Shinobi (忍)

import { Card, Steps, Table } from ‘@astrojs/starlight/components’;

The Shinobi is the game’s premier crit-focused assassin. It has the highest base Speed (16) and base Crit (12%) of any class, and its signature skill — Shadowstep Flurry — is a 4-hit barrage with +20% crit chance baked in, making it the most likely skill in the game to land multiple crits in a single turn. The trade-off: middling HP, low DEF, and a strong dependence on RNG. A Shinobi that crits can one-shot bosses; a Shinobi that doesn’t crit can lose to trash mobs.

This page covers the Shinobi’s base stats, growth, skill tree, stat allocation, and recommended playstyle.

Base stats (level 1)

Stat	Value	Notes
HP	95	Below average.
MP	35	Standard.
ATK	13	Above average.
DEF	5	Below average.
SPD	16	Highest in the game.
Crit	12%	Highest in the game.

The Shinobi’s stat profile is “fragile speedster” — high SPD and Crit, low HP and DEF. The class is designed to act first and crit often, ending fights before they drag on. The 16 base SPD means you’ll act first against every enemy in zones 1–5 except the Onibi (13 SPD, who you still outspeed) and the Shiranui (18 SPD, who outspeeds you starting in zone 6).

Per-level growth

Stat	Growth per level	At level 10	At level 30	At level 50
HP	+11	194	414	634
MP	+4	71	151	231
ATK	+2.8	38.2	94.2	150.2
DEF	+1	14	34	54
SPD	+2.4	37.6	85.6	133.6
Crit	+0.6%	17.4%	29.4%	41.4%

The Shinobi’s growth is heavily skewed toward SPD and Crit, which compound with each other. By level 50, the Shinobi has 41.4% crit chance — nearly half of all attacks crit. Combined with the +20% crit bonus on Shadowstep Flurry, that’s a 61.4% crit chance per hit on the signature skill. A 4-hit Shadowstep Flurry at that point will land 2–3 crits on average, which is enormous damage.

Stat allocation

Stat	Bonus per point	Recommended for Shinobi
STR	+2 ATK	★★★★ — your primary damage stat
AGI	+1 SPD, +0.5% crit	★★★★★ — your primary scaling stat
INT	+3 max MP, +1 ATK	★ — skip
VIT	+10 max HP, +1 DEF	★★★ — necessary early

Recommended allocation

Levels 1–10: 3 AGI / 1 STR / 1 VIT per level. Stack AGI for crit chance and SPD.
Levels 10–30: 4 AGI / 1 STR per level. Pure crit scaling.
Levels 30+: 5 AGI per level. By now your crit chance is so high that every additional point of AGI is a meaningful damage increase.

An alternative build that some players prefer is 3 STR / 2 AGI, which trades crit chance for raw ATK. This is more consistent damage (less RNG-dependent) but lower ceiling. Try it if you’re frustrated by low-roll fights.

Skill tree

Signature skill (level 1)

Shadowstep Flurry (影歩連撃) — MP cost 12, cooldown 3 turns, type: attack, 4 hits, +20% crit bonus.

Blink between shadows striking 4 times for 110% ATK each with greatly raised crit chance.

Shadowstep Flurry is the Shinobi’s defining skill and one of the most powerful in the game. The base damage per hit is modest (110% ATK), but the +20% crit bonus means a level-1 Shinobi with 12% crit has a 32% crit chance per hit. By level 30 with full AGI investment, that’s a 49.4% crit chance per hit. A 4-hit Shadowstep Flurry at 49.4% crit chance lands 2 crits on average, which is roughly equivalent to a 6-hit non-crit flurry.

The MP cost (12) is moderate. With a base MP pool of 35, you can cast it 2–3 times before running dry. This is the Shinobi’s primary limiter — you have enough MP for one or two big bursts per fight, and then you fall back to weaker skills.

Level 5 skill

Poison Needle (毒針) — MP cost 8, cooldown 2 turns, type: attack, 3 hits.

Flick three envenomed needles for 120% ATK each (total 360% if all hit).

Poison Needle is the Shinobi’s filler skill. The per-hit damage is slightly higher than Shadowstep Flurry (120% vs 110%), and it has a shorter cooldown (2 turns vs 3). However, it lacks the +20% crit bonus, so its average damage is lower. Use it between Shadowstep Flurries.

Note: despite the name, Poison Needle does not apply a poison debuff. The “poison” is purely thematic. (This may change in future patches.)

Level 10 skill

Kunai Storm (苦無嵐) — MP cost 15, cooldown 4 turns, type: attack, 3 hits.

Hurl three volleys of kunai for 150% ATK each (total 450% if all hit).

Kunai Storm is the Shinobi’s “ultimate” — the highest-total-multiplier skill in the game (450% ATK across 3 hits). On a crit-stacked Shinobi, Kunai Storm can one-shot bosses. The 15 MP cost is significant, but the damage is worth it.

Generic all-class skills

Power Strike (level 1) — 6 MP, 160% ATK. A weak filler.
Meditation (level 5) — 10 MP, heals 30% max HP. The Shinobi’s HP pool is small enough that this heal is meaningful (~28 HP at level 1, ~124 HP at level 30).
Focus Guard (level 10) — does nothing currently. Skip.

Recommended skill loadout

At level 10+, your enabled-skills list should be:

Kunai Storm (highest damage, save for bosses)
Shadowstep Flurry (sustained damage, crit-stacked)
Poison Needle (MP-cheap filler)
Meditation (panic heal)

The auto-combat AI will fire Kunai Storm on cooldown if it’s first, which wastes it on trash. Consider manually disabling it for trash fights.

Playstyle

The Shinobi is the most RNG-dependent class in the game. A high-crit Shadowstep Flurry can one-shot a boss; a no-crit Shadowstep Flurry can lose to a trash mob. This makes the class feel inconsistent, but the average damage over many fights is competitive with the other classes.

The key things to learn:

Embrace the variance. Some fights will be spectacular (3 crits on Shadowstep Flurry, enemy dead in one round). Some will be humiliating (0 crits, enemy lives, you die). Don’t tilt — the math works out over time.
Invest in crit damage gear. Crit damage is currently fixed at 150% (1.5× damage on a crit), so there’s no gear-based way to increase it. But you can increase your crit chance via AGI and via gear with crit bonuses (Tengu Fan, Crimson Signet, etc.).
Use Meditation aggressively. With 95 base HP, the Shinobi benefits more from a 30% heal than the Samurai or Sohei. Don’t save it — use it whenever you’re below 60% HP.
Don’t fight long fights. Your MP pool is small (35 base, ~150 by level 30). If a fight goes 5+ rounds, you’ll be on basic attacks, which are weak. Retreat and heal rather than dragging out a losing fight.

Matchups

Strong against

Low-HP enemies (Kodama, Onibi): one Shadowstep Flurry can end the fight before it starts.
Slow enemies (Kappa, Hyakki): you act first, multiple times, before they can react.
Bosses with low DEF: crit-stacked multi-hit skills shred them.

Weak against

High-DEF enemies (Yomotsu-shikome, Izanami Shade): each hit of your multi-hit skills is reduced to single digits.
Fast enemies that outspeed you (Shiranui, Flame Wraith): they get the first hit, and your low HP can’t take it.
Long fights: MP runs out, basic attacks are weak.

Build summary

Primary stat: AGI
Secondary stat: STR (early), then pure AGI
Required skills: Shadowstep Flurry (always), Kunai Storm (level 10+)
Optional skills: Poison Needle (filler), Meditation (panic)
Gear priority: Crit > SPD > ATK > HP > MP
Weakness: Low HP, RNG-dependent, MP-limited, struggles against high-DEF enemies
Strength: Highest crit chance in the game, multi-hit skills benefit enormously from crits, fastest class