The Lantern of the Laughless Saint Early Priority Skills

When skills level by use, your first week writes your build. This priority list for The Lantern of the Laughless Saint ranks training focus for Early Access without inventing official skill names that are not fully published.

Priority S: Mobility and escape

Sprint, climb, swim, dash—whatever the live build calls movement. The island and Tower shortcuts punish immobility (island exploration). Mage launches count, but only after you survive the landing (spell crafting).

Priority S: One weapon family

Pick fast, heavy, or reach and stick with it for several sessions (weapons and builds, combat basics). Splitting XP across every shiny drop slows your ability to contest horrors.

Priority A: Sustain craft

Alchemy touches and basic resource loops (alchemy and fishing). You do not need master chemist on day one; you need a heal bridge and the habit of brewing after trips.

Priority A: Perception / dialogue presence

Whatever lets you notice rumors, traps, or conversation options. Diplomat playstyles push this harder; everyone needs enough to not sleepwalk past Amphitheater content (choices).

Priority B: Magic specialty

If you are not a tinkerer main, keep a single utility school alive. If you are, magic becomes S—but still behind having one reliable escape.

Priority C: Everything exotic

Niche weapons, meme spells, and side skills you touch once for a screenshot. Fun later; expensive early.

Daily training schedule (example)

1. Travel with intentional movement practice.
2. Resolve one combat pocket with your chosen weapon only.
3. Brew or fish once.
4. Talk to every new NPC in the area.
5. Optional: one spell experiment in a safe pocket.

Co-op adjustments

Do not all train the same S priorities. Cover mobility, damage, sustain, and social across the party (co-op guide). Share skills and perks plans so perk spends do not clone.

When to reprioritize

• You die to terrain more than enemies → mobility stays S.
• You die to attrition → raise sustain.
• Quests feel mute → raise dialogue presence.
• Fights feel endless → deepen the weapon noun before chasing loot.

Related reading

Tier List Hub, Getting Started, Systems Hub, EA Roadmap. Priorities will be updated when official skill names and EA patches make finer lists responsible.

XP honesty rules

If you claim mobility is S-tier but you mostly stand still and trade swings, your build will not match your spreadsheet. Film or note what you did for the longest unbroken stretch of a session—that is your real training. Adjust the next outing until the note matches the priority list. Pair with skills and perks when it is time to spend perk points on the bottleneck you actually observed.

Transfer goals between friends

When a friend joins late, do not hand them your endgame plan. Hand them this priority stack and a single weapon noun. Sit with them for one guided outing using co-op etiquette. Late joiners who skip priorities become loot-dependent and miserable. Late joiners who follow them catch the island’s rhythm fast enough to care about seats in the House.

Priority stack for short sessions

Only have forty-five minutes? Train mobility plus your weapon noun and ignore everything else. Short sessions that chase six priorities train nothing. Stack this advice with Getting Started so limited calendars still produce a coherent character. After three short sessions, schedule one longer night for alchemy, dialogue, or spell lab work so secondary priorities do not rot forever.

Continuity note for Early Access

This skill-priority page should stay a living notebook: after two real sessions and the first balance patch you notice, revisit mobility, your weapon noun, and sustain before chasing exotic side skills.