Fencing

Summary

Fencing grants the ability to use fast striking weapons
All Fencing weapons, including two-handed weapons such as spears, can be poisoned using the Poisoning skill
The chance to hit with a Fencing weapon is equal to (attacker's fencing skill + 50) / ((defender's weapon or wrestling skill + 50) * 2) plus any relevant accuracy bonuses

Only works against creatures, not other players
Players have a 10% chance of inflicting a Fencing Weapon Special Attack against creatures
This chance can be further increased via the Arms Lore Skill, Water Aspect Armor, or Mastery Chain Links.
Fencing Weapon Specials now apply a stackable 8% Cripple Effect with a max effect of 24% on a target (previously was 10% Cripple effect per hit with no max cap)
Fencing Weapon Specials have a Damage bonus of 25% + Player's To Hit Chance % Against Creature (capped at 100% chance to hit) where the To Hit Chance % will factor in the newly applied Cripple effect
- Reduces the target's Defense (chance to avoid Melee Hits) as well as increases the Damage the target takes from Melee-Inflicted Poison (player or creature) and from any form of Disease Damage

Example: An 8% Cripple Effect is applied to a creature

Attackers that normally had a 50% chance to hit the creature will now have a 58% chance to hit
Any Players or Player Followers that apply Poison to the target through a Melee attack, will now have their Poison Tick damage against the target increased by 8%
Any Disease Damage against the target will be increased by 8%

Fencing weapons benefit from Stances and Finishers provided by a Codex of Fencing.

Fencing Codex Stances, Finishers and Abilities
Type	Name	Description
Stance	Aggressive	Increases Attack Speed by 2.5% per rank but player takes 1% more Damage per rank from all sources
Stance	Defensive	Weapon swings increase your Damage Resistance to all enemies by 4% per rank for 5 seconds (does not stack)
Stance	Cleave	Deals an additional 8% of Damage per rank inflicted to a random target within 2 tiles
Stance	Blackguard	Successful hits have a 3% per rank chance to inflict a Disease effect on target that deals 200% Damage spread out over 20 seconds
Stance	Fang	Damage increased by 6.5% per rank while using a weapon coated with Greater Poison or higher
Finisher	Assassinate	Inflicts 400% Damage and immediately resolves up to an additional 500% Damage worth of Disease and Poison ticks (caused by the player) remaining on target
Finisher	Flurry	Increases Weapon Speed by 20% for 30 seconds (does not stack). If bonus will bring player above the Max Swing Speed Cap, any excess will be converted into Melee Damage bonus
Weapon Ability	Gambit	For next 15 seconds damage increased by 40% but 10% chance any hits will convert into misses
Weapon Ability	Swiftstrikes	For next 15 seconds each hit increases attack speed by 5% (scaled by weapon speed) up to a max of 25%
Weapon Ability	Bane	Immediately resolve 3 poison ticks if player has an active weapon-applied poison on creature

Having these skills benefit Fencing:

Skill	Benefit
Anatomy	Increases Base Weapon Damage * (20% * (Anatomy Skill / 100)) Increases codex finisher chance by (10% * (Anatomy Skill / 100))
Chivalry	Increases Base Weapon Damage * (10% * (Chivalry Skill / 100)) Supplemental PvP Melee Damage
Tactics	From 0 to 100, Increases Base Weapon Damage * (-50% + (Tactics Skill / 200)) Any additional skill increases Base Weapon Damage * (1% * (Tactics Skill - 100))
Arms Lore	Increases Special Attack Chance by (10% * (Arms Lore Skill / 100))
Blacksmithy	When using a smithed weapon increases Base Weapon Damage * (15% * (Blacksmithing Skill / 100)) Reduced to Base Weapon Damage * (6% * (Blacksmithing Skill / 100)).
Carpentry	When using a wooden weapon increases Base Weapon Damage * (25% * (Carpentry Skill / 100)) Reduced to Base Weapon Damage * (10% * (Carpentry Skill / 100)).
Camping Tracking Forensic Evaluation	Increases Base Weapon Damage by (25% * Skill / 100) Reduced to Base Weapon Damage by (10% * Skill / 100) (2 hour bonus after using the skill)
Mace Fighting Wrestling Swordsmanship Archery	Increases Base Weapon Damage by (25% * Skill / 100) in PvM only.

Skill	Activity
0-50	Train from NPC
50-75	Passively by Melee combat with a Fencing weapon in the New Player Dungeon
75-100	Passively by Melee combat with a FEncing weapon