1: Is the max level determined by how many levels your skills have between them, or is there a set level ceiling? Is it possible to level up after maxing all of your skills, and if so, what's the bonus? If not, do smaller skill trees come back to bite you in the ass in the endgame, or are the actual skill bonuses generally the main bonus, such that the lower archetype levels are meaningless? 2: How exactly do the crafting skills' increased output work? I know that certain basic outputs double at level 2, but what exactly are the level 5 modified outputs compared to the base outputs? I'd really appreciate whatever help people can provide on these issues.
1. I don't know if you can level after maxing all your skills, but you do get an hp and mp boost when you level. When you choose a skill, you also gain the stat/hp/mp boost for leveling that archetype. These two are separate events (I often don't take a skill immediately after I level.) 2. On the wiki (http://www.dredmorwiki.com/), if you click through to the end product, it often tells you what level of crafting yields how much of the product.
There is a hard level cap. It is unrelated to the number of skills you can learn. I forget what it is, exactly.
If there is a level cap it's impossible to reach because I used the debug keys which levels you by 16 each time, and I had at some point 150 levels. Of course I wasn't growing anymore because no skill points could be used.
Ah, Alright. So, does the larger number of links on the skill tree factor meaningfully into endgame strategy?
Probably it will if you purchase the expansion pack planned to come out pre-Christmas. It's going to make the dungeon deeper, which means more time to max out your skill trees. As it stands, however, it's not really an issue.
I highly doubt a few primary stat points make much a difference after you get your full set of skills.