Samurai DPS Rotation, Openers, and Abilities — Dawntrail 7.3

Please note this page covers the Samurai rotation at level 100. For what to do at lower levels while working your way up, please check out our Leveling Guide.

The single-target Samurai rotation at level 100 at a basic level functions as a loop, with alternating odd and even minute bursts. This is made up of your opener, the "cooldown" phase where we wait for our cooldowns to come back up, and then the respective minute's odd or even burst.

There are two options for this rotation based on what GCD tier you are playing at - the 2.14 rotation and 2.08 rotation. The 2.08 rotation functions as perfect 29 GCD loop - barring any downtime your bursts and everything in between will be the same each time. Because of this it's a great starting point for new players to the job looking for something more consistent while they learn the fundamentals of the job. The 2.14 rotation however will slowly fall behind by two GCDs every two minutes. Because of this you will have less room for recovery and enter your bursts at different points of your rotation as the fight goes on.

Thanks to Meikyo Shisui's ability to give us buffs from combo finishers, Samurai only has one standard opener. This opener uses a pre-pull Meikyo Shisui in order to get our buffs up as soon as possible, and then unloads a flurry of high potency attacks under our potion and the party's raid buffs.

If you are unable to weave after Iaijutsu casts such as Tendo Setsugekka and/or have difficulty double weaving, it is fine to move around some of the oGCDs such as Hissatsu: Senei and Shoha to accomodate this as long as they still land under party buffs. In some fights, this may also allow more opportunity to double weave Tengentsu. The main buff windows for most jobs are active just before our first cast of Tendo Setsugekka and should end either right before or right after the Gyofu at the end. It is also fine to flip the later uses of Kasha and Gekko without overcapping on Sen based on your ability to hit certain positionals. The first GCD, however, depends on the boss' phasing - if using Kasha first will allow you to use an extra GCD that you would not normally get by using Gekko first, it is worth swapping them around. If not, stick to using Gekko first for the guaranteed damage bonus.

1. Meikyo Shisui when there is 14s left on the countdown
2. True North when there is 5s left on the countdown
3. Gekko → Grade 2 Gemdraught of Strength
4. Kasha → Ikishoten
5. Yukikaze
6. Tendo Setsugekka → Hissatsu: Senei
7. Tendo Kaeshi Setsugekka → Meikyo Shisui
8. Gekko → Zanshin
9. Higanbana
10. Ogi Namikiri → Shoha
11. Kaeshi: Namikiri
12. Kasha → Hissatsu: Shinten
13. Gekko → Hissatsu: Gyoten
14. Gyofu
15. Yukikaze → Hissatsu: Shinten
16. Tendo Setsugekka
17. Tendo Kaeshi Setsugekka

Both Meikyo Shisui and True North may be used closer to the pull without any real detriment - these early timers are just to maximize any potential uses during the fight. Depending on kill time or mechanics, neither may make any difference at all.

This phase of the rotation is where all of your burst is on cooldown, and you are left to just rotate through your combos until they come back up again. In a full uptime scenario, this should be about two full sets of three Sen.

Kenki and Meditation spenders are not listed, but be sure to spend gauge on Hissatsu: Shinten and Shoha as needed to prevent yourself from overcapping on resources. These combos are also able to be swapped around relatively freely, as long as you do not overcap Sen or drop your buffs. However, it is recommended to end the second set on either a Gekko or Kasha combo to catch any early buffs.

1. Gyofu
2. Yukikaze
3. Gyofu
4. Jinpu
5. Gekko
6. Gyofu
7. Shifu
8. Kasha
9. Midare Setsugekka
10. Gyofu
11. Yukikaze
12. Gyofu
13. Jinpu
14. Gekko
15. Gyofu
16. Shifu
17. Kasha

As previously mentioned, 2.14 falls behind by two GCDs every two minutes. In order to keep our burst and Higanbana reapplications on time, we have to use Meikyo Shisui to rush Sen and skip ahead. Below is one example of how that might look:

• During the second half of cooldown phase...
• Gyofu
• Yukikaze
• Gyofu
• Jinpu
• Gekko → Meikyo Shisui
• Kasha
• And then lead into your respective burst, skipping the usual Meikyo Shisui as you have used it early.

Roughly around the 6-minute Even Burst window, if you used Meikyo Shisui pre-pull you will have generated an additional charge. You will want to use this charge at the end of this burst to effectively "reset" all the GCDs you've fallen behind back to 0. Below is how that would look:

• During your Even Minute Burst, after Kaeshi: Namikiri with 0 Sen
• Gyofu
• Yukikaze → Meikyo Shisui
• Gekko
• Kasha
• Tendo Setsugekka
• Tendo Kaeshi Setsugekka
• Gekko
• And then continue on with the rest of your Cooldown Phase into your 7-minute Odd Burst window.

During our odd minute burst, Ikishoten is still on cooldown, which locks us out of using Ogi Namikiri. As such, this burst is shorter and does not hit as hard as our even minute burst. As with the Cooldown Phase outline, the below bursts do not list any Kenki and Meditation spenders, but be sure to keep Hissatsu: Senei on cooldown and spend gauge on Hissatsu: Shinten and Shoha as needed to prevent yourself from overcapping on resources. Both odd and even minutes flow directly from the end of the cooldown phase, which is why they will begin with the Kaeshi: Setsugekka carried from the middle of the Cooldown Phase and followed by a Tendo Setsugekka.

The Odd Minute Burst is slightly different between the 2.14 and 2.08 GCD Tier rotations, both examples are listed below:

1. Kaeshi: Setsugekka
2. Meikyo Shisui
3. Tendo Setsugekka → Hissatsu: Senei
4. Tendo Kaeshi Setsugekka
5. Gekko
6. Higanbana
7. Gekko
8. Kasha
9. Gyofu
10. Yukikaze
11. Midare Setsugekka
12. Kaeshi: Setsugekka

1. Kaeshi: Setsugekka
2. Meikyo Shisui
3. Tendo Setsugekka → Hissatsu: Senei
4. Gekko
5. Higanbana
6. Tendo Kaeshi Setsugekka
7. Gekko
8. Kasha
9. Gyofu
10. Yukikaze
11. Midare Setsugekka
12. Kaeshi: Setsugekka

The even minute burst is effectively identical to our opener, minus the Meikyo Shisui required to set up buffs and Sen. As with the Odd burst, we want to lead with a Kaeshi: Setsugekka held from the Cooldown Phase. However, due to wanting to lead the burst with Tendo Setsugekka and Tendo Kaeshi Setsugekka. Ikishoten is not listed here, as some players may prefer to stockpile Kenki going into this phase to unload extra Hissatsu: Shinten under raid buffs with a late usage, while others may not be able to perform the double weaves that playstyle requires or may not wish to manage their Kenki so closely. You may use it prior to this burst or in the middle of it as necessary as long as you do not overcap on Kenki and will be able to use Ogi Namikiri and Zanshin under raid buffs.

The Even Minute Burst is the same for both 2.14 and 2.08 rotations.

1. Kaeshi: Setsugekka
2. Meikyo Shisui
3. Tendo Setsugekka → Hissatsu: Senei
4. Tendo Kaeshi Setsugekka
5. Gekko
6. Higanbana
7. Ogi Namikiri
8. Kaeshi: Namikiri
9. Gekko
10. Kasha
11. Gyofu
12. Yukikaze
13. Midare Setsugekka
14. Kaeshi: Setsugekka

At the end of all of this, you should result in a rotation that looks like this:

• Opener
• Cooldown
• Odd Burst
• Cooldown
• Even Burst
• Cooldown
• Odd Burst
• etc...

At 2.14, the first minute has two extra GCDs due to the second charge of Meikyo Shisui providing a second use of Tendo Kaeshi Setsugekka and the one usage of Kaeshi: Setsugekka. This will cause you to drift two GCDs, however it has been shown to not be a loss compared to fixing it according to tests run using rotation tools. It is still worth mentioning as you will see your Higanbana fall off early for the first reapplication.

Over the course of the fight, you may lose one or more GCDs as you are forced to disconnect from the boss to resolve a mechanic. One optimization would be to use the same thing that makes the 2.14 rotation possible - using Meikyo Shisui early at the end of the cooldown phase in order to hit 3 Sen in time for your burst. Doing this will push you ahead by two GCDs per usage of Gekko or Kasha, providing room for as many as four missed GCDs. This does come at the cost of a weaker burst, however, as you will be forced to manually build combos after expending your three Meikyo Shisui charges. An example of this is below:

• During the second half of cooldown phase...
• Gyofu
• Yukikaze
• Gyofu
• Jinpu
• Gekko → Meikyo Shisui
• Kasha
• And then lead into your respective burst, skipping the usual Meikyo Shisui as you have used it early.

At two targets, Samurai uses a slight mix of AoE skills into the single target rotation.

1. For combos, build to 3 Sen with single target combos for Yukikaze, Gekko, and Kasha.
2. Spend Sen on Midare Setsugekka and remember to use the followup Kaeshi: Setsugekka.
3. Spend Kenki on Hissatsu: Guren and Hissatsu: Shinten.
4. When using Meikyo Shisui, spend charges on Gekko and Kasha.

At three or more targets, Samurai goes full into the AoE toolkit.

1. For combos, alternate between your Mangetsu and Oka combos to keep buffs up.
2. Spend Sen on Tenka Goken, and remember to use the followup Kaeshi: Goken.
3. Spend Kenki on Hissatsu: Guren and Hissatsu: Kyuten.
4. When using Meikyo Shisui, spend charges on Mangetsu and Oka.