Caedarva Mire

Neyla and I usually catch a movie and hang out on Saturdays, but he came down sick Thursday and was still feeling queasy and deserving of quarantine. We decided to pop on awhile and level our Beastmaster jobs, thinking we'd go out to Caedarva Mire and get halfway to 63.

What

Treant Saplings are great against Marsh Murres.

we didn't count on was the full effect of the new expansion zones working on our favor. Sanction bonuses coupled with the fast repop on the Marsh Murre birds had us raking in some of the most insane xp numbers we'd ever seen on BST. We had burned off our Empress Bands before our first Tuna Sushi wore, and it just kept going.

A six-person party turned up at the camp about an hour into our run. The normal script plays out that we protest, and they either stay or leave. If they stay, we keep pulling and grind them to a halt until they get fed up. We didn't bother this time -- we know Necrosis and Tymon -- and just kept going as if they weren't there. The camp was so awesome it could support both of us. They were also pulling and fighting leeches to keep their chains going.

We went there expecting to get halfway to 63. We were doing 4k-5k an hour and ended up reaching the level. It was absolutely intoxicating. We would've kept going, but another Beastmaster turned up shortly before we dinged. I told him we were close and would hand the camp over to him as soon as we did. The other party had disbanded about twenty minutes before we left.

We

Crawler Hunter vs. Knight Crawler... no contest.

decided to get our buffer in the Crawler's Nest while skilling up Scythe. We wandered back into the coffer area, charming Crawler Hunters and letting them tank Rumble Crawlers and Knight Crawlers and Wespes. We can get Scythe to about 200 there, so I imagine that place will see plenty of us until we get to cap. We're pretty gimptastic right now, although it really doesn't matter too much because we use axes when we xp. It's just another option.

I joked that my Beastmaster job would get to 75 before my White Mage. I'm starting to think that might actually happen. The only thing left for my WHM is to hit 75 and learn Reraise III; if nothing else, I should start leveling it so I can equip the AF2 I got in Dynamis-Jeuno.

Safe Escort

The climb to get Beastmaster from 60 to 75 is long, and the weekly "Test Your Mite" is one way Neyla and I are speeding it up. The other way we've been planning to tackle is the escort quest.

Bastok's

When we're near the Crawler's Nest, we pull weeds.

mission is set in the Crawler's Nest. You go in, the NPC appears at the zone, and you just have to keep her alive by killing or distracting anything in her path. When she reaches the end, she gives you a key item to exchange for an Experience Points scroll.

The Crawler's Nest escort is simple as hell for Beastmasters. The first room Olavia (the NPC) runs into has a few Doom Scorpions in it. All we have to do is charm one and make it fight another. The rest will link and start fighting your pet, completely ignoring Olavia. When she's finished running around the room and leaves, you release your pet. Only the original scorpion you attacked will come after you, so you charm and release it. No more aggro from a room of scorpions.

That's pretty much the pattern for the rest of the run. If something starts to attack her, charm it and then release it once she's beyond it. We got through the entire quest without killing anything. It was easier than expected, and we're going to be doing it on a weekly basis now.

We

1,000 Needles makes them cranky.

had nothing to do until Dynamis-Bastok, so I suggested we hit the Quicksand Caves and finish getting Beastmster to 62. We rode out and knocked out the level pretty fast and got a little buffer. When it was over, we ran to Kuftal Tunnel (charming cactaurs on the way, because seeing them use 1,000 Needles never gets old) to check out Cape Terrigan as a possible leveling spot. Still too many Tough bunnies and lizards.

Dynamis-Bastok was pretty easy. No massive deaths this time, and Neyla beat me on the lot to get the Monster Jackcoat. Taku got me into his group when I arrived, but Cythe moved me to the main tank party so I could keep him alive. Can't sleep at the switch with that kind of responsibility.

The Other Beastmasters

I

I'm babysitting Quieren and Hadafal.

wasn't in a gaming mood today, so the little time I spent online was in Gusgen Mines. Quieren has been goading and powerleveling Hadafal's Beastmaster until they pulled even and could duo together. I went out to the mines to coach them a little and see how they were doing as a pair.

I needn't have worried. They were having an easy time of it, charming flies and funguars and turning them loose on the bombs. I ran with them for thirty or forty minutes before I went off to catch some gavials for guild points. While I was gone, Q got "blown the fuck up," according to Hada. Gotta love those bombs.

In Praise of Kabrakan's Axe

Neyla finally got around to picking up a Kabrakan's Axe yesterday before our xp session. I've had mine awhile, and I really like it. The stats are handy, and you gotta love an axe that can Slow the mob you're hitting. Unfortunately, it doesn't fire off that often most of the time. On Earthday, the effect kicks in every other hit.

We were cracking up during today's visit to the Quicksand Caves. We'd been there awhile when the day changed over and the axes fired off four or five times in a row. It was just insane.

"I like Kabrakan's axe," I laughed.

"I wonder who he was," Neyla said, adding a moment later, "Ah, he's the Mayan god of earthquakes."

"Bless you, Google," I said.

"The

Slow him down and slow him down and slow him down...

assholes who designed this game take their mythology seriously," Neyla pointed out.

"Those names have to come from somewhere."

"They're gonna run out eventually. Make a NM named Keebler Elf."

"I'm holding out for a taru trio named Snap, Crackle and Pop," I said.

We got to within 3k of 62, which means we'll ding on Sunday's "Test Your Mite."

We could've made it, but we ran out of time because Neyla had to leave for the Monk AF fight. Necrosis came along to tank it for Bret, and the yagudo NM had a ton of hitpoints. I was fishing in the Sea Serpent Grotto at the time, but I was following their adventure in party chat. When it comes time for me to collect my Monk AF, I think I'll take a few extra people.

I also managed to get a .2 skillup on a grimmonite, the first fishing skillup I've had in over a week.

Lucky Charms

I've been looking forward to getting back into Beastmaster, and today was the day. Neyla and I are planning to level a couple days a week -- most likely Tuesdays and Wednesdays -- until we hit 75 or get burned out and need another break. We started off by scouting for new camps, figuring the Quicksand Caves would have dried up while we were on hiatus and getting to 61 through ENMs.

We

We're not quite ready for Caedarva Mire.

tried Cape Terrigan first, hoping to take down goblins around the outpost, but the bunnies and lizards at the zone were still checking Tough. One of the guides I'd read suggested Caedarva Mire, so we used our rings to teleport out and hop the boat to Nashmau. The camp is right outside the town, but it was problematic.

The leeches were still checking Tough, and the saplings were Even and Tough. I think it'll be an awesome camp once we hit 62 and don't have to convert all the pets in advance, but for now it would be too much hassle. I love saplings as pets, so turning them loose on the birds will be a lot of fun.

I suggested we check the Quicksand Caves just to be sure, since it seemed 61 is a "transition hell" level before more camps open up.

To

Anticans are very brittle.

our surprise, the anticans were still Tough and Very Tough. We waded in and had a blast, quickly getting back into the swing of things. We pulled in about 7.5k xp in the little time we were there. The only pet we lost was a lizard that took a Bio III to the face and died after being released.

We'll be heading back tomorrow for awhile. Neyla is going to help Bret with a Monk AF fight in Castle Oztroja, so we probably won't ding 62... but we'll get damned close. Maybe even close enough to ding during the ENM on Sunday. Who knows? I'm just happy to be back on the Beastmaster train.

Speaking of, Hadafal has been leveling Beastmaster like a madman and hit 32 yesterday. He's catching up to Quieren so they can duo. The way Q levels, they'll probably be at 75 in a week.

New Sigs

Neyla and I brainstormed and came up with new forum sigs. My main idea for this batch was tabloid scandal rags. Neyla's morphed into a porn ad, but mine came a little closer to that original inspiration.

In the Shadow of Heaven's Tower

Neyla and I want to finish the Star Onion Brigade quests, so we lighted out for the Quicksand Caves to fight Spelunking Sabotenders for the drop he needed for "Crying Over Onions."

We

My NPC doesn't like punching things with needles.

called our NPCs, planning to level them awhile, but the Star Spinel dropped on the second mob. We cleared the area and warped back to Windurst. We flagged "Wild Card" and went into Toramarai Canal to farm coffer keys.

The two of us wandered all over until we finally went to the room with the Starmites. Neyla likes fighting them -- "They make me work for it," he said -- and he even managed to earn another merit point before we finished. We'll track down the coffers later... which I'm not looking forward to, because that place is a bitch to navigate.

Dynamis-Windurst was a lot of fun. Takumifujiwara snagged me for his party as soon as I arrived. It's nice having a reputation for being a good White Mage; I'm practically in a Dynamis static with Taku at this point. That suits me fine, because it takes out a lot of guesswork about my situation.

Eormanric

This yagudo has Tsurael's name all over it.

was in the party with me, and after he said he dies a lot I joked that I'd set up a bunch of shots and would do one every time he dropped. "When I get too drunk to Cure, you all die." He shouldn't have worried, since he only died twice.

Tsureal, on the other hand, died at least a dozen times. He's a Red Mage who was in another party of the alliance, and I don't know what he was doing to pull hate, but it seemed like he constantly had something drilling his ass. A little more than halfway through the run he died and never made it out of the weakened state. He was constantly being taken out by AoE attacks, and I eventually started "slurring" my words to tease him.

It was a good run. Neyla got the last win he needed for Northlands access. We didn't get any Monster gear (two pieces dropped in Sandy on Friday; Neyla got one and I wasn't there to claim the other), but hopefully some will drop in Bastok on Friday.

*Ding*

I

I think he can smell the tartar sauce.

spent the weekend at my parents' house and didn't play much other than farming a Florid Stone early Saturday morning. I was still putting away laundry today when Neyla called and asked if I wanted to come along for Leviathan Prime. He and Malystryxx had already taken out Titan for Magix, but neither of them had a Paintbrush of Souls to get into the Den of Rancor. I logged on and headed out.

Magix stood too close to the Temple Guardian and got taken out by Meltdown and I managed to get us lost enoguh that we had to escape the first time we ran through the Den, but we eventually got to the cloister. The fish died pretty fast, too. Making Light skillchains for Thunder magic bursts tends to speed things up.

I teleported Magix around so he could pick up his new summons and spent a little time fishing in the Sea Serpent Grotto. There was still plenty of time before "Test Your Mite," so I bought some trout paste at the fishing guild and fished Emperors outside the tower while I waited for everyone.

Darkmagnus

I want a Hauby like Neyla's. /cry

came as Ninja this time, which seemed to help a bit. We took down the diremite and got another Geist Earring. Neyla and I dinged 61 when the chest was popped and we got our 3,000xp for the win. I put on my Amemet Mantle, and Neyla equipped his Hauby. It looks nice, and I can't wait to get one of my own. I should be able to buy it in 2-3 more weeks of fishing.

We finished out the evening by traveling to Jeuno to get pearls for TheFlock, the new all-beastmaster linkshell starting up in the face of AnimalFarm's disbanding. Logistics are still being worked out about what kind of shell it will be; I'm interested in BST-only events and not so much about going full-bore endgame with it... although I want endgame-type events like gods every now and then.

Not a bad day, for the short time I was on. Neyla and I basically went from 60 to 61 just through ENMs. On Tuesday we jump back into the fray and start leveling BST again for real.