The Steel Dagger is a one-handed dagger in Skyrim and one of the most common weapons you will trip over. It is a step up from iron, light at 2.5 weight and fast to swing, but with only 5 base damage it is more of a stealth tool than a main weapon.
It shares its look with the rest of the steel line and matches Steel Armor. Sneaky characters often keep one for sneak attacks, where the multiplier matters far more than the base number.
Stats
| Type | Dagger |
|---|---|
| Skill | One-handed |
| Material | Steel |
| Damage | 5 |
| Weight | 2.5 |
| Value | 18 gold |
| Speed | 1.3 |
| Reach | 0.7 |
| Stagger | 0 |
| Critical damage | 2 |
| Add-on | Base game |
| Item ID | 00013986 |
Where to find
- Unenchanted versions appear from level 2, enchanted ones from level 3.
- During Unbound, if you follow Ralof, the Imperial Torturer has one equipped.
- During Before the Storm with Hadvar, one lies outside Alvor and Sigrid’s House in Riverwood; it is free to take after talking to Alvor.
- Sold by blacksmiths and general goods merchants, carried by many enemies (especially hostile mages at higher levels) and found as random loot.
Crafting and upgrading
Crafting at a forge: 1 × 
Steel Ingot, 1 × 
Leather Strips, 1 × 
Iron Ingot. Requires the Steel Smithing Smithing perk.
Improving at a grindstone: 1 × Steel Ingot. The Arcane Blacksmith perk doubles the improvement.
Compared with other daggers
Base stats of all regular (unenchanted) daggers in Skyrim, weakest first:
| Weapon | Damage | Weight | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Dagger | 4 | 2 | 10 |
| Steel Dagger | 5 | 2.5 | 18 |
| Orcish Dagger | 6 | 3 | 30 |
| Dwarven Dagger | 7 | 3.5 | 55 |
| Elven Dagger | 8 | 4 | 95 |
| Nordic Dagger | 8 | 3.5 | 115 |
| Skyforge Steel Dagger | 8 | 2.5 | 25 |
| Glass Dagger | 9 | 4.5 | 165 |
| Ebony Dagger | 10 | 5 | 290 |
| Stalhrim Dagger | 10 | 4.5 | 395 |
| Daedric Dagger | 11 | 6 | 500 |
| Dragonbone Dagger | 12 | 6.5 | 600 |
Tips and notes
- A great low-cost item for leveling Smithing: one Steel Ingot, one Iron Ingot and a leather strip per dagger.
- The Steel Smithing perk doubles grindstone improvements.
- Variants include the Skyforge Steel Dagger, Valdr’s Lucky Dagger, Rundi’s Dagger and Bloodthorn.
Stats from the Skyrim LE 1.9 master files (Skyrim.esm, record SteelDagger). Values are base values before perks, smithing improvements and enchantments.
