Skills

There are a variety of skills in EverQuest, and learning and developing those skills are the keys to a character's success in the game. How a skill works in game depends on the type of skill. Some skills are triggered automatically, while others are used at the player's discretion. Also, some skills are very general and shared by all, while others are specific to certain races and classes. In general, the more the character attempts to use a skill, the better he or she will become at it.

Weapon and Combat abilities skill ups

Green mob (no xp) = no skill ups. Dark green mob (xp) = very little skill ups. Blue mob = some skill ups Dark blue mob = below average skill ups. White/Yellow mob = sweet spot, tons of skill ups. Red mob = lots of skill ups but potentially lethal

Passive Skills

The table below consolidates the general passive, weapon, trade, casting, racial, and utility skills into one sortable list. The class/access column is a practical summary; individual skill caps and exact availability may vary by class, race, and era.

Skill	Classes / Access	Type	Description
Abjuration	All spellcasting classes	Casting school	Defensive magic, such as spells that reduce damage from hostile effects or protect against environmental damage.
Alcohol Tolerance	All	General	The ability to hold one's drink.
Alteration	All spellcasting classes	Casting school	Magic that changes things, including illusions, movement changes, teleports, slows, and similar effects.
Apply Poison	Rogue	Class skill	Allows rogues to apply poisons and add extra damage or effects to attacks.
Archery	Class access varies	Combat	Improves effectiveness with bows, crossbows, and similar ranged weapons.
Block	Monk	Defense	Allows a monk to avoid damage by deflecting attacks with the body.
Brewing	All	Tradeskill	Crafting skill for alcoholic drinks, non-alcoholic drinks, blacksmithing tempers, and tanning agents.
Channeling	All spellcasting classes	Casting skill	Helps a caster continue casting without being interrupted when hit.
Conjuration	All spellcasting classes	Casting school	Magic that summons creatures, items, or other effects into the world.
Defense	All	Defense	Improves survivability in melee combat. Raising Defense raises AC.
Divination	All spellcasting classes	Casting school	Magic that detects hidden things or conceals visible things.
Dodge	Class access varies	Defense	Allows a combatant to avoid a blow entirely.
Double Attack	Melee and hybrid classes	Combat	Gives a chance to make an additional attack in combat.
Dual Wield	Melee and hybrid classes	Combat	Allows a character to fight effectively with a weapon in each hand.
Evocation	All spellcasting classes	Casting school	Offensive magic such as fireballs, force spells, and direct damage effects.
Fishing	All	Tradeskill / General	The art of pulling useful or interesting things from bodies of water with a fishing pole.
Hand to Hand	All; Monk has the highest focus	Combat	Improves unarmed attacks. Monks specialize in this skill, while many other classes can still punch when unarmed.
Hide	Rogue, Bard, Ranger; selected races where available	Utility	Attempts to hide from enemies. Some creatures can see through hide.
Meditate	All mana users	Casting skill	Allows casters to memorize spells and regain mana more quickly.
Offense	All	Combat	Improves the ability to inflict damage in combat. Raising Offense raises Attack.
1H Slash	Class access varies	Weapon skill	Improves effectiveness with one-handed slashing weapons.
1H Blunt	Class access varies	Weapon skill	Improves effectiveness with one-handed blunt weapons.
2H Slash	Class access varies	Weapon skill	Improves effectiveness with two-handed slashing weapons.
2H Blunt	Class access varies	Weapon skill	Improves effectiveness with two-handed blunt weapons.
Piercing	Class access varies	Weapon skill	Improves effectiveness with piercing weapons.
Parry	Melee and hybrid classes	Defense	Allows a character to deflect incoming attacks with a weapon.
Pottery	All	Tradeskill	Crafting skill for making items from clay using pottery wheels and kilns.
Riposte	Melee and hybrid classes	Defense / Counterattack	A counterattack that can block an incoming attack and grant a free swing against the attacker.
Safe Fall	Monk, Bard, Rogue	Utility	Reduces or prevents damage from long falls.
Specialization	Advanced spellcasters	Casting specialization	Allows advanced casters to specialize in a magic school, reducing mana cost and improving casting success.
Specialize Abjuration	Advanced spellcasters	Casting specialization	Specialization for abjuration spells.
Specialize Alteration	Advanced spellcasters	Casting specialization	Specialization for alteration spells.
Specialize Conjuration	Advanced spellcasters	Casting specialization	Specialization for conjuration spells.
Specialize Divination	Advanced spellcasters	Casting specialization	Specialization for divination spells.
Specialize Evocation	Advanced spellcasters	Casting specialization	Specialization for evocation spells.
Swimming	All	General	Improves movement in water and may help a character remain underwater longer.
Tailoring	All	Tradeskill	Crafting skill for cloth armor, leather armor, backpacks, and similar items made from silk, hides, and related components.
Racial: Infravision	Racial	Racial vision	Slightly improved night vision.
Racial: Ultravision	Racial	Racial vision	Greatly improved night vision.
Brass Instruments	Bard	Bard instrument	Improves the effectiveness of bard songs that use brass instruments.
Percussion	Bard	Bard instrument	Improves the effectiveness of bard songs that use percussion instruments.
Stringed Instruments	Bard	Bard instrument	Improves the effectiveness of bard songs that use stringed instruments.
Wind Instruments	Bard	Bard instrument	Improves the effectiveness of bard songs that use wind instruments.
Singing	Bard	Bard skill	Improves the effectiveness of bard songs, especially songs based on singing rather than instruments.

Active Skills

This section is for class-specific active abilities that should appear in build guides alongside spells. Build guides transclude the labeled sections named ActiveSkills:Class Name. Empty class placeholders are visible here for editors, but they are intentionally outside the labeled sections so they do not appear in build guides.

Rows should be limited to actively triggered abilities, such as combat buttons, emergency abilities, class utility buttons, and racial activated abilities. Passive skills, weapon skills, trade skills, and casting schools should remain in the general Passive Skills table above unless they also have an actively triggered use.

Bard

Level	Ability	Skill	Cooldown	Description	Notes
Sense Traps	Rogue, Bard	Utility	Allows detection of traps on objects or in passageways.
Sneak	Rogue, Bard, Monk, Ranger; selected races where available	Utility	Allows cautious movement that can help bypass enemies when successful.
Tracking	Ranger, Druid, Bard	Utility	Allows a character to follow traces of other creatures over distance.

Beastlord

Level	Ability	Skill	Cooldown	Description	Notes
No active skills listed yet.

Berserker

Level	Ability	Skill	Cooldown	Description	Notes
No active skills listed yet.

Cleric

Level	Ability	Skill	Cooldown	Description	Notes
No active skills listed yet.

Druid

Level	Ability	Skill	Cooldown	Description	Notes
Foraging	Druid, Ranger; selected races where available	Utility	Allows a character to find food and other items from the local environment.
Tracking	Ranger, Druid, Bard	Utility	Allows a character to follow traces of other creatures over distance.

Enchanter

Level	Ability	Skill	Cooldown	Description	Notes
No active skills listed yet.

Magician

Level	Ability	Skill	Cooldown	Description	Notes
No active skills listed yet.

Monk

Level	Ability	Skill	Cooldown	Description	Notes
X	Dragon Punch	Monk	Active combat	Monk special attack.
X	Flying Kick	Monk	Active combat	A powerful acrobatic monk attack using the force of the legs.
X	Feign Death	Monk	Active utility	Allows a monk to pretend to be dead, often causing enemies to stop attacking.
X	Sneak	Rogue, Bard, Monk, Ranger; selected races where available	Utility	Allows cautious movement that can help bypass enemies when successful.
X	Tiger Claw	Monk	Active combat	Monk special attack.
X	Kick	Monk, Ranger, Warrior	Active combat	Damages an enemy. Some enemies require magic footwear. Shares cooldown behavior with Bash and Slam.
X	Round Kick	Monk	Active combat	Monk special attack.
X	Mend	Monk	Active class ability	Allows a monk to heal themself. At lower skill levels, failure can cause damage instead.
X	Eagle Strike	Monk	Active combat	Monk special attack.

Necromancer

Level	Ability	Skill	Cooldown	Description	Notes
No active skills listed yet.

Paladin

Level	Ability	Skill	Cooldown	Description	Notes
X	Bash	Paladin, Shadow Knight, Warrior	Active combat	Shield bash that can damage and potentially stun an enemy, interrupting spell casting. Shares cooldown behavior with Kick and Slam.
X	Lay on Hands	Paladin	Active class ability	A paladin ability that heals a single target for a large amount with a long recast timer.
X	Taunt	Warrior, Paladin, Shadow Knight	Active combat	Attempts to make an enemy attack the taunting character instead of another target.

Ranger

Level	Ability	Skill	Cooldown	Description	Notes
X	Kick	Monk, Ranger, Warrior	Active combat	Damages an enemy. Some enemies require magic footwear. Shares cooldown behavior with Bash and Slam.
X	Sneak	Rogue, Bard, Monk, Ranger; selected races where available	Utility	Allows cautious movement that can help bypass enemies when successful.
X	Tracking	Ranger, Druid, Bard	Utility	Allows a character to follow traces of other creatures over distance.

Rogue

Level	Ability	Skill	Cooldown	Description	Notes
10	Backstab	Combat	10 seconds	A rogue special attack that deals high burst damage with a piercing weapon. On EQLegends, Backstab can be used from the front, so rogues can “frontstab” without needing to stand behind the target.	Requires a piercing weapon. Shares cooldown behavior with other rogue combat actions where applicable.
X	Disarm Trap	Rogue	Utility	Allows a rogue to disarm dangerous traps on objects or in passages.
X	Sense Traps	Rogue, Bard	Utility	Allows detection of traps on objects or in passageways.
X	Sneak	Rogue, Bard, Monk, Ranger; selected races where available	Utility	Allows cautious movement that can help bypass enemies when successful.
X	Pick Lock	Rogue, Bard	Utility	Allows locked doors or containers to be opened without the exact key.
X	Pick Pocket	Rogue	Utility	Allows a rogue to attempt to steal coins or items from nearby targets.

Shadow Knight

Level	Ability	Skill	Cooldown	Description	Notes
X	Bash	Paladin, Shadow Knight, Warrior	Active combat	Shield bash that can damage and potentially stun an enemy, interrupting spell casting. Shares cooldown behavior with Kick and Slam.
X	Harm Touch	Shadow Knight	Active class ability	A shadow knight ability that deals a large amount of damage to a single target with a long recast timer.
X	Taunt	Warrior, Paladin, Shadow Knight	Active combat	Attempts to make an enemy attack the taunting character instead of another target.

Shaman

Level	Ability	Skill	Cooldown	Description	Notes
No active skills listed yet.

Warrior

Level	Ability	Skill	Cooldown	Description	Notes
X	Bash	Paladin, Shadow Knight, Warrior	Active combat	Shield bash that can damage and potentially stun an enemy, interrupting spell casting. Shares cooldown behavior with Kick and Slam.
X	Kick	Monk, Ranger, Warrior	Active combat	Damages an enemy. Some enemies require magic footwear. Shares cooldown behavior with Bash and Slam.
X	Taunt	Warrior, Paladin, Shadow Knight	Active combat	Attempts to make an enemy attack the taunting character instead of another target.

Wizard

Level	Ability	Skill	Cooldown	Description	Notes
No active skills listed yet.

Skills