One-handed

The One-handed skill governs the effectiveness of any melee weapon that is held with one hand. Dual-wielding one-handed weapons will still increase this skill. Also, you can dual wield a One-handed weapon with a spell as well.

The One-Handed skill increases relative to the damage dealt by equipped one-handed weapons. The more damage dealt, the more experience is gained. For example, if the player uses a one-handed weapon and a spell to kill an NPC, they would not gain as much experience as if they had dual-wielded two one-handed weapons.

There are 4 weapon classes that fall under the one-handed category. 

• Daggers, the weakest as far as damage in one hit, however they possess exceptional speed, being able to get twice as many hits in within a few seconds than any other class, three times as many as maces. They work well for assassin and rogue class characters.
• Swords generally have about 50-75% more power than daggers, but have about 70% slower attack speed. They are exceptional all-around weapons, useful to all classes, including mages. 
• War axes have about 30-40% more power than swords and are likewise about 30-40% slower. They are useful to most every class except assassins and rogues because of their slower attack speed compared to swords and daggers. 
• Maces have about 30-40% more power than war axes, but are also roughly 40-50% slower. They are the most powerful, but slowest of the one-handed weapons. Because of their sluggish speed, they are preferred by well-armored, hard-hitting classes, such as berserkers or knights. They may be used by weapon-wielding mages, however, their slow speed makes them slightly undependable for lightly-armored, low-stamina classes. However, when dual-wielded, they can lay low most medium-strength enemies with a single power attack.

The slower a weapon is, the more stamina it requires to perform a power attack. When dual-wielding, the attack speed of the combined attack is averaged between the two weapons. For example, if the player were to use a dagger and a sword, their combined attack would be very quick, whereas if they were to use a mace and dagger, it would average out to a medium speed. Though held with only one hand, staves do not count as one-handed weapons except for the fact that two can be wielded at once. They are not affected by and do not affect the One-handed skill. They fall under the category of their respective magic school. For example, a Staff of Fireball would fall under the Destruction skill.

One-handed Weapon Perks

Perks	Requirements	Description (Ranks)
Armsman	None	One-handed weapons do 20% more damage.
	One-handed 20	One-handed weapons do 40% more damage.
	One-handed 40	One-handed weapons do 60% more damage.
	One-handed 60	One-handed weapons do 80% more damage.
	One-handed 80	One-handed weapons do twice as much damage.
Fighting Stance	One-handed 20, Armsman	Power attacks with one-handed weapons cost 25% less stamina.
Dual Flurry	One-handed 30, Armsman	Dual wielding attacks are 20% faster.
	One-handed 50	Dual wielding attacks are 35% faster.
Bladesman	One-handed 30, Armsman	Attacks with swords have a 10% chance of doing critical damage.
	One-handed 60	Attacks with swords have a 15% chance of doing critical damage.
	One-handed 90	Attacks with swords have a 20% chance of doing critical damage.
Bone Breaker	One-handed 30, Armsman	Attacks with maces ignore 25% of armor.
	One-handed 60	Attacks with maces ignore 50% of armor.
	One-handed 90	Attacks with maces ignore 75% of armor.
Hack and Slash	One-handed 30, Armsman	Attacks with war axes cause extra bleeding damage.
	One-handed 60	Attacks with war axes cause more bleeding damage.
	One-handed 90	Attacks with war axes cause even more bleeding damage.
Critical Charge	One-handed 50, Fighting Stance	Can do a one-handed power attack while sprinting that does double critical damage.
Savage Strike	One-handed 50, Fighting Stance	Standing power attacks do 25% bonus damage with a chance to decapitate your enemies.
Dual Savagery	One-handed 70, Dual Flurry	Dual wielding power attacks do 50% bonus damage.
Paralyzing Strike	One-handed 100, Critical Charge or Savage Strike	Backwards power attack has a 25% chance to paralyze the target.

Trainers

• Amren in Whiterun
• Athis at Jorrvaskr in Whiterun
• Burguk in Dushnikh Yal

Skill books

• 2920, Morning Star, v1
• Fire and Darkness
• Mace Etiquette
• Night Falls on Sentinel
• The Importance of Where

Potions

Potion of Conflict Draught of Conflict

Philter of Conflict Elixir of Conflict

Grand Elixir of Conflict Prime Elixir of Conflict

Apparel

Minor Wielding	Wielding	Major Wielding	Eminent Wielding	Exteme Wielding	Peerless Wielding
Hide Bracers Imperial Bracers Iron Gauntlets Jester's Clothes Leather Bracers Necklace Ring Steel Gauntlets	Cicero's Clothes Dwarven Bracers Elven Bracers Hide Bracers Imperial Bracers Iron Gauntlets Leather Bracers Necklace Ring Scaled Bracers Steel Gauntlets Steel Plate Bracers	Dwarven Bracers Ebony Gauntlets Elven Bracers Glass Gauntlets Hide Bracers Imperial Bracers Iron Gauntlets Leather Bracers Necklace Orcish Gauntlets Ring Scaled Bracers Steel Gauntlets Steel Plate Bracers	Daedric Gauntlets Dragonplate Gauntlets Dragonscale Gauntlets Dwarven Bracers Ebony Gauntlets Elven Bracers Glass Gauntlets Necklace Orcish Gauntlets Ring Scaled Bracers Steel Plate Bracers	Daedric Gauntlets Dragonplate Gauntlets Dragonscale Gauntlets Ebony Gauntlets Glass Gauntlets Necklace Orcish Gauntlets Ring	Daedric Gauntlets Dragonplate Gauntlets Dragonscale Gauntlets Necklace Ring