Ninja: Guide to Ninja Tool Recipes and Saving Money
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Contents |
Introduction: why bother crafting?
Everyone knows that crafting just isn't that profitable any more, so what's the point? People ask me that all the time. The answer is: to save money. If you can synth your own Ninja tools you can save a few thousand gil easily. A quick review of FFXIAH.com shows that synthing a stack of each tool from ingredients bought directly from the AH could save you 10k. That includes the recipes that would make a loss! If you avoid those synths (wise) then you could save as much as 18k. And that's on just one stack of each. If you then consider farming the expensive items and getting ingredients from an NPC you save even more.
Some of you are now probably thinking, "Wow, I could actually make money selling this stuff!" That's true, but bear in mind that you'll be up against: a), RMT who'll drop the price to make a sale; and b), people with 100 skill running HQ3 for almost pure profit. Combine a) and b) and you already have problems. Also, note that the profit margins are also very slim in almost all cases. The savings only add up across the whole range of tools. Feel free to try though...
PLEASE NOTE
While I have done my best to check cross-server prices on ffxiah.com, nothing is set in stone; Prices go up and down. I suggest you carefully research all the costs involved in any synth before you commit to it. Even consider the cost of transport and teleports. It all adds up.
If, like me, the RMT make you sick and you'd rather make a slight loss than line their pockets, this might be less of a problem for you.
added 01/07/2009
I've noticed that the RMT trade seems to be concentrated in jeuno/aht urhgan auctions, so if u have decided (like me) to keep gil OUT of RMT hands, try making any of your tool purchases in one of the other auctions! IE: windurst walls, bastok mines ... etc. (Bahamut Server) PreyingMantra. I'd rather pay a tad more to get product from a burgeoning Craftaholic who is progressing in the game, than from some ... RMT :P
What do I need to do this?
The purpose of this guide is an overview, with hints on where to save even more money, it's not a step by step guide.
The following things are essential:
- Time
- Patience
- Access all areas (Airship, Kazham, Aht Urhgan, Chocobo License, Teleport Crystals)
- Know how to use regional merchants properly
- Know how to use ffxiah.com[1] to check prices
The following things would really help with farming materials:
- A highish level job (50+)
- Treasure Hunter
- As many outpost warps as you can
- An interest in Logging, Harvesting and/or Mining
To be able to synth all the tools you will ultimately need the following crafts at the following levels:
- Clothcraft: 41
- Woodwork: 39 (consider up to 45, but not required)
- Smithing: 23
- Goldsmithing: 31
- Alchemy: 37
- Cooking: 11
Cooking is used as a sub-craft in one synth. Bonecraft and Leathercraft are not used directly in any synth.
i agree
Where do I start?
Ninja tools break up into three groups: Enfeebling Tools, Elemental Tools and Buff Tools. If you want to focus on only one group you can avoid certain crafts. This is explained more below. All recipes yield x33 items, except Tsurara, which yields 10x.
Enfeebling Tools
The main craft for these tools is Alchemy. Cooking is need for one recipe and Clothcraft and Smithing for another. This is probably the group where you can save the most money.
Item Spell Craft (level) Crystal Ingredients Kaginawa Hojo Clothcraft (29) - Smithing (15)
Earth Bronze Ingot
Grass Thread
Manticore Hair
- This is a bit of an odd one out. Clothcraft is neither cheap nor easy to level and getting Smithing to 15 is also quite a grind. However, Clothcraft is the main craft in Buff Tools and if you level Smithing alongside Woodworking it's not so bad. As for the synth: if you farm your own Manticore Hair you can easily save money. You can also synth (in fact desynth) Grass Thread from Yagudo Necklaces. Bronze Ingots can be bought directly from the Smithing Guild in Bastok or you can buy the ingredients there and start Smithing!
Item Spell Craft (level) Crystal Ingredients Sairui-Ran Kurayami Alchemy (28) - Cooking (11)
Earth Bast Parchment
Bird Egg
Bomb Ash
Kazham Peppers
- This is a great synth. The alchemy guides suggest this as a major skillup synth because it is so cheap to make and sells well. Don't be put off by the Cooking subcraft: you can easily level the craft in just a few hours in Windurst. To maximise your savings I would suggest farming Bomb Ash in Gusgen Mines and either growing your own Kazham Peppers or getting them from the docks in Kazham. Elshimo Lowlands Regional Vendor stocks them too. The cheapest place to get the bird eggs is usually from the vendors in the airship boarding areas. Kurayami is also well worth casting ;)
Item Spell Craft (level) Crystal Ingredients Kodoku Dokumori Alchemy (19) Dark Elshimo Frog
Lugworm
Shell Bug
- I missed this synth while leveling Alchemy and I'm heartbroken (Poison Potions are a great synth item though). If you can get the Elshimo Frog and Shell Bug for a good price you could save a fortune. Shell Bugs can be bought from Bastok AH for very little usually; they drop off Quadavs. Get the Lugworms from your local NPC.
- I farmed Elshimo Frog very easily from Creek Sahagin just outside the entrance to Sea Serpent Grotto as THF47. You can also steal a Silver Beastcoin from them, which can be used to make Hiraishin much more cheaply. It went so well, that by the time I was done there, I had several stacks of frogs and coins and even got a level off them. You can also farm the Shell Bug from Copper Quadav in Beadeaux with the same steal result, and Lugworm is cheap at the Sundry store in upper Windurst Waters. The only problem here would then be the Dark Crystal, but crystal prices have collapsed recently, so this can almost be a free synth!(Scudmissile - Ramuh)
Item Spell Craft (level) Crystal Ingredients Jusatsu Jubaku Alchemy (37) Dark Bast Parchment
Beastman Blood
Black Ink
- This might look like a high level synth but if you cap your Alchemy on Sairui-Ran then you can pretty much start straight on this. The main determinate in making money here is Beastman Blood. You can farm this in Pashhow Marshlands and probably save a great deal.
Elemental Tools
The main crafts for these tools are Woodworking, Smithing, Goldsmithing and Alchemy. Clothcraft and Cooking are not needed at all.
Item Spell Craft (level) Crystal Ingredients Tsurara Hyoton Alchemy (6) Ice Distilled Water x2
Rock Salt
- Regardless of whether you want to craft the other tools you should defintely do these yourself. You can level Alchemy from 0 on this synth and if you farm ice crystals/clusters it's super cheap. Buy the Distilled Water and Rock Salt from NPCs. Aht Urhgan Whitegate is a good spot as there is easy access to guild support and ingredients.
Item Spell Craft (level) Crystal Ingredients Uchitake Katon Woodworking (26) Earth Bamboo Stick
Grass Cloth
Toad Oil
- If you can get the Toad Oil from the NPC you might save some money making this yourself depending on your server. An alternative, and maybe a good one, is to desynth Tonberry Lanterns. You should be able to do this and get HQ1 results (2x Toad Oil)once you reach Alchemy 20ish. If you can farm the lanterns you can save even more. You should make your own Grass Cloth from Grass Thread; it's a nice cheap way to level Clothcraft. Uchitake can also be as cheap as 66 gil each (about 6.5k a stack) from Tenshodo merchants so check the prices on AH.
Item Spell Craft (level) Crystal Ingredients Hiraishin Raiton Goldsmithing (31) Fire Copper Ingot
Silver Ingot
- Goldsmithing is notoriously expensive to level. The chances of saving enough money from making these to recoup the total loses from getting to 31 are very unlikely. As above: try the tenshodo merchants and check AH prices. You can save some gil if u farm silverbeastcoins and turn them into ingots 4 silverbeastcoins = 1 silver ingot.
Item Spell Craft (level) Crystal Ingredients Makibishi Doton Smithing (23) Wind Iron Scales
- Sadly, although this is a fairly low level synth, you need Iron, and Iron is not cheap. It is possible to buy the Iron Scales straight from the AH and break even on some servers on some days. It's also possible to mine all of the raw materials needed to craft this item AND reach this skill level. All you need is time and pickaxes.
- If you are interested in leveling Smithing further, then this is ideal.
Item Spell Craft (level) Crystal Ingredients Kawahori-Ogi Huton Woodworking (40) Earth Animal Glue
Bamboo Stick
Bast Parchment
- At last, another synth worthy of the guide! Get the Bamboo Stick from an NPC and you could save 3k a stack. Really depends on the price of Bast Parchment.
Item Spell Craft (level) Crystal Ingredients Mizu-Deppo Suiton Woodworking (34) - Smithing (7)
Earth Bronze Sheet
Chestnut Lumber
Distilled Water
- Another pretty good option. The markup on these is massive on my server. Price is greatly dependent on cost of Chestnut Lumber and therefore Chestnut Log. You can make your own lumber from the logs once you reach Woodworking 28, so if you can find a good source of logs you can save a lot. Again you can buy Bronze Sheets from the Smithing Guild in Bastok, or you can synth Bronze Ingots into sheets. DO what ever is cheapest.
Buff Tools
The main crafts for these tools are Clothcraft and Woodworking. No other crafts are needed. You can still save money here but margins are tight. If you don't mind breaking even then go crazy.
Item Spell Craft (level) Crystal Ingredients Shihei Utsusemi Woodworking (29) Wind Bast Parchment x2
Black Ink
- RMT gold. At best you'll break even. All materials are best bought from AH as they are crafted only. If you wish to craft the Bast Parchment you'll need Woodworking (45) and Alchemy (29). Black Ink is easier to craft but not necessarily a cheap option. Check AH prices.
- Bast Parchment can also be bought in Nashmau from Tsutsuroon. To buy from him you must be a member of the Tenshodo. The price varies from 810 - 993. so check the AH.
Item Spell Craft (level) Crystal Ingredients Shinobi-Tabi Tonko Clothcraft (34) Earth Cotton Cloth x2
Grass Thread
Saruta Cotton
- Due to the cost of Cotton Cloth this is a tricky one to save money on. If you are lucky/smart you can get cheaper Cotton Cloth directly from the Guild shops than you can from the AH. However, your main saving comes from farming Saruta Cotton in Tahrongi Canyon or Harvesting in West Sarutabaruta. As you only need one Saruta Cotton per synth one farming session could make you invisible for a very long time. Again, Grass Thread from Yagudo Necklaces is a great way to start Clothcraft.
Item Spell Craft (level) Crystal Ingredients Sanjaku-Tenugui Monomi Clothcraft (41) Earth Cotton Thread x2
Cotton Cloth x2
- As above. Prices of Cotton can be a nightmare. It's NOT cost-effective to make your own Cotton Thread or, therefore, Cotton Cloth so don't even be tempted. If you keep an eye on the market and check the Guild prices after maintenance you could save yourself quite a bit, especially as these tools last so long. You can save some gil if u de-synthesize goblin armor.
Ninja Guides
Thanks
If you contribute to the guide please put your name and server here. Thank you!
- Skanless - Diabolos
- Scudmissile - Ramuh
See also: Ninja
