Tier 1:
Once I got to my second play through (‘beating’ the game, full party of lvl 11’s with a few in plate), I have never gone into the Utility tree for anything other than:
Bags and Belts + Quick Hands, and Pathfinder, not necessarily in that order, culminating with Brawny for most of them.
Student is pretty much useless: Trading 10% of you maximum potential levels for getting there 20% faster? A waste. Personally, I’d take it if the level cap was 20 or 30, maybe. Maybe.
Shield Bash: Why? I could just hit them if I wanted to do damage. The knockback is very situational, and does damage already if you push them down height. Very weak.
Wait. I can remember the last one… Um…
Taunt: Whether or not it works, I’ve never had problems controlling ‘aggro’ with opponents thru careful tactics and Zones of Control. Unless it can actually pull enemies off of friendlies, which it clearly doesn’t do, I don’t think I would ever take it. Why Taunt When you can Shield Wall? Shield Wall has the added bonus of reducing the chance the next attack will hit, anyway.
Something I would LIKE to see at Tier 1, IMO replacing Student at this point; Sight Range increase, or some other Archer love… Range increase?
Tier 2:
Brawny. I go no further (for total level reasons) for any of my Brothers save the one Captain who gets all the morale and Rally type Utility stuff. That 50% Fatigue reduction for armor is essentially a 33% Hitpoint boost, or thereabouts.
I get that skill on nearly EVERY Battle Brother I command. Totally worth it, and if everyone has Bags and Belts + Quick Hands, they can carry a full run of weapon types for every situation, and I don’t have to worry about moving different people to the other end of the battle-lines to deal with those turtling Orc Warriors or Fallen Heroes.
