Samurai | Elden Ring Wiki

Probably the best stat spread almost universally. Many Str weapons have 15+ dex reqs, many Dex weapons have 15+ str reqs. You'll level mind, end, vig eventually on any class. Almost every Faith or Int build I look at I will end up needing everything but the Arc and the other casting stat. I know that under specific builds that you can optimize a point here or there, but if you're using any kind of fun weapon you'll almost always have 12 str and 15 dex, especially if you're going to 1 hand. That's all before you include the katana and bow package

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I dont regret starting as samurai but I dont use samurai's armor and katana anymore, and changed appearence from asian to roman,
so having "samurai" in my class name menu is kinda annoying, I guess there is no way to change? I dont wanna start over wasted a lot for rune farming

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You want beat Grafted Scion without heals? Go for this class and Power Draw the scion to death.
Now you have the best early game weapon and still really good late.

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What’s awesome about this as a starting class on repeat runs is that it makes the early game FAST. Running around Limgrave putting together the early kit for a new build is so much fun and Samurai just makes it a breeze.

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I can't help but feel guilty when I pick this class.

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I have to confess I sometimes I pick this class despite how unmasculine it makes me look.

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What were they thinking creating a class that starts with my-all time favourite weapon in From soft games? RIP Undead merchant I won't forget you

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This class continues the tradition of Strong Power class in the Souls series. Basically, a starting class with clear advantages over other classes.

Demons Souls: Royalty. A ring that restores magic to allow spamming of Soul Arrow? Very powerful.

Dark Souls 1: Pyromancer. Pyromancy is very strong in this game and only needs you to upgrade the Pyro glove to increase power. The Hand Axe is actually a very strong starting weapon.

Dark Souls 2: Explorer. Dagger is a ok starting weapon, but with the Healing Wares starting gift, you will have an excessive number of items to start with. Replacement weapons can be found very early to compensate, and the high agility makes rolling easier to perform.

Dark Souls 3: Knight. Starts with excellent armor, a solid shield, and the Longsword which, in this game, is a powerful weapon class. Can easily carry you the entire game.

Elden Ring: Samurai. You get a Katana with Unsheath which is one of the most powerful Ash of War early on. Katana can also bleed which is strong in Elden Ring. Armor is solid for stats, and most importantly you a bow. Having a bow early game let's you hunt and cheese certain bosses very easily on Horseback.

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I'd recommend the Samurai as a starting class for one specific reason: it's the only class that gives you a weapon (the Uchigatana) that is not infinitely farmable, or has an infinitely farmable superior weapon (e.g. same moveset, but longer range, etc).

For Longsword/Broadsword there's the Lordsworn Straight Sword, the Halberd the Banished Knight Halberd, the Battle Axe the Warped Axe, the Estoc the Noble's Estoc (note that I haven't checked the movesets, if they have worse or notable different movesets, please correct me).

If you take Samurai, you'll get a maximum of 2 Uchigatanas and 1 Nagakiba (which is even longer).
This will let you have pretty much the same 3 weapons, but with different weapon arts at the same time. None of the other katanas (e.g. Moonveil, Rivers of Blood) allow you to customise them, even if they are otherwise good. You can use a different third weapon, but sometimes you don't swap back correctly and end up attacking with a different moveset than expected. Not a big deal, but happens.

So it's not that important, but it looks like the only class that has an effect on what you have access to through the entire game, whereas the others can all get their stuff/equivalent farmed. Although if you love the Broadsword and hate the katanas, obviously you'll get another going Confessor.
It's just that the Scimitar, Great Knife, Shortsword, Short Spear, Club, Shortbow, Longbow are all infinitely farmable and are kind of a wasted opportunity for an extra limited-quantity weapon.

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LMAO i start as Samurai and end up a Faith Knight, my bro start as Vagabond but end up cosplaying Zoro, what the heck is happening

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Best starting class for beginners

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I SENT THE FOOLISH SAMURAI THRU A PORTAL IN TIME WHERE MY EVIL IS LAWH

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Foolish samurai warrior

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I wish they'd add a tetsubo to the game (make it a great club!)

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Very good class bc of extra Uchi

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Sacred samurai: golden order with halo scythe
Soul samurai: moonveil with int, 9-15 fth for lite hex sorceries to justify the 8 fth
Sangre samurai: rivers of blood or eleonora's poleblade
Psychic samurai: regalia of eochaid

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He's literally me after playing any game set in Japan

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tbh in my fist play threw i chose this and it was fun

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the fastest way to dual wield katanas

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going with it heavy armor with better shield endurance

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Why does everyone make fun of this class and call it the weeb class are weebs really that hated in this community?

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First play through I ever did I used samurai still what I use 63 runs later

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As of 1.09. The Uchigatanas Unsheath AoW is still super OP.

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Best class because of low build-specific stats. If you are not running magic only, this is your wretch, but better. Every build is possible with only 1-2 wasted stats at most.

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If you don't mind the boring moveset, the Partisan is a near perfect match to the Land of Reeds set. The gold on the Partisan's handle is a bit brighter, but the overall appearance and the nice lacquered handle lend themselves well to this class's Elden Bling set-up.

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Best starting class, IMO. We have:
- An excellent starting weapon with a very good move set: slashes, stabs, overhead stance breaking AoW
- You can get a second Uchi very early, very easily, which lets you power stance them for zero cost and awesome PvE potential
- The Longbow is great for making the most out of early fights, letting you pull aggro, with good damage
- Great DEX oriented starting stats
- Cool armor
What more do you need? PvP potential? Everyone knows how to fight katanas already, so that epic PvP montage will have to wait.

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Do note that if you’re two handing your uchi most of the time and NOT spamming Unsheathe, then it’s more efficient to invest in Strength (and Heavy-infuse your uchi) rather than Dex. I’ll be doing this for my next character which is a Strength Samurai with a Quickstep Uchi and Kick Caestus (aka Karate lol). Caestus and Uchi are two extremely fun weapons that also have complementary damage types and (with Spiked Caestus) shared access to bleed. It all should make for a strong enough (and again, fun) build without having to crutch on unsheathe. Using Quickstep for style points, it’s cooler than rolling and the Uchi is one of the subset of weapons that had a crouch/roll/quickstep attack animation that’s designed to look fluid after a quickstep not after a crouch or roll.

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Poison Samurai Build Guide should be included under Samurai Builds

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The Samurai class will make no foot step noise or alert enemies when running, as long as it is double handing ANY weapon.

Credit: BrockstarHeart

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this class is like the Vagabond of Dexterity builds, everything about it is just as good, but its focused on Dex instead of Str.

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The armor lore talks about the Land of Reeds being taken over by a "blood-soaked madness". It sounds like a cool location for a DLC.

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I started as a samurai and named my charater Zatoichi.

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This is the best class for cheesing the Grafted Scion in the beginning. Pick good distances to use mighty shot with flame arrows and it'll do some mean damage to him. Plus when you do beat him you can use the ornamental swords without any levelling up required (even though they're kind of mediocre).

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SOME DAYS, SOME NIGHTS
SOME LIVE, SOME DIE
IN THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI
SOME FIGHT, SOME BLEED
SUN UP TO SUN DOWN
THE SONS OF A BATTLECRY

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Don't even care if this is "OP" or whatever, it's just plain FUN in a way none of the other classes quite get

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Wake the **** up, Samurai.

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if you are looking for a dex arc class Hero has better stat distribution.

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The Samurai is the Bandit class but with better stats, better blade, better bow, better armor, better reach, better range, and better bleed. I would say better shield, but the Samurai doesn't need one. Oh, and you can get a second Uchi right away, or the wakizashi with a little effort. Bandit class is a less difficult Wretch class.

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Wake the **** up samurai, we have a erdtree to burn.

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In an attempt to prove how unfairly powerful the Samurai starting weapon (Uchigatana) is, I set out on a miserable journey power-stancing two of these and getting as far as I could possibly get without upgrading them. Before it began, I said goodbye to my loved ones and made way through Limgrave, Stormveil Castle, Ruin-Strewn Precipice, Raya Lucaria Academy, Altus Plateau, Mt. Gelmir, those dunes where you fight Radahn, and Leyndell, Royal Capital. However my mental state, (of which was was extremely fragile at the time) after being pressed and pushed to it’s limit far enough, B r o k e… I was in Farum Azula, with my finesse beginning to fail me with how strong the enemies were. I kept getting useless Curved Greatswords that did up to 600 AR, Beating the Godskin Duo was a feat obviously, but then I remembered Maliketh/Beast Clergyman, that boss that likes social distancing had been a “progress roadblock” of which I could never have survived, even with the bleed buildup I did. I suffering beyond the point of madness, to the point where madness would’ve been a blessing at the time… And that is when my mission ended. If someone managed to out last me and beat the whole like me, I would love to know…

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Beta: use this class because of overpowered sword that can easily destroy every boss. Chad: use this class because of sekiro and anime

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One of the two best starting classes for melee builds.

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Competes with Bandit as best Arcane starting class.

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Possibly came from the dissolved ashina kingdom in sekiro. Prolly not tho

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Easy mode: Activated

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Does anyone know if theirs any other armor sets that look remotely samuraiish?

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hey you have the level labeled as soul lvl instead of rune lvl. Small typo i know but i thought i should point it out

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Samurai is broken af. I only used Uchigatana throughout the game. You don't even need a bleed effect, just make it Keen and whatever ashes of war you put in.

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Samurai along with uchigatana can end the game easily. No need to use too many bombastic builds on the internet

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Land of Reeds? More like Land of Weebs.

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visions of bleed builds....

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i am farming the balls is it a smart to build my stats

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is there any explanation in the lore as to why there are samurai in the lands between?

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The vagabound but dex and attack flavored.

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I'm Japanese, and this looks like a very well made modeling. This is probably the armor of a samurai of not so high rank.
The ropes hanging from the back of samurai armor are called "agemaki," which are used to hold the shoulder armor in place.

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Who needs better stats armor when you can go Fashion Souls lvl 9999 with this drip

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Very good vids and evrything like that

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Why only mid games build????????

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There's a saying I like: "One sword keeps another in the sheath." Sometimes, the threat of violence alone is a deterrent. Sometimes, by taking a life, others can be preserved. It's the code the samurai lived by...

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Rushing to fort Faroth for the Radagon Soreseal allows you to use the Naginata without leveling up. You'll take more damage but ehh

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Sekiro meets Ghost of Tsushima in Dark Souls let's gooo

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This class starts with some very strong equipment, especially the Uchigatana.

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I started as a warrior but could still turn myself into a samurai with the armor and weapons since the stats are similar

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could i be a samurai and still use the grafted bladesword?

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Unsheathing against charging foes is a very nice sensation...

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This is actually the most optimal class to use if you want to be a pure Quality build (40/40 Str Dex or whatever the soft cap for this game is)

Vagabond is also a good choice being only level more.

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Luckily the 15 DEX isn't wasted, since Golem's Halberd requires 14 DEX to wield!

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Thoughts on Samurai with Magic build? Like DEX+FAI or DEX+INT?

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weebrai is such great starting class.

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Samurai, and Vagabond, are the 2 most versatile classes. There is almost no "going wrong" when you choose this class, you can make most builds work with great optimization, except heavy Str based builds that use almost no Dex.

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How do you use the unsheathe attack on enimies with the Uchigatana. What is the button combo?

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How to you use the unsheathe attack on the Uchigatana

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I will start as this guy, but then spec everything into strenght and get a Big Hammer!!!

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I think I have to start with this class because my last name is Reed and this class is from the land of reeds.

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I wonder if the Uchi will be near the beginning of the game like in the previous titles. I like doing my first run of each game maining the Uchi, but I wanna pick Wretch, not Samurai, so I hope the in-world location follows the usual trend

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Comparing physical classes where "Relevant" stats are Vigor, Endurance, Strength, and Dexterity:
Relevant stat totals: Hero = 51 | Vagabond = 53 | Samurai = 52
Hero starts at level 7 where Vagabond and Samurai start at level 9, so Hero's 51 is effectively 53 at level 9.

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dont mind if i yes

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I’m getting this class for its high starting stamina.

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Uchigatana and Longbow a starting class??? Anyway im gettin dat

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Weebs all over the shop. You will become one of them, sooner of later

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more like shiva the deceased

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froci

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How the hell is this a starting class

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Bro looks awesome. Sadly I think I gotta go with wrench for first play through ( for a working bottom to top), but that armor would look sick on horseback. I can’t wait for this game

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Finally proper Japanese styled armor

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Tyrannicon's aka Throthgar's starting class. Let the rage begin!

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Tyrannicon aka Throthgar’s starting class.

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Going to use this and swap the Uchigatana for a spear and stay on my horse to be Gyoubu Masataka Oniwa lmao

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Finally some actual samurai armor in a fromsoft game.

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Bow builds rise up!!!

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Ah yes, the armor of The Deceased.

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Dexy Vagabond.

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Genichiro cosplay let's gooo!!!

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Good class to use in June I think.

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add micheal afton

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This is definitely going to be my starting class, beat dark souls 1 and 2 with no shield 2-handing uchigatana

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Ok, sure.

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