1. Introduction [INT]
PvPing as an end-game ninja can be either easy or difficult depending on what you're looking for when you're PvPing. If you want to PvP noobs all day and win, while still remaining a terrible ninja, then sure, it's easy. However, if you're looking to be competitive, either 1v1 or group, there are many things that you'll have to learn, and it can be quite challenging if you're not nimble with your fingers. As a class, they can be deadly and quite useful, even as support in group PvP, if you play properly. Please note that if you are one of those "OMFGNARUTO!!11!!1!" or "IMANEENJA!!11!!" retards, then this guide is not for you and you should stop reading right now, as you'll never get anywhere in PvP, and you'll be terrible for life, or rather the entirety of your DO career as a ninja.
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2. Stats [STA]
Leveling past 60 gives you 5 stat points per level that you can allocate instead of the usual predetermined stat gain for assassins, which is quite a ripoff if you ask me. Prior to leveling past 60, you gain 4 points in AGI and 2 points in HLT each level, which alone is better than the 5 stat points that you are allowed to allocate.
For any competitive ninja, you will want to allocate all your stat points into AGI. HLT is useful if you want to absorb hits, but your role in PvP is to attack, not tank hits. If you can't hit anyone, you're useless; dump all your points into AGI, no questions asked.
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3. Skills [SKI]
Basic layout (this will get updated in the future with more images and such)
3a. Skills in general [SKG]
Note: This is based on the assumption that skills are not upgraded past level 5. I will note which skills are useful to level to 10 within the skill description. All skill points towards level 10 skills are negligible and will be based on the assumption that you use skill forges for those skills. This section also assumes you know what the prerequisites for your skills are, and as such, they are not listed. In addition, this is based on changes made to skills after the Revenge of Paris patch in other versions.
Format:
Skill Name
Skill Description
Recommended Level(s) and Reason(s)
3ai.
Thief Skills [SKT]Air Combo LaunchLaunches enemies into the air. The amount of enemies launched depends on the level of the skill. Does not work on fallen or midair targets.
1/5 This is a prerequisite for multiple useful skills.
Aerial FrenzyHits launched enemies with a spinning attack. Does not work on targets who have already aerial recovered.
1/5 Use it to keep combo or to support AAS.
Somersault KickSimilar to Air Combo Launch, except with a longer animation.
0/5 Useless skill. You shouldn't be using this or Air Combo Launch.
CutdownWhile in midair, character drops down and relaunches enemies.
3/5 Prior to level 3, this skill has no launch height at all. Level 3 is when it launches targets that are hit. This should be used as a relauncher in PvP, but do be aware that it has a long recovery time, so don't use it unless you know you won't get punished. Use it often to get the hang of knowing when to use it and when not to use it.
Rocket PunchFires a boxing glove shaped rocket at the enemy to stun them at a certain chance. A higher level of this skill increase stun chance, as well as stun duration.
5/5 or 10/10 This is an essential skill in PvP, for supporting, catching, and locking. This can be upgraded to level 10, and it is highly recommended that you do so. Stun chance at level 10 is 95%.
Nozzle TuningUpgrades the damage of rocket punch and adds a freezing effect.
0/5 or 1/5 You can get one point in this just for the freezing, but it's optional.
RelaunchRelaunches a fallen enemy into the air.
0/5 or 1/5 This skill is the quickest relaunching skill that we have, and is the only way to combo aerial frenzy immediately after launch. As of now, this skill may be left at 0, but if we ever receive the fly cooldown nerf, it may be worthwhile to invest 1 point into this skill.
Double AttackUseless garbage.
0/5 Only works for x attack.
VenomAlso garbage.
0/5 Long casting animation, low damage.
VitalityIncreases HLT of you and your team members in range.
0/5 or 1/5 Only get this skill to level 1 if you're an evade build with at least 150+ int, as well as enough sp. It is a prerequisite for the dexterity skill, which is useless if you're not an evade build and don't have enough mp to support its use. This skill itself is useless unless you have a healer on your team, and even so, its MP usage is too high compared to its usefulness.
DexterityIncreases AGI of you and your team members in range.
0/5 or 10/10 Only get this skill if you're an evade build and have enough mp and sp. I recommend only getting this if you have enough skill forges, as there are more useful skills than this. If you do get this skill, make sure that you do get it to level 10, as it provides a +20% boost to your base agi, which is a lot of evade if you're building your character properly. At max, this skill requires over 900 MP to cast, so I highly recommend at least 150+ int if you're going to use this skill, or you will find yourself out of MP.
3aii.
Infiltrator Skills [SKA]Poison CrasherInflicts poison status to your opponent at a fixed rate depending on skill level when you use any skill. This is a buff, not an attacking skill.
1/5 or 5/5 This skill's main use is that it's a prerequisite for April Fool. However, if you have enough skill forges, you may choose to max this skill for 1v1 matches for some extra damage. Its process rate at max is 25%, which is quite high considering that our skills are all multiple hit skills.
April FoolAttack enemies to reduce their damage to 1 for the duration of the debuff.
3/5 or 5/5 This is very useful for saving your teammates against heavy hitting classes; it reduces the damage of every skill or attack the opponent uses to 1 damage for the duration of the debuff. In addition, any opponent affected by this skill will only return 1 damage with revenge or meteor earrings. At level 3, the debuff time is 1 second longer than the cooldown. If you have enough skill forges, I would suggest maxing this skill. Also, do note that this skill costs a considerable amount of MP (twice as much as our normal skills).
AmbushAttacks multiple times depending on the skill level and launches enemies into the air. This skill hits mid-air targets. At level 3, this skill hits fallen enemies, as well. As skill level increases, so does cooldown time.
3/5 , 5/5, or 10/10 Get it to at least 3 to hit fallen targets. If you don't mind the cooldown, you can get it to 5/5 or 10/10 for more damage. The main use of a higher level is for damage against a group of frozen targets.
Violent BlowThis skill hits multiple times and has a chance of inflicting stun on the enemies. At level 3, it also hits fallen targets.
3/5, 5/5, or 9/10 I would recommend leaving this skill at level 3 purely for the SP required for one extra level in this skill. Higher levels of this skill does inflict a longer duration of stun, but it's not that important since it's not long enough to change how you will combo after the stun. It is uncertain whether or not a higher level increases the percentage of stunning.
Burrow Hides your character in a hole (invisible to others). Detect will cancel your hiding status, as well as prevent you from hiding. You may not move around or attack while burrowed. There is a time limit on how long you can burrow for.
1/5 A higher level of this skill only reduces MP consumption marginally, and is unimportant. While it does have a 20 second cooldown, it is still useful for saving yourself from a combo that may end up killing you.
GimletAttacks in a straight line forward on the x-axis while in burrow.
0/5 You shouldn't be burrowed for more than 1 second, anyway, so don't bother with this skill. Easily predictable and mediocre damage.
Shadow Walk
Hides your character from other people. Attacking will take your character out of shadow walk. Detect will cancel your hiding status, as well as prevent you from hiding. You may move around while using this skill. There is a time limit on how long you can shadow walk for.
2/5 The only use for this skill is to cast wood rush without being interrupted, as well as catching opponents that are attacking your teammates off-guard with hypnotizer. Do not dash while this skill is active, as people can see your dash marks, even though you are invisible.
Swift AttackAttacks all enemies around you with a single hit attack, knocking them down. Level 4 in this skill hits midair targets that have already recovered, as well as fallen targets.
4/5 or 5/5 Get it to level 4 just to be able to hit midair and fallen targets; level 5 if you have skill forges for the extra damage.
Katar BlockingIncrease your character's block rate.
5/5 or 10/10 This doesn't even require an explanation.
Throwing DaggerThrows a dagger at an enemy to knock them down.
5/5 or 10/10 This is an attack with high damage and only a 2s cooldown. Obviously, max it. You'd only want to go to level 10 if you have enough MP as it requires 120 MP per use when it's level 10.
Dagger MasteryIncreases the damage of daggers thrown with the throwing dagger skill, as well as the amount of daggers thrown.
5/5 You can throw 7 daggers at level 5.
Katar MasteryIncreases critical rate and aim rate by x%.
5/5 More aim and absolute critical rate %.
3aiii.
Assassin Skills [SKN]SleepPercent chance to put opponents to sleep. Chances of success are based mainly on your base aim rate.
1/5 or 5/5 You can get a point in it just for the utility of max it if you want as much duration as possible.
Shadow Leap
Moves to the rear of the nearest enemy and knocks them down. Same animation as swift attack.
2/5 Prerequisite for perfect strike.
Perfect StrikeMoves your character forward by a dash distance and attacks any enemy in the way.
1/5 Useful for maintaining your combo against a single target.
Devilstorm DartThrows a lame shuriken.
2/5 Get it as prerequisite for wood rush.
Blade ForgingGives bleeding effect to devilstorm dart.
0/5 Useless passive for a useless skill.
Wood RushSummons a huge log which rolls forward and attacks standing/fallen enemies in its way. Also reduces aim and movement speed of the enemy.
5/5 Amazing debuff and great damage if the enemy is against the wall. Max it.
Storm Stepping
Increases your movement speed and evade rate for a certain amount of time
Any It doesn't really matter how many points you have in this skill since the duration is always shorter than the cooldown. Personally, I always forget to reuse the buff after it runs out since I have so many rows of hotkeys that I get too lazy to swap back and use it again.
Ninja FrenzyTransforms yourself into a ninja.
1/1 If you need to ask why, just stop reading right now. Seriously.
Cherry Blossom ShowerStrikes an enemy and launches them into the air
1/5 Prerequisite.
Leaf FallAttacks the enemy very slowly.
1/5 Prerequisite.
Mist VanishAttacks enemies in front of you with three quick slashes. Similar effect as gust slash, but with slightly better range.
Any Level it up if you have enough skill points. Getting it as high as you can is in your best interests as the damage increase is nice.
Sky PenetrationLaunches the enemies into the air. Same animation as storm blade, but much better. It can pick up fallen enemies and hit enemies that are not in the falling state.
5/5 Max it for the damage and cooldown decrease.
3aiv.
Ninja Skills [SKS]Protect EdgeDaggers surround your character and attacks the enemy when in range.
0/5 Useless skill. Cannot use it while in ninja form.
AwakeningEnables awakening skills.
1/1 Obvious enough...
Dodge MasterPassive that increases movement speed and evade.
5/5 If not for the evade, get it for the movement speed.
Multi IllusionThe ultimate skill, except not so ultimate.
0/1 You are reading a PvP guide.
Cross BladeSummons ninjas to push enemies forward. Disregards the direction the opponent is facing.
0/5, 2/5, or 4/5 Level 1 summons 1 ninja, level 2 summons 2 ninjas, and level 4 summons 3 ninjas. If you don't have enough SP, just leave it at 0 or 2. You may also wish to consider the amount of MP required to use it, including the cost to charge the awakening gauge. You need 380 awakening for level 2 and 420 awakening for level 4.
Shadow BladeAttacks forward with a pretty long range.
0/5 In addition to the cast time, there's also a long animation time of around 1s in which you can't do anything, making it pretty much impossible to follow up with a combo.
Awakening ChargeCharges the awakening gauge.
Any Get this to use cross blade in PvP. As the level on this skill is increased, the amount of awakening gauge you charge per MP is increased. Max it if you have enough skill points as the difference in MP used is significant. If you don't have cross blade, don't bother getting this.
3b. In-depth analysis on essential skills [SKD]These will go in the same order listed above.
Aerial FrenzyThis is a good skill to use to support archers who are AASing someone with high block and/or evade. You can keep enemies in the air much longer than you can with sky penetration. You can also chain it after sky penetration if you're fast enough. It gets in some extra damage and can mess up the opponent's aerial recovery if he/she hasn't recovered already.
CutdownA very situational skill. It has a quick animation, but it has a slow recovery time, which could get you caught by your opponent if he/she has fast reactions. Typically, this skill is used against a fallen enemy and can be chained into sky penetration. In addition, if you regulate your aerial frenzy hits, you may also cutdown after aerial frenzy to continue your combo.
Rocket PunchWhile some people may say that the skill is slow and is not useful, it is much the opposite. At level 5 or higher, this skill inflicts level 9 stun, which lasts for 2.5 seconds. This is extremely helpful to catch enemies, especially if they are rolling and do not have a high amount of movement speed. Randomly throwing a rocket punch does not hurt you either, as long as you are not in range of your opponent. The skill costs a tiny amount of MP to cast, and if your opponent is caught off guard, then it's a free combo for you. One thing to note is that if your opponent has an extremely high amount of movement speed, they will move while being stunned if they were moving upon impact.
April FoolThis skill is extremely useful when you need to save your teammates. At level 3, it hits fallen enemies as well. Due to this, it is possible to chain it after using sky penetration if you're fast enough. Since this skill can be jump canceled, it is possible to fit it into any combo, provided that you cancel it instantly.
AmbushAmbush level 3 is only good if you wish to have lower cooldown. With the launch height it gives, it will usually not do the full amount of hits if you get it past 3. However, it is a good skill to use for damage if a sorcerer on your team has the enemies frozen in the lock. You should watch out for the duration of freeze, however, because you do not want to launch the locked enemies out of the lock. Keep in mind that snow blues is only 2s of freeze duration while blizzard is 4s.
Dagger Level 10
120% + 440
120MP
100 Skillpoints + 50 for Mastery
Ambush Level 10
190% + 750
105 MP
100 Skillpoints
up to 4 Hits on up to 12 Enemys
Maximum possible Dagger damage (7 Daggers hits, 1 Target)
(120% + 440) * 7 = 840% + 3080
Maximum possible Ambush damage (4 Ambush hits, 1 Target)
(190% +750) * 4 = 760% + 3000
Maximum possible Ambush damage II (4 Ambush hits, 2 Targets)
(190% + 750) * 4 * 2 = 1520% + 6000
Conclusion the more Targets you have, the more effective Ambush will be!
Violent BlowThe stun that this skill gives is not really that useful. You would not be using this skill to catch, nor would you use it to keep a combo going. In that sense, its main use is to add extra damage. You may go for higher levels of this skill, but I would not advise it due to the extra MP consumption and the amount of skill points it costs per level.
BurrowAn extremely useful skill for avoiding your opponent. While it may no longer be spammed, it's still nice for a last minute save from almost any attack. One thing to keep in mind is to never burrow for more than half a second or you will be caught in a combo from someone camping your burrow. The only exception to this is when you are burrowed under a blizzard or snow blues. You will get frozen if you do not wait until those skills end.
Swift AttackOne of the best and most essential skills in your PvP arsenal. This skill is great for catching opponents since it has a huge range and instant animation. In addition, it can allow you to keep your combo after someone aerial recovers since it does hit midair targets at level 4. However, do not rely on this if the opponent has block or high enough evade, since you will get punished if it does not connect successfully.
Throwing DaggerUseful for interrupting someone or dealing massive damage at point blank range. It has a nice range and can interrupt an opponent dashing towards you. Make sure to use it primarily as an a source of damage and not as an interrupter or you will run out of MP quickly. This can easily be linked into any combo, and you should do so, as it will be your main source of damage.
SleepNever rely on this skill. It is nice to have since you can disable your enemy, but the success rate is not something you can rely on. This uses your base aim to calculate the success rate. Because of this, you will not land it often on anyone above 90 evade. In addition, if you get hit right as you're casting sleep, or if you jump cancel too early, it will not process.
Wood RushThis deals a lot of damage when your opponent is against the wall, so make sure you use that to your advantage. The only other use is against a group of opponents that are being locked by one of your teammates. It is not advised to use this against a single opponent if there are multiple opponents, unless you feel that it may change the match around. There are multiple ways to link this in your combo
without using sleep, so do try that instead of relying on a cheap skill every match.
Ninja FrenzyPlease visit the miscellaneous information section for more information on utilizing the transformation to its maximum potential.
Mist VanishThis is a decent catching skill as it causes knockdown similar to that of sword dance. It has a slight vertical range also, so you can use that to your advantage if you're trying to lock an opponent with someone trying to save them.
Sky PenetrationThis is the most useful disrupting skill, as well as one of the easiest skills to catch with. Use it in conjunction with ambush to get multiple opponents off your teammates' backs. The AoE is pretty big as well, so take advantage of that.
Cross BladeAt level 4, the damage on this skill is significantly higher due to the extra ninja that is summoned. This skill can be chained into your wood rush combo in order to deal massive damage against the wall. There are a few things to be noted, however. At the end of the animation of this skill, your opponent has a very brief amount of superarmor status, which can cause them to escape your combo if you do not execute it properly. In addition, if you use the skill too close to your opponent, they will not get pushed and your MP will be wasted.
Awakening ChargeThe trick to using Awakening skills post-patch is to make tactical use of the charge skill. For instance, since your Awakening bar's charge carries over from one round to the next in any given match, you can blow a big chunk of MP in the first round to charge it up, and then in the next round you'll start with full MP again (and a nice chunk of Awakening to use).
You can also quickly toggle your charge skill on and off again if you want to stop the bar from draining after you use an Awakening skill (a handy way to conserve energy, though admittedly you are taking a hit to MP).
When you are toggling the charge skill, it is possible to cancel it before it starts draining your MP, so you will not be taking a hit to MP if you are fast enough.
3c. Recommended builds [SKR]Note that the following builds assume that you have 1 extra skill forge farmed so that you can offset the 1 skill point requirement for the awakening skill. Level 10 skills are not included, and I will be under the assumption that you farm skill forges to allocate points into them, unless there are points left over.
Basic Build
69 points remaining at level 70
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4. Equipment [EQU]
Recommended Equips:
Max Critical Damage:
3 Piece Chaotic Gourian Set (+42 agi, +80% critical damage)
3 Piece Chaotic Gyrophic Set (+45 agi, +90% critical damage)If you opt for survivability and aim, you may either choose to go for special with health/agility or agility/evade. Note that if you're planning to do an evade build, you'd want to go strictly for specials with agility/evade or your evade won't go high enough to make people miss you (unless they have no aim at all). If you do not have lots of funds, I'd advise going for health, then agi as a second stat.
Evade builds are extremely costly as aim/evade accessories are extremely high in demand. Aim/hlt accessories are slightly cheaper, but you can still get away with advanced accessories if you're not doing an evade build.
Critical damage is the recommended build for PvP as it is more difficult than ever to deal damage to high defense stackers (players with above 5k defense or full heirloom bone/heirloom chaotic hera). Critical damage is the only way you'd be able to tear through players with thick defense, in additional to a well enchanted weapon. While this set boasts the highest amount of damage, it does not offer the best in terms of survivability and accuracy.
Maximum Aim and Evade:
3 Piece Black Dragon Lord (Helm, Top, Shield) (90 agi set bonus, 60 agi helm bonus)2 Piece Chaotic Gyrophic (Bottom, Shoulder) (45 agi)
1 Piece Premium Gloves of Alexandre (50 agi 3% aim)
1 Piece Premium Fur Shoes of Kyros (40 agi 10% CD)
1 Piece Premium Blizzard Muffler (40 agi, 20 hlt, 8% evade)
This build will make you lose out on a lot of critical damage, but the massive agility boosts that come with it will push your evade and aim much higher than the full critical damage set.
Maximum Movement Speed
1 Piece Mutisha Shoulderguards (+10% mspd)
4 Piece Heirloom Bone Dragon Assassin (+25% mspd)
1 Piece [Hero] Secmathian Shoes (Ninja) (+15% mspd)
1, 2, or 6 star lavalon necklace (+10% mspd)
Boost Backpack [Signus] (+8% mspd)
[Rare] Van Cliff belt and ring (+15% mspd)
Aram ring and earring of perseverance (+12% mspd)
Laptop or Trip to Korea Balloon (+5% mspd)
Special/Deluxe IM boots (+10% mspd)
Rudolph Backpack (+3% mspd)
3 Piece Rudolph Set (+5% mspd)
Snowman Costume Gloves (+4% mspd)
Legend of Combo (+15% mspd)
My current highest movement speed with this is over 490, potentially over 500 with higher levels of soulcraft expansion.
Recommended Equipment Build:
3 Piece Chaotic Gyrophic Set
3 Piece Black Dragon Lord (Helm, Top, Shield)
1 Piece Premium Alexandre Gloves (50 agi, 3% aim)
or
6 Piece Black Dragon Lord
1 Piece Premium Alexandre Gloves (50 agi, 3% aim)
As a ninja, it is important to keep up your critical damage as well as your aim and evade if you want to kill your opponents at a decent rate. Having aim and evade alone won't allow you to kill people as fast as you should be killing them. You'd also want crit damage on as many pieces of equipment as possible, mainly your back, weapon, cash weapon, and cash back. The difference between the first and second set of recommended equipments is that the first grants you 45 extra agi, which translates to around 20 evade and 15 aim if you've been stacking your character properly, while the second grants you with 40% more CD, 50 more hlt, and a bunch of extra defense.
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5. PvP Strategies [PV1]
[WIP] ===================================================================================
6. Miscellaneous Information [MIS]The ninja transformation form has a lot of useful cancels. The following list consists of examples of how this cancellation may be used to your advantage:
- This lets you escape forced knockdown skills such as sword dance. While you are in ninja form, you are allowed to switch back to normal form before you fall to the ground. This occurs because you are allowed to untoggle toggle skills while hit by sword dance and such (any toggle skill may be untoggled, does not exclusively apply to the ninja transform skill). However, you may not use toggle skills while in that state, thus you can't transform to ninja form if you're in normal form and get hit. The difference is that disabling the ninja transform skill returns your character to its original standing state, nullifying the knockdown status. This is extremely important to master if you're looking to be a competent PvPer, both in 1v1 and group matches.
- This one is a bit more difficult, but if timed properly, you can also avoid pf launches while in this state. However, the time frame in which you can pull this off is rather tricky, and you may wish to consider using the next trick to roll out and burrow the next launch instead.
- This lets you finish your rolls early, either to your advantage or disadvantage. Due to the same reason as above, you are able to cancel your rolls and catch your opponent in an unexpected counter attack.
- Ninja cutdown can be canceled by untransforming. This lets you launch your opponent without the ridiculous recovery time associated with the ninja version of cutdown. This can save you from being punished by your opponent.
The skill "fly" can be ended early if you move to any direction before landing on the ground. This eliminates the landing animation and allows you to untransform earlier in order to pull off your combos.
Edited by Yurai, 08 January 2012 - 10:52 PM.
