1. The Interaction skills
2. Menace. It's often easier to just blackmail someone than do their quest, especially if the person already doesn't like you. The time limit feels really tight in this game so saving a few turns feels worth it despite the risk of more assassins appearing. Science helps with saving time (and I also really find Stoyan and Arrahil very entertaining) but after finding out you have to keep the stat low for *certain events* to happen I had to think of ways to play without early fast movement speed anyway.
3. I tend to neglect Domination and Environment