Armor<\/div>\nThe Samurai wears heavy armor, which usually amplifies only his defense but at far greater thresholds than robes and leather armors. This makes the Samurai more resilient than other classes and allows him to take hits that would otherwise be crippling to a class that wears robe or leather armor.\n \n![](\/\/static.drips.pw\/rotmg\/wiki\/Armor\/Heavy%20Armor\/T11%20Abyssal%20Armor.png \"Abyssal Armor\") ![](\/\/static.drips.pw\/rotmg\/wiki\/Armor\/Heavy%20Armor\/T12%20Acropolis%20Armor.png \"Acropolis Armor\") ![](\/\/i.imgur.com\/dETDSHy.png \"Dominion Armor\")
\nThe [Abyssal Armor (Abyssal)](\/wiki\/abyssal-armor) and [Acropolis Armor (Acrop)](\/wiki\/acropolis-armor) are the primary armors for the Samurai. These heavy armors significantly improve the Samurai's DEF stat by 23 and 24 points, respectively. This allows him to tank hits far more safely than other classes. The [Dominion Armor (Dominion)](\/wiki\/dominion-armor), with +26 DEF, is slightly more powerful, but as a drop from the [Lost Halls](\/wiki\/lost-halls), it is a rare and distinguished tiered armor. Like the Sadamune, the Dominion is soulbound and can only be obtained from the Lost Halls. These armors are ideal for tankiness, but they do not provide any additional benefits besides a boost to defense.\n\n![](\/\/i.imgur.com\/JQIbF9R.png \"Breastplate of New Life\")
\nThe [Breastplate of New Life](\/wiki\/breastplate-of-new-life) is a rare alternative to tiered armor that can be dropped by the [Marble Colossus](\/wiki\/marble-colossus). It provides a rather low amount of DEF (+12) but it makes up for this by providing a massive +160 boost to HP. This armor is best when faced against enemies whose attacks have already been reduced to the minimum. Some players wholly prefer boosting their character's HP above their DEF, and may prefer this armor over a tiered option.\n\n![](\/\/i.imgur.com\/OYVo9Kf.png \"Kamishimo\")
\nThe [Kamishimo](\/wiki\/kamishimo) is the Akuma Slayer ST armor. It provides a DEF boost of 14, a DEX boost of 4, and an HP boost of 60. It does provide a decent level of survivability and an increase to DPS, but it is not particularly strong as a standalone armor; players may prefer a more purpose-oriented armor unless they have obtained at least one of the other Akuma Slayer ST set pieces and can benefit from the additional bonuses provided.\n\n![](\/\/i.imgur.com\/wd2fBa4.png \"Mercy's Bane\")
\n[Mercy's Bane](\/wiki\/mercy-s-bane) is a DPS oriented heavy armor that is rarely dropped by [Oryx 2](\/wiki\/oryx-the-mad-god-2). It provides a very poor DEF bonus of 10, but makes up for this by massive boosts of +7 to ATT and DEX. This armor will boost your DPS far better than any other heavy armor. However, with very limited defensive protection, it is recommended only if the player can deal with the low defense resulting from wearing this armor.\n\n###
Rings<\/div>\nSamurai excels at dealing massive amounts of damage to single targets and groups of enemies thanks to his waki and piercing katana. The ring that Samurai wears should reflect this specialization, and one will find that many of the rings that are best for Wizard are also good for the Samurai.\n\n![](\/\/imgur.com\/tnfndMm.png \"Ring of Unbound Health\") ![](\/\/i.imgur.com\/rdbwkBi.png \"Ring of Decades\") ![](\/\/i.imgur.com\/rgfZsnp.png \"Ring of Unbound Defense\")
\nThe [Ring of Unbound Health (UBHP)](\/wiki\/ring-of-unbound-health) and [Ring of Decades (Deca)](\/wiki\/ring-of-decades) are the best HP rings. They provide a boost of 180 and 190 HP, respectively. They are perfect for increasing the Samurai's health and therefore increasing his endurance. The [Ring of Unbound Defense (UBDef)](\/wiki\/ring-of-unbound-defense) provides Samurai with a high boost of +10 to defense, useful since Samurai does not gain additional DEF bonuses from his equipment besides his armor. These rings are the best single-stat boosting rings to prioritize when survivability is the prime concern. The choice of HP or DEF is up to the player. Too much defense would be less beneficial than having more HP when your character's defense is already high enough to fully mitigate the damage you take. Since Samurai has an above-average DEF cap, it debatably makes a tiered DEF ring even less justifiable.\n\n![](\/\/i.imgur.com\/O4KcOGX.png )
\nFor a tiered offensive ring, it would be preferred to use UBDex rings over ATT counterpart; Samurai’s high ATT and comparatively low DEX mean that a DEX ring will provide increased DPS to an ATT ring unless the enemy’s defense is very high (above 109). The varied nature of UT weapons’ shot count or fire rate will alter the effects of boosted DEX compared to ATT, however (See this page for further details). This said, rings are available that boost both ATT and DEX and will provide better DPS increases than a straight tiered ring.\n\n![](\/\/i.imgur.com\/h1iN166.png \"Experimental Ring\")![](\/\/static.drips.pw\/rotmg\/wiki\/Untiered\/Bracer%20of%20the%20Guardian.png \"Bracer of the Guardian\")
\nThe [Experimental Ring (Expo)](\/wiki\/experimental-ring) is an untiered ring found in the [Mad Lab](\/wiki\/mad-lab). The Expo can prove to be a valuable general-purpose ring because of the bonuses it provides. It provides bonuses of +60 HP, +60 MP, +4 DEF, and +4 VIT. The MP boost is particularly useful because it almost if not allows Samurai to make one more use of his waki before needing to recover mana. The [Bracer of the Guardian (Bracer)](\/wiki\/bracer-of-the-guardian) is an alternative that is more difficult to obtain, but provides bonuses of +6 to ATT and DEF in addition to the +60 HP and MP, which the Samurai can benefit from better than the Expo bonuses. The Expo can be dropped in the [Mad Lab](\/wiki\/mad-lab), while the Bracer can be obtained as a drop from [The Forgotten Sentinel](\/wiki\/the-forgotten-sentinel).\n\n![](\/\/static.drips.pw\/rotmg\/wiki\/Untiered\/The%20Forgotten%20Crown.png \"The Forgotten Crown\")![](\/\/i.imgur.com\/nRri93R.png \"Magical Lodestone\")
\n[The Forgotten Crown (Crown)](\/wiki\/the-forgotten-crown) is a solid ring that any class can benefit from, and the Samurai is no exception. It can be obtained as a drop from [The Forgotten King](\/wiki\/the-forgotten-king). It provides a bonus of 110 HP, and also provides a boost of +6 to ATT and DEX. In other words, the wearer will gain both a good degree of survivability and a nice DPS boost. The [Magical Lodestone](\/wiki\/magical-lodestone), dropped by the Marble Colossus, also provides +6 ATT and DEX to the wearer. But instead of boosting the wearer's HP, it boosts their DEF and SPD by 6, which may be more or less beneficial depending on the player's preferences.\n\n##
Strengths and Weaknesses<\/div>\nAs a katana class, the Samurai draws immediate comparisons to the Ninja. The advantages that Samurai has over the Ninja include the ability to wear heavy armor and superior ATT and DEF caps. The combination of heavy armor and higher base DEF makes the Samurai more resilient than Ninja, at the cost of lacking the dexterity bonuses provided by leather armor. However, the Samurai has inferior SPD, DEX, and WIS caps compared to Ninja, which ultimately makes him slower and gives him inferior DPS. Although Samurai has an above-average VIT cap of 60, his natural health regen is still lower than that of Warrior and Knight, and pales in comparison to Paladin's HP regen under his Seal buff. As a result, he is more reliant on health potions, healing pets, and other players to keep him alive in rough situations.\n\nIn spite of his drawbacks, the Samurai is arguably the least disadvantaged by his weapon's short range of all melee classes. Sword classes such as the Warrior need to get much closer to their target to land hits and incur a greater risk of tanking shots, while the Ninja needs to rely on his immense speed to dodge enemy shots as his inferior defense makes him more prone to damage. In that respect, the Samurai provides a combination of the attack range available to Ninja and the relative tankiness of a heavy armor class, while sacrificing primary DPS compared to other melee classes. The waki's immense burst damage and defense-reducing effect both help to compensate for some, if not most, of the Samurai's lack of DPS. However, Samurai is also reliant on mana in order to be able to match the DPS of other melees, and he can be crippled substantially by the effects of quiet shots. A Samurai should take as much advantage of his weapon's range as possible, as he is not quite as tanky as other heavy armor classes.\n\n##
Group Role<\/div>\nThe ability of the Samurai to cripple his enemies' defense is a big help to any group. Lower enemy defense means **each shot** will deal more damage to an enemy affected by the waki's Exposed status effect, and this increase in damage will add up rapidly in large groups. Since the ability to inflict Exposed is very accessible, featured on most tiered and all untiered waki, a group of two or three Samurai are easily capable of keeping an event or dungeon boss permanently exposed, especially with good magic heal pets. The Exposed debuff can be combined on enemies with armor breaking (provided by a Knight that has an [Ogmur shield](\/wiki\/shield-of-ogmur)) to reduce enemy defense to negative numbers, and it also stacks with the effects of curse, allowing for even more damage to be done in a short amount of time. However, the downside to this strategy is the relatively short Exposed duration of most waki.\n\n##
Event and Dungeon Bosses<\/div>\nBecause all wakizashi have a shorter cast range than the range of tiered katana, there is a risk-reward element to using it. Being daring enough to get up relatively close to the enemy pays off well because of the waki's high burst damage. Ryu's Blade allows Samurai to attack enemies from a long distance should he so desire the safety afforded by it. The Samurai is capable of utilizing the high burst damage and exposure to make short work of some dungeon bosses like [Stheno the Snake Queen](\/wiki\/stheno-the-snake-queen). It also makes the Samurai capable of playing effective hit-and-run against event bosses like [Cube Gods](\/wiki\/cube-god), [Skull Shrines](\/wiki\/skull-shrine), and [Avatars of the Forgotten King](\/wiki\/avatar-of-the-forgotten-king). The waki also provides Samurai with the niche potential to land the killing blow on a boss, which is useful for earning the Oryx Slayer [fame bonus](\/wiki\/fame-bonuses#oryx-slayer).\n\n##
Summary<\/div>\nThe Samurai stands as a middle ground between the tankiness of a sword class and the attack range of a katana class. Although he lacks DPS compared to other melee classes, the katana and heavy armor combination, combined with the high burst damage and exposure of waki, can allow him to safely take on challenges that would be more risky on other melee classes. If you want a safe melee class that has a piercing weapon, can do fairly decent damage, and can provide a benefit to a group, then the Samurai is for you.\n"],[[],[]]);initializeCookieConsentBanner("e");