Samurai: A Guide by Atin

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CAUTION!

This article is only a guide. Information expressed in a guide is usually more opinion than fact and should be taken as such. Guides are written by players, based upon their experiences, successes and mistakes, and meant to aid other players. However, there may be differing opinions than those expressed in a guide. Strategies and information in guides may not work for everyone.

Contents 1 DISCLAIMER 2 Welcome! 3 The Basics 3.1 Purpose 3.2 Strengths 3.3 Weaknesses 4 Useful Subjobs 4.1 Warrior 4.1.1 Strengths 4.1.2 Weaknesses 4.2 Thief 4.2.1 Strengths 4.2.2 Weaknesses 4.3 Ranger 4.3.1 Strengths 4.3.2 Weaknesses 4.4 Monk 4.4.1 Strengths 4.4.2 Weaknesses 5 Equipment Recommendations 5.1 Levels 1 - 10 6 Nominal Party Setups 7 Credits/Update History

DISCLAIMER

This guide is comprised of MY OPINIONS ONLY. These are MY inner thoughts, and MY observations throughout the game. Even if some of the information in this guide is well known, and even if some of it is widely accepted, it is STILL MY OPINION. If you flame me for this, you will be disregarded as a nubcake and written off as so. Kthx! ^^

This guide contains numerous errors and should be should be taken lightly.

Welcome!

You've found Atin's Guide to Samurai. This guide is/was created in order to further the public's knowledge of this job and how it should be used in parties, but also to help fledgling Samurai in their quests to become Level 75. I myself just recently hit Level 75 Samurai (as of 2:03 AM EST, March 19th, 2006), and let me tell you, it was one of the most gratifying things I could have done.

That being said, the road to being a great Samurai is both arduous and painstaking. Like most other melees, you will experience points in time where party invites are sparse, money is tight, and morale low. But fear not, for these are temporary, and as you level this job to its potentials, the rewards you reap are only as good as what you put into the job. This purpose of this paragraph is not to discourage, but to inform: as with all other melee jobs (Dark Knight, Monk, Dragoon, and to a lesser extent, Warrior), quitting the game may sometimes seem like the most logical choice, as you may be "stuck" at a certain level. Fear not, however, for as I said above, these roadblocks are temporary, and you -will- overcome them.

With THAT being said, let's begin the guide:

The Basics

Purpose

The Purpose of the Samurai job is twofold:

• To act as a Skillchain Coordinator for both EXP and Mission Parties
• To fill the role of Damage Dealer in both EXP and Mission Parties
  • Side Note: In order to do this, and because Samurai are Weapon Skill-oriented, high Strength is almost -critical-. I CANNOT stress this enough. Other guides may say Accuracy and Dexterity is the way to go, and if that accomodates your playing style/equipment access, then go for it. Otherwise, Strength is the ONLY way to have high damage yield for both Weapon Skills and normal damage.

Strengths

The Samurai job has very narrow strengths:

• High Base Strength for a High Damage Yield
• Versatile Set of Great Katana Weapon Skills that can perform almost any Skillchain
• All Weapon Skills are Non-elemental, meaning SATA can be used with all of them
• "Tank-like" Stats provide for a higher-than-normal DD defense and HP count (aside from Monk)

Weaknesses

The Samurai job also has very narrow weaknesses:

• Deathly low Base Accuracy, even with Racial Bonuses, makes Samurai a very gear-dependant job - incorrect, A+ weapon, Hasso & Zanshin mean only Dragoon has a higher base Accuracy than Samurai in regards to melee.
• All Weapon Skills deal with Strength as a damage modifier, again coming back to gear dependancy - irrelevant, every offensive WS in the game uses STR damage modifiers, as wellas being the base modifier for all attacks.
• Is a Damage Dealer Job, therefore making Party invites sparse and causing competition for invites with other DD jobs (Dark Knight, Monk, Warrior, Black Mage, Dragoon, etc.)

Useful Subjobs

Warrior

Obviously the most commonly used sub-job, Warrior is an easy subjob that a Samurai can use from Level 1 to Level 75. As with every sub-job, however, it has it's strengths, and it has its weaknesses:

Strengths

• Attack Bonus makes it optimal for Damage Dealers
• Job Ability Access : Berserk @ Level 30, Double Attack @ Level 50, Warcry @ Level 70
  All of these are excellent abilities to have for a DD, especially Double Attack.

Weaknesses

• Does not provide any sort of Accuracy Bonus, therefore still making Samurai gear-dependant
• Samurai Weapons are Great Katana and Polearm, and Warrior, aside from Attack Bonus, does nothing to enhance either

---

Thief

Probably the equally most used sub-job for Samurai, Thief is really only used by players post-Level 60, for the utterly useful SATA combination. But, as with Warrior, it has its strengths and weaknesses:

Strengths

• Adds Dexterity instead of Strength, leading to a higher hit rate
• Job Ability Access: Sneak Attack @ Level 30, Flee @ Level 50, Trick Attack @ Level 60
  All of these are good to have as a Samurai, as Flee helps with pulling, and the SATA combination @ 60 helps a DD to both control hate and do massive amounts of damage with a Weapon Skill.

Weaknesses

• No Attack Bonuses whatsoever, leading to lower than possible damage and varied attack strength
• Only high damage opportunities are through food, gear, or the 1:00 re-use timer of SA/SATA
• Really only useful post-Level 60, as Sneak Attack will be too powerful, and cause you to take hate from the tank

---

Ranger

The third most used subjob for Samurai. Ranger is mainly used to make the Samurai a force to be reckoned with both pulling and attacking normally, creating "the ultimate DD combination". However, due to the "gimp" patch in which Ranged Attack damage was set to distance-based, this combination is less and less used.

Strengths

• Allows access to the Ranger Archery Weapon Skill set
• Increased Ranged Attack and Ranged Accuracy damage for pulls
• Accuracy Bonus for added melee Accuracy
• Job Ability Access: Sharpshot @ Level 1, Scavenge @ Level 20, Camouflage @ Level 40, Barrage @ Level 60
  Aside from Scavenge, the Ranger's Job Ability set is exclusively for Ranged Attacks.

Weaknesses

• No Melee Damage or STR Bonuses, Job Traits, or Job Abilities
• With the "gimp" patch in place, the Samurai is forced to choose between Ranged Attack and Melee, more often than not choosing Melee, which makes the Ranger subjob useless

---

Monk

Really a sub-job ONLY for soloing. No real weaknesses, but doesn't really help the Samurai in an Experience Points Party. For soloing, however, there are many uses:

Strengths

• High HP Bonus due to the Monk's Max HP Boost Job Trait
• High Vitality Bonus from the job's base stats for increased Defense
• Job Ability Access: Boost @ Level 10, Dodge @ Level 30, Focus @ Level 50, Chakra @ Level 70
  All of these Job Abilities are wonderful for solo play. Boost is useful for Weapon Skill damage pluses, Dodge is useful to increase Evasion and avoid damage, Focus is useful to increase Accuracy and hit more, both normally and during WS's, and Chakra is useful for restoring a small amount of HP after fights.

Weaknesses

• Not incredibly useful in Experience Points Parties, as the pluses it offers doesn't help a Samurai perform his/her job.

Equipment Recommendations

Levels 1 - 10

You essentially have two choices for Armor here.

• Bronze Set:
  • Bronze Cap
  • Bronze Harness
  • Bronze Mittens
  • Bronze Subligar (Your choice, lol.)
  • Bronze Leggings

  or

• Starter RSE Set (Example given is Hume RSE):
  • Hume Tunic
  • Hume M Gloves
  • Hume Slacks
  • Hume M Boots

Weapons are also pretty non-picky. You do have a questable Great Katana available to you.

• Level 1 - Mumeito
  • You're pretty much stuck with this. And not in a bad way. This is the only level 1-7 Great Katana there is, so get used to it.
• Level 8 - Tachi or Tachi +1
  • The Tachi is your first actual choice weapon. And a good one to get as well. Don't worry about getting the +1 unless you're a complete item whore who MUST have all +1 versions of their equipment. The added .20 DPS won't get you any more experience than a normal Tachi.
• Level 10 - Katayama
  • An NM named Carnero in South Gustaberg drops this little number. Trust me, you're gonna want to get this. With a boastable damage of 28, the added STR and DEX bonuses, and a DPS that blows everything until level 16 away, not to mention it's FREE, it's an offer that's really hard to refuse.

Nominal Party Setups

Credits/Update History

Update History:
February 8th, 2006 - Updated the "Equipment Recommendations" section all the way up to level 40.
January 13th, 2006 - Wow, been forever, but i'm finally back to working on this (heard this before?  ;P). Gonna finish up making final adjustments to the "Useful Subjobs" section, then actually start on "Equipment Recommendations", and finally get this thing finished for people who actually find it useful. Worry not, i'm back!
April 10th, 2006 - After a little bit of a hiatus, i'm back to working on this. Sorry to those who want to see more, had Spring Break. Anywho, beginning work on the "Equipment Recommendations" section soon, just checking out new and unused equipment.
March 29th, 2006 - "Useful Subjobs" work continued. "Thief" and "Monk" subjobs added.
March 28th, 2006 - "Useful Subjobs" started. Layout format changed to better accomodate sub-sections.
March 21st, 2006 - "The Basics" section completed. Changed "Purpose/Strengths/Weaknesses" to "The Basics".
March 20th, 2006 - Guide created. Disclaimer and Welcome sections created, and guide layout started.

Credits:
Square-Enix - for making such a KICK ASS game.
Fentre, of ThoseGuys on Fairy - for never letting me give up.
Redcell, on Fairy - for the support and GS100 access. You rule.
StarsofDarkness LS on Fairy - you guys are amazing.
Allakhazam/Somepage - for being awesome guides, noone's better.