Originally posted by TangoBlue:

when you get to the Plains you should have the Run, Bow and whatever your melee weapon is high up there. Mid 80's to low 90's. Especially the Bow. I have noticed a big difference when shooting at the mobs. And shields are almost a must for me (I don't dodge very good )

For me, the swim skill is the least useful.

80's to 90's? I try not to die too much, but having a skill in the 30's or 40's is pretty good, for me! I haven't messed with training skills specifically, and I hear that's been nerfed recently anyway. You're right, stealth makes the opening 'kiss hello' a lot easier, but outside of that, I'm kind of disappointed at how limited it is.

Swim's the same as stealth and unarmed, not much done with it at the game's current stage. Would be neat if there was some reason to get the skill high, like letting to get to otherwise inaccessible places or something...

Originally posted by Peath:

Unarmed is when your weapons break - beside that it's not useful.
Stealth is amazing for sneak attacks that can one-shot a troll in black forrest phase.
Archery seems overpowered until you meet monsters resistant to physical and piercing, Meanwhile shields are useful for reducing damage taken / block completly with heavy shields. Esspecially vs guys like Bonemass or Abomination.

For me the least useful are swords, and except iron mace for bonemass maces (Especially Club after H&H update).
Same for spears and heavy weapons, most of the time.

Most useful are knives, and bow followed by axes.

I've seen the usefulness of both shields and dodging in youtube videos, but my timing is terrible. Guess I should practice more during fights where it doesn't matter.