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Warlord: Awaji Weapons Guide: Katana, Yari, Naginata & Polearms

Verified for Live Steam build vR101–vR107s (Oct 2026) · 2026-10-02

The playtest already shows meaningful weapon differences, especially reach. Yari and Naginata repeatedly stand out in footage for keeping enemies farther away, while Katana is a common close-range baseline. The developer also confirmed that some polearms are meant to be picked up and dropped rather than permanently carried. A final best-weapons tier list should wait for release.

Official Steam store screenshot — ashigaru archers drawing bows

Katana

Katana is the familiar close-range baseline seen throughout playtest footage. It is straightforward in a melee, but its shorter reach means spacing errors are punished more quickly than with a long polearm.

Yari

One English playtest explicitly calls range the Yari's biggest advantage. That matches how it behaves visually: it gives the player more distance while still threatening an approaching target.

Its weakness is not a hidden stat we need to invent. The practical problem is crowd management: if enemies get inside your preferred distance or you lose track of friendlies, reach alone will not save you.

Naginata

Multiple players react positively to Naginata reach, with one long session calling it the best weapon "so far" in that current playtest. The phrase so far matters. This is useful player evidence, not a permanent S-tier verdict.

Pick-up polearms

The developer confirmed a design where the player carries a set of personal weapons but can also pick up larger polearm-style weapons from the world/battlefield and later drop them. That matches observed playtest behavior where players actively search fallen fighters for Yari, Naginata or larger swords.

Why there is no tier list yet

The full release adds a broader army and equipment context, including ranged and cavalry troops on the current Steam listing. Balance can shift. We will split individual weapon pages only when release data and search demand justify it.

Enemy ranged after vR107

The Steam Balance Patch changed who shoots at you. Enemy warriors use ranged weapons more often. Enemy genin use them less, but their ranged attacks are a little faster. Enemy gun usage is up. Bomb usage went up in vR107 and was rolled back the next morning in vR107s because it was too much.

Reach still matters, but expect more incoming arrows and guns than launch week, especially from warrior groups.