After a good chuckle, he got down to business. Nilbog had a feeling people spent most of their points on their Class and Life Force or Mana, but all he to work with was his General Skill tab. He pulled up the menu and began scrolling through them.

  Though the rarity of skill was a great indication of its power, some common skills were more useful than rare or epic skills, mostly because of their simple and wide-ranging effects. Generally, the stronger the skill the greater limitations it had.

  The first skill Nilbog saw was a perfect example of this.

  Most of the damage Nilbog had taken was because of bleed damage. It was a must take for Nilbog.

  That was because of The Blind Mage, no doubt.

  Though picking it would probably remove the shivers that went down his spine each time he thought about her, it didn’t seem like a common effect. It made the afflicted lose control over themselves, either collapsing, running away, or even attacking their own allies. Powerful, but too much of a rare Status Effect to waste points on it. Terror was considered a Crowd-Control ability, so his Hunter’s Sight already helped him in that department.

  The Game offered common builds that people could build for. A Berserker, an Archetype that went up in power prolonged fights, was another common one. Iris most likely leaned towards this style.

  Some skill trees branched off, such as focusing on large battles or duels.

  The Outnumbered was hilariously bad. Having a skill which rewarded being in a severe disadvantage did more harm than good for people like Nilbog. Bosses probably had it, and it probably didn’t hurt for some Sentients that would always be outnumbered to have it either, but Nilbog could barely win a one versus one, much less a group fight.

  If he was going to pick any of the two, it was going to be Dualist.

  This was an easy choice. Nilbog didn’t know much about skills, but one could never have too much STM or Speed. Someone could stay alive without Strength, Armor, or Soul, but being unable to run-away or dodge will always lead to death. Investing in it was not a choice—it was a requirement.

  The only question was what type to choose. One leaned towards a more burst Archetype, which he quite liked, while the other leaned towards a more drawn-out battle, which was unfavorable for Nilbog. He stayed alive through tricks and a stark willingness to run the hell away—the longer the battle went on, the less those mattered.

  He set aside 10 points for it. The Add-ons available to it were not particularly attractive, though more could unlock if he puts the skill to good use.

  Another non-choicer. Getting hit less equated to surviving more.

  Once again, there were two branches, focusing on either short or long battles, with him leaning towards the first.

  Other than that, he had a couple skills that Nilbog did not give much thought about. Minor Slash Resistance (Common) and Minor Pierce Resistance (Common) providing a 10% Armor increase against those damage types. Nilbog didn’t need protection against getting hit—he needed to avoid getting hit. 10% of non-existent Armor won't help him.

  The last skill available was useful yet unusable.

  For each type of skill, there was a Skill Slot and a Skill Enhancer. A person couldn’t gain two Dodge skills, but they could get a Dodge skill and then apply a Skill Enhancer to it. They were much rarer, could be put on different skills, and most often were vital builds. They could even be turned off or get switched to different skills to adapt to the environment. An Offensive Enhancer applied to any skills that dealt damage.

  The issue with it is that he had no skills that dealt damage. Lethal Strike only targeted Sentients.

  In the end, Lesser Bleed Resistance (Common), Short-Breath (Common), and Basic Dodge (Common) cost him 30 points in total, leaving him with the 15 points he needed for Agile Hunter (Uncommon). It wouldn’t be useful now, but he needed to spend most of his points. Getting captured would waste them. Plus, this round was against Sentients. Just because he didn’t like to fight didn’t mean he was going to be a push-over.

  Well. As much as a level 20 pip-squeak can try.

  He attached Agile Hunter to his Lethal Strike.

  With all his chores done, he snuggled himself, each side of the wall a comfortable barrier, and tried to sleep over the rattling outside his window.