Samurai

Overview

Elite swordsmen trained to fight enemy civilization-specific units.

Availability and investment

Samurai becomes available in Castle Age. Its listed production context is Japanese. The listed cost is 30 Gold and the training time is 9 seconds. This tells you when it can first join an army and which resources must be reserved alongside Villager production, upgrades, and other military lines.

Combat profile

The available combat values are included here so the numbers can be read as a profile rather than an isolated list. Hit points and armor describe how long the unit can remain exposed; attack and any bonus damage describe what it threatens; range, reload, accuracy, and movement describe how reliably it can engage or disengage. A value shown for a whole upgrade line applies to the listed stages as recorded, so compare the stage names instead of treating the line as one base unit.

• Hit points: 70
• Melee armor: 1
• Pierce armor: 1
• Line of sight: 6
• Reload time: 1.43 seconds
• Movement speed: 1

Field use

Use the listed role, range, movement, and class bonuses to choose a favorable fight; the same unit can be valuable as a screen or specialist even when it is not the army’s main damage source.

Armor classes and counters

Armor-class bonuses are separate from base attack and the target’s melee or pierce armor. The class list below shows the unit’s documented combat categories and bonus-damage relationships; use it to judge matchups instead of relying on the unit label alone.

• Armor class: Infantry
• Armor class: Unique unit
• Samurai deals +2 bonus damage to units in the Shock infantry class
• Samurai deals +10 bonus damage to units in the Unique unit class
• Samurai deals +2 bonus damage to units in the Standard building class

Related unit plan: Samurai unique-unit interception

Samurai are most valuable when the opponent relies on powerful unique units. Their specialist bonus lets them challenge those units more efficiently than a generic infantry line Scout for a Castle or unique-unit production, then keep Samurai near the frontline that will meet the enemy’s signature unit. Use them to intercept that target while ranged support and siege handle other parts of the army If the opponent is not fielding unique units, a more general infantry choice may give better value. Avoid sending Samurai into ranged fire or heavy cavalry without support