Various ion species including C, N, O and Ar are implanted into WC-6.5%Co cermet samples to study surface modification of tribological properties for industrial applications of the cermet tools. Ultra low friction coefficient down to 0.04 is found under high-load WC-self wearing for low-beam-current high-dose C-ion implanted samples. In order to achieve an excellent compromise of a combination of low friction, high hardness and high wear resistance for WC-Co tooling applications with superior performance of tooling harder materials, C-ion implantation using low beam currents and to higher doses is found to be the best choice. The C-ion-implantation induced modifications of the mechanical properties of the cermet have been attributed to physical interactions such as microstructural fining.