How to get Nagakiba Katana in Elden Ring & best builds

Souhardya Choudhury
Tarnished with Nagakiba in Elden Ring

Are you a fan of swift Katanas with long reach in Elden Ring? Look no further than the Nagakiba, the longest melee weapon in the game. Here’s how you can get it in Elden Ring and the best builds associated with it.

It’s time for the Elden Ring fans to rise yet again as The Lands Between are calling. Even though you might have become Elden Lords and succeeded in your quest, a new adventure calls in the upcoming Shadow of the Erdtree DLC that is already up for pre-orders.

However, you will need the best weapons to get back to your former glory, so why not try a new build and start another playthrough? If you are looking for a Dexterity build, look no further than the Nagakiba, one of the best and longest weapons in the game.

Here’s how you can get the Nagakiba in Elden Ring and its best builds.

Nagakiba location in Elden Ring

You can get the Nagakiba in Elden Ring by progressing through Yura’s questline, which can be initiated by defeating Bloody Finger Nerijus north of the Murkwater Cave. Once you reach the final part of his quest in the Second Church of Marika and defeat Eleonora, you can loot the Nagakiba from his body.

However, the quickest way to get this weapon in Elden Ring is to kill Yura the first time you meet him. There are no harsh consequences to this, apart from missing an interaction with Shabriri in the Mountaintops of the Giants.

Alternatively, if you are past this stage and too far in your playthrough, come back to the usual spot north of the Murkwater Cave to find the weapon on the ground and pick it up.

Nagakiba in Elden Ring
Nagakiba is one of the best Dexterity Katanas in Elden Ring.

Elden Ring Nagakiba stats

Here are the base stats of Nagakiba in Elden Ring:

Attack:

  • Physical: 115
  • Crit: 100

Guard:

  • Physical: 49
  • Magic: 33
  • Fire: 33
  • Lightning: 33
  • Holy: 33
  • Boost: 33

Passive Effect: Causes blood loss buildup (45)

You will need 18 Strength and 22 Dexterity to wield the Nagakiba and can infuse it with various other Ashes of War depending on your choice. However, we recommend you to use Blood Ashes of War as it is the best affinity for Nagakiba will boost its Passive Effect, and introduce Arcane scaling alongside Dexterity in Elden Ring.

Best builds for Nagakiba in Elden Ring

As Dexterity is the best stat for Nagakiba in Elden Ring, we recommend you focus on it massively for your builds. However, as recommended above, use a Bleed affinity Ash of War such as Seppuku to significantly boost the Bleed buildup and amplify the damage of your weapon massively.

You can also invest some points in Faith to be able to use the Bloodflame Blade incantation and get an added Bleed boost before every fight in Elden Ring.

Nagakiba Elden Ring
Nagakiba can be found by completing Yura’s questline.

Here are the best Talismans to use with the Nagakiba incantation in Elden Ring:

  • Rotten Winged Sword Insignia: Greatly raises attack power with successive attacks.
  • Millicent’s Prosthesis: Increases Dexterity by 5, and raises attack power with successive attacks.
  • Shard of Alexander: Greatly boosts the Attack Power of Skills by 15%.

Elden Ring Nagakiba vs Uchigatana

The Nagakiba vs Uchigatana debate has always been a running topic in the Elden Ring community and there are several reasons for it, the first being they are both bleed and Dexterity-based Katanas.

However, the biggest difference among them is that the Uchigatan comes with an Aracane-scaling by default so you do not have to boost it with any Blood affinity Ash of War to gain the effect. However, Nagakiba has a longer reach compared to the Uchigatana and can be infused to get the Arcane scaling.

So overall, it really depends on what you are looking for in your build. Do you want more bleed? Go for the Uchigatana, but if you want more reach with similar bleed stats, the Nagakiba will be your best bet.

And that’s everything you need to know to get the Nagakiba in Elden Ring. For more on the game, check out our other guides:

Where to find Castle Sol in Elden RingWhere to find Somber Smithing Stone 7 in Elden Ring | All Elden Ring achievements & trophies | Elden Ring progression: Best route & recommended levels | Who is Vyke in Elden Ring? | How to get Zweihander in Elden Ring & best builds | Is Elden Ring harder than other soulsborne games?