I've been doing some testing fairly late in my playthrough of Risen 3.

I'm primarily a magic-user, so I have no melee or ranged-related skills purchased.

Since I have a bunch of spare permanent potions, I decided to test how various weapon types work in regards to my character's weapon skill with them (since ranged weapons aren't as straightforward and obvious as melee/magic at a glance).

The first thing I noticed is that ranged weapons do kind of disappointing damage if you aren't getting critical hits frequently. That's compounded by the fact that each attack effectively costs $ and attacks happen more slowly.

The second thing, and the reason for this thread, is what I learned when I did some tests with Daggers:

Dagger talent does not appear to do anything at all. I was flabbergasted to discover this. Daggers are guaranteed to hit (provided you're targeting something properly) and their damage (not counting critical hits) is fixed.

I did find it odd that Daggers, which are supposed to have their damage affected by Daggers talent, don't display a range of damage like Lead Shot firearms like Shotguns and certain Pistols do. Now I understand why, it's because their damage isn't variable at all.

Am I going nuts or does Dagger talent actually do nothing at all? I tried throwing at max range and throwing at the closest range possible and the damage seems totally consistent. Whether with lower Cunning or maximum Cunning, the damage also doesn't vary.

Daggers still have the advantage of the Knifer skill, but it seems like the actual Dagger I/II/III skills and your Cunning doesn't make any difference in output.

Just wanted to share this odd discovery that would only be found out if you take the time to test it (as most features in games are taken for granted that they work as advertised).