Skills


 * For tradeskills see: Tradeskills

EverQuest has dozens of skills. The list of your skills are shown by going to the Inventory screen [Alt-O] and clicking the Skills button at the bottom left of the Inventory tab.

How a skill works depends on the skill. Some are triggered automatically, while others are used at the player's discretion. Also, some skills are very general and shared by all, while others are specific to certain races and classes.

In general, the more the character attempts to use a skill, the better he or she will become at it.

Be aware that some skills will not be shown to the player (or work properly) until at least one skill point is spent on the skill at your class Guildmaster (found in home cities and the Plane of Knowledge).


 * Soulbanshee's EverQuest Skill Caps (Google spreadsheet)

Abjuration
One of the several skills related to the art of magic, abjuration deals with defensive magic; for example, a spell that enables the character to take less damage from extreme cold.

Alcohol Tolerance
The ability to hold one's drink.

Alteration
Another of the several skills related to the art of magic, alteration deals with changing things, whether it is illusion or an actual physical change. An example would be a spell that teleports something, or that enables a character to move faster, or forces him or her to move more slowly.

Apply Poison
An ability that is limited to rogues, apply poison enables them to inflict even more damage to their foes after the initial strike. There are numerous steps to learn and perfect in order to use this skill effectively.

Archery
In addition to the skills dealing with melee combat, range weapons are also prevalent in the world. The skill of archery deals with a character's efficacy in using bows, crossbows, and other, similar devices.

Backstab
The rogue has many unique skills in his repertoire, including the ability to strike at his opponent from behind, often inflicting a great deal of damage in one blow.

Bash
Paladins, Shadow Knights, and Warriors with a shield equipped can use this skill to damage an enemy. It may also stun the enemy, which interrupts spell casting.

Bash shares the same cooldown as Kick and Slam.

Begging
Beg an NPC for some money!

Bind Wound
Bandages can be used to stanch the flow of blood from a wound, thereby healing the victim to some extent. This can only be used on seriously injured patients who are not actively pursuing some other activity.

Block
Negating an attack by deflecting the blow with one's body is a skill unique to the monk, and blocking is one of several skills available to that class.

Brewing
Crafting involving the creation of alcoholic drinks, non-alcoholic drinks, blacksmithing tempers and tanning agents.

Channeling
One of the several skills related to the art of magic, channeling allows you to continue casting without being interrupted if you are hit while casting the spell.

Conjuration
Another of the several skills related to the art of magic, conjuration brings something from elsewhere into the world, whether they are elemental creatures or powerful clouds of energy.

Defense
The general ability to save one's own skin in melee combat. Raising your defense raises your AC.

Disarm
This skill allows the combatant to dislodge a wielded weapon from his opponent's hands, knocking it to the ground and forcing him, at least for the moment, to fight hand-to-hand.

Disarm Trap
Allows a Rogue to make the rest of his party very happy by disarming potentially life-threatening traps on objects or in passageways.

Divination
Another of the several skills related to the art of magic, spells of divination allow the caster to both detect things previously concealed and conceal things previously visible.

Dodge
One of the better ways to negate damage is to completely avoid the blow itself, and the skill of dodging allows the combatant to do just that.

Double Attack
When a fighter becomes particularly adept at his craft, he may become fast enough to hit his opponent twice in the time it would normally take to hit once. Needless to say, this can be very advantageous in a difficult battle.

Dragon Punch
Monk special attack.

Dual Wield
Certain classes are able to wield a weapon effectively in both hands, thereby increasing the number of attacks and thus the amount of damage inflicted in a given period of time.

Eagle Strike
Monk special attack.

Evocation
Another of the several skills related to the art of magic, evocation deals with things that go boom. Fireballs, force spells, etc., all fall under the auspices of this offensive skill.

Feign Death
Some creatures are said to pretend to be dead, in order to fool their attackers into leaving them alone. Clever monks have mimicked this behavior and found it to be very effective for them, too.

Fishing
The art of pulling interesting things from bodies of water with the use of a fishing pole.

Flying Kick
The monk's body is a finely honed weapon, as this rather acrobatic strike demonstrates. The force of a flying kick is much greater, due to the length of one's legs, than a blow from the upper extremity.

Foraging
Being at home in the wilderness has many benefits, including the ability to forage food. This skill has been known to save quite a few trips back to town when the supplies have inadvertently run out mid-quest. Only those whose classes bring them in tune with nature have refined this ability to any degree.

Hand to Hand
Although this skill can be mastered only by monks, most every other class can at least throw the occasional punch. Besides, one never knows when one might be relieved of one's weapon, both during combat and at other times.

Harm Touch
A shadow knight only ability which deals a large amount of damage to a single target, with a long recast timer.

Hide
Hiding from an opponent can be a valuable skill to learn, particularly if one finds oneself without defenses unexpectedly. It should be mentioned, however, that some creatures are able to see better than others. Therefore, this skill is not foolproof.

Instill Doubt
This skill causes the target to doubt their chances at victory and attempt to flee. While running away, they won't attack you.

Intimidate
A peculiar ability thought to create a sense of impending doom. Often causes the target to turn its back and flee.

Kick
Monks, Rangers, and Warriors can use this ability to damage enemies. Certain enemies require MAGIC footwear in order for it to work.

Kick shares the same cooldown as Bash and Slam.

Lay on Hands
A paladin only skill which grants a large heal to a single target, with a long recast timer.

Meditate
Another of the several skills related to the art of magic, meditation allows casters to memorize spells and regain their mana more quickly.

Mend
A Monk ability to heal one's self. If not performed properly this skill can actually cause damage to the target. 100% success rate at Master level.

Offense
The overall ability to inflict damage during combat. Raising Offense raises your Attack.

: Piercing
Combat is rather integral to the game, and there are a variety of weapons available to the combatant. In general, these weapons are broken up into three categories: blunt, slashing, and piercing, as well as whether they require one or two hands to wield. The higher the skill level, the more effective one is with that weapon.

: Wind Instruments
Certain bard songs require certain instruments, and the better the minstrel is at playing these instruments, the more effective he or she will be at playing those songs. Each type of instrument learned, whether it is percussion, string, brass or wind, can improve the musician's effectiveness by enhancing their magical compositions.

Parry
Ability to deflect blows with one's weapon.

Pick Lock
Oftentimes finding that precise key is just too time consuming or expensive, and the lock picking abilities of the Rogue class come in very handy. Bards, being somewhat roguish themselves, also have this ability.

Pick Pocket
Rogues, particularly the halfling variety because of their unique and convenient size, have a tendency to lighten those overly heavy pockets of passers-by, but only as a courtesy, of course. Their intended victims, however, will at times detect this activity and will rarely appreciate the attempt.

Pottery
Pottery is a skill to craft things out of clay using pottery wheels and kilns located in cities.

Riposte
Acts like a counter-attack, essentially 'blocking' an attack and giving the defender a free swing at his attacker.

Round Kick
Monk special attack.

Safe Fall
Monks, being typically unencumbered by heavy armor and weapons, often work on their ability to fall great distances, yet still land on their feet incurring minimal if any damage. Bards and rogues also practice this skill.

Sense Heading
Although compasses are known to exist, they are also typically rare and expensive. Nearly anyone can learn to determine their heading and direction if they are persistent. Then again, they are also often times wrong.

Sense Traps
An ability of the Rogue to detect traps on objects or in passageways.

Singing
Bards (one can at least hope) have great singing voices. And the better they are at this art, the more effective their songs, which are themselves often magical in nature.

Slam
Barbarians, Ogres, and Trolls can use this racial ability to stun the enemy, which interrupts spell casting. It cannot be trained, it only does 1 damage, and it does not require a shield like Bash does.

Slam shares the same cooldown as Bash, Kick, and Backstab.

Sneak
Some races are better at sneaking than others because of size, but class is also an important factor. In order to bypass a dangerous enemy, it might be advisable to slow one's movement and creep cautiously along, being very quiet.

: Specialize Evocation
Magic users of advanced experience levels tend to specialize in one or another of the skills available to them, depending on which type of magic they find most useful. Specializing in one of those areas allows casters to cast spells using less mana and with a higher rate of success.

Swimming
Many areas in the world of Norrath are covered by water, and one's ability to maneuver in that environment is directly related to one's skill level in swimming. As one becomes more adept at this skill, it is possible to move much faster in the water, and possibly even remain underwater for a bit longer as well.

Tailoring
Tailoring is a skill to craft items (cloth armor, leather armor, backpacks, etc.) out of silk, animal skins and various components using sewing kits as well as looms located in cities.

Taunt
Taunting an attacker to attack oneself instead of another is a method by which one member of a team or group can help prevent the death of another, if successful. Warriors in particular are known to do this in order to protect the physically weaker magic users of their parties.

Throwing
Ability to use throwing weapons. Common weapons are the Dagger, Throwing Axe, Spear, and Shuriken.

Tiger Claw
Monk special attack.

Tracking
Rangers, druids and bards, through natural or magical abilities, are able to follow traces of others over varying distances. They have never been known to share the secret of this ability with the other classes, which leads one to believe that it is a very difficult skill.