Soul cores for ninjitsu build

[gungadin22000]

Currently having a lot of fun with a kusarigama-using ninja, having leveled her to 170 and am about to start the last DLC. Running the ninja kitty guardian spirit, I get loads of anima due to ninja spammery.

What soul cores do you feel complement a ninja/kusarigama build the best? I'd like something powerful at close range to help regaining ki during longer combos, but ippon-datara seems so cookie cutter. Currently running kiryoki, which does great damage at fairly low cost, but it's nowhere near as smooth during combos as I would like it to be.

The guides I've read are mostly out of date.

[Remi]

While not powerful damage-wise, the Karakasa core is cheap and gives grab immunity. One cast at close range paralyzes most medium to large size youkai, but on humans it's pretty lackluster. Still, I feel like this fits the ninja playstyle quite well and it's fast and spammy so it's fun to use.
For damage I'd say the Bakegani core is quite strong with decent aoe. Good on anything not resistant to water and gives grab immunity. Pair it with life drain on youkai ability hit and you can become a drain-tank.

[SealedSecret]

Yatsu-no-kami was a pretty common option for a while with Ninjutsu based builds. Gives passive Anima Charge and Melee vs. Poisoned, comes out quickly, covers good distance and can deal solid damage specially if it bounces off a wall or two.

If you're comfortable with Guardian Spirit Switching, a good way to apply poison to appropriate enemies could be to switch to Shirohami to cast a Guardian Spirit Talisman (or Fleeting) to apply poison to get the bonus. Gyuki works too. Toxic Slime helps also.

Ongyoki is another option if you want a bit of breathing room by avoiding attacks, and does a solid job at applying Corruption. Waira works too if you prefer the stagger and ability to knock humans into the air.

If you're more keen on Kunai and Shuriken usage, then Waifu Bird might be good too since she has Anima Bonus Ranged Hit which works with them. Landing her core can take a bit of practice and spacing, but if you're able to land all 3 on one enemy, it's really satisfying and does a lot of ki damage.

Classic Gozuki is an alternative to Ippon and is more consistent against humans if you have trouble landing Ippon. Does good ki damage and hits like a truck after they adjusted him.

Yoki is one option that's a little slept on. Comes out pretty quick and can grapple appropriate Human enemies. Can stagger enemies even if they aren't able to be grappled, and does a lot of damage. Though the animation is on the longer side.

Kamaitachi is underrated too. Comes out quick, has good range and works great as a combo extender to maintain pressure. A slight pause when using it is necessary though as the third one has a delay before it appears.

Last I'll mention in this post is Dweller, because he's a good boi. Mainly against humans, he can help lock them in place which works well with something like Deadly Mark for Kusarigama.

[Squerol]

Ippon datara 1st blow then some normal combo then namahage as follow up.

[Wavistics]

giant toad has built in untouched ninjutsu and he has a decent combo but he's a dlc boss he also has some extra bomb damage which is decent if you prefer a bomb build
yatsu no kami is pretty decent in general, and if you're using the left side of the ninjutsu tree then look for soul cores that can boost dmg depending on the state the enemy's in like 8 gods of yomi if i remember right had some electrify + quick movement to enemy
fu-uki has some nice stats and an extra ranged ability
the yasha skill helps with pushing away enemies when you just finished a kusarigama combo and feeling vulenrable

[AH-1 Cobra]

I used Ippon and Gozuki. I used corrupted fists on my ninjetsu build (corruption is better vs humans, and bird bro DLC boss), and Gozuki works really well with fists and helped a lot with human bosses. Yokai bosses get deleted by ninjetsu/feather spamming builds (except for bird bro and nyotengu), but human bosses are quite a bit tougher. Use rekless charge into dreadslayer (puts you behind them), combo some, and top it off with a Gozuki. Used him on purity and corruption fists builds too for the same reason. Try running the Gozuki ass clap train, and you might be a believer too.