# Is this because I haven't used the skill for a while?

**URL:** <https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/is-this-because-i-havent-used-the-skill-for-a-while/645>\
**Category:** The Garage\
**Created:** [March 30, 2013, 1:05pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/is-this-because-i-havent-used-the-skill-for-a-while/645 "2013-03-30T13:05:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Rexor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/439d5e/32.png) [@Rexor](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Rexor)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 1:05pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/is-this-because-i-havent-used-the-skill-for-a-while/645/1 "2013-03-30T13:05:33Z")

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My computers skill is level 5 and I read a book which should raise it even further, but the log message was very weird. I read the book again and the minus number was smaller, so I guess I’m making progress. Is the progress percent negative because I haven’t used the skill in a while?

Screenshot:

[URL=http://img197.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=643653755\_what\_the\_122\_26lo.jpg] ![](http://img197.imagevenue.com/loc26/th_643653755_what_the_122_26lo.jpg)[/URL]

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**Author:** ![Soron](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/soron/32/885_2.png) [@Soron](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Soron)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/is-this-because-i-havent-used-the-skill-for-a-while/645/2 "2013-03-30T13:08:52Z")

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I don’t know the exact details (I prefer no skill rust, personally), but IIRC, learning percentages do go negative after a while if skill rust is turned on.

I thought it was supposed to drop a level if it got lower than -100%, but again, I don’t know the details.

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**Author:** ![Flare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c0e974/32.png) [@Flare](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Flare)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 6:37am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/is-this-because-i-havent-used-the-skill-for-a-while/645/3 "2013-03-31T06:37:53Z")

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I always turn skill rust off so I wouldn’t know. But it does exist in-game and might be the cause of it.

[http://whalesdev.com/wiki/index.php?title=Skill](http://whalesdev.com/wiki/index.php?title=Skill)

The columns on the right hand side.