In this Elden Ring Best Dagger and Ranking Guide, we’ll be taking a look at the 16 Daggers in Elden Ring and discuss why you might use them in combat. We’ll take a look at attack power, damage type, length, Weapon Skills, and other factors such as how long it takes you to acquire them, to determine if they are best suited for you. We are doing a guide for all Weapon types in Elden Ring, and these will be updated to reflect those added with Shadow of the Erdtree as well.

Daggers in Elden Ring:

  1. Reduvia
  2. Erdsteel Dagger
  3. Misericorde
  4. Glintstone Kris
  5. Blade of Calling
  6. Bloodstained Dagger
  7. Black Knife
  8. Dagger
  9. Scorpion's Stinger
  10. Parrying Dagger
  11. Wakizashi
  12. Great Knife
  13. Cinquedea
  14. Crystal Knife
  15. Ivory Sickle
  16. Celebrant's Sickle

Best Dagger in Elden Ring – Ranked

Daggers are one of the 31 Weapon types in Elden Ring, soon to be 39 when Shadow of the Erdtree releases on June 21st. Daggers have very fast Attack Speed compared to most weapons in Elden Ring, and they typically have higher Critical Rating than just about every other weapon. They are also extremely light weight, allowing you to pack one as a backup without incurring a heavy equip load. Their Dual wield moveset is also extremely strong.

However, they have lower Attack Rating than just about every other weapon type, and dual wielding to set status effects is not nearly as strong as it used to be. Additionally, their short reach can make you miss many attacks, especially when dual wielding.

PROS

  • Fast Attack Speed
  • High Critical Rating
  • Light Weight
  • Good Dual Wield Moveset

CONS

  • Low Attack Rating
  • Dual Wield Status Effects were nerfed
  • Short reach

Celebrant's Sickle – #16 Best Dagger in Elden Ring

The Celebrant's Sickle shares the default moveset of most other Daggers, and deals Physical Damage. It is tied for the lightest Dagger in Elden Ring, weighing 1.5, and requires 6 Strength and 11 Dexterity in order to use effectively.

Best Dagger in Elden Ring – Ranking All 16 Daggers

PROS

  • Tied for lightest Dagger in Elden Ring
  • Each hit grants 10 Runes
  • Attacks go through enemy Shields

CONS

  • Cannot be found until pretty far into the game in Windmill Village, and can take a while to farm
  • Tied for lowest Crit Rating of Daggers

Attack Rating:

  • Fire/Lightning - 470
  • Magic - 467
  • Sacred/Flame Art - 454
  • Keen - 433
  • Cold - 414
  • Heavy - 393
  • Blood/Poison - 353

Conclusion: The Celebrant's Sickle is not the greatest Dagger in Elden Ring. You won't find it until late into the game in Windmill Village if you can be bothered to farm it, and it has 100 Crit Rating, which is bad for a Dagger. However, it is tied for Lightest Dagger in Elden Ring, it does grant 10 Runes per hit, and some of its damage goes through enemy Shields.

Infusion-wise Fire/Lightning comes in first with 470, with Magic just behind at 467, and Sacred/Flame Art coming in third at 454. Keen outperforms Heavy by 40 Attack Rating, and Cold splits the difference.

It's likely that you will have a better Dagger by the time you can farm this weapon, but if you insist on doing so, probably the best way to play it is by using two of them in order to get 10 Runes per hit very quickly. Stack buffs from Millicent's Prosthesis and Winged Sword Insignia to boost attack power.

Ivory Sickle – #15 Best Dagger in Elden Ring

The Ivory Sickle shares the default moveset of most other Daggers, and deals Physical and Magic Damage. It has an average weight for a Dagger in Elden Ring, weighing 2, and requires 6 Strength, 11 Dexterity and 13 Intelligence in order to use effectively.

Best Dagger in Elden Ring – Ranking All 16 Daggers

PROS

CONS

  • Cannot be buffed or infused despite not using Somber Smithing Stones to upgrade
  • Tied for lowest Crit Rating of Daggers

Attack Rating at level 150 with optimal stat spread: 456

Conclusion: There are not a lot of great ways to use this Dagger. It cannot be buffed or infused, despite not being unique, and it has 100 Crit Rating which is terrible for a Dagger. The upside is that you can find it pretty early on in Village of the Albinaurics, and it's one of the Longest Daggers in Elden Ring.

The sweet spot for this weapon is right about 55 INT and 45 DEX, with nearly 50/50 split damage between Physical and Magic. You could prioritize INT if you want a spellcaster with this weapon as a back up if you want.

I like to put it in my off-hand and use it in a dual wield build where you will neither need its weapon skill nor its Critical Rating, and it scales similarly to the Glintstone Kris which is a good pairing, with the Kris in the main hand for a better skill and Crit Rating. You could also use a Cold infused Dagger of some kind as well with another weapon skill in the main hand if you don't want to wait to get the Kris.

Crystal Knife – #14 Best Dagger in Elden Ring

The Crystal Knife shares the default moveset of most other Daggers, and deals Physical and Magic Damage. It has an average weight for a Dagger in Elden Ring, weighing 2, and requires 8 Strength, 12 Dexterity and 9 Intelligence in order to use effectively.

Best Dagger in Elden Ring – Ranking All 16 Daggers

PROS

CONS

  • Cannot be buffed or infused despite not using Somber Smithing Stones to upgrade
  • One of the shortest Daggers in Elden Ring
  • Tied for lowest Crit Rating of Daggers

Attack Rating at level 150 with optimal stat spread: 480

Conclusion: Similar to the Ivory Sickle, the Crystal Knife cannot be buffed nor infused, but is not a unique Dagger. It is also one of the shortest Daggers in the game and has 100 Crit Rating, which is not good for a Dagger. However, you can find it quite early in Raya Lucaria Academy, and it has pretty high Attack Rating for a Dagger.

The sweet spot for this weapon is around 50 STR and 50 INT, though DEX doesn't scale too badly and its likely you will take it up to 50 after these two. This makes it a good weapon for NG+.

I like to put it in my off-hand and use it in a dual wield build where you will neither need its weapon skill nor its Critical Rating, and it scales similarly to the Bloodstained Dagger when set to the Cold Infusion. This allows you to select a better Ash of War for the Bloodstained Dagger, while still getting the high Attack Rating from the Crystal Knife.

Cinquedea – #13 Best Dagger in Elden Ring

The Cinquedea shares the default moveset of most other Daggers, and deals Physical Damage. It has an average weight for a Dagger in Elden Ring, weighing 2, and requires 10 Strength, and 10 Dexterity in order to use effectively.

Best Dagger in Elden Ring – Ranking All 16 Daggers

PROS

CONS

  • Tied for lowest Crit Rating of Daggers

Attack Rating at level 150 with optimal stat spread: 482

Conclusion: The Cinquedea can be found pretty quickly outside Bestial Sanctum, it is one of the longest Daggers in Elden Ring, has high Attack Rating for a Dagger and buffs Bestial Incantations by 10% which stacks with the Sacred Seal. However, it has only 100 Crit Rating, which is lower than most Daggers.

Quickstep is an ok weapon skill, especially since it can help position you for backstabs more easily. You won't use it all the the time though.

The sweet spot for this weapon is 50 STR and minimum DEX, but scales well up to 80 Strength and Dexterity doesn't scale that poorly. However, this makes this a much better first playthrough weapon than second playthrough.

This weapon is in a weird spot because you're either using it simply as a buff stick to cast Bestial Incantations and not using it for attacks at all, or if you decide to build for damage you have to add points into Faith in order to cast Bestial Incantations which lowers your overall attack rating of the weapon, and you cannot buff the weapon with Incantations like other daggers. And if you simply use it as a Dagger and don't worry about its Incantation buff, you will have high attack rating, but you will have poor Critical Damage, making it sort of a bad trade unless you are dual wielding.

I'd either use this in a Bestial Incantation Build, splitting points between Strength and Faith, and meleeing with this weapon only as needed. Or using it in a dual wield dagger build that focuses on high damage per swing, and doesn't worry about status effects.

Great Knife – #12 Best Dagger in Elden Ring

The Great Knife shares the default moveset of most other Daggers, and deals Physical Damage. It is tied for the lightest Dagger in Elden Ring, weighing 1.5, and requires 6 Strength and 12 Dexterity in order to use effectively.

Best Dagger in Elden Ring – Ranking All 16 Daggers

PROS

  • Can be found quite early and Bandit's begin with it
  • Native Bleed Build Up on Hit
  • Tied for lightest Dagger in Elden Ring

CONS

  • One of the shortest Daggers in Elden Ring

Attack Rating:

  • Fire/Lightning - 476
  • Magic - 472
  • Sacred/Flame Art - 460
  • Keen - 426
  • Cold - 419
  • Heavy - 399
  • Occult - 387
  • Blood/Poison - 365

Conclusion: The Great Knife is a solid Dagger. Bandits begin the game with it, it has native bleed build up on hit, and it's one of the Lightest Daggers in Elden Ring. The only real negative is it's one of the shortest Daggers.

Infusion-wise Fire/Lightning comes in first, with Magic a close second and Sacred/Flame Art in third. Keen outperforms Heavy 426 to 399, with Cold splitting the difference at 419.

I recommend using this weapon for a status effect Build that either focuses on Poison and Bleed or just Bleed, although I think Reduvia is better for a pure Bleed Build. Use Lord of Blood's Exultation, Kindred of Rot's Exultation and Millicent's Prosthesis or Rotten Winged Sword Insignia for Attack Power boosts.

Wakizashi – #11 Best Dagger in Elden Ring

The Wakizashi shares the default moveset of most other Daggers, and deals Physical Damage. It is the heaviest Dagger in Elden Ring, weighing 3, and requires 9 Strength and 13 Dexterity in order to use effectively.

Best Dagger in Elden Ring – Ranking All 16 Daggers

PROS

  • Can be found not too far into the game in Gaol Cave
  • Native Bleed Build Up on Hit
  • One of the longest Daggers in Elden Ring
  • Highest Attack Rating of all Daggers except for Flame Art and Sacred

CONS

  • Cannot be Powerstanced with other Daggers
  • Tied for lowest Crit Rating of Daggers

Attack Rating:

  • Magic - 522
  • Fire/Lightning - 510
  • Sacred/Flame Art - 509
  • Cold - 463
  • Keen - 455
  • Heavy - 445
  • Occult - 423
  • Blood/Poison - 382

Conclusion: The Wakizashi is an interesting weapon, because even though it is classified as a 'Dagger" it cannot be powerstanced with other Daggers, but can be with other Katanas, has native bleed build up just like they do, and has the highest Attack Rating of all Daggers generally. This would lead one to believe it's not really one, especially since it has 100 Crit Rating like other Katanas.

Infusion-wise Magic comes in first at 522 Attack Rating, with Sacred/Flame Art and Fire/Lightning basically tied for second. Keen outperforms Heavy by a small amount, and Cold outperforms them both.

You can powerstance this weapon with an Uchigatana if you don't happen to have a second one, but I don't really see much other way of using it since you would likely just use an Uchigatana if you wanted a single weapon or single weapon and shield.

Parrying Dagger – #10 Best Dagger in Elden Ring

The Parrying Dagger shares the default moveset of most other Daggers, and deals Physical Damage. It is tied for the lightest Dagger in Elden Ring, weighing 1.5, and requires 5 Strength and 14 Dexterity in order to use effectively.

Best Dagger in Elden Ring – Ranking All 16 Daggers

PROS

  • Tied for lightest Dagger in Elden Ring
  • Can be acquired quite early in Murkwater Cave
  • Better Parrying i-frames than any other weapon in Elden Ring, but worse than Small Shields

CONS

  • One of the shortest Daggers in Elden Ring
  • Highest Dexterity requirements of any Dagger

Attack Rating:

  • Fire/Lightning - 476
  • Magic - 472
  • Sacred/Flame Art - 456
  • Keen - 428
  • Cold - 417
  • Heavy - 403
  • Blood/Poison - 363

Conclusion: The Parrying Dagger is aptly named, as it gives similar i-frames to a Small Shield using the Parry skill, if only slightly worse. It can be acquired early on in Limgrave, and is tied for the lightest Dagger in the game. However, it is one of the shortest Daggers and has higher DEX requirements than any other Dagger.

Infusion-wise Fire/Lightning comes in first at 476, with Magic in second at 472, and Sacred/Flame Art in third at 456. Keen outperforms Heavy 428 to 403, with Cold being in the middle at 417.

If you're using the Parrying Dagger you might as well lean into this aspect of it in order to play a parrying Build, however since you can do this effectively with the Parrying Dagger, you can dual wield Daggers and still Parry just fine. Make sure to use the Dagger Talisman for increased Critical Damage, and use Millicent's Prosthesis or Rotten Winged Sword Insignia for increased Attack Power via repeated attacks.

Scorpion's Stinger – #9 Best Dagger in Elden Ring

The Scorpion's Stinger has a unique R2 attack shared with the Misericorde and Glintstone Kris, and deals Physical Damage. It has an average weight for a Dagger in Elden Ring, weighing 2.5, and requires 6 Strength, and 12 Dexterity in order to use effectively.

Best Dagger in Elden Ring – Ranking All 16 Daggers

PROS

  • Has native Scarlet Rot Build Up on hit
  • One of the longer Daggers in Elden Ring
  • Can deal either Slash or Thrust Damage easily

CONS

  • Cannot be found until late in the game in the Lake of Rot

Attack Rating at level 150 with optimal stat spread: 441

Conclusion: The Scorpion's Stinger is the only Dagger with Scarlet Rot Build Up, it's one of the longer Daggers in Elden Ring, and it can deal Slash or Thrust damage effectively thanks to it's thrusting heavy attack. However, you won't find this until late into the game in the Lake of Rot.

Repeating Thrust is a decent weapon skill, especially since 2 uses of it is usually enough to set Scarlet Rot on Bosses, and is faster than trying to set it while dual wielding Daggers. The downside is that Daggers have a short range in general, making it so you need to be very close to the target to hit easily with Repeating Thrust.

The sweet spot for this weapon is around minimum Strength and 50 Dexterity, but the weapon scales well up to 80 Dexterity where it drops off significantly. Strength does provide some damage, but not a ton, making this weapon better used on first playthrough than subsequent ones. However, since you cannot get it until late into the game, you won't be able to do that unless someone drops you one.

I like to use this weapon as a means to set Scarlet Rot as a back up weapon since it weighs very little, or you can use it with the Jellyfish Shield buffing your Attack Power with it, leaning into the rapid attacks and high Critical Damage of Daggers in general.

Dagger – #8 Best Dagger in Elden Ring

The Dagger shares the default moveset of most other Daggers, and deals Physical Damage. It is tied for the lightest Dagger in Elden Ring, weighing 1.5, and requires 5 Strength and 9 Dexterity in order to use effectively.

Best Dagger in Elden Ring – Ranking All 16 Daggers

PROS

  • Can be acquired easily in Roundtable Hold
  • Second highest Crit Rating of all Daggers and Weapons
  • Tied for lightest Dagger in Elden Ring

CONS

  • Shortest Dagger in Elden Ring
  • Lower Attack Rating than most Daggers

Attack Rating:

  • Fire/Lightning - 474
  • Magic - 468
  • Sacred/Flame Art - 465
  • Keen - 416
  • Cold - 406
  • Heavy - 397
  • Blood/Poison - 344

Conclusion: The Dagger is actually one of the better Daggers in Elden Ring. Not only can you get it quite early from Roundtable Hold, but it's tied for lightest Dagger and more importantly it has the second highest Crit Rating of all weapons in Elden Ring, behind the Misericorde. The biggest downsides are that it's the shortest Dagger in Elden Ring, and also has pretty low Attack Rating for a dagger.

Infusion-wise Fire/Lightning comes in first at 474, with Magic just behind at 468, and Sacred/Flame Art at 465. Keen outperforms Heavy 416 to 397, with Cold in between at 406.

I like to use this weapon in a Critical focused Build that takes advantage of the high Critical Rating of the weapon. You can use it with Glintstone Phalanx for easy Stance Breaks or you can use it in a Parry Build, both are good options. Make sure to use the Dagger Talisman for increased Critical Damage.

Black Knife – #7 Best Dagger in Elden Ring

The Black Knife has a unique R2 attack shared with the Erdsteel Dagger and Blade of Calling, and deals Physical and Holy Damage. It has an average weight for a Dagger in Elden Ring, weighing 2, and requires 8 Strength, 12 Dexterity and 18 Faith in order to use effectively.

Best Dagger in Elden Ring – Ranking All 16 Daggers

PROS

  • Blade of Death is a solid Weapon Skill
  • Heavy Attack hits twice rapidly
  • Highest Attack Rating of unique Daggers

CONS

  • Holy Damage is resisted by many early and late game enemies
  • Blade of Death is quite expensive

Attack Rating at level 150 with optimal stat spread: 498

The Black Knife is a fan favorite Dagger for a lot of reasons. The heavy attacks strikes twice rapidly just like Blade of Calling, it has the highest Attack Rating of unique Daggers, and Blade of Death rips off 10% of the Max HP of the target. However, it might not be better than Blade of Calling and here is why.

Blade of Death does less damage overall when compared with Blade of Gold, and Blade of Gold costs 17 FP compared to the 25 FP of Blade of Death. Faith impacts the damage of Blade of Gold and Blade of Death, and Blade of Calling has slightly better FTH scaling. You can get Black Knife earlier than Blade of Calling though, making it better for a first playthrough.

The sweet spot for this weapon is around 55 DEX and minimum FTH, but the weapon scales ok up to 50 FTH as well. Since only FTH impacts Blade of Death damage, you might want to consider prioritizing this stat, particularly if you want to cast Incantations effectively while using this weapon.

I like to use this weapon to stack Max HP debuffs on bosses when combined with Destined Death or Blade of Death, or using it in a similar manner as Blade of Calling, but with less FTH and meleeing a bit more.

Bloodstained Dagger – #6 Best Dagger in Elden Ring

The Bloodstained Dagger shares the default moveset of most other Daggers, and deals Physical Damage. It has an average weight for a Dagger in Elden Ring, weighing 2, and requires 9 Strength and 12 Dexterity in order to use effectively.

Best Dagger in Elden Ring – Ranking All 16 Daggers

PROS

CONS

  • One of the shortest Daggers in Elden Ring

Attack Rating:

  • Magic - 484
  • Fire/Lightning - 482
  • Sacred/Flame Art - 464
  • Cold - 437
  • Heavy - 434
  • Keen - 406
  • Occult - 385
  • Blood/Poison - 375

Conclusion: The Bloodstained Dagger is the go-to option for those wanting to use a Dagger with superb Strength scaling. This weapon can be farmed early on in Weeping Peninsula, and has native bleed build up on hit. The biggest downside is that it's rather short for a Dagger.

Infusion-wise Magic comes in first at 484, with Fire/Lightning nearly the same at 482, and Sacred/Flame Art pulling up a distant 3rd. Heavy outperforms Keen by nearly 30 Attack Rating, with Cold outperforming Heavy.

Use this weapon in a dual wield setup like I did with the Crystal Knife, or use it in a build that uses a Greatshield to give you a blocking option while you slash away at enemies with quick Block Counters and R1 attacks.

Blade of Calling – #5 Best Dagger in Elden Ring

The Blade of Calling has a unique R2 attack shared with the Erdsteel Dagger and Black Knife, and deals Physical and Holy Damage. It is tied for the lightest Dagger in Elden Ring, weighing 1.5, and requires 6 Strength, 13 Dexterity and 15 Faith in order to use effectively.

Best Dagger in Elden Ring – Ranking All 16 Daggers

PROS

  • Tied for lightest Dagger in Elden Ring
  • Blade of Gold is fantastic
  • Heavy Attack hits twice rapidly

CONS

  • Not acquired until late into the game near Mountaintops of the Giants
  • Holy Damage is resisted by many early and late game enemies
  • One of the shorter Daggers in Elden Ring

Attack Rating at level 150 with optimal stat spread: 465

Conclusion: The Blade of Calling is a solid Dagger. It's extremely light weight, and its heavy attack hits twice rapidly allowing you to use Millicent's Prosthesis or Rotten Winged Sword Insignia easily. However, you can't get this weapon until way late into the game near Mountaintops of the Giants, Holy Damage is resisted by many end game bosses, and it's one of the shorter Daggers.

Blade of Gold, its weapon skill, does 100% Holy Damage and does a substantial amount of it at decent range, and can knock enemies down. This allows you to pick off enemies at range, and if you can get into the air then you're almost uninterruptable. You can also buff this damage easily with Sacred Scorpion Charm, Shard of Alexander, Ritual Sword Talisman and Holy-Shrouding Cracked Tear.

The sweet spot for this weapon is around 50 FTH and 50 DEX, but Blade of Gold only increases in damage with FTH and if you want to cast Incantations effectively you'll likely want to sacrifice some DEX in order to reach higher FTH initially, but eventually you'll want to increase DEX.

I like to play this weapon with very high Faith, allowing you to get the most from Blade of Gold, but also use the Erdtree Seal to cast Incantations effectively.

Glintstone Kris – #4 Best Dagger in Elden Ring

The Glintstone Kris shares a unique R2 attack with the Misericorde and Scorpion's Stinger, and deals Physical and Magic Damage. It is tied for the lightest Dagger in Elden Ring, weighing 1.5, and requires 5 Strength, 12 Dexterity and 16 Intelligence in order to use effectively.

Best Dagger in Elden Ring – Ranking All 16 Daggers

PROS

  • Tied for lightest Dagger in Elden Ring
  • Glintstone Dart projectile does more Magic Damage than on Magic Infused Daggers with Glintstone Pebble

CONS

  • Cannot be acquired until very late into Elden Ring from doing Sellen's questline

Attack Rating at level 150 with optimal stat spread: 466

Conclusion: The Glintstone Kris might be my favorite Dagger in Elden Ring. At first glance there isn't a lot that separates this from other Daggers, and you can't find it until quite late into the game from doing Sellen's questline. But let me tell you why it's so good.

Glintstone Dart, its weapon skill is similar to Glintstone Pebble in a lot of ways, but there are some key differences. Glintstone Dart does more damage than Glintstone Pebble when it comes to the projectile portion, and not by a small amount. Additionally, Glintstone Dart can pierce enemies while Glintstone Pebble cannot, though Glintstone Dart does cost 2 more FP to use per cast, which I think is more than worth it. However, you can Charge Glintstone Dart by holding L2 increasing its damage further. This gives you a deadly ranged option as well as a quick melee option without the need of any spells.

The sweet spot for this weapon is around 40 DEX and 50 INT, but you can increase INT higher instead of DEX in order to use spells if you prefer, reducing your melee damage by a very small amount. Additionally, INT increases Glintstone Dart damage and DEX only increases the follow up attack.

I like to use this weapon in a dual wield setup with another INT/DEX scaling Dagger like the Crystal Knife, using Glinstone Dart as needed when range is called for. Use Talismans like Shard of Alexander, Magic Scorpion Charm, Millicent's Prosthesis and Godfrey Icon to further boost your Glinstone Dart damage.

Misericorde – #3 Best Dagger in Elden Ring

The Misericorde has a unique R2 attack shared with the Scorpion's Stinger and Glintstone Kris, and deals Physical Damage. It has an average weight for a Dagger in Elden Ring, weighing 2, and requires 7 Strength and 12 Dexterity in order to use effectively.

Best Dagger in Elden Ring – Ranking All 16 Daggers

PROS

  • Can be acquired fairly early in Stormveil Castle
  • Highest Crit Rating of any weapon in Elden Ring
  • Longest Dagger in Elden Ring

CONS

  • ??

Attack Rating:

  • Fire/Lightning - 480
  • Magic - 472
  • Sacred/Flame Art - 460
  • Cold - 437
  • Keen - 413
  • Heavy - 404
  • Blood/Poison - 363

Conclusion: The Misericorde has the highest Critical Rating of any weapon in Elden Ring while simultaneously also being the longest Dagger in the game. You can also get this in Stormveil Castle, which is very early on in the game, allowing you to use this fairly quickly.

Infusion-wise Fire/Lightning comes in first at 480, with Magic at 472, and Sacred/Flame Art at 460. Keen barely outperforms Heavy 413 to 404, with Cold outperforming both.

Because the Critical Rating of this weapon is so high, it makes sense to play a Critical-focused build with this weapon that allows you to take advantage of it. And because Heavy is nearly as good as Keen, you can even use a STR based large weapon, and then swap to this weapon for the Critical Attacks if you want. Otherwise, you can Parry with Carian Retaliation on Shield rather easily. Make sure to use the Dagger Talisman for more Critical Damage.

Erdsteel Dagger – #2 Best Dagger in Elden Ring

The Erdsteel Dagger has a unique R2 attack shared with the Blade of Calling and Black Knife, and deals Physical Damage. It has an average weight for a Dagger in Elden Ring, weighing 2, and requires 7 Strength, 12 Dexterity and 14 Faith in order to use effectively.

Best Dagger in Elden Ring – Ranking All 16 Daggers

PROS

  • Can be acquired from clearing out Fort Haight early on in Limgrave
  • Can get two of these
  • Has Faith scaling and deals 100% Physical Damage, making it quite unique
  • Sacred and Flame Art infusions have the highest Attack Rating of all Daggers

CONS

  • Lowest Attack Rating of any Dagger in Elden Ring by a lot unless you use Sacred or Flame Art

Attack Rating:

  • Sacred/Flame Art - 544
  • Magic - 410
  • Fire/Lightning - 384
  • Keen - 366
  • Heavy - 353
  • Cold - 308
  • Blood/Poison - 231

Conclusion: The Erdsteel Dagger is quite special as its the only Faith Scaling weapon in Elden Ring that does 100% Physical Damage that can still be buffed. You can acquire two of them as well, but it has the lowest Attack Rating of any Dagger in Elden Ring, except if your playing it with the Sacred or Flame Art infusion, then it has the highest Attack Rating of all Daggers.

Sacred and Flame Art come in at a whopping 544 Attack Rating with Magic way way far behind at 410, with Fire/Lightning in third at 384. Keen outperforms Heavy by 13 Attack Rating, and Cold barely breaks 300 Attack Rating.

The best way to use this weapon is probably to dual wield two of these set to Flame Art or Sacred, or using one in the offhand with another unique Dagger in the right like Black Knife or Blade of Calling. Crank Faith and buff with Golden Vow and Flame, Grant Me Strength for even more damage. You can reach over 1000 Attack Power with 2 Erdsteel Daggers when setup this way, which is ridiculous.

Reduvia – #1 Best Dagger in Elden Ring

The Reduvia shares the default attack of most Daggers, and deals Physical Damage. It has an average weight for a Dagger in Elden Ring, weighing 2.5, and requires 5 Strength, 13 Dexterity and 13 Arcane in order to use effectively.

Best Dagger in Elden Ring – Ranking All 16 Daggers

PROS

  • Can be acquired very early on from defeating Bloody Finger Nerijus
  • Native Bleed Build Up on Hit, and higher base Bleed Build up then other Daggers

CONS

  • Low Attack Rating for a Dagger

Attack Rating at level 150 with optimal stat spread: 409

Conclusion: Reduvia is a fantastic Dagger for those looking to take advantage of the Hemorrhage status effect, and is probably the best Dagger for it since the dual wield status effect nerf. You can also get this weapon very early on in the game in Limgrave, allowing you to take advantage of it right away.

Reduvia Blood Blade is an exceptional Weapon Skill that does 100% Physical Damage, is relatively cheap and does Hemorrhage Build Up at range, even though its damage is modest. However, when connecting with the blade and the projectile at the same time, you get insane Hemorrhage Build Up, allowing you to trigger it in one hit many times, or at most two times, making the strategy of this weapon to range when necessary, but generally get up close and spam this weapon skill.

The sweet spot for this weapon is around 55 ARC with minimum points in DEX, but DEX scales ok up to 50. Arcane will increase the Hemorrhage Build Up though, so you want to prioritize this when leveling up.

I like to play this weapon with Reduvia in one hand, and the Dragon Communion Seal in the other, which will allow you to cast some spells effectively while also using Reduvia Blood Blade. Flame, Grant Me Strength is particularly effective with this weapon, so 15 Faith is a solid investment. Swarm of Flies is also a good Incantation to use as well. Be sure to use Lord of Blood's Exultation and White Mask with this weapon for the Attack Power increase.

If you enjoyed this Daggers Ranked Guide, be sure to check out our other Weapon Guides, and also our article on how to Prepare for Shadow of the Erdtree!