"A samurai should always be prepared for death
- whether his own or someone else's"

- Stan Sakai

Bushido is the Samurai's code of honor, as Chivalry is the paladin's code. To begin training you must have a book of Bushido and carry it with you. To use a samurai ability you must have the required skill and mana. Bushido does not require reagents or tithing points.

Bushido isn't a complete skill. In order to be effective, it should be combined to a weapon skill such as Swordsmanship, Fencing, Macing or Archery. Bushido is mostly a melee combat supplement because even though the Archer benefits greatly from Honorable Execution and Lightning Strike, he will find Momentum Strike difficult to use.

Passively, Bushido improves your chance to parry without a shield, and your chance to parry is based on a combination of your Parrying and Bushido skill. However, make note that the higher your Bushido, the poorer your chance will be to parry with a shield. With gm in both, you will have 29% chance to parry with a two-handed weapon, 25% chance with a one-handed weapon, and 5% while holding a shield (in comparison, GM parry alone gives you 30% with a shield). Thus, you must be prepared to give up your shield completely to become a samurai.

For the purposes of gaining Bushido, you do not have to wait for any spell with a duration to wear off, and can recast it instantly for more gains.

Skill	What to Cast
0	Buy from NPC Samurai
25	Confidence
45	Counter Attack
50	Lightning Strike*
85	Lightning Strike, Momentum Strike**

*

Special note to golem users: Lightning Strike will damage a golem at random times, regardless of what weapon you use. Keep an eye on your golem's health if training outside town, as it only takes a few damaging Lightning Strikes to kill one. You can train Bushido on a golem in town, sparing your golem (or any other pet/hireling) a thorough beating, but you will not gain any weapon skill, tactics, or anatomy while doing so.

**

Lightning Strike can and will take you to grandmaster status and beyond. Momentum Strike is more difficult to set up, since you must have two targets adjacent to you every time you use it, but you may find better gains. From my own experience, and that of two other samurai, the ability Evasion will very seldom if ever give gains in Bushido.

The table below (from Stratics), details the abilities according to skill level that the Samurai will be able to display.

Icon	Name	Mana	Skill	Info
	Weapon Parry	-	-	Samurai are more adept at parrying with a weapon than a shield – especially the two-handed variety. This happens automatically as their Bushido skill increases along with Parry.
	Honorable Execution	0	25	Attempts to deliver a killing attack to your opponent, gaining a swing speed boost afterwards. Failing to slay your enemy results in massive resistance penalties for a short duration.
	Confidence	10	25	Places you in a defensive stance of confidence, allowing you to gain stamina and health each time you parry.
	Counter Attack	5	40	Places you in a defensive stance that allows you to automatically counter attack the next time you successfully parry.
	Lightning Strike	5	50	An attack with a large bonus to your chance to hit.
	Evasion	10	60	Puts you in an evasive stance for a short duration, allowing you to parry magical attacks like dragon breath and energy bolt.
	Momentum Strike	10	70	If you strike an opponent with this ability, you will automatically strike another nearby opponent. You receive a damage bonus if you kill the first opponent.

Thanks to Kyle Bryant for this essay.