Tarnada. Fuuma. Hisen.
Let me preface by saying that it's natural for certain weapons to become the top of their class, to have certain advantages that set them apart as the most generally desirable. This is fine, inevitable, and part of any ongoing meta. However, I think I speak for most of the game when I say that many of us would still desire that the lesser-used, more middling weapons could find a steady niche to settle into and keep them in a healthy spot.
There's going to be a section on the issues here. If you know the issues with the elemental katanas and want to move ahead to the suggestion, skip to the bolded subheader.
There was a time when Raijin was the best weapon in the game. Yukijin had long been pretty great as one of the few katana options before that. Kouenjin fit a similar vibe to Yukijin in that regard, still plenty usable. Sanjin had a very strong time in the sun on certain more niche basic attackers. All (save one!) of these katanas have been at the very least good when compared to many other weapons, not even specifically just swords.
As things stand now, however, this is far less the case- right now, the only major reason to go for them is that they have a better flavour/IC fluff than most. Let's look at most of the other katanas in comparison.
Contrasting this set of swords to their peers, a few major categories stand out- they lack the statistical advantages of Tarnada (15 base power, 10 base crit) | Braver (16 base power, 90 accuracy, easy SWA gouge) | even Wo-Dao/Hisen (125% crit damage for both, 10% base crit for Wo-Dao), they lack the sheer damage efficiency of swords like Fuuma (wear down; more general than the elemental on-hits, as Kensei combos don't make full use of them; we'll loop back to this), and they lack the global effectiveness of other weapon potentials in the same class like Hisen (universally applicable unlike elemental katanas- save Raijin).
Next, let's look at the potentials, as they're a large part of where this weapon set falls short.
Universally, the main effect of the potentials are to modify hidden cut. Each changes it to magic damage of the katana's respective element. The magic damage swap can be decent in the right circumstances (irrelevant vs equal defenses, non-tanks, and more easily achieveable via power grad), but, almost universally, the swap to an element is actively a downgrade. They aren't spells, and don't get idol to boost damage. Sources like intensify cold (single target) are severely niche and limited, and sources like eresh don't work because that's already another potential. This all means that, by default, being an element with no other boost is a damage decrease- almost every character in the game has even a small % of elemental resist from APT SAN alone.
To go one step further though, each has a further effect. An explosion for Kouenjin, an ice pillar and tiles for Yukijin, poison tiles for Sanjin, and dark water for Akujin... however, what I haven't mentioned is that these effects only apply to killing blows against monsters. They're an additional effect that surrounds a defeated monster, only relevant for enemies close to said monster, which are completely non-factors when used ON a player. If there is a match where there is no Summoner (Bonders/Shifters may not even summon at all), Druid (could just be wild shape!), or MAYBE Dark Eye Tactician or... Shine Knight Priest(?), you're just not going to see these effects at all. Even if you are, you'll need to kill the summon with hidden cut, whilst it's next to the summoner/another player. With very few exceptions, these effects of the potential are never going to impact PvP.
The one exception here is Raijin- fitting enough for what was for a time the king. It's basically just a lightning crit effect that DOES work fully on players; albeit far less effective than it used to be. Bonus points for being the one damage type easily boosted too, via the several sources of soak. Raijin, even without it's old busted scaling, just kinda has more advantages than the others. Hisen nowadays is a better version of this, with crit damage that scales obscenely.
To touch on Kensei proper; nowadays, you're severely incentivised to Kensei combo. This is goddamn rad to be honest. However, that realistically means maybe one (Wazabane) basic attack a round if you're playing into said combos, further reducing the relevance of the katana on-hits.
So, to note all that into shorthand; they lack the stats of other katanas, lack the accessibility of damage for other katanas, and lack the global applicability of other katana effects in a practical sense, whilst modern Kensei design has left behind their main general use.
There is one advantage; 10% of a resistance to one element, a small amount that likely won't be what you consistently run into, depending on meta. It can help hit resist goals via materials though, undoubtedly. This is not a large enough matter to really be "their niche." It does, however, inform the direction I think would be good for the future.
The solution I think is most applicable;
Twofold, working in tandem. We open up the on-hits, and slightly adjust the potentials to best support both that effect AND the on-hit.
First, and most importantly in my opinion-
Holy sword should be the standard for on-hit mechanics in general going forward. It feels good to proc, it's more generic use/supports more use-cases, and makes more sense with modern SL2 than most old weapons. It is, frankly, just plain great game design on Dev's part to make holy sword on-hits do the three procs a turn, usable on skills angle.
The elemental katanas should do this too, on Kensei skills. Immediately, that leans into their strongest aspect; the theming becomes way more on-point by letting Kensei combos more effectively display the elemental theme of the character, in tandem with sacred art. This disentangles it from old "basic attack, basic attack, basic attack," Kensei setups of ancient times, and brings them in line with modern combo design.
Straight up, this first part is immediately enough to give a REAL reason to use them, even though that still likely wouldn't put them on level with Tarnada or the like. This gets them that niche which turns them from "left behind," to "good enough, has a fun niche," which IMO is the sweet spot for weapons.
Second, and most important for the WEAKER katanas of this group, but frankly healthy for making the potential worthwhile for all of them-
I very firmly believe that these katanas should have a 10% elemental resist pierce (pierce, not shred; cannot reduce below 0) of their element tied to the potential. Straight off the bat, the potentials are no longer a downside more often than an upside. They can still be checked and weakened via an active effort to RESIST an element, but aren't just made lesser by passive SAN/APT. I think this direction is more healthy than slapping each of the potentials with a flat "do 30 more damage" or the like, as it also gives room for the on-hits do to their work and make some value for these katanas. It leaves the major effects as being a nice PvE thing- that's not bad innately! -whilst keeping the potentials having some degree of usefulness in ALL (PvE/PvP) situations.
I'm relatively sure about the direction of tying this to the potential, mind. Given potentials need to be main hand, it hems in a little bit of edge cheese (no offhanding one for free damage on any other given source, no pairing with things like eresh, etc).
On a fun, less meaningful note, 10% pierce also mirrors the 10% resist. That resist can be kept or gotten rid of, it's honestly kinda less meaningful to the function of these weapons, but it does at least add a cute little element of duality to each of them.
Now, the above effects help each of the set. Particularly the first. But there's one elephant in the room.
Out of all of these, Akuijin has never had a place. Not once. People have tried, people have even tried very similar builds for years, hoping things have changed. The scaling change on all these swords help, but never enough- simply put, dark resist is, was, and will always be plain common. A ton of the game does dark damage. People will always want to resist an element that's a very large chunk of the game, that's just logical. Unambiguously, the second change here helps Akuijin SLIGHTLY more than the others- but mostly just because it's always been behind, and this brings them all to be much closer to level with one another in that regard. When bringing everything up to a level playing field, it's always the worst off that'll gain the most, and that's only fair.
I'm overall pretty confident about these changes, and would really like to see them implemented. I think they're healthy both for variety and character thematics, they help provide a unique niche to a set of beloved but currently underpowered weapons, and it's an easy solution to bringing several pieces of old gear up to being in line with the modern design for the class they're for. At that, it still won't make them as relevant as the top of the class- and frankly, that's a good place for them to be.
tl;dr
kouenjin, yukijin, raijin, akuijin, and sanjin should apply their elemental damage on kensei offensives
their potentials should give 10% relevent elemental pierce so that they're not by default a damage loss
Let me preface by saying that it's natural for certain weapons to become the top of their class, to have certain advantages that set them apart as the most generally desirable. This is fine, inevitable, and part of any ongoing meta. However, I think I speak for most of the game when I say that many of us would still desire that the lesser-used, more middling weapons could find a steady niche to settle into and keep them in a healthy spot.
There's going to be a section on the issues here. If you know the issues with the elemental katanas and want to move ahead to the suggestion, skip to the bolded subheader.
There was a time when Raijin was the best weapon in the game. Yukijin had long been pretty great as one of the few katana options before that. Kouenjin fit a similar vibe to Yukijin in that regard, still plenty usable. Sanjin had a very strong time in the sun on certain more niche basic attackers. All (save one!) of these katanas have been at the very least good when compared to many other weapons, not even specifically just swords.
As things stand now, however, this is far less the case- right now, the only major reason to go for them is that they have a better flavour/IC fluff than most. Let's look at most of the other katanas in comparison.
Contrasting this set of swords to their peers, a few major categories stand out- they lack the statistical advantages of Tarnada (15 base power, 10 base crit) | Braver (16 base power, 90 accuracy, easy SWA gouge) | even Wo-Dao/Hisen (125% crit damage for both, 10% base crit for Wo-Dao), they lack the sheer damage efficiency of swords like Fuuma (wear down; more general than the elemental on-hits, as Kensei combos don't make full use of them; we'll loop back to this), and they lack the global effectiveness of other weapon potentials in the same class like Hisen (universally applicable unlike elemental katanas- save Raijin).
Next, let's look at the potentials, as they're a large part of where this weapon set falls short.
Universally, the main effect of the potentials are to modify hidden cut. Each changes it to magic damage of the katana's respective element. The magic damage swap can be decent in the right circumstances (irrelevant vs equal defenses, non-tanks, and more easily achieveable via power grad), but, almost universally, the swap to an element is actively a downgrade. They aren't spells, and don't get idol to boost damage. Sources like intensify cold (single target) are severely niche and limited, and sources like eresh don't work because that's already another potential. This all means that, by default, being an element with no other boost is a damage decrease- almost every character in the game has even a small % of elemental resist from APT SAN alone.
To go one step further though, each has a further effect. An explosion for Kouenjin, an ice pillar and tiles for Yukijin, poison tiles for Sanjin, and dark water for Akujin... however, what I haven't mentioned is that these effects only apply to killing blows against monsters. They're an additional effect that surrounds a defeated monster, only relevant for enemies close to said monster, which are completely non-factors when used ON a player. If there is a match where there is no Summoner (Bonders/Shifters may not even summon at all), Druid (could just be wild shape!), or MAYBE Dark Eye Tactician or... Shine Knight Priest(?), you're just not going to see these effects at all. Even if you are, you'll need to kill the summon with hidden cut, whilst it's next to the summoner/another player. With very few exceptions, these effects of the potential are never going to impact PvP.
The one exception here is Raijin- fitting enough for what was for a time the king. It's basically just a lightning crit effect that DOES work fully on players; albeit far less effective than it used to be. Bonus points for being the one damage type easily boosted too, via the several sources of soak. Raijin, even without it's old busted scaling, just kinda has more advantages than the others. Hisen nowadays is a better version of this, with crit damage that scales obscenely.
To touch on Kensei proper; nowadays, you're severely incentivised to Kensei combo. This is goddamn rad to be honest. However, that realistically means maybe one (Wazabane) basic attack a round if you're playing into said combos, further reducing the relevance of the katana on-hits.
So, to note all that into shorthand; they lack the stats of other katanas, lack the accessibility of damage for other katanas, and lack the global applicability of other katana effects in a practical sense, whilst modern Kensei design has left behind their main general use.
There is one advantage; 10% of a resistance to one element, a small amount that likely won't be what you consistently run into, depending on meta. It can help hit resist goals via materials though, undoubtedly. This is not a large enough matter to really be "their niche." It does, however, inform the direction I think would be good for the future.
The solution I think is most applicable;
Twofold, working in tandem. We open up the on-hits, and slightly adjust the potentials to best support both that effect AND the on-hit.
First, and most importantly in my opinion-
Holy sword should be the standard for on-hit mechanics in general going forward. It feels good to proc, it's more generic use/supports more use-cases, and makes more sense with modern SL2 than most old weapons. It is, frankly, just plain great game design on Dev's part to make holy sword on-hits do the three procs a turn, usable on skills angle.
The elemental katanas should do this too, on Kensei skills. Immediately, that leans into their strongest aspect; the theming becomes way more on-point by letting Kensei combos more effectively display the elemental theme of the character, in tandem with sacred art. This disentangles it from old "basic attack, basic attack, basic attack," Kensei setups of ancient times, and brings them in line with modern combo design.
Straight up, this first part is immediately enough to give a REAL reason to use them, even though that still likely wouldn't put them on level with Tarnada or the like. This gets them that niche which turns them from "left behind," to "good enough, has a fun niche," which IMO is the sweet spot for weapons.
Second, and most important for the WEAKER katanas of this group, but frankly healthy for making the potential worthwhile for all of them-
I very firmly believe that these katanas should have a 10% elemental resist pierce (pierce, not shred; cannot reduce below 0) of their element tied to the potential. Straight off the bat, the potentials are no longer a downside more often than an upside. They can still be checked and weakened via an active effort to RESIST an element, but aren't just made lesser by passive SAN/APT. I think this direction is more healthy than slapping each of the potentials with a flat "do 30 more damage" or the like, as it also gives room for the on-hits do to their work and make some value for these katanas. It leaves the major effects as being a nice PvE thing- that's not bad innately! -whilst keeping the potentials having some degree of usefulness in ALL (PvE/PvP) situations.
I'm relatively sure about the direction of tying this to the potential, mind. Given potentials need to be main hand, it hems in a little bit of edge cheese (no offhanding one for free damage on any other given source, no pairing with things like eresh, etc).
On a fun, less meaningful note, 10% pierce also mirrors the 10% resist. That resist can be kept or gotten rid of, it's honestly kinda less meaningful to the function of these weapons, but it does at least add a cute little element of duality to each of them.
Now, the above effects help each of the set. Particularly the first. But there's one elephant in the room.
Out of all of these, Akuijin has never had a place. Not once. People have tried, people have even tried very similar builds for years, hoping things have changed. The scaling change on all these swords help, but never enough- simply put, dark resist is, was, and will always be plain common. A ton of the game does dark damage. People will always want to resist an element that's a very large chunk of the game, that's just logical. Unambiguously, the second change here helps Akuijin SLIGHTLY more than the others- but mostly just because it's always been behind, and this brings them all to be much closer to level with one another in that regard. When bringing everything up to a level playing field, it's always the worst off that'll gain the most, and that's only fair.
I'm overall pretty confident about these changes, and would really like to see them implemented. I think they're healthy both for variety and character thematics, they help provide a unique niche to a set of beloved but currently underpowered weapons, and it's an easy solution to bringing several pieces of old gear up to being in line with the modern design for the class they're for. At that, it still won't make them as relevant as the top of the class- and frankly, that's a good place for them to be.
tl;dr
kouenjin, yukijin, raijin, akuijin, and sanjin should apply their elemental damage on kensei offensives
their potentials should give 10% relevent elemental pierce so that they're not by default a damage loss
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