Samurai class series

The Samurai class series is a tri-elemental class series available to the Venus Adepts (except Himi), and the Mars Adepts. The Venus Adepts require a large number of both Mars and Jupiter Djinn, while the Mars Adepts require a large number of Venus and Jupiter Djinn. This class is similar in structure to the White Mage class series; like the White Mage class series, there are two classes in this series due to the large number of Djinn required.

In general, the class is quite powerful, having elements of the Guard class series, Squire class series, and Wind Seer class series. It has a powerful physical elemental attack in Quick Strike while Dragon Cloud and Epicenter are very powerful Mars attacks. Combine that with the ability to beef up Resistance, Attack, and Defense in one class, along with plenty of Psynergy and the best HP score in the game, this class is very playable. The class's main drawback is the lack of healing Psynergy, due to the class's large focus on offense. Thus, the Samurai benefits from having a healer such as a Hermit or White Mage in the party.

The class series, when at its highest stage of Ronin and compared to the other series at their highest respective stages, has unsurpassed HP that is the highest HP rating of any class (tying with the Savage Fiend), very high Attack (tying with the Paladin and surpassed only by the Master, Chaos Lord, and Savage Fiend), stronger Defense, and average Agility, but below average PP. The series has a Luck rating below the standard. Noteworthy Psynergy from an endgame perspective includes Quick Strike, Skull Splitter, Demon Spear/Angel Spear, Guardian/Protector, and Magic Shell/Magic Shield, and the heaviest area-of-effect Psynergy it has is Thorny Grave. Average stats from an endgame perspective are 150% (162% if you don't factor in Luck).

Analysis
Both the Samurai and the Ronin are among the best classes in their respective games, almost entirely due to the Quick Strike Psynergy that is both very powerful and completely reliable. While the Ninja series emphasizes maximum agility and attack, the Samurai series trades the agility and a little bit of the attack for great sturdiness - but oftentimes, Quick Strike will cause the Samurai or Ronin to consistently output even more damage than the Ninja series, particularly when levels are higher.

In the later game (barring very high levels), the Ronin specializes in single targets (Quick Strike), while the Ninja specializes in multi-targets, and together, the two compliment each other quite well: the fast striking Ninja will soften them up, while the Samurai will pick off any survivors.

If in The Lost Age the entire party is leveled up to 99, it will be very likely that the warrior adepts will have reached the 999 Attack Rating cap programmed into the game whether they are in the Master class or the Ronin class. At that point, since the Master class will have lost its attack advantage over the Ronin, the Ronin becomes all the better in dealing damage than even the Master, launching damage-multiplying Quick Strikes off the prized 999 attack rating. There are enough Djinn available to allow both the two Venus Adepts and the two Mars Adepts to be Ronins at the same time, providing the "Four Ronin" setup; a max-level party with four Ronins can, with a little luck, successfully defeat Dullahan without needing to summon at all.

In Dark Dawn, the Samurai class can be considered one of the most reliable classes in the game when it comes to offense. Due to the adjustments to the Unleash system, the Samurai's Quick Strike becomes the best attack for most boss battles, due to its power and reliability. Thus, it is one of the best classes for the Mars and Venus Adepts. However, it should be noted that the "Four Ronin" setup is inaccessible, because the Venus Adept Himi is unable to access the class.

It should be noted that the Samurai class is the only Tri-Elemental class with Psynergies that boost attack, defense AND resistance of other Adepts in battle.

Trivia

 * Himi, The second Venus Adept of Dark Dawn, seems to be unable to get into the Samurai class with the 4 Mars, 3 Jupiter djinn line-up. This will put Himi in her Curse Mage class series for some odd reason.
 * The Samurai series is one of two series, the other being the Pierrot class series, that learns no Psynergy at level 1.