Best Samurai Katana Build - Cyberpunk 2077

Katana Samurai Build

The build concentrates on creating the strongest possible Samurai Build using Katanas. The only optimization that is needed - is how fast can you destroy your foes. Cyberpunk 2077 offers plenty of Katana options allowing you to fine-tune the build.

Overall, the main idea is to maximize damage and attack speed to have maximum capacity during combat. This can then be followed by cyberware - Berserk or Sandevistan. That's another layer of combat that unlocks further potential.

The last part and a very important one is maximizing survivability. Without ranged weapons, you will be in the open. This is where various cyberware picks specifically Body attributes with Adrenaline Rush​ help. This is the problem only early on, as in later levels your cyberware will do the heavy lifting.

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 provide stat bonuses and unlock new perks. The more points you invest the better options you unlock that allow creating the Samurai build.

Starting Game

Here are the attributes you should take at the game's start. You can allocate a total of 7 points.

I recommend checking Cyberpunk 2077 beginner tips to avoid missing or misunderstanding important things early in 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 how the end-game setup would look with the build once you have all the attributes sorted out:

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	9	For the core of the build, I think just 4 is enough to get some stealth perks. Otherwise, this attribute becomes important once you start maximizing the build with critical damage stacking.
Intelligence	3	Skip this attribute as it is irrelevant to the build.

To finish off the build, put the rest of the points into Cool as it is the only attribute that would give further direct bonuses.

Perks

Let's go through the perks of the Katana Build. You will need about 58~ perk points for the build, and the base game awards about 80 with skills progression and perk shards. So some should be left to adjust the build to your needs.

Reflexes Perks

Let's start with the main perks of the Samurai Katana Build.

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, you 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
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.
Seeing Double	Although the perk may not be useful, you 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

Level 15 Perks

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

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	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.

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
Ambidextrous​	Mainly used to unlock the full potential of the Cyborg​ perk. There are not many handles that are useful for Katana builds.
Pyromania (Optional)	Only take this perk if you plan on getting Ticking Time Bomb or Projectile Launch System cyberware. Otherwise, no reason to get it.
Heat Shield​ (Optional)	Use this together with Pyromania​ and Projectile Launch System to increase mitigation chances and make you resilient to damage.

Level 20 perks

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 (Optional)	I found this perk useful during 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

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.

Cool Perks - optional

These are optional perks if you plan on doing some stealth combat approaches. Otherwise, I do not think they are necessary if you are only going for load combat.

Level 4 Perks

Perk	Description
Killer Instinct​	Mainly taken to unlock the next perk. But it could be also useful if you are using Silenced weapons for the initial combat approach.
Gag Order​	Delays detection from other enemies, which is useful to extend your chances of a successful stealth approach.
Feline Footwork​	Faster movement speed while crouching.
Feline Footwork​	Delayed detection allows for better stealth approaches.

Perks - Relic

These perks are available with Phantom Liberty DLC. They will give further improvements to some of the game mechanics.

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

There are still multiple relic points that you can spend. One option is taking Emergency Cloaking​ if you plan on using Optical Cloak. Can be helpful to take better control of the encounters.

If you plan on using Arms Cyberware like Projectile Launch System, don't forget to take Jailbreak​ and Launch Capacity Override. Otherwise, I don't think other options are worth it.

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.

Best Katanas

Here are my recommendations for the best Katanas that you should be on the lookout for

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 a 30% burn chance, but you can also apply it via Incendiary Grenade, Projectile Launch System, etc.
Scalpel	This is the best katana after Act 1 and early Act 2 that you can get, specifically if you are using Sandevistan. While under its effect you will get a bonus of 50% critical chance.
Satori	The first major katana that you will obtain playing through the story. It will be quickly replaced by the next one.

If you find a higher-tier Katana you may be on the lookout for these modifications. However, I do not think it's worth switching them with Iconic ones.

Modification	Description
Severance	A strong mod that increases the likelihood of insta-kill once the enemy's HP is below 50%.
Slice 'Em Up	Increases finisher activation after taking out an enemy.
Silencio	If you dabble in sneak attacks this mod can guarantee critical hits and increase damage by 50%.
Cyclone	Allows to do non-stop combos for a limited time. To activate it use sprinting, and hit either a target or a vehicle.
Bleedout	As blades apply bleeding, this will greatly improve the status effect damage.

Cyberware

Cyberware is a unique mechanic that allows us to fill the build with implants. Early games can be quite difficult as you will have limited capacity. However, as you progress and drop more Capacity Shards, you will be able to equip more.

I will be covering here what is your goal for the end game, to make the build as powerful as possible

First Priority Cyberware

This is what is essential to make the build work. I would even recommend dropping everything else to equip these if cyberware capacity doesn't allow it. These cyberware selections make the core of the build.

Slot	Cyberware	Description
Frontal Cortex 1	Axolotl	This cyberware will take the build to the ultimate level. It has a very steep cyberware capacity cost. But it gives cooldown reductions for almost everything.
	Newton Module	Gives a cyberware cooldown reduction after taking out an enemy. It is not much, however, with multiple kills, the effect adds up.
Skeleton 2	Spring Joints	Improves mitigation strength, complementing other cyberware like Countershell and Neofiber.
Skeleton 1	Dense Marrow	The bonus weapon damage is substantial. However, this impacts your stamina consumption which might be a problem during longer encounters.
Nervous System 1	Neofiber	Thanks to Defenzikov, the bonus mitigation strength will prove effective in ensuring you receive as little damage as possible.
Integumentary System 1	Countershell	One of my favorite cyberware. With this, in case you are under heavy fire it will activate to give a huge boost to mitigation chance. Thanks to other cyberware you will have 70-90% damage reduction for 4 seconds.
Integumentary System 2	Painducer	This is recommended if you can afford the cyberware cost. This is a huge lifesaver that greatly reduces big damage and spreads it over a while.
	Carapace	Gives bonus armor effectiveness when being attacked from flanks.
	Subdermal Armor	A simple cyberware that has a high armor-to-cyberware capacity cost ratio.
Operating System 1	Biodyne Berserk	The only Berserk I recommend. Gives a huge damage boost and makes almost any encounter a cakewalk.
	Militech "Apogee" Sandevistan	This version of Sandevistan provides a bit higher damage bonuses but comes with a shorter duration and increased cyberware capacity cost.
	Militech "Falcon" Sandevistan	A bit weaker version, but enough for the the end game. Has 10 10-second duration and adequate combat bonuses.
	Dynalar Sandevistan	This is the base version that I recommend using from early levels.
Face 1	Kiroshi "Cockatrice" Optics	The best eye cyberware for the Katana build. However, the cost is very steep, so I would leave this for the end game.
	Kiroshi "Doomsayer" Optics	A lightly improved version that also gives bonus critical chance based on the Reflexes attribute.
	Basic Kiroshi Optics	Simple eye cyberware, that I think does the job for this build as you get bonus headshot damage.
Circulatory System 1	Biomonitor	Automatically heals, makes the combat somewhat easier, as you do not have to worry how long it takes to use a healing item.
Circulatory System 2	Blood Pump	The most powerful healing item in the game, it will ensure that you don't die while using Overclock.
Legs	Reinforced Tendons	My personal favorite makes traversing much easier.
	Fortified Ankles	Gives the highest jumps and high boost to armor compared to cyberware capacity cost. But you need to hold the jump button.

Second Priority Cyberware

This is what you should be getting once you have the core cyberware, or you have free capacity.

Slot	Cyberware	Description
Skeleton 3	Epimorphic Skeleton	The huge boost to health and armor is a good improvement to survivability. On Very Hard in the late game, some enemies may one-shot you with too low HP.
Nervous System 2	Revulsor	Improved version of Reflex Turner, which works similarly to Sandevistan and does not slow you down.
	Reflex Tuner	Excellent cyberware that kicks in when your health drops below 25%. This has a good synergy with Borrowed Time, which gives a chance to gain a health item when on Low HP.
Nervous System 3	Stabber	Improves the critical chance for blade weapons like katanas and throwing weapons.
Integumentary System 3	Shock-N-Awe	Almost mandatory cyberware for melee builds as it greatly improves the area of effect damage when under heavy fire. This can help clear large numbers of enemies that surround you in an instant.
Circulatory System 3	Isometric Stabilizer	If you can afford the cyberware cost this is great cyberware to extend the number of attacks you do with katanas. This is particularly effective with Byakko combos.
	Microrotors	Take this if you want to increase attack speed further and do not care as much about survivability and health regeneration.
	Heal-On-Kill	I would say this is the safest option, it gives an additional layer of HP restoration.
	Threatevac	Low-cost alternative to fill the slot

Final Cyberware setup

The last tier of cyberware options. Here is how the build should look in the end. Overall, you should try to fill all the slots if you are using the Cyborg​ Perk. After that as capacity increases, obtain improved options.

Slot	Cyberware	Description
Frontal Cortex 2	Quantum Tuner	If you can obtain this one, it is one of the best cyberware to have for cooldown heavy build. Just remember that it will be used up fast due to multiple cyberware utilizing it - Sandevistan/Berserk, Reflex Tuner, Countershell, etc. I would remove Reflex Tuner if you started using this one as this would greatly extend the duration of the operating system.
	Mechatronic Core	Just an alternative cyberware to fill the slot. It is also okay, for some bonus damage against mechs.
Frontal Cortex 3	Kerenzikov Boost System	Although the build is not using Kerenzikov, this still gives a bonus to critical chance based on the Reflex attribute.
Arms	Projectile Launch System	To be honest, any cyberware works here, so pick the one that you prefer. The Projectile Launch System is great as it allows activating Pyromania​ for additional mitigation chances.
Hands 1	Any cheap Cyberware	Fill with anything that has low cyberware capacity, like Tattoos and Ballistic Coprocessor.
Hands 2	Any cheap Cyberware

How to Use the Build

Here I would like to share some general tips that I would like to recommend for the best approach with this build.

Core Mechanics

Let's go through what I think are the core mechanics of the build to maximize its effectiveness.

Sandevistan Management

In my opinion for this build, Sandevistan is the lifesaver. It allows you to concentrate and land the perfect shot, which is essential for a fast-moving build like this. Moreover, in the early game, you may need to wait for Sandevistan cooldowns a lot, but this becomes better once you reach level 30 and get access to Militech ones.

From then, you can activate/deactivate it on a whim

Finishers with Sandevistan

This is the main problem that Sandevistan creates when using it together with FInishers. If the finisher is activated while Sandy is active, this will waste precious time and not stop its usage.

An alternative is to deactivate Sandevistan (if you are using Militech ones) and only then do a finisher. However, in the late game, stopping might just take too long and the enemy might just be killed with the next attack.

Overall, this needs some practice to be used together. However, Finishers play an important role in Stamina management so let's get into that.

Stamina Management

The biggest problem with Katanas is prolonged combat where you have to do multiple hits sequentially. This uses up your stamina and greatly slows down your attack speed. To circumvent this there are various options:

• Waiting, which is simplest but breaks the combat and slows it down.
• Using Finishers - this is best done without Sandevistan being active. While the Finisher animation is running a few seconds will pass which will restore fully or at least partially your Stamina pool.
• Perks like Tailwind, Lead and Steel, Slaughterhouse, etc. These are great as usually you can incorporate them in combat rotation and ensure that you have stamina

As you can see, when I initiated combat and wanted to do finisher I disabled Sandevistan. After that, as combat went on, I drained my stamina. This is when my Katana hits become weaker and slower.

Overall, this is only a problem when you are fighting in longer combat sequences. However, there is one cyberware that overcomes this limitation.

Berserk Operating System

In the cyberware section, I already covered Biodyne Berserk. This is ridiculously powerful cyberware that you may be overlooking. Sandevistan is cooler, but when you want huge damage spikes Berserk is for you.

As you can see Berserk makes one of the most difficult encounters in the game a cakewalk. You become invincible, with no stamina limit and a huge damage boost. The only downside is that the screen becomes red, which I think can be fixed with mods.

Early Game Combat

Okay, let's go through some early-game combat approaches. I recommend checking Cyberpunk 2077 beginner tips for additional information on the early game combat.

Use anything on hand

The early game for melee builds is very punishing, especially on harder difficulties. So just use anything you have on hand - pistols, assault rifles, etc. Slowly start introducing melee weapons once you get Sandevistan/Berserk as this will be your lifeline.

With some practice and more knowledge of the game encounters it will become fairly easy to survive difficult encounters with only melee.

Use Grenades

Consumables like grenades are another great choice to give some crowd control for free. Just throw them on the enemy that you want to stagger. This is perfect when you are waiting for the throwing item to return.

Late Game Combat

The late game revolves around these aspects:

• Have good stamina management to maximize your damage and attack speed. Be sure to utilize finishers and various perks for this.
• Learn dashing and air dashing, as this will help avoid enemy bullets and reach your foes instantly.
• Sandevistan with correct cyberware and constant kills can be sustained for a very long time. Moreover, be sure to deactivate it once there are no enemies to save the duration.

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!