Samurai 101Follow

I am making this post in hope that I can help samurai that need/want it. I will write what I know, and what I have learned.

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What a Samurai does
A samurai is there to skillchain. Samurai do not match the damage per second(dps) with that of dark knight, dragoon, or ranger. Samurai do not match the tanking abilities with that of paladin, ninja, or warrior. But what we can do, is gain TP quicker then most all other jobs (ranger being the only one to beat me), and skillchain with someone, Meditate, then skillchain with another. We can also back-up tank if needed, if the tank disconnects, dies, or is afk during an aggro or accidental pull. A very important role of Samurai in the party is to be the Thief's trick partner. If the Samurai has provoke, then he/she can provoke the mob when the puller gets back, so the Thief can fuidama onto the tank. Once that is done, the Samurai lets the Thief load on the fuidamas. This is what samurai are for.

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How to get the job

Please refer to: http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/quests.html?realm=&fquest=103

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Weapons

Use a great katana, a polearm is another option, but should only be used to spam penta during farming, and after the TP patch, this is less useful. Though, if you are SAM/RNG, you may want to focus a lot on Bows and archery.

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Subjobs

Monk: Monk is not generally the best sub job to pick for samurai, but it will work. The best you could get out of monk, is Boost at level 10, Focus at level 50, and Chakra at level 70. Boost, you could use pre-weapon skill, or chain boost during the pull. Focus would probably be the most helpful out of these, seeing as how samurai rely on accuracy. Chakra would most likely be used after an AoE. Any other passive traits, or abilities you would get wouldn't be worth subbing monk for.

Thief: This is probably the second most used sub for samurai. The added DEX is nice, though minute, every little bit helps. For thief, the most useful things you can get, are Steal at 10, Sneak Attack and Treasure Hunter at 30, Flee at 50, and Trick Attack at 60. Steal, Flee, and most everything not listed is for self-benefit. Sneak Attack as a sub ability is only a simple critical, not multiplied damage. Though, it is useful for a guarenteed critical every minute, and higher damage on a weapon skill. Treasure Hunter will benefit both you, and your party. More drops is equal to more gil, in exp parties, or in farming. Flee, as said above, is mainly for self-benefit. If you get aggro, you can flee, and most likely escape death. Trick Attack, just like Sneak Attack, is not as useful as it is on a thief. It does not do multiplied damage, but it will transfer some enmity none the less.

Warrior: This is the most often used sub for samurai. It provides STR, and a small upgrade in DEX. For warrior, you would get Provoke at 10, Berserk at 30, Defender and Double Attack at 50, Pysical Attack I at 60, and Warcry at 70. Provoke is one of the most useful abilties there are. It produces enmity, usually enough enmity to get the mob off of whomever is in need of help. This usually won't be used for samurai, unless in an emergency, but it is still useful. Berserk is used whenever able to be used. Especially before the samurai do a few skillchains. Defender will be used in an emergency, when the samurai is up for tanking because the tank died or disconnected. It decreases attack, so it won't be used in normal fighting. Double Attack does just what it says, every time you hit, theres a percent of a chance that you will hit the mob twice. This is not affected by the multi-hit TP patch, so you will get the TP equal to two normal hits. Physical Attack I, there isn't much to this, it just simply increases your attack. Warcry increases the attack of all party members in the area for a short period of time.

Dark Knight: This can be a sub, but it is rare. You really don't get much out of a Dark Knight sub. Arcane Circle at 10, Physical Attack I at 20, Last Resort at 30, Physical Attack II and Souleater at 60. Arcane Circle is rarely used, and arcana mobs are rarely used for exp parties. Physical Attack I will increase your attack. Last Resort is good for pre-weapon skill, but simply using this ability adds a good amount of enmity, and doesn't last as long as Berserk. Physical Attack II increases your attack a second time. Souleater really isn't very nice as a sub job ability.

Dragoon: I have seen this once, I believe. You won't get much out of a dragoon sub. Ancient Circle at 10, Jump and Physical Attack I at 20. Accuracy Bonus I at 60, and High Jump at 70. Ancient Circle will be rarely used, as dragons are rarely found. Jump will do about the damage of one hit, every one minute 30 seconds. Physical Attack I increases your attack. Accuracy Bonus I increases your accuracy, this is the most helpful thing from a dragoon sub. High Jump will do about the same damage as Jump, and relieve you of some of the little hate you have. Though, Jump/High Jump will allow for solo-skillchain wihtout the use of Meikyo Shisui.

Ninja: I've seen this about three times, all in Valkurm Dunes. The most helpful things you'll get, are Tonko: Ichi at 18, Utsusemi: Ichi at 24, Tonko: Ni at 68, and Utsusemi: Ni at 74. Tonko will only be helpful in the rare occasion of a sight aggro mob. Utsusemi could be used for tanking, but you won't be much of a tank, because you won't have provoke. Though, used often in HNM battles, as the only weapon skill that can do any major amount of damage is Spirits Within.

Paladin: I've yet to see this. You won't get much out of the paladin sub, seeing as how you won't be tanking. The most useful things you will get out of a paladin sub, are Holy Circle at 10 and Sentinel at 60. Holy Circle is the most useful of the circles, because it undead are rather common. Sentinel increases your defense without an effect on your attack.

Ranger: This is probably tied with thief sub in popularity, and tied with warrior sub in effectivness. Samurai, I believe, have the best bow skill asides from ranger. You get a lot out of this sub, including Sharp Shot and Wide Scan at 2, Accuracy Up I at 20, Rapid Shot at 30, Camoflage at 40, Barrage and Accuracy Up II at 60. Sharp Shot would be nice to use before Barrage or Sidewinder, this increases your ranged accuracy. Wide Scan will allow you to see if danger is around the corner, on the map. Accuracy Up I will increase your accuracy. Rapid Shot will randomly take away delay off of a bow attack. Camoflage won't be as helpful as the other abilities, but it will be helpful in the rare occasion of a sight aggro mob. Barrage will shoot multiple arrows at once at the mob, this will cause a good bit of damage. Accuracy Up II will increase your accuracy a second time. Though all of these are useful, the most useful thing that will come out of a ranger sub, is Sidewinder.

NOTE: I did not mention Black Mage, White Mage, Bard, Beast Master, Red Mage, or Summoner, because they are not worth mentioning for a samurai sub.

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Races

Mithra: I personally think this is the best race for Samurai, because I believe that Samurai need to focus on accuracy. Mithra will provide a higher DEX, but lower STR.

Elvaan: This is for the people that enjoy hitting hard. Elvaan will provide a higher STR, but lower DEX.

Tarutaru: Tarutaru are decent samurai, due to the DEX. Tarutaru will provide you with a medium amount of DEX, but a lower STR.

Galka: Galkans tend to be good melee characters. Galka will provide a decent amount of STR and DEX.

Hume: Hume is the average race, no high or low points. Hume will provide a decent amount of STR and DEX.

Important stats in order from highest to lowest:

DEX: Mithra, Tarutaru, Hume, Galka, Elvaan
STR: Elvaan, Galka, Hume, Mithra, Tarutaru

On the case of STR/DEX/ATK/ACC:

2 STR = 1 ATK
2 DEX = 1 ACC
Please note, that +1 ACC is not better then +1 DEX. DEX affects how many critical hits you get. The same goes for STR/ATK, STR increases your damage per hit, where as attack raises your max damage cap.

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Food

Meat Mithkabobs are generally used throughout the game for samurai, Cheifkabobs if you can afford them. Tonosama riceballs, with the AF Kote, give attack +45, defense +32, double attack +1, HP+15, DEX+3, VIT+3, CHR+3. Shogun rice balls, the upgraded Tonosama rice balls, give everything listed above, but they give +8 Double Attack, HP+30, DEX+4, VIT+4, CHR+4.

Meat Mithkabobs: http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?fitem=1167

Tonosama Riceballs: http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?fitem=2772

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Artifact Gear

Refer to:

AF1 - The Sacred Katana
http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/quests.html?realm=&fquest=250

AF2 - Yomi Okuri
http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/quests.html?realm=&fquest=316

AF3 - A Thief in Norg!?
http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/quests.html?realm=&fquest=359

AF4 - Borghertz's Loyal Hands
http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/quests.html?realm=&fquest=417

AF5 - Quicksand Caves Coffer
http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/quests.html?realm=&fquest=317

AF6 - Temple of Uggalepih Coffer
http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/quests.html?realm=&fquest=418


For the maps: http://www.speakeasy.org/~sticks/ffxi/treasure/title.html

Coffer Help:
http://vnboards.ign.com/The_Samurai/b22542/65034522/?46

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Tradeskills

The best tradeskills for samurai:

Clothcraft: http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/dyn/guilds/Clothcraft.html
-This will provide option of making the "Gi" gear (MNK/SAM/NIN).

Cooking:
http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/dyn/guilds/Cooking.html
-This will provide the option of making your own food.

Smithing:
http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/dyn/guilds/Smithing.html
-This will provide the option of making some useful armor.
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Samurai in parties late game

There have been some rumours going around saying that samurai are not useful in parties 50+. This is false. Samurai are always useful parties.

Also, please refer to my response at: http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/db/jobs.html?fjob=13&mid=1088266630202852326

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Skillchaining

As most of you know, Skillchains, also called Renkei, are what a samurai focuses on. Skillchains are when two weapon skills are linked together to make an elemental effect.

At level 30, samurai get Meditate, which gives them 20% TP every two seconds until the samurai gets 100% TP from this skill. This being so, it allows samurai to skillchain with someone, then another right after using meditate.

There are 14 different Skillchain effects. Eight level 1 skillchains, four level 2 skillchains, and two level 3 skillchains.

Level 1 skillchains: Liquefaction (Fire), Induration (Ice), Detonation (Wind), Scission (Earth), Impaction (Lightning), Reverberation (Water), Transfixion (Light), and Compression (Dark)

Level 2 skillchains: Fusion (Fire/Light), Fragmentation (Wind/Lightning), Distortion (Ice/Water), and Gravitation (Earth/Dark)

Level 3 skillchains: Light (Fire/Light/Wind/Lightning) and Dark (Ice/Water/Earth/Dark)

While setting up skillchains, you need to look for the following:

-The mob's elemental weakness.
-The black mage's(if there is one) strongest spell.
-Each persons strongest weapon skill.

Then, you try to make the best combonation using those three bits of information.

A very nice, detailed Skillchain chart: http://ffvault.ign.com/screenshots/?ss=162

Another nice Skillchain chart:
http://ffvault.ign.com/screenshots/?ss=474

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Weapon Skill Acquisition

Weapon Skill -- Skill Level -- Character Level

Tachi: Enpi -- 10 -- 3
Tachi: Hobaku -- 30 -- 9
Tachi: Goten -- 70 -- 23
Tachi: Kagero -- 100 -- 33
Tachi: Jinpu -- 150 -- 49
Tachi: Koki -- 175 -- 55
Tachi: Yukikaze -- 200 -- 60
Tachi: Gekko -- 225 -- 65
Tachi: Kasha -- 250 -- 71 -- Completion of "The Potential Within"

The Potential Within:
NPC starter: Jaucribiax in Norg
Pre-requisites: level 71 and 250+ great katana skill.

1. Talk to Jaucribiax and recieve "Writing of Practice" and "Tachi of Trials".
2. Use "Tachi of Trials" until latent effect goes away.
3. Give the upgraded "Tachi of Trials" to Jaucribiax and get "The map of a trial".
4. Go to Kuftal Tunnel (L-7) and investigate the ???.
5. NM Kattenkaefer will spawn. Kill it.
6. Investigate the ???. You'll recieve "Writing of a trial".
7. Talk to Jaucribiax.

*IMPORTANT*
8. Go out and enjoy Tachi: Yukikaze -> Tachi: Gekko -> Tachi: Kasha. ^^

To get rid of the latent effect, you must get 300 points. There are several ways to get said points.

Use a weapon skill: 1 point
End a level 1 skillchain: 2 points
End a level 2 skillchain: 3 points
End a level 3 skillchain: 5 points

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Level 3 Skillchains

There are two level 3 Skillchains, Light and Dark.

Each of the two level 3 skillchains have 4 elemental properties. To get each level 3 skillchain, you need to get all four elemental properties.

Light: Fire, Light, Wind, Lightning
Dark: Earth, Dark, Water, Ice

each of the second highest weapon skills have a level 2 skillchain property.

You can get the level 3 skillchains two different ways:
Get a level 2 skillchain, then link a high level weapon skill with the two missing elements to the skillchain.

e.g. Tacho: Yukikaze -> Tachi: Gekko (Fragmentation) -> Tachi: Kasha(Light)

e.g. Shark Bite -> Tachi: Kasha

A list of each elemental property weapon skill

Club
-(220) Hexa Strike: Fusion (Light/Fire)
-(230) Black Halo: Fragmentation (Wind/Lightning)

Dagger
-(225) Shark Bite: Fragmentation (Wind/Lightning)
-(230) Evisceration: Gravitation (Dark/Earth)

Hand to Hand
-(225) Dragon Kick: Fragmentation (Wind/Lightning)
-(250) Asuran Fists: Gravitation (Dark/Earth)

Sword
-(225) Swift Blade: Gravitation (Dark/Earth)
-(240) Savage Blade: Fragmentation (Wind/Lightning)

Great Sword
-(225) Spinning Slash: Fragmentation (Wind/Lightning)
-(250) Ground Strike: Fragmentation (Wind/Lightning)

Axe
-(225) Mistral Axe: Fusion (Light/Fire)
-(240) Decimation: Fusion (Light/Fire)

Bow
-(225) Arching Arrow: Fusion (Light/Fire)
-(250) Empyrial Arrow: Fusion (Light/Fire)

Great Katana
-(225) Tachi: Gekko: Distortion (Ice/Water)
-(250) Tachi: Kasha: Fusion (Light/Fire)

Gun
-(225) Heavy Shot: Fusion (Light/Fire)
-(250) Detonator: Fusion (Light/Fire)

Spear
-(225) Wheeling Thrust: Fusion (Light/Fire)
-(240) Impulse Drive: Gravitation (Dark/Earth)

Great Axe
-(225) Full Break: Distortion (Ice/Water)
-(240) Steel Cyclone: Distortion (Ice/Water)

Scythe
-(225) Cross Reaper: Distortion (Ice/Water)
-(240) Spiral Hell: Distortoin (Ice/Water)

Staff
-(230) Retribution: Gravitation (Dark/Earth)

Katana
-(225) Blade: Ten: Gravitation (Dark/Earth)
-(250) Blade: Ku: Gravitation (Dark/Earth)

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A very nice, detailed Skillchain chart: http://ffvault.ign.com/screenshots/?ss=162

Another nice Skillchain chart:
http://ffvault.ign.com/screenshots/?ss=474

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If you have any questions, please post it on this thread, I will check it whenever I get the chance.

I will try to update this whenever it needs it.

Enjoy playing Samurai. ^^

--Nekojin
Gilgamesh


Edited, Wed Aug 4 20:59:23 2004 by Kyoujin

Edited, Wed Aug 4 21:10:17 2004 by Kyoujin

Edited, Wed Nov 3 16:26:09 2004 by Kyoujin

I had this bookmarked before the sticky, I'm glad it got stickied.

Wow this is a REALLY good post! Congrats on the sticky for it!

Finally!!!

Kyoujin, I know you didn't add any of the Mages as subjob cause they are absolutely worthless during party exp situations or BCNM fights, but.............. I'm now levelling RDM/BLM because I feel (I might be wrong...) that spells like Warp, Sneak, Invisible, Cure, Protect, Ethunder etc etc, might be actually usefull while questing or doing missions.
I feel I wasted enough Conquest points on Instant Wap scrolls durning quest and missions like Rank 5 for example....If I had BLM levelled I sureley would have subbed it. And not to talk about those trips to Norg and Rabao...I would have loved to have been able to cast Invisible and sneak instead of buying expensive Prism Poweder and Silent Oil.

This might be something to think about ....

True I said that samurai should focus on accuracy. But they should not entirely brush off strength. It may not be as important as dexterity, but it is still a factor in the skillchains quality. The more damage you do with the second weapon skill, the more damage the skillchain effect does. Anyways, you do make a good point, and I will change it around some.

WHM to 37 is something sadly, all Melee have to do eventually. The hardest HNMs in the game require melees to be able to put stoneskin up :/ It's not something I'm looking forward to, but I guess such is the game :)

To EnormousBaloth, it seems you have the same problem I do. I play an Elvaan, although I am going WAR main. I do plan on getting SAM to at least 37, though. As for you not hitting even with an high DEX (for that level), the game hates your slow, Elvaan arse. How do I know you are Elvaan? It hates mine, too. I think there is a latent ability on all gear in Vana'diel that makes +DEX not work for us.

That's the best I can offer.

Nice! You pretty much nailed that one! Im not a noob, but i hav a noob question...i dont know this solely cause i havnt gotten any higher than 30...so i guess u can call me a noob...

but my question is do u kno at what lvl the ws caps are met?
like at what lvl you attain the ws? thnx...

call me a noob, i dont care....

lol, so true...

Cool, now i know where to come when i need info on anything that has anything to do with sam...im glad i stumbled on this site^^

And now I'll just print this out... ^^

In a party without a Thief or a Ranger, yes, I pull the mobs.

Does meditate make up for this that much?

Yes. Meditate is what defines this job. Using it properly will allow you to do 2-~3 SC per fight. Depending on the party setup, you may also find yourself to be the puller or the TA partner. Most people will agree with you that pre 30 Sams are like warriors with a great katana.

Ack, sorry about that. Kind of new to posting in the forums, but I've browsed for a while. Great info! I really am intersted in the Samurai job, but with school starting again I don't know if I will be able to play NEARLY as much as I could during summer. My question is, is Samurai a really time consuming job? It seems they need expensive equip such as Kote, Emp Pin (do they really?), and Life Belt (if 60k is expensive >.<). I know this equipment isn't necessary per se, but if I really want to prosper as SAM I would probably want them, right?

Also, and this may and probably has been covered in other posts on this thread, does SAM have difficulty finding pts? I know you said in your first post that SAM really shines post 30, but I've been lvling THF 1-15 and if SAM is easier to get into a pt than THF at that lvl I will be greatful.

Thank you very much!

PS: Are you in Gilgamesh server? Maybe I could get some advice in-game as I am from Gilgamesh as well. Maybe I'll see you there!

Edited, Fri Aug 27 01:10:04 2004 by Firehearte

nothing compares to a Samurais ultimate TP trickery Meditate. hehe i love 20 per shot :)

hello i'm a sam on garuda lvl 55 i just wanted to give some helpful tips to those new samurai who have just hit lvl 30 or who pull alot in pt's. the information i give may already be known but i'd just like to post it incase it helps someone new to the job out.

1) whenever u recieve the job ability "meditate" try not doing it right after u finish a ws unless ur 2nd sc buddy is ready to go. instead wait till u have an even amount of tp (i.e. 40,60,80) then meditate and w/e u hit 100 use it. this is helpful in that the tp u gain from meditate after 100 + the tp gained from using the ws will carry over. so if u have just used a ws then wait till u hit the even number then med w/e it carrys over you'll have 53-55 (varies) tp. so you could possibly sc 3-4 times a fight.

2) to those samurai who are given the "pleasure" of pulling for ur party always use 3rd eye w/e u return to camp. this will usually save urself the initial hit and by that time ur tank will have taken the mob.

3) finally as i'm sure almost every sam knows about, as soon as u enter a new area or if your pt has had some mishaps (death, members leaving) use your meditate. if the downtime is more than 10 mins you'll have 300 tp to use at ur disposal.

chu *elvaan* (sam) garuda

i hope this information proves to be useful to those who didn't already know this.

I'm currently lvling whm and blm for tele to pay for my SAM so it has all great gear. Also I will be lvling my cooking skill once I have tele. I'm going to main as a Sam/thf since there are too many damn drks.

I'm Hume so I can pratically do any job with no probs on stats.

SAM is a fun job to lvl and I don't see why its not more appreciated.

"Naruripper"
46 DRK
30 DRG
30 RDM
31 WHM
25 SAM
15 WAR
12 THF
05 BLM
05 RNG

I play on the diabolos server if you see me say hi. :D

Bevan.... your gear is somewhat similar to mine... when I hit 43 I went with a Swordbelt (Atk +10) until I can get my Life Belt..

and as far as SC's go.. I can usually get about 3 off in a battle if I time it right.

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Bautista
Hume Male
45 Samurai
Rank 5 Sandorian
Phoenix Server

one advantage of sam/mnk that you didnt list was the counter ability, its nto thet bad an ability

Thank you ^^

Once I find out what Evisceration changed to, I'll update.

Galka dex = Taru dex.
Elvaan dex gets owned by everyone(I hate to say it but we all know it's true)
Acc>Dex
At lvls 50+ Accuracy gear is pretty much all your buying so having less Dex then another race as a melee job other then thf isn't gonna effect your hit rate THAT much.

I'm pretty sure I can still get rate ups. I think I'm only at 3.10. 5.00 is the rate for this particular post. Perhaps you have to rate me up on a different thread...dunno :/

im a samurai/ranger and once i get to 60 i am changing to samurai/thief..
but a samurai with barrage would be nice so i may switch back

Samurai have the best damage per second of the melee jobs and can be buffed up to be even better. A question thats asked a lot (I get /tells once in a while with someone asking me) What is the most important thing to give a Samurai? The answer is: accuracy. Accuracy ensures that you score a hit on your target. I've seen some Samurai that put all sorts of + to Str on themselves and my old saying (some of you have prolly heard it by now) "Whats the point in hitting very hard if you can't even hit it to begin with?" If you examine the equipment I wear, you can see that I balance out accuracy, Dex, Str and attack nicely. I seldom miss and I hit very hard. I'm sure someone is thinking "well, not everyone can afford stuff like that", but you don't even need to go as extreme as I have, what I use just adds to the flavor. Once I finally get my Optical Hat, I plan on replacing my Royal guard's collar with the old Spike Necklace so I won't lose that Dex that my hairpin gave me and one day (in my dreams) when I get a Peacock Charm, i'll replace my Life belt with Ocean Sash.

Just some incentive for those Samurai who are curious what type of equipment to buy to make themselves useful.

Note: Haubergeon is the best investment a Samurai can ever make (gil wise)

Man, I just got the SAM job and I love it. I do have one question. What would be a good sub for my sam?