Increasing my damage with Daggers?

[TheBlueFox]

Hey all, I love to play soulslike with daggers. I just love the style, the crit damage, the speed.

However in this game, The starting exiled daggers are... Oof. Hard to even get used to.

I feel like I'm tickling enemies, and the critical stagger punishes aren't even spectacular... So help me out here.

What weapon salts do you like to use, or spells, to increase damage for rapid attacking weapons like the daggers?

[Makibaz]

I don't use daggers, but i'd imagine using any spell buffs/salts that increase their bleed/poison that's already on the weapon could help. I personally really like using the radiant weapon spell from the holy tree. It requires... 18(?) holy so it's a small investment for something so useful. The lightning strikes are very aesthetically pleasing and I'd imagine that the rapid hitting of daggers would potentially stack it quicker than some other weapons? You can also get the defense up spell from the radiant tree which, while it drains your mana constantly, it is SO USEFUL vs bosses and tough enemies. often just letting you mash light attacks until they die before you do.

There's also the poison spell in the umbral tree that I think requires less committment? I personally really don't like the umbral tree and wither as a whole. It's "potential" damage because if they hit you back they just heal it back up.

Sorry for the long answer, hope any of this helped!

Edit: I've also noticed that making sure to upgrade your weapons in this game is much more impactful than in other souls games. I could usually get by pretty easily with not upgrading/barely upgrading in other souls games but it feels like upgrading your weapons in this one is pretty rewarding. just make sure to pick something that you enjoy using and has a decent scaling modifier.

[TheBlueFox]

Originally posted by Makibaz:

I don't use daggers, but i'd imagine using any spell buffs/salts that increase their bleed/poison that's already on the weapon could help. I personally really like using the radiant weapon spell from the holy tree. It requires... 18(?) holy so it's a small investment for something so useful. The lightning strikes are very aesthetically pleasing and I'd imagine that the rapid hitting of daggers would potentially stack it quicker than some other weapons? You can also get the defense up spell from the radiant tree which, while it drains your mana constantly, it is SO USEFUL vs bosses and tough enemies. often just letting you mash light attacks until they die before you do.

There's also the poison spell in the umbral tree that I think requires less committment? I personally really don't like the umbral tree and wither as a whole. It's "potential" damage because if they hit you back they just heal it back up.

Sorry for the long answer, hope any of this helped!

Edit: I've also noticed that making sure to upgrade your weapons in this game is much more impactful than in other souls games. I could usually get by pretty easily with not upgrading/barely upgrading in other souls games but it feels like upgrading your weapons in this one is pretty rewarding. just make sure to pick something that you enjoy using and has a decent scaling modifier.

I haven't YET invested in the magic of this game, but I might once I figure out which series better helps my style.

I have a collection of salts that I've started to use more, to see what they do.

FIRE salts... don't set enemies on fire as I thought they would. It seems fire STATUS and fire DAMAGE are two completely separate things. However, I do have a fire GRENADE that says it reduces enemy fire resistance, coats them in oil, and sets them on fire. I might try to throw some of these on an enemy and use fire salts to see if that combos.

I have yet to poison an enemy with Poison salts... the build up must not be alot. I just got Poison Javelins for throwing, I'll try to use this to assist on a boss and just see how much it builds.

Haven't used my wither salts yet, I'm curious if that ONLY effects enemies you soulrend, because normally you cash out the damage on wither whenever you hit an enemy...

[Rain]

Daggers are primarily good with status builds, their pure damage is not great to compensate for that.

[smokingSnakeRIT]

Using dual wield in this game is very meme, your weapon with improvements and you do less damage than you should

[Makibaz]

Originally posted by TheBlueFox:

Originally posted by Makibaz:

I don't use daggers, but i'd imagine using any spell buffs/salts that increase their bleed/poison that's already on the weapon could help. I personally really like using the radiant weapon spell from the holy tree. It requires... 18(?) holy so it's a small investment for something so useful. The lightning strikes are very aesthetically pleasing and I'd imagine that the rapid hitting of daggers would potentially stack it quicker than some other weapons? You can also get the defense up spell from the radiant tree which, while it drains your mana constantly, it is SO USEFUL vs bosses and tough enemies. often just letting you mash light attacks until they die before you do.

There's also the poison spell in the umbral tree that I think requires less committment? I personally really don't like the umbral tree and wither as a whole. It's "potential" damage because if they hit you back they just heal it back up.

Sorry for the long answer, hope any of this helped!

Edit: I've also noticed that making sure to upgrade your weapons in this game is much more impactful than in other souls games. I could usually get by pretty easily with not upgrading/barely upgrading in other souls games but it feels like upgrading your weapons in this one is pretty rewarding. just make sure to pick something that you enjoy using and has a decent scaling modifier.

I haven't YET invested in the magic of this game, but I might once I figure out which series better helps my style.

I have a collection of salts that I've started to use more, to see what they do.

FIRE salts... don't set enemies on fire as I thought they would. It seems fire STATUS and fire DAMAGE are two completely separate things. However, I do have a fire GRENADE that says it reduces enemy fire resistance, coats them in oil, and sets them on fire. I might try to throw some of these on an enemy and use fire salts to see if that combos.

I have yet to poison an enemy with Poison salts... the build up must not be alot. I just got Poison Javelins for throwing, I'll try to use this to assist on a boss and just see how much it builds.

Haven't used my wither salts yet, I'm curious if that ONLY effects enemies you soulrend, because normally you cash out the damage on wither whenever you hit an enemy...

I think there are 2 different build ups for fire? one that explodes and one that is a fire damage over time? i'm unsure. when i used infernal weapons with the fire dmg property they would eventually be caught on fire and start taking damage over time.

poison is a dot too i think but the buildup might be alot? not sure.

wither damage makes their hp take white damage, like you do when you're in the umbral. It works all the time, not just when they're soul rended. I don't personally like it (and i tried it for a long time) because if they hit you at all, they too will get their hp back. (might also have a burst damage after a certain build up, unsure)

Bleed i don't think is a dot. I think it's a build up and then burst damage.

I personally like flexing into either holy, infernal, or umbral in order to get their buffs and weapon coating spells. Makes melee feel alot better when I can give myself +phys + def and/or +holy/poison/etc. It's also replenishable with mana as opposed to a consumable resource that you have to buy/farm. That's what made melee feel alot better for me personally. That and make sure your weapons are enhanced via the blacksmith. going from +0 to +3/4 can make a world of a difference.

I've been dual wielding pieta's weapons because... they're sick. light sword? i'm sold. they only go up to +5 but just getting them to +2 or 3 made their dmg much more. Don't let people tell you what to build though. I've completed this game already with dual wielding and i'm gonna do it again for a different ending. Dual wielding is sick.

[Kacho]

Originally posted by smokingSnakeRIT:

Using dual wield in this game is very meme, your weapon with improvements and you do less damage than you should

What?

[mETAL]

Honestly you should just use dual swords. Same moveset but more dmg and more reach.

[Dorf]

I was only able to get daggers to work with the Umbral catalyst and Poison Weapon spell. But I'm also not very good. Eventually, I switched entirely to dual short swords that have bleed, poison and burn buildup and tossed in the Lacerating Weapon spell for visual appeal and I'm plowing through the game now.

[TheBlueFox]

So I started using Poison and... I'm actually a little surprised. It's pretty GOOD.

The only problem is... well... There's alot of bosses that are immune to it. Like, WHY is the Spurned Progeny immune to it? Still, It's really nice on those "I used to be a boss but now I'm a normal ass enemy" types.

Just give em a few hits, then just back off, they melt.

I tried using Wither salts, there was a guy with me in multiplayer that had a wither spear. He hit hard, and had extra wither damage on the enemy HP bar, so his NEXT hit hit even harder. With daggers... Not so good. It added a TINY bit of wither for every hit. So yeah, I did more damage but... It wasn't really worth it. I think it would be good if I Soulrended an enemy, it might build it up heavier.

Adding Fire was pretty nice, it's hard to tell how MUCH it adds, but it was doing good in many areas that weren't the fiery pits of hell that spawn nothing but fire dogs, fire zombies, and flame crossbowmen...

Using Radiant salt was... OKAY ish? I don't think that it added much. I think that the Elemental salts might not be worth it on daggers, Is there a way to see how much it adds?

[BinaryJay]

I got through to the end of the swamp on starter exiled daggers before bothering changing them, they're fine IMO. Trying short swords now the next time I get a chance to play.