It is one of the few weapons I can actually use properly. My biggest gripe is the fact that I've been in this mod for five years and anytime a patch rolled out with stat changes featuring the katana the patch nerfed it. Ideally I want it to have higher speed and less damage.
I roll around as 15/30 in light armor and my total gear weight is at 11.
Maybe your problem is that you're wearing light armour, right now, light armour is ill advised as you are going to get shot to death within probably three - four hits from an archer on average, and if the equipment isn't loomed, probably two depending on your IF.
Consider upping your gear to a higher level so that you're able to survive more in this awful META we have currently (Full of archers, throwers), also (I hate saying this because it's the most annoying excuse an archer can give) CONSIDER.. getting a shield. It honestly won't do much for you because 0 shield skill shield do absolutely fuck all to protect you due to the fact that all they have to do is aim above or below the shield and they can hit you just as easily if they're any good.
If you're hell bent on sticking with what you've got, then definitely take a shield or two, old round shield is probably the best you're going to get out of it.
If it's combat you're being beaten in, I don't advise going off on your own with a build that fragile, you're likely to die quickly if you get caught out thus it's maybe better for you to stick with a teammate or two (I don't mean stick with the large big force, but stick with a few people so that you may fight alongside them) It's what I did partially when I played my build and it worked out well because I could snag a kill or two along the way.
