Sohei (僧兵)

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

The Sohei is the game’s premier tank. It has the highest base HP (160), the highest base DEF (12), and the only signature skill in the game that self-heals on hit (Vajra Smite restores 15% of max HP per cast). The Sohei’s playstyle is the opposite of the Shinobi’s — slow, methodical, and nearly unkillable. The trade-off: the lowest base SPD in the game (8), meaning you act last in most fights, and middling ATK that makes fights drag on.

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

Base stats (level 1)

Stat	Value	Notes
HP	160	Highest in the game.
MP	35	Standard.
ATK	11	Below average.
DEF	12	Highest in the game.
SPD	8	Lowest in the game.
Crit	4%	Below average.

The Sohei’s stat profile is “immovable object” — massive HP, massive DEF, but slow and not particularly damaging. The class is designed to win fights by not dying, grinding the enemy down over many rounds while healing through their damage.

Per-level growth

Stat	Growth per level	At level 10	At level 30	At level 50
HP	+22	358	798	1238
MP	+4	71	151	231
ATK	+2.4	32.6	80.6	128.6
DEF	+2.2	31.8	75.8	119.8
SPD	+1	17	37	57
Crit	+0.2%	5.8%	9.8%	13.8%

The Sohei’s HP and DEF growth are both exceptional. By level 50, a Sohei has 1238 HP and 119.8 DEF — roughly double the Samurai’s stats in both categories. This makes the Sohei the only class that can comfortably survive boss crits in the late game.

The SPD growth is the slowest in the game, which compounds the Sohei’s speed problem. By level 50, a Sohei has 57 SPD — barely faster than a level 1 Shinobi (16 SPD)… wait, no, 57 > 16, but compared to a level 50 Shinobi (133.6 SPD), the Sohei is roughly half as fast. This means in any given round, the enemy acts first, which is dangerous against bosses.

Stat allocation

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

Recommended allocation

Levels 1–10: 3 VIT / 2 STR per level. Stack VIT to maximise your tankiness and the value of your self-heal.
Levels 10–30: 3 VIT / 2 STR per level. Same — VIT keeps scaling your survivability.
Levels 30+: 3 VIT / 2 STR per level. Yes, even at level 50, VIT is your best stat because every point of VIT increases the value of your Vajra Smite heal (which is 15% of max HP).

An alternative build that some players prefer is 4 VIT / 1 AGI, which trades damage for speed. The extra AGI helps you act first, which is valuable against bosses. Try it if you’re dying to boss first-hits.

Skill tree

Signature skill (level 1)

Vajra Smite (金剛撃) — MP cost 12, cooldown 3 turns, type: attack, self-heal 15% max HP.

A heavy blow for 200% ATK that also heals 15% of max HP.

Vajra Smite is the Sohei’s defining skill and the reason the class works. The 200% ATK damage is solid (higher than the Onmyoji’s Ofuda Seal at 180%), but the real value is the self-heal. At level 1 with 160 HP, Vajra Smite heals 24 HP per cast — about a quarter of your HP pool. At level 50 with 1238 HP, Vajra Smite heals 185 HP per cast — enough to fully recover from a boss crit.

The 12 MP cost is significant. With a base MP pool of 35, you can cast Vajra Smite 2–3 times before running dry. This is the Sohei’s primary limiter — your self-heal is powerful but MP-limited.

Level 5 skill

Sutra Chant (読経) — MP cost 8, cooldown 3 turns, type: heal.

Recite a sutra to mend wounds, restoring 25% of max HP.

Sutra Chant is the Sohei’s dedicated heal. The 25% heal is enormous — at level 1, that’s 40 HP (a quarter of your HP pool). The 8 MP cost is cheaper than Vajra Smite, making Sutra Chant your go-to heal when you don’t need the damage of Vajra Smite.

Level 10 skill

Lotus Guard (蓮華守) — MP cost 12, cooldown 5 turns, type: heal.

Mend wounds through deep meditation, restoring 45% of max HP.

Lotus Guard is the Sohei’s “panic button” — a massive 45% heal on a long cooldown. At level 50, that’s 557 HP per cast. Combined with Vajra Smite’s 185 HP self-heal, the Sohei can recover over 700 HP in a single round, which is enough to survive almost any boss combo.

Generic all-class skills

Power Strike (level 1) — 6 MP, 160% ATK. A weak filler.
Meditation (level 5) — 10 MP, heals 30% max HP. The Sohei doesn’t need this — Sutra Chant is strictly better (8 MP for 25% vs 10 MP for 30%). Skip Meditation.
Focus Guard (level 10) — does nothing currently. Skip.

Recommended skill loadout

At level 10+, your enabled-skills list should be:

Vajra Smite (damage + heal, your bread and butter)
Lotus Guard (panic heal, save for emergencies)
Sutra Chant (sustained heal)
Power Strike (MP-cheap filler damage)

The auto-combat AI will fire Vajra Smite on cooldown, which is correct — you want it firing as often as possible for the damage and the heal. Lotus Guard will fire whenever it’s ready, which is wasteful (it should be saved for emergencies), but there’s no way to control this currently.

Playstyle

The Sohei is the simplest class to play, but the most demanding to play well. The basic loop is:

Walk up to enemy.
Use Vajra Smite on cooldown.
Use Sutra Chant when HP drops below 60%.
Use Lotus Guard when HP drops below 30%.
Repeat until enemy is dead.

The complication is MP management. Vajra Smite (12 MP), Sutra Chant (8 MP), and Lotus Guard (12 MP) all cost MP, and your MP pool is modest (35 base, ~150 by level 30). In a long fight, you’ll run out of MP and lose access to your heals. This is the Sohei’s primary weakness — not death from damage, but death from MP exhaustion.

To mitigate:

Invest in MP gear. The Wooden Rosary (+8 MP) and the Iron Band (+5 MP) are cheap. The Monk’s Cassock (+10 MP) is a great mid-game armor.
End fights quickly when possible. Even though you’re a tank, a quick fight uses less MP than a long fight. Don’t be afraid to use Vajra Smite aggressively.
Don’t overheal. If you’re at 80% HP and Sutra Chant fires, you waste most of the heal. The auto-combat AI doesn’t track this, so it’s unavoidable — but you can mitigate by retreating to town when you’re at 50% HP and MP, rather than pushing to 0.

Matchups

Strong against

Single-hit enemies (Kodama, Bakemono, Oni): your high DEF halves their damage, and your self-heal out-paces them.
Long fights: your heal skills scale with max HP, which scales with level. The longer the fight, the more your heals are worth.
Bosses with predictable damage: you can out-heal almost any sustained damage.

Weak against

Multi-hit enemies (Shikigami Barrage, Shadowstep Flurry): each hit is reduced by DEF, but 4 small hits still add up. Your high DEF is less effective against multi-hit attacks.
Fast enemies that outspeed you: they hit first, which means you start every round at a HP deficit.
MP drain: if your MP runs out, you lose access to your heals, and your high HP becomes meaningless.

Build summary

Primary stat: VIT
Secondary stat: STR (always — 2 STR per level for damage)
Required skills: Vajra Smite (always), Sutra Chant (level 5+)
Optional skills: Lotus Guard (panic), Power Strike (filler)
Gear priority: HP > DEF > MP > ATK > SPD
Weakness: Low SPD (acts last), MP-limited, struggles against multi-hit enemies
Strength: Highest HP and DEF in the game, self-healing, nearly unkillable in sustained fights