Essential Ninja Equipment Guide by Dibble/Sandbox

What no NIN gear guide?
Yeah, that's what I thought. Instead you have a list of all the possible gear that a NIN can wear. Awesome...

So, in the vein of this great guide I decided to do my own for NIN covering what special gear you really should have. I am actually quite new to NIN so hopefully others will contribute, especially for the later levels. By special I mean something with a worthwhile stat bonus, not just the next possible armour upgrade. Also, I'll only list HQ1 versions of gear and not HQ2. While HQ2 is almost always better it's also amazingly rare and stupidly expensive.

Please also note that this guide is aimed at people who are actually interested in NIN as a job; not for those who just want NIN37 for Utsusemi.

A note on builds
If your a serious NIN you might well consider a RACC build and maybe an INT build to macro in for throwing and offensive ninjitsu. This is probably quite nice if a) you're not the main tank or b) you're having hate problems and need more damage.

Personally I wouldn't go too crazy with this; stick to swapping rings and earrings as these are fairly cheap and common. For example, a pair of Bone Rings +1 and Eremite's Rings would go quite a way.

The guide
Below is a list of recommended gear per slot. Rare/Ex gear is in italics

Weapons

 * Level 15: Gassan
 * Level 16: Mokuto +1


 * Level 28: Fukuro
 * Level 30: Nikkariaoe
 * Level 48: Sai x2 will last you until 61 very comfortably
 * Level 61 and 66: both ar cheap AH Katanas, the level 66 ones have +1s that are roughly same price as the level 61's normal quality
 * Levels 70-75: Fudo x2 untill you can afford Unji/Unsho setup, or offhand a Fudo with one or the other or vice-versa, or for some speed if you have cash, grab a Hayabusa! There are so many options here.. pick your style!

40: AF weps, Both of them are good and can be used until 48 with ease.

48: Sai x2, or the +1s if you can afford it, both good DPS and parry skill is nice.

54: I went to Muketsu, the HP drain is nice and occs fairly often on VT mobs

61: At this lvl is the first major DD for NIN, i went with Kabutowari as its great DPS

70: This will be next upgrade, +3% Crits are nice and the DPS is cool, id dual wield em both

71: Kodachi of Trials - Xp in this, break it, get ur WS u need it!

72: Senjuinrikio - Endgame Katana, nice DPS for WS and main hand, nice crits

DO NOT USE IN XP PT UNTIL BROKEN

73: Perdu Blade: Off hand for Shenjuinrikio is a nice combo, if you can get it.

Ranged/Ammo

 * Level 15: Rogetsurin (Ranged)
 * Level 18: Shuriken (Ammo) All affordable shuriken are very recommended if you continually throw and have it capped, but on the same note.. don't waste the gil if you stop throwing.
 * Level 40: Junior Musketeer's Chakram (Ranged)
 * Level 43: Junior Musketeer's Chakram +1 (Ranged) the +str is nice, so keep even when you aren't throwing anymore if you stop
 * Level 63: Bomb Core if you stop throwing, and you don't want to throw this! Disable your macro!

Head

 * Level 14: Cotton Headband
 * Level 16: Bone
 * Level 24: Emperor Hairpin/Empress Hairpin


 * Level 43: Walkure Mask for those without Pin, just use evasion bands until this. Also great for DD setup
 * Level 65: Wivre Mask Great for evasion tanking, str for DD, just as good as Ohat for evasion tanking, possibly better if accuracy is not an issue! Keep Walkure Mask for DD setup unless you find the +str keeps you more consistant
 * Level 68: Fourth Haube -new from update- Could be better for DD than Walkure if full set is used (see Fourth Schoss (legs) notes
 * Level 70: Optical Hat once considered the only thing to use from 70 till Walahra Turban or Wyvren Helm for most jobs, but updates made more options available... Evasion and DD setups if you get or have this already; one less item to macro swap
 * Level 75: Walahra Turban basically the lvl 75 head piece and everyone loves Haste... very easy to obtain... keep others for situational purposes... this will top off a great haste setup

I used empress hairpin all the way up, and will upgrade @70

70: Optical Hat - Acc, Eva, Raa, Nice peice of gear, well worth farming the eyes.

75: Walahra Turban: If you have a haste set up use this, if you dont Ohat might be better

Macro in this over Ohat for casting if ur tanking HNMs etc, its -5% casting recast are nice!

Neck

 * Level 7: Wing Pendant
 * Level 21: Spike Necklace
 * Level 60: Chivalrous Chain Could be the last neck you buy
 * Level 65: Evasion Torque +7 eva skill! Tank setup, but stick with Chiv if hate is an issue in general you still need damage output to be effective.

33: Peacock's charm - Now i borrowed this from a friend, its really good. Helps you land ur hits and keep better emnity. But if you cant afford it, just ignore it and use Spike.

60: Chivalous Chain - Finally, a really good DD peice for NIN, STR+3, Acc+5 Store TP +1 Definatly worth saving for or get spamming excavation duty to buy it from Assualt.


 * I plan to use this endgame when my NIN is there, as it really is a good peice!*

Earrings

 * Level 14: Silver Earring +1 x2
 * Level 24: Mythril Earring +1 x2
 * Level 29: Dodge Earring x2
 * Level 35: Drone Earring x2 (debatable whether to keep the Dodges or get these)
 * Level 50: Velocity EarringReplace a Drone or Dodge with this
 * Level 52: Melody Earring Bring for evasion tanking when you have a bard, Evasion Skill+5 with a song!
 * Level 55: Spike Earring or Fang Earring x2 for DD setup

50: Velocity Earring: Evasion +4, great piece, helps stop getting hit so much.

54: Eris Earring: Emnity +2, Nice, helps now the DDs start to get uber powerful yet NIN dont.

72: Suppanomi - Hard to obtain through a reward for Divine Might, But lowers delay by 5% on weapons and gives you 2 AGI to help with Parrying.

75: Brutal Earring - Best DD earring you can get, +5% double attack and store TP, easily worth the 700k for it, but im afraid you need Sea to obtain.

Body

 * Level 13: Power Gi
 * Level 16: Bone Harness +1
 * Level 20: Mercenary Gi
 * Level 25: Windurstian Gi
 * Level 21: Beetle Harness +1 You will start to experience your first taste of evasion tanking with a full Beetle Harness +1 Set around 23 to 24ish. Still may need a second voke, but defintitly will please you and your mage
 * Level 25: Federation Gi
 * Level 40: Jujitsu Gi if you have Fumas and OKotes/HKotes or don't need the DD stats from a full or almost full Iron Ram set at 45 to keep hate
 * Level 45: Iron Ram Chainmail Only get this if you plan on more than 2 pieces of Iron Ram gear, legs, hands, feet and body go great with Walkure mask for added attack and acc! (after first peice, acc and att are a nice latent addition)
 * Level 55: Jaridah Peti
 * Level 57: Scorpion Harness DD and Evasion setup
 * Level 58: Ninja Chainmail actually more useful later on for speed setup when Acc isn't an issue! Duel Wield V!
 * Level 59: Haubergeon DD setup and Blade: Jin macro
 * Level 71: Antares Harness -new from update- Hauby and SH mix!!! slightly better for tanking than Enkidu's Harness. Consider this your next step up from your SH
 * Level 72: Enkidu's Harness -new from update- Hauby and SH mix!!! marginally better for DD than Antares Harness (the +10 attack is hot) consider this your step up from your Hauby

45: Brigandine: HP +10, Dexterity +2, Vitality +2

50: Nokizaru Gi: Agility +4, Enmity +1 Need i say more? Obtained from Subligar Quest.

55: Royal Knight's Chainmail Strength +2, Dexterity +2, Attack +3

57: Scorpion Harness HP +15, Accuracy +10, Evasion +10


 * Do not level past 57 without this, Eva helps avoid blows, Acc helps TP, used endgame!*

59: Haubergeon: Strength +5, Dexterity +5, Agility -5, Accuracy +10, Attack +10, Evasion -20 this when you loose hate and have no way to get it back instantly, it raises ur DPS. When you have hate change back to SH again.
 * This peice is for 2 things: One WS macro, once done change back to SH, and two: change to

These two body peices can be used at 75 although im sure many will agree there are other things But as i have to tested them this is as far as i can say.

Hands

 * Level 15: San D'Orian Gloves
 * Level 21: Beetle Mittens +1 see Beetle Harness +1 for notes
 * Level 25: Federation Tekko
 * Level 34: Ochimusha Kote/Ochiudo's Kote/Horomusha Kote +att, the HKotes don't sacrifice 5 eva for the 5 more att the other two do, and the Ochimusha's are a NM drop that always seems to have campers and many 1/1 or 1/100 stories aswell. Ninja levels too fast, and unless you have too much gil or too much time, just skip the drama.
 * Level 45: Iron Ram Mufflers see Iron Ram Chainmail notes (body)
 * Level 50: Royal Knight's Mufflers same states as Iron Ram at 45
 * Level 55: Jaridah Bazubands Have both Acc and Eva! Multi purpose, and not listed on many guides!
 * Level 60: Ninja Tekko Throwing macro, if you still throw
 * Level 68: Fourth Hentzes -new from update- step up for DD and Tanking from Jaridah Bazubands, but str instead of acc, use your judgement (see fourth Schoss notes (legs)).
 * Level 72: Enkidu's Mittens -new from update- definitly warrants a look see! DD... may be keepers! Blade: Jin at least!

34: Horomusha Kote: Attack +15 - these are great if you will pay for them!

34: Ochimusha Kote: Attack +20, Evasion -5 great except for the EVA down, camping NM takes ages

60: AF is nice to help with DEX, and being free cant hurt if you are skint.

72: Dusk Gloves: Attk+5, haste +3% can i say more? Coming down in price also :)

Rings

 * Level 14: Reflex Ring


 * Level 14: Reflex Ring +1 x2 should last until 30s
 * Level 30: Venerer Ring
 * Level 43: Mermaid's Ring Enmity setup/voke macro
 * Level 49: Ecphoria Ring a must have for imps! +acc is nice too for full time use
 * Level 50: Garrulous Ring combo with Ecphoria or venerer
 * Level 54: Sun Ring for Blade: Jin macro or a decent combo with Venerer Ring if no Garrulous Ring is obtained

Any AGI, STR or DEX rings work

40: Snipers Ring, Acc+5, Def-10 (you should'nt be getting hit much if ur doing it right)

50: Garrulous and unyielding rings are great! STR+3 AGI+1, DEX+3, VIT+3


 * If you have a CoP ring use Garu over Unyeild.*

74: Flame rings - STR+5

Back

 * Level 4: Rabbit Mantle
 * Level 18: Dhalmel Mantle
 * Level 21: Night Cape


 * Level 24: Nomad's Mantle will last, but upgrades are available
 * Level 30: Mercenary Mantle /war voke macro or enmity setup
 * Level 61: Amemet Mantle the +1 is nonreplaceable, but NQ is just fine

38: Hi breath mantle: I cant stress how great this is, HP+38, Emnity +5 last half an hour, 50 uses. Im using this all the way to 75, once 75 changing to Behemoth mantle or Foragers, dont change to Amemet as ur DD isnt good enuf to be buffing too much Attk.

Waist

 * Level 15: Warrior's Belt +1


 * Level 15: Warrior's Belt +1
 * Level 38: Survival Belt
 * Level 41: Quick Belt useful for haste setup, other haste belts are available, but this one is buyable and affordable at AH. Haste setup not recommended unless you can overload on haste, primarily after 70
 * Level 43: Swordbelt +1 buy this and keep it even after you upgrade!
 * Level 60: Potent Belt

48: Life belt - 10 acc, nice!

50: Swift belt: Has as hell to get, i went 1/4 but still, its nice, acc+3, haste+4%

72: Warwolf belt: STR+5, DEX+5, AGI+5 Emnity +3, nice peice for hate!

Legs

 * Level 16: Bone


 * Level 16: Bone Subligar +1
 * Level 25: Federation Sitabaki
 * Level 25: Kingdom Trousers better eva than Federation, but at this level, you may still want to look like you're a ninja at the cost of 2 eva
 * Level 25: Republic Subligar most keep these for a while for extra DD as they tank... looks like they're running around in their underwear
 * Level 45: Iron Ram Breeches See Iron Ram Chainmail notes (body)
 * Level 52: Ninja Hakama (AF)for night time evasion tanking
 * Level 55: Royal Knight's Breeches DD setup and Blade: Jin macro
 * Level 64: Arhat's Hakama for enmity/daytime evasion setup
 * Level 68: Fourth Schoss -new from update- could be better than Royal Knight's for DD setup and for evasion tanking, unless enmity is what you need over evasion... if it's like Iron Ram, then stacking this with Fourth Schuhs and Hentzes could be very nice for both tanking and DD! Fourth Haube Set

50: Nokizaru Hakama: Agility +3, Enmity +1 Nice but pricey

55: Royal Knight's Breeches: Strength +2, Dexterity +2, Attack +3

64: Arhat's Hakama +1 Agility +4, Enmity +3 The HQ is worth the extra gil

75: Byakko's Hyaedate! Best DD legs out there, 15 DEX +5% Haste, best for NIN!!

Feet

 * Level 7: Bounding Boots/Leaping Boots
 * Level 16: Bone


 * Level 7: Bounding Boots/Leaping Boots
 * Level 25: Federation Kyahan
 * Level 45: Iron Ram Sollerets see Iron Ram Chainmail notes (body)
 * Level 54: Ninja Kyahan (AF) to simply run around faster at night, you'd be suprised how much these come in handy!
 * Level 55: Jaridah Nails touch of acc and eva
 * Level 63: Arhat's Sune-Ate Evasion and Emnity tanking
 * Level 68: Fourth Schuhs -new from update- Tanking and DD, see Fourth Schoss (legs) notes
 * Level 72: Fuma Sune-Ate Affordable Haste
 * Level 72: Rasetsu Sune-Ate If you like multipurpose gear; good for both tank and DD
 * Level 72: Enkidu's Leggings -new from update- DD with a touch of haste!

54: AF feet, +4 AGI, nighttime movement +12% Good peice

72: Fuma Sune-Ate HP +12, Agility +3, Haste +3% Nice for the haste set up!