New Ninjas

[Aisynia]

So what is the verdict here?

 

Are there any particular ways that this should be built or certain ways that certain powers should be slotted? I really wouldn't know where to start on slotting the henchmen powers now for instance, there's so much more to it that they added that can be enhanced.

 

What are good secondaries for it? Pros and cons for various ones please?

 

Anything else you can think of would be helpful. I have never played ninjas before, but now seems like a good time to start.

[evetsleep]

I liked to call ninjas paper dragons... But now they are more like cardboard dragons.  They actually are pretty solid with good defense and a self heal after the 2nd upgrade.  Like all defense pet set they are easy street with a defense secondary.

 

Secondaries like force field, ice, and time go particularly well.  I personally would highly advocate for trick arrow or traps (I have all the above.. they're all fun).

 

I do like unusual pairings too.  Currently working on ninja/storm and it's every bit the chaos machine you'd expect.  Next up will be the inconceivable pairing of ninja/sonic.

 

Honestly you can't go wrong probably...pick a concept you like and go wild.

[WumpusRat]

Ninjas have always been a very high-damage set, given that they get a plethora of attacks with short animations, but it was difficult to keep them alive when running on anything more than very low difficulties, depending on your secondary. The new changes have definitely opened up more options for them, as the ninjas are less squishy, as well as having a self-heal to keep them going.

 

When it comes to slotting them, the difficulty really lies in whether or not you want all the pet auras or not. If you do, then you're basically limited to 4 slots per pet, with the other 2 being taken up by the auras (since there are 6 total). 

 

Generally my slotting for them is to try and keep their dmg at 90+, acc at 70+, and end at 50+ when I hit 50th level and have a full build. Usually I err on a bit more accuracy for the tier-1's, due to their lower level.

 

For instance, something like this:

 

Genin: Command of the Mastermind (superior or not) Acc/Dmg, Acc/Dmg/End, Acc/Dmg/End/Rech, Rech/Aura, Mark of Supremacy Acc/Dmg/End, End/Aura (ends up around 96% acc/dmg, 72% end)

 

Jounin: Mark of Supremacy Dmg/End, Acc/Dmg, Sovereign Right Acc/Dmg/End, Blood Mandate Acc/Dmg/End, Call to Arms Aura, Expedient Reinforcement Aura (ends up with around 75% acc/end and 96% dmg)

 

Oni: Mark of Supremacy Acc/End, Dmg, Blood Mandate Acc/Dmg/End, Sovereign Right Acc/Dmg/End, Edict of the Master Aura, Sovereign Right Aura (ends up with around 75% acc/end, 91% dmg)

 

As far as secondaries go, it all depends on your goals. As Evet said, /Cold, /FF, /Traps and /Time are all solid choices to improve the defense of your pets. Though I wouldn't call Ninja/Sonic "inconceivable". Ninjas with 90% resists are pretty durable. Only downside is that the kit has no +def or a heal in it, so you're relying on Aid Other to keep your minions standing. 

 

What I generally do is when I'm trying something out I've never played before, I'll hop onto the test server and level it to around 30 or so, slot it with basic IOs, and take it for a test-spin in a newspaper/radio mission, to see how it plays. If I like it, then I'll bump it up to 50 with basic IOs, and try again. If it's still fun, then I know it'll only get better once I figure out how I want to slot it up with sets and such.

[Hedgefund2]

I have a long retired Nin/FF (all T4d and all that business) that I called up from the end of the bench to give an updated build.  There were really nice improvements for both primary and secondary.  Some things still haven't changed - they're still better at taking down a higher level tough target then taking down a higher number of mobs via /8 team size setting.  They still need a very tight leash in the latter case, they continue to relentlessly chase down runners and get out of buffs emanating from you (e.g. leadership, supremacy and Dispersion Bubble).  I started Hero's Hero arc just to test drive against AVs and really had no problem, and I didn't cheese the fights with Envenomed Daggers, Nin dps + newfound -res in FF more than made up for a lack of -regen.

 

Anyway, if I have one main piece of advice to give - Kismet proc in Train Ninjas.  

[StrikerFox]

Ninja pet IO slotting would stay the same as before. The pet upgrades, MM attacks and Smoke Flash is where the changes occurred. Slot the upgrades for better pet survival. Attacks and Smoke Flash for more crits if that's what you're after.

 

I checked the pet +def percentages when the patch went live. Genin has a base def of around +11.5%. Jounin +15%. Oni +18.5% def. With heavily slotted Train Ninja + heavily slotted Maneuvers + Edict + CtA, Genin would be at around +32% def, Jounin +37.5% and Oni about +43% def.

 

Imo a +def or -tohit secondary would still be best for Ninjas. Just to get closer/above to softcap or equivalent. Defense: Time, Traps, Empathy (If diligent cycling Fortitude) etc. -Tohit debuffs: Dark, Rad, TA etc. Though with the changes, any secondary can probably be made to work. 

[gabrilend]

My main is ninja / dark miasma, and I can say it works very well. The ninjas are glass cannons, yes, but dark miasma has a TON of -to-hit debuffs. Yes, they die in ~2-3 hits, but they hardly ever get hit anyway. I usually have to re-summon one every ~3-5 fights but that's not bad. I highly recommend it, also shadow ninjas are just cool.