
This was done to reduce the threat of masterless samurai, or ronin, who had become a threat to Tokugawa’s dictatorship. 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.Īfter 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 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.
AGE OF EMPIRES 3 BEST UNITS CODE
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. Kensei was a Japanese honorary title for exceptional swordsmen. The Samurai is called ypKensei in the game files.This was not corrected in the Definitive Edition, where they remain unused. The Samurai has attack voice lines in the game files but they are all unused.The Samurai has 28 melee attack and has no multipliers against Villagers and Elephants.The Samurai has 25 melee attack, a x0.5 multiplier against Villagers and a x1.15 multiplier against Elephants.Purple: Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times.Red: Shipment that can be sent TWICE (Japanese only).Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team.Upgrades Samurai to Exalted (+50% hit points and attack) requires Honored SamuraiĪs Samurai are unique to the Japanese, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:Ĭavalry and Shock Infantry especially in groups, buildingsĬlan Offerings (every Castle spawns 1 Samurai, Consulate with Japanese Isolationism)Īs Samurai are unique to the Japanese, only their cards and other civilizations' TEAM cards are shown in the following tables:Ĭlick for a list of Home City Cards related to the Samurai They also cost more food, but less coin, and have a 30% melee resistance versus the Doppelsoldner's 20%. Samurai are very similar to the German Doppelsoldner, although they are less useful against cavalry and Shock Infantry, have a smaller AoE, slightly less hit points, and are slightly stronger against all other units and buildings. The same goes for artillery, because of their low hit points and 75% ranged resist, and the Samurai's high melee damage.

Samurai should stay away from ranged infantry, which can kill them 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.


Samurai are deadly against cavalry, Shock Infantry and buildings, being able to kill large groups of cavalry and shock infantry, or high hit point buildings in mere seconds, and do OK against other heavy infantry if they aren't spread apart too much. Unlike most infantry recruited at the Barracks, the Samurai takes two population slots.
