Scared of Misspending points.. are there respecs?

[Liddabit]

Hi again all I was curious if there is a possibility of respeccing later in the game if I screw up. Is there? I've been avoiding spending my points and I'm almost level 20.

If not are there some skills I should absolutely avoid? It seems most games have one or 2 of those kinds of skills. Also any must haves?

Thanks !

[Steely Jim]

I've been cautious about calling any build substantially better than any other. I do think that some of it amounts to knowing what you'll ultimately want to do with the character, but there are also just underlying issues with the reputation system.

On one hand, many of us do have skill points we'd rather have elsewhere; for example, even with my favorite Sailing skill, I'd rather have 1 of my Take Cover points and my Treasure Sense point in Windcatcher. With pistol, I took Venom Shot and have no idea why; I also didn't open Bane Shot, and have never missed it.

There is certainly something to be said for general advice, like having fewer points in a skill means you get more rep back for using it because you are using the skill more often per mob. There's also something to be said for milking odd skills like Taunt or Throw Dirt for extra rep.

However, when it comes right down to it, you could level up all the way to Master by barely opening everything as you get the option; and, then once you've Mastered it, you might choose to not use, or rarely use, the skill again in the game. So, I think the answer to what skills anyone should have, and to what extent they should train it, is entirely dependent on the vision the player has for using that character at high to near maximum levels.

[Hile]

They may allow respecing sometime but who knows when.

I think every skill deserves at least a point. Never know when things change and it'll become important.

Ones I think are vital.
1 in Hex Eater shot (incapacitates voodoo mobs)
Life Drain and Voodoo Heals
Staff ( Concentration, Spirit Lore, Conservation ): max these
Cannon: Rapid reload
Sailing: max Broadsides, windcatcher, and taskmaster

[Sarah]

I think every skill deserves at least a point. Never know when things change and it'll become important

I agree. Open the skill, see how it works for you. Try to put as few points as possible into your damaging skills, as that will gain more rep. Once you master a skill, you should have a good idea where you want your saved points to go. And like Hile said, as more updates come, you never know what's going to come in handy. Try to keep your options open

[Eustace the Monk]

Originally Posted by Hile

They may allow respecing sometime but who knows when.

I think every skill deserves at least a point. Never know when things change and it'll become important.

I must, respectfully, disagree. In terms of blades, having points on every skill may detrement you. If you like to PVP, you will see that a lot of us skip cleave and thrust altogether, because it slows the damage per second. So, it really depends on what you are planning to do with the pirate. If you are just wanting to play around, then yes, at least 1 dot on everything.

Loot Hard!

[Steely Jim]

There's a good example of points I'm considering spending in Sailing. I'm going to have 4 points to spend, but I wish I had 6. However it goes, 2 of those points will go into 5/5 Taskmaster and Tacking; for the other 2 points, I still haven't decided whether to finally unlock Windcatcher for 2/5 or put the final 2 points in each broadside (for 5/5 in each).

I'm leaning towards Windcatcher because that will bring my war sloop close to what my light frigate was, in terms of raw speed. The broadsides would be nice too, but I can already 1-hit any light vessel with my war galleon and I spend most of my time in my war sloop anyway, using more of a 50/50 mix with Cannon. I don't really need the Windcatcher either, so I guess I could put points in either of the Sailing skills that I never opened Open Fire and Ramming Speed. I can create all the combat speed I need with Full Sail, and even long-cruising with the war galleon is that bad with 0/5 Windcatcher....that's usually when I start swing back towards maxing the broadsides.

I don't mind not opening skills. I read the manual through twice before I ever logged into the game; I didn't fully commit to a plan without trying it out, but I already had a good idea of what I didn't think I 'd want based on crunching the numbers available in the manual. So, for example, I don't have the popular Flourish skill at all; but, I am holding several points for the much less popular Thrust. However, before I'd even logged into the game, I'd decided to construct Steely James Rooke as a parry-riposte style swordfighter; and, regardless of how the game changes, Steely Jim will always be a parry-riposte swordfighter...that's part of the logical continuity of the character within the game world.

EDIT: I use the dagger for fast damage against single foes, not the cutlass. I use the cutlass as a defensive weapon.

[Liddabit]

Thank you again everyone

I think I may have already made some goofs maxing out my windcatcher :P I found that when I advertise my crew and joe shmoe joins on my boat and starts shooting at everything in sight some more speed to dodge the broadsides from all angles couldn't hurt. Maybe I would have been better not spending so much in windcatcher, but by getting more reliable crewmates :P

[Chris]

i put 1 point on everything because like others have stated you never know when u need it.