Samurai (侍)

import { Card, Steps, Table } from ‘@astrojs/starlight/components’;

The Samurai is the most straightforward of the four classes. It hits hard, takes hits, has a forgiving stat profile, and its signature skill — Iaido Strike — is a single devastating 240% ATK cut that defines the class’s playstyle: one blade, one kill. If you’re new to the game, the Samurai is the recommended first pick.

This page covers the Samurai’s base stats, growth, skill tree, stat allocation, and recommended playstyle.

Base stats (level 1)

Stat	Value	Notes
HP	120	Above average.
MP	30	Standard.
ATK	14	Above average.
DEF	8	Above average.
SPD	11	Standard.
Crit	6%	Standard.

The Samurai’s stat profile is “well-rounded bruiser” — every stat is at or above average, with no glaring weaknesses. This makes the class forgiving: you can survive mistakes that would kill a Shinobi, and you can out-damage a Sohei.

Per-level growth

Stat	Growth per level	At level 10	At level 30	At level 50
HP	+16	264	584	904
MP	+3	57	117	177
ATK	+3	41	101	161
DEF	+1.5	21.5	51.5	81.5
SPD	+1.5	24.5	54.5	84.5
Crit	+0.3%	8.7%	14.7%	20.7%

The Samurai’s growth is balanced across all stats, with a slight emphasis on HP and ATK. This means the class scales smoothly into the late game — there’s no point where the Samurai suddenly falls off, unlike the Shinobi (which struggles against high-DEF enemies) or the Onmyoji (which struggles against high-SPD enemies).

Stat allocation

Each level grants 5 stat points. You can spend them on STR, AGI, INT, or VIT. Each stat gives the following bonuses per point:

Stat	Bonus per point	Recommended for Samurai
STR	+2 ATK	★★★★★ — your primary stat
AGI	+1 SPD, +0.5% crit	★★★ — situational
INT	+3 max MP, +1 ATK	★ — skip
VIT	+10 max HP, +1 DEF	★★★★ — your secondary stat

Recommended allocation

Levels 1–10: 3 STR / 2 VIT per level. Maximises damage while keeping you alive against bosses.
Levels 10–30: 4 STR / 1 VIT per level. By now your HP pool is large enough that DEF matters more than HP.
Levels 30+: 5 STR per level. You’re a damage dealer now — embrace it.

The 3/2 split early is important because the early zones (especially zone 3, Crimson Torii Path) have bosses that can one-shot a fragile Samurai. Investing in VIT early prevents this.

Skill tree

The Samurai has three class-specific skills plus access to three generic all-class skills.

Signature skill (level 1)

Iaido Strike (居合斬り) — MP cost 8, cooldown 3 turns, type: attack.

A single devastating draw-cut for 240% ATK damage.

Iaido Strike is the Samurai’s defining skill. It’s a single-hit nuke with the highest base multiplier of any signature skill in the game. It’s what makes the Samurai a “one blade, one kill” class — one Iaido Strike at level 10 with a decent weapon can one-shot most trash mobs in zones 1–3.

The 3-turn cooldown means you’ll use Iaido Strike roughly every 3 rounds. In between, you’ll use your basic attack or your other skills.

Level 5 skill

Moonlit Slash (月光斬) — MP cost 10, cooldown 3 turns, type: attack.

A silver-arc slash for 170% ATK under the moon’s gaze.

Moonlit Slash is a weaker version of Iaido Strike on the same cooldown. Its main use is as a filler when Iaido Strike is on cooldown — you’ll alternate between the two for sustained damage. It does not multi-hit, so it doesn’t benefit from crit stacking the way multi-hit skills do.

Level 10 skill

Blade Flux (刃纏) — MP cost 12, cooldown 4 turns, type: attack, 2 hits.

Twin slashes dealing 140% ATK twice (total 280% if both hit).

Blade Flux is the Samurai’s first multi-hit skill. Each hit rolls independently for crit and dodge, which means a high-crit Samurai can do absurd damage with Blade Flux — two crits on Blade Flux at 200%+ crit damage is a 4× damage multiplier.

The 4-turn cooldown is longer than Iaido Strike or Moonlit Slash, so Blade Flux is a “burst” skill rather than a sustained damage skill. Use it on bosses.

Generic all-class skills

These are available to every class:

Power Strike (剛撃, level 1) — 6 MP, 2-turn CD, 160% ATK. A weaker version of Iaido Strike. Useful at level 1 before you’ve unlocked anything better, but quickly outclassed.
Meditation (瞑想, level 5) — 10 MP, 4-turn CD, heals 30% max HP. A panic-button heal. Especially useful for the Samurai, whose 120 base HP makes a 30% heal meaningful.
Focus Guard (集中守り, level 10) — 8 MP, 5-turn CD, +5 ATK for a few turns. A damage buff. Not modelled in the combat sim yet, so it currently does nothing. Skip it.

Recommended skill loadout

At level 10+, your enabled-skills list (in priority order) should be:

Iaido Strike (highest damage, moderate MP cost)
Blade Flux (multi-hit, benefits from crit)
Moonlit Slash (filler when above are on cooldown)
Meditation (panic heal — will only fire if HP is low, but currently fires whenever it’s ready and MP is available, which wastes MP)

Note: the auto-combat AI picks the first ready + MP-affordable skill in this list. If Meditation is too high in the list, it’ll fire even when you don’t need it, wasting MP. Consider disabling Meditation unless you’re fighting a boss.

Playstyle

The Samurai is the most “honest” class — what you see is what you get. You hit hard, you take hits, you have a panic heal, and your gameplay loop is “walk up to enemy, hit it with the biggest skill you have, repeat until dead.”

The main thing to learn is MP management. Iaido Strike costs 8 MP, Moonlit Slash costs 10, Blade Flux costs 12. With a base MP pool of 30 at level 1 (growing to ~120 by level 30), you can afford maybe 4–5 skills before running dry. Once you’re out of MP, you fall back to basic attacks, which are roughly 40% of your skill damage. This is the Samurai’s primary weakness — long fights where MP runs out before the enemy dies.

To compensate:

Invest in INT slightly if you’re struggling with MP. Even 5 points of INT (15 max MP) is enough for 1–2 extra skills per fight.
Use Meditation sparingly. It costs 10 MP, which is more than Iaido Strike. Don’t cast it unless you’re below 30% HP.
Buy gear with MP bonuses. The Monk’s Cassock (+10 MP) and the Iron Band (+5 MP) are cheap and effective.

Build summary

Primary stat: STR
Secondary stat: VIT (early), then transition to pure STR
Required skills: Iaido Strike (always), Blade Flux (level 10+)
Optional skills: Moonlit Slash, Meditation
Gear priority: ATK > HP > SPD > Crit > DEF
Weakness: Long fights, MP exhaustion, high-SPD enemies that outspeed Iaido Strike
Strength: Single-target burst, survivability, simplicity