ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

If I have a staff that says "Spell power on spell critical (stacks up to 3 times) + 6" and a cloak that says "Spell power on spell critical (stacks up to 3 times) + 4" and then I have a spell critical, how does that work? Do I get +10 spell power? Or does the +6 override the +4?

Still brand new, have only played Alchemist I love it. I tend to pump all my points into Magic and Willpower, will an occasional point into constitution and rarely Strength for carrying capacity. Am I missing out by not adding points to Cunning? It says something about "learning worldly skills&...

Apparently when my alchemist dies before my golem, my golem keeps living and can even finish quests if they end on that screen. Is this intentional? Is there a way to bring my alchemist back to life with just my golem? Because otherwise I'm just stuck on that map with no way to leave.

Potential early game minor spoiler: I'm in Old Forest at the water ruins and I'm not sure what the best way to get around is. Do I just retreat to an island when I need air or am I missing an easy way to do this? Is water breathing possible? I found a note that hinted at it. Also why is this game so...

OK, I see Spell/Advanced Golemancy and Spell/Fire Alchemy. I thought I already owned those. So those are all I can choose from? I was hoping to teach my alchemist Armour Training, for example.

So I'm an Alchemist, I have a staff that does fire damage. If I find, for example, a belt that says "Changes damage: +12% Temporal" does that increase my total damage output by 12%, adding a temporal effect? Or does that only increase weapons/skills that do temporal damage by 12%? Meaning ...

I'm very confused then. I'm an Alchemist, and all I have available so far is "Inscriptions" and Prodigies. Only those two buttons, nothing else greyed out. I'm level 12.

Is there not a way to choose from a broader range of skills to spend my category points on?

OK, so I realized that I spent my category point on Inscriptions. It was the only thing available on the bottom right.

So I guess my question then is how do I get different abilities to spend my category points on?

I spent a category point but it didn't seem to do anything. How do I specify which category I want to add?

Thank you!