Tell me all about katanas...

[Rosel]

Tell me all about them please.

[TaigaUC]

Only played katana a little so far. Love the animations. Feels great. Seems effective in many ways so far.
Then again, I've always liked katanas and iainuki draw, so I'm a little biased.

Instead of asking, it's probably easier to just try them out. They made it a lot easier to level now.

[~Aya~]

They're awesome, fast, powerful. The PA's actually flow well into the other

[Shirokami]

They made it a lot easier to level now.

Mind explaining how it's easier?

[Rosel]

A lot of things look cool when you first use them (Dagger) but is Katana actually efficient and good?

[Jyasupa]

Katanas are way too slow and their hit stop is ridiculous. I thought techer wand was shit, but this just takes the cake.

[TaigaUC]

Mind explaining how it's easier?

They greatly reduced the number of kills and drops required for many orders. Some equipment requirements seem to be much lower. They've probably made lots of other small changes here and there, too.
You also get 10% of main class EXP for subclass now. Applies to all incoming EXP, it seems. The 10% isn't adjusted to the subclass level, so you can turn in an order with huge rewards and have the subclass receive the full 10%.
Thanks to musicmf for pointing the client order tip out.


A lot of things look cool when you first use them (Dagger) but is Katana actually efficient and good?

Regardless of coolness, daggers always felt weak to me. Anyway, it's hard to say how good katanas truly are until reaching high level, gearing up and experimentation with skills.
So far though (level 12), they seem effective, easy and fun to play.

Edit: If there's anything Katana may be lacking in so far, it's the dash attack. If I read correctly, there's a stance that lets katana zip from one enemy to another, but I haven't tried it yet.
I guess it's best to wait for feedback from someone who has already maxed out katanas. I'm a long way off.

[Shirokami]

They greatly reduced the number of kills and drops required for many orders. Some equipment requirements seem to be much lower. They've probably made lots of other small changes here and there, too.
You also get 10% of main class EXP for subclass now. Applies to all incoming EXP, it seems. The 10% isn't adjusted to the subclass level, so you can turn in an order with huge rewards and have the subclass receive the full 10%.
Thanks to musicmf for pointing the client order tip out.


Well, I had to run tunnels in hard to get less than the exp I was getting before the patch in normal difficulty.

[angrysquid]

Maybe you got too attached to the 1 week Triboost?

[The Walrus]

I wish every week was boost week.

[Rosel]

How efficient is it compared to sword for clearing waves of monsters?

[TaigaUC]

I wish every week was boost week.

This. I honestly feel that every aspect of the game was just about right with the 1st anniversary boosts.
I forgot to mention that you can use your support partner to gather items for annoying orders now. That'll definitely help with levelling.


How efficient is it compared to sword for clearing waves of monsters?

So far I've only gotten a PA for an uppercut slice and what seems to be a wide range slice where you must time the button release based on a circular visual effect that pulsates and changes color. It seems to be AOE, but it doesn't seem to be very powerful.

[otaku998]

Kanran-Kikyou
Release on Red for max dmg, it is not very powerful but it is quick to use and the hit box is spectacular, easy to hit most of mob.


Asagiri-Rendan
I got another PA that you do a mirage dash towards the target then unleash a flurry of slashes. Fast and decently powerful, it will auto stop and hit the target if you contact with them during the "Dash" part so it won't miss. Can use that to move quickly on air, and you can adjust the direction of the slash during the animation.

Hoping to get the rest of other 3 PAs soon

[Volta]

Asagiri-Rendan seems to have a bad hitbox unfortunately, so Kanran-Kikyou has been my goto PA for mobbing thus far.

[otaku998]

Asagiri-Rendan is a single target PA, or vs boss, use for fast approach so yea it can't do very well against many mobs. Hitbox seems fine unless i missed something

[Opy]

Its taking me a little time to get used to them (im usually slow anyway) but its easy to bump yourself forward and reset the skill rotation. In other words, I found myself doing the first pa again when I was trying to do the second. Too hard to tell on efficiency (total DPS?) but thats not always the biggest concern of mine.

I did have a lot of fun with katana stance.

[The Walrus]

Kanran-Kikyou is my life

[TaigaUC]

The starting PA is so fast that it's kinda easy to accidentally do it twice by holding the button down too long. It's a pretty powerful upwards crescent slash that allows you to launch into and maintain air juggle.

[jooozek]

its fun but it feels like you are hitting shit with a paper fan

[AgemFrostMage]

Katanas are way too slow and their hit stop is ridiculous. I thought techer wand was shit, but this just takes the cake.

Thanks for the warning! I think about making braver subclass on the new CAST I have but will likely make him bulletbow instead.

[FerrickX]

Katanas are rather fun to use, and katana combat makes it even more awesome

now if only the PAs are not that expensive to get....

[Dan Maku]

Katanas are rather fun to use, and katana combat makes it even more awesome

now if only the PAs are not that expensive to get....

They should get cheaper with time. They're expensive right now because ERMEGERDNEWNEWNEW.

[Zyrusticae]

Thanks for the warning! I think about making braver subclass on the new CAST I have but will likely make him bulletbow instead.
In case you're taking him seriously, he's fucking with you. Katanas are the fastest weapon in the game as of right now.

[Reyva]

Eh came back to the game to try these things out on my doodoo man (dewman). Got to say, I'm pretty happy with this class and their katanas/bows unlike the fighter class with their fists, double sabers, and twin daggers (biggest disappointment for me at least). Actually makes me stay logged in.................for now.

Basically, what others said about them is the same thing for me.

[Jakosifer]

They suck

[FerrickX]

did a test run against dark falz' hands and...

katana + katana combat + lock-on = fighter with twindaggers spamming raging walts

[Kondibon]

It's also worth mentioning that unlike daggers and knuckles they actually have a pretty decent attack range.

[Narrillnezzurh]

the only one that's really underwhelming is the Deadly Archer knockoff.

I don't have all six common PAs yet, but I've been using the DA knockoff a lot. What don't you like about it?

[MetalDude]

They don't feel especially powerful but it might be like DS's where high S-Atk makes a much more substantial difference. Katana Gear in particular will be remarkably more noticeable later on with that 25% damage boost.

Bullet Bows on the other hand... Right off the bat, Kamikaze Arrow is stupid powerful and Master Shot is practically designed to be point-blank Homing Emission. Hell, a number of the PAs feel like way better versions of terrible rifle PAs.

[Zenobia]

The katana stance is awesome - every attack, you fly towards another enemy, building this red aura. once it's full, you hit once, sheath your sword, and then the enemies you hit take MASSIVE damage.

So awesome /)^3^(\

You have to build the katana gear first then parry to use that purple aura the one you're talking about that lets you fly to other enemies is Katana combat its good when you're locking onto enemies.

Also to all saying Katana are slow they aren't should play a bit more before you start yammering lol.

[Massamix3.0]

Katanas are basically what daggers should have been.

[Zyrusticae]

Katanas are basically what daggers should have been.
Indeed.

It would be nice if they gave twin daggers an action akin to Katana Combat or something along those lines. They could really use it.

[Zenobia]

But when you use Katana Combat, you get a blue circle aura around you that turns red when the skill is ready to end :p That's what I meant for the second part.

Actually the red aura means thats how much time you have till it goes away you don't build it.

[TaigaUC]

Oh man, katanas are so slow that Elder was over by the time my character finished activating katana combat. I'm afraid to click regular attack in case it breaks the space time continuum.

[~Aya~]

I OHKO'd elder by equipping my Katana while standing infront of him.

[Zenobia]

I OHKO'd elder by equipping my Katana while standing infront of him.

TO STRONK!

[Xaelouse]

They're really not that good. Its only worthwhile move is the damn combat finisher.
but if we're only talking about PAs here, charged Sakura-endo or whatever it's called is the best PA. Good damage, good arc, gets the job done. Runner-up is Tsukimi-sazanka spam since it's miles better than Rising Edge.

[Zyrusticae]

They are actually quite strong.

I can see myself easily matching my Hunter damage once I have a good 10*. That's really the barrier right now - there are no 10*s on the market, and the closest thing to that - the lambda 9* - is still egregiously expensive to attain and requires a level of S-Atk that's beyond my level range at the moment.

[Cyclon]

They're really not that good. Its only worthwhile move is the damn combat finisher.
but if we're only talking about PAs here, charged Sakura-endo or whatever it's called is the best PA. Good damage, good arc, gets the job done. Runner-up is Tsukimi-sazanka spam since it's miles better than Rising Edge.
Runner-up would be Kanran ki-something. Absurd aoe and acceptable damage(also lightning quick)lead to huge versatility.
Rising edge has roughly thrice as much aoe as Tsukimi-whatever, is most likely stronger and can be charged. The latter is more of a lightning-quick single target bread and butter PA. They're similar but still pretty different.

[FerrickX]

They're really not that good. Its only worthwhile move is the damn combat finisher.
but if we're only talking about PAs here, charged Sakura-endo or whatever it's called is the best PA. Good damage, good arc, gets the job done. Runner-up is Tsukimi-sazanka spam since it's miles better than Rising Edge.

not necessarily, Kanran-Kikyou is great at room clearing because of its high AOE Radius, moderate damage and quick execution

asagiri-rendan is great in speed and/or ranged based PA combos

and Hien Tsubaki is in a way almost like deadly archer

edit: Gekka-Zakuro is amazingly fast if you use it in mid air, so if you use Tsumiki-sazanka and then use gekka-zakuro while you're in mid air, you will drop quickly and do a really quick upslice

[BlankM]

They don't suck but they're a lot of flash and not much substance. The playstyle they seem to want you to maintain is not worth going out of your way for the damage.

[Chdata]

So far I love this update. I was expecting to katanas to be like this, and this fits my favorite form of melee in games. Multiple fast hits.

I especially love having the block counter attack thing (dunno if fighter/hunter had that already cause I've never played them yet). But with that I'm practically invincible ;p I love stuff like that.


As for bows, nothing all too special. I'm happy that between charged/uncharged it's really little difference and that charged is mostly there for PA's or shooting farther away. I love skillshot type things even though it's still pretty straightforward.

[SakoHaruo]

Force/whatever and Braver/Hu/Fi are BFF

Force can now use Zondeel without having to worry about getting Killed because Braver's Katana PA Kanran-Kikyou knocks down all enemies in range. A good support tool to use on enemies in AQs, especially those ninjas on City.

[Chdata]

its fun but it feels like you are hitting shit with a paper fan

Like this?

http://youtu.be/Ug7xAad4OY4?t=30s

;p

I love 'paper fan' type weapons as long as they aren't blatant as the paper fan from SSBB <.<

Anything that multi-hits and stuns during it.

[Zyrusticae]

Okay, I have to admit it. When it comes to fun-factor, Braver is top-tier. It has eclipsed all other classes for me. I simply do not enjoy the game as much with any other class. I can run Border Break Chaos for hours on end not even caring about anything other than slicing and dicing, because goddamn it feels sooo gooood!

SEGA has outdone themselves with this one. It's just... so damn satisfying. If all the other classes were as fun to play as Braver, I'd never put the game down.

[FerrickX]

Okay, I have to admit it. When it comes to fun-factor, Braver is top-tier. It has eclipsed all other classes for me. I simply do not enjoy the game as much with any other class. I can run Border Break Chaos for hours on end not even caring about anything other than slicing and dicing, because goddamn it feels sooo gooood!

SEGA has outdone themselves with this one. It's just... so damn satisfying. If all the other classes were as fun to play as Braver, I'd never put the game down.

that and they finally killed off DuDu =D, i'm loving this episode

[blace]

that and they finally killed off DuDu =D, i'm loving this episode

Nah, he's still up and kicking our faces in on odd numbered blocks with his replacement on even numbered blocks.

[Metalsnake27]

Fast, fun, and staisfying.

They feel a bit weird at first, because as someone else stated, their stop-time after normal attacks feels rather awkward at first, I guess this guess better once you get step attack, Katana Gear, and better PA's to move around quicker, kind of like Sword on Hunter... how quick it can be once you get Sonic Arrow+ Step attack and what not.

So far, it's fun, and I can see Braver/Hunter or Fighter/Braver a pretty deadly combo.

[Renvalt]

So does anyone really understand what Katana Combat actually does? Unlike some people (?) I read the description.

While the skill DOES allow you to close gaps, it also has another nifty ability. That is, if you cancel it while the countdown timer is still running, you will do one decently powered slash and then do a flashy sheath animation (kinda like MGR's Zandatsu meets Shinobi PS2's Tate sheathing); at the end of this, a GIANT, unblockable slash will do a shitton of damage to everything within a large radius around you. As I've tested, it goes through Dinian shields, not sure about anything big like Wonda shields or Krabahda shells).

Looks really awesome if you kill a boss by using it (as I've actually done). But yeah, Katanas4lyfe IMHO.

[Zyrusticae]

Yes, Katana Combat does a big-ass attack if you deactivate before the countdown timer ends. From what I can tell the damage scales with how much damage you do while it is activated, up to a cap. Or it could alternatively be based on how much of the cd is left.

The important thing is that the attack is, in fact, affected by your Just Attack bonus, so make sure you time it right to get the really big damage. It takes awhile to actually come out, so it can be tough to hit weak spots with it, but when you do? Oh, boy...

[Punisher106]

I don't care if I can kite and DPS fairly well with the bow. The katana is incredibly fun to use. I'm still experimenting with PAs, but I've learned that it's best to mash Tab (Okay, just hit it occasionally) while using Katana Combat so you can cover more enemies in a single rush. Then put that sucker away, and watch all the enemies around you fall apart in pieces. IT's so satisfying when you pull it off, right.

[TaigaUC]

Yeah, Braver is definitely the most fun class with the most depth. Both melee and ranged are versatile, fun and sufficiently effective. They have plenty of attacks for both close and long range, as well as AOE, launchers and aerial juggles, counter attacks, dodging and guarding, stances and even a way to zip up to enemies that every other melee class has been lacking.

I honestly thought katana combat would be subbable to solve the whole distance problem with other melee weapons. Would be nice.