Ninja: Guide to Ninja Tool Recipes and Saving Money

Introduction: why bother crafting?
Everyone knows that crafting just isn't that profitable any more, so what's the point? People ask me that all the time. The answer is: to save money. If you can synth your own Ninja tools you can save a few thousand gil easily. A quick review of FFXIAH.com shows that synthing a stack of each tool from ingredients bought directly from the AH could save you 10k. That includes the recipes that would make a loss! If you avoid those synths (wise) then you could save as much as 18k. And that's on just one stack of each. If you then consider farming the expensive items and getting ingredients from an NPC you save even more.

Some of you are now probably thinking "Wow, I could actually make money selling this stuff!" That's true, but bear in mind that you'll be up against a) RMT who'll drop the price to make a sale and b) people with 100 skill running HQ3 for almost pure profit. Combine a) and b) and you already have problems. Also note that the profit margins are also very slim in almost all cases. The savings only add up across the whole range of tools. Feel free to try though...

PLEASE NOTE

While I have done my best to check cross-server prices on ffxiah.com nothing is set in stone. Prices go up and down. I suggest you carefully research all the costs involved in any synth before you commit to it. Even consider the cost of transport and teleports. It all adds up.

If, like me, the RMT make you sick and you'd rather make a slight loss than line there pockets this might be less of a problem for you.

What do I need to do this?
The purpose of this guide is an overview, with hints on where to save even more money, it's not a step by step guide.

The following things are essential: The following things would really help with farming materials: To be able to synth all the tools you will ultimately need the following crafts at the following levels:
 * Time
 * Patience
 * Access all areas (Airship, Kazham, Aht Urhgan, Chocobo License, Teleport Crystals)
 * Know how to use regional merchants properly
 * Know how to use ffxiah.com to check prices
 * A highish level job (50+)
 * Treasure Hunter
 * As many outpost warps as you can
 * An interest in Logging, Harvesting and/or Mining
 * Clothcraft: 41
 * Woodwork: 39
 * Smithing: 23
 * Goldsmithing: 31
 * Alchemy: 37
 * Cooking: 11

Cooking is used as a sub-craft in one synth. Bonecraft and Leathercraft are not used directly in any synth.

Where do I start?
Ninja tools break up into three groups: Enfeebling Tools, Elemental Tools and Buff Tools. If you want to focus on only one group you can avoid certain crafts. This is explained more below. All recipes yield x33 items, except Tsurara, which yields 10x.

Enfeebling Tools
The main craft for these tools is Alchemy. Cooking is need for one recipe and Clothcraft and Smithing for another. This is probably the group where you can save the most money.


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 * - BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
 * align="left"|Kaginawa
 * align="left"|Hojo
 * align="left"|Clothcraft (29)


 * align="center"|
 * align="left"|Bronze Ingot Grass Thread Manticore Hair
 * }


 * This is a bit of an odd one out. Clothcraft is neither cheap nor easy to level and getting Smithing to 15 is also quite a grind.  However, Clothcraft is the main craft in Buff Tools and if you level Smithing alongside Woodworking it's not so bad.  As for the synth: if you farm your own Manticore Hair you can easily save money.  You can also synth (in fact desynth) Grass Thread from Yagudo Necklaces.  Bronze Ingots can be bought directly from the Smithing Guild in Bastok or you can buy the ingredients there and start Smithing!


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 * - BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
 * align="left"|Sairui-Ran
 * align="left"|Kurayami
 * align="left"|Alchemy (28)


 * align="center"|
 * align="left"|Bast Parchment Bird Egg Bomb Ash Kazham Peppers
 * }


 * This is a great synth. The alchemy guides suggest this as a major skillup synth because it is so cheap to make and sells well.  Don't be put off by the Cooking subcraft: you can easily level the craft in just a few hours in Windurst.  To maximise your savings I would suggest farming Bomb Ash in Gusgen Mines and either growing your own Kazham Peppers or getting them from the docks in Kazham.  Elshimo Lowlands Regional Vendor stocks them too.  The cheapest place to get the bird eggs is usually from the vendors in the airship boarding areas.  Kurayami is also well worth casting ;)


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 * - BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
 * align="left"|Kodoku
 * align="left"|Dokumori
 * align="left"|Alchemy (19)
 * align="center"|
 * align="left"|Elshimo Frog Lugworm Shell Bug
 * }


 * I missed this synth while leveling Alchemy and I'm heartbroken (Poison Potions are a great synth item though). If you can get the Elshimo Frog and Shell Bug for a good price you could save a fortune.  Shell Bugs can be bought from Bastok AH for very little usually; they drop off Quadavs.  Get the Lugworms from your local NPC.


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 * - BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
 * align="left"|Jusatsu
 * align="left"|Jubaku
 * align="left"|Alchemy (37)
 * align="center"|
 * align="left"|Bast Parchment Beastman Blood Black Ink
 * }


 * This might look like a high level synth but if you cap your Alchemy on Sairui-Ran then you can pretty much start straight on this. The main determinate in making money here is Beastman Blood.  You can farm this in Pashhow Marshlands and probably save a great deal.

Elemental Tools
The main crafts for these tools are Woodworking, Smithing, Goldsmithing and Alchemy. Clothcraft and Cooking are not needed at all.


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 * - BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
 * align="left"|Tsurara
 * align="left"|Hyoton
 * align="left"|Alchemy (6)
 * align="center"|
 * align="left"|Distilled Water x2 Rock Salt
 * }


 * Regardless of whether you want to craft the other tools you should defintely do these yourself. You can level Alchemy from 0 on this synth and if you farm ice crystals/clusters it's super cheap.  Buy the Distilled Water and Rock Salt from NPCs.  Aht Urhgan Whitegate is a good spot as there is easy access to guild support and ingredients.


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 * - BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
 * align="left"|Uchitake
 * align="left"|Katon
 * align="left"|Woodworking (26)
 * align="center"|
 * align="left"|Bamboo Stick Grass Cloth Toad Oil
 * }


 * If you can get the Toad Oil from the NPC you might save some money making this yourself depending on your server. An alternative, and maybe a good one, is to desynth Tonberry Lanterns.  You should be able to do this and get HQ1 results (2x Toad Oil)once you reach Alchemy 20ish.  If you can farm the lanterns you can save even more.  You should make your own Grass Cloth from Grass Thread; it's a nice cheap way to level Clothcraft.  Uchitake can also be as cheap as 66 gil each (about 6.5k a stack) from Tenshodo merchants so check the prices on AH.


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 * - BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
 * align="left"|Hiraishin
 * align="left"|Raiton
 * align="left"|Goldsmithing (31)
 * align="center"|
 * align="left"|Copper Ingot Silver Ingot
 * }


 * Goldsmithing is notoriously expensive to level. The chances of saving enough money from making these to recoup the total loses from getting to 31 are very unlikely.  As above: try the tenshodo merchants and check AH prices.


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 * - BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
 * align="left"|Makibishi
 * align="left"|Doton
 * align="left"|Smithing (23)
 * align="center"|
 * align="left"|Iron Scales
 * }


 * Sadly, although this is a fairly low level synth, you need Iron, and Iron is not cheap. It is possible to buy the Iron Scales straight from the AH and break even on some servers on some days.  It's also possible to mine all of the raw materials needed to craft this item AND reach this skill level.  All you need is time and pickaxes.
 * If you are interested in levelling Smithing further than this is ideal.


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 * - BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
 * align="left"|Kawahori-Ogi
 * align="left"|Huton
 * align="left"|Woodworking (40)
 * align="center"|
 * align="left"|Animal Glue Bamboo Stick Bast Parchment
 * }


 * At last, another synth worthy of the guide! Get the Bamboo Stick from an NPC and you could save 3k a stack.  Really depends on the price of Bast Parchment.


 * {|border="0" cellpadding="3" width="100%"

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 * - BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
 * align="left"|Mizu-Deppo
 * align="left"|Suiton
 * align="left"|Woodworking (34)


 * align="center"|
 * align="left"|Bronze Sheet Chestnut Lumber Distilled Water
 * }


 * Another pretty good option. The markup on these is massive on my server.  Price is greatly dependent on cost of Chestnut Lumber and therefore Chestnut Log.  You can make your own lumber from the logs once you reach Woodworking 28, so if you can find a good source of logs you can save a lot.  Again you can buy Bronze Sheets from the Smithing Guild in Bastok, or you can synth Bronze Ingots into sheets.  DO what ever is cheapest.

Buff Tools
The main crafts for these tools are Clothcraft and Woodworking. No other crafts are needed. You can still save money here but margins are tight. If you don't mind breaking even then go crazy.


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 * - BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
 * align="left"|Shihei
 * align="left"|Utsusemi
 * align="left"|Woodworking (29)
 * align="center"|
 * align="left"|Bast Parchment x2 Black Ink
 * }


 * RMT gold. At best you'll break even.  All materials are best bought from AH as they are crafted only.  If you wish to craft the Bast Parchment you'll need Woodworking (45) and Alchemy (29).  Black Ink is easier to craft but not necessarily a cheap option.  Check AH prices.


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 * - BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
 * align="left"|Shinobi-Tabi
 * align="left"|Tonko
 * align="left"|Clothcraft (34)
 * align="center"|
 * align="left"|Cotton Cloth x2 Grass Thread Saruta Cotton
 * }


 * Due to the cost of Cotton Cloth this is a tricky one to save money on. If you are lucky/smart you can get cheaper Cotton Cloth directly from the Guild shops than you can from the AH.  However, your main saving comes from farming Saruta Cotton in Tahrongi Canyon or Harvesting in West Sarutabaruta.  As you only need one Saruta Cotton per synth one farming session could make you invisible for a very long time.  Again, Grass Thread from Yagudo Necklaces is a great way to start Clothcraft.


 * {|border="0" cellpadding="3" width="100%"

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 * - BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
 * align="left"|Sanjaku-Tenugui
 * align="left"|Monomi
 * align="left"|Clothcraft (41)
 * align="center"|
 * align="left"|Cotton Thread x2 Cotton Cloth x2
 * }


 * As above. Prices of Cotton can be a nightmare.  It's NOT cost-effective to make your own Cotton Thread or, therefore, Cotton Cloth so don't even be tempted.  If you keep an eye on the market and check the Guild prices after maintenance you could save yourself quite a bit, especially as these tools last so long.

See also: Ninja