Ronin

Ronin
Tier	3
Total Rice	90
Total Water	105
Total Training Time	82 (20/25/37)
Hitpoints	400
Melee	Cutting/Magic(with Yin Blade)
Melee Damage	None
Missile/Ranged	None
Missile/Ranged Damage	None
Strengths	Cutting (-75%), Blunt (-50%, -75%), Piercing (-25%, -44%)
Weaknesses	Explosive (+100%), Magic (+75%)
Prerequisite	Serpent Peasant trains at Tavern, Sharpshooter's Guild, and Alchemist Hut.
Passive	Cursed Swords: When the Ronin loses all his hit points, he thrusts his swords into the ground, leaving them behind for a short time. The swords cause nearby allies to do more damage, while nearby enemies are slowed.

Life is a dark forest where beasts must kill to live. In such a wood, it is better to be a tiger than a man.

— Ronin

The Ronin is a unit of the Serpent Clan.

Overview

In every age and nation, there are wise men of heroic strength: those whose swords shine in the nightmares of a hundred widows, and whose martial arts skills are no longer quite human. So it was with the samurai of the Dragon, and so it is with the Serpent Ronin: dark mirrors of their ancient counterparts, rejecting the samurai's code of honor as weakness, yet honing their talents to just as keen an edge. Such men make deadly foes, on or off the field of battle.

In combat, Ronin wield a pair of razor-edged katanas, reasoning that their unholy proficiency with two blades will strike fear into those who cannot brandish one with equal force. In order to master this complex fighting style, they train only with blades, disdaining the Samurai's bow. When one of these hardened veterans perishes in battle, his accumulated ferocity and bitterness curses the very place of his death, while spurring his allies on to vengeance.

They can also call the four strong-willed Serpent Ronins to sacrifice their lives for the Necromancer to be delivered onto the mortal realm and commence the slaughter.

Usage

The Ronin is a powerful Tier-3 unit that deals great damage with his twin katanas. When a Ronin dies, he stabs the ground with his swords, creating a small magical field that slows enemies, while increasing damage of his allies, although the swords are destructible.

The Ronin's Battle Gears are: Yin Blade can be used to drain the stamina, adding the number of Yin points and even change Ronin's damage to magic while Blood Bond can make another unit take the most part of the damage incoming to Ronin.

However, Ronin still have the Dragon counterparts' vulnerability to Explosive and Magic, so they should only be trained in small numbers because of their passive and to summon Necromancer. Serpent players should use Bandits instead as melee tankers, as they have no true weaknesses.

Battle Gear

	Yin Blade	Stamina: Drains Stamina and requires 10% of total stamina		Blood Bond	Stamina: 90%
Requirements: Metal Shop			Requirements: Thieves' Guild
Damage from magical blades drains enemy stamina to create Yin; continually drains user's stamina.			The Thieves' Guild is not considered a scholarly group, but they do have access to certain volumes of dark sorceries. Using these, a strong-willed Ronin may enslave another's soul to his own. Such a Ronin finds himself invulnerable to harm, as his wounds are magically transferred to his helpless slave's flesh.

Trivia

• Ronin (Japanese: 浪人 Rōnin) literally means drifter or wanderer.

They are mostly Samurais who were without their masters or fell from grace, earning the name "Ronin", usually becomes mercenaries.

• Ronin's fighting style bears similarities to Niten Ichi-ryū, a style developed by Miyamoto Musashi that would use two long swords or a long sword and short sword, usually the wakizashi. Musashi himself is a Ronin.
• Yin Blade battle gear changes Ronin's damage from 25 (cutting) to 20 (magic).
• Both Ronin and Samurai have the exactly same weaknesses, resistances and hitpoints. But Ronin may acquire "Reinforced Plating" upgrade which raises his piercing/blunt resistance where as Samurai may acquire "Dragon Fire" upgrade, which raises his hitpoints.
• Ronin use only one sword while on horseback.
• Same as Samurai, Ronin can't use "Cursed Swords" while mounted.
• When the Ronin is the last unit killed before his clan falls, Cursed Swords boosts enemies' attack damage.
• According to the original manual, the Ronin's Yin Blade was supposed to heal the Ronin by "suck[ing] ... life force" from the enemy attacked. This is evidenced by the Battle Realms data editor, where there is an option in the weapons tab showing a row for "HealthVampirePercentage (Float)".
• In the manual, Cursed Swords would boost allies' attack damage and reduce enemies'. Upon release, Cursed Swords slow enemies instead.

Gallery

Ronin Concept Art

Ronin Concept Art as shown before installing Battle Realms

Beta Screenshot showing Ronin who brandished violet-glowing Yin Blades with BG icon oddly showing blue-glowing sword, later used for Samurai's Yang Blade

Quotes (Move)

• "All in the plan"
• "It shall be done"
• "I follow the Serpent"
• "The pursuit continues"
• "Our work is not done!"
• "Hunt our enemies!"

Quotes (Attack)

• "Order through aggression!"
• "Retribution awaits!"
• "The mighty shall rule!"
• "Time to pay!"
• "Leadership by force!"
• "Destroy the weak!"
• "Rule through power!"

Quotes (When engaging in melee combat)

• "You'll pay!"
• "Hyah!"

Quotes (Kills)

• "Another weakling falls!"
• "The end is near"
• "Know your place DOG!"
• "Your time has come"
• "As it should be"
• "Gaze on your master"
• "You dare fight me?!"
• "You pay!"

Quotes (Death)

• " For... the Serpent..."
• "Master..."