Dodo Skin

I

I found Deadly Dodo on my way to the cliffs.

had no real plans to play today since I leave for my parents' house and a week of vacation tomorrow, but I figured I could at least log on and do guild points. I needed to catch four Silver Sharks, which are easy to hook in Sauromugue.

I left Jeuno on a chocobo and started riding for the cliffs and was overjoyed to spot Deadly Dodo along the way. Hoping like hell that nobody was camping him, I dismounted and threw a Flash to get his attention. I clubbed him to death and he dropped the Dodo Skin! Finally! Good thing he was in my path, because I had no widescan at the time.

I caught the silver sharks -- surprisingly difficult to reel in this time -- and returned triumphant. I'll have to hit Bastok later and turn in the items to claim my Brown Belt. I'll mule the one I bought in case I ever get a shot at the Black Belt quest, but I'll wear this one.

Otherwise, it's been a semi-quiet week. Neyla and I have been doing some Campaign battles. He dinged 73 on Paladin and can wear some of the purple armor. At the rate he's going, he'll be 75 before I get back from vacation.

Astral Covenant Disintegrates

As

Neyla, Crookedmidget, Wulfgar, Shmedly and I prepare to fight Pasuk one last time.

difficult to believe as it may be, Neyla and I have been doing the "Test Your Mite" ENM every Sunday evening for just over two years. We started it as a way to earn easy experience points for our Beastmaster jobs, and there were stretches where we'd take breaks from leveling and it would be the sole source of our progress.

Today was our final "Test Your Mite" run.

It came almost unexpectedly. Wulfgar has a new job schedule that will keep him from participating, and Crookedmidget will have a similar change in a few weeks. Instead of worrying about finding new members to fill the roster, Neyla suggested pulling the plug and I agreed. It's been a hell of a run, though. We've had to skip a few runs here and there, but we've only lost maybe five or six times in those two years.

The roster has changed several times: Veresko, Apu, Ghaleon, Mikeman, Cmdrfly, Hadafal and a few other temporary stand-ins along the way. Finding a Ninja to tank it has always been the biggest headache. Wulfgar would fill in as needed, but I never liked asking because it sucks to have to come as a job that doesn't interest you.

We almost lost today, which would've been awkward. Neyla had to use Benediction to keep us standing, which earned him a dirt nap. We got a Geist Earring, which Shmedly lotted.

I was a little bummed out at ending this particular part of my gaming life, but it's for the best. The ENM isn't as important to our progress now that Campaign battles have started to dominate our play time. We can run out and get that 3k in no time.

Of course, I'll probably end up farming a Florid Stone on Friday out of habit.