How many skill choice mistakes can I afford to make?

[Miths]

I'm four hours into this wonderful game, and I'm worried that I won't have skill points enough over the course of the game to afford making a few mistakes. It does cost three points to choose a skill after all, and so far I've already picked two weapon skills (bow and unarmed, got a third one - piercing - from a book) that I'm not entirely sure my Elemental magic orientated character will ever get around to use.

Will I have enough points to make a few bad choices, or am I better off starting over while it's still early, with a more focused plan for progression?

[Randomizer]

An average game should give you 20 levels so you can calculate how many more skill points are available. However if you camp planning to get woken up by monsters appearing than you can go all the way to level 30. This will give you more skill points to replace the ones that you lost.

For a mage character there are plenty to reach level 31 in elemental magick with some left over for other skills. A thief character that wants to have all the thief skills has to be more careful.

[xolotl]

In general, your char will have an easier time if you concentrate on building your core skills, as opposed to spending points on new ones (although learning from books or trainers is often a great idea). That said, people have solved the game without ever levelling up, there's a challenge (which many people have met) which has you diversify at least twenty skills, and there are certainly a lot of points around.

Overdiversification basically just increases the difficulty level of the game. On my first playthrough of Book 1, I branched out quite a bit at the beginning, to my character's detriment at the midgame. Once I realized my mistake, I started focusing my points more, and it was great to watch my character become actually-effective.

In conclusion, I wouldn't worry about it too much. :)

[Miths]

At level 4 I have:

Elemental 8
Light Armor 1
Lore 1
Meditation 3
Unarmed Combat 1
Bow Weapons 1
Piercing Weapons 1 (from a skill book)

I guess I should at least refrain from being tempted to buy additional skills on level up? And from putting too many points into anything but Elemental if I want to focus on magic?

[Dragonlady]

At level 4 I have:

Elemental 8
Light Armor 1
Lore 1
Meditation 3
Unarmed Combat 1
Bow Weapons 1
Piercing Weapons 1 (from a skill book)

I guess I should at least refrain from being tempted to buy additional skills on level up? And from putting too many points into anything but Elemental if I want to focus on magic?

For the bow skill it is really not needed since, I assume, you have the Fire Dart spell for distant enemies. If you want to use a bow when you run out of mana and don't want to take a nap, there is a trainer to get you up to level 8. If your not going to train in Divine then after you've up Elemental to 20, up your lore skill so you can identify those items that have a higher cost. If you find the Merchant book, then up that skill a bit to and add in the +2 hat. You'll get higher sale price for items. (at least that's what I do. I add in alchemy & Forage so I don't have to buy mana/heal potions from the shopkeepers, it's cheaper that way.)

You can use your mage now and find out what the game is like and then experiment playing again and again to try different ways. It's fun, as you can no doubt tell from the number of posts on the different challenges.

[Miths]

I'm considering starting over now before I get too far into the game. I have ADHD so I have a very hard time dealing with repetition, no matter how much I'm enjoying the game/book/movie/whatever. One time through is usually enough for me .

Running out of mana - and getting beaten up badly in close combat - was my main reason for picking the bow skill. But I guess I'll just have to settle for camping more frequently until my mana regeneration increases (the reason I picked Meditation).

If I start over I think I'll be tempted to use both elemental and divine magic (perhaps leveling the latter slower and settle for tier 1 and 2 spells). And I guess I should initially pick an armor skill and a weapon skill to go with those?

[xolotl]

Running out of mana - and getting beaten up badly in close combat - was my main reason for picking the bow skill. But I guess I'll just have to settle for camping more frequently until my mana regeneration increases (the reason I picked Meditation).

The other thing that helps mana regeneration is Perception - keep pumping points into that; it'll be very nice eventually.

Also, the solution to getting beaten up badly in close combat, as a mage, is to simply never engage in close combat. :) I think my last mage character only attacked physically once or twice throughout the whole game, near the very beginning.

And I guess I should initially pick an armor skill and a weapon skill to go with those?

This is just personal preference, but honestly, as a mage I wouldn't bother with a weapon skill. One point in Light Armor can certainly be helpful; I wouldn't put more than that into armor, though.

[Randomizer]

Put more into elemental magick so when you find/buy higher level spells you will be able to use them right away. You will also need intelligence of 20, but items can help since you just need it when you learn the spell.

For most of the rest you can wait until you find a trainer and/or book.

[Miths]

Thanks for all the suggestions.
I decided to start a character (Druidic Magick User) with these beginning skills.

Divination 3
Elemental 5
Light Armor 1
Meditation 1

[Kreador Freeaxe]

For a mage, your most important stat starting out will be your Perception. If you do reroll the character, go until you get Int and Per at 14 and probably Wis at 13 or 14 if you want to get some Divination as well. Get the Int to 15 (and Wis as well if adding Div) and pump everything else into you Per. That increases your mana pool and the rate at which you will regen mana. Early on, you may need to do a lot of retreating, and probably sleep at the inn from time to time to safely regenerate your mana and health, but you'll have a much easier time. One point in Light Armor is not a bad addition, but weapons really aren't necessary. You may give yourself a level in unarmed combat, as it will save you mana when you want to open a chest or barrel (one level of unarmed combat means you can hit something without taking damage yourself).

More than anything else, have fun.