Part 85: Hidden Arts: Ninja, Sniper, Elementalist

Hidden Arts: Ninja, Sniper, Elementalist (Job Roundup #8)

Today's job roundup look at some condition-focused jobs with an air of the mysterious and mystical.

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Ninja



Races: Hume
Locked by: 4 Thief
Unlocks: Nothing

Equipment:
- Weapons: Katana
- Armor: Light armor

Growths: Best Hume speed, great weapon attack.

Ninjas are a standout job. Their stat growths are amazing, or at least the 2 that matter are. 90% speed growth. 90%. The average across all jobs is around 57%. Their innate job stats, like Evasion and Resistance, are also higher than most other jobs'. Most importantly, they can learn Dual Wield, which lets them wield two one-handed weapons at once. It's an incredibly powerful ability and basically every Hume should learn it. Yes, even mages, because the Heretic Rod gives +20 M.POW and is a one-handed weapon. (Though mages may also like Half MP or Geomancy.)

Unfortuantely, Ninjas aren't much outside of their speed and Dual Wield. Their A-Abilities, called Veils, do minimal damage -- usually single digits, maybe as high as 15 if you're lucky. They can inflict status conditions, but those have been nerfed hard. The time and MP you waste casting one is better spent getting close enough for Dual Wield to be useful. On the bright side, katanas have pretty fine stats, and it's quite easy to get the rare ones from auctions.

Overall, I highly recommend Ninjas, at the very least to get some Speed growths and Dual Wield.

Have fun getting 4 Thief abilities though.

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Sniper



Races: Viera
Locked by: 2 Archer
Unlocks:
- 1 Ability: Assassin (+2 Elementalist and a quest)

Equipment:
- Weapons: Greatbows
- Armor: Light Armor

Growths: Top-tier W.ATK, average everything else.

For a race that has two jobs so powerful that they break the game wide open, every other job is going to look a little pale in comparison. Sniper is a solid, useful job, similar to the hume/gria Hunter but actually good. They can inflict Doom and Poison from across the map, shoot two arrows at once, and destroy enemies' weapons and armor -- all great abilities! Their speed is a little low, but then again, any Nu Mou would kill to have 59% speed growth.

Snipers and Spellblades work really well together, because the latter's skill set uses the equipped weapon for range and damage. This means even more conditions from across the map! Sniper is a really good choice that unfortunately gets a bit overshadowed by Assassin.

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Elementalist



Races: Viera
Locked By: 2 White Mage
Unlocks:
- 2 Abilities: Summoner, Assassin (+1 Sniper and a quest)

Equipment:
- Weapons: Rapiers
- Armor: Light Armor

Growths: Top-tier M.POW, average everything else, nu mou-tier speed growth.

There's a lot of spells in this game that do some damage and inflict a condition, and Elementalist is the master of them. The Elementalist spell list covers the gamut of conditions, with Slow, Disable and Immobilize standing out. Even better, their spells deal Fire, Thunder, Water, Wind, Earth and Dark, allowing them to hit a lot of common weaknesses. Water especially shows up a lot as a weakness, considering how rare of a damage type it is. They also come with two nice healing spells.

The only thing holding Elementalist back from being the best mid-tier Viera job is their low speed growth. They make up for it with exemplary M.POW and good (for Viera) growths in everything else. You really can't go wrong with an Elementalist on your team. Their spells are solid single-target damage, and the conditions trigger often enough to be useful. Like the Green and Red Mages, Elementalists are obsoleted by later Viera jobs, but their skill set works as a great secondary for Summoners, Spellblades and Assassins.