Elliott's Pencil

Elliott's Pencil

Type	Weapon
Type	Dagger
Level	8
Damage	24-30
Crit Chance	6%
Stats	Crit. Chance (+4)
Location	Elliott during the Desert Festival for 70

Elliott writes his novel in the cabin on the beach, and the pencil he wore down doing it turns up for sale at the Desert Festival for 70 Calico Eggs. As a weapon it is a dagger that hits for 24 to 30 and rolls critical hits about six times in a hundred swings, which puts it level with the best crit chances in the game outside the Iridium Needle. That makes it a real mid-game blade rather than a joke, even though the sprite is a plain yellow pencil with a pink eraser. Elliott only runs a stall in some years, as six villagers trade over the three festival days and two appear each day. The joke is that a man who prefers duck-feather quills is selling the pencil at all.

Location

The Desert Festival is the only shop that stocks it, and the festival sets up in the Calico Desert for three Spring days. Reaching it means the bus has been repaired through the Vault bundles, so this is a second-year purchase at the earliest.

Everything there is bought with Calico Eggs, which only exist during the festival and leave the bag when it ends. Willy sets a fishing task each day out at the desert pond and pays eggs for finishing it, which is a fitting way to buy a weapon from the valley's other fisherman. The critter races pay 20 eggs a correct bet and run for most of the day, Gil and Marlon set combat challenges in the Skull Cavern, the scholar near the merchant pays for four right answers once a year, and the trash can beside his stall yields a few more daily.

Whether Elliott is one of the six stallholders is decided when the festival generates, so the sensible approach is to look in on all three days.

Stats

Crit chance is the whole case for this dagger. The base figure is far above the dagger norm, and the +4 bonus on top is matched only by the Wicked Kris. A dagger lands several stabs a second, so a high crit chance converts into frequent crits rather than occasional luck.

The 24 to 30 damage band is narrow, which keeps the pencil honest: every stab lands in the same useful range instead of sometimes doing almost nothing. The triple crit multiplier is ordinary, so crits roughly treble the hit rather than exploding like a Dragontooth Shiv's.

Knockback is minimal, as it is on almost every light dagger. Nothing gets pushed away, so the farmer stays inside biting range for the whole exchange. Pairing the pencil with Space Boots or a defensive ring is the usual fix.

Notes

The pencil's stat line is shared with Abby's Planchette and with the Wicked Kris, which is found in the Skull Cavern and in a remixed Mines chest. Anyone who already owns the Kris gains nothing in combat from buying the pencil, so the purchase is usually about having Elliott's handwriting in the bag.

At the Forge, Aquamarine is the obvious gem, pushing the crit chance higher still, while Jade raises the damage each of those crits delivers. Ruby is the plain choice for a farmer who thinks the base damage is the problem.

The Scout and Desperado professions turn the pencil into a surprisingly strong weapon. Half again as much crit chance, and double damage when a crit lands, make the four-stab special move a serious burst: four chances at a large hit, all delivered while the target is held in place.

All Daggers

Every entry in this group, with its key details.

Name	Type	Level	Damage
Abby's Planchette	Dagger	8	24-30
Broken Trident	Dagger	5	15-26
Burglar's Shank	Dagger	4	7-12
Carving Knife	Dagger	1	1-3
Crystal Dagger	Dagger	4	4-10
Dragontooth Shiv	Dagger	12	40-50
Dwarf Dagger	Dagger	11	32-38
Elf Blade	Dagger	2	3-5
Elliott's Pencil	Dagger	8	24-30
Galaxy Dagger	Dagger	8	30-40
Infinity Dagger	Dagger	16	50-70
Iridium Needle	Dagger	12	20-35
Iron Dirk	Dagger	1	2-4
Shadow Dagger	Dagger	4	10-20
Wicked Kris	Dagger	8	24-30
Wind Spire	Dagger	1	1-5