How to train and level weapon skills in WoW Classic Hardcore

Weapon skills are an ancient mechanic by World of Warcraft’s standards, and that’s saying a lot. In order to deal more damage and have a higher chance of actually hitting your target, you’ll need to increase your weapon skills. This can only be done by going out into the wild and swinging your weapon at an enemy.

Additionally, certain abilities can also contribute to your weapon skills leveling, making the process go by a little bit faster. That being said, you’re still going to have to put in time and effort when leveling weapon skills as the grind to become a master weaponsmith in WoW Classic doesn’t happen instantly.

The cap on your weapon skills increases every time you reach a new level, so it’s best to consistently keep a decent amount of points trained in certain weapons throughout the questing process, just in case you get a new upgrade that’s a different weapon type from whatever you were previously using. It’s likely, if not unavoidable, that during the grind to 60, you’re going to be switching your main weapon (and its type) on multiple occasions. 

With that in mind, here’s how to make the most out of weapon skills in WoW Classic Hardcore, as well as everything you need to know about leveling them and keeping up with your weapons training. 

How to quickly level weapon skills in WoW Classic

Weapon skills are only leveled in WoW Classic whenever you hit an enemy with your weapon. While that seems simple on its own, the process becomes immeasurably more strenuous when you realize that every weapon type in the game has its own skill level associated with it. There’s no such thing as freely switching between two weapon types without being proficient in them.

To make matters even more complex, you’ll need to individually grind levels for each type of weapon in the game. For example, if you spend the first 10 levels questing with a two-handed sword and suddenly make the switch to a two-handed axe, you’re going to have to relearn how to swing that thing.

Luckily, leveling weapon skills doesn’t take that long, and the lower your skill is with a particular weapon type, the higher the chance the skill level increases every time you hit an enemy—sort of like a catch-up system. For the sake of clarity, you don’t have to re-level your weapon skills every time you get a new item, only when you equip a new item type. 

How to train new weapon skills in WoW Classic

Certain races and classes in WoW classic start the game by having knowledge of a few weapon types. If you want to expand your weapon knowledge, you’ll have to visit a weapon trainer. You might notice in the early stages of the game, you’ll receive an upgrade that your class should be able to use, but its tooltip will be in red lettering, meaning you can’t use it. This means you’ll just have to visit a weapons trainer in a major city or town in order to unlock the skill to equip it.

Below, you’ll find tables detailing all of the weapon trainers in Classic WoW, their locations, the factions they’re associated with, as well as the weapons that they’ll be able to make you proficient in. 

All Alliance weapon trainers

All Horde weapon trainers

Is it worth it to train weapon skills in WoW Classic Hardcore?

Ultimately, training your weapon skills is something you should do when making a Hardcore character, but only when you have enough gold to do so. Training your weapons costs 10 silver for each new weapon type you want to train, so be sure to spend your money sparingly. You’ll want to have enough money saved up for items, resources, and spells to buy at the trainer, so don’t go around buying training for all the weapon types in the game because you can. It’s ultimately not worth it, especially early on in your leveling journey when in-game currency is at a premium. 

Related: The top 10 quests every WoW Classic Hardcore player should avoid at all costs

You should only really be prioritizing the weapon skills that you know you’re going to use while leveling. For example, if you’re a Hunter, you definitely need to make it a priority to level up your proficiency with bows and guns, while Warriors should be investing gold into weapon skills for two-handed weapons like axes, swords, and maces. Casters don’t really have to worry too much about leveling weapon skills unless they’re using wands as part of a DPS build.