Samurái Élite

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 -2 damage compared to Champions, but even with lower damage the Elite Samurai wins due to its much faster attack rate. The Japanese bonus to infantry attack speed makes them better in melee combat than swordsmen from most other civilizations, though this comes at the cost of having 1 less pierce armor than a Champion with Gambesons, making Samurai more vulnerable to pierce attacks. 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 Chakram Thrower and Slinger due to the ranged attacks and bonus against infantry. As with most sword-wielding infantry, they struggle against the Knight line, Scorpions, and archers. Legionaries can destroy them, as they aren't classified as unique units, while having bonus damage against infantry, as well as being cheaper and easier to train from multiple Barracks, and being further boosted by Comitatenses and the Centurion's aura attack speed boost. 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 (particularly Cavalry Archers, which have +2 attack against archers), Elite Skirmishers, or Scorpions when dealing with an archer-using opponent. Since update 141935, Samurai gain a 25% speed boost when charging at an enemy unit and +1 attack. This compensates for the low pierce armor, enabling them to close gaps better against moderate archer groups and to push back siege weapons better than other infantry units, while helping to perform better against ranged unique units. Unique upgrades (due to being upgrades of common units), unique buildings, and Camel Scouts do not take bonus damage from the Samurai.