How can I tell if I am doing enough damage?

[FinaSel]

I have recently gotten my ninja to 60, but I am not really sure if I am performing well enough.

So far I have only done normal dungeons, but I hope to got to raids and EX fights as ninja in the future.

When I play as WHM, I really only think about: "Is everyone alive? Yes. Good. Time to DPS."
But I rarely think about how effective my DPS is.

As a ninja, at first I asked: "Is stuff dying? Yes. Good.", but unlike a healer, I can't simply think this way at level 60.

I need to be able to meet DPS checks and I need to be responsible for making dungeons move quickly.

For example, I was doing Nidhogg EX and A5 Savage as a WHM with mostly FC members.
In A5 we couldn't kill the final add fast enough, and we couldn't meet the time limit.

In Nidhogg EX, the group had trouble killing the 3 adds repeatedly.
They were talking about how DPS isn't enough. Even though I was WHM, I DPSed as in between heals. Despite that, we still couldn't make it in time.

It was FC members and friends, so it never got heated but, I began to realize that I really need to know how much DPS I am doing when I play a Ninja.

How do I know if I am contributing enough DPS? Using enmity isn't effective because I used Shadewalker and other jobs have their enmity reducing skills too.

So, how can I tell?

[Kitfox]

Parse. /10char

[Renius]

Parse. /10char

WTH does this mean?

[Mimilu]

WTH does this mean?

They're saying a parser program can help tell the OP see their damage.

The /10char is because each post requires 10 characters (letters, numbers, symbols).
"Parse." is only 6 characters.

[Khalithar]

Aside from parsing it's good to know if you're doing your rotation correctly. The nice thing about this game is that every dps has exactly one rotation and only one optimal way to play them with no RNG (outside of procs of course). There are guides here on the forums that discuss the correct rotation. There are a few other ways to know if you're doing as much damage as possible and that's the things outside your damage rotation as a nin, are you keeping huton up? Are you keeping all your DoT's applied? Are you using your oGCD abilities that deal damage? Are you keeping up your slashing debuff if no warrior is present? Are you doing your positional attacks correctly? Are you using your ninjutsu for damage? Suiton for your Trick Attack/Sneak Attack? Doton? Raiton? Etc.

[ChaozK]

The easiest way to tell without using a parser is to see if you can clear the stone sky sea dummies. They have one for every relevant fight like A5S.

[FinaSel]

Thank you for the advice.

I have heard of "parser" but I don't really know what it is for sure, and I think it is a 3rd-party program or something. I don't really want to use anything that could get me in trouble. Better safe than sorry. (Just how I feel).

Yes, I keep Huton up and keep Shadow Fang Applied, and Mutilate if I think the mob isn't going to die soon.
Armor crush on the flank and Aeolian Edge from behind.

I keep Dancing Edge up, but I still sometimes use it by accident even when a warrior is present.

I'm not sure which is better for 4+ mobs; Katon or Doton. I usually put down Doton first, then use Kassatsu and then Katon, but not sure if it optimal way.

I always use Raiton for Single Target, unless boss and Trick Attack is available. Then, I use that first.

I am still getting used to the timing of Duality and Dream within a Dream. Should I save them for after I've used Trick Attack? Or just use them whenever they are up?

I have never been to Stone Sky Sea. Do I need to go with a party?

[CookieMonsta]

Thank you for the advice.

We actually cannot tell you how to get this parser in case we get banned. Try searching Reddit or plain Google.

[seekified]

I'm not sure which is better for 4+ mobs; Katon or Doton. I usually put down Doton first, then use Kassatsu and then Katon, but not sure if it optimal way.

As for this, you should do it the other way around. Doton is special - Kassatsu will make every tick crit for Doton's whole duration. So Katon > Kassatsu > Doton and then spamming Death Blossom is the best AoE you can do as NIN.

But yes, Stone Sky Sea is the only "official" way of finding out if you're doing decent damage or not.

[Campi]

As for this, you should do it the other way around. Doton is special - Kassatsu will make every tick crit for Doton's whole duration. So Katon > Kassatsu > Doton and then spamming Death Blossom is the best AoE you can do as NIN.

That's not correct.
This makes only sense, if the mobs live longer then ~21sec during the doton time
Most of the time the mobs die earlier, so it's better to use katon

There are many ninjas who cast doton at boss mobs. which is completly wrong.


@Fina
You should watch some guides about your class and try Stone Sky Sea. So you will know, if your dps is high enough or not.