Here’s some personal feedback on skills
Lumberjacking: Good. Once we have saws, boards, log houses, fences, and more Woodworking items, this will be Excellent 🙂
Mining: Excellent. higher skill & better tool seems to give increased chances for more advanced materials such as Coal. Talc (needed for Blacksmithing etc)
Cooking: So-so. With no fails or material loss,this doesn’t seem a highly useful skill (though it can still be made “fun” which is just as good even better). Food seems a minor issue after the first early levels, so I think this skill still needs more fun somehow. Maybe later with things like frypans, dairy products, smoked/preserved goods, a “Legendary Fine Meal” might give some pizzazz to the skill even if only on a roleplay level (to me that’s even better than ‘uber skills’).
Camping: So-so. I assume you have less frustrating fails starting fires etc. Maybe a higher camping skill can also make torches last longer? I never used my bedroll after the first day though I like the idea of keeping the bedroll in there and not going direct to “resting” without one. I like the idea of an overnight shelter (leaves, poles, ropelike) that reduces but not eliminates ambushes at night.
Tinkering: Excellent. Apparently higher skill increased chances for Legendary tools – I made a pretty nice axe: with +4 to Lumjacking.
Tactical & Parrying : Excellent, saves your life when you have better to-hit and dodge. I had higher levels on an earlier character but currently, once you have iron weapons & gear, these become less important,. However with harder mobs coming down the road, these will become critically important. I have been switching to weaker gear just to give these a chance to raise as otherwise I one-hit everything and get no skill.
Mycology: Excellent. One of my favorite skills, I am almost worried it is “too good” but nerfing it much could just make it useless. I like setting up “remote outposts” with some mushrooms planted that I can make use of later while exploring.
Botony: Good. I can see this one becoming Excellent later on when some future content goes in, for now it seems fine. I like planting grass and having a few more things to play with will make this Excellent.
Throwing: Excellent. I recently started playing with this, once you get a little skill its very nice, was doing +3 on some hits and assume that will continue to rise. Would like to see darts added (arrowhead+pole, or bone) or even javelins.
Swimming: Excellent. I assume you lose less stamina at higher levels. so its a must for explorer types.
Archery + Fletching/Bowcraft: Good. I am just starting this due to a lack of feathers but once we have chicken farms and higher quality bows, I can see this becoming a Favorite Skill. Since arrows weigh the same as stones, I hope this gives better damage later than Throwing or it becomes easier just to pelt things with rocks. Arrows might be a little heavy, not sure. Kind of an Advanced skill and need to take sare it does not become overpowered.
Woodworking: Ok. I am assuming future content will make this much better.
Blacksmithing: Good. I used iron gear on an earlier character but until harder mobs go in, you don;t really need this much except for an iron spear, otherwise you become so overpowered most of the fun is gone. I used iron tools on an earlier character but frankly it’s easier just to make Poor stone tools and replace them more, especially since Repair got nerfed some (which it needed). I am guessing with the chance of Legendary Gear + harder content, this could become Excellent.
Stonecrafting: Fair. Maybe more important later? You don’t really fail so it seems mostly useful for raising stats like Strength.
Leatherworking: Good. I have been using leather armor for its lighter weight, and I might use up some hides trying for Legendary Leather Armor. Seeing that Axe with the +4 to Lumbercraft got me psyched about getting other good gear ^_^
Fishing: ?? I need to experiment with this more. Since I live mostly on mushrooms now, I am guessing this will be better as a way of fishing up Curious Items that can only be obtained via fishing. Since it uses almost no stamina, it is a nice activity to switch to when you are too low on stamina for more exerting activities, which is a big plus.
Cartography: Good. I wasn’t much into using treasure maps but I can see this as being a favorite for others. Once we have paper & ink (squids from fishing?) , it would be great to be able to make my own maps of areas I have traveled through (maybe you need to stop periodically to refine maps with noise & missing details; I’d rather not see maps auto-generate but instead require some effort & skill from the player. I got lost a lot while exploring so once I can make my own maps this will become Excellent.
Clay-throwing & Glassblowing: too little applicable content to judge. Made a kiln and glass flasks etc but this is clearly “unfinished content” still.
I only started with Beta 1.01, so I “missed out” on losing resources on catastrophic fails. I have mixed feelings as I can see why that was overly frustrating but it also reduces the impact of skills overall. Maybe a higher failure rate at lower craftwork skills only because you no longer lose any mats. This makes higher skill more of a reward, similar to how lighting campfires gets easier at higher skill. I think Mining/Lumber/Fishing/etc all have this built in, I am more thinking of the skills like woodworking/stoneworking etc.
The game is currently fun & addicting but it’s the upcoming content that will really be making this game a real gem. Right now you mostly get a taste of where things are going, which is exciting because you can see so much thought put into little details. Players still need more “personal projects” to putter with once they have basic food+shelter needs met, I have been making an underground park with grass and trees and sanded paths ^_^ but that chicken ranch you promised is appealing, esp as I can then work a little more with fletching/archery. Plus sheep for Tailoring and cows for cheese and leather.