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.

Characteristics
Advantages:
 * Deals high  damage, effective against Infested and Flesh, and cuts enemies in half most of the time unmodded.
 * High base damage.
 * Normal attack cuts in a wide sweep, hits multiple targets per swing.
 * One can run while attacking, allowing for kiting and attacking at the same time.
 * The slide attack has high damage and is executed very quickly.
 * Comes with a polarity, perfect for attack boosting mods.
 * Comes with a polarity, ideal for North Wind or Channeling mods like Life Strike.
 * Properly modded, the  damage can effectively cut every enemy in half.

Disadvantages:
 * Low and  damage makes it less effective against armor and shields.
 * Two-slash combo without a stance mod.
 * Air slam attack has a miniscule knockdown radius; it appears that a direct hit is needed to knockdown an enemy.

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 (similar to the blocking stance for normal longsword weapons). The actual blocking animation involves parrying with both the blade and the sheathe separately.
 * The Tenno fighting style with the Tranquil Cleave stance for the 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 two or three fluid motions. In contrast, the Decisive Judgement stance is more reminscent of the Kenjutsu fighting style, which is drawing the sword and using it with both hands.