D&D 5.5E's New Weapon Mastery Means Fighters Will Juggle Weapons – Rules Breakdown

WotC has revealed the new weapon proficiency rules for 5.5E, and fighters will want to be covered by different weapons. Here's why.

Oh, what a feast of previews we have this week. Over at D&D Beyond, WotC has revealed the full Weapon Mastery rules as they will appear in the upcoming 5.5E. Player's Handbook. And while there are still a few surprises in store (subclasses that once had weapon proficiency don't seem to appear here, and there's a reason for that), if you want to know why your fighter will want to carry many weapons, or how exactly will you use weapons when the new rules are released?

Continue reading. You can even start using these rules right away, because all you really need to know is which proficiency goes with which weapon. And what all masteries do. But they are now in the wild.

So let's start with what weapon masteries are.

Weapon Masteries from the 5.5E Player's Handbook

First of all, Weapon Masteries are special abilities that you can use with certain weapons as long as you have access to them. You can learn a number of weapon mastery properties, and fighters will eventually get the most out of them.

You choose a weapon mastery property like Cleave or Nick, then you can use them with any weapon that has that mastery property. So if, for example, you know Cleave and Graze but not Nick, you can't suddenly get yourself a pair of daggers and dual-wielding. Even if you can Swap Weapon Masteries after a long rest.

Got it? GOOD. Let's take a look at the properties.

Split – With Cleave, you can make an additional attack against a creature within 5 feet of your target (and within your range). Of course, you can't add your ability modifier, but you can deal weapon damage to an additional target for free. And it can combo range with weapons like a halberd, meaning you can effectively cleave a wide bow.

Graze – Grazing is quite simple. When you miss with a Grace weapon, you always deal damage equal to your ability modifier. So you're always doing something.

pseudo – This is Dual Wield Weapon Mastery. This allows you to make a dual-wielding attack as part of your initial attack action, instead of using a bonus action, which is great for freeing up your bonus action for something like applying hunter's mark or other.

Push – As was the case in the playtest, Push allows you to push enemies you hit 10 feet away from you without saving. You can push targets into hazards or simply out of range so you can move freely.

Sap – Sap weapons allow you to impose disadvantage on your target's next attack roll before the start of your turn.

Slow – Slow weapons aren't actually slow, as you might think, but they slow down your enemy, reducing their speed by 3 meters for one turn, so you can outrun your enemies.

To spill – The only weapon proficiency to require a saving throw, Topple allows you to knock someone down if they fail a Constitution saving throw. Once they are down, you can continue to cry over them.

Vex – And finally, Vex. When you hit someone with Vex, you gain advantage on the next attack roll before the end of your next turn.

And the fun thing is, you're not limited to using just one per turn. You can continue to juggle weapons between attacks. So you can hit someone with a reverse attack, follow up with a cleave, then with another attack, offend yourself by switching from the ax to the short sword or whatever.

Of course you don't to have has. But…

All these weapon mastery properties await you in Update 5.5E, scheduled for September 17, 2024!

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