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For an overview of the katana in the Fallout universe, see katana.
A katana is a type of Japanese sword with a blade length greater than 23.6-28.7 inches (60-73 centimeters) and characterized by its distinctive appearance: a curved, slender, single-edged blade, circular or squared guard, and long grip that can accommodate two hands. Often called a "samurai sword" or "samurai's sword" because of its use by the feudal warriors, it became a symbol of the samurai caste.
Renowned for its sharpness and cutting ability, its origins go back at least as far as the Kamakura Period (1185–1333). Most often held with two hands, some techniques and combat styles were performed with a one-handed grip. The katana was generally carried in a saya, or scabbard, manufactured from lightweight wood, with a coat of lacquer on the exterior and a wooden knob on one side for attaching a braided cord.
It has a special attack called Unlabored Flawlessness, an attack launched with a reverse grip. It does 250% damage in V.A.T.S. at the cost of 19 more action points (requires a Meleeskill of 50).
It is possible to executeUnlabored Flawlessness outside of V.A.T.S. (without the required Melee skill of 50 to perform the move) by initiating a power attack (hold attack button) while moving forward.
When dropped, the current model appears as that of the base weapon whether it is modded or not.
The Katana's attack speed can get up to six times per second by having a high Melee Weapons skill, the perks Slayer and Ain't Like That Now, the balanced grip, and and authentic blade modifications.
It is the only melee weapon in the game with a visible scabbard.
Every time the vendors' inventories are reset, Mick will always have one in stock.
After modding with the protective sheath, dropping this weapon will have both the sheath and the katana drop separately.
Sometimes when you swing the katana too fast, the sound can become un-synchronized, like two different slash sounds playing at the same time.
The weapon mods for the katana add a saya (scabbard), and replace both the tsuka (grip), tsuba (hand guard) and the blade. The fully modded weapon thus hypothetically contains no part from the original item. There is no way, however, to obtain the item without first having the original "replica" model.
The name of the special attack is a reference to a weapon of the same name in Ninja Gaiden. It turns into the strongest weapon in the game when the player is low on health.
pcxbox360ps3 If modded with the protective sheath, when changing weapons or un-equipping the katana, the sheath will still be on the player's hip. When dropped, sometimes the sheath is not dropped. Occasionally, this bug may also result in two sheaths overlapping each other.[verified]
Equipping a different weapon that is holstered the same way will remove it, but sometimes changing weapons may not remove the sheath.
You may have to save the game, return to the main menu, and reload the save to fix the problem.
xbox360 If modded with the protective sheath, it will be stuck in a glitched condition when the weapon's condition is at 100%. This can be fixed by repairing it with another katana, or a one-handed melee weapon with the Jury Rigging perk.[verified]
xbox360 If modded with a protective sheath, sometimes the sheath will duplicate multiple copies of itself. All copies will be attached at the same fixed point on the hip, but the tips of the scabbards (sheaths) will be separated from each other. New copies are added over time, creating a large 'fan' appearance in third-person view. [verification overdue]
xbox360 If modded with a protective sheath, sometimes the sheath will duplicate either one or multiple copies of itself. These multiple copies will 'float' in a sort of 'cloud' around the character, at various angles and separated from each other, that is only visible in third-person view. [verification overdue]
xbox360 If modded with a protective sheath, the sheath may repeatedly 'drop' cloned versions of itself on the ground, at regular intervals while the character is moving. Each of these copies gives the sound effect for hitting the ground when a weapon is dropped normally. These dropped clone versions are visible in third-person view, but not first person view. They can be 'kicked' (with the subsequent sound effect), but they cannot be picked up or move around by 'hand' manually. [verification overdue]