WoW Classic Weapon Skill Cap and Leveling
WoW Classic weapon skill cap increases by five points with each character level. This cap reaches 300 at level 60. Your character gains points from strikes on mobs in the open world and dungeons. The off-hand in dual wield also gives a chance to gain a point with each hit. Classic maintains a separate scale for each weapon type:
- Swords
- Axes
- Maces
- Daggers
- Staves
- Bows
- Crossbows
- Guns
The game treats Two-Handed Swords, Two-Handed Axes, and Two-Handed Maces as separate skills. A trainer in the capital city unlocks each of these skills with a value of 1. Your level 60 character with a one-handed version at the cap also starts at this value. The difference from the cap increases the chance of misses and gives targets more opportunities to dodge and parry. This explains the low DPS after you switch from a one-handed weapon to a two-handed one.
WoW Forever Weapon Skill Changes
Blizzard has retained the classic weapon skill system in World of Warcraft Forever. But the developers have consolidated melee, ranged, and spell hit into a single Hit stat. They’ve unified crit the same way for all attacks and abilities. You no longer need to stack separate hit for spells and melee attacks. Items with +weapon skill have received a significant nerf from Blizzard.
Blizzard cited the power and accessibility of this stat in Classic as the reason for the nerf. The developers removed racial bonuses to weapon skill or converted them to crit. Items now provide effects that reduce the target’s dodge and parry chances instead. The two-handed axe Dwarven Tree Chopper reduces the chance to dodge and parry by 0.6% in place of the +2 bonus to Two-Handed Axes from Classic. We recommend looking for these effects when you choose your next upgrade.
Weapon Skill Leveling After a New Drop
Level 60 characters often switch weapon types after a drop in a dungeon or raid. Their new skill starts far from the cap. We believe that in-combat practice remains the main way to reach the cap in Forever. Our pilot fights mobs in the open world with your character (from the very first strike with a new sword or axe all the way to the last point before the cap). You won’t have to spend your evenings on monotonous grinding before your first raid.




