TL;DR — the loadout that works
If you only have time to read one paragraph: main the Raizan Katana from Chapter 3 onward, slot the Oni Gauntlet as your secondary for stagger-punish windows starting in Chapter 4, and ignore every other weapon until the Chapter 5 boss drops its unique blade. Spend common Tamahagane on Raizan only — save the rare crystals.
How weapon damage actually works
The number on the upgrade screen is misleading. A weapon's effective DPS in Way of the Sword is the product of three values: base damage, stance switching bonus, and Oni gauge generation per second. The early game rewards fast stance-switching because every enemy has at least one stance they take 1.4× damage from, and the parry timing window varies by stance. A "weaker" weapon with a stance match against the chapter's enemy roster will out-DPS a "stronger" weapon with no match, every time.
Oni gauge generation matters because every special skill (the chain-cancel Issen, the parry extension, the burst-damage ultimate) draws from it. A weapon that generates gauge 20% faster lets you Issen roughly one extra time per chapter, which is the difference between a clean run and a panic heal.
Tier list, Chapter 1 through 5
S Tier — main these
Raizan Katana
Acquired: Chapter 3, Hidden Path B (after Nue mini-boss).
Why it's S: The fastest stance-switch in the game at 12 frames, paired with the highest Oni gauge/sec of any katana. The Lightning Stance (L1 + Triangle) has the longest parry window of any early stance at 9 frames, which makes it forgiving when you are still learning enemy mix-ups.
Upgrade path: Common Tamahagane to level 4 by end of Chapter 3, level 6 by Chapter 5 boss. Costs roughly 1,800 common ore total — affordable from chest runs alone.
Best skills to pair: Lightning Step (auto-acquired), Combo Extension II (skill tree, 3 points), Oni Burst — Raizan (skill tree, 5 points).
Oni Gauntlet
Acquired: Auto from Marcellus reward at end of Chapter 1, but only becomes competitive at Chapter 4 once you unlock Combo Extension.
Why it's S: The only weapon with built-in hyper-armor. When an enemy begins a swing you cannot parry (the red-kaze telegraphed attacks), switching to Gauntlet and pressing Triangle ignores the hit and lands your combo. This makes the Chapter 4 and 5 bosses dramatically easier because their second-phase mix-ups include two un-parryable chains in a row.
Upgrade path: Common ore only — Gauntlet scales with raw stats, not rare materials. Level 5 by Chapter 4 is the sweet spot.
Best skills to pair: Combo Extension I + II (mandatory — without these, Gauntlet is worse than the starter katana), Armor Break (skill tree, 4 points).
A Tier — situational
Enryuu Katana
Acquired: Chapter 4, after defeating Rasho-gan.
Why it's A, not S: Higher raw damage than Raizan (about 18% more per swing) but slower stance-switch (17 frames vs 12) and lower Oni gauge/sec. Worth keeping in your inventory for Chapter 4 boss damage race, but swap back to Raizan for mob rooms.
Shiden Twin Blades
Acquired: Chapter 2, west tower optional chest.
Why it's A: The fastest weapon in the game (8 frames per light attack) but the lowest damage per hit. Excellent for building Oni gauge in trash fights and for skipping Chapter 3's platforming puzzle (the four-hit air combo reaches a ledge Raizan cannot). Not worth upgrading past level 3.
B Tier — don't upgrade
Oni Katana (starter)
The weapon you begin with. It is mathematically the worst katana by Chapter 3 once you have Raizan. There is no "loyalty bonus" for sticking with it — the game does not reward you for using the starter. Replace it immediately.
Bishamon Sword
You will hear about this on Reddit. It is the strongest single weapon in the game, but you cannot obtain it until late Chapter 8 on a first playthrough, and the unique materials required for its upgrades do not drop until NG+. Ignore it for an early-game guide.
Chapter-by-chapter loadout
Chapter 1–2: Oni Katana → Shiden
You have no choice for Chapter 1 — the Oni Katana is forced. The moment you reach the Chapter 2 hub (the village after Marcellus), take the west tower side quest and grab the Shiden from the optional chest. Switch to Shiden immediately. The 8-frame light attack is roughly 40% faster than Oni Katana's 11 frames, and the difference is felt immediately against the Nue mini-boss.
Chapter 3: Shiden → Raizan
After the Nue boss fight, return to Hidden Path B and clear the grappling-hook alcove (northwest corner, requires the grappling hook from Chapter 2's end). The Raizan is in a chest behind the broken bridge. Equip Raizan as your main and keep Shiden in the secondary slot for the rest of the chapter. Do not use any other weapon.
Chapter 4: Raizan + Oni Gauntlet
This is where the loadout matters. By mid-Chapter 4 you should have the Oni Gauntlet at level 5 and Combo Extension II unlocked. The standard rotation becomes: open with Raizan Lightning Stance to build gauge, switch to Gauntlet on any un-parryable window, Issen back to Raizan to cash the gauge into damage. Practice this three-step switch in the Chapter 4 training room — it is the entire Chapter 5 fight on Normal difficulty.
Chapter 5: full kit
By Chapter 5 you should have Raizan at level 6, Gauntlet at level 5, Shiden at level 3 (for gauge farming only), and Enryuu at level 4 (boss damage race). The Chapter 5 boss has a damage check at the 60% HP threshold — Enryuu's raw damage is the only thing that hits it before the timer expires. For every other fight in the chapter, stay on the Raizan/Gauntlet rotation.
Upgrade priority, by material
| Material | Spend on | Save for |
|---|---|---|
| Common Tamahagane | Raizan (priority), then Gauntlet | Never save — drops are plentiful from Chapter 3 onward |
| Rare Tamahagane | Enryuu only if you use it for the boss race | Bishamon Sword (NG+) |
| Lightning Crystal | Raizan level 5+ | Bishamon Sword ultimate upgrade |
| Oni Soul (large) | Oni Gauntlet level 5 | Do not spend on Shiden |
Common mistakes
Upgrading Shiden. The temptation is real — 8-frame attacks feel amazing — but Shiden's damage per hit scales terribly. Level 3 is the hard cap where you stop losing total damage-per-second versus Raizan.
Ignoring the Oni Gauntlet. The Chapter 4 and 5 boss second phases are designed around the Gauntlet's hyper-armor. Players who skip the Gauntlet because "katanas are cool" spend 3-5 extra attempts per boss.
Spending rare crystals before Chapter 8. Lightning Crystals and Oni Souls have a fixed drop count per playthrough. Once spent, they are gone until NG+. The only early-game weapon that meaningfully benefits from rare crystals is Raizan levels 7-8 — and that requires you to already know which build you want for the entire game.
What comes next
Once you clear Chapter 5 with the Raizan/Gauntlet rotation, the early-game is over. The mid-game (Chapter 6-12) opens up the Bishamon Sword questline, the full skill tree respec system, and the first New Game+ exclusive weapons. We will cover those in a separate guide once you have the data to compare them.
For now, main Raizan, secondary Gauntlet, ignore Bishamon, and save every rare crystal. That is the entire early game.