Category:Ninjutsu

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Ninjutsu is the Ninja's means of casting magic. Unlike typical MP-consuming spells, Ninjutsu exchanges Ninja Tools for the spell effects at the end of casting. This is powerful because removes any MP limitations, but limiting because it really hurts the old gil-holster and tends to clog one's inventory.

Ninjutsu skill affects the spell interruption rate, potency, and magic accuracy of ninjutsu spells.

Also interesting to note is that ninjutsu spells will not cause mobs that aggro magic to detect and attack the caster. This is probably due to the fact that ninjutsu is not MP-based, and relies on the consumption of ninjutsu tools.

There are primarily three types of Ninjutsu: buffs, debuffs, and elemental-based damage "nukes." Ninja's elemental-based damage also lowers resistance to the opposing element by 30, so they are also debuffs in their own way. For example: casting Raiton, which is thunder based, will weaken a mob to Earth. This also increases the chances that earth-based spells will not be resisted, whether the spell is cast by a Ninja (such as Hojo or Doton) or a Black Magic spell (such as Stone or Rasp.) This effect has the same potency whether the spell is cast at Ichi, Ni, or San tier.

Skill caps by job

Job Grade Level 49 Level 99
NIN A 150 417

Buff Ninjutsu

Buff Ninjutsu, specifically the Utsusemis and Migawari, is arguably the most powerful and useful of the Ninjutsus.

Utsusemi and Migawari are both very powerful forms of damage negation. Utsusemi allows the user to avoid taking damage from physical attacks and single-target magic spells as long as they can keep the Copy Image active, and Migawari negates the next severely damaging attack that you take. Though Migawari has few common uses, it is invaluable in some situations and allows skilled Ninja to solo monsters that could normally kill an alliance.

Ninjutsu also provides access to alternate forms of Sneak and Invisible, which are always useful for getting around, though for many years it did not provide access to Sneak.

Level Name Effect
9 Tonko: Ichi Invisible
12 Utsusemi: Ichi Copy Image +3
25 Monomi: Ichi Sneak
34 Tonko: Ni Invisible
37 Utsusemi: Ni Copy Image +4
85 Myoshu: Ichi Subtle Blow+10
88 Migawari: Ichi Scherzo
88 Gekka: Ichi Enmity+30
91 Yain: Ichi Enmity-15
93 Kakka: Ichi Store TP+10
99 Job Points Utsusemi: San Copy Image +5

Debuff Ninjutsu

In Experience Points parties or when solo, debuff Ninjutsu is very helpful at crippling your enemy and improving your survivability. Some of the Ninjutsu, specifically the Kurayami line, is also fairly good for Volatile Enmity gain when tanking.

Unlike Enfeebling Magic, which depend on dStat, Ninjutsu debuffs all have a static potency as long as they land. The higher tier spell always has greater potency and casts faster. Therefore, it's best to simply stack as much magical accuracy and Ninjutsu Skill as possible when trying to land them, and to always use the highest tier spell available to you.

Level Name Elem. Effect
19 Kurayami: Ichi Element: Dark Blind for -20 Acc
23 Hojo: Ichi Element: Earth 15% Slow
27 Dokumori: Ichi Element: Water 3HP/tick Poison
30 Jubaku: Ichi Element: Ice 20% Paralysis
44 Kurayami: Ni Element: Dark Blind for -30 Acc
48 Hojo: Ni Element: Earth 20% Slow
78 Aisha: Ichi Element: Water Attack -15%
83 Yurin: Ichi Element: Dark 10% Inhibit TP

Elemental Ninjutsu

There are three tiers of elemental Ninjutsu currently in the game, Ichi (1), Ni (2), and San (3). The first two types are available at level 15 and 40, respectively, but the "San" line is only available at level 75.
Elements.JPG

Although many Ninja tend to opt not to use them, these spells have some potential strategic importance in the mid levels of a Ninja's career, where the Ni-based line of Ninjustu can play an important role as an effective way for Ninja to do damage. Melee output may be somewhat lacking prior to acquiring Blade: Jin depending upon the target monster, so turning to magic damage does sometimes make sense. Some Ninjas will "spin the wheel", a euphemism for casting, in order, ninjutsu spells in a never-ending cycle until the target is dead. To the left, you can see this "elemental wheel." Starting from the top and moving clockwise: Fire (Ka|火), Water (Sui|水), Thunder (Rai|雷), Earth (Do|土), Wind (Hu|風), Ice (Hyo|氷).

After obtaining Blade: Jin, typically Ninjas rely on their melee damage to hold hate. At this point most elemental ninjutsu casting is limited to using the elemental damage-dealing spells Raiton (lowers Element: Earth resistance) and Huton (lowers Element: Ice resistance) that weaken the target for a follow-up cast of certain valuable debuffs: Hojo (Element: Earthbased slow) and Jubaku (Element: Icebased paralyze).

Still, there is something to be said for having a potential source of magic damage on physically resistant enemies, and the developers have been attempting to encourage Ninjas to use these spells more by giving them a skill-dependent bonus.

Magic Damage Equation

Damage Dealt = [V + mDMG + (ΔINT × M)] × Staff × Affinity × SDT × Resist × MB × MBB × Day & Weather × MAB/MDB × MDT × Misc. Multipliers

Damage Dealt is calculated via the above formula. After each multiplication step, the product is floored to the next lowest integer before continuing to the next multiplier. Terms 5~14 have a base of 1.0 and can be increased or decreased by the relevant stats.

  1. V: Ninjutsu have a unified V value based on tier levels, all elemental Ninjustus have the same V at the same tiers.
  2. mDMG: Represents the "Magic Damage" statistic obtained from equipped weapons and armor.
  3. ΔINT: (dINT) Represents the difference between caster and target INT ala (cINT - tINT).
  4. M: Like V, Ninjutsu have a unified M value not based on ΔINT ranges, but on tier level.
  5. Staff: Elemental staff hidden damage bonus multiplier (NQ Staff = 1.1; HQ = 1.15 for matching elements. NQ Staff = 0.9; HQ = 0.85 for weak elements.)
  6. Affinity: Elemental affinity damage bonus muliplier (written on gear as either "Elements Affinity+" or "ElementName Magic Attack Bonus+"; Group 1 Element Potency Merit Points are this)
  7. SDT: Target's Special/Specific Damage Taken reduction. (RUN's Vallation/Valiance is this.)
  8. Resist: Reduction of spell damage due to resist states. (1 for no resist; 1/2; 1/4; or 1/8 for a full resist)
  9. MB: Magic Burst multiplier from the tier of Skillchain used in the burst
  10. MBB: Magic Burst Bonus total.
  11. Day & Weather: Day and Weather multipliers, including Iridescence and any equipment modifiers (e.g. Zodiac Ring or Twilight Cape)
  12. MAB / MDB: Caster's total Magic Attack Bonus divided by target's Magic Defense Bonus factor ala (100 + cMAB) ÷ (100 + tMDB)
  13. MDT: Target's Magic Damage Taken reduction.
  14. Misc. Multipliers: Any nonstandard multiplier bonus. Each their own multiplicative term. (Ninjutsu Skill Potency Bonus, Futae, Innin's damage bonus)
Tier V M Ninjutsu Skill Potency Bonus Formula
(NIN main Only)
Skill Range
Minimum Maximum
Ichi (1) 28 0.5 (100 + ((Ninjutsu Skill - 50) × 0.5)) ÷ 100 50 250
Ni (2) 69 1 (100 + ((Ninjutsu Skill - 125) × 0.5)) ÷ 100 125 325
San (3) 134 1.5 (100 + ((Ninjutsu Skill - 275) × 0.5)) ÷ 100 275 475

Type Damage Weakens
Katon: Ichi Ni San Element: Fire Element: Water
Suiton: Ichi Ni San Element: Water Element: Thunder
Raiton: Ichi Ni San Element: Thunder Element: Earth
Doton: Ichi Ni San Element: Earth Element: Wind
Huton: Ichi Ni San Element: Wind Element: Ice
Hyoton: Ichi Ni San Element: Ice Element: Fire

Job Abilities and Merits

Ninja has two level 40 "Stances," Innin and Yonin, which each affect Ninjutsu differently.

  • Innin increases Ninjutsu damage from behind the monster (decays from +30% to a +10% damage bonus over its 5 minute duration, can be reused every 3 minutes for an average of +24% damage)
  • Yonin provides Ninja Tool Expertise which is thought to decay similarly from +30% to +10%.

Another job ability that boosts Ninjutsu damage is Futae, which consumes two tools to do 1.5x damage.

Merit Point Augments

Group 1 Ninjutsu potency merits increase Magic Affinity for the appropriate element by 2 "MAB" and the length of the elemental resistance down by 2 seconds per merit.
Group 2 Merits can increase magic attack by 4 and accuracy by 5, to a maximum of +20 Magic Attack Bonus and/or +25 Magic Accuracy per spell.

Merits in Ninja Tool Expertise allow for casting of ninjutsu without expending the associated tool at a rate of 5% per merit level.

Magic Accuracy

Job Trait Information
Description Increase Magic Accuracy for Ninjutsu.
Type Merit
Job Ninja
Merit Points
Group 2 Ranks Available 5
Effect of each Rank Increases Ninjutsu Magic Accuracy by 5 per merit level.


Equipment Modifying Ability...
Equipment Piece Modifier
Koga Kyahan +2 +Question Magic Accuracy per merit level, for a maximum of +Question.
Mochizuki Kyahan +Question Magic Accuracy per merit level, for a maximum of +Question.
Mochizuki Kyahan +1 +Question Magic Accuracy per merit level, for a maximum of +Question.
Mochizuki Kyahan +2 +Question Magic Accuracy per merit level, for a maximum of +Question.
Mochizuki Kyahan +3 +Question Magic Accuracy per merit level, for a maximum of +Question.

Magic Attack Bonus

Job Trait Information
Description Increase Magic Attack Bonus for Ninjutsu.
Type Merit
Job Ninja
Merit Points
Group 2 Ranks Available 5
Effect of each Rank Increases Ninjutsu Magic Attack Bonus by 4 per merit level.


Equipment Modifying Ability...
Equipment Piece Modifier
Koga Kyahan +2 +5% Ninjutsu damage per merit level, for a maximum of +25%. This is a separate multiplier than Magic Attack Bonus.
Mochizuki Kyahan +5% Ninjutsu damage per merit level, for a maximum of +25%. This is a separate multiplier than Magic Attack Bonus.
Mochizuki Kyahan +1 +5% Ninjutsu damage per merit level, for a maximum of +25%. This is a separate multiplier than Magic Attack Bonus.
Mochizuki Kyahan +2 +5% Ninjutsu damage per merit level, for a maximum of +25%. This is a separate multiplier than Magic Attack Bonus.
Mochizuki Kyahan +3 +5% Ninjutsu damage per merit level, for a maximum of +25%. This is a separate multiplier than Magic Attack Bonus.

Equipment Bonuses


Item Level Slot Jobs Skill
Mochizuki Kyahan +1 99 Feet NIN 19
Mochizuki Kyahan 99 Feet NIN 17
Koga Kyahan +2 90 Feet NIN 15
Hachiya Hatsuburi +1 99 Head NIN 13
Koga Kyahan +1 75 Feet NIN 12
Hachiya Hatsuburi 99 Head NIN 10
Koga Kyahan 72 Feet NIN 10
Shigi 99 Weapon NIN 10
Ninjutsu Torque 65 Neck All jobs 7
Henic Torque 99 Neck All jobs 10
Astute Cape 75 Back All jobs 5
Cimmerian Sash 93 Waist All jobs 5
Ninja Hatsuburi +1 74 Head NIN 5
Ninja Hatsuburi 56 Head NIN 5
Hnoss Earring 99 Earrings NIN 10
Stealth Earring 70 Earrings All jobs 5
Ninjutsu Earring 35 Earrings All jobs 3
Antica Ring 72 Rings All jobs 2

References