Frustrations

I hadn't really planned to level Beastmaster today, but Neyla went to scout some areas in the Sanction areas while I was fishing. He found an open camp, but it was taken by the time I'd finished and geared up.

We

Steelshells have amazing defense.

hit Uleugerand Range for a little while, killing raptors until I managed to mischarm a bunny and draw aggro from a second raptor. I died and Neyla was cut off from replacement pets. A passing group told Neyla to call for help and they finished killing, but Neyla was already dead.

Neyla didn't want to stay after that, so I decided to scope out the Boyahda Tree. We charmed the mandies in the room just before you get to the second floor and turned them loose on Steelshells. Their defense is so insane I managd to build 300tp on one of them.

We returned to Windurst to wait for Dynamis to begin.

I started out in the tank party but got bumped in favor of another -- "It's okay," I joked. "It just means I get to laugh when Cythe delevels instead of feeling guilty." -- and found myself in the puller's party again.

We

They must be hiding all the relic armor in Heaven's Tower.

seemed doomed to a repeat of Monday's humiliating lack of relic armor. Nothing was dropping for the longest time and people were joking about putting in calls to the GMs to see if they'd nerfed the drop rates in the last update. We eventually got a Warrior piece, and then another drought.

About forty minutes from the end of the run is when it finally started to rain AF2. A pair of Cleric's Duckbills dropped. I lotted a pitiful 200-something. Cloudnine lotted 993, but Seikatsu lotted 994 and got them. A few other goodies dropped, but no Monster Helm. With Manasha out of town for the weekend, Neyla and I would've been lotting against each other for it. Ah, well.

Thick With Tension

TheFlock

I wish I'd known about this camp earlier.

is planning an O-hat run on Tuesday. Neyla and I met Veresko in Port Jeuno today so he could synth our eye clusters. "I've never blown one up," Ver told us, "but every time I think 'This is gonna be the one.'" My nightmare of having to farm all over again was unjustified, since he made both without problems.

With that finished, Neyla and I headed out to the puk camp for our first xp session in weeks. A party was already there, but the leader was pretty nice and pointed us to the next clearing and said there was a second puk camp there. I actually liked the second camp better than the first. It's a little more open and it's harder to keep your back to a wall, but there are plenty of spiders and you don't have to worry about getting knocked into a hungry malboro. As predicted, it didn't take long for me to reach 68.

A Beastmaster turned up at one point but left when he saw the camp was taken (he could've saved himself a trip if he'd read my search comment). Genna arrived a little while after that on Thief. She was scoping out the area for the xp party she was in. I always got along with Genna when we were running around with NotoriousHunters, and I told her we'd be leaving the camp as soon as Neyla hit 68.

It took awhile, since the puks were conning Even to me and the xp dropped heavily. The last fight ended and we managed to aggro not one but two puks and had to kill them... much to the waiting party's dismay.

While

This crawler isn't ripe yet. Maybe at 69.

all this was going on, Quieren and the linkshell were discussing possible names for the Sea/Limbus shell. Lots of names were tossed around -- I liked Neyla's suggestion of "CharlieDon'tSurf" -- and we eventually settled on BigKahunas. I got a pearl from Q when we got back to Al Zahbi.

We still needed an xp buffer, so we went to check a camp in Aydeewa. It's a large room of malboros and crawlers, but the only pets are a sapling and two jellies which con anywhere from Decent to Tough. Either way, they were a bitch to charm and after only a few fights we decided it would be best to try it at 69. There aren't enough charmable pets for my tastes, though. Release one in the wrong spot and you're stuck waiting for it to respawn.

Pso'xja turned out to be a waste of time. I'm not sure what braintrust suggested Nue's tower as a Lv. 68 camp, but everything was Decent... even the prey. We dropped down another level and suddenly everything was Very Tough. We found the stairs and worked our way out, then dropped down the other side to make sure we weren't being mindfucked. The other side was just as craptacular.

"I should go kill a buffalo for the hell of it," Neyla said. Yes, we were that bored.

We

I'm having flashbacks to Cape Terrigan.

traveled to Uleguerand Range (killing every demon on the way to the zone with funguar jugs) and charmed tigers to kill a few buffalo to amuse ourselves. Since we were in the area, we checked a nearby clearing and found a plentiful supply of bunnies and raptors.

The raptors were low-end Toughs, but there were a lot of them and they respawned pretty fast. Reaching 69 there would be a rough grind, but we agreed it would be a good "backup camp" if nothing else was open. We got Neyla a 3k buffer before we bailed.

Now that we're 68, we can equip Thick Mufflers and Thick Sollerets. They have Accuracy and Attack bonuses, and we look kinda badass in them. I'm just happy to finally have a good "melee" set. I'd probably die of humilation if I were asked to tag along for some big fight because my Hauby was the only melee-centric piece in the main gear slots. Until today, the rest would've been my Beastmaster AF. At least now I'm halfway presentable; at 69 I can equip the Thick Breeches, and you'd better believe I plan to have a pair of those ready.

I

We look sexy in the Thick gear.

finished out my evening by traveling to San d'Oria to buy enough supplies to make Harps for guild points. I ended up paying more than necessary because I was too lazy to make my own Chestnut Lumber, but I managed. I'd planned to make a signed harp for Jahar -- she's recently fallen in love with Bard and was hitting the dunes -- but put the idea on hold when I saw how much I'd be spending for 3,600 points. I may give it another shot tomorrow when I return for more guild points; she's bound to be close to Lv. 14 at that point.

Sight for Sore Eyes

Neyla's aggravation with pulling Dodomeki hecteyes from their cave in Ifrit's Cauldron reached the boiling point when his buffs dropped and he made a spectacular train of mobs.

He

These stubborn bastards won't give it up.

came sprinting out of there with goblins, bombs, hecteyes and scorpions hot on his heels. I moved out of the way so he could die in the narrow passage and reraise after they'd despawned. He decided we should change our tactics at that point by just charming pets and letting them do all the work inside the cave and not worry about pulls.

It worked out pretty well, and after awhile we finally got a drop. I lotted a whopping 998 for it. Quieren had said he'd give me his extra eye from the Den of Rancor, so that meant I was ready to have my cluster synthed. We killed more hecteyes and it took us about forty minutes to get another.

We popped into TheFlock's linkshell and found out the eye from Den of Rancor normally sells for 100k.

"That's it?" I laughed. "To hell with farming. Just buy the fucking thing."

A quick scan of Batallia Downs search comments found someone selling them, so Neyla warped out to buy it.

I used my Tavnazian Ring to hit the outpost and buy eight pairs of Holly Clogs from one of the NPCs, since that was my guild item for the day. Fishing really spoiled me since you don't have to pay to get your daily item, but I've decided to push myself this time and work on it. Unless it's some outrageous thing like turning in 93 Maple Wands to get 1200 points or an item I can't synth because I don't have Smithing or Leather high enough, I should be able to manage.

I

I can squeeze another level out of this synth.

was in the mood to skill up a bit, so I bought six Fastwater Fishing Rods, Trout Paste and Light Crystals and headed out to the glacier to break some poles and repair them. It's time-consuming and slightly annoying, but it's dirt cheap and I'm spared the hell of synthing arrow after arrow after arrow. I took a break to teleport Quieren -- his linkshell was getting ready to do Kirin and he was giddy because they were letting him go Paladin this time -- and went back to it. I got it to 51, and once I hit 52 I'll need to find a new recipe.

I'm eager to get my wood skills up there so I can make a full set of signed elemental staves for myself and Neyla. Those recipes cap at 75, so it's just a matter of time and gil.

In other news, Neyla's NPC Yawawa dinged 58 while we were running around the volcano. Mine got close to leveling, so he should hit it during our next session.

Battle of Three Armies

I

There's gonna be payback, you reptilian whore.

haven't participated in a Besieged event since the first revamp that made it tougher, but today made up for it. We had a brief maintenance and version update, and when we were allowed back into the game all three armies were advancing on Al Zahbi. Neyla rushed out there on Red Mage, and I grabbed my Beastmaster gear to join him. There weren't many people there to defend the city.

The Undead Swarm was already fighting when I arrived. I called a funguar and set it to attack a skeleton I saw running around. We were barely making a dent in it, and the funguar was hitting it for about four times what I could when I managed to connect. Another Red Mage was there and started curing me, but it didn't help. I'd used a Reraise Earring, and after the skeleton finished handing me my ass I rested in a corner and bided my time until I could go after one of the Lamias.

That fight went better because I wasn't alone, but one of her ghost friends swooped in and started picking us off. I reraised again and went back into the fight until the army retreated and I got 500xp.

The Mamool Ja invaded immediately. People were still shouting for party and alliance invitations, and I waited until someone shouted a particular mob they were fighting and used Widescan to track it and join the fray. It was a Blue Mage monster, and we chased it all over the zone. I found myself fighting next to Quieren a few times.

This

I've got to bring sushi the next time I do this.

was actually my first glimpse of the Mamool Ja. I helped bring it down and died a few times before they retreated.

The trolls came next, and that was an even better adventure.

"They've got bombs," Neyla said. "Lots and lots of bombs."

I died a few times, but mostly I tried to stay up and running with a group to focus my funguar's attention on taking down one mob at a time. The Aerial Torpedo NM was particularly awesome, because it was a bomb that swelled larger with damage like the Snoll Tzar. I expected it to Self-Destrust and take out the entire square, but it didn't. Hitting it created a nasy Burn effect, and Neyla ran over to me a few times for Erase.

I'm not sure how many times I died over the course of the 90-minute invasion, but they didn't steal the Astral Candescence and I managed to get a free 1,300xp on Beastmaster. The warp taru and chocobo merchant were kidnapped, but I'll gladly leave their rescue to others.

Neyla and I finished the evening by doing the Crawler's Nest escort and logged out early.

Grudges

I went fishing for Gigant Squid and got two .1 skillups while Neyla was muling for gear. We were going to head out to the Den of Rancor and look for those coffers, and he amused himself by killing tonberries outside the temple while I was getting my stuff together.

I'd just outposted when his Rampage macro went off, followed by his health dropping from full to the little red zero.

"Yeah," he said, "I need to erase my hate."

When

Gaudeval needs MP after battle.

he was on his feet, we worked our way downstairs and managed to find the coffer without incident. We were heading for Ifrit's Cauldron when he spotted an NM named Bright-Handed Kunberry on widescan. It drops a Rare/Ex Resentment Cape, which I wouldn't mind having. Neyla and I called Funguar jugs and killed it. It was a Thief-type mob and used Perfect Dodge, but it didn't help. No drop.

We farmed Dodmeki for eyes in the cauldron, but a Dragoon was already killing them and we had a harder time of it. I think I mischarmed every Opo-Opo at least once, which made for a real adventure. We didn't get our eyes, although Quieren offered to give me one since his crew had done six BCNMs and finally got a Peacock Charm.

Between hecteyes pulls, we also killed goblins at the cave entrance. They ranged from Decent to Tough. We took a double penalty from having pets and NPCs with us for the deaths, but the kills add up. When we returned to Windurst, we were both about 9k from 68.

I switched to White Mage and bought four stacks of Trout Paste from the Fisherman's Guild and then traveled to San d'Oria to make Rose Harps for guild points. I'm in the wrong business; I paid 20k for enough Rosewood Logs to make three harps that sell for 20k each, and I even managed to HQ one of them (a real feat, considering it caps at 53 and I got woodworking skillups).

With

A quiet moment while we wait for the boss pull.

my points completed, I hit the glacier and burned off my Trout Paste fishing and waiting for Dynamis-Beaucedine to begin. I got a third .1 skillup for the day, which made me do a little happy dance inside.

The run kinda sucked in every direction. Black Mages were missing stuns and Moink and I didn't cure Cythe fast enough and it was just overall slow and sloppy for whatever reason. Cythe deleveled four or five times and eventually Raise III wasn't enough to get him back to 75, so he had no body armor and Djrealms had to be the main /assist tank.

I even snapped at Cythe to hold his water after his first or second death because he and Gladdy were yelling at us to raise him while we had our hands full keeping the next tank alive and Cythe was zero priority at that moment. Gotta love those frayed nerves.

To add to the misery, we didn't get a single piece of relic armor or 100 coin. The only good thing I can say about it is at least we got the win for the people who needed it and that I didn't die. I'm just chalking this one up to a bad day. It happens.

In other developments, Quieren asked me to come up with a name for the Sea/Limbus shell. I'm still brainstorming, although some of my possible candidates so far are "GoldfishCrackers," "Waterlogged," and "Sahagin'sHeroes." Neyla suggested "ChumGuzzlers," but I don't that would go over well.

Halifirien At the Bats

I logged on for a little while this morning and toyed with getting a party for my Monk. I knew the effort was doomed because the only people seeking at that hour are Japanese, but I put up my flag anyway and left it up while I fished for Gigant Squid in Qufim Island. When I had my quota, I logged out and slept until it was time for our subjob static to meet.

Quieren wanted to join us on his Dark Knight, which didn't bother me too much but had me dreading the moment Neyla logged on because the two aren't geting along all that well. If Q says crawlers are yellow, Neyla would point out there are plenty of red ones about. I brushed the complaints aside and didn't take any of it personally, since Neyla's always a crab-ass when he first wakes up.

I'd

Behemoth's Dominion is pretty sweet.

hoped to recruit Moriki as my White Mage when I bumped into him at the airship dock in Port Windurst, but he was already committed to partying with another Dark Knight. Fortune was on my side, because I bumped into Tec in Port Jeuno. He had a Ninja in our level range and was interested in partying with us, and his friend Pasquale was seeking on Summoner. There's a gamble having a Summoner as main healer, but I was praying it would be doable with two Ninjas.

We went to Behemoth's Dominion, since Q had partied there the other day and said it was great. The first clearing is full of bats, and we camped in the tunnel and set Neyla loose to pull. The first fight didn't fill me with hope because it took us awhile to kill the bat and Neyla died. Without Raise available, Neyla homepointed to Jeuno and ran back to join us.

"I'm going to be eating a lot of shit at lunch tomorrow," I moaned to Quieren.

It was rough at first, but three of us were close to hitting 34 and it got better after that. Hadafal and Tec bounced hate and Pasquale kept us healed without stealing hate too many times. Quieren managed to get himself killed and homepointed to Whitegate, and later Hadafal hit his two-hour by mistake and blew himself up (killing the mob for Chain 5) and had to homepoint. I'd offered my Reraise Earring to anyone who wanted it, but nobody took my offer. When Hada died, I forced the issue and had everyone use it because the downtime was killing me.

It became obvious we weren't going to hit 37 before "Test Your Mite" time, so I was planning to ask Tec and Pasquale to join us again on Wednesday. As time for the ENM drew closer, there was still no sign of Nanunanoo. Mikeman and Cmdrfly were doing some other stuff, and Neyla finally called off the run. Nanu finally logged on a few minutes before we were due to start, but it was too late. We forged ahead with the subjobs.

I had a fun few minutes when an NPC leveler turned up and started killing our bats. I got into an argument with him because all he wanted to do was whine and asked me where he was supposed to go. "That's not my problem," I told him, "but considering you're Lv. 61, your options are pretty wide open. Stop dicking us over."

I

I promised I wouldn't violate Tec's body.

learned Warcry, which is a huge hate spike for me but adds to some sexy damage when Neyla and I did our skillchain. Pasquale started adding Megalith Throws into the mix, and Hada and Quieren would skillchain with each other. I was getting cracked up because Q would cast Aero and do about 20-30 damage on the magic bursts.

The main thing is that Hada, Neyla and I got our subjobs to 37 with minimal grief and we managed to have fun doing it. Hearing Hada and Q constantly trash-talking each other is always entertaining. Tec two-houred on the last fight for a deathwarp home and then started teasing Pasquale for "letting him die."

Behemoth's Dominion is definitely going to be one of my preferred leveling areas in that range. We went from 33 to 37 with no problems. With a different setup than we had, I imagine the xp would've been even faster.

Next week Neyla and I are going to focus on getting eyes from Ifrit's Cauldron and the Den of Rancor for our Optical Hats, and then we're going to jump back into leveling Beastmaster. With the farming and the next "Test Your Mite," we'll be very close to hitting 68.