Dagger

Knife Sideview.png
DAGGER
Weapon Quote
“Close-range melee weapon; can also perform a secondary backstabbing attack”

"As we pass the halfway point of the match, you could cut the tension with a knife. Or an assassin's dagger. Or a cheese slicer."
— Scotty

// Profile //
BuildLight
TypeMelee
// Damage //
Body50
Crit320 [Backstab w/ Alt Fire]
// Technical //
Attack TimePrimary: 500ms ALT: 950ms

The Dagger is a Light class melee weapon with the unique ability to deal extreme contact damage with a backstab attack, designed to assassinate opponents.

Usage

The Dagger can be selected as the weapon of any Light build loadout.

The attack trigger slashes opponents in front of the user to damage them, and can be held down to continuously attack.

The secondary attack is charged up by holding the aiming key and triggered on release. This will damage an opponent in front of the user, if the attack lands behind the opponent, it will count as a backstab, inflicting 320 damage to the target. The backstab charge can be canceled by pressing the primary fire key while holding the charge.

Controls PC PS XBox Key
Equip Dagger
1
 
Y
Weapon
Attack (Tap)
Continuous attack (Hold)
 
R2
RT
Primary fire
Stab attack (Tap)
 
L2
LT
Secondary fire

Properties

Weapon

FeatIcon Melee.png Melee — Strikes targets close to the contestant. Can attack forever without reloading.

FeatIcon Automatic Fire.png Automatic Fire — Continues to attack repeatedly until the trigger is released.

FeatIcon Alternate Attack.png Alternate Attack — Has an alternate attack that performs a slower stab which can critically hit.

FeatIcon Attack Sequence.png No Attack Sequence — Attacks from right to left and left to right, but these have no difference in timing or hit registration.

Bullet

FeatIcon Critical Hit.png Critical Hit — Critically hits for extreme damage on its alternate attack if the user is behind the target.

FeatIcon Minor Structure Damage.png Minor Structure Damage — Damages structures. Takes a very long time to break a concrete wall.

Strategy

Strengths

  • The xx's extreme backstab damage makes it a strong tool against Heavies. They are the slowest class, making it hard for them to outmaneuver the Light user, but still get (nearly) one-shot by the xx.

Weaknesses

  • Not only is the xx's backstab damage overkill against Lights, they are also very difficult to catch with a melee attack—let alone with a backstab—due to their high movability.
  • If a backstab attempt fails, the xx's damage output is very low, meaning it may be a better choice to escape instead of attempting to eliminate the target.

Tactics

  • It is possible to instantly kill a Heavy by backstabbing them immediately followed by a Quick Melee.
  • The Cloaking Device can be paired up with the Dagger to get close to opponents. However, once the user is close enough they should act quickly, as the cloaking device will become easy to noticeable due to its loud and distinct sound when in motion.
  • The Evasive Dash can be combined with the Dagger. The backstab charge can be started from a distance, and then a dash is used to close the gap. It is also possible to begin the charge facing the opponent, then dash past them and look around. This technique can be perfected in the practice range, but proves quite difficult on actual opponents, as their unpredictable movement can body-block the dash from reaching past them.

Damage

Useful Damage Combinations
Build Attack Combo Damage
Light Primary Fire → Primary Fire → Primary Fire 50+50+50= 150
Alt Fire (backstab) 320
Medium Alt Fire (backstab) 320
Heavy Alt Fire (backstab) → Primary Fire 320+50= 370
Alt Fire (backstab) → Quick Melee 320+40= 360
Shots to Kill Time to Kill (Body) Time to Kill (Crit)
Light 3 1.21 N/A
Medium 5 2.20 N/A
Heavy 7 3.35 N/A
Kill times for the Dagger


Mechanics

Backstab

The Dagger's backstab attack takes 800ms to charge up. Then, there are 3 frames in which the stab attack occurs. If a target is in the stab's area of effect in any of these frames, they will be struck at the first possible frame. Unlike the standard attack, the stab attack can only hit one target.

If the user is behind the target at the striking frame, the attack will critically hit as a backstab. More specifically, the vector from the user to the target needs to be anywhere between codirectional (0°) and orthogonal (-90° or 90°) to the facing direction of the target.

The backstab charge can be held even when cloaked from the Cloaking Device or Vanishing Bomb.

Item Mastery

Item mastery XP can be earned by damaging and eliminating opponents with the Dagger.

Each time a certain XP threshold is reached, the item levels up. This does not improve the item, but rewards a unique item customization.

XP Breakdown
Source XP Reward
Damage dealt by the Dagger
Backstab damage dealt by the Dagger
Opponent eliminated by damage from the Dagger
(Does not count quick melee finishers)
Assist on an opponent damaged by the Dagger
Level 1
Dagger Rank 1.png
0 XP
Dagger
Level 2
Dagger Rank 2.png
9,000 XP
Dye Job (Yellow)
Level 3
Dagger Rank 3.png
9,000 XP
Dye Job (Blue)
Level 4
Dagger Rank 4.png
36,000 XP
Dye Job (Red)
Level 5
Dagger Rank 5.png
54,000 XP
Dye Job (White)
Level 6
Dagger Rank 6.png
162,000 XP
Triangle Twinkle
Level 7
Dagger Rank 7.png
144,000 XP
Striped Grazer
Level 8
Dagger Rank 8.png
136,000 XP
Painted Predator

Trivia

  • The Dagger appears to be a serrated tactical dagger designed for combat, with a steel blade and a synthetic handle.
  • The Dagger was originally introduced as the "Assassin's Dagger" until its name was changed to Dagger in Closed Beta 2.
  • About the Ominous Osthyvel (Cheese slicer) skin for the Dagger:
“A couple of weeks before the Closed Beta I was visiting an old friend. During dinner he told me a story about how dangerous a simple “osthyvel” (a traditional Swedish cheese slicer) can actually be… It was a hilarious story and I sent a text to Theodor (artist) and Oskar (animator) to suggest that it could be a weapon. Just two days later it was in the game.! For authenticity, they also scanned a chunk of cheese and then added the amazing slice taunt. The cheese is a Swedish traditional Prästost, you should try it when you visit Sweden, hehe.”
Rob Runesson in an interview with RockhoundBlack, March 2023

Videos

Weapon Skins

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