The Karakuri Katana is your starting weapon in Wild Hearts. It is designed to introduce you to how the combat works in the game. Hence, you will find the Katana far easier to use than most of the other weapons like the Claw Blades.
Being a starting weapon, the Karakuri Katana is still capable of handling most enemies and dealing medium-level damage. Its versatility makes the Karakuri Katana one of the best weapons in Wild Hearts.
You will be using this weapon a lot for the starting chapters. Understanding its advanced combos and skills, though, will allow you to get more damage out of the Katana.
How to use the Karakuri Katana in Wild Hearts
Katana is quite a fast and nimble weapon. You can dodge around and run around relatively fast and even mid-combos and don’t get a lot of I-frames when using Katana.
You will be sacrificing huge damage numbers for speed and multi-hit combos. Katana does lack range as a weapon, but most of your attacks can be used after a dash. You will also move forward in your combos, so covering small distances to attack enemies won’t be a problem.
If you are still struggling with range when using karakuri katana, the weapon also has an Unbound State that can be triggered after filling up the weapon gauge. Switching karakuri katana to the unbound state transforms it into a bladed whip for a short while. Not only does this deal an insane amount of damage but is also very fast and improves your attack range.
Katana’s fast attacks can be spammed, and you can stun-lock many weaker enemies into oblivion. Katana light attacks don’t cost a lot of stamina, and you can spam them endlessly.
The true potential of Katana lies in its combos in Wild Hearts. All of Katana’s combos are absurdly strong. Of course, you cannot spam them that easily, and some combos also require specific positions and distancing. Still, these combos can instantly clear out groups of enemies and stronger foes in Wild Hearts.
Best Karakuri Katana combos
For the sake of simplicity and because all the platforms have different inputs, we will be denoting the Light Attack input with L, Heavy Attack input as H, and Special Attack input as SA in Wild Hearts.
| Basic Combos | Inputs |
|---|---|
| Light Chain | L, L, L, L, L (Costs no stamina) |
| Heavy Chains | H, H |
| Slash Burst | H, H, H |
| Special Attack | SA |
| Twin Blade Slash Storm | SA, SA |
| Sliding Slash | Running L |
| Plunge Attack | Arial H |
| Spring Attack | Spring jump H |
Some of the attacks you get in these combos are better than others, depending on their damage and stamina consumption. We can always mix and match our inputs to draw out specific attack chains in Wild Hearts to use the Karakuri Katana more effectively. This way, we can reduce stamina consumption on many of our attacks.
| Advance Combos | Inputs |
|---|---|
| Instant Twin Blade Slash Strom | L, SA |
| Sunder Slash | H, SA |
| Slash Burst into Sunder Slash | L, H, H, SA |
| Endless Tornado | L, SA, L, SA, L, SA (for as long as you have the stamina) |
| Super Heavy Combo | H, SA, L H, SA |
We recommend using the Instant Twin Blade Slash Storm instead of the basic version, so you don’t use up all your stamina instantly and get to the multi-hit move faster. The Sunder Slash can be paired at the end of every combo to close the distance and escape just as you run out of stamina.
Endless Tornado is perfect for taking out a stunned Kemono in Wild Hearts or building up your gauge for transforming your weapon. The combo can be spammed, and you can always end it with a quick Sunder Slash, repositioning away from the Kemeno.
This will allow you the opportunity to perform the massive damage Triple Crate Slam, dealing massive damage to the monsters. Your recharge will go down to zero but this is the best combo that you can perform with Karakuri Katana in Wild Hearts.
How the Release Gauge works
You can unleash the “Unbound” mode on Karakuri Katana by recharging your release gauge. To fill up the gauge, you have to land your attacks to inflict substantial damage. You should always focus on landing bigger hits as the weapon gauge fills up quickly if you deal massive damage.
Once your gauge is full, boost yourself to the advanced level by entering the unbound level. Your katana will transform into a bladed whip, and your attacks and movements will change, making you a beast for a small window. This state will last until you cancel it or the weapon gauge empties.
Best Karakuri Katana skills
The best skills allow you to use Karakuri Katana more efficiently. You can deal massive damage by equipping the right skills and using them during combat to fill up your recharge gauge more quickly.
Using different skills will ensure you have the right abilities against every type of Kemonos, and your attacks are more efficient and quick during combat.
You can use skills individually or combine them with others to develop the best combos. Below are some skills that significantly increase Karakuri Katana’s potential in Wild Hearts.
| Skill | Effect |
|---|---|
| Critical Master | This skill allows you to deal more damage and improves your critical hit chances. You can land more hits on Kemonos by using this skill. |
| Savage skill | It boasts all the attacks leading to higher damage output per hit. The skill works best if you combine it with airborne attacks using a bulwark or crates. |
| Stock Slash skill | It reduces the consumption of recharge gauge charge. You can keep bringing your advanced attacks for a more extended period. |
| Ailment Wielder skill | to improve your ailment stacking ability for Karakuri Katana. This will ensure you deal more damage over the period, increasing your chances of winning the battle. |
Best Karakuri Katana build in Wild Hearts
The combat potential of Karakuri Katana revolves around the Unbound combos and ridiculous single hits using the triple crate combos.
You get the ability to land excessive damage by slashing your foes hundred minutes within the span of a few seconds. This build ensures you recharge your Release Gauge quickly to release the unbound state for maximum burst damage.
The Karakuri Katana build allows you to deal much more damage during the unbound state. Your hits are going to take a significant chunk of Kemonos’ health, but the unbound state lasts for a shorter period in this build. However, the damage greatly compensates for the reduction in time and makes this build the greatest for Karakuri Katana.
You must select the proper armor, skills, and Talismans for the best build. These things ensure you bring out the maximum damage during combat and also provide you with the mobility required to escape boss attacks in Wild Hearts.
The best weapon that perfectly fits this build is Ame-no-Ohabari, and you should get the following skills. These skills allow you to substantially increase your attack by improving your Release Gauge functions and providing greater power to your attacks.
- Switch Blade Boost: Fury
- Manifestation Release
- Stock Slash
- Duel Master
- Battle Spirit
When it comes to Talisman, it is best to select the ones that boost the skills you get from your weapon and armor. All the selected Talisman in this build allows you to expand your attack, allowing you to perform high-damage hits.
- Attack Talisman
- Rain Talisman-Memoir
- Gute Talisman
- Rovert’s Talisman- Great Blade
The armor selection in this build is crucial as the Emberplum pieces provide us with stamina recovery speed and complete protection against the Kemonos roar, ensuring your mobility is not sacrificed. Additionally, you get an increase of 5 percent in your defense and attack for the combats taken during the daylight.
Within this armor set, we get a 7 percent boost in our attack, but the defense stats go down by the same amount. However, it is a worthy trade considering the playstyle of Karakuri Katana. Furthermore, the armor gives you higher chances of hitting critical strikes, making you more deadly in combat.
- Garuda-Hat (Kemono-Path)
- Garuda Uwagi (Kemono-Path)
- Garuda Gauntlets
- Draconic Body Armor
- Great Juniper Sune-ate
The karakuris play a crucial role in this build. So you can use Karakuri structures to boost your attack further. You can use Three Crates Karakuri and climb them to use your Aerial attack. The more height you gain, the more damage you deal on your slam.
Furthermore, suppose you attack with a torch between you and the enemy. In that case, your weapon is set on fire, and you also deal more fire damage than your weapon’s damage. You can also use the fire trick with your transformed weapon to boost your damage output further.
