Excepting the Adept Power (whose name escapes me at the moment), that allows an uninjured Adept to act at the top of any Initiative Stack, I think I typically found Samurai to be (on average) a little faster than Adepts.

But yes, Adepts frequently specialized in niche areas of unsurpassed excellence.

But then again, your individual mileage may vary.

-Wired_SR_AEGIS

Well, out of the gate even back then, if they really sank into it they could have improved reflexes 3.

Sure, sure. I thought you were comparing the possible starting initiative for a Samurai against an Adept. In third edition, an Adept that grabs Improved Reflexes 3 has 1 power point left to work with, while a Samurai who grabs Wired Reflexes 3 has 1 Essence and 3 Body Index to work with.

(Or leave Essence alone, and build up to 4 Body Index.)

That extra space for the Samurai leaves room for things like Muscle Toners, Suprathyroid, Cerebral Booster, etc. Those all work to raise the initiative score. Didn't Enhanced Articulation also add Reaction, or something? Forgive me, I'm reaching into dark recesses of my mind that have been covered with dust for the better part of a decade.

Still, pound for pound, my recollection is that the Samurai should still have the Initiative advantage. At least in SR 3. No idea if that carried into SR4.

-Wired_SR_AEGIS