NetHackWiki:Sandbox

The samurai are Japanese warriors who adhere to the discipline of bushido (honor) and fight their enemies using ancient martial arts. Therefore they start out lawful and human, and can be of either gender, male or female. Since the samurai are Japanese, some of the game items use Japanese names. The following is a list of those items with their Japanese names:

English	Japanese
bamboo arrow	ya
booze	sake
broadsword	ninja-to
flail	nunchaku
food ration	gunyoki
glaive	naginata
knife	shito
lock pick	osaku
long bow	yumi
long sword	katana
long samurai sword	[[wikipedia:tsurugi|tsurugi]]
short sword	wakizashi
throwing star	shuriken
wooden harp	koto

Equipment, Abilities, and Limitations

The Samurai is one of the strongest roles in the early game, and thus an excellent choice for beginners. They start the game extremely well armed with a +0 katana, a +0 wakizashi, a yumi, 26 to 45 ya, a +0 splint mail, and a blindfold (20% of the time). They gain the warrior type intrinsics of speed (at level 1), and stealth (at level 15), and can reach expert level in short sword, long sword, two-handed sword, bow (yumi), and throwing star (shuriken).

Game strategy

The samurai strategy is very simple. If it moves, stab it. The samurai are also good ranged warriors, receiving a bonus to hit and damage when shooting yas from a yumi. Samurai aren't good at spell casting. However, the katana and splint mail they start with makes the first few levels a breeze.

As far as weapons go, the samurai should not bother with any sword other than a long sword. The katana they start with is the finest one-handed non-artifact weapon in the game. Since the samurai can reach expert level in two-weapon combat they are better off swinging two long swords/katana than one of any larger weapon.

The katana is the best secondary weapon, because there are far better primary swords out there; a good one being Excalibur. Excalibur can be produced by dipping a long sword into a fountain after experience level 5 or preferably level 7. The chances of getting the sword are 1/6, so you need to keep trying. To avoid bad fountain things happening, drop all uncursed items first, as well as your gold. Excalibur will give you searching while you wield it.

When starting out with two-weapon combat don't use the wakizashi. It's a short sword and is completely worthless. Find a long sword, which will share the skills you gained with the katana. Otherwise, a bardiche, halberd, or even a spetum is a good secondary weapon. Crysknifes are also good, but not worth the effort in creating them. Advance to basic level in polearms if you have to, but no more.

The yumi is the best long distance damage weapon available, and is worth using regularly, especially since it can shoot 2 ya in a single turn. However, veteran players recommend that the bow skill should only be advanced to skilled level, not expert level. This is so you can save expert level slots for later.

In the long term, the best artifact weapon is the Frost Brand. The most damaging all-purpose melee attack in the game comes from a samurai double wielding a +7 Frost Brand and a +7 katana. This assumes 18/** STR and expert level in both two-weapon combat and long sword. Next comes the Fire Brand, then Grayswandir, and then the Tsurugi of Murasama.

By experience level 16, you should have enough slots to advance the yumi, the katana, and two-handed swords all to expert level. The only question is which of these to advance first. The answer depends on whether you find a long sword or a two-handed sword first.

Other game objects to consider are the Magic Mirror of Merlin, and the Mitre of Holiness. Samurai don't have the magic resistance intrinsic, so any artifact that provides it is worth having. In the non-artifact category, gray (or possibly silver) dragon scale mail is a must-have, as is a good pair of fireproof speed boots.

Role specific Quests

The greatest thing about being a Samurai is the quest. You'll get the Tsurugi of Muramasa, a powerful two-handed katana with the ability to kill your enemies outright. It does damage on a comparable level to Mjollnir, and also gives a 10% chance per hit of instant death by bisecting like the Vorpal Blade. Hold onto this weapon! Do not bother wishing for Mjollnir, even if you have tons of experience and loads of luck to cancel out your lack of ability. It is intelligent, and normally a different alignment, so it will periodically blast you with its power.