Minor Improvement

Today's party started out promising. We were camping in the Quicksand Caves and had a Paladin, Thief, Samaurai, Dragoon, Dark Knight and Red Mage.

The

Anticans are great prey when you can get them.

XP was pretty good. The beetles were Very Tough, so I could pop out some very nice numbers with Penta Thrust. The only downside was a Beastmaster duo already in the area. I couldn't really complain about their presence and would've sided with them if there'd been an issue, but nobody was making snarky comments or anything. We eventually decided to move to Kuftal Tunnel and leave it to them. The Samurai had to take off and we got a White Mage to replace him.

Even with the extra damage, Kuftal still sucked... just slightly less than yesterday. We were camping at the entrance, and our puller had to run past the Haunts to get fresh crabs every now and then. We also got blood aggro at one point and had to zone. I have a dream that I'll be able to have a good camp there.

We disbanded early enough that I could farm my Florid Stone and attempt some campaign ops in Windurst Waters [S]. I guess I'd done too many Streetsweeper sessions, so I cleared some Stock and Awe instead by harvesting crap out in West Sarutabaruta.

The Pain, The Pain of It All...

My guild fish today was Zafmlug Bass, which are easy to catch at the docks in Bibiki Bay. I caught my quota and then flagged up on Dragoon in hopes of getting a party.

Neyla

I hate the crabs on Dragoon almost as much as when I'm on Monk.

was getting bored and contemplated going off to farm some coffer keys he'll need for Paladin armor. I told him I was going to give myself another 30 minutes of seeking, but that I'd help him if it didn't pan out. He'd already abandoned the idea in favor of something else when my time expired. I was just about to stop seeking when I got an invitation.

The setup wasn't too great. We had a Ninja tank, Dragoon (me), a Corsair who liked to melee with a staff when he wasn't shooting his gun, two Red Mages, and a Black Mage (party leader). We hit Kuftal Tunnel to fight Robber Crabs, and the fights were semi-nightmarish most of the time. The NIN was regularly getting interrupted, and the RDMs' skills were gimped enough that they were getting resisted on Dispel. Chain #3 was the average.

We were camped on a narrow ledge in one of the chambers where Guivre likes to roam. They couldn't grasp the concept of keeping their asses against the wall, so unplanned crab aggro was a big factor. I got XP, but it was so slow and agonizing that I didn't mind when we disbanded.

Campaign Trail

The ogre eels I needed for Fishing Guild points weren't cooperating, so I jumped at the chance to teleport out to Tahrongi Canyon to help Neyla track down those Lucky Rats. I returned to Windurst, but this time I fished on the cliffs of East Sarutabaruta until I reached my quota.

I

Muu Buxu the Elusive gets a taste of tarutaru-brand awesome.

did a round of Campaign battles with Neyla when I finished. He knows the zones which give the best XP, so I followed his lead. He was Red Mage for it, which was nice because he could spend a lot of time curing me on Monk. It's a much more satisfying experience when I can punch stuff without having to worry about accuracy or dying and spending the entire fight in a weakened state.

I ended up tanking a few of the fights, which didn't bother me because some of the other mages noticed and were also throwing cures my way. I should probably go /NIN for those, but it's too hard to resist /WHM and being able to cast Reraise if something goes wrong. I managed to finish off a second merit point doing the battles, so now I just need one more so I can raise something.

One important lesson I learned was that Meriphataud Mountain battles usually do not take place at the tower. Everyone runs out to meet the yagudo; I didn't know this, so I was standing back with a bunch of mithra NPCs and wondering where the hell everyone was before Neyla finally said "Come to where I am."

Lucky Mouse

I

Oboro and I fight orcs in a campaign battle.

made a lackluster attempt to get a party on Dragoon today, but my heart wasn't really in it. I figured I should try to be productive and flipped into the past to do a few campaign battles. It probably wasn't a good idea, since I spent most of the battles either dead or cowering off to the side in a weakened state. I probably need a few more levels on me before I can do that effectively.

I logged out for a few hours to watch DVDs and then came back to start working some Campaign Ops. I've neglected them for the most part, and Neyla and Shemdly would like me to catch up so I can access the ops for a three-person team.

The first one I did was a supply run for fresh majoram. I didn't feel like dodging raffelasia aggro, so I switch to White Mage first. I found a few harvesting points, but I seemed to be gathering up everything except the one I needed. I eventually found the majoram and headed back to Windurst.

A campaign battle started as I was passing the tower, so I joined in. I mostly just cured and hasted people. The battle ended quickly and I only got about 250 limit points. Ugh.

Neyla had mentioned the Streetsweeper op to me, so I did that for the other six tags. It basically involves running around Windurst Waters [S] and finding a Suspicious Object to click and return to the NPCs. Each one gave 60 limit points and 420 allied notes, so I guess I can't complain since I didn't have to leave town.

I

The snowmen are kinda ugly, but they give good storage.

finished out my day by switching over to Beastmaster and teleporting to Tahrongi Canyon to track down the Lucky Mouse and her attendant Lucky Rats for the New Year's event. Trading items to them gives you random buffs, but you also have a chance of getting one of three snowmen furniture items. I locked on the Lucky Mouse and traded it all the crap I'd harvested until I had the entire snowman set for my moghouse. They're like mini-mannequins in that they take up one inventory slot in your moghouse but give you four storage.

I was able to retire all those ceramic flowerpots -- I don't grow Vomp carrots anymore -- and still have my storage at 80.

Lazy Sunday

I've

I can't wait to clank around in my Dragoon armor.

been working on my guild points, but I skipped it today because they wanted Sea Zombies and I didn't feel like riding the ferry all day just hoping the pirates would attack.

In fact, I did very little. I did the Necropolis escort with Neyla and Wulfgar and nearly got the entire 1500xp from the scroll. We didn't have "Test Your Mite" last weekend because of Christmas, but we did it today with five people. Cmdrfly was still absent, but Crookedmidget came on Ninja and bounced hate with Ghaleon. Wulfgar made his first run as Beastmaster.

I dinged 51 on Dragoon when we won it. I plan to start seeking this week, making that push to 60 so I can clank around town in my purple Dragoon armor like a tarutaru grape instead of staring longingly at my mannequin.