Samurai DPS Rotation, Openers, and Abilities — Dawntrail 7.01

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, "filler" as needed to kill some extra time, and then the respective minute's odd or even burst.

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 1 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

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 a Tendo Setsugekka.

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

Filler is a necessary part of the loop that helps us keep our burst phases aligned and take advantage of our party's raid buffs. This portion of the rotation will be variable based on the chosen GCD tier, whether your preceding burst was an odd or even minute burst, as well as any fight mechanics that may cause downtime from hitting the boss.

At its core, our rotation is 26 GCDs during odd minutes and 28 GCDs during even minutes thanks to Ogi Namikiri. Due to this difference, our filler will be two GCDs less following even minute bursts.

The three standard looping GCD tiers are:

1. 2.14 GCD (677-783 Skill Speed) → A 28-GCD per minute looping rotation, requiring 2 filler during odd minutes and 0 filler during even minutes.
2. 2.07 GCD (1361-1467 Skill Speed) → A 29-GCD per minute looping rotation, requiring 3 filler during odd minutes and 1 filler during even minutes.
3. 2.00 GCD (2046-2152 Skill Speed) → A 30-GCD per minute looping rotation, requiring 4 filler during odd minutes and 2 filler during even minutes.

There are also three non-standard looping tiers, which function around keeping time with 120s party buffs moreso than 60s party buffs. They are not recommended unless your Skill Speed is in a weird place due to gearing choices, as your odd minute Higanbana will not always land correctly on time.

1. 2.17 GCD (420-484 Skill Speed) → A 27.5-GCD per minute looping rotation, requiring 1 filler during odd minutes and 0 filler during even minutes.
2. 2.10 GCD (1062-1168 Skill Speed) → A 28.5-GCD per minute looping rotation, requiring 3 filler during odd minutes and 0 filler during even minutes.
3. 2.03 GCD (1768-11852 Skill Speed) → A 29.5-GCD per minute looping rotation, requiring 3 filler during odd minutes and 2 filler during even minutes.

As for the filler itself, it is broken down into one, two, or three GCD options:

1. One GCD: Hissatsu: Yaten → Enpi
2. Two GCD: Gyofu → Yukikaze → Hagakure
3. Three GCD: Gyofu → Shifu / Jinpu → Kasha / Gekko → Hagakure

Note that any filler utilizing Hagakure should be used immediately following a burst or in the middle of the cooldown phase after Midare Setsugekka, as the end of the cooldown phase flows directly into the next minute's burst.

The even minute burst is effectively identical to our opener, minus the Meikyo Shisui required to set up buffs and Sen. However, due to wanting to lead the burst with Tendo Setsugekka and Tendo Kaeshi Setsugekka, we enter the burst by using Meikyo Shisui while already at 3 Sen. 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 in time.

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

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

• Opener
• Cooldown
• Odd Burst
• Cooldown & Filler as needed
• Even Burst
• Cooldown & Filler as needed
• Odd Burst
• etc...

The first minute has one extra GCD due to the second charge of Meikyo Shisui providing a second use of Tendo Kaeshi Setsugekka, and as such, most GCD tiers should not require any filler. In the case of 2.14 GCD, this will cause you to drift one GCD as it is a 28-GCD rotation. This is shown to not be a loss compared to fixing it according to tests run using rotation tools, but it is worth mentioning as you will see your Higanbana fall off early for the first reapplication. For optimization, this is also important as it will allow for one missed GCD without altering your rotation at all.

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. In this scenario, you would remove those GCDs from your filler phase first. In the event you lose more GCDs than you have filler, one optimization to make would be to use 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 six missed GCDs during odd minutes. 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. and Oka combos to keep buffs up.
2. Spend Sen on Midare Setsugekka.
3. Spend Kenki on Hissatsu: Guren and Hissatsu: Shinten.
4. When using Meikyo Shisui, spend charges on Gekko and Kasha.
5. When using Tsubame-gaeshi, spend charges on Tendo Kaeshi Setsugekka.

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.
3. Spend Kenki on Hissatsu: Guren and Hissatsu: Kyuten.
4. When using Meikyo Shisui, spend charges on Mangetsu and Oka.
5. When using Tsubame-gaeshi, use Tendo Kaeshi Goken.