Seeing how Yoshi-P urged the Battle Staff for Final Fantasy 14 to reread the first volume of Naruto to get some ideas for the Ninja Job, there was no doubt it was going to be amongst the best in the game. By default, Ninjas are incredibly cool and popular, making for a perfect fit in the realm of Eorzea.
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While Ninja isn’t a new Job in the game by any stretch, it can still be a bit challenging for newcomers of the role or class to get into, leading to fewer and fewer Ninjas in the realm of Eorzea, which is unacceptable. Still, with every Melee DPS Job available in the game, it’s worth checking out the Ninja if you’re interested.
Updated December 19, 2024, by Seth Parmer: Patch 7.11 for the fifth expansion, Dawntrail, is out, and the last time we revisited this guide was for the release of the said expansion. So, it’s been a while, to say the least. As such, we have updated this guide to include an Advanced Opener for the Ninja Job in Final Fantasy 14 and also made the Best Gear section up-to-date, showcasing the best equipment the Ninja has to offer, how to get it, and which Materia you should pair with it!
A Splendid Ninja Is Born
Before becoming a Ninja, you will first have to master the prerequisite class of Rogue. However, unlike most classes, you cannot start the game as a Rogue and must first take care of a few things. Though fortunately, it’s nothing too time-consuming or grueling.
Requirements
-
Complete the Level 10 Quest for any Disciples of War or Magic Class
- This will also unlock the Armory System needed for Rogue
After the above condition is met, you will then head to Limsa Lominsa Lower Decks and speak with Lonwoerd (X:8.0, Y:16.0) to start the quest “My First Daggers.” Completing the quest will unlock the Rogue class.
Rogue To Ninja
From there, you will need to reach Level 30 with your Rogue to become a Ninja. Once Level 30 is obtained, you will speak with Jacke in Limsa Lominsa Lower Decks (X:6.0, Y:6.1) to start the quest “Peasants by Day, Ninjas by Night.” Upon completion of that quest, you will officially be a Ninja!
If you need help leveling up or want methods to earn quick EXP, look no further than our guide on the best ways of leveling Jobs in Final Fantasy 14. Furthermore, if you’re new to the game, most of the stuff covered in this guide may not be helpful to you now but can – hopefully – provide some insight on the later-level play.
Ninja Rotations
A Rogue or Ninja in Final Fantasy 14
Having a solid rotation will optimize your damage while allowing you always to have something casting even when your GCD (Global Countdown) is still recovering. We will be covering the Off-GCDs and Opener for Ninja a bit further down in this guide.
For now, though, we will focus on the basic rotation skills without any of the fancy stuff thrown in between attacks, such as off-GCD actions or pre-pull setups. This way, you can get the hang of every important rotation first before slowly adding in the other stuff, which can be daunting to see at first.
Basic Single-Target Rotation
- Spinning Edge > Gust Slash > Aeolian Edge or Armor Crush
Ending this rotation with Aeolian Edge will deal sufficient damage while also increasing your Ninki Gauge. Ending with Armor Crush, however, will deal decent damage if executed on the enemy’s flank, increase your Ninki Gauge, and extend the duration of Huton.
Basic AoE Rotation
- Death Blossom > Hakke Mujinsatsu
As with most basic AoE Rotations in Final Fantasy 14, there are only two attacks you will reliably use on multiple enemies. This rotation is most useful against groups of three or more enemies, and we recommend not using it against smaller groups than that.
Ninja Positional Attacks
Successfully landing specific attacks from certain positions will grant you extra damage and other bonuses that make it essential to aim for when performing your rotations. Missing or ignoring your positional attacks leaves lots of damage on the table, which is never a good thing and should be avoided if you can help it.
However, if you know you cannot reach your positional on time, it’s best to hit the target instead of messing up your GCD/OGCDs. Having the timing down on your Actions is much more beneficial to you in the long run than hitting your positional attacks, but hitting them will grant you that much more damage.
Rear
- Trick Attack: +100 Damage Potency when striking the enemy from behind.
- Aeolian Edge: +60 Damage Potency when striking the enemy from behind.
Flank
- Armor Crush: +60 Damage Potency when striking the enemy from the side.
Ninja Off-GCD Actions
Off-GCD Actions are buttons you can press while waiting for your GCD Actions to reset and can allow you to deal a great deal more damage if you get a nice rhythm down. Optimizing your usage of Off-GCD Actions alongside your GCD ones is the name of the game and is necessary for the high-end content found in Final Fantasy 14.
While some of these will be situational, the general gist of when you should activate certain Buffs or Utilities generally remains the same. While this won’t cover every Off-GSC Action present in the Ninja’s kit, it will showcase the crucial ones and demonstrate how they are used. Below is a short breakdown of the most essential Off-GCD Actions found in the Ninja Job.
- On Cooldown, use Trick Attack, Mug, Bunshin, and Ten Chi Jin.
- When Bunshin is active, always use Phantom Kamaitachi before its effect ends.
- When Kunai’s Bane is active, use Hyosho Ranryu, Dream Within a Dream, Raiton, and Ten Chi Jin.
Below is an example of an optimized Opener for a Level 100 Ninja, which showcases many of these examples. Take a look at it if you’re still a bit lost when it comes to when and where you should apply your Off-GCD Actions. Essentially, you should always be pressing a button, doing damage, or setting something up at all times.
Best Ninja Opener In FFXIV Dawntrail
An opener is essentially the most optimal sequence of abilities you and the rest of your party will unleash at the very start of the battle. Not only does this help you deal a significant bit of damage to the boss from the jump, but it will also allow you to maximize your buffs and use them to their full potential throughout the fight.
Below is an example of a Level 100 Opener for the Ninja Job, Off-GCD Abilities being displayed in parentheses/bold to help differentiate them between your GCD ones. However, while this is the most optimal route right now, this can change via patches or with a newly found meta.
Basic Opener
- Pre-Pull: Ten > Chi > Jin > Suiton
- (Kassatsu) > Spinning Edge (Grade 1 Gemdraught of Dexterity) > Gust Slash (Dokumori + Bunshin) > Armor Crush (Kunai’s Bane) > Hyosho Ranryu (Dream Within a Dream) > Raiton (Ten Chi Jin) > Fuma Shuriken > Raiton > Suiton (Meisui) > Fleeting Raiju (Tenri Jindo) > Fleeting Raiju (Zesho Meppo) > Raiton > Fleeting Raiju (Bhavacakra) > Phantom Kamaitachi
Advanced Opener
- Pre-Pull: Ten > Chi > Jin > Suiton
- (Kassatsu) > Spinning Edge (Grade 1 Gemdraught of Dexterity) > Gust Slash > Armor Crush (Dokumori + Bunshin) > Phantom Kamaitachi (Kunai’s Bane) > Hyosho Ranryu (Dream Within a Dream) > Raiton (Ten Chi Jin) > Fuma Shuriken > Raiton > Suiton (Meisui) > Fleeting Raiju (Zesho Meppo + Tenri Jindo) > Fleeting Raiju > Raiton > Fleeting Raiju (Bhavacakra) > Spinning Edge
While your Opener will lead you to your primary rotations, it won’t be tremendously different once you start mixing in your Off-GCD Actions. Having a solid Opener will allow you to have excellent cooldown times on significant Buffs, a game-changer throughout the battle, and one that will help you and your team out.
Best Gear For Ninja In FFXIV Dawntrail
The table below showcases a Level 100 Ninja with iLevel 730 equipment and an iLevel 735 weapon, along with the recommended Materia in each slot. The end-game content in Final Fantasy 14 can be rather demanding, forcing you to show up with the best possible equipment and Melds to shine bright alongside your teammates.
While the below build is an example of a Ninja with the “Best In Slot” items, you can still use it to see which Stats and Materia you should be prioritizing when putting together a build yourself. The Ninja is a hard-hitting Melee DPS Job if you know how to manage them, and Patch 7.11 further draws their potential out.
|
Equipment |
Materia |
Stats |
How To Obtain |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Weapon |
Dark Horse Champion’s Knives |
|
|
Can drop during AAC Light-heavyweight M4 (Savage) or purchased from Hhihwi in Solution Nine (X:8.7, Y:13.7) for x8 AAC Illustrated: LHW Edition IV. |
|
Head |
Dark Horse Champion’s Hood of Scouting |
|
|
Can drop during AAC Light-heavyweight M3 (Savage) or purchased from Hhihwi in Solution Nine (X:8.7, Y:13.7) for x4 AAC Illustrated: LHW Edition II. |
|
Body |
Dark Horse Champion’s Coat of Scouting |
|
|
Can drop during AAC Light-heavyweight M3 (Savage) or purchased from Hhihwi in Solution Nine (X:8.7, Y:13.7) for x4 AAC Illustrated: LHW Edition II. |
|
Hands |
Augmented Quetzalli Vambraces of Scouting |
|
|
Upgraded by giving x1 Surgelight Twine and the corresponding Quetzalli Armor to Theone in Solution Nine (X:8.5, Y:13.6). |
|
Legs |
Augmented Quetzalli Breeches of Scouting |
|
|
Upgraded by giving x1 Surgelight Twine and the corresponding Quetzalli Armor to Theone in Solution Nine (X:8.5, Y:13.6). |
|
Feet |
Dark Horse Champion’s Boots of Scouting |
|
|
Can drop during AAC Light-heavyweight M3 (Savage) or purchased from Hhihwi in Solution Nine (X:8.7, Y:13.7) for x4 AAC Illustrated: LHW Edition II. |
|
Earrings |
Augmented Quetzalli Ear Cuffs of Aiming |
|
|
Upgraded by giving x1 Surgelight Glaze and the corresponding Quetzalli Accessory to Theone in Solution Nine (X:8.5, Y:13.6). |
|
Necklace |
Dark Horse Champion’s Choker of Aiming |
|
|
Can drop during AAC Light-heavyweight M1 (Savage) or purchased from Hhihwi in Solution Nine (X:8.7, Y:13.7) for x3 AAC Illustrated: LHW Edition I. |
|
Bracelets |
Augmented Quetzalli Bracelets of Aiming |
|
|
Upgraded by giving x1 Surgelight Glaze and the corresponding Quetzalli Accessory to Theone in Solution Nine (X:8.5, Y:13.6). |
|
Left Ring |
Augmented Quetzalli Ring of Aiming |
|
|
Upgraded by giving x1 Surgelight Glaze and the corresponding Quetzalli Accessory to Theone in Solution Nine (X:8.5, Y:13.6). |
|
Right Ring |
Dark Horse Champion’s Ring of Aiming |
|
|
Can drop during AAC Light-heavyweight M1 (Savage) or purchased from Hhihwi in Solution Nine (X:8.7, Y:13.7) for x3 AAC Illustrated: LHW Edition I. |
The Materia system is relatively robust and houses tons more Materia than what we picked in the above example. Aside from Materia, consuming food before queueing up for a Dungeon, Trial, or Raid is also extremely beneficial and provides excellent buffs.
For the Ninja, the Moqueca is what we’d recommend chowing down before embarking on a mission. And, if you want to deal a bit more damage, don’t forget about weaving in a Grade 1 Gemdraught of Dexterity into your Opener -showcased above- to get the most out of the Ninja.
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