Blink timing

[Gaignum]

hey guys, something been bothering me quite a bit.
was looking about 11 pages back in the forum posts, but didnt see anything in relation to my little problem.

with utsu 1 and 2.
with the obvious inability to cast utsu 1 over 2, what do you guys feel the best time to recast utsu 1 is if you dont have another 2 to cast on top?

i usually wait until the mob just starts to swing, or bite, or chop etc.. then i start, but i always find myself getting hit at about 78% on the recast bar, which is right before it casts...
this is really annoying me.

anyone have any pointers?

[Macht]

Re: Blink timing

Originally posted by Gaignum
hey guys, something been bothering me quite a bit.
was looking about 11 pages back in the forum posts, but didnt see anything in relation to my little problem.

with utsu 1 and 2.
with the obvious inability to cast utsu 1 over 2, what do you guys feel the best time to recast utsu 1 is if you dont have another 2 to cast on top?

i usually wait until the mob just starts to swing, or bite, or chop etc.. then i start, but i always find myself getting hit at about 78% on the recast bar, which is right before it casts...
this is really annoying me.

anyone have any pointers?

For the most part any spells, ninjitsu, summonings cast as long as you are not hit between 20% to 80% you are fine. Which means you are just 2% away from making it, the timing you do sounds like when the monster hits you that you are at about maybe 5% so that's 15% of play you have to work with. So instead of waiting till before the animation, try getting it just a little more before the animation starts. Get it to were the monster first hits you around 10%-15% then his next shouldn't hit till about 83%-88%.

EDIT:

Alternative to that most players usually use a sub tank to provoke the monster of temporarlily so they can get Utsusemi back on.

[Gaignum]

cool, thx mach, ill try that out.

little tweaks here and there i guess, with mainly playing mnk, about the most i have to pay attention to is my fudge pop during fighting lol:spin:

[little ninja]

the best thing you can do is to cast your ele buffs, an the have a pts rdm or brd do the same also. macro equip af helmet an ninjitsu torgue. if you got it. next thing you shoud do is cast raiton:ni. this will lower a monsters resistance to earth. next thing to do is cast hojo: ni. hojo is earth based. thus why casting raiton is a positive thing. with hojo panding, allows ichi to be cast.

so lets say your fighting a DARTER. an nothing seemed to stick. theres a few ways you can tank it. some go ichi in the beginning. then wait til second shadow is down before they cast it again. others will use NI an on 3rd shadow just before the mob swings they will cast ichi. 4 shadow goes down. ichi is close to being casted. mob miss's basically you can move backwards an disrupt the cast.

depending on your lvl haste gear macroed in as well as a whm's haste will definately help out the casting of ichi.

another trick i like to do is to count seconds inbetween a monsters attacks. cause all DARTER attacks will be the same. an then from there you can base exactly when you can cast ichi. also note that you need to count the seconds of a mob who has been slowed as well.

ninja tanking is 100% improve. every time you exp in a zone one thing seems to work better then the last. i can remember 1 day struggling on lizards in the den of recor. next time i was there. i rarely saw damage. so really you need to play around with it an see what works best for you. hope the way i tank gives you an idea of what to try. its methods i have used to get me to 72.

[Tifa]

I prefer to start out each fight with a fresh Utsu: Ni (4 shadows). During those first 4 shadows I'll cast Kurayami: Ni and then Hojo: Ni. Some ninjas will cast Raiton before Hojo for a better chance of landing it, but I prefer to just ignore that (if you really like landing Hojo, then by all means cast it, it definitely helps).

So in a regular battle, my actions would look like this, maybe:

Provoke
Kurayami
Hojo
Wait til all 4 shadows are taken, then Utsu:Ni
Utsu:Ichi
Ni
Ichi
etc etc, hopefully your battles arent this long

Your problem is just that you need to cast ichi over your last shadow of Ni. When 3 of your 4 shadows are gone, start casting Ichi, then immediately press the " + " key twice and get the cursor on your Utsusemi icon. When your Ichi casting time gets to around 50%, click off your last shadow of utsusemi. When the Ichi timer get to 80%, you'll have 3 new shadows.

Be warned, this takes a bit of getting used to- but the perfecting of this technique is what divides the good ninjas from the bad. You NEED to be able to go from Ni to Ichi to cover those 10-15 seconds while your next Ni is charging.

Good luck, and I'd be glad to explain more if this made absolutely no sense to ya.

[rpgcrazy]

Originally posted by Tifa
When your Ichi casting time gets to around 50%, click off your last shadow of utsusemi. When the Ichi timer get to 80%, you'll have 3 new shadows.

I'm just wondering, could the mob hit you somwhere in between that 50%-80% interupting your cast?(Seems like the mob gets its second hit around that percentage from it's first hit) I am approaching 37 and this seems tricky when I think about it.

[Macht]

Originally posted by rpgcrazy
I'm just wondering, could the mob hit you somwhere in between that 50%-80% interupting your cast?(Seems like the mob gets its second hit around that percentage from it's first hit) I am approaching 37 and this seems tricky when I think about it.

There is a possibility of it happening between that point, but still mostly timing just like taking a hit before 20% at the right time so you can get past that 80% mark.

[Tifa]

Originally posted by rpgcrazy
I'm just wondering, could the mob hit you somwhere in between that 50%-80% interupting your cast?(Seems like the mob gets its second hit around that percentage from it's first hit) I am approaching 37 and this seems tricky when I think about it.

Yes, there's a very small window during which you can get hit. It's just a split second, and if you get hit, it's usually just very unlucky timing, and not much you can do about it. The more you practice at this, you can figure out just exactly when to click off the last shadow, so that you're vulnerable for the smallest amount of time as you can control.

[Caspian]

Originally posted by Tifa
I prefer to start out each fight with a fresh Utsu: Ni (4 shadows). During those first 4 shadows I'll cast Kurayami: Ni and then Hojo: Ni. Some ninjas will cast Raiton before Hojo for a better chance of landing it, but I prefer to just ignore that (if you really like landing Hojo, then by all means cast it, it definitely helps).

So in a regular battle, my actions would look like this, maybe:

Provoke
Kurayami
Hojo

I've been told Jubaku is the best enfeeb ninjitsu to use. Have you had different experiences with it and thats why you dont use it? I'm really trying to understand what the best enfeebs to use are since I'm about to be able to use jubaku and trying to develop a gameplan for 30-37.

Thanks

[little ninja]

Originally posted by Tifa
Your problem is just that you need to cast ichi over your last shadow of Ni. When 3 of your 4 shadows are gone, start casting Ichi, then immediately press the " + " key twice and get the cursor on your Utsusemi icon. When your Ichi casting time gets to around 50%, click off your last shadow of utsusemi. When the Ichi timer get to 80%, you'll have 3 new shadows.

the problem with this is sometimes ichi isnt first. so the time it takes you to get to the icon. you passed the time frame to actually pull this off sucessful. the other problem i find with this. if you dont click it at just the right time. you are actually deleting your cast. so now your wasted your last ni, an you just deleted ichi. your now a sitting duck if ni isnt up yet. an the third problem, is you clicked off your 4th shadow, an the mob hit you. thus interupting the cast. if you ask me. its not worth the time or effort.

there is a couple reasons why i dont cast jubaku in an exp pt. 1. its ichi so the timer on it is really slow. an there is alot of other things i could be doing. 2. i find evan with capped ninjitsu, af helmet, an ninjitsu torque. it is the most resisted spell i cast. plus when it does stick i notice the mob never is paralyzed. plus with the way i tank nowadays. the mob being paralyzed thows off the way i tank.

[nsxtasy]

Originally posted by little ninja

depending on your lvl haste gear macroed in as well as a whm's haste will definately help out the casting of ichi.

Haste has NOTHING to do w/ how fast you cast. It lowers your recast timer.

About Ninjitsu Debuffs. I ALWAYS cast Jubaku. Its usually my first debuff I cast, then slow, then blind if I've evaded any of the first swings from the mob.
Jubaku is priceless and you should always try and stick it. It also has a pretty quick recast time due to it being an Ichi spell. So if the first try doesn't go, you have a second try at it ready by the time you get Hojo, Kurayami, and Utsusemi recast. A good idea is to cast Jubaku right after you refresh Utsusemi due to long cast time on Ichi.

You should also get good at cancelling your shadows while you are casting Ichi. To not be proficient at this skill makes you a sub-par ninja.
The idea is to cancel your shadow at the 50% casting mark. Oftentimes even if the mobs swing right after you cancel, there is a delay and it will hit a shadow that you just cancelled. This happens to me more than I've ever been hit from cancelling a shadow.

Start the fight w/ Ni, count you shadows, after the 3rd shadow, start casting ichi halfway between the mob's swings. When the mob swings for your 4th shadow you are trying to be at about 30% cast. One of two things will happen then. You'll either lose your shadow and maybe cancel protect on accident, or you cancel your shadows at ~50% and the Ichi cast goes off.

That is the proper way to transfer Ni -> Ichi -> Ni. Absolutely essential skill for a ninja. Not to mention it gathers a little bit more hate each Uts cast. If you can't make the Ni->Ichi transfer you can't tank the big stuff later in the game.

If mobs aren't stripping your shadows fast, always know your Ni recast timer so you can go Ni->Ni whenever possible.

[Omni]

Originally posted by little ninja
the problem with this is sometimes ichi isnt first. so the time it takes you to get to the icon. you passed the time frame to actually pull this off sucessful. the other problem i find with this. if you dont click it at just the right time. you are actually deleting your cast. so now your wasted your last ni, an you just deleted ichi. your now a sitting duck if ni isnt up yet. an the third problem, is you clicked off your 4th shadow, an the mob hit you. thus interupting the cast. if you ask me. its not worth the time or effort.

there is a couple reasons why i dont cast jubaku in an exp pt. 1. its ichi so the timer on it is really slow. an there is alot of other things i could be doing. 2. i find evan with capped ninjitsu, af helmet, an ninjitsu torque. it is the most resisted spell i cast. plus when it does stick i notice the mob never is paralyzed. plus with the way i tank nowadays. the mob being paralyzed thows off the way i tank.

if you delete your ichi cast when trying to cancel out ni, it is b/c you hit it too late and/or hit it more than once.

when casting ichi on ur 3rd ni shadow, time it so you start ur cast in the middle of the mob's atk cycle. bring up your status buff cursor and put it over and when he atks you next you will be already starting ur ichi cast (20-30%), if he hands the hit and takes ur shadow, just cancel out of our status buff cursor. if he misses you, hit enter once. u need to cancel before ~60% or you will be cancelling too late and ichi will cast on top of ni and have a no effect.

[Tifa]

Originally posted by Prince Caspian
I've been told Jubaku is the best enfeeb ninjitsu to use. Have you had different experiences with it and thats why you dont use it? I'm really trying to understand what the best enfeebs to use are since I'm about to be able to use jubaku and trying to develop a gameplan for 30-37.

Thanks

Jubaku IS a very good enfeeble- I used it a lot in pre-60 exp parties. As far as its effectiveness, well it's much more potent than say, a RDM's paralyze spell. I don't cast it anymore because its not worth its casting time at level 75 (and in my experience, in most parties past level 60 where a skillchain + MB basically ends the battle.) It's a 4 second cast, and I can probably attack 2 rounds of swings in that time.

The other thing I've noticed with Jubaku is that although its potency (chance of actually paralyzing the enemy) is very strong, its duration is quite short. While Hojo and Kurayami will easily last longer than the length of an average fight, Jubaku always seemed to wear off about halfway through for me. I wonder if I'm the only one this ever happened to.

the problem with this is sometimes ichi isnt first. so the time it takes you to get to the icon. you passed the time frame to actually pull this off sucessful. the other problem i find with this. if you dont click it at just the right time. you are actually deleting your cast. so now your wasted your last ni, an you just deleted ichi. your now a sitting duck if ni isnt up yet. an the third problem, is you clicked off your 4th shadow, an the mob hit you. thus interupting the cast. if you ask me. its not worth the time or effort.

there is a couple reasons why i dont cast jubaku in an exp pt. 1. its ichi so the timer on it is really slow. an there is alot of other things i could be doing. 2. i find evan with capped ninjitsu, af helmet, an ninjitsu torque. it is the most resisted spell i cast. plus when it does stick i notice the mob never is paralyzed. plus with the way i tank nowadays. the mob being paralyzed thows off the way i tank.

If you're cancelling Ichi, then yeah, like the above poster said, you're clicking your last Ni off too late. And as far as positioning the cursor over the Utsu icon- it's really not that difficult. Hit your Utsu:Ichi macro, then immediately press + twice, and the arrow keys left or right to get on the utsu icon. You've got about 2 seconds to do it, which should be plenty of opportunity. Also, your game "remembers" where your cursor last was- so if you place your cursor over the Utsu icon once, it will be there every time, from that point on, and you shouldn't have to move it left or right at all. The only icon that shows up to the left of the utsu icon is Haste, which if is not ALWAYS on you, you may want to talk with your WHM or RDM about that. And if a mob casts a debuff or a malignant status on you, that icon will go to the left of the utsu icon as well (pushing everything over to the right). I think I've gone on too long about this, but you don't need to be EXPing to practice this. Just cast ni in jeuno, then cast ichi and try to nail the timing down.

[little ninja]

i think its funny how you calim, your a sub par ninja if you dont use this method. it is something nice to know an use. yet i can tank perfectly fine without doing it. ive seen weird things happen in 72 lvls of tanking. like only using ichi to tank a torama. only using 2 ni's to tank a lizard. ive had mobs take out all 7 shadows, an i was still 15 secs away from ni coming back up.

thats the wonder of ninja. we are not tied down to one way of playing the job. the pld is nothing but cures, an abilities. they aim there gear at hp def, an vit. they stuck in exp pts with 1 sub war. the ninja is the complete oppisite. we hold hate in alot of different ways. spamming shurikens, ele wheel, debuffs. abilites. our gear selection is vast. atk, evasive, haste. we can go a number of ways an still be effective tanks, we are not only stuck with war sub jobs, we can also tank as a /blm. the point is that everyone plays ninja a certain way. an th eonly way to be playing it wrong is to be playing it cheap, an cutting the corners.

i find jubaku to be a waste of my cast time. id much rather throw out a different enfeeble. or just throw 3 shurikens in the time it takes to cast it. but hey thats just me. i know for my experience that even when it landed. there were alot of times when i never saw it kick in.

[Omni]

huh? whos claiming what? :confused: