Blade of Woe (Skyrim)

The Blade of Woe is a unique dagger carried by Astrid, leader of the Dark Brotherhood.

It has the highest base damage for a dagger in, but in , it ties with the Dragonbone Dagger.

Acquisition

 * It can be obtained as a reward upon completion of the quest Death Incarnate.
 * 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 player finishes the questline where they join the Dark Brotherhood, (as opposed to destroying it) they will be granted the blade 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. With a Smithing skill of 100, it is possible for the dagger to reach a damage upwards of 60. Combined with the Assassin's Blade perk and Shrouded Hand Wraps, Shrouded Gloves, Ancient Shrouded Gloves, or Jester's Gloves, sneak attacks can reach 1,800+ damage. With Fortify Smithing, it is possible to obtain a base damage upwards of 115. Combined with the other bonuses mentioned above, sneak attacks can reach 2,700+ damage.

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 a player-crafted one. 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 much different from the one in Oblivion. It more closely resembles Sufferthorn, a weapon obtained from the Dark Brotherhood in . Not only does it have 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.

Bugs

 * This weapon is not affected by the "Dual Flurry" perk, retaining standard dagger attack speed, though the other weapon still receives the speed buff.
 * If the Dark Brotherhood is completed after the Main Questline is completed, the Blade of Woe may be irretrievable.
 * It may reappear at the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary beside Astrid's body making it possible to get two without pickpocketing.
 * The dagger has the slower attack speed of a sword, though it maintains the weight and damage expected of a dagger.
 * Sometimes the Blade of Woe will appear in the wall to the left of Astrid. It cannot be taken without using the command "Noclip".
 * There has been reports of a bug that makes the Blade of Woe upgrade-able without any material. It will show: Upgraded with (blank).

Appearances


Klinge des Wehklagens (Skyrim) Hoja de la aflicción (Skyrim) Клинок Горя (Skyrim)