As numerous players say, do not pvp unless you hit s grade.
So, equipment should best work for pve. Also as Smittie said, who exp without buffs - adventurer buffs till 75lvl... vr buff included.
For any dagger best a grade armor is DC. Ok, as dagger you should avoid stunner mobs (maj light helps with it).
Weapon depends on how much you may invest: if you have not much adenas buy bloody orchid +focus, otherwise Naga storm +focus.
Crit damage dagger is on big question for pve reasons, because more damage per crit or skill, but much less crits and less "dagger mastery" self 6sec buffs.
I would choose focus dagger.
I think Focus vs Crit Dmg is really a question of where you are hunting.
Multiple HP Mobs (i.e. catacombs) = BO w/focus
Single HP mobs (i.e. FOTD) = Crit Dmg
I did 68 to 75 in FOTD with a crit dmg dagger and just went around using Lethal Blow and one shot all the mobs, which crit dmg will boost.
I switched to a BO w/focus for 75 to 76 in the back of CoW in a stunner room with maj light, and my SE spamming stigma. Then again I also was running around with full PP, SE buffs and PoWind (prior to prophecy changes).
I did 68 to 75 in FOTD and just went around using Lethal Blow
o_O
On topic: for pve use Bloody Orchid+Focus and NM light set, it's top A grade along with MJ, you get better p def, it gives +4% m def, +70% sleep resist, +1 DEX (that means +4% att speed along with increase in evasion, accuracy, run speed, crit rate), and +3% vampiric which adds to the bonus from buff. DC has lower p def (low A grade set), the only good thing you can obtain from it is +1 STR and +4% p att, that's a total of +8% p att, but it's not worth it, trust me.
DC is best for damage output; it also gets 4% attack speed bonus. NM armor bonus has been changed to +4% pdef instead of mdef (website description is old, I have a set that's what it says in game as of now). Maj gives the same +1 dex as NM. But typically +STR is better for damage output than dex, even for LE daggers; so I would recommend DC or if you plan to pvp 76+ you will want to invest in and sometimes use a Maj set anyway so just go for that.
The description is wrong, if you check your stats you can see the increase in m def, not p def, I have a NM set myself which I used until 76. Talking about +STR, I'd go for a PL set +6, which is definitely better than DC set, maybe not the best p def but since it's +6 it adds a nice HP boost, evasion and m def. I have one of those too; now I'm using both sets on my sub, depending on the situation.
On the other hand, a LE might consider using a Doom Light set along with a +DEX dye setup, considering they have the highest DEX level in game. It's always best to increase your top abilities, i.e. DEX for LE, STR for DE and so on.
So, there is quite a bit of difference in the sets. So I think it really comes down to preference. I prefer DC Light for atk speed BUT the Maj/NM set has +1 Dex so theres your speed anyway. With that being said I am making a PW myself. I was also told to do PL.. getting a +6 is tricky though. I am short on money so I would like to go this route so long as I get lucky lol. :rolleyes:
There will come a time you have to hunt stunning mobs though, so you'll probably have to score some Majestic around level 75. For the process of 61-75, I used DC light mainly. :)