Inven Global

In Lineage Classic, other weapon types like the Ice Queen's Spear and Ancient Greatsword have recently risen in popularity, but one-handed swords have long been considered the standard go-to weapon. However, with daggers making their appearance in the Pirate Island update on October 21, the meta is expected to shift dramatically.

In this article, we directly measured the attack counts of one-handed swords versus daggers under various haste conditions using a Mail Breaker and a Steel Dagger. Based on these measurements, we compared the average DPS of the current top-tier one-handed sword, the +9 Saulabi Longsword, against the +9 Crystal Dagger. If you are considering switching to a dagger, refer to the figures below.

First, we analyzed the hit counts frame by frame for the Mail Breaker and Steel Dagger under three conditions: Stage 1 Haste, Stage 2 Haste, and Stage 2 Haste combined with a Sharna Transformation Scroll.

In all conditions, the Steel Dagger landed 1.7 to 2.2 more hits. By percentage, the gap was largest at Stage 1 Haste at approximately 12.2%, and narrowed to about 8.1% when adding the Sharna Transformation Scroll. The average across all three conditions is approximately 10.8%.

Since the Oriharukon Dagger has not been released yet, the comparison is based on the Crystal Dagger, Mithril Dagger, and Steel Dagger. All three weapons have a safe enchant limit of 6, meaning they gain the same bonus damage and hit rate from enchanting.

The differences lie in base damage stats and bonus effects. The Crystal Dagger boasts the highest damage against Small targets at 10, along with Melee Damage +1. The Mithril Dagger and Steel Dagger share the same base damage, but the Mithril Dagger gains additional SP and MP Recovery bonuses.

Material composition is another key point to consider. The Crystal Dagger is silver and the Mithril Dagger is mithril, allowing both weapons to deal bonus damage against undead targets. In contrast, the Steel Dagger is made of iron, offering no bonus damage against undead.

Now, let's compare the current top-tier one-handed sword, the +9 Saulabi Longsword, against the +9 Crystal Dagger based on a +9 enchantment level. The Saulabi Longsword deals 16 damage to Small and 10 to Large targets with Melee Hit +5, while the Crystal Dagger deals 10 damage to Small and 4 to Large targets with Melee Damage +1.

While the +9 bonus damage from enchantments is a fixed value, base damage is randomly applied between 1 and the maximum stat. Converting this to averages yields 17.5 for Small targets and 14.5 for Large targets with Hit +5 for the Saulabi Longsword, and 15.5 for Small targets and 12.5 for Large targets for the Crystal Dagger.

Looking strictly at average damage per hit, the Saulabi Longsword is 2 points higher. However, factoring in the measured attack speed flips the results. Including the Crystal Dagger's Melee Damage +1, the Crystal Dagger deals approximately 2–6% more damage to Small targets and 1–5% more damage to Large targets over the same duration. However, at maximum attack speed with the Sharna Transformation Scroll active, the speed gap narrows, reducing the difference to about 0.7% against Large targets.

However, this calculation does not account for the Saulabi Longsword's powerful Melee Hit +5 stat. Since these figures represent expected values assuming all attacks land, the value of Hit +5 increases significantly against high-AC targets where attacks frequently miss. Especially under Sharna Transformation Scroll conditions where the DPS gap narrows to 1–2%, a few missed attacks can reverse the results, so keep target AC and accuracy requirements in mind.

Conversely, the Crystal Dagger has unlisted strengths as well. Made of silver, the Crystal Dagger deals bonus damage to undead targets. In environments where Hit +5 makes little difference, adding silver bonus damage allows the Crystal Dagger to pull ahead of the Saulabi Longsword by a significant margin in total damage output.

In Lineage Classic, players can stack substantial flat bonus damage through various buffs, food, and other consumables. Since this bonus damage is flat, it is applied directly on every hit.

In other words, faster weapons land more hits and extract greater value from flat bonus damage. As shown in the table above, adding just +5 flat bonus damage widens the Stage 1 Haste gap from ~5.8% to ~7.2%. The more bonus damage stacked, the greater the DPS advantage of fast-attacking daggers becomes.

As a result, daggers now hold a clear advantage over traditional standard one-handed swords. Players who consistently stack bonus damage through buffs and food should seriously consider switching to a +9 Crystal Dagger.