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Wild Hearts Katana weapon guide for beginners

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How to use the Karakuri Katana in Wild Hearts, with basic tips, movesets explainers, and more.

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(Image credit: EA)
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The Wild Hearts katana, or Karakuri Katana, is the starting weapon for players and yet remains a powerful one when its Unbound ability is used right. The Katana is kind of a middle ground weapon - not too slow, not too weak, an all-rounder kind of blade. It's also relatively easy to use, though has a few secret elements that might not be obvious to beginners. For that reason, we'll explain the Wild Hearts Karakuri katana moveset, powers and more besides just below!

How to use the Wild Hearts katana

Wild hearts weapons tier list best

(Image credit: EA)

The Wild Hearts Karakuri Katana is a fast-moving blade that focuses on quick strikes and combos while you power up the weapon gauge for its superior "Unbound" mode. Players who choose the Katana from all the Wild Hearts weapons should be making a lot of use of their Karakuri structures to help protect themselves and set up for attacks, and generally play a little more evasively, dodging a lot while remaining in the fray.

Katana moveset and attacks

The Karakuri Katana's basic moveset is as follows:

  • Square/X: Downward slash (fast strike for low damage)
  • Triangle/Y: Iai slash (medium speed and medium damage)
  • R2/RT: Single-Handed lunge (heavy attack that uses stamina)
  • R2/RT during combo: Modifies combo for higher damage, but consumes stamina
  • R2/RT + Square/X or Triangle/Y (when weapon gauge full): Activate Unbound mode
  • R2/RT + Circle/B (during Unbound mode): Deactivate Unbound mode 

There's more complex combos and attacks beyond those, but these will give you the basics to work from.

Katana Unbound mode and weapon gauge explained

The Karakuri Katana's weapon gauge fills up as the player lands attacks on enemies, especially bigger, more complex combos. Once full, players can trigger Unbound mode as explained above, which changes the Katana's moveset and massively increases damage for a short duration. This lasts until either the weapon gauge is depleted, or the player voluntarily ends it early.

Unbound turns the katana into something like a bladed whip, but don't be fooled - it's not a massive difference to the weapon's reach, or even how you control it, so you can actually proceed as normal, with just a little extra aggression to make the most of the temporary damage boost.

Katana tips and tricks

Here's some useful advice to keep in mind if you're determined to be a Katana user in Wild Hearts.

  • The Katana is very dependent on Karakuri structures, such as the crate and spring, with its most powerful move being the jumping slash when you leap off a crate. Keep an eye on your thread count!
  • This is a weapon that offers no defensive abilities, so you'll have to learn dodging yourself.
  • Use your R2 attacks sparingly - because they burn stamina, you may find yourself running on empty when it comes time to dodge.
  • Remember to use Unbound mode! It's very powerful, but easy to miss when it's ready. 
  • If the monster tries to flee during your Unbound period, deactivate it to make sure you don't use up the rest of the gauge while chasing it.
Joel Franey
Joel Franey
Guides Editor, GamesRadar+

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and Very Tired Man with a BA from Brunel University, a Masters from Sussex University and a decade working in games journalism, often focused on guides coverage but also in reviews, features and news. His love of games is strongest when it comes to groundbreaking narratives like Disco Elysium, UnderTale and Baldur's Gate 3, as well as innovative or refined gameplay experiences like XCOM, Sifu, Arkham Asylum or Slay the Spire. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at Eurogamer, Gfinity, USgamer, SFX Magazine, RPS, Dicebreaker, VG247, and more.

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