Summary
- Elden Ring's DLC introduces a powerful new weapon, Rakshasa's Great Katana, with exceptional range and Hyper Armor.
- Rakshasa's Great Katana outshines Rivers of Blood, offering better range, speed, damage, and superior Hyper Armor for a PvP advantage.
- This DLC weapon's Hyper Armor extends to using it in the off-hand.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree adds so many new armaments to the base game that it is a little shocking FromSoftware didn't save some of these weapon ideas for a brand-new title. Thanks to entirely new weapon types and never-before-seen Ashes of War, the entire pre-existing dynamic and preconceptions of what weapons are the best have been flipped on their heads. Even the mighty and somewhat infamous 
Rivers of Blood no longer holds the title of the most powerful Katana, although this is partly due to everyone knowing how to deal with it.
The many new weapon types added by Shadow of the Erdtree add new flavors to the pre-existing playstyles in interesting ways. For instance, the Light Greatswords add speed and grace compared to the normal Greatswords, and although there aren't many, it hasn't stopped players from using them for DLC builds, particularly 
Milady . This also applies to Great Katanas, which have the damage and Blood Loss factor, while providing a better range than expected of longer, heavier weapons, and none of them encompass this better than 
Rakshasa's Great Katana .
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Rakshasa's Great Katana Is Like Rivers Of Blood, But Better
Elden Ring Has A New Number One Katana
To understand what makes Rakshasa's Great Katana so good, players need to understand what PvP Tarnished look for in their weapons. Great Katana's do a lot of damage, and Rakshasa's weapon has a B scaling in Dexterity. It also has a heavy attack with exceptional range that is great for roll-catching opponents to maintain priority during a fight. One issue with Great Katanas and Katanas is a lack of Hyper Armor; however, this isn't the case with Rakshasa's Great Katana for whatever reason, making it the best of the bunch.
Thanks to its Dexterity Scaling, a build focused around Rakshasa's Great Katana doesn't require much strength, and more points can be put into Endurance instead for armor that raises poise to help win PvP trades.
Combined with its amazing scaling, range, and damage, Rakshasa's Great Katana also has the Hyper Armor of a Great Axe, which makes it one of the best weapons for winning a trade in PvP. A trade is when two opponents hit each other at the same time to try to win priority, and the Tarnished with the higher Poise (often boosted by Hyper Armor) wins the trade. Thanks to its speed and damage, getting hit once by Rakshasa's Great Katana can put opponents in a terrible situation where there's almost no window to attack if they use lighter weapons.
When compared to Rivers of Blood specifically, the damage output might not be quite as good, but the superior range with the base moveset and Hyper Armor means that it is the better tool in most circ*mstances. Spamming Rivers of Blood's Ash of War doesn't really work anymore, since players have had three years to figure out its range. Dealing with a weapon that has better range, Hyper Armor, and amazing damage is a lot tougher, making Rakshasa's Great Katana better for PvP.
Rakshasa's Great Katana's Ash Of War Is Terrifying
It Does More Than Cut Weeds
Rakshasa's Great Katana already has far more Hyper Armor than it probably should, since the extra Poise it grants is comparable to a Great Axe rather than other weapons in the same category. Its Ash of War, called Weed Cutter, involves a wide, two-hit combo that can be chained to itself as long as the user still has Stamina. The Tarnished moves forward using this move, meaning that players can't just sit out of its range like with River of Blood's Ash of War, and it still benefits from having amazing Hyper Armor.
The Two-Handed Sword Talisman is a great choice for Rakshasa's Great Katana to increase its already staggering damage. As is the Spear Talisman, thanks to the stabbing heavy attack.
Weed Cutter can tank hits from Colossal Swords, which is quite frankly ridiculous, meaning that it will win a trade against most weapons, and Rakshasa's Great Katana also benefits from building up Blood Loss. The quick strikes from Weed Cutter will make this build at terrifying speeds, although it isn't infallible. Some weapons can win a trade against Weed Cutter if they have better Hyper Armor, so it isn't an instant win button, but when paired with everything else that Rakshasa's Great Katana can do, it's hardly fair.
Weed Cutter benefits from forward momentum and speed. The speed will likely catch players out more often than not and could mean they aren't ready to try to trade with something bigger. The forward momentum means that it's hard to out-range the attack, but it also makes it great for roll catching in low latency matches. Laggy foes will be caught by the wide swings of Weed Cutter the majority of the time, and it is a great way of farming PvP wins since most fights will involve some form of lag.
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Rakshasa's Great Katana Might Not Work The Way FromSoftware Intended
And It Makes The Weapon Completely Busted
To compound the issue of Rakshasa's Great Katana's strength even further, it should be noted that the Hyper Armor it provides is the same no matter how it's used. One handing the weapon in the off-hand will still grant the same Hyper Armor, meaning that it can be paired with a swift main-hand weapon to get a True Combo (a two-hit combo that can't be dodged if the first hit lands). This seems like a weird choice from FromSoftware and partly feels unintended due to how overpowered it makes an already strong weapon.
In an update, Colosseums were added to Elden Ring for PvP players and can be accessed using the Marika Statue in the Roundtable Hold.
In an attempt to somewhat balance the weapon, Rakshasa's Great Katana will decrease a user's resistances when used. The caveat of this is that this resistance debuff will only persist when the weapon is used during an attack, not when it is equipped in general. This means that players will have a debuff when striking with the weapon that gives them incredible Hyper Armor, which increases defense anyway and nullifies most of the initial debuff, allowing them to win most trades that they enter in PvP.
Rakshasa's Great Katana benefits from the new weapon types added in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, as it is the best in its class. It is easy to use; its range and damage potential make it viable in any situation, including PvE, and its Hyper Armor might actually be completely broken. While Rivers of Blood had obvious flaws and counters, there doesn't seem to be too much players can do against Rakshasa's Great Katana if the Tarnished using it is competent and confident.
Elden Ring
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RPG
Action
- Platform(s)
- PS5 , Xbox One , PS4 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , PC
- Released
- February 25, 2022
- Developer(s)
- From Software
- Publisher(s)
- Bandai Namco Entertainment , From Software
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op , Online Multiplayer
- Engine
- Proprietary
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
