Skills
Skills Explained
Some skills are both active use (meaning you can use it by clicking the blue gem next to the skill) and automatic use (meaning it just automatically works while doing something). Visit our Skill Guides page for additional information on raising some skills. Lost City Shard has no skill cap which means you can get every skill to 100, 120 with powerscrolls and further 145 with skillballs.
Alchemy
This is the art of making potions, especially useful for those who grow plants. You'll need a Mortar and Pestle (it's one item) to make potions which can be either purchased from an NPC Alchemist or made using the Tinkering skill. You'll also need empty bottles, potion kegs and reagents. To make a potion double click on the mortar and pestle and simply select which one to make. Be sure you have the bottles and reagents in your pack. High levels of Alchemy will increase the effectiveness of potions you use. At 100+ skill you can dabble in Glassblowing provided you have read the Crafting Glass With Glassblowing book, sold in North Gargoyle City. A Blow Pipe and Sand is also needed.
Anatomy
This is automatically used in combat to increase your damage (up to 65% at 120). When using your healing skill this will allow you to heal larger amounts of damage including poison (60+) and resurrecting dead players (80+). If you press the blue gem and then target another player/animal/monster you'll be given information on the target's strength, dexterity and stamina reserves.
Animal Lore
This skill goes hand in hand with Taming and is also needed to effectively cast Druid spells. It's best to have your Taming and Lore skills at the same level (ie. 100 Taming + 100 Animal Lore) so the pets you use will listen to you. Click the blue gem and target the animal you wish to Lore, a box will pop up showing you the animal's stats, skills, eating habits, pack instinct (if any) and loyalty. Loyalty is an important thing to keep your eye on, if it goes too low your pet will unbond/go wild, so make sure to feed your pets often!
Animal Taming
This is pretty self explanatory. Click the blue gem and target the animal you would like to tame. Different levels of taming are required for different animals. You can also make Pet Dyes, Leashes, Hitching Posts, etc to gain taming using a Brush (sold by NPC Animal Trainers). Double click the Brush and make sure you have the required materials asked for to make your items.
Archery
You'll need a bow (purchase from NPC Bowyer or made using the Bowcraft/Fletching skill) and arrows (also sold by NPC Bowyers and craftable using the Bowcraft/Fletching skill, arrows are also sold on yellow arrow/bolt vendor stone on top of lost city bank. To use just equip the bow, enter War mode and double click the foe you wish to shoot at. Your skill is checked each time you use a bow, as it raises your chance of damaging a foe with a ranged attack increases.
Arms Lore
This is the study of weapons and armor. Click the blue gem and target a weapon or a piece of armor and it will give you a message about that item. It's also used when crafting weapons and armor using Blacksmithy, Tailoring, Carpentry and Bowcraft/Fletching. When your skill is high it grants you the ability to make more effective armor and weapons.
Begging
Using the skill on a NPC will give you some gold.
Blacksmithy
Using this skill you can craft/repair armor, shields and weapons. You will need ingots (see Mining) and a smith's hammer or tongs (sold by NPC Tinkers and player's vendors, craftable using Tinkering) and you will need to be standing near a forge and anvil also craftable using Carpentry/Blacksmithy). Double click your hammer and then select from the list what you would like to craft. Be sure to have the ingots in your backpack.
Bowcraft/Fletching
With this skill you are able to craft all sorts of bows as well as bolts and arrows. You'll need Fletcher's Tools (Sold by NPC Bowyers and craftable using Tinkering), feathers (if crafting bolts/arrows) and boards. Double click the Fletcher's Tool and select which item you wish to craft.
Bushido
With the Book of Bushido (sold by players only or looted from ronins you can perform a variety of special abilities. Just double click one of the icons in the book (any ability/spell icon in any book can be pulled out and placed on your desktop) to use. Note that as your Bushido skill increases it will lesson your chance to parry with a shield, it makes you more adept at parrying with a weapon, especially two-handed weapons.
Camping
This is used to safely log out without having to be in a house or an Inn. In order to use the skill you will need a Bedroll (sold by NPC Provisioners) and Kindling (also sold by NPC Provisioners and by using a bladed weapon on a tree). First drop some kindling on the ground and double click it to make a fire, once you've gotten the message that your campfire is secure you can place your bedroll on the ground, double click it and then you're given the option to log out. If you do log out your bedroll is returned to your backpack. To gain in the skill you only need to light the kindling, you do not have to pull the bedroll out.
Carpentry
Carpenters can craft furniture, containers, instruments (45.0 required in Musicianship) and other goodies. You will need a Saw (Sold by NPC Tinkers and Carpenters, on player's vendors and craftable using Tinkering) and boards (See Lumberjacking). Just as with all the other crafting skills, double click your saw and select what you want to make. Be sure to have the boards in your backpack. When you have 100+ Carpentry you can begin to craft stone items, provided you read the Making Valuables With Stonecrafting book sold in West Gargoyle City (Mallet and Chisel also required).
Cartography
When you start getting treasure maps you'll want this skill so that you are able to decode the maps. You'll need a Mapmaker's Pen (sold by NPC Mapmakers and crafted using the Tinkering skill) and either Blank maps (sold by NPC Mapmakers) and/or Blank scrolls (sold by NPC Mapmakers and Mages). Double click your pen and select which type of map you want to create. Please note that you will no longer gain by making maps once you hit 99.5, you will have to decode level 4+ treasure maps in order to get any further.
Chivalry
This is the main ability of the Paladin, you are able to use a number of abilities that will help you in combat. You'll need the Book of Chivalry (buy from a Keeper of Chivalry NPC in Luna or player vendors) as well as tithe points (can be charged at any ankh) or a full LRC suit. To use just double click one of the icons in the book (holding your mouse over the icon will tell you what it does). Karma can affect duration and power of each ability, so the higher your Karma the better.
Cooking
You will need a skillet (sold by NPC Cooks or crafted using Tinkering), the food ingredients asked for and a heat source (oven, kindling or even a heating stand). While standing near your heat source double click the skillet and select which food item you'd like to make.
Detecting Hidden
This is used for revealing someone that is hidden, especially useful on the Shadow Knight in the Doom Gauntlet. Simply click the blue gem and target the area you wish to search.
Discordance
For this all you will need is an instrument. Click the blue gem and target the creature that you want to discord. If you succeed your target will lose a percentage of it's skills and stats and it will remain discorded unless you are no longer visible to the target. This will also make it easier to Provoke the creature. On our shard it is allowed to discord your own pets to set its resists higher without being banned or punished.
Evaluating Intelligence
If you click the blue gem and target whoever you want to evaluate you will be given a description of the target's mental capacity. This also is involved in calculating damage done by spells mages cast, at Grandmaster you'll receive a 20% bonus, at Legendary a 38% bonus.
Fencing
For this you need to use a weapon that says Fencing is the required skill to use it. Just equip it (drag and drop onto your paperdoll), go into War mode (click once on Peace in your paperdoll) and double click on the creature you want to attack.
Fishing
You will need a fishing pole and a ship if you want to go out into deep waters. Till 80 skills you will gain it fishing at docks too. Equip the fishing pole and while standing near a body of water double click the pole and target a location in the water where you want to fish. If successful you will catch a fish or other items. Eventually you will begin to fish up sea serpents which, once killed, may drop nets or SOS's as loot.
Focus
This is the warrior's meditation skill, it increases your mana and stamina regeneration. For every 10 points of focus you have, your 10 second stamina gain is increased by 1. For every 20 points of focus you have, your 10 second mana gain is increased by 1. This will raise as you regain stamina and mana, so doing something to lower those will help increase your skill.
Forensic Evaluation
This is used to determine information about a corpse, such as who looted it. Double click the gem and target the corpse.
Healing
You'll need some bandages (sold by NPC Healers, or obtained by cutting up cloth) in order to use this skill. Double click the bandage and target the person you want to heal (you must be near them). You'll need at least 60 skill in Healing and Anatomy to cure poison, and 80 in both to be able to resurrect.
Herding
Grab a shepherd's crook (sold by NPC Weaponsmiths or crafted using Carpentry), equip it, double click it and target the animal you wish to herd then target the spot you wish the animal to move to. The animal will walk to the spot as you directed if you are successful.
Hiding
Excellent skill to have if you, for example, need to go AFK and aren't in your home. All you need to do is click the blue gem and if successful you are hidden. If you speak, move (if you don't have high enough stealth), cast a spell, etc you will become unhidden.
Inscription
With this skill you are able to create spells (to add to spellbooks), rune books, BOD books, etc. You'll need a scribe's pen (sold by NPC Scribes and crafted by Tinkers), reagents and blank scrolls (sold by NPC Scribes and Mages). In order to inscribe a spell you will need to have sufficient skill and have a spellbook that contains that spell. Double click the pen and select what you would like to inscribe. Inscription will give you a slight damage bonus for Magery spells.
Item Identification
Click the blue gem and target the item you'd like to identify, you will be told a little something about the item. This skill became redundant after magical items were no longer required to be Identified before being able to use them or see their properties.
Lockpicking
Used to pick the locks of chests. You'll need lockpicks (sold by NPC Provisioners, Tinkers, Thiefs and some player's vendors, crafted using Tinkering), double click them and target the chest you want to unlock. Once you hit 95 you will only be able to gain off of chests found from high-end treasure maps and guarded at Prisoner Camps.
Lumberjacking
This is how you can freely obtain boards, as well as getting a damage bonus with axe-type weapons. Equip an axe (sold by NPC Weaponsmiths or crafted by Blacksmithy/Tinkering), stand close to a tree, double click the axe and target the tree. Boards will be placed into your backpack if you are successful. The type of wood harvested is dependent upon your skill as well as the tree itself.
Mace Fighting
You'll need to equip a weapon that, when moused over, will say it requires Mace Fighting to use it. Go into War mode and double click your opponent. The higher the skill the higher the chance that your attack will connect with your target.
Magery
In order to be a Magician and cast spells you will need a full spellbook on you (can be purchased from several player's vendors) and have the reagents needed or a full LRC suit. Double-click your spellbook to open it and double-click a spell name listed to cast. You can also single-click the spell to see what reagents are required. This page also has a small icon of the spell (you can hover the cursor over this to see some info about the spell) which you can drag right out of the book, allowing you to cast on-the-fly. Some spells will give you a target cursor, in which case you will target where or who you want the spell to affect.
Meditation
This will help increase the rate at which you regenerate your Mana. It works both ways, it will automatically gain when your mana is lowered or you can click on the blue gem to speed up the process. Be sure you are wearing cloth or non-studded leather. Metal and studded armor (unless it is Mage Armor) will interfere with your mana regeneration.
Mining
This is how you freely obtain ore, stone and sand. You will need a shovel or a pickaxe (both sold by NPC Tinkers and Miners and crafted using Tinkering) in your backpack. You can either go to a mountainside or inside a cave to mine. Double click your shovel and target the area you want to mine (the side of the mountain or the floor of the cave). If successful the ore you mined will be placed into your backpack. Ore is very heavy, so you will want to smelt it before you get overweight. To do this simply go stand by a forge, double click the ore in your bag and target the forge. This smelts the ore into ingots and places them into your bag. The type of ore you mine is dependent on your skill and the spot in which you are mining. At 100+ mining you can begin digging for stone, as long as you have read the Mining For Quality Stone book, sold in West Gargoyle City (you must single-click your shovel/pickaxe and select 'Set to Ore and Stone'). Sand is also diggable at this level and requires you to have read the Find Glass-Quality Sand book, sold in North Gargoyle City (the Alchemist). To dig sand you have to stand on a sand area like near forgotten pyramid in malas.
Musicianship
In order to use Peacemaking, Discordance and Provocation you need to learn how to actually play an instrument. So for this skill obviously what you'll need is an instrument (sold by NPC Tinker, Carpenter, Bard and some player's vendors, crafted using Carpentry/Musicianship). With the instrument in your backpack just double click it. If successful a nice tune plays, if you fail the tune won't sound so nice.
Necromancy
This is dark magic and you will need a Necromancy book (full books sold by various player's vendors) in order to use it. Spirit Speak is the support skill for Necromancy, so the higher it is (and the lower your Karma) the more effective your spells will be. Just like Magery, reagents are needed to cast or LRC suit works here too). Double click the spell (in your Necro book) that you want to cast. You will lose Karma every time you cast a Necro spell.
Ninjitsu
Using the Book of Ninjitsu sold by player vendors or can be found on loot from elite ninjas you can evoke a number of special abilities while in combat. Just double click the ability in the book that you want to use. Hovering your mouse over each icon will tell you what it does. Hiding and stealth is required for a few of the abilities.
Parrying
When you are engaged in combat and have a shield equipped your Parrying skill is automatically checked. If you parry successfully it will cause your attacker to miss you or do less damage than normal.
Peacemaking
You will need Musicianship, and an instrument (sold by NPC Tinkers, Carpenters and Bards, crafted using Carpentry/Musicianship) in your backpack, in order to use this skill. This allows you to calm down a creature in the middle of a fight. There are two ways to use it, either click the blue gem and target yourself in order to temporarily stop combat in your area, or click the blue gem and target a creature to stop it from fighting. The creature will not stay peaced forever, just for a short while or until you are out of its line of sight. Some monsters are unable to be peaced. Some pets like hiryus or dragons have an angering cycle which means you will try it more oftern till you will be able to tame it.
Poisoning
With this skill you can poison food or more importantly a weapon for use in combat. High levels of poisoning will also affect what level of poison is inflicted when casting the Magery spells Poison and Poison Field. Poison potions (sold by NPC Alchemists and some player's vendors, crafted using Alchemy) are needed in your backpack to poison anything. To use the skill, click the blue gem, target the poison you want to use and then target the item you want to poison. If you succeed you will poison the item and lose some Karma. Do not double click the poison because, if your hands are free, you will drink it thus poisoning yourself. To wipe poison off of a weapons use an oil cloth (crafted using Tailoring).
Provocation
This skill is used to get monsters to attack other monsters in their area. To use you need the Musicianship skill and an instrument (sold by NPC Tinkers, Carpenters and Bards, crafted using Carpentry/Musicianship) in your backpack. Click the blue gem, target the creature you want to provoke and select which creature you want your provoked creature to attack. Once you've provoked something you must remain alive and in their sight otherwise the effect will wear off. Not all creatures can be provoked.
Remove Trap
Before you can train this skill you will need to have at least 50 in both Detecting Hidden and Lockpicking. This skill allows you to remove traps from chests. Click the blue gem and target the chest that you wish to disarm. The trap will be disarmed if you're successful, however if you fail it's possible that the trap will be set off.
Resisting Spells
This helps lessen the severity of spells that last for a specific duration or that lower your stats, it doesn't prevent direct damage spells from hurting you. In order to gain you can continuously cast the spell Clumsy on yourself over and over. This will also add a bonus to your minimum elemental resists, dependent upon your skill. For example, if you are Grandmaster then your resists will never go below 40. It's only applied after all other resist modifications that you're wearing have been calculated and it's not cumulative, it compares the number of your minimum resists to the value of what you're wearing and uses the higher of the two values.
Snooping
Using this skill you are able to peak into the backpack of another person. To use, double click an NPC to view her paperdoll, stand close to her and double click on her backpack. If you succeed the backpack opens for you and you will lose some Karma.
Spellweaving
This skill is custom implemented on our shard. Meaning that you can buy the spellweaving book and scrolls from vendor stone with gold or citygold only. It is meant to encourage group spellcasting by giving a bonus for multiple arcanists working together. However, there is no need to stick together once they have obtained their Arcane Crystal.You must be standing on an Arcane Circle, Pentagram, or Abattoir in order to cast this spell. You may use any found in a player house, towns, or dungeons.
Spirit Speak
This is used to heal yourself by channeling spiritual energy. Spiritual energy can by channeled by a corpse or by you when this skill is actively used. If a corpse is not around you'll channel your own energy but will get a lesser amount of healing. Once you are a Grandmaster you will be able to see ghosts and what they say and if you're dead others will be able to see what you say. To use all you need to do is click the blue gem.
Stealing
You can do this randomly or directly. For a random item, click the blue gem and target a container or NPC, a random item will appear in your backpack if successful. For a direct item, use the Snooping skill to peek inside a container or backpack, click the blue gem and select what item you want to steal. This is how you obtain the various stealables scattered in Doom (which you would just target directly).
Stealth
This is the skill that allows you to walk around while you are hidden, it does not work if you are on a mount or immediately run. You will need to have at least 80 in Hiding before you can even learn this skill. To use click the blue gem next to your Hiding skill, once successfully hidden you can either click the blue gem next to Stealth or just begin walking (25+ skill needed to attempt this). The higher your skill the more armor you will need to wear in order to gain.
Swordsmanship
You will need to have a weapon equipped that, when moused over, says the required skill is Swordsmanship. Go into War mode and double click your opponent to begin using your sword.
Tactics
This skill increases your proficiency in combat, allowing you to deal more damage. It increases while you are in battle.
Tailoring
This is the skill used to make various clothes and some leather armor. You will need a Sewing Kit (sold by NPC Tailors, crafted using Tinkering) and some cloth and/or leather. Scissors (sold by NPC Tinker, crafted by Tinkers) are also good to have if you want to cut up the clothes you made (double click the scissors and target the item to cut up). To create clothes just double click your Sewing Kit and select which item you want to make.
Taste Identification
This skill is helpful if you ever find some food laying around in towns and want to eat it but are worried it's poisoned. Click the gem and target the food and it will tell you about the food.
Tinkering
This is used to make all of the various tools need for other crafting skills, jewelry, and miscellaneous other items. You will need Tinker's Tools (sold by NPC Tinkers and crafted using this skill), ingots and/or boards. Each item must be in your backpack. Double click the Tinker's Tool and select from the large list what you would like to create.
Tracking
With this skill you are able to track the movement/location of various animals, monsters and other players. Also highly useful on the Shadow Knight in the Doom Gauntlet. To use click the blue gem, in the box that pops up choose either Animals, Monsters, Human NPCs or Players. After that a box will pop up with different choices of whatever's around you, select who/what you want to track from this list. If you succeed an arrow will appear pointing in the direction of who/what you are tracking.
Veterinary
If your pet is hurt or poisoned, this will heal them. You can also resurrect dead bonded pets using this skill. You will need Bandages (sold by NPC Healers or obtained by cutting cloth). Double click the bandages and target your wounded pet and if successful it will begin to heal a little damage. To cure a poisoned pet you will need to have at least 60 in this skill and in Animal Lore; before it heals the pet's damage it will first cure the poison, then you will need to apply another bandage to heal the damage. To resurrect a dead bonded pet you need at least 80 in this skill and in Animal Lore. If a pet is not bonded to you and it dies, it is gone forever and therefor unable to be resurrected.
Wrestling
In order to wrestle an opponent both of your hands need to be free. Go into War mode and then double click on your target to begin wrestling. You will deal more damage and attack more often the higher your skill gets.