Best Samurai Katana Build (Update 2.0) - Cyberpunk 2077

Samurai Katana Build

Katanas are iconic weapons of the Cyberpunk universe and they also create a wish to play "a Samurai". Well, this is possible. The build concentrates on Blades - particularly katanas. Moreover, we will use every way possible to increase the combat prowess of this build.

Technical Ability is crucial for us. The last perk in the tree Edgerunner gives a huge boost to damage once you activate Fury. This will be easy for us, as we will maximize the attack speed of our weapon. However, the downside is that we will be easy targets for enemies due to our low HP.

To counteract low HP, we will be dipping heavily into the Body attribute. Our goal is to get an Adrenaline Rush that creates a second layer of HP and improves overall damage. Moreover, we will take a few perks that improve healing item effectiveness allowing us to prevail in difficult encounters.

The Samurai Katana build forgoes any stealth perks to purely concentrate on Katana combat. Of course, with Phantom Liberty expansion and increased total attributes, you should maximize Cool for a tiny bit more critical damage.

So if you are ready to be a Modern Samurai and swipe enemies with a katana, let's go!

Attributes

First, let's go through attributes, they will decide the direction of the build and give access to different tiers of perks. The higher tier gives better actions and passives to further support the build. Let's take a look at what we need for the Samurai Katana Build

Starting Game

Here are what attributes we should be taking at the start of the game.

Attribute	Allocation	Description
Reflexes	+3	It will unlock blade-related perks and give a bonus critical chance.
Body	+3	Will give us bonus HP early in the game and first-tier perks.
Technical Ability	+1	Early in the game, we will not be able to exploit the useful perks of Tech, so we allocate only 1 point.

End Game Attributes

Here is the goal of Sandevistan Blade Build that we should reach at level 50

Attribute	Allocation	Description
Reflexes	20	Maximum reflexes will ensure that we get all the relevant perks and obtain maximum critical chance.
Body	20	We get a maximum amount of Body to increase our HP pool, get Adrenaline Rush, and some other perks
Technical Ability	20	This is an important attribute that gives armor and unlocks perks to improve Cyberware Capacity. We also want Extended Warranty to get a longer duration for our Sandevistan and Edgerunner perk
Cool	8	Gives a boost to critical damage, but overall we do not need it much. With Phantom Liberty expansion this can be maximized further
Intelligence	3	We skip this attribute as we do not use anything

Perks

Let's go through the perks of the Samurai Katana build. We will go through about 55~ perk points for the build, and the game awards about 80. So you will have perk points left to adjust the build to your needs.

Reflexes Perks

Level 4 Perks

Perk	Description
Slippery	Base perk, that we will need to progress to other levels
Parkour!	Because we are melee focused build vaulting faster through obstacles can result in the enemy dead a second earlier. Moreover, it will be a lifesaver when you are running with low health.
Stuntjock	Jumping out of a car and doing takedown is awesome, jumping then air dashing and finishing off an enemy with your katana is even more cooler!

Level 9 Perks

Finally, we will be able to get the first mobility perk. It is useful both for exploration and combat

Perk	Description
Dash	Another new perk that gives a short dash to avoid or get close to the enemies.
Mad Dash	Doubles the distance if dashing directly to an enemy
Can't Touch This	A 100% mitigation chance while dodging is very valuable. This will give you a higher chance of reaching an enemy if you are under heavy fire.
Lead and Steel	This is an awesome mechanic that allows us to block incoming bullets. Be sure that enemies are attacking you only from one side, as it does not work if we are shot from the back
Seeing Double	Although the perk may not be useful, we want to take it to unlock Flash and Thunderclap. If you do not take it skip this one
Flash and Thunderclap	A strong attack will now do a jump that closes the distance. The perk is optional, many katanas come with this action, so check their descriptions
Bullet Deflect	You can now redirect bullets back to enemies. This is very useful as you both deal damage and stagger enemies, allowing you to jump on them.

Level 15 Perks

Further improvements to Dashing and Katana wielding

Perk	Description
Air Dash	Extremely cool and effective move that allows dashing in air.
Aerodynamic	Gives bonus mitigation strength when jumping. I think it is useful in encounters where you are moving a lot, as then you will use Air Dash.
Aerial Acrobat	This is an optional perk. I did not find it to provide any effect, maybe you did?
Finisher: Bladerunner	Finishers are mandatory, especially on higher difficulties. They give you a brief time of invulnerability, instantly destroy the enemy, and restore health. With a few more upgrades it will increase attack speed.
Opportunist	You want to make Finishers as effective as possible
Flash of Steel	Gives a huge boost to attack speed after a Finisher
Going the Distance	The biggest drawback of melee weapons is distance. Well with this perk it is somewhat alleviated.

Level 20 Perks

And finally Legend tier perks

Perk	Description
Tailwind	Okay, this one requires some practice to use in combat. The main idea is that when doing air dash you can restore stamina. This is important because when fighting with katana, you will run out of it fast, especially when fighting skull enemies.
Slaughterhouse	Oh Baby! 25 stamina from dismemberments and finishers have a bigger chance to activate.

Technical Ability Perks

This build aims to build combat mastery. In Night City that is only possible by empowering yourself with Cyberware. The Tech tree will give amazing perks like Edgerunner which will allow us to challenge even MaxTac itself.

Level 4 Perks

Perk	Description
Glutton for War	You will be taking out a lot of enemies, so why not faster healing item recharge?
First Aid	I think this needs no explanation.
Transfusion	If you use the last charge, you are close to being overwhelmed or dead. So a 30% boost is awesome.

Level 9 Perks

Perk	Description
Health Freak	You now have 3 health recharge items, making combat a bit easier.
Borrowed Time	Gives instant health item recharge when taking out an enemy when being close to death.
All Things Cyber	Mandatory perk as we will need as much Cyberware as we can. Reduces its costs
Renaissance Punk	With this build, we will have 4 attributes above 9, so worth taking it.
Chrome Constitution	With Samurai build we are filling all the slots with chrome, so reduced damage is nice.
Driver Update	As we will use tons of cyberware all of it now gets a bonus modifier
Chipware Connoisseur	All of the cyberware we have will give even more stat modifiers.

Level 15 Perks

Perk	Description
License to Chrome	Improves Skeleton cyberware and unlocks a new slot for even more chrome
Extended Warranty	The increased duration is useful for Sandevistan
Cyborg	Try to have all the cyberware slots filled. This way you will get reduced cooldowns, meaning you can reuse sandevistan faster. However, this requires filling all the slots, which requires tons of Cyberware capacity. So feel free to take this late
Built Different	This is an optional perk. However, Cellular Adapter cyberware looks to be very strong and gives a huge boost to Armor
Pyromania	Only take this perk if you plan on getting Ticking Time Bomb or Projectile Launch System cyberware. Otherwise, no reason to get it.

Level 20 Perks

A perk like Ticking Time Bomb is optional, I picked it as I had free points to invest.

Perk	Description
Edgerunner	The perk that will allow you to reach combat mastery with Katanas. Reaching the Fury state will greatly boost damage output. Moreover, you get a huge boost in Cyberware Capacity.
Ticking Time Bomb	I found this perk useful when doping difficult encounters - bosses, MaxTac. Otherwise, it requires a 4 perk points investment which is a lot and can be skipped.

Body Perks

Now we reach the perks that make the build able to tank multiple enemy hits and shots. This is mandatory especially on Very Hard as few hits can end you.

Level 4 Perks

Perk	Description
Painkiller	A very valuable perk that is recommended for any build. We also need it for the progression
Dorph-head	Blood Pump will be one of the main Cyberware that we use to drastically boost HP restoration
Comeback Kid	Higher health regen, the closer to death you are? Count me in
Army of One	With Gorilla Arms you will be close to enemies, so having bonus health recharge is good

Level 15 Perks

The next set of Perks will give a huge survivability boost to the Katana build.

Perk	Description
Adrenaline Rush	This perk will make sure that we have an additional buffer of health. It will counteract the negative effects of Edgerunner.
Calm Mind	Longer duration of adrenaline rush
Juggernaut	With more movement speed and damage, it gets better and better.
Unstoppable Force	Being immune to knockdowns makes close combat even easier.

Level 20 Perks

Perk	Description
Pain to Gain	Together with Glutton for War and Health Freak these perks will make it easy to have health restoration on hand.

Perks - Relic

With the introduction of Phantom Liberty, you will be able to obtain new perks that give unique capabilities. Here is what I recommend for Samurai Katana build:

Priority	Perk	Description
1	Vulnerability Analytics	Shows enemy weak spots, which when hit, create an electricity explosion. It is especially useful against robots and stronger enemies which are hard to chip away with just katana attacks
2	Machine Learning	Improves Vulnerability Analytics by making them appear faster and giving a higher critical damage boost

Equipment

This section will cover what gear I recommend using with the Samurai Katana build. Always try to obtain the highest tier equipment as it provides the best stats and most modification slots.

Katanas

Item	Description
Byakko	Very powerful katana, that now has a unique combo effect after killing an enemy. It releases a flurry of hits, easily chipping away at any enemy.
Errata	A newly introduced fire katana. What makes it special is that hitting enemies on fire deals critical hits. The katana has 30% burn chance, but you can also apply it via Incendiary Grenade, Projectile Launch System, etc.
Scalpel	Boy oh boy. This is a mandatory weapon to get in Act 1. It perfectly fits Sandevistan cyberware and gets huge bonusequicklyile using it. Moreover, it deals electrical damage by itself.
Satori	The first major katana that you will obtain playing through the story. It will be fast replaced by the next one.

Cyberware

Cyberware is a unique mechanic that allows us to fill the build with implants. Our main goal is first to get offensive ones, to increase katana damage. Early games can be quite difficult as you will have limited slots. However, as you progress and drop more Capacity Shards, you will be able to equip even multiple iconic ones.

Cyberware - Frontal Cortex

Slot	Item	Description
1	Axolotl	This is crazy powerful cyberware for Sandevistan. Each kill reduces cooldown by at least 10%. However, it takes a lot of cyberware capacity, so you can switch it with Newton Module as a cheaper alternative.
1	Newton Module	Gives a cyberware cooldown reduction after taking out an enemy. It is not much, however, with multiple kills, the effect adds up.
2	Mechatronic Core	Increases damage against drones, mechs, and robots. Optional cyberware
3	Self-Ice	We only take this to activate Cyborg. Otherwise not useful.

Arms

Slot	Item	Description
1	Projectile Launch Thermal System	You can go for a Projectile Launch System, specifically Thermal. With it, you can set enemies on fire and if wielding Errata, you will always deal critical damage.

Cyberware - Skeleton

Slot	Item	Description
1	Dense Marrow	Increases the stamina cost of melee attacks and greatly improves base damage. Only works on melee weapons
2	Epimorphic Skeleton	This cyberware greatly boosts overall health. This will be very useful to provide some bonus survivability.
3	Bionic Joints	Gives bonus armor and scales with Technical Ability

Cyberware - Nervous System

Slot	Item	Description
1	Revulsor	Iconic version of Reflex Tuner. Movement speed for you is not slowed which makes it very powerful, for this type of build, scales with Cool.
2	Adrenaline Converter	Gives a movement speed boost at the start of combat. Pair this with sandevistan and you run like a wind
3	Neofiber	Gives higher mitigation chance and strength and scales with Reflexes for bonus critical chance.

Cyberware - Integumentary System

Slot	Item	Description
1	Subdermal Armor	Provides flat armor increase. Has a low cyberware capacity cost.
2	Pain Editor	As the build will rely on close combat, having higher damage reduction is good.
2	Proxishield	Another alternative that works when being close to enemies. Also has lower Cyberware Capacity cost.
3	Cellular Adapter	Gives a good boost to armor and provides various bonuses based on technical ability.

Cyberware - Operating System

For the endgame, my recommendations would be these two operating systems. Unfortunately, other ones fall off in comparison

Item	Description
Militech "Apogee" Sandevistan	The most powerful Sandevistan. Each kill increases the duration by 20% and Stamina. Moreover, it gives a decent boost to critical chance and damage.
Militech "Falcon" Sandevistan	A junior version of Apogee. Has a smaller Cyberware capacity, but, the bonuses are smaller also.
Dynalar Sandevistan	The cheapest option. Generally, it has lower cyberware capacity and gives good critical damage and chance bonuses. If you pair it with Axolotl, this can be a solution for limited capacity until you can increase it

I would also like to suggest the Berserk Operating System. It makes you invincible during the time it is active. However, I think it is best used with Axolotl cyberware. The reason is that you will die easily against strong enemies once you do not have it. Of course, it does wonders in short encounters.

Item	Description
Militech Berserk	The best iconic Berserk operating system. Try to activate it with the lowest HP possible, this way you will get the highest boost to damage. Allows you to release a flurry of hits without any stamina cost
Biodyne Berserk	A cheaper version of Militech Berserk. Provides similar bonuses, but a lower boost to damage.  Moreover, it takes up less cyberware space.

Cyberware - Ocular System

Slot	Item	Description
1	Kiroshi "Doomsayer" Optics	We are mainly interested in critical chance boost based on the Reflexes attributes

Cyberware - Hands

Slot	Item	Description
1	Tattoo: Tyger Claws Dermal Imprint	Any tattoo works here. We need to fill the cyberware slot, just to have the cheapest option. It costs 0 cyberware capacity
2	Ballistic Coprocessor	This has low cyberware capacity so we are using it to activate Cyborg

Cyberware - Circulatory System

Slot	Item	Description
1	Biomonitor	Automatically restores health by using healing items. I started loving this one, as you do not need to waste time and concentrate just on the combat.
2	Blood Pump	The best health regeneration item and cyberware. It will also activate Adrenaline Rush for us.
3	Microrotors	Gives a huge boost to melee weapon attack speed and bonus critical chance based on reflexes
3	Second Heart	If you are willing to sacrifice attack speed this is an awesome cyberware. It will revive you with full HP.

Cyberware - Legs

Slot	Item	Description
1	Reinforced Tendons	My personal favorite makes traversing much easier.
1	Leeroy Ligament System	Iconic leg cyberware, providing faster movement speed, however, does not give any jumping benefits
1	Fortified Ankles	Gives the highest jumps and high boost to armor compared to cyberware capacity cost.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading this post on the Samurai Katana build in Cyberpunk 2077. Being a Samurai in Night City that's only purpose is to win an encounter is awesome. It's very easy to also decide what to do in-game - fight everyone that stands in your way of Martial Mastery

Feel free to leave a comment below!