Category Points - how to use

[GustavEnk]

I don't quite understand how category points work. Can someone explain? Specifically, I've just started a new archer character, and I'm not sure whether it's better to boost something like archery - bows, or unlock an unknown category like dirty fighting, or keep the point in case I get offered access to a new category later. Of the 3, the one I least understand is the benefit of increasing an existing category. How do extra points work there?

As you only get a few category points all game, it feels like a pretty significant decision, but I'm not sure how best to make it...

Paul.

[Dekar]

Category points can be used to unlock new trees or to increase the mastery of a tree you already have by 0.2 ( only once per tree ).

If you have a tree at 1.0 mastery and 5/5 points invested in a skill your effective mastery is 5*1.0 = 5.
If you have a tree at 1.3 mastery and invest a category point it increases to 1.5, that means your effective skill level of a skill with 5 points invested will be 5*1.5 = 7.5.

Basically: Investing a category point in a tree gives every 5/5 skill an additional skillpoint in power.
Note however that most skills have decreasing gains with higher skill level.

What category points can also do is giving you up to 2 additional inscription slots for a total of 5 ( one additional per category point ).
Just save the category point and use a new inscription with no empty slots left, then you will have the option to get a new slot instead of overwriting an old.

[greycat]

Deciding where to spend your category points is one of the biggest decisions for your character. It's all going to depend on your race and class, and how you want to play the character. I don't think it's possible to give any generalized advice, but if you have a specific race/class in mind, we can give suggestions for that.

[GustavEnk]

I'm just starting, playing a Cornac Archer (I prefer ranged characters, ideally mages but I haven't unlocked anything yet...) I've been pushing bow mastery and steady shot, taking the starting point out of sling mastery and putting it in something bow-related (or quick recovery). Generic in disengage, to run away . I've been putting the category point in Technique/Archery - bows. But I wondered about dirty fighting, and once I got a choice of one of the magic category spells from a quest and wasn't sure if I should have saved the point for the category there.

TBH, it feels a bit random what I'm choosing, and it's hard to tell if it's making much of a difference, or if it's just me getting more of a hang of the game rather than the choice of category helping me survive...

Paul.

[jotwebe]

But I wondered about dirty fighting, and once I got a choice of one of the magic category spells from a quest and wasn't sure if I should have saved the point for the category there.

If you're going bows, you're better of ignoring dirty fighting, since it uses the cunning stat and consequently synergizes better with slings.

Putting your first cat point in one of your main trees is a pretty solid choice if you're a cornac. I'd recommend using another point to unlock a fourth infusion/rune slot.

I don't remember offhand whether you start with the cunning/survival tree unlocked - if you don't, the infravision from heightened senses will be very handy and evasion scales with dex, so it could be nice for archery duels.