In the world of Dark Souls, they swing fast & often have status effects tied to them – making them perfect for playing that dex-type rogue, or for playing somebody that ends fights quickly. There’s not a lot of daggers in Dark Souls Remastered, but let’s talk about the best ones.
5. Parrying Dagger
It seems like every weapon class in every Dark Souls has to have a dud in it. Unfortunately, that dud for daggers is the Parrying Dagger. This slender stabber is an unusual little thing that’s meant to be held in the offhand. And as the name implies, it’s used to parry attacks. However, it is a dagger and not a shield. And I bet you can see the problems that arise from that. The Parrying Dagger does have an extended window for parrying, much like the Target Shield. But since you can’t block with a dagger, the risk/reward may be too skewed towards “risk” for a lot of players. And when used as a weapon proper, the Parrying Dagger is low-tier, with low damage and poor scaling. Sorry, little Parrying Dagger. Not everything is meant for greatness. How to Obtain: Found in the New Londo Ruins.
4. Ghost Blade
The Ghost Blade’s base attack power is the highest in the dagger family. But, and there’s always a but, this dagger can’t be upgraded in any meaningful way (it can get to +5 with Twinkling Titanite but that’s it). And it doesn’t scale too terribly well. That doesn’t mean the Ghost Blade doesn’t have a purpose! The Ghost Blade has an innate curse upon it. This means that it can curse enemies if you slash them enough, and that’s cool, but the real miracle of the blade is when traversing through any area with Ghost enemies, such as New Londo. Ghostly enemies get stabbed by the Ghost Blade just as well because of its curse status. Normally you’d have to be cursed yourself in order to fight them, so this weapon saves a lot of time and trouble. How to Obtain: Uncommon drop from Banshees.
3. Priscilla’s Dagger
One of the best things about (most) daggers is not their base attack power, but all the nifty bonuses that they come with. Priscilla’s Dagger is one such weapon. This floaty little blade comes with a very high bleed effect. Slash an enemy enough to build the bleed and you can do stupid amounts of damage when it triggers. Priscilla’s Dagger also has a unique strong attack, emulating the floating, ethereal movements of its previous owner. It takes a lot of time and practice to get used to this dance move. But when you get it down pat, you can really lay out lots of hurt. The only reason Priscilla’s Dagger isn’t higher on the list is because it has a super low durability – only about a hundred. So as much damage as you can do, it won’t be for very long. How to Obtain: Cut off Crossbreed Priscilla’s tail during your fight with her.
2. Dark Silver Tracer
Cool name, right? Sounds like the name of an anime gun. But it’s not, it’s a dagger! This weapon sticks to the tradition of daggers and infuses itself with poison, meaning you can stack up Toxic into your enemies. Give a dude enough of the poison and they’ll die with little further effort. You know how much Toxic sucks, right? Well it doesn’t when your enemies get it! This weapon requires a lot of extra dexterity, more than other daggers, but if you’ve got the build to pay the bills then this will work wonders for you. Toxic status aside, the Dark Silver Tracer also has a really long reach for a dagger and has really high critical damage whenever you deliver a vital strike. Trace some Dark Silver into your enemy’s hearts! How to Obtain: Trade Soul of Artorias to Lord’s Blade Ciaran.
1. Bandit’s Knife
This is what you come to daggers for! The Bandit Knife may not do a lot of damage straight-up, especially when compared to other daggers – but it has so many other bells and whistles attached that it stands at the top of the stack. First, it can bleed! The bleed effect isn’t quite as strong as Priscilla’s Dagger, but with this weapon’s faster attack speed and higher durability, you’ll still be able to bleed the heck out of foes. Second, the Bandit Dagger does very good parry and riposte damage. It specializes in it! This exemplifies the true nature of daggers, which is stabbing vital organs and making enemies bleed in the most vicious way possible. And the Bandit Knife can be buffed and upgraded in any way you’d like, so you can make the BK just how you want it – and it’ll treat you well all the way to the end of the game. How to Obtain: Starting gear for the Thief class, and dropped by Undead Assassins.
