Nikana

The Nikana is a sword of Tenno design that is heavily based on old Earth's traditional Katana, made to slice targets elegantly with precision and speed. It was released in Update 13.

Nikana uses Katana stances. Currently, only the Tranquil Cleave stance is available.

Characteristics
Advantages:
 * Deals high  damage, effective against Infested and Flesh.
 * High base damage.
 * Normal attack cuts in a wide sweep, hits multiple targets per swing.
 * Decent critical chance and critical damage.
 * Comes with a polarity, perfect for attack boosting mods.
 * Comes with a polarity, ideal for North Wind or Channeling mods like Life Strike.

Disadvantages:


 * Low and  damage makes it less effective against armor and shields.

Trivia

 * The Nikana is the first melee weapon released that is used as a component to craft its more powerful version, the Dragon Nikana.
 * The word "Katana (刀)" refers to both the sword and the style in which it is wielded. In comparison to the similar "Tachi (太刀) ", the Katana typically has a shallower curve and is worn on the belt with cutting edge facing up whereas the former has a deeper curve and is hung from a cord on the belt with cutting edge facing down. There are, however, exceptions.
 * Blocking involves pulling out the weapon with the blade still sheathed (re-using the same blocking stance as normal longsword weapons). The actual blocking animation involves parrying with both the blade and the sheathe separately.
 * The Tenno fighting style for Nikana is highly reminiscient of Iaido a type of martial art, in which the sword is quickly pulled from it's scabbard to cut an enemy, cleaned of blood, then sheathed again, often in one fluid motion.