How many times should I use Utsusemi in a Party?

[MaximuzScoshe]

Ok, after being yelled at for not having any Ninjutsu what so ever at lvl 18 I decided to do that Zinc Ore quest. After long weeks of hard work and begging I finished the quest. I did the quests in Norg for both Tonko and Utsusemi Ichi. Ok, here I am I went to San's AH and looked at the Ninja tools....I almost died...Tonko costs just as much as my stack of moat carp...4k.... I was like well that aint so bad.....I looked at Utsusemi....6k...}the prices might be switched but its the same point{. Now I am in Windurst fishing like crazy at 0-10% and 90-100% moon. I'm trying to figure out what I should do because I know you could really burn through utsusemi and I dont feel like burning 4 stacks of moat carp for 4 stacks of Ninja Tools for it. I'm trying to get to atleast 140k and I realized thats only enough for 10 stacks of Utsusemi }99*10{ but again i remembered you burn through them.{ even if i dont burn through them i dont want to spend that much on it. How many times-
Should I use it a battle?
Should I use in say a 1hr long Party?
and a Lvl?
If you could answer me these questions and give me advice...I bow to you lol

[Maxim]

Assuming you tank the entire battle (which ninjas can do pre-37 but requires tons of evasion+ equipment) you will use anywhere inbetween 1 to 5 depending on how long the fight lasts, so I'd say approximately 3~4 at low levels.

In a one hour PT you will use about 3/4 of a stack. You can only cast Utsusemi once every 30 seconds, and there are 3600 seconds in one hour so (3600/30) = 120 times that you can use Utsusemi if you use it constantly (but you don't). If you tank well then there will be very little downtime so you will literally be burning shiheis every 30 seconds (the only time you won't use it is in-between pulls). So about 75~99 shiheis per hour is average.

How many shiheis you use per level differs depending on the monster you fight, your playstyle to accommodate the type of monster you're fighting, and the type of EXP you are getting. In Valkurm I was chaining VT snippers most of the time and only getting 120 EXP but there was no downtime (and almost never a WHM in the group but it wasn't needed thanks to Utsusemi) and I used 2~3 shiheis per fight and about 2 stacks per PT (it takes less experience to level from 12 to 20). Later on I was fighting mandragoras in Yhortar but I ate defensive food and by this level I had a ton of evasion+ gear, plus I used the blind and slow ninjutsu every fight so I was able to dodge a bunch of the Mandragora's attacks and still get 230 EXP per fight, meaning I only used 5 stack of shihei over the course of three levels in the high 20's.

From levels 12 to 37 I spent about 300k on shihei alone. That doesn't include the cost of other ninja tools.

[MaximuzScoshe]

Well that helped but it made me feel so very ...very poor lol, hmm, well,.....I have nothing else to say except I better start making money fast..... man i feel poor. How did you keep your money up that high so much???! I am dieing to try to fish and log and everything else that I know to earn money, where did you get the 300k to support that? I was also thinking of doing the debuffing part of a ninja but now I'm not so sure ill be able to, do you think people would be mad if i only use say 1 utsusemi a battle and then let someone else tank?

[Maxim]

Well, the reason why it's easier to make money is because I use my RDM to make money for my NIN.

From personal experience, this is how different PT leaders view ninjas before level 37 (or at least what they expected of me when I got invite with my ninja):

Scenario 1) If you get an invite from an ignorant leader they often don't have a clue about ninja's role (they'll most likely think you're a puller/damage dealer since you have dual-wield because they don't know ninjas are weak). You probably won't be expected to tank so you can get away with using 1 or even 0 shiheis the entire PT. However, every time I got in a PT like this I told them that ninjas could tank and showed them just how effective it was too. I mostly did this for myself because blink tanking = more EXP flowage. If you are not comfortable with using a lot of shiheis, then hope to get into a lot of these PTs, although I won't guarentee the EXP being too great.

Scenario 2) If you get in a PT made by a casual leader then it is pretty likely that he will expect you to be either main tanker or support tanker. I often got into groups where the leaders were nice enough to ask if I was okay with blink tanking or not, and if I wanted to be main or support tanker (I always chose to be main). In these situations the leader probably won't get mad if you don't use shihei that often because they are understanding, so you will be able to get away with using only 1~2 shiheis per fight.

Scenario 3) If you get in a PT with a seasoned leader he will almost always expect you to tank without question. In these situations you are very likely to make the leader mad if you only use shihei once per battle or at least make him a bit frustrated or disappointed. However, the chances of you getting these kinds of invites might be pretty low, because a seasoned leader will often be able to tell what kind of player you are by looking at your rank + sub job level + search comment and if one of those three things are unsatisfactory he will refrain from inviting you in the first place. Usually the only time you might get PTs like this is when the leader is absolutely desperate.

So basically it splits into those three generic categories. Most of the time you will get invites from PT leaders described in scenario 1 and 2, but if you get a PT invite from PT leader number 3 then you might be in for some flaming, or at least some badmouthing behind your back.

Keep in mind that once you hit level 37 (the level you get the second Utsusemi jutsu) everybody who's worth their salt will expect you to be main tank no matter what, and you will be burning much more stacks of shihei per level. If you are considering to play ninja as your main I suggest you prepare yourself financially for when you hit this level, since you can easily go through one and a half stacks of shiheis per hour.