

How UI looked before Patch 3.0
A skill is an ability that allows a character to perform some action or make some item that improves with use. The improvement depends on the difficulty of the action or the difficulty in creating the item. Professions are a subset of skills. Not all skills are professions.
As of Patch 3.0, all skills don't improve with use. Prior to this most did.
Contents
Types of class Skills
Currently, only rogues and death knights have class-specific skills.
The rogue-only skills are:
Lockpicking – Required Thieves' Tools before Patch 3.0, but no longer needs an item.
- [Pickpocketing] – Does not improve with use.
Poisons– Prior to Patch 3.0, it worked like a profession. It has been removed from the game as a skill, and poisons are instead purchased ready to use. As ofPatch 7.0.3, Poisons has further been restricted to only the
Assassination specialization.
The death knight only skill is:
Runeforging – Allows death knights to engrave runes into their weapons, offering a variety of free weapon enchantments. Requires a runeforge.
Types of combat Skills
Offensive combat skills had a maximum skill level of 5 * your current level:[citation needed]
Defense skill – Improves your ability to avoid attacks. Some gear adds defense rating, which raises your defense skill above its normal maximum.
- Weapon skills (Melee and Ranged) – Each weapon type has an associated skill. As of Patch 3.0, these skills only determine whether or not you can use a weapon type.
- Unarmed combat skill – Used for Fist weapons or fighting bare-handed; there is no separate fist weapon skill. As of Patch 3.0, skill level is irrelevant.
- Wands skill – Only usable by mages, priests and warlocks. This is a ranged weapon skill. As of Patch 3.0, skill level is irrelevant.
Types of language Skills
Currently there is no way to learn a new language, except the Murloc quest chain[citation needed] in Borean Tundra (although this skill won't appear in the skills interface).
- Alliance (Common, Darnassian, Dwarven, Gnomish, and Draenei)
- Horde (Orcish, Troll, Taurahe, Thalassian and Gutterspeak)
- Neutral (Goblin, etc.), not available to Player characters.
Movement skills
There is basically only Riding.