Effective Skill refers to temporary or conditional skill bonuses applied through various sources, such as Aspect Armor or Mastery Chain Links. These bonuses enhance specific calculations but do not show up in the Skills Gump (accessed via ALT+K) alongside your trained, or printed skills.
Effective skills are designed to enhance builds that already utilize the skills in question. They are not intended to serve as a substitute for training skills or as a way to gain the benefits of a skill without investing points in it.
Affected Mechanics
Effective skills contribute to various in-game calculations, primarily in PvM scenarios, including:
- Formulas for spell or melee damage (e.g., Effective Evaluating Intelligence boosting spell damage).
- Inscription mechanics, such as scroll refund chance and buff duration increase (e.g., Effective Inscription increasing Protection spell duration).
- Harvesting chances (e.g., Effective Mining from gear potentially improving ore gathering success).
- Certain skill-based checks or effects (e.g., Effective Spirit Speak influencing Summoner's Tome or Necromancy durations).
Unaffected Mechanics
However, effective skills do not impact the following:
- Crafting success rates – For example, effective Inscription does not increase the crafting success chance or exceptional chance of spellbooks or scrolls. Only printed skill matters for crafting.
- Hard caps on abilities or spells – Effective skills generally do not allow spells or abilities to exceed hard-coded maximums (e.g., effective Magery won't typically increase the damage cap of a spell beyond its limit).
* Exception: Casting from a Magery spell scroll uses effective skill to potentially bypass the normal skill requirement for casting, but not typically other hard caps.