Best Katana in Elden Ring – Ranking All 8 Katanas

In this Elden Ring Best Katana and Ranking Guide, we’ll be taking a look at the 8 Katanas in Elden Ring and discussing why you might use them in combat. We’ll take a look at attack power, damage type, length, Weapon Skills, and other factors such as how long it takes you to acquire them, to determine if they are best suited for you. We are doing a guide for all Weapon types in Elden Ring, and these will be updated to reflect those added with Shadow of the Erdtree as well.

Katanas in Elden Ring

1. Nagakiba
2. Rivers of Blood
3. Moonveil
4. Uchigatana
5. Hand of Malenia
6. Serpentbone Blade
7. Dragonscale Blade
8. Meteoric Ore Blade

Best Katana in Elden Ring – Ranked

Katanas are one of the 31 Weapon types in Elden Ring, soon to be 39 when Shadow of the Erdtree releases on June 21st. Katanas have decent attack speed. It also has innate status effect build-up, which is fantastic. These two status effects are either Bleed or Poison. With the decent attack speed, it can build-up status effects in no time. It also has low attribute requirements to use, so your attributes won’t be spread too thin. Most of the Katanas in the game are found early on, so there are a lot of upgrades throughout the game.

Even though most Katanas are found early on, some such as Rivers of Blood and Hand of Malenia aren’t available until you progress late into the game. Also, the dual wield combo isn’t as strong as you would want it to be. Other weapons will have better movesets when dual weilding, so you should keep that in mind when using Katanas.

PROS

• Decent Attack Speed
• Has an innate status effect build-up, either Bleed or Poison
• Has low attribute requirements in order to use them
• Found fairly early in the game

CONS

• Some Katanas aren’t available until very late in the game
• Dual wield combo isn’t as strong as other weapons

Meteoric Ore Blade – #8 Best Katana in Elden Ring

Meteoric Ore Blade has a unique over head chop for its R2 attack that is reminiscent of Sekiro’s Ichimonji, and deals both Physical and Magic Damage. It is the heaviest Katana in Elden Ring, weighing 7.5, and requires some points in Strength, Dexterity and Intelligence in order to wield.

Conclusion: The Meteoric Ore Blade is in a weird spot because despite having the highest Attack Rating of all Katanas in Elden Ring, it has a terrible Weapon Skill, and it’s claim to fame is really it’s unique R2 and solid Strength Scaling. The problem is that if you use it in your off-hand in a dual wield setup with a second Katana then you cannot make full use of that Strength Scaling or its R2. And if you two-hand this Katana then you are stuck with its terrible Weapon Skill and very short reach. So you’re kind of damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

The ideal stat spread for this Weapon is about 55 Strength and minimum investment into Intelligence and Dexterity, and moving forward Strength still outperforms either of these two attributes all the way up to 80, so you’ll want to keep focusing there for your first playthrough. In NG+ and beyond you can increase Dexterity and Intelligence to further boost damage, making this weapon very viable in multiple NG+s.

I’d pair this weapon with a Cold Infused Uchigatana in my right hand for similar stat scaling, Frostbite Build Up, and a much stronger Ash of War like Carian Grandeur, Glintblade Phalanx or Glintstone Pebble. These two weapons have about the same reach, making it likely you’ll hit with both when you attack with L1 if you are positioned correctly. If you use the Cold Nagakiba you get slightly worse Dexterity Scaling, and it’s much longer reach, which is not especially helpful if you need to move close to hit with Meteoric Ore Blade anyway.

The other option is to two-hand this weapon and get that extra damage from Strength Scaling leaning into the Charged R2 and R2 attacks of this weapon, using something like the Axe Talisman to further enhance this attack’s damage. You’ll need high Poise for a setup like this so that you can swing through attacks uninterrupted, so make sure you have high Endurance and heavy armor with good Poise if you want to play this way.

Dragonscale Blade – #7 Best Katana in Elden Ring

Dragonscale Blade shares the default moveset of many other Katanas, and deals 100% Physical Damage. It is one of the lightest Katanas in Elden Ring, weighing 5.5, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.

Conclusion: The Dragonscale Blade is in a bad spot because it doesn’t apply Bleed or Poison natively like all other Katanas do, and it must be buffed every 45 seconds in order to apply Frostbite with its attacks. Ice Lightning Sword has a very long wind up, making this hard to do repeatedly mid aggressive boss fights, and even though the weapon does extra damage to Dragons these enemies are usually resistant to Slash Damage anyway, making it less useful than it would appear.

You’d ideally use this weapon in a dual wield setup with the Dragonscale Blade in your right hand for faster rebuffing, since you will need to reapply Ice Lightning Sword every 45 seconds or so for best results. I’d pair it with a Cold Uchigatana for faster Frostbite Build Up and similar Scaling. These two weapons also have similar attack ranges, making it easier to line up L1 attacks.

Because the Dragonscale Blade really only scales effectively with Dexterity, and it’s buff applies a flat 130 Lightning Damage, it will continue to get worse and worse with successive NG+ playthroughs where enemies will gain more and more health, but your damage will not really increase. For this reason I don’t recommend it in any playthrough past the first NG+.

It’s ideal stat spread is about 50 Dexterity, but the weapon performs the best of any Katanas at minimum requirements due to the damage Ice Lightning Sword provides, so it’s not a bad choice for a low level playthrough, or on a character that wants to remain low level to cooperate with lower level players.

Serpentbone Blade – #6 Best Katana in Elden Ring

Serpentbone Blade has a unique R2 attack that hits twice in rapid succession, and deals 100% Physical Damage. It is one of the lightest Katanas in Elden Ring, weighing 6, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.

Conclusion: The Serpentbone Blade should be a lot better than it is. High base damage allows it to stay ahead of both the Uchigatana and Nagakiba in terms of raw damage, but Poison is much worse than Bleed in general, even if it uses ‘Deadly’ Poison which ticks faster. Additionally, you cannot change the Affinity of this weapon, which means you cannot add other status effects like Bleeding or Frostbite. Since you can do this with both the Uchigatana and Nagakiba, they are generally better options if you’re going the status effect route.

The sweet spot for this Weapon is around 50 Dexterity, and if you’re going to use it make sure that you pair it with Kindred of Rot’s Exultation and Mushroom Crown for best results, as these boost Attack Power when you’ve Poisoned a nearby enemy (or yourself).

Consider two-handing this weapon for easier staggers with Charged R2s, while using Double Slash as needed. Or use it in a dual wield setup with another Katana for faster Poison Build Up, with the addition of Bleed as well. Or swap back and forth like I do in the Serpent Samurai Build!

This weapon will perform worse with each NG+ cycle because it really only scales off of Dexterity, and you’ll likely hit 80 Dexterity or so at the end of your first playthrough or at the beginning of NG+. This means as enemies get tougher your damage won’t really increase, making you less effective as you progress further and further into NG+s.

Hand of Malenia – #5 Best Katana in Elden Ring

Hand of Malenia shares the default moveset of many other Katanas, and deals 100% Physical Damage. It is one of the heaviest Katanas in Elden Ring, weighing 7, and requires some points in Strength and a lot of points in Dexterity in order to wield.

Conclusion: Hand of Malenia is a solid Katana with less versatility and less status build up than other Katanas, but makes up for it with its long reach, high Physical Damage, and its unique Weapon Skill: Waterfowl Dance which can hit like a truck if setup properly.

Waterfowl Dance when used with high Poise and Talismans that increase your damage as you hit more and more like Winged Sword Insignia, Rotten Winged Sword Insignia and Millicent’s Prothesis, becomes an absolutely unstoppable force than can wipe out entire packs of enemies with ease, and sometimes Bosses in one complete combo of this Skill.

The downside to this Weapon is that it is less effective than Rivers of Blood in general because of Waterfowl Dance’s rather long wind up, not only increasing the time it takes to kill enemies, but also making it unviable in tight quarters with enemies pressing down upon you. However, where it really shines vs. Rivers of Blood is against Bosses and enemies that are Bleed resistant or immune to Bleed, since Hand of Malenia does not rely on this Status Effect for most of its damage.

You get your best bang for your buck with this Weapon around it’s minimum requirements of 16 Strength and 48 Dexterity, but it scales as good as a Keen Nagakiba all the way up to 80 Dexterity, so don’t be afraid to push those numbers higher. You will see your damage plateau with this weapon in NG+s because of it’s low Bleed Build Up, because once you’ve taken Dexterity to 80 you won’t get too much more damage out of it. However, your damage should still remain very high with Waterfowl Dance getting you through NG+ and NG++ rather easily.

Either use this weapon two-handed leaning into Waterfowl Dance whenever possible, or dual wield it with a Keen Nagakiba, which is slightly longer in length, allowing you to hit enemies effectively with L1, unlike many other pairings with these weapons. This should provide better Bleed Build Up. Just be sure to still use Waterfowl Dance when you need it if you do this.

Uchigatana – #4 Best Katana in Elden Ring

Uchigatana shares the default moveset of many other Katanas, and deals 100% Physical Damage. It is the lightest Katanas in Elden Ring, weighing 5.5, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.

Conclusion: The Uchigatana is an exceptional Katana that can be outfitted in nearly any way you wish. It excels at Status Effect Build Up because of its native Bleed Build Up, and because you can outfit it with Poison or Frostbite on top of that, for an even more deadly combination.

The Uchigatana is usually best paired with another Katana in your main hand when dual wielding because it’s roughly the same length as the majority of Katanas in Elden Ring, making L1s more effective in general.

I highly recommend the Cold Infusion when paired with Moonveil, Meteoric Ore Blade or Dragonscale Blade, Poison Infusion when used with Serpentbone Blade for faster Poison Build up, and Occult Infusion if paired with Rivers of Blood for faster Bleed Build Up.

Moonveil – #3 Best Katana in Elden Ring

Moonveil shares the default moveset of many other Katanas, and deals both Physical and Magic Damage. It has an average weight in Elden Ring, weighing 6.5, and requires some points in Strength, Dexterity and Intelligence in order to wield.

Conclusion: Moonveil used to be one of the strongest weapons in Elden Ring before it was nerfed, not only because it can be obtained relatively early in the game, but also because it has exceptionally high stagger damage. This allowed you to stagger and Critically Strike nearly every enemy and Boss in Elden Ring if you played aggressively, and when paired with the Assassin’s Cerulean Dagger, created an unstoppable machine that never runs out of FP. However, its not quite that effective now, and Transient Moonlight does about the same Stance Damage as Unsheathe.

Moonveil’s ideal stat spread is about 55 Dexterity and 50 Intelligence, after which point you’ll see a significant drop off in effectiveness. However, because you can still get decent damage out of these stats up until 80, this Weapon will only get stronger in NG+, and probably taper off in NG++ or NG+++, from which point you’ll need to rely on your staggers/criticals for the bulk of your damage (which you likely were doing anyway).

I love prioritizing Intelligence when using Moonveil, allowing for a Spellblade style of play that can also cast spells effectively with a small sacrifice in melee damage. Pair it with the Carian Regal Scepter and Greatblade Phalanx for best results.

You can also dual wield Moonveil exceptionally well, and I recommend doing so with a Cold infused Uchigatana in your off-hand. This will provide similar Scaling, and will also allow you to apply Frostbite to enemies struck, reducing their resistances and and ripping off a chunk of their health in addition to adding more Bleed Build Up. Consider not Critically Striking Bosses than you Stagger with this setup, and instead go to town with your Dual Wield combo in order to set Hemorrhage and Frostbite more quickly.

You could use the Nagakiba for this setup, but I find its longer reach means that you often miss with Moonveil, since Nagakiba is much longer.

Rivers of Blood – #2 Best Katana in Elden Ring

Rivers of Blood shares the default moveset of many other Katanas and deals Physical and Fire Damage. It has an average weight in Elden Ring, weighing 6.5, and requires some points in Strength, Dexterity and Arcane in order to wield.

Conclusion: Rivers of Blood is one of the strongest Weapons in Elden Ring not only because of its ability to set the Hemorrhage status effect rapidly (despite having lower Bleed Build Up than many setups), but because it also does higher damage than most other Katanas, and all other Katanas that are going for maximum Bleed Build Up.

Corpse Piler not only rips huge chunks of health off in a hurry with Hemorrhage, it also does substantial damage on its own and hits rapidly allowing you to use Talismans like Winged Sword Insignia, Rotten Winged Sword Insignia and Millicent’s Prothesis, on top of Lord of Blood’s Exultation and Shard of Alexander to further boost damage with each hit. You can also use White Mask for an additional 10% damage increase as well.

Despite having D Scaling in Arcane, Rivers of Blood actually has decent Arcane Scaling and shines at about 55 Arcane and 50 Dexterity. Increasing Arcane first will increase the speed of your Bleed Build Up and damage and so is recommended first, especially since each point provides nearly the same damage boost as Dexterity anyway.

Rivers of Blood makes a good candidate for some combination with the Dragon Communion Seal since it has relatively good Arcane Scaling, allowing you to play as a melee caster hybrid effectively. However, it’s weapon skill is so strong it’s likely you won’t need to cast many spells unless they are long range to pick off enemies you cannot hit with melee attacks.

If you’re going to use Rivers of Blood lean into Corpse Piler and make sure you have lots of FP or ways to regain FP, like by using Sacrificial Axe in your left hand or a Talisman that helps with FP so that you can use it on nearly every enemy you face. You should avoid regular attacks whenever possible, and use Corpse Piler as often as you can.

Rivers of Blood is also outstanding in NG+ and beyond, not only because Hemorrhage is based on the max HP of the enemy which will only get higher with each new game cycle, but also because it scales effectively from Arcane and Dexterity, allowing you to boost its damage into NG+ and NG++.

Nagakiba – #1 Best Katana in Elden Ring

The Nagakiba has a unique R2 thrust attack that has very long range, and deals 100% Physical Damage. It is one of the heaviest Katanas in Elden Ring, weighing 7, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.

Conclusion: The Nagakiba is the best all around Katana in Elden Ring. You can use it in nearly any Build you wish and it shines in both Dual Wield and two-handing scenarios, allowing you to play a Samurai the way you want.

The extreme reach of this Weapon outweighs its often slightly lower damage than the Uchigatana, because it allow you to land hits you would otherwise miss and allow you to sometimes avoid dangerous situations.

I highly recommend using this Weapon on its own as I did in the Blazing Bushido Build, or pairing it with the Hand of Malenia for a Dual Wield setup that has great reach. Double Slash, Repeating Thrusts, Blood Tax, Sword Dance, and Spinning Slash are all fantastic Ashes of War for this Weapon because they allow you to set status effects more easily.

If you enjoyed this Katanas Ranked Guide, be sure to check out our other Weapon Guides, and also our article on how to Prepare for Shadow of the Erdtree!