I just realized that I may have been misunderstanding skill levels vs. overall level, and impact of training.

I have been thinking that there is a separate (& hidden) experience stat which drove level. This would mean that you can use level training to get more skills at any given level and having a broad skill set would enhance your combat abilities.

After reading a few posts, it's just dawned on me that maybe your overall level is a direct output of all of your skill levels. Which means that if you have a broad skill set you risk seriously comprimising your combat abilities (whether mage, assasin, fighter or whatever) because your most critical skills would be lower relative to overall level (and it's overall level that drives the level of your encounters).

Can someone confirm that in fact overall level is derived from all of your skill levels?