Cyberpunk 2077: The Best Katanas (& Where To Find Them)

Katanas are among the best melee weapons in Cyberpunk 2077. These elegant bladed weapons are capable of striking quickly and dealing great damage with each slice of the blade. Combine this with some interesting weapon mods and abilities and they make the player a force to be reckoned with.

There are at least seven Katanas in the game ranging from standard Arasaka designs to powerful iconic weapons only obtained through quests. For players interesting in wielding these finely crafted swords, it’s important to know which ones are the best and how to obtain them.

The basic Katana in the game is capable of five attacks per second making it a fast striking weapon. It comes in Rare, Epic, and Legendary variants each with their own color scheme and design. Weighing only 4.5 pounds it’s a solid melee weapon for close encounters or stealth attacks.

Katanas are wielded by a variety of opponents in the game in both Rare and Epic tiers with the latter being much harder to find. For players wanting a Legendary Katana there are two ways to get it:

Buy one from Coach Fred at the Megabuilding H10 in Little China.
Craft One: Requires Level 18 Crafting, Requires Edgerunner Artisan Perk, Costs 25 Rare Item Components, Costs 15 Epic Item Components, Costs 2 Legendary Item Components

The Black Unicorn is a unique variant of the standard Katana. Its main perk is the unique design as the attack rate is lower at 2.91 strikes a second. It boasts more slots than a standard Katana with up to four slots at Legendary rarity. Aside from these modest advantages, it’s more for players with a passion for The Witcher 3.

The Black Unicorn can only be obtained in the GOG version of the game. Once the player owns this version of the game they’ll find the Black Unicorn waiting in V’s stash when they start playing.

The Cocktail Stick is an interesting Iconic Katana. The purple blade deals a base damage of 63 with each strike and can attack 2.9 times per second. This results in a decent DPS of 191. It also comes with some handy abilities and perks:

+40-49 boost to Physical damage
+18% boost to Critical Damage
+10% chance to inflict Bleed.

It’s a bit slow, but the damage is decent and the Bleed shortens fights when it applies.

The weapon can be obtained during the Automatic Love questline. It’s located inside of Evelyn’s dressing room at Clouds

Players can upgrade it to the Epic version with:

Grease Monkey Perk
25 Uncommon Item Components
40 Rare Item Components
50 Epic Item Components
2 Legendary Item Components

It can be further upgraded to Legendary with:

Edgerunner Artisan Perk

The surgically precise Scalpel Katana is a fast-hitting weapon with five attacks per second. With each strike dealing 145 damage that can result in a DPS of 728.4. Adding to that damage are the following perks:

+92 – 113 Chemical damage
+92 – 113 Electric damage
+92 – 113 Physical damage
+92 – 113 Thermal damage

It all but guarantees having an advantage against any opponent type.

The Scalpel is a reward for completing the Side Job Big In Japan, it’ll be leaning against the barrels once the player has completed the quest.

Upgrading to Epic tier requires:

Grease Monkey Perk
25 Uncommon Item Components
40 Rare Item Components
50 Epic Item Components
2 Legendary Item Components

For Legendary the player needs:

Edgerunner Artisan Perk

The Tsumetogi is fast dealing five attacks per second with each attack dealing 150 base damage. That results in a nice DPS of 754.4 It also comes with some nice perks and abilities:

+96-118 Electrical Damage
+10 Electrical Resistance
+5% Critical Hit Chance
+10% Critical Hit Damage
+20% Chance to inflict Shock

This is a great Katana to use against more robotic units vulnerable to Shock effects and Electrical damage.

The weapon is easiest to find if players are completing the Pisces Side Job. During that mission, they’ll meet Maiko and a few Tyger Claw gang bosses in a Clouds meeting room where the sword is located.

Upgrading this weapon to epic only requires the Grease Monkey Perk and Legendary only requires the Edgerunner Artisan. This makes it a cheap, but powerful weapon to upgrade.

The Jinchu-Maru is a phenomenal Katana. It strikes 4.8 times a second dealing 111 damage with each hit. This means a DPS of about 536.9. Then the following abilities nudge that damage even higher:

100% critical hit chance when Kerenzikov is active
The Last Strike in a combo deals double damage
Enemies with twice the player’s health receive double damage

Basically, if the player deals a last strike against a boss it’ll be quadruple the normal damage. And that’s not factoring in the critical damage bonus if the player had Krenzikov active when they did it. To put it simply, if the player has Kerenzikov active against a boss or opponent with a lot of health it’s the best sword in the game.

Players can get this sword during the main quest Play It Safe. The player will need to defeat Sandayu Oda, who will have it on him.

It can be upgraded to Legendary with:

Edgerunner Artisan Perk
25 Rare Item Components
40 Epic Item Components
3 Legendary Item Components

The best Katana in the game by far is Satori. It can deal 3.85 strikes per second with each one having a base damage of 57. A DPS of 221 isn’t much compared to other Katanas, but this weapon’s strength lies in its only perk:

+500 – 600% Critical Hit Damage

If the player lands a critical hit, which isn’t hard to do with a critical hit based build, the weapon will deal a whopping 1,105 – 1,326 with every single strike. The only Katana that even comes close is the Jinchu-Maru which requires very specific circumstances to reach this level of damage.

Getting this weapon can only be done during the Main Job The Heist. The weapon is found inside the AV that’s on the landing pad on top of the building.

It can be upgraded to Epic Status with: