Changes to Ninja since ToAU?

[Intensity]

Just wondering if anyone can kinda outline the significant changes to the game that have affected Ninja the most since ToAU released and what, if any, changes have come about to the Ninjas role in exp parties and God/HNM fights.

[Raitox]

From what I've heard, in the ToAU areas Ninja is god along with 3 other jobs in burn and merit parties. The rest were just kicked to the curb.

[Intensity]

Sweet. Me and my wife (72BRD) are planning on playing around in those areas exclusively for a while once we come back. Any particular reason? Or is it still the Blink Tank/Uber DMG like it's always been?

[Raitox]

Its the shadows. Most of these burn parties are NIN, WAR, MNK, RDM, and BRD. I hear they kill mobs really fast, rarely get hit, buffed by a BRD, and healed by a RDM.

[Intensity]

Yeah, that's unchanged then. lol Same reason NIN is so desired in exp as well iirc. Worked out well that I always staticed with a BRD. =P

[Mouser]

Last time I partied in Caedarva Mire, the WHM disconnected a few times, but we kept going with only a BRD/NIN's double Paeon as healing, which I suppose gives you an idea of how good NINs are there.

[bside]

As far as merit parties go, more and more NIN's are now "f**k the evasion and go ATK, Acc, STR and DEX." Haubergeon(+1) probably is the most standard body peice for NIN's when in merit parties, while AF body +1 comes next. Scorp Harness? (What is it?) Not to mention Kirin Osode is only used for WS'.

Thanks to the EXP bonus of sanction, good only in the ToAU areas, merit parties of "right" setups and players can now get 15k+/hr, without having to have godly gears such as Ridhill, Adman Hauberk, etc. We are sought to be more offensive than ever.


The attached picture shows aruguably the most standard NIN in merit parties.
And I'm not joking.

[KoukiRyu]

Before ToAU parties, I was totally into PLD too :( Now I want a nin whenever I can get one...parties are just...faster @_@ Especially merit'ing, things just fly by, getting chains I had never reached before +_+

[little ninja]

As far as merit parties go, more and more NIN's are now "f**k the evasion and go ATK, Acc, STR and DEX." Haubergeon(+1) probably is the most standard body peice for NIN's when in merit parties, while AF body +1 comes next. Scorp Harness? (What is it?) Not to mention Kirin Osode is only used for WS'.
Thanks to the EXP bonus of sanction, good only in the ToAU areas, merit parties of "right" setups and players can now get 15k+/hr, without having to have godly gears such as Ridhill, Adman Hauberk, etc. We are sought to be more offensive than ever.
The attached picture shows aruguably the most standard NIN in merit parties.
And I'm not joking.

Actually that pic is very accurate from what i wear, except i am not decked out in +1 gear. an my hands are kote. but that is my basic armor look. other gear, amemet+1, others wear foreger mantle, 2 flame rings, not really sure what others wear, maybe a rajas if anything, neck i wear a C,Chain some wear the royal gaurd collar or the spike necklace. bomb core, a cassie earrng, an a supp, swift belt to finish the gear off.

[Intensity]

Byrnie isn't feasible anymore? /cry

Well hopefully the price of Byrnie is close to whatever I'll be buying to replace it then. lol And I've got dual Fudo's now, but have a Senju waiting for when I ding 72 so that's great. Plus all my other gear is full DD since when I was playing before (and this will continue being the case when we start again) I static'd with a BRD so Hojo + Elegy meant I passed on all the EVA+.

[bside]

Actually that pic is very accurate from what i wear, except i am not decked out in +1 gear. an my hands are kote. but that is my basic armor look. other gear, amemet+1, others wear foreger mantle, 2 flame rings, not really sure what others wear, maybe a rajas if anything, neck i wear a C,Chain some wear the royal gaurd collar or the spike necklace. bomb core, a cassie earrng, an a supp, swift belt to finish the gear off.

The Hands part probably is the most "arguable" part, while it's denifitely AF+1 if it's to be geared for Blade Jin, but of course you can macro-switch. Personally, I use Horomusha (not OKote as I occasionally use it for evasion-required circumstance, though I usually rather use Seiryu's Kote for evasion by AGI+, and HP+), simply because I haven't done enough Limbus runs to get the items for upgrade. (I do solo Apollyon SE from time to time for coins, but haven't done Temenos for almost a half year.)

As for rings, I use 2 Thinder rings rather than Flames, for increased crit chances for both normal attacks and Blade Jin. Jin gets the same percentage of modifier from both STR and DEX, so as far as the damages go, it's only a difference of STR10, which the increased crit should at least cancel out. And Rajas? I got Sattva for my PLD, so can't have it :wasted:

BTW, I'd never get a Bomb Core as I'm certain that I will throw it away lol Lightning Bow+1 instead.

Other than these;

Ear1: Minuet Earring (35 more coins for Brutal; sold most of the coins :wasted:
Ear2: Suppanomimi
Neck: Chivalrous Chain (want Peacock so badly, and elemental Gorget too)
Back: Amemet+1 (so I can use it for my DRK70 someday, saving a slot in a safe)
Waist: Swift Belt


Probably not so much different from others, as far as the "tendency" of the gears is concerned.



Byrnie isn't feasible anymore? /cry

Well hopefully the price of Byrnie is close to whatever I'll be buying to replace it then. lol And I've got dual Fudo's now, but have a Senju waiting for when I ding 72 so that's great. Plus all my other gear is full DD since when I was playing before (and this will continue being the case when we start again) I static'd with a BRD so Hojo + Elegy meant I passed on all the EVA+.

At least in my server, Fenrir, the price for Byrnie has dropped a lot, more than Haubergeon did, down to 1.8 mil now.

I'm not saying that Byrnie is a crap, but the "problem" w/ Byrnie when used as NIN is its negative stat on DEX, which obviously decreases 2 things: critical rate, and more importantly, Blade Jin damage. Well-merited and well-equipped NIN's Jin goes upwards of 1400ish (or maybe even 1500ish, but never seen one personally; max I've seen is somewhere 1400ish) on merit mobs, and that's one factor that makes NIN's so useful in merit parties. Negative stat on DEX is simply unacceptable for this reason.

While Haubergeon decreases AGI and evasion, they have minimal disadvantages when it comes to merit parties. Rather than that, its STR and DEX bonus (higher than Byrnie) along w/ Acc and ATK+ work pretty well for both normal attacks and Jin. (Those who have Kirin Osode usually switch to it when using Jin, though.)

Nevertheless, it's a merit-exclusive thing, so using Byrnie in normal parties shouldn't be a problem at all.


Last but not least, make sure you get Walahra Turban. Its 5% haste is a killer that you don't wanna miss. You can technically "buy" it for something like 1 mil; you donate 1,000 Bronze AU coins to an NPC to get it, and 1 mil is about how much 20 Gold coins cost in my server, which can be broken down to 1,000 Bronze coins.

[little ninja]

LoL worst thing i ever did was i dropped a core thinking it was a pop item for the nm bomb in ifrits cauldron. But i never really noticed anyone wearing +dex rings. u think switching 1 in for a flame ring would make alot of difference. seeing as i swing a sen, an fudo, an my crit hit merits are capped. will it really make that much more difference?

I C alot of peeps using different things for hands, AF+1, AF2, Shura, Okote, its counter part. those lvl 70+ gloves from the Chasm. So there are alot of choices for nin hands at 72+.

Bryn is great for normal tanking parties, but if you see yourself getting asked into burn parties, then upgrading to haub will keep u up to date with other nin burners. an just to let u know, i seen alot of nin in the 70's in normal exp parties using ninja af, then gear swapping to a haub for jin. so if you have to sell your brynie, dont worry, players wont call u gimped if you switch to Af body...

[Avoklex]

buffed by a BRD

Don't forget pulling 1-2 mobs by the bard and Lullaby them. Fast XP