What should I do first in AKAYUKI?

Walk onto the straw mat and finish the six-step dojo tutorial. Its first tracked quest, Path of the Sword, opens with "Finish the dojo tutorial" and pays 25 currency and 50 XP.

How do I attack in AKAYUKI?

Press E to equip your katana, hold the left mouse button and swipe the mouse right to perform the horizontal slash the dojo teaches. Q locks onto an opponent and M opens the in-game menu.

When do I get my first blade upgrade?

At level 5. Blade upgrades unlock every five levels after that, up to level 50, and you still have to forge the upgrade yourself — the level unlock only makes it available.

Is a trackpad good enough?

No. The dojo recommends a mouse over a trackpad because slash direction comes from mouse movement. If the swipe feels wrong, lower Mouse Sensitivity in M → Settings.

AKAYUKI: Steel Blossoms Red Beginner Guide

AKAYUKI: Steel Blossoms Red is a physics-based katana fighting game in a snowy Japanese valley. Your first session should be about three things: learning one deliberate slash, reaching level 5, and rolling a family name you can live with.

Everything below was checked against the game’s 1.3.12 behaviour. If a number has moved since, the version note in the page header is the place to look.

1. Finish the six-step dojo tutorial

The dojo opens with “Walk onto the mat”. Use WASD to walk onto the straw mat and the tutorial advances through six steps.

Completing it is worth doing even though a SKIP TUTORIAL button exists: the tracked quest Path of the Sword · 1 / 48 starts on “Finish the dojo tutorial” and pays 25 currency and 50 XP.

Use a mouse. The tutorial explicitly recommends one over a trackpad because the slash is performed by moving the mouse, not by pressing an attack key.

Beginner run: fast leveling, best katanas and PvP combos

2. Learn one slash before you fight

The horizontal slice the dojo teaches:

Equip your katana with E.
Walk close to the target.
Move the mouse left.
Hold the left mouse button and swipe right.

That is the whole attack grammar. Damage depends on where the cut lands: a clean strike can end a duel outright, while a glancing hit can take a limb and leave the opponent alive. A severed limb is not a kill — keep watching the fight rather than assuming it is over.

In the arena, Q locks onto your opponent. Read the health bar’s status text (it can report Staggered), the kill feed on the right, and LV and ¥ in the bottom-right for your level and cash.

The katana controls and draw styles guide goes further into Iai and dual wield once the basic swipe feels natural.

3. Read your first fight correctly

Kills give XP. XP is what moves you toward the next level.
Wounds are not kills. Quest wording matters here: “Wound fighters 30 times” pays 150 XP and does not require kills.
1v1 duels are first to three kills. If you join a duel, one clean exchange does not win it.
Kills can also drop Rename Spins. Those feed family-name rolls, not XP.

Do not chase cosmetics in the first hour. Your first real power increase comes from a forged blade.

4. Reach level 5 and use the forge

Blade upgrades unlock at levels 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50. Level 5 is therefore your first milestone.

Reaching the level only makes the upgrade available; you still take the blade to the forge and complete the smithing sequence. Expect to heat the blade, strike it while a dot meter fills, reheat it if it cools, then finish with the dipping and completion stages. The blade upgrade levels guide covers the full milestone schedule.

Gold is what pays for the upgrade, which is why the working codes are worth claiming on day one.

5. Get a family name

Open CHARACTER from the title screen. Your starting name can carry a COMMON tag — for example Sato Miyuki, where Sato is the family name and Miyuki the given name.

Rename Spins reroll the family name, and rarer names carry stronger stat buffs. After spinning you can inspect the full buff list, then press Confirm to keep the result. The documented rarity labels are Common, Uncommon, Legendary and Exotic.

Two practical notes: level-ups can award spins (one recorded level 3 result showed +4 Rename Spins), and family names and rarities explains how to judge a roll instead of keeping the shiniest label.

6. Expect locked cosmetics

Customization has tabs for HAIR, OUTFIT, ACCESSORY, FACE, SWORD, BLOOD and EFFECT. Some accessories are visible in the grid but locked behind a level requirement — the Kabuto at level 30 and Half Oni at level 35 are documented examples. Read the LV badge before assuming an item is usable.

Your first-hour checklist

Finish all six dojo tutorial steps
Land the taught slash with E + left-click swipe
Claim every working code
Reach level 5 and forge the first upgrade
Roll one family name and confirm it

After that, the poise system is the next thing worth learning, because it decides how many attacks you can actually chain before you are left open.