Good Weekend.

Ok so had a good weekend this past one. Lots of fun and some small things that were great. Lets start off simple. Weaponskill NM that a LS mate needed to kill was Greenman a tree type mob. Was a fun and quick fight.Next i had intended to stop leveling Red Mage at 37 and using it just for a sub job. Then i get a /tell asking me if i was busy and could i level my Red Mage more i am like sure no problem. So we get to flying in this party the XP is just pouring in. Ding 41 so now i am a refresh whore, now i know i haven't done any manaburns yet but so far refresh isnt' bad.
Since the party didn't care if i was meleeing or not as long as i was still able to do my job i decided to play with my sword level and skill it up. Below is my highest weapon skill of the night.
Ok so i get to sky the other night and i see this ugly ass thing. LOL the ls had spawned him already and had killed all of his mini-gods i was there just in time to kill of mini-genbu. WOOT lets just say that i wish Genbu was as easy as mini-genbu.

So i started fireing nukes away on Kirin and testing what i need to use to get most damage and less resistance. Below is my average nuke on Kirin a couple of resist but mostly not a bad night for me.
Below as you can tell i got a really nice magic burst off.
But after a couple of aeroga III's unresisted i got some hate. So i started running for my life and since i did some reading i was running in and out of the pillars that way i could keep my distance. Well i wasn't uber lucky but Kirin did miss me once.
However, Kirin didn't miss me twice =(.....
Overall great learning experience and was a great time.

Random Things

Well, after a nearly an 11 year run, my keyboard hit the trash this weekend. And, it wasn't even broken. That thing lasted all through college, 4 or 5 residency moves and who knows what else. But, after that long, UV light had started to yellow the color of the keyboard. It was impossible to keep clean as well, requiring me to take more and more time to clean it properly. So, I went out and got a Mac keyboard because they look nice (and I like Macs). So far, it is working out well, although I have to get used to it. So, now my Frankenstien PC is complete: Dell 28" wide panel monitor, custom build PC (build by yours truly), and a Mac keyboard. I should take a pic of my setup because it is sweet.

In game related news, I spent the weekend just cleaning up some random things. I ran off to Altepa with the intent to skill my marksmanship skill, but it turned into leveling my NPC. With my NPC in Soothing Healer mode, and myself as a THF/NIN, we kicked some butt. I would open with an SA or and SA+Dancing Edge to get hate, then TA on my NPC for some extra damage. My marksmanship hit 141 by the time I left and my NPC went from level 43 to nearly 45. That dork Flotsam actually ran right by me as I was skilling and didn't even wave - jerk. =)

I also did some Mog House cleaning and sold off all my NIN gear since I am done leveling that job.

Now all I have to do is continue on with THF and try to find some item in Alchemy that can be used to make some decent gil. =/

... and Done!

My NIN leveling days are done! I hit 37 last night and put the job to bed, forever. Now I can sell my old gear, and focus on THF without the worry of ever having to level NIN.

Woot!

Almost done ...

... with Ninja! I hit 35 last night and I am just shy of 36. Then, I can finally put this job to rest. With the exception of Bard, this job is one of my most hated. I dislike tanking; perhaps I would enjoy PLD more, because that doesn't involve me counting silly shadows.

Hopefully, I can finish up with the job tonight and return my focus to THF without having to worry about a gimp sub at any point in my march to 75.

Amazing party

So late last night i log onto the game around 930ish. Start looking for party as my RDM. I get nothing as usual for a while then i get a tell asking to PT. So exicted i join sadly only me and him in party right now. But he says he has more on the way and with in seconds we are 5/6. Thinking to myself sweet ppl were acutally ready so now we are just looking for a tank. Sweet Galka PLD great tank lots of HP and VIT. So when we get there i do my normal checking of people and gear and notice that 4/6 members are with Order of the Blue Gatr (sp). Just me and the PLD are not part of the LS. So when get down to camp and the pulling freenzy begins. I barely have enough time to cast Dia II, Para, and Slow b4 the mob is dead. So after a couple of wasted MP attempts to keep the mob uber enfeeb'd i just go for the biggies. Dia II, Para, and throw out a posion. Do some small healing on the side also, but where i am shinning is bursting. I am dbl bursting on almost all Skill Chains, Blizzard is doing 100+ each time peak damage was 164 not sure how i got that maybe it was ice day or something. Water is hitting for 60ish each time. Pretty much the only time i wasn't able to dbl burst was the mob was dead after the first burst.

This party was rocking needless to say. I was having so much fun in the PT that i didn't notice the XP watch plug-in and see how much we were doing per hour. Now this is without my XP band because i had used it the night before and my timer wasn't up yet.

Baby Steps

And so it begins. 30 Bynes purchased today.

What to do... What to do?

FFXI is losing the appeal it once had. This is to be expected after nearly three years of playing. THF has kept my interest in the game for a bit longer, but I am not leveling THF for endgame activities, so why continue? Well, while reading on the thief forums, I came across a thread where someone was talking about their Mandau - the fully upgraded relic dagger.

So, I hear your groans already - 'relic weapons take years, and millions upon millions of gil!' But, what else is keeping me in FFXI? The answer is: nothing. Lately, I have been playing more Kingdom Hearts than FFXI. At least this would give me something to work toward.

My goal is to stockpile all the items needed for the upgrades. That way, if I do get halfway through the process and decide to quit FFXI, I can donate the items to some other lucky soul, or sell them for gil and donate the gil. This way nothing is lost on a half-way upgraded item that is rare/exclusive.

I do not want to quit FFXI because I do find it fun and interesting, however, without some long term goal or challenge, the game seems shallow, for lack of a better word. So my current goals are:

• Finish leveling THF to 75
• Stockpile gil
• Buy cheap Byne Bills when possible

It will be a long process, and one that will probably drive me to near insanity, but I will have fun along the way.

So, wish me luck! (or give me gil) =)

Ninjar!

I actually logged in last night and played a bit in a party with good ol' Flotsam.

After taking a long while to finally get the party to camp and organized, things picked up and we got some nice XP.

Red Mage Getting Closer

So last night after a couple of really bad parties in the jungle i finally get into a great one. The first two parties were just plan aweful and they couldn't understand why they couldn't kill VT mandies and chain them.

First party setup was RDM/whm (me), RDM/nin, NIN/thf, Blm/nin, Smn/thf, Drg/war. I was sent a tell saying do u care to main heal we have a nin tank. I was like sure no problem. Thinking NIN/war not NIN/thf lol. Needless to say i left the party after the first fight when i looked at the party setup. I didn't think soon enough to get a screen shot.

Second party came about 10 mins later. Red Mage invites are so hard to get there always seems to be about 5+ RDM's looking. So onto the setup after the invite i look at the party, sweet its a almost "normal" setup. PLD/war, THF/nin, WHM/blm, RDM/whm (me), DRG/thf (odd pre 30 but ok), DRK/nin. So i go to the camp thinking ok Drk has uber gear setup and just pulls alot of hate so /nin is just to help with the hate. Get there hes using a scythe and then changes to greast sword ok hes got two handed weapons and useing both that DRK have good skills in. Quick check at the partys gear. Dark is wearing no real attack gear, he has on tow enegry earrings, and VIT rings, and up-to-date armor on. Thinking ok maybe he was just tired of getting beat on and had to drain alot so he needed MP. So on to the DRG he has an AXE. The DRG who excels with a polearm has an AXE so after the first kill i asked why he wasn't useing polearm. He said it was to slow. Um.... ok. I found some poor soul with underleveled subjob to come replace me. LOL.

Ok so onto party number 3 i really dont have much hope for this party because 1 pootietang is the leader and i partied with him in the dunes. Save yourself the trouble dont party with Pootietang, he told me that in the dunes RDM shouldnt' solo because we dont do enough damage. Well IMO 10-20 level range doesn't have enough variance to say one job shouldn't melee over another. My hits were pretty good using a migthy ring meat dish and some attack gear. He was a SAM and Me my RDM, however i was 2 for 2 last night so i figured go all out and be 3 for 3. So I get into the party take a quick scan very nice, Brd/whm (had been main healing, impressive), NIN/war, Thf/nin, SAM/war, War/nin, RDM/whm (me). Party needless to say was ROCKING. Chains were flying in about 5 or 6 chains at a time before i needed a rest. Gained two lvl's last night.

So close to getting RDM finished for now.

Not much going on for me past couple of days got my RDM to 24 finally only 13 more levels to go. Started to finish up ToAU missions i am on Black Coffin now. Spent most of yesterday going thru loads of cut scene's, pretty cool story from the parts i read.

Rostrum Pumps Run

Our LS last night decided to go on a Rostrum Pumps run. Pretty tricky fight with all the adds and what not. Last night was fun we needed more damage and a seperate small allaince just for the adds. I feel bad for who ever had two traps used and lost. Here is the pic tho.

Zenith Mitts and Some Bursting

I had gotten the drop a little while back and have just kept the Abjuration Hands in my mog house. So after a couple of things had sold and finally talking myself into spending that much I headed to the Auction House to see if I could get a steal on the cursed mitts. So I started bidding at 1k, I know I know chances of getting it for that are very very rare. So I bid again at 100k hoping some just didn't pay attention. When that didn't' work I jumped to 150k still no go so I increased my bidding by 10k a bid. Then I hit the magic number.




Ok so after my small victory I headed over to sandy to get my items synthed. Was a neat little animation to synth my items.




So after getting my mitts i headed over to an XP party and started having some fun. My highest non burst spell was 1336, i was trying my hardest to get 1337. Well i never obtained that number would have been funny to get it but no biggie. I did do some impressive damage on my Light Skill Chain Bursting.

Riverne - Site #A01

After months of either not having time to try Riverne - Site #A01, or just flat out losing (twice), I finally completed the mission last night with a pick-up party. The team did an amazing job. Pawky, our NIN, tanked like no other, and the two SMN's, responsible for kiting the other two mobs, did great as well. I felt that myself, the BLM, did an okay job. I failed to bring enough ethers and ran out of MP, forcing me to have to heal for more MP. I did have more Yagudo Drinks, which helped, but I need to be more prepared. But, I did do some nice damage, enfeeble and help heal a few times.

We decided to form a static and continue on for the rest of the missions. I need to complete my cut scenes tonight and prepare for Diablos on Saturday.

/cheer

/huh

(No Drop, of course)

Gimme that Carrot!

Well, at least I got a carrot for my troubles this morning. But, I did prove the place-holder theory, so I can camp it more easily. The only problem is when people come and kill all the rabbits and I forget which was the place-holder!

Bastard Rabbit!

No drop ... need I say more? ='(

Um, Woot?

Flotsam is/was leveling his RDM and wanted a Bee Spatha +1 for the ride. So, he asked me to make him one. It was my first signed HQ.

Nothing amazing, but still fun!

THF Just Got Interesting!

Leveling THF thus far has been an interesting ride. Level 15 was fun, because you got Sneak Attack. Then, interest slowly declined until 30, when you get Trick Attack - but even then, that isn't very exciting. It isn't until you get Viper Bite, at level 33, that things truly get fun for a THF. But, like many things in life, that novelty wears off in the 4o's when invites get slow and you want to pull your hair out because people treat THF like a plague victim.

But, you push on.

And you should push on, because at level 60, things go 'crazy go nuts!'. At 60, a THF gets two major tools in his or her arsenal: Assassin, and Dancing Edge. Assassin makes your Trick Attacks more potent when used alone. This is nice, because finding a party that understands how you play your job is difficult. Ever have those PLD's or NIN's that seem to always want to sit at the maximum possible distance from the mob? Good lucking using Trick Attack on them. Or, have those damage dealers that like to sit on the side of a mob and turn it at every possible chance? That is always fun when you are trying to Sneak Attack. Well, now you can TA (Trick Attack) + Weapon Skill for much better results meaning as long as you are behind the tank, you can plant some nice hate on him or her. You can, therefore, be more of an asset to your party, even if they seem to be trying their best to reduce your value to zero.

You will immediately realize your new damage potential after your first SATA+DE. Even just TA+DE is very nice to slap on your tank.

So, fellow THF's, press on toward 75 and don't let the doldrums of the 40's and 50's keep you from continuing. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it is a wondrous find.

Yet Another ...

With Flotsam as my backup, I headed to Zvahl Castle Keep to see if I could find that coffer. The mobs here do not pose that much of a threat to Flotsam, but could, if they gang up, offer quite the fight. Needless to say, we snuck around as much as possible.

After searching all the coffer spots about twice, it finally showed up. I successfully picked the lock on the first try and we were outta there. Thanks Flot!

Aquarius Fun Times

Yesterday an LS friend needed his weapon skill NM killed and it was in The Boyahda Tree. On our way there we say Aqurius. Now if i was BLM/rdm i could have solo'd him, gravity is so very nice. But we waited for some ppl and had our way with him.

Kinda Slow

This is a pic from the top of the COP moutain in Attowha Chasm.

Also i have just recently obtained my Zenith Mitts.

Viper Bite This!

THF was always a job that I enjoyed. But, like so many other things in FFXI, leveling THF fell to the wayside as other, more interesting, things peeked my interest. After a time, however, I have realized that I want to push THF to 75. Of course, this is something that still hasn't happened for my BLM who remains parked at level 73. But, considering I do not do much end game activity, having my BLM to 75 isn't a huge priority for me.

So, in XPing on THF, I was reminded how much fun it is.

For just getting back into the job, I don't think that is all that bad! 848 was my highest, I believe. Go THF!

Some NPC Skillchain Fun!

I've been on this NPC leveling kick lately, and it is pretty fun stuff. My little buddy, Balu-Falu is set to Soothing Healer at the moment, so he doesn't weapon skill all that much. But, when he does, it is some fun stuff! Here are some shots from our time running around Altepa.

Lots of excitement little reward.

Well first off i have decided to start fishing skill ups so after much reading i have found that sandy offers a good skill up spot. So on my way there i see Jaggedy-Eared Jack. Thinking to myself wow what luck i must hurry before some one gets him. As i am running, i am also looking around no one is around. So i get the claim and the kill, no drop. Excitement no reward =(.


Ok so the next NM on the list, is Harajnite. This guy is tricky to say the least. He drops a Harajnite Shell which sells for 10 million roughly. There are a couple of bad things about this NM one when his head is out he takes full damage and will use an AOE posion effect. The next thing is when he pulls his head in he takes like 4 or 5 points of damage from all types of hits and has a very strong regen. I was able to put 5 enfeebs on him: Shock, Burn, Choke, Bio II and posion II. It took 3 trips on the manaclipper to pop him. We only had two people trying to fish up the NM. I think if we had about 8 to 10 melee DD's all fishing we could really get him up and get the drop.





So i finished my NPC quest that allows her to learn the next 3 job types. I currently have two types on me and jetsam has the 3rd i just need to trade with him so that we can both learn all three. Pimy is starting to kick butt in levels.





Last two things are small but cool. Staff skill:

And finally my fishing skill:

Small update depressing News =(

This was put together for the purpose of a progress bar, and hopefully seeing this list almost everyday will help keep me motivated. On next post i will be marking off any items that i have obtained and update on the points have/need.

My needs sorted by points. I know i have some points in all areas just not sure how many.

Lebros Cavern: 8,000 Chivalrous Chain

Leujaoam Sanctum: 10,000 Potent Belt

Mamool Ja: 23,000 Total
3,000 Antivenom Earring
20,000 Yigit Hands

Ilrusi Atoll: 43,000 Total
5,000 Garrulous Ring
8,000 Grandiose Chain
10,000 Invigorating Cape
20,000 Yigit Turban

Kinda of depressing when i look at my goals this way but on the plus side i will working my rank up nicely by doing all of these assaults. If only there was a way to get around the limitaions on how many assaults you can do in a row. More to come.....

A Couple of Events.

Ok lets start with some simple stuff. Random picture of my NPC and me lvl'ing in the jungle. This pic is about 3 levels old.

First off, my NPC has had a new quest open. It is called Chameleon Capers this will allow me to add the 3 additional jobs for my npc. I bought one of the job types for 5k i plan on waiting for Jetsam to get this quest also so that we can get all 3 job types. Last night while camping ose with an LS mate i pulled out my NPC and was just playing around with her. Thought that was pretty sweet, i wasn't expecting her to level at all.



Next thing on the list is Jetsam and I are goign to be leveling bst very soon. So we decided to get us a very cool item for us. Adds +2 chr and the NM is almost never camped. So i headed out to the camping grounds killed a couple of bunnies and there hey was Sharp-Eared Ropipi. After a swift and sweet victory, my reward was entrancing ribbon. I can't tell you how psyched i feel about leveling bst there are so many things that a bst can solo .


Ok my last little tid bit is nothing important but it marks a spot for me where i see my gear is improving so that i can be useful on gods. Can't wait for 75 and a higher elemental skill also.