This may be a newbie questions (just picked up this game when it was on sale), but what kind of effects do investing in certain skills? I know that the skills gain a special ability at level 1, 3, and 5, but is that it? For example, the firearms skill increases the speed with guns at the apprentice level, and eliminates range penalties at mastery. Does my general skill with firearms improve with every point invested, too (more accurate, damaging, etc.) or are the bonuses at every other level it? Is there a point in having 4 points in a skill, besides getting to level 5? The manual isn't very clear on this.

Thanks.

i was under the impression that the bonuses only come from becoming an apprentice/expert/master - but adding a point to whatever skill also just makes you better at it in general.

I did a little more testing with a point in melee and I noticed my chance to hit seemed higher that without one.

This Skill governs the use of all Technological projectile weapons.
Firearms Apprentice � the Speed of the Character with a gun is increased by 5
Firearms Expert � called shots are made with 2/3 the penalty
Firearms Master - the Character's chance of success is unaffected by range penalties

The knack of using a classic bow weapon, be the bow short or long.
Bow Apprentice � the Speed of the Character with a bow is increased by 5
Bow Expert � the Character may fire two arrows at once
Bow Master � the Character's chance of success is unaffected by range penalties

The ability to land a damaging blow, when boxing or striking with a weapon in hand.
Melee Apprentice � the Speed of the Character with a melee weapon is increased by 5
Melee Expert � the Character is unaffected by lighting penalties
Melee Master � the Character cannot critically fail with a melee weapon

The tendency to leap aside and avoid injury when one is attacked, or surprised by a trap.
Dodge Apprentice � on a critical success, there is a 10% chance the opponent will critically fail
Dodge Expert � on a critical success, there is a 50% chance the opponent will critically fail
Dodge Master � on a critical success, the opponent will always critically fail (overrides the benefits of Melee Mastery)

want more just ask ...

that's not what I asked, though. sorry, but I already know that there are bonuses for being an apprentice, and master. I'm asking if a single point invested improves a skill in a general way not tied to those three bonuses, and if so, how does it do it?

Does each point in dodge make me more likely to block every attack, not just those three conditions governing a critical success? If so, to what extent? It's not easily apparent which is the case, and some skills seem more obtuse than others.

I doubt that anyone will be able to answer your question any better than you already did here.
I also felt that there were advantages gained in each point assigned before gaining a rank but I don't know of any way to quantify it. I remember reading some reviews that stated that the designers wanted each point to count but they never said how much they count.

at 5 points i didnt notice much of a difference but im sure there was a small 1 but we dont have the stats anywhere to check on it . when i was master there was a difference
The main goal i beleive was having the 1 3 and 5 but it was mainly to get the aprentice expert or master

OK, fair enough. I guess I was hoping that since this game has been taken apart and modded that there might be a list that quantified what each skill point did. I guess I'll just have to trust that they improve it in some general way, though figuring out which ways is a little more difficult in some skills than in others.

ok i did some testing i have 10 spare points that i havent used so i tryed them on repair

so at no repair pts i tryed to fix a axe and i failed all the time making the axe weaker and weaker .
now i tryed with 2 points in repair no expert or whatever and i fixed it with only a little damage so yes 1 or 2 points or more i would say in any skill will help but having expert or master will give you the edge much more.

ps just found out that if i put points into repair,firearms,picklocks or disarm traps it lowers my resistance - GO FIGURE wth

I am assuming you are playing a mage type character, in which case points in those skills will lower your magic affinity. A tech character would benefit from such points because their tech affinity would increase.

Yes. There are two ways to improve your skill. One is the numerical value, the other is your training (apprentice/expert/master). Think of it like perks from Fallout. Increasing your melee skill's numerical value makes you more accurate with melee weapons; this is like leveling up in Fallout. Training yourself up to apprentice/expert/master gives you extra bonuses like ignoring bad light conditions and getting extra speed with melee weapons; these are like perks in Fallout.

Other skills work similarly. So there's definitely a bonus to increasing the numerical value of a skill; in fact it's probably MORE useful than the training, but some of the training perks can be pretty nice, especially the Master level ones.

no im pure melee
Damage, magic,fire,posion and electric resistance goes down which i dont understand if im using repair which is a very melee skill to have and also the reaction modifier goes down as well
that doesnt make sence
ps also putting a point into any other set of skills dont change the resistance lvls

His point about affinities is good though - the dimension is tech vs. magic [not melee vs whatever]; it's entirely possible that you were leaning toward magic (whether or not you are a spellcaster) - did you check your affinities before and after? [And/or did you do anything else in the interim that would have altered your affinity towards center?]

Affinity is usually the cause when you see broad resistance changes, afaik.

Is your character equipping a magical item that grants resistances? If so, putting points in tech skills will shift your affinity towards tech, causing the item to work less well for you, causing your resistances to go down. For a specific magical item you should be able to see some stat that shows a "percentage" of how well its magical properties are working for you. This percentage changes based on your magical/tech affinity.

@waltorious
thats it, so many things in the game i forgot about the balance of tech/magic