I'm the first to admit that because of my noobness my question may fall under common knowledge to the vet community here but I was wondering, how viable is a melee centric Ninja? As I was leveling up with my experimental Ninja it seemed like all the advice I was getting was to take Falcon Eye and be geared towards Assassinations. Do people have success focusing on other aspects of Ninjitsu? I know Assassination centric is pretty tempting as it's a class defining skill. Still though, it made me wonder.
Ninja Melee Viability
Firstly, ninjas are not a mele class. They are a rouge class, therefore they should not be played as meles.
That said, there have been some quite successful ninjas which have been played like warriors - Grawrer (sp) for example.
Playing an assassination ninja will get you no respect, playing a mele ninja though is a different thing. Especially if you manage to be good with it.
Firstly, ninjas are not a mele class. They are a rouge class, therefore they should not be played as meles.
That said, there have been some quite successful ninjas which have been played like warriors - Grawrer (sp) for example.
Playing an assassination ninja will get you no respect, playing a mele ninja though is a different thing. Especially if you manage to be good with it.
I'm not sure I follow. You're saying that Ninja's shouldn't be played as melee oriented but to do otherwise is looked down upon?
Yeah, basically.
Assassination ninja always get a bad reputation for taking 'no skill' and so forth. This has always been a problem and really needs to be addressed.
In melee, ninja are considered sub-par. Some combinations can work (stalker/feral/shadow arts), (pandemonium/undead/shadow arts), and (avian/avatar/knight/shadow arts) are probably the most famous for each align.
As for the lores, death kiss and falcon are assassinate-only, with falcon generally considered MUCH more valuable. Shadow arts, doublesheath, and lotus scourge are for melee. Lotus scourge is generally considered underpowered now (in the past it was VERY strong). Doublesheath and shadow arts are both respectable choices (shadow arts used to be the most obvious pick), but I would probably go with doublesheath these days.
In short, a melee ninja is viable. However, it is not usually a strong build (with the exceptions of the above) by any means.
I'm not sure I follow. You're saying that Ninja's shouldn't be played as melee oriented but to do otherwise is looked down upon?
You are misunderstanding me. A rouge does not mean study/assassinate.
Mele oriented is one thing, playing like a mele is another.
As for your original question, (Ninja Melee Viability), yes they viable. Not if they are played like a warrior though.
People whine about alot of crap. If you are assassinating enough people to get hated for it, consider yourself a good assassination ninja.
Well, the newb is right as well 
It takes a lot more effort than people believe to be a very good assassination ninja. A skilled player knows several tricks to keep the ninja from getting the job done and in most cases, one slip on the ninjas part and its game over man.
It takes a lot more effort than people believe to be a very good assassination ninja. A skilled player knows several tricks to keep the ninja from getting the job done and in most cases' date=' one slip on the ninjas part and its game over man.[/quote']
I could not agree more. There were some VERY hard targets that I died maybe 4-5 times trying to assassinate. It's not always a fun or quick game. Lots of patience, lots of tricks and tidbits of ways to get places will make for a good, stealthy assassination ninja.
As to the question, ninjas can be viable in melee, but it takes a bit more finesse to get a grasp of.
Barnok dude, Barnok...
Albeit he was played by despy... So... Hrmm.
Also ninja's could auto throw and have shadow arts back then, plus throw did more damage as did shadow arts. however I believe that is now balanced by giving them fired weapons.
I found Double sheath a good option if you are wanting to fight someone toe to toe. Master throw, edge craft and envenom.
Are we talking about the ninja back when shadow arts was internal damage? Pfft.
I've seen ninjas go toe to toe with a Vampire wielding a vuln weapon the ninja couldn't use and the ninja came out on top.
Whatever, I'll show all of you.
Is that sunn o)) on your avatar?
Yep 
feral watcher shadow arts, I stood toe to toe with warriors
I've had two doublesheath ninjas and I was impressed by the damage my throw dealt. Considering you can always strangle, blind/poison and then murder with the doublesheath you throw once in the begining and again when the opponent flees. Shadow arts is not the best choice for a melee oriented ninja (my opinion)
I had an uncaballed neutral avian doublesheath ninja that did just fine in melee... just required some unconventional tactics and fast moving on my part, but I fought crusaders and vampires and did fine.
I agree that Ninja's are quite viable going for melee as opposed to Assassination. However, I would not simply count out being an assassination ninja. They take a great deal of skill, patience and a little luck to make it happen. Especially against many of the stronger players. Very, very few times have I ever been assassinated, and it was always because they were doing their job in not letting me be aware they were there. You can hate them all you like, but it does take a lot of skill to get it done consistently.
I agree that Ninja's are quite viable going for melee as opposed to Assassination. However' date=' I would not simply count out being an assassination ninja. They take a great deal of skill, patience and a little luck to make it happen. Especially against many of the stronger players. Very, very few times have I ever been assassinated, and it was always because they were doing their job in not letting me be aware they were there. You can hate them all you like, but it does take a lot of skill to get it done consistently.[/quote']
LOL. Sorry I couldn't keep quiet on this one.