Beginner series · chapter 2 of 6
Which Skill to Level First
In this guide
Short answer: start with Mining, Fishing and Cooking, because they feed each other and the starter loop already trains all three. After that, pick the skill whose output you actually need, not the one with the biggest number in a table. At level 1 the XP rates are close together anyway.
What each skill pays at level 1
The best level-1 action in each skill, by base XP per hour. No class bonus, tool or membership boost is applied, because a brand-new character has none of them.
| Skill | Best level-1 action | Seconds | XP / hour | Uses up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mining | Coal Ore | 12.0 | 900 | nothing |
| Fishing | Cod | 7.0 | 1,029 | nothing |
| Cooking | Cooked Cod | 8.0 | 900 | Cod, Coal Ore |
| Woodcutting | Oak Log | 12.0 | 900 | nothing |
| Smelting | Tin Bar | 12.0 | 900 | Tin Ore, Coal Ore |
| Forge | Tin Sword | 25.0 | 1,440 | Tin Bar, Coal Ore |
| Construction | Weak Plank | 60.0 | 900 | Oak Log |
| Alchemy | Battle Potion | 150.0 | 1,080 | Lucky Rabbit Foot, Cheap Vial |
Fishing shows no materials because the cached recipe data does not list bait, but the wiki is clear that each catch needs it. Read the "uses up" column before you queue anything overnight: a crafting action stops the moment its inputs run out, and a stalled queue earns nothing.
Why the starter trio comes first
- Mining gives you coal, and coal goes into cooking and smelting. It uses no materials, so it is the one skill you can always leave running.
- Fishing turns a small amount of gold (bait) into food and sale stock.
- Cooking turns fish plus coal into the food that heals you in combat. Without it, every fight is a gamble.
Those three also teach you the pattern every other skill follows: something gathered, something processed, something sold or used.
What to add next
Pick by goal rather than by XP rate:
- You want better weapons and armour: Smelting turns ore and coal into bars, and Forge turns bars into gear. The Tin tier is open from level 1.
- You want to fight more: keep cooking. Food is what lets you stay in longer fights and, later, dungeons.
- You want gold: train whatever sells. The money making guide ranks actions by profit at cached prices and flags thin markets.
Things that speed a skill up
Better tools make actions faster: pickaxes for mining, fishing rods for fishing, felling axes for woodcutting. Specialist classes give +10% efficiency and +10% EXP in their one skill, which is why many players put a Miner or Chef on a second character instead of their fighter. The full list is in the classes guide.
When you want real numbers for your level, open that skill's calculator from the skills page. It ranks every action by XP per hour with boosts you can switch on, and the best skills ranking compares all of them side by side.