Katana

Overview

Lore

Dialogue

Gallery

Skins

Katana
"For broken honor... and retribution."
Class	Melee
Faction	Thieves' Den
Statistics
Health	100
Shield	150
Other
Version added	V0.4.5
Chat color	#F95757

Katana is a melee Phighter. He was released on 31 December 2022 with V0.4.5 and the Rave vs. Relax Phestival.

Overview

Katana is a tanky melee Phighter that can frontline with his high health pool and damage, but suffers at range with poor mobility and zero ranged attacks. His Calamity Slice can be used up to 5 times and applies a Looming Misfortune mark to any enemy hit with it. Looming Misfortune lets Katana stack a slowing debuff, increasing by 5% per every mark until 5 stacks are hit. Once five stacks are applied they will explode, removing the stacks, dealing 25 damage and granting 25 shield. Spirit Cleanse can be used to instantly detonate any marks, slowing the enemy and making it easier to apply new ones. His only ranged tool, Thread Tow, throws a line to an enemy and drags them toward him, letting him either secure a kill or forcing the opponent to use abilities to reposition. Foul Counter makes Katana a sponge for all damage, with any said damage calculating into a slash infront of him and applying stacks of Looming Misfortune. His Phinisher, Soul Splicer, is a huge AoE attack that averages the health of enemies, applies 5 stacks of looming misfortune, and slows. Katana may be slow, but with enough patience and skill, he becomes a monster on the battlefield.

Abilities

Type Passive

Looming Misfortune

Calamity Slice adds marks to enemies. At 5 stacks, remove all stacks, deal damage, grant yourself shield, and slow the enemy. Damage: 20 (full stack detonation) Shield: 25 Mark duration: 6 seconds Slow inflicted: 3% for 5 seconds (per Looming Misfortune stack), 50% for X seconds (full stack detonation) Has no cooldown, another set of stacks can be applied after one is removed. Looming Misfortune's stack detonation can still continue on dead players, granting Phinisher points and shield. If an enemy Phighter with Looming Misfortune stacks dies, the stacks will detonate. If another Looming Misfortune stack is detonated on the same enemy, the enemy will be slowed for the higher Slow amount. The shield granted by Looming Misfortune regenerates Katana's innate shield. Any shield beyond the maximum is turned into overshield for 5 seconds.

Type Primary

Calamity Slice

Slice your katana 5 times. While using Calamity Slice, you stay in the air and are pushed forward. Damage: 10 + 10 + 12 + 12 + 14 Fire rate: 0.5 seconds Range: 20.5 studs Dash force: 18 Slow penalty: 30% Bound penalty: 100% Katana can only perform 2 full combos in the air before being unable to use Calamity Slice until he touches the ground. If grounded, Katana can no longer levitate and gains 30% Slow on every slash.

Type Secondary

Spirit Cleanse

Slash and instantly use any stacks of Looming Misfortune on enemies. Damage: 15 + 4 * no. of Looming Misfortune stacks Shield: 5 * no. of Looming Misfortune stacks Looming Misfortune application: 1 stack Dash force: 35 Slow inflicted: 10% * no. of Looming Misfortune stacks for X seconds Cooldown: 5 seconds Bound penalty: 100% Spirit Cleanse performs a short dash on use. The player may turn their crosshair during the dash. If used in mid-air will allow Katana to perform another Calamity Slice combo.

Type Q Ability

Thread Tow

Throw your rope and pull in an enemy. Damage: 15 Stun duration: time grabbed + 1 second Grounded duration: 1.5 seconds Projectile speed: --- Range: 150 studs Cooldown: 9 seconds Bound penalty: 100% Enemies will be pulled into Katana's model. The Stun effect applies on hit. The grounded effect applies after the pull. If used in mid-air, Katana will be unable to use any moves until he touches the ground.

Type E Ability

Foul Counter

Temporarily enter a stance that negates all damage and knockback, being dealt 10 damage or higher will cause you to slash, applying a stack of Looming Misfortune per 10 damage countered. Damage: 7 * every 10 damage taken (max. 40) Looming Misfortune application: 1 stack per 10 damage negated/taken Duration: 1 second Armored: 100% Slow penalty: 50% Bound penalty: 100% Cooldown: 8 seconds If Katana dies during the windup, Foul Counter will not continue to cast. This ability cannot be interrupted by Stun or Wireframe debuffs. Katana negates all force effects immediately on cast. Foul Counter does not block damage that exceeds 50. Furthermore, it cannot block instant-kills such as killbricks or Hyperlaser's Eviscerating Ray.

Type Phinisher

Soul Splicer

Slice in a large area around you, taking the average health of enemies hit and applying it to all targets. Then deal 35 damage and apply 5 stacks of Looming Misfortune to each enemy hit. Damage: Sets all enemies health to the average health of enemies hit + 35 Looming Misfortune application: 5 stacks Phinisher points: 125 Health averaging goes through shields. Enemies can be healed if their health is lower than the set average. If Katana dies during the windup, its visuals will continue but its effects will be cancelled. Damage from Soul Splicer does not generate Phinisher points. Soul Splicer performs a line of sight check before dealing damage.

Strategy

Pros	High damage output. Tank, with some of the highest hitpoints in the game at 250 total hitpoints. Can consistently slow down enemies by applying Looming Misfortune.
Cons	Poor mobility. Large hitbox. Few ranged options outside of Thread Tow.

Ability usage

• Looming Misfortune
  • Get closer, slow helps with finishing or dealing huge damage to an enemy.
  • Keep track of the marks applied to an enemy.
• Calamity Slice
  • Use any elevation (including jumping) before you use Calamity Slice to make yourself much more difficult to hit.
  • Its range is longer than it looks, keep this in mind to catch enemies off-guard.
• Spirit Cleanse
  • Use Spirit Cleanse after Looming Misfortune's Slow early on faster Phighters to keep them in your range. You don't have to get all 5 stacks.
  • Spirit Cleanse can be used after Calamity Slice's 5-hit combo to maintain airtime and stall out attacks or save yourself from pitfalls.
• Thread Tow
  • Thread Tow can be used to finish off enemies at a distance or to pull in an enemy that leaves your range.
    • It also drags backline Phighters out of position.
  • Consider using it on stationary Phighters, like Hyperlaser.
    • Due to its Stun effect, Thread Tow can also interrupt attacks with a long wind-up, such as Hyperlaser's Eviscerating Ray or attacks with a long animation, such as Ban Hammer's Litigation.
  • Be careful of when you use it, save it for when you can secure a kill. Without it, most Phighters will stay too far out of range.
    • A good example is Slingshot, who dashes away too quickly before you can slow him enough. However, using it after his dash is a good way to secure a kill.
  • If you're off the point or in an area where you have no teammates or enemies lingering about, you can use Thread Tow to grapple a Boombox using Raining Tacos to deny the opposing team the AoE damage and support.
  • Thread Tow can also be used to move enemies into their own Phinishers and take self-damage (Rocket's Rocket Barrage and Sword's All-Mighty Axle Arc are two Phinishers that damage the user) or into allied Phinishers with an AoE effect such as Subspace's Noxious Void. Thread Tow can also be used to move enemies into killbricks.
    • After moving an enemy into their own Phinisher, you can use Foul Counter to soak up the damage from the attack and throw it back at them or at a group of enemies.
• Foul Counter
  • Use when taking a lot of damage, as you can counter back with a slash and apply multiple Looming Misfortune stacks.
  • Can be used aggressively, walk forward and absorb as much damage as possible before slicing into someone.
• Soul Splicer
  • Be careful not to use it too far in the open, you become a target.
  • Soul Splicer can hit enemies through walls. Use cover to surprise your enemies or to use your Phinisher without taking too much damage during the animation.

Counterplay against Katana

Since Katana has very poor mobility and range, ranged characters usually do well against him, if he does not land either his Thread Tow or apply any stacks of Looming Misfortune. When Katana starts using Foul Counter, it is advised to get away from him and do not damage him, although he won't do damage, you can be struck by the slash and be slowed, allowing him to kill you quickly. Soul Splicer has huge AoE effect, but very small vertical range. The most dangerous part of this is the Slow and stacks of Looming Misfortune, which leaves affected players as sitting ducks to Katana's attacks. Any ability that provides a vertical advantage should be used to avoid the massive damage and debuffs. Katana has a larger hitbox than most other phighters, thus making headshots with Hyperlaser's primary easier to hit.

Badge

Name	Icon	Description	Reward
sever the soul		kill 3 enemies with your passive proc after using your phinisher	Title - Elder

Trivia

General:

• Katana is based on the Katana gear.
• Katana has a tattoo of the Lost Temple insignia on his back, being shown in art, and a different one for his concept.
• In the Phighter select screen, dialogue box, and scorebar, Katana's idle animation differs from the one present in-game. Along with Medkit, they are the only Phighters to have this quality.
• During April Fools' 2023, Katana was renamed to kaitlyn.
  • During April Fools' 2024, Katana was renamed to pikachu, and remodeled to reference Pikachu from the Pokémon franchise.

Development:

• Katana is the first Phighter to get an early gameplay teaser, debuting 5 days before his public release.
• Katana's katana has a name from concept art. Its name is "Gokudaito Yōtō", which translates to "massive sword" in English.
• Katana was accidentally revealed months in advance because of a sticker aptly named by Pix in the boggio community Discord.

Skins:

• Kramptana originally had a backpack, as seen in concept art.
• Moaitana is a community contributed skin created by theo_catface.
  • The skin was one of three winners of the 2023 Easter Skin Contest.
• Cybertana is a community contributed skin created by wackl.
  • The skin was one of three winners of the August 2023 Skin Contest.

Version history

23 June 2023 Looming Misfortune NEW EFFECT: Detonating Looming Misfortune stacks will prioritize applying the higher slow amount. 22 June 2023 Looming Misfortune NEW EFFECTS: Katana can now apply stacks of Looming Misfortune on previously affected enemies. Katana can gain shield from detonating Looming Misfortune stacks and any slow previously applied will be overwritten. Now regenerates Katana's innate shield. Any shield that goes above the maximum will be turned into overshield for 5 seocnds. Slow on stack application reduced from 4% to 3%. 21 June 2023 Looming Misfortune READDED EFFECT: Each stack application applies 4% slow per stack for 5 seconds. NEW EFFECT: Stacks can no longer be reapplied until the detonation slow expires. Thread Tow Stun duration increased from time grabbed + 0.5 seconds to time grabbed + 1 second. 20 June 2023 Thread Tow BUG FIX: Now applies the stun. 11 June 2023 Thread Tow Stun duration changed from 1.5 seconds to time grabbed + 0.5 seconds. 9 June 2023 Looming Misfortune NEW EFFECT: Killing an enemy with Looming Misfortune stacks activates the passive. Foul Counter NEW EFFECTS: Katana is now slowed for 50% while using the ability. Katana is now immune to force effects on cast and during the ability. 4 June 2023 Calamity Slice REMOVED: Dash force no longer decreases when used excessively. 1 June 2023 The "Moaitana" skin was released. 14 May 2023 Looming Misfortune NEW EFFECT: Activating Looming Misfortune stacks grants Katana a shield for (5 * no. of stacks) for 5 seconds. This shield can stack. Calamity Slice Damage reduced from 10/12/14/12/14 to 8/10/12/12/14. Hitbox pushed forward by 0.5 studs. 13 May 2023 Health reduced from 150 to 100. Innate shield increased from 100 to 150. Calamity Slice Hitbox moved closer to his torso. Range reduced from 23 to 20. Number of full combos before being forced to touch the ground increased from 1 to 2. Thread Tow Stun duration increased from 1 second to 1.5 seconds. 11 May 2023 Calamity Slice NEW EFFECT: Each use of Calamity Slice decreases the dash force, using the formula: 20 - 15 * (number of Calamity Slices used/15). The dash force decrease resets after 2 seconds of not using Calamity Slice. Katana can no longer use Calamity Slice after a full combo if he is not touching the ground. Dash force is removed if Katana is affected by knockback while not touchimg the ground. 25 April 2023 Looming Misfortune REMOVED: No longer applies a slow on mark application. 16 April 2023 The badge "sever the soul" was added to the game. 15 April 2023 Head size increased. Looming Misfortune READDED EFFECT: Each stack now slows for 3%. Calamity Slice Dash force increased from 15 to 20. 12 April 2023 Looming Misfortune BUG FIXES: Passive no longer applies slow on hit. Passive activation now gives the correct percentage of slow. Foul Counter NEW EFFECT: Foul Counter no longer continues its effects if Katana dies during the cast time. v0.5.0 - 8 April 2023 Any changes made tp Katana during The Voice Line Update were reverted. Looming Misfortune REMOVED: No longer applies a 5% slow for each passive stack applied. The Voice Line Update - 1 April 2023 Renamed from Katana to kaitlyn. Dialogue reworked. Soul Splicer Now plays a voiceline provided by Soda. 22 January 2022 BUG FIX: Hits should now register and cancel properly if the hit is not possible. 8 January 2022 Calamity Slice Dash force reduced from 25 to 15. Spirit Cleanse Dash force increased from 20 to 35. Hitbox size increased from 20 to 35. 2 January 2022 The "Kramptana" skin is now obtainable in Crossroads. 1 January 2022 Foul Counter NEW EFFECT: Now blocks 100% of all damage sources excluding any damage source above 50. Soul Splicer Phinisher cost increased from 100 to 125. 26 November 2022 An unobtainable badge titled 'katana badge' was added to the game. 5 November 2022 Katana was revealed to the public.

References

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Phighters