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This article is about the unit in Age of Empires II. For other uses, see Samurai.

Japanese unique infantry unit with fast attack.
Age of Empires II description

The Samurai is the unique unit of the Japanese in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings. It is a fast-attacking infantry unit with an attack bonus against other unique units.

Samurai can be upgraded to Elite Samurai in the Imperial Age.

Tactics[]

Samurai should be used to seek out the strongest late-game enemies, as they possess an attack bonus against other unique units. At first glance, the Samurai appears to be similar in combat to its equivalent swordsman from the Barracks, (the Long Swordsman in the Castle Age, and the Champion in the Imperial Age). The standard Samurai has +1 damage over the Long Swordsman as well as a faster attack rate. The Elite Samurai, on the other hand, deals -1 damage for its faster attack rate, which results in the Champion beating the Samurai regardless of upgrades. The Japanese bonus to infantry attack speed makes them better in combat than swordsmen from most other civilizations.

The Samurai already innately has a faster attack rate than most infantry but combined with the Japanese civilization bonus of 33% faster attack speed gives them a lightning fast attack. Due to their attack bonus against unique units (10 for regular, 12 for Elite), the Samurai fares better in the late-game, when unique units play a bigger role in combat. This attack bonus makes it cost effective even against anti-infantry unique units such as the Cataphract and the Jaguar Warrior (though they are only cost efficient if they can outnumber the former). However, they are not cost effective against the Slinger due to the latter's range. As with most sword-wielding infantry, they struggle against the Knight line, Scorpions, and archers.

Samurai perform well when paired with Pikemen (who also receive the Japanese infantry attack bonus) to answer cavalry, but against archers they need ranged support. They should be supported by the strong Japanese archers, Skirmishers, or Scorpions when dealing with an archer-using opponent.

Unique upgrades (due to being upgrades of common units), unique buildings, and Camel Scouts do not take bonus damage from the Samurai.

Further statistics[]

As Samurai are unique to the Japanese, only technologies that are available to them are shown in the following table:

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs. Buildings, Eagle Warriors, Pikemen, Skirmishers, light cavalry, melee unique units
Weak vs. Archers, Scorpions, Hand Cannoneers, Paladins, Battle Elephants, Legionaries
Upgrades
Attack Forging aoe2de Forging (+1)
IronCastingDE Iron Casting (+1)
BlastFurnaceDE Blast Furnace (+2)
ArsonDE Arson (+2 attack against standard buildings)
Armor ScaleMailArmorDE Scale Mail Armor (+1/+1)
ChainMailArmorDE Chain Mail Armor (+1/+1)
PlateMailArmorDE Plate Mail Armor (+1/+2)
Speed SquiresDE Squires (+10%)
Conversion defense Devotion icon AoE2DE Devotion (+1 min, +1 max)
FaithDE Faith (+4 min, +4 max)
Creation speed ConscriptionDE Conscription (+33%)
UniqueTechCastle-DE Kasbah (+25%, with a Berber ally only)
Regeneration UniqueTechCastle-DE Stronghold (30 HP/min when within 18 tiles square of a team Celts Castle)
Upgrades EliteUniqueUnitDE Elite Samurai

Civilization bonuses[]

Team bonuses[]

Changelog[]

AoE2-DLCicon-0 The Age of Kings[]

  • Samurai train in 16 seconds.
  • Samurai have 0 pierce armor, a Rate of Fire of 2, and move at a speed of 0.9.
  • Samurai have an attack bonus of +5 (+6 for Elite) against unique units.
  • Non-Elite Samurai have 60 hit points and 8 attack.
  • The Elite Samurai upgrade costs 950 food, 875 gold.
  • (Elite) Samurai cost 60 food, 30 gold.

AoE2-DLCicon-1 The Conquerors[]

  • Samurai train in 9 seconds.
  • Samurai have 1 pierce armor, a Rate of Fire of 1.9, and move at a speed of 1.
  • Samurai have an attack bonus of +10 (+12 for Elite) against unique units.

AoE2-DLCicon-3 The African Kingdoms[]

AoEIIDE icon Definitive Edition[]

Dawn of the Dukes icon Dawn of the Dukes[]

  • With update 56005, non-Elite Samurai have 70 hit points and 10 attack, and the Elite Samurai upgrade costs 750 food, 650 gold.

AoE2Icon-DynastiesIndia Dynasties of India[]

Heroes[]

There are three heroes in the game with the appearance of a Samurai:

History[]

When knights were coming into dominance as lords and warriors in Europe, a similar social and military change was taking place simultaneously in Japan. A weak central government and a scramble for control of land gave rise in Japan to a local military ruling class called the samurai. These men of noble birth trained continuously in the military acts, as well as various cultural arts, They put great emphasis on honor and tradition, as did European knights with the code of chivalry. Samurai fought with a variety of weapons, including the bow and their unique curved swords made of the strongest steel. They sought out high-ranking enemies on the battlefield for personal duels and were trained to seek death in battle to increase their aggression and avoid hesitancy.
  • Early samurai (Japanese: 侍, lit. "servant"), from the Late Heian & early Kamakura, were usually mounted and used bows as their main weapons - in other words, those samurai were closer to Cavalry Archers (but unlike Mongolian counterparts, they never formed a large group) rather than the infantry units. They used to call their art of war kyūba no michi "the way of archery and horsemanship." When they fought, they first fired arrows at the opponent; when they had no more arrows, then they dismounted and used swords to determine who is the winner. However, as the number of samurai increased and their average wealth declined as time went (during the medieval era, a samurai's property was equally distributed among his sons); more and more samurai could not afford to learn mounted archery since it was too expensive. Moreover, war tactics changed: originally, Japanese warriors fought in small numbers, but by Sengoku era, wars involving large numbers of troops (mainly infantry) became dominant. In this new warfare, mounted archery became wildly impractical as the cost of training one mounted archer equaled the cost of training several arquebusiers - leaving aside the high cost of lost horses and the comparative inferiority of the bow at penetrating armor. In the end, the image of samurai changed to the familiar, sword-wielding warriors.
  • The bit above "(...) and were trained to seek death in battle to increase their aggression and avoid hesitancy" appears to be based on the writings of Yamamoto Tsunetomo in Hagakure, especifically "The Way of the Samurai is found in death. When it comes to either/or, there is only the quick choice of death. It is not particularly difficult. Be determined and advance. To say that dying without reaching one's aim is to die a dog's death is the frivolous way of sophisticates".
  • Although Tsunetomo was himself a samurai, he lived in peacetime, being born half a century after the end of the Sengoku Jidai, and what was written in Hagakure only reflect his personal view, not the majority of samurai nor the rest of Japan society. For example, Tsunetomo defended Junshi practice (and almost attempted it on himself), while the majority of Japan upper classes criticized and banned it.

Trivia[]

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  • When the Samurai is out of hit points, one of his death animations shows him stabbing himself with his sword, then dropping to the ground. This was their means of ritual suicide, known as seppuku, ('belly-cutting') or, more informally, hara-kiri.
  • The Samurai is the only unit that has an attack bonus against other unique units. However, this bonus is not applied to the Imperial Skirmisher, Imperial Camel Rider, Houfnice, Winged Hussar and Legionary, as they are unique upgrades for generic units.
  • With Rate of Fire of 1.43 seconds per strike, the Samurai is tied with a Condottiero trained by the Japanese for the fastest attacking infantry unit in the game.
  • The Samurai was originally meant to have both melee and ranged attacks, before developers ultimately removed their ranged attack due to being too unfriendly and cumbersome to use. The risk of quickly ordering a Samurai to attack a Ram in a melee attack, attend to other things and check back to see the Samurai accidentally having been ordered to attack with a Bow instead of his sword was deemed too much.
  • In real life, medieval samurai were essentially cavalry archers (see the history section). As explained above, the developers tried to capture these characteristics but couldn't make it work properly.
  • The in-game Samurai trains faster than the sword- and spear-line infantry for gameplay considerations.
    • Historically, samurai were not that ubiquitous; as Japanese armies consisted mainly of foot-soldiers recruited from commoners (Ashigaru, as they'd be known since the 14th century).
  • The samurai models (both in the original and the Definitive Edition) wear their weapons cutting-edge-down, suggesting that the weapons are tachi. This is historically accurate for early as well as later samurai, as the tachi preceded the katana, which is shorter, worn cutting-edge-up, ane datable to the Muromachi period (1336-1573). However, the tachi on the Definitive Edition's unit portrait is far too short for a historical tachi.
  • Before the Definitive Edition, the Samurai held a regular combat Katana with all adornments, known as "koshirae". In the Definitive Edition, his model is equipped with a plain wooden handle and scabbard, called a "shirisaya", which were made of soft wood and used only for transportation rather than in combat.

Gallery[]

Video[]

Units in Age of Empires II
CivilianMaleVillDE Villager · Tradecart aoe2DE Trade Cart · FishingShipDE Fishing Ship · Trade cog aoe2DE Trade Cog · King eu aoe2DE King
ReligiousMonk aoe2DE Monk
InfantryMilitiaDE Militia · Manatarms aoe2DE Man-at-Arms · Longswordsman aoe2DE Long Swordsman · Twohanded aoe2DE Two-Handed Swordsman · Champion aoe2DE Champion
Spearman aoe2DE Spearman · Aoe2-infantry-2-pikeman Pikeman · Halberdier aoe2DE Halberdier
Eaglescout aoe2DE Eagle Scout · Eaglewarrior aoe2DE Eagle Warrior · EliteEaglewarrior aoe2DE Elite Eagle Warrior
ArcherArcher aoe2DE Archer · Crossbowman aoe2DE Crossbowman · Arbalester aoe2DE Arbalester
Skirmisher aoe2DE Skirmisher · Elite skirmisher aoe2DE Elite Skirmisher
Hand cannoneer aoe2DE Hand Cannoneer
Cavalryarcher aoe2DE Cavalry Archer · Heavycavalryarcher aoe2de Heavy Cavalry Archer
Aoe2de DOI elephant archer icon Elephant Archer · ElephantArcherIcon-DE Elite Elephant Archer
CavalryScoutcavalry aoe2DE Scout Cavalry · Lightcavalry aoe2DE Light Cavalry · Hussar aoe2DE Hussar
Knight aoe2DE Knight · Cavalier aoe2DE Cavalier · Paladin aoe2DE Paladin
Camelrider aoe2DE Camel Rider · Aoe2 heavycamelriderDE Heavy Camel Rider
Battle elephant aoe2DE Battle Elephant · Elite battle elephant aoe2DE Elite Battle Elephant
Steppelancericon Steppe Lancer · Elitesteppelancericon Elite Steppe Lancer
Xolotlicon Xolotl Warrior
AoE2DE Armored Elephant icon Armored Elephant · AoE2DE Siege Elephant icon Siege Elephant
SiegeBattering ram aoe2DE Battering Ram · Capped ram aoe2DE Capped Ram · Siege ram aoe2DE Siege Ram
Mangonel aoe2DE Mangonel · Onager aoe2DE Onager · Siege onager aoe2DE Siege Onager
Scorpion aoe2DE Scorpion · Heavyscorpion aoe2DE Heavy Scorpion
Bombard cannon aoe2DE Bombard Cannon
Trebuchet aoe2DE Trebuchet
Petard aoe2DE Petard
Siegetower aoe2DE Siege Tower
War shipTransportship aoe2DE Transport Ship · Galley aoe2DE Galley · War galley aoe2DE War Galley · Galleon aoe2DE Galleon
Fire galley aoe2DE Fire Galley · Fireship aoe2DE Fire Ship · Fastfireship aoe2DE Fast Fire Ship
Demoraft aoe2DE Demolition Raft · Demoship aoe2DE Demolition Ship · Heavydemoship aoe2de Heavy Demolition Ship
Cannon galleon aoe2DE Cannon Galleon · Elite cannon galleon aoe2de Elite Cannon Galleon
AoE2 Dromon Dromon
Unique
ReligiousMissionaryIcon-DE Missionary · AoE2 WarriorPriest Warrior Priest
InfantryBerserkIcon-DE Berserk · Aoe2de Chakram Chakram Thrower · CondottieroIcon-DE Condottiero · Aoe2-icon-flemish-militia Flemish Militia · GbetoIcon-DE Gbeto · Aoe2de Ghulam Ghulam · HuskarlIcon-DE Huskarl · JaguarWarriorIcon-DE Jaguar Warrior · KamayukIcon-DE Kamayuk · Karambitwarrioricon-DE Karambit Warrior · AoE2 DE Legionary new icon Legionary · Aoe2-icon--obuch Obuch · SamuraiIcon-DE Samurai · Aoe2-icon-serjeant Serjeant · Shotelwarrioricon-DE Shotel Warrior · TeutonicKnightIcon-DE Teutonic Knight · ThrowingAxemanIcon-DE Throwing Axeman · Aoe2de Urumi Urumi Swordsman · AoE2 WarriorPriest Warrior Priest · WoadRaiderIcon-DE Woad Raider
ArcherArambaiicon-DE Arambai · CamelArcherIcon-DE Camel Archer · ChukoNuIcon-DE Chu Ko Nu · AoE2 CompositeBowman Composite Bowman · ConquistadorIcon-DE Conquistador · GenitourIcon-DE Genitour · GenoeseCrossbowmanIcon-DE Genoese Crossbowman · Imperialskirmishericon-DE Imperial Skirmisher · JanissaryIcon-DE Janissary · Kipchakicon Kipchak · LongbowmanIcon-DE Longbowman · MangudaiIcon-DE Mangudai · PlumedArcherIcon-DE Plumed Archer · Aoe2de ratha ranged Ranged Ratha · Rattanarchericon-DE Rattan Archer · SlingerIcon-DE Slinger · WarWagonIcon-DE War Wagon
CavalryBallistaelephanticon-DE Ballista Elephant · BoyarIcon-DE Boyar · Aoe2de camel scout Camel Scout · CataphractIcon-DE Cataphract · Aoe2de roman unique centurion icon Centurion · Aoe2-icon-coustillier Coustillier · Flaming camel icon Flaming Camel · ImperialCamelRiderIcon-DE Imperial Camel Rider · Keshikicon Keshik · Konnikicon Konnik · Leitisicon Leitis · MagyarHuszarIcon-DE Magyar Huszar · MamelukeIcon-DE Mameluke · AoE2 Monaspa Monaspa · Aoe2de ratha melee Melee Ratha · AoE2 Savar Savar · Aoe2de shrivamsha rider Shrivamsha Rider · TarkanIcon-DE Tarkan · WarElephantIcon-DE War Elephant · Aoe2-icon-winged-hussar Winged Hussar
SiegeAoe2-icon--houfnice Houfnice · Aoe2-icon-hussite-wagon Hussite Wagon · OrganGunIcon-DE Organ Gun
War shipCaravelIcon-DE Caravel · LongboatIcon-DE Longboat · Aoe2de Thirisadai Thirisadai · TurtleShipIcon-DE Turtle Ship
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