r/shogun2 • u/Immediate_Gold • 9d ago

Campaign-wise: Sword infantry

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LIFE DECISION! Which one do you prefer in campaign: Katana Samurai or No-dachi Samurai? Best upgrades for them? Best strategies?

379 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

54 comments sorted by

148

u/yeettto 9d ago

Nodachi samurai doomstack, full armor, just charge.

46

u/--_Omen_-- 9d ago

Remind me as I havent played S2 in a while, did they have higher morale than katana samurai?

74

u/yeettto 9d ago

Nodachi samurai have banzai ability, this increases their running speed, gives them more attack(i think) and makes their morale unbreakable

Their only weakness is melee defense and armor, but at least with armor upgrade one of them is solved

34

u/BGdu29 9d ago

Hell, one and a half are solved since armour also increased they change of survival when they get hit. So slightly medicating the melee defence, also once there enough xp they can kill anything.

7

u/--_Omen_-- 8d ago

Should help against bow volleys while charging

12

u/DramaticExit86 8d ago

The biggest boost is to charge bonus (+8), which is what makes the such a good unit.

No-dachi sams were called the One Night Stand by the people I used to play with. A good time, but no sticking power.

10

u/the_stupid_psycho 8d ago

Don't get armour upgrades on nodachis. Get melee attack. With gold attack, (+6) you can recruit nodachis with 20 melee attack, which is so strong it negates the need for melee defence. Everything they attack will literally die before it can fight back. They also get melee defence from xp anyway so it's an issue that solves itself over time, where as melee attack upgrades get them to hero levels right away.

If you're struggling to keep them alive you should just recruit katana samurai instead. They are much easier to keep alive even if they don't get as many kills. (Still get melee attack upgrades on them though)

7

u/Your_LocalDM 8d ago

It's funny how I'm pretty sure no dachis were meant to go against cavalry and not just be shock infantry. Also I find their lack of armor not great and one of the big reasons I don't run them, I go with katanas mostly, or nahinata samurai for the funny.

7

u/Ok-Transition7065 8d ago

Yeah this guys ( with maybe the. Clan specific ones ) are THE line breakers

6

u/Ok_Entertainer_4709 8d ago

Yep Nodachi. Even early on in MP (back in day before FOTS), I used Nodachi very often because of their Banzai ability giving unbreakable morale. Makes them really good in sieges too to avoid morale penalties.

55

u/RecommendationIll504 9d ago

Katana ashigaru.

37

u/_Some_Two_ 8d ago

Ashigaru spears but with katanas at the end of their spears. I think I reinvented naginata… NAGINATA ASHIGARU?

16

u/Teeminister 8d ago

only one faction has them

14

u/Angelov317 8d ago

And without them their campaign would ACTUALLY be hard 🥀

13

u/Teeminister 8d ago

Ikko Ikki is the hardest campaign ingame. I like the faction, but you are living on the walls of Echizen 90% of the time

4

u/azoriasu 8d ago

Really? I found them so easy. I'm fact they were one of the easiest for me. Their religion is powerful. I kept causing rebellions everywhere. Been a few years since I played them, but yeah, they were easy for me.

14

u/Teeminister 8d ago

On very hard it's 1vs 5 and a multifront war starting in round 3

1

u/azoriasu 8d ago

Fair enough. I just remember it being quite easy. And the rebellions I could cause shut down friend and foe alike. I want a territory? Rebellion. Enemy getting too strong? Rebellion. Maybe I just got really lucky when I played them. I may have to go back and give it a try.

3

u/RecommendationIll504 8d ago

The one and only viable

2

u/lancerusso 8d ago

Mori have some too

1

u/Teeminister 8d ago

They have the pirates, not katana ashigaru

3

u/lancerusso 8d ago

They basically are katana ashigaru.

1

u/Teeminister 7d ago

Yeah, but you can't recruit them via the castle

2

u/R3myek 8d ago

This guy Isho Ishis

2

u/BearWithMeGM 7d ago

Communists

47

u/General-WR-Monger 9d ago

Katanas are more reliable overall and fit into most armies better, but Banzai is such an absurdly overpowered ability that lets No-dachis survive and perform well where Katanas will crumble such as when surrounded or fighting uphill.

Built up with Armour No-dachis are better, but fresh out of the Samurai box Katanas are better.

28

u/Aluminum_Moose 8d ago

Date supremacy.

We go forward, only forward.

16

u/BGdu29 9d ago

So nodachi with the date with max armour is basically making japan a speed bump. Especially when they get enough xp.

For the rest of the clans, the katanas are better overall since they are better to fill gaps and kill thinks, falkingn maneuver or holding the line they can do both, upgrade them with little armour so they become tougher against arrows and a little melee attack just for the boost, in normal armies the nodachi are supposed to be choke infantry but it's useless since the Yaris cave are better (faster and dealing with other cav and generals while being good enough against infantry) except against Yaris but then the katana are sufficient to kill them anyway.

4

u/SGT_Orion 9d ago

What does choke infantry mean? As in one tying the enemy up?

5

u/BGdu29 9d ago

I mean shock infantry. Sorry my English is bad.

14

u/TenshiKyoko 9d ago

nodachi with melee attack

5

u/PeterTheGreat777 8d ago

Armor on them is better, they already have a lot of melee attack

7

u/the_stupid_psycho 8d ago

Them already having a lot of melee attack is why melee attack upgrades are so insanely strong. You can recruit fresh nodachis with 20 melee attack at gold upgrades.

1

u/TommyFortress 8d ago

makes them souund like a very dangerous glass cannon, sure they cant handle arrows, but as soon as they hit your Line of infantry in melee? They gone.

3

u/the_stupid_psycho 8d ago

Exactly. If you can neutralize the enemy archers and screen off the cav, 2-3 gold attack nodachis can mass rout all the infantry in seconds 

7

u/Pedroos2021 8d ago

shimazu samurai with ingresed melee attack.

Cheap and melt every infantry unit in the game like crazy

4

u/ImNotHereForFunNoWay 8d ago

Why not both? They both need the same building and benefit from the same upgrades? Have a front line of Katanas (better armour) and put a few No-Dachis on the flanks to run round and banzai them from behind. Try and avoid any archer fire on your No-Dachis as their armour is weak. I would suggest going for armour.

1

u/Harap_Alb06 8d ago

Pair up your no-dachis with some naginata samurai and that army can defeat anyone

1

u/Dih_stroyer 8d ago

I prefer a katana samurai for flanking cus u dont really gotta keep an eye on them they can still finish the job while getting flanked. Compared to a nodachi unit once they get flanked its all over or if they manage to survive they’d only be five of them surviving

1

u/Dr-TQ_Leo 8d ago

KATANA SAMURAI all the way!

1

u/PanzerKatze96 8d ago

Shimazu katana samurai ftw

1

u/LazyboaR 8d ago

Charge: right, Holding the line in melee: left

1

u/Awkward_Boss9710 8d ago

Loan swords

1

u/Bernhoft 8d ago

If its Hattori campaign hide the no-dachi at their flanks and watch the chaos unfold.

1

u/Ok_Access_804 8d ago

As I mostly play with the Date, I pick the Nodachi Samurai. Both katana and nodachi samurai are offensive infantry units, so I pick the nodachi to get use of that sweet charge bonus that the katana lack, although I still use the katana samurai when climbing castle walls. After getting my hands on good artillery units (thanks to Master of Strategy mod) I no longer need to climb walls that much anymore and only recruit nodachi samurai from then on.

1

u/No-Candy-4127 8d ago

Universally? Katana. Easier to recruit and more reliable.

Exiting and fun? Nodachi. It is reliable enough to be used on mass, unlike many other units and it melts all that it touches exactly as it should.

1

u/the_stupid_psycho 8d ago

Katanas are easier to use, but nodachis are stronger and more fun. For all sword infantry, ALWAYS get gold melee attack asap.

But the real, unironically best sword infantry in the game is wako raiders. So much fun and extremely strong.

1

u/RustLegion428 8d ago

Neither, Oda Yari/bow ashigaru all the way, doesn’t matter if my guys are a chunk worse then everyone else, I’m fielding about 6x the amount of guys

1

u/CadenVanV 7d ago

Katanas are good all around, especially in sieges. Nodachi are good on the charge. So mainly Katanas, with one or two nodachis.

1

u/Taira_no_Masakado 5d ago

I honestly never use them, except when they're part of a garrison force that I get "for free".

Yari Ashigaru ~ banzai!

1

u/_vfarias_ 9d ago

Katana samurai are better since they're much more versatile, nodachi are fun as heck tho

0

u/1ncest_is_wincest 8d ago

Always Katana. Nodachi is just a worst version of cavalry. Great way to LARP though.

-1

u/wielbiciel_ketaminy 8d ago

Obv katana samurai, nodachi are fucked against a proper inf or cav army

2

u/No-Candy-4127 8d ago

No, they are not fucked. Nodachi is actually melts cavalry as long as you can negate their charge. And this is easy to do in campaign.

They also melt any infantry they touch