This article is about the Age of Empires III unit. For the unique unit of the same name in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, see Samurai (Age of Empires II). |
“ | Powerful Japanese Samurai swordsman that inflicts area damage in hand combat. Good against cavalry and buildings. | ” |
—In-game description |
The Samurai is a melee heavy infantry in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties that is unique to the Japanese and can be trained at Barracks and Atakabune, and by a Daimyo. It have a splash attack that harms multiple enemy units in one sweep of their sword and is one of the strongest non-mercenary melee infantry units in the game.
Interestingly, the Samurai is called ypKensei
in the game files. Kensei was a Japanese honorary title for exceptional swordsmen.
Overview
Unlike most infantry recruited at the Barracks, the Samurai takes two population slots. Samurai are deadly against cavalry and buildings, being able to kill large groups of cavalry, or high hit point buildings in mere seconds, and are good against heavy infantry if they aren't spread apart too much. Samurai should stay away from ranged infantry and artillery, which can kill Samurai with ease, but if the Samurai get in close, they can easily wipe the Skirmishers and archers out with their area attacks, due to the low hit points of most skirmishers. The same goes for artillery, because of their long reload and the Samurai's fairly high attack.
Samurai are very similar to the German Doppelsoldner, although they are less useful against cavalry and Light infantry, suffer from a damage penalty against villagers, have a smaller AoE, and are slightly stronger against all other units and buildings. They also cost more food but less coin and have a 30% melee resistance versus the Doppelsoldner's 20%.
Samurais are the only unit in the game with a specific multiplier against Elephants.
Upgrades
Age | Upgrade | Cost | Effect |
---|---|---|---|
Disciplined Samurai | 200 wood 100 coin |
Upgrades Samurai to Disciplined (+20% hit points and attack) | |
Honored Samurai | 600 wood 600 coin |
Upgrades Samurai to Honored (+30% hit points and attack); requires Disciplined Samurai | |
Exalted Samurai | 1,500 wood 1,500 coin |
Upgrades Samurai to Exalted (+50% hit points and attack); requires Honored Samurai |
Further statistics
As Samurai are unique to the Japanese, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:
Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
---|---|
Strong vs. | Cavalry and light infantry especially in groups, buildings |
Weak vs. | Skirmishers, archers, artillery |
Improvements | |
Hit points | Infantry Breastplate (+10%) Cree Tanning (+5%) Maya Cotton Armor (+20%) Navajo Weaving (+5%) |
Attack | Carib Kasiri Beer (+10%) Mapuche Tactics (+50% siege attack) Zapotec Cult of the Dead (+20%) Yoga (+5%) Master Lessons (+10%) |
Speed | File:Inca Road-building.png Incan Road-building (+20%) Apache Endurance (+5%) |
Sight | Town Watch (+2) |
Creation speed | Standing Army (-25%) File:Inca Chaquis Messengers.png Incan Chasquis Messengers (-25%) |
Train cost | Mapuche Ad-mapu (-10% coin cost) |
Other | Clan Offerings (every Castle spawns 1 Samurai, Consulate with Japanese Isolationism) Meritocracy (-20% upgrade cost) |
Home City Cards
As Samurai are unique to the Japanese, only their cards and other civilizations' TEAM cards are shown in the following tables:
Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Samurai | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Dutch
Indians
Iroquois
Japanese
Russians
Spanish
|
History
“ | The samurai were members of the Japanese warrior aristocracy who embodied the bushido code; they rose to power during the rival clan wars of the twelfth century. This bushido belief system - “the way of the warrior” - emphasized an unwavering loyalty to a master, the act of self-sacrifice, and an indifference to pain. From the twelfth century to the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1603, the samurai were the dominant social class in Japan, and many acted as knights in the service of the warring feudal lords. After Tokugawa Ieyasu was declared shogun and began to consolidate power, the samurai were encouraged to leave their posts as village defenders and take more bureaucratic government posts in castle towns, earning government stipends to abandon their warrior ways. This was done to reduce the threat of masterless samurai, or ronin, who had become a threat to Tokugawa’s dictatorship. However, the drastic culture shift did not sit well with many samurai, and former warriors eventually led the overthrow of the shogunate in 1867. | ” |