Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General What is the purpose of Daggers?

And i mean mechanically ...
Is there any reason to keep dagger over any other weapon?
Some build, feat, or ability? Including all tabletop expansions.

I suppose they can be thrown, as they have the thrown property. But Thrown Weapon Fighting Style, from Tasha's, is required to make a throwing build actually work.

They're one of only three finesse weapons that also have the light property, and they are the only one that can be thrown in a pinch - they're also much easier to conceal and hide than scimitars or short swords, which is, or can be, a valuable trait in non video-game settings. You trade 1 average point of damage for greater flexibility in other areas.

You don't need the Tasha style to still make use of their thrown property - my rogue often makes throws rather than melee attacks during hectic combat situations, allowing him more flexibility and options to more easily capitalise on sneak attack opportunities than if he was locked into melee-only combat; it's not an all-the-time thing, just a thing of flexibility and options, which the one less average point of damage is more than worth, in my experience.

Cool!

But, this is one of things Rogue cant do in BG-3, right?

Unfortunately, yes. As BG3 itself currently stands, there is no benefit or value in choosing a dagger over a scimitar or short sword, unless the dagger has an enchantment you particularly want.

Daggers are the only simple weapon with the finesse property. This lack of a martial proficiency requirement is partially why they do less damage. Most arcane spellcasters (who don't get martial weapons proficiency) will have higher Dex than Str, and thus a dagger will be the mechanically optimal choice if they somehow need to use a weapon.

Also true... for some reason my brain always thinks that short swords are simple, and so I don't think about that, but that's also a valid point.

Tactically, shocking grasp is better for a caster in melee range. Although I suppose that sometimes you just want to stab somebody.

Particularly useful if you are RPing as Black Mage from 8 bit theater.

Specifically for BG3, unless Larian has changed Shadowheart's stats again, dagger is the best melee weapon for her. She can't use short sword because it's a martial weapon, and her STR is abysmal, so her starting mace is "as useful as a marzipan dildo".

Also, you can equip the dagger to the off-hand of any character who doesn't use shield or 2h weapon for any reason, and get an extra attack, however weak, right at level 1 (that however requires their main weapon to also be Light). This one isn't particularly useful in BG3 because there are many ways to use a BA here, but in the other game it is a viable approach on low levels for high-DEX non-frontliners.

For scratching the backs of uppity wizards.

Her strength bonus is only one less than her dex bonus at start, so she hits slightly better with dagger, and it does about the same damage as a mace. However, spears are a good option for her since there's a lot of magic ones early on.

Spears... for some reason, I keep thinking that they require both hands.
Yes, you are right, spear would be better, as soon as you find one. At the beach, right after the fall from the ship - I don't recall any. That's where daggers come handy.

actually, I just realise why they give her more dex than strength, they do want her to use a spear as her weapon choice for a big reason coming in the later act 1.

Spears aren't finesse: they use Strength for to-hit and damage rolls. So SH would have a lower to-hit with a spear than with a dagger, and deal the same damage.

Ofc, as @Qatseri says, the magic properties on some spears might still make them better than magic daggers.

I hope they have some daggers with cool enchantments, because I really like them from a flavor standpoint.