Skills

Skills are selectable perks that provide a benefit to a character, the character's army, or to the faction that the character is supporting. Skills typically increase a stat or point value for specific mechanisms that come into play throughout the campaign. Characters select skills as they gain experience in the game, either by fighting or governing if the character is a lord/general, or by engaging in heroic actions for heroes by way of either direct confrontation or  through active deployment if the character is a hero/agent. Generals and heroes of a specific type each have their own distinct set of skills from which they can select, some of which are unique to that character type, and some of which are common to all types.

Skill Unlock Mechanism
In almost all instances of skill development there is an 'unlock' mechanism that limits the selection of skills based on the amount of experience a character has obtained and on previous skill choice, such that prerequisite 'key' skills must be selected before others will be made available for selection. Additionally, there is a limitation to the amount of skill points that will be made available to each character such that careful consideration of the benefits and necessary unlocks required for certain skills should be taken into account when planning out the development of a character.

Navigation
The skill selection sheet is accessed by selecting the second of two tabs that appear when you select to see a characters details from the campaign map. The default view is the 'Details' page, which has a 'Skills' tab directly next to it. Select this 'Skills' tab to access the characters skills tree, and use the scroll bar at the bottom of the page to view all the choices available.

Skill Lines
Skills are typically categorized or grouped into several lines, each with its own particular focus related to distinct aspects of game play, or with a selection of skills specific to the character. Each line is effectively a semi-linear development path for skills associated withe the focus of the given line. The first line or top line of skills are those that are specific to the character based on their faction and type, and typically include mount options. The next line or second line are skills that effect the individual in combat, such that these skills increase combat stats for that character, and can provide special combat trigger events. This line is typically colored gold. The third line are skills that effect the characters army, increasing the entire armies stats or abilities. This line is typically only available to lords or generals, and is usually colored red. The fourth line are skills that have an effect in the campaign portion of the game, which effect things like the army movement rate on the campaign map, bonuses to reduce or spread corruption, attrition, reduce army cost, and offer some unique attacks such as lightning strike. This third line is typically colored blue (or cyan.) There are usually 2 distinct sets of skills to each line, with each group or set of skills being made available for selection only after an initial "key" skill in that line has been selected.

Legendary Lord Skills & Quest Unlocks
For legendary lords there is usually a fourth line of unique skills that can be selected specifically for that lord, and these skills can effect any of the three categories of skills previously mentioned (individual, army, campaign). The Legendary Lord skill line is just below the first line (gold line) of skills. Legendary lords also have access to questing items which unlock when they reach a specific level, whereupon the specific quest is initiated. These questing skills are at the top of the skills page, and at the beginning of the campaign appear surrounded by chains, indicating that they have not yet been 'unlocked' for the lord. Tool tips should reveal the level the lord needs to achieve before the quest is accessible. Lords also may have access to mounts, and unique mounts, which also appear on the top line of the skills sheet. There also may be additional unique skill unlocks that are level dependent on this top line.

Skill Progression
Generals and Heroes both receive 1 skill point per level of advancement, and can advance to level 30 (in Total War: Warhammer) or 40 (in Total War: Warhammer 2.

Many skills are designed so that they can be selected several times (usually up to 3 times per skill), with each selection adding further benefit for the stat that the skill is associated with. A typical skill line will have an initial key skill which unlocks the line and 4 subsequent skills. Once enough of these skills have been selected a second key skill will become available, which will unlock a the second set of skills in the line. Once several of the skills in the second set of the line have been selected, a final skill which is usually a battle triggered skill becomes unlocked. A typical skill line is fully developed at a cost of around 26-28 skill points. Given that the total skill points allotted to a general or character maxes out at 28 points, it is impossible to fully develop more than one line per character, unless mods are enabled.