Click on the left numbers to increase that skill. You can not increase skills without experience. Your jocks gain experience in battle. They are almost perfectly balanced. This is one of the better features of the game.
Many players have a personal favorite type of weapon, such as close combat, or missile.
This is usually a playing style preference as opposed to any real advantages offered by those specific weapons. The best advice would probably be to build a team with various skills, able to handle any contingency. By performing skill checks in battle. A skill check is a test of your jock s abilities when he performs a particularly difficult maneuver. Canceling some moves, such as dodging, running, or jump forward will also cause skill checks.