- "Ari gave me this dagger when we first started hunting together. Always said it brought her luck. You should be the one to carry it now."
- ―Valdr[src]
Valdr's Lucky Dagger is a unique steel dagger found in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Background
Valdr's Lucky Dagger is owned by a Nord hunter named Valdr who received it as a gift from his good friend Ari. During a failed incursion into Moss Mother Cavern, Ari and their friend Niels were killed by a spriggan, leaving Valdr wounded and unable to return home.
Acquisition
During "Hunter and Hunted," assisting Valdr in killing the remaining spriggans in Moss Mother Cavern so that he may bury his friends will prompt him to bestow the dagger as a reward and a gift of thanks.
Enchantment
The dagger's inherent properties grants a 25% chance of a critical hit with each strike. The effect itself is not considered to be an enchantment, so the weapon cannot be disenchanted to learn the effect. In addition, it is affected by Elemental Fury.
Critical hits
While the 25% chance of a critical hit may appear beneficial, the effect is less impressive at higher levels as critical hits only affects the base damage of the weapon. A critical hit multiplies the damage of an attack by 1.5. This means a critical hit with this dagger will only add 2.5 points of damage to the existing hit. One-Handed skill, perks or smithing improvements do not increase critical damage:
5 (base damage) x 1.5 (critical hit) = 7.5 (total damage).7.5 - 5 = 2.5 (extra damage gained from a critical hit).
Usefulness
When combined with the Assassin's Blade perk and Ancient Shrouded Gloves, the critical hit triggered by a sneak attack combined with a critical hit can be very devastating, along with its light weight and easy Smithing, making it a deadly weapon for assassins.
Smithing
It can be upgraded with a steel ingot at a grindstone and also benefits from the Steel Smithing perk, which doubles the improvement. The Arcane Blacksmith perk is not required, as the dagger is not actually enchanted.
Trivia
- The sheathing sound of this dagger is the one from a one-handed sword instead of the one used for daggers.
- Critical hit damage also stacks with sneak attack bonus.
Bugs
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This section contains bugs related to Valdr's Lucky Dagger. Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:
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- PC 360 PS3 When placed into a weapon rack, the dagger may become stuck, unable to be retrieved.
- PC If Valdr is attacked by an enemy before he finishes talking at the end of the quest, the dagger will still be put into the Dragonborn's inventory. After the enemy is defeated, he will restart his speech and give the Dragonborn a second dagger.