= Citat =:
Next, we have character development in Pathfinder Online. Your Pathfinder Online character will be described by four primary types of information.
Attributes:SThese correspond to the classic six abilities of the tabletop game (although we may rename one or two just for the sake of clarity given the way they’ll work in the online game). In Pathfinder Online, these attributes have two aspects: The first is that they determine how long it takes to train a skill that uses that attribute as a base. The higher the attribute score, the faster your character can train those kinds of skills. The second is that they determine how effective the character is at resisting certain types of effects. Instead of the tabletop game’s three saving throws, in Pathfinder Online there’s a resistance bonus or penalty associated with each of the six attributes.
Skills:SAs in EVE Online, your character can train in a wide variety of skills. However, unlike EVE, skills in Pathfinder Online have no direct effects. Each is simply a prerequisite for another area of character development. Skills qualify your character to access all sorts of things from the kind of equipment the character can use to the types of items that can be crafted to how the character can access special powers and magical spells… but simply training the skill does not award those benefits directly.
Merit Badges:SMerit badges are a combination of measuring the progression of your character (as in first-person shooters like Battlefield 3) and recognizing the character has done something notable (like the achievements in World of Warcraft). Most merit badges require that you first finish training a specific skill or skills. Some also require that you do something in-game, such as harvest a certain amount of resources, or slay a certain number of monsters, or explore a portion of the map. When you have completed the requirements, the merit badge is awarded, and you will likely also get a new ability associated with that merit badge.
Abilities:SAbilities represent the class features and feats from the tabletop game, as well as a wider variety of development opportunities to support the wide range of character types for the MMO. As a character gains abilities, that character will become more competent and capable. Abilities give characters more variety in the types of armor they can wear, weapons they can use, items they can make, mounts they can ride, and spells they can cast. They also link to things like being sneaky, healing, finding traps, detecting tracks, finding resources that can be harvested, and buying and selling items at the in-game markets.
