The Uchigatana is likely the best starting weapon available in Elden Ring, but players have a chance to get one at any point in the game.
Much of the starting equipment in Elden Ring falls off in the later stages of the game or is just a cut below other options that appear late on. That’s not the case with the Uchigatana, though. The starting weapon for the Samurai class can stay by a player’s side from start to finish thanks to its ability to proc bleed. Once players get access to Ashes of War, it can be repurposed for any build with points in dexterity.
The trouble with the Uchigatana is that it’s not purchased from a merchant and players can only find one during each game cycle. Here’s where to find the Uchigatana in Elden Ring and what makes it so good.
Where to find Uchigatana in Elden Ring
All players can find one Uchigatana in the Deathtouched Catacombs in Limgrave. Additionally, players who choose samurai as their starting class will get one for free, with the ability to find another for dual-wielding.
The hard part of getting the Uchigatana is finding the Deathtouched Catacombs in the first place. It’s snuggled into a wall which makes it easy to overlook, but it’s not hard to get to with a bit of help.
Go to the Saintsbridge Site of Grace in Limgrave and head west. Hug the wall to your right and there will be a series of ledges that allow you to scale the cliff. Jump up and walk along the wall to the left and there will be a door with a ghost in front of it. Walk through to gain access to the Deathtouched Catacombs.
The Uchigatana can be found early on in the dungeon. From the Site of Grace, head down the staircase, turn left, and follow the path until it leads to a larger room. There will be another short staircase to the left. To the right of the staircase is a small room with a path that leads to a corpse holding the Uchigatana.
Is the Uchigatana good in Elden Ring?
The Uchigatana is a very good Elden Ring weapon thanks to its good scaling and ability to proc bleed.
In general, katanas are very strong in Elden Ring. Many of them have a passive bleed effect that can chunk down bosses and invaders on top of solid scaling and good weapon skills. The Unsheathe ability’s heavy attack also deals huge posture damage, allowing it to stagger tanky enemies more frequently than most other weapons.
The Uchigatana isn’t the best katana in the game with the Rivers of Blood and Moonveil both being wildly overpowered. The tradeoff is that this sword has much lower prerequisites, making it very versatile.
For samurai starters, dual-wielding Uchigatana makes many of the early bosses easy. For everyone else, the 15 dexterity prerequisite is a big ask, but it’s worth it in most cases.
