When making a melee template how much skill do you add to weapon? I ask this because I seem to remember that adding + to skill on melee was unnecessary beyond one over level. In other words, If you had a lvl 50 Armsman, Hero, or Warrior with 50 in weapon you only need +1 in the template which is provided by your starting RR so no need to SC in + to skill in weapon. Dping so adds a slight benefit but it is so slight as to be disregarded. Ty for input.

With everything you consider a "main" weapon line (e.g. Polearm, Large Weapons, Dual Wield), you want as many points as possible. The idea of composite 51 is only relevant to "sub" weapon lines. For example, if you are playing a RR1 Armsman and want to maximize your polearm damage, you would want 50+11 Polearm, and at least 40+11 Slash or Thrust. This is because the main weapon line determines that weapon's maximum damage, but your sub weapon line determines its minimum damage. I forget what the exact numbers are, but it is very much worthwhile to get the most out of these lines.

Now, if that Armsman wanted to further improve their 1h Slash damage and weaponskill, they could raise their Slash skill above composite 51, but that would only improve their Slash styles, not their Polearm styles. With this is mind, I would suggest giving +11 to all your relevant weapon lines, and instead respec your character (when you gain Realm Ranks) to match your character's skill levels to what you find appropriate.

This isn't as relevant to some Midgard classes, like the Warrior, Skald, Thane, or Savage. For example, a Warrior will only need to spec 50+11 Hammer to get the most out of both their 1h and 2h.

The moral of the story is that, when playing a melee class, you want to get all your +skills as high as you can. +11 to both your main and sub weapon line is especially critical, and try to do the same for shield, if you use one. Parry is much less important, but if you can spare the points, it is useful for some classes in particular roles. Hope this helps!

It does help and thank you for the information!