There are many ways to slash and pierce your enemies in Elden Ring, however, some methods are more effective than others. For an armament that can shred the opposition and cause them to bleed out, the Uchigatana is an excellent choice.
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The Uchigatana’s Location
Firstly, it should be mentioned that the Uchigatana is a starting weapon for the Samurai class. However, if you don’t start as this class in Elden Ring, you’ll need to explore a bit for a katana.
With that said, the Uchigatana is found in the northern part of Limgrave. It is within the Deathtouched Catacombs—a dungeon full of skeletons. You can find the Deathtouched Catacombs west and a bit north of the Saintsbridge Site of Grace in the Stormhill area. This dungeon is also home to a Deathroot, which is a rare item that you can trade for unique items at the Bestial Sanctum.
Where the Uchigatana is Within the Deathtouched Catacombs
From the Site of Grace at the beginning of the dungeon, you’ll need to progress forward and deal with some skeletons. Thankfully, you don’t need a weapon with holy damage to defeat them in Elden Ring. You just need to hit the skeleton’s bones while they are glowing and on the ground. While slaying the undead, proceed down the first flight of stairs.
When you reach the bottom, you’ll need to turn around to find the path to the Uchigatana. There will be an area underneath the floor you were just on that holds some pillars and a few more skeletons. More importantly, there will be a passage here that will lead you closer to your desired weapon.
After you take out the bony enemies, head down this tunnel. There are thankfully no traps in or around it, despite being dark and ominous.
At the end of the spooky corridor, you’ll find a room with a few skeletons at the back and some minor loot. The most distinguishing feature of this room, however, is the doorway leading to the left.
After dealing with the foes in this area and gathering the goods on the ground, head through this open doorway. Beyond, you’ll find what you’re looking for amidst darkness.
On the ledge to the right of this room will be a glowing white item. This is the Uchigatana—however, when you pick it up, some skeletons will animate themselves around you. Dispatch them as you see fit and then admire your shiny new katana.
Katanas Versus Skeletons
Although, it is not recommended to use the Uchigatana or other katanas in the Deathtouched Catacombs. Skeletons are very resistant to pierce damage and can tank through slash damage moderately well. Furthermore, such foes don’t really need to worry about bleeding. In this regard, it’s pretty ironic to find a katana in a place where wielding it would be a terrible idea. But it explains how the corpse possessing it ended up here.
Information About The Uchigatana
Among dexterity weapons, the Uchigatana is one of the better early-game blades. It’s got decent reach and solid base stats, as well as great potential. You can upgrade it along the Heavy, Keen, or Quality paths to get a solid melee weapon. Though it can also be viable for bleed builds due to it gaining high blood loss build-up along the Blood upgrade path. When you attack with the Uchigatana, depending on the moves you use, you’ll do slash or pierce-type damage. As the Uchigatana also only weighs 5.5 units, it won’t increase your equipment load by much.
Uchigatana Description
A katana with a long single-edged curved blade.
A unique weapon wielded by the samurai from the Land of Reeds.The blade, with its undulating design, boasts extraordinary sharpness, and its slash attacks cause blood loss.
Weapon Skill
The weapon skill of the Uchigatana is Unsheathe. This skill lets the user sheathe their blade before quickly unleashing it for a fierce strike by using either a normal or heavy attack. However, if you don’t like this skill, you can replace it with an Ash of War. The normal attack will cost 10 FP while the heavy attack will cost 15 FP.
Base Attack Power
- Physical – 115
- Magic – 0
- Fire – 0
- Lightning – 0
- Holy – 0
- Critical – 100
Base Guard Damage Negation
- Physical – 45
- Magic – 30
- Fire – 30
- Lightning – 30
- Holy – 30
- Guard Boost – 30
Base Weapon Scaling
- Strength – D
- Dexterity – D
- Intelligence – No scaling
- Faith – No scaling
- Arcane – No scaling
Stat Requirements
- Strength – 11
- Dexterity – 15
- Intelligence – 0
- Faith – 0
- Arcane – 0
The Uchigatana’s Viability
This blade is a great one for the early parts of Elden Ring if you’re going with any sort of dexterity build. The innate blood loss in addition to possessing multiple damage types makes it a versatile weapon. Furthermore, the stamina needed to attack with it is pretty low, as is the amount of time needed for each slash or thrust. However, with that said, you’ll likely find better katanas later on.
The Uchigatana is certainly usable for much of your playthrough, but the rarer ones are cooler in concept and design. For some examples, it’s possible for you to find katanas made from dragon scales and meteoric ore that boast better stats and flashier weapon skills.
