[Narru]

Hey all you ninjas. I'm planning on starting ninja soon, and was planning my equipment path for blink tanking from levels 1-30.

Note that I'm only planning on taking ninja to level 30 (it will be a sub for my ranger until level 60 ranger, which I will switch to sam). Also assume gil isn't an issue ^_^

Any changes/suggestions/advise?

NINJA Upgrade Path Levels 1-30

Food to use:
Bowl of Navarin or Meat Mithkabobs

Weapon Path:

Level 1 - Kunai +1
Level 7 - Wakizashi +1
Level 13 - Shinobi-Gatana +1
Level 13 - Brass Xiphos +1
Level 16 - Mokuto +1
Level 18 - Flame Sword
Level 19 - Suzume
Level 26 - Busuto +1
Level 27 - Gladiator

Guns:
Level 15 - Bandit's Gun +1
Level 27 - Pirate's Gun +1

Armor Path:

Head:
Level 8 - Hachimaki
Level 14 - Erd. Headband
Level 21 - Beetle Mask +1
Level 24 - Emperor's Hairpin

Legs:
Level 7 - Leather Trousers
Level 16 - Bone Subligar +1
Level 21 - Beetle Subligar +1
Level 25 - Kingdom Trousers

Body:
Level 8 - Kenpogi
Level 13 - Power Gi
Level 16 - Bone Harness +1
Level 21 - Beetle Harness +1
Level 25 - Federation Gi

Feet:
Level 7 - Leaping Boots
Level 24 - Winged Boots
or
Level 16 - Bone Boots +1
Level 21 - Beetle Boots +1

Hands:
Level 8 - Tekko
Level 10 - Lgn. Mittens
Level 16 - Bone Mittens +1
Level 21 - Beetle Mittens +1
Level 25 - Fed Tekko

Back:
Level 4 - Rabbit Mantle +1
Level 12 - Traveler's Mantle
Level 21 - Night Cape
Level 24 - Nomad's Mantle +1

Ears:
Level 14 - Silver Earring +1
Level 24 - Mythril Earring +1
Level 29 - Dodge Earring

Rings:
Level 14 - Reflex Ring
Level 16 - Bomb Ring

Waist:
Level 7 - Leather Belt
Level 15 - Warrior's Belt +1

Neck:
Level 7 - Wing Pendant
Level 21 - Green Gorget
or
Level 21 - Spike Necklace

Edit: To keep it current since it's now a sticky ^^
Please check out the summaries at the end of this post for more info.

[Drynavere]

lol...well from what I can see....The equipment you have listed, so long as money permits....will be quite uber for that level. You should be fine using everything you have listed at the levels listed for blink tanking. Will probably save you some money on shihei with all that evasion.

Nice equip if you can afford it all. (Being a ranger main...I presume you can)

[Cylus]

Looks a lot like my gear progression.

Level 19 Suzume is not worth getting. I think the damage is the same as Mokuto +1 and there is no added status effect (Mokuto +1 gets added silence once in a while, useful for a few mobs at that level).

On the feet, I stayed with leaping boots til 25, and then I got Federation Kyahan +4 attk and ranged attk. Winged boots are not worth the cost IMO, even if you can afford them, but whatever. I'd rather take the extra damage.

On Hands I also took the Federation Tekko at 25 as well. Same thing +attk and ranged attk.

I passed up the bomb rings. Dunno why, but the reflex rings seemed better for ninja tanking at the time, especially since I use a gun.

I'd always keep one sword and one katana on you. Gives you more versatility for skillchains. Both give you a starter and finisher for level 2 skillchains. Sword - fast blade to finish distortion, burning blade or RLB to start fusion. Katana - Blade: Rin to start Distortion, Blade: Retsu to finish Distortion, Blade: Teki to finish fragmentation.

Since weapon skills build up regardless of which hand they are in, you can switch back and forth as needed.

I'm at level 25 nin/war atm with +27 evasion from gear and pretty good defense, and all I can say is the costs of ninja are totally kicking my ass.

1) I blink tank. I average about 1/2-2/3 stack of shihei per level. (I have half a static party and I haven't had a bad party since level 10 when we started. We are getting quite a reputation XD).

2) I use elemental debuffing ninjutsu consistently. 19-22 I used Huton on Diving Beetles (our distortion skillchain owned them since our thief ended it). In Qufim from 22-25 it was Suiton (lightning debuff) or Huton (Ice debuff). Either had Distortion or Fragmentation skillchain. Our BLM was mb'ing between 100-150.

3) Use Kurayami (blind) and Hojo (slow) often. I just got Hojo recently. Not sure if it stacks with the rdm/whm spell. Anyone know if it does? Either way, I can use up to 1 stack of these per grouping.

4) Shurikens/bullets. On my server, Shurikens are 10k a stack. Bullets are anywhere from 6500-8k/stack. I use like I'm a pseudo ranger. Use at least 1 stack per level.

I love the class though, it's very fun to play. Very expensive to play as an effective tank that can compare to a PLD though. Until 37 when you get Utsusemi: Ni, you really need a second provoker though. I doubt I'll take my Ninja past 37 for a long time though. Maybe when I have gil coming out of my ears .

[Narru]

Thanks for the post Cylus, you brought up a couple points I didn't consider.

- Yes the level 19 Suzume is only marginally better than the Mokuto+1. Think I'll just stick with the Mokuto+1.

- Atm I have both leaping boots and winged boots on me, so money isn't an issue ... now that I think about it, gonna keep using the leaping boots until level 24 winged boots. I feel the stats help a lot more than just +1 evasion from the Bone/Beetle. And I'd have to say +3Dex +3Agi is better than +4 Attk/Ranged Attk, so I won't be using the Fed Kyahan, but thanks for pointing this out.

- Ahh, didn't see the Fed Tekko. Gonna switch it so I'm using that piece for my hands at level 25.

- I feel the bomb rings will help more for when I do get hit, and adds some buffer for the whm's. I think Bomb Ring > Reflex Ring.

- Ahhhh, you've unlocked another path for me that I didn't even consider - Guns! I'm gonna toy around with the idea of a gun wielding ninja blink tank.....
Provoke, double slash, cast some debuffing ninjitsu, double hit, take out gun and fire, provoke, double slash, etc... Will look really really cool and should give me great aggro control. Oh, yeah and blink in between ; gotta have to learn timing on all of that.


Considering I wanna build up my Alchemy and Goldsmith to levels 60ish, and save around 2-3 million for gear for my ranger before even starting that class, I don't think ninja will make me bankrupt too soon. So again, money isn't an issue.

Keep the comments coming

[Cylus]

I am by no means poor myself . I already have all the afore-mentioned items with the exception of winged boots.

Guns are good, but if you want the +1 versions, get ready to shell out again. They're worthless until level 22 because bronze bullets do pitiful damage. Level 22 you get normal bullets and then you outdamge bow rangers until they get their level 30 bow.

I'd recommend starting with Tanegashima at 19 and then at 27 Pirate's Gun. +1 version runs around 300k or more on my server, but adds +5 ranged acc.

From my experience, Ninja is much more expensive than ranger at lower levels. As ranger I was using a bow and only had to worry about arrows and occassional utsusemi. As Ninja the ranged ammo is more expensive and ninja tools are used a lot more. :/

Fun job though for sure.

[Durren20]

This might be a little off-topic since this is considering equip <30, but is Ochido's Kote worth the -5 evasion to you, I think it is considering the +20 attack, but I'm not a ninja yet so...:sweat:

[Narru]

Gonna go Bandit's Gun +1 at level 15
Pirate's Gun +1 at level 27

Ochido's Kote is definetely worth it at level 34. +20 Attack is huge. Couple that with mithkabobs (you are eating these right?) and Beserk (/sub war), which both boosts attack by around 20-25% each, and you've got some really nice attack bonuses to help you keep hate.

Besides, by that time, -5 evasion vs the +30 evasion you already have shouldn't be too bad.

[intranet69]

Just got a quick question for Cylus

How did you get +26 evasion @ Lv25?

10 from Emperor
3 from Nomad
3 from Federation ki
3 from Kindom pants
4 from earings

thats only 23 if i counted right..
maybe im missing something..hehe..

[Narru]

Maybe Cylus counted 2 AGI = 1 Evasion?

[ninvampire]

What about instead of the bomb/reflex rings you replace those with two stamina(+1) rings? With the warrior's belt+1 you'd have +7 VIT which would definitely make a difference in the damage you'd be taking should your secondary tank either fall asleep or not be able to refresh his voke.

[Narru]

Originally posted by ninvampire
What about instead of the bomb/reflex rings you replace those with two stamina(+1) rings? With the warrior's belt+1 you'd have +7 VIT which would definitely make a difference in the damage you'd be taking should your secondary tank either fall asleep or not be able to refresh his voke.

For this I refer you to http://ffxi.cogn.net/forums/showthre...ND+Exponential

Check near the end of the post and I think at lower levels I'd rather have the +Def and +HP of the bomb ring rather then +2 VIT. BUT I think I will take your suggestion and try replacing the Reflex Ring with +2 VIT ring. I'll let you know if +2 VIT > +2 AGI at levels 14-30...

[ninvampire]

Forgot that the bomb ring had +2 def on it. Although if you could manage 2 stamina rings +1 that'd give you 2 defense as well.

[Biterman]

Also remember that you can only wear one bomb ring, as they are rare. I rather go with the VIT too. Bomb ring also comes with -5 to fire, so those gob bombs will hurt even more.

Its pretty common to lvl 16 to 19 on gobs in dunes, unless you do Korroloka, and their bomb goes thru blink. ^^

[Malabmannop]

Just a question. How are you people making all this gil? Like I am trying to make money but I just can't seem to get my cash flowing. Any tips would be very much appreciated.

[Omni]

u cant really blink tank till 37. at best youll be a good puller, back up tank. 4second cast time, 30second cool down. i really hate utsusemi: ichi :\.