Specialize Then Generalize
Starting the adventure of a new game is always exciting. So many new areas to explore, missions to complete, friends to make and fortunes to acquire. Part of the appeal of the Entropia Universe includes taking that online fortune and converting it real world funds that you can spend on dinner instead of skill increase pills or a new jacket instead of armor. As a new participant, you will have started off in a new player area, most likely the Thule. In this area you are exposed to a very few areas of the game. You are given a pistol, told to mine complete a few tasks and then sent on your way.
Fast forward to your first days and weeks in the Entropia Universe. You discover there are not only creatures to hunt, but also resources to extract form the ground and items to craft from gathered resources. Some resources allow you to color items, some allow you to place textures on items and other allow you alter other players appearances. There are so many professions and skill sets in Entropia Universe it is easy to try many of them, spend lots of time playing and feel like you have hardly made any progress. There are 21 different hunting professions for hit ability and 15 for damage alone! Don't end up being a jack of all trades but a master of none.
The best strategy repeated by the best players on the game over and over is to specialize and then generalize. This simple yet effective strategy will ensure that your game play will be as effective as it can be and you will maximize your advancement for the time you spend in game. When you first start playing, go ahead, try a few things and see what you enjoy. After all, if you are not having fun why play any game? You might ask, but what if I like shooting a fast laser pistol but also want to be able to use those really cool swords that I see other players using? The answer is you can, but if you want to maximize your effectiveness, read below.
Entropia Universe is a game of skills. Each profession has a primary set of skills that mainly affect that profession and secondary skills that affect many professions. You might imagine it would be better to work on many professions and universally increase your secondary skills. Good thoughts, but it just doesn't work out very well that way. As you gain skills in Entropia Universe, you also gain the ability to use stronger and better items. As a new player you can use a weapon that does 5 or 6 damage per second, as a seasoned uber with lots of skill you could use one that does nearly 200 damage per second. You can only imagine the futility of attacking anything large with a beginner weapon right? Specialization, or using the same weapon class over the majority of your play time allows you to accumulate those primary skills such as rifle, handgun, cryogenics, longblades etc, that carry a lot more weight when it comes to contributing to the level of your profession.
As you progress through the professional levels, you will find that your secondary skills such as courage, bravado, and combat reflexes will contribute to the professional levels of many other abilities. A high level laser sniper can actually use a decently powered plasma rifle in spite of never having used on due to the secondary skill accumulation and crossing over of some primary skills, rifle being a shared skill between both professions. That same laser sniper will find they can use a more modest yet better than beginner level melee weapon as well. The last reason to specialize in a particular profession is the hidden skills that unlock after you progress to a certain level. One of the most coveted is the Commando skill unlock that you get at level 70 in any hit ability combat profession. Difficult to obtain, it has incredible effects on your avatars health and ability to survive in combat.
You are of course welcome to just do it all, but be aware that your progress will not be as quick as you might wish it to be. Some players do just that, skilling with whatever weapon they happen to choose that day. They are doing the most important thing you can do in any game, having fun. Best of luck to you as you progress through the Entropia Universe.
