The Samurai is the melee tank of the class in Ghost of Tsushima: Legends. Most of his abilities enhance his ability to perform well in melee encounters.
Although the Samurai can be the most basic of all 4 classes in the beginning, he can be complex at higher levels due to his build diversity.
Why Would You Want to Play Samurai in Ghost of Tsushima Legends?
Melee Fighting is Your Thing
Players who play the “tank” or “warrior” classes will feel right at home with the Samurai. Players who choose the Samurai will be given abilities and perks to help them fight in the middle of the fray.
Samurai Techniques
The Samurai’s techniques enhance his ability to fight in close range whether it is to survive longer or deal more melee damage.
Ultimate
Hachiman’s Fury
Perform a series of lightning-fast strikes against a group of enemies
L1 + R1 to activate
Costs 3 Resolve
The Samurai will dash towards an enemy and perform 3 high-damage strikes. If the enemy dies, he will automatically dash towards the next nearest enemy. Players can also choose their dash direction by tilting the left stick. Hachiman’s Fury damage can be increased on items with increased Melee Damage and Ultimate Damage.
Class Ability
Spirit Pull
While active, your Spirit Pull passively siphons health from a nearby enemy
Base cooldown: 36 seconds
Unlocked at Rank 1
A great beginning ability that helps keep the player alive, especially if there are no other healing items equipped. While active, Spirit Pull will do slight damage to all nearby enemies and return the damage as health.
Explosive Blade
Melee attacks deal damaging explosions on impact
Base cooldown: 36 seconds
Unlocked at Rank 10
A more offensive ability that does more damage and interrupts blocking or parrying enemies.
Raging Flame
Heavy attacks with this burning blade can also ignite nearby enemies
Base cooldown: 50 seconds
Unlocked after 5 Mastery Activations
Raging Flame does exceptional fire damage to all nearby enemies when using heavy attacks. The water stance and moon stance (with attack cancelling) heavy attack series help spread Raging Flame quicker than other stances.
Perk 1
Press Down on the D-Pad to activate the Samurai class ability
Spirit Pull
While active, your Spirit Pull passively siphons health from a nearby enemy
Base Cooldown: 36 seconds
Unlocked at Rank 1
A great first ability for Samurai players. Players who need frequent healing will get extra use out of it due to its low cooldown. The Spirit Pull also does a slight amount of damage and can kill enemies at low health.
Explosive Blade
Melee attacks deal damaging explosions on impact
Base Cooldown: 36 seconds
Unlocked at Rank 10
Deals extra instant damage on hit. Perfect for finishing off enemies quickly.
Raging Flame
Heavy attacks with this burning blade can also ignite nearby enemies.
Base cooldown: 50 seconds
Unlocked after 5 Master Challenge Activations
A must-have for Samurai players who run fire builds. Raging Flame works best when the player is surrounded by multiple enemies. It also leaves a trail of fire when used with Hachiman’s Fury.
Perk 2
Lightning Reflexes
Parry incoming arrows while blocking
Unlocked at Rank 3
Another nice-to-start-with perk choice for beginning players. However, as players play against more archers, dodging arrows will be an easy task, even against Oni Archers.
Critical Defense
Increased parry and dodge window when at low health
Unlocked at Rank 9
Overall, not a useful perk. Critical Defense works best for beginning players when at low health and but can still be mistimed. For higher-level players, it won’t increase damage per second.
Resolve Increase
Increase max Resolve by 1
Unlocked at Rank 16
Resolve Increase will be used by most Samurai players in Ghost of Tsushima Legends. The extra resolve space will help prevent wasting resolve between Hachiman’s Fury.
Healing Strike
Killing an enemy with a Perfect Parry counterattack restores 50 health
Unlocked at 2 Master Challenge Activations
Healing Strike is a niche ability useful for Perfect Parry builds. Players will want to use items that counterattack damage or perfect parry window. Also, the legendary katana, Wrath of Sarugami, turns the counterattack into a 3 attack chain.
Perk 3
Heavenly Strike
Perform an unblockable quick strike
Press Circle + Triangle to activate
Costs 1 Resolve
Unlocked at Rank 5
Heavenly Strike is a high-damage lunge ability that interrupts enemies, even Oni. It can also hit multiple enemies if they are lined up.
Hachiman’s Frenzy
Hachiman’s Fury gains 2 extra strikes
Unlocked at Rank 11
Increases Hachiman’s Fury from 3 to 5 strikes. Although it is a basic change, most players will choose it for its overall increase in damage.
Legendary
Increases the number of Legendary items you can equip by 1
Unlocked at Rank 18
Most Samurai builds will be better using a different Perk 3 and using the Perk 1 Legendary. It can also be used if a player has a build that requires 3 legendary items.
Hachiman’s Rage
Hachiman’s Fury does 2 strikes for 300% damage each
Unlocked at 3 Master Challenge Activations
Hachiman’s Rage is best used almost exclusively against Oni since they have more health. Also, Hachiman’s Rage can do more overall than Hachiman’s Frenzy but most of that extra damage will be wasted if used on low-health enemies. Overall, most players should choose Hachiman’s Frenzy over Hachiman’s Rage.