Base abilities affect other skills in two ways: 1. They give a skill bonus. E.g. every few ranks of Stamina increase Body Development with one rank. 2. They limit the skill rank. E.g. if you never increase your Stamina, you won’t be able to increase your Body Development above a certain rank.

Improving skills
Each skill (and ability) is listed with its name, current ranks, and a colored bar. The color of the bar reflects the cost of the skill for your profession - green is cheap, dark blue is expensive. But note that you don’t need every green skill, and you often have to increase at least some of the dark blue ones. For more detailed cost, check the info about the skill (shift + left-click).

The size of the colored bar indicates how much you increase the skill before reaching the hard limit (the “cap”) for it. The limit for base abilities increases every level, while the limit for other skills increases each time you gain a new title.

To improve a skill, left-click the half-circle button to the right of the skill’s name and current rank. The rank will increase, and IPs will be deducted from your total. No changes are complete until you click the “accept” button at the bottom of the Skill Window, and you can decrease a skill by left-clicking the half-circle button to the left of it. You can’t decrease a skill below it’s previously accepted value. Undo any changes by clicking the “cancel” button.

If a skill won’t increase when you click the button to do so, the text in the message area (in the information box) will change briefly to explain why. You’ll notice that skills can only be increased by a certain amount (three to five ranks) per level. Increasing your skill the maximum allowed amount each level is called “maxing” the skill.

Recommended skills
Until level 15, it’s recommended that you max (increase as much as possible) all abilities, base and secondary. The base abilities will give some extra bonuses on all other skills, which is quite significant on the first levels. Body Development should always be maxed, and higher Nano Pool come in handy later on if not on these levels.

You should max your First Aid and Treatment skills (in the “Nano & Aiding” category), to be able to use as good medical equipment as possible. Also max your Evade Close Combat skill under the “Speed” category to avoid being hit too much. If you start on Rubi-Ka, also max your Dodge Ranged skill in the same category.