“...what is important to understand about Skills before you worry about mid-life concerns such as merging and advancing, is the types and tiers of skills. Skills are widely understood to come in three tiers, each with the types passive and active. Passive refers to Skills that are always working, even if you are not conscious of it or intending to activate it. Active Skills tend to be stronger, but requires an energy cost and must be intentionally activated. A weapon mastery Skill would be a good example of a passive Skill, whereas a Skill such as “Hawkshot” or “Trick Shot” would be a common example of an active Skill.

The first and most common type of skill is known as Racial. Occasionally referred to as “basic” Skills, these refer to abilities native to your race and are present at the time of birth. These Skills do not level, however they have been documented to both advance and evolve in some of the longer-lived races such as the gnomes and elves. While the amount and strength of Racial Skills granted at birth varies from race to race, it is commonly understood that these abilities are a gift to the Enlightened Races from the God of Balance, and as such rarely show up among the monster races, and never amongst the true monsters.

The third and final tier of Skills is known only as Advanced Skills. These abilities are very elusive, and many people who possess them wish to keep the details to themselves. What is known is that they have the ability to level much higher than General Skills, and typically require a Profession to unlock. Whether this means they are eligible for further advancement or not is, at this time, unknown. The most commonly known Advanced Skill would likely be the elemental affinity skills, used by the most powerful mages to transmute their mana into the elements.”

-An excerpt from “The Growth and Usage of Skills” by Elicia Manawetz