Strengths and Weaknesses<\/div><\/h2>\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 a superior ATT cap. Heavy armor 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 them both slower and gives them inferior DPS. The Samurai is the only heavy armor class that lacks both a high VIT cap and some form of healing ability. As a result, they are more reliant on health potions, healing pets, and other players to keep them alive in rough situations.\n\nIn spite of their drawbacks, the Samurai is arguably the least disadvantaged by their weapon's short range of all melee classes. Sword classes such as the [Warrior](\/wiki\/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 low vitality and inferior defense make 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 his stablemates, and he can be crippled substantially by the effects of quiet shots as a result. A Samurai should take as much advantage of their weapon's range as possible, as they are not as tanky as other heavy armor classes.\n\n
Group Role<\/div><\/h2>\nThe ability of the Samurai to cripple their 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. 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 waki's relatively short Exposed duration.\n\n
Event and Dungeon Bosses<\/div><\/h2>\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. The Samurai is capable of utilizing this to make short work of some dungeon bosses like [Malphas](\/wiki\/archdemon-malphas) and [Stheno](\/wiki\/stheno-the-snake-queen). It 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 [AFKs](\/wiki\/avatar-of-the-forgotten-king); however, his slow speed and low health regen hinders his capability of using that strategy. 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)).\n\n
Summary<\/div><\/h2>\nThe Samurai stands as a middle ground between the tankiness of a sword class and the attack range of a katana class. If you simply want a safe melee class that has a piercing weapon, can do fairly decent damage, and can provide benefits to a group, then the Samurai is for you.\n"],[[],[]]);initializeCookieConsentBanner("e");