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Weapon Skills are special attacks specific to the type of equipment you’re using. Be
aware that when you switch a weapon class (from Katana to Dagger, for example) you
lose your ability to perform Katana Weapon Skills but gain the Dagger Skills. I
recommend keeping at least one weapon of a different class on hand in your inventory
just so you have some choice in what Weapon Skills you employ while fighting, because
like everything else, some monsters are more naturally resistant to one type of weapon
than others. They have hard skin, they fly, they slither and have high evasion, ect. This is
also useful against different types of enemies because some types of Weapon Skills, such
as the Sword’s Fast Blade do purely physical damage while others, like Burning Blade,
also deal magical and/or elemental damage. Some enemies, naturally, are more resistant
to magic than others so decide which skill to use in a given situation based on that.
Katanas have two fewer skills than other weapon classes and this is their greatest
weakness. Dual Wield, however, makes up for that when fighting all but the toughest of
monsters.
So which skill to use? When you first learn a new Weapon Skill, the damage you deal will
be lower than your previous Skill, because the damage dealt is based on experience, i.e.
the more you use a Skill the better you get at it. Once you’ve learned a new skill, go and
battle some easy monsters until you are doing the same amount of damage that your
previous Skill gives you. You will have to use the skill about 30 times before you are
doing the same damage as your highest-level skill, and while it may sound like a lot of
extra work, DO IT. You will thank yourself later in the game when you are fighting NMs
and tough linking monsters on a regular basis. Keep all your skills roughly even, but
usually going through the game you will find a favorite and stick with it. My personal
favorite for the Katana is Blade: Retsu, which is the second skill you can learn. I find it to
the most useful and the best at dealing fatal blows, but everyone will have their own
preference.
In battle with difficult targets, always use the ability that deals the MOST damage or uses
the specific element that will injure your target most. Think ahead and wait until your TP
meter is at least 200% (unless you’re about to die.) Try to wait until the monster has little
to no life left and your Weapon Skill will be the killing blow.
Breath, time it correctly and let ‘em have it with both barrels. Or blades…or fists…you get
the idea!

Skill Level Weapon Skill Effect
10 Blade: Rin A chance to deal a critical hit. Your odds rise depending
on how full your TP meter is.
30 Blade: Retsu A double attack (two strikes) that paralyzes the target.
The duration of paralysis varies depending on your TP
meter.
70 Blade: Teki Deals water damage that varies depending on your TP
meter.
100 Blade: To Deals ice damage that varies depending on your TP
meter.
150 Blade: Chi A double attack that deals earth damage. The damage
varies depending on your TP meter.

Katanas are the Ninja’s weapon and are covered in-depth here, but there are weapons
available in all the other high-rated classes for the Ninja at nearly every level, so personal
preference plays some role in the choice of your weapon for the game. However, I
generally suggest to new players subbing a Ninja job that they stick with the weapons
recommended for their class because it is a natural fit and you don’t have to keep track of
a bunch of different weapons and Weapon Skills. With Katanas as your highest-rated
weapon skill level, the order should then be Hand-to-Hand, Throwing and Dagger.
Level Weapon Damage Delay Info
1 Kunai 4 190 Kunai is the basic Ninja weapon with low
damage and a low delay.
1 Kunai +1 5 185 Rare to find at auction, the Kunai +1 delivers
one extra damage point and a lower delay
than any other Katana. Well worth the gil if
you can get one.
7 Wakizashi 8 227 The next step up with double the damage of
the Kunai. When you hit Level 7, purchase a
Wakizashi ASAP. Your damage dealt will
increase tenfold.
7 Wakizashi
+1
9 222 The extra damage point is nice, but the delay
isn’t significantly lower. This +1 weapon isn’t
worth the money. If you find it, however,
extra power is always a bonus.
13 Shinobigatana
11 227 You won’t find a weapon with a low delay
again until Lvl. 19, so use the Shinobigatana’s
high damage wisely and don’t get in
over your head during combat.
13 Shinobigatana
+1
12 222 This time around, you may want to invest in
the +1 weapon if you want to level quickly
and focus primarily on missions and combat.
Otherwise, stick it out until Lvl. 16 with the
Shinobi-gatana.
16 Mokuto 11 232 Just isn’t worth it—the delay is high and
damage is exactly the same as the Shinobigatana.
Either invest in the +1 weapon for
Lvl. 16 or wait and fight enemies of a lower
difficulty until you can upgrade Lvl. 16 is an
excellent time to investigate a different
weapons class and build your skills.
16 Mokuto +1 12 227 This weapon is redundant if you have the
Shinobi-gatana +1. Wait until Level 19 or
develop your skills with another Weapons
class.
19 Suzume 11 190 The Suzume only deals light damage, but it’s
fast. Very, very fast. Highly recommended
for the Ninja, it enables you to kill enemies
more quickly and to level faster from this
point on, when XP becomes harder to get.
26 Busuto 16 232 Levelling into the 20’s is hard, so think of the
Busuto as your reward. Slow, yes, but the
ability to hack massive chunks off of a
target’s life with a single blow more than
makes up for it. Make sure your Sword skill
is as high as it can be, or you won’t get the
full benefits of the Busuto’s awesome power.
26 Busuto +1 17 227 The +1 weapon at this level is purely a matter
of taste—the extra point of damage may
actually start to make a difference, but only if
your Sword skill is high enough. The delay
being lower may make it a bit more efficient
to kill enemies, but if you want the high-XP
targets it will take you a while anyway. If you
have spare gil lying around go for it, if not,
don’t bother.
32 Kodachi 19 227 Here at last is a weapon worth working
towards. The Kodachi is fast and powerful,
and by now you should be able to deal large
amounts of damage with a simple sword
blow.
32 Kodachi +1 20 222 Once you hit DMG 20 or higher with a
weapon, you’ll always hurt what you’re
fighting, no matter how tough. Depending on
how fast you are advancing towards quests
for relic armor and to battling Maat, you may
want to invest in the +1 Kodachi
41 Bokuto 23 232 This is one weapon where the delay doesn’t
matter too much because of the high
damage. At this stage of the game you
should be upgrading your weapons and
equipment every chance you get.
41 Bokuto +1 24 227 Definitely worth it for the increased speed, but
Bokuto +1 can be expensive.
43 Sakurafubuki 24 227 Redundant with the Bokuto +1. Only upgrade
if you don’t have the +1 weapon.
43 Sakurafubuki
+1
25 222 Faster weapon than has been available in
some time. Save up and buy this one.
46 Yoto 25 232 Only purchase if you do not have the
Sakurafubuki +1, and watch out for the
significant delay.
46 Yoto +1 26 227 You have reached the stage where all +1
weapons are better than standard weapons.
Always purchase them if you can.
47 Hien 21 190 Blazing fast speed offsets low damage. Just
be careful of what battles you get into with the
Hien’s low damage if you are soloing.

This section covers the Katanas that are available to a Ninja. Please note that there is a
difference between Great Katanas and Katanas—Great Katanas are designed for
Samurai and have a low rating and skill cap for Ninjas, while Katanas are specifically
designed for Ninjas and their unique abilities. Ninjas are also highly rated in Throwing,
Hand to Hand and Dagger class weapons. There are level gaps with Katanas at many
points throughout the game, and to keep yourself sharp and versatile you will want to level
at least one other class of weapon to be able to access its Weapon Skills and have the
option to use different equipment after Level 40, when you cannot afford to keep a single
weapon over 4-5 levels and will need to upgrade much more frequently. Ninjas have an
A- in Throwing, able to use Shuriken, miscellaneous thrown items or beast-made items
and Grenades so at the gap after the Kunai Level 1 chose a Throwing weapon (about
your only choice here will be the Bomb Arm, which drops in Dangruf Wadi in South
Gustaberg) and level that until you reach Level 7 and can equip the Wakizashi again.
There is another gap here until Level 13 and you will want to level Hand to Hand because
the Hand to Hand weapons at this stage will be dealing more damage than the Wakizashi.
Ninjas can only use Baghnakhs and Claws, so I suggest the Hydro Baghnakhs as an
excellent choice to level with at Level 11. Alternately, if you save up your conquest points
you can purchase the Freesword’s Baghnaks from the gate guards, which are the best
weapon to use for Hand to Hand between Level 10 and Level 13. Leveling your Dagger
skill is a bit harder to decide, because after Level 13 the gaps in Katanas you may equip
become very short until Level 19, which is where I definitely suggest levelling your Dagger
skill because after Level 20 the game in general becomes much more difficult and
levelling is a lot slower. After you have used the Suzume, when you reach Level 20 you
will be without a Katana until the Busuto at 26, during which time you should use the
Mercenary’s Knife if you are after high damage and then upgrade to the Poison Dagger
and then the Poison Kukri or the Parrying Knife. Ninjas can use Kukris, Knives and
Daggers.
Since Katanas are specifically designed for Ninjas and can be wielded two at a time with
your Dual Wield ability, use them when you have the opportunity, especially at higher
levels. Who wouldn’t want to double their damage when fighting? Ninjas also have a
wide range of choices in Dagger-class weapons and to a lesser degree Hand-to-Hand and
Sword.
Axes, Staves and Clubs are NOT recommended for Ninjas, as they are graded very low in
all three. The high delay on most of these weapons is unsuitable for the Ninja’s fast
attack style and since your role in a party is usually not primary damage dealer, they will
not be extremely useful to you in a party situation. You want bladed weapons, thrown
weapons or bare fists—such is the way of the Ninja.

Spells for the Ninja are known as Ninjitsu and unlike Mage-class spells, which require only
MP, Ninjitsu requires two elements—a scroll to learn the spell initially and a Powder for
each use (i.e. if you want to cast the same spell three times you’ll need three of the same
Powder.) Chose carefully which spells to learn and which to use, and practice casting
them at least three times on an easy target to take your failure/interruption rate down into
an acceptable range. Make sure that your MND attribute is high and consider using a
Hairpin such as the Copper, Bronze or Bone Hairpin to increase this stat if you are inbetween
your Ninja-specific headgear. Mistakes can be expensive and no one wants to
run all the way back to the nearest AH to buy more Powder when a spell doesn’t work.
In general, enfeebling spells such as Hojo, Dokumori or Jubaku will take you further than
elemental damage spells, which take down a lot of HP at once and in long battles can
become wasteful because you must cast them multiple times. Also, many monsters have
specific strengths/weaknesses, particularly in areas that are all sand, like the Valkurm
Dunes, or all water, like the Korrolaka Tunnel, and keeping track of various immunities
and weaknesses is pretty much impossible for the average human brain. In general, the
rule in all Final Fantasy game, not just XI, is that the opposite element of the monster’s
area will hurt them the most. Fire hurts ice/water, lightning against water, light against
dark, ect. If you are soloing, use your enfeebling spells before your elemental spells,
because the steady drain on an enemy’s HP will end the battle and you will lose less of
your own life.
Ninjitsu is different from mage magic in that it has a number of “double-sided” spells that
deal a specific elemental damage to an enemy while at the same time lowering resistance
in another area to enable you to cast a follow-up spell that will deal more damage.
Memorize which of these spells deals which type of elemental damage, i.e. if you cast a
spell that deals wind damage and lowers resistance to earth you will then want to cast a
spell that deals earth damage. This technique is very useful for defeating powerful
targets, NM’s or Maat.
A special discussion of Utsusemi and the Ninja’s elemental spells follows in the next
section.

Utsusemi is your single most useful Ninjitsu spell. Giving you the ability to conjure
shadow copies of your character to absorb damage instead of your player, it is essential
to learn and use both Utsusemi Ichi and Ni. A few important things to be aware of before
using this spell are that Utsusemi: Ichi grants you four shadow that can absorb one attack
each but Utsusemi: Ni grants you only one which can absorb more than one attack,
depending on the ferocity of your target. Also, Ichi cannot cancel out Ni if cast on top of it,
but Ni can cancel out Ichi. Some monster attacks, such as Jet Stream and Whirl of Rage
will instantly kill all of your shadows and leave you vulnerable once again. AOE magic will
also remove all of your shadows. If you can, always cast Utsusemi BEFORE engaging a
monster. When fighting Maat this will not work, because once you enter the arena all of
your buffs are negated. For combat with NMs, however, this works very well. If you are
fighting weaker monsters I suggest saving your strength and going for Utsusemi: Ichi,
while NM’s, Maat and monsters after Level 50 will be better served by Utsusemi: Ni.
For the double-sided Ninjitsu spells, which do double duty in the fact that they deal
elemental damage with one side while lowering a target’s resistance to another element,
there is a specific order they must be cast in to do the maximum damage. These spells
will only work on monsters who are not strong against particular elements, so before
casting willy-nilly read the Levelling chapter in the guide to find out which monsters are
particularly sensitive to what element. Also, this sequence of spells is expensive and
should be saved for NM’s and monsters after about Level 40, when you will want to begin
doing hard damage to prevent linking. To deal the maximum damage the order of spells
to cast is (Ichi or Ni):
Suiton
Raiton
Doton
Huton
Hyton
Katon
You can cast either the Ichi or Ni versions of all of these spells, but Ni will generally do
more damage than Ichi.
Spell Name Level Powder Effect
Tonko: Ichi 9 Shinobi-Tabi Lowers the chance of an enemy detecting you
by sight. Smell and sound still apply, so tread
carefully.
Utsusemi: Ichi 12 Shihei Creates a number of copies of your Ninja that
each absorbs one attack from an enemy. This
is one of the most useful spells in the Ninja
arsenal, and the one you’ll want to cast a lot to
raise your skill.
Suiton: Ichi 15 Mizu-Deppo Deals water damage and lowers the target’s
resistance to lightning-based attacks and spells.
Raiton: Ichi 15 Hiraishin Deals lightning damage and lowers the target’s
resistance to earth.
Doton: Ichi 15 Makibishi Deals earth damage and lowers the target’s
resistance to wind.
Huton: Ichi 15 Kawahori-Ogi Deals wind damage and lowers the target’s
resistance to ice.
Hyoton: Ichi 15 Tsurara Deals ice damage and lowers the target’s
resistance to fire.
Katon: Ichi 15 Uchitake Deals fire damage and lowers the target’s
resistance to water.
Kurayami: Ichi 19 Sairui-Ran Blinds the target. Blinding is most useful for
close physical combat when you need to lower
an enemy’s accuracy to conserve HP.
Hojo: Ichi 23 Kaginawa Reduces a target’s attack speed. Similar to the
white magic Slow, but without the high MP cost.
Dokumori: Ichi 27 Kodoku Poisons a target. Poisons and other spells that
slowly take down the target’s HP are most
useful when cast before or just after beginning
your attack. Timing is everything, and it can
give you a real edge.
Jubaku: Ichi 30 Jyusatsu Paralyzes a target. Paralyzing spells are most
useful when you primarily plan to defeat the
enemy with your weapons, enabling you to often
get two attacks in to an enemy’s one.
Tonko: Ni 34 Shinobi-Tabi The first of the “Ni” or “second” spells, Tonko: Ni
also lessens your chance of enemies detecting
you by sight, but to a much greater degree than
Tonko: Ichi
Utsusemi: Ni 37 Shihei Creates more shadow images, each of which
absorb one attack for you.
Katon: Ni 40 Uchitake Deals fire damage and lowers the target’s
resistance to water.
Suiton: Ni 40 Mizu-Deppo Deals water damage and lowers the target’s
resistance to lightning-based attacks and spells.
Raiton : Ni 40 Hiraishin Deals lightening damage and lowers the target’s
resistance to earth.
Doton : Ni 40 Makibishi Deals earth damage and lowers the target’s
resistance to wind.
Huton : Ni 40 Kawahori-Ogi Deals wind damage and lowers the target’s
resistance to ice.
Hyton : Ni 40 Tsurara Deals ice damage and lowers the target’s
resistance to fire.
Kurayami: Ni 44 Sairui-Ran Blinds an enemy. The target’s accuracy will be
significantly lowered.
Hojo: Ni 48 Kaginawa Reduces a target’s attack speed significantly.

Job Trait                                       Level                                                  Effect
STEALTH                                       5                                               Lowers your chances of
                                                                                                          being spotted by enemies.
DUAL WIELD I                             10                                              Allows your Ninja to wield
                                                                                                          two weapons. You will do
                                                                                                          less damage at this stage.
RESIST BIND I                            10                                              Raises your resistance to
                                                                                                          the black magic Bind ever
                                                                                                          so slightly.
DUAL WIELD II                            25                                              Lowers the combined delay
                                                                                                          of using two weapons by
                                                                                                         15%.
RESIST BIND II                           30                                              Increases your resistance to
                                                                                                          Bind significantly.
DUAL WIELD III                          45                                               Lowers the combined delay
                                                                                                          of using two weapons by
                                                                                                          25%.
RESIST BIND III                         50                                               You are virtually immune to
                                                                                                          the spell Bind.

Job Traits are passive abilities that are automatically activated once you reach the
required Level. The Ninja’s Dual Wield is the single most useful trait in the game and you
will come to find yourself relying on it more and more as you advance. Stealth, the first
Trait you acquire, is also useful because getting attacked when you’re healing or traveling
is just plain annoying, and it can cost you large amounts of XP if you are KO’ed. Resist
Bind is a magic resistance Trait that isn’t really a huge bonus unless you’re facing off
against enemies who like to cast bind and then attack from afar with pure magic spells.
This mostly happens later in the game as you are questing for your Artifacts and Relic.
Even if you’re under the effects of Bind, if your target is within striking distance you can
still attack. However, Resist Bind DOES come in handy when you are facing monsters
that have linked and are attack you, and you can’t run. There are really no better or worse
Job Traits for the Ninja, speaking to the job’s versatility and overall ease of play. Dual
Wield will save you many times, but Stealth will as well and Resist Bind will eliminate a lot
of hassle once you get past Lvl. 50.
Below is a comprehensive list of all Ninja job abilities and their effects on your character.

JOB ABILITIES are manually triggered attacks unique to your character class. Unlike
Weapon Skills, equipment doesn’t matter—you just have to be a Ninja to use this skill.
While most classes have two or more Job Abilities, the Ninja possesses only one, but it’s
quite powerful. Be aware of when and why you uses your Job Ability—the refresh time is
2 REAL TIME HOURS, so when you do use it against an enemy, make it count and don’t
throw it away on an easy monster. Make sure that your Ninja job ability will KILL your
enemy, not merely deal high damage. Otherwise, you’re going to look awfully silly lying
there waiting for a raise while your target jaunts off to prey on other players, depriving you
of the experience, gil and items. Timing is truly essential, and the best way I can describe
how to time using Minjin Gakure is wait until you can’t hold out any longer, and then wait a
little more. Your target should have NO MORE than 1/3 of its life left, and in the case of
NM’s or Named creatures, it’s more like ¼. This is not to imply that Minjin Gakure is in
any way inferior or less useful than other Job Abilities—in fact, it’s my personal favorite
and by far the best for getting you out of a sticky situation with a difficult monster.
The only downside is that Minjin Gakure is best used in a party situation and when soloing
you’ll probably be better off using the Job Abilities from your initial Job, unless you have a
scroll of Reraise or are in a heavily trafficked area. Scrolls of Reraise can be obtained
from gate guards in all cities for 750 Conquest Points. ALWAYS have at least one on you
for unforeseen emergencies.

MINJIN GAKURE       LVL. 1 TIME: 2 Hours           Deals extreme damage to an enemy,
                                                                                       but also kills you. You lose no XP
                                                                                       for dying using Minjin Gakure, but
                                                                                       you’ll reappear at your home point.
                                                                                       Best used in parties with WHM for a
                                                                                       Raise.