Bushi

The Bushi excel in the way of the katana and the mace. They're similar to the Landsknechts and the Ronin found in Etrian Odyssey and Etrian Odyssey II as well as the Shogun from Etrian Odyssey 3.

Overview

They prefer maces and katanas, can sacrifice their HP and TP in order to deal more damage per hit through Blood Surge. Their Endure skill is capable of allowing them to resist death once per battle. Despite having skills that, on their own, are only reasonably damaging, and despite a relatively poor TP pool, Bushi can actually out-damage dedicated damage spiking classes like Imperials and Runemasters due to their incredibly powerful passive abilities and support abilities. Blood Surge and Charge make them essentially matchless in terms of raw damage potential, and, unlike many other raw damage classes, a Bushi can be essentially self-sustaining at this role due to its ability to regain HP/TP when attacking.

Strengths: Unmatched Strength growth, impressive physical damage, self-regeneration.
Weaknesses: Middling defense, rapid HP/TP depletion from Blood Surge, smallest TP pool.

Subclassing

Subclasses for Bushi

Bushi subclasses well into both physical and magic-using classes, despite a relatively low Technique stat. One main problem with the Bushi is their relatively low TP pool and reliance on a lot of their main skills (where over 80% of them prove to be excellent), however, this relatively hindering disadvantage can also be used as another source for flexibility when going to subclass them (as well as subclassing them to other classes), meaning a handful of subclasses options are possible. Examples of them are:

Landsknecht: A rather solid choice, Bushi's raw power makes a couple of the Landsknecht's skills pack much more power than they originally did, their middling speed is nullified by Vanguard and they get another form of damage boost thanks to Initiative and a stacking Power Boost. Access to shields, Swordbreaker, Weapon Parry, and Iron Wall will also help in the defense department. Between katanas, maces, swords, and rapiers, Bushi/Landsknechts have access to a wide variety of weapons and offense skills to work with.
Fortress: Access to HP Boost gives the Bushi more staying power so their HP doesn't bleed out so quickly. Bolt Strike is a good source of volt damage allowing them to now hit any elemental weakness. Access to shields raises the Bushi's defenses and Guard Mastery can blank out any attack that would hit them.
Nightseeker: Probably the most recommended choice. Bushi hit their hardest when dual-wielding, and Blade Flurry allows them to strike hard with both weapons at once and rapidly refill their HP and TP. Follow Trace is also a staple passive, squeezing out more damage from their powerful attacks. Speed Boost also makes up for their middling speed and slightly raises their evasion so they don't take as many hits.
Medic: Mainly due to their synergy with the Medic's mace skills (namely Heavy Strike, Knockout Blow and Star Drop), they're not particularly bad healers as well, it's hard to ignore an extra Full Heal and/or Revive, they also gain TP Boost, which covers their relatively low TP.
Runemaster: Grants support runes and give a noticeable boost to Fire Strike and Ice Slash as well as essentially free TP thanks to Free Energy and (if possible) TP Boost, giving Bushi more staying power.
Dancer: Utilize Sword Dance to get more damage out of standard attacks. Fan Dance also raises evasion, letting the Bushi dodge potentially lethal blows. Refresh Waltz constantly heals off statuses, completely removing the drawback of using the self-paralyzing Fierce Strike, while Regen Waltz can sustain the Bushi during Blood Surge.

Bushi as Subclass

Due to the Bushi boasting very powerful passives and skills for a very low skill point investment, it is a favoured subclass for any offensive party member. Blood Surge and Charge already provide ridiculous boosts for just 1 skill point in each, and Deep Breath is a great way for regaining stamina during a long battle. Even a point in Roar allows a party member to support by erasing buffs.

Dual-wielding Landsknechts and Nightseekers enjoy the boost granted by Ferocity which makes them hit much, much harder. A properly built Landsknecht/Bushi can also use every damage type apart from untyped, without having to give up access to one of their skill trees.
Fortresses gain Fire Strike and Nerve Strike for additional Mace attack skills, and Shockwave to unleash an area-hitting attack. Endure also synergizes well with their design to tank damage for the party, giving them an extra life and saving on resources or TP that would be spent reviving a dead Fortress.
Dancers gain immense sustainability with their normal attacks during Blood Surge due to Ferocity working with their many attacks from Sword Dance to give rise to rapid HP regeneration.
Imperials who rely on physical damage (Assault and Accel Drives) mainly use Charge, Blood Surge, and stacking Power Boosts to multiply their already very good base damage.

Skill Tree

Skill	Description	Type	Prerequisites	Extra
Proficiency	Recover some TP when performing a normal attack.	Class	None
Nerve Strike	Melee bash attack to 1 enemy. May paralyze.	Katana/Mace	None
Moon Slash	Melee cut attack to an entire line of enemies.	Katana	Nerve Strike Lv3
Skull Crusher	Melee bash attack to 1 enemy. May bind its head.	Mace	Nerve Strike Lv3
Blood Surge	Lose HP and TP each time you act, in exchange for increased damage.	Support	None	Does not use a buff slot.
Endure	Once per battle, should your HP reach 0, you recover a small amount.	Passive Skill	Blood Surge Lv1	Level to increase HP recovered on death.
Roar	Eliminates all buffs on 1 enemy and does untyped damage to it.	Special	None
Power Boost	Increases your physical attack power.	Passive	None
Dendrology	Chance of finding extra materials when chopping wood.	Passive	None

Skill	Description	Type	Prerequisites	Extra
Expertise	Recover more TP when performing a normal attack.	Class	Proficiency
Shockwave	Ranged cut attack to all enemies. Costs HP as well as TP.	Katana/Mace	None	Always uses up 25% HP.
Ice Slash	Melee ice-elemental cut attack to 1 enemy.	Katana	Shockwave Lv3
Fire Strike	Melee fire-elemental bash attack to 1 enemy.	Mace	Shockwave Lv3
Deep Breath	Come out of the Blood Surge state and recover some HP and TP.	Special	Endure Lv1
Auto-Surge	Blood Surge may activate at the start of battle.	Auto	Endure Lv2
Charge	The physical attack power of your next action is increased.	Special	None	Can affect Burst skills. If so, the turn's normal action doesn't benefit.
Defiance	Your physical attack power increases while equipping two weapons.	Passive	Charge Lv2
Robust Chef	Increases HP gains from cooked food.	Sky	None

Skill	Description	Type	Prerequisites	Extra
Enlightenment	Recover more TP when performing a normal attack.	Class	Expertise
Flash Slice	Strong melee cut attack to one enemy.	Katana	Ice Slash Lv2
Multi-Slash	Melee cut attacks to random enemies. Number of hits increases with low HP.	Katana	Flash Slice Lv3	Level to also raise maximum number of hits.
Meteor Strike	Melee bash attack with a splash effect.	Mace	Fire Strike Lv2
Fierce Strike	Strong melee bash attack to 1 enemy. Paralyzes you after attacking.	Mace	Meteor Strike Lv3
Surge Mastery	In Blood Surge, low HP raises defense and low TP raises attack power.	Passive	Deep Breath Lv2
Ferocity	Recover some HP when performing a normal attack.	Passive	None

To unlock

Defeat the Boiling Lizard of the BF3 of the Golden Lair and report your successful mission to the Outland Court, after a small dialogue, Kibagami will offer you the Battle Goblet, allowing you to recruit Bushi as well as have it as a subclass option. Kibagami himself also offers to permanently join the party as a Lv. 38 Bushi/Medic.