Ninjitsu
Ninjitsu is useful for a variety of things: melee combat, stealth, and even transportation. Raising your skill level lets you use higher level abilities and increases their effectiveness.
To use ninja abilities you must have a book of ninjitsu. Books are available from the ninja trainer in Zento, and come complete with all of the abilities. For newer players in particular, the animal form spell can be very useful, as at higher skill levels it allows you to travel at mount speed without an actual mount. This is quite handy if you do not have access to an ethereal mount.
In addition to the abilities found in the book of ninjitsu, there are a variety of weapon abilities which are not usable unless you have ninjitsu (or bushido) skills, mainly those found in the ninja and samurai weapons.
The ninja abilities which are activated from the book of ninjitsu are described here. That guide is somewhat out of date, and there are significant differences on ABC:
Ninja abilities work with melee weapons only, and do not work if you are holding a shield.
Animal Form - Casting animal form will clear your hands of whatever you are holding, though you can re-wield. When in animal form, your swing speed is reduced and you cannot use weapon abilities or cast spells.
Death Strike - A death strike target is penalized for steps running away from the attacker, but steps toward a combatant (either the player's current combat target or the player who executed a death strike) are not damaging. Thus death strike behaves as it was originally intended, hurting those who run from a fight.
Shadowjump - Executing a shadowjump will clear your hands of whatever you are holding.
For training, here are the abilities you should use at each skill level:
20-35: Animal Form
35-55: Mirror Image
55-85: Shadowjump
85-115: Ki Attack
115-120: Death Strike
There are several other implements available to ninjas:
Smoke bombs and egg bombs - These are very convenient for hiding quickly.
Shuriken and ninja belts - Shuriken do little damage to players who wear armor, but are useful for distracting them. They must be held within a ninja belt before they can be used, and you must have a free hand to throw one. Note that shurikens on ABCUO cannot be poisoned.
Fukiya darts and fukiyas - Fukiya darts are similar to shuriken but with a different usable range. Fukiya darts cannot be poisoned.
|
