UO Bushido Skill Guide
Bushido is a warrior-oriented skill introduced in the Samurai Empire expansion. It enhances two-handed melee combat, improves parry mechanics, and grants access to powerful special abilities. It’s a core part of the popular “Sampire” (Samurai Vampire) PvM build.
Bushido is a samurai skill in Ultima Online, rated as Medium difficulty to train. This guide walks you through everything you need to raise Bushido from 0 to grandmaster, including the most efficient training methods, the targets and items to use at each skill range, and the gains you can expect along the way. Whether you are building your first character or optimizing a finished template, the breakdown below will help you train Bushido as quickly and cheaply as possible.
Below you will find an overview of what Bushido does, a step-by-step training guide, recommended skill ranges, any bonuses Bushido provides, and the templates that pair well with it. If you would rather skip the grind, UO King can deliver a ready-made character or the gear you need to support a Bushido build on your shard.
Bushido is the warrior discipline of the Samurai, granting a set of combat abilities that reward honorable, aggressive fighting. To use any Bushido ability you must keep a Book of Bushido in your backpack, reach the skill level the ability requires, and have the necessary Mana on hand. Beyond its active techniques, Bushido also changes how you parry: Samurai block more effectively with a weapon than with a shield, and the skill improves weapon-based parrying automatically as it rises.
Bushido is trained by using Bushido abilities from the book and engaging in melee combat with two-handed weapons equipped. Skill gain increases when actively using special moves in real combat.
| Skill Range | Training Method |
|---|---|
| 0.0 – 30.0 | Buy from a Bushido Instructor NPC (New Haven, Tokuno) |
| 30.0 – 60.0 | Use Honorable Execution and Confidence in combat |
| 60.0 – 100.0 | Train on tougher mobs using Counter Attack, Evasion, and Momentum Strike |
| 100.0 – 120.0 | Use in endgame PvM: Miasma, Shadowguard, Peerless bosses |
0.0 – 30.0
30.0 – 60.0
60.0 – 100.0
100.0 – 120.0
Bushido abilities unlock progressively as your skill grows. Some, like Weapon Parry and Perfection, work passively; others are activated maneuvers gated behind a minimum skill:
- Weapon Parry and Perfection function passively and scale with skill.
- Honorable Execution and Confidence unlock at 25 skill.
- Counter Attack at 40, Lightning Strike at 50, Evasion at 60, and Momentum Strike at 70.
- Note that carrying a shield while training Bushido actually reduces your shield block chance, since Bushido favors weapon parrying.
The table below summarizes each Bushido ability with its Mana cost and the Bushido skill needed to use it. Perfection is worth highlighting: when a Samurai of 50+ skill lands hits on an Honored target, damage climbs step by step (up to roughly 10 steps). At 100 Bushido each step adds 10% damage and 100 Luck, so a fully built Perfection can reach a 100% damage boost against the 300% overall cap; missing a swing costs 3 steps, and defeating the foe restores health, stamina, and mana based on your final Perfection level.
| Ability | Mana | Skill | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weapon Parry | – | – | Passive; improves weapon parrying (especially two-handed) as Bushido and Parrying rise, but lowers shield block chance. |
| Perfection | – | – | Passive; stacking damage and Luck bonus for hitting an Honored foe (see notes above). |
| Honorable Execution | 0 | 25 | A killing-blow attempt granting a swing speed boost on success, or heavy resistance penalties on failure. |
| Confidence | 10 | 25 | Defensive stance; heals and refreshes stamina on each parry and boosts regeneration for 4 seconds. Total heal is (Bushido × Bushido) / 576 + 15 hit points. |
| Counter Attack | 5 | 40 | Defensive stance that automatically counterattacks on your next successful parry. |
| Lightning Strike | 5 | 50 | A quick strike with a 50% hit chance bonus (45% HCI cap applies, but the full 50% applies if you are Hit Lower Attacked). |
| Evasion | 10 | 60 | Brief evasive stance that lets you parry magical attacks such as dragon breath and energy bolt. |
| Momentum Strike | 10 | 70 | Hitting one foe automatically strikes another nearby foe, with a damage bonus if the first is killed. |