Iaido Katana

Two katanas that win on the parry. Every perfect parry draws the blade and strikes back on its own.

Inspired by real iaido, the art of drawing and cutting in one motion, and by Zenitsu's Thunderclap and Flash from Demon Slayer.

Please report bugs on GitHub.

Features

• Counter. A perfect parry staggers the attacker, and the katana draws and strikes back for 3 times its damage. The same cut sweeps 170 degrees around you up to 4 m and hits every other enemy for double damage. Parried projectiles send half of the counter back. The katana barely blocks, so only a perfect parry stops a hit.
• Parry window. 200 ms (vanilla 250), or a precise mode with 150 ms and 15% stronger counters, each player's own choice. A katana parry never staggers you.
• Iai stance. The katana rests sheathed at the left hip and is drawn by the parry. After fighting it is flicked clean (chiburi) and slowly sheathed (noto).
• Iaido cuts. Full-body animations: a draw cut from the scabbard (nukitsuke), an overhead cut (kirioroshi) and a downward diagonal cut (kesagiri), each with a slow windup and a lightning-fast strike.
• Animation recovery. Lost custom-animation overrides can rebuild, and interrupted attacks release the katana's animation speed safely.
• Steel heavy attack. Raised into a high stance (jodan) while a golden glint climbs the blade, then one huge cut straight down for 6 times the damage.
• Flametal Thunderclap. The heavy attack crouches for 2.25 s while lightning gathers in the hands, then dashes 13 m along a 4 m wide path. Every enemy on the way, and just in front of where the dash ends, takes 10 times the damage, and nothing hits you during the dash.
• Chopping. The counter's cut, the Steel heavy attack and the Thunderclap fell trees, logs and stumps like an axe.
• Effects. Golden (Steel) or blue-white lightning (Flametal) afterimages of the counter, the heavy attack and the Thunderclap, which other players with the mod see too. A landed counter flashes as an ink picture with a short freeze, only on your screen.

Crafting

Upgrades per level: Steel 10 Iron, 20 Coal, 3 Linen Thread. Flametal 10 Flametal, 2 Asksvin Hide (twice that for level 3, four times for level 4). Both can be refined past level 4 at the Forge of Potential with a Battle Idol, like the game's own swords.

Stats

Config

The file is BepInEx/config/onononoki.Iaido_Katana.cfg. Gameplay settings are synced from the server. Settings marked "yours" are each player's own.

Installation and compatibility

Use a mod manager, or put Iaido_Katana.dll into BepInEx/plugins. Requires BepInExPack Valheim and Jotunn. For multiplayer, install it on the server and on every player. Only katanas change, every other weapon, block and parry stays vanilla.

Feedback and bug reports

Found a bug or have an idea? Open an issue on GitHub. The source code is in the GitHub repository.

Changelog

0.3.2

• Animation speed control releases safely after interrupted attacks and weapon changes, while preserving hit stop.
• Lost or changed custom-animation overrides can recover.
• Animation-controller changes wait for attacks to finish and preserve the current animation when switching weapons.
• Stalled animation speed control can release without repeating damage.
• Optional diagnostics retain recent animation events throughout long sessions.

0.3.1

• A katana parry never staggers you anymore. Running out of stamina still breaks it. New setting Parry.NoStagger.
• A new parry sound made from Valheim's own metal sounds and inspired by Sekiro's deflects, with six variations that change with every parry. New setting Impact.ParrySoundVolume.
• Your own parry sounds. Put .wav files (16 bit) in BepInEx/config/Iaido_Katana/ParrySounds and each parry plays one at random.
• The Steel Katana's heavy attack lights up its surroundings much less, and hits leave only a small glint.
• The Thunderclap's streak is brighter and stays longer, and its cut also reaches enemies just past where the dash ends. Thunderclap.Afterimage can add an arc of light there.
• A much shorter config file with the settings that matter in play. Settings that an update changes now move only once, so your own values stay.

0.3.0

• The counter's cut sweeps wider and further and leaves a golden (Steel) or blue-white lightning (Flametal) afterimage that other players with the mod see too. A bigger parry glint.
• The counter's cut, the Steel Katana's heavy attack and the Thunderclap fell trees, logs and stumps like an axe.
• The katana's own cuts hit along the blade's path, and every swing hits all enemies in reach.
• The Steel Katana's heavy attack hits from high down to the feet, with a golden glint climbing the blade, a deeper swing sound and an upright golden afterimage.
• The Thunderclap gets a charge-up sound and a ball of lightning while gathering, a streak of light along the dash and a wider path that cuts through trees.
• Fixed the blade shaking on female characters.
• Works with Valheim 1.0.20.

0.2.2

• Lighter stamina costs for the swings and the Steel Katana's heavy attack.
• The counter's area cut can hit the same enemy again sooner, so quick parries land more cuts.
• Smoother animations with fewer pops and wobbles. The draw cut and the heavy attack no longer flick the blade out of the scabbard as they start.
• A steadier stance. The chest stays square while standing, walking and blocking, and starting or ending a block no longer snaps.
• The scabbard no longer cuts into the left thigh while walking.

0.2.1

• The counter hits harder, and its cut also hits every other enemy in reach.
• A steadier stance with less sway when blocking while moving sideways and less shoulder wobble while running.
• Smoother animations and hand-overs between the cuts and the stance.

0.2.0

• Custom full-body animations. A draw cut from the scabbard, an overhead cut and a downward diagonal cut, each with a slow windup and a lightning-fast strike.
• A new heavy attack, drawn up into a high stance and then one huge cut straight down.
• Smoother sheathing after two-handed cuts.
• Greatswords and sledges keep their own animations.
• Swing.CustomAnimations false brings back the older borrowed animations.

0.1.2 (beta)

• The Thunderclap ends in a wide horizontal finish.
• Smoother sheathing, no more jiggle.
• Recipes use four materials. Both katanas can be refined at the Forge of Potential.
• Fixed katanas losing durability too fast when blocking.

0.1.1 (beta)

• Natural arm poses in the stance, the parry, the sheathing and the Thunderclap.
• The katana stays sheathed through a roll.
• GitHub link for feedback and bug reports.

0.1.0 (beta)

• First public test version, work in progress.
• Steel Katana (Plains) and Flametal Katana (Ashlands), with their own models.
• A perfect parry strikes back on its own. Katanas parry within 200 ms, with an optional precise mode (150 ms, stronger counters).
• Iai stance, scabbard at the hip, draw and cut on a parry, slow sheathing after fighting.
• Impact frame when a counter lands.
• The Flametal Katana's heavy attack is the Thunderclap dash cut.