Weapon Skills

Weapon skills measure how well a character can use each type of weapon. In Classic every weapon type, from One-Handed Swords to Bows, has its own skill that must be learned from a trainer and then raised by using it, point by point, until it reaches its cap. A character who picks up a new kind of weapon at level 50 starts at skill 1 and misses constantly until they practice.

Learning a weapon

Each class starts with skill in a few weapons, and can learn others it is allowed to use. A warrior can learn almost every weapon, while a priest is limited to One-Handed Maces, Staves, Daggers and Wands. New skills are taught by weapon masters in the capital cities for 10 silver each. Each master only teaches some weapons, so a player may have to visit several:

• Woo Ping in Stormwind City
• Buliwyf Stonehand and Bixi Wobblebonk in Ironforge
• Ilyenia Moonfire in Darnassus
• Sayoc and Hanashi in Orgrimmar
• Ansekhwa in Thunder Bluff
• Archibald in Undercity

The full list of skills in Classic: one-handed and two-handed axes, maces and swords (each hand counts as a separate skill), Polearms, Staves, Daggers, Fist Weapons, Bows, Guns, Crossbows, Thrown and Wands, plus Unarmed for fighting with no weapon. Defense works the same way but is raised by being attacked.

Raising skill

A weapon skill can rise to five times the character's level, so 300 at level 60. Each time the character attacks a monster that gives experience with that weapon, there is a chance the skill goes up by one. The chance is high when the skill is far below its cap and falls as it nears the cap, so the last few points take the longest.

A low skill makes a weapon nearly useless. Attacks miss far more often and hit for less, so a player who has just learned to use a weapon at a high level usually goes back to easy monsters to practice. Leveling characters were told to keep up the skills of every weapon they might want later, and swapping to an unpracticed weapon found in a raid could mean an evening of hitting low-level monsters.

Why 300 is not quite enough

The difference between a player's weapon skill and a monster's defense skill decides how often attacks miss and whether they are dodged, parried or blocked. A monster's defense is five times its level, and raid bosses count as level 63, so their defense is 315. A level 60 player at 300 skill is 15 points short. Against bosses, that means more misses and "glancing blows", hits that deal reduced damage.

Every point of skill above 300 narrows that gap, and some items add weapon skill directly. The most famous are the [Edgemaster's Handguards], which add 7 to axes, daggers and swords and were worth a fortune at the auction house. Many raid weapons and pieces of gear add a few points to one weapon type.

Racial bonuses

Some races add 5 points to certain weapons:

• Humans: Sword Specialization and Mace Specialization for swords and maces.
• Orcs: Axe Specialization for axes.
• Dwarves: Gun Specialization for guns.
• Trolls: [[forever:spell:26290]] for bows and Throwing Specialization for thrown weapons.

These made some race and weapon pairings strong choices for players who cared about the most damage. Human rogues with swords and orc warriors with axes were common in raids for this reason, and the [Edgemaster's Handguards] were especially valued by races without a bonus.

Later history

The Burning Crusade added expertise, a stat that reduced dodges and parries, alongside weapon skill. Cataclysm removed weapon skills entirely, so every character can use every weapon their class allows at full strength from the start. Classic Era and WoW Forever keep the 1.12 system.

Sources

• Weapon skill on Warcraft Wiki
• Weapon master on Warcraft Wiki