This chapter outlines useful information (and some spoilers) for beginning players on the various skills that exist in Crossfire.
If you are interested purely in the mechanics of Crossfire please visit the Sworn Book of Scorn instead.

See Also : skills
Developers : skills

Guides - Back to guides index

1. Connecting to Crossfire - How to connect to a Crossfire Server
2. Creating a character - What to consider when creating a new character
   1. Strengths and weaknesses of various races
   2. Strengths and weaknesses of various classes
   3. Recommendations on religion
3. Playing Crossfire - General information about moving and interacting in Crossfire
   1. Player Commands - Commands any player can use including syntax and description
   2. DM Commands - Commands only a DM can use
4. Skills - What skills your character should learn ← You are here
   1. Combat - Skills relating to hand to hand combat
   2. Magic - Skills related to spellcraft
   3. Crafting and other skills - Other skills
      • Alchemy Guide
      • Cooking Guide
      • Smithing Guide
      • Praying Guide
5. Equipment - What equipment should you try and find
   1. Store Guide (the best stores for buying and selling)
6. Maps - Where you should go exploring
   1. Beginners Atlas - A [uncompleted] guide to the default mapset.

Crossfire players will start with skills depending on their race and class but will learn many more in their exploration of the world. Type in the command skills to see which ones you have.
Skills are used for combat, spell casting, worshipping gods and using items. There are many more.

In Crossfire two types of skills exist; The first kind, “associated” skills, are those skills which are associated with a category of experience. These include:

• Combat skills
• Spell Casting Skills
• Artisanal skills

The other kind of skill, “miscellaneous” or General skills, are not related to any experience category.

The main difference between these two kinds of skills is in the result of their use. When associated skills are used successfully experience is accrued in the experience category associated with that skill. In contrast, the use of miscellaneous skills never gains the player any experience regardless of the success in using it.

Both miscellaneous and associated skills can fail. This means that the attempt to use the skill was unsuccessful. Both miscellaneous and associated skills can have certain primary stats associated with them. These associated stats can help to determine if the use of a skill is successful and to what degree it is successful.

Accumulation of experience will result in increasing the level of the player's character. In a Crossfire game where skills are not present, experience is only gained for removing traps and killing monsters. A player will gain a new level when their experience total reaches a new amount in the hierarchy shown in the following table:

Relationship between experience and level for the first 10 levels.

Each skill also has it's own level representing the overall proficiency of the player based on the amount of experience accumulated in it (using the same schedule shown in the table above.). As you practice each skill you become better at what you do most often and most successfully. For example, a player who kills monsters with incantations gains experience in casting incantations. A player who steals from creatures often will get better at stealing, and so on.

Use the skills command to investigate which skills your character has and to see the level of ability you have in each experience category.

• Detailed information is available in the sworn book of scorn here

As an aside tip, monsters also are assigned a level of proficiency and may gain experience. The main way which monsters gain experience is by killing players! Beware going after a monster that has killed several players, it will be much more difficult to challenge!

Experience is only award on the successful completion of a skill. For example, in combat, an opponent must be overcome in order to gain experience with a combat skill. Other examples include successfully finding/disarming a trap, stealing from some being, identifying an object, etc.

Gained experience is based on the difference in levels between the opponents and the amount of experience that they will reward.

Experience gained =

 - Opponent's experience value + a constant award based on the skill being used 
 - all multipled by:
   - A fixed amount based on the experience table, and
   - Either:
    - level of opponent - level of attacker (where the opponent has a higher level), or
    - 1 (if the opponent has the same level), or,
    - level of opponent / level of attacked (where the opponent has a lower level)

There are three different cases for how EXP (op) can be computed:

1. op is a living creature: EXP(op) is just the base experience award given in the spoiler.
2. op is a trap: EXP(op) = 1/(fraction of the time which the trap is visible). Thus, traps which are highly visible get lower values.
3. op is not a trap but is non-living: EXP(op) = internal experience award of the item. Also, the lvl_mult is multiplied by any magic enchantment on the item.

This means that it is combination of the difference in levels between “opponents,” experience point value of a “vanquished foe,” the type of “vanquished foe”, and the values of the associated stats of the skill being used and two factors that are set internally. (Note: If you want to know more about this, check out the skills_developers.doc.)

For example if a player with level 5 one-handed skill attacks and kills a Wyvern using this skill then:

Experience gained =

1. 4000 experience + a constant award based on the skill being used
2. all multipled by 3 (because wyvern's level is 8 - and player's skill level is 5)
3. and multipled by x.xx (because of stat modifier for one-handed skill)

Experience gained = (4000 + ) * 3 = 12000

- What is the constant award for one-handed weapons in this example?

skills This command lists all the player's current known skills, their level of use and the associated experience category of each skill. ready_skill <skill> This command changes the player's current readied skill to <skill>. use_skill <skill> <string> This command changes the player's current readied skill and then executes it in the facing direction of the player. Similar in action to the invoke command. Three player commands are related to skills use: ready_skill, use_skill, and skills (see table skill commands). Generally, a player will use a skill by first readying the right one, with the ready_skill command and then making a ranged “attack” to activate the skill; using most skills is just like firing a wand or a bow. In a few cases however, a skill is be used just by having it readied. For example, the mountaineer skill allows favorable movement though hilly terrain while it is readied.

To change to a new skill, a player can use either the use_skill or ready_skill commands, but note that the use of several common items can automatically change the player's current skill too. Examples of this include readying a bow (which will cause the code to make the player's current skill missile_weapons) or readying a melee weapon (current skill auto-matically becomes melee weapons). Also, some player actions can cause a change in the current skill. Running into a monster while you have a readied weapon in your inventory causes the code to automatically make our current skill melee weapons. As another example of this-casting a spell will cause the code to switch the current skill to wizardry or praying (as appropriate to the spell type).

It is not possible to use more than one skill at a time.

How to Write Spell Scrolls (by Galahad the Paladin) Writing spell scrolls requires three things: a known spell, a spell scroll and inscription skill. Inscription skill comes with having a “pen” in inventory and using the skill. One uses the inscription skill with -

'use_skill inscription <written message here>

- where <written message here> gets replaced with the actual message to write. Example:

'use_skill inscription Log: hit level 9 summoning today!

Use this skill to write in blank books and scrolls found on adventures.

Writing spell scrolls uses the same skill but in a different manner.

To write a new spell scroll one needs an existing spell scroll that is a lower level than one's current inscription level. The lower the scroll level the better. Spell scrolls that are marked (lvl 1) are best. Then one marks the scroll with one of the following: shift+ middle-click on the scroll you wish to over write The keyboard command: 'mark scroll of <spell_name> (Be careful not to overwrite the last spell that you scribed!) The player readies a spell to cast ('cast detect magic) And then types 'use_skill inscription<cr>. Where <cr> means press the [Enter] key. That is it. Caution: Magic spell writing can be risky to one's health. There can be some negative effects if one fails to write a spell scroll. The most benign is that one becomes confused for a short time. Other effects are more severe and can even be dangerous.

Skills may be gained in two ways. In the first, new skills may learned. This is done by reading a “skill scroll” and the process is very similar to learning a spell. Just as in attempts to learn incantations, success in learning skills is dependent on a random test based on the learner's INT. Using your INT stat, look in the learn% column in table primary stat effects to find your % chance of learning a skill. Once you hit 100%, you will always be successfull in learning new skills.

The acquisition of a skill tool will also allow the player to use a new skill. An example of a skill tool is “lockpicks” lockpicks (which allow the player to pick door locks). The player merely applies the skill tool in order to gain use of the new skill. If the tool is unapplied, the player loses the use of the skill associated with the tool.

After a new skill is gained (either learned or if player has an applied skill tool) it will appear on the player's skill roster (use the 'skills command to view its status). If the new skill is an associated skill, then it will automatically be gained at the player's current level in the appropriate experience category.

For example, Stilco the Wraith, who is 5th level in agility, buys a set of lockpicks and applies them. He may now use the skill lockpicking at 5th level of ability since that is an agility associated skill.

Every time you make an attack, your attack is classified with one or more “attacktypes.”. For example, an attack made with a ordinary sword results in the attack being made with the attack type of “physical.” For another example, if a Mage attacks with a fireball spell the attack is made with the “magic” and “fire” attacktypes. In similar fashion, a defender may be protected, vulnerable, or immune to any attacktype.

Here is a summary of the attack system; in fact, its a bit more complicated.

Hitting an opponent Several quantities are involved in determining whether an attack will hit its target. The attacker will hit if his Wc is less than or equal to the defender's Ac + 1D20 (Note: 1D20 is a random number between 1 and 20) or if the D20 gives a 20 (remember, both Wc and Ac improve as their value drops lower).

Damaging a hit opponent Damages are randomly generated, with the magnitude of the random number being based on the attacker's Dam stat. If defender is immune to an attacktype in the attack, he receives no damage, if he's protected he receives half damage, if he's vulnerable to this kind of attacktype, he receives double damage. For physical attacks, the percent of your Arm (armour) value is subtracted from incoming damage. Some magic weapons can “slay” various races of creatures. If the weapon slays the defender, the attack damage is tripled.

Both the primary stats and level of the character will influence the secondary stats given below. In the skills-based game, the appropriate experience category is identified for purposes of determining which level is used in the calculation. In the non-skills game, the overall level is always used.

Note: categories are given for the default settings, and this can be changed by the server administrator

Refer to table primary stat effects if a quantity in a calculation is left unexplained.

If you want to physically strike a monster, all you need to do is run into him with your player, many times quickly. To do this best, you should learn the keyboard commands for running, and indeed, for moving in general. For moving with the keyboard:

yku
h l
bjn

Running in a direction is done by <ctrl> direction. Firing in a direction is <shift> direction. It's generally better to hit a monster with a weapon besides your fists. Click on your inventory until you figure out how to get a weapon to be marked “wielded”. Then, you'll be able to hit the monster with the weapon when you run into him.

Two broad categories of magic exist in Crossfire: “wizardry” and “divine magic.” The fundamental difference between the two comes down to the source that powers the magic of each.

In divine magic the practitioners, “priests,” do not use their own power but rather channel power from divine entities (“gods.”) They utilize various “prayers” to cast their magic and grace is the measure of how much magic the priest may channel. The higher the level of the priest and the better his wisdom and power, the more grace the priest will have in the eyes of his god. In the practice of wizardry a “wizard” calls upon his own life-force (or “mana”) to power his arcane incantations. Mana is based on of the wizard's innate power but may be increased through his skill in wizardry.

The scope and sphere of these two magics are different. Through the use of divine magic the priest has access to powerful spells of protection, healing, and of slaying unholy creatures. (Note: A “spell” is a common name referring to both prayers and incantations.) If the multiple gods option is used (Note: this is the default), the god a priest worships will have other impacts on the priest's magic and abilities (see section multiple gods). In contrast, wizardry is more oriented towards the harnessing of elemental forces of creation, alteration and destruction. There are two minor variants of wizardry: alchemy and rune magic.

Each form of magic is orthogonal to the other. In some no magic areas, the wizard is blocked from accessing his store of mana, but the priest may operate his magic normally. Similarly, there are unholy areas in which the priest loses his contact with his god and cannot cast magic; in unholy areas the wizard is unhindered. Of course, no magic and unholy areas can sometimes coincide.

In addition, wizards have the handicap that if they are encumbered with 'stuff', they are less effective at incantations. Heavy weapons and heavy armour are the main cause of spell-failures. See the section on encumbrance for details. Weapons and armour have no effect on the practice of divine magic but grace regenerates slower than mana, and the amount of grace that a priest possesses helps to determine the success of their prayers.

Both types of spells may be learned by reading books (see section items). The overall chance of learning a spell uses the following formula:

% chance to learn = (base chance + (2 * level))/1.5

The base chance that a prayer/incantation will be learnt is based on WIS/INT respectively. Look at table primary stat effects to find your base chance in the learn% column. If you are attempting to learn a prayer, you would use your WIS stat to find the base chance. Likewise, the level used in the formula is related to the type of spell. If you are attempting to learn an incantation, the value of level to use is your wizardry experience (and you use the praying experience level for learning prayers.) Once your chance to learn a spell exceeds 100%, you always succeed in all attempts to learn spells.

Long ago a number of archmages discovered patterns in the web that spells weave in the aether. They found that some spells had structural similarities to others and some of the mages took to studying particular groups of spells. These mages found that by molding their thought patterns to match the patterns of the spells they could better utilize all the spells of the group. Because of their disciplined approach, the mages were described as following spell Paths. As they attuned themselves to particular spell Paths they found that they would become repelled from others, and in some cases found they were denied any access to some paths. The legacy of these mages remains in some of the magical items to be found around the world. Use of these “attuned” items will strongly effect the quality of the incantations and prayers cast by the magician. See section multiple gods to see how the worship of a god might effect the spell casting of the magician.

The Paths themselves are given in table spellpaths.

A character (or NPC) that is attuned to a Path can cast incantations/prayers from that Path at 80% of the mana/grace cost and in addition receives duration/damage bonuses as if the caster were five levels higher. A person that is repelled from a Path casts incantations/prayers from that Path at 125% of the mana/grace cost and receives duration/damage bonuses as if the caster were five levels lower (minimum of first level). The casting time is also modified by 80% and 125% respectively. If a wizard or priest is denied access to a Path they cannot cast any spells from it.

Mind Creation Teleportation Information Transmutation Protection Fire Frost Electricity Missiles Self Summoning Abjuration Restoration Detonation Transferrence Turning Wounding Death Light Paths are quite powerful; they don't come cheaply. Most magical items with path_attuned attributes will have path_repelled and path_denied attributes as well, to balance them out.

From the Survival Guide Magic and Religion If a spell path is repelled for a particular god (or item) that means your effective casting level is 5 levels lower then usual. Example: a level 5 priest of Mostrai (Denied: Summoning) is trying to cast summon cult monster. In this case, the effective level (which is zero) is lower than lowest level of all creatures that might be summoned, so the priest can't summon anything. [J.E.]

The spells that do work against magic-immune creatures are: summon golem, summon air elemental, summon fire elemental, summon water elemental, summon earth elemental, summon pet monster, build bullet wall, build lightning wall, build fireball wall, and soon dancing sword and animate weapon. [D.N.]

There are even two commands that will give you the full list of Alchemy formulae that you can use: crossfire -m7 will dump the alchemy table in a compact format crossfire -m9 will give you a more detailed list, comparing the costs of the result with the cost of the ingredients. [R.Q.]

Talisman = magic, Holy Symbol = wisdom. Some characters have those skills without these objects (you can learn these, too — read a scroll of piety for praying, legerdermain for wizardry). Not a good idea for experienced players. [C.S.]

Spells = magic, prayer = wisdom. Addition: you should mention the holy word prayer to kill enemies of your god. There aren't very many offensive prayers. Another lowlevel one is cause light wounds (followers of either Valriel or Gaea cannot cast this). [C.S.]

You get wisdom experience by killing monsters with prayers [ed. same goes for wizardry with spells]. The usual way to get the first few levels is to use the holy word prayer to kill enemies of your god. A good thing to do is to make a keybinding like this: “invoke holy word;use_skill pr;stay fire;stay fire;stay fire” This will cast a holy word into the direction your are facing and restore your grace afterwards (assuming you are still level 1 in praying — you'll need more “stay fire” for higher levels). [C.S.]

The difference between “cursed” and “damned”: Damned is harder to get rid of (Scrolls of remove damnation are harder to come by). Generally, only the worst items (items of woe) are actually damned. [M.W.]

The things that are probably the closest to being a “guild” are the cults. You have to join a cult by praying on an altar of the god, and you can join only one cult (for low/midlevel characters changing the cult is costly since you loose experience). Beginners should always join Valriel — Mostrai looks good, too, but is more difficult to play. … The important thing are the enemies. Valriel has undead and demon as enemies, which means there are low-, mid- and highlevel enemies. Valriel doesn't have a real disadvantage either. Holy possession of Valriel grants immunity to confusion, which is not that useful, but usually helpful for lowlevel characters. [C.S.]

Finding a god's altar: There are temples to various gods scattered throughout the crossfire world. Several can be found in temple row in scorn, and a similar cluster exists near navar market. For some of the gods that do not have a temple placed that conveniently, you will have to go exploring. In general temples can be found in places that match with a god's personality. [C.S., B.L.]

Response to some questions about Lythander: (read more about the gods in Appendix C ) When you start to worship Lythander you automatically become protected against confusion, but you only gain the immunity when you cast the holy possession prayer on yourself (the same applies to the other cults that have an immunity - priests only gain it whenever they cast that prayer). And … cause wounds and holy word are both lvl 1 prayers, holy word only works against the enemies of your god (goblins and trolls in your case), while wounding works against anyone. However, holy word is an area spell,so it affects more enemies at once. At higher lvls there are the higher cause wounds spells, banishment instead of holy word, and you can use the holy servant or the avatar against opponents (again, this works against all opponents, not just the enemies - however, the allies are exempt). [Gorlin]

When praying over a god´s alter to “enchant” your weapon, … the maximum plus your weapon can get this way is “wisdom level/5”. So you need to be wisdom-level 5 to get to +1, wisdom-level 10 to get to +2 and so on. [C.S.]

Runes are another special form of wizardry; essentially runes are magical inscriptions on the dungeon floor which cast a spell (or “detonate”) when something steps on them. Flying objects don't detonate runes. Beware! Runes are invisible most of the time!

There are several runes which are specialized; these can be set as your range spell. Some of these are:

Rune of Fire

rune-fire_111 Fire damage when it detonates Rune of Frost rune-frost_111 Cold damage when it detonates Rune of Blasting rune-blast_111 Physical damage when it detonates Rune of Shocking rune-shock_111(1) Electrical damage when it detonates Rune of Death rune-death_111 Atacks with attacktype “death” at caster level The spell 'disarm' may be used to try and destroy a rune you've discovered. In addition, there are some special runes which may only be called with the 'invoke' command:

Magic Rune generic-rune_111 You may store any incantation in this rune that you know and have the mana to cast Marking Rune rune-mark_111(1) This is basically a sign. You may store any words you like in this rune, and people may apply it to read it. Maybe useful for mazes! This rune will not detonate, nor is it ordinarily invisible. Partial Visibility of Runes Your runes will be partially invisible. That is, they'll be visible only part of the time. They have a 1/(your level/2) chance of being visible in any given round, so the higher your level, the better hidden the runes you make are.

Examples of usage Here are several examples of how you can use the runes.

'invoke magic rune heal will place a magic rune of healing one square ahead of you, whichever way you're facing.

'invoke magic rune transfer as above, except the rune will contain the spell of transference

'invoke magic rune large fireball as above, except the spell large fireball will be cast when someone steps on the rune. The fireball will fly in the direction the caster was facing when he created the rune.

'cast rune of fire prepares the rune of fire as the range spell. Use the direction keys to use up your mana and place a rune.

'invoke marking rune fubar places a rune of marking, which says “fubar” when someone applies it.

'invoke marking rune touch my stuff and I will hunt you down! places the marking rune warning would-be thieves of their danger.

Restrictions on runes: You may not place runes underneath monsters or other players. You may not place a new rune on a square which already has a rune. Any attempt to do the latter strengthens the pre-existing rune.

Players with the magic skill can cast magical spells. Magical spells are used in this way: by typing, for example: cast small lightning cast burning hands Either of these commands will set the RANGE ATTACK to that magic spell. Then, “firing” in a direction will invoke that spell in that direction. Magical energy is call mana, and it is depleted whenever a player invokes a magical spell. Mana is normally replenished slowly, but certain items may speed the process.

Gods in Crossfire are not omnipotent beings. Each is thought of possessing a certain sphere of influence, indeed, some philosophers have thought that the gods might spring from the same mystical patterns that form the spell Paths. Certainly it appears that each of the gods embodies one or more of these Paths (but not all of them!!). Because the gods are not omnipotent, we often speak of their religions as being 'cults'.

Under the multigod option, priests are allowed to select from an array of different gods. Worship of each god is unique, and brings differing capabilities to the priest. See Appendix C for a listing of the gods and some of the attributes/effects of worshiping of these cults.

Praying at aligned altar (Altar of Devourers,Altar of Gaea,Altar of Gnarg,Altar of Gorokh,Altar of Ixalovh,Altar of Lythander,Altar of Mostrai,Altar of Ruggilli,Altar of Sorig,Altar of Valriel) is the usual way in which a priest interacts with their god/cult. Aligned altars are identified by their name (e.g. altar of <god's name>) and may be found in various maps all over the world of Crossfire . When a player prays over an aligned altar, one of three things may happen based on the players currently worshiped god:

“Unaligned” player prays over an altar - results in that player becoming a worshiper of the god the altar is dedicated to.

Player prays over their god's altar - results in faster grace regeneration. In addition, player may pray to gain up to twice their normal amount of grace. Also, from time to time your god might give you information, blessings, or something really good; it depends on your WIS, POW and priest experience.

Player prays over alien god's altar - results in punishment of the player (generally they lose some of their priest experience). This action can result in the defection of the player to the alien god's cult.

Note that once a player has joined a cult, it is impossible to go back to being “unaligned” to any god.

Summary of benefits/penalties for joining

The following things happen when a worshiper joins a god's cult:

the worshiper gains access to the special flavor of magic belonging to the cult (see table priests' prayers). the ability to cast magic is altered to reflect the powers of the worshiper's god. Some spells will be easier to cast; others will be more difficult, and some spell Paths will be forbidden. It is impossible to regain forbidden spells by any means except leaving the cult. the worshiper becomes protected and/or vulnerable to certain attacks. Note that a player can belong to only one cult at any one time.

Prayer Description Bless Enhances the recipients combat ability and confers some of the gods special sphere of protection. Banishment An AT_DEATH¹ attack is made versus enemies of the caster's god. Call holy servant Weaker version of an avatar is summoned. Cause wounds These prayers use the attacktype of “godpower.” This means they will effect magic immune creatures AND each prayer has the special attacktype(s) of the priest's god. Consecrate Dedicates an altar to the caster's god. Curse Decreases the recipients combat ability and confers some vulnerabilities particular to the caster's god. Holy orb Its like a fireball, but has the same effect as holy word². This prayer is most effective against single creatures. Holy word² This prayer shoots forth a cone of power that will damage only enemies of the caster's god. Holy wrath Currently the most powerful “holy word”² prayer available. Summon avatar Summons a “golem” that is tailored to the powers of the worshiped god. This prayer is more powerful (in general) than a summoned elemental and is one of the priest's most potent attack spells. Summon cult monsters Summons creatures friendly to the priest's god. Depending on the god this can be a powerful or wimpy prayer. ¹ The target and caster's levels are compared. If the caster's level is higher, then the creature will probably be destroyed. ² “holy word” also defines a class of prayers. These spells are all designed to slay only the enemies of the priest's god.

Lets create an example god - the “god of the undead.” If you worship the god of the undead, don't expect to be able to gain priest experience (Note: i.e. experience for the wisdom experience category) for killing the undead! But you might gain, as a priest of the undead, greater powers of commanding undead, and experience for killing certain (living) creatures that serve an enemy god. Each priest takes on a portion of the “aura” of their god; this means that our priest will probably become protected to life-damaging magic like draining and death, while conversely becoming more vulnerable to fire. Such a priest, because their god's domain does not include the living, probably won't be capable of healing either.

Players with the praying skill can ask help of their gods, and get it. Prayers and magical spells are used in much the same way, for example, by typing: cast holy word cast burning hands Either of these commands will set the RANGE ATTACK to that praying skill. Then, “firing” in a direction will invoke that prayer in that direction. Grace is a measure of how pleased your god is with you at the moment. Your god will grant you favors if you have sufficient grace for the favor, or even sometimes if you don't. However, asking for big favors when you have insufficient grace may bring down divine retribution. Grace is slowly replenished, up to a point. Beyond that point, you must pray to gain more grace. This is a convenient way to do this: bind use_skill praying P Then simply hit the P key repeatedly. This is also a good way to regenerate grace quickly.

When you first begin the game, you will be unable to use any prayers because you have no god to grant them as yet. Religions are acquired by praying at an altar. Any player with the praying skill may pray at an altar and become a devotee of that god. The various deities are very different from each other. Beginning players should probably choose either Mostrai or Valriel, and avoid Gaea and Rugilli. Temples for most of the religions are in the town Scorn, where you will appear after you choose a class.

As well as developing skills for killing things it is possible to become skilled in a few crafts to make your adventuring easier. A craft usually involves a workplace, into which you put some ingredients and make the desired item of your choice by using the appropriate skill. For example for alchemy you use a cauldron, and for smithery you use a forge. You use alchemy to make potions, and smithery to make weapons and armour. Forges, tannery benches, jeweler's workbenches and similar workplaces can all be found in specially built buildings, where for a fee the owner will let you use their equipment. Crafts enable players to transmute an item, by combining ingredients and materials and utilising the appropriate craft skill, to add new properties to the original item. They also enable players to identify items more efficiently

The most widespread craft is alchemy. If you are new to crafts you are best off learning to use this skill before mastering any of the others. Alchemy can be used to make many different potions, dusts, and balms, both harmful and useful. You can use the harmful potions you make to throw at your enemies, and useful for drinking yourself. Everything you make can also be sold, so you can also earn some money :) . Once you get comfortable with alchemy you should find other craft skills easier to become proficient at as they work in a similar way. For more information visit the Alchemy Guide.