Claws / Ninjitsu - Budget Build and Review

[Oysterhead]

Ran this character a bit ago and have been meaning to share the build, the servers being down seems like as good a time as any!

"Budget" here means no Purples, no Superiors, no winter sets. I used this exact build and slotted these in as I was building and it works well at level 50 and beyond. 

The Build:
 

Spoiler

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.5.6
https://github.com/Reborn-Team/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Omega Bunny: Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Claws
Secondary Power Set: Ninjitsu
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Strike -- ScrStr-Acc/Dmg(A), ScrStr-Dmg/Rchg(3), ScrStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), ScrStr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), ScrStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), ScrStr-Rchg/+Crit(7)
Level 1: Ninja Reflexes -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(17), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(19), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(31)
Level 2: Slash -- TchofDth-Acc/Dmg(A), TchofDth-Dmg/EndRdx(7), TchofDth-Dmg/Rchg(13), TchofDth-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), TchofDth-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15), TchofDth-Dam%(17)
Level 4: Danger Sense -- Rct-Def(A), Rct-Def/EndRdx(31), Rct-EndRdx/Rchg(31), Rct-Def/Rchg(33), Rct-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(33), Rct-ResDam%(48)
Level 6: Spin -- Obl-Dmg(A), Obl-Acc/Rchg(21), Obl-Dmg/Rchg(21), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(23), Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(23), Obl-%Dam(25)
Level 8: Follow Up -- CrtStr-Acc/Dmg(A), CrtStr-Dmg/Rchg(9), CrtStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9), CrtStr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11), CrtStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11), CrtStr-Rchg/+50% Crit(13)
Level 10: Shinobi-Iri -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Ksm-ToHit+(29), LucoftheG-Def(42), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(43)
Level 12: Kuji-In Rin -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 14: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(27)
Level 16: Seishinteki Kyoyo -- PreOptmz-Acc/Rech(A), PreOptmz-EndMod/End(45), PreOptmz-EndMod/Rech(45), PreOptmz-EndMod/Acc/End(48), PreOptmz-EndMod/Acc/Rech(48), PreOptmz-EndMod/End/Rech(50)
Level 18: Focus -- Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36), Thn-Acc/Dmg(37), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(37), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(37), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39)
Level 20: Kuji-In Sha -- Prv-Heal(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(25), StdPrt-ResDam/EndRdx(27), Prv-Heal/Rchg(43)
Level 22: Super Speed -- WntGif-ResSlow(A)
Level 24: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(36)
Level 26: Eviscerate -- ScrDrv-Acc/Dmg(A), ScrDrv-Dmg/EndRdx(33), ScrDrv-Dmg/Rchg(34), ScrDrv-Acc/Rchg(34), ScrDrv-Dam%(34)
Level 28: Bo Ryaku -- Ags-Psi/Status(A), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx(29), Ags-ResDam/Rchg(36), Ags-ResDam(46)
Level 30: Kick -- Empty(A)
Level 32: Shockwave -- OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg(A), OvrFrc-End/Rech(39), OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg/End(39), OvrFrc-Dmg/End/Rech(40), OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(40), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(40)
Level 35: Tough -- UnbGrd-Max HP%(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(42), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(43), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(45)
Level 38: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(A), LucoftheG-Def(42), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(50), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(50)
Level 41: Focused Accuracy -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 44: Physical Perfection -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(46)
Level 47: Kuji-In Retsu -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 49: Blinding Powder -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit 
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(46)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(19)
Level 22: Speed Phase 
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This gets to 50% Melee, and just over 45% on Ranged and AoE. Kuji-In Retsu and Blinding Powder I almost never use, but I found them on occasion useful when solo or ITF-def-debuffing-me-like-mad situations, and had nothing else I wanted. Focused Accuracy is a personal preference, I hate not having it, though the build honestly does not need Physical Perfection, I just didn't have the slots for attacks in Mu or something which would certainly be more damage. There's certainly a lot of room to improve here, I think my end set in Seishinteki can likely be improved up, but that capped my ranged resists nicely.

Review:

Claws - This was first and foremost my first time trying Claws, after reading on here on the Trapdoor test and Galaxy Brain's tests that show Claws as a top performer, if not the top performer, and I wanted to see how that works. And it works. Claws is amazing. Single target ends up being Follow Up -> Focus -> Slash, Area is Follow Up->Spin->Shockwave or the reverse order if I am running into a new pack. I don't use Strike or Eviscerate, they are mostly there as set mules and Strike for exemping, I occasionally hit Eviscerate if I see a situation where I know I can hit 3+ things for certain to make the animation time worth it. In all, one of my favorite melee sets so far. Shockwave is a joy, watching the little spinny graphic travel forward and things sequentially flopping on their backs. I think the KB->KD is a must for obvious reasons. Spin is every bit as great as advertised, doing more damage than other PBAoEs and being up constantly. 

Ninjitsu - Always wanted to try this out, based on a thread recently comparing Nin with SR. I will say from a raw numbers perspective, SR and Energy Aura are almost certainly 'stronger' sets over all, able to hit the defense softcaps much more easily, I was able to get there on Ninjitsu without too much effort, and the extra Ninjitsu gets makes it one of the nicest to play, quality of life, sets there is, specifically...

 

Shinobi-Iri, stealth + def + crits.  The added crits is nice, but ended up being less impactful than I'd hoped. My routine when I first picked it up (and, btw, you cannot pick it up at level 4! Mids allows this, because every other t3 secondary power in the game can be picked at level 4, but Shinobi-Iri requires level 6. I've posted about it in the bug forum...) I used Spin as my opener always, and later Shockwave from range. Crits against ~1/3rd of things is great, but with the frantic pace of combat and how quickly you normally progress with groups, getting back into a hidden state for another bonus drops the utility a lot. The Stealth so early is good, made SS the obvious travel power pick for stealthing, but you get this same functionality from Energy Aura. Overall nice, not as set defining as I was expecting.

 

Kuji-In Sha, click heal. It's reconstruction! Nothing special here, very standard. Compared to SR obviously this is great, because it exists, compared to Energy Aura though, Energize providing an endurance discount increases value. Though with Energize, I often either use it early for the discount, or want to hold it for that rather than a heal? Kuji I just hit whenever I am a bit low without concern.

Seishinteki Kyoyo - Endurance click! This is what makes Ninjitsu so nice to play with. Lots of sets have an end click power, but most of them require enemies in range and scale based on how many you hit and have accuracy checks. Some require 2 or 3 enemies or lots of end mod and end redux to even be net positive (looking at you, Ice Armor!), and also have a secondary function. Energy Aura and Ice Armors endurance recovery and +def per enemy create this opposing situation where you want to use them early in a fight for the defense bonus, but later in a fight for the endurance, so before slotting fixes that you are juggling that choice. Where this requires zero enemies near by, has no endurance cost of its own, and is only for endurance. 1.8s animation that doesn't lock you in place and can be clicked on the move, it becomes something you tap whenever you notice you're around 50% endurance. With my slotting and recharge, its 18 second recharge and 60% endurance recovery. That translates to 3.33 end/s, which if used constantly is above rad armor levels of recovery. And with its zero cost, if you get distracted and end up near zero end, click this and you're golden.

 

In all, I'd rank Energy Aura a stronger set numerically and glowily, but Ninjitsu the easier and possibly more enjoyable of the two to play just because of how easy the end click makes things. And Claws is amazing. 

 

My final thoughts are that to run this to its fullest potential, you need a properly Ninja looking character. When the game is back up and running I'll get a screenshot and update this with one of my Ninja for reference of a proper ninja looking scrapper.