Talk:Kirigaya Kazuto/@comment-5408792-20120814153504/@comment-24.3.38.194-20120827061900

It seems that SAO (the game) is a bit of an open-ended type of setup, in which there are no classes that would determine what type of skills and weapons you would use. For example, a class like a Guardian that uses sheilds and swords exclusively, that doesn't exist. Instead, each player is given slots to "equip" passive skills that allow for certain types of gear to be equipped or actions performed, which are learned through character progression or by using certain types of equipment constantly. Kirito has the One-Handed Sword skill equipped and therefore he can use one-handed swords. As he uses one-handed swords, the One-Handed Sword skill will increase and thus increase the effectiveness of one-handed swords passively. Most likely the equipped skills unlock Sword Skills (in a traditional MMO, these would be your hotkey skills) as they progress, though it is not explained how exactly they are unlocked, only how they are performed. It is hinted at that the number of skill slots increases at certain points in character progression, Kirito having 12 slots at least by the time he marries Asuna in-game. My guess is that each player is given one or two slots at character creation and more are unlocked periodically. As for unequipping skills, it is most likely that unequipping a skill would erase all progress in that skill and reequipping it, if possible, would restart that skill from zero. From a gaming standpoint, being able to learn and master every skill type simultaneously would be entirely overpowered. I would think that there would be fewer characters such as Agil and Lisbeth that focused on Merchant and Blacksmithing as if they were a class if every equipped skill could be trained and saved during unequipping. And yes, Kirito did unequip a skill, the Two-Handed Sword skill which he "only used a few times in the beginning" and he replaced it with the Fishing skill. That only happened after he married Asuna and it is the only production-type skill he has since he didn't have any reason to have a non-combat skill beforehand.