Sengoku Rance unit types: Class Comparison & Battle Guide

Sengoku Rance uses unit classes to define a commander’s base Attack, Defense, Intelligence, Delay, healing behavior, troop ratio, and recruitment cost. The class is separate from the commander’s personal statistics, so two commanders with similar attributes can still perform differently.

The recognized troop types include Samurai, Ashigaru, Tactician, Archer, Ninja, Miko, Sohei, Onmyouji, Musketeer, Cannoneer, Knight, Mage, Cavalry, Animal, and Monster. Their icons provide a quick visual identification during army management and battle selection.

Class Base Attack, Defense, and Intelligence are added to commander statistics through the game’s battle formulas. Physical Attack uses the class’s Base Attack plus the commander’s ATK contribution, while magic uses Intelligence. Defense and Magic Defense follow separate calculations.

Delay is also important. A higher class Delay generally means slower actions. Personal Speed, Speed buffs, and the recovery time of the chosen skill can reduce or increase the practical time before the next action.

Recruitment costs can increase as troop size grows. The reference formula lists a cost increase when a unit reaches 500–999 troops and another increase at 1,000 or more troops. National Power cost also depends on the commander’s base cost and current troop count.

Maximum troop size uses a base limit based on difficulty and controlled provinces. The class’s troop ratio then modifies that limit.

A ratio above 1.0 improves a generic unit’s maximum troop potential, while a ratio below 1.0 limits it. This is why Archers and Ashigaru can reach larger troop totals than several specialized classes, even when their individual Attack values are modest.

Choosing a unit should begin with the battle objective. A commander intended to absorb attacks needs a different class from one designed to act quickly, apply buffs, or exploit magic damage.

Use the following priorities:

• Select Ashigaru or Knight when reducing incoming physical damage is the main concern.
• Select Cavalry when you want a strong physical attacker with a favorable Delay value.
• Select Musketeer or Cannoneer when raw physical Attack is more important than durability.
• Select Ninja when early actions, utility, or skill recovery are central to the plan.
• Select Miko or Sohei when healing and sustained troop recovery matter.
• Select Onmyouji or Mage when Intelligence-based damage is the focus.
• Select Tactician when the army benefits from repeated buffs and improved buff strength.
• Treat Animal and Monster classes as specialized cases because their healing, recruitment, or availability rules differ.

The damage system uses adjusted troop size, offensive statistics, defensive statistics, skill modifiers, and Battlefield Adjustment. As troop counts increase, additional troops contribute less value through diminishing troop effectiveness.

For physical attacks, the relevant difference is Attack minus Defense. For magic attacks, use Magic Attack minus Magic Defense. Both differences have a minimum effective value of 10 in the listed formula.

The listed adjusted troop-size brackets are:

This system makes the first 500 troops especially valuable. Increasing a unit far beyond that threshold can still help, but each additional block contributes less to the adjusted value.

The main practical lessons are:

• Preserve units that have not yet reached the effective troop threshold.
• Use Guard against physical attackers, but do not treat it as a solution to magic damage.
• Remember that Miko and Sohei healing depends on the relevant skill and Intelligence interactions.
• Account for Delay when comparing classes with similar offensive output.
• Use Battlefield Adjustment tools before committing to difficult castle or town battles.
• Avoid assuming that counterattack damage follows the normal damage formula; its behavior uses a separate process.

For deeper formula references, consult the Sengoku Rance: Parameters & Formulae page, especially when checking damage, troop scaling, class values, and Battlefield Adjustment interactions.