Keybindings and Hotbar Setup for Ninja — Endwalker 6.58

As a preface, Ninja is considered one of, if not the hardest job to play on controller with because of the sheer amount of buttons you constantly press compared to other classes. I use the common principle of putting the things you use most often on the buttons at the forefront. The first picture below is using just LT and RT following the idea of RT being your gcds and gcd based buffs, with LT being everything revolving around Ninjutsu. This keeps my head in the mindset of RT being your normal gcd and LT being Ninjutsu.

The second bar is the expanded hold controls with both LT and RT, which I use for my more rare use case skills. I have put a few of our less used gcds on these bars as well, with keeping it the same whether you use LT then RT or vice versa. The other half of the bars though is different, with RT then LT being your personal defensive skills, and LT then RT being your raid defensive and movement. And then I have Limit Break on an entirely different bar because it is so rarely used, and is not often something you have to react to press on Ninja.

Keyboard and Mouse UI and keybindings are a lot harder to help with, due to the nature of there being a lot of different kinds of keyboards and mice out there. The example below uses a standard QWERTY keyboard, and uses WASD for movement as well as mouse at times. Using WASD or your mouse for movement is entirely down to preference. I tend to use both depending on the situation, but use whatever is most comfortable for you and your way of playing. Do not blindly follow what I choose to do.

Modifier keys such as L ALT, L SHIFT, and sometimes L CTRL are commonly used and are highly recommended in order to keep your keybindings close and easy to reach, but which ones you use are entirely down to preference. I prefer L ALT and L SHIFT because of how I am used to using a keyboard and the size of hand I have, but if you feel better using some other combination, go ahead.

I also use an MMO mouse in order to alleviate keybindings, but this is by no means required; I didn't use it until a few years ago. In my example, I use a combination of a 6-thumb-buttons MMO mouse, the number bar above the keyboard, L SHIFT and L ALT as modifiers, and some miscellaneous keyboard buttons are used as needed. This setup is comfortable for me, but took me many years to find, so while it can be good for you, don't immediately use this. It is meant as an example of how someone has set up their bars, but once again, find what works for you.

My top bar is just R, F, T, G, Y, and H. I use these for some of my rare skills, and some of my buffs. My second bar is my L SHIFT modifier up through the 7 on the number bar on the keyboard. These are my Ninki usage skills as well as Mug since it increases my Ninki, and then Throwing Dagger because it was the easiest place to put it while it being mostly out of the way. Ten Chi Jin is a remnant there because back in the old days it used to cost Ninki, so that was just what was comfortable for me.

My next bar is my L ALT modifier bar, along with the numbers up through 6 on the number bar. This is Ninjutsu-reliant skills and Dream Within a Dream.

My final bar is just my number bar through 6, and is reserved for my normal gcds I use all the time. On the right side of my UI, I have my defensives, potions, and True North. These are tied to my x button, with modifiers, and my tilde button with modifiers, as well as random buttons from my mouse. Limit Break is on an entirely different bar along with some markers for when I have to mark people while raiding using the F-keys for marking and then a mouse button for Limit Break.