Are daggers viable as a main PVE weapon with a dex build?

Topic

Short answer: yes.


Longish:

It's a great 1v1 weapon where you can parry/backstab guys. It strikes quick and causes bleeding. I would suggest a backup sword to handle those fights where you have more than 1 guy attacking you. However, it is still very possible to take on groups with the dagger, all you need to do is dodge, roll, and strike when you can. What I'm saying is that it's viable but it will be harder.

Oh ok, thanks for the answer.

Np.

When you have more than one guy attacking you, you won't be able to hit more than one guy with the dagger like you can if you use a longsword or something. And due to the low overall damage of the dagger, you won't be able to get in the multiple hits needed to stun lock, or cause bleeding to your target before you are hit by the guy's friend. So, in group fights.. you're pretty much reduced to circling around trying to go for a backstab or riposte most of the time because you are invulnerable during the critical strike animation.

If you're smart about your fights its not a big problem. Weapon buffs and resin is your friend. You can farm some of the resin, and it can be bought from a couple of the merchants. Parries can help you easily deal with 2-3 enemies at a time if you can time them right. Rolling is your friend and I'd suggest using a small shield or even a dagger in the off hand. This will get you used to dodging and parrying as opposed to blocking. Only large enemies and bosses will give you trouble. As long as you keep your gear upgraded you should be fine. Its a fun challenge. With that said I would recommend having a back up sword for boss fights and such.

for most boss fights actually a bow would work in place of the dagger so you stay out of the fray and have your phantoms distract the boss while you rain death upon them, plus in the S&o boss fight a bandit knife can kill fatboy fast due to its highe attack rate and his low bleed resist. for a back up sword try a balder side sword or a silver knight sword (looks like excalibur!!!)

It's hard but you can make it work and it will up your skills alot, mostly if you don't have a shield also.Have to backstab and flip about, when you are in mobs it gets crazy, but at the end of the day I wouldn't recommend for pve, there are bosses and mobs which will be almost impossible to beat like that.

towerknights can't be backstabed or parried as far as i know. could be an issue.

The big halberd knights? No but you can inflict bleed real easy. Bait the shield slam and go between their legs and go at it. They are easy prey.

Alright thanks guys!

1 more question, would a +15 bandits knife with 40 dex do more dmg then a +5 lightning version?

Shredder98 wrote:1 more question, would a +15 bandits knife with 40 dex do more dmg then a +5 lightning version?

In the long run, yes. Adding an elemental damage type to a weapon removes it's scaling. So, in the beginning of the game, when your dex is low, the lightning weapon will be superior. But when you start pushing your dex up, you want the scaling on the weapon to be there for the damage bonus.

Alright thanks

That's the thing with the BK knife it's so fast and causes bleed, I love that weapon...sometimes when killing gankers I do a BS with Hornet and when the guy stands up I double hand slash his behind to oblivion, bye, bye....

/offtopic

But...my dex build has the Balder Side Sword with the Claws as backup, you know...for fun.

U know yesterday I used the claws chaos+4 and it's such a cool weapon to use, bad thing was that I was doing co-op at queelag so I had to switch and the other claws I have are just +10, I wanna make either a +15 or lightning +5 one...

You're invulnerable while you're performing a critical hit. So when you're surrounded by enemies just quickly backstab them one after the other. While you're backstabbing, all hits will go right through you. Roll as soon as your backstab is done, and you shouldn't get hit. You can also do this with parrying, but you're only invulnerable while riposting, which leaves you vulnerable while you parry and before you riposte, so it's not safe while you're surrounded. When you're 1v1 though, go for the rewarding parry!

Daggers are definitely viable if you're experienced at pulling off critical hits... and if you're not, they're a great way to force you to learn! Doing a playthrough parrying everything and backstabbing when you're surrounded is a lot of fun. And most enemies you can't parry are big enough for you to stand between their legs and slash at their shins anyways! Bosses are also a lot of fun with daggers.

I definitely recommend doing a playthrough with a dagger. Start with a Thief so you get the Bandit's Knife right away, and you can use it for the entire playthrough. I upgraded mine to lightning right away, which was a problem for O&S, so I made myself a backup Fire Scimitar--the closest weapon to a dagger without being one! You can also use the scimitar for the 4 Kings. And with 2 elemental weapons, all you need to focus on is Vit, which comes in handy when you miss a few parries! Give yourself a bit of End too to be able to get some armor with poise, so you don't get staggered when you miss your parry (but not too much End, since you won't need much stamina with a dagger or scimitar).

So... do it! It's a lot of fun.