Fighting
Melee weapons and shields
Choosing a blade, axe, mace or fists, what a shield really does, and how metal, Strength and speed fit together.
Close-quarters fighting uses five weapon skills: Long Blade, Short Blade, Axe, Blunt Weapon and Hand-to-Hand (fists). Each has its own skill, so what you wield decides which skill you train. The rules below are the default ones; see Which rules apply.
Picking a weapon
| Skill | Weapons | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Short Blade |  Dagger,  Tanto,  Shortsword,  Wakizashi | The quickest swings: a dagger is the fastest weapon in the game. See Swing speed |
| Long Blade |  Broadsword,  Saber,  Longsword,  Katana,  Claymore,  Dai-katana | One-handed and two-handed blades of middling speed |
| Axe |  Battle Axe,  War Axe, Archer’s Axe | The War Axe is two-handed and slow |
| Blunt Weapon |  Staff,  Mace,  Flail,  Warhammer, Light Flail | The Warhammer is the slowest swing of all. A blunt weapon loses less when worn down |
| Hand-to-Hand | Your fists | Needs nothing to carry. See the fist rows in Armour damage taken |
Every weapon, with its damage range, weight and skill, is in Items; filter to Weapons. Skill is the biggest lever on your hit chance, since each point is worth one and a half. See Combat basics.
Stats that matter
- Strength adds to damage above 50 and takes from it below, and it is doubled for a two-handed weapon.
- Agility is the biggest of the stats for hitting. It is worth a quarter point of hit chance for every point above the target’s.
- Speed, the weapon’s weight and your Strength set how fast you swing: a heavy weapon in weak hands is slow. See Combat basics.
- The Expertise In advantage and some races add a bonus that the game works out from your stats. Which stats depend on the weapon: Combat basics lists them, and Races and weapon bonuses says which races get what.
Metal
Each weapon material adds a little to hit chance and damage, from iron up to daedric. Some monsters can only be hurt properly by a given metal: a weapon a grade short hits 20% weaker for each grade. The metal each monster needs is in Enemies, and the full ladder is in Materials.
Shields and armour
Armour does not stop you being hit; it cuts the damage of a blow that lands, by the body part struck. A shield can catch a blow outright: a buckler, round, kite or tower shield has a base chance of 30, 35, 45 or 55 to block, raised by Agility, Speed, Strength, Endurance, Willpower and Luck above 50. A shield only helps if it is at least as good as the armour under it. See Combat basics.
A bow needs both hands, so a shield and a bow never go together. See Archery.
Keeping your gear alive
Weapons and armour wear down with use and cut less, or hit weaker, as they do. Take them to a smith before they break, and remember that magic items cannot be repaired. See Repairs and armour. A calculator for what a blow does through armour is the damage after armour tool.
What to carry
Heavy gear makes you slower once you carry more than three quarters of your limit; see Weight, bandages and training and the encumbrance calculator.
Category: Fighting