Learning rates, 255 versus 355

[Tolen]

Long time reader, first time poster

Long ago I set out to master every skill...one of the happiest days of my EQ life was the day they announced the New Tanaan Crafting Mastery AA. I started pumping points and plat into getting skills to 250 as quickly as I could... however, PoP has also opened the path to an attribute maximum of 355 for priests and casters. I've currently got my sights set on wisdom 355, in the hopes that it will ease the learning rates of the skills I still need.

Back when my wisdom was 255, and I was raising Baking, (using misty thicket picnics, starting from 200 skill and going up from there), I found I would average about 10 skill ups per 400 combines, more or less. I went up to 230 skill like this, but took a break to level a bit. Going back to it now, with a 290 wisdom, I skilled the rest of the way to 250 with only 400 more combines...around 10 for 200, compared to 10 for 400...

However, skill 230 is also much closer to the trivial on the picnics than 200, obviously, and I have noticed that nearness to the trivial seems to help learning rates as well, quite often.

Has anyone else observed significantly better learning rates at much higher levels of int/wis? Or, more specifically, is it worth it to push myself towards 355 before I tackle the last 60 points of Tailoring and Smithing? (Been putting those two off, with good cause...) Or was it just a fluke that the last 20 points of Baking went so much easier with a 290 wisdom than a 255?

[Sanna]

as far as smithing goes, especially as it is so expensive, I say follow every rumor and superstition there is. ^_^ Tailoring can't be much different.

My druid had anywhere from 160-175 wis when baking from 0-180s. It took me a month and a half or maybe a bit more. My roommate, a much higher level cleric with un-kei'd wis around 220, hit 170 baking within 2 days of playing.

It seems to me that if they are going to allow a wis cap raise to 355, then there must be some use for it. Aside from merely increasing the mana pool, whatever formula they use to calculate skill raises and the possibility thereof must take this higher wis into account. From mere speculation based loosely on data, I would say every point of wis is worth it.

[Reflan]

If you can see yourself getting 65 and maybe getting some of the planar powers/innate enlightenment AA's, or all of them, it makes more sense to do it sooner rather than later, at least for tradeskill purposes. Who knows how many hundreds or even thousands or combines you might save yourself?

My friends with 315 wisdom and over have pretty consistently made skill ups every 17 to 20 combines. With between 275 and 305 wisdom, I have averaged over 42 combines per skill up in smithing for over 1100 combines, and never came close to 20 per skill up in baking or pottery at higher skill levels(low skill levels, everyone gets quick skill ups). Am 250 in both, so combined with smithing I'm looking at a very large sample size.

If you have the chance to avoid some of my heartache by starting with high stats instead of moderate ones, you'd probably be wise to do it. My friends got through smithing literally WEEKS of full time effort quicker than I have -- and I'm still 229, not even close to through with it.

[Rendael Brigh]

I seem to remember people saying that it is capped.
I think I remember someone saying the developers saying that it was capped at 255 or something.

[Tolen]

Current plan is definitely to go for 355 wisdom before I start the final push for Smithing and Tailoring. Heartbreaking staring down 19 more AA points that basically add nothing except a minor mana increase, but it can't hurt to be at 355, just to be safe. I'll post my results in a couple of weeks when I start skilling again.

[Damion]

I just made a massive pottery run with 330 INT. 800 combines / 34 skillups or 23.52combines/skillup.

[Sanna]

yeah, but then someone said that the devs said that if you spend all that time to get the 355 wis, it should be worth something.

or something like that.

gah, ever get the feeling we need like sound bytes from these dev guys? heh.

[Perseverence Rewarded]

With a wisdom of 255 I have averaged 1 skill up per 20 combines in the 3 skills I have taken over 200. I have had a few minor hell levels in each where I go 50 or 60 combines without a skill up but it evens out with 3 or 4 skill ups in 8 or 10 combines after the dry run.

[Forthofer]

Wisdom 355

With Wisdom 355 and no Geerlok, I learned Pottery at 17 attempts per skillup from 222 to 233, and 25 attempts per skillup from 233 to 238.

I didn't record attempts after that, except that I've attempted 80 Star Ruby Encrusted Steins at 244 skill without a skillup, though with Wisdom 342 and a Geerlok.