Skills

*See also: Tests*

Each investigator has five different skills listed on the bottom of his Investigator sheet. The number below each skill is the number of dice investigator rolls when resolving a test. The sum of each investigator's starting skill value is always 13. Each skill is represented with a unique icon.

* Lore is often tested when casting Spells and resolving Other World Encounters.
* Influence is often tested when performing Acquire Assets action and resolving General Encounters on  City spaces and Defeated Investigator Encounters.
* Observation is often tested when resolving Research Encounters and Expedition Encounters.
* Strength is often tested when resolving Combat Encounters and Expedition Encounters.
* Will is often tested when resolving Combat Encounters and Other World Encounters.

## Skill Bonuses vs. Skill Values

A skill **bonus** is an effect which will state "Gain +# [Skill]", or "Gain +# to all skills".  Skill bonuses are applied only when performing a test. **Only the highest skill bonus from a single effect can be used during each test**, meaning that you cannot gain bonuses from multiple sources simultaneously.  Skill bonuses are often also conditional.  The most common condition is "during Combat Encounters", as the description implies, the skill bonus will only apply during Combat Encounters and not during any other test of that skill.

A skill's **value** is sometimes referenced in an effect. For example,  Harvey Walters' component action allows him to improve an ally's skills as long as their skill value is equal to or lower than his skill value.  When determining a skill's value, **only impairment and/or improvement tokens are taken into account in addition to the investigator's base value.**  This means that skill bonuses never affect a skill's value.

## Improving and Impairing Skills

*Main article: Improvement*
When an effect allows an investigator to improve a skill, he gains an Improvement token with the matching icon and places it below his Investigator sheet with the "+1" side up. If he improves that skill a second time, he flips that token to the "+2" side. An investigator's skill is equal to the value printed on his sheet plus the value of the matching Improvement token. An investigator cannot improve a skill to more than 2 of its original value.

With the introduction of the  Under the Pyramids expansion, impairing of skills is also possible. If a skill is impaired, place an impairment token with the matching icon on the investigator sheet with the "-1" side up. If the skill is impaired further, flip the token to the "-2" side. Like with skill improvements, an investigator cannot impair a skill to less than 2 of the original value.

### Advanced Technicalities

* "+/- 2" tokens **must** be treated as two separate "+/- 1" tokens for all intents and purposes. (e.g. You cannot remove a -2 impairment token if an effect states to remove 1 impairment token of your choice; you would instead flip the token to the -1 side.)
* Despite the original wording in the Eldritch Horror rulebook, you can improve or impair a skill more than twice every game.  This is mostly the result of that skill being impaired, in which case you can improve that skill to get rid of the impairment token.  In this way, you can infinitely impair and/or improve skills, but **never to more than or less than 2 of its original value.**

## References

1. ↑ FAQ p. 9.
2. ↑ Official answer from Nikki Valens for Bonus on  *BoardGameGeek*.