Part 95: Samurai: Two swords are better than one

Samurai: Two swords are better than one.





7th Dragon's poster child ever since the 2020s, Samurai branches out by introducing a new weapon type they can choose from. Single sword has them play much the same as their 2020 counterparts with a Sheathed/Unsheathed stance system, but the new Dual Blades took most of their elemental skills and added some new toys of their own.

Stats



Samurais, being the de facto face of the series, naturally have a lot of good stats, but not the best in any. They're second for LF, MN, ATK, and DEF, but have low MAT and MDF and middling SPD to balance it out.

Tier 1 Skills

Whirlwind



Unsheathed skill. Deals multiple hits of melee ATK-based damage to random enemies.

The same random target multi-hit move Samurais have always had. Its unreliable in big fights, but still works great against Dragonsbane Seeds. Shame Dual Blades have something even better for that job in their kit.

Power Bolt Drop



Unsheathed skill. Attacks one enemy with melee ATK-based damage and a chance to inflict Bleed.

Changes from 2020-II: Base Bleed damage reduced from 103 to 100.

This was a Tier 3 skill in 2020, and the damage it deals is (almost) entirely unchanged. I guess they wanted the Bleed to be a nice, even 100?

Aerial Slash



Dual Blade skill. Hits one enemy with melee ATK-based aerial damage.

If someone's feet are off the ground, odds are they're weak to aerial damage. This gives Aerial Slash a boatload of targets it'll be effective against.

Maple Tear



Dual Blade skill. Hits one enemy with melee ATK-based fire damage and a chance to inflict Burn. Damage of Samurai's normal attacks are changed to Fire for 4 turns. All Samurai skills are treated as Fire damage for 4 turns. (but does not change their actual damage type)

Changes from 2020-II: Burn damage increased from 71 to 141. Now adds elemental effect to all attacks.

A running trend in VFD is attacks having vastly increased DoT damage. That elemental change also gives a Samurai a lot of synergy with an Agent, as it lets all their skills proc TROY: Fire and add in a good chunk of damage.

Cyclone Dance



Dual Blade skill. Deals multiple hits of melee ATK-based damage to random enemies.

And just like that, Whirlwind is invalid. 14 hits just shreds Seeds, but beyond that there are better things to use against normal enemies.

It also has a hidden modifier that halves the effect of Mind Boosters, just to stop you from slapping both on and being able go from 0 to 100 in a single move.

Invigorate



Heals the user. Cures all status ailments starting at Level 5. Has priority.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Items have priority, so just save the SP and invest it into things that will kill the enemy faster.

Red Flame Exhale



Places a buff on the user that increases their ATK every turn for 10 turns.

Changes from 2020-II: Data misalignment bug fixed. Damage ramps up significantly faster.

The buff calculation changes, plus this skill no longer having a dead turn, change Red Flame Exhale to something you toss in during boss fights to something that can actually see frequent use. Starting with a bonus 16% ATK is nuts, and it'll get even better once you realize that this skill isn't treated like a normal attack buff, letting you stack another one for even higher damage.

Black Steel Exhale



Places a buff on the user that increases their DEF every turn for 10 turns.

Changes from 2020-II: Max values increased from an 18% buff to 20%.

Likewise, this one is also useful. Makes your Samurai a little bit tankier, while also killing time to let Red Flame's buff get up to speed.

Blade of Rage



When an ally dies to an enemy attack, the user attacks the enemy responsible at the end of the turn. Death from ailment damage does not activate this skill. Is not affected by, and will not use up, Solid Stance.

There are a few classes (*coughruneknightcough*) that like to play very risky, and teaming them up with a Samurai gives you some extra free damage every time the odds don't land in their favor.

Tier 2 Skills

Garuda Whirlwind



Unsheathed skill. Hits all enemies with melee ATK-based damage.

Changes from 2020-II: Max damage increased from 1.95x to 2.95x.

This was an endgame skill in the 2020s, and the pitiful damage output combined with late availability made it a waste to invest in. Now, you get it fairly early, and it actually hits hard enough to be worth a damn.

Destructive Sweep



Sheathed skill. Hits one enemy with melee ATK-based damage. Attempts to inflict a debuff that increases the chance of status ailments landing.

Changes from 2020-II: Odds of debuff landing have been reduced from guaranteed to 75%.

One of VFD's rare nerfs! What, were status effects too strong for the devs to leave this untouched?*

_{*The very existance of God Hand's EX Skill says yes.}

Windy Canopy



Dual Blade skill. The user prepares to attack at the start of the turn. Any time an ally uses a Fire, Ice, or Lightning MAT-based attack, the Samurai will follow up with a melee ATK-based attack of the same element. Does not activate on TROY or counterhits. The damage dealt depends if the skill used was single target or AOE.

Changes from 2020-II: EX gain from AOE hits increased from 1.5% to 5%.

Do you have someone who can throw out elemental attacks? Well now you can take greater advantage over any weaknesses an enemy may have!

Another indirect buff, as there was a chance you could choose a party in the 2020s that had no valid partner for Woodwind Duet, rendering the skill entirely useless, but the multiple party system in VFD means that you'll have to go out of your way to not have someone to use this with.

Hidden Shadow



Dual Blade skill. Hits one enemy with melee ATK-based damage with a chance to inflict Stun. Has priority.

Changes from 2020-II: Damage increased from 3.5x to 5x.

Stun was a niche status in 2020, and Freeze's buff makes it even worse. It has priority, I guess?

Fighting Spirit



At the start of battle, the user has a chance to inflict melee ATK-based damage to all enemies.

Free. Damage.

Sheathed Stance



Unsheathed skill. Hits one enemy with melee ATK-based damage and switches user to Sheathed stance. Has a 100% chance to inflict a DEF/MDF debuff starting at level 4.

Changes from 2020-II: Damage increased from 2x to 2.5x. Now inflicts a DEF/MDF debuff.

Unsheathed Stance



Sheathed skill. Hits one enemy with melee ATK-based damage and switches user to Unsheathed stance. Has a 100% chance to inflict a ATK/MAT debuff starting at level 4.

Changes from 2020-II: Damage increased from 2.3x to 2.5x. Now inflicts an ATK/MAT debuff.

I really like this change to Samurai! Before, you mostly just picked a stance and sunk everything into it, but adding debuffs gives an actual reason to swap mid-battle! Sheathed Stance's defense debuff also lines up nicely with the stance having harder hitting attacks.

Jinka React



Places a buff on the user. Whenever the user loses a portion of their LIFE in a single hit, they have a 100% chance to gain an extra turn.

Changes from 2020-II: Activation threshold lowered from 30% LF lost to 15% LF lost.

30% LF was fairly easy to hit in 2020 with how much damage bosses do, but there are still a number of times where setting Pain React off could be somewhat inconsistent.

15%, on the other hand? That's trivial! An angry look can deal 15% damage. Jinka React is a straight up guaranteed free turn every time something pokes the Samurai. But wait, it gets better!

Moon Stance



Places a buff on the user that increases their ATK and target rate for 3 turns.

Because you can follow up with this to make enemies hit exactly who you want! You lose an extra 5% target rate over God Hand's Ambush Stance, but in exchange it lasts for multiple turns and stacks with Red Flame Exhale, as they're classified as different types of buffs!

Tier 3 Skills

Serpent Thrust



Unsheathed skill. Hits one enemy with melee ATK-based damage.

Sixteen Hand Slash



Sheathed skill. Hits one enemy with melee ATK-based damage.

Changes from 2020-II: Damage increased from 6x to 6.5x.

These two are effectively the same skill, although Sixteen Hand Slash's minor buff gives it a bit more of a lead from Serpent Thrust.

Poplar Admiral



Hits one enemy with melee ATK-based damage. If the attack kills the target, a random enemy on the field will take damage equal to 36% of how much the initial target was overkilled.

Poplar Admiral, meanwhile, exists between the other two capstone attacks. The splash damage effect... exists, I guess? Like if you happen to have two enemies on the verge of death I guess you could get a double kill, but killing a healthy enemy in one hit means the splash will be nonexistant, and it has no impact on boss fights where there's only one target to hit.

Focus Breathing



Places a buff on the party that increases current and maximum LIFE.

Changes from 2020-II: Now increases current LF, even if target was already damaged.

The change makes it a bit better than 2020's Regulated Breath, but it boosts the threshold needed for Jinka React, and a damage dealer like the Samurai would be better off actually killing enemies instead.

Solid Stance



Increases the user's ATK and infliction rates on their next attack.

Changes from 2020-II: MN cost increased from 7 to 20. Infliction multiplier reduced from 1.75x to 1.7x.

Heeeeeeeeeeeeey, remember that math example I used in the mechanics post? Well using this with that 250 ATK vs 150 DEF turns it into (250*2.5) - 150 for 475 damage.

And that's before you throw in Red Flame Exhale.

And Moon Stance.

And DEF debuffs (which Samurai just got, what are the odds!)

And EX.

Samurai can hit some disgusting damage numbers once they have a chance to buff up, and the devs were right to jack up the cost of Solid Stance to try and keep things under control.

I mean, they didn't do nearly enough to reign it in, but it's the thought that counts, you know?

EX Skills

Earth Splitter



Single Blade skill. Hits all enemies with melee ATK-based damage and a chance to inflict Bleed.

Changes from 2020-II: Base infliction chance increased from 60% to 100%. Base Bleed damage increased from 63 to 243.

Fallen Blossoms



Dual Blade skill. Hits one enemy with melee ATK-based damage.

Changes from 2020-II: Damage increased from 8x to 9.5x.

The numbers on both of these are a fair bit lower than God Hand's, but keep in mind that there's nothing stopping you from stacking all those meaty attack buffs and utterly eviscerating anything in your path.

The Bleed buff on Earth Splitter is also , as it effectively gives an extra 1000 damage if it sticks.

Team Skills

Charge Time: 2 turns

Buddy

Hits one enemy for 1.5x melee ATK-based damage and a 100% chance to reduce ATK by 20% for 2 turns.

Cutting ATK by a full 20% is good. Doubly so if the very buff you used this to break was also an ATK buff, just to really rub it in. Not as useful against MAT-focused enemies, obviously.

Support

Increases the team's ATK by 1.2x for 1 turn.

This one also needs a bit of team consideration. Agents and God Hands can get a lot from this, but Duelists, Rune Knights, and Fortuners get nothing.