After a good chuckle, he got down to business. Nilbog had a feeling people spent most of their points on their Class and Life Force or Mana, but all he to work with was his General Skill tab. He pulled up the menu and began scrolling through them.

Though the rarity of skill was a great indication of its power, some common skills were more useful than rare or epic skills, mostly because of their simple and wide-ranging effects. Generally, the stronger the skill the greater limitations it had.

The first skill Nilbog saw was a perfect example of this.

Lesser Bleed Resistance (Common)

Skill Slot: Bleed Resistance

Cost: 10 points

Gain 10% Bleed Resistance.

Most of the damage Nilbog had taken was because of bleed damage. It was a must take for Nilbog.

Moderate Terror Resistance (Uncommon)

Skill Slot: Terror Resistance

Cost: 15 points

Increase Terror Resistance by 20%

That was because of The Blind Mage, no doubt.

Though picking it would probably remove the shivers that went down his spine each time he thought about her, it didn’t seem like a common effect. It made the afflicted lose control over themselves, either collapsing, running away, or even attacking their own allies. Powerful, but too much of a rare Status Effect to waste points on it. Terror was considered a Crowd-Control ability, so his Hunter’s Sight already helped him in that department.

(Uncommon) Fighter’s Adrenaline

Skill Slot: Offensive Accumulation

Cost: 15 points

For every 5 seconds or successful penetration in battle, gain a 2% increase to Strength and Speed for a maximum of 20%.

The buff will decay by 1% for every 5 seconds passed without landing or receiving a strike. Attacks do not need to penetrate.

Fighter's Adrenaline will go on a 2-minute cooldown if it reaches 10% and then falls below 5%.

The Game offered common builds that people could build for. A Berserker, an Archetype that went up in power prolonged fights, was another common one. Iris most likely leaned towards this style.

(Common) The Outnumbered

Skill Slot: Battle Condition

Cost: 10 points

(Common) Duelist

Skill Slot: Battle Condition

Cost: 10 points

Gain a 5% increase to all parameters for each additional creature that out numbers you and your allies. Creatures that are a Danger Rank below you will only grant 2.5%. Creatures that are more than 2 tiers below you will not count.

The maximum buff is 30%.

After 3 seconds of entering single combat, you will gain 10% Strength, Speed, and Armor.

Some skill trees branched off, such as focusing on large battles or duels.

The Outnumbered was hilariously bad. Having a skill which rewarded being in a severe disadvantage did more harm than good for people like Nilbog. Bosses probably had it, and it probably didn’t hurt for some Sentients that would always be outnumbered to have it either, but Nilbog could barely win a one versus one, much less a group fight.

If he was going to pick any of the two, it was going to be Dualist.

Short-Breath (Uncommon)

Skill Slot: Breathing Technique

Cost: 10 points

Add-on cost: 5

Long-Breath (Uncommon)

Type: Breathing Technique

Cost: 10 points

Add-on cost: 5

Grants 20% Speed for the first five seconds of combat. Reduce STM costs by 10%.

This effect can only activate once every minute.

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(Unowned) Add-on: each Penetration increases the duration by 2 seconds.

(Unowned) Add-on: change the skill from a passive into an active.

Grants 5% Speed for the first 20 seconds of combat. Reduce STM costs by 20%.

This effect can activate once every minute.

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(Unowned) Add-on: each kill increases the duration by 20 seconds.

(Unowned) Add-on: The STM reduction will stay active for double the duration Long-Breath was active.

This was an easy choice. Nilbog didn’t know much about skills, but one could never have too much STM or Speed. Someone could stay alive without Strength, Armor, or Soul, but being unable to run-away or dodge will always lead to death. Investing in it was not a choice—it was a requirement.

The only question was what type to choose. One leaned towards a more burst Archetype, which he quite liked, while the other leaned towards a more drawn-out battle, which was unfavorable for Nilbog. He stayed alive through tricks and a stark willingness to run the hell away—the longer the battle went on, the less those mattered.

He set aside 10 points for it. The Add-ons available to it were not particularly attractive, though more could unlock if he puts the skill to good use.

Basic Dodge (Common)

Skill Slot: Dodge

Cost: 10 points

Add-on: 5 points

Accumulative Dodge (Common)

Skill Slot: Dodge

Cost: 10 points

Add-on: 5 points

Increase Dodge Speed* by 10%.

*Dodge Speed only increases your Speed when you are being attacked.

For each successive Dodge* you will gain a stack of Accumulative Dodge for a maximum of 4 stacks. Each stack increases Dodge Speed* by 5%. Being hit by a single attack that takes more than 10% of your MAX HP, or not Dodging within the next 10 seconds of the last Dodge, will remove all stacks.

*Dodge is counted when an attack would have struck you had not made aversive maneuvers.

*Dodge Speed only increases your Speed when you are being attacked. This does not apply when moving with any intent other than to dodge.

Another non-choicer. Getting hit less equated to surviving more.

Once again, there were two branches, focusing on either short or long battles, with him leaning towards the first.

Other than that, he had a couple skills that Nilbog did not give much thought about. Minor Slash Resistance (Common) and Minor Pierce Resistance (Common) providing a 10% Armor increase against those damage types. Nilbog didn’t need protection against getting hit—he needed to avoid getting hit. 10% of non-existent Armor won't help him.

The last skill available was useful yet unusable.

Agile Hunter (Uncommon)

Skill Type: Active Offensive Enhancer

Skill Cost: 15

Add-on cost: 10

Upon activating the skill Agile Hunter is attached to, the said skill will have 25% increased Strength and Agility for 5 seconds. If your attack deals HP damage, increase your Agility by 10% for 5 minutes.

Agile Hunter will go on a five-minute cooldown upon activation.

(Unowned) Add-on: The cooldown is removed if your target dies. The Agility bonus may stack up three times. Each stack resets the total duration of the buff to 5 minutes.

(Unowned) Add-on: Double the increased Agility.

For each type of skill, there was a Skill Slot and a Skill Enhancer. A person couldn’t gain two Dodge skills, but they could get a Dodge skill and then apply a Skill Enhancer to it. They were much rarer, could be put on different skills, and most often were vital builds. They could even be turned off or get switched to different skills to adapt to the environment. An Offensive Enhancer applied to any skills that dealt damage.

The issue with it is that he had no skills that dealt damage. Lethal Strike only targeted Sentients.

In the end, Lesser Bleed Resistance (Common), Short-Breath (Common), and Basic Dodge (Common) cost him 30 points in total, leaving him with the 15 points he needed for Agile Hunter (Uncommon). It wouldn’t be useful now, but he needed to spend most of his points. Getting captured would waste them. Plus, this round was against Sentients. Just because he didn’t like to fight didn’t mean he was going to be a push-over.

Well. As much as a level 20 pip-squeak can try.

He attached Agile Hunter to his Lethal Strike.

With all his chores done, he snuggled himself, each side of the wall a comfortable barrier, and tried to sleep over the rattling outside his window.