Your skills are the foundation of your build. Every character starts with 700 skill points that they can spend in any way they choose. By default, a skill can be assigned a max number of 100 points. A skill is at its “strongest” when you max out a skill, which means reaching 100 points or using special items to increase that skill all the way to 120. That said, the Outlands community is creative with their builds, so you’ll find a wide variety of approaches to distributing those skill points in ways that are not as straightforward as “max out 7 skills.”
With the exception of gathering skills, nearly all skills can be leveled with AFK macroing. AFK macroing isn’t always free, but you should be able to max out your starting skill points with a few days of macroing (and you should do so as soon as you can).
Your overall skill cap can be increased to 720 with skill balls, which you’ll eventually want to do. One skill ball adds one point to your overall cap, so you will need to gather 20 total skill balls for your character.
Individual skills are capped at 100 by default, but you can increase an individual skill cap to 120 with skill scrolls. One skill scroll expands the cap by one. From there, you can train that skill up to your new cap.
Big takeaways for this category:
Skill balls increase your overall skill cap by 1, up to a max of 720
Skill scrolls increase an individual skill cap by 1, up to a max of 120
PVP skill caps, like magery or weapon skills, cannot be increased beyond 100
Skill balls and skill scrolls are pricey, so you may not get to start using them right away
Macroing guides for each skill are available on the Outlands wiki