Swordsmanship

Swordsmanship is the weapon skill for the largest weapon family in the game: swords, axes and polearms — everything from the fast katana to the mighty halberd. It determines whether your swings land; how hard they hit is governed by Tactics, Anatomy and Strength.

What the skill does

Whether a swing connects is a contest between your Swordsmanship and the defender's skill:

chance to hit = (your skill + 50) ÷ ((their skill + 50) × 2)

Two equal fighters trade hits 50% of the time; a Grandmaster never misses a completely unskilled target and hits a half-trained one about 75% of the time. Creatures defend with their Wrestling. The full hit, damage and swing speed mechanics — plus a stat table of every sword-class weapon — are on the Weapons page.

Points worth knowing for a swordsman:

• Axes get a Lumberjacking damage bonus — up to +20% at 100 Lumberjacking, making the axe-and-lumberjack combo a classic heavy-hitter template.
• Swords weapons cover both hands: fast one-handers (katana, cutlass, scimitar) that leave a hand free for a shield (Parrying), and slow two-handers (battle axes, halberd) that hit much harder.

Concussion blow (PvP only)

In fights against other players, two-handed axes and polearms can land a concussion blow:

The effect does not stack and never triggers against monsters. It is a nasty surprise for enemy mages — see PvP.

Skill cap

Swordsmanship caps at 100.0 — no Skill Scrolls exist for weapon skills, so it cannot be raised to 120.

Training 0 → 100

You gain Swordsmanship with every swing at a valid target, hit or miss — there is no trick to it beyond fighting things that can still teach you:

1. 0–50: buy the first ~30 points from an NPC weaponsmith, then fight easy creatures (mongbats, birds, small animals) or spar with a friend.
2. 50–100: move up to tougher monsters so your hit chance stays challenging — earth elementals, ogres and similar mid-tier creatures carry you a long way. A slow, hard-hitting two-hander trains at the same per-swing rate as a fast blade, so a fast weapon like the katana gains noticeably quicker per minute.
3. Fight in dungeons for 20% faster gains; towns and houses slow you down. On the newbie island Adena gains are doubled but stop at 70.0. See Skills Overview for all gain modifiers.

Train Tactics and Anatomy at the same time — both rise passively while you fight and together add up to more damage than the weapon skill itself.

Related

• Weapons — damage, swing speed and the full Swordsmanship weapon table
• Swordsmanship Mastery — the Swords mastery (bleeds and dodges) plus the
• Skill Masteries — how the mastery system works one-handed (Tactics) and two-handed (Arms Lore) specializations
• Tactics · Anatomy · Parrying
• PvP