Levels

How well you can perform a particular skill is determined by your ability level in that skill. You do not know many skills when you first make a character, but you can learn a particular skill after repeated attempts in practicing that skill. A skill's ability level increases by usage of that particular skill.

The skill ability levels are named as follows:

 know next to nothing about   |  are getting very good at
 know very little about       |  are getting extremely good at
 know a slight amount about   |  are skilled at
 know a few things about      |  are quite skilled at
 know a decent bit about      |  are extremely skilled at
 are beginning to understand  |  are excellent at
 are below average at         |  are wise in the ways of
 are almost average at        |  have begun to master
 are mostly average at        |  have partially mastered
 are a bit above average at   |  are close to mastering
 are roughly above average at |  have mastered
 are proficient at            |  have perfected
 are getting rather good at   |  know everything about

A higher skill ability level could result in numerous benefits to you while performing that particular skill. Most of the benefits are in the form of higher success rate or faster completion of the task. Refer to a specific skill's help file in the game for description of benefits due to a higher skill level.