The Sealed Dagger: A Ninja Guide

Any information on potency of Kikoku's paralysis? Just made one for fun and wondering where it sits in terms of other paralyze options.

jp wiki lists it at the same rank as para 1/jubaku:ichi, doesnt give a hard number as for potency, just says its weaker than the 2 same rank spells and can be overwritten by para2

Thanks!

Revisiting this, as it's the only thing in Buukki's post that I didn't agree with...

What's the value of /WAR these days? I'm almost always on /DRG now, especially for segments.

DA+12% and Berserk/Defender/Provoke just don't stack up to /DRG's WSD boost (on all hits of a WS), especially once you hit /DRG55 for the bump up to 10%. Jumps (mostly for occasional enmity management) and Conserve TP are a bonus. I find /WAR doesn't hold up offensively even when riding Berserk as much as possible, and that comes with risk too if you ever get shadows wiped and take hits with massively decreased defense. DPS gap grows even more when you're not using Berserk.

Really the only times I /WAR any more are for Abyssea procs, or rare situations where I might want to focus more on tanking and Provoke and Defender have some value. Voke shouldn't even be something you use to pull a random mob, just get in the habit of pulling with Hojo or Kurayami instead, and get the benefit of maybe sticking an enfeeble too.

Got my NIN to 99 and been working on Ambuscade! Was gonna start working on cape, but I noticed the recommended mantles on the original post only seem to account for 4 of the 5 augmenting items? Could anyone recommend what to add/change on this list that includes the resin augments, and/or more capes if needed?

#1 The Double Action
• DEX+20, Accuracy/Attack +30, DA+10
• Easy choice for TP and Blade: Shun

#2 Your First WS Cape
• DEX+30, Accuracy/Attack +20, WSD+10
• Drives single hit WS like Blade: Metsu
• Choose STR for Blade: Ten
• Choose AGI for Blade: Hi

#3 Cast Quicker and be Safe
• HP+60, Fast Cast +10, Evasion/MEva +20, MEva +10, MEva +15
• Delicious fast cast and MEva for avoiding enemy magic.

#4 Cast Harder
• INT+20, MAttkBonus +10, MAcc/MDmg +20, MAcc+10
• A magic damage focused cape for Ni and San nukes.

Extremely humble opinion on this and either way very negligible difference, but while a lot of people go for DEX+20 Acc+30, I tipically prefer going for DEX+30 Acc+20.
In terms of Acc my choice is slightly worse but still close, but it's very slightly better for Crit Rate from dDex and works better for WS like Shun.

Regardless of that, these are my non TP and non WS capes for NIN

AndartiaFC = INT+20, Macc+30, Mdmg+20, FC+10
use this for precast and landing debuffs

AndartiaMagic = INT+30, Macc/Mdmg+20, Mab+10
use this for nuking
Not sure which resin I use on both because I don't have it written down but I guess it's either PDT-10 or DT-5 on both.


For Meva you can use Null Shawl, really.

pdt -10 is the common choice for tp and ws capes, easier to cap mdt because shell v is already -29.

I'm not sure if it's scientifically proven one way or the other, but I prefer STP on cape over DA because daken can't DA but it can get STP from cape. On top of that nin has great MA options like gere ring, epona's, and I use windbuffet belt too. I don't personally use mpaca armor, tatenashi, or kendatsuba, but those are also MA stacked

I've never mathed it out but I wouldn't be surprised to see STP+10 trumping DA+10 on cape if not on all scenarios at least in the majority.

Only pro I can objectively find to the DA+10 cape is inventory saving, since you can make a cape that's pretty much ideal for both TP and for Blade: Shun.
Which used to be a very relevant WS on NIN, but nowadays I'm not sure we can say the same lol

My thoughts exactly. Except IDGAF about shun because it's dogshit and does somewhere between awful and worthless damage.

I might have a slightly different opinion if I did more multi-step SC on nin, I just never find myself in that kinda situation

Shun was awesome at launch, and it remained somewhat relevant for a long time because... well, mainly because of lack of better options, or better gear to fully exploit 1H WSs.

Shun could be made nice again I suppose if they changed it to scale damage with TP, and give it a default 1.25 att bonus, instead of fixed fTP and Att bonus scaling which is, let's face it, pretty bonkers in most situations.

If there's one category of WSs that could use some slight adjustments overall that's gotta be Katana, if you ask me. But SE seems to be reluctant, or should I say seemed to be? The recent poll seemed to open up to possible generic "job adjustments" within the next year, so I guess we'll see what happens.


As of now I fear Shun lost even the very small niche it had (solo play, att starved, no Kikoku), as I fear Naegling performs much better under those situations thanks to the Buffs>Att conversion on WSs.

Completed Dokoku stage 4 a few weeks back and will post some numbers from a few situations when I get around to it. Overall I am happy with it - The situations I use NIN for lend itself well to the katana. Self 3 step light with a powerful scaling WS is very nice. Is it the most amazing prime? Not even close, but I think the shortcomings are a little overstated. In a situation where hybrids aren’t going to get the job done, Zesho is a fine WS.

Regarding up to date 2025 gear sets and whatnot, seems like someone needs to take up the mantle, I’ll consider making a node with the relevant sets.

I should follow my own advice here (because I don't understand why I have two separate capes for this purpose), but for this particular cape, you could drop the Magic Evasion and add Spell Interruption Rate -10% so that you have one precast/midcast cape that covers speed and casting success, specifically hitting the cap for Utsusemi. You can also switch the Sap +10 Magic Evasion augment to HP+20 to give you less of a health dip when you cast, if that small detail matters much to you. As mentioned, you can use Null Shawl for Magic Evasion since it's far superior.

I don't have any Needles to use or I would adjust mine right now, and I don't feel like spending more points and mats making a new one just to combine the two, but I should get to it next Ambuscade rotation. Thanks for the reminder

Enjoying this engaged set a lot recently. But I don't actually math anything regarding tp gain lol but it umm.... feels good?

I know some are gonna be like wtf is that ring doing there bronin? but hear me out...I don't need more acc... but sometimes racc falls a bit short even with the bonus to daken... don't gain tp from daken if it misses. Also why I opt for Telos over Dedition.

This is my exact same set which I just call "Malignance", with the exception being Gere/Epona's in the ring slots and I use Date Shuriken (probably negligible). I told a Ninja the other day to "just wear 5/5 Malignance and you'll be fine" and he said that was too boring and lame. Lol. I usually find myself in this set at some point if I'm fighting anything remotely dangerous.

Full malig is the default for anything that matters, I agree. I think there is some room for augmented mpaca in the set, assuming R25+, specifically body.

I am a returning player after a pretty big absence (5.5 years this go round) and I was wondering what merit setup most people are running. If I recall correctly last I was playing the San nukes were still Merit II category spells. Ninjutsu M.Acc and MAB seem the best for general play (Ninja is my primary solo/chores job right now) or is Sange worthwhile?

Lots of gear changes but for TP I guess the best upgrades to be working towards would be trying to acquire my Malignance set? Kendatsuba pieces seem to be solid still but it looks like Adhemar has fallen to the wayside. Malignance set should get me into Odyssey and beyond I presume?

I use Mpaca pieces for some things, but the downside is the set has no Ranged Accuracy. The body is superb when augmented, with STP, Critical Rate, Triple Attack, Attack, and lots of defensive traits. Ditto for the Head, but even I don't use it. I honestly hate pieces that have negative stats, and not having Ranged Accuracy to me is considered a negative stat IMO (should be standard if we're being honest, they even put pet racc on there). If you're fighting something not super evasive, it might work. If you're using a TP Bonus Offhand, you'll probably need to swap out of that set/piece. I feel like they either forgot to include Ranged Accuracy on Mpaca set, or they purposely left it off because it would weaken other sets for NIN. Or maybe I'm overthinking it xD

There is sadly no perfect set for NIN, but the good thing is, they all have a purpose.

Kendatsuba +1 has a good spread of TA/Crit/Acc/Racc/Meva/Subtle Blow, but most of the subtle blow is lost since NIN caps it easily, and outside of the high Magic Evasion (which I value), it does not have hard DT or even PDT, so defensively it is weaker. It also doesn't have any attack

Mpaca as mentioned is great for everything, assuming you don't need Ranged accuracy. The high attack makes it very nice for TP phase.

Ashera's Harness at this point is practically an HP swap and a far better BRD body than NIN, but you could use it since it comes with some offense and defense. I do like Tanking in it, especially with Yonin's +250 HP bonus.

Malignance - It's just too easy to use this set. Covers your offense, covers your defense, the only downside is it has no attack.

Empyrean +3 - I don't ever find myself using any of this set as a whole, but the pieces are high in accuracy, attack, and damage mitigation at the expense of STP or multi attack.

Tatenashi +1 - I almost never use this set, but I do sometimes use the feet if I happen to check Sylvie is in 1st place unity. But only the body and legs has attack, the set has zero ranged accuracy (again, a negative trait imo), and it is devoid of any defensive traits. This is an OK set to use for like Segments on C1/2, though, since you can hit most stuff with lower accuracy, you're probably buffed to the moon so don't need much attack in gear, and you'll one shot everything anyways with Savage or Hybrid. The TP gain is good, worth making maybe a Glass Cannon Full offensive set for.

Then there's some low-content pieces like Adhemar +1 Head/Body/Hands and Samnuha Tights you could fit into a similar DPS-focused set.

The remarkably thing about NIN is it has a lot of gear options. I wouldn't mind if someone put together a modern gearsets guide that accounted for all of the pieces I mentioned above (though I have sets that include most of that stuff anyways). Curious to see what sets look like when they are optimized, maybe I can get rid of some of the Kendatsuba +1 stuff I been keeping around (probably can ditch the legs for certain).

All of Ninja's merits are garbage, I doubt you'd get a clear consensus on what is "best", as they're all situational.

Group 1--
Subtle Blow - IMO seems silly NIN has 27 from traits, 10 from spell, so you only need 13 to cap SB1, which can be done with a couple of easy swaps. I wouldn't bother with this.

-ton Effect- they don't matter, just pick whatever you're frequently nuking on NIN (like water for this month's ambu). I personally picked one for light (raiton) and one for dark (stone), due to doing some Ongo 2KI attempts and soloing Sortie way back and just never changed them.

Group 2--
Sange - it's a dps increase but it's not a great ability. Having to carry extra shurikens that are expendable for this move makes it less desirable for me. You will gain TP faster, but Daken rate with the right gear is already high. Maybe for a newer NIN this would make more sense. I haven't used Sange in years.

NTE - No, unless you are into the cost-savings part of a job. I couldn't care less about this merit if I tried. I guess it's significant when paired with the Relic hands, but I still don't care for it.

Yonin - I did 5/5 here but that's only because I have not found many instances where I can take advantage of the Innin bonus properly. The Yonin merits activate regardless of where you are standing, so it's a free 250 HP at the expense of activating the ability for minor offensive penalties. If you're tanking (rare), it's a no brainer, but even when I am not, I still pop Yonin because 250 HP is a lot and can be maintained fulltime. You don't lose much offense with Yonin either (but Innin is obv better)

Innin Effect - If you can make use of it, IMO seems like the best option for damage. I just honestly never find situations where I can always be behind the monster and am nuking for the additional bonus. SC damage is whatever too. 5% isn't huge increase, but dps is dps. The real perk is the extra 5% WSD whn using the empyrean head with Innin for Hybrids, but again, I still feel like there's too many things that need to be setup properly for this to be useful: You need to be behind the mob (not always possible) with Innin active, and the mob needs to be vulnerable to hybrid damage (varies). Annoying variables, this is what made me not pick Innin Effect.

NIN Macc - 5-25 Magic Accuracy for enfeebles. Doesn't seem like much of a difference here.

NIN Mab - I did 5/5 here for a free +20MAB. I nuke on NIN a lot, so it's an easy choice. if you don't nuke (idk why you play NIN if you don't), then it's less appealing

I think I can give you access to the front page node if you'd like.

Of them all i think 5/5 mab is given just because its the only one with a real increase via the relic boots, +25% extra damage on nukes is pretty substantial when all your other options range from crap to meh

Sure, please do!

You'll be fine with Malignance. IMO, with all the gear options available, I would say Kendatsuba/+1 could be skipped, unless you wanted something easy to hold you over until you farm the 5 pieces. Adhemar still has some use, but I wouldn't go out of my way to invest in it unless you had no other alternative (still can be used in some low dw sets). Mpaca's is an easy set to slap on if you have absolutely nothing else to wear.

I didn't even mention this because it slipped my mind, but I knew there was something else for it. Good catch.

Fart, I apologize, I somehow was under the assumption that I could alter the contributors for this node. I feel as though the sharing link in the Node controls was active before, and that I could add/remove contributors at will.

It doesn't appear to let me anymore. I would love for that guide to get some attention. I'm going to ask if the mods can help us out.

Thank you(!) for offering to update the NIN resources.

Thanks, I'm not really pursuing Kendatsuba or Adhemar, it's just what I have from last time I was playing so it's my baseline. I'm trying to get into Odyssey for clears so I can start accessing that gear and trying to do sortie to work towards Empy +2 upgrades, though other jobs will probably take priority first. Is it worth farming any of the Unity armor pieces (Tatenashi for example) as hold overs since the campaign is ongoing? Tatenashi set is really inexpensive to upgrade but wasn't sure it was worth it. Appreciate the insights.

For TP not really, tatenashi is more offensive mpaca, but also a whole lot less defensive. Has strong acc/ta/stp, but no racc and no real defenses to speak of beyond the bare basics.

Unity pieces are largely all accessories, though there's a few minor WS swaps like blistering sallet+1 or zoar subligar, but even these are largely outdated due to better, more defensive options, along with a select few weapons that survived the odyssey purge, though not any i think NIN would use beyond ternion dagger+1 until you can get the ody katana

Agree with most of the above except attack in the tp phase. I think it's incredibly negligible. I would trade 200 attack for 5 stp. NIN is like 90%+ WSD and can barely crack 2k autos under the best circumstances. Attack won't do ***for your dps in nearly 100% of situations.

Tatenashi/Mpaca's ends up being (not detrimental per se) not ideal for NIN just because you want ranged accuracy for the Daken procs. Malignance is kind of your go to for nin for that reason.

While your assumptions are probably correct, I don't think I'd completely ignore white damage. Fortunately, we have a tool that can evaluate TP gain / white damage and lead us to the correct solution, so we only have to develop feelings for how much MEVA/Defensive stats we need.