Samurai (Final Fantasy XI)

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See also: Samurai.

In Final Fantasy XI, Samurai appear as one of the advanced jobs available to players who have reached level 30. The quest involved in becoming a samurai starts in the pirate city, Norg (. Ultimately, characters must travel to The Sanctuary of Zi'Tah to fight a tyrant, and then return to Norg to claim their prize - a Katana. Gilgamesh also appears and gives the player the right to level up as a samurai.

Samurai in Final Fantasy XI are significantly different than their previous incarnations. They are described as demon killers and they have abilities like Warding Circle that help raise party members resistances to demons.

The real advantages of the Samurai, though, are his weapon, the Great Katana, his Store TP ability that allows him to accumulate TP faster than other melee classes, and his Meditate ability, which will almost instantly give him 100% TP. TP in Final Fantasy XI is used to do Weapon skills. When weapon skills are done in a particular order, they will form a Skillchain and cause massive damage. Great Katanas are also notable in the game as being easy to make skillchains with, so the samurai can be a major force multiplier and a party player.

Contents 1 Becoming a Samurai 2 Samurai Abilities 2.1 Job Abilities 2.2 Job Traits 2.3 Combat Skill Ratings 3 Samurai in Final Fantasy XI 3.1 Changing Role of Samurai 3.2 Strengths 3.3 Weaknesses 4 Subjobs 4.1 Warrior 4.2 Thief 4.3 Ranger 4.4 Ninja

[edit] Becoming a Samurai

[edit] Samurai Abilities

[edit] Job Abilities Level  Name 01  Meikyo Shisui 05  Warding Circle 15  Third Eye 25  Hasso 30  Meditate 35  Seigan Merit  Blade Bash Merit  Shikikoyo

[edit] Job Traits Level  Name 05  Resist Blind 10  Store TP 20  Zanshin 25  Resist Blind II 30  Store TP II 40  Demon Killer 45  Resist Blind III 50  Store TP III 65  Resist Blind IV 70  Store TP IV Merit  Ikishoten Merit  Overwhelm

[edit] Combat Skill Ratings

Skill	Skill Ranking	Cap at Level 1	Cap at Level 37	Cap at Level 75
Great Katana	A+	6	114	276
Polearm	B-	5	109	240
Sword	C+	5	105	230
Club	E	4	94	200
Dagger	E	4	94	200
Archery	C+	5	105	230
Throwing	C+	5	105	230
Parrying	A-	6	114	269
Evasion	B+	5	109	256

[edit] Samurai in Final Fantasy XI

[edit] Changing Role of Samurai

Originally it is thought that Square-Enix designed Samurai to be a tank who avoided damage primarily by use of parries. Parrying in Final Fantasy XI does negate all damage, but the skill is extremely hard to get to a high enough level to make this a viable option. Evidence of this theory is obvious in many of the samurai specific armors, which have abilities and statistics that would benefit most a tank. Samurai are now used almost exclusively as damage dealers in the game.

[edit] Strengths

• Samurai are ideal for many First Provoke situations with Seigan and Third Eye.
• Samurai do decent direct damage when equipped properly.
• Original statistics that make Samurai a parrying tank still exist, should a player have the opportunity to actually level their parrying skill that high.

[edit] Weaknesses

• Samurai are very gear dependent, and the gear that makes them good at direct damage is generally expensive.
• Samurai are not as sought out as Warriors or Ninjas.

[edit] Subjobs

[edit] Warrior

Warrior is one of the most common subjobs for all Samurai. This is due to high physical statistics, notably strength, and other abilities like Berserk and Double Attack that add significantly to damage over time. The majority of samurai will probably pick warrior as a subjob up to level 60. Beyond level 60, there are still many SAM/WARs due to other abilities, like Warcry but there are other subjobs that become more competitive at that point.

[edit] Thief

Thief is a common subjob after level 60 particularly because of the combination of Sneak Attack and Trick Attack. This subjob will have significantly lower damage over time because of reduced strength and lack of attack boosting abilities; however, weapon skills will be enhanced when used with sneak attack/trick attack helping the thief to become a good spike damage dealer.

[edit] Ranger

Ranger offers a very different playing experience for Samurai and the subjob can be beneficial in many ways. First, Rangers gain an accuracy bonus which will help the Samurai hit more often both with ranged and melee attacks. Also, Samurai have the second best ranged characteristics among bow users so they are capable of doing decent damage just as a ranged combatant. With the Samurai's Store TP ability, high delay bows can allow a samurai to do a weaponskill after an amazingly low 5 successful hits. Barrage also helps the samurai gain TP quickly by allowing them to land multiple hits simultaneously. Couple this with Meditate and ranged samurai can really pour on weapon skills. The only disadvantage to this otherwise high damage-over-time setup is that it is more costly in terms of gil.

[edit] Ninja

Ninja is sometimes used by Samurai at high level for no other reason than so that they do not have to be healed so often after doing high damage weapon skills. Ninja can also aid the soloing ability of a Samurai. With the combination of Utsusemi: Ichi, Ni, and Seigan, a Samurai can avoid damage for a very long time while still dealing out a decent amount. For some Notorious Monsters, as well as for BCNMs such as those with the avatars, Samurai/Ninja can hold its own with the more traditional tank jobs. It can be considered the spiritual successor to the "Parry" tank that Samurai was once designed to be.

v · e · dFinal Fantasy XI Jobs
Basic Jobs
Warrior - Monk - Thief - White Mage - Black Mage - Red Mage
Original Advanced Jobs
Beastmaster - Bard - Paladin - Dark Knight - Summoner - Ranger
Rise of the Zilart Jobs
Ninja - Samurai - Dragoon
Treasures of Aht Urhgan Jobs
Blue Mage - Corsair - Puppetmaster
Wings of the Goddess Jobs
Dancer - Scholar