I am trying to decide what is the best weapon my Samurai should have. I am in the swamp, and he’s using Bloodlust and a thieves dagger, both cursed, so making good use of energy blast at long range.

I know not much could stand up to a lightsword lightening strike, or is there another great sword that’s easier to find? Is there an off hand one, or is it better if theres a good 2 handed one?

There is of course always Fang.
You may want to use an enchanted wakazashi for the offhand, although the stats aren't as good as a Thieve's dagger, it will help build your sword skill.

Samurais are tough to train because you have to spread skills sooo thin.
There are no 2 handed swords you would want to use, they are too heavy and samurais are all about multiple attacks.

Samurai can't use thieves dagger, You're probably talking about poinson dagger. In this case, enchanted wakazashi is much better (in mountain wildernesse, behind the waterfall)

There's marumasa blades. Very good sword, samurai only. Quite common in the queens chest in upper rapax castle.

Another one would be bushido blade (nice, but not as good as fang or bloodlust). Fix in the rapax castle armory, and a (uncommon, but not rare) random drop from the rapax assassin in martens bluff (if you want an uncursed weapon early, and are willing to reload)

I just ran a Ninja and Sam with swords and started with Bloodlust for the Sam and went to Fang as soon as I got it. I got less strikes but A lot more crits, and + 10 str. helps from the sword. Damage was about the same from both. I also used Bushido blade nice sword and good damage but Fang was so much better. Also there aren't any good daggers in the game for Sams until you get the Canezou Dagger from the Rapax Castle, if you don't want to use the Ench W. you could train Mace and Flail and use the Winter Wand from the Mountain wilderness I think. Not great damage 4-8 I think but 15% paralize for a secondary weapon is pretty cool.

I did just start a Party with a Sam. and wielding a staff. I want to see what LS would look like with the Staff of Doom or Zotoichi Bo. I'm at the arnika road intersection to go north or south to Arnika at level 4 still no LS. I'm going to the Umpani first to get the Hayai Bo then hopefully make a run for the Staff of Doom. Just wanted something different for a Sam.

[ 07-15-2004, 09:02 AM: Message edited by: Nightwing ]

What is the Zotoichi Bo? and where is it and the Staff of Doom? and the Hayai Bo?
So far I've just looked at swords, a few maces (for my Lord) and pol arms for Vi.

Winter Wand is a Staff/Wand, not Mace/Flail.

Samurai get 25% bonus to Sword Skill, so using anything else is silly. That's also the reason to get the Enchanted Wakizashi.

The Zatoichi Bo is in the Rapax Castle treasury, one of the few fixed items in the game. The Staff of Doom (a cursed item) is behind the waterfall in the mountain wilderness. This is also a fixed item.

However, as others have said, swords are the way to go with a Samurai. Fang is probably the best weapon outside of the Muramasa blade, and is available much sooner.

<center>Nightowl2</center>

After 20 or so games it's nice to mix it up for something "completely different" ie. a staff for the Sam. Zatoichi Bo, 10-31 dmg. +4 to hit +4 in.
paralyze 15%, Kill 5%, KO 15%
Staff of Doom 7-27 +4 to hit +1 init. paralyze 25%, hex 10% kill 15%, death cloud lvl 5, HP drain -1. The only time I got the Muramasa blade is when I had an all ranged and magic Party and I have never seen the light sword even after re-loads. I'm now going through the game creating characters to use specific class weapons like the Sam for the Z-Bo Sam or Monk only, I also Have a monk just in case I get two. Although I am starting to wonder if I can get Lightning Strike with a Staff, that would be a real drag if I couldn't.

My experience with the swords and the samurai. I've tried and compared all these swords and these are my results.

In order of effectiveness (least to most )
------------------------------------------
Katana
Enchanted Katana
Bushido Blade
Fang
Bloodlust
lightsword

One final note. I noticed when I stopped using Bloodlust my samurai's effectiveness with his secondary weapon ( Enchanted Wakazashi ) greatly improved.

Bloodlust OVER Fang? Wow.

Where would the Ivory Blade fall on that list?