Is it just me, or does ninja feel like...

[wereotter]

You get one Kassatsu every 60s, with a choice between two options. Single Target Hyosho Ranryu and AoE Goka Mekkyaku.

If this upgraded Doton is more potent than Goka Mekkyaku, then Goka becomes completely redudant.
If less potent, then the DoT is redundant.

Unlike regular Ninjutsu that has a 20s cd, with charges, where you can easily accommodate for both Doton and Katon.

Exactly. Also I'll add that ninja doesn't really need another redundant ninjutsu option. Hyoton was a skill that was basically worthless until this expansion, and then it's still *technically* useless, except that it charges up to Hyosho Ranryu which actually makes the combination of mudras more viable. If we had to choose to between a charged up Doton with Kassatsu or a charged up Katon... one of them will always be the superior choice, and the other would never be used.

[Stormfur]

i cant stand these misleading titles, ppl need to speak in complete sentences and stop with the ellipses

It wouldn't let me write the entire question due to character limits. >_< Otherwise yeah, it does sound kinda clickbaity. Sorry!

[Stormfur]

NIN is currently the best dps at the level 70 range. You are most likely playing it incorrectly if you are 4th on the dps list. As others have already mentioned you should go to the balance and read their guide there (NIN doesn't change much from 70-80).

How do I go there? I'm rather new to discord. It's a discord channel, right?

[Keiisuke]

For example on fflog, on the entirety of the last eden raid (99 percentile), atm the ninja is behind the machinist in terms of pure dps.

Taking into account the good management of trick attacks, mudras, positionals and having more difficulty maintaining dps while handling mechanics, yes, I tend to agree that the ninja is not really rewarding.

The job is really fun to play tho, but for me it doesnt worth the effort if a ranged physical dps can outdps you while running and jumping around.

[acceleratedben]

For example on fflog, on the entirety of the last eden raid (99 percentile), atm the ninja is behind the machinist in terms of pure dps.

Which is why we don't just measure pure dps to do an informed take on class balance.

[Realism_Snide]

Yup. It's a discord channel. Here is the link to it: https://discord.gg/thebalanceffxiv

[Realism_Snide]

4) What's the point of Shadow Fang being a DoT if you don't have to monitor that DoT to begin with?

Fun fact: That's exactly how it used to be before patch 5.2: A dot you had to maintain. And boy do I miss that dot maintenance in my down time.

5) Was Bunshin always like this in previous patches?

Bunshin didn't exist before Shadowbringers. Instead, we had a shittier skill called Duality. All it did was double your single target weapon skills for 10s, and only your single target weaponskills. No stacks either. Just a flat 10s window to double your single target 1-2-3 combo. It doesn't double your aoe weaponskills, it doesn't increase the amount of ninki you get per weaponskill. Heck, it doesn't even have a clone animation to give you that "shadow clone fantasy" that the icon promises you. It was usually used in the Trick Attack window, which is already a full clip city of mudras and other non-weaponskills ogcd. So, that didn't help it either.

Btw, Bunshin isn't a dot. It's a buff. A buff that doubles all of your weaponskills + gives you extra ninki/skill for a guaranteed 5 weaponskills within that very generous buff window. And you're not locked out from using your mudras, either, in between weaponskills.

I would redesign Bunshin as simply a 15s buff (with zero ninki cost) that sends a clone to lock on the target of your choice and copy your actions. You and your clone deal 50% less damage, but benefit from separate critical chances. Shadowfang and Doton can be doubled and so does Trick Attack, but the effect won't stack on the same target - only useful with Bunshin when there's 2 separate targets as the clone locks in first at the target of your choice. You can cancel the buff if you need to make the clone disappear.

Oh, you mean DRK's lvl 80 skill, MCH's Queen, SMN Bahamut/Pheonix, and SCH Seraph? But much worse and pretty much useless? Hard pass.

6) Smokescreen ability: 120s recast time. AoE that causes your party to be invulnerable to enemy auto-attacks for 5 seconds if they stand inside.

Absolutely broken, and I don't want my damage nerfed because of it, but I would love the old Smokescreen and Shadewalker back. It still has its use in this day.

7) Trait that makes Fuma Shuriken extend Huton by 30s. It's not optimal to use, as it is a potency loss... but it's meant to help while you're running from AoE and your Huton is about to die.

If you're losing Huton in combat for any reason other than "Unskippable cutscene is too damn long", then you're doing something really wrong. Especially if you're not stabbing something for 65 sec. Rule #1 of melee: Stick to the boss like glue. Dodge aoes to the side instead of away.

[Equitable_Remedy]

Perhaps this is an unpopular opinion, but I don't view the time between trick attack burst windows as a problem that needs to be solved—there are several other DPS classes if you don't like that cadence. I personally enjoy it—going HAM in burst windows and more bandwidth for mechanics outside of them (though you still have 1-2-3 combo, possible ninki abilities, possible ninjustu depending on the fight).

In terms of making ninja feel like it has better payoff, give hyosho ranryu a better graphic, because the current on is weak! Goka mekkyaku is one of my favorite animations, but hyosho is just such a letdown for our most powerful move.

And another thing—replace fuma (after we get raiton) and hyoton with group utility ninjustu, replace hyosho ranryu with a lightning-based kassatsu-empowered ninjustu as our most powerful, and replace the second half of our LB3 (charging up with all of the mudras is cool, but the sword payoff is weak)

[SnowVix]

And another thing—replace fuma (after we get raiton) and hyoton with group utility ninjustu, replace hyosho ranryu with a lightning-based kassatsu-empowered ninjustu as our most powerful, and replace the second half of our LB3 (charging up with all of the mudras is cool, but the sword payoff is weak)

NIN LB3 should replace the swords with Mysidian Rabbits that swarm the target, that would make it perfection.

[Equitable_Remedy]

NIN LB3 should replace the swords with Mysidian Rabbits that swarm the target, that would make it perfection.

This is probably going to be another unpopular opinion, but mudra signs should be greyed out once you press them once. Buttons should be fun to press, but there are no circumstances whatsoever when you want to press a mudra sign twice in a row—it's purely a trap option with a heavy punishment and no feels-good upside (since you're just using an ability). Being able to double mudra sign is purely a trap, and in my experience only really happens when I think that a sign queued when it didn't.

(The same goes for the 1-2-3 combo—just have the one button cycle through the combo abilities like it does when we take control on NPCs with the third step being hitting the ability again for aeolian edge or hitting armor crush. That also cuts 4 buttons down to 2 without losing any functionality except for a failure state that is never a choice you want to make.)