Samurai

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, but can be of either gender.

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 ya 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 non-artifact weapon. However, in the early game it is important to build up skill in individual weapons, which cannot be done while using two weapons.

Of course, the samurai becomes even more powerful with an artifact weapon. Early options include Snickersnee, a buffed-up katana that you can get by sacrificing to your God; or better yet Excalibur, an artifact weapon that can be created by dipping a long sword into a fountain. Do this after you have attained experience level 5, but preferably 7. Once you have a decent artifact weapon and expert skill in long sword, slide your original katana over to the secondary hand in two-weapon combat, and it will continue to add its damage to your attacks.

Don't use the wakizashi for two-weapon combat because it's a short sword; a type of sword inferior to all other swords in inflicting damage. Find a long sword, which will share the skills you gained with the katana. Otherwise, saber or scimitar advanced to skilled level both beat the long sword. A crysknife is also good, but not worth the effort it takes to make one. Bear in mind that you should avoid advancing any weapon class other than the long sword past basic level if you can, as you may eventually want those slots for two-weapon, riding and/or spells.

The yumi is a good long distance ranged weapon, especially since it can shoot 2 ya in a single turn. It will aid you in situations where melee combat may prove fatal -- fighting floating eyes and cockatrices for example. 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 for the Samurai 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 Muramasa.

If you have some wishes to burn, consider the Magic Mirror of Merlin, or 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.

Quest

Main article: Samurai quest The Samurai quest item is the Tsurugi of Muramasa, a powerful two-handed katana with the ability to bisect enemies (i. e. kill them outright) 5% of the time, much like the Vorpal Blade. Therefore it is not a good idea to engage your nemesis in honourable melee combat, since he might bisect you. It's better to zap him with a wand of death. If you don't have one, zap him with a wand of sleep or hurl a potion of paralysis at him before attacking so that he can't fight back.

The Tsurugi is an excellent weapon in the mid-game (i. e. from the Quest to Gehennom), but becomes weaker in the end-game because it doesn't deal double damage like some other artifact weapons. (Frost Brand, Fire Brand, Grayswandir and the Staff of Aesculapius.) Once you have enough scrolls to enchant your primary weapon up to +7. you'll want to make the Tsurugi your back up. But until then, happy bisecting!

Canonical Lists and Data

Japanese item names

Since the samurai are Japanese, some of the game items use Japanese names in place of their regular English names when playing as a Samurai. The following is a list of those items with their Japanese names:

English	Japanese
short sword	wakizashi
broadsword	ninja-to
flail	nunchaku
glaive	naginata
lock pick	osaku
wooden harp	koto
knife	shito
plate mail	tanko
helmet	kabuto
leather gloves	yugake
food ration	gunyoki
potion of booze	potion of sake

There are also some regular items that are uniquely Japanese. Once identified, these are described using their Japanese name, regardless of which role you are playing. These items are the following:

• ya ("bamboo arrow")
• yumi ("long bow")
• katana ("samurai sword")
• tsurugi ("long samurai sword")
• shuriken ("throwing star")

Skills

Samurai skills
Max	Skills
Basic	Weapons: dagger, scimitar, saber, quarterstaff Spells: attack, divination
Skilled	Weapons: knife, broadsword, flail, polearms, spear, lance Combat: riding Spells: clerical
Expert	Weapons: short sword, long sword, two-handed sword, bow, shuriken Combat: two weapon combat
Master	Combat: martial arts