At what level can I see the Katana in shops, or wait! It just hit me, do the weapons appear in shops based on my SKILL level? I never put points into Melee before, but now I'm building a Melee character.

She's around level 5 right now, with 55 in Melee. I can see the Katana Authentic Blade upgrade in Cliff's shop in Novac. Now, during my first play through, I have never seen the actual Katana in shops, just the upgrades. Where/when can I buy the Katana?

Any ideas, suggestions, hints etc? Much obliged!

Nah, pretty sure these vendor lists are purely level-based. According to the http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Katana_(GRA), Mick, Cliff Briscoe and Gloria Van Graff (for some reason) will sell it. Can't answer your main question though, sorry.

GRA weapons are not scaled to level, they will be in the shops right from the start. I usually find the Katana with Mick.

Cool, thanks you two. I'll have to make my way to Freeside then and check with MIck!

On my quest to find the Katana, I was able to get it first by going to Mick and Ralph's and passing that speech check to check their "hidden weapons shop." Was pretty fun saving all the caps I could just to get a katana. By the time I made it to freeside, I had gotten all 3 mods for the katana and just enough caps to buy it.

Fun weapon with high speed. I really recommend it.

Yea, I got the Katana, got 2 upgrades, but for some reason can't find the sheath upgrade anymore. Been stalking Cliff's Dino Giftshop for weeks, but finally gave up. Plus, now I have Gehenna.