Synergies and Discoveries
Useful Items
When my cold, metal hands first grasped the katana, I was quite surprised that it wasn't a brawler weapon - you'd think a melee weapon would go to the melee class, right? Well, after putting it to use, I am very glad that it's a flanker weapon. Combine the +2 movement it provides with a few movement-increasing items and abilities, noteable examples below, and you'll be traveling half the map in the blink of an eye.
| Item | Effect(s) |
| Military Boots |
+1 Movement Immunity to Hobbled status |
| Warm Boots |
+1 Movement Immunity to the damage inflicted by Chilled and Frozen effects |
| Fireproof Boots |
+1 HP +1 Movement Immunity to Burning status |
| Speed Boots | +2 Movement |
| Better Boots | +2 Movement |
| Sonic Boots | +3 Movement |
| Jetpack |
+1 Movement Allows for significantly higher jumps |
Let's not forget the bonus damage, either - with the katana being a melee weapon, you can put a few melee-damage-enhancing items in your flanker's arsenal, making the already high damage skyrocket. Critical hits aren't guaranteed (unless you're attacking from behind), but the items below will boost your melee and critical damage outputs nicely.
| Item | Effect(s) |
| Precision Goggles |
+1 Critical Hit Damage +75% Critical Hit Chance |
| Critical Goggles | +50% Critical Hit chance |
| T-1000 Titanium Casings |
+1 Melee Damage +1 Shot Damage |
| Knuckles | +1 Melee Damage |
| Knuckles II | +2 Melee Damage |
| Warm Gloves |
+2 Melee Damage Immunity to the damage inflicted by Chilled and Frozen statuses |
| Critical Rounds | +2 Critical Hit Damage |
Characters
Every crewmate has two unique abilities. They can be quite expensive to unlock, but if you're all-in on katana synergies, these three are worth the investment.
- Beacon's Scram ability can put you anywhere on the map, ready to score a critical hit on an enemy's back or far away from harm.
- Crowbar's Bad Vibes ability deals damage to surrounding enemies when damaging their allies. If they're bunched up, they'll suffer for it.
- Chimney's Double Down ability makes your next attack hit twice. If one swing won't secure a kill, two usually will.
Beyond specific abilities, you can also benefit from sending any crewmate into a mission solo with the katana, as enemies won't move on any turns when you kill an enemy. This always happens when your entire crew has turned invisible, but it can be triggered more reliably with a solo crewmate.
Abilities
The game's job system is home to tons of helpful abilities. The ones listed below have been tried, tested, and deemed 'very bloody good' by yours truly.
| Ability | Related Job / Unlock Level | Effect(s) |
| Surgical Strike | Sniper level 3 | Increases critical hit chance by 50% |
| Smoke Bomb | Sniper level 4 | Turns you and nearby allies invisible (you can still attack, though!) |
| Feel the Burn | Engineer level 5 | Increases your melee damage and sets enemies on fire when they're hit. |
| Mines | Boomer level 3 | Deals 3 damage to any enemies that get too close |
| Loose Cannon | Boomer level 5 | Your next attack hits twice |
| Shifty | Brawler level 4 | After scrapping an enemy, you can move again with half your usual movement range |
| Second Wind | Brawler level 5 | Restores 1 health after every kill |
There may still be more synergies left to find, so if you find any exciting combinations, be sure to let me know in the comments!
The Sad Truth (and a workaround)
While it's arguably one of the best weapons early in the game, the katana's 7 damage pales in comparison to some of the weapons you get later in the game. You will, eventually, need to swap it for something stronger... unless you turn down enemy health in the game's custom difficulty settings. Some may say it's cheesy - I say it's hard to hear you over the sound of my m-m-monster kills!
