Samurai — Counters, Stats & Civ Bonuses

Samurai — Counters, Stats & Civ Bonuses

The Samurai is countered by Knight, Crossbowman and Scorpion. It is a Infantry / Unique unit, available to the Japanese.

Class

Infantry / Unique

Available to

Japanese

Elite upgrade

Elite Samurai

Cost

45 30

The Samurai Line

• Samurai
• Elite Samurai

Samurai stats

The Elite Samurai upgrade changes the values marked with an arrow. Everything else — cost, class and the civilization bonuses that apply — stays the same.

Hit points

70 →80

Melee attack

10 / 1.9s →12 / 1.9s

Pierce attack

0

Range

0

Melee armour

1

Pierce armour

1

Speed

1

Line of sight

4 →5

Training time

9s

What counters the Samurai?

Hard counters beat the Samurai decisively and win even at a cost disadvantage — usually through bonus damage, area damage, conversion or a speed advantage it cannot escape. Soft counters win the fight too, but only with good numbers and positioning.

• Knight hard Bonus only applies vs. infantry – cavalry closes in
• Crossbowman hard Pierce damage
• Scorpion hard Area pierce
• Hand Cannoneer hard Attack bonus vs. infantry (+10)
• Cavalier hard Bonus only applies vs. infantry – cavalry closes in
• Paladin hard Bonus only applies vs. infantry – cavalry closes in
• Arbalest hard High pierce damage
• Heavy Scorpion hard Area pierce
• Cavalry Archer soft Kites

What does the Samurai counter?

Units the Samurai has a damage bonus against

Bonus damage says how hard the Samurai hits these units, not that it wins every fight — some of them still beat it by outranging or outrunning it.

• Unique Units hard Every civilization's unique unit
• Eagle Scout hard Eagle Line
• Eagle Warrior hard Eagle Line
• Elite Eagle Warrior hard Eagle Line

Civilizations that improve the Samurai

One civilization has a bonus or unique technology that affects this unit.

For the strategy behind these matchups — when to build counters, how to mix them and which civs do it best — see the Unique Unit Counters guide.