Mace Fighting
Mace Fighting is the weapon skill for blunt weapons — maces, hammers, war axes and the wooden staves. Its trademark: every mace hit drains the target's stamina, slowing their swings in return. Whether your own swings land is decided by this skill; damage comes from Tactics, Anatomy and Strength.
What the skill does
Hit chance is a contest between your Mace Fighting and the defender's skill:
chance to hit = (your skill + 50) ÷ ((their skill + 50) × 2)
Equal fighters hit each other 50% of the time; a Grandmaster never misses a completely unskilled target and hits a half-trained one about 75% of the time. The full damage, swing speed and hit mechanics — and the stat table of every mace-class weapon — are on the Weapons page.
What makes maces special:
- Stamina drain — every hit with a mace-class weapon drains 3–5 Stamina from the target. Since swing speed depends on stamina, a mace fighter literally slows the enemy down with every blow. Against players this also eats into their ability to run.
- Trade-skill bonuses — the wooden staves (club, quarterstaff, gnarled staff, black staff) get a damage bonus from Carpentry, while the war axe and hammer pick get one from Mining — up to +20% at 100 in the trade skill.
Crushing blow (PvP only)
Against other players, two-handed mace weapons can land a crushing blow:
| Requirement | Value |
|---|---|
| Weapon | Two-handed mace weapon (war hammer, quarterstaff, etc.) |
| Dexterity | 75 or more |
| Anatomy | 80.0 or more |
| Chance per hit | About 15% at 100 Anatomy (scales with Anatomy) |
| Effect | The hit deals +50% damage |
It never triggers against monsters — see PvP.
Skill cap
Mace Fighting caps at 100.0 — there are no Skill Scrolls for weapon skills, so it cannot be raised to 120.
Training 0 → 100
You gain with every swing at a valid target, hit or miss:
- 0–50: buy the first ~30 points from an NPC weaponsmith, then batter easy creatures (mongbats, small animals) or spar with a friend.
- 50–100: fight mid-tier monsters (earth elementals, ogres) so the checks stay challenging. Faster weapons like the war axe or club mean more swings — and more gain rolls — per minute.
- Train in dungeons for 20% faster gains; guarded towns and houses are slower. On the newbie island Adena gains are doubled but capped at 70.0. All gain modifiers are listed under Skills Overview.
Tactics and Anatomy rise passively while you fight — keep their arrows up.
Related
- Weapons — damage, swing speed and the full Mace Fighting weapon table
- Mace Fighting Mastery — the Macing mastery (armor crush, knockdown, Seismic
- Skill Masteries — how the mastery system works Shock)
- Tactics · Anatomy · Parrying
- PvP