+EVA Vs. +ATK

[Eji Kazuma]

Okay, just hit level 44 Nin and I have some quick questions, need a little feedback on which way I should go for the best outcome. Around level 30-35 I was gearing for evasion and found that I was hitting monsters for all of about 3-9 dmg a swing... also I felt that the boost to evasion wasn't really prolonging my shadows life much more then usual.

Now that I'm geared more for attacking, I tend to deal anywhere from 24-44 dmg a swing depending on whether or not I have Berserk going at the moment. Without food or Berserk, my attack is about a 189 and my defense is about a 160. I also have Equipment that provides about a +14 to STR and leaves Dex and Agi about +8 and +7, or I can run with a +11 to STR, a +10 to Dex, and a +11 to AGI.

Currently, I parry pretty often, my skill for it is about at 80 and Evasion skill is capped so I evade dencently also... but occasionally I'll get stuck trying to cast Utsu-Ichi and really get whored...

I hold aggro decently because of my damage between hitting and wheeling, but I've found that I really get smacked around hard and it's VERY difficult to get Ichi up during a fight. I just wanted to know if I'm doing this right or not and if this is normal at this level.

Also, if you could currently I'm using Rice Dumplings, mainly because of the Atk increase and acc increase. Sushi seems to not be worth the usage... kinda feels weird but squid sushi gives great stat boosts but I miss like crazy and the damage is sooo weak.

Yeah.. all in all I just wanted some help on this, thanks folks.

[Feba]

Please use the default font color. I use the light theme, but that color looks like it would be very hard on those using the blackground.

[Sevv]

personally i went for more eva then attack, it is basically finding out what blance you need for your self. I had about a eva 2: att 1 ratio or so.

[Sabaron]

Ichi is hard to get up because it takes 4.5 seconds to cast. You need to make sure that your support is Hasting you. Remember to complain loudly if you don't get it. If your Hojo's aren't sticking consistently, mages should be doing backup enfeebles.

You also need to be cross-casting Ichi. Here's an example:

Ni up
<<Shadow Lost
<<Shadow Lost
<<Shadow Lost
[Cast Ni]
<<Shadow Lost
Ni up
<<Shadow Lost
<<Shadow Lost
<<Shadow Lost
[Cast Ichi]
<<Shadow Lost or cancel final shadow
Ichi up
<<shadow lost
<<shadow lost
[Cast Ni]
<<Shadow Lost
Ni up

versus a fast mob, you may need to cast Ichi when Ni is still at 2 shadows.

[Sevv]

ni is quick enough to cast when you lose your last shadow always cast ichi with one shadow left tho. other then that sabaron is dead on.

[Necropolis]

While I was leveling NIN, I carried around set-ups for both Eva and Att builds.

If my eva was okay versus a mob I would stay in att build, if I was getting smacked a lot, I'd swap out for evasion. If shadows were down, I had a macro setup to swap in all my evasion gear, and hopefully avoid enough swings to get Utsesumi back up.

You might have to leave a few pieces at your Mog House, I always found inventory space to be at a premium while playing NIN. So generally I carried around 4 rings, 4 earrings, and then maybe 4-6 extra pieces apart from normal gear that I could swap in.

You do want to be cautious of swapping out visible gear if you are in serious danger of dieing. There is nothing a healer hates more than a blinking tank they can't target. My suggestion is swap gear while in the white/yellow HP and cast Utsusemi, but don't change back till you support has you covered. Never go swapping visible armor (weapon, body, hands, legs, waist) when you are within 1 or 2 hits of dieing.

[Eji Kazuma]

Yes, Ni is no problem for me at all. It's usually a rare occurance if I get caught casting Ni.

I usually try and start each fight with Ichi, purging any shadows from before unless I know they are fresh. Then I hop to Ni once they drop, and I TRY to cast Ichi when I'm close to my last Ni shadow. Problem I'm having with that is, my parrying and Evasion will sometimes stave me off from losing shadows and I'll complete the casting of Ichi and then it fails and blah... no shadows for me.

So, more often then not I wait till the Ni Shadows drop fully and then try to beat the mob's attack time. (seems like they are getting quicker too =O)

So far, my PTs have been good with getting Haste on me and keeping it up... heck most of the time they Re-cast it on me even when I don't need it LOL. I was unable to camp a set of Sarutobi Kyahan (0/2)... so no +3% Haste for me T_T.

EDIT: Gear swapping isn't a bad Idea... I kinda do this already and my inv is pretty much full all the time from NIN (only gobbie bag 2). I carry a full set of tools for the elemental wheel at all times, and I carry several different belts and 4 different rings. I have 2 Puisssance Rings, 1 Mythril Teir AGI+1 Ring(can't remember the name) and 1 Deft Ring.

I swap between the belts and rings depending on the food I use, Swordbelt +1 for attack, or Survival Belt for Eva, or Tilt Belt for Acc. I Sold my Dodge Earrings cause I decided I didn't need Eva as much as I needed AGI and I shifted fully to Drone Earrings for that. (I do have to say that I LOVE having high AGI... the bonuses are AWESOME)

Not sure of other things I could swap out for this, but I can see a couple options already from what you've said.

[Sevv]

usually having ni up for the start and a ni recast ready is a big help, the more you can stay away from usuing ichi the safer you are. Also like necro stated he had different gear sets i carried around alot of eva vs att gear to find where i felt i was good.

[Sabaron]

I make it a point to rehaste my NINs before their current one wears off, because that one missed haste could cost you 6 seconds on Ichi recast and 9 seconds recast on Ni which can seem like an eternity if you're fighting a bird--Pecking Flurry from a Colibri is awful with shadows down especially on a newly initiated bird tank at 53rd-55th level.

[Nazo]

I usually try and start each fight with Ichi, purging any shadows from before unless I know they are fresh. Then I hop to Ni once they drop, and I TRY to cast Ichi when I'm close to my last Ni shadow. Problem I'm having with that is, my parrying and Evasion will sometimes stave me off from losing shadows and I'll complete the casting of Ichi and then it fails and blah... no shadows for me.
You can cancel shadows, same as you can most buffs. I can't remember the exact number but you need to cancel any remaining when your casting of ichi gets to about 75% I think to be sure you won't waste your casting.

[Sevv]

you need to cancel by 65% (in my personal expeirance).. canceling at about 55% is safe tho.

[Armando]

Ichi is hard to get up because it takes 4.5 seconds to cast.Actually, Ichi is exactly 4 seconds, same as the Delay of any normal mob. So yeah, it's hard to cast, but if you're relatively lagless and time it well enough, with a bit of help from Slow/Hojo, it's possible to get it back up in between attacks when in a pinch.

[Eji Kazuma]

LOL, I'm a casting Noob... this is my first job that actually uses magic vs. abilities. The only way I know of to cancle a spell casting is to run around in circles until it gives me the "You Move and Interrupt your Casting" Message. Sadly...this doesn't seem to work all the time either...

EDIT: Oh, I see, you're talking about Popping the Spell... Yeah, when I try that normally it will cancle out just fine but it also cancles out the utsu that I was currently casting and that really sucks.

So you're saying though, that if I pop the spell before it hits 50%-65% I'll be safe and it won't pop the succession spell?

[Necropolis]

Yes, they like the said, the trick is to start casting Ichi while on your last shadow, the select the buff and cancel it when you are at about 65% casting. This will remove your last shadow provided it didn't absorb a hit in the mean time.

You might get a couple grumbles from your support while you get good at doing this, because most likely you'll miss that your shadow was absorbed, and cancel a buff like protect/shell/haste.

Takes a little time to get the hang of, and I recommend practicing on lower level mobs just for the timing. Try not to wear evasion gear while practicing, as lower level mobs will miss a lot. This is just to practice the timing to cancel shadows while casting ichi. Plus you get a few skill ups in Ninjitsu if you arn't capped already.

I spent hours practicing this. I wanted the nin sub for my whm, and have pretty much perfected the method that works for me. Good luck.

[Necropolis]

LOL, I'm a casting Noob... this is my first job that actually uses magic vs. abilities. The only way I know of to cancle a spell casting is to run around in circles until it gives me the "You Move and Interrupt your Casting" Message. Sadly...this doesn't seem to work all the time either...

Not that kind of cancel. I believe for computer users, if you press the "+" key twice (by the numberpad) you will find a yellow box surrounding one of your buffs. Then select one of them and press enter. It makes this buff go away.

If you are on Xbox, I believe it's pressing the "B" button twice, then select buff and press "X" to cancel. Of course this can vary depending on how you have controls setup. But it's the same key that selects the chatlog, just press it twice though.

[Sabaron]

Meh. Recasting a Protect or Shell every now and again is never a problem. NIN tanks get coddled by mages in terms of buffs anyway ;) As a RDM, DD's get ghetto -ra buffs or single-cast equivalent (Protectra II & Shellra) and the puller and tank get full level IVs. A full round of Shell IV drains my entire mp bar so you're not getting that and if you're pulling hate as a DD you can probably back off the Souleater a bit.

[Eji Kazuma]

Only Prob I seem to have with other PT members pulling hate is spell spamming mages.

LOL I had a WHM in my pt the other day who previously leveled paladin up to 75. We were in out Kazahm and he had left in his +5 Enemity Merits... that party was fun.

I've had a couple PTs where the WHM only seemed to have Cure III and continually pulled hate. Also, had a couple where the BLM nukes as quickly as I Wheel... and that causes problems too... =P

But usually I hold hate pretty well, I should probably pick up the High-Breath Mantle though... just haven't taken the time to play with another peice of "Switch-Me-Out" Gear.

[Lasareth]

You can't switch out HB mantle if you're going for its effect, if my memory serves me correctly. So it's not a swap-out gear.

Heck. I've been using HB mantle and enjoy it a lot. The only time I've lost hate is when a mnk with 8 h2h merits went nuts on a Diabolos COP pt.

If you have to tank with your face sometimes, that's life. That's why you have a healer/support job to help you out. Sometimes it just can't be avoided. I personally aim for a balance between str/evasion and accuracy(!), which is probably the most critical component to holding hate. If you miss all the time (which is pretty easy at 40 versus IT mobs) then you won't be getting any benefit at all from your atk or str.

[Srxjo]

Not that kind of cancel. I believe for computer users, if you press the "+" key twice (by the numberpad) you will find a yellow box surrounding one of your buffs. Then select one of them and press enter. It makes this buff go away.

If you are on Xbox, I believe it's pressing the "B" button twice, then select buff and press "X" to cancel. Of course this can vary depending on how you have controls setup. But it's the same key that selects the chatlog, just press it twice though.

On Xbox it's "Y" twice and "A" to cancel

[Eohmer]

The route I went, dude, I got a lot of Attk gear since my damage was pretty weak. It also help me with the hate because I dealt more damage. I use Evasion gear on certain situations though.

Besides, you'll be fine with the WHM you'll be PTing with. :)

[Eohmer]

LOL I had a WHM in my pt the other day who previously leveled paladin up to 75. We were in out Kazahm and he had left in his +5 Enemity Merits.

I really don't understand why people merit their Enmity when they will start leveling jobs that don't need (or want) enmity after the fact. That's just not thinking.

I once partied as a NIN with some Ranger we picked up. He had his Enmity merits capped. What made it worse, is that he kept laughing everytime he took hate. :vent:

[Eji Kazuma]

LMAO That's pretty funny... RNG draws hate like crazy as it is. I had a RNG in my PT at Garliage and let's just say it was a good thing he was RNG/NIN... LOL

[Sevv]

I really don't understand why people merit their Enmity when they will start leveling jobs that don't need (or want) enmity after the fact. That's just not thinking.
I once partied as a NIN with some Ranger we picked up. He had his Enmity merits capped. What made it worse, is that he kept laughing everytime he took hate. :vent:

My good friend Enghorr has max emnity merits i usually have to come nin to assault etc. He has max emnity merits and doesnt hold back it's real fun stuff.