Catfish Blues

Square

Anglers eagerly await the results.

Enix added a fish ranking contest in the last update. The Fisherman's Guild in Selbina announces the type of fish and the size requirements, and anglers have two weeks to get an entry. The top three spots earn the Gold, Silver and Bronze Hook titles. Everyone in the top 20 receives a Pelican Ring, which has an enchantment to boost the rate of fishing skillups.

Anglers crowded the counter when I went to check the results for the current contest, which was largest and heaviest Giant Catfish. Tomasello was there, as were a few others I've seen on the ferry. The tarus stood in a line and started doing panic-motion dances to pass the time.

I didn't win or even place in the top 50. I'll take more time with the next contest because I want that ring. It makes me drool.

Monk-y Business

I went back to Kazham to level Monk again. It took a little while to get an invitation, but I've been spending the wait fishing for black sole on the docks in Jeuno.

The party wasn't that great. Three of the players (including our party leader, a White Mage) had never been to Kazham or the jungle before. I quietly took the lead on choosing a camp, but otherwise left it to the leader.

This

The Goblin Smithy is gonna die.

was some of the slowest xp I've ever received. We had a revolving door of players, and the only constants were myself, the leader, and an awesome Japanese taru DRK named Dadadidi. Dada had to switch over to WAR/NIN to be our tank and did a great job.

Lyrai from QCDN joined us on her Thief at one point. I hadn't partied with her in ages, so it was good to hang out. We're both professional White Mages, and we were horrified at what the leader was missing. We ended up buying some scrolls for him.

Vlondoe, also from QCDN, joined us on Ninja. He and Lyrai didn't get along at all, and it was entertaining to see our leader try to keep peace between them. Vlondoe didn't stay very long, which was fine because I liked Dada better as a tank.

Mandies were no problem, but taking down Goblin Smithys was hit-or-miss. Some of them died easily, others would result in painful deaths for us. I only died once, trying to finish off a goblin while everyone else zoned.

Yeah, it was crap xp. Any other time I probably would've called it short and found another party. I'm a masochist, though. I got another invitation as I was leaving Kazham, but I was tired and wanted dinner. I took a break and then ended up soloing the last 600xp I needed to reach Lv. 28.

So Cold...

I hate monsters with True Sight.

I've had a pretty nasty cold building for days, to the point where I've only played in small snatches between naps. I haven't been up to BST, which is okay because it gives Neyla time to level RDM like a madman (he's 72 already). I've mostly been fishing and crafting.

I went into Oldton Movalpolos and fought the Moblin Ashman three times until he dropped the Hotrok I needed to get the map of Ulegeurand Range. I started my long trek through that zone, going all Metal Gear Taru to avoid detection by the dinosaur mobs which have True Sight and can see through Invisibility spells. I managed to get halfway through the zone, almost to where the big dragon dwells, before a Molech spotted me and brought me down.

I also helped Miriya fight the shadow creature in Valkurm Dunes. Sakhmet needed it to get his White Mage artifact weapon. I was happy to learn I can solo the thing now. It spams Dimensional Death, but its attacks never broke my Stoneskin.

Saturday morning I joined members of my linkshell for an ENM fight in Attowha Chasm. We had to climb a tiny twisting path up the side of a mountain; it was maddeningly slow, but you couldn't run or you'd fall to the bottom and have to start all over again. The climb was just to get a key item allowing us to enter the battlefield.

The

That's gonna leave a mark!

battle itself was against an antlion and its children. Six of us went in. It was a disaster, but at least it was a fun disaster. The great thing about ENM fights is you don't lose experience points if you die.

Wulfgar, Zoner, Dagry and Nolie were running all over the place trying to kill the antlion while also trying to kite the babies who would pop out of cracks in the ground. Otak and I were the first to die, and it went downhill from there. Complete party wipeout.

I also talked to Sneakypants about leaving the Tuesday night static party. Now that I have the cobwebs dusted off, I found myself wanting to level White Mage a lot faster. This week will be my last session with them. Then I'm going to level my Black Mage job to 37 and get it out of the way before pushing on WHM to 70 and learning Raise III.

For

Monk vs. Mandy in a fight to the death!

some reason I decided to indulge myself and went looking for a party on my Monk job around 1 a.m. last night. I got a party invite within minutes and flew to Kazham. We fought mandragoras and had to run like little children from the Goblin Smithies whenever we got aggro. I was closing an Impaction skillchain with our Ninja tank, but it didn't really matter because our Black Mage couldn't hit a magic burst to save his life.

It was crap xp, but I had fun anyway. I love playing Monk, and it was wonderful to have more HP than anyone else in the party for a change.