3 Ninjas Kick Back

Hadafal mentioned our impending dunes party to Quieren, and Q invited himself along as a third ninja. Neyla and I were dubious about how it would work, but we were pleasantly surprised.

I seriously overprepared for this party. I had all of my scrolls for when I dinged 15, as well as the tools to use the ninjitsu spells. I had multiple pieces of armor and weapons for just about every ding. I was carting so much stuff around I actually had to leave my fishing gear and my beloved Lu Shang in my moghouse. In contrast, Q bought a set of Brass armor from an NPC and wore that the entire time.

We

Hadafal puts up shadows while Quieren tanks.

still needed a healer, and Quieren found a taru White Mage who had a Dark Knight friend. The six of us gathered near the highlands zone and started killing lizards and goblins. Neyla did the pulling, competing against the hordes of gilsellers in their Lv 1 starter gear and whacking away at their prey with Onion Rods.

Ninja takes some adjustment. Not only do I have to keep count of my own shadows, but I also had to keep track of Hada's and Quieren's so we could bounce hate around in a circle. Sometimes Q would voke early because he thought I wasn't paying attention, which threw me off for real.

At one point four of us died to Goblin Leecher aggro brought into our camp by the gilseller fucktards. I homepointed to the zone and ran back. Jahar, who's in our linkshell, teleported out and rode a chocobo to us to raise the others. She decided to stick around and serve as bodyguard.

We quickly grew tired of trying to compete with the gilsellers, so we moved to the oasis to fight crabs. I tried out Tonko; invisibility at Lv. 9 is a wonderful thing, although you really don't need it after 67 levels of Beastmaster teaching you how to run through the middle of a goblin throng without being noticed.

The

The four of us kill bats to tidy up.

White Mage and her Dark Knight friend had to leave after awhile, but the four of us stayed to kill goblins, bats and bunnies near the LaTheine zone. I finished about 600xp from 16.

I switched back to White Mage when I got to San d'Oria and teleported Neyla out to Tahrongi Canyon so he could catch up a bit. He scoped out Shakrami -- "I've been leveling BST too long," I said, "when I hear the goblins are Toughs and think 'Sweet.'" -- and I headed off to Korroloka Tunnel to check it. I was going to use the Ninja two-hour on a Gigas Foreman and get a deathwarp back to Windurst, but I forgot to put up shadows first and he pounded me flat in one hit. Oops.

We're going to party again on Sunday afternoon and static our way to 37, although I'll be switching to Warrior at 21; that subjob is more important because I want to start leveling Monk again. Neyla and I will duo our NINs to 37 later.

Neeeeenja, Part Two

I

The Sea Bonze is the only Easy Prey behind the silver door.

ran out to Norg to flag the Utsusemi: Ichi quest today. I was sort of surprised that I hadn't bothered to do it before, but a scan of mules came up empty (other than gil from overnight fish sales). I bought a Silver Beastcoin from the auction house since I didn't feel like traipsing all the way back to Windurst to get mine out of storage. It was a short, aggro-free walk. The only mob that would've tried anything was the Sea Bonze, and that's just a charm-and-release minor obstacle.

Scroll in hand, I returned to Windurst and switched to /BLM for Warp and outposted to North Gustaberg. The Chocobo Leech NM in Dangruf Wadi drops a Lv. 15 katana with an Agility bonus, so I ran around turning sheep into jerky until one of them dropped the Fresh Blood I needed to pop the damned thing.

I warped back with my shiny new blade, switched to Ninja, bought a stack of Darts to level my Throwing skill, and headed off to Tahrongi Canyon. I love the little clearing with the Luck Rune because it's full of bunnies, mandies and saplings... and goblins are nowhere to be found.

It's hard to imagine just how bored Neyla was because he followed me out there and powerleveled me from 10 to 13. I loved it because I could kill Easy and Decent stuff without stopping, but I hated it because I always feel guilty about subjecting anyone to the excrutiating hell of cure cure cure cure cure cure cure cure cure.

Naturally,

Neyla keeps a watchful eye on my progress.

linkshell conversations kept us entertained. It roamed over the topic of Warriors as tanks -- Neyla and I asserted that they are indeed a tank class, even if nobody wants to play them that way anymore -- and the unusually high number of Beastmasters in the linkshell. In fact, Jahar and Magix decided on the spot they would work together as a duo.

Hadafal popped on late in the evening and we set up a time to hit the dunes tomorrow and try to party. We still haven't heard a peep out of Ceon, which means he's out of luck. Maybe he decided the game's demands and the way it spits in the eye of the casual gamer just weren't for him. It happens.

I'm a Neeeeeenja!

Ceon didn't turn up again and Neyla wasn't in the mood to play, so I decided to track down a katana and start leveling Ninja. After all, I'm going to need it to 37 at some point.

Neyla

Gaudeval throws out some cures.

popped on long enough to notice and send me a "lolNIN" /tell along with a Protect before he logged, and I started slashing and hacking my way through Bumblebees and Tiny Mandragoras. Neyla was hoping I could get to 12 and hit the dune with him and Ceon later in the week. I had that in the back of my mind when I started, but wasn't sure if it would happen.

Ninja is different, that's for sure. I'm not used to attacking so fast, and I carved through every Easy and Decent monster I could find in my oh-so-sexy Bronze armor with the subligar that makes my ass look dumpy. Getting to Lv. 7 so I could switch to Leather gear, even if it was only for one level until I could equip the Kenpogi and Tekko stuff, was a major accomplishment for me.

I used my Tactics Pearl when I hit 7 and let Gauldeval run with me near the outpost in West Sarutabaruta. While I was there, I got a /tell from Uday, who was in Kazham seeking a party on his Ninja.

"Ah," he said, "I see you have taken up the way of the ninja."

"Working on it," I laughed.

"I can teach you Daniel-san. First you must catch grasshopper with chopsticks."

"Wax on, whacks off?"

I also got a /tell from Zeromous. He's a 75 Red Mage who posts at QCDN and has followed some of my adventures. He'd asked earlier if he could come out and watch me and Neyla level Beastmaster at some point, since he's starting up a BST duo and wants to see "how it's done." His BST is 21.

His boredom was so extreme that he asked if I wanted a powerlevel.

He

Crawler, are you familiar with Ginsu?

wandered out and cured me while I continued to carve through every Easy, Decent and Even mob I could find around the outpost. While I did that, I was answering his questions about BST and the different situations that can pop up and taught the vital lesson that Jug Pets are there to buy time and save your ass in an emergency and are not for killing xp mobs.

I was halfway through Lv. 9 before I remembered to eat my Tonko scroll, which had been quietly gathering dust on my mule for a year or so. It's not like I really needed it, since I didn't have any tools on me. Ninja is one of those jobs I "sorta" thought I might level some day, which is why I never sold off any of the scrolls I quested.

I soon reached 10, and Zeromous pointed out I was missing a katana. I should probably read a NIN FAQ or something, since I didn't realize that's when I get Dual Wield. Yeah, I'm really prepared for this. I was still carting around my Lv. 1 blade, so I equipped it and started giggling at the carnage.

"Oh, man," I told Zeromaus, "I've so got to try BST/NIN and run around with two axes."

We partied up and outposted to Yhoator Jungle, where I started chopping the goblins into smaller parts. Having two axes -- even if the second was just my Barbaroi -- was fun. Zeromaus asked about the viability of BST/NIN, since that's what his partner wants to use out of intense hatred of WHM; I said it should be fine as long as one of them could cure, but that it wasn't my first choice.

For

Two axes are better than one.

the proverbial shits and giggles, I switched back to BST/WHM and took him into Ifrit's Cauldron to show off a bit and demonstrate my new confidence in walking around the zone that had terrified me for so long. The second bomb dropped a coffer key, which I had him lot so he could get the map. We poked around for the coffer, but didn't find one in the easy spots.

He also got to see what he described as a "crisis situation" when I went to do a pet swap and failed to charm and tame an Old Opo-Opo. I pointed out I'd specifically chosen that Opo-Opo because it was away from the pack and wouldn't link if I screwed up. I had him sleep the bomb until I got the new monkey under control -- why let a Red Mage go to waste if he's there? -- and sent it in to claw away.

I had to log out at that point, although I couldn't resist going the BST/NIN route later and carving some sahagins into fish sticks. I'd still go BST/WHM for xp purposes, but BST/NIN is likely to be my DD setup of choice for BCNMs and Dynamis situations.

On a side note, Hadafal's Ninja is 13, and he's been dreading the idea of hitting the dunes. He saw me leveling and suggested we party up and dual-tank our way through that ordeal. I'll run it by Neyla tomorrow. That would give us four members of a party right there, if we can all get on the same schedule. Hada also sent me a Haubergeon signed by his mule. I sent him my old one.

Making The Taru Girls Cry

Creon didn't turn up, so Neyla and I decided to do the Crawler's Nest escort quest. A RDM/BST was soloing it ahead of us, so we sat outside the nest and waited for him to finish. While we were there, Chiimi rode up. She's a taru, and she's recently taken up fishing and has sent a few /tells to me with questions. She saw me there and walked up, prompting this exchange:

Chiimi: Hey my sexeh taru <3
Halifirien looks away from Chiimi, embarrassed.
Chiimi: I love BST tarus ; ;
Chiimi: Marry me
Halifirien: Unfortunately, I'm gay. lol
Halifirien: Or I would.
Chiimi: Nooooooooooo ; ;
Chiimi's eyes brim over with tears.
Halifirien pats Chiimi consolingly.
Neyla mumbles something about all tarus being gay.
Halifirien: Hush, Neyla.

It's not easy being a sexy BST, and tarus are cuddly little teddy bears in the AF.

"She wants my junk," I told Neyla when we were inside the nest. "Poor thing."

The

Another eruption of Ifrit's Cauldron.

escort was flawless, so we hit Ifrit's. The volcano exploded again today while Neyla and I were leveling our NPCs there. It caught me by surprise, but this time I managed to get two halfway decent screenies. We did our laps around Ifrit's Cauldron -- I finally realized all those boulders near the jungle zone are volcanic rock thrown from the eruptions -- to kill bombs, and I pulled one of the hecteyes near the mouth of the cave to try getting an eye.

Eating the xp scrolls on Neyla's White Mage and my Summoner has put us both very close to 34. Neyla will probably ding after next week's escort, and I'll be able to solo a little to get there. It's a testament to how much we dislike leveling those jobs that we're going this route. At least then we won't have to worry about leveling them until BST is 70, when Neyla will officially become a gimp.

Ah, but the main event was Dynamis-Xarcabard. I wasn't there for Friday's run, but there was some massive death and a bit of drama with someone lotting BLM AF2 when he wasn't on the tier and being forced to pass it before he warped out. They even got the coveted Duelist's Chapeau, the pimpest of the Red Mage pimp hats.

The current strategy with our Xarcabard runs, since we're not ready to go for the win, is to kill all the NM demons and spend the rest of the time farming. I wasn't in the tank party this time, but instead found myself in a kiting party with Paladins Taurothar and Fleist. Neyla was there, as was another WHM named Dor and Gatsizle on Summoner. It's fun being with the kiters because you do a lot of running around and throwing out cures when you can.

We

Hanging with the kiters is fun.

received a lot of relic armor tonight. We got stuff for Dark Knight, White Mage, Monk, Black Mage and a second Duelist's Chapeau. Neyla was surprised to learn he's now on the Red Mage tier with Starfyre and can lot the next Chapeau that drops.

"Let me be the first Red Mage in history to say I don't care," Neyla said. "If it drops, Star can have it first."

I know he's mainly after Monster gear, but damn. I wouldn't be able to pass up a chance for something that good for my job, but that's Neyla all over.

The run ended early with someone -- Fleist, I think -- creating a huge demon train that wiped us out. There was no time to recover from that, so the people standing tossed their hourglasses and the rest of us waited for the timer to be up.

Catching Up

While

Neyla hacks her way through a dhalmel.

I was at my parents' house for the weekend, Neyla started leveling Dark Knight. He recently pearled a newbie named Ceon into the link shell, and Neyla decided to level DRK so he could go along for Ceon's first party in the dunes. This way the newbie gets to have a familiar face around, and Neyla can begin the process of having a RDM/DRK stun gun ready for Dynamis Lord when the time comes.

I logged on this afternoon to find Neyla out in Tahrongi Canyon, trying to skill up Greatsword.

"Come out here and tank these," Neyla said, so I switched over to White Mage and joined him. He was only ten levels away from cap when I got there, so it didn't take very long.

We returned to Ifrit's Cauldron for another circuit of NPC leveling. Yawawa hit 56, and Gauldeval was close enough when their quota was up that I felt justified in using a Tactics Pearl charge. Less than a dozen bombs later, he din ged 56 as well.

Neyla

Gauldeval looks dashing in a Scorpion Harness.

charmed one of the hecteyes in there and turned it loose on a bomb and repeatedly using Sic until it finally started casting Ancient Magic. I've got a feeling that'll never get old. When I returned to Windurst, I called Gauldeval to check his armor and was amused to see him wearing a Scorpion Harness. I locked that one down.

I went back out to the glacier after that to break more rods for woodworking skillups while I killed time for the ENM. Nanunanoo had a wedding to attend this weekend, so Cmdrfly came as WHM and Neyla asked Wulfgar to come along as backup Ninja. Hadafal was nowhere to be found, and we had just zoned into The Shrouded Maw when he popped on. We were about thirty minutes late starting by the time he got out to us, but we got our 3k xp.

I went fishing for an hour or so after that. The price of the Brown Belt is dropping like mad, so I'll probably be able to buy one in another day or two.