Autumn Leaf Cat Card awkward for Ninjas

[Poofy]

So the main things I consistently play are almost strictly extended classes (Gunslinger, Ninja, Super Novice and Taekwon classes) so it's really nice to see the small adjustments they've gotten through items, cards and what not here.

What I was curious on is the Autumn Leaf Cat Card and how it felt like it had a hole in what it covered. It seems its purpose is to give damage to builds that have over time been seen as non-optimal no matter what you try (Ninjas and Gunslingers in general, Esma Linkers) so I thought it was a little strange... it seems to give damage to Throw Kunai but not Throw Huuma Shuriken? Throw Zeny is one thing given it can be its own build and has a separate card, but Throw Kunai and Throw Huuma feel like they go hand in hand in what is janky Ninja builds. It feels bad hunting one for a Ninja to get the Throw Kunai effect for the build but not having any effect for the primary skill which is generally considered worse and needs it more. (Given it has a cast time, spreads it's damage amongst a mob making it terrible for AoE, Kunai being ASPD based, etc) What if it gave 10-25% bonus damage to Throw Huuma Shuriken, whatever tested out to feel the best?

Just my two cents really, maybe there's some sort of balancing going on where this could be considered too much (which I highly doubt) or maybe no one has bothered making a non-zeny throwing Ninja since the cards inception and it didn't bug them but it just feels weird to have it that way to me.

[GM-Ciar]

I'm not sure why Autumn Leaf Cat Card never gave a boost to Throw Huuma Shuriken, but I'm ever-working on new fields/dungeons/etc, which includes gear and cards. I'll keep in mind Ninjas' and other classes' skills that could use some help.

[Summerstream]

From what I saw, for GS and Ninja, the GM who made the card picked one skill from each "tree".

For ninjas, ALC buffed fire blossom (magic), throw kunai (throwing) and final strike (melee). I need to get a couple more earrings and cards for my esma linker so I don't have to borrow a friend's for ToH.

My ninja is wind tree focus, with ice spears and exploding dragon to help with versatility. I tested last night, and I saw I could get insta-cast with my dex ashura/armor and my ramen hat with sapling bradium earrings and devi pet buff. Damage was pretty nice, too. That being said, it would be nice to have some cards that apply to only ninjas (like aquaing and sapling). One of the reasons that ninjas don't see much use is due to them getting the short hand of the stick in MATK gear compared to stalkers. It's sorta been one of the things that have irked me.

That... And the baby and mid wind tree skills kinda suck. A lot. (First wind and lightning crash)

[Poofy]

From what I saw, for GS and Ninja, the GM who made the card picked one skill from each "tree".

Although there is some serious overlap with Gunslinger (Desperado and Fullbuster are pretty much always on PvP Gunslinger) and Soul Linker (All the skills that actually damage) when you say that I can see that's what the intention was. The Gunslinger effects all use different ideal weapons the skills were built for, so there's an absence of one weapon buff (Rapid Shower) but not another (Desperado). It is spread exactly across Ninja so that it helps a handful of things but not one thing twice.

I guess my reaction to the card mostly steams from it being an "answers just about everything for damage" for most Gunslingers and all Esma Linkers but a, doesn't answer the same amount for any particular Ninja. Despite that though, I feel a little better about it as a whole seeing what the intent was. It's a pretty wordy card so initially it felt like there was no thought or knowledge of the classes when it was put together, but it seems it just so landed that way but followed a theme despite that.

[Summerstream]

I don't play gunslingers, so I wouldn't know too much about them, but the little bit that I did read around the time of the Ninja vs GS events made me realize this.

But yes, I do agree that ninjas get the short end of the stick when it comes to this card. Aquaring does boost throw zeny, and the ALC affects throw kunai, but other than the calm mind fumma (unint. cast time for throwing fumma), there are no real boosts to the throwng tree for Ninjas. Throwing Humma Shiriken as a skill is quite lackluster unless you use a 3-4 slot humma for the skill. Don't get me wrong, I do agree with you here on the note that the throwing tree for ninjas is sorely neglected.

Alternatively, you could do swaps much like phen. Start casting with say... Quad dex giant wheel fumma, then to a calm mind fumma for the unint. cast, then to a damage fumma at the very end. But, all that swapping could get really annoying really fast. Anyways...

Regardless, even with a 99 str 80 dex remainder agi/vit build for a throwing ninja, throw fumma is extremely lackluster.

As for gears dealing with throwing builds, I would not mind seeing something like a humma that decreases cast time of humma chuck, or increases the damage of it.

Really random thought process, but I've at least done each of the builds for ninja at least once. Went from something like.. Magic to throwing, then to melee-FS, then to magic, where I am currently. I used a throwing build for leveling-- Used fire kunai and a fire fumma in moscovia dungeon. Finished it off BKing in nameless and in muspel parties at 50% tax.

[The Legendary Joe]

I usually try to go for more melee oriented ninjas with shadow slash as what I'd consider my main skill. I do throw in shuriken and kunai for more ranged options. Kunai's are affected by the % mods in your weapon, and with ALC, they can be quite damaging. Even in the rare instances where you can get bragi, watch that kunai spam flow.