Update Day +2

Wow... updates 3 days in a row!

Logged in early last night hoping to get some campaign in before dynamis to get a proper WAR buffer. I got through the end of 1 fight (for a whopping 660 XP) before I talked CB into trying to duo the Airship fight (CoP 6-4).

We went RDM/DNC and PLD/BLU. We took the mammets easily, but I didn't take enough time to rebuff before Omega. Buffs dropped, MP and TP ran out, and then Omega started using Pile Pitch (which resets hate and drops your HP to 5%) which we were unprepared for. We died in a bad spot and had to home point.

CB went to get some food while I thought about other strategies. I decided not to do dynamis-Xarcabard. While I want BRD relic from there soooooo bad, I didn't want to delevel. More importantly, I wanted to get CB past 6-4! So, when he got back from eating, we went to work again. We helped Ev fight the 3 detectors in Miseraux Coast and while he ran around getting more cut-scenes, CB and I tried the fight again.

This time, we went PLD/DNC and WAR/DNC. I equipped the little evasion gear that I had and ate a jack-o-lantern. Mammets were easy. We got Omega down to ~5% before we wiped. But this time, we wiped in a safe spot, and were able to recover. We took out Omega and started working on Ultima.

Ultima went pretty well, but eventually we just ran out of support. TP/MP wasn't being recovered fast enough to keep up with the damage that it was doing, once it started getting low on life. We wiped with Ultima at ~30% but didn't have enough time after weakness to make an effort.

By this time, Ev was finishing up his cut-scenes and was ready to help. Shiji came out on SAM to help. We beat the fight in 18 mins (about 5 minutes per phase, with 3 minutes of cut-scene inbetween). I am super pumped that Ev and CB are so close to sea! Just the 3 NMs in Carpenter's Landing, Bibiki Bay, and Miseraux Coast... then Tenzen.

I'm really looking forward to getting them up there

Also got 1.5k XP from beating the airship fight, so I've got a semi-reasonable buffer on WAR now. I can take 2 R1s before a permanent de-level back to 75. This must be remedied!

Tonight is a Dave Matthews Band concert w/ Braego, so I won't be online. Tomorrow is a softball game, so I won't be on. I'm looking forward to logging in on Friday to drop all of my losing marbles, then finish the run to sea!

Posted Jun 23 2010, 09:31 AM

Update Day +1

The servers were down for 5 hours longer than SE originally planned, which meant that I didn't have a whole lot of time to play around with the changes to the game.

As soon as I was able to log in, I ran to Ru'Lude Gardens to do the latest limit break. You've gotta give the Nomad Moogle near Maat 3 merit points and 5 kindered seals. I happened to have plenty of both KS and merits, so it wasn't long before I was running out of Al Zahbi to kill a bird or 5. In the span of ~30 minutes, I was able to ding all my capped jobs to 76 ^^ (FWIW, I was the 24th person on the server to ding 76).

Even just spending 5 minutes on each job made me want to play each of them. I thought I was going to take WHM to 80 first, since it is my favorite job in the game, but now, I just don't know. I should at least get a significant buffer on WAR since I actually use that in an event where I actually lose xp (Dynamis). The problem is that I like to /SAM to dynamis, but SAM is only 37! I'll be gimp! Maybe I'll go /NIN or /DNC just for fun (if they even do a dynamis run tonight). I wouldn't mind if dynamis was cancelled again so that I could put my flag up or work on campaign battles to get a more realistic buffer.

As for levelling jobs to the new cap, I figure it will be fairly easy to get parties on WHM and RDM, since healers are in short supply. Likewise for BRD, since everyone loves a BRD. WAR and MNK are both pretty good jobs in campaign, so I should be able to get xp fairly easily (if not quickly).

I just don't know which I'm most excited for! The WAR updates seem very nice, with some interesting things to try. I'd love to have access to /SCH40 either from WHM or RDM. I'd like to have access to convert on WHM, too. Maybe I'll just focus on WHM until I cap it again... I just don't know!!!

Maybe I'll try listing pros/cons of levelling each new job to 80, in the order in which they ding'd 75...

WHM:
@76: Protect/Shell V
@78: Baramnesra
@80: Cure VI
Accession (/SCH)
Convert (/RDM)
Warp II (/BLM)

RDM:
@76: Teleport-Altep/Yhoat (/WHM)
Protect V
@77: Regen II
@78: Baramnesia
@78: Stona (/WHM)
@80: Cura (/WHM; useless)
Accession (/SCH: AoE EVERYTHING! except for haste)
Warp II (/BLM)

WAR:
@77: Restraint
@80: Sekkanoki (/SAM)
Crit Attack Bonus
Shield Block Bonus

BRD:
@76: Requiem VII
Teleport-Yhoat/Altep (/WHM)
@78: Paeon VI
Stona (/WHM)
@80: Minuet V
Convert (/RDM)
Accession (/SCH)
Crit Defense Bonus

MNK:
@77: Perfect Counter
@77: Guard TP Bonus


Looking at this list, it looks like either RDM or WHM will be the most fun @ 80, with lots of different subjob options to make the jobs flexible and fun. I guess I need to get some gear back from Ia so that I can get to LFP!

Posted Jun 22 2010, 01:20 PM

Update Day is Here!

Today is update day! Features if this update include:

- Level cap raised from 75-80
- Uncapping of CoP Zones
- Uncapping of CoP battles
- Unlocking of Abyssea content
- DNC waltzes work outside of PT
- DNC get dual-wield trait
- Sekkanoki being dropped from level 60 to 40

I'm looking forward to getting 76 on all of my currently capped jobs. I also want to spend a bit of time doing campaign battles this week since Sandy has control of the Throne Room {S}, which means that allied rings are available until Sunday morning. I need to get a promotion before then in order to be eligible for the ring, however. I hope that I can manage to get that promotion... I really want that ring!

Over the weekend, I spent some time in an XP PT as THF. I was able to ding 41 before the PT stopped. It was nice being able to take off 20% of the mob's health and plant that on the PLD. It really allowed the other DDs to go wild. I don't know if I want to keep working on THF until it is capped @49, or just give it up for now and work on it again when the next level cap increase comes around. After all, the only thing that I get from /THF beyond /37 is THII @ 45. I just want to be done with it so that I can sell the gear that I have and make some of that gil back.

I joined CB in the Eldieme Necropolis to help him with his magian PUP claws. He needed to kill skeletons during weather. Eventually Flow joined us to do some WS towards Leaden Salute. I think we were down there for ~3 hours and managed to finish CB's trial and get Flow real close to the WS. It would have been great if we could have completely unlocked it.

After, CB and I went to Grauberg {S} to try to learn the BLU spell Regurgitation from the Pieste. I think we were out there for 45 minutes before he learned the spell. It was a fun night. We were working toward a goal the entire time, which really makes the time/effort feel worthwhile.

Sunday was Father's Day, so I went golfing with my Dad. We did 18 holes and had a pretty good day. My irons were hitting well and my chipping was very good. My driver wasn't really cooperating, though. I still did better than I had expected. After, I went home and packed up the rest of the family and took them to see Grandma and Grandpa. The evening consisted of spending time outside playing in the kiddie pool and on the swing set. A very pleasant day!

Posted Jun 21 2010, 10:33 AM

DNC Done!

SpiritsOfDynamis (I think that's what they're called) did Beaucedine on Tuesday. Everything was freedrop, except for 100 pieces, so I ended up getting 8 ancient currency. I bazaar'd it overnight and made ~150k. The only piece of relic that dropped that I was interested in lotting was BLM, but I refrained since my BLM is still only 64. I only died once (it was a full wipe) and managed to get my buffer back to cap on Friday in a Campaign session with Ev's SMN and Ia on BRD (dynamis was cancelled).

I re-geared DNC and got an invite after a besieged. We sync'd to 40 in the Crawler's Nest fighting beetles. I think the PT was RDM, PLD, RNG, DRK, MNK, DNC. I was a bit worried about the RDM because it was clear they were new to the job (and maybe even the game). I took care of the healing, they just worked on refreshing (after 41) and debuffing. It worked out great!

The following afternoon, during the kid's nap time, I put my flag up again and got another invite to CN. This time we went to the basement sync'd to 45 and fought Rumble Crawlers. The MNK from the night before was in the PT again. This PT went quite well, too. I managed to finish up DNC (49!) before the end of the PT. As much fun as it is, I think I'll just put it away for awhile and work on the rest of my subs. I really enjoy the job in a PT, but the invite rate is kinda slow, and soloing just takes forever.

I picked up some gear and seeked on THF after I was done with DNC. My first invite was a 25 sync in Yuhtunga. The PT was OK, but there was a severe lack of mobs. I think there were 3 other PTs camped outside of Kazham. Eventually, a gob popped and agg'd the AFK MNK, which resulted in one person KO'd and the rest running to the zone. The leader broke the PT after that.

Then, I got the invite I was hoping for: East Ronfaure {S}. I was looking forward to trying out SATA and SATA+VB with some of my new gear. The PT didn't last too long, but I was very pleased with the damage that I was putting out and managed to ding 38 before the PT broke. I think if I can find some extra gil, I'll pick up some more gear and hit even harder. THF, like DNC, is definitely more fun in a PT than it is solo.

Hopefully I'll get something nice in dynamis this week, and maybe get a few more levels of THF before I start working on getting SAM 40+.

Posted Jun 14 2010, 04:10 PM

Dancing Fun

I met up with Protecus on Friday night to hang out. We ended up going to sky to do a quick FoV page before heading out to Hediva isle to kill some imps (lightningsday was coming up!). We ended up getting out there late in the day (about 12:00 game-time) and found that the first camp was taken. We tried to find a different camp but ended up aggroing 3 imps and a flayer, resulting in a wipe. By the time we ran back out there, the other PT appeared to be disbanded, so we camped outside of the tunnel. We managed to kill maybe 7 mobs before the day was over. So, wack is now ~8/200 imp kills that he needs for this trial.

Since I haven't had many friends online lately, I decided to gear up DNC and work on re-finishing that subjob. I didn't have much gear for it, so I did some shopping.

I told myself that I wasn't going to spend too much gil. By the time I was done, however, I had spent over 200k on gear (which is a lot considering how much time I spend soloing). At least if I *did* get a PT invite, I wouldn't be completely embarrassed.

I went from 37.5 to almost 41 solo on FoV in Qufim Island and Yuhtunga Jungle. It wasn't too bad, just a little lonely. I was just killing time, waiting for Braego to get online so that we could work on his Magian trial when I got an invite to a PT at Revelation Rock.

At first, they sync'd to me (40) but we really struggled. After a couple people died, they sync'd to a 41 and things went much better. By the time our sync target dinged 42 (with me dinging 42 shortly after), things really started to pick up.

Once I managed to get TP, I could easily keep the PT healed. It was very fun! Being DNC in a PT is so much more rewarding than doin' it solo.

I put my flag up the following night and managed to get an invite fairly quickly to a MMM PT. This was my first attempt at a MMM PT and it was kind of fun. The xp/kill was fairly lousy, but the reward at the end is very nice (if you complete the objective). I did 3 runs, but we only managed to win 2 of 'em. Still managed to get 2 full levels in only 90 minutes of actual fighting. If I hadn't died on the last run and if my emperor's band effect hadn't been wiped when we entered the maze, I could have ended up with almost 4 levels in those same 90 minutes.

The WAR in the PT seemed to be very useless. I asked at one point if they were using shadows, because it certainly seemed like they were just taking a beating (and using all of my TP and the SCH's MP very quickly). We had a THF, so the WAR was supposed to voke so that the THF could SATA onto the NIN. But it seemed like everytime the WAR would voke, they would move! It was very frustrating. By the 3rd run, the NIN asked me to be the first voke and things started to move along nicely. I was a little bit worried about not having enough TP to heal with because of having to keep using steps to keep finishing moves. As it turned out, it was actually easier on my TP since I was blinking a ton more attacks than the WAR was. With the one exception of a bad link which resulted in me using my 2hr and spam healing everyone to death, it wasn't too bad of a night.

Posted Jun 8 2010, 09:34 AM

Slightly More Playtime

I've spent a bit more time online in the last couple of weeks than I have for the past few months. I decided to dust off the ol' RDM gear and have been doing things RDM/DNC for gits and shiggles. It isn't a bad combination since it provides acc bonus, erase, and an additional form of HP/MP recovery via sambas.

I went back out with CB and Ev to farm some BLU spells in Beaucedine {S}. It took us about 10 walrus mobs to learn the first spell. Those mobs were fairly difficult to kill. Their AoE attacks are very damaging, and they attack very quickly. Then, we went to the Xarc {S} zone to kill Gargouilles and learn Triumphant Roar, which we got on the first mob! Too bad, 'cause they were much more fun to kill.

After that, Ev logged on to Millennia, and we headed to Arrapago to kill lamia and qutrub to learn Hysteric Barrage, Tail Slap, and spinal Cleave. We did get Tail Slap and Spinal Cleave, but couldn't get Hysteric Barrage before they had to log. They logged on the next day and got it in ~3 mobs or so.

I also helped Protecus farm coffer keys for MNK AF. We went to Garlaige Citadel first, and got that key very quickly. Then a short run to Beadeaux, where we spent almost 2 hours farming keys. There was a coffer near the 4-door room the whole time we were there, so after we got the key, Wack changed jobs, and came back for his AF body. On the way out, we killed Ruby Quadav for his ruby and then called it a night.

I happened to get home in time last night to actually make it to a dynamis run with a linkshell that I've had for awhile. They were doing Qufim, and I was the very last person to enter. I went MNK, but I didn't have time to get all of my gear around, or buy food. As soon as I entered the zone, there was a Cleric's Belt in the loot pool, which I lotted, but I couldn't manage to win the lot. I did manage to nab MNK hands, though while I was there as well as get the clear! The Relic hands can be full-timed for me since they have Attack +16 among other things, which is 1 more attack than the H.Kotes that I've been wearing. They also have VIT on 'em so that I can add them to my Chakra macro. I hope to be online early enough on Friday so that I can run with them again. Maybe they'll do some northlands and I can get some BRD relic, but I wouldn't mind doing another CoP zone so that I can start getting those clears.

I made tentative plans with Protecus to do some organ farming in Sea sometime this weekend. I just hope he gets on at a reasonable time so that I don't have to stay up until 4AM to do it.

Posted Jun 2 2010, 09:35 AM