MM8 Skills take a little explanation. All characters start the game with 4 Novice Skills each at Skill Level 1. Once the game starts, the only way to acquire new Novice Skills is to buy them from one of many Vendors. You can find Novice Skill Vendors shops and guilds.
Resource: Novice Skill Vendors List
In order to raise your Expertise in a skill above Novice you need to add Skill Points and find a Teacher that can teach you the next level of Expertise. For all skills, the requirement to learn Expert is Skill Level 4 and you will need 9 Skill Points to reach Skill Level 4. It takes one Skill Point more than the current Skill Level to raise it higher, thus to go from Skill Level 1 to 4 you spend 2+3+4=9 skill points.
Skill Points are earned when you train new Character Levels at a training facility. You get 5 Skill Points for each level 2-9, 6 Skill Points for each level 10-19, and so on. If you reach Character Level 100 you will have 955 Skill Points, way more than you need to solve the game.
Character Class determines the maximum expertise possible for a given skill and some skills are totally unavailable for some Classes. Refer back to Party Planning to see the Skill Limits by Class.
Resource: Teachers List
Click or Tap a Skill Row to see the upgrades.
List of All Skills with upgrades
| Skill | Base Description | Expert | Master | Grandmaster | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bow | Bow skill covers both bow and crossbow usage. Expert archers gain a speed increase with their weapon, while master archers can fire two arrows with every attack. | Skill added to Attack Bonus | Skill reduces recovery time | Bow fires two arrows on every attack | Skill added to damage. |
| Sword | The sword skill covers most types of blades longer than a knife. Expert swordsmen gain quicker attacks. Masters may use any one-handed sword in their left hand and another weapon in their right. | Skill added to Attack Bonus | Skill reduces recovery time | Permits use of sword in left hand | Skill added to Armor Class |
| Spear | The spear skill allows use of bladed pole weapons. Expert spearmen strike for greater damage, and masters can wield spears in one hand. | Skill added to Attack Bonus | Skill added to damage. | Ability to use a spear in one hand. | Skill added to Armor Class |
| Axe | While slow on the attack, axes do a lot of damage when they hit. Expert axe fighters gain a little more speed on their attacks while master axe fighters can deliver extra damage. | Skill added to Attack Bonus | Skill reduces recovery time | Skill added to Attack Damage | Chance to halve the Armor Class of the target. |
| Mace | Mace skill covers all kinds of blunt trauma weapons ranging from large clubs to flails. Expert mace swingers do extra damage with their weapons. Masters and grandmasters can stun or paralyze their opponents. | Skill added to Attack Bonus | Skill added to Attack Damage | Chance to stun equal to skill | Chance to paralyze equal to skill. |
| Dagger | While daggers don’t do the kind of damage that a sword or an axe can deliver, they are very quick—sometimes letting you get two attacks for every one of your slower opponents'. Expert dagger fighters can wield a dagger in their left hand while using another weapon in their right. Master dagger fighters have a chance of doing a triple damage attack. | Skill added to Attack Bonus | Permits use of dagger in left hand | Chance to cause triple damage equal to skill | Skill added to Attack Damage |
| Staff | Staves are blunt two-handed pole weapons effective on both offense and defense. At expert rank, skill increases your armor class. Masters have a chance of stunning their opponents, and grandmasters gain a bonus to their attack damage. | Skill added to Attack Bonus | Skill added to Armor Class | Chance to stun equal to skill | Skill added to Attack Damage |
| Armsmaster | Armsmaster skill represents the warrior's tricks of the trade. Initially, armsmaster reduces the recovery times of your melee weapons. At higher expertise levels it gives you a bonus to hit then to damage. | Skill reduces the recovery time of all melee weapons | Skill added to Attack Bonus of all melee weapons | Skill added to damage of all melee weapons | Double all the previous bonuses |
| Shield | Shield skill directly improves a character’s armor class while a shield is employed. Expert and master rankings in the shield increase this defensive bonus. | Skill added to Armor Class | Recovery penalty eliminated | Skill added to Armor Class (double effect) | Protection as per Shield spell. |
| Leather | Leather armor is the lightest armor a character can wear. While leather provides less protection than chain or plate armor, it also slows your character down the least. Leather armor skill increases the protection offered by leather armor. | Skill added to Armor Class | Recovery penalty eliminated | Skill added to Armor Class (double effect) | Skill added to Elemental (Fire/Earth/Air/Water) Resistances. |
| Chain | Chain armor is the medium armor type. It provides more protection than leather and less than plate, but it also slows your character down more than leather. Chain armor skill increases the protection offered by chain armor. | Skill added to Armor Class | Recovery penalty halved | Recovery penalty eliminated | Receive 2/3 damage from physical attacks. |
| Plate | Plate armor is the heaviest armor type. It provides the most protection, but it slows your character down more than leather or chain. Plate armor skill increases the protection offered by plate armor. | Skill added to Armor Class | Recovery penalty halved | Receive 1/2 damage from physical attacks. | Recovery penalty eliminated |
| Bodybuilding | Bodybuilding skill adds hit points directly to your characters' hit point totals. Hit points gained are equal to a character's Base Hit Points/Level time skill. Expert ranking doubles this total and master triples it. | Skill adds to Hit Points | Double effect of skill | Triple effect of skill | Quintuple effect of skill |
| Regeneration | Characters with the regeneration skill will slowly regain lost hit points over time. Higher skill levels increase how quickly damage is healed. | Increases hit points regained over time | Increases hit points regained over time | Larger increase to hit points regained over time | Largest increase of hit points regained over time |
| Fire Magic | All fire magic spells are all combat-oriented and include some of the strongest direct damage spells. At higher ranks you can learn more powerful spells and cast the ones you know with greater effect. | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell |
| Air Magic | Air magic has a mixture of combat, informational and maneuvering spells, including the very useful, Fly. At higher ranks you can learn more powerful spells and cast the ones you know with greater effect. | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell |
| Water Magic | While it does have some combat spells, water magic is more loaded with travel and item spells. At higher ranks you can learn more powerful spells and cast the ones you know with greater effect. | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell |
| Earth Magic | Earth magic has a balanced mix of offensive and defensive spells, and includes some healing and adventuring magic. At higher ranks you can learn more powerful spells and cast the ones you know with greater effect. | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell |
| Spirit Magic | Spirit magic concentrates on spells involving life and death. Included are spells to raise the dead, which affect the undead, and which increase combat effectiveness. At higher ranks you can learn more powerful spells and cast the ones you know with greater effect. | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell |
| Mind Magic | Mind magic spells directly affect the minds of their targets. They can heal or cause mental states, and cause direct damage. At higher ranks you can learn more powerful spells and cast the ones you know with greater effect. | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell |
| Body Magic | While body magic includes some direct damage spells, it is the magic most concerned with healing. At higher ranks you can learn more powerful spells and cast the ones you know with greater effect. | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell |
| Light Magic | Light magic includes some of the most powerful offensive an protective spells, but is only usable by clerics. At higher ranks you can learn more powerful spells and cast the ones you know with greater effect. | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell |
| Dark Magic | Only usable by necromancers, dark magic has the most spectacular damaging and creature controlling spells available. At higher ranks you can learn more powerful spells and cast the ones you know with greater effect. | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell | Effects vary per spell |
| Meditation | Meditation skill adds spell points directly to your characters' spell point totals. Spell points gained are equal to a character's Base Spell Points/Level times skill. Expert ranking doubles this total and master triples it. | Skill adds to Spell Points | Double effect of skill | Triple effect of skill | Quintuple effect of skill |
| Disarm Traps | The disarm traps skill is checked automatically when you open a trapped chest or other container. A higher skill in disarm traps gives a better chance of disarming the trap. Experts and masters enjoy an increased chance of disarming traps, while grandmasters always succeed. | Skill increases chance to disarm traps on chests | Double effect of skill | Triple effect of skill | 100% success |
| Perception | The perception skill gives your characters a chance to notice hidden doors and traps, and to avoid damage from traps when they are triggered. At expert and master levels, your characters will notice more. Grandmasters will see all hidden objects. | Skill increases chance to avoid traps and notice treasures | Double effect of skill | Triple effect of skill | 100% success |
| Identify Item | The identify item skill is automatically applied when you right-click on an unidentified inventory item. If your character's skill is high enough, the item becomes identified. | Ability to identify items | Double effect of skill | Triple effect of skill | 100% success |
| Identify Monster | The identify monster skill is applied when you right-click on a monster. At basic level, the skill allows you to see a monster's hit points and armor class. At higher expertise levels, more information is displayed. | Learn Hit Points and Armor Class of monster | Learn Attack type and damage of monster | Learn which spells the monster can cast. | Learn the monster's resistances |
| Learning | The learning skill directly increases the experience a character receives. Every point of skill is a percent of awarded experience that is given as a bonus (plus a starting bonus of 9%). Five skill points would turn a 100 experience point award into a 114 experience point award. Expert doubles and master triples this bonus, so 10 points of learning at master rank would give a 39% bonus to all experience point gain. | Skill increases amount of experience received | Double effect of skill | Triple effect of skill | Quintuple effect of skill |
| Repair Item | The repair skill allows your characters to repair broken equipment. Higher skill levels allow them to repair better items. The skill is automatically applied when you right-click on a broken item in your inventory. | Ability to repair items | Double effect of skill | Triple effect of skill | 100% success |
| Merchant | Merchant skill helps adjust prices in your favor, whether you are buying or selling. | Skill adjusts shop prices in your favor | Double effect of skill | Triple effect of skill | Buy and sell items at cost. |
| Alchemy | The alchemy skill allows you to mix potions. Without the alchemy skill, you barely have the knowledge to make a simple potion, though alchemy skill is added to the strength value of the base ingredient to determine the strength of a simple potion. Higher rankings allow you to mix more complicated potions. | Allows mixing of simple potions to make complex potions | Allows mixing of complex potions to make compound potions | Allows mixing of compound potions to make white potions | Allows mixing of white potions to make black potions |
| Dark Elf Ability | Dark Elves are born with abilities not shared by other races. Like the racial abilities of Vampires and Dragons, Dark Elven abilities are cast like spells, but are acquired like skills. Dark Elves start out able to cast Glamour, then gain Travelers' Boon, Blind, and Darkfire Bolt as they gain expert, master and grandmaster ranking. | Can cast Glamour which increases caster's appeal to others. | Can cast Travelers' Boon which has effects of Torchlight, Wizard Eye and Feather Fall. | Can cast Blind. Targets of the spell wander aimlessly and cannot use spells or missiles. | Can cast Darkfire, a magic bolt which does Dark and Fire damage. |
| Vampire Ability | Vampires are innately powerful creatures with special abilities. Like the racial abilities of Dragons and Dark Elves, Vampire abilities are cast like spells, but are acquired like skills. All Vampires can cast Lifedrain, and gain Levitate, Charm and Mistform at expert, master and grandmaster rankings. | Can cast Lifedrain which harms its target and heals the caster. | Can cast Levitate to move party over harmful surfaces taking no damage. | Can cast the Charm spell on nearby targets. | Can assume Mistform. In mistform a vampire cannot take or deal physical damage. |
| Dragon Ability | Dragons are powerful creatures with innate abilities. Like the racial abilities of Dark Elves and Vampires, Dragon abilities are cast like spells, but are acquired like skills. Dragons begin able to cast Fear, then gain a second breath weapon, Flight, and Wing Buffet at expert, master and grandmaster rankings. Skill in Dragon ability increases both Armor Class and breath weapon damage. | Can cast Fear which causes its targets to flee. | Gains Breath Weapon which launches an exploding fireball. | Gains Flight which allows dragon to carry party through the air. | Gains Wing Buffet which pushes back opponents. |
Attribution
MMArchive used to extract game data for analysis then flattened and formatted for web presentation. Google Sheets used for organization and to create formula for aggregation and analysis. Presented in NinjaTables.
Official Manual is here.
How to obtain a copy of this game
eBay link – PC version (2000)
GOG link – Digital PC Version