Daggers are a girls best friend, and one of the more common weapons in Skyrim. You're likely to acquire stacks of them by killing random bandits and stragglers. Most of these are going to be weak iron, maybe steel daggers. The right dagger though, can steal away a soul, put down a legend, and slit a throat if you play your cards right. So, let's take a look at the ten best daggers in Skyrim.
10. Alessandra's dagger
Alessandra's dagger is a named iron dagger. It's not particularly special except for one particular quality. Since it's a quest item, it can't be removed from your inventory. This makes it perfect for the Cidhna mine questline, or any prison escapes in general. When you’re weaponless and armorless, trying to get an escape going, you’d be surprised how useful a knife is.
The only reason to choose this over an iron dagger is if you’re genuinely worried about needing a dagger somewhere, and even then, the bound dagger has higher base damage. Still though, it has it’s uses.
Excels at:
- Breaking you out of prison, since it always stays in your inventory
- Stabbing people in the back, since it’s a dagger
- Early game builds, as it’s easily accessible
Stats:
- Damage: 5
- Weight: 1
- Cost: 10
9. Dragon priest dagger
A dragon priest dagger
This dagger, again, isn't very special, but it looks cool. It has a slightly higher damage than Alessandra's dagger, but is more of a trophy item. The trouble gone through to acquire one is going to need something more powerful than the dagger itself to begin with.
It’s not very powerful, but you can enchant and smith it up to par. It also just looks really cool, more so than any other dagger in the game in my opinion.
Excels at:
- Being a display item, due to the unique skin
- Backstabs, due to damage multiplier applied to daggers
- Dual wielding builds, due to the extra damage of a dagger
Stats:
- Damage: 6
- Weight: 5
- Cost: 9
8. Khavozeins fang
Khavozeins Fang, reskinned
Kahvozein's fang is more of a quest item, but it allows you to harvest a dragon heart scale from slain dragons. All you have to do is equip it in your right hand. It has relatively low damage, but it’s still incredibly unique. It looks exactly the same as a standard dragon priest dagger.
Honestly, you probably don’t want to use this one in combat. But it’s important, and it looks cool.
Excels as:
- A display item, due to the unique appearance
- Getting you through Tolfdir's alteration questline, as its the only way to harvest dragonheart scales
- Getting you killed, as you have to fight a dragon priest for it
- Adding extra damage to a dual wielding build
Stats:
- Damage: 6
- Weight: 5
- Cost: 9
7. Bound Dagger
A character holding a bound dagger
One of the only other daggers available in Cidhna mine, bound dagger allows you to summon a magical 6 damage dagger with conjuration. After leveling to a certain point and unlocking a specific perk, it will deal 10 damage.
This dagger gets outstripped fairly quickly, until you level up your conjuration, but it’s always available, takes up no inventory space, and will stay with you even in Cidhna mine. Unfortunatey, you can’t enchant it.
Excels at:
- Assassinations, due to the silent casting with a certain perk
- Accessibility, since it runs off magicka
- Breaking you out of prison, since it doesn’t need to be in your inventory
- Leveling up your conjuration ability, since it is a spell
Stats:
- Damage: 6/10
- Weight: 0
- Cost: 0
6. Valdr's lucky dagger
A reskinned version of Valdr's Lucky Dagger
Valdr’s Lucky Dagger has a 25% chance of causing a critical hit for every strike you land. Its damage is fairly low though, so even with the critical chance it could still get outstripped by a stronger dagger. That critical hit chance can change the flow of combat in early game though.
Paired with other weapons, Valdr’s dagger can do some heavy damage, especially in early game. It’s got good damage, and can be upgraded significantly.
This dagger excels at:
- Adding an extra kick to early dual wielding builds, due to the crit chance
- Quickly finishing off enemies, due to the crit chance
- Early game builds, due to the accessibility of the dagger
Stats:
- Damage: 6
- Weight: 2.5
- Cost: 15
5. Keening
A slightly modified Keening render
Keening is a unique dwarven dagger in Skyrim that drains 10 points of magicka, stamina, and health. Aside from a visually stunning appearance, this dagger can be incredibly useful, and combined with dwarven damage levels, poses a real threat.
It’s got one of the most unique enchantments, providing well rounded usage. Unfortunately it’s damage is a bit low, but the health drain can potentially make up for that.
This can be especially useful for:
- Dealing with wizards, due to the magicka drain
- A vampire build, due to the health drain
- Immobilizing your opponents, with the stamina drain
- Immersion, due to the unique skin
Stats:
- Damage: 8
- Weight: 4
- Cost: 5111
4. Bloodthorn
Capturing souls into a gem isn't exactly anything new. There's an enchantment for it, and you'll find plenty of weapons to destroy for the knowledge. But not all of them have a cool name. And not all of them have a hidden enchantment that steals ten points of health.
With a more expansive effect from the standard soul trap, and decent damage, Bloodthorn is a strong dagger to keep on hand for trapping souls.
Excels at:
- Enchantment builds, due to the soul capture effect and added enchantment that does extra damage
- Vampire builds, due to the life drain
- Early game startup, due to the relatively easily accessibility of hag’s end
- Soul Trap effect works on Animunculi (Specific dwarven automatons)
Stats:
- Damage: 5
- Weight: 2.5
- Cost: 183
3. Blade of Woe
The Blade of Woe is an artifact of the dark brotherhood, only available by completing the brotherhood's questline, by killing Astrid and starting the questline to overthrow them, or by pickpocketing Astrid. If you do choose to pickpocket Astrid, you can actually still acquire the dagger through the dark brotherhood questline, meaning that you’ll be able to acquire two of these blood soaked daggers.
This is the highest damaging dagger in the game, with dragonbone level damage, upgradable, and ten points of vampiric damage.
Excels at:
- Vampire builds, due to the health drain
- High damage builds, due to the 12 damage
- Assassinations, due to its deadly vampiric edge
Stats:
- Damage: 12
- Weight: 7
- Cost: 880
2. Dragonbone dagger
A prop version of the dagger
The Dragonbone Dagger is one of the strongest daggers in the game. It’s a terrifyingly stunning blade of bone steel and scales. It’s boring though, and difficult to acquire. To craft it, you’re going to need to kill a few dragons, and level your smithing up to 100. There are very few ways to acquire this dagger as loot.
With high enough enchanting skills, you could enchant one of these daggers to be more powerful than the Blade of Woe, and have it hold a double enchantment. Its base damage is also high enough to be a real threat on its own.
Excels at:
- Combat, having the highest damage of any non unique dagger
- Effects, being able to hold two custom enchantments
- Dual wielding builds, due to it’s high damage and light weight
Stats:
- Damage: 12
- Weight: 6.5
- Cost: 600
1. Mehrunes Razor
A fanmade render of Mehrunes razor
Mehrunes Razor is a daedric artifact with a small chance of killing the opponent with every strike. Commit some sanctified murders, go through a questline, and devote yourself to Mehrunes Dagon, and you’ll be able to reassemble its shattered shards. It makes your play through much more interesting, and is one of the most visually stunning daggers in the game. Pro tip, dual wield it in the left hand, the power attack swings twice.
It has base 11 damage, and can kill even bosses in one hit on a lucky day. Lightweight, and damage rivaling crafted daggers, Mehrunes Razor is arguably the best dagger in the game.
Excels in
- Speeding up combat, with the 50% chance of instakill
- Providing something nice to look at, with its unique skin
- Damage, being only 1 point lower than the dragonbone dagger
- Two-handed combat with a sword and dagger, adding high damage and an instakill chance
Stats:
- Damage: 11
- Weight: 3
- Cost: 860
