Nagakiba
Nagakiba is Bloody Finger Hunter Yura's exceptionally long katana, obtained through his quest or from his equipment drop. It combines extreme katana reach, innate blood loss, Piercing Fang, and full affinity and Ash customization.
Key Takeaways
Nagakiba combines katana speed with exceptional reach, making spacing and status pressure central to its use.
Long-reach katana
Its unusually long blade gives Nagakiba stronger spacing potential than most katanas, helping it connect from safer distances.
Bleed and thrusting attacks
Nagakiba has innate Blood Loss buildup and a moveset that includes thrusting attacks, giving it more than a purely slashing damage profile.
Distinctive weapon skill
It initially carries Piercing Fang, a forward-driving thrust that can punish openings; the weapon can also use other compatible Ashes of War.
Stat requirement
Nagakiba requires 18 Strength and 22 Dexterity, so it is less accessible to low-Dexterity characters than lighter early-game katanas.
Quest-linked availability
It is associated with Bloody Finger Hunter Yura and can be obtained through his questline or by taking the weapon from him under the applicable acquisition conditions.
Flexible standard weapon
Nagakiba follows the regular reinforcement path and supports affinity and Ash of War customization, allowing it to serve several Dexterity-oriented setups.
Trade-off against Uchigatana
Compared with Uchigatana, Nagakiba emphasizes reach and spacing but demands more weight and Dexterity investment, making the choice depend on handling priorities rather than damage alone.
Overview
Nagakiba is a standard katana in Elden Ring, distinguished by its unusually long blade and the reach that gives its attacks a different spacing profile from shorter katanas. It is a base-game weapon rather than a Shadow of the Erdtree addition, and its flexible upgrade path lets it support several Dexterity-focused approaches.
The weapon’s identity is built around distance control. Nagakiba can threaten targets from farther away than the class’s more compact options, giving ordinary slashes and its katana moveset more room to connect before an enemy can answer. That reach is useful in both open encounters and fights where maintaining a safe gap matters, although it comes with a heavier, more demanding profile than the lightest katanas. Its innate bleed buildup also gives repeated hits an additional status-oriented role without making the weapon dependent on a single temporary buff.
Nagakiba is not a unique-reinforcement weapon despite being a named armament. It uses the regular katana progression and can be customized through the relevant Ashes of War and affinity choices, so its final role depends substantially on the player’s attributes and configuration. The default Unsheathe skill presents it as a direct, spacing-conscious katana, while customization can shift the weapon toward a different skill or damage emphasis. Those options make it more of a long-reach platform than a fixed gimmick weapon.
In practical progression, Nagakiba is associated with Bloody Finger Hunter Yura and can enter a playthrough through his storyline or through a route that turns him hostile. That connection makes its availability partly dependent on how the player handles Yura’s encounters, but the weapon itself does not require the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. It therefore functions as a base-game choice that can remain relevant across later progression, rather than as a DLC-gated specialist item.
The clearest comparison is with shorter katanas such as the Uchigatana. Nagakiba offers more reach and a distinct spacing advantage, while the shorter alternative is easier to accommodate when weight, requirements, or a lighter handling profile are the priority. Neither choice is universally superior: Nagakiba is most notable when the player values katana pressure from farther away and is willing to build around its greater demands. Its appeal comes from that concrete tradeoff, not from a claim of universally higher damage.
Statistics
Elden Ring publishes no 0–100 stat bars, so this page lists the verified requirements, scaling and handling figures instead. Taken from the project's verified weapons database, not from generated text.
- CategoryKatanas
- Damage TypeSlash/Pierce
- Primary ScalingDex C
- Weight5
- SkillUnsheathe
- Str Req12
- Dex Req18
- How to ObtainBloody Finger Hunter drop
Figures verified against Consolidated Game Weapons Database.
Compared to similar katanas
| Weapon | Str Req | Dex Req | Weight | Primary Scaling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nagakiba | 12 | 18 | 5 | Dex C |
| Serpent-Bone Blade | 11 | 20 | 5 | Dex C |
| Meteoric Ore Blade | 11 | 20 | 5.5 | Dex C / Int D |
| Dragonscale Blade | 11 | 16 | 4.5 | Dex C |
| Dancing Blade of Ranah | 8 | 22 | 5.5 | Dex C |
Requirements, scaling grades and weight are the game’s own published figures. From Consolidated Game Weapons Database.
How to Obtain
- The quest route requires access to the Altus Plateau and progression of Yura’s questline to the Second Church of Marika.
- Nagakiba is available in the base game; no DLC, NG+, vendor purchase, or currency is required.
- 01For the normal quest route, progress Bloody Finger Hunter Yura’s storyline until he is at the Second Church of Marika in the Altus Plateau. After the encounter there, collect Nagakiba from Yura’s body at the church; the weapon is a guaranteed pickup, not a random enemy drop.
- 02As an alternate route, kill Yura at his early-game camp beneath the bridge north of Murkwater Cave in Limgrave. He drops Nagakiba directly, but this ends his questline and prevents its later rewards, so use this route only if you are abandoning that storyline.
Availability
Requires Availability depends on Yura’s quest state and whether he has been defeated before the relevant quest progression.
Nagakiba is not presented as a general vendor-stock weapon, and no universal purchase price applies.
Mechanics and Handling
Nagakiba uses the katana moveset, but its defining handling trait is its unusually long blade. That reach lets its regular slashes and thrusts connect from spacing where shorter katanas may whiff, making careful footwork especially valuable. The trade-off is that its attacks still commit the wielder to the katana’s close-range rhythm: the extra reach does not turn it into a safe long-range weapon, and missed swings can leave an opening. Its attacks also inflict innate Blood Loss buildup, so repeated hits can pressure enemies even when the weapon is not being used with a dedicated status setup.
Katana Attacks and Spacing
Nagakiba’s light attacks form the familiar katana sequence of quick slashes, while its heavy attack uses a forward thrust. That thrust complements the weapon’s length by extending its effective line of attack, particularly against targets approaching from directly ahead. Running and jumping attacks retain the katana’s aggressive approach tools, but the weapon is most reliable when its reach is used to control the distance rather than to trade blows carelessly. The blade’s long profile can make spacing feel forgiving, but its attack arcs still reward facing the target and avoiding unnecessary whiffs.
Unsheathe
Nagakiba begins with Unsheathe as its weapon skill. Activating it places the character into a brief readying stance; the light attack releases a fast horizontal cut, while the heavy attack produces a forward thrust. The two follow-ups serve different spacing needs: the light version is suited to catching a nearby target across the front, while the heavy version concentrates the attack forward and benefits from Nagakiba’s already considerable reach. Unsheathe is strongest when prepared just outside an enemy’s immediate range, but the readying pause makes using it reactively or while surrounded less dependable. The skill consumes FP when its follow-up is performed.
Status and Customisation
Nagakiba’s innate Blood Loss buildup gives ordinary attacks and compatible skills a status-pressure role without requiring every hit to be part of a special weapon action. The weapon can use Ashes of War and affinities, allowing its skill and damage or status profile to be changed; those changes should be evaluated separately from the default Unsheathe setup. Two-handing or pairing it with another compatible weapon changes the attack arrangement, but does not remove the need to manage the long recovery of committed swings.
Upgrades and Variants
Strengths, Weaknesses and Best Uses
Strengths
- Exceptional reach for a katana, making Nagakiba effective for spacing, roll-catching and punishing enemies before they can answer with shorter weapons.
- Its innate blood loss buildup gives repeated hits a status-pressure role without requiring a separate weapon effect.
- It supports Ash of War and affinity customization, allowing it to serve Dexterity-focused, bleed-oriented or other compatible setups rather than being locked to one moveset.
- Its katana moveset combines quick attacks with Unsheathe access, giving the weapon both sustained pressure and a committed burst option.
Weaknesses
- Nagakiba is heavier than many other katanas, increasing equip-load pressure and potentially limiting armor or secondary-weapon choices.
- Its attribute requirements are comparatively demanding for a katana, so low-level or broadly distributed builds may need to spend more levels before using it comfortably.
- The long blade can be awkward in cramped environments, where its spacing advantage is harder to exploit and close-range positioning leaves less room to recover from a missed attack.
Best uses
- Dexterity builds that want katana attack speed while gaining more control over engagement distance.
- Bleed-oriented PvE or PvP setups that can maintain repeated contact and build blood loss through sustained pressure.
- Spacing-focused play, including punishing recoveries, controlling approach lanes and checking opponents who rely on shorter melee weapons.
Compared With Similar Weapons
| Role/build | Skill and upgrade flexibility | Main distinction from Nagakiba | Best fit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uchigatana | Dexterity or broadly infusable katana builds | Infusible; its default Unsheathe skill can be replaced | Shorter reach, but lighter and easier to acquire early | Players wanting a flexible, efficient katana without Nagakiba’s length or stat demands |
| Serpentbone Blade | Dexterity builds that want innate poison pressure | Somber weapon with a fixed skill and poison passive | Poison-focused identity and a distinctive heavy-attack sequence, but less affinity and skill flexibility | Players deliberately building around poison rather than customizable bleed or elemental setups |
| Hand of Malenia | High-Dexterity builds using a unique somber katana | Fixed Waterfowl Dance skill; cannot use Ashes of War or affinities | Boss weapon with a specialized skill and healing-on-hit effect, rather than Nagakiba’s customizable setup | Players who want a distinctive late-game skill and accept its fixed weapon configuration |
Lore and Design
Yura’s signature weapon
The Nagakiba’s item description identifies it as the signature weapon of Yura, Bloody Finger Hunter, giving the katana a direct connection to one of Elden Ring’s recurring NPCs and his pursuit of Bloody Fingers. The description also calls attention to the blade’s unusually great length and worn condition: it is misshapen, marked by a blood groove, and visibly damaged, although its edge remains effective. These details support the weapon’s distinctive in-game presentation and its association with Yura, but they do not establish a real-world inspiration or a broader historical origin. Its relationship with Yura is the weapon’s clearest documented story significance; interpretations connecting the blade to other characters or factions should remain separate from the item’s explicit text.
Trivia
- Nagakiba is the signature katana associated with Bloody Finger Hunter Yura. Its item description connects the weapon to Yura rather than presenting it as an anonymous example of the katana class.
- The name “Nagakiba” is commonly read from Japanese as “long fang,” a fitting reference to the weapon’s unusually extended blade. This is a linguistic interpretation of the name, not a separately stated piece of Elden Ring lore.