Ninja: Heaven-Sword (And Beyond)

[LordTiberiusRex]

III. Ninja R&D

Now we arrive at the fun part! I name this section R&D because much of the content found here, such as BiS loadouts, rotations, theorycrafting, etc., is volatile and subject to both heavy debate and rapid change.

Theorycrafting!

Theorycrafting, like raiding or PvP, is another endgame. Readers, if you have anything that is theorycrafting focused on ninjas, I’ll ask that you post in the thread.

Mathematical Formulae

(Credit: Dervy, Wordpress. 3.0 Critical Hit Chance & Damage Formulae)

Critical Hit Chance:

((CRT-354)/(858*5))+0.05

Critical Hit Damage:

((CRT-354)/(858*5))+1.45

In 3.0, critical hit damage and chance are now affected by your critical hit rating.

Skillspeed on GCD:

2.50245-((SS-354)*0.0003776)

Skillspeed on DoTs:

((SS-354)/7722+1) – Note, this fits into “BUFFS” for damage calculation

Enemy Level

Enemy level has no major significance on damage output. The same amount of damage you deal to a level 50 or level 60, you will also deal to a level 1. Enemy level is an independent factor and does not affect damage output.

Attack Min/Max Range

Quite literally: Average Damage +- (Average Damage * 5% [.05]). For example, your average damage output given a set loadout is 100. Expected damage value from an attack would be between 95-105. Applies for both weaponskills and auto-attack damage values.

Potency

Let’s say that a skill at potency 100 does X damage. A skill at potency 150 does Y damage which happens to equal ~1.5*X damage. Potency is a multiplier that you attach onto your base weaponskill damage like so: (Potency * .01005) * WS DMG.

Auto-Attack

It starts as soon as you initiate any action that damages your opponent. It is continuous so long as you are in melee range. AA on your target stops when you click/tab off of your target or if the target you are currently attacking dies.

DoT Effects

DoT’s on ninjas work a little “funny” in this game. Buffs such as the Kisses and Blood for Blood directly affect DoT damage. Dancing Edge’s slashing bonus does not increase the damage of the DoT effect, regardless of if it is applied before or after DE’s application, but it does increase the damage of the application strike on skills such as Shadow Fang and Mutilate. The tick count is as follows: [(DoT Effect Duration)/3].

Disclaimer: DoT's work on a "server-wide tick." This means that while the tick count of the skill does not change, the point in the spell where it occurs at may fluctuate (e.g. first ping in Mutilate occurs at 28 seconds rather than 27 seconds). The interval between ticks stays a constant three seconds, however.

Let’s use Shadow Fang, Mutilate, and Doton as our examples below:

Shadow Fang

The DoT effect occurs once every 3 seconds. There are six ticks. An example visual below:

200 (18s) -> 40 (15s) -> 40 (12s) -> 40 (9s) -> 40 (6s) -> 40 (3s) -> 40 (0s)

Mutilate

The DoT effect occurs once every 3 seconds. There are 10 ticks. An example visual below:

60 (30s) -> 30 (27s) -> 30 (24s) -> 30 (21s) -> 30 (18s) -> 30 (15s) -> 30 (12s) -> 30 (9s) -> 30 (6s) -> 30 (3s) -> 30 (0s)

Doton

The DoT effect occurs once every 3 seconds. Note: Skill has duration of 24 seconds. There are eight ticks. The Heavy effect is applied upon the first ping and lasts for three seconds after the last ping. An example visual below:

30 [Heavy on] (22s) -> 30 (19s) -> 30 (16s) -> 30 (13s) -> 30 (10s) -> 30 (7s) -> 30 (4s) -> 30 (1s) -> 0 [Heavy off] (-2s)

What about clipping?

During your rotations, you’ll notice that using a DoT or DE refreshes the timer on a target. Considered bad as it reduces your potential potency output, many avoid overwriting their durations on buffs. The single target base rotation in this guide is a general solution remedying the issue.

Korashy Trillian from Diabolos proposed this question to me in a thread:

The question is:

If SF is at 7 seconds (1 second away from ticking) and I refresh shadow fang, back to 18. Is it now still 1 second away from ticking (duration simply extended) or is 3 seconds away from ticking (duration refreshed + tick timer refreshed (dot clipping)).

Answer: The former. You’d still be one second away from ticking, so it is only a duration extension.

Clipping reduces the amount of ticks your previous application could have. For example, if you clip Shadow Fang at 3 seconds, you receive five ticks instead of the usual six ticks, according to this formula: [(DoT Effect Duration)/3]. The clipped Shadow Fang had a lifetime of 15 seconds, therefore five ticks are expected. Remember, ticks are based on a server’s timer, not your own DoT’s timer (see disclaimer above). If you clip the first SF at three seconds with another SF refreshing the timer back to 18 seconds, you have 11 expected ticks; the five from the clipped and the six from the full, compared to two full SF’s with 12 expected ticks.

BiS Loadout!

Also known as “A Practical Application of CPLEX and OPL.”

Patch: 3.07 | Added here on: 12/09/15

Weapon Damage: 10.775
Dexterity: 1.000
Determination: 0.141
Critical Hit Rate: 0.166
Skill Speed: 0.074

Note: Solvers are what come out of Operations Research; you have a function to maximize/minimize and constraints (like accuracy) to adhere to. Example is below, using the five numbers above:

Max: 10.775*W_D + 1*D + 0.141*D_e + 0.166*C_h + 0.074*S_s
Acc >= 647

BiS in Ariyala’s Solver (Miqo'te Seeker | 3.1 | 3.07 NIN Weights | >= 647 Accuracy w/ Food)

BiS in Ariyala’s Solver (Miqo'te Seeker | 3.1 | 3.07 NIN Weights | >= 647 Accuracy w/o Food)

If you don’t want to buy food all the time, do the w/o food version. If you can or are willing to afford the food, do the w/ food version.

Goad!

Is what I would like to say to get my fellow party members into action as a ninja. And you can too! Just... well, you cannot Goad yourself to action. That’s why many ninjas will choose Invigorate as a cross-class skill to make up for that. This leaves us with an important question: When do you Goad? Let’s put this into a Do, Don’t, and Please Don’t format:

Do

Cast Goad on a Warrior if he/she is spamming Overpower (Animation looks like an Austin Power’s karate chop with an axe that spews enough flames to make even Ifrit proud).

Cast Goad on a Warrior/Paladin/Dark Knight after some time fighting a mob, or pulling a large mob right after you eliminate a group. If a Warrior is in Deliverance using Equilibrium, you may avoid Goading them.

Cast Goad on a TP-based ranged/melee class only on request from them. Any other time it is used on them would fall under the “Don’t” section.

Don’t

Cast Goad on a Monk, Dragoon, Bard, or Ninja if a warrior tank needs it instead. Monks and Dragoons can use Invigorate, Bards have Army’s Paeon to restore their TP, and Ninjas can cross-class into Invigorate.

Please don’t

Cast Goad on any class that uses MP as its primary resource. Big hint for what a MP class is: Someone with a book, staff, or flying sphere in their hands. Don’t do it; save yourself the ridicule.

Rotations!

Watch where you step. Like they say in Top Gun, you just entered… the “DANGER ZONE!!” Why am I calling it that? This is the main hot water topic you’ll find throughout all of Eorzea. And the internet.

Click here for a link to my Ninja Research (includes opener visual) spreadsheet

Main Combos

1. Spinning Edge (SE) -> Gust Slash (GS) -> Aeolian Edge (AE) [2.0]

2. Spinning Edge (SE) -> Shadow Fang (SF) [2.0]

3. Spinning Edge (SE) -> Gust Slash (GS) -> Dancing Edge (DE) [2.0]

4. Spinning Edge (SE) -> Gust Slash (GS) -> Armor Crush (AC) [3.0][Ninja Exclusive]

AE is your heavy hitter/damage combo. SF applies a DoT effect to your opponent. DE reduces your target’s slashing resistance and healing received. AC extends an active Huton by 30 seconds. If you have “Huton” active, you can go through each combo and Mutilate once within about 16-17 seconds (Huton decreases your GCD to two seconds, rounded down).

Base Rotation (Single-Target)

The spreadsheet under Rotations provides a visual opener. Here is your priority chain:

AC > DE > SF > MU > AE

If the first one is up, move to the next. AC = Huton/Armor Crush. AC may replace AE and still maintain this base rotation:

DE -> SF -> MU -> AC|AE -> DE -> SF -> AC|AE -> DE -> MU -> SF -> AC|AE -> DE -> SF -> AC|AE -> MU -> DE -> SF -> AC|AE -> Repeat

Let’s examine the sexiness to this beautiful rotation. DE has 2 or 3 spaces between actions, SF has 2 or 3 spaces between actions, AC|AE has 2 or 3 spaces between actions, and MU always has 5 spaces between actions.

If there is >= 40 seconds on Huton after using Aeolian Edge or Armor Crush, then use Aeolian Edge. If there is < 40 seconds on Huton after using Aeolian Edge or Armor Crush, then use Armor Crush.

Why 40 seconds? It is the allowable time Huton lasts if you do AC/Huton -> AE before you recast AC, factoring 1-2 mudra sequences, a bit of GCD bleed, and moving around a bit during your rotation.

If we break down the base rotation’s On-GCD combos into each separate action involved, then we get a far larger rotation to look at. Remember, the following still doesn’t include any Off-GCD skills; it is only On-GCD skills:

SE -> GS -> DE -> SE -> SF -> MU -> SE -> GS -> AC|AE -> SE -> GS -> DE -> SE -> SF -> SE -> GS -> AC|AE -> SE -> GS -> DE -> MU -> SE -> SF -> SE -> GS -> AC|AE -> SE -> GS -> DE -> SE -> SF -> SE -> GS -> AC|AE -> MU -> SE -> GS -> DE -> SE -> SF -> SE -> GS -> AC|AE -> Repeat

Please remember: this is a base rotation. The purpose is a guideline for how one can keep up Huton, DoTs, debuffs, and durations ~100% of the time. In certain cases, such as breaking away from your target, you’ll use Shadow Fang and Mutilate over Dancing Edge. For comparison: Dragoons have about 11 combos in their base rotation, whereas Ninjas have 18 combos in the rotation above. Ninjas can also start with any combo/Mutilate and still maintain a rotation well. There’s many variations to the base rotation established above which makes Ninja complicated, yet quite exciting.

Here’s what’s funny about the priority chain and the first base rotation of AC > DE > SF > MU > AE above: It has the highest opening potency if there are no other Warriors or Ninjas, but only if the target is alive for a short amount of time. If the target will be alive for longer than 20 seconds, opening with SF delivers more damage. Longer than 30 seconds and MU delivers more damage. Ninjas have a special curve ball where the time it takes to eliminate our enemy can change our openers. Possible permutations where each combo is repeated once, you have five factorial--120--permutations. Where there’s five combos but you choose four of them just once it’s also 120 possible permutations. In a case where you could repeat choices, you’d be looking at a possible 3125 permutations for five choices, and 625 permutations for four choices on openers. That’s a lot of choices!

The priority chain is designed with both your own DPS and other group member’s DPS in mind. If a target will be alive for longer than 30 seconds, your Ninja will put out the most damage opening with MU -> SF, compared to DE -> SF and SF -> MU. The values may differ as your GCD decreases, yet within a small tolerance MU -> SF still places higher. If a target will be alive for longer than 20 seconds, then SF > MU is better than MU > SF.

AC > MU > SF > DE > AE

If you were to maintain ~100% on all the debuffs of SF, MU, and DE starting with SF using a priority of SF > MU, your rotation would look like this:

SF -> MU -> DE -> AC|AE -> SF -> DE -> AC|AE -> MU -> SF -> DE -> AC|AE -> SF -> DE -> MU -> AC|AE -> SF -> DE -> AC|AE -> Repeat

For that same ~100% uptime by starting with MU, using a priority of MU > SF:

MU -> SF -> DE -> AC|AE -> SF -> DE -> MU -> AC|AE -> SF -> DE -> AC|AE -> SF -> MU -> DE -> AC|AE -> SF -> DE -> AC|AE -> Repeat

If another warrior is keeping up Storm’s Eye or if another Ninja is keeping up Dancing Edge, then you replace all instances of DE with AE. Parts in the first base rotation with “AC|AE” follow our 40 second rule still.

AE -> SF -> MU -> AC|AE -> AE -> SF -> AC|AE -> AE -> MU -> SF -> AC|AE -> AE -> SF -> AC|AE -> MU -> AE -> SF -> AC|AE -> Repeat

When in doubt about choosing a rotation, your best bet is to use something like the first base rotation with the AC > DE > SF > MU > AE priority chain, as it is the most adaptable.

This is the Ninjutsu priority chain:

Huton > Suiton > Raiton|Fuma Shuriken (more info below in "Raiton vs Fuma Shuriken")

Huton is the best Ninjutsu action you will ever have right now. It decreases all ability GCDs and increases auto-attack rates. Suiton is the prerequisite for Trick Attack without Hide, which grants you and your party an extra 10% on all attacks for 10 seconds. Raiton and Fuma Shuriken are quick strike Ninjutsu actions used whenever Huton is up and Trick Attack is down.

Example Rotation (Multi-Target)

In Multi-target rotations, your goal is to take down as many enemies as possible in the shortest time possible. Compared to other classes, Ninjas are more lackluster in the AoE department. Below is an example of a Multi-target run:

Chi (0s) -> Ten (.5s) -> Ninjutsu (1s) -> Kassatsu (2s) -> Chi (3s) -> Ten (3.5s) -> Ninjutsu (4s) -> Death Blossom x 10 (5,7,9,11,13,15,17,19,21,23s) -> Chi (24s) -> Ten (24.5s) -> Ninjutsu (25s)

General Tips, Tricks, and Extras

Our current guide update joke:

Significance of Huton

Single-target Extras

If Trick Attack or Sneak Attack is off their cooldown, then use Suiton and follow up with one of those two skills; if available, use a Kassatsu with a Raiton right after (an example of this: Suiton -> Trick Attack -> Kassatsu -> Raiton). If they are not off their cooldown, use Raiton instead. Use the combos above, additional abilities, and Off-GCD skills in the meantime while Ninjutsu is on its cooldown.

If there is a warrior in your party that is regularly applying Storm’s Eye (Hint: icon on the enemy status bar is a pink axe) or another ninja regularly applying Dancing Edge (Hint: you should know what it looks like by now), then you may opt out of DE. A suitable replacement for DE is AE; it will take the same amount of time to execute and is higher potency. In all other cases, DE should be used as it increases ninja, warrior, dark knight, and paladin damage towards the enemy.

With On-GCD skills, your main goal as a ninja is DoT, duration, and debuff upkeep via SF, DE, AC and Mutilate. Compared to Summoners, it’s a similar tactic with the use of Bio, Miasma, and Bio II. When all three (or two if a warrior/ninja is around in the DE warrior case above) are up, you should switch over to AE. When a DoT or debuff is about to go down, switch back over to the respective combo or ability to apply them. Wax on, wax off. Like a ninja turtle.

Mug, Jugulate, Duality, and Dream within a Dream should never be off their cooldown. If they can be used, use them. The exception is Duality; that skill should be paired with either AC or AE. They’re damage abilities that cost no TP to use with a cooldown. The same applies to Blood for Blood and Internal Release if you have those as additional abilities. In the case that you need to time Jugulate for an enemy’s mechanic, avoid spamming Jugulate to be able to cover the mechanic. You can also hold off on spamming these skills if a burn phase, such as Titan’s heart, is about to show up.

Multi-target Extras (>= 3 enemies)

Prioritize having Doton up, then using Katon if a Kassatsu is available right after. If there’s more than three mobs, spam away with Death Blossom, buffed by Blood for Blood and Internal Release if you have them. When there is only one to three mobs left then switch over to single-target mode. If there are exactly three mobs at the start of the fight, begin with Doton up; at this point, you may choose between multi-target and single-target methods. If the life expectancy of a mob group is <= 20 seconds, start off with a Katon instead of a Doton.

Remember boss phases and mechanics! If there are many mobs present but you need to take down one particular enemy quickly within the group, you will be better off using the single-target method instead of the multi-target method. Additionally, if you need to quickly burst down a large mob and don’t have the luxury of time, you may start with a Katon instead of Doton in the Multi-target method.

Huton

Keep this up at all times. If it is down, use the next ninjutsu action to reapply it. 70 seconds is enough time for you to fit in three ninjutsu actions. Use this one at the start of battle or a few seconds beforehand. As mentioned earlier, use Armor Crush in your rotation for Huton upkeep.

Raiton vs Fuma Shuriken

Many ninjas are aware of “mudra lag;” your mudra actions work slower than expected. Occurrences are more common in dungeons compared to open world, but this issue is still present. Even stat weights are adjusted based on the amount of mudra lag one has. Let’s compare the two below. Over a long fight, mudra lag accumulates and any unused time adds up and a large DPS drop ensues. Let’s explore the differences of Raiton and Fuma Shuriken below:

Raiton is a 360 potency lightning damage attack that uses 2 mudras in its sequence. In many rotations, Raiton is the preferred choice for a quick strike Ninjutsu action. If mudra lag is causing issues, performing Raiton will cut into your GCD, which delays your On-GCD rotation.

Fuma Shuriken is a 240 potency physical damage attack that uses 1 mudra in its sequence. Both Kisses enhance the damage of Fuma Shuriken, as it is considered physical damage. Dancing Edge enhances Fuma Shuriken as the Ninja’s method to deal physical damage is through slashing. Neither Kisses or Dancing Edge boost Raiton’s damage.

So which should be used and when? Raiton should be used when the user is not experiencing a lot of mudra lag or when the Bard has Foe’s Requiem up. See below for the damage increase:

Foe's Requiem * Raiton = 1.1 * 360 = 396 potency.

Fuma Shuriken should be used when you’re experiencing heavy mudra lag, or simply want to fire off a quick Ninjutsu action. Fuma Shuriken is also preferred when you consistently have your GCD sitting for more than half a second every time you cast Raiton. See below for damage increase:

(Dancing Edge + Kiss) * Fuma Shuriken = (1 + (.2 + .1))*240 = 312 potency.

Comparing DE+Kiss Fuma Shuriken to regular Raiton, we have a difference of 48 potency; this is about one tick’s potency from Shadow Fang difference in damage. Adding Foe’s Requiem creates a difference of 84 potency, equal to about two ticks’ potency from Shadow Fang difference in damage. From these numbers, Raiton is always a better choice when Foe’s Requiem is up. If Foe’s Requiem is not up, then it is situational and dependent upon other factors such as mudra lag to determine whether Fuma Shuriken or Raiton is the better choice.

PvP

...Wait. Am I playing the wrong game? Final Fantasy and PvP? What FFXIV:ARR guide covers this?!

Ahem.

FFXIV:ARR is a PvE-centric game. That being said, it is one of the primary reasons that talk about PvP within the game is omitted among most, if not almost all, guides created by the community. In light of this, I believe it would be unwise to exclude the portion of the community that are currently PvPers and/or have an active interest in it. I’ll admit; I have not participated in PvP all too much since its inception, so many of the tactics and strategies I present are based upon experience in other games besides FFXIV, like PlanetSide 2.

Where do I fit in as a ninja?

Familiar with the Rogue from World of Warcraft? Much of my explanation will connect back to that class.

If you are not familiar with that example: the ninja is the only job currently with a stealth ability. That means people cannot see you easily! What do you do with that power? Why, sneak up on your enemies! The ninja is the element of surprise in your group; if deployed effectively, it could very well change a defeat into a victory.

Don’t worry too much though; the combos and tricks that you have learned while in PvE will not change too greatly. Well... just one teeny, tiny difference that may cause a somewhat catastrophic effect. Instead of a target that has rigid and set mechanics, you’re dealing with an entity that has fluid and ever-changing tactics. That’s going to cause quite a shock to first time PvPer’s! You know what I’ll say to that though? That’s alright! You may feel intimidated the first time you try out PvP in this game. That’s a perfectly normal response. Through practice, you will get better at it.

Strafing

Strafing is the act of moving from side to side rather than forwards and backwards. A great example of this in practice is a “circle strafe,” where one continually moves in a circular motion, whether it be clockwise or counterclockwise, in order to disorient the opponent. Another example, and one I typically employ, is a strafe maneuver I call the “infinity strafe”, where one moves along the lines of an imaginary infinity symbol around their opponent.

Crowd Control

Suppressive fire, controlling the enemy’s actions, etc. Crowd control in FFXIV:ARR is done through status debuffs such as Stun, Silence, Bind, and Sleep. Employing these debuffs effectively will not only make your enemy have to react to them, but also give you a much higher chance at victory.

PvP Abilities

Weapon Throw (3): Delivers a ranged attack with a potency of 50. 20% chance of inflicting heavy for 6 seconds, and also removes the sprint effect. Range of 15y. Cooldown of 90 seconds.
U1: Shortens recast time to 60 seconds.
U2: Extends Heavy duration to 9 seconds.
U3: Increases effect potency to 40% (i.e. 20 -> 40% chance of inflicting Heavy).

Enliven (2): Instantly restores 50% TP. Cooldown of 240 seconds. Like Invigorate, but for PvP.
U1: Shortens recast time to 180 seconds.
U2: Increases TP recovery to 75%.

Purify (1): Removes all detrimental effects. Can be used regardless of own status affliction. Range of 30y. This means you can use it regardless of if you’re stunned, silenced, etc. Cooldown of 180 seconds.
U1: Shortens recast time to 150 seconds.

Overwhelm (3): Rushes target and delivers an attack with a potency of 150. Cannot be executed while bound. Range of 20y. Cooldown of 90 seconds. Similar mechanics to Monk’s charge ability.
U1: Shortens recast time to 60 seconds.
U2: Increases potency to 180.
U3: Adds stun effect with a two second duration.

Ill Wind (3): Delivers an attack with a potency of 170 to all nearby enemies. Radius of 5y. Silences afflicted targets for two seconds. Cooldown of 150 seconds.
U1: Shortens recast time to 120 seconds.
U2: Increases potency to 200.
U3: Silence duration is now 3 seconds.

Malmsight (1): Locates enemies in a 50-yalm radius in front of you and displays them on allied maps for 10 seconds. Cooldown of 150 seconds. This skill is comparable to acoustic location.
U1: Shortens recast time to 90 seconds.

Detect (1): Reveal the location of nearby enemies under the effect of Hide. Radius of 20y. Cooldown of 180 seconds. This is the PvP ninja counter skill.
U1: Shortens recast time to 150 seconds.

Recouperate (2): Restores 20% of maximum HP on self. Cooldown of 180 seconds.
U1: Shortens recast time to 150 seconds.
U2: Increases HP recovery to 30%.

Tactics: Communication is Key

FFXIV:ARR doesn’t lend itself to be anywhere near as complicated with PvP compared to games such as, say, ESO or Planetside 2 when it comes to small group tactics. The rule of thumb: a good team exercises effective communication. This can even be demonstrated without a single verbal/written command from a group member or group leader; this is the point where a group reaches what I’ll call “Nirvana.” Each person will automatically know how to act and adapt to any given situation almost as if they can see the future. Let’s go back to reality though; unless you are either a first-timer prodigy or part of a very, very experienced group, you’re going to have to communicate to your teammates. This can be done through VOIP (TS, Mumble, etc.) or in-game chat. If you’re the kind of person who dislikes using in-game chat, my first suggestion to you would be to find or create a group using VOIP as a medium you all can access.