Skills/Mace Fighting

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Mace Fighting is the skill of fighting with blunt weapons: clubs, maces, hammers and staves. Every hit with a mace or staff also knocks stamina out of your target, which slows their swings and can leave them too tired to run. It's a favourite against heavily armored opponents and anyone who relies on stamina.

This page explains how mace fighting works, which weapons use the skill, their special moves, and how to train to Grandmaster.

At a glance

Skill category	Combat
Weapons	Clubs, maces, hammers, the war axe and staves (see Weapons)
Works with	Tactics and Anatomy for damage, Parrying for defense, Healing to stay alive
Special moves	Two per weapon, at 70 and 90 skill
Skill cap	100 (Grandmaster), raised up to 120 with Mace Fighting power scrolls
Stats it can raise	Strength (mostly) and Dexterity
Starting gear	Choosing Mace Fighting as a starting skill gives you a club.

How to fight

1. Equip a mace or staff from the tables below. You need enough Strength to wield it. Staves and the war hammer take both hands.
2. Switch to war mode (Tab by default, or the war/peace button on your paperdoll).
3. Double-click your target to attack. You'll keep swinging automatically as long as you stay next to them.

Stamina damage

Every hit with a mace, hammer or staff drains 3 to 5 stamina from the target (the war axe is the one exception), on top of the normal damage. Since swing speed depends on stamina, a target you keep hitting swings more and more slowly, and a target with no stamina left can't run.

Hitting

Every swing rolls to hit. Your chance depends on your skill with the weapon you're holding against the defender's skill with the weapon they're holding (Wrestling if they're unarmed):

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

So two fighters with equal skill hit each other 50% of the time. Here's how it works out:

Your weapon skill	Defender's skill 0	50	80	100	120
50	100%	50%	38%	33%	29%
80	100%	65%	50%	43%	38%
100	100%	75%	58%	50%	44%
120	100%	85%	65%	57%	50%

Magic weapons with an accuracy bonus add to your skill while you hold them: +5 (accurate), +10 (surpassingly), +15 (eminently), +20 (exceedingly) or +25 (supremely). That bonus counts toward both hitting and the 70/90 needed for special moves.

Damage

When you hit, the game rolls the weapon's damage range and then adjusts it:

• Tactics is the big one: −50% at 0 Tactics, no change at 50, +50% at 100.
• Strength adds +1% for every 5 points.
• Anatomy adds +1% for every 5 points, plus an extra +10% at 100.
• Exceptional weapons deal +20% and low quality ones −20%.
• Magic weapons add flat damage before all of that: ruin +1, might +3, force +5, power +7, vanquishing +9.
• Slayer weapons deal double damage to the creatures they slay.
• A worn-out weapon hits softer. Damage scales down as the weapon's durability drops, to half at its last point.
• Damage against players (and damage dealt by creatures) is halved.
• The target's armor then absorbs part of the hit, depending on where it lands (body 35%, legs 22%, head 15%, arms 14%, hands 7%, neck 7%). Every hit deals at least 1 damage.

Swing speed

Each weapon has a speed rating. The higher it is, the faster you swing. Your current stamina matters too: more stamina means faster swings, and a winded fighter slows down. The tables below show seconds per swing with 100 stamina.

Weapons

All of these use Mace Fighting. Click a column heading to sort.

Maces and hammers

	Weapon	Hands	Strength needed	Damage	Speed	Seconds per swing*	Primary move (70)	Secondary move (90)	Weight	Weaponsmith price
	Club	One	10	8–24	40	1.88	Shadow Strike	Dismount	9 stones	about 16 gold
	Mace	One	20	8–32	30	2.50	Concussion Blow	Disarm	14 stones	about 28 gold
	Maul	One	20	10–30	30	2.50	Crushing Blow	Concussion Blow	10 stones	about 21 gold
	Hammer pick	One	35	6–33	30	2.50	Armor Ignore	Mortal Strike	9 stones	about 26 gold
	War axe	One	35	9–27	40	1.88	Armor Ignore	Bleed Attack	8 stones	about 29 gold
	War hammer	Two	40	8–36	31	2.42	Whirlwind Attack	Crushing Blow	10 stones	about 25 gold
	War mace	One	30	10–30	32	2.34	Crushing Blow	Mortal Strike	17 stones	about 31 gold

* Seconds per swing with 100 stamina. The formula is 15000 ÷ ((stamina + 100) × speed), so a tired fighter swings more slowly.

Staves

Staves are two-handed, so you can't carry a shield with them. A shepherd's crook is also the tool for Herding.

	Weapon	Hands	Strength needed	Damage	Speed	Seconds per swing*	Primary move (70)	Secondary move (90)	Weight	Weaponsmith price
	Black staff	Two	35	8–33	35	2.14	Whirlwind Attack	Paralyzing Blow	6 stones	about 22 gold
	Gnarled staff	Two	20	10–30	33	2.27	Concussion Blow	Force of Nature	3 stones	about 16 gold
	Quarter staff	Two	30	8–28	48	1.56	Double Strike	Concussion Blow	4 stones	about 19 gold
	Shepherd's crook	Two	10	3–12	30	2.50	Crushing Blow	Disarm	4 stones	about 20 gold

* Seconds per swing with 100 stamina. The formula is 15000 ÷ ((stamina + 100) × speed), so a tired fighter swings more slowly.

Special moves

Every weapon knows two special moves: a primary move you can use from 70 skill in that weapon's fighting skill, and a secondary move from 90. To use one:

1. Open your combat book (the Open › Combat Book macro), or set up the Primary Ability and Secondary Ability macros. You can drag the move icons out of the book onto your screen.
2. Click the move to ready it. It stays ready until your next hit lands.
3. When that hit lands, the move goes off and its mana is used up. If you miss, the move stays ready and no mana is spent.

Some things to know:

• Mana cost drops with experience. Each move has a base cost, but if your Swordsmanship, Mace Fighting, Fencing, Archery, Parrying, Lumberjacking, Stealth and Poisoning add up to 200 or more, every move costs 5 less mana; at 300 or more it costs 10 less.
• Don't chain them too fast. Using another special move within 3 seconds of your last one costs double mana.
• If you don't have the skill: "You need 70 weapon skill to perform that attack" (or 90). If you're short on mana: "You need 30 mana to perform that attack".

	Move	Base mana	What it does	Weapons
	Armor Ignore	30	A precise strike for 90% of normal damage. Armor still absorbs part of the blow as usual.	Primary: Hammer pick, War axe
	Bleed Attack	30	The target bleeds for 10 seconds, taking damage every 2 seconds: 15 to 30 in total against players, 30 to 60 against creatures. A bandage stops the bleeding. Some creatures, and anyone in lich or wraith form, can't bleed.	Secondary: War axe
	Concussion Blow	25	Deals 10 to 30 extra damage on top of the hit. The bigger the gap between the target's health and mana (as a percentage), the more it hurts.	Primary: Mace, Gnarled staff Secondary: Maul, Quarter staff
	Crushing Blow	25	The hit deals 150% damage.	Primary: Maul, War mace, Shepherd's crook Secondary: War hammer
	Disarm	20	Knocks the target's weapon into their backpack, and they can't re-equip a weapon for 5 seconds.	Secondary: Mace, Shepherd's crook
	Dismount	20	Knocks a mounted target off their mount, and they can't remount for 10 seconds. If you're on foot they also take 15 to 25 damage. You must be on foot to use it, and you can't mount up yourself for 10 seconds afterwards.	Secondary: Club
	Double Strike	30	You strike twice in one swing. Each hit deals 90% damage.	Primary: Quarter staff
	Force of Nature	40	For up to 6 minutes your hits on that target deal 165% damage, but each of those hits also burns you for 25 to 34 energy damage.	Secondary: Gnarled staff
	Mortal Strike	30	Mortally wounds the target: they can't be healed by bandages, healing spells or heal potions for 6 seconds (players) or 12 seconds (creatures).	Secondary: Hammer pick, War mace
	Paralyzing Blow	30	Freezes the target in place for 3 seconds (players) or 6 seconds (creatures). They can't be paralyzed this way again for 8 seconds after it wears off.	Secondary: Black staff
	Shadow Strike	20	Deals 125% damage and you instantly hide. Needs 80 Stealth.	Primary: Club
	Whirlwind Attack	15	Also hits every other valid enemy standing next to you.	Primary: War hammer, Black staff

Crushing blows

With the war hammer (the two-handed hammer), fighters who know their anatomy can land a crushing blow on their own, with no mana and no readying:

• You need at least 80 Anatomy.
• Each hit has an Anatomy ÷ 4 percent chance (25% at 100 Anatomy).
• The hit's base damage is multiplied by 1.5: "You have delivered a crushing blow!"

Training Mace Fighting

• Every swing can raise Mace Fighting, whether it hits or misses. The game checks for a gain each time you swing at something.
• Below 10.0 you gain on every attempt, sometimes several tenths at once. Above that, each attempt has a chance to gain 0.1.
• The harder the attempt is for your skill level, the better your chance to gain. Your chance also drops as you get closer to your Mace Fighting cap and to your total skill cap of 700.
• If you've set Mace Fighting to go down (the arrow in your skills list), gains elsewhere can lower it to make room under your total cap. Lock skills you want to keep.
• Reaching 100.0 adds Mace Fighting to the Skills Mastered count on your achievements.
• Fighting also trains Tactics and Anatomy on every hit, so they climb alongside Mace Fighting.
• Pick opponents that are a fair match. The less certain your hit, the better your chance to gain. If you're guaranteed to hit (your skill + 50 is at least double the defender's skill + 50, such as 50 skill against a defender with none), that swing teaches you nothing.
• Blacksmiths, iron workers and warrior guildmasters will train you for gold: up to a third of their own skill, at most 42.0, for 1 gold per 0.1 points. Ask them (or use their context menu) to train the skill, then drop the gold on them.

Stats: each successful use has about a 3% chance to raise Strength and a smaller chance (under 1%) to raise Dexterity by 1 point. Each stat can rise at most once every 10 minutes, and only if it's set to rise.

Suggested path

Mace Fighting	Where to train
0 to 25	Practice on a training dummy. Double-click it with your weapon in hand. Carpenters can build them. It stops teaching you at 25.0.
25 to 50	Weak creatures that hit back softly: Giant Rat, Mongbat, Skeleton, Zombie, Headless One, Ratman.
50 to 70	Tougher camps: Orc, Lizardman, Gargoyle, Ettin.
70 to 90	Bigger targets with lots of health: Troll, Ogre, Earth Elemental. Your primary move opens up at 70.
90 to 100	Strong creatures you can still win against, such as Ogre Lord, Lich, Wyvern. Your secondary move opens up at 90.

Power scrolls

Power scroll

Mace Fighting tops out at 100.0 unless you use a Mace Fighting power scroll. There are three kinds: exalted (110), mythical (115) and legendary (120). Double-click one to raise your Mace Fighting cap to that number: "You feel a surge of magic as the scroll enhances your Mace Fighting!"

• Mace Fighting power scrolls come from champion bosses: Barracoon, Lord Oaks, Mephitis, Neira, Rikktor, Semidar and Silvani. Each champion boss leaves 6 power scrolls in random fighting, magic, bard and animal skills, handed out among the players who helped kill it. Each scroll is a 110 (60%), 115 (35%) or 120 (5%).
• A scroll only works if it's higher than your current cap. Otherwise: "Your Mace Fighting is too high for this power scroll."
• Champion power scrolls are cursed: they always drop when you die, even from a blessed container. Use them or bank them quickly.
• Raising the cap doesn't raise your skill. You still have to train the extra points.

Messages you'll see

Message	What it means
You need 70 weapon skill to perform that attack	You don't have enough skill for that special move yet (70 for primary, 90 for secondary).
You need 30 mana to perform that attack	Not enough mana for the move you readied.
You have delivered a crushing blow!	Your war hammer landed a crushing blow (or you used the Crushing Blow move).
Your skill in this weapon cannot improve any further by simply practicing with a dummy.	You've reached 25.0. Time to fight real opponents.
You have to wait until it stops swinging.	The training dummy is still moving from your last swing.
You feel a surge of magic as the scroll enhances your ~skill~!	A power scroll raised your skill cap.

Tips

• Grind them down. Stamina damage stacks up hit after hit, so maces shine in longer fights and against fleeing targets.
• Tactics is not optional. At 0 Tactics you deal half damage. Train it alongside Mace Fighting.
• Quick or crushing? The quarter staff and club swing fastest; the war hammer, war mace and maul trade speed for bigger hits.
• Free hand? One-handed maces let you carry a shield and use Parrying.
• Carry bandages. Healing is the classic partner for any warrior.