Forums

I don't think any instruments should be made by different skills in entirety. Parts contributed by other skills, at most.

Second, I think you're missing a lot of potential for combat benefits. While a general support role in skilling would be cool, I'd love to see a skill that could support all aspects of the game. I think you should add in a few other types of instruments, then reduce the number overall of each type. Example: Instead of 2 types, with ten instruments per classification, I'd do 5 types, each with 6 instruments. Then of the 5 types there are 2 types for combat, 2 for skilling, and 1 for what I'd call utility.

Combat instruments at their first of 6 tiers can be activated up to a total of 10 minutes and this activation time can be toggled and while on the effects are passive. The first tier has 2 abilities, or "tunings" up to the 6th tier having seven, though only one can ever be active at once and to change tunings some resource is needed. Type 1 combat (percussion) would have all offensive abilities, type 2 (woodwind) defensive. Each tier is capped at effectiveness, however aquiring the next tier does not immediately grant you a new cap, you must "practice" it, i.e. earn exp while using it. This means every time you upgrade a tier, your new learned tuning will have to be practiced from the lowest tier.

Skilling instruments would hence be divided into artisan or gatherer themed instruments, I like the idea of strings for artisan and brass for gatherer. I like many of your skilling ideas already, and a fully tuned instrument can degrade as it's used in the ways you laid out.

The last instrument category would be left to ease of life and miscellaneous benefits or something somehow new outside of the rest of the skills, to help give music it's own identity and not feel useless unless used with other skills.

But the potential for combat!