Ninja/Dark questions

Hey, I am new to the whole MM scene but got an urge to roll a ninja commanding shadow chucker. But I have a few questions.

I know ninjas are flimsy little guys but I also heard they have the best single target damage, true or false?

Will the -tohit from dark be enough to keep them up on harder enemies(AV)?

I read... somewhere that provoke was a good power to take. Why is this? Shouldnt i have stuff you know... not eating my face?

How bad is the AI in terms of ranged/melee attacks? Do ninjas have a prefered range to attack? (noticed a few kicks)

Finally, is this a bad starter choice? Is there an easier combo I can level to 50 (mostly solo) and beat some AVs down with to cut my teeth on this AT?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Body Guard Mode allows you to provoke and keep the damage from being focused on your weak minions. Thus keeping them alive. You use your heal to recover hit points and do your best to lower the enemies to hit enough to yiou and your minions alive. Your pets have some small layer of defense which goes well with - to hit from dark.

Good luck!

My first level 50 villain was a Ninja/Dark. My opinion of masterminds is that ninja and necro, combined with dark miasma, makes the strongest mastermind set out there.

I never took provoke with my masterminds, but I can see why it could work against AVs if your minions were set to bodyguard mode.

From level 35 on..... I soloed almost every elite boss they threw at me; I also solo'd (sometimes with the help of my favorite power, the shivan) no less than 8 Archvillains/Heroes. 2 of those were soloed without a shivan.

Any mastermind with dark miasma secondary (with ninja and necro especially) is godlike.

I have a ninja/dark and it's enjoyable. The main complaint I have is the ninjas like to use shurikens and poison darts way too often.

I've taken a bot/dark mm to 50, loved every minute of it, Dark is awesome and you get an extra pet.

My Nin/Pain is my first mm (and toon) ever. Ninjas are crazy for ST damage. Don't worry about genins dropping like flies sometimes, resummoning them > keeping them alive at times.

I have a a lv 50 Ninja/dark/soul MM

This is by far one of the most flexiable toon I ever play(only second to my veat). I Can tank,Heal,hold,and unleash extreme DMG easy with lil risk.

Ninja have excelent ST dmg to deal with minion and leut, caltrops and tar pacth keep foes in place so ninjas don't go running around spaming range attack. The AoE heal and pet will be enough heal to keep you kicking good guy on the face.The -tohit is the icing on the cake making the biggest different when your fighting a boss or AV.Also Dark servant debuff stack with your own can become perma with 3 recgh SO and hasten

IMO Ninja/Dark is the stronger combo for ninjas since it deal with ninja number one problems that are his squishynest and control, Giving you 2 AoE heal and excelent control.

Is fun.

PS: Ignore the typos.