What Is a Ninja in FFXI?
The Ninja in Final Fantasy XI (FFXI) is an advanced job available for the players to pick and is possibly the best job in the game. Players can unlock Ninja by reaching level 30 and completing a subquest.
There are many other levels in the game, but in this guide, we will focus on level 99. The goal is to familiarize you with the jobs, mechanics, zones, and environments as well as guide you on the level 99 activities.
How to Be a Pro Ninja at FFXI
Having a ninja job in FFXI has to be the most exciting job you can find, but being a Ninja isn't easy. Every level is a new challenge for a player who chooses a Ninja's job. So here we have some tips and tricks that you can use according to your level to be a pro at your job.
Tips and Tricks for Beginners
Now we all know that Ninja's party role is melee DPS, tank, or Magic DPS, but if you are a ninja with a level ranging from 10 to 29, there are some things you should know to slay as a ninja.
You should start by counting the shadows you lose in your chat log as a ninja. You can use the intel to your advantage; for instance, Utsusemi: Ichi gives Ninja three shadows that absorb single hits; this means that a healer doesn't have you heal you for the hit.
As a ninja, shadows are the main source of defense for you. But remember that Utsusemi: Ichi takes 30 seconds for cooldown and 4 seconds to finish casting. If you are dual tanking, have the other player's HP in mind; take action if your Ninja is in danger.
If the other tank is a ninja as well, you should start counting shadows of other people, provoke if your Ninja loses three. Keep your Ninjutsu skill close to your level. You will get Hojo: Ichi at Lv.23 and Kurayami: Ichi at Lv.19. Kurayami is blind while Hojo is slow.
Combine them with Blade: Retsu, and you will have three main weapons that will help you keep the shadows up.
Things that a Transitional Player Should Know
If you already know the basics and now are on levels ranging from 30 to 59, then you must know by now that Ni finishes casting faster than Ichi. Utsusemi: Ni also overwrites any remaining shadows.
While at these levels, you will realize that your weaponskill is dealing good damage, this is an ideal time to experiment using accuracy % food that is Sole Sushi. You will also notice that your weaponskill will help retain the mob's attention at these levels.
It is recommended to learn to cast a Ni spell, as you can use the Ni elemental wheel to deal damage. the order of the elements is as follows Suiton (Water) > Raiton (Thunder) > Doton (Earth) > Hutton (Wind) > Hyoton (Ice) > Katon (Fire).
The damage output at these levels will be higher by cycling through your spells. You can also use Hojo and Kurayami to generate hostility as they are independent of the damage you deal.
During these levels, you will also tackle DRG and SAM, which will give you a hard time through these levels. The Elemental Ni Wheel might still help you through these levels, but you will struggle in the holding state. Ninja at level 50 will also start benefiting from the WAR sub job and Double attack trait.
A Pro Ninja Must Know These Tricks
From level 60 onwards, you would probably know how to use Ninja like a pro, but there are a few things that you must remember. For instance, Blade: Jin can also be used when provoke isn't ready and is great for damage.
Though everything you need to know about Ninja is briefly mentioned below, so check out the details you are interested in. By level 60 and onwards, you will be comparing everything you have and will have a mature understanding of what to use and what to avoid.
Attack speed is your friend when you are a ninja, and haste gear is something you should always welcome at those levels. To put this statistically, a 20% haste from gear can give 35 seconds to recast without haste, and with haste, it goes down to 28 seconds.
The Best Job Trait - Dual Wields
From level 10, you can wield two weapons simultaneously, one in each hand. This progressive dual-wielding trait increases the reduction of your combined weapon delay. The delay between attack rounds then becomes the total delay of both the weapons added together.
The first tier of this ability unlocks at Level 10, which gives you a delay reduction of 10%. The second tier (Dual Wield II) unlocks at Ninja Level 25, giving you a delay reduction of 15%. You get Dual Wield III at Level 45, giving you a delay reduction of 25%. The final tier, Dual Wield IV, unlocks at Level 65, giving you a 30% delay reduction.
Job Abilities
A Ninja has access to many Job Abilities that improve his traits like damage capacity, TP gain, defensive traits, etc. Let’s look at the Job Abilities of a Ninja.
陽忍 Yonin
Grants Enmity and Ninja Tool Expertise while reducing Accuracy.
- +30 Enmity
- +30 Ninja Tool Expertise
- -30 Accuracy
These perks decay by 1 point every 15 seconds (or five ticks) and decay to ±10 by the end.
Yonin also improves evasion and reduces the enemy’s critical hit rate when in front of the target.
陰忍 Innin
Innin gives a bonus to your accuracy, critical hit rate, and ninjutsu damage when striking from behind. Its drawbacks are that it decreases enmity and impairs vision.
- +30% Ninjutsu Damage
- +Critical Hit Rate
- -20 Enmity (which decays to -10)
- -30 Evasion (decays to 0)
Both stances have a positioning requirement, and the abilities will not be useful to you if the positioning requirements are not met. One stance is best suited for holding hate, while the other is good for putting out damage while going unnoticed.
散華 Sange
Daken will always activate, but it will consume shuriken. This is why it is necessary to have shuriken equipped in the ammo slot. Darts or other throwable ammo will not work.
Additional merits will also increase range accuracy (25 for every merit).
二重 Futae
Futae can be obtained by reaching Ninja Level 77. It grants a bonus to your next elemental ninjutsu by expending two ninja tools.
With Futae, the next elemental ninjutsu you use will expend two tools and increase damage output by 50%.
一隻眼 Issekigan
Issekigan can be obtained by reaching Ninja Level 95. It increases the chances of parrying and gives an enmity bonus for every successful parry attempt.
- +Increases Parry Success Significantly
- +300 Cumulative Enmity
- +Volatile Enmity Boost
Do note that the Cumulative Enmity and Volatile Enmity boost is affected by Enmity, equipment, and effects; hence it is possible to triple the boost if you have an optimized build.
Spells
As you level up, you’ll receive several spells, some of which will be useful to you, and some won’t be as useful. The spells you collect will be of either two type.
The first type is Offensive Ninjutsu. This is cast on a target to either deal damage or debuff the target.
The second type of spell is Defensive Ninjutsu spells. These spells are meant to be used on yourself to protect yourself from enemy attacks, buff tp gain, or alter your enmity totals.
Defensive Ninjutsu
遁甲の術 Tonko
Level: 9 (Ichi), 34 (Ni)
Element: Wind
Tool: ShinobiTabi
This spell lessens the chance of being detected by sight and grants the Caster Invisible status.
空蝉の術 Utsusemi "Empty Cicada"
Level: 12 (Ichi), 37 (Ni), 99 (San)JP
Element: Wind
Tool: Shihei
It creates three shadow images, each absorbing a single attack directed at you. Effective gear can increase the maximum number of shadows to seven after casting the San Tier spell.
物見の術 Monomi - Ichi
Level: 93
Element: Wind
Tool: Sanjaku-Tenugui
It lessens the chance of being detected by sound and grants the caster Sneak status.
活火の術 Kakka - Ichi
Level: 93
Element: Light
Tool: Ryuno
Uses the tool Ryuno to increase your tp gain. Grants +10 StoreTP.
妙手の術 Myoshu - Ichi
Level: 25
Element: Light
Tools: Kabenro
It reduces TP dealt when striking an enemy and grants the Caster +10 Subtle Blow (affected by the 50 Subtle Blow Cap).
Gekka
Level: 88
Element: Dark
Tool: Ranka
Grants the Caster +30 Enmity and lasts for three minutes.
Yain - Ichi
Level: 91
Element: Light
Tool: Furusumi
Grants the caster -15 Enmity and lasts for five minutes.
身替の術 Migawari
Level: 88
Element: Earth
Tool: Mokujin
It gives you immunity against a single severely damaging attack, meaning it negates almost any attack that would take more than a certain percentage of your maximum HP. It wears off after protecting you from one attack.
Wearing better gear with the Migawari spell will lower your threshold for negating damage.
Offensive Ninjutsu
毒盛の術 Dokumori - Ichi
Level: 27
Element: Water
Tool: Soshi
Uses the ninja tool Kodoku to poison an enemy. The poison ticks for 3 HP every 3 seconds.
暗闇の術 Kurayami
Level: 19 (Ichi), 44 (Ni)
Element: Dark
Tool: Sairui-Ran
It is used for blinding an enemy. The blinding effect for Ichi is -20Acc, and for Ni, it’s -30Acc.
呪縛の術 Jubaku
Level: 30
Element: Ice
Tool: Jusatsu
It delivers a paralyzing effect on the target.
捕縄の術 Hojo
Level: 23 (Ichi), 48 (Ni)
Element: Earth
Tool: Kaginawa
Reduces an enemy’s attack speed and has a slowing effect of 15% with Ichi and 20% with Ni. It can stack with Elegy but conflicts with white magical slow.
幽林の術 Yurin - Ichi
Level: 83
Element: Dark
Tool: Jinko
It reduces enemy tp gain by 10%. This effect is separate from Subtle Blow.
哀車の術 Aisha
Level: 78
Element: Water
Tool: Soshi
It weakens the enemy’s attacks by 15%.
Equipment
Katanas
Choosing a katana is solely based on your playing style. Every individual dream weapons have its own unique use, and at times the weapon will urge you to play in a specific playstyle.
Ambuscade Items
It doesn't matter if you are a veteran or a newly returning player. Ambuscade is an event that can help you grab some easy loot. Players can choose from two gearsets; each set is equally important if you are a new player.
From Ambuscade, players can even get access to a level 119 katana that will help them achieve better things. Bear in mind that the penultimate rewards are the augmentable capes.
Melee TP Gearsets
A melee TP gearset has three tiers. The gearsets help reduce cycle time and rounds-to-ws, giving you a boost to your next WS.
The gearsets can be fragmented into haste received sets. In order to equip these sets, you may have to leverage something like a Lua script. Or you can use the EquipSets to find your own solution.
Physical WS Gearsets
Players will get specifics for the weaponskill that they receive with the gearset. With the given information, you have to decide if the gearsets work for your targets with the given information.
One thing to keep in mind is that sets mostly focus on the mod of the weaponskill and takes less consideration to attack needs and accuracy. It is recommended to include the ratio as well when talking about alternates.
Magical WS Gearsets
This weaponskill purely relies on your magic attack bonus. Having a clear sight on your MAB and the other supporting stats is recommended in case you end up “cleaving” with a dagger or using a katana ws like a Blade: Ei or Blade: Yu.
Hybrid WS Gearsets
The weaponskills calculation can be divided into two parts, the physical damage component and the "added effect".
The damage of the "added effect" is calculated mainly based on the damage done to the physical part. The weaponskill damage is applied on both steps, and at the right time, the hybrid weaponskill might even outperform your favorite weaponskill.
Utility Gearsets
Once you are done with your melee TP and have decided on your weaponskill set, the utility gearset is the next thing to look forward to. As this gearset has the things, you would look for after getting done with the basics.
The nature of this gearset is defensive and can come in handy while stemming your premature death in a difficult situation.
Casting Gearsets
This gearset is intense. It has a lot of pieces that are made for lowering your interrupts and casting faster. You will get a 20% casting time reduction by completing a job point category. This can add up to the fast cast that you might already have.
Related Links: https://www.mmogah.com/news/ffxi/ffxi-ranger-job-class-guide
