Scalpel
| Scalpel | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Class | Melee Weapon |
| Type | Blade |
| Weapon | Katana |
| Tier | Iconic |
| Armor Pen | 25% |
| Attack Speed | 2.1 |
| Weight | 4.5 |
| Location | Northside |
Scalpel is an Iconic katana that V earns from a smuggling job for Dennis Cranmer. Its name fits the job, because the cargo is a surgeon. Its edge deals Electrical damage and can Shock enemies. Its real strength comes with a Sandevistan. While time is slowed, Scalpel gains a big boost to crit chance, and every hit makes the target Bleed. It is a good katana for a Reflexes build that relies on the Sandevistan. Each moment of slowed time becomes a fast series of crits and bleeding wounds. Scalpel is an early Act 2 reward from the minor job Big in Japan. Dennis Cranmer offers the job at the Afterlife after The Heist.
Combat
Scalpel is a katana, with fast light attacks and heavier strong attacks. Its cuts deal Electrical damage and have a chance to Shock the target. Electrical damage can also trigger EMP effects, which hurt drones, mechs and robots.
The Sandevistan is what makes it strong. While the Sandevistan is active, every hit gains a large boost to crit chance and applies Bleeding. Bleeding deals damage over time and stops the target from sprinting. V can turn on the Sandevistan, dash into a group and cut down each enemy in turn. Every swing then crits and causes Bleeding. Without the Sandevistan, Scalpel is a solid katana with an Electrical edge.
How to Get Scalpel Guide
- Finish The Heist.
- Talk to Dennis Cranmer in the Afterlife to start Big in Japan.
- Open the container with "No Future" graffiti in the slums on the edge of Kabuki.
- Carry the man to Dennis's car, avoiding or fighting the Tyger Claws.
- Deliver him to Dennis at the meeting point.
- Take Scalpel from beside the barrel next to Dennis.
Scalpel Map Location and Quest Guide
- After The Heist, talk to Dennis Cranmer at the Afterlife to start the side job Big in Japan.
- Go to the slum on the edge of Kabuki.
- Find and open the container painted with No Future.
- Call Dennis, then carry the man inside out past the Tyger Claws.
- Put him in the car's trunk and drive to the delivery point.
- Talk to Dennis at the drop-off.
- Take the Scalpel, which leans against a barrel next to Dennis.
Scalpel map location:
Map credit by Map Genie.
Upgrades
Scalpel arrives early in the second act, so it needs upgrades to keep up with later fights. The crafting menu's Upgrades tab raises it one tier at a time for crafting components. Looting, crafting and scrapping spare blades and guns all provide components. The katana must be carried in V's inventory to show.
The table shows what each tier step of Scalpel costs.
| Upgrade | Components | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 to Tier 1+ | 75 Tier 1 components | - |
| Tier 1+ to Tier 2 | 40 components | - |
| Tier 2 to Tier 2+ | 75 Tier 2 components | - |
| Tier 2+ to Tier 3 | 40 components | - |
| Tier 3 to Tier 3+ | 75 Tier 3 components | - |
| Tier 3+ to Tier 4 | 40 components | - |
| Tier 4 to Tier 4+ | 75 Tier 4 components | - |
| Tier 4+ to Tier 5 | 40 components | - |
| Tier 5 to Tier 5+ | 75 Tier 5 components | - |
| Tier 5+ to Tier 5++ | 200 Tier 5 components | Phantom Liberty |
Character Builds
Scalpel needs a Reflexes build and a Sandevistan. The Militech Apogee and Militech Falcon both add crit chance and crit damage while active. The Dynalar adds crit chance and crit damage as well. Bullet Time makes bullet deflections free and turns them into crits whenever time is slowed. It works well with the Sandevistan. Lead And Steel lowers the Stamina cost of blade attacks and unlocks bullet blocking. Bullet Deflect sends blocked bullets back.
Opportunist makes bleeding enemies easier to finish. Finisher: Bladerunner adds a blade finisher that restores Health. Flash Of Steel adds movement and attack speed after each finisher, so V can keep moving from one finisher to the next. For other cyberware, Stabber adds crit chance with blades, and Microrotors add melee attack speed.
Select a Build
Attributes: Body 20, Reflexes 20, Technical Ability 20, Intelligence 3, Cool 18.
The perks, cyberware and weapon mods for this build are listed below.
| Name | Image | Level | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Painkiller | 
|
Body 4 | Slow Health regeneration in combat |
| Adrenaline Rush | 
|
Body 15 | More Health and the Adrenaline Rush mode |
| Juggernaut | 
|
Body 15 | More speed and damage during Adrenaline Rush |
| Pain To Gain | 
|
Body 20 | Kills recharge Health items during Adrenaline Rush |
| Feline Footwork | 
|
Cool 4 | Faster and harder to hit while crouched |
| Gag Order | 
|
Cool 4 | A quick hit after being spotted delays the alarm |
| Killer Instinct | 
|
Cool 4 | More damage with knives, axes and silenced guns outside combat |
| Creeping Death | 
|
Cool 15 | Health, Stamina and speed after a stealth kill |
| Ninjutsu | 
|
Cool 15 | Crouch sprinting and more mitigation while crouched |
| Shinobi Sprint | 
|
Cool 15 | Cheap crouch sprinting in combat |
| Vanishing Act | 
|
Cool 15 | Optical Camo turns on while crouch sprinting |
| Flash And Thunderclap | 
|
Reflexes 9 | Strong attacks leap to enemies in range |
| Lead And Steel | 
|
Reflexes 9 | Blades block incoming bullets |
| Seeing Double | Reflexes 9 | Stronger counterattacks | |
| Dash | 
|
Reflexes 9 | Dash replaces the dodge |
| Finisher: Bladerunner | 
|
Reflexes 15 | Faster blade attacks and a finisher that restores Health |
| Flash Of Steel | 
|
Reflexes 15 | Speed and attack speed after a finisher |
| Going The Distance | 
|
Reflexes 15 | Double finisher range |
| Opportunist | 
|
Reflexes 15 | Easier finishers on stunned, blinded or bleeding enemies |
| Air Dash | 
|
Reflexes 15 | Dash in midair |
| Slaughterhouse | Reflexes 20 | Every attack causes Bleeding | |
| Tailwind | 
|
Reflexes 20 | Stamina from air dashes and double jumps |
| All Things Cyber | 
|
Technical Ability 9 | Stronger cyberware stats |
| Chrome Constitution | 
|
Technical Ability 9 | Less damage taken with full Skeleton and Integumentary slots |
| Name | Image | Slot | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adrenaline Booster | 
|
Circulatory System | Stamina after a melee kill |
| Heal-On-Kill | 
|
Circulatory System | Health on each kill |
| Behavioral Imprint-Synced Faceplate | 
|
Face | A disguise that escapes the police |
| Axolotl | 
|
Frontal Cortex | Kills cut all cyberware cooldowns |
| Self-ICE | 
|
Frontal Cortex | Blocks an enemy quickhack |
| Optical Camo | 
|
Integumentary System | Near invisibility for a few seconds |
| Stabber | 
|
Nervous System | Crit chance with blades and throwables |
Lore
Big in Japan starts in the Afterlife. A man named Dennis Cranmer approaches V directly and asks for help with a job, without going through a fixer. The task sounds simple: pick up a package in the slums on the edge of Kabuki and deliver it. The journal entry already suspects trouble. It asks why anyone would skip both a delivery service and a fixer.
The package turns out to be a man shut inside a container marked with "No Future" graffiti. Tyger Claws are searching the area, so V has to carry him out quietly or fight. Once he is in the trunk, V drives him to Dennis. The man is Haruyoshi Nishikata, a surgeon on the run from the Tyger Claws. Dennis pays V for the delivery, and Scalpel waits by a barrel next to him.
Notes
- Scalpel can be left behind at the end of the job, so pick it up before leaving.
Weapon Categories
All Melee Weapons
Every melee weapon is listed below. The Iconic weapons come first, then the standard ones.
Iconic Melee Weapons
| Name | Image | Weapon | Headshot | Armor Pen | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agaou | 
|
Axe | +125% | 25% | Dogtown |
| BFC 9000 | 
|
One-Handed Club | Rancho Coronado | ||
| Baby Boomer | 
|
Two-Handed Club | 25% | ||
| Baseball Bat x-MOD2 | 
|
Two-Handed Club | Dogtown | ||
| Black Unicorn | 
|
Katana | 25% | ||
| Blue Fang | 
|
Knife | +150% | Badlands South | |
| Butcher's Cleaver | 
|
Knife | 25% | Coastview | |
| Byakko | 
|
Katana | 25% | Little China | |
| Caretaker's Spade | 
|
Hammer | 25% | Corpo Plaza | |
| Claw x-MOD2 | 
|
Axe | |||
| Cocktail Stick | 
|
Katana | 25% | Japantown | |
| Cottonmouth | 
|
One-Handed Club | 25% | Japantown | |
| Crowbar | 
|
One-Handed Club | |||
| Cut-o-Matic x-MOD2 | 
|
Chainsword | Dogtown | ||
| Errata | 
|
Katana | 25% | Arroyo | |
| Fang | 
|
Knife | +50% | ||
| Gold-Plated Baseball Bat | 
|
Two-Handed Club | 25% | North Oak | |
| Gwynbleidd | 
|
Sword | |||
| Headhunter | 
|
Knife | +150% | West Wind Estate | |
| Jinchu-Maru | 
|
Katana | 25% | Japantown | |
| Murphy's Law | 
|
One-handed Club | 50% | Dogtown | |
| Nehan | 
|
Knife | +150% | Arasaka Waterfront | |
| Sasquatch's Hammer | 
|
Hammer | 75% | Coastview | |
| Satori | 
|
Katana | 25% | Arasaka Waterfront | |
| Scalpel | 
|
Katana | 25% | Northside | |
| Sir John Phallustiff | 
|
Blunt | 25% | Kabuki | |
| Stinger | 
|
Knife | +150% | Badlands East | |
| Tinker Bell | 
|
One-Handed Club | 50% | Badlands East | |
| Tsumetogi | 
|
Katana | 25% | Japantown | |
| Volkodav | 
|
Machete | 25% | Dogtown |
Standard Melee Weapons
| Name | Image | Weapon | Headshot | Armor Pen | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseball Bat | 
|
Two-Handed Club | 25% | ||
| Chef's Knife | 
|
Knife | +150% | ||
| Claw | 
|
Axe | +125% | 25% | |
| Cut-O-Matic | 
|
Chainsword | 50% | ||
| Electric Baton Alpha | 
|
One-Handed Club | Rancho Coronado | ||
| Electric Baton Beta | 
|
One-Handed Club | 50% | ||
| Electric Baton Gamma | 
|
One-Handed Club | 50% | ||
| Hammer | 
|
Hammer | 25% | ||
| Kaiken | 
|
Knife | +150% | ||
| Kanabo | 
|
Two-Handed Club | 25% | ||
| Katana | 
|
Katana | 25% | ||
| Knife | 
|
Knife | +200% | ||
| Kukri | 
|
Machete | 25% | ||
| Machete | 
|
Machete | 25% | ||
| Neurotoxin Knife | 
|
Knife | +150% | ||
| Punknife | 
|
Knife | +150% | ||
| Razor | 
|
Machete | 25% | ||
| Steel Pipe | 
|
One-Handed Club | 25% | ||
| Tire Iron | 
|
One-Handed Club | 25% | ||
| Tomahawk | 
|
Axe | +125% | 25% |