I looted the dragon on Emerald Isle and got the "Ruler's Ring." It's effects say simply, "Of Mind Magic, Of Dark Magic."

Since I plan on playing an evil party, that sounds sort of useful. But what does it do exactly? I'm not clear on what effect it actually has....

It makes your Mind magic and Dark magic spells more effective.

Do you to what degree it does this? What about spells that don't seem to have an ability to become more effective?

I'm not sure, I think it's just like when you put skill points into them. I'm not sure of the exact value though. Certain spells only get more effective by becoming Expert, master etc. I think its more useful for the damage spells and cure spells.

Thanks for your help! I really appreciate it. :^)

I think it gives you +50% skill ranks in that school

Also you can right click on a given skill and see exact bonus.

It does indeed add 50% like so:


If you have a 6 in Mind, it will add +3. If you had a 12 in Dark, it would add 6. Now, keep in mind that this won't count for training to specific masteries, like Expert or Grandmaster. But it will add damage or other effects based on the overall skill rank.

Also, unless someone has changed it with a patch, they do not stack if you have multiple items. Thus, if you have two items that increased Unarmed, only one will work.
There is also a Faerie Ring that increases Air I believe, and a Ghost's ring or some such that increases Spirit. These are at preset locations in the game, and you may also find random, non-artifact items with the same skill increases.