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What's the latest general advice on when to stop training weapon skills? I remember various posts advocating stopping once you've gotten rid of the penalties for your preferred weapon's speed. Messing about with the weapon damage spreadsheet shows that increasing skills past this point still adds a bunch of damage, about the same as increasing the Fighting skill, for instance. What about for someone undertaking a melee-only, no-spell challenge..? Should I really stop there?

The usual break point is minimum delay. This is not because further skill levels invested in your weapon skill don't still increase damage, but because you've reached the point of diminishing returns. More attacks in less time is really valuable. Bonus damage is somewhat less.

So for many builds, once you've hit min delay, it's more valuable to invest your xp elsewhere, instead of inching up your weapon damage.

However, once you've dealt with other concerns, you can always resume weapon training. Getting to min delay then to other stuff and then back is pretty common for melee builds (unless your chosen weapon has a minimum delay in the 20s, then you're going to keep it on pretty much the whole time to get there anyways).

I agree with mageykun. You want to get your weapon to minimum delay, then work on other things (fighting/armor/dodging/traps and doors) and you can always go back once those are at a more comfortable level.

Kokor Hekkus wrote:What about for someone undertaking a melee-only, no-spell challenge..? Should I really stop there?

Yes because training armour or dodging increases your survivability quicker than does training past min delay. Then since training fighting gives approximately the same ROI on damage and give HP and is cheaper (raising a skill 1->2 is going to be cheaper than is raising it 14->15).

Of course, I don't always follow my own advice if I'm training a high delay weapon like exec axe. But it's still suboptimal I think.

What about for someone undertaking a melee-only, no-spell challenge..?

How is melee-only a challenge?

Usually, I disable weapon skill when it hits minimum delay and enable it when fighting/armour (or dodging) catch up.

kefir645 wrote:
What about for someone undertaking a melee-only, no-spell challenge..?

How is melee-only a challenge?

Usually, I disable weapon skill when it hits minimum delay and enable it when fighting/armour (or dodging) catch up.

Melee only isn't a challenge. Consider berserkers. Very strong, easy to win, but no magic.

Or go Okawaru and enjoy nice armor gifts and spammable and safe (unlike berserk) +5 to all melee and defensive skills.

kefir645 wrote:Or go Okawaru and enjoy nice armor gifts and spammable and safe (unlike berserk) +5 to all melee and defensive skills.

If you worship Oka then you should get support spells. Swiftness/blink/regeneration are all perfectly easy to get online as a melee char in heavy armour in a 3 runer.

Weapon damage actually accelerates until minimum delay is reached. That is, weapon damage increases relatively slowly for each each level gained at a skill level far below minimum delay but it increases relatively quickly for a level gained just prior to the minimum delay skill level. This acceleration effect is larger for weapons with low minimum delays (shortblades and, eg, whip) and for weapons with high maximum delays (eg, bardiche). I don't think this tidbit should have any affect on how you train skills: just train your melee weapon skill to minimum delay.

Jabberwocky wrote:
kefir645 wrote:Or go Okawaru and enjoy nice armor gifts and spammable and safe (unlike berserk) +5 to all melee and defensive skills.

If you worship Oka then you should get support spells. Swiftness/blink/regeneration are all perfectly easy to get online as a melee char in heavy armour in a 3 runer.

Well, Charms and Translocations are ridiculously OP and practically no-brainer for anyone who can manage to cast them.

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Latest advice on when to stop training weapon skills?

Latest advice on when to stop training weapon skills?

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Re: Latest advice on when to stop training weapon skills?

Re: Latest advice on when to stop training weapon skills?

Re: Latest advice on when to stop training weapon skills?

Re: Latest advice on when to stop training weapon skills?

Re: Latest advice on when to stop training weapon skills?

Re: Latest advice on when to stop training weapon skills?

Re: Latest advice on when to stop training weapon skills?

Re: Latest advice on when to stop training weapon skills?