Katana

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Katana
Damage Values: Multi-hit Values: Sword properties: Blocktech properties: An advanced weapon. The katana is all about baiting and punishing.
 * Blocktech: Feint
 * Blocktech: Feint
 * Base: 85%
 * Moderate rate (0.1s interval)
 * Damage scaled down to 25% per hit
 * Minimum multi-hit damage: 2
 * Knockback: 150%
 * Hitstun: 115%
 * Double Damage after winning parry
 * 70% recovery on side parries
 * Change run speed: 90%
 * Percent of the animation played during feint: 35%
 * Cooldown between feint cancels: 1.00s
 * }

Detailed Information
Offensively, it offers the highest side attack damage and is tied for highest base damage, but has the lowest multihit rate. It also receives less of a run speed bonus from charging.

Its blocktech, "Feint," is definitely the hardest to use. Feinting allows you to cancel out of an attack if you right click before your attack draws tracers, and also allows you to feint an attack by pressing the right click button. It's worth noting that it doesn't matter how quickly you feint cancel, as you will always cancel out of the attack the moment before tracers draw; normal feints, on the other hand, always play 35% of the attack's animation.

Feints are best used to bait your opponent into making bad (easily punished) committals-- hopefully bad committals you can outstance, so you can benefit off the katana's key trait: 1.4X damage on parry wins. The katana can also use parries defensively, by making use of its ability to recover 30% faster when parrying with side attacks.

Because of its lack of a traditional block, the katana has no way to directly defend against fast pressure, and the slower charge runspeed makes it horrendous at chasing and pressuring. It makes up for this by punishing for beastly damage.

It's a natural fit for Judgement, who has the highest single attack damage (and the most heavy strings), but it's still very useable on other chars, as they get their heavy attacks out a lot faster. It's a lot easier to bait with Phal's quick heavy sides feints, for example, but a Judge Heavy String 3 parry punish does 80 damage. It's tougher to pull off, but much more rewarding.