How to Find All 3 Great Katanas

Great Katanas are a new class of weapon added in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree. They are large weapons that alternate between sweeping strikes and lunging thrusts. There are currently 3 weapons within this class, the Great Katana, Dragon-Hunter's Great Katana and Rakshasa's Great Katana.

You can obtain the Great Katana shortly after entering the Realm of Shadow but the other 2 require you to defeat challenging bosses. These physical weapons come with 55 blood loss build up while scaling off of Dexterity and Strength. Great Katanas are a powerful class of weapon fully capable of taking down all the content Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree has to offer.

These weapons have a long reach paired with a relatively high attack speed (for their size) making it easy to stagger enemies or prevent players from entering your zone of control in PVP (often referred to as zoning)! The Dragon-Hunter's Great Katana has anti-dragon properties and the Ash of War Dragonwound Slash can be charged to release a ranged energy blast. On the other hand, the Rakshasa's Great Katana uses the Weed Cutter Ash of War which gives you Super Armor before executing 2 wide sweeping slashes. This is spammable and can be used to brute-force lower health enemies or zone players in PVP. Lastly, the Great Katana's Ash of War is Overhead Stance, hold R2 to raise the blade above your head then hit R1 to execute a downward slash while stepping forward, or R2 to unleash a series of slashes.

Great Katana

The Great Katana is a scaled up version of the Uchigatana from Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree. This Dexterity/Strength weapon is found shortly after you enter the DLC and comes with the Ash of War Overhead Stance. The move set mixes wide sweeping slashes with lethally focused thrusts.

Great Katana Location

Shortly after you enter the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC you can easily obtain the Great Katana. Find this weapon on a corpse near a sleeping dragon to the northwest of Three-Path Cross or to the west of the Greatbridge, North Site of Grace. You don't need to defeat any enemies to collect the weapon as it's on the ground, but the dragon guarding this weapon is a significant threat.

• Start from the Greatbridge, North Site of Grace.
• Head west to the lake and look for the sleeping dragon.
  • You can run past the dragon and loot the corpse.
  • Alternatively, if you want to defeat the dragon, consider grabbing the Dragon-Hunter's Great Katana first as its anti-dragon properties give you an edge in the fight.
• You find the Great Katana on a corpse where the dragon was resting.

Great Katana Scaling

The Great Katana is a Slash/Pierce weapon with 355 base physical damage at +25. It requires 14 Str and 18 Dex meaning the damage scales more heavily off of Dex than Str when enhanced resulting in D rank Str and C rank Dex scaling. The weapon has a natural blood loss buildup of 55 but no innate Arcane scaling which makes it difficult to reliably proc the blood loss without the Bloody infusion.

This is a regular weapon so it can be infused to change the element or use a different Ash of War. However, the default Ash of War Overhead Stance adds a lot of flexibility to your playstyle! Hold L2 to enter the stance, raising the blade over your head. Then hit R1 to execute a swift high damage chop while stepping forward. Alternatively, hit R2 to unleash a flurry of strikes which are very likely to break an enemy's poise.

For raw damage, your best bet is either Quality, if you have very high Dex and Str, or Keen if you have high Dex but low Str. A +25 Quality Great Katana has 287 base damage, B rank Str scaling and B rank Dex scaling.

Your light attack is a mix of thrusts and slashes. The heavy attack focuses on wide sweeping slashes with good area of effect. For the jump attack you bring the Great Katana down in an overhead chop.

Dragon-Hunter's Great Katana

The Dragon-Hunter's Great Katana is obtained by defeating the Ancient Dragon-Man in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree. This Dexterity/Strength weapon has special anti-dragon properties and comes with the Ash of War Dragonwound Slash.

Dragon-Hunter's Great Katana Location

The Dragon-Hunter's Great Katana is a Great Katana located in the Dragon Pit side dungeon. Be prepared to kill some Stone Birds, skeletal foes and a powerful boss at the end.

• Start from the Pillar Path Waypoint and head south along the path, you can defeat Stone Birds or run past them as you encounter them.
• As you head south the Ancient Dragon-Man invades you, defeat him to continue on.
• At the end of the path, you find the Dragon Pit dungeon.
• Explore the dungeon until you reach a large stone altar and a yawning abyss.
• Take a leap of faith into the darkness to reach the Ancient Dragon-Man's arena.
• Walk through the golden mist wall and defeat the boss to obtain his Dragon-Hunter's Great Katana.

Ancient Dragon-Man Tips & Tricks

• When the Ancient Dragon-Man uses one of his Draconic Invocations run away as these do incredible damage.
• Because Great Katanas have significant reach rolling directly away from the boss is dangerous, you're better off rolling through the boss or jumping over an attack.
• Watch out for ranged damage from Dragonwound Slash.

Dragon-Hunter's Great Katana Scaling

The Dragon-Hunter's Great Katana is a Slash/Strike weapon with 372 base physical damage at +10. It requires 15 Str and 20 Dex meaning the damage scales more heavily off of Dex despite having C rank in both stats. The weapon has a natural blood loss buildup of 55 but no innate Arcane scaling which makes it difficult to reliably proc the blood loss.

The stats are very similar to the other 2 Great Katanas, the Dragon-Hunter's Great Katana isn't as flexible as the regular Great Katana, and doesn't have as much raw damage as the Rakshasha's Great Katana. But it does have an excellent Ash of War and anti-dragon properties which make it invaluable when fighting the many dragons found in the Realm of Shadow.

This is a somber weapon so it cannot be infused to change the element and you cannot change the Ash of War. The Dragonwound Slash Ash of War has two forms, hit L2 to perform a quick slash or hold then release L2 to charge an empowered slash which releases a shockwave. The charged version is particularly effective at damaging dragons just lock onto their head and fire away.

Your light attack is a mix of thrusts and slashes. The heavy attack focuses on wide sweeping slashes with good area of effect. For the jump attack you bring the Dragon-Hunter's Great Katana down in an overhead chop.

Rakshasha's Great Katana

The Rakshasha's Great Katana is a powerful weapon obtained by defeating Rakshasha in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree. This Dexterity/Strength weapon is found in the Eastern Nameless Mausoleum and comes with the Ash of War Weed Cutter.

Rakshasha's Great Katana Location

You need to unlock access to the Recluses' River through Shadow Keep's Watering Hole to access Rakshasha's Great Katana. To obtain this item you need to defeat a difficult boss, prepare using our tips below or summon allies.

• Start from the Recluses' River Downstream Site of Grace.
• Jump down the cliff using Tombstones, take the left path.
• When you reach the bottom, proceed along the river until you encounter the Eastern Nameless Mausoleum.
• Enter the Mausoleum and defeat Rakshasha to obtain Rakshasha's Great Katana.

Rakshasha Tips and Tricks

• Rakshasha likes to spam Weed Cutter using the skill up to 6 times consecutively. During this time your best bet is to run away from the boss and prepare to attack after.
• Because Great Katanas have significant reach rolling directly away from the boss is dangerous, you're better off rolling through the boss or jumping over an attack.
• You can use heavy weapons to inflict a poise break, when doing this use a Claw Talisman and stick to a hit-and-run playstyle with your jump attacks.

Rakshasha's Great Katana Scaling

The Rakshasha's Great Katana is a Slash/Pierce weapon with 379 base physical damage at +10. It requires 12 Str, 27 Dex meaning the damage scales more heavily off of Dex than any other stat achieving D rank Str scaling and B rank Dex scaling. The weapon has a natural blood loss buildup of 55 but no innate Arcane scaling which makes it difficult to reliably proc the blood loss.

This is a Somber weapon so it cannot be infused to use a different Ash of War. The Ash of War it comes with is Weed Cutter. When you press L2 your character stomps the ground gaining super armor and then executes two wide sweeping slashes. This move has a low FP cost and easily flows into itself making it very spammable. The move is difficult to interrupt making it a brutal trading tool in both PVP and PVE.

Your light attack is a mix of thrusts and slashes. The heavy attack focuses on lunging thrusts to complement the Ash of War. For the jump attack you bring Rakshasa's Great Katana down in an overhead chop. This is slightly different from the base move set for the other Great Katanas and as a result, you have better reach on this weapon.

Video

Learn where to find all 3 Great Katanas along with some of Tenkiei's experiences using them through this video.

Summary

The Great Katanas are a new weapon class in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, there are currently 3 weapons in this class. These Dexterity Strength weapons mix powerful thrusts with sweeping slashes to provide powerful zoning and good reach.

• Find the Great Katana near a sleeping dragon near the great bridge in the Realm of Shadow.
• Explore the Dragon's Pit to find the Ancient Dragon Man then defeat him and obtain the Dragon-Hunter's Great Katana.
• Defeat Rakshasha in the Eastern Nameless Mausoleum to obtain Rakshasha's Great Katana.

Only one question remains...

Written by: Tenkiei

Reviewed by: Blamefrost, Dredscythe