Dagger

Dagger

The dagger is the simplest stabbing weapon. It is composed of a small blade, usually around six inches, and is lightweight. The abilities of a dagger may vary depending on its blade size.

Construction

The dagger is one of the most commonly used weapons in history. It evolved from prehistoric tools and initially were made of basic materials, such as stone or bone. Like most bladed weapons, daggers consist of primarily two parts: the blade and hilt.

The blade of a dagger is exceedingly short, approximately six inches long. The dagger blade is usually narrow and pointed, designed for thrusting and stabbing. The use of a fuller is not uncommon, but is usually only for aesthetic purposes. The only thing common between all daggers is that the blade is designed for stabbing.

The hilt of a dagger usually consists of the crossguard, handle, and pommel. As compared to the longsword, the pommels of daggers were significantly smaller, as they do not have to act as a counterweight to the blade. In the case of a handle that is bolted to the tang, pommels were not even used. With the wide variety of daggers, there is no real standard to their construction.

Uses

Daggers have many uses aside from being merely weapons. They're used in fletching for paring arrows, cutting the shafts to length, nocking them, and for cutting the tip. They're also used in the Rogue Guild skill, Rogue Gambits and for cutting the cord when disarming a scales trap. They also serve as excellent tools for skinning critters.

Alternate Names

One of the oldest and most widely used weapons in existence, the dagger has been called many names. This is a list of currently acceptable alternate names for dagger based weapons.

• alfange - from Hispanic Arabic, meaning 'the dagger'. Historically this was used to refer to various short sabers; in Elanthia the term is reserved for daggers.
• basilard - from French, usually referring to a type of historical 14th-century dagger with an I-shaped handle.
• bodice dagger - a small dagger that can be concealed in a bodice.
• bodkin - from Middle English, possibly Celtic origins.
• boot dagger
• bracelet dagger
• butcher knife
• cinquedea - from Italian, meaning 'five fingers'. Historically a long dagger popular during the Renaissance of the 15th and early 16th centuries.
• crescent dagger
• dirk
• fantail dagger
• forked dagger
• gimlet knife
• kaiken - from Japanese. Historically carried by men and women of the samurai class.
• kidney dagger
• knife - includes hunting knives, rigging knives, and long knives.
• kozuka - from Japanese. A dagger carried in a sheath on the reverse of a katana scabbard.
• krizta - a type of krolvin dagger.
• kubikiri - a type of krolvin dagger. Historically from Japanese.
• misericord - from French, meaning 'mercy'. Historically a long knife used to deliver the death stroke to a mortally wounded knight.
• parazonium - from Latin. A long triangular dagger, wide at the hilt end and coming to a point.
• pavade - from Middle English.
• poignard - from French. A long, lightweight thrusting knife with a continuously tapering, acutely pointed blade and crossguard.
• pugio - from Latin.
• push dagger
• scramasax - from Frankish and Saxon. A single-edged hunting knife.
• sgian achlais - from Scottish.
• sgian dubh - from Scottish, meaning 'hidden knife'. An uncommonly small knife.
• sidearm-of-Onar
• spike
• stiletto - from Italian.
• tanto - from Japanese.
• trail knife
• trailknife
• zirah bouk - a type of krolvin dagger.

Game Mechanics

The dagger is a low damage, high speed one-handed edge weapon. At 2 seconds of minimum roundtime, it is the fastest among all edged weapons. Although it can be used against any opponent, it is best suited for unarmored or lightly armored targets. Even with its low damage factors its effectiveness can be enhanced when used in conjunction with ambushing because critical weighting, based on the ambush skill, is applied to the attack; thus, the dagger is able to overcome its low damage as long as the initial damage is sufficient to inflict a minimum rank 1 critical. An especially effective tactic for ambushers is to aim the dagger at the eyes of the target. The eyes have a low instant death critical rank threshold from puncture and slash damage.

Weapon	AG	Cloth	Leather				Scale				Chain				Plate				RT	Min RT	Damage Type	STR/DU
	AsG	1	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Dagger	DF	.250	.200				.100				.125				.075				1	2	Slash/Puncture	18/195
	AvD	25	23	22	21	20	15	13	11	9	10	6	2	-2	0	-6	-12	-18

The standard dagger has a weight of 1 lb.

Note: To edit this table go to Template:Weapon table dagger

Related Articles

• Edged Weapons - The skill required to use a dagger effectively.
• Forging - Player-forged weapons can have up to a 6% bonus to the weapon's AvD and DF.

References

• Play.net, weapons and armor guide
• Wikipedia article on daggers