1hb stalled out

[Nekokirei]

Hey all!

When I hit level 22, I worked my 1hb the entire level and some into lvl 23, ending with a skill of 117 (up from a value of 23 where it started).  I noted the skill seemed to move pretty quick prior to 117, but after that, was rather stubborn about moving so, figuring I'd pick it up later, I moved back to my h2h & piercing.

Flash forward, I'm now level 31 with 118 in 1hb and it took *forever* to get that 1 skill value.  Does the 1hb go through a kind of "hell" level where it's just stubborn?  My 1hbs are a pair of fighting batons, I'm not using my warder so I can get as much melee time as possible, I'm tanking dark blue and even con mobs, through a lot of loaner gear I've got a 144 Dex, and I'm always using FF during combat.

Not complaining mind you, just curious if I should expect 1hb to be really slow to move from here out.

Thanks much!

[Xarilok]

No, there is no reason that it would take any longer than any other skills to raise.

I would get a Harnessing of Spirit from a shammy, or better yet, Infusion of Spirit and a dex buff (from a shammy, the BL version wont land on you).

Next, get a BL/Mage/Necro/Shammy with pet hold, and a 61+ pet, and duel them, have the pet on /hold, and smack it around.  Getting skill ups with 200+ dex on a level 58+ mob at level 31 should be very fast.

[Alerka]

Like he said, theres no reason for a weapon skill to raise slower than normal.

An easy way to raise your weapon skills is to set little mini-goals. For instance, "I'm going to get every skill up to 190 before I switch weapons".

Don't forget you get dual wield. What I do is switch out hand-to-hand and piercing while leaving one-hand-blunt in my offhand all the time. This raises all my skills evenly.

When I group, all I use is two-hand-blunt. That was that skill goes up as well.

Hope this helped.

[Nekokirei]

1hb seems to move slower than molasses in January against the same mobs that h2h and DW scream through.

Over the weekend, managed to get Dex buff and that helped.  Used 1hb the entire time through lvl 31 into lvl 32 (go me!) and 1hb moved from 118 to 142.  Couldn't find anyone w/a pet willing to give that option a go, so was left to thwacking mobs.

It's getting there but danged if it doesn't seem slow--especially in comparision to h2h and piercing.  I'm thinking it's perception more than anything.  However, I've been bad and totally neglected 2hb and not looking forward to raising that froma  skill value of "1".

Thanks again for the help!

[Kherash]

If I remember correctly,raising your dex will improve chances to gain weapon skills.

I had the same problem also. It seems that 110 thru 150 was very slow. After that, everything seem to smoothed out. /shrug

[Alerka]

Wait til you get around level 50. All your skills will max before you get even 1 bubble into your level. You will remember the old days fondly :P

[Nekokirei]

If I remember correctly,raising your dex will improve chances to gain weapon skills.

It certainly did!  A very nice fellow passing through hit me with a HoS, which, among other things, brought my DEX up to 190--w/the loaner gear I have.  Hitting FF during combat I went from 142 to 150--and dinged 33 (yay me!)

I had the same problem also. It seems that 110 thru 150 was very slow. After that, everything seem to smoothed out. /shrug

Ok, so maybe there's not a parse log to prove this out, but it certainly *felt* that way to me too.  Even after the HoS wore off, I moved 1hb up to level max withhin 5 mobs of the same type that it took mass slaughter of to move the skill a couple of values.

/whew

Finally got it--now, time to work on 2hb.

Thanks to all for the advice.  My word for the day "perseverance"...um, and my phrase for the day, "high DEX buffage." :)