+1 Katana Evolution Katana Tier List

This page ranks katanas in +1 Katana Evolution by one question: does this blade let you clear the recommended-damage number on the stage you are standing in? It does not rank trail length, lightning color, or how the official thumbnail crops the hero pose. Gatto vs Denis has not published a complete store lexicon for every model. Until they do, we use descriptive names taken from the starter weapon, the first Win unlock, and the official thumbnail that shows a Level 1 wooden blade, a Level 67 fire-inscribed blade, and a Level 999 purple lightning blade.

If a later update prints a proper label in the HUD, we will match that label. We will not invent fan names to look official. Pair this list with the tier list hub for how the three rank pages work together, and with the stage walkthrough for the gates themselves.

S tier — matches the gate you are fighting

S is not a forever crown. S is the blade whose damage lines up with the pad in front of you.

• Purple lightning blade (thumbnail Level 999). This is the late-game look: a dark blade with purple lightning. It belongs in S when you are pushing Stage 5’s 30,444 recommended damage, or when a rebirth multiplier has already stretched a slightly weaker model into that window. It is not S on a brand-new account. Buying it as a poster and then dying on Stage 3 is a C spend with S cosmetics.
• Fire-inscribed blade (thumbnail Level 67). Mid-run S when Stage 3’s ~5,000 recommended damage is the wall. The inscriptions and fire trail are flavor. The rank comes from clearing that 5,000 gate so you can keep stepping on win pads instead of resetting the arena.

Move a blade out of S the moment you outgrow it. After three rebirths (about x5) a former A wooden katana can start behaving like S on early stages, which is why this list is a spend filter, not a museum.

A tier — the first real weapon

• Wooden katana (thumbnail Level 1, unlocked at 1 Win). This is the first blade most players should actually buy. Bamboo cannot live on Stage 2’s ~300 recommended damage for long. One Win from the Get +1 Win pad funds wooden. A rank, not S, because it is a bridge: it gets you through Stage 2 and into the upgrade loop, then it should be replaced when Stage 3’s 5,000 is the next printed number.

Wooden is also the blade the official thumbnail wants you to remember as the starting fantasy. Treat the thumbnail as a spoiler of later models, not as a shopping list. If you still hold wooden while Stage 5 is on screen, you are under-bladed even if the wood grain looks clean.

B tier — starter that does its job, then stops

• Bamboo starter. You spawn with it. It is correct for the first swings, the first win pad, and the first controls check. It is B because it is free and it teaches the click loop. It becomes a mistake the moment you have 1 Win and still refuse wooden. Do not spend a game pass to make bamboo pretty. Spend the Win.

B also includes any mid blade you keep swinging after the next gate has already printed a number you cannot hit. A fire-inscribed model that you bought early, then could not use, sits in B until a rebirth or a pet brings the damage up. The model did not fail. The timing did.

C tier — fashion, leftovers, and blades you cannot swing

C is every purchase that ignores the printed recommended damage.

• A purple lightning blade bought as a flex while Stage 2 still says ~300.
• A fire-inscribed blade bought with Wins you needed for click upgrades that would have unlocked the next pad.
• Any cosmetic starter-pack skin that does not move the HUD number. The early game build calls those packs out as skippable. This list agrees.

C is also the right rank for a blade whose official name we do not know yet if all we have is a silhouette. Rank the gate match; wait for a store label.

How to use the list in a run

1. Read the recommended damage on the current stage. If you do not know the pads, open stages first.
2. If the number is ~300, wooden is the A-to-S pickup. Bamboo is finished.
3. If the number is ~5,000, look at fire-inscribed or at a rebirth that stretches wooden. One rebirth is about x2; do not skip rebirth just to shop a trail.
4. If the number is 30,444, you want purple lightning or a rebirth stack that makes your current blade behave like it. Three rebirths near x5 is the usual breakpoint.
5. Recheck pets before you sell a blade to fund a hatch. A worse pet does not fix a C katana.

Rebirth keeps katanas. That single rule is why this list does not tell you to delete wooden after the first rebirth. Keep the blade, take the multiplier, then buy the next model only when the gate still outruns you.

Codes can front-load this list. RELEASE grants 10K Wins and COOKED grants 50K Damage plus 1 Level, which can skip the bamboo humiliation if you already joined the group. They do not make a C fashion blade into S. They just let you reach wooden and the first 300-damage gate without a dry first hour.

When the group asks for katana ideas, as it did around the September 2026 update, expect a new row. We will add it under a descriptive name until the HUD prints a real one. Until then, spend against Stage 2 ~300, Stage 3 ~5,000, and Stage 5 30,444, not against the thumbnail’s Level 999 lightning.