Skills

In Star Ocean, skills are learned by using SP (SP is gained as you level up). Each skill is part of a skill set that must be bought in a town. Once you learn a skill set, all characters (even ones you don't have yet) will know that skill (albeit at level 0). Certain combinations of skills can also be used to allow characters to use Abilities.

Each skill has a list of ten numbers (1/4/8/16 etc.); each number represents the amount of SP required to learn each level of the skill. The above example would require 1 SP for level 1, 4 for level 2, etc. The SP cost may be lessened by learning the Effort skill.

It's possible to level up in skills by reading books created with the Authoring Ability. If a skill is writable you can do this (up to level 7). Not all skills can be written, though.

Battle skills cannot be written and are not used in Abilities. And unlike SO2, they cannot be turned off. (Don't worry, as a rule they don't have to be.) Sometimes in battle you'll see a little "SKILL!" above your character, which means they've just activated a Battle skill. The chance of Battle skills being activated raise as their levels raise, as do the effectiveness of some of them. Battle skills can only be learned by fighters (those with technique lists), except for Motormouth, which can only be learned by spellcasters.

Herbal Medicine
Abilities Used For: Compounding, Identify
Skill Levels: 2/3/5/8/12/17/23/30/38/47
Writable: Yes
Certain healing items are affected by this skill; they will heal an extra (skill level x 2)% HP, but only when used in the field, not in battle. The items affected are: Aquaberry, Bitter Potion, Blueberry, Bubble Potion, Cure Paralysis, Cure Poison, Holy Mist, Fruit Pot, Mixed Syrup, Resurrect Bottle, Resurrect Mist, Savory, Stink Pot, Sweet Syrup, Sweet Pot.

Mineralogy
Abilities Used For: Crafting, Identify, Alchemy, Smithing
Skill Levels: 1/2/4/6/9/12/16/20/40/70
Writable: Yes
No effects.

Recipe
Abilities Used For: Cooking
Skill Levels: 1/1/2/2/3/3/5/5/10/20
Writable: Yes
No effects.

Biology
Abilities Used For: Compounding
Skill Levels: 12/22/32/42/62/80/82/85/90/95
Writable: Yes
Every level you gain in this will get you a bonus (skill level -1) x 20 HP.

Item Lore
Abilities Used For: Identify
Skill Levels: 1/5/9/13/17/21/25/29/33/37
Writable: Yes
No effects.

Musical Notation
Abilities Used For: Music
Skill Levels: 2/4/8/16/32/90/40/50/70/90
Writable: Yes
No effects.

Psychology
Abilities Used For: Compounding
Skill Levels: 8/14/20/26/32/52/62/82/90/95
Writable: Yes
Every level you gain in this will get you a bonus (skill level -1) x 2 MP.

Piety
Abilities Used For: Oracle
Skill Levels: 5/7/9/11/13/33/43/53/63/80
Writable: No
Every level you gain in this will get you a bonus (skill level) to your INT.

Fairy Lore
Abilities Used For: Alchemy
Skill Levels: 40/41/42/43/44/45/46/47/48/50
Writable: Yes
No effects.

Esthetic Sense
Abilities Used For: Crafting, Customize
Skill Levels: 10/20/30/40/50/60/70/80/90/99
Writable: No
No effects.

Good Eye
Abilities Used For: Cooking
Skill Levels: 2/4/6/8/10/20/22/24/26/28
Writable: Yes
No effects.

Patience
Abilities Used For: Training
Skill Levels: 2/4/7/11/16/22/29/37/46/56
Writable: No
Every level you gain in this will get you a bonus (skill level x 2) to your CON.

Playfulness
Abilities Used For: Oracle
Skill Levels: 1/1/2/2/3/3/4/4/5/5
Writable: No
No effects.

Danger Sense
Abilities Used For: Scout
Skill Levels: 2/3/5/7/10/13/17/21/26/40
Writable: No
Reduces enemy encounter rate by (skill level x 4)%.

Perseverance
Abilities Used For: Training
Skill Levels: 8/10/12/14/16/18/20/22/24/26
Writable: No
Every level you gain in this will get you a bonus (skill level x3) to your GUTS.

Functionality
Abilities Used For: Customize
Skill Levels: 40/40/50/50/60/60/70/70/80/80
Writable: No
No effects.

Radar
Abilities Used For: Oracle
Skill Levels: 12/14/16/18/20/22/24/26/28/30
Writable: No
No effects.

Effort
Abilities Used For: Training
Skill Levels: 20/30/40/50/60/70/80/90/90/90
Writable: No
Every level you gain in this decreases the required SP for *every* skill by 1. Note that this includes Effort. That means that the skill requirements actually look like 20/29/38/etc.

Kitchen Knife
Abilities Used For: Cooking
Skill Levels: 1/2/3/5/7/9/12/15/18/30
Writable: Yes
Every level you gain in this will get you a bonus (skill level x 2) to your STR.

Whistling
Abilities Used For: Familiar
Skill Levels: 1/2/4/6/12/20/25/30/35/40
Writable: No
No effects.

Sketching
Abilities Used For: Art
Skill Levels: 5/10/20/30/50/70/90/90/90/90
Writable: Yes
No effects.

Gale
Abilities Used For: Dash
Skill Levels: 1/2/4/5/7/28/30/31/43/55
Writable: No
Every level you gain in this will get you a bonus (skill level x 4) to your STM.

Workmanship
Abilities Used For: Crafting, Customize
Skill Levels: 2/4/7/11/16/22/29/37/46/56
Writable: Yes
Every level you gain in this will get you a bonus (skill level x 2) to your AGL.

WRITING
Abilities Used For: Authoring
Skill Levels: 3/4/6/8/11/14/20/25/40/60
Writable: Yes
Every level you gain in this will get you a bonus (skill level x 4) to your AGL.

ANIMALS
Abilities Used For: Familiar
Skill Levels: 20/21/22/23/24/25/26/27/28/30
Writable: No
No effects.

Performance
Abilities Used For: Music
Skill Levels: 2/4/8/16/32/90/40/50/70/90
Writable: Yes
No effects.

Forging
Abilities Used For: Smithing
Skill Levels: 3/6/12/24/48/58/68/78/88/98
Writable: Yes
No effects.

Technology
Abilities Used For: Alchemy
Skill Levels: 6/10/14/18/22/32/42/52/62/80
Writable: Yes
No effects.

Below the Belt
Skill Levels: 4/7/14/21/28/35/42/49/56/63
Allows you to deal an attack that ignores some percent of an enemy's defense.

Strong Blow
Skill Levels: 4/7/14/21/28/35/42/49/56/63
Allows you to blow enemies away from you. This is usually useful, because the enemy has to move back towards you to hit you. Enemies are sometimes stunned more often as well.

Flip
Skill Levels: 5/10/20/40/50/60/80/90/95/99
Allows you to jump behind and enemy and hit him from there. Because characters are fairly fast in Star Ocean, this is a good deal more useful than in the sequel.

Counterattack
Skill Levels: 5/10/15/20/40/50/60/70/85/99
Allows a character to automatically counterattack. This can be a bit annoying for characters like Marvel who prefer to use long-range techs, since it thrusts them into the midst of the battle.

Feint
Skill Levels: 4/7/14/21/28/35/42/49/56/63
Makes your attack guaranteed to hit with 100% accuracy.

Mental Training
Skill Levels: 4/7/14/21/28/35/42/49/56/63
Raises offensive power.

Link Combo
Skill Levels: 5/10/15/20/30/40/55/70/85/99
Allows you to link together techniques. For every two levels raised, you can link together another technique for a maximum of 5. This can be great; do a long-range tech or two, then come in and do a short-range one or two. The MP cost is the sum of all techniques, so if you miss or get knocked out of it, you'll lose lots of MP.

Motormouth
Skill Levels: 14/17/24/31/48/55/62/89/96/99
The higher this skill, the faster you can cast spells.

Ashlay/Ratix: Edarl Style
Iria/Tinek: Close Combat
Cius: Self-Taught Style
Marvel: Raven Orb
Fear: Raven Sword
Perisie: Cat Fighting

These are special skills, unique to each fighter character. These skills cannot raise levels; you learn them and that's it. Once you learn a Secret Skill, raise levels in your School skill. When you use specific techniques, you have a chance (determined by how high your fighting style skill level is, and whether you're "angry" at the moment) to learn a Secret Tech. This new technique is based on the old one but far more powerful. These techniques are the best in the game, hands down!

7-Star
Ratix: 7-Star Shock Sword (from Shock Sword); 7-Star Flash Whirl (from Flash Whirl); 7-Star Twin Slash(from Twin Slash)
Cius: 7-Star Shock Sword (from Shock Sword); 7-Star Blaze Sword (from Blaze Sword); 7-Star Twin Slash(from Twin Slash)
Ashlay: 7-Star Shock Sword (from Shock Sword); 7-Star Twin Slash (from Twin Slash)
Marvel: Southern Cross (from Flare Orb); Seventh Star(from Hail Orb); Galaxy (from Thunder Orb)
Tinek: 7-Star Rumble (from Sakura-Zhang)
Location: Beat Rank C in the Tataroy Arena.

Sacred Beast
Ratix: Phoenix Wave (from Rift Wave); Dragon Blast (from Spirit Blast)
Cius: Tiger Blast (from Spirit Blast); Turtle Wave (from Rift Wave); Dragon Whirl (from Flash Whirl)
Ashlay: Dragon Blast (learned); Phoenix Wave (learned)
Iria: Dragon Fist (from Chi Kung Kick); Turtle Kick (from Chi Kung Kick); Tiger Knuckle (from Hyper Knuckle); Phoenix Star (from Chi Kung Fist)
Location: Given to you by the king of Van.

Dragon Summon
Ratix: Black Dragon's Rage (from Dragon Howl), Red Dragon's Rage (from Phoenix Wave), Blue Dragon's Rage (from Dragon Blast)
Location: Go into a PA in Sylvalant after beating Del Argasi twice.

God of War
Fear: Sylvan S (from 3 Way); U.Terror (from Galaxy God Breath); Victory Terror (from U.Terror)
Location: If Fear joins you when you get the Astral Emblem, she'll get this from the king of Astral.

Pa Kwa Zhang
Iria: Sakura-Zhang (from Turtle Kick)
Tinek: Sakura-Zhang (from Tempest Staff)
Location: There are two Ancient Scrolls in the Portmis Castle Treasure Vault. Using one on Iria and/or Tinek will let them learn the skill.

Reverse Sakura
Iria: Sakura Flash (from Sakura-Zhang)
Location: In a chest in the Sylvalant Ruins.

Cat-Fu!
Perisie: Magical Dance (from Prismic Dance); J.P. Somersault (from Jump Kick); Dream Combo (from Hiii-Ya!)
Location: Inside a chest in the Portmis Castle Treasure Vault.

Here's a list of where you can pick up the skill sets.

Knowledge 1 (300 Fol): Hot, Otanim, Tropp
Knowledge 2 (600 Fol): Portmis, Otanim, Tataroy, Tropp
Knowledge 3 (1200 Fol): Tropp, Sylvalant
Sense 1 (100 Fol): Hot, Portmis, Ecdart, Ionis
Sense 2 (200 Fol): Portmis, Tataroy, Ecdart, Ionis
Sense 3 (300 Fol): Ecdart, Ionis, Sylvalant
Technique 1 (600 Fol): Hot, Van I Il
Technique 2 (1200 Fol): Otanim, Tataroy, Ecdart, Ionis, Van I Il
Technique 3 (5000 Fol): Astral, Van I Il, Sylvalant
Battle 1 (1000 Fol): Portmis, Otanim, Astral
Battle 2 (2000 Fol): Tataroy, Astral, Tropp, Van I Il
Battle 3 (20,000 Fol): Astral