Katana

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Name	katana
Appearance	samurai sword
Damage vs. small	1d10
Damage vs. large	1d12
To-hit bonus	+1
Weapon skill	long sword
Size	one-handed
Base price	80 zm (+10/positive enchant)
Weight	40
Material	iron

A katana is a type of one-handed weapon that appears in NetHack. When unidentified, it appears as a samurai sword. Snickersnee is an artifact katana.

Generation

All Samurai start with a +1 katana.

Katanas are very rare - only 4 in 1000 (0.4%) of all randomly spawned weapons will be katanas.

samurai player monsters on the Samurai quest and the Astral Plane have a 50% chance to generate with a katana as their main weapon.

Strategy

The primary differences between a katana and a long sword are the +1 bonus to hit, the katana's d10 damage to small monsters (as opposed to d8 for a long sword), and the inability to convert a katana into Excalibur by dipping. A samurai wielding a katana has a chance of performing a shattering blow, destroying a monster's wielded weapon.

Because a katana is the most damaging non-artifact weapon to use the long sword weapon skill, it is often a desirable off-hand weapon for two-weapon combat.

Average damage calculation

The average damage calculations in the following table do not include bonuses from weapon skills, strength, or from using a blessed weapon against undead or demons.

Weapon	Small monsters	Large monsters
+0 katana	$\frac{1+10}{2}=\bold{5.5}$	$\frac{1+12}{2}=\bold{6.5}$
+7 katana	$\frac{1+10}{2}+7=\bold{12.5}$	$\frac{1+12}{2}+7=\bold{13.5}$

History

The katana first appears in NetHack 1.3d.

The now-defunct Ninja role started with a katana from NetHack 1.3d to NetHack 2.3e.

Origin

Katana is the name used for a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and a long grip to accommodate two hands. It originated in the late 12th century and was most notably used by feudal samurai, worn with the blade facing upward; the official term for these swords is uchigatana (打刀), with katana often referring to other single-edged swords. Though the quality of steel in Japan was relatively poor at the time, the katana produced were considered better than the mass-produced European broadswords of the same era.

The statline for the katana, including the +1 to-hit bonus, is derived from Dungeons & Dragons.

Variants

dNetHack

In dNetHack, maids have a chance to generate with a katana depending on whether or not the player is a Samurai. dNetHack also introduces Kiku-ichimonji, an artifact katana that replaces Snickersnee as the Samurai's first sacrifice gift.

SlashTHEM

In SlashTHEM, another artifact katana, Nightingale, is introduced as the first sacrifice gift for the revived Ninja role. Kiku-ichimonji retains its role from dNetHack.

Encyclopedia entry

The katana is a long, single-edged samurai sword with a
slightly curved blade. Its long handle is designed to allow
it to be wielded with either one or two hands.