Shoot

Neyla and I hit the Maze of Shakrami awhile for more marksmanship skillups, shooting at worms and goblins and the assorted crawlers in the area. I managed to get mine up into the 40s before we decided to wander into the Abyss Worms area and got our asses handed to us. I'd built up a healthy buffer, so we homepointed and saved ourselves a walk.

Neyla went out to farm a Florid Stone, and I switched over to Beastmaster to farm recollections for a Promyvion-Dem run we've got scheduled for Sunday. Veresko felt it was "that time" again, since we have a few new players who haven't done them yet.

I've joked in the past that my CrabFamiliar has built-in Treasure Hunter, because it rarely takes me any time to get the recollections. Usually the most time-consuming part is traveling between the crags. My little guy must've been on strike today, because it seemed to take forever to get them. I didn't mind in Mea, since I was also doing the Tactics Pearl quest and it meant plenty of xp for Gauldeval, but Holla took forever.

Speaking of Promyvion-Holla, members of TheFlock were there to farm for an all-BST promy run. They've set up a static and plan to do Chains of Promathia from start to finish as BSTs, which I would've been all over if A) I hadn't already completed the expansion and B) I didn't mind losing massive amounts of xp. I'm happy to report they beat the crag boss later in the evening.

I

Give me something to do, boys.

ran out of time in Promyvion-Dem and had to leave for Dynamis-Bastok.

Our new addition Beastmaster wasn't there for some reason, which gave me hope because it meant I'd get the Monster Jackcoat if it dropped. Cythe was aggravated about something and started commenting on our "disgraceful" performance during our last trip to Dynamis-Bastok, but nobody in my alliance could figure out what he was talking about. I just tune that stuff out.

The BST piece didn't drop, although we started getting a ton of relic armor in the last 30-40 minutes of the run. It was an easy run, and I was largely bored out of my skull the entire time. Neyla was still keyed up after the run and wanted to go farm my Florid Stone, but I was already half-asleep and logged out instead.

Target Acquired

The only that can match the unbridled boredom of skilling up marksmanship is watching someone else do it.

That was my thought when Neyla turned up to watch me fire a slew of crossbow bolts at assorted wildlife in West Sarutabaruta today. I wasted a lot before I realized I'd have to go back to the gate and start with Bumblebees and Tiny Mandragoras and work my way up. Neyla's skill was already in the 50s from an extended session in Shakrami the other day.

We

Neyla and I fire crossbow bolts at goblins in the ruins.

hit the Inner Horutoto Ruins and went through the cracked wall to skill up on beetles, bats and goblins. It was sad to see how many bolts went clatting on the floor because they weren't connecting, but I started catching up.

There's a jelly NM named Maltha in there, and I suggested we use it for skillups since it would take ages to kill. Bad idea. It started beating me to death and probably started laughing when I used Mighty Strikes. I'd brought along some Bloody Bolts and started firing them off, hoping it would connect and drain enough HP to keep me alive. Neyla used Drain, and we weaponskilled until it was dead. Whew.

I managed to get my marksmanship into the mid-30s and will probably skill up again tomorrow. I like the idea of being able to land Acid Bolts or Bloody Bolts in a fight while I'm on WAR, since extra enfeebles can only help. Admittedly, I'll probably retire WAR at 37 and this is a silly pursuit... but I hate being gimp in any category. Hell, I'll probably level Sword and Greatsword just so I can have them capped for 37 even if I'll never use them again.

We ran around in there awhile longer and helped a Lv. 10 RDM who was there trying to do the first Windurst Mission with his WHM friend. They'd gone through the wrong wall and the RDM died twice to beetle aggro. We set them straight before we left.

The day's main event was Diabolos Prime. Galaika had organized the cakewalk Fenrir run a few months back, and he asked me the other day if I wanted to do Diabolos before next week's update gives NMs cumulative resistance to elemental magic attacks. I readily agreed.

Our setup was NIN, WHM, SMN, BLMx2 and RDM/DRK. I've been to the Shrouded Maw so many times for "Test Your Mite" that I can walk there in my sleep, so we headed in and quickly reviewed strategy before the looming Darkday hit.

The

Galaika and I kill bunnies with Diabolos in West Sarutabaruta.

fight itself wasn't bad. We stood on our square on the other side from Diabolos while Dantin (NIN) tanked him. He was dangerously close to being outside of curing range, and I was so close to the edge I almost fell to the diremites when the floor dropped out. Diabolos managed to sleep us and Hellstorm's Chainspell was almost wasted.

Ruinous Omen knocked us all into the red and gave us status ailments, but that's why post-update Benediction is so wonderful. It didn't occur to me until later how sad it would've been if my 2-hour from the earlier Mighty Strikes hadn't been back, because I'd forgotten I'd used it and hadn't thought to check the timer to see if it had cooled down.

The only death was Dantin's, and he'd two-houred on Ruinous Omen and didn't lose any xp. Galaika and I rushed back to Windurst to get our pact and run around in West Sarutabaruta to try him out. Let's just say Bumblebees and Tiny Mandragoras don't stand up very well to Nether Blast.

I was getting ready to switch to Beastmaster so Neyla and I could level NPCs in Ifrit's Cauldron when Arctyrael sent me a /tell asking if I could raise him in the Sea Serpent Grotto.

"Five minutes later and you would've been out of luck," I said as I outposted to the jungle.

"I like to think Lady Luck isn't a bitch after all," he said.

Safely on BST, we hit Ifrit's Cauldron and Neyla's NPC hit 57. Mine got close enough to ding on the next session. I need to finish Gauldeval's limit break by clicking the ??? in Qulon Dome, and according to Luto his final weapon upgrade is available.

Go for the Knees!

Quieren had work obligations, so we leveled without him like we said we would.

Neyla, Hadafal and I hit Jeuno and I started looking for three others to round out the party slots. I snagged Tec, a Bard I know from QCDN, and a Blue Mage. The only healer seeking was a 22 WHM with a Lv. 8 /BLM, and I was torn because I really hate to support gimpage. I waited a good fifteen minutes before I invited him, hoping like hell another WHM would pop up, but finally relented because he assured me he had all his spells.

Tec and the

The terrible taru triplets of doom!

White Mage, Elementral, were also tarus, and when we got to camp we realized we were all using the same character model. Nothing like a triple taru threat.

We camped at the zone into Delkfutt's Tower near the banner (beastmen control, so no setting homepoint there) and Neyla started pulling crabs. It went pretty well, too. I was swinging my Neckchopper for all its worth, enjoying being a damage dealer and sharing tanking duties with Hadafal when his shadows went down.

It didn't fire off very often, but there's a perverse thrill in having a mob's attack countered so you smack them back even harder.

We eventually moved inside and started clearing out the goblins. Our BLU called in a replacement and didn't even hint he was leaving until the WAR turned up in our camp. I hate that shit, since I might've chosen a different job if I'd been, you know, given the option. It worked out.

Somewhere

The bigger they are, the harder they splat when you go for their kneecaps.

in the middle of the goblin run I learned Sturmwind, and I fell in love. I'd pop Berserk, Boost and then use Sturmwind to do anywhere from 150 to 300 damage, depending on the debuffs at work.

When the goblin xp dried up, we moved across the hall and started on gigas and then on to the stairs to pull from above and below. The only rough part was getting it into everyone's heads to let the Ranger- and Black Mage-type mobs get all the way into camp so they wouldn't stop and pick us off from a distance. We managed to get a nasty link that resulted in two deaths that could've been avoided otherwise.

The Warrior disconnected and our White Mage had to leave for dinner, so we left for Kazham and I got replacements. The jungle camps near the zone were taken and the Goblin Smithy and his Digger friend killed some of us while we tried one or two places, but we finally moved to a Furrier camp Neyla knew about. The clearing had a bunch of mandies, few goblins, and no competition for pulls. There were a few deaths and our Monk left, but we kept going with five.

All in all, not a bad evening. Neyla, Hada and I went from 21 to 26 in one session with minimal bullshit. We're going to party again on Sunday, and I'm hoping we can get to 37 by the end of next week and be finished.

Playing Catch Up

Neyla and I did the Crawler's Nest escort today after I'd been off fishing for an hour or two. Olavia took the long way around, slapping the back wall of the room past the nest beetles and then backtracking and running toward the coffer area. She died to Soldier Crawler attack at the drop down to the lizard area due to some miscommunication, so we had to start over. She took the same route, we switched jobs and ate our scrolls; Neyla's White Mage dinged 34 and my Summoner is only 600xp away.

After

Powerleveling is dull, no matter how many people you have.

that, I switched to White Mage and went to Buburimu to powerlevel Neyla, Quieren and Hadafal to catch them up to my Warrior so we can get the static up and running again. There's been so much confusion and irritation and missed opportunities over it, but we're locked in for Wednesday. Neyla and I will be ready in Jeuno, and anyone not there gets left behind. We want these subjobs finished.

I've never powerleveled a group before. It's an activity I detest because it's intensely boring, and I'll only do it for Neyla because we're buds and that's just what you do. Adding more people to the mix doesn't improve the experience, but thankfully it didn't take too long to get them all to 21.

Neyla dinged and got a buffer before dropping out and partying up with me so he could skill up marksmanship by shooting at crabs and mandies. Quieren was the next to go, and I kept watch over Hada while he killed crabs solo until he got a buffer.

In other news, fish sales have been maddeningly slow this week (although I managed to get a .1 skillup in the glacier this morning before work). The Brown Belt is just outside my grasp since everyone keeps bumping up the price a little. I need a few more people to sell them so they start undercutting each other.

So Tired

Quieren

Neyla treats the crabs like her own personal juice box.

had to take his dog to the vet, so Neyla and I went out to the beach in Buburimu to duo our way to 20 on Snippers. They all rated Tough, and it's a testament to our Beastmaster background that it didn't bother us. The only rough part was the downtime, since we'd usually have to rest after getting Chain 3 or 4.

We used our NPCs for awhile to reduce downtime, but they nerfed the xp and I couldn't decide if it was worth the trade. Neyla had Drain and Aspir, which certainly helped.

About midway through I really started to get the hang of the shadows and it clicked in my head how having Ni would be pure sexy sauce on top of having Ichi. I was joking the other day that Ninjas must be ambidextrous schizoids to keep up with all those shadows, but I think now I could manage it. I don't plan to go beyond 37, but I appreciate it more.

I

I'm amazed I lived through it.

fished for an hour or so and killed time before Dynamis. It was such a long weekend and I was exhausted enough that what I really wanted to do was just log out and sleep, so instead I announced in LS chat that I could only stay for the win. I was invited to join the puller party, but I turned down the spot since I couldn't be there the entire time. I hate being "that guy," but then again I'm not a 16-year-old kid on summer vacation who can sleep through the next day.

The run went very well, and there were very few deaths. Manasha got his first piece of Monster gear when we got to the ramp leading to North San d'Oria. We worked our way to the Chocobo Stables and didn't wipe, which is wonderful because that tends to be one of our "problem areas."

We killed the boss and still had a good 90 minutes left on the clock for farming, but there was no way I'd make it through that. I said my goodbyes and chucked my hourglass.

Over the Weekend

I

Not even a pugil can withstand Mortal Ray.

wanted to kill some time before Friday's Dynamis-Windurst run, so I went into the aquaducts to farm a Fomor Codex. It's not hard, really. The pugils and jellies easily can take down a taurus mob if they don't get hit by Mortal Ray. That happened a few times, which meant pet swaps, but nothing I couldn't handle. They were stubborn and didn't drop for me.

Dynamis itself wasn't too bad. This time I found myself in the puller's party. It's not as much fun, because they're constantly running out of range and dying. It's frustrating as a healer even when you know they're supposed to die on a pull. I don't like seeing the red zero beside anyone's name. Speaking of, I only died once the entire evening. The Cleric's Duckbills dropped, but I lotted 32 and of course didn't get them.

I was only online for a little bit Saturday, and I used the time to unlock the Azouph Isle staging point in Caedarva Mire. The last time I tried getting there was shortly after the expansion arrived, and I died twice to Chigoe aggro before giving up. This time I went as Beastmaster, figuring I'd throw a bird at it or something. I got there without incident and attuned myself to the runic portal.

Most

Flies in Valkurm Dunes provide decent xp.

of Sunday morning was spent fishing, since I need to get back the gil I've been spending on Ninja. Quieren, Neyla and I tried working as a trio on the worms in Korroloka, but it doesn't work without a healer and we had to give up. I died twice there -- once because Quieren started attacking a worm before I was ready and a second time because Neyla did the same -- and we headed for the dunes to create a traditional party. We found a White Mage named Dolphines and and two other members of our linkshell -- Bluefrost and Tongan -- joined us as Bard and Corsair. Hadafal had said he'd be on to join us, but he was a no-show and we went without him.

The dunes were much better for us. The only deaths came from a Goblin Gambler who tossed a bomb and followed it up with Aeroga, dropping Q and Bluefrost like rocks. We got to 18 before Quieren had to leave for sky.

On the flip side, our "Test Your Mite" run was a nightmare. We go at 7 p.m., and I'd planned to log out as soon as it was over. Nanunanoo was nowhere to be found, so we were going to have Cmdrfly go WHM and get Wulfgar as a replacement. Nan turned up at the last moment, but Cmdrfly was partying in Cape Terrigan and still hadn't farmed a Florid Stone.

We

I'm venting rage on this diremite.

had to wait for Cmdrfly to get a replacement and then farm a stone for him. To say I was not a happy camper would be an understatement. Adding to the fun, Neyla and I died on the way to the Shrouded Maw because Nanu cast Sneak on the elevator and got aggro from an Ice Elemental on the way down.

We finally got into the fight a good 90 minutes late. We killed Pasuk, got our 3k xp, and I returned to Windurst and immediately logged off, tired and irritated beyond all measure. Neyla was making arrangements to powerlevel Hadafal's Ninja to catch up to us as I was leaving.