Ninjas. A class of people specialized in stealth, spying, and killing without their prey ever knowing what has happened unless they want them to know. Always been a fan of ninjas but I have never seem to have brought myself past leveling them to the greater levels because of the skill set they have. Thankfully that sort of problem doesn't stop other people from trying the least played classes that DL has to offer. As usual I was thinking of possible skills and/or modifications (which so happens to always be at work) that a ninja could employ.

The first idea is how the katana as of right now is classified. Currently it is a one handed weapon that a ninja can use in their off hand to deliver blows. I say in the off hand because it a weapon class that can not be used to backstab. My thoughts were that katanas were the main weapon of the ninja along with the other positions of that time period and area. It was used with finess and most often with both hands to deliver the strikes and amount of damage necessary to do the job required. I know it may be an off shoot, but to possibly have it where katanas themselves are a two-handed weapon that only the ninja could master. In doing so it could also be used to backstab since most commonly the blade of a katana is among the sharpest blades that history have ever seen.

Katana
- 2h handed weapon - Equivalent to bastardsword and battle axe in speed.
- Can be used for backstabbing.

Beyond that I had another idea:

Smoke bomb skill
Useful much in the same way as say the spell dimension door. Would toss the carefully crafted pellet onto the ground and a haze would envelope the room allowing the ninja to escape from harms way. Granted that opened up another opportunity for an added bonus to it. It would create an actual haze to the same affect as that of when an ice shield meets a fire shield. The only difference to it the only possible way to see through it could be either sense life or infravision (infravision allowing perfect sight through the cloud).

Just something I thought I'd toss on here. Thanks for reading.

The Guildinator

Awesome of someone to take a notice on the subject.
Both Ideas one's that are atleast to me, something worth
experimenting in..
Not sure about the smoke bomb thing, but maybe if we
were to ask an adjustment of just names in the fireshield on iceshield steamwall spell into capsule disappearing potion like apparatus, not sure, something Nezmar would have to ok..
As for the two handed katana thing. I got tired of waiting...
In fact today I bought that computer that once connected is going to be doing alot of work..
Like you said ninjas do get the battle axe and bastard sword.
I just decided if I ever wanted to see a twohanded katana sword, I'd just need to create on in a zone on build side.
And create all the bonuses for ninja only. Seems to make life alot simpler just to make things with the current set up.

:_) awesome thoughts.

Sick idea about the katanas. I've always wondered that too. I think many of us have one at home, atleast I do. Looks fancy, but no killing with it. Katana deff a two handed weapon. Don't know many samurai in history, movies, or games that used it as a 1h. I'd love to see a 2h katana in the game if well balanced, bonus' for ninjas of course.

Funny you should mention it. I do have a pair. In fact, they're actual carbon steel, and quite rusty. They're old, but I doubt they're authentic.

*poof!*

Actually, katanas have never been a ninja's weapon of choice. In feudal Japan, katanas and their possession were as heavily regulated as guns today, if not more so. Carrying a katana as a weapon was strictly prohibited by law except by elite soldiers (samurai) loyal to the shogun. Anyone else seen carrying (sometimes even possessing) a katana would be punished by death.

Also, katanas do not fit well with the ninjitsu fighting style, which emphasizes speed and agility over brute force. The katana, with it's single-edged, curved, long blade and two-handed grip, is designed to deliver force and lots of it. Katanas can easily slice off a limb or a head but require great strength and broad strokes to do so--something samurai excelled in.

Weapons wielded by ninja are all small and quick, suited for close-quarters fighting or delivering poison in quick stabs. The nunchaku and sai (both blunt weapons) allow for great flexibility and speed, can strike from any angle or awkward position, are designed to be able to entangle (or in the case of sai, even break) a samurai's katana, negating the stronger fighter's advantage of reach and power. Shuriken, tessen, needles, neko-te, and other small, bladed weapons are all easily concealed and able to deliver a deadly blow with even a small cut (poison) and most are designed so they can be used in melee or ranged fighting.

The sword of choice for those practicing ninjitsu is not the katana, but a sword called the ninja-to. It is a small, narrow, straight-bladed sword with a dual edge, designed for stabbing and thrusting deeply rather than slicing and chopping. It is ideal for backstabbing or delivering quick poisoned strikes and is small enough to be easily concealed.

--

Anyway, enough with the history lesson. Regarding the game side of it, there is already a two-handed backstabbing weapon for ninja: the sai. And quite frankly, backstabbing someone with a sai is only slightly less ridiculous than backstabbing them with a katana. Neither are piercing weapons. And really, how many ninja actually wield sai in DL2? Two handed weapons, regardless of relative strength, will rarely equal the speed and versatility of a ninja dual-wielding.

The smoke bomb idea on the other hand is excellent and accurate

Thank you efori for the lesson in general. It's something all the turbo knuckleheads need to sink into their skulls.
If anyone really deserved a right to complain about the whole class, it should be the people whom have played it to their ends.
On a accurate note Efori is 100 percent correct.
I've done my research as well in extensive incriments.
I love what he's taken the time to provide you all with.

A ninja really did outwit Samuri by relying on their stealth and ability to use speedy weapons to counter the casual katana's use. Katana's couldn't be easily manuevered in the narrow alleyways or hallways as quick as short sword could.

In fact none of a ninjas weapon were that large other than a few of the twohanded garden tools they equiped themselves with.
Wielding one in the game is just a show of our significance. I don't really have an issue with how slow they attack or how little damage they provide.

on The smokebomb issue, it's easily avalaible with the trap system and all, might just take one or two special requests on trap effects.
Anyways.
I love efori, just thought I'd share.

It was Eihei, not Efori sir.

Never thought about it, but backstabbing with a sai, especially through armor would be pretty dern difficult. Near impossible. I never studied ninjitsu fully, but did partake in a few classes lead by my friend (who trained in it for a while) when I was a member, and president, of the martial arts club on campus. I could never imagine seeing my buddy, trying to be all stealthy, ninjaish, etc. lol... wielding a katana to sneak up on someone and kill em. It'd be a much shorter weapon (wiki ninja) like the short sword ninjato, smaller than katana, but larger than a wakizashi. Hrm, reading up on wiki, learned a few things I didn't know. There's my dime and a nickle.

The reasoning for why I chose the katana as a weapon to use as backstabbing is that it would alleviate the process of creating an entire new weapon class that is essentially not needed. The ninja-to and wakizashi are essentially short swords and could easily be restrung to reflect such an appeal or simply created as a name for a short sword designed for the ninja class in general. All I was getting at was helping out the class in general for an option of a decent backstab (in which unlike thieves and assassins it isn't their strongest trait) and to then help out with a nice two-handed attack method instead of relying on the sai. Sure dual wielding is an option but then it raises the question in my eyes: Why does every class that has a backstab ability have to dual wield? As with the word 'have', I do use that loosely because there are those stabbers out there that dabble in using bastardswords or other two-handed weapons when the thrill of backstabbing leaves them for a time.

The Guildinator