I don't even notice skills any more, except for the first few. You get a level the first time you chop wood, or use a weapon. After that, meh. No matter my skill level, it takes me 2 shots to kill a nobody Greydwarf, until I upgrade my weapon.

I've noticed a tendency towards the 'conquer the current biome, kill boss, then go to next biome, rinse repeat' mindset. I do not believe that is actually the safest route.

Another path I think is safer is to get to the point you can survive without much trouble in the current biome and then after locating the boss altar and scouting it out, instead of immediately killing the boss, begin scouting the next biome. Once you've gotten a better idea what lays ahead you can make better decisions about where to place an outpost for entry point to next biome and can take the time to prepare it properly to handle the new challenges that will arise after killing the current biome's boss.

Then kill the boss.

[Edit] While scouting the next biome you may find/obtain things that will boost your progress 'prematurely' such as certain seeds and rocks. Might even farm some items from the next biome that can render the current biome boss fight trivial.

Realize that actually killing the biome boss, beyond the Forsaken Power gained, doesn't do a thing as far as making the next biome more survivable initially. More exploitable yes, survivable no.

The skill loss is a secondary effect. The main problem is the frequent dying. What's killing you? Sneak attacks, or running out of stamina?

Don't really need any skills, they do so little even at max level that it's mostly meaningless to bother with them actively, so just ignore them. The thing that matters here is gear, getting yourself some good armor, good food, and a good weapon make it very hard to actually die.

Originally posted by Dakota:

Don't really need any skills, they do so little even at max level that it's mostly meaningless to bother with them actively, so just ignore them. The thing that matters here is gear, getting yourself some good armor, good food, and a good weapon make it very hard to actually die.

Running skill isnt meaningless wtf , getting running at low will make wolves or fulings catch you everytime youll try to kite/escape them no mather your gear if you get sorounded , pretty same with bow skill , you tried now at low lvl with that ? Take a lot of time to draw ....

I don't even notice skills any more, except for the first few. You get a level the first time you chop wood, or use a weapon. After that, meh. No matter my skill level, it takes me 2 shots to kill a nobody Greydwarf, until I upgrade my weapon.

Skills are not to be ignored in my opinion.

That said having main skills at 50 entering the Plains is plenty. Game is not finished but skills are not capped.

If you don't want to lose skill points, don't die.

Edit add - and I know that is pretty much impossible for a new player. To me that makes the game "brutal". But you learn and improve.

Yeah thats normal when your starting out, don't sweat it, with more experience comes less deaths and at least when your lownlevel your only losing like 2 instead of 4 or 5 when you've got high levels but even then it's a matter of your gameplay is what matters not the skills, their just a handy extra that compliemnts gameplay skill

Run against the wall and Jump up in down in doorways

my first character finish the game with skill around 20-40. I'm die like 10/20 times. Now i time time and with more experience y finish the 5 boss with skill in 50-70. I dont die and take more time. to go to next bioma, and know how to kill every mob. Have more skill is nice but really not necessary.

Git Gud Bruh

Skills are pretty overrated, IMHO.

That said. My first character died over a hundred times. That's why none of his skills are over thirty, most of them are in their teens or twenties.

My last character (fourth one) died only 5 or 6 times so far, so she's far ahead of my first character. Most of her skills are in their high thirties to high forties.

So, you will most likely learn how not to get killed so often and then your skills will vastly improve.

id say a majority of my non-silly deaths come from deathsquitos, i really wish they would re-work this mob so its not just a reskinned, flying wolf that is damn near impossible to detect, especially when it happens to roam outside the plains.

Once you got root armor, deathsquitos no longer pose much of a problem. With good food, they are very survivable. Just watch your environment. If you still have no business with the plains, just simply don't go there.

I went buttnaked into the plains, no armor but a summer crown, and just ate deer, boar and neck tail. I had about a 100 health. The only weapon I carried was a flint knife.

When the deathsquito approached I started swinging. I hit it once, then it hit me, I staggered a bit but survived with about 20+ health. The flint knife was fast enough to hit the bugger again, killing it.

So, yes. Deathsquitos are very survivable.

Don't try this at home, kids.

Edit: I guess my message here is, you need to have good health, at least 100 health is the minimum and you need a very fast weapon or very good timing. Then deathsquitos are quite manageable and not much of a problem.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2835451735

by themselves they aren't TOO much of a threat the issue is that they are spread pretty much evenly through out the plains so if you are doing anything other than looking for bugs, you are at risk for being stung in the back, this is usually when you are doing something exhausting like woodcutting or kiting enemies.

I agree with electricdawn that skills are overrated. Yeah some of them are nice to have above 70-100 such as running and jumping.
But my experience says that i get more impact on upgraded armour and wepon than 10-15 extra skillpoints that takes long to get and longer the higher the skills.
Just play the game, the skills comes and go and when you starting to die less times the skills starting to raise with time.

Originally posted by Molasses:

am i the only one who has trouble keeping their skills above 30? once you hit that point, leveling up starts to take much longer and every death results in 2 or 3 points being taken away. i REALLY don't want to have to use AHK to grind because at that point i may as well just cheat. specifically i feel like sneak is the absolute worst because it barely levels up in practical use, since you are normally only sneaking for about 10 seconds tops and a level of sneak around 30 usually requires a good 5 minutes of sneaking. I also feel like leveling up sneak should increase your speed as well as stamina drain.

I've played through all the content several times (solo vanilla) and honestly I don't ever even look at the skills... I just play the game and do my best to NOT die.

I tend to follow the progression, meaning I stay within the biome I am currently playing in until I have unlocked all the new recipes and blueprints for that biome. I upgrade all the gear I feel i need to upgrade ( I dont always upgrade every single item to maximum lvl), and I thoroughly prepare before fighting the Boss of that biome, then slowly proceed into the next biome and repeat the process.

I pay attention around me at all times... I keep my rested bonus active at all times.... I keep myself fully upgraded and fed with the best foods available to me (at all times) even when just doing things around the base.... I EXPECT trouble at every turn, and I escape when I know i am outmatched... I WALK everywhere and run/jump only when i need to escape.

I do not die very often, but when I do, it's usually because I let my guard down, which just reminds me to stay more aware.

The actual numbers (skill levels) don't really matter nearly as much as staying prepared and managing your stamina properly.