If we have learned anything from movies, using a katana has an inherent cool factor. Thankfully, Elden Ring has some good options to choose from. Whether you want to be a mage wielding melee weapons or want to spam a unique weapon art and let it do the heavy lifting, katanas can be pretty powerful weapons.
Out of the seven katanas in Elden Ring, there are really only seven that you should spend your time on; the Serpentbone blade, Nagakiba Katana, Uchigatana, Meteoric Ore Blade, Moonveil Katana, The Hand of the Malenia Katana, and Rivers of Blood.
In this guide, we will look at the seven best weapons, to help you decide which one is the perfect one for your playing style and where in the Lands Between you can find each of them.
7. Serpentbone Blade – For The Poisoners
Compared to the katanas late on this list, the Serpentbone blade is probably not a katana you will wield for the most part of the game (at least not without dual wielding with another one). But it does have the handy ability to passively inflict poison damage instead of bleeding. You can acquire this katana by completing the second volcano manor quest, where you need to flight and kill Rileigh in the Altus Plateau.
The Serpentbone Blade scales primarily with Strength and Dex and is a good weapon to engage in mid-range combat. The weapon skill of Serpentbone Blade is Double Slash which allows you to perform a low stance for a maximum of two consecutive attacks.
Weapon art: Double Slash
6. Nagakiba Katana – Reach And Flexibility
The Nagakiba Katana boasts an extremely long blade and causes extra blood loss build up when compared to other weapons and the starting Katana, Uchigatana . It scales primarily with Strength and Dexterity and is a good weapon for dealing an extra blood loss effect on top of the initial physical damage it causes.
It also has a good weapon skill in the Piercing Fang, which boosts piercing damage, which few katanas do.
You can get the Nagakiba in two different ways:
Completing Bloody Finger Hunter Yura’s questline
Killing Bloody Finger Hunter Yura (it is his signature weapon) when you first meet him in Limgrave (you will also get his armor set).
The reason this is below the Uchigatana is mostly due to the effort it takes to get the blade, as Yura is a tough fight at low levels and the Uchigatana is a great katana for powerstancing.
Weapon art: Piercing Fang
5. Uchigatana – Back to Basics
The Uchugatana is a very versatile katana in Elden Ring. It is the starter katana for the Samurai class, but you can also find it in the Deathtouched Catacombs in Stormhill on a body at the end of the dungeon.
This is the best early game katana, and it honestly could serve you well for the entire game, especially if you power stance (dual wielding with another katana) with one of the more unique katanas found later in this list. Its biggest strength is that you can change both its first weapon type and skill (not that the base one, unsheathe, is bad) and alter its attribute, allowing you to use it in any playstyle, whether bleed based or magical damage output.
Another added bonus to the Uchugatana is that it will only need regular smithing stones to make the upgraded version, so it is relatively easy to level up at the beginning as you can easily find or buy the smithing stones from levels 1-5.
Weapon art: Unsheathe
4. Meteoric Ore Blade – Katana From The Stars
The meteoric ore blade is a great katana in Elden Ring. Its the perfect weapon for players that want to use gravity based skills. It can be found in Caelid in the Waypoint Ruins inside a chest near a room with Lesser Kindred of Rot enemies.
It has a fair amount of scaling in both intelligence and strength but its biggest boon comes from its special charged heavy attack which is a downward slash and its weapon skill Gravitas which drags in opponents.
Weapon art: Gravitas
3. Hand of Malenia – Mimic The Blade Of Miquella
The Hand of Malenia is a powerful katana that can only be acquired (while offline or without gifting) by defeating the Rot Goddessherself and the most challenging boss in the game, Malenia Blade of Miquella. Compared to the other legendary katanas on this list, you could miss out on this one if you are planning on a katana build (unless you already have it from a previous playthrough).
As mentioned before, you need to kill Malenia first to unlock the option to get it from Enia at the Roundtable. She is found in a very much endgame location, and it is recommended that you are over level 120 if you want to face her ( unless you are a souls vet or extremely good at Eden Ring). It is the best katana for a Dex build as it has B scaling, and like most katanas, it has blood loss buildup.
Its weapon skill is also a lot of fun, as it allows you to perform the waterfowl dance, which is handy in both fights and movement.
Weapon art: Waterfowl dance
2. Moonveil Katana – A Sword For Sorcery
If you want to stab things with one hand while sending magic with the other, the Moonveil katana is the sword for you. Not only does this katana have strong magic scaling, its weapon art, and the transient moonlight skill, but it also deals tons of magic damage, and its physical attack damage output isn’t too shabby either.
The best thing about the skill is that it shoots off a ranged attack in both a vertical and horizontal beam, making it viable for both PVE and PVP ( it’s a good range too, allowing to keep tough enemies at arms length).
The Moonveil katana can be acquired very early on in the game too. It is dropped by the magma wyrm in the Gael Tunnel, Caelid (Note: the cave is filled with prawn miner enemies on the way to the boss, and they can be pretty nasty no matter the level you are). This is not a fight you should take lightly, though, as it is in a closed space against a boss who likes to use AOE spells.
Weapon art: Transient Moonlight
1. Rivers Of Blood – Blood Katana
There are many opinions about the number one katana on our list, but it can certainly melt an enemy in a melee with very little effort. This S tier weapon has one of the most powerful weapon arts in the game, Corpse Piler. The weapon art can give you the upper hand in most situations barring a few bosses and it helps that it deals fire damage as well as bleed buildup with bonus damage for each successive hit.
Its primary fault only comes in the fact that you can’t get it until you have access to the Mountain Top of Giants (an area closer to the end of the game than the beginning). You are awarded the Rivers of Blood Katana by defeating Bloody Finger Okana at the Church of Repose in the region.
While the majority of all the katanas on this list have the passive bleed effect, this is the best for bleed builds . This is because it is the only katana that scales on arcane ( the stat that impacts bleed) as well as B dex scaling, giving you the best of both worlds as you will still be able to damage enemies resistant to bleed.
Tip: This is especially great when you dual wield it with the Uchigatana katana with the blood attribute.
Weapon art: Corpse Piler
Final Thoughts
Overall, any of the katanas on this list are great weapons to wield, whether it’s the Meteoric Ore Blade or Rivers of Blood katana. Just remember that the best way to get the most out of your katana, like every other weapon in Elden Ring, is to upgrade them with smithing stones so you can use them in the long run.
Dane started off gaming at the tender age of 3 with the first Atari console. His favorite video game genres are turn-based RPGs (can I get a shout out for Tactics Ogre?) and fighting games. Read more...
