La Grand Canyon Danse Macabre

It was back to the Tahrongi Canyon with Teila as DNC and SCH, and this time we started at the entrance to Buburimu Peninsula and practically worked our way around the entire perimeter of the zone taking on any EPs and DCs we could find.

Before long we had both reached L13 and decided that we'd try levelling in a new area next time, so opted to move to North Gustaberg (S).

I then returned to the Glacier to have a second attempt at camping Gargantua, but even though the area was mine to myself for awhile, my luck was no different to last time. Made a couple more stacks of Black Tiger Fangs though (Thief's Knife FTW!) so it wasn't a waste of time.

Phantastic

We were going to camp Ixtab for BBK’s Miraculous Dale quest earlier in the week but due to constant DCing on the night we were supposed to go, we postponed until tonight. Ixtab is a L71 NM Ghost in Upper Delkfutt’s Tower who drops the Cheviot Cloth used to make the Cheviot Cape, a mage piece with Damage Reduction -5% on it.

Before that, however, I went off to the Beaucedine Glacier to farm Black Tiger Fangs. The Tundra Tigers were Too Weak and dropped Fangs like hotcakes, which can be exchanged in San d’Oria for 2.1k Gil per three Fangs.

Whilst there I also decided to camp Gargantua, an NM Golem for the Miraculous Dale quest, but in the three hours I was farming I was unable to spawn him.

In the end, I returned to Windurst and took the OP Warp to Qufim where BBK was milling around. We teamed up and he suggested we try to pop Trickster Kinetix whilst we waited. We ran up the spine just outside Lower Delkfutt’s Tower and killed all the Dancing Weapons, but we did not have any joy.

When Teila, Aka and Voltor arrived, we went inside and made our way to the top of the tower using the Delkfutt’s Key. At the top was Mimas, a large NM Gigas, so we took him down but he didn’t drop his Heavy Moth Axe.

We got a little lost trying to find the way up from the tenth floor, but eventually we found the eleventh floor and Ixtab wasn’t there. I suggested we split up (as Ixtab can pop over two floors) but no one listened. In the end I went up to the top with Teila to check on the second pop point, but Ixtab was there already!

We pulled him and he must have gone down in under a minute easily. We didn’t get the Cheviot Cloth but we were able to record the death in our Data Analyser Log.

Whilst resting up and deciding what to do next, I pulled a Jotunn Hallwatcher for fun, and lo and behold, it dropped a Hoary Battle Horn, a Rare/Ex item with a description that read it was used to summon Pallas to battle.

I ended up with the Horn, and we agreed to pop him for fun. Aka located the pop point, so we dropped through a hole in the floor and started to clear the centre of the room. When we were ready, I traded the Hoary Battle Horn to the ??? and along came Pallas, a black Gigas with tattoos. He was even easier than Ixtab and no one even broke a sweat bringing him down. Unfortunately, the Pallas Bracelets didn’t drop, which, in turn could be used to pop Alkyloneus (sp), an even “harder NM” that might drop the Alkyloneus (sp) Bracelets, a very rare and expensive hand piece with awesome boosts.

After that we went back outside and returned to camping Trickster Kinetix. We must have been there for around an hour and a half killing the Dancing Weapons at the spine, so eventually we gave up and I logged out.

Evading the Question

This is more a summary blog entry of the week’s events as I have remained in Caedarva Mire all week (with the exception of returning to Whitegate twice to sell off my Imp Wings and Dark Crystals).

Having used up my Anniversary Ring for this year, I’ve resorted to milking my Emperor Band. Instead of going THF/WHM to the Mire, I’ve dusted off my pirate attire and geared back up as COR/WHM, as I can buff much more effectively, giving Evoker’s Roll and Corsair’s Roll.

I’ve also upgraded some of my accessories lately, so I had more Ranged Accuracy than before (e.g. dual Behemoth Rings), plus a Higher Marksmanship score than before, so I brought some stacks of Steel and Iron Bullets with me. I was pleasantly surprised at how often I hit. Across the course of the week I went from 233 Marksmanship to 247 Marksmanship, putting me 3 from cap! I don’t think I’m going to Merit Marksmanship though, even if it would benefit both THF and COR.

I made around 9 or 10 Merits this week. I managed to start and finish Evasion meaning I have an extra 8 Evasion skill (bringing me to 250 on THF (250/284 with Merits)), which is awesome, but still a long way from cap. With 284 Evasion I expect to get missed a lot, especially in my Evasion build, which I’m still working on.

With THF to L75 my levelling work is done. Well, almost. There is the slight matter of having other alternative sub jobs to NIN, and a good solo one is DNC. In fact, DNC is a very good solo sub for most jobs, or so it seems.

A Broken Heart

Today we returned to Cape Terrigan and entered through the northern tunnel to XP our NPCs, and to continue breaking the latent on my Heart Snatcher.

We experienced many strange DC problems today, which had happened a couple of times recently, but not as much as today. It starts with a R0 and a “time out” error, which ejects you to the title screen (all the while your internet connection is fine), but as soon as you log in again, you will DC a second time without an R0 from the packet meter and this will take you out onto the desktop; again your internet connection will be fine. Lots of people are experiencing this and forums are saying this “double DC” has only been happening since May.

Nevertheless, there were no untimely deaths from this and the day was really successful. I got around 8 full levels of Evasion skill and after suddenly noticing huge damage from a WS, I realised I had finally broken the latent on my Heart Snatcher (wooooohooooo!) and I was able to confirm it by noticing the damage was the same as my offhand damage, as opposed to half.

Upon my return from Cape Terrigan, I went to Whitegate and decided to scrap the idea of an Attack and Store: TP build, and focus on a Haste build after all, so I bought a thousand Imperial Bronze Pieces and donated them to the chap in Al Zahbi for my Walahra Turban, and dusted off my Rapparee Harness. The main point of the Turban is the +5% Haste, and the focus of the Harness is the +4% Haste, so +9% isn’t bad. I now need to get hold of a Swift Belt from the Sacrarium, for a further +4%. Another plus is that the Turban has a purple strap on the back which looks awesome with the Harness, which, in turn goes nicely with the Cobra gear I already have. For the first time ever, I think I look quite badass!

A Merit to the Force

With six uses of the Anniversary Ring left, I went to Caedarva Mire again to duo on Heraldic Imps with Teila. For the second time running, the first camp (right outside the zone to the Alzadaal Undersea Ruins) was empty meaning we didn’t have to do the death run across the field of Soulflayers. Anyone who was reading my blog from around September/October 2007 will know what I mean when I say how deadly this place is.

I was talking to Seshamaru whilst we duo’d them, and I told him that I was aiming to get 20k in one and a half hours and he laughed, saying “good luck”. I reminded him that I was an Incredibly Tough Taru and lo and behold, I managed to make 15k in around the same time, so that’s one and a half Merits for me. Just need another two and a half and I can max out my Critical Hit ratio. Add that to the Heart Snatcher and that’s an extra 10% chance of critting, and if I ever get the Pahluwan body, that’s another 10%. 20% extra crit chance plus a THF’s natural high DEX makes for a very very high crit chance!

In other news, the latest episode of Limit Break Radio was aired yesterday, and featured Sesh, who was there to talk about Vana’diel Profiles. The episode was recorded around a month ago, so it was just before we began to get big, but thanks to his appearance now on both PFA and LBR, plus the interview with Aniero, the floodgates have opened and we’re getting tonnes of new members every day. More members means more admin for the site, so Sesh has taken on board Dualmikauzero as a new admin. Aniero gave Sesh so much praise about how good the site was, and Sesh sold it so well too, so I’m hoping this is enough to make the launch of our Podcast a success.

It better be anyway! We’ve gone to a lot of trouble to arrange the launch show to feature Aniero and Kallo from LBR and Steak and Fusionx from PFA, so it should be an amazing pilot. Having spent hours on Skype discussing the name and content layout for the show, we’re all but ready to go, but we need to spend a bit more time organising the Level Down (Podcast name) page so that it is ready to accompany the launch.

I’ll keep you posted, but for the latest information, sign up and create a profile at Vana’diel Profiles – I’ll add you to my friend list.^^ So far, BBK, Teila and I are there from THH.

Thieving & Achieving

Due to “popular demand” from certain members of TheHelpingHand Linkshell, I am going to start writing my blog for this site again. This does not mean I have any plans to return to the Linkshell right now; there are far too many users who have deeply upset me, plus there are now certain members of this Linkshell who are on my /blacklist. I am saddened by what this Linkshell has turned into and although I did my best to try to organise/lead since Kitty’s departure, due to factors outside of my control, the Linkshell has come to stand for something I cannot associate with.

Needless to say, my best in-game friends remain on this Linkshell and it is for them that I continue this blog. Throughout everything, they have continued to support me and talk to me, both in and out of game, which is fantastic. I will always help you out in return.

So it has been nearly a month since my last entry and a lot has changed. As you may recall, I started a three-year Web Design & Development course in April which, on top of a full-time job which keeps me out of the house for twelve hours a day, has severely restricted my in-game play time. I therefore don’t play every day anymore, but I do come on as much as I can.

I have also begun work on a community site called Limit Break Radio, which was a dream come true as this guy is like an FFXI hero of mine. The interview is now accessible from the Vana’diel Profiles home page (June’s article) in both audio and text format. At the time I didn’t have a microphone (I was using a built-in one on my laptop) so my quality is appalling, and as I was nervous, I waffle immensely when I ask the questions. It’s worth hearing, however, as Aniero is an incredibly talented speaker, having a background in broadcasting.

Last week Sesh and I had the pleasure of interviewing Steak and Fusionx from the other popular FFXI community and Podcast, Pet Food Alpha and due to a new microphone and a bit of rehearsal, my delivery is much better. This article will be available in July. Steak is another great presenter, and also very funny. Worth checking these Podcasts out if you have the time.

But in the meantime, keep an eye out for Level Down, and you can slowly track my rise to FFXI stardom! And, if you haven’t already done so, create a page about yourself on Vana’diel Profiles – I’ll add you to my friend list.

In game, I’ve been hard at work with levelling THF, and last night I got 30k duoing with Teila in the Mire and hit L75!

Hallelujah, hallelujah!

I have been levelling THF since around January 2006, when my WHM seemed to have come to a halt at L58. I then took THF to L50, went back to levelling SMN, then went to WHM, then went to THF again and took it to L60, then went and took COR to L75, and THEN got back on the horse with THF. So in the time it took me to get L75 on THF (nearly 2.5yrs), I managed to get two other jobs to L75. This was seriously hard work, but I’m so pleased as it’s the job I’ve been passionate about ever since Bassmundo sold it to me with his dagger-spinning antics many moons ago. I’m now determined to Merit it to the hilt, get the best gear ever and then try to solo impossible odds.

I also helped Akashea and Teila recently take on Cailleach Beur, a Skeleton NM for the Staff Weaponskill, Retribution, which was found inside Ifrit’s Cauldron on a bridge above a river of lava. BBK organised the run, asking members to come and help “someone who always helps out others”. Whether people came out of the kindness of their hearts or because they felt guilty I don’t know, but we got an alliance of THH members together for the fight, which was very easy.

We then stuck around to get BBK a Wyvern Skull for the Opo-Opo Crown quest, and when one dropped really quickly, I asked if they minded hanging about for one for me. Although I do not have BRD levelled, I do have some of the items already, so I thought I would take the opportunity now whilst I was here.

With the new update (which I’ll get onto later), there is a new quest available from Lower Jeuno, called The Miraculous Dale, which involves fighting around twelve to fifteen unpopular NMs for a total of just under 60k. As three of the NMs are the Boreal mobs from Xarcabard, we thought we would kill two birds with one stone and tick those off the list whilst getting Sirdante her LB2 done at the same time.

Again I was surprised at the turnout as we ended up with seven of us from THH, and the three mobs were down in seconds. The damage the front-liners were doing was incredible. Just a shame we can’t get this many to turnout to regular events – we could do the tier 1 ZNMs for fun (see update bit).

Now for the update. There’s been a lot of new things implemented into June’s update, including an increased level cap for Fellows (L70), a Fellow points system, new WotG missions, quests and Campaign rank, amongst other things. I managed to uncap Yawawa from L60 (she’s now L62), but I found out afterward the points system with the NPC is backdated for so much time, and the points you have available the first time you speak to him is based on XP your Fellow has got during that time. As mine had been stuck at the level cap for around a year, I didn’t have many points to spend. It’s cool because now you can really customise your Fellow with appearance and weaponry, plus increase the amount of mobs she can kill etc.

The new missions are simply amazing. I did them on the night they came out. It’s a tonne of really long cutscenes and just one fight, but the cutscenes are the best I’ve ever seen with cinematic technique found in proper cartoons, plus realism of animation never seen before (check out Lilisette’s dancing). The story is great and it’s so begging for a twist. We KNOW we won the Crystal War, so this expansion can’t just be about what happened. Cait Sith is meddling for a reason. I just want to know why.

Another update was the implementation of the ZNM system. This was to give parties/Linkshells a fairer option at fighting NMs in Aht Urhgan, by adding a points system from completing quests. When enough points are achieved, they can be exchanged for pop items which, as implied, pop these NMs so you don’t have to compete with others for claims, nor wait hours for a pop.

To begin with you have access to nine tier 1 NMs, then by beating them you can progress to tier 2 etc. Each tier is significantly harder and parties have been known to wipe to tier 1 mobs. The drops are worth it though, and rumour has it that beyond tier 4 (the last known guaranteed tier) is a tier 5, as the name Pandemonium has been found in the .dat files. Could he be the new megaboss of this system?

There is also Dark Ixion, a HNM that runs away when approached, unless you throw a piece of Stygian Ash at him from the correct distance. He drops some nice items, but has taken Linkshells around 2 to 3 hours to beat with a full alliance. What is really bad about this though, is that Stygian Ash only drops from Pixies.

Let’s not forget our old friend the Sandworm. Now he has been given the ability to eat you, which transports you (and your party – unconfirmed) into the Campaign Ops zones (Ghoyu’s Reverie, Ruhotz Silvermines etc.) which contain various NMs such as Serket, and apparently these NMs found here drop some great gear, such as the Antares Breastplate.

Happy hunting!^^