List of knife skills in the Dragon Quest series

Knife skills (短剣スキル) in the Dragon Quest series.

Appearances

Dragon Quest VIII

Knife skills are introduced in VIII with Jessica, and the 3DS remake with Red. Knives are effective, low cost weapons against singular enemies but are not as powerful as swords. Leveling up enough skill points will grant Jessica and Red the ability to equip swords and use their knife skills and bonuses with equipped swords, but like the Hero they cannot equip the rapiers that Angelo can use.

Jessica

SP	Ability	Description	MP
4	Attack +5	Increases attack by 5 when equipped with a dagger.
9	Toxic Dagger	Stabs the enemy at half strength, poisoning them.	3
15	Attack +10	Increases attack by 10 when equipped with a dagger.
22	Assassin's Stab	Attacks an enemy with 1/8 chance of instantly killing them	8
30	Equip Swords	Enables character to equip swords
40	Critical Hit Rate Up	Increases chance of critical hit with daggers/swords to 1/32.
52	Attack +20	Increases attack by 20 when equipped with a dagger.
66	Toxic Sword	Deals 30% more damage and poisons 100% of the time to an enemy.	3
82	Attack +30	Increases attack by 30 when equipped with a dagger.
100	Sudden Death	Stabs the enemy with a knife or sword with a 1/4 chance of killing them instantly, dealing an extra 30% damage on the side.	8

Red

SP	Ability	Description	MP
6	Toxic Dagger	Deals a strike that may poison the enemy	3
12	Attack +5	Increases attack by 5 when equipped with a knife
25	Assassin's Stab	Single strike with a 12.5% chance to instantly slay its target.	8
34	Attack +15	Increases attack by 15 when equipped with a knife
44	Miracle Cleavage	Deals a strike that restores 50% of damage dealt as HP.	4
59	Equip Swords	Allows Red to equip Swords
66	Critical Hit Rate Up	Increase critical hit rate from 1/64 to 1/32.
76	Toxic Sword	Increases damage by 30%, may envenomate the target	3
88	Attack +30	Increases attack by 30 when equipped with a knife
100	Blade Cascade	6~8 strikes that hit random targets, each dealing 40% damage.	6

Dragon Quest IX

The following are knife skills in Dragon Quest IX. Knife skills can be learned via the Warrior, Mage, and Thief classes.

SP	Ability	Description	MP
3	Toxic Dagger	A swift strike that poisons an enemy.	2
7	Max Attack +10	Increases max attack when holding a knife
13	Fly Swat	An attack that deals heavy damage to bugs.	0
22	Critical Hit Rate Up	Increases critical hit rate when wielding a knife
35	Victimiser	Does heavy damage to enemies that have been poisoned or paralyzed.	3
42	Max Attack +20	Increases max attack when holding a knife
58	Assassin's Stab	An attack that may instantly kill a target.	3
76	Max Attack +30	Increases max attack when holding a knife
88	HP Hoover	A knife attack that hurts the enemy and heals the user.	4
100	Omnivocational Knifemaster	Enables the character to use knives with any vocation.
	Persecutter	Deals heavy damage to confused or sleeping monsters. Must hold the Knifing Know-How book to use.	3

Dragon Quest X

The following are Knife skills in Dragon Quest X. Knife skills can be learned via the Minstrel, Dancer, Gadabout, Demon Swordsman and Pirate vocations, as well as the Mage and Thief vocations once again.

SP	Ability	Description	MP
3	Fly Swat/Tox	Deals extra damage to bug monsters/Inflicts poison damage on one enemy every 5 seconds.	1/3
7	Attack +5/Magical Might +30/Attack +20/Attack +15	Increases attack power by 5 when wielding a knife/Increases Mages' Magical Might by 30 when wielding a knife/Increases Dancers' attack power by 20 when wielding a knife/Increases Thieves' attack by 15 when wielding a knife
13	Sleeper Hit/Kasnooze	Damages an enemy while potentially putting it to sleep/Puts all enemies to sleep	1/6
22	Minor MP Recovery/MP + 50/Critical Hit Rate +2%	MP is recovered while attacking an enemy with a knife./Increases Mage's MP by 50 when wielding a knife/Increases the Dancers' chance to land a critical hit by 2% when wielding a knife
35	Persecutter/Katox	Deals heavy damage to confused or sleeping monsters/Inflicts poison damage every 5 seconds on surrounding enemies	3/6
42	Attack +10/Haywire Spells + 3%/Attack +30/Attack +20	Increases attack power by 10 when wielding a knife/Increases the chance of spells going haywire by 3%/Increases Dancers' attack power by 30 when wielding a knife/Increases Thieves' attack power by 20 when wielding a knife
58	Cobra Strike/Kablunt	Damages an enemy while potentially envenomating it/Reduces the attack power of all enemies	1/8
76	Critical Hit Chance When Wielding +2%/MP +100/Critical Hit Rate +4%	Increases the user's chance to land a critical hit when wielding a knife/Increases Mage's MP by 100 when wielding a knife/Increases Dancers and Thieves' chance of landing a critical hit when wielding a knife by 4%
88	Attack +15/Magical Might +60/Dodge Rate +10/Nastier Knives	Increases attack power by 15 when wielding a knife/Increases Mages' magical might when wielding a knife/Increases the Dancer's chance of dodging enemy attacks by 10/Increases status ailment chance for knife skills
100	Victimiser/Katoxle	Deals heavy damage to poisoned and paralyzed enemies/Inflicts envenomating damage to surrounding enemies every 3 seconds	3/10
110	Critical Hit Chance When Wielding +2%/Increased spell damage on sleeping opponents/+150 damage on poisoned and paralyzed enemies/Normal Drop Rate +1%	Increases the user's chance to land a critical hit when wielding a knife/Spells deal more damage when enemies are sleeping/Increases the damage dealt to poisoned and paralyzed enemies by 150/Increases the monsters' normal drop rate by 1%
120	Edge of Chaos	Damages an enemy while potentially confusing it	1
130	Attack +5/Increased spell damage on poisoned opponents/Increased damage on sleeping and confused enemies/Coup de Grace Charge Rate +1%	Increases attack power by 5 when wielding a knife/Spells deal more damage when enemies are poisoned/Skills and spells deal more damage when enemies are sleeping and/or confused/Increases the charging rate for Thieves' Coup de Grâces by 1% when wielding knives
140	Nightmare Fang		1
150	Naster Knives/Rare Drop Rate +1.1x	Increases status ailment chance for knife skills/Increases the monsters' rare drop rate by 1.1%
180	Oneros Hunt		5
200	Nemesis Edge		8

Knife skills are also learned by recruited Needlemen and Magic marionettes.

SP	Ability	Description	MP
3	Attack Power When Wielding +10	Increases attack by 10 when monster wields a knife
7	Fly Swat	Deals extra damage to Bug monsters	1
12	Attack Power When Wielding +15	Increases attack by 15 when monster wields a knife
18	Viper Dagger	Damages an enemy while potentially envenomating it	1
25	MP Recovery	Occasionally recovers MP when attacking
32	Attack Power When Wielding +25	Increases attack by 25 when monster wields a knife
40	Victimiser	Deals heavy damage to poisoned and paralyzed enemies	3
43	Fly Swat 125%	Increases Fly Swat's power by 125%
48	Viper Dagger 125%	Increases Viper Dagger's power by 125%
50	Victimiser 125%	Increases Victimiser's power by 125%

Dragon Quest XI

Knife skills are learned by Erik and Sylvando.

Erik

SP	Ability	Description	MP
3	Attack Power When Wielding +5	Increases Erik's max attack when wielding a knife by 5%
4	Critical Hit Chance When Wielding +2%	Increases Erik's chances of landing a critical hit when wielding a knife by 2%
6	Sleeper Hit	Deals 120% damage with a 50% chance to snooze the target for 1~4 turns	3
7	Cobra Strike	Deals 120% damage with a 50% chance to poison the target for 4~7 turns	3
9	Persecutter	Deals 620% damage if target is asleep or confused, 110% damage otherwise	5
13	Victimiser	Deals 620% damage if target is poisoned or paralyzed, 110% damage otherwise	5
14	Critical Hit Chance When Wielding +4%	Increases Erik's chances of landing a critical hit when wielding a knife by 4%
14	Dodge Chance +3%	Increases Erik's chances of dodging when wielding a knife by 3%
16	Attack Power When Wielding +30	Increases Erik's max attack when wielding a knife by 30%
16	Dual-Wielding	Allows Erik to dual wield knives, swords, and/or boomerangs.
16	HP Hoover	Restores 1/4th of damage dealt to one enemy.	4
16	Assassin's Stab	Has a 20% chance to instantly kill target	5
20	Nastier Knives	Increases status ailment chance for knife skills by 25%

Sylvando

SP	Ability	Description	MP
3	Attack Power When Wielding +5	Increases Sylvando's max attack by 5 when wielding a knife.
4	Critical Hit Chance When Wielding +2%	Increases Sylvando's chance of landing a critical hit when wielding a knife by 2%
7	Sleeper Hit	Deals 120% damage with a 50% chance to snooze the target for 1~4 turns	3
9	Attack Power When Wielding +10	Increases Sylvando's max attack by 10 when wielding a knife
13	Cobra Strike	Deals 120% damage with a 50% chance to poison the target for 4~7 turns	3
13	Persecutter	Deals 620% damage if target is asleep or confused, 110% damage otherwise	5
16	Victimiser	Deals 620% damage if target is poisoned or paralyzed, 110% damage otherwise	5
18	Nastier Knives	Increases status ailment chance for knife skills by 25%
20	Sudden Death	Deals 200% light damage with a 20% chance to instantly kill target	8