My mind needs a little distraction, so below is my quick review of the various ninjutsu available to NIN. This should go without saying, but I’m going to say it because this is the internet: these are merely my impressions rather than any attempt to get you, dear reader, to agree (or to induce the game designers to do anything differently). This is a discussion forum, so this is something to discuss.
I didn’t include any ninjutsu-adjacent abilities, like Ten Chi Jin, though maybe I’ll throw them in a follow-up post.
Fuma Shuriken
Katon
Raiton
Continue reading...
I didn’t include any ninjutsu-adjacent abilities, like Ten Chi Jin, though maybe I’ll throw them in a follow-up post.
Fuma Shuriken
- Animation: The animation works for your first ninjutsu—it’s quick and simple, isn’t magical beyond summoning a giant shuriken, and the slashing animation when it connects is a nice touch.
- Function: I started FF14 last year, and Fuma Shuriken was baller when you get it. At level 30, it hits like a truck and using the mudra and ninjutsu buttons takes the weeb factor over 9000. The problem, of course, is Raiton. The second you get Raiton, Fuma Shuriken becomes that thing that happens at the start of Ten Chi Jin or when a murda sign doesn’t register while trying to do another ninjutsu.
- Suggestions: This one is honestly tricky, and I don’t quite know what to do with it. It’s great from levels 30 to 35, but completely replaced by Raiton. It could be given a DoT component, but hard to get around it being strictly better or worse than Raiton in a lot of cases. It could be replaced with some utility, but it would have to be strong enough to compete with Raiton in the burst window (more on this below with our friend, Hyoton). My suggestion might be to change this to a decent heal—niche for solo situations mostly—but I really don’t have a great answer here.
- Grade: D (Grade A from levels 30-34)
Katon
- Animation: The fireball itself is one of the better animations in the game and has been one of my favorites since I started playing. The casting animation is a little weak, particularly that the fireball arcs rather than going directly at the target—it feels like an underhand lob rather than overhand throw.
- Function: Your basic AoE ninjutsu—know it and love it.
- Suggestions: My only suggestion would be to give it a six-yalm radius to match Hellfrog Medium.
- Grade: A
Raiton
- Animation: Lightning attack animations in MMOs tend to be rough, but Raiton has a great one. The casting animation is great—10/10 weebs. The lightning itself looks good, though I’d personally tone down the purple a bit.
- Function: Your basic single-target ninjutsu—know it and love it.
- Suggestions: My only suggestion would be tone down the purple in the animation and use more blues/whites. That being said, I know that lightning gets associated with purple not infrequently, so I’m not mad at it.
- Grade: A
Continue reading...