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With the recently released 2024 Players Handbook comes a wealth of new features and mechanics long awaited by DM’s and players alike — including three new subclasses, updated primary class abilities, and perhaps most anticipated, the Weapon Mastery feature. With this dynamic update, starting at level 1, every martial class can tap into the abilities granted by their chosen weapon to employ a variety of non-spell-based tactics and maneuvers.

So how does Weapon Mastery work - and how will it give your character the edge on the battlefield?

Before we dive into the specifics of the Weapon Mastery feature, follow along with your copy of the 2024 Players Handbook, available now on the Roll20 Marketplace. 

What is Weapon Mastery?

The new Weapon Mastery system is designed to represent martial classes' acumen and expertise with their specific weapons. In theory, a rogue should be able to tap into the special properties of their daggers to execute strategic combat maneuvers that reflect the years of expertise they've developed by wielding their weapon of choice. To mimic that expertise, the Weapon Mastery feature provides every simple or martial weapon with a unique property that allows only the most skilled and adept wielders to trigger its effect.

Who Gets Weapon Mastery?

The following classes gain access to Weapon Mastery:

• Barbarian
• Fighter
• Paladin
• Ranger
• Rogue

 

If you don’t see your favorite class on this list, don’t panic! While the classes listed above get Weapon Mastery at level one, any class can take part in the action simply by picking up the feature upon leveling up. Fear not — If you’re playing a wizard who happens to be handy with a greataxe, Weapon Mastery can still work for you!

Mastery Properties

When you look closer at the Weapon Mastery feature, you'll see that the real magic behind this new mechanic is actually in the “Mastery Properties” described within. Mastery Property is the term used to define the specific advantages of a weapon when wielded by someone with Weapon Mastery. 

Let’s break down each Mastery Property and find out how they can best support your builds:

1. Cleave

Weapons: Greataxe, Halberd

The Cleave property allows you to use heavy weapons to hit multiple opponents with one massive swing. Whenever you hit a creature with a Melee Weapon Attack, you can make another Melee Attack Roll to hit a second creature you can see within 5ft of the first. On a hit, your second target takes damage equal to the weapon without any additional Ability Modifier damage (unless your modifier is negative). Ideal for crowd control situations, the cleave property is a go-to for those looking to carve through large swaths of enemies. 

2. Graze

Weapons: Glaive, Greatsword

Never let a missed attack go to waste again! The Graze property is triggered when your weapon misses an attack against a creature, dealing additional damage equal to the Ability Modifier used to make your Attack Roll. The damage of this attack will scale with your Ability Modifiers, meaning if your Ability Modifier increases, your damage increases as well. 

3. Nick

Weapons: Dagger, Light Hammer, Sickle, Scimitar

The Nick property allows you to make an additional attack as part of your attack action whenever you wield a light weapon in both your main and off-hand. But be warned, according to the 2024 Players Handbook, this does not mean you can make a third attack as a bonus action. Instead, this property allows you to free up your bonus action for more tactical moves like spells or whatever else you might have up your sleeve. 

4. Push

Weapons: Greatclub, Pike, Warhammer, Heavy Crossbow

The Push property allows you to push a creature of large or smaller size up to 10 feet away in a straight line. Perfect for characters needing a little breathing room to pull off a ranged attack or disengage.

5. Sap

Weapons: Mace, Spear, Flail, Longsword, Morningstar, War Pick

With the Sap property, landing an attack on an enemy can inflict disadvantage on their next Attack Roll before the start of your next turn. It's an excellent pick for those who tend to go early in the turn order. 

6. Slow

Weapons: Club, Javelin, Light Crossbow, Sling, Whip, Longbow, Musket

The Slow property allows you to reduce a creature's Speed by 10 feet until the start of your next turn, so long as you deal damage to that creature with your weapon. Buy your ranged party members some time and keep your enemies at bay thanks to this highly tactical weapon property. 

7. Topple

Weapons: Quarterstaff, Battleaxe, Lance, Maul, Trident

With a successful weapon attack, the Topple property allows you to force a creature to make a Constitution saving throw or fall-prone. If the creature fails the save, they take the Prone condition. Perfect for setting yourself up for advantage against your target. 

8. Vex

Weapons: Handaxe, Dart, Shortbow, Rapier, Shortsword, Blowgun, Hand Crossbow, Pistol

With the Vex property, whenever you hit a target with a Vex weapon, you gain advantage on your next attack roll against that same target. Great for setting up your teammates or chaining attacks against a focused target. A necessary pick for characters who specialize in sneak or burst damage. 

Balancing Weapon Masteries

You can use Weapon Mastery properties every time you make an attack with a weapon you have mastered. It may sound pretty self-explanatory, but when combined with the weapon-switching rules in the 2024 Player Handbook, this mechanic presents an exciting opportunity for more tactical combat.

According to the latest ruleset, drawing or stowing a weapon can be done as part of your attack action, which is huge for characters with Extra Attack. Imagine this: As a Fighter with Extra Attack, you swing your greatclub, reducing your enemy's Speed with the Slow property. Then you stow the club and draw your warhammer, knocking the slowed enemy even further away with the Push property, all in the same move. Even without Extra Attack, the ability to swap out weapons on the fly and use different mastery properties adds a whole new level of excitement to weapons based combat. 

How To Mix And Match Your Weapon Masteries 

It's important to note that you can only specialize in as many weapons as are detailed in the Weapon Mastery Feature section of your class page. However, so long as your chosen weapon meets those requirements, you can replace your Weapon Mastery during a Long Rest with your new weapon of choice at the end of your rest.

In other words, if your Rogue finds that their Dagger and Shortbow combination isn’t working, they can spend their Long Rest tapping into their combat knowledge to swap out their weapons for others, which might provide more tactical advantage. Make sure you pick weapons that complement your character's abilities, combat tactics, and play style. Swapping out weapons for different properties can lead to fun and exciting builds that can breathe new life into your character. 

Here are a couple Weapon Mastery combinations to get you started: 

1. The Crowd Controller: Combine Cleave and Push to manage groups of enemies and control the battlefield.
2. The Duelist: Use Vex and Nick for a two-weapon fighting style that focuses on taking down single targets efficiently.
3. The Defender: Mix Sap and Slow to debuff enemies and protect your allies by making it harder for foes to attack effectively.
4. The Skirmisher: Pair Slow with ranged weapons to keep mobile and avoid enemy retaliation.
5. The Titan Slayer: Combine Topple and Vex to knock down big enemies and gain advantage on follow-up attacks.

Learning Weapon Masteries

As you progress, certain classes are able to gain more Weapon Masteries. Specifically, the Barbarian and Fighter, each of which starts with two or three Weapon Masteries, respectively. Refer to the feature table of your class to see at which level you gain more Weapon Masteries. Unfortunately for Rogues, Rangers, and Paladins, you won't gain more Weapon Masteries as you level up. However, certain subclasses will allow you to access additional Mastery Properties. For example, the Soulknife Rogue has access to the Vex property, which adds to the number of properties you can already use with your Weapon Mastery. 

Read More About Weapon Mastery Properties

Make sure to visit the Roll20 Marketplace and pick up your copy of the 2024 Players Handbook, for a closer look at all the latest updates — including three new subclasses, changes to primary class abilities, and everything on the Weapon Mastery feature — available now at Roll20.com

Now get out there and put this exciting new feature to the test!