Elden Ring has some of the best daggers in my personal opinion, with how great weapon arts are, these daggers aren't as bad as they were in previous Fromsoft titles. This top 5 list will help you find the dagger build of your dreams, with some of them being quite strong. If you pair these builds with some of the stronger summons you will have an easy time with some of the harder bosses like Elden Beast, especially the Black Knife with Tiche as your summon. 

As someone who finished Elden Ring with the Black KNife I can say, this weapon is amazing.

5. Glintstone Kris Build

Who wouldn’t want a magic dagger?

With the Glintstone Kris in your hand and a scepter in the other, you will be one amazing caster. This build is great for anyone looking for a dagger-magic build. The dagger has a good ash of war that is almost the same as Glintstone Pebble, when charged it turns into the Glintstone Dart.

What the Glintstone Kris build excels in:

• Great Ash of War damage.
• Fast attacks as it is a dagger.
• Skill can be delayed, and the follow-up attack has a long range for this weapon type.

Build details:

• Use the Glintstone Kris dagger as your main weapon with the Azur’s Glintstone Staff as your second off-hand weapon. It will lower the casting time of incantations and sorceries but uses 20% more FP.
• For armor use, the Azur set. The set will increase the damage of Comet Azur by 15%, Glintstone Cometshard, and Comet by 10% to the detriment of 15% more FP cost.
• For talismans use the Magic Scorpion Charm to increase magic damage by 12% to the detriment of more physical damage.
• The next talisman should be the Erdtree favor +2 as it will increase HP by 4%, increase stamina by 9.6% and equip load by 8%.
• For the third talisman use, the Carian Filigreed Crest will reduce the consumption of FP used by skills.
• As it goes for the last talisman I would recommend you use the Shard of Alexander for the extra weapon art damage.
• In the Wondrous Physick use Cerulean Hidden Tear to eliminate all FP consumption for a time and the Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear to increase magic damage for a time.
• For spells, use Terra Magica, Azur Comet, Comet, Glintstone Pebble, and Glintstone Cometshard, but any Glintstone sorcery works great with this build.

4. Scorpion’s Stinger Build

Luckily real scorpions don’t have Scarlet Rot.

The Scorpion’s Stinger, a dagger that deals Scarlet Rot sounds overpowered, but sadly it’s not as great as the other daggers on this list. The weapon has the same skill as Rogier’s Rapier, Repeating Thrust. With the ability to rot bosses, you can pair this well with the Dragon Communion Seal and the Rotten Breath Incantation.

What the Scorpion’s Stinger build excels in:

• Dealing rot damage can deal continuous damage to a boss or enemy that can be rotted.
• This dagger deals more damage than a maxed-out Keen Misericorde.
• Has B dex scaling.

Build details:

• Use the Scorpion’s Stinger as your main weapon, with the Dragon Communion Seal.
• For armor use a sturdy set like the Maliketh set as it will help with damage negation.
• As it goes for talismans, use Flock’s Canvas Talisman as it increases the potency of incantations.
• Use the Shard of Alexander to increase the attack power of weapon skills.
• As well as the Dragoncrest Greatshield talisman as it greatly increases damage negation 
• And finally, the  Erdtree Favour +2 will increase HP by 4%, increase stamina by 9.6% and equip load by 8%.
• With the Wondrous Physick use the Cerulean Hidden Tear to remove all FP consumption for a time, as well as the Dex-Knot Crystal Tear to increase your dex for a time, you can alternatively use the Opaline Bubbletear if you want to be able to take a hit without taking a lot of damage.
• For incantations use the Rotten Breath incantation, as well as Golden Vow to buff your character as it increases defense by 15% and offense by 10%, and pair it with Flame Grant Me Strength.
• Use Erdtree heal to heal yourself and others as well as Bestial Vitality to regenerate a bit of health for a time. 

3. Blade Of Calling Build

Melina would be proud.

If you ever had trouble with Margot, The Omen King and you summoned Melina, you would recognize this Blade. This weapon is amazing and does pure holy damage with its ash of war, so all faith players will love this weapon. With B faith scaling this is one of the best daggers in Elden Ring.

What the Blade of Calling build excels in:

• Has high scaling in faith.
• Great damage with the Ash of War, which also has hyper armor when being used.
• Stealth attacks do extra damage.
• Ash of War has a strong knockback that can knock back enemies.

Build details:

• Use the Blade of Calling as your main weapon with the Erdtree Seal because it has S faith scaling.
• Use the Traveler’s set as it resembles Melina’s outfit.
• For talismans use Flock’s Canvas Talisman as it increases the potency of incantations.
• Use the Shard of Alexander to increase the attack power of weapon skills.
• As well as the Dragoncrest Greatshield talisman as it greatly increases damage negation 
• And finally, the Erdtree Favour +2 will increase HP by 4%, increase stamina by 9.6%, and equip load by 8%.
• In the Wondrous Physick, use the Holy-Shrouding Cracked Tear and the Cerulean hidden tear to increase holy damage and remove all FP consumption for a time.
• For incantations use, Golden Vow to buff your character as it increases defense by 15% and offense by 10%, and pair it with Flame Grant Me Strength.
• Use Erdtree heal to heal yourself and others as well as Bestial Vitality to regenerate a bit of health for a time. 

2. Reduvia Build

The Reduvia is one amazing dagger.

The Reduvia is a beautiful dagger that deals good damage and can bleed enemies. The weapon can be found very early on, and it can be used for one amazing build, with it having blood loss, and an amazing ranged weapon art, this build is great for any dagger user. 

What the Reduvia build excels in:

• Bleed damage.
• Ranged and close-range damage.
• Great weapon art.
• B scaling in arcane and arcane affects the amount of blood loss that builds up.

Build details:

• Use the Reduvia as the main weapon, with the Erdtree Seal or the Dragon Communion Seal
• For armor, use the Silver Tear mask to increase Arcane to the detriment of taking more physical damage.
• The rest of the armor is up to you, but use something sturdy to take a few more hits.
• As far as Talismans go, use Radagon’s Soreseal for a few extra levels, but also take more damage and replace it later with Erdtree Favour +2 as it will increase HP by 4%, increases stamina by 9.6%, and equip load by 8%.
• Use the Shard of Alexander to increase the damage of weapon skills, either by killing pot bro or finishing his questline.
• Use the Godfrey Icon that enhances charged spells and skills, as soon as you get it.
• Also, the Lord of Blood’s Exultation increases attack power when in the vicinity of blood loss.
• For the Wondrous Physick, use the Opaline Bubble Tear to tank a hit without taking a lot of damage and the Cerulean Hidden Tear to remove FP consumption for a time.

1. Black Knife Build

The best dagger in the game.

The Black Knife is one of my favorite weapons in the game, with its amazing weapon art and it being able to pair well with a lot of different incantations. This dagger can deal massive damage to bosses and reduces their max HP for a time. This weapon also works great against the final boss, Elden Beast. 

What the Black Knife Build excels in:

• The weapon has an amazing weapon art.
• The build has some great incantations to use.
• The weapon deals great damage.
• Paired with Black Knife Tiche no boss will be able to stand in your way.

Build details:

• Use the Black Knife as your main weapon and also use the Erdtree Seal.
• Using Golden Vow which gives 15% more damage, and reduces damage taken by 10 %, will make the weapons deal amazing damage, you can also buff with Flame Grant Me Strength as they stack with each other.
• Use the Faith-Knot Crystal Tear in the Wondrous Physick to increase your faith and the Cerulean Hidden Tear to eliminate all FP consumption. Alternatively, you can swap the Cerulean Hidden Tear for the Strength-Knot Crystal Tear to increase strength.
• For armor, I would suggest something that can tank a lot of damage like the Radhan set or Maliketh set.
• Use the Shard of Alexander as it is one amazing talisman that increases weapon art damage by 15%.
• Equip the Sacred Scorpion Charm to increase faith.
• Radagons Soreseal can be used early on for those extra levels but later on, it should be replaced with Erdtrees Favor + 2 which will increase HP by 4%, increase stamina by 9.6% and equip load by 8%.
• The last talisman should be the Carian Filigree Talisman to reduce the FP cost of all skills.
• For incantations also use, Bestial Vitality to regenerate some health, as well as Erdtree Heal or Lord’s Heal if you can to heal yourself 

This concludes our list of the top 5 best dagger builds in Elden Ring, if you enjoyed this article be sure to check out these as well.

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• Elden Ring Best Weapons for Dual Wield
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• Elden Ring Best Keepsakes and How To Get Them
• Elden Ring Best Dex Weapons
• Elden Ring Best Bleed Weapons