The Sealed Dagger: A Ninja Guide

It's about time.

Big time eyeballing here, but from messing around for 20 minutes some quick WS observations:

- Blade:Shun looks like it warrants a serious look at lower TP, even with my 1/5 it seemed like it was consistently beating the rest of my WS.

- Blade:Ten seems to be performing very well at 3000 TP.

- Metsu doesn't seem massively better but might be a contender for low TP.

- Hi doesn't seem like it got too strong of a buff, kind of a bummer for Kannagi.

- I need to do a better test for Ku and Jin.

Be sure to equip elemental torque/belt for testing Jin/Ku (the two on the list that got the "Bonuses for the following weapon skills that only applied for initial hits will now be applied to all hits" treatment).

***.

Oh, I also forgot to try Kamu so far. It's in the "increased potency" category, which seems to be a really big buff for some WS and not as much for others.

All of this needs some more serious testing and ensuring proper WS sets (I tossed stuff together quick for initial fooling around), but NIN seems like it's gonna see some significant changes for WS usage.

My inital playing around was on Kamihr Drifts normal mobs near-ish the HP: tigers, raaz, a few Yztarg for kicks. Wanted something above total fodder, but not overly high level to get a baseline.

To me it seemed like Ten(@200/300) > Hi > Shun/Metsu > Ku > Jin/Ten(at 100%) > Kamu.

Kamu is still garbage. lol :\ I didn't break 2.5k with it.

Shun got the biggest buff I think though. Outside of Ten at 200/300.

Hi's text changed to "deals quintuple damage" (as opposed to previous quadruple), I'm guessing it still relies on crits to get impressive numbers. I haven't seen it do anything terribly impressive in my short time so far, but seeing as how it has been the best for quite a while maybe that's intentional.

With Shun being a lot more consistent in damage and getting what seems to be a pretty significant buff, it may well be the new go to at lower TP for non-Kannagi users (i.e. no concerns about maintaining aftermath).

Ten did look really nice at 2000/3000 TP.

dont see why you'd use Shun because the skillchain synergy on it is garbage when you're probably with a SAM doing fudo, and a THF doing rudra's, so Blade:Hi still seems better.
Also if you are buffed fast enough (or have Mikage active) to start skillchaining with yourself, Blade:Hi spam makes darkness

Just did some fooling around. Killed only pugils @ biv 2 in marjami. Used WS as close to 1000 as I could, but I didn't drop my TP if I went a little over. (1-1.4k tp approximate range)

15 WS's with each. (using Kannagi)

Hi - 5242 avg.
Shun - 5181 avg.
Ten - 3912 avg.

I noticed Ten's ftp scaled very quickly. If I went @ 1000 TP it was around 3.2k, but I saw an 8k at 2,200 TP (did not record that one obviously)

I recorded my Hi's from salvage last night, so I look forward to comparing tonight's run to see the DPS increase.

Updating now, but can someone do a Kamu test real quick? Maybe mythic users have a decent WS now with the bonus dmg

I can't get my Shun's to break(or go anywhere near) 5k. :\ lol. Mostly 4-4.5k for me. Hi and Metsu is regularly though.

EDIT:

Don't have Mythic but I'm doing around 2k-2.5k with it. :\

EDIT2: And occasionally dropping below 2k. >_>;

EDIT3: I think Ten seems like it's worth using around maybe 150-167+ TP. Getting 5-6k out of it then.

I had two 6-7k DA proc's on shun in my fairly small sample size. Otherwise, I experienced the same roughly.

It's not mathy, but we decided to try yorcia delve with whm cor geo brd sam nin. It went extremely well.

Shun was ~8-12k on 1-5, 5-8k on Wopket. Hi was close to the same. Lower numbers on the mandy, I think he guards a lot. Metsu was rough breaking 5k. I think Shun won out to be highest damage and most consistent.

As for the parse, I was about 3% behind the sam for damage, both of us floated around ~430 dps.

I usually bring drk to yorcia, and I think it performs better, but this was way better than the last time I took nin. Nice to see the boost this update brought!

Are you sure you're using correct element gorget/belts (Flame, Light, or Thunder), and remembering that Shun is DEX mod only?

My 1000-1500 TP range Shuns on Kamihr mobs are normally hitting 5.5k+, very rarely dipping BELOW 5k. Ionis, no food, no other offensive buffs.

I'm using the following set:
ItemSet 331437
- Uk Cap has STR+8 aug (though DEX would likely be ideal for Shun)
- Mani legs are R15 path A

My good His (likely crits) are doing about the same as my normal Shuns, if not slightly higher. Hi frequently (likely when it doesn't crit) does very noticeably lower. High end Hi are getting higher numbers, but over time it looks like that wouldn't beat the consistency of Shun.

Can Shun crit? I can never keep track of which can and which can't. Also, would dread jupon be superior in the body for Shun and Hi?

Shun can't crit, IIRC.

Dread Jupon would be better, I just don't have it. Need to get around to farming that.

Only WSs with the description "chance of critical hit varies with TP" can critical unless special cases like Sneak Attack and Mighty Strikes are involved.

I'd personally go with Mes'yohi Hauby compared to Dread Jupon for Shun I think.

Edit: As well as Gavialis Helm on appropriate days.

Thanks for the clarification. Would Whirlpool edge out Uk'ux for Shun then? Or do you have a dex augment that pushes it ahead?

Base Uk' has DEX+25. With DEX augment would be clear winner, I actually have STR augment (bringing it up to STR+30), but still using it.

Whirlpool is a good bit lower with STR+24/DEX+20, but the Acc/Atk probably makes it pretty competitive on a non-crit WS.


LOL quit making me feel bad. No Hauby, no Jupon, no Meko. Harness... all of them would beat my Shun body. Need to farm!

At least the Mochi. Chainmail has nice Acc/Atk.


This is a fair point. If SC is a consideration that may indeed be reason enough to use Hi over Shun. Shun maybe wins out if you're not factoring SC into things due to mix of jobs, WS spam, solo, whatever. I'm guessing all of Shun/Hi/Ten will make it into regular use for me.

Still, if my 1/5 Shun is arguably better at low TP than Hi, more merits widens that gap even more.

And of course, Kannagi users still gonna want to use Hi anyway.

My set is pretty much the exact same except my Uk'head is AGI augmented, I'm using Epona's instead of Ramuh, Vespid instead of Kayapa and Bomb Core instead of Happo. My, I guess, one-crit His were about on par with my Shuns. I did eventually get a 6k Shun from a TA I think. But still no 5k. lol XD And Shun is 5/5 too. :\

(Possibly) Good news for both of us! That new Sombra body looks like a decent upgrade for us until we can get something better. :p

EDIT: I was doing it on various mobs in Ceizak. Maybe I'll try Kamihr.

Thoughts about Vanir Boots for Shun (+29 dex) over Mochi Kyahan +1?

You're comparing DEX+10 to STR+6/Acc+15/Atk+15. For Shun (and the empy WS in general) the stat mod is so important that I'd guess Vanir likely wins. Big enough loss of other stats that it's likely not a massive difference though.

If you care about keeping hate, there's also a pretty significant difference of 10 Enmity to consider.

Qaaxo feet are a pretty good option too.

Daihanshi > Vanir > Mochi+1 > QaaxoNever broken 9k in the past with Kamu. 8961 to be exact vs Yorcia delve Laevvid. Other than that its a solid WS, just not Blade: Hi, but it's not incredibly horrible considering its only purpose is opening up AM3. Update hasn't changed it's purpose tho I might consider Kamu > Shun or Kamu > Ku opening up AM3 since both seem to SC off Kamu unlike Hi. After that it's still just Hi spams. Would be nice if I could find a WS to throw in between Kamu and Hi that continues SC I suppose. If any exist idk.

Does Shun still have the Attack penalty at 1000TP? Is the TP effect still a change in that attack penalty? (which actually becomes an attack bonus as TP scales up)

Is Ku still TP>Acc?

Sounds like TP Moonshade could do wonders for Blade: Ten

Not for a 3 Step. But there are several options for a 4-step SC, only level 2 though

Kamu > Rin > Retsu > Hi
Kamu > Chi > Retsu > Hi
Kamu > Ku > Retsu > Hi

Based on the notes, I don't suspect Shun's attack adjustments at 1k,2k,3k have changed. It's base fTP has changed. I'm seeing Gavialis/EleBelt/Gorget pushing Shun better than Hi on some pretty basic targets. Soon as attack becomes an issue Hi's crit gives it more weight again.

Will be important to find the anchor points for Blade: Ten at 1k, and 2k TP. 3k TP seems to be around ~15-16 f TP.

Where can you find Skillchain Charts that are updated w/ Emp WS? None of the charts I've seen have Emp WS included.

this one has empy ws in it
Its pretty big so just linking it
http://www.wilddragonchase.com/ffxi/NewSkillchain1.png

I use ffxicalculator. It has a SKillchain tab, and you can select the weapon type, any specific WS to open or close, and up to 4-5 steps, and if a SKillchain exists, it will show it.

Should I make some adjustment?

ItemSet 330455

ItemSet 330456

ItemSet 330459

ItemSet 331439