I don't understand Mastery

Err.. Mastery means the consistency of your attacks, soemtimes you punch hard, sometimes you punch weaker. The higher the mastery, the more consistent the attacks are (up to the point of uniform damage output). There are 2 types of Masteries:

• [SIZE="4"]Weapon Mastery[/SIZE]:
  1/ Hey check it out, I just got a new knife but I'm not familiar with it yet.
  > Low mastery.
  2/ Hey after 10 years of using I finally got used to it, check this out, -flips knife in one hand-.
  > High mastery.
  
  
• [SIZE="4"]Skill Mastery[/SIZE]:
  1/ Hey I just learned the Retrograde Barrow Wheel position, it's so awesome but so hard to perform.
  > Low Mastery.
  2/ Man, my GF digs it so we've been practicing it hourly, now I'm a pro.
  > High mastery.

Ah, so mastery determines consistency relative to damage output. And the damage output is calculated based on your characters stats and the base stats of the skill? Or just one of the two and if so, which?