- For other uses, see Blade of Woe.
The Blade of Woe is a unique one-handed dagger carried by Astrid, leader of the Dark Brotherhood.
Acquisition
- It can be obtained as a reward upon completion of the quest Death Incarnate. Astrid will give it to the Dragonborn and orders them to kill her with it.
- Alternatively, it can be obtained by defeating Astrid in the Abandoned Shack and looting it off her body during With Friends Like These....
- Pickpocketing Astrid with the Misdirection perk also works. Using this method can result in a duplication of the blade. If the Dragonborn finishes the questline to join the Dark Brotherhood (as opposed to destroying it), it will be granted by Astrid, even after previously stealing it.
Smithing
The Blade of Woe can be upgraded with the Arcane Blacksmith perk at a grindstone without any ingots. Nonetheless, it benefits from the Steel Smithing perk, which doubles the improvement.
Usefulness
Higher attribute-wise than the Daedric dagger, the Blade of Woe is exceptionally strong.
The dagger's enchantment has only six base charges. The amount of charge consumed by striking with the dagger lowers as Destruction level increases, assisting magic-based classes. It is actually possible to make the weapon use no charges by equipping four items with a 25% Fortify Destruction effect for a total of 100% reduction (this also works with many other enchantments).
The enchantment is very weak compared to the potential of one crafted by the Dragonborn. With an Enchanting skill of 100, without using potions that have the Fortify Enchanting effect, an Absorb Health enchantment can do up to 20 damage and have many more charges available.
Trivia
- Skyrim's Blade of Woe's appearance is dramatically different from its counterpart in Oblivion. It more closely resembles Sufferthorn, as it not only has a similar shape, but it also damages Health as well.
- Small specks of dried blood can be seen along the upper part and tip of the blade.
- It has the highest base damage for a dagger in Skyrim, but with Dawnguard installed, it is the same as the dragonbone dagger.
- Using the "help" command on the console to find the ID of the Blade of Woe will bring up three results, one being for the enchantment on the blade itself, while the other two are for the actual item. The first of these is no different than the one gained at the end of Death Incarnate, and absorbs 10 health per hit. The second absorbs 20 health per hit.
- The ID for the stronger version of the Blade of Woe is: 000964C9
Bugs
|
This section contains bugs related to Blade of Woe (Skyrim). Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:
|
- PC 360 PS3 The dagger has the slower attack speed of a sword, though it maintains the weight and damage expected of a dagger. The Dual Flurry perk raises it to standard dagger attack speed, though the other weapon still receives the full speed buff.
- PC 360 PS3 If the Dark Brotherhood is completed after the main questline is completed, the Blade of Woe may be irretrievable.
- PC 360 PS3 It may reappear at the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary beside Astrid's body making it possible to get two without pickpocketing.
- PC 360 PS3 Sometimes the Blade of Woe will appear in the wall to the left of Astrid.
- PC The command "tcl" can be used to take it anyway.