Samson the Masher — guide

In short

Samson the Masher is a Legendary Ogryn Tribes HP champion with a +30% Defense aura in all battles. His damage scales off HP, and he brings a stun on his A1, an AoE that strips defense buffs and a team Accuracy buff that comes with an extra turn. He shines in Arena, Faction Wars and Hydra; build priority is HP, crit and Speed.

Strengths

• A1 Fists of Vanity hits twice with a 35% (45%) chance to place a 1-turn Stun — cheap control on an HP scaler.
• A2 Explosive Temperament is an AoE that removes all defense buffs before hitting and grants an extra turn if it kills an enemy.
• A3 Victory Roar gives the team +50% Accuracy for 3 turns, self +30% Crit Damage for 3 turns, then an extra turn — a strong opener.
• Passive Insult: −20% incoming crit damage, a counterattack whenever he takes a crit, and a 50% counterattack chance on any hit.
• Defense aura +30% in all battles — value in both PvP and PvE.

Weaknesses

• Low multipliers: 0.12 × HP per hit on A1 and 0.29 × HP on the AoE. Without crit investment he barely hurts anything — exactly what the site author flags.
• 98 base Speed and 10 base Accuracy: both must come from gear.
• Weak ratings in Clan Boss (2.0), Dungeons (2.0) and Doom Tower (1.0) — he is no all-rounder.
• A mid-tier legendary: without serious gear he is vault or fusion material.

Where to use

Arena first (4.0) — that is where his strip → stun → team Accuracy package actually pays off. Then Faction Wars (3.5) as an HP damage dealer with control, Hydra (3.0) and Chimera (2.5). Clan Boss (2.0) and Dungeons (2.0) are mediocre for him, and Doom Tower (1.0) is a hard pass.

Stats and gear

Priority: HP% wherever possible, then Crit Rate to 100%, Crit Damage, Speed and Accuracy. Rough targets: 70–90k HP, 180–220 Speed, 100% Crit Rate, 180%+ Crit Damage, 150–200 Accuracy for the stun and Arena work.

Sets: Relentless, Savage and Lethal for damage; Stoneskin, Bolster and Defiant for Arena and survivability. In PvP Stoneskin is often worth more than extra HP.

Masteries and blessings

Go for the Offense tree for damage plus the Defense tree for counterattacks. Key picks from the list: Pierce Defenses, Gathering Momentum, Bloodthirsty Prowess, Boss Slayer for boss fights, and Invigorated with Sharpened Riposte, which back up the survivability and retaliation his passive is built around. Blessings: Brimstone as the default for Arena and bosses, Soul Reap for PvE sustain, Lightning Cage if you want extra control. Relic: Blades of Akumori.

Tomes

Book A3 Victory Roar first: levels 2 and 3 cut the cooldown from 6 to 4, so the extra-turn opener comes up almost every rotation. Then A2 Explosive Temperament — 1 turn off the cooldown at level 5 plus the damage upgrades. A1 last; it only adds damage and +5% stun chance.

Verdict

A tidy but average legendary: an aura and a stun opener for Arena plus Faction Wars duty, and that is it. Per the site author — to the vault (fusion), unless you specifically need an HP nuker with control.