Skills of darkfall online

Darkfall departs from the conventional MMORPG paradigm of character levels as the main form of character progression, favouring instead a broad skill-based system[29], similar to that found in games such as Ultima online, EVE online and Asheron's Call. Skills and skill proficiency determine a wide range of a character's capability in the game, including weapons and weapon skills and special attacks, spells, and archery, stealth mechanics, all aspects of player crafting, as well as more basic facets of gameplay, such as the ability to swim, climb vertical surfaces, and to ride and control mounts.
Many skills may be learned from NPC trainers in the game, however certain skills will require other skills as prerequisites, and/or may only be learned through specific quests and/or NPCs in remote/hidden areas. Without exception however, skills are improved (raised in power) through actual usage in game. The possibility for players to teach other players certain skills once a certain level of mastery has been reached has also been discussed by the developers.
Whilst the breadth and depth of the skill system has been frequently referenced in developer reports, only a few skills have been specifically named and described by the developers. Despite the relatively small amount of information available on player-learnable skills, developers have reported there will be approximately 500 skills and 500 spells in the game at release.