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. It is made of iron and uses the long sword skill, and appears as a samurai sword when unidentified. A samurai wielding a katana has a chance of performing a shattering blow, destroying a monster's wielded weapon.

Snickersnee is an artifact katana.

Generation

All Samurai start with a +0 katana.

Katanas are very rare - only ¹⁄₂₅₀ of all randomly spawned weapons will be a katana.

Samurai player monsters on the Samurai quest and the Astral Plane have a ¹⁄₂ chance of generating with a katana in place of their initial primary 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.

Because a katana is the most damaging non-artifact weapon to use the long sword weapon skill, it is often sought after as an off-hand weapon for twoweapon 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. From this version to NetHack 2.3e, the now-defunct Ninja role started with a katana.

In NetHack 2.2a and 2.3e, Snickersnee could be created by naming any katana.

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, the katana gains a 50% strength-based bonus to odamage when wielded without a shield or offhand weapon.

Maids have a ¹⁄₄ chance of generating with a katana if the player is a Samurai, and a ⁷⁄₁₀ chance otherwise. dNetHack also introduces Kiku-ichimonji, an artifact katana that replaces Snickersnee (which is changed to a knife) as the Samurai's first sacrifice gift.

The November NetHack Tournament

In The November NetHack Tournament, all Devteam members have a ¹⁄₂ chance of being generated with a katana. The deathmatch opponent will always generate with a +5 to +7 katana if they are a samurai that does not have a weapon.

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, while Snickersnee is still present, but is instead obtained through a different method.

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.