You might think in a futuristic dystopia like the one in Cyberpunk 2077, swords would be obsolete; but many of the best fighters in Night City still use a weapon from centuries ago: the katana. There are tons of katanas in the game, so of course you need to know which ones are really the best before adding them to your arsenal.
Cyberpunk 2077’s best katanas
The Byakko
When paired with the right build, the Byakko is easily the best katana in Cyberpunk 2077. It already starts out with a quick swing rate, high damage output, and a 15 percent bleeding chance modifier that can cut your enemies down.
Its real genius comes down to its pairing with perks that allow you to dash around and deliver quick deadly strikes. It provides you double attack speed after you make a kill, increases your melee range by one, and allows you to dive at enemies and hit them with your sword. The dive allows you to chain attacks between opponents with impunity: the more opponents you’re surrounded by, the better the weapon is, allowing you to live out your samurai dreams. Depending on your perks, you can also regenerate health while you rack up a killing spree.
The Byakko can be found after the Professional Widow optional sidequest, which you can do for Wakako Okada.
The Scalpel
The scalpel also works well with a bullet-time ninja build, pairing greatly with the game’s best sandevistans. This katana has a high damage output and even has a 10 percent chance to deal a shock status effect. With a Sandevistan is active, your chances to get a critical hit go up 50 percent, and the chances to cause a bleeding effect go up by 100 percent. With the right time-slowing build, you can take down opponents swiftly and leave them reeling.
It hits faster than most other blades as well, with five hits per second. It can apply different types of elemental damage, making it a great specialized tool.
You can get this katana by completing the “Big in Japan” side job.
Best katanas in Cyberpunk 2077: the Satori
The Satori is another strong option. In the lore, it’s an older weapon, so it doesn’t deal as much base damage. But when you land a critical hit, your damage is increased by 500 percent.
This turns a crit from the Satori into one of the strongest possible hits you can deal. With the right perks and mods, you can be one-shotting opponents in no time. Pair it with a high Cool stat and sneak up on some opponents and you’re a deadly stealth ninja.
You can find the Satori in The Heist mission before you exit the hotel. You’ll be told by the mission to leave the house, but don’t listen. Instead, head up to the roof and kill the guards there. Inside Arasaka’s vehicle is the blade.
The Jinchu-Maru
The JInchu-Maru hits hard. An all-black weapon, it swings fast and deals out a lot of damage per swing. It has a good chance to penetrate opponents’ armor and apply bleeding. Its real bonus comes when you make use of the Kerenzikov, another time-slowing device. Using one increases your critical hit chances by 100 percent allowing you to kill opponents quickly.
The Jinchu-Maru’s damage also doubles against opponents who have twice your health or more—making it the perfect boss-killer. The last strike of a combo also deals double damage with this weapon.
Combined together, you can deal up to four times as much damage as you normally would on a boss, plus that critical chance modifier.
You can get the Jinchu-Maru in the Play it Safe storyline, by taking out the boss Sandayu Oda
The Cocktail Stick
Comically named and weak and pink in appearance the Cocktail Stick is nothing to sneeze at. Though it’s lower on our list, many people consider it the best katana in Cyberpunk 2077. You can get this weapon in the Automatic Love quest, obtainable in the green room which is optional to search. It’s right under a neon sign that says “bliss.”
Though it deals less damage than some of the above options, the Cocktail stick has a 20 percent chance of dealing bleeding damage and a 44 percent critical chance.
It also has an advantage that no other weapon has—it has an increased dismemberment chance of 300 percent. This weapon instantly becomes spades better when you target your opponent’s limbs and try to dissect them rather than take them out in one go.
The Tsumetogi
No one’s arguing the Tsumetogi is the best overall katana. But unique properties absolutely make it the best katana under certain circumstances.
The Tsumetogi hits with the most electrical damage, providing an extra bit of electrical damage equaling around 100. It also consistently has a 20 percent chance to deal shock damage to any opponent it touches. This makes it perfect for dealing with robotic opponents, nailing them directly in their weakness.
The Tsumetogi is also extremely fast, dealing five swings a second, faster than most other katanas in the game. On top of that, it has standard modifiers like an increased crit chance, crit damage, and even provides you with a bit of electric resistance.
You can get this during the Pisces job, which sees you conducting a raid with romanecable NPC Judy Alvarez. It’s in the same room where you make your final decision.
