! Would be great if like Nevet says the staff could look at it and adjust the descriptions. I was lucky that I was around for Beta, so figured things out by trial and error, but would make life easier for people going around for the first time if things could be worded better :)
    Posted 14 months ago by Ebil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • HA! Victoria, as I was reading down all I could think was "this should be in the wiki"
    Posted 14 months ago by Kookaburra Subscriber! | Permalink
  • there's still one thing I can't work out, which skill is it that will stop me failing when harvesting or watering a crop (not trees)? I've learnt a lot of the 'brown' skills but I still get a lot of failures when harvesting.
    Posted 14 months ago by kid4today Subscriber! | Permalink
  • That'd be Croppery (yeah, no idea how you miss a plot entirely with a watering can).
    Posted 14 months ago by Blitz Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Don't forget that that square of stuff with the LGT2 prereq (Bubble Tuning etc.) also give no fail, since it's noted for AK1 and LGT1 too.

    I really appreciate this though, even as an experienced player and with the skill descriptions I still did always feel a bit muddy on what plant-y skill did what.
    Posted 14 months ago by Arashi Kurobara Subscriber! | Permalink
  • hmm, I already have croppery II. it must be croppery III that stops the fails.
    Posted 14 months ago by kid4today Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Victoria: I would be delighted to put this on the wiki, or have it used as a starting point for something on the wiki. It's all very shorthand, so I don't know if it needs to be made more clear or consistent (I say "less time" on some skills and "faster" on others, etc.) before it "goes official." Since I made it for myself I didn't highlight every aspect of every skill, only the ones I care about (and then added a bit more when posting here) so, as people have pointed out, it's not complete. If it did go on the wiki, I'd love to see some color coding, if that's something that's possible, so the emblems stand out from the other prereqs, for example. 

    @kid4today: There's no skill on the skill tree that says it keeps you from failing. I remember in beta having at least Croppery 1 and still failing sometimes. 

    @Arashi: Thank you! I will update that section right away. ETA: Only spice milling & bubble tuning actually say they guarantee success on the skill tree (which is what I've been trying to stick with here, the official skill descriptions), but I don't remember ever once failing at fruit changing or gasmogrification once I had those skills, so I'll add "no fail" to them as well. It certainly does make a case for, as a couple people have requested, TS making the skill descriptions a bit more clear.

    @Everyone else: I'm really glad it's helpful and that you're getting something out of it! 
    Posted 14 months ago by Meridian Subscriber! | Permalink
  • i remember in beta that after learning a skill the harvest and watering fails stopped. i dunno which skill it was though, and you're right, none of the skill descriptions mention it.....but i'm sure one of them does actually do it.
    Posted 14 months ago by kid4today Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @kid4today: Let me know if you learn Croppery 3 and start having 100% success at watering and harvesting. I'll start collecting anecdotal evidence from other folks about this, and hopefully we can get to the bottom of it. :) 
    Posted 14 months ago by Meridian Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @kid4today I have Croppery 2 and I've never gotten a failed watering or harvest, even when I just had Croppery 1...
    Posted 14 months ago by Zurin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • GREAT information!!
    Posted 14 months ago by Melise Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'll probably be referencing this chart more than once. Thanks for posting it, Meridian!
    Posted 14 months ago by zZzZzZzZ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks so much, Meridian! This chart is extremely helpful and I'll definitely be referencing it moving forward.
    Posted 14 months ago by Vickinator Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks! This topic is useful! :)
    Posted 14 months ago by rosedragon Subscriber! | Permalink