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Training your Trader

Circle Requirements--
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Lore Skills
	Trading	Appraisal	Overall Lore
Circle 1-10	4 ranks	3 ranks	12 ranks
Circle 11-30	5 ranks	3 ranks	16 ranks
Circle 31-40	5 ranks	4 ranks	19 ranks
Circle 41-70	6 ranks	4 ranks	19 ranks
Circle 71-90	6 ranks	5 ranks	21 ranks
Circle 91+	7 ranks	5 ranks	21 ranks

Armor Skills
	First Armor	Second Armor
Circle 1-10	1 rank	1 rank
Circle 11+	2 ranks	1 rank

Survival Skills
	First Survival	Second Survival	Third Survival	Fourth Survival	Fifth Survival	Sixth Survival
Circle 1-10	1 rank	1 rank	1 rank	1 rank	1 rank	1 rank
Circle 11-30	2 ranks	2 ranks	1 rank	1 rank	1 rank	1 rank
Circle 31-70	2 ranks	2 ranks	2 ranks	2 ranks	1 rank	1 rank
Circle 71+	3 ranks	3 ranks	2 ranks	2 ranks	2 ranks	2 ranks

Training Lore Skills --
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Trading
Trading skill is learned only by a Trader by being involved of the exchange of sums of money. Specifically: selling gem pouchs, selling bundles, selling something via BARTER, horse trading, running contracts, auctioning an item using a guild Auction Hall, and selling items on the tables. Early in ones career many of these choices are not available. My recommendation is find a trader in the market tent that will teach trading through five to ten circles. Then start using the routes to get yourself up to appraising pouches. From this point you've opened up good options running contracts, and selling pouches, slowly work your way up the ladder and then decide how best else you'd like to train your trader. So many options, no single wrong way.
Appraisal
Appraisal skill is learned by anyone by appraising. . . well just about anything. A trader truly benefits from this skill often and early. A trader will be more accurate with appraisals much before other guilds of the same skill level. Always appraise quick, normal, then careful to maximize skill gain. Good things to appraise: critters in combat, weapons, armor, gem pouches filled with gems, bundles, and later on buy some appraisal jewelery from the Trader Guild shops.
Scholarship
Scholarship skill is a skill that benefits people of all guilds. Listening to classes benefits from your scholarship skill and also trains your scholarship skill. Scholarship will help you read and understand scrolls and has bonuses down the line. Reading books in one of the many Libraries around Elanthia is a good way to learn something about Elanthia and a bit of scholarship as well. When you can move on to anantomy charts, for these also will train your first aid skill.
Mechanical Lore
Mechanical Lore skill determines your ability to craft or make things with your hands. Forgers, Tanners, Bowyers, Alchemist, and many more have a strong need for this skill. For Trader's specifically it determines how well we can do embroidery. Braid grass after getting a few early ranks listening in on a Mech lore class. Once you've become proficient and have the coin to do so pick up the origami hobby.
Teaching
Teaching skill is gained usually one of two ways. By listening to teaching classes or by teaching a class yourself. Obviously early in your careers you'll be listening alot more than teaching, so be patient. . . These ranks will come easier in time.
Musical Skills
The musical lores are handy to traders for really one good reason. TDP's. They don't count towards overall lore so I don't recommend pounding these skills, but during downtime practicing an instrument is a great way to pick up TDP's.



Training Survival Skills --
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Climbing
Climbing skill is great for . . . well climbing things! Almost anything you have to climb up will train this for you, eventually some things are obviously to easy to benefit from. To start try climbing up and down the tree in arthe dale. Once you can do that, do it with a weapon in your hand. After you can do it with a weapon in your hand, do it with two weapons in your hand.
Swimming
Training your swimming skill often and early will make traveling to and from places much easier in the future. Do it as a trader, getting from Crossing to Theren or Haven to Shard can be much faster than the normal transports! Practice and practice it's well worth it.
Perception
Perception is a must as a trader. Your guild alone puts a red target on your head for Thieves. Perception is your main defence against being pick-pocketed. And since your in a guild that survives on the coin, well you'd be foolish not to work this one. Juggling is the best thing we got to train it with. Find a set of jugglies that you can toss three in the air with and juggle those until you can regularly get five of them going. Then find a heavier set that you can get three in the air with. Tedious but effective.
Foraging
Foraging is the skill that helps you find things like branchs, grass, and herbs all around elanthia. Most frequently you'll forage grass for your caravan's or pack-mules but every so often I forage for coins, just for fun! Of course there are some great foraging databases out there, maybe check Olywdd's for more information on foraging.
Disarm Traps
Disarm Traps skill helps you safely open boxes you may come across when your hunting or training armor. I train this skill only when its convienent as there are much more useful survival skills I use for my required reqs. Just make sure your identifing the trap, marking the box, then disarming the trap to learn the most skill from it.
Lockpicking
Lockpicking skill will usually go hand in hand with Disarm Traps skill. Once a box you've come across is disarmed you can unlock it. Using a lockpick you have to pick the lock and then you can get all the coins and gems from inside.
First Aid
First Aid skill is a must, very convienent skill to be more than proficient with. I can't even count the number of times First Aid has bailed me out of a very comprimising situation. Listen to classes and practice on other people is the best way to get started with First Aid. Try the empath guild to find classes and practice dummys. Eventually with enough scholarship you can study charts from the Empath guild shop to learn First Aid.
Evasion
Evasion skill, the survival that eludes me the most. I'm a trader not a fighter and this combat dependent survival is not something I want to sit and pound to learn. So I get my ranks through classes for Evasion. Though I noticed your evasion tends to move better if you are wearing heavier armor.
Hiding
Hiding skill is great to train. Because hiding can just make your life easier when carrying coins, or when trying to avoid combat, or just when you want to be left alone. Try hiding in front of the various shop keepers around Elanthia, they might be able to give you some practice
Stalking
Stalking skill tends to go hand in hand with your hiding skill. As it should since it justifies how well you can move without people noticing your in hiding. I use to stalk through goblins and back a few times and I'd move stalking pretty well. Now I tend just to stalk in and out of shops and near town guards. I'm sure there is probably a combat method to training stalking as well or an overall more effective way. Ask around some people might have some more information.



Training Armor Skills and Weapon Skills--
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Training any armor and weapon skills is best taught by actually being in combat with a critter. Since we trader's are only required to train minimal armor ranks, and because I'm not a combat enthusiast. I'll let you do your own research on where and what and how to hunt. Only thing I know about combat is how well weapons work. If you can't find any information on hunting elsewhere come see me in person, I'll be more than happy to point you in the right direction.



Training Magic Skills--
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Magical Devices
Magical Devices is the only skill I recommend you train. Just so you can use some of the more useful ones in the future. i.e. Inviso Rings and Constellation Jewelery. Train by using a fan that can be purchased by an estate holder, at early ranks. After that classes, and maybe rubbing runestones till they break might work. Or, of course you could always buy an achaedi crystal.

All other magic skills are futile ranks to gain. Really only effective way of gaining skill in magic ranks as a trader is through listening to classes. If a class is about surely listen to it for the sake of listening to it, but there is no need to seek one out.