NIN Rotation help ?

[Drakeos]

So im closing in on 60 and wondering what rotation should i be doing and also is there easier rotation than remembering LONG ass rotation ?

[Lyrinn]

NINs run on a priority system.

1. Huton (AC)
2. Dancing Edge
3. DoTs
4. 1-3 are already done and have nothing else to do? AE.
1-4a. Hit oGCDs whenever they're up. This includes ninjutsu (Suiton/TA > Fuma/Raiton spam until Suiton is back up).

The only "long rotation" you should be mindful of is the opener and that's because people have determined what the optimal sequence of oGCDs is when everything is up. Even then, you can just follow the priority system, botch the specific ordering and still do decent DPS.

[Alahra]

The only "long rotation" you should be mindful of is the opener and that's because people have determined what the optimal sequence of oGCDs is when everything is up. Even then, you can just follow the priority system, botch the specific ordering and still do decent DPS.

The optimal opener also requires knowing when your tank is going to pull (as you want to have Huton up for ~20 seconds, allowing you to open with Suiton, so that you're not hitting a 3-step Mudra while BfB/IR are up), so it can be difficult to perfect outside of scripted situations (generally static/pre-form parties). Following the priority will keep your DPS solid even without the perfect opener (especially since the opener's effect on overal DPS tends to flatten out once a fight's gone on long enough).

If you want more detail, you can check out the NIN Guide thread here: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/247323-Ninja-Heaven-Sword-%28And-Beyond%29

[Aeliott]

It's probably best to think of it as a priority system rather than a set in stone rotation. I don't main NIN so I'm sure I'll be corrected if wrong - but:

Get Huton up before pull, and then your priority goes:
Armor Crush* > Dancing Edge > Shadow Fang > Mutilate > Aeolian Edge

Armor Crush takes some getting used to, but generally you want to refresh Huton with it somewhere between 20-40s left on it. You have some leeway here as ideally you wanna make sure your other 3 dots are up before refreshing, but downtime mixes things up.

Dancing Edge combo takes about 8s, so start aiming to refresh around that time. Also if it gets to Aeolian Edge but you can't hit the rear then Armor Crush is stronger (flank only), Dancing Edge is also stronger (front and flank, but Crush is better for flank). Always use Crush when you need to regardless of positionals. Always use Duality with Aeolian if possible, but if it seems like you won't be able to get one off any time soon just boost Armor Crush. Obviously WARs might be using Storm's Eye in which case you don't need to worry about Dancing Edge, that said it's still stronger if you can only hit the front.

For Ninjutsu, unless you need to save Trick Attack for an upcoming burst phase or something, use Suiton -> Trick Attack when available, otherwise Raiton for single target (if your mudras are a bit laggy you can use Shuriken instead). That's a very general run-down at least.

[Drakeos]

Thank you Aeliott <3

[Kaisersoke]

Basically what Aeliott said i just have a few things to add

if there are high burst phases you will want to get your huton time to its max (which means refreshing at exactly 40s) for room to use extra aeolians instead of armor crush.

once you hit 60 you will also start to get massive amounts of skillspeed, prepare for your global cooldown to drop to around 2seconds bringing your longest combos down to 6 seconds.

its still a dps increase to use duality on shadowfang, or armor crush, so you shouldnt fudge your priority to use it on aeolian, and you want duality on cooldown p much all the time unless youre saving it for a DPS check.

since you cant always hit positionals, its okay to use crush when you need to, but since huton is so lax about it falling off, you will want to use dancing edge unless your huton is less than 15 seconds. similarly you will want to use dancing edge, even if the warrior has storms eye up, if you cannot hit your positionals.

[Drakeos]

OOOO thank you so much so worth keep trucking till 60 then ?

[Drakeos]

And also for Soloing what should i be using (say for 1-3 clan hunts) ?

[Aeliott]

Since you can only hit the front I would imagine you just use Dancing Edge as your only 3 hit combo. Also unless you can stun with jugulate to reach the rear of the enemy I would use Sneak Attack instead of Trick Attack, though if my memory serves Jugulate's stun is very brief. Of course, you could always open with Trick by Sneaking up to enemies. That's about it I guess :P and Mutilate probably isn't worth using unless it's going to tick for most of its duration.