EO3/Ninja/Subclasses

This page has information about subclasses for the Ninja class in Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City.

The information on this page is subjective and is an informational guide rather than factual advice

Arbalist

• Use Smoke Grenade to blind the enemies and reduce the odds of the Ninja (or the rest of the party in general) from getting hit.
  
  

Buccaneer

Ninja/Buccaneer turns the Ninja's astounding speed into a great asset, delivering flurries of blows to mobs and bosses alike. As the essential skills require hefty investment in two weapon masteries, it leaves few skill points to spare for the rest of either skill tree.

• The Ninja's high AGI stat allows for high damage when using Pincushion.
• Swashbuckling can be used to increase the activation rate of Kubikiri/Beheading with additional normal attacks.
  
  

Farmer

• Level 1 Double Crop with Level 10 Keburi No Sue/Mystic Calm allows for 1 chop/mine/gather action to be recovered for 1 TP. In case of a gathering ambush, Ninjas are still far better combatants than Farmers.
  
  

Gladiator

The Ninja/Gladiator combo is taken to maximize physical damage output, usually to make the most of the Tagen Battou setup.

• A solo Ninja with five clones created using Bunshin/Ninpo: Double can use Berserker Vow and Charge to further increase the damage dealt when using Tagen Battou/Drawing Slice.
  
  

Hoplite

As shield skills are not stat-dependent, Ninja/Hoplites are equally competent at deploying cost-efficient defensive skills, though are way more fragile even with the help of a shield.

• A clone created with Bunshin/Ninpo: Double can use Line Guard with the original Ninja to protect both front and back rows together.
• Clones created with Bunshin can use Anti-element skills with the original Ninja to protect the party against two types of elemental damage to eliminate guesswork.
• Senpuku/Concealment with Otori/Provoke, Parry and Magic Parry can be used to direct all enemy attacks to the Ninja with higher evasion than a Hoplite. This can be a risky maneuver, as any hit that the Ninja fails to block or dodge can be near-fatal.
  
  

Monk

This Ninja can endlessly replace Bunshin/Ninpo: Double clones and Kagerou/Ninpo: Mirage shadows, so they can be allowed to die off as expendable weapons and distractions. Each clone death triggers a cascade of passives:

1. Nikudan/Revenge Bomb damages the killer.
2. Ascetic Reward heals surviving teammates.
3. Everyone with Blood Return recovers TP, including all surviving copies. This supplies them TP to replace the dead clone with a new one, forming a loop.

• Keep a "mother" copy safe on the back line by using Kumogakure/Ninpo: Smoke and by recovering HP with Ascetic Deeds.
• Can also Resurrect regular teammates endlessly, and has enough TEC for Healing skills.
  
  

Prince/Princess

As buffs are not stat-dependent, a Ninja/Sovereign can deploy cheap buffs across the party thanks to Keburi No Sue/Mystic Calm - for instance, Attack Order at maximum strength goes from costing 16 to 7 TP (more than halving its cost), and Prevent Order at level 1 goes from costing 12 TP to 3 TP, sparing you from investing skill points to reduce its cost.

• With a clone created with Bunshin/Ninpo: Double, you can deploy order buffs across the entire party in one go. Combine Negotiation healing with the TP recovery from Nobility Proof to recuperate the costs of cloning.
• The Ninja's above-average TEC also makes for decent regeneration with Protect Order.
  
  

Zodiac

The Ninja/Zodiac battery is well known for bypassing the TP management challenge that often limits the extent of expedition. At maximum investment in the class passive and Dark Ether, you can allow the other party members to use their skills for free all at the cost of 1TP from the Ninja. Note that this peters out by the end/post-game where TP management is more convenient and you need to make the most of all your party members.

• Keburi No Sue/Mystic Calm with Dark Ether can be used to eliminate TP expended by a single line, all for 1 TP from the Ninja. Double up with a Clone to grant free skills for the entire party.
• The Ninja's own TEC can make for reasonable damage from the Zodiac's Star skills.
  
  

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Shogun

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• Endure can be used to increase the survivability of the Ninja
• Copies created with Kagerou/Ninpo: Mirage or clones created with Bunshin/Ninpo Double that are killed by Kaishaku/Execution will activate Bloody Lance.
  
  
  

Yggdroid

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• Yggdroid can not be set as a subclass in Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City