Introduction: Hello, I'm Pentao, and as I browsed through various sites, I thought that there weren't enough dagger guides for people to read. This guide is solely for the purpose of informing you about the playstyle of a Dagger Explorer. Without further ado, here's the guide.
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Table of Contents
1. Dagger Explorer Basic Overview
-Overview
-Pros & Cons
2. A Dagger User's Skills
-General Overview
-Skill Descriptions & Analysis
-Skill Builds
3. Boss Hunting as a Dagger Explorer
-Invoke & Invoke EX
-Zoe
-Hyunmu
-Shaowee
4. Combos and PvP Strategies
-Combos
-PvP Tactics
-PvP Match Ups
5. Credits
-People to Thank
-Who Can Use This Guide
-Remaining Words
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1. Dagger Explorer Basic Overview
-The Overview: Dagger Explorers are the only sub-class of Explorers that have melee for both basic and heavy attacks. You may expect Dagger Explorers to be melee; however, they can fight at range if need be, with range similar to Bow and Crossbow users. Dagger Exps. tend to have high damage output, high critical and evasion rates, decent defense, HP, and SP. They are a class that early on, does not level at either a very fast or very slow rate, but start to pick up leveling speed later. Their general abilities can focus either in direct close-range combat, or ranged combat, or even both depending on your skill build. Also as all explorers, they can make money easily, and can even improve their treasure gathering skills if they so desire.
-Pros & Cons
+Great damage output at level 40 onward.
+Have both close-range combat and ranged skills.
+Have decent defense thanks to having a shield.
+Have flashy skills that aren't just for looks, as they are all useful.
+Defense actually is really good thanks to shields.
-HP remains sub-par. It's not impossible to tank as a Dagger Explorer, but it's not a good idea either way.
-Do not have good battle-related buffs.
-Can not support allies outside of dealing damage/treasure hunting buff.
-Not a lot of daggers specialize in aiding Explorers as there are daggers that aid Mages instead for some reason, despite most mages never getting dagger skills.
Dagger Vs. Bow & Crossbow
"What are the unique attributes of each weapon for explorers/treasure hunters?" is a pretty common question, and so, here is where I address it.
+Mobility. Bows only have three skills that actually move the character when used (Ice Arrow, Bird Hunting, Fire All, IIRC) and in most cases, it's not very much movement, while crossbows can only move backward on their explosive skill tree. Meanwhile, the melee tree allows dagger users to move forward and back, and the ranged tree allows for aerial movement as well (bombing daggers).
+Safety. Dagger users not only have a shield to buff their defense (and evasion if you enchant it), but they have many attacks that prevent the enemy from attacking for the duration (Illusion Dagger II, Masquerade I & II, Bombing Dagger I & II), combine that with mobility and you're able to keep enemies off you far easier than one would expect.
+Cooldown, dagger skills are pretty good at cooling down at the moments you need them, since some skills last so long anyway. Plus Dark Dagger II cools down so quickly you get overall higher DPS.
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2. A Dagger User's Skills
-General Overview of Skills: Dagger Explorers have a plethora of misc. skills shared by all Explorers. However, aside from Good Luck, Evasion, Tiger Claw and Eyes of Falcon, none of the skills are practical for leveling or PvP, but are useful if you want to make money by unlocking chests or getting more drops. As previously stated, daggers can use both ranged and close-range skills, and they have the general mastery skills all weapons pretty much have (Accuracy Boost, Damage Boost, Critical Boost).
DAGGER SKILLS:
Basic Attack: A downward slash, followed by a quick stab. It's a quick attack, and if the enemy gets knocked back by it, you can consistantly keep them back too, until they do an attack. The dash attack version has you run holding the dagger backward slashing downward. It's great to start combos with, but you don't need to always do the second slash if you find you're not doing enough damage to make monsters flinch. It's jumping attack hits a wide range. For a basic attack, it's rather nice.
PvE Usage Rating: 6/10 [A quick slash 2-hit combo is nice in the early levels when you lack a variety of skills, and it can start up combos nicely if you can flinch foes. However in later levels monsters don't really flinch from it, and you'll have more skills available. Thus you may end up ditching this attack later.]
PvP Usage Rating: 3/10 [It's quickness is good for finishing off opponents, but it's not that useful otherwise. The jump attack can hit above you though, which is somewhat useful, and if your attacks all get interrupted, you may as well do a basic attack instead if you can't run.]
Heavy Attack: You take a full step forward while thrusting your dagger in a stabbing motion. It has good range, but it's pretty slow. It has pretty decent damage. However, due to it's slow thrust, you can often get hit before even launching the attack which hurts it's usefulness. Also if you use a skill too soon after starting the attack, the skill will completely over-ride the heavy attack's completion and it won't do damage. Thus, using a skill kind of cancels a heavy attack if you're too hastey with skilling. It's dash attack is a low-to-the-ground sliding thrust that is A LOT faster than the normal attack. The jump attack is a mid-air stab.
PvE Usage Rating: 3/10 [It's damage is decent. That's about all this attack has going for it unless you dash attack with it, but since you go through mobs when you dash attack, it's not that good of an idea. Plus due to it's slow start up, you can get interrupted by mobs that attack quickly.]
PvP Usage Rating: 2/10 [You won't have a lot of opportunities to use this move really, since it's slow enough to be interrupted by quicker attacks, and it's not really strong enough to interrupt others. The dashing attack can be used to psyche people out though since you go through them.]
Dancing Dagger: Your basic melee dagger skill. It's description says, do a strong side slash, but that doesn't really give you a good idea of what it looks like. It's more like, do a powerful backwards sliding slash. This is overall, a great skill. It's damage is about twice of a heavy attack, it executes instantly, costs little SP, and since it sends you backwards. You can defend if you want, or attempt to avoid the inevitable attack you'll receive after sliding back too, and you can even get away with back dashing at times. However you shouldn't rely on this opportunity since not all monsters attack slowly enough to let you guard right away.
PvE Usage Rating: 7/10 [This move is wonderful for ending combos, and it's highly spammable because of it's low cool down. Sliding back also helps you get rid of the recovery time of other skills you have. Despite the move being a "strong side slash," it's damage is not that impressive compared to your other skills.]
PvP Usage Rating: 8/10 [This move is great for escaping your opponent's clutches in close quarters, and at interrupting your opponent's attacks due to how freaking fast it comes out. If you're getting interrupted while using this skill, you have bad timing. It's a quick damage dealer that's nice for hit and runs, and a skill you can generally use defensively. When air-skilled, you fall to the ground faster and you can fake people out with it by jumping forward and sliding back in mid-air, or just turning around mid-jump and sliding behind them, then opening up into other skills to combo their backs. However, it doesn't do a whole lot of damage itself, which kind of hurts the usefulness.]
Sonic Dagger: You toss the dagger up a short distance catch it and chuck it at a downward angle at foes. It does better damage than Dancing Dagger, but it costs slightly more SP. The first skill of the ranged-skills tree, though it's range isn't impressive, it's noticeable enough to snipe across some small gaps. Still, it's nice damage makes it useful enough to get before dancing dagger at lower levels when you don't have much combo-potential.
PvE Usage Rating: 7/10 [It's decent damage carries up for a long time. It's a reliable damaging ranged move, despite it's low range. It's quick cool down makes it spammable like Dancing Dagger, and it's just overall, pretty plain and decent.]
PvP Usage Rating: 6/10 [Having range is always nice, but it's not that great of a ranged skill since it has trouble hitting people at a range where they can't already hit you, especially spears and 2h swords. Still the additional damage is useful and it being spammable makes it decent if you camp ladders. You can also air skill it to get rid of the (small) start up.]
Illusion Dagger: This skill can be learned at level 20. It's a two-step attack that is a back-flip slash, followed by a lunging dagger rush covered in flames. It's a fast move to execute and it does great damage. The two individual attacks can miss, which is not a good thing, but they can also both crit, which is an awesome thing. Each individual part of the attack does less than Dancing Dagger's one, but combined they total to more damage than Dancing Dagger. The main flaw to this attack is how it leaves you pretty open after it finishes. Due to the lunging part of the 2nd hit, you're right in front of the enemy waiting to finish your move (as in go back to a neutral stance where you can attack again and stuff), leaving you wide open for attacks. It's other flaw is it's cooldown, which is noticeably worse than Dancing Dagger. That's where Dancing Dagger, again, comes in handy. If you combo this move into Dancing Dagger, you can escape both the long recovery time and being too close for comfort, which makes this move even more useful.
PvE Usage Rating: 8/10 [It's great for damage, especially if both hits crit. Since you're an explorer, you'll be critting pretty often too. It's overall addition to your damage output is a great help while leveling. It's issues are that since you rush forward, enemies that move a lot, like Canine Gods, can be annoying to hit.
PvP Usage Rating: 9/10 [It deals good damage, and is near instant in BOTH hits. It's a very hard to interrupt attack due to it's sheer speed, and it's sheer speed and good power let it interrupt other attacks fairly well too. The lunge also has good range that let's you catch foes who run away. However the major flaw of it's recovery time must be canceled out with dancing dagger or some other skill, or you'll be a sitting duck after this attack.]
Assassin Dagger: This skill is also learned at level 20. For the most part, all the dagger throwing skills, save Bombing Dagger, look pretty much the same. Assassin Dagger starts how Sonic Dagger does, a small toss up of the dagger followed by catching it in midair, then chucking it. Except this time you throw it straight forward, giving you more range. Aside from the range difference, this attack's only differences from Sonic Dagger are that it does more damage, throws slightly faster, has more cool down and costs more SP. Overall standard fare. But at least once you get this move, you can combo Sonic Dagger into Assassin Dagger, and vice versa.
PvE Usage Rating: 7.5/10 [It's really just an upgraded Sonic Dagger you can't spam. PvE wise, it gives you more sniping ability on some monsters, but generally, you can just use it exactly how you used Sonic Dagger. The damage boost is nice though.]
PvP Usage Rating: 8/10 [Range makes a lot of difference in PvP. The boosted range really helps, albeit it's still a bit short at times. Catching people with this move is great, since it does enough damage to disrupt a lot of attacks.]
Masquerade: This move can be learned at level 40, and it is the only dagger skill that doesn't have "dagger" at the end of it. The move itself starts up by throwing the dagger upward a short distance then catching it (like Sonic & Assassin Dagger), slashing your foe(s) low to the ground, then jumping while doing a triple spiral slash at your foe(s). It's a very cool move with nice animation. It has even longer cool down than Illusion Dagger, and costs even more SP (as all higher level skills do, so I'll stop saying the obvious). However, it's damage is incomparable to any moves you have up to this point. It's 4 hits are all about on par with the damage with the damage of Illusion Dagger, and they can all crit (or miss)! Once you get this move, you've pretty much added four powerful hits to your combo game. You can successfully juggle three enemies at once. Even if you miss with the launcher (the low slash), your spin attacks are low enough to the ground that tall enemies will still get hurt. Sadly, the weird multi-colored stuff don't count as hitboxes, thus this move doesn't not actually hit that high up.
PvE Usage Rating: 9.5/10 [Monsters are generally too stupid or too slow to dodge this attack, so unless you're fighting highly mobile monsters that jump back and fourth (like Canine Gods), this move is extremely easy to land. It's damage output is amazing, especially with criticals. The launching attack also prevents enemies from fighting back during the move, and since the move has somewhat lengthy duration, you can easily pot/cookie during the skill animation. You can combo this into the other melee dagger skills rather easily, and it's ending recovery isn't even that bad, so you don't have to use dancing dagger afterward, however you can still get hit if you try to end a combo with this move. I advise using this move and then Illusion dagger and dancing dagger, or after illusion dagger into dancing dagger. So long as your combo ends with dancing dagger you'll be fine in most cases.]
PvP Usage Rating: 2.3/10 [Well, now that the things we fight aren't utterly stupid enough to stay in one spot and let us hit them freely, the long start up of this move becomes all the more noticable. Still, if you do manage to land this move, it has that high damage output reward. Though you won't launch (itno the air) the bulkier players (knights, warriors, and some other dagger explorers), with this attack, but you can still hurt them with the spin slashes. Air skilling helps remove the start up, but if you air skill the move, you don't move forward once you land, and you'll triple slash in place, which leaves you wide open for ranged attacks if you miss. Overall the best time to use this skill tends to be after an opponent misses you completely while doing a skill and you're behind them, or when they're guarding. It's not unsuable, but Masquerade doesn't really help you in PvP outside of pressuring guarding players.]
Dagger Rains: The level 40 dagger chucking skill, also looks pretty similar to the last two. However, unlike the last two, there is no toss-up-the-dagger-and-catch-it-before-throwing animation, making it an extremely fast attack. It's animation is basically your character leaning back really quickly, then bending forward throwing (out of nowhere) tons of daggers. However don't be fooled, this attack doesn't hit multiple times. However, it's range is a huge improvement. You've actually pretty much the range of a crossbow with this skill! It's also got strange hit boxes since some of the thrown daggers curve up and down.
PvE Usage Rating: 8.5/10 [It can be used quite easily against monsters due to it's fast speed. It has high damage, and exceptional range, making it useful for sniping and for boss killing. You can also get a monster's attention from afar with it. There's really not much to say about this move for standard mobs and bosses other than the damage and range is a nice improvement.]
PvP Usage Rating: 10/10 [This is THE dagger skill you will be using a majority of the time in PvP (assuming you get it). It's huge range, fast execution, and great damage make it incredible for interrupting people and just plain damaging them. Air skilling it allows you to have an aerial projectile as well (the other two skills have enough start up that they don't get thrown until near the ground), and your opponents will find it annoying that you can easily play keep away with this move. Unless you fight crossbowmen or bowmen, enemies won't be able to touch you about 80% of the time you use this move at the appropiate range. While the skill is plain, it's usefulness is just plain awesome in PvP.]
Dark Dagger: The level 60 Melee dagger skill. It's an awe-inducing four hit combo attack that starts with tossing up the dagger and catching it, quickly slashing immediately after the catch, then follows up with a kick that leads into yet another slash, ending with one final slash that makes the air you just cut up shine (not seen in the pic though, sorry). It's raw power at level ONE is already better than a level THREE Masquerade, and it has neither the long start up of masquerade, or the long recovery of Illusion Dagger. It even has great range for melee too, since the opponents get hurt by the blue sliced air. It truly is a skill only known by dagger masters.
PvE Usage Rating: 10/10 [While it drains TONS of SP, this move is just too awesome to get lower than a 10. It's damage output is better than Masquerade, and brings out the damage faster. It still has enough length in the move for you to safely eat a cookie (in game) during the move without having to worry about your combo ending, and if you want, you can even use this as a combo finisher, since it has low recovery. However I still think Dancing Dagger is better for finishing.]
PvP Usage Rating: 6.5/10 [It doesn't execute as fast as Illusion Dagger which is slightly dissapointing but it's still a very fast attack. Getting it in does a lot of damage and it knocks down weaker defensive-players like mages at the end. Your two issues with this move are landing it and landing it safely, which is a rather big issue. Despite this, it only takes some good timing and prediction to use this skill correctly, however, the landing it part can make things tough for this skill's usage. Even if you do hit, it may not always break the defenses of someone, and you might get killed due to beign stuck in the animation. However the move does great for finishing, and deals a nice amount of damage, with good crits.]
Bombing Dagger: The level 60 ranged dagger skill. This move has the most start up of the four, and it looks the most unique. A bomb the size of a quite round person drops from the air and lands on you with such weight you're forced to kneel just to hold it. You then preform a "HEAVE HO!" toss of the bomb forward, which immediately detonates it launching foes into the air. Knowing this, your character immediately jumps high above the explosion radius to toss 3 daggers down at your now airborne foes. The range on this move is a bit wacky, it's less than dagger rains horizontally, but more than assassin dagger, but it's got huge vertical range. It's also the only dagger throwing skill that hits twice.
PvE Usage Rating: 8/10 [This move's start up is a little awkward, and it's hitbox makes it hard to get used to at first, but all in all it's a very powerful 2-hit move. By the time you hit 60, this skill at level one can reliably do 1000 damage if you get both hits in, not including criticals. It's also got huge AoE, which is nice. Though against small, quick enemies, you'll be hard pressed to hit them with the slow start up. However the duration of this move is exactly why your other skills can cool off and be used again.]
PvP Usage Rating: 8/10 [While if you directly walk up to someone, chuck the bomb at them and try to hurt them, they'll probably run away in time, due to the bomb-throwing start up. However don't let that discourage you, the move is still quite useful. Because of the enormous hitbox of this move (explosion and three daggers thrown downward), it's great anti air if you time it correctly (which isn't hard), and it can prevent people from even wanting to come near you, making it effective for blocking gaps. Because of how high you leap, you can even hit people on rooftops above you at times. If you time this move properly, often with air skilling, you can also use the large jump after the explosion to completely dodge attacks below you. This isn't a plain use skill, it's a tactic skill.]
Skill Builds
Under construction.
Hybrid Dagger: A versatile build that allows you to attack close ranged and far ranged. It allows you to get both melee and ranged skill trees and max them, max all the passive masteries, and it lets you have a few points for the misc. section to boost your luck and evasion, or ely gain and whatnot. You can also level Eyes of a Falcon a bit, but otherwise this is pretty restrictive on the misc skills since you'll run out of points by level 80, but extra skill points from Iris stones and such will come in handy to add in those missing skills.
+You will have up to EIGHT skills at your disposal, prior to second job.
+Easier time with high HP/Defense enemies (mostly 3 ranked enemies).
+Easier time keeping combos going, especially in mobs.
+Close ranged and far ranged.
-Burns your SP like an SUV burns gas.
-Won't be able to get all the critical boosting skills in the Misc. section.
-May make it hard to organize your hotkeys.
-In second job, your second job skills are basically improved versions of your first ones, thus you'll have up to 16 skills which is just way overboard, and you'll probably end up not using them all.
Skill Build: NOTE! There may be some errors in this skill build. It is still a work in process. If you find any errors, feel free to point them out.
Level 2 - Dagger Mastery (Novice) - 1 Point
Level 3 - Dancing Dagger - 1 Point
Level 4 - Sonic Dagger - 1 Point
Level 5 - Dancing Dagger - 1 Point
Level 6 - Sonic Dagger - 1 Point
Level 7 - Dagger Mastery (Novice) - 1 Point
Level 8 - Dagger Mastery (Novice) - 1 Point
Level 9 - [Save 1 Point]
Level 10 - Dancing Dagger & Sonic Dagger (MAXED) - 1 Point Each
Level 11 - Dagger Mastery (Novice) - 1 Point (Maxed)
Level 12 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 13 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 14 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 15 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 16 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 17 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 18 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 19 - [Save 1 Point]
Level 20 - Illusion Dagger & Assassin Dagger - 1 Point Each
Level 21 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 22 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 23 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 24 - [Save 1 Point]
Level 25 - Illusion Dagger & Assassin Dagger - 1 Point Each
Level 26 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 27 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 28 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) (MAXED) - 1 Point
Level 29 - [Save 1 Point]
Level 30 - Illusion Dagger & Assassin Dagger (MAXED) - 1 Point Each
Level 31 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 32 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 33 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 34 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 35 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 36 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 37 - Good Luck (MAXED) - 1 Point
Level 38 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 39 - [Save 1 Point]
Level 40 - Masquerade & Dagger Rain - 1 Point Each
Level 41 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 42 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 43 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 44 - [Save 1 Point]
Level 45 - Masquerade & Dagger Rain - 1 Point Each
Level 46 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 47 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 48 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 49 - [Save 1 Point]
Level 50 - Masquerade & Dagger Rain (MAXED) - 1 Point Each
Level 51 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 52 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 53 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) (MAXED) - 1 Point
Level 54 - Free Skill Point*
Level 55 - Free Skill Point*
Level 56 - Free Skill Point*
Level 57 - [Save 1 Skill Point]
Level 58 - [Save 1 SKill Point]
Level 59 - [Save 1 Skill Point]
Level 60 - Dark Dagger & Bombing Dagger - 2 Points Each
Level 61 - Free Skill Point*
Level 62 - [Save 1 Skill Point]
Level 63 - [Save 1 Skill Point]
Level 64 - [Save 1 Skill Point]
Level 65 - Dark Dagger & Bombing Dagger - 2 Points Each
Level 66 - Free Skill Point*
Level 67 - [Save 1 Skill Point]
Level 68 - [Save 1 Skill Point]
Level 69 - [Save 1 Skill Point]
Level 70 - Dark Dagger & Bombing Dagger (MAXED) - 2 Points Each
Level 71 - Free Skill Point*
Level 72 - Free Skill Point*
Level 73 - Free Skill Point*
Level 74 - Free Skill Point*
Level 75 - Free Skill Point*
Level 76 - Free Skill Point*
Level 77 - Free Skill Point*
Level 78 - Free Skill Point*
Level 79 - Free Skill Point*
Level 80 - Spend all free points, and get ready to job change!
Pure Melee Dagger: Simply getting all the melee dagger skills so you can freely get misc. skills. With a high critical damage output near level 80, this build focusses on dealing damage rapidly, and surely.
+High critical damage output. (if you apt for the critical skills) Far more beneficial to you since you're melee and your combo does around 14 hits.
+Lets you have more flexibility with misc. skills.
+Melee skills alone are sufficient for most enemies anyway.
+Will not burn your SP extremely quickly.
+After second job you can get rid of the mobbing and rank 3/4 monster issues due to having up to 8 skills.
-No range.
-Has issues in PvP because of the lack of range.
-Rank 3-4 monsters and large mobs are a bit harder to take down without another set of skills to use while you cool off a majority of your skills.
Skill Build:
Level 2 - Dagger Mastery (Novice) - 1 Point
Level 3 - Dancing Dagger - 1 Point
Level 4 - Dagger Mastery (Novice) - 1 Point
Level 5 - Dancing Dagger - 1 Point
Level 6 - Dagger Mastery (Novice) - 1 Point
Level 7 - Dagger Mastery (Novice) - 1 Point (MAXED)
Level 8 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 9 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 10 - Dancing Dagger - 1 Point (MAXED)
Level 11 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 12 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 13 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 14 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 15 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 16 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 17 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 18 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 19 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 20 - Illusion Dagger - 1 Point
Level 21 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 22 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 23 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 24 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 25 - Illusion Dagger - 1 Point
Level 26 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point (MAXED)
Level 27 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 28 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 29 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 30 - Illusion Dagger (MAXED) - 1 Point
Level 31 - Good Luck - 1 Point (MAXED)
Level 32 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 33 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 34 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 35 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 36 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 37 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 38 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 39 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 40 - Masquerade - 1 Point
Level 41 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 42 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point (MAXED)
Level 43 - Free Skill Point*
Level 44 - Free Skill Point*
Level 45 - Masquerade - 1 Point
Level 46 - Free Skill Point*
Level 47 - Free Skill Point*
Level 48 - Free Skill Point*
Level 49 - Free Skill Point*
Level 50 - Masquerade - 1 Point (MAXED)
Level 51 - Free Skill Point*
Level 52 - Free Skill Point*
Level 53 - Free Skill Point*
Level 54 - Free Skill Point*
Level 55 - Free Skill Point*
Level 56 - Free Skill Point*
Level 57 - Free Skill Point*
Level 58 - Free Skill Point*
Level 59 - [Save 1 Skill Point]
Level 60 - Dark Dagger - 2 Points
Level 61 - Free Skill Point*
Level 62 - Free Skill Point*
Level 63 - Free Skill Point*
Level 64 - [Save 1 Skill Point]
Level 65 - Dark Dagger - 2 Points
Level 66 - Free Skill Point*
Level 67 - Free Skill Point*
Level 68 - Free Skill Point*
Level 69 - [Save 1 Skill Point]
Level 70 - Dark Dagger - 2 Points Each (MAXED)
Level 71 - Free Skill Point*
Level 72 - Free Skill Point*
Level 73 - Free Skill Point*
Level 74 - Free Skill Point*
Level 75 - Free Skill Point*
Level 76 - Free Skill Point*
Level 77 - Free Skill Point*
Level 78 - Free Skill Point*
Level 79 - Free Skill Point*
Level 80 - Spend all free points, and get ready to job change!
Pure Ranged Dagger: Throwing your dagger at foes as a primary source of force. It also boasts misc. skill freedom, and higher critical damage out put (though less than Pure Melee because ranged skills have less hits, thus less chances to critical), than the hybrid build.
+Range is always a plus.
+Misc. Skill Freedom.
+Will not burn SP extremely quickly.
+Ranged skills alone can deal with most enemies as well.
+You can PvP just fine without close combat.
+After second job you can get rid of the mobbing and rank 3/4 monster issues due to having up to 8 skills.
+Easy to control, and ranged skills have slightly less cooldown time than melee skills do.
-Rank 3-4 (4 is the star rank) and large mobs are a bit harder to take down without another set of skills to fall back on.
-Lowest damage output of the three skill builds.
Skill Build:
Level 2 - Dagger Mastery (Novice) - 1 Point
Level 3 - Sonic Dagger - 1 Point
Level 4 - Dagger Mastery (Novice) - 1 Point
Level 5 - Sonic Dagger - 1 Point
Level 6 - Dagger Mastery (Novice) - 1 Point
Level 7 - Dagger Mastery (Novice) - 1 Point (MAXED)
Level 8 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 9 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 10 - Sonic Dagger - 1 Point (MAXED)
Level 11 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 12 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 13 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 14 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 15 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 16 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 17 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 18 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 19 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 20 - Assassin Dagger - 1 Point
Level 21 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 22 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 23 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 24 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point
Level 25 - Assassin Dagger - 1 Point
Level 26 - Dagger Mastery (Intermediate) - 1 Point (MAXED)
Level 27 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 28 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 29 - Good Luck - 1 Point
Level 30 - Assassin Dagger (MAXED) - 1 Point
Level 31 - Good Luck - 1 Point (MAXED)
Level 32 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 33 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 34 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 35 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 36 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 37 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 38 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 39 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 40 - Dagger Rain - 1 Point
Level 41 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point
Level 42 - Dagger Mastery (Expert) - 1 Point (MAXED)
Level 43 - Free Skill Point*
Level 44 - Free Skill Point*
Level 45 - Dagger Rain - 1 Point
Level 46 - Free Skill Point*
Level 47 - Free Skill Point*
Level 48 - Free Skill Point*
Level 49 - Free Skill Point*
Level 50 - Dagger Rain - 1 Point (MAXED)
Level 51 - Free Skill Point*
Level 52 - Free Skill Point*
Level 53 - Free Skill Point*
Level 54 - Free Skill Point*
Level 55 - Free Skill Point*
Level 56 - Free Skill Point*
Level 57 - Free Skill Point*
Level 58 - Free Skill Point*
Level 59 - [Save 1 Skill Point]
Level 60 - Bombing Dagger - 2 Points
Level 61 - Free Skill Point*
Level 62 - Free Skill Point*
Level 63 - Free Skill Point*
Level 64 - [Save 1 Skill Point]
Level 65 - Bombing Dagger - 2 Points
Level 66 - Free Skill Point*
Level 67 - Free Skill Point*
Level 68 - Free Skill Point*
Level 69 - [Save 1 Skill Point]
Level 70 - Bombing Dagger - 2 Points Each (MAXED)
Level 71 - Free Skill Point*
Level 72 - Free Skill Point*
Level 73 - Free Skill Point*
Level 74 - Free Skill Point*
Level 75 - Free Skill Point*
Level 76 - Free Skill Point*
Level 77 - Free Skill Point*
Level 78 - Free Skill Point*
Level 79 - Free Skill Point*
Level 80 - Spend all free points, and get ready to job change!
*Free Skill Points, what do they mean?
Places where I put this remark are places where you can generally decide which misc. skills of an explorer you want to put in. You can consider these a "fill in the blanks" kind of thing. Here are the skills to consider:
Millionare Dream:
Get even more ely from killing monsters. I guess it's nice if you want to make money, it's not extremely important, but it leads to the other treasure hunting skills, and the skill really does give you a noticable boost after about level 3 or so.
Min Level to Learn: 10
Max Skill Level: 10
Cost Per Level: 1 Point
Requirement: Good Luck Lv. 10
Rare Item: (I forgot what this skill was actually called.)
Increases the chance of equipment being "Rare" as in Green, Blue, Gold or Red. It's nice to find colored equipment, but it's not incredibly important. Though the next treasure hunting skills require this, so you may as well get it if you plan to get the others as well.
Min Level to Learn: 20
Max Skill Level: 10
Cost Per Level: 1 Point
Requirement: Millionare Dream Lv. 10
Treasure Master: (Forgot what this was actually called too.)
This is a nice skill to have. It increases the chances that actual items will drop. Misc. Items, Soul Urns, Equipment, everything. If you made a dagger explorer with the idea of treasure hunting in mind, this is a must have skill.
Min Level to Learn: 40
Max Skill Level: 10
Cost Per Level: 1 Point
Requirement: Rare Item Lv. 10
Gold Rush: (Not sure if this is the actual name either lol.)
Boosts the ely gain of the party. Basically this is a Millionare Dream buff. It's helpful if you have poor friends, but this seems like it's overdoing it on the ely gain. It's also the only support buff dagger explorers have.
Min Level to Learn: 50
Max Skill Level: 10
Cost Per Level: 1 Point
Requirement: Treasure Master Lv. 10
Evasion:
Boosts the evasion rate of the character. Seems nice since it adds to your survivability, but it doesn't seem crucial to me. However it does open up the path to the critical bonus skills... so....
Min Level to Learn: 10
Max Skill Level: 10
Cost Per Level: 1 Point
Requirement: Good Luck Lv. 5 (?)
Escape:
Boosts your movement speed a ton in order to flee. It lasts for very few seconds and during it's duration you lose offensive power. It's nice to save your own skin, but you really shouldn't get into such situations unless you're in PvP.
Min Level to Learn: 30
Max Skill Level: 1
Cost Per Level: 3 Points
Requirement: Evasion (MAXED)
Eyes of Falcon:
Increases the chance to critical. Very nice skill, as huge luck + crit rate bonus = tons of crits, which is tons of damage.
Min Level to Learn: 45
Max Skill Level: 5
Cost Per Level: 1 Point
Requirement: Escape (MAXED)
Tiger Claw:
Increases physical critical damage, and by a good amount (3% per level). Very helpful for your criticals.
Min Level to Learn: 50
Max Skill Level: 10
Cost Per Level: 1 Point
Requirement: Eyes of Falcon (MAXED)
Mean Attack:
Increases the damage you deal when attacking a monster's back. While it sounds nice, almost all monsters turn around immediately after taking a backshot, unless they are attacking someone else already. It's nice if you party a lot I guess.
Min Level to Learn: 15
Max Skill Level: 10
Cost Per Level: 1 Point
Requirement: Evasion Lv. 5
Coward Stab:
An active skill that deals even more back attack damage. If you fail to do it though, it has terrible results; as it will increase the offensive abilities of whatever you failed to hit. Kinda lame skill if you ask me.
Min Level to Learn: 25
Max Skill Level: 10
Cost Per Level: 1 Point
Requirement: Mean Attack Lv. 5
Unlock:
This is a nifty skill and is probably the most tempting skill to get. With this, you can finally open those locked up chests and get whatever is inside. Which is usually colored equipment and whatnot. If you've got the points spare, you may as well get this skill. If you can't open a locked chest with this, it means your Unlock Skill Level is not high enough.
Min Level to Learn: 1
Max Skill Level: 10
Cost Per Level: 1 Point
Requirement: None
2nd & 3rd Job Skills
Basic Attack II: 3-Hit Combo: The new basic attack has been upgraded to an even faster 3-hit strike, with each hit being rather powerful (for a basic attack I mean), and thus good for finishing off opponents. It starts with a downward slash, followed by a quick upper-slash, and then finally a quick thrusting stab. Aerial and dash attacks do not change animation.
PvE Usage Rating: 6.3/10: It's still generally just there to finish off enemies. Despite the damage increase, it's still something you wish you had in first job, instead of finally getting in second.
Heavy Attack II: 2-Hit Combo: It's actually, pretty damaging now. The two hits in this attack (which are both in one button input) deal up to damage comparable to the early skills of first job. The speed has been improved as well, but it's still noticeabley slower than your other attacks. The animation is a quick slash/stab forward then a very wide slash back out.
PvE Usage Rating: 6.3/10 [Yeah, it's also fast enough you may want to use it to finish off enemies. It really doesn't matter if you use this or the Basic Attack, but you've still got the issue of using your skills too early and canceling out the entire Heavy Attack, but with the speed improved, it's less of an issue.]
Dancing Dagger II: The powered up version of dancing dagger comes with a huge explosive radius (though it's actually not that big of a difference of Dancing Dagger I's range) that's very shiny. You've still got the "move backward" part of the skill, so you can do a retreating assault kind-of-tactic by using this right after Dancing Dagger I. The skill cools down pretty fast, it's about the cooldown of Masquerade but quicker.
PvE Usage Rating: 8.5/10 [This move is way more powerful than Dancing Dagger one, and it's still got all the nice kicks to the original. Since you're now second job, adding this move to a pure melee set allows you to (finally) infinite all skills without having to stop for one to cooldown, so long as you do the right order. Until you get Illusion Dagger II however, you may find yourself moving backward TOO much, but this move's retreating movement is useful. With other skills you can approach with Illusion Dagger and then retreat with Dancing Dagger, then do the other Illusion Dagger, and retreat again. One of the most noticeable benefits is that Dancing Dagger's hitbox is really big now, it'll hit behind you as you retreat.]
PvP Usage Rating: 8/10 [A great attack as it's quick and moves you away. Really it's just dancing dagger but improved so you use it essentially the same way.]
Sonic Dagger II: Sonic Dagger's much nicer this time around. At first, it's most noteworthy uses were to be a spammable, ranged attack, and just a way to continue your combo. Now, it's dumped the spammability, but gained more range, damage, and a second hit. It's cooldown is similar to that of Dagger Rain. Look-wise, it's improved by a faster toss, which is thrown with such speed it causes an explosion on the ground.
PvE Usage Rating: 9/10 [It's STILL pretty fast to use, it gives you the infinite for ranged skills, it hits twice (allowing ranged daggers to combo a bit better, and have higher critical chances), and the second hit has higher range. Another major bonus is that the throwing animation looks exactly the same as the original, so you don't take any extra time throwing the second dagger since it just kind of bounces out. Thus, you can throw a dagger very soon after a previous one. A very nice skill to add.[/b]
PvP Usage Rating: 7.8/10 [A very nice boost to range helps it out. Damage helps as well, and so does the second hit. Except, the range is still low and the damage still isn't much to be proud of. It's at least quicker than Sonic Dagger one, and it makes for a nice aerial set up attack, but it's generally not that vital.]
Illusion Dagger II: Illusion Dagger powers up with the element of fire on it's side. The starting somersault slash now knocks enemies upward like Masquerade's starting hit and even has some... weird starry-effects in the back. As you dash forward in the escond hit, you'll see fiery effects exhaust from your dagger, as well as a very big impact tip. In fact, the launching slash makes this move somewhat like Crescent Kick with a dagger.
PvE Usage Rating: 8.9/10 [The knock up is extremely useful. It gives you a VERY QUICK attack that let's you get enemies out of your way (and unable to hurt you) near instantly, and then you can use Dancing Dagger to make a much better retreat, or Dark Dagger to keep them moving back. Like all launching attacks, You can launch enemies attacking party members too in order to help them out. The damage is very good, and you'll be able to kill much more efficiently with more freedom of moving forward and back. This move would be 10/10, but it's still got that annoying after-lag that Illusion Dagger I has, therefore you can't just flip slam something then run off, you HAVE to use a skill before backing off. Also at later levels, some enemies tend to get knocked up WAY too high from the first hit (see: Kais in Bifrost, Fenrirs in Asgard), but aside from these small moments, it's not noticeable)]
PvP Usage Rating: 8.5/10 [The Best Melee PvP Attack you'll get... it's fast, it's damaging, and it can knock people up. In close range scuffles, this will put things in your favor, and this move can also be used like Illusion Dagger I, to air skill yourself into people like a thrown spear.]
Assassin Dagger II: The ol' tossing dagger from level 20, now improved. It comes along with the wind/electricity element. As you toss up the dagger lightning strikes your dagger from above engulfing it in electricity (and causing the screen to flash, as seen in the picture), and you fiercely toss the charged up dagger forward. The move has somewhat improved range from the original Assassin Dagger (the electricity causes a spark that extends the dagger "laser-ish" kind of thing then retracts a bit to the original range). The overall improvements and balances are made, more power, longer cooldown, higher SP cost.
PvE Rating: 8.5/10 [A very powerful attack. Very. The range is fairly good, as was the original Assassin Dagger, but the main thing about it is a VERY fast attack. This allows you to quickly toss it and run back, and then toss another skill out, since it's recovery is ALSO very quick. This move isn't 10/10, because it's not your STRONGEST skill, and it's pretty much only good due to having decent range, strong power, and it is fast, but it doesn't have excellent range, excellent power, nor does it have multiple hits. It's a great move, but despite how cool I think it is, it doesn't truly SHINE.]
PvP Rating: 9/10 [Insanely fast speed is very important in PvP. This skill is greater than or equal to Dagger Rain for damage, and only lacks range. It helps you get out of many close combat situations, and interrupts a plethora of enemy skills. Definately worth getting if you're a PvP fan.]
Masquerade II: What originally turned you into a melee-killing-machine back in 1st job is now upgraded for your second, once you hit level 110 and cough up a whopping
3 skill points for it. It now packs even more force, such force, that it causes wind to strike out, and it comes with a sound effect that sounds like electricity. However you've still got the iffy range, but luckily, it's sped up in animation. It's the good old 4 hits attack with the launching first hit (which does the most damage of the four).
PvE Rating: 9.5/10 [It's great for dealing damage. Really great. Mostly because of crits. With a pure melee build, hitting crits on all four hits with Dagger Mastery Expert (Max), Tiger Claw (Max), Falcon's Eye (Max) and a Dagger Case (+4 or higher), you're easily able to do 4000 damage once you get it. Even without all that stuff, you're still looking at very high damage. The launching strike is still useful, and now you have 3 melee attacks that do so (this, Masquerade I, and Illusion Dagger II), so helping your allies who are being mobbed is easy as heck. The general problems with this move still remain though. Even higher SP cost, higher cooldown, slow start up and eh range. But against monsters, most of these things aren't much of a problem, and having the possibility of 4000 damage as soon as you get it, well, that's pretty much reason enough to get this skill. Oh but, make sure you have the accuracy to back this skill, of course.]
PvP Rating: 3/10 [Yeah... you're not going to really like this skill for PvP, UNLESS you have uppercut. Uppercut knocks enemies upward giving you time to hit them once they fall to the ground. That's pretty much the only way you'll hit with this with all four hits (or if someone misses a gatling shot). The damage in PvP isn't as astounding, because flinching people is more important, and without crits or back hits, this probably won't be flinching most, since it's a large sum of damage divided into four hits.]
Dagger Rain II: Your highest range attack is upgraded as well, at level 110. The new version... has done very little to change aesthetically... it basically just has a bunch of "wave" like things as the daggers are thrown, with a different sound effect. In fact, screenshotting it made it hard to actually make the difference noticeable (I really need to get a program to animate the skills). As far as this move goes, the main difference is damage. No extra range, hits, or effects.
PvE Rating: 8.8/10 [It's extra damage is nice, and being able to throw two Rain attacks lets you snipe better. It's still a quick attack, and it does a bunch of damage in a single shot. Crits are easily over 2.3k without Tiger Claw or anything else buffing the damage at level 1. There's not much to say about this skill really, since out of all the skills for 2nd job, this is the closest one to the original.]
PvP Rating: 10/10 [Dagger Rain is god tier. Amazing range, great damage to flinch people with, and now you have two. That's all you really need to know. It interrupts pretty much EVERYTHING that isn't a Templar or Guardian.]
Dark Dagger II: The style of Dark Dagger is mostly unchanged, no added effects to the attack are included, but as per special effects for the visuals of the attack, you've got way more slashy things appearing, coupled with slowly building up electricity throughout the attack that is let out on the final slash as a burst effect. It's surprisingly short cooldown for a final 4th II tier skill. (Level 125 by the way.)
PvE Rating: 10/10 [By far your to-go-to move to get things done. Combine this with Masquerade II and Dark Dagger I and you've got yourself some very nice damage output. The 4 hits perfectly split damage to knock back enemies your level most of the time, and with criticals, full damage output is astounding, and even without crits, you're hitting hard no matter what.]
PvP Rating: 8/10 [The high damage output is great for flinching enemies, especially with crits, however the fact that it still has high cooldown and to get rid of it's small start up, you HAVE to air skill it, it loses a few points.]
Bombing Dagger II: Instead of throwing a classic bomb with a wick, you're now tossing a stack of dynamite strapped to a detonator! The aesthetic changes don't stop there, but the effects are pretty much just a bigger explosion with slightly more dazzle to it. Other than that, this is essentially a stronger Bombing Dagger with higher cooldown and better mobbing ability.
PvE Rating: 8.7/10 [High damage, good mobbing, the ability to dodge attacks with a high jump, and knocks enemies into the air? Awesome. Bad start up and recovery? ... not that awesome. Still, the good outweighs the bad, especially when mobbed, so don't hesitate to get this skill if you're hybrid or ranged. It's a nice addition.]
PvP Rating: 8/10 [For uses, see the other one. There are pretty much no application differences except for the fact this might flinch more people.]
Hail of Daggers: The 5th tier skill obtained from that absurdly tedious quest is basically your nuke/emergency attack. It's extremely stylish as well, you first summon up a figure with targets over it and a bomb strapped to it, and afterward, you throw daggers from hammerspace (that means nowhere) at each target until you finally hit all targets and the bomb, at which point your character gives a thumbs up, signaling the entire thing to explode. All in all, five hits, and the hitbox extends from your character to the bomb thing.
PvE Rating: 10/10 [It's not a move you use for typical functionality, but it's still quite useful. It's got a whopping one minute cool-down, but it pretty much kills any non-boss/mini-boss monster in one shot at, or even above your level from the get go. It hits a huge wide range of enemies as well. Though the huge SP cost and the one minute cooldown prevent it from really being as useful as your other attack skills, but you do find uses for it whenever you can. It's great for boss hunting as well. However the best part of this move has to be that any time an enemy is hit by ONE part of the skill's five hits, they are completely immobile (frozen in their flinch animation) for the duration, which truly lets it be an emergency maneuver.]
PvP Rating: 8/10 [Immense damage is mitigated by the fact that in five minute battles, you're only use it five times MAX, and that's assuming you don't ever miss and that you fire it off every possible moment. So really, you're probably only using it 2-3 times. Still, tons of damage if you can get it off, it's not slow so it's quite possible, but if you get interrupted you're going to be very unhappy.]
Triple Play: One of your new toys in third job. It's a triple stabbing skill, where you stab forward quickly twice, and then reverse grip your dagger for a final downward stab from above. It does increased damage for consecutive critical hits!
PvE Rating: - [I shouldn't really need to rate skills anymore, especially with how sporadically I play this game lol. Anyway, Triple Play is definitely a fine skill for damage, and it's reliable as well. Getting three crits in a row makes it absolutely amazing in terms of damage, and it's base damage is fine too.
How Much Do You Want!!!?: Weird naming scheme aside, your first EP skill! As a Ruin Walker, you gain EP from defeating enemies and dealing critical hits. You could also burn eli to max out your gauge immediately. This skill is veeeeeery damaging, and typically kills whatever it's used on, but it can't be used willy nilly due to the EP requirement. Unless of course you just throw all your money away into using this and 'Fancy Life' (which is kind of a waste considering they both have medium sized cooldowns anyway). Anyway as for the skill itself, your character in a somewhat scared state throws out gold coins in front of them, along with very heavy hammers mixed in, in hopes that your foes stop attacking, due to being... dead.
Fancy Life: Sometimes your foes just want to see just how rich you are. So show em' how boss you are by dropping your fortune right on top of their heads. They'll be drowning in your gold coins. So much that it pretty much annihilates them because this skill does immense damage and can hit quite a few enemies at once, easily being your strongest single target attack. It also has a big vertical hitbox. So thumbs up, to fortune! Also, it uses a lot of EP, so yeah.
Don't forget, there are places to get extra skill points, like saving at the Elias Waypoint Savestone.
Dragon Nest Wiki
Eden Eternal Wiki
Rusty Hearts Wiki
Trickster Online Wiki
Pentao's LaTale Dagger Explorer Guide
Ty Quebee for the little me 
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