Kafka

Kafka is a bow weapon first introduced in the second game, Bayonetta 2, that can be equipped to the Hands slot. Somewhat similar to the Angelic Bow weapon used by high ranking Applaud in the first Bayonetta. The bow has a beetle motif and is primarily a ranged weapon that also inflicts poisonous damage over time with the arrows it fires.

In Game Description
"'A bow and arrow made with a man who one cursed another and who in turn metamorphosed into a hideous insect."

"Still living inside a part of the bow's frame, he fires cursed arrows of savage, venomous bugs.'"

How To Obtain
The Golden LP for the weapon appears near the entrance to the area after completing Verse 5 in Chapter II. It is also the second weapon to be found in order, following the Rakshasa.

Unique Traits
Unique among weapons in the series, Kafka is primarily meant to be a projectile weapon, rather than a melee weapon or a melee-ranged hybrid weapon like Love Is Blue, making it an exceptionally niche addition to Bayonetta's arsenal. Having a rather simplistic moveset, Kafka fires a single arrow with each before releasing four green Carnage in place of a Wicked Weave on the fifth.

Kafka's effectiveness is directly related to the player being able to consistently fire arrows, and requires good spacing, game sense, and damage up time on the player's part to perform well, especially against harder enemies and on harder difficulties. On its own is has numerous shortcomings if used without support from other weapons, as it deals the least damage and generally has the lowest damage-per-second (DPS) in the game.

Venomous Curse: All arrows and Carnage released by Kafka will confer a poisonous effect on enemies, dealing damage-over-time and causing affected enemies to explode when they die, damaging other enemies around them. Though this poison deals fairly low damage, its duration extends upon itself with each additional arrow fired upon an already poisoned enemy. So while a single shot will poison for barely more than a second, a full five-hit string of arrows will compound the duration upon itself for much longer.

Charge Modifier: A two-stage charge, similar to 修羅刃 -Shuraba-'s. The first stage will fire three arrows, while the second stage will fire five. Unless the player is fairly distant from their target, most of these arrows will generally miss smaller enemies, however they will all land on larger enemies. Despite this, even when all arrows strike a single target, they will deal comparatively less damage than most other weapons.

Bullet Climax: Kafka's Bullet Climax is where it can deal significant damage to multiple enemies and rack up is Venmous Curse rather quickly, firing six arrows in quick succession. If Bayonetta has Magic Power, she will fire significantly more arrows in a quick barrage, anywhere from eighteen to fifty-four, using one to three pearls of Magic Power, if available.

Unique Combos: As a primarily ranged weapon, Kafka's combos are entirely unique to it, though they're also fairly simple. Executing a and then  at any point during the standard  combo will result in Bayonetta leaping backwards and then firing a shot, ending the combo early. This can be used to dodge attacks and maintain spacing without sacrificing too much damage.

The most unique combo input that Kafka has, however, and one that is key to ensuring high combo points when using it, lay in the execution of its Stiletto ( or +). This results in Bayonetta racing towards the target and the swinging the bow in a cleaving arc. When followed by, it results in a quick and damaging string of hits that can reset the diminishing points awarded from simply firing arrows. These melee strikes do not poison, or extend the duration of poisons.

Wicked Weaves & Umbran Climax: Kafka unleashes swarms of Carnage, a dragonfly-like Infernal Demon that flies towards the target and tears through it, hitting all enemies it passes through multiple times. They will attempt to home in on multiple enemies, following a jagged path as they do so. During Umbran Climax they are capable of quickly poisoning whole groups and racking up quick combo points, and a huge set of them will be summoned in place of the normal finished. It should be noted that the unique Stiletto combo will feature no special summons and deals no additional damage, making it unwise to use during Umbran Climax.

Samsa
Samsa is Jeanne's equivalent to Kafka. It is colored red and orange as opposed to Kafka's primarily green color.

In-Game Description:

"'A bow containing the soul of a man who was transformed into a poisonous insect, disowned by his family and cast into the depths of Inferno. The bugs decorated across this bow are all alive, and constantly producing deadly toxins. Those struck by arrows from this bow will be susceptible to sicknesses of all kinds.'"

Trivia

 * Kafka is a reference to the early 20th Century Austria-Hungarian writer Franz Kafka and his novella "The Metamorphosis". The story is about a young man that wakes to find he has turned into an insect. This is fitting given the dragonfly motif that the bow possesses as well as the dragonflies that it can summon in Umbran Climax.
 * Samsa is the surname of the very man in "The Metamorphosis" who was transformed into an insect, Gregor Samsa.
 * The Umbran Elegance gives Bayonetta a Robin Hood-style hat and scarf.

Kafka