Ninja Single Target DPS Rotation - Early Attempts

[Tex_Mex]

So the Patch notes are here and they gave us a ton of information about Ninja/Rogue abilities. This led me to try and put together a DPS Rotation based on the attacks. What I found was that it looks pretty straightforward. See below:

Note* The ninjutsu abilities cannot be currently estimated because we do not have the information yet about how long they take to use. From the patch notes, one of the ninjutsu abilities gives the Ninja a 15% speed buff for 70 seconds! So this will likely be active most of the time. For this reason I will be treating the Ninja GCD as 2.125 seconds instead of 2.5. (2.5 * .85 = 2.125)

The ninja does not have any strict positioning requirements like Monk does. In fact only one of its core rotation abilities has a positioning requirement at all, making it very similar to dragoon in this regard.

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Ninja Abilities (only dps abilities, I am not including any of the utility stuff) are as follows:

Ability
Spinning Edge - 150 Potency
Gust Slash - 200 Potency (Combo with Spinning Edge)
Dancing Edge - 260 Potency (Combo with Gust Slash, places 10% slashing damage debuff on target for 20 sec, need to be at target Flank)
Aeolian Edge - 320 Potency (Combo with Gust Slash)
Mutilate - Mutilate (60 Potency + 30Potency DoT for 30 sec)
Shadow Fang - (200 Potency + 40 Pot DoT for 18 sec, Combo with Spinning Edge)

These abilities will make up the core of ninja/rogue dps, and the rotation will be based primarily around them

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These abilities can be grouped into 3 combos and one DoT

Combo 1: Spinning Edge -> Gust Slash -> Aeolian Edge ::: This combo will be your basic attack combo, It does not provide any debuffs or DoT's, but is the highest damage combo you have in terms of just immediate damage

Combo 2: Spinning Edge -> Gust Slash -> Dancing Edge ::: This combo will apply the 20s 10% slashing damage debuff to your enemy. This debuff needs to be kept on the target at all times.

Combo 3: Spinning Edge -> Shadow Fang :: This 2 hit combo will apply your most powerful DoT and should be refreshed every 18 seconds

Mutilate : This is almost identical to Touch of Death from Monk. It is a standalone attack that applies a 30 sec DoT to your enemy. Should be kept on the target at all times.

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So these 3 combos and Mutilate are the basis for your rotation, and using the lengths of the effects they apply, we can create a basic rotation. Remember, the GCD for Ninja looks like it will be a consistent 2.125 seconds because of the ninjutsu ability that buffs your skill speed by 15%

Ability - Time passed

Mutilate - 0 (Mutilate DoT - lasts 30 sec)

Spinning Edge - 2.125
Shadow Fang - 4.25 (Combo 3 applies SF DoT - lasts 18 sec)

Spinning Edge - 6.375
Gust Slash - 8.5
Dancing Edge - 10.625 (Combo 2 applies slashing debuff - lasts 20 sec)

Spinning Edge - 12.75
Gust Slash - 14.875
Aeolian Edge - 17 (Combo 1 used when nothing needs to be reapplied)

Spinning Edge - 19.125
Shadow Fang - 21.25 (Combo 3 - reallpy SF DoT)

Spinning Edge - 23.75
Gust Slash - 25.5
Dancing Edge - 27.625 (Combo 2 - reapply Slashing debuff)

Mutilate - 29.75 (reapply Mutilate DoT)

Spinning Edge - 31.875
Gust Slash - 34
Aeolian Edge - 36.125 (Combo 1 - no need to refresh anything at this time)

etc.

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Hopefully you are starting to see the pattern that is emerging. It should look like this:
1) Use mutilate when you need to reapply the 30 sec DoT - this should be every 5 combos
2) Combo 3 -> Combo 2 -> Combo 1 -> repeat

Simple right!!!??? Well yes, it is not too difficult to grasp; however, if you follow the rotation until it actually circles back around and comes back to the beginning, it is a whopping 43 abilities and takes 90 seconds to complete! Yowza!

The rotation looks like it is going to be a lot of fun for sure. It will be nowhere near as punishing as monk if you screw it up, but should be a fun experience, especially when we start throwing the mudras and ninjutsu skills in there!

Let me know if you have any questions or if you arrived at any different conclusions from my own.

[Tex_Mex]

reserved for future use

[Leonus]

I like what you have tried to put together.

Also, mnk rotation isn't hard. Just saying. Nin rotation looks like it could be just as involving as mnk and drg once you start throwing mudras in.

Also, some people are throwing around the "nin will be op" phrase already. At the end of the day... I think mnk will still be the highest single target dps in the game.

[SirTaint]

Just make one post.

Edit removed the cap limit.

[JakzChurchill]

gonna read properly as it seems interesting but first things first... Gut slash? You sure about that, not missing a [S] in there somewhere?

[RegentP]

TY, its a start,

[Tex_Mex]

Ya it doesnt look like it is going to be very difficult. But we will still see what the mudras have to offer! It might get all kinds of complex

[Tex_Mex]

gonna read properly as it seems interesting but first things first... Gut slash? You sure about that, not missing a [S] in there somewhere?

haha oops!!!! corrected

[Tex_Mex]

Just make one post.

Edit removed the cap limit.

completed. never have made a post this long before lol

[Tex_Mex]

I like what you have tried to put together.

Also, mnk rotation isn't hard. Just saying. Nin rotation looks like it could be just as involving as mnk and drg once you start throwing mudras in.

Also, some people are throwing around the "nin will be op" phrase already. At the end of the day... I think mnk will still be the highest single target dps in the game.

Tough to say for sure. It does look like ninja dps will be very sustained. Their only real strong burst will be their first hit from stealth. From an armor and balance perspective, i would expect ninja and monk to be very similar in terms of ST DPS. Both will be medium armor type and melee. Ninja will have a slight edge with more ranged attack options, however their AoE doesn't look all that great. It is mostly ninjutsu based from what i can see. The other deal is that we don't know what the passives are going to look like yet. They could completely change all of this
.