Introduced in Patch X.28.0 (July 2018), the Samurai is the first new class introduced in nearly six years and the first new heavy armor class since the Paladin was introduced in January, 2010. The Samurai is a combination of sword class tankiness and the attack range of a Ninja, while sacrificing weapon damage-per-second compared to those classes. As a katana class that wears heavy armor as opposed to leather, the Samurai class marks the first time that a weapon type was paired with a second armor type. In Build X.31.4, he gained a buff in some of his stats, making him a more viable class. Unlocking him requires level 20 with Knight and Ninja. See his stat gains, averages, and caps here.
The most exceptional stat that the Samurai possesses is an attack cap of 75. This allows him to do considerable damage with each individual shot. In addition, with a DEF cap of 30, Samurai is the third class to receive a DEF cap above the usual cap of 25. A wisdom cap of 60 (equivalent to 7.7 MP per second) allows the Samurai to recover mana a bit quicker than most classes , and he also has an above average VIT cap of 60 (equivalent to 15.4 HP per second), giving him good natural health regen compared to other classes. The Samurai can also run slightly faster, with a speed cap of 55. On the other hand, he has a quite low DEX cap of 50. The Samurai also possesses a lower HP capacity than the other heavy armor classes (average and cap are 625 and 720, instead of the usual 675 and 770). The Samurai’s stats and equipment gives him considerable survivability, at the cost of having inferior damage per second.
The Samurai’s weapon of choice is the katana. Katanas are similar to swords except that they have weaker damage, longer range, and most importantly, the ability to pierce enemies. Piercing makes the katana very effective against closely clustered enemies and bosses that surround themselves with damage-soaking minions. The drawback to the katana is that they have a relatively short range, meaning that the Samurai has to risk taking hits in order to land hits. The combination of katana range and heavy armor makes range anxiety less of a problem for Samurai compared to other melee classes. The nature of the katana options allow for the Samurai to fulfill a variety of playstyles.
The Masamune is the best tradable tiered katana, dealing high damage to multiple enemies due to the Samurai’s high ATT cap. With a range of 4.75 tiles, the Samurai can stand a decent distance from enemies while still doing damage. The Sadamune and Kusanagi provide a bit more DPS than the Masamune, but they are rare and prestigous drops from the Void Entity, Oryx’s Sanctuary’s minibosses and Oryx the Mad God 3 himself. In addition, Kusanagi is soulbound, so you can only obtain it by fighting O3.
The Ray Katana is an untiered katana that drops from the Rock Dragon. This katana has a 6.2 tile range, allowing the Samurai to fight from much farther away than tiered katanas allow, and gives the Samurai the longest range of all heavy armor classes. However, the bump in range comes with a price of significantly lower (albeit consistent) damage output than most other katanas.
The Doku No Ken is an interesting untiered katana that can be found in The Crawling Depths. The Doku is probably the most practical katana for the Samurai. It has a range of 5.2 tiles, a 120% rate of fire, and secondary poison bursts that detonate every 3 seconds while firing.
Its increased range can make it an upgrade over tiered katanas and beats Sadamune until 180 Defense if 2 poison bursts hit the targets and even Kusanagi until 29 Defense. The shots fired from the Doku travel in a wavy pattern similar to a staff’s shots, which for some players makes it more difficult to land hits. The shots true up in the middle and at the end of their range, allowing you to attack at maximum range without drawback.
The Void Blade is an odd katana that can be found in the Toxic Sewers. It has a slow rate of fire but high per-shot damage with DPS higher than all tiered katanas, beating out Enforcer at 69 defense, and Celestial Blade after 80 defense. However, the catch to this powerful DPS is the katana’s sluggish projectiles. The projectiles fired by this katana float in place for 1.25 seconds before accelerating, reaching a distance of up to 6.08 tiles, dealing massive damage each shot.
This katana is very effective against enemies with certain predictable movement patterns, such as fast chaser enemies. It has the potential to make short work of certain dungeon bosses such as Stheno the Snake Queen. It can also kill many godlands and quest enemies in 1-2 hits, especially in a Samurai’s hands. In short, if you can manage to exploit enemy movement patterns for maximum damage, this is a great swapout.
The Celestial Blade is a unique katana that has the third highest damage per shot of all the katanas only to be beaten by the Void Blade and Blade of Ages and shares the same 5.2 tile range as the Doku no Ken. The only negative is that it doesn’t pierce so it’s very powerful against single targets. This katana is dropped by Feargus the Obsidian Dragon.
The Kazekiri is a set tiered katana that is part of the Akuma Slayer special themed set. It fires two shots that spread out slightly and converge at the end of their 4.5 tile range. Because of the second shot, it outdamages tiered katanas and the Doku against enemies with lower defense. It has the unique ability to pierce through certain obstacles as well as retaining its ability to pierce enemies. Its slightly shorter range compared to other katanas might compromise its practicality where keeping distance from enemies is paramount. This katana can be dropped by Daichi the Fallen.
The Reikoku is a special themed katana that is part of the Raijin Disciple special themed set. Similarly to the Kazekiri, this katana also fires two shots, however they now armor pierce making it very effective against high defense enemies as it outdamages most katanas at around 40 defense and the Celestial Blade at 125 defense. Note that it has a shorter range of 4 tiles. This katana can be dropped by Xolotl the Lightning God.
The Enforcer is a rare Katana that drops from Chief Beisa within Oryx’s Sanctuary. It has a max range of 5.33 tiles, true range of 4.76 tiles, and fires 2 shots in an V formation. The Enforcer offers superior damage to the Kusanagi up to 100 DEF at the same range, and will even usually beat the Celestial Blade in DPS, but lacks the ability to pierce through enemies. Despite its drawbacks, it is still a strong Katana with decent range especially when it comes to single-target DPS.
The Samurai’s ability is the wakizashi (or waki for short). The waki allows the Samurai to perform angled slashes that intersect with the crosshair (up to a certain reach depending on the waki). Tier progression gives the waki increased damage and the ability to inflict a debuff on enemies called 
Exposed (which reduces enemy defense by 20 points). The drawback to the waki is that they are less effective in confined areas (especially if there are walls near the origin of the shots). The waki will not cast if there is a wall or another obstacle, which would block the shots immediately after casting, near the spawn point of the projectiles. The Samurai can take advantage of the exposed status effect (as well as any other ability that reduces enemy defense) to maximize his DPS. In addition, Wakizashi also feature a dexterity bonus, giving the Samurai a significant boost to his average 50 Dexterity cap.
There is a bit of a learning curve to using the wakizashi. The waki shots will only intersect with your cursor if it is placed within the cast range of the waki prior to casting. Otherwise, if your cursor is too far out, the intersection will be placed at maximum range. This function gives Samurai the ability to aim the waki shots more precisely within their cast range. A visual aid on how this works is provided below.
The Royal Wakizashi is the best tradable tiered waki, exposing enemies for a long period of time as well as providing very high burst damage, costing 80 mana and giving +6 Dexterity. Tiered waki have a maximum cast range of 4.4 tiles and a shot angle of 90°, meaning that the shots come from the left and sweep to the right. The Virtuous Wakizashi provides significantly more burst damage, costing 5 more mana than Royal Waki, additional 0.5 second Exposed duration and 1 more Dex. However, it is a soulbound drop only obtained by defeating Oryx the Mad God 3 himself.
The Wakizashi of Eastern Winds is a UT waki obtainable from the Murderous Megamoth. Compared to a tiered waki, this untiered ability trades consistent damage output for a 4.6 tile cast range and a much longer Exposed duration of 4.5 seconds, while having the same 80 mana cost as a high tiered waki. This waki is best suited for Samurai that prioritize keeping foes exposed consistently, and for as long as possible. Keep in mind that the shots sweep from the right to the left with this waki because of its -90° shot angle. As a bonus, it has a decent increase of +5 Speed when equipping it, granting him a better rushing capability.
The Wakizashi of Crossing Fires is an UT waki obtainable from Shaitan the Advisor. This is the polar opposite to the Wakizashi of Eastern Winds, possessing massive damage output at the cost of having only a 4 tile cast range and a slightly shorter exposed duration. This waki has the potential to outperform most Wizard spells! However, this waki demands Samurai to get closer to his target in order to deal that heavy DPS, and costs 100 MP to cast. Compared to the Eastern Winds, this is a waki best suited for Samurai that prioritize raw damage over anything else. The shots from this waki come from both sides, and at ±75° angles, effectively making it the least suitable waki for confined areas.
Ryu’s Blade is the ST waki that is part of the aforementioned Akuma Slayer set. The shots of this waki are angled at ±165°, which means that the shots will spawn far away from the Samurai and move toward him. This is the only wakizashi with a minimum cast range; its minimum and maximum range are both set to 3 tiles, meaning that the crossfire of this waki is always centered at 3 tiles away from the player in the aimed direction while the range all the shots cover is 9.6 range that leads to many considering this as the safest waki to use. Ryu’s blade has lower damage than high tiered waki, but the shots will armor pierce. This waki has the most shallow attack angle available, making it the most practical waki in straight, narrow corridors. It also allows Samurai to attack and expose enemies from well beyond the reach of any katana. Ryu’s Blade shares its expose duration with the T6 wakizashi, and its ability to expose from a long distance comes at a slightly higher mana cost of 85. This waki can be dropped by the old chest inside the Mountain Temple.
Ronin’s Wakizashi is a unique waki that doesn’t expose targets but its main usage is to inflict 
Slowed instead, lasting for 6 seconds which negates the need to spam it. The damage is subpar compared to others, and the cast range and shot angle are identical to a tiered wakizashi, but the offset angle of the shots are the opposite while having a noticably wider gap between each shot. The waki is obtainable from the Deholder, Lips of the Lost, and Hand of the Helpless enemies in the Cursed Library.
The Watarimono is an ST waki obtainable from the Oasis Giant. This waki sacrifices piercing projectiles, any Exposed effect, as well as any stat boosts for an extreme increase in damage that even beats the Wakizashi of Crossing Fires. In addition, its max cast range beats even the Wakizashi of Eastern Winds and having almost identical shot behavior as Crossing Fire and costing 20 less MP than the respective abilty. It is best utilized against bosses, where piercing is usually not needed, or in groups, if another Samurai can consistently inflict Exposed.
The Shadow Serpent Sidearm is a UT waki obtainable from the Shadow Cube Blaster, Tesseract Goddess and Masquarerader within the The Third Dimension. Being the only waki that’s casted on top of the player and behaving similarly to the Q.U.I.V.E.R, this waki is easily the best one to use in close quarters and like the Watarimono it can deal a huge amount of damage, but it pierces through enemies, Exposes for 3 seconds, and has a max cast range of 6 tiles, thus being one of the most powerful wakis for burst damage and perfect for stationary enemies.
One of the best places to use this waki is in the Lost Halls, especially in the Cultist Hideout, allowing the Samurai to Expose and deal a huge amount of damage at a safe distance. In MBC and Void fights is recommended to use this Waki in their “mid phases” or MBC’s “Spaghetti” (If he is decoyed or when group tanking) , “Waffles/Small Pizzas”, “Patty Jumps” and “Void Arrows” phases.
The Fractured Gemstone Wakizashi summons a Crystal Star that orbits the player at about 3.5 range for 5 seconds firing bursts of short-ranged Exposing projectiles. It doesn’t require you to aim with your cursor and grants +5 DEF. This wakizashi drops from the Crystal Entity within the Crystal Cavern.
The 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.
The Acropolis Armor (Acrop) and Dominion Armor (Domi) are the best tradable tiered armors for the Samurai. These heavy armors significantly improve the Samurai’s DEF stat by 24 points and 26 points, respectively. This allows him to tank hits far more safely than other classes. However, the Domi is a drop from the difficult Lost Halls, making it more difficult to obtain. The most powerful tiered heavy armor, the Annihilation Armor, gives the highest DEF bonus of +28, but is the most difficult to obtain as it is a soulbound drop from Oryx the Mad God 3. These armors are ideal for tankiness, but they do not provide any additional benefits besides a boost to defense.
The Breastplate of New Life is a powerful alternative to tiered armor that can be dropped by the Marble Colossus. It provides a rather lower amount of DEF (+14) 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 or deal with armor-piercing attacks. Some players wholly prefer boosting their character’s HP above their DEF, and may prefer this armor over a tiered option. This armor may be preferred for Samurai due to his lower average and max HP cap.
The 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.
Mercy’s Bane is a DPS oriented heavy armor that is rarely dropped by 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 the Samurai’s 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 or does not have better options.
The Candy-Coated Armor (CC) from the Candyland Hunting Grounds (CLand) is a defense-oriented armor, providing +30 DEF while reducing the wearer’s DEX by 5. Compared to a tiered armor, it is essentially a trade of 5 DEX for an extra 4 or 6 defense. Samurai can find a niche use for this armor, as his wakizashi does not come with any additional defense, unlike a Warrior’s helm or a Knight’s shield. While it can help him to fill up the lack of Defense, one should note that he’ll have the low dexterity of 50, and equipping Candy-Coated Armor will only exacerbate this trait. Its -5 Dex can be mitigated by equipping Dex-boosting items.
The Resurrected Warrior’s Armor (Resu) is a rare armor from the Haunted Cemetery that gives up some Defense in exchange for massive boosts of +150 MP and +20 Wisdom. On paper it may look like an odd choice for Samurai, but it is useful for him if one desires chain-spamming the ability. In addition, it can be treated as a pseudo-DPS armor as he relies on the ability to make up the inferior DPS that he has.
The Gladiator Guard (Glad Guard) is a powerful heavy armor that sacrifices some defense in exchange for hefty increases in damage and mobility. It can be considered a superior alternative to the similar DPS-centric Mercy’s Bane in most situations. While it does not provide quite as much of a damage increase as Mercy’s Bane (2 less ATT/DEX), the Gladiator Guard has significantly more defense (10 more), greatly improving survivability compared to Mercy’s Bane. On top of this, the Gladiator Guard provides a large increase in SPD that Mercy’s Bane entirely lacks. The large benefits in survivability and mobility will usually outweigh the slightly worse damage in most endgame content.
Samurai 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.
A top choice by many, the Ring of Unbound Health (UBHP) and Ring of Decades (Deca) are the best HP rings. They provide a boost of +180 and +190 HP, respectively, and they are perfect for increasing the Samurai’s health and therefore increasing his endurance. These rings are the best single-stat boosting rings to prioritize when survivability is the prime concern.
While it is an undesirable choice by many, the Ring of Unbound Defense (UBDef) can be utilized to increase Samurai’s defense by 10, as his main and only source of defense is his Heavy Armor. In addition, it can also be used to catch up with other melee’s Defense stats.
For a tiered offensive ring (if one is on budget), it would be preferred to use the Ring of Unbound Dexterity over its ATT counterpart; Samurai’s high ATT and comparatively low DEX mean that a DEX ring will provide increased DPS compared to an ATT ring unless the enemy’s defense is high (above 85). The varied nature of UT weapons’ shot count or fire rate will alter the effects of boosted DEX compared to ATT. This said, rings are available that boost both ATT and DEX and will provide better DPS increases than a straight tiered ring.
The Omnipotence Ring (Omni) acts as a straight upgrade to both the Experimental Ring and the Ring of the Nile, as it not only gives some of the same stats as the two, but also gives more HP and MP. However, it is difficult to obtain as it is a rare drop from the Void Entity.
The Bracer of the Guardian (Bracer) is an alternative that also drops from an endgame dungeon, specifically The Bridge Sentinel, the first boss of The Shatters. However, what it lacks in the variety of Omni, it makes up for in that it gives more HP and much more DEF, making it more survivability focused while still balancing with DPS and utility.
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. 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, 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. The Chrysalis of Eternity serves as a straight upgrade to Crown, however it is much more difficult to obtain, being obtainable only from the hard mode version of The Shatters, along with the SPD and DEF boosts from Lodestone possibly being more preferrable.
The Ring of the Pyramid (Pyra) is an older but still viable alternative to the aforementioned rings. While it provides less stats in general, providing +100 HP and +4 to ATT and DEF, it is a relatively balanced ring that most classes, including Samurai, can use effectively.
The Exalted God’s Horn (Horn) is a direct upgrade of the Bloodstone Ring. It grants +140 HP, +5 Def and a permanent +10 DEX boost as long as its user is attacking while above 90% HP. This boost provides a devastatingly effective increase to DPS provided the user can constantly remain above the health threshold, which fits well with the Samurai’s tanky nature.
The Divine Coronation (Coronation) is a rare and powerful accessory that is dropped by Archbishop Leucoryx. It gives solid bonuses of +110 HP, +55 MP, +8 Dex and +5 Def, all of which the Samurai can benefit from. The HP and DEF boosts are always welcomed for extra survivability, the MP boost allows one more use of Waki before needing to recover Mana, and the Dex for extra raw DPS as he has an average 50 Dexterity cap.
The Twilight Gemstone and Sourcestone are very similar choices as they both grant +110 MP, allowing the Samurai to make a couple more uses of the Wakizashi, as well as a small SPD boost. Sourcestone provides HP, which is considered more valuable than DEF. However, The Twilight Gemstone provides a proc that lowers the MP cost of your ability. If you want to spam the Samurai’s Wakizashi more, The Twilight Gemstone would be more fitting, but if you want a balance between utility and survivability, you may prefer Sourcestone.
As a katana class, the Samurai draws immediate comparisons to the Ninja and Kensei. 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. Compared to the Kensei, the Samurai still has higher ATT. However, the Samurai has inferior SPD, DEX, and WIS caps compared to Ninja, along with less balanced DPS stats than the Kensei, which ultimately makes him slower and gives him inferior DPS. Although Samurai has an above-average VIT cap of 60, which he shares with the Kensei, 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.
In 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 and Kensei need to rely on their immense speed to dodge enemy shots as their inferior defense makes them 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 or silent 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.
The 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 Broken (provided by a Knight that has a Shield of Ogmur or an Assasin with the Crystallised Fang’s Venom (Pogmur)) 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.
Because all wakizashi have a shorter cast range than the range of tiered katanas, 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. It also makes the Samurai capable of playing effective hit-and-run against event bosses like Cube Gods, Skull Shrines, and Avatars of the Forgotten King.
The 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 and SPD 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.
