The rivalry between ninjas and pirates is nothing compared to the rivalry between paladins and ninjas in Final Fantasy XI. The two classes have been dueling for years over the space of "best party tank," and have regularly traded the position back and forth thanks to Square-Enix intervention.
However, it seems that with the new July update, the tank position may once again veering towards the hands of the ninja thanks to the job enhancement spotlight falling on the assassins from the east. July will be adding the new job ability "Yonin," which will increase a Ninja's enmity (hate gain, for other MMO players), critical strike rating, ninjutsu tool use and evasion, but lower their accuracy. Sounds like a tanking ability to us! (Except for perhaps that accuracy down part, but we'll look past that for now.)
The job will also grab the new ability "Innin," which drops their enmity and evasion but raises their critical strike, accuracy, and damage dealt with ninjutsu tools. Lastly, there's a fix going on the Ninja two hour cooldown ability, Mijin Gakure, which will allow the ninja to come back with 50% health and no weakness state after they sacrifice themselves by using this ability.
Interested in the full run down of the abilities? Check out the Final Fantasy XI website for all of the details of this job update.
Reader Comments (8)
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 5:14PM Dblade said
No real rivalry, paladin got buffed so absurdly that it is the premier tank. Ninja has been suffering for quite a bit, especially at endgame and mid-fifties EXP. This is a very modest boost in concept, until we see the amount of stat increases in play.
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 6:17PM Coldbrand said
Uh, Paladins and Ninjas don't really compete in FFXI, and at endgame events most Paladins after a certain point sub Ninja anyhow. I don't really think the author of this article is really familiar with the game, or was simply being lazy.
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 6:27PM Cendres said
Or maybe the author actually knows their FFXI history. A few years ago paladins became second rated tank and nobody wanted them preferring ninjas.
Paladins gets buffed so things equalize more and now I guess ninjas are hurting a bit... It's a constant give and take with SE it seems and their class balance.
Reply
Paladins gets buffed so things equalize more and now I guess ninjas are hurting a bit... It's a constant give and take with SE it seems and their class balance.
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 6:35PM Coldbrand said
If you're talking about people "wanting" tanks as long as we are discussing a time that ToAU has existed than tanks have been a moot point and totally 'unwanted'.
On the other hand! Paladins have been the choice tank for more or less ALL things endgame from the beginning of the game's history up until the present.
On the other hand! Paladins have been the choice tank for more or less ALL things endgame from the beginning of the game's history up until the present.
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 8:26PM Shinmaximus said
This is funny since SE never ment for ninjas to be tanks I guess due to the majority of players using them as tanks they are having a change of heart lol
Posted: Jul 6th 2009 11:44PM (Unverified) said
I wouldn't say pld was the choice for all things endgame from the beginning of the game. For awhile there a nin/drk was an exceptional endgame tank.
Posted: Jul 17th 2009 3:07PM (Unverified) said
Well.....
There was a while when many, many people preferred Ninja for both HNM and XP tanking. However, this isn't because NIN was better. In fact, PLD's been really amazing the whole time. SE kept buffing them, anyway, though. They seem to be one of their pet jobs, and SE won't rest until everyone plays them, I guess (others being SAM and to some degree BRD).
What really changed was the playership's understanding of the game. Remember back before anybody built for haste?
There was a while when many, many people preferred Ninja for both HNM and XP tanking. However, this isn't because NIN was better. In fact, PLD's been really amazing the whole time. SE kept buffing them, anyway, though. They seem to be one of their pet jobs, and SE won't rest until everyone plays them, I guess (others being SAM and to some degree BRD).
What really changed was the playership's understanding of the game. Remember back before anybody built for haste?







