MapleStory Classic Daggers Guide: Every Dagger, Best Picks

Checked against v1.0.0 on October 29, 2026.

A dagger is the Thief's melee weapon and the Bandit's only weapon. MapleStory Classic World has 22 daggers, from the level 5 Razor to the level 70 Kandine and Golden River. This MapleStory Classic daggers guide lists every one with its attack, speed, stat needs and source. It covers which daggers you can buy or craft, how the STR and DEX variants split, the Korean Fan vs Gephart question at level 40, dagger scrolls and an upgrade path from 10 to 50, for the live Grand Launch game.

Quick summary

• 22 daggers, levels 5 to 70. Attack runs from +23 (Razor, Fruit Knife) to +88 (Kandine). Every dagger has 7 upgrade slots (MapleStory Quest, Public Release client).
• Each tier from level 15 comes in two flavors. One needs DEX and swings Fast (4). The other needs STR, swings Faster (3) and is also usable by Warriors (MapleStory Quest; the pattern is our own reading).
• Shops stop at level 27. Cutthroat Manny's best is the Forked Dagger for 14,700 mesos. After that, daggers come from drops or Weaponcrafting (NiaMeowDB launch prices).
• Only two daggers are craftable: Halfmoon Zamadar (Weaponcrafting 7) and Gephart (Weaponcrafting 8). The Sai needs craft level 10, past the craft level 8 cap that Grand Launch kept (MapleStory Quest).
• Korean Fan and Gephart come out nearly even at level 40. With Dagger Booster, our math puts them within 1% on ordinary attacks. The Fan needs no DEX, which tips it for most Bandits.

Compare every dagger

Lv	Dagger	Atk	Needs	Job	Speed	NPC pays	How to get it
5	Razor	23	–	All	Fast (4)	250	Sid on Maple Island, 500 (NiaMeowDB lists CoT2 prices)
8	Fruit Knife	23	–	All	Faster (3)	750	Silver, Lith Harbor, 1,500
10	Beginner's Triangular Zamadar	27	20 LUK	Thief	Fast (4)	–	No source recorded
10	Triangular Zamadar	28	20 LUK	Thief	Fast (4)	1,500	Manny 3,000; Stump (older data)
15	Field Dagger	30	10 DEX, 20 LUK	Warrior/Thief	Faster (3)	2,500	Manny or River 5,000; Shroom, Blue Mushroom (older data)
17	Triple-Tipped Zamadar	34	11 STR, 31 LUK	Warrior/Thief	Faster (3)	2,900	Manny 5,800
20	Coconut Knife	38	15 DEX, 30 LUK	Thief	Fast (4)	3,500	Manny or River 10,500; Jr. Necki (older data)
22	Stinger	39	17 STR, 44 LUK	Warrior/Thief	Faster (3)	3,900	Manny 11,700
25	Iron Dagger	40	20 DEX, 40 LUK	Thief	Fast (4)	4,500	Manny or River 13,500
27	Forked Dagger	45	22 DEX, 54 LUK	Thief	Fast (4)	4,900	Manny 14,700
30	Cass	47	25 STR, 60 LUK	Warrior/Thief	Faster (3)	5,500	Zombie Lupin (NiaMeowDB reference table, unconfirmed)
30	Reef Claw	48	25 DEX, 60 LUK	Thief	Fast (4)	5,500	Ligator (NiaMeowDB reference table, unconfirmed)
35	Halfmoon Zamadar	53	30 DEX, 70 LUK	Thief	Fast (4)	7,500	Weaponcrafting 7; Iron Hog (older data)
40	Gephart	58	35 DEX, 80 LUK	Thief	Fast (4)	9,500	Weaponcrafting 8; Ligator (older data, NiaMeowDB)
40	Korean Fan	55, +1 accuracy, +1 avoid	70 LUK	All	Faster (3)	9,500	Lorang (NiaMeowDB Bandit guide)
45	Bazlud	62	40 STR, 90 LUK	Warrior/Thief	Faster (3)	11,500	Lupin (NiaMeowDB Bandit guide)
50	Shinkita	68	45 DEX, 100 LUK	Thief	Fast (4)	13,500	Zombie Lupin, Malady (older data); Tauromacis
50	Sai	67	45 STR, 100 LUK	Warrior/Thief	Faster (3)	13,500	Craft level 10 (not at launch); Drakes (older data)
60	Deadly Fin	78	55 DEX, 120 LUK	Thief	Fast (4)	17,500	Yeti and Pepe, Jr. Balrog (NiaMeowDB reference table)
60	Serpent's Coil	77	55 STR, 120 LUK	Warrior/Thief	Faster (3)	17,500	Same as Deadly Fin
70	Kandine	88	65 DEX, 140 LUK	Thief	Fast (4)	21,500	Jr. Balrog, 4% (older data)
70	Golden River	87	65 STR, 140 LUK	Warrior/Thief	Faster (3)	21,500	Jr. Balrog, 4% (older data)

Stats, jobs, speed and sell prices are MapleStory Quest's client read. "Manny" is Cutthroat Manny in the Kerning City weapon store, and River runs the Perion Weapon Store (NiaMeowDB launch lists). Older-data drops come from MapleStory Quest. NiaMeowDB's reference tables are pre-Big Bang MapleSEA lists, so treat those drops as likely, not proven. Its Bandit guide names Lorangs for the Korean Fan and Lupins for the Bazlud.

Read the STR and DEX split

From level 15 on, daggers come in pairs. Our reading of the client data:

Variant	Needs	Speed	Job	Examples
DEX dagger	DEX plus LUK	Fast (4)	Thief only	Coconut Knife, Reef Claw, Gephart, Shinkita, Kandine
STR dagger	STR plus LUK	Faster (3)	Warrior or Thief	Stinger, Cass, Bazlud, Sai, Golden River
No-stat dagger	LUK only, or nothing	Fast or Faster	Any job	Razor, Fruit Knife, Korean Fan

The DEX dagger usually has 1 more attack than its STR twin. The STR dagger is one speed step faster. The trade-off matters because Thieves already carry DEX from first job. Adding STR later means "you end up paying for both stats," as mscw-guidebook puts it in our Bandit guide.

The stat formula also differs by source. Henesys.gg uses LUK as the main stat with STR plus DEX as the secondary for daggers (our damage formula guide). The MapleClassic Wiki describes it as "LUK + STR." Either way, LUK does most of the work. Don't overbuild STR or DEX past the next dagger's requirement.

Buy your early daggers

Shop	Location	Daggers (launch price)
Cutthroat Manny	Kerning City weapon store	Triangular Zamadar 3,000; Field Dagger 5,000; Triple-Tipped Zamadar 5,800; Coconut Knife 10,500; Stinger 11,700; Iron Dagger 13,500; Forked Dagger 14,700
River	Perion Weapon Store	Field Dagger 5,000; Coconut Knife 10,500; Iron Dagger 13,500
Silver	Lith Harbor Weapon Shop	Fruit Knife 1,500
El Moth	The Tree That Grew III	Dagger Attack Scroll: Lesser, 30,000

Skip some tiers. MapleStory Quest's Bandit ladder shows the Stinger adds only +1 over the Coconut Knife, and the Iron Dagger only +1 over the Stinger. Our pick: Triangular Zamadar at 10, Triple-Tipped Zamadar at 17, Coconut Knife at 20, then the Forked Dagger at 27. That's 34,000 mesos at Manny prices for four daggers, against 64,200 for buying all seven tiers (our math).

Know which daggers you can craft

Dagger	Craft level	Character level	Ingredients	Fee
Halfmoon Zamadar	Weaponcrafting 7	35	4 Iron Ingots, 3 Mithril Ingots, 21 Screws	7,500
Gephart	Weaponcrafting 8	40	6 Iron Ingots, 2 Mithril Ingots, 24 Screws	9,500
Sai	Weaponcrafting 10 (past the cap)	50	5 Bronze Ingots, 5 Gold Ingots, 6 Diamonds, 30 Screws	13,500

Recipes come from MapleStory Quest. Its crafting ladder says "The Public Release's crafting stops at 8; only Closed Online Test 2's went to 10," and Grand Launch kept that cap. NiaMeowDB lists the Sai's only recipe at Weaponcrafting 10, so it can't be made yet.

Our math on the inputs: a Halfmoon Zamadar takes 35 ore through Smithing (20 Iron, 15 Mithril) plus 3 Screw crafts (3 Bronze and 3 Iron Ingots, another 30 ore). A Gephart takes 40 ore plus 3 Screw crafts. The real cost is the craft level. Reaching Weaponcrafting 8 on the release EXP table takes about 46 weapon crafts by our route. See our Weaponcrafting guide and crafting guide.

Catalysts: every dagger recipe accepts the One-Handed Weapon Crafting Catalyst, which gives "a chance the item's bonus stats will change" (NiaMeowDB, quoting the game text).

Settle Korean Fan vs Gephart

This is the main dagger decision at level 40. Here's our speed math using NiaMeowDB's attack-speed tiers from our attack speed guide. Damage scales with weapon attack, so attack × attacks per minute is a fair rough guide:

Setup	Korean Fan (55, Faster)	Gephart (58, Fast)	Result
No Booster	90 attacks/min × 55 = 4,950	83 attacks/min × 58 = 4,814	Fan about 3% ahead
With Dagger Booster	105 × 55 = 5,775	100 × 58 = 5,800	Gephart about 0.4% ahead

Those numbers are ordinary attacks. Double Stab and Savage Blow have their own timings, and planet-helper's skill-timed ranking puts the Fan 2% ahead of the next-best dagger at level 40. The bigger difference is stats. The Fan needs only 70 LUK, so a Bandit can skip the Gephart's 35 DEX and put those points into LUK. It also adds +1 accuracy and +1 avoid.

Our pick: farm the Korean Fan if you can reach Lorangs on Florina Beach (see our Florina Beach guide). Craft the Gephart if you've already leveled Weaponcrafting, or if you built DEX for claws first.

Plan past level 45

Lv	Pick	Why	Catch
45	Bazlud	+62, Faster	Needs 40 STR; drop only
50	Shinkita or Sai	+68 Fast or +67 Faster	Shinkita needs 45 DEX, Sai 45 STR. No launch recipe for either
60	Serpent's Coil or Deadly Fin	+77 or +78	Old drop tables only
70	Golden River or Kandine	+87 or +88	Jr. Balrog at 4% in older data

Planet-helper's damage ranking picks the STR line from 45: "adding STR for Bazlud is 4–10% ahead, and from Lv 50 adding STR for Sai is 12–18% ahead." Mscw-guidebook prefers DEX and the Shinkita (our Bandit guide). If you're farming Jr. Balrog for the level 70 daggers, see our Jr. Balrog guide.

Forgotten Hollow drops wait until November. NiaMeowDB puts the Sai's only confirmed drop there, and planet-helper names Glowshrooms for the Halfmoon Zamadar and Duskmanders for the Sai. Nexon's Grand Launch notes say the area opens in November, and community trackers list November 18 (our Forgotten Hollow guide).

Use daggers on a Warrior

The Warrior/Thief daggers (Field Dagger, Triple-Tipped Zamadar, Stinger, Cass, Bazlud, Sai, Serpent's Coil, Golden River) can be held by a Warrior. That's rarely worth it. A Warrior's damage uses STR, and the dagger multiplier is 1.0 on a swing and 2.0 on a stab, about 1.40 on average. A one-handed sword averages 1.8, and a polearm 2.7 (henesys.gg and NiaMeowDB, in our damage formula guide). The one use is a quick, cheap weapon on a fresh Warrior when nothing else drops; the real Warrior picks are in our blunt weapons guide and axes guide.

Pair your dagger with a shield

Unlike claws, a dagger leaves the off-hand free for a shield (MapleClassic Wiki). That's extra defense and on Thief shields, LUK or attack. Our shields guide found no recorded release source for Thief shields yet, so treat one as a lucky find, not a plan.

Scroll your dagger

Scroll	Success	Effect	Risk
Dagger Attack Scroll: Lesser	100%	+1 attack	None
Dagger Attack Scroll: Intermediate	60%	+2 attack	None
Dagger Attack Scroll: Greater	10%	+4 attack	None
Dagger Attack Scroll: Chaos	10%	+5 attack	50% to destroy

Odds come from MapleStory Quest's client read. El Moth sells the Lesser for 30,000 mesos (NiaMeowDB).

Our math: seven Lessers add a guaranteed +7 for 210,000 mesos, turning a Korean Fan into a 62-attack dagger. Seven Intermediates average +8.4. A clean Gephart with seven Lessers reaches 65, above a clean level 45 Bazlud (62). Scroll the dagger you'll hold longest, usually your level 40 pick. Our scrolling guide covers the tiers.

Follow a dagger path from 10 to 50

Level	Dagger	Source	Running cost (our math)
10	Triangular Zamadar	Manny	3,000
17	Triple-Tipped Zamadar (STR) or keep	Manny	8,800
20	Coconut Knife (DEX)	Manny or River	19,300
27	Forked Dagger	Manny	34,000
30	Cass or Reef Claw if one drops	Drop	–
35	Halfmoon Zamadar	Weaponcrafting 7 or trade	+7,500 fee
40	Korean Fan, or Gephart	Lorang, or Weaponcrafting 8	Farm time, or +9,500 fee
45–50	Bazlud, Shinkita or Sai	Drops or trade	–

Planet-helper's route keeps a Bandit on a claw with Lucky Seven until level 40, then switches to a dagger. If you follow it, start this path at 35 or 40. Our Thief guide and claws guide cover the claw side.

Handle alts and returning players

• Returning players: the old shop daggers are where you remember, but nothing above the Forked Dagger is stocked, and Kerning has no level 30 dagger for sale (NiaMeowDB).
• Thief alts: keep a Korean Fan or Forked Dagger in storage. Any job can hold the Fan, so it moves between characters with the shared account storage covered in our inventory guide.
• Bandit mains coming back after a break: check whether your stat build fits the STR or DEX line before you farm a level 45–50 dagger.
• Rushing a Bandit: daggers from levels 30 to 70 mostly drop, so plan farm time, and remember that faster levels won't earn the Weaponcrafting levels for a Gephart.
• Budgeting a Bandit: market daggers after 30 make it one of the pricier jobs; our class costs guide compares every second job.

Want a hand with this?

If you would rather not grind this part yourself, MapleStory Classic powerleveling services are listed on FullBoosts. Read Nexon's Terms of Service before you buy any service from anyone, FullBoosts included — a marketplace listing isn't publisher permission.

What changed for daggers at Grand Launch

Grand Launch (v1.0.0, October 21, 2026) didn't change any dagger's stats, shop or recipe, and crafting still stops at craft level 8. The dagger stats above already include the Founder's Access rework that henesys.gg's update notes list: the Coconut Knife and Iron Dagger became Thief-only Fast daggers, the Triple-Tipped Zamadar, Stinger and Bazlud opened to Warriors at Faster speed, and the Cass, Sai, Serpent's Coil and Golden River gained 2 attack.

The Bandit changes since then are skill fixes, not weapon changes:

• October 15: Steal no longer drops mesos or items, steals, or grants its buff on a miss (Nexon).
• Grand Launch: Dark Sight now makes you semi-transparent to every player, and field boss respawns are more randomized, which affects Jr. Balrog farming for the level 70 daggers (Nexon's maintenance notes).

The MapleStory Classic hub collects every guide for the game.

FAQ

What is the best dagger in MapleStory Classic at level 40? The Korean Fan for most Bandits. It needs only 70 LUK and swings Faster. The Gephart has 3 more attack, and with Dagger Booster our math puts the two within 1% (MapleStory Quest; NiaMeowDB speed tiers).

Can you craft daggers in MapleStory Classic? Two of them: the Halfmoon Zamadar at Weaponcrafting 7 and the Gephart at Weaponcrafting 8. The Sai needs craft level 10, and crafting still stops at craft level 8 (MapleStory Quest).

Where does the Korean Fan drop? From Lorangs on Florina Beach (NiaMeowDB's Bandit guide). MapleStory Quest's older data also lists Fire Boars.

What's the best dagger I can buy? The Forked Dagger: level 27, +45 attack, 14,700 mesos at Cutthroat Manny in Kerning City (NiaMeowDB launch prices).

Do daggers use STR or DEX? LUK is the main stat. Each tier from level 15 also has a DEX version (Fast) and a STR version (Faster). The Razor, Fruit Knife and Korean Fan have no STR or DEX requirement (MapleStory Quest).

How much does it cost to scroll a dagger? Seven Dagger Attack Scroll: Lessers from El Moth cost 210,000 mesos and add a guaranteed +7 (NiaMeowDB price; MapleStory Quest odds).

Related guides

• Bandit guide
• Claws guide
• Weaponcrafting guide
• Attack speed guide
• Thief guide 1–30
• Florina Beach guide
• Class costs and meso budget
• MapleStory Classic hub