part from the many types of stats in Arcanum, there are also a series of skills that can impact your character's development. The three categories of basic skills - combat, thieving, and social - each contain 4 skills, and they are available to every character. Additionally, there are also four skills under a technological category.

• Combat Skills include Bow, Dodge, Melee, and Throwing. Firearms also affects combat, even though it is considered a technological skill. More information on combat skills can be found in the Combat section.
  
• Thieving Skills include Concealment, Pick Pocket, Silent Move, and Spot Trap.
  
• Social Skills involve Gambling, Haggling, Heal, and Persuasion.
  
• Technological Skills include Firearms, Pick Lock, Arm/Disarm Traps, Repair.
  

Characters can seek training in any skill (basic or technological) to improve their performance. All skills begin as Untrained and remain Untrained no matter how high the skill rank becomes. Characters must seek and pay for training to acquire bonuses that are unique to each skill. Aside from achieving a specific rank, a trainer may also require characters to complete certain quests or be of a certain alignment before they consent to the training. As you rise in skill rank from Beginner to Expert to Master, you'll acquire certain skills along the way. For example, an expert in Bow skills can fire two arrows at once, while a gambling master can convince other characters to gamble away items they would not normally sell. Note that all training is required to be sequential, so a person Untrained in Bow cannot become an Expert until he is first trained as a Beginner.