I didn't see it mentioned, but there's a chain just underneath your inventory window, that when you click, switches from the inventory screen to the skills screen. Click the up and down arrows to scroll through them.

From what I read, the max you can get in any stat is 30. I presume that means you'd need a really excellent roll to get that high. Maybe it negatively affects the other stats. Not sure. So 17/30 is ok but not great.

I like to play as a druid and always aim for a 27 in strength. Since UW1 has an xp cap you would not be able to max out all the melee weapon skills. Better to focus on one and be very good at that than being medicore at all of them. Also the better you are able to handle a weapon the less likely it is going to break and the less replacements you'll need.

What would you think is an exceptional trainer?

The only one I know of offhand is Lobar, the Swords trainer in Killorn Keep. Any training session with him gives an additional point of skill beyond what you would normally have obtained.

People really stress getting the most out of your stats and skills. I get the importance of skills but is 30 strength that vital? Is this crucial or is it just to be the most badass you can be? How easy is it to screw up a character so bad you can't win? I've been meaning to get back into my save sometime.

30 Strength isn't necessary, but it does make for the most straightforward gameplay. It does come at the cost of leaving your Dex and Int mediocre or your Int awful, meaning that you won't be good for much else beyond combat, though.

Generally, as long as your Str isn't actually low - anything 20+ is sufficient - you can still manage just fine, but you'll need to pay some attention to inventory management and you won't be flattening enemies quite as quickly. OTOH, you'll have enough points elsewhere to be decent at magic and/or support skills.

I beat my first playthrough with a 19 Strength Palladin, so it is definitely possible. Of course I hed to be very selective with what I could carry and if I had known this I would have tried to roll a decent score instead, but it's playable.

I cannot second that. There's a certain random element in training (saving and reloading can get you different results) and it also seems to depend on your class (i.e. fighters tend to train better in weapons while mages tend to train better in mana and casting, so different playthroughs may feel differently) but I trained a lot with Syria and Lobar and on average I did not see a significant difference between the training results of both of them. I definetly did not get an additional sword point with Lobar when I played as a druid on standard difficulty. I very often only got one when I trained with him.

PS: I know that Mitch Aigner says that Lobar seems to be better than Syria but I never got that impression and it surely wasn't obvious to me. You have that diminishing return as you rise in the skill and in the higher areas I got one points from Syria as well as from Lobar. Reloading would have helped of course.

Yes, but when chanting for general weapon skills instead of specific weapons skills you tend to get more total points. And being skilled in many weapons means you have a larger arsenal of useable weapons. But UU is not so difficult that it makes much parctical difference, though.

I agree about Druid and at least 27 STR. That was my last character I completed the game with.

That's true. Sadly not five times as much or it wouldn't be an issue.

Lothar seems to be better than Syria in more of a statistical sense; training with Lothar for several points will likely net you more two-point advancements. As for attributes, Int certainly affects your mana pool and Dex seems to affect to-hit chance. You can easily go through either game with a low Str, but you'll have to give up on plate armor and lugging everything not nailed down.

The overall point-gain in a given skill isn't class-dependent. It's a function of the related stat, so high-Str characters will develop Str-based skills (combat skills) more quickly. If you somehow have an unusual combination, such as a mage with high Str, he'll gain weapon skills just as quickly as a fighter with the same Str.

More specifically, you get a high rate of increase up to about half the stat's value, a moderate increase up to the stat's value, and a slow increase after that. The scaling does not seem to be a pure 3/2/1, instead falling off as you near/pass the thresholds. This applies to UW2, of course, since UW1 also throws a heavy random element into the mix.

Lobar's status as a master trainer is noted in the cluebook, and he's the only one who seems to have that status. On the flip side, you'd better do any Search training you want early on in UW2 because the only trainer for that skill becomes unavailable partway through the game.

What is the practial use of search? I know that it's supposed to show secret doors and traps but even with a skill of 0 it always says "You see a secret door" when looking at a wall that actually is a secret door. When I spend points in there I don't actually see a difference in the game. WHat should I be looking for?

Going low strength in UW2 is actually much easier than in UW1 because in UW2 you can enchant leather armor and be quite well protected (just farm money in the arena and then buy mana potions). In UW1 you have to take what you can find and although there's magical leather too, you can't max out it's protective enchantment.

I know of at least two places where the search skill is useful in UW2:

<SPOILERS>

- Castle Sewers level 1 at the spot with two portculli and the shifting floors. There's a hidden switch on the wall to the right of the right-most portcullis, around middle of the screen (at standard viewing angle). Just right-click repeatedly on the wall while you're facing the portcullis

- Tomb of Praecor Loth level 3, there's a hidden switch on a wall in the watery area past the fireball / lightning traps. The switch is near the floor and quite hard to find.

Without any search skill these hidden objects won't appear, but as far as I know a skill level of 1 is enough for it to work. You can also cast Reveal (or use a scroll) to make them appear.

</SPOILERS>

I just locked myself in a shrine room on level 4 behind a metal door. I think I had to barter with the troll leader to get it open originally. Overwrote my save afterwards too.

I'll check and see if I have the required runes and experience for the unlock spell (I'm level 11).