Couple of questions from a newb

[Gaius MB]

Hi there, i'm new here, hope i don't annoy you with questions that might seem dumb from a more experienced player's point of view.
After reading some guides, there are still a few things i didn't figure out about skills:

1. There are Skills (e.g. Evade) and Professions (e.g. Evader). Which one has the real impact on my character, the skill or the profession ? If we take evade for example, the skill where one gets less hits from a monster. Is this hit decrease happening becaus of an advancement in skill or profession .. in other words, if i had the profession Evader at level 5 with only skills like Athletics or Courage, would i get the same effect as if i had Evader 5 only with Evading ?

2. Are there skills/professions other than evade, that get the monsters hit me less, for example a skill/attribute/profession that reduces the ammount of damage dealt, in case they hit ?

3. My Oppallo gun deals 7-14 damage, once the skills are sufficient (it shows 7-14/7-14 then). Is there a skill/attribute/profession that will make it shoot more often at 14 than at 7, a skill that gets the average damage ((7+14):2= 10.5) above that 10.5 ?

4. I like to hunt and i plan to deposit somewhere 15-20 € monthly. Is there a chance that i will ever break even with my hunts (using laser carbines, shooting hardest mobs that i can survive without healing/armor) and invest that deposit in other stuff, or will hunting always cost something on the long run, no matter what skills one have ? I've read many diffrent statements about that, hope i get a realistic answer from someone who knows.

5. As i want to break even with hunting somewhere in the (far far away ? / if ever ?) future, i'd like to use the most economical weapon type from the beginning (in order to gain some skills there and not waste time+ped on other weapon types). According to the weapon list at entropedia.info, the most effective weapons in terms of damage/ped are mindforce implants. I hear in game though that mindforce is very expensive and not cost-effective. What is the truth about this ? Will someone, who lets say played for years, be hunting cheaper with lasers or with mindforce ? Thats again a question where i got many contradicting answers, hope someone who knows can bring some light on this.

Thats all for the moment. I hope to get some answers on one or more questions, thanks in advance for your replies

[Hardicus]

1. This one is a good question, and is a bit of a bone of contention. I'll let someone with more knowledge answer this.

2. No. You will always get hit for the same amount (same range), you can only use your skills to avoid a hit (Evade/Dodge, and later on Avoidance/Intuition).

3. No. Once you have maxed the gun (ie your stats are all at the maximum they can be), you cannot make them any better.

4. It's possible, but unlikely.

5. Not sure about this. The MF stats on Entropedia were changed a while back. When I first started playing, the eco of MF weapons was much lower on Entropedia, then one day somebody changed them all. I'm not sure how accurate they are now, or if the stats take into account the fact that you have to pay ~200% for your ammo. However, your best bet is to input your skills into Entropedia, then view the weapons list with the 'Skill Based' calculation on. With low skills, even the most eco looking weapons will be PED bleeders.

[onyx oZ Zombie]

Originally Posted by Gaius MB

1. There are Skills (e.g. Evade) and Professions (e.g. Evader). Which one has the real impact on my character, the skill or the profession ? If we take evade for example, the skill where one gets less hits from a monster. Is this hit decrease happening becaus of an advancement in skill or profession .. in other words, if i had the profession Evader at level 5 with only skills like Athletics or Courage, would i get the same effect as if i had Evader 5 only with Evading ?

to my knowledge, skills impact profession impact avatar - an Evader level of 5 should affect the ava the same regardless of which skills contributed to it in which proportions

Originally Posted by Gaius MB

2. Are there skills/professions other than evade, that get the monsters hit me less, for example a skill/attribute/profession that reduces the ammount of damage dealt, in case they hit ?

Evader (melee attacks) and Dodger (ranged attacks) are the only 2 that can reduce the amount of times you're hit - reduction in damage can only occur by wearing armor or armor and plates

Originally Posted by Gaius MB

3. My Oppallo gun deals 7-14 damage, once the skills are sufficient (it shows 7-14/7-14 then). Is there a skill/attribute/profession that will make it shoot more often at 14 than at 7, a skill that gets the average damage ((7+14):2= 10.5) above that 10.5 ?

no, once the weapon is maxed, you will get nothing further out of a weapon, except economy, of course

Originally Posted by Gaius MB

4. I like to hunt and i plan to deposit somewhere 15-20 € monthly. Is there a chance that i will ever break even with my hunts (using laser carbines, shooting hardest mobs that i can survive without healing/armor) and invest that deposit in other stuff, or will hunting always cost something on the long run, no matter what skills one have ? I've read many diffrent statements about that, hope i get a realistic answer from someone who knows.

i've heard that worth hard work and a keen attention to detail, you can indeed break even and/or profit - however, i personally never intended to and as such never have - this is a release for me - i don't want a second job

Originally Posted by Gaius MB

5. As i want to break even with hunting somewhere in the (far far away ? / if ever ?) future, i'd like to use the most economical weapon type from the beginning (in order to gain some skills there and not waste time+ped on other weapon types). According to the weapon list at entropedia.info, the most effective weapons in terms of damage/ped are mindforce implants. I hear in game though that mindforce is very expensive and not cost-effective. What is the truth about this ? Will someone, who lets say played for years, be hunting cheaper with lasers or with mindforce ? Thats again a question where i got many contradicting answers, hope someone who knows can bring some light on this.

I've only used MF for teleporting, and not for hunting, so all I can pass to you on this subject is hearsay and best left at "everyone says MF is expensive"