Out of all the Dexterity-oriented weapon classes, the Katanas are most known for their speed and high damage potential at close range without the need for critical attacks. They have no need for flashy gimmicks, possessing, on average, some of the best counterattack stats in all of Dark Souls 2.
This, along with their swift and strong slashes, allows their wielder to come out on top from most, if not all, damage-trades in PvE as well as PvP. There are 8 to be found within the land of Drangleic, and each is a suitable weapon in its own right, however, they vary in usability due to the traits of a few simply being more viable than others. Regardless, Katanas on a whole are a great choice for any Dexterity build.
8 Black Steel Katana
Despite the cool name, the Black Steel Katana is lacking in the base damage department though has great stats for everything else. For this reason, players should stick to using this one in the offhand to power stance with a better main hand Katana.
After being fully upgraded to +10 on the Regular path, it gets 190 physical attack, a solid S-tier scaling with Dexterity (and nothing else), and has 150 counterattack.
7 Berserker Blade
Possessing fairly average stats for everything, the Berserker Blade is not a bad choice for a melee weapon, though is certainly not worth farming from the prowlers in the Brume Tower area of The Crown of the Old Iron King DLC, for it does not do anything better than the majority of other Katanas.
It still has the usual 150 counterattack, and when fully upgraded it gets 240 physical attack, D-tier scaling in Strength, and B-tier scaling in Dexterity.
6 Bewitched Alonne Sword
Considering that this is the weapon obtained from trading the Soul of Sir Alonne, a DLC boss, players would expect it to be as powerful in their hands as it was in those of the mighty Sir Alonne. However, the Bewitched Alonne Sword’s cool ability, bleed build-up, and excellent range are held back by the poor base damage, as it deals the least out of all other Katanas in the game before using the weapon’s special ability.
This weapon’s ability to parry while two-handing it is replaced by a move that plunges the sword into the player’s torso, causing them to take damage, but also boosting the power of the blade by a huge 40% as well as slightly increasing the bleed build-up. This puts its damage on par with the better Katanas, though only for 30 seconds at a time. When fully upgraded to +5 on the Regular path (Bleed infusion deals too little base damage to be worth the extra build-up), this length Katana attains 180 physical attack, though gets a very nice S-tier scaling with Dexterity, and a usable (though not great) 80 points of bleed build-up per slash.
5 Washing Pole
Almost the same size as a literal washing pole, this Katana boasts the longest reach out of the entire weapon class and is capable of out-spacing any armament that isn’t a gargantuan greatweapon or unwieldy polearm. However, the Washing Pole suffers from slower attack speeds, less counterattack damage than other Katanas (130), and consumes more stamina per attack.
When fully upgraded to +10 along the Regular path, this long blade receives 240 physical attack, E-tier scaling in Strength, and a solid A-tier scaling in Dexterity
4 Uchigatana
The Bearer of the Curse can purchase this excellent sword from Steady Hand McDuff for 5000 souls after giving him the Dull Ember. The Uchigatana has nice reach as well as great base damage and scaling, making it a solid choice for any aspiring swordmaster.
At the Regular +10 upgrade, it gets 230 physical attack, E-tier scaling in Strength, and an awesome A-tier in Dexterity. Players should also note that its counterattack stat is 150, meaning that it deals 50% more damage to the target while they are in any attack animation.
3 Manslayer
As the only Katana with innate poison build-up, the Manslayer is an ideal melee weapon for inflicting a status condition due to its fast attack speed. In addition, it also does a respectable amount of damage while retaining the usual 150 counterattack and even has decent scaling.
Players who upgrade this blade to the max of +5 along the Poison infusion route will find that it gets 220 physical attack, B-tier scaling in Dexterity (and E-tier in Strength), as well as a substantial 143 points of poison build-up per slash.
2 Darkdrift
This ghostly Katana with a mostly-transparent blade is not only one of the coolest-looking swords in the game, but also one of the strongest of its weapon class. It is also fairly easy to acquire, as the player will only need to speak to Gravewarden Agdayne after getting the King’s Ring to receive it.
After reaching the +10 upgrade on the Regular path, Darkdrift gets 260 physical attack and A-tier scaling purely with Dexterity, though its counterattack is a bit low at 130.
1 Chaos Blade
Attained after trading the Old Witch Soul to Weaponsmith Ornifex, the Chaos Blade is a mighty Katana in terms of damage output, though each successful strike to a target will also hurt the wielder for 50 flat points of HP damage. Since this can be offset quite easily by using Lifegems, equipping the Ring of Restoration, or passive HP regeneration miracles; the high base attack, scaling, and counterattack are very much worth the minuscule self-damage.
Since it is one of the weapons that don’t decrease in scaling potency if given an elemental infusion, the Chaos Blade would not be a bad choice for one. Sticking with the ‘chaos’ theme, a Fire infusion would be both lore-friendly and powerful, as at the max +5 upgrade for this unique weapon, it gets 175 physical and 175 fire attack alongside a colossal S-tier scaling in Dexterity and B-tier with fire damage as well as 160 counterattack.
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