Throughout our existences, different training needs become important. Early in our lives, our needs are the same as those of any other profession. Yeah, we have placed our better traits in skill areas other than what our needs require early in life. It will be a rough go at first.
Choose your skills well, for our trainings accompany us throughout our existances. I offer but three skills in which ye must never miss an opportunity to train if ye are to achieve the status of legend or beyond. Always train twice in spell research and in spell aiming. On occasion in mid-life you will likely want to treble-train in spell research. Spell aiming is our most potent offensive weapon from mid-life until very, very late in life. Nearly all professions double-train in their most proficient lethal weapon every opportunity of their lives. The spell aiming skill is ours.
Train thee always in use of the shield. This be thy basic defense from now until always. Tempting it shall be to forego this training late in life in favor of other skills. Discipline it will take to expend your training for a minimal advance in shield use, but expend it you shall. Every point of defense is important. A point passed over can never be reclaimed.
Ah, to be young again... but I wax philosophic. Your sword, and your health serve thee most immediately. Train thee always in edged weapons until such time as ye find that the beasties you are combating are so far above your sword wielding skills that you never lift a sword to them. Such a revelation came to me about the time I earned the title, Lord Zanovere, my twentieth training after birth.
Physical training is very important until you get around 30 measure health. Train ye periodically from then until ye realize somewhere slightly above 100 measure that thy maximum health has been attained.
Train thee also in magic item use. This will allow access to wands when your attack skills permit. You can double train in this skill if you like. Train up to around 100 measure in magic item use. Train in first aid to help your taxidermy skills. The skin and fur trade makes a fine revenue producer for young wizards, complementing their high dexterity.
Train periodically in climbing, swimming, and perception. When you stop physical training for health points every level, take up the skill of mana sharing. You may want to train also in scroll reading. It's not a critical need, but it is an easy skill to learn.
Avoid training in any type of weapons except for edged. Take thee no more than four trainings in armor use. Armor use affects how badly encumbered you are by heavy armor. But you aren't going to wear heavy armor anyway. It smells bad and it interferes with your ability to dodge things and cast magics. Armor encumbrance does not affect how quickly we cast spells, either. Train four times in armor use in order to wear full leather without time penalties. Real wizards do not wear brig.
Avoid thee also the temptation to learn how to pick locks and disarm traps, ambush, swing two-handed weapons, pick pockets, etc. These are skills unbecoming a wizard of stature. Once you approach legend status, you can begin learning about traps and locks, but early in your training you must use your training for more immediate needs and leave the boxes to the professionals.
The Voln monks suggest that we Volners train in brawling. Be polite, but conquer any urge to train in brawling and leave such skills to the more rowdy professions within our great Order. The lords of Liabo understand that our skills are applied more effectively elsewhere. Voln wizards should not need to train in stalking and hiding, but the other society folks will need some training in hiding so that they can keep the senile old Poobah thinking that his powers are secret.
Also in mid-life, your climbing, swimming, and perception skills affect your ability to travel to different places for hunting. Otherwise, you may fall and sustain an injury if you fail a climb. And you may drown trying to swim. You may never notice a hole in the wall that you must travel through, even if you know that it is there.
Around age 25, you may start to triple train in spell research every so often. This takes planning ahead. You will also want to train in combat maneuvers on occaision. CM is a costly skill for wizards to learn, competing with other needs. So it takes planning as well.
The older you are, the more difficult it becomes to avoid beasties with deadly maneuver attacks. You must at some point begin a regimen of training in combat maneuvers. And remember to travel light and cast strength upon yourself when approaching nasties that can boil the earth beneath you or jolt you from the clouds. We wizards can dish it out better than we can take it.
Once you stop triple training in spell research, you can start learning about locks and traps if you like. You may also want to start training once again in edged weapon use, but this time for defensive reasons. Your skill in edged weapons will help your defenses when you hold a blade while in non-offensive stances. Your casting strength for minor elemental warding spells will at some point outpace your attack strength for wizard elemental bolt spells, and you can cast warding spells from defensive stances.
As a legendary wizard in your fifties and higher, you will quickly find out that those defensive spells that you spent your lifetimes learning are not sufficient in themselves for hunting beasties worthy of your attention. You will need defense from the spirit circles and other circles to complement your own.
