Ninjas

[Ultimo]

So, I've been leveling a Ninjas Mastermind for the first time, and I'm finding the experience... underwelming.  I paired them with Kinetics, since the Kin heal is best with melee pets.

 

What I'm finding is that they're really squishy, dying in the time it takes my heal to recharge.  They also don't act like Ninjas, and neither does the Mastermind.  I know other MM pets got slight revamps recently (Mercs are awesome now), so I think Ninjas could use a bit of love too.

 

Some ideas:

For the Mastermind himself... perhaps something other than just a bow?  Perhaps have one bow attack, one sword attack, one blinding powder?

For the Ninjas... they should ALL have the capacity to be invisible.  The Oni could turn into wisps of smoke, perhaps?

The Ninjas need to do more damage if they're going to be so squishy.

One thing that seems common with Ninjas in the comics (eg. Wolverine, Daredevil, etc.), they tend to use attacks and things that bind or hamper their enemy.  Wolverine is constantly filled with arrows on ropes and the like.  They also seem to be really NUMEROUS.  Perhaps there should be something like Gang War for the Ninjas?

 

In any case, I think that Ninjas could use some love.  What do you all think?  What would you do to improve them?  Not just performance, but presentation?

[Force Redux]

Ninjas already got a rework and are in a good place right now. I just don't think Kinetics is a good match for them. 

[Erratic1]

Now I am wondering how Ninja/Marine would be. Darn it!

[evetsleep]

Ninja's are ok on damage honestly and kinetics just won't do a good job keeping the cardboard dragons alive.  They do far better with a secondary that can reinforce their defenses.  I personally like time, trick arrow, dark, and traps.  Honorable mention for marine since that gem goes with everything.

[Black_Assassin]

Yeah, but ninjas on meth is funny. I like my ninja/kin because warp speed ninjas at the damage cap is hilarious, I just have to keep it to +0 or +1 for them to survive. If they removed the level discrepancies found in the the pets, I would love my ninja/kin even more. 

[evetsleep]

44 minutes ago, Black_Assassin said:

Yeah, but ninjas on meth is funny. I like my ninja/kin because warp speed ninjas at the damage cap is hilarious, I just have to keep it to +0 or +1 for them to survive. If they removed the level discrepancies found in the the pets, I would love my ninja/kin even more. 

If you want to see funny, run zombie/kin (I have one named Crack Zombie).  Zombies on speed boost is ridiculous and their resistance and debuffs keep them reasonably alive.

[Dixa]

ninja fine. great even. kin is the problem

 

your secondary is more important than your primary for mm and if you really want to feel powerful marine can't be beat right now. 

[kelika2]

nin/cold

nin/dark

nin/ta

your secondary needs +def or -tohit

you can try nin/ff if you want but you will be way over defense later on

dont try radiation because the toggles have a small radius

[TygerDarkstorm]

On 8/3/2025 at 1:01 AM, Force Redux said:

Ninjas already got a rework and are in a good place right now. I just don't think Kinetics is a good match for them. 

This--ninjas already got a rework which put them in a really good place and are actually more durable than they used to be. You also need to make sure you take a personal attack (at least one, but up to all 3 if you have room in your build) as this gives the ninjas a boost (I believe it's a higher chance to crit, but it's been a bit since I've played a ninja MM).

 

As others have already mentioned, planning your secondary is fairly important for MMs, and others have already made some great suggestions for secondaries to pair with ninjas. I had someone help me out with my ninjas/cold MM by giving me one of the KD procs (can't remember if it's overwhelming force or sudden acceleration)--you slot it in the genin and this helps them knock foes on their asses and keeps them a little safer while defeating mobs. 

 

This post makes me want to go work on my Ninja/Nature MM lol.

[Caadium]

8 hours ago, kelika2 said:

nin/cold

nin/dark

nin/ta

your secondary needs +def or -tohit

you can try nin/ff if you want but you will be way over defense later on

dont try radiation because the toggles have a small radius

It only has one -tohit in it, but I found the +Res and -Res of Sonic also worked. I have not tried it, but on the +resist front, Thermal might be interesting.

 

7 hours ago, TygerDarkstorm said:

This--ninjas already got a rework which put them in a really good place and are actually more durable than they used to be. You also need to make sure you take a personal attack (at least one, but up to all 3 if you have room in your build) as this gives the ninjas a boost (I believe it's a higher chance to crit, but it's been a bit since I've played a ninja MM).

Ninja MM attacks give the pets +3% crit chance, each, after they have hit. This bonus lasts for 30 seconds. So, if you keep those in cycle, then you are giving your pets +9% crit chance.

 

This is part of what I would consider on choosing a secondary. Because you want to spend time attacking, you might want to consider less active secondaries.

 

For example, with Sonic (since that is what I'm familiar with), Liquify has a 30 second timer, Clarity 90, 2 toggles, and 2 shields. Easier to mix in some attacks while commanding pets. Plus, Liquify being 30-seconds lets you know when you should re-apply your hit +crits.

 

EDIT:

Another thing to note, Train Ninjas gives them around 20% positional Def if you slot for it. More for AoE. Between this, procs, and Maneuvers you can choose sets that aren't pure +Def to create layered protection for them. Increase Density (slotted for Resist) & Transfusion should create somewhat of a layered protection for /Kin, however it still suffers from minimal debuffing. 

Edited 22 hours ago by Caadium