‘For Honor’ Classes: Samurai Vs Viking Vs Knight, And Who Would Win… [Video]

Among For Honor‘s classes are some of the mightiest warriors in history. The Game Theorists, or at least the channel’s host, have done their homework to figure out who would win; A samurai, a knight, or a Viking.

A death battle was staged, and this time Screw Attack‘s “Wiz” and “Boomstick” had almost nothing to do with it. That channel hosts some of the most amusing face-offs in geek culture, even pairing off Superman and Goku, and Deathstroke and Deadpool, in their own fights twice each with opposite results. The only things that channel contributed to this death battle was a screen shot and the words “death battle.”

That said, Matthew Patrick, or MatPat as he likes to call himself, went further than analyzing the weapons, armor, and skills to determine who would win in a real-life equivalent of For Honor; Samurai, Knights, or Vikings. We all have our romantic suggestions of what each of these classes would look like and how they would fight, and that was what Ubisoft brought to the proverbial table. The Canadian game publisher is representing each of those warriors at the heights of their progress and technology, but that isn’t realistic, as Matthew states those ideals span around a thousand years.

A lot can change in a thousand years, so MatPat did some research and figured out a period in which all three existed at the same time. Then he took the available technology at that time to determine the victor.

Thankfully, Ubisoft made For Honor with fun in mind instead of historical accuracy. As the open Beta wraps up, according to GameSpot, many who took advantage were privileged to witness this alteration to factual history. In the future, they might even add ninjas and pirates, but that would be even more complicated.

The Viking was often a lot like Marvel Comics’ Wolverine, a berzerker. Reckless in battle, they would swoop in, and destroy or take whatever lay in their path. Having come from the frozen climate of Sweden, with no electricity to keep them warm, they might have seemed formidable, even inspiring Norse mythology. Considering the standards they lived in around the year 1000 (the chosen period), pillaging was a necessity to survive. Even in the most romantic of imagery, the Vikings weren’t known for their armor, instead often using numbers to their advantage. This often made them fodder for whatever military they were up against, and nobody was allowed to sit the battle out due to their need for numbers. With minimal armor and probably the least effective weapons in comparison to the other classes, a single Viking would most likely go down earliest.

The knight is usually visualized as being resplendent in shining plate armor and a long sword, the classic fantasy stereotype. The latter was likely true, though, in the year 1000, they often opted for chain mail, a kind of armor made of interlocking metal rings which helped reduce the impact and damage of most melee weapons. They also often rode into battle on horses for the “uphill” advantage. The added elevation often kept foot-based opponents much easier to strike, as the sword didn’t need to be lifted as high, taking less effort.

The samurai was ancient Japan’s “one percent,” a wealthy kind of warrior. Imagine Mark Zuckerberg, in about 1000 AD, in technologically advanced armor, trained by the best teachers to shoot an arrow from horseback. They also usually hired bodyguards to protect them against up-close threats, but their training made them formidable. Their usual opponents were the ninja, often farmer peasants who used farming tools and guerrilla tactics to attempt to take out the samurai.

With that kind of threat constantly looming, a samurai had to be ready at all times. They were also trained in archery, meaning arrows would be flying, a weapon against which chain mail was often proven ineffective.

According to Matthew Patrick, if For Honor was historically accurate, the samurai class would win every time.

[Featured Image by BrunoGarridoMacias/Shutterstock, Nejron Photo/Shutterstock, FXQuadro/Shutterstock]