Mount&Blade/Skills

Personal Skills
These are skills you or another hero can possess. They don't affect the party.

Ironflesh

 * Governing Attribute: Strength
 * Maximum Level: 8
 * Effect: +2 HP /level

Ironflesh has no use beyond increasing hit points. At early levels it isn't always very important, but as you fight tougher enemies every bit of protection helps.

Power Strike

 * Governing Attribute: Strength
 * Maximum Level: 8
 * Effect: +5% melee damage /level

Power Throw

 * Governing Attribute: Strength
 * Maximum Level: 8
 * Effect: +8% thrown weapon damage /level

This skill is required for more powerful thrown weapons, so don't ignore this skill solely based on its meagre damage increase.

Power draw

 * Governing Attribute: Strength
 * Maximum Level: 8
 * Effect: +10% bow+crossbow damage each level

This is required for the more powerful bows and crossbows, and is overall a valuable skill for making archery less difficult.

Weapon Master

 * Governing Attribute: Agility
 * Maximum Level: 6
 * Effect: raises the proficiency points cap

This skill allows you to spend weapon proficiency points on increasing your weapon skill beyond the normal cap.

Note that this cap is only for proficiency point spending; actual combat will still raise your skill regardless of what the proficiency cap is set at.

This skill is useful if you like boosting your weapon skill each time you level up; if you're content to earn your skill the hard way by fighting you won't need this.

Shield

 * Governing Attribute: Agility
 * Maximum Level: 8
 * Effect: reduces damage to shields

The description indicates it decreases by 25% per level, but this would result in indestructible shields by level 4! Therefore it is assumed the reduction is like this:

Athletics

 * Governing Attribute: Agility
 * Maximum Level: 8
 * Effect: Increases running speed.

This isn't very obvious early on, but with a few levels it will start to really take effect. This skill is made almost useless by having a horse, but it's still a useful backup if you lose your horse.

Persuasion

 * Governing Attribute: Intelligence
 * Effect: Helps you make other people accept your point of view. There is a random factor involved in determining how successful you are.

Riding

 * Governing Attribute: Agility
 * Maximum Level: 8
 * Effect: Increases riding speed and maneuver, allows riding of more difficult horses.

Horse Archery

 * Governing Attribute: Agility
 * Maximum Level: 8
 * Effect: reduces penalties for using ranged weapons on a moving horse by 10% per level.

This works by widening the aiming reticule less significantly when moving. This is a very useful skill for archers, but useless if you are melee-only.

Inventory Management

 * Governing Attribute: Intelligence
 * Maximum Rank: ?
 * Effect: increases inventory size by 6 squares

Party Skills
These are skills that each hero individually possesses, but they are applied to the party as a whole.

Trainer

 * Governing Attribute: Intelligence
 * Maximum Level: 6
 * Effect: Every day at midnight lower-level party members gain experience

Experience points are not given to party members that are fully upgraded. If multiple heroes have this skill they will also help train party members.

Skill gains per levl are as follows:

Tracking

 * Governing Attribute: Intelligence
 * Maximum Rank: 8
 * Effect: makes onscreen tracks appear and gradually become more informative

At level 1, tracks indicate party movement, but little else. As levels progress the accuracy of party size predictions and hours the tracks remain visible for increases. Also tracks will gain colors, allowing you to follow a particular path regardless of what other paths it crosses.

Pathfinding

 * Governing Attribute: Intelligence
 * Maximum Rank: ?
 * Effect: Increases party map speed %3 /level

Spotting

 * Governing Attribute: Intelligence
 * Maximum Rank: ?
 * Effect: Increases party sight range %10 /level

Tactics

 * Governing Attribute: Intelligence
 * Maximum Rank: 5?
 * Effect: Each 2 points to this raises the battle odds advantage by 1.

This isn't necessary if you always engage the enemy yourself; however if you're knocked out during battle it will have an effect on the aftermath losses.

Leadership

 * Governing Attribute: Charisma
 * Maximum Rank: ?
 * Effect: increases party capacity by 5, reduces troop costs/wages

A very useful skill to have! The higher your Leadership the more men you can lead into battle, reduces troop costs and wages. You'll probably want to put a point towards Charisma every other level or so, and a point towards Leadership every chance you get.

Prisoner Management

 * Governing Attribute: Charisma
 * Maximum Rank: ?
 * Effect: increases prisoner-taking maximum by 5

Useful if you like taking prisoners, useless if you don't.

Wound Treatment

 * Governing Attribute: Intelligence
 * Maximum Rank: ?
 * Effect: Increases party healing speed %30 /level

Surgery

 * Governing Attribute: Intelligence
 * Maximum Rank: ?
 * Effect: (todo)

First Aid

 * Governing Attribute: Intelligence
 * Maximum Rank: ?
 * Effect: regain %7 hit-points /level

This skill is very useful. Heroes will heal a little between battle waves.

Engineer

 * Governing Attribute: Intelligence
 * Maximum Rank: ?
 * Effect: build siege equipment and Fief improvements more quickly

This skill is very useful if you want to besiege castles and/or improve fiefs, but it has no other effects on gameplay.

Trade

 * Governing Attribute: Charisma
 * Maximum Rank: ?
 * Effect: reduces trading penalty by 10%

Leader Skills
These skills affect the party, but only the skill of the hero leading the party affect them.

???