The five genuinely new skills — and the three that are not

The five new skills at a glance

The official announcement says the full base game has 29 skills, including 5 brand new. The September 2026 roster confirms the returning skills and places four remaining skills on the pre-1.0 roadmap. Together, those lists identify the five new-to-series skills below.

Ranching: the cozy passive-resource skill

Ranching is the first skill built exclusively for Melvor Idle 2. The developer's description is deliberately simple: you manage a ranch, take care of animals, and collect important resources passively. It is positioned as a cozy management skill rather than another timing minigame.

At the November 2025 update, the available animals were cows, pigs, sheep, chickens and worms. Wolves, dragons and elk were named as planned additions. Those lists are from an alpha update, so they can change before and during Early Access.

Ranching is in the free demo and the Early Access build. The Ranching deep dive separates the confirmed loop from the mechanics the developer has not described.

Hunting: traps, locations and the three-step loop

Hunting is new to the series and is one of the more visually documented new skills. The official Steam screenshot shows:

• Eight locations: Bushlands, Woodlands, Swamps, Steppes, Thicket, Plains, Mire and Highlands.
• Animals such as Wild Chicken, Wild Cow, Greentail Bird and Bushland Rabbit.
• Trap types including a Snare and a Small Bird Catcher, crafted through Crafting.
• Tools such as a Tracking Stick and Binoculars.
• A survey → track → trap flow with bait, animal levels and a trapless-hunting toggle.

Those details come from an alpha screenshot, not a final guide. The Hunting page breaks down what the UI shows and flags which numbers may change.

Beastcrafting: confirmed, but mostly unknown

Beastcrafting is new to Melvor Idle 2. Games by Malcs says it was prototyped in November 2025 and that it is part of the alpha and Early Access roster. That is the extent of the official mechanical detail.

The name and the presence of Hunting and Ranching make an animal-material relationship plausible, but “plausible” is not a source. We do not publish a recipe list, a material table or a training route for Beastcrafting. It is in the launch build; its mechanics will be documented after the game is playable.

Construction: on the roadmap, not at launch

Construction appears in the “Coming Soon” column of the official pre-1.0 infographic. It is not part of the 25-skill Early Access roster. The developer has not explained what it builds, how it trains or how it interacts with the existing bank and equipment systems.

Treat any pre-launch Construction guide with recipes, material costs or XP rates as unsourced. There is no official basis for those numbers yet.

Enchantment: on the roadmap, not at launch

Enchantment is also in the pre-1.0 column. It is one of the five new-to-series skills, and it is not in Early Access. The developer has not published its mechanics, the items it affects or how it connects to Runecrafting, Magic or equipment upgrades.

It is reasonable to expect an item-enhancement system from the name. It is not reasonable to publish specific enchantments before the developer does.

The three reworks that are not “new skills”

Several pre-launch articles count Astrology, Herblore and Agility as new. They are returning skills with reworked designs:

• Astrology keeps its identity as a safe skill that provides bonuses across the game, but uses a different constellation and knowledge system. It is not in the demo; it joins at Early Access.
• Herblore received what the developer calls a massive overhaul based on alpha feedback. It is not in the demo; it joins at Early Access.
• Agility is a complete rework compared with the first game. It is not in the demo; it joins at Early Access.

Summoning and Archaeology are also returning skills, not new ones. Both are on the pre-1.0 roadmap. Township, the settlement skill from the first game, does not appear on the published Melvor Idle 2 roster.