Is /Ninja Training Absolute Trash?

[ZorkNemesis]

Old thread, but here's my take on it.  /Ninja isn't in a good place.  It's perfectly functional, but it has problems.  I leveled a Sonic/Ninja to 50 (do not recommend) and here's my opinion on Ninja's powers.

 

Immobilizing Dart: standard immobilize.  No real issue with it other than the damage which is far lower than any other Blaster immobilize, barring Temporal which exchanges its damage for a Delayed effect.  It could stand to offer up a little more damage; I think it should do a spot of lethal damage before applying the toxic DoT.

 

Sting of the Wasp: no real problem with this power.  Would like an actual weapon draw animation though.

 

Choking Powder: is pretty much a copy of Char from Fire Mastery, but with toxic damage instead.  I almost think this power does too much damage for its level and damage type, but otherwise solid.

 

Shinobi: this power is the main issue I have with the set.  Instead of a build up you have a weak version of Hide with a 30-second cooldown on the out-of-combat damage boost and the invisibility is only as good as Stealth or Field Operative/Cloaking Device.  With the changes to Targeting Drone in Devices, why can't Shinobi also get that kind of love?  If you have to lower the damage boost to make it balanced that's fine but 30 seconds between fights is too long in a game where average encounters tend to be over in 12 these days.

 

The Lotus Drops: no issue, though a little slow charging compared to similar PBAoE attacks.

 

Kujin-toh: no issue.  Would be nice if it were a toggle however.

 

Smoke Flash:  Last I checked this power is actually bugged.  Any time I used it it would not placate targets like it says.  I even fired up my second box and used it in PvP and could not placate an unenhanced detoggled brute.  If you ask me, this power should also reset the timer on Shinobi's damage boost.  The resistance debuff is ok, but doesn't feel too useful when things are still hitting you.

 

Blinding Powder: because Shinobi isn't full invisibility, it's actually really difficult to use the powder undetected due to a very short range.  The sleep synergizes well with Sonic since it does no damage and can stack with other sleeps (Siren's Song) but is underwhelming otherwise since it's mag 2.  The confuse is also underwhelming, though I hear the CC proc makes it much better.

 

Golden Dragonfly: no issue, but seems to lack the same kind of power from similar T9s like Total Focus

[Novacat]

Choking Powder's worse than Char in a few ways at least on Mids:

- 11.39 End vs 10.66

- Range 60 vs 80

- Acc 78.75 vs 90

[Generator]

2 hours ago, Novacat said:

Choking Powder's worse than Char in a few ways at least on Mids:

- 11.39 End vs 10.66

- Range 60 vs 80

- Acc 78.75 vs 90

I don't have Mids handy, but wouldn't the Hold from /Atomic be a better comparable, being from a Secondary instead of an APP?  Assuming so, how does that comparison fare?

[Coyote]

Atomic has 90% accuracy vs the 78.75 of Choking Powder, but CP's animation time is the best in the secondaries at 1.32 vs 1.848. I don't know if there are any other differences.

[Kaballah]

14 hours ago, ZorkNemesis said:

Blinding Powder: because Shinobi isn't full invisibility, it's actually really difficult to use the powder undetected due to a very short range.  The sleep synergizes well with Sonic since it does no damage and can stack with other sleeps (Siren's Song) but is underwhelming otherwise since it's mag 2.  The confuse is also underwhelming, though I hear the CC proc makes it much better.

 

You can fix that in several ways, e.g. with Superspeed or a stealth IO in Sprint or whatever.  Confuse is hilariously useful and you can slot the contagious confuse proc piece from the purple confuse set on it, it's a really good power.  It's basically 1/2 of Seeds of Confusion, i.e. the best power in the game.