I have a suspicion that rings that boost weapon damage (specifically one-handed weapons) may inadvertently degrade weapon damage. I've been using a "Ring of Major Wielding" which I fear is the source of this problem.

I've suddenly noticed that my melee weapons (all one-handed) were not as powerful as they were. I recently found an ebony war axe – the damage in my inventory displayed "29." When I started playing again today, I noticed that the damage all of a sudden was listed at "23." I did a quick scan of the other weapons I had and they all were lower than before, especially the Mace of Molag Bol...I remember distinctly that mace had a damage of "30," but now lists "24."

I loaded up an older save and saw that the damage on my weapons was what I remembered - MoMB was showing "30" dmg. I tried taking off the "Ring of Major Wielding" (improves 1-handed dmg by 25%) and the mace damage dropped to 24...this is the exact same value that I am seeing in my most current save.

I went back to my current save and tried taking off the ring, then put it back on...even saving and re-loading, but it appears that all my weapons in my inventory have been degraded. In addition to that, my weapons stored in my Whiterun house have also been degraded when viewing them (not even transferring them to my inventory).

I fear that continuing to wear the ring will continue to degrade weapon damage even lower...and taking the ring off will lower them substantially as well.

Has anyone else experienced this sort of problem? Definitely something to be aware of.

This is really, really frustrating...it reminds me of the companion bugs in Dragon Age 2 which would continually degrade attack speed (or damage resistance) until your character became unplayable.

Maybe you could just go back to the save where everything was ok, and play from there.....without the ring if you really think that is the cause.

Have you looked to see if your one handed skill has decreased any?

I have been wearing one of these rings for about 30 hours and have not had an issue. Weapon damage has only increased as my one-handed skill has increased. When I take the ring off my weapon damage drops by 30% as expected. It sounds like you may have previously had another piece of equipment or an active effect that boosted damage.

Thanks for the reply.

I've thought about using a previous save...but not really happy about having to re-do things. Plus I'd have to re-stock on weapons since I'd lose 25% dmg to get rid of the ring.

My one-handed skill has only been going up...and no red numbers in my skill screen either.

I know going back and losing hours svcks, but as any TES fan will tell you, that is the nature of the beast, it will happen, I've had to go back twice now, fortunately I keep enough saves to minimize the damage.

Hmmm...I think if I remember correctly, I was wearing a less powerful ring of the same type (+15% dmg) and bought the current ring, thinking I could equip both at the same time only to find out you've only got one ring slot to use. I know I've been using this current ring for quite some time and I've been steadily improving my one-handed skill as well (it's now 54-55ish).

Thanks for your reply.

Do you have any diseases?

Im not sure I understand the problem. Enchants dont lower skills, they raise them. Take the ring off, and stats lower to normal. Simple as that.

Yes, apparently that was the problem...even though I have "100% resistance to disease," I was afflicted with "Rockjoint." Took a potion of cure disease, cured it, and all weapon damages are as they should be.

I'm assuming that Rockjoint is a disease (since the potion cured it), so I suppose that 100% resistance to disease isn't really 100%.

Thanks for the replies.

If a moderator sees this, please lock this topic - thanks.

I have the Mace of Molag Bal and a ring (and amulet) of minor wielding. I've noticed that since I primarily use the mace, its attack power has increased exponentially. When I got it I think it was at 29 or 32 but it has increased so much so that it is way more powerful than any ebony weapon I've found so far. Its power is currently at 46. I don't think it should be that high... I do have the mace perk in the One Handed skill tree at level 2 though, that might be a reason.

I just find it odd that only the mace's damage value has increased, but not any other one-handed weapon I can wield.

You did notice that when he first let's you use it it's the "rusted mace of molag bal" then after you complete his task he restores it to full power?

I know for me my glass mace does a lot more dmg, both upgraded to legendary.

Yes, but I've been using this mace long after I completed that quest. I did that one at maybe 40 hours in, and I'm at 69 now. As I said, since acquiring the restored mace, its attack power has increased exponentially. I own a glass mace, waraxe and an ebony waraxe, and their attack powers don't even come CLOSE.

This is after equipping and un-equipping each one to see if this apparently magical effect would affect them that way.