Auto-Pilot Skillups

Neyla

Neyla and I kill robber crabs for skillups.

wants to learn Spirit Taker for MP restoration when he's on Paladin, so he decided to do some skillups in Boyahda Tree. I suggested Vunkurl Islet instead, because it offers Allied Sigil bonuses and the wildlife doesn't aggro. I asked if I could tag along out of boredom, and to possibly earn a few Guard skillups.

The great thing about having a Paladin and Monk using Dancer as their subjobs is that we didn't really have to pay attention to what we were doing. As long as you kept Draing Samba II going, you weren't going to die. We killed Robber Crabs and Stygian Pugils for about four hours -- estimated from my watching Day of the Dead , Land of the Dead and part of 28 Days Later while we were at it -- and he got quite a few skillups out of it. Another session or two should be enough to get Spirit Taker.

My Guard level went up a little, but it's still incredibly gimped. It's not a stat I lose sleep over.

Dalamar logged on as we were finishing up, so we helped him do the Windurstian "Wings of the Goddess" fight with the cavern full of yagudo. I love that battle because it's so fast and the beastmen are made out of tissue paper.

More Yagudo

Dalamar

Neyla, Dalamar and I kill more yagudo.

didn't beat Maat, so Neyla and I went back to Castle Oztroja with him to farm another Black Mage Testimony. We had no competition this time, so we were able to stay up on top and fight all the yagudo roaming around. It didn't take us nearly as long to get the drop this time.

We followed up by traveling into the past to farm the 108-knot Quipu for the Windurstian quest. I popped my Empress Band after the first fight because I thought we might be there awhile, but we got the drop almost immediately. I chalk that up into using irony as a weapon.

I logged out soon after, but Neyla later told me Dalamar beat Maat this time. Very cool, a true milestone for a player. We're going to be helping him with Windurstian rank missions in the days ahead, provided we can work out a good time to do it all.

Black Mage Testimony

I was on vacation last week, hanging out at my parents' house and playing video games with my nieces and nephews for most of it. I'd popped on a few minutes last Sunday to see if Neyla wanted to do the escort mission, but we decided to hold off.

Today

Neyla, Dalamar and I kill yagudo with help from our NPC fellows.

was my first day back in the game, and I didn't log on until later in the day to check on guild points. Neyla was farming a Black Mage Testimony in Castle Oztroja for Dalamar's second attempt at beating Maat. Their first trip had resulted in a drop on the first fight, but this one was taking longer. I was bored, so I went out to join them. I took a wrong turn along the way, but I finally managed to track them down.

I didn't realize how quickly you had to hustle to light the torch and scramble through the doors before they closed. Using the Dancer move for Sneak and Invisible took too long, and I caught aggro on my second attempt. Luckily another group -- presumably the ones who'd sent Neyla and Dalamar down below to the Yagudo High Priest's lair -- helped me out.

I worked my way through the passwords and dropped down, and we proceeded to kill most of the yags. Neyla was there on Paladin, which he'd taken to 75 a day or two after I got my Dodo Skin. We even killed the High Priest for shits and giggles. It took awhile, but we finally got the testimony for Dalamar.