Some warriors are content with one trusty weapon: a blade, an axe, a halberd for the polearm fans out there. However, there are those characters who love to fight and train, and want to master not one martial weapon but as many as possible. To these versatile martial characters Weapon Training offers an opportunity to go this route without having to start as a Fighter or Paladin, the two classes that start with full proficiency in all weapons.
The One DnD Weapon Training Feat allows a player to increase their Strength or Dexterity by +1 (player’s choice) and gain Martial Weapon proficiency, allowing them to use all Martial Weapons without penalty.
So is this an important mechanical feat required for certain niche builds, or does this fall into that category of feats where it just doesn’t practically work based on how most DM’s run their table?
Let’s dive into really break down what this feat brings to the table and whether or not it’s worth your time.
Weapon Training Feat DnD One Review
The best way to break down a feat is to check out the exact wording.
From Unearthed Arcana:
Prerequisite: None
You have practiced extensively with a variety of weapons, gaining the following benefits:
Ability Score Increase. Increase your Strength or Dexterity score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
Weapon Proficiency. You gain Martial Weapon Proficiency.
Unearthed Arcana, Expert Classes 2022
Let’s break down these benefits one by one to see what the Weapon Training Feat really brings to the table.
Benefit #1: Increase your Strength or Dexterity +1 up to 20, player’s choice.
Basic half feat fodder, but always better to have than not. The DEX/STR choice is the most common either/or but this makes sense with a weapon feat since martial classes are either Strength based or Dexterity based so having the either/or makes a lot of sense here.
Benefit #2: You gain Martial Weapon Proficiency.
This gives you proficiency with all Martial Weapons in the One DnD system. That’s potentially useful, but there aren’t enough differences in weapons or builds for this to make sense in most cases.
How Does Weapon Training Feat Measure Up?
Honestly, not well. This is a mechanics feat that is there to give a path to giving classes that don’t generally have marital weapon proficiencies, but it doesn’t make much sense for anyone to waste their time going this direction. Since virtually every One DnD feat is a half feat, there are so many better choices if you’re looking to tack a +1 onto STR or DEX.
This has to exist for mechanics sake, but it just isn’t a feat that anyone should honestly be considering.
Weapon Training Feat: DnD One Vs 5E
In 5E this was the Weapon Master Feat, so that’s what we’re going to compare this new feat to. Basically the two are more or less one and the same with the wording being changed to fit the new mechanics. Arguably there is a slight versatility boost since this moves from giving you proficiency with 4 weapons of your choice to proficiency with all martial weapons.
Related Article: 5E Weapon Master Feat Guide
That said, there’s not a whole lot here that is going to move the needle. It’s a very basic mechanical feat to basically have it in place but unless there are major overhauls to how weapons work to make them more versatile and interesting, there aren’t going to be many reasons for taking this feat in most cases.
Who Should Take the Weapon Training Feat in DnD One?
I still stand by my belief that no class should take this feat. It’s a waste. If you really want that many weapon proficiencies for some reason, multi-classing one level into Fighter or Paladin gives you all that plus better bonuses. If you’re a spellcaster you don’t need this feat, if you are a Fighter or Paladin you already have full weapon proficiencies, and if you’re any other class you have skills, feats, or features that are better than this.
Classes who should never take the One DnD Weapon Training Feat include:
- Druids
- Fighters
- Hexblade Warlocks
- Paladins
Honestly, having this list at four is being nice. You can make a strong case that no class should take this feat.
DnD One Weapon Training Feat Final Grade
This feat is an F grade. If you want to turn a wizard or sorcerer into a martial fighter then I guess this serves a purpose, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense and you would be better off using workarounds that are built in for each class via spell or more useful feats.
I understand why this feat exists, but it’s one that nobody should be excited about.
Other Articles of Interest
- One DnD Great Weapon Master Feat Guide
- One DnD Heavy Armor Master Feat Guide
- One DnD Sharpshooter Feat Guide
- One DnD Sentinel Feat Guide
- One DnD Polearm Master Feat Guide
- DnD Damage Type Guide
Proud to embrace the locally created moniker of “Corrupt Overlord” from one of the all time great Lords of Waterdeep runs, Shane is one member of the Assorted Meeples crew and will be hard at work creating awesome content for the website. He is a long-time player of board games, one time semi-professional poker player, and tends to run to the quirky or RPG side of things when it comes to playing video games. He loves tabletop roleplaying systems like Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Werewolf, Fate, and others, and not only has been a player but has run games as DM for years. You can find his other work in publications like Level Skip or Hobby Lark.