Desolation is [Over there]

BLM:74 WHM:54 SMN:36 THF:70 WAR:56 RNG:36

I spent a lot of time farming my Thief Testimony out here in Cape Terrigan. The tests drop from Goblin Bandits and you can either kill em or try to steal one. It took me a while but eventually got Maat beat and was able to level past 71. I would have liked to level THF at that time but I started to really enjoy BLM and BLM/SMN. Now that I recently took my THF out again, I have been practicing using THF/RNG and it really is sort of out of place for me since I haven't leveled it all along. I like the fact that I can use Camouflage and Barrage but I am not expert at RNG yet so I may put off for a while leveling him. My main purpose is to use THF/RNG for NM pulls and SKY and maybe Dynamis. But I'm not showing up there with some new sub without knowing what I'm doin. I need time and practice to make sure my THF is as uber as he needs to be. I love my THF. He really is my main character I guess.

There is one piece of gear that I really want for THF but I need just a little more money to get it. Sure I could spend 900k and get my Blizzard IV spell that goes OH so well with my Ice Staff. The spell is practically a requirement. But nah, I wanna spend my serious money on my THF. Plus, one more level and I get Thunder IV which fits that nitch nicely.

I really need to level my RNG to 40 so I can do A Worm's Turn soon. I need the money.

Karma can bite you in the ...

BLM:74 WHM:54 SMN:36 THF:70 WAR:56 RNG:36

Here's proof that a Red Mage and the right BLM can take out a dragon. Red mages of course are like the best sleepers in the game with their out-of-the-park Enfeebling Magic skill in tow. In this picture I am partying with my BLM/SMN which in Manaburn usually means I am outnuking everybody. But in manaburn you need healers. You prob shouldn't have more than one BLM/SMN per party. Aerial Armor is very nice and is very effective in manaburn, and it lasts the entire chain unlike regular Blink.

The beginning is a very delicate time. So it will be with the new linkshell. It will be called XTCPenthouse. Don't ask me what that means. Hopefully everyone will remain nice through the transition. I expect many people to become more in tune with their fellows as the time goes on. I will not be a sackholder in the new linkshell.

I will use this time to not care so much about what everyone is doing. I like to keep to myself mostly anyways unless I am in charge. I will also probably use this time to see about getting a Dynamis linkshell pearl also. I hear Dynamis earns you a lot of money but I haven't done it before and hey, I got Sky.

Getting my BLM to 75 is probably at the top of my list of things to do at the moment but I have this poking need to go farm. I took my Blizzard IV scroll, which I bought for the going price of 10k, and since I didn't have my Errant Hppl and wanted to try it out, I jacked up the price of Blizzard IV to like 650k. That didn't stop others from jacking it up to 900k. Now the price is 900k and I am finally at a level that I can use it. One problem though, I don't have 900k.

Karma.

Lost in the light

BLM:74 WHM:54 SMN:36 THF:70 WAR:56 RNG:36

My BLM is about to hit his max. I am at an impasse. Shall I craft? Shall I level SMN? Shall I take a break? I invited my friend to join me in the linkshell but I don't know if he would be welcomed as a NEWB. I will have to find a solution to explaining this situation somehow. I used to speak so highly of the ls.

Today, I am gonna be gone from the ls. I will perhaps go and pick up my pearl and log off but I can't decide what's next. I would like to go back to fishing but from what Papakuma says, there is a lot of that going on now. That means less money for me. I should probably start crafting but I need to make money first. I had the chance today to do a KS30 but then they said that they had already gotten someone else. I wasn't sure that's what I wanted to do but it doesn't help your mood when you get all set to do something and they tell you "oops sorry".

I almost have enough to do 2 BCNM 40s and I am maybe thinking of getting RNG to 40 to do that. I could even go farther and get his AF but I want to level SMN now that I have Fenrir. I don't know. Maybe this is my chance to get a break from it all.

Fenrir ftw

BLM:73 WHM:54 SMN:36 THF:70 WAR:56 RNG:36

I went with these guys to go get Fenrir. It was rather difficult to do at first and they all blamed the poor taru NIN for having too low a HP. I did my darndest to help out but even with Blizzaga III, we were unable to defeat him after 3 tries. No problem though. They said that they would take a break and try again later after their 2 hours was up and this time it was magic.

The SAM lit it up with his 2 hr and then the MNK became the new tank with his 2 hr. The Boss used his 2hr and the WHM hit his Benediction on time afterwards. All said it was done in like 7 minutes or so. I didn't even get to used my 2 hr. But the plan for me on this fight was to help cure which I did with Curaga II efficiency.

Tada!

Capping his evasion

BLM:73 WHM:54 SMN:36 THF:70 WAR:56 RNG:36

Here is me capping my evasion again. Yes this is what it looks like when you have a whole bunch of energy and are NOT getting any invites. You look cool but also look conspicuously alone. I know it would help matters if I started the parties but it's summer and that's where they get the expression "lazy summers", cuz I get to be lazy in summer.

Finally, I got an invite last night as BLM/SMN but two people that got invited to the party by the JP leader forgot their manners. Not surprisingly, both of them were NA. The one WAR that dropped I recognized from a previous invite I gave him to come party at the Moon Gate. He told me all he had a /MNK and I told him fine. Then he probably had a good laugh in his ls and red dotted. I already had ME dealing main damage and had a BRD PLD and WHM. He could have been a WAR/Tsetse Fly and I would have still got us to chain 5. But that just goes to show you what assumptions do for you. He decided to drop from the party after seeing my /SMN. The next guy was a WHM who at first knew all about the new areas but then "commanded" me to change my sub, to which I said [No,thanks.] This one hit me me hard cuz being a WHM, I knew the party was killed if the WHM left and he did and he specifically said [Goodbye] Hohito. They did this at like 4am after they had already agreed to party with no Refresh. I'm at least glad we had a PLD.

It made me feel bad for the other members of my group tho. I don't mind putting up with jaundice and antipathy towards what they believe is me trying to leech on the party( yeah right! ) but this shouldn't have to affect other people trying to exp. I told the leader to invite the WHM back and I would leave. Surprisingly he didn't back down. He kept looking for a replacement for first the WAR who left and then the WHM, and he got them! He found a SMN/WHM. Well I felt right at home at that point.Exp wasn't the greatest since we didn't have refresh but we did have a backup healer sort of. It was a BLM/WHM. He did a tight job of curing, Paralyna, and Erasing stuff from the melees while I blasted away at the mobs. We managed to get chain 5s sometimes and at least chain 4s. I simply casted Frost using my macro and the other BLM debuffed and helped MB. The THF we had was really overkill with the dmg too though. He was doing like 700 dmg in his ws. I recorded my new high in dmg at 1470 with Thundaga III. I know that was exciting for them but really our biggest issue was downtime. To get MP back we had to take a break after chain 4 or a missed chain 5. No problem though, cuz the THF seemed not very interested in getting chain 5 anyways. Not like I would have been, I need chain 5 if I am THF!

The exp would have gone much smoother if the other BLM would have just helped heal but he was more interested in competing with me. Tsk tsk. There was no comparison there though. If you sub /WHM you are just gonna be out of mp sooner. But I am happy with having partied and count myself lucky for my 10k exp.

Tonight is Miratete's Triple Threat I think. It's fun doing stuff with Uchipu even though she is still a notch or two above my abilities still. I need to get my job nice and fat into 75 as soon as I can. My THF also needs to get up there and get his Evisceration ws acquired. I need to get him some gear soon too like his next gen knife (Martial Knife or Misericorde+1) which should set me back a cool 2 mil or so.

Good news though, Kindred Seals:99 equals O!

Uchipu's picture finally!

BLM:73 WHM:54 SMN:36 THF:70 WAR:56 RNG:36

A lot of people have been wondering what Uchipu's pic would look like. Ema and Mith say they have seen Uchipu and say that she is hot. They also say they trio'd Guivre. I thought she mispelled and meant to say she tripped on Guivre. lol. Well here it is, Uchipu's pic. She looks like she is in shape too, but I think I got the cuter thighs. :)

She really does level pretty fast too. Her RDM just blew past my 2 jobs and if I am not mistaken she probably has her RDM up to like 50 by now. She uses her JP button which allows her to access JP players because she is Japanese. She won't admit it but her reputation probably helps her too. I don't think I keep getting invites to JP parties by accident and I think this works for her as well.

I haven't been to a JP party recently though. They have turned on the Bane of the BLM/SMN crystal on and now the world all knows that I am playing BLM/SMN and they are actively seeking to halt the spread of the turgid tumor. The other day I got an invite but he was JP and asked me to go to party but my Search comment said that I was leveling BLM/SMN so I explained I would be changing subs. He said, [White Mage} . I said, [I am not up to it] [White Mage]. He said, [Understood] [Good Bye]. ... Later on I checked on his party and he was doing a Manaburn party. What difference does it make if it's a Manaburn? /sigh

I guess I have done this all my life though. Look for things so impossible and perfect that I effectively excuse myself from having any fun. That's sort of like creating excuses for not looking for a better job I guess. I keep trying to change the world in my own way. I wonder if that's arrogance? Hope not.

I'm still gonna seek as BLM/SMN though. If I can't be stubborn in rl and can't be stubborn in the game, I guess I will just do what YOU guys wanna do!

The Treasure is out there

BLM:73 WHM:54 SMN:36 THF:70 WAR:56 RNG:36

In the new areas from the Treasures of Aht Urghan expansion, a lot of parties have begun trying to level their 70+ jobs. I think it has a lot to do with the pop timers being on a lower setting than is standard in the other areas. It is a refreshing change of scenery I must say but since I don't have a job leveled to 75 yet, I would really rather level my BLM in the old areas and get conquest points.

That's right. No conquest points for leveling in the new areas, even with signet... and this with me just having changed my Mog Enhancement to Bastok Conquest too. I find myself getting called to do parties in the new areas and thinking nah, I don't even know how to get there. Honestly, I have been to some of the staging points but like a bonehead I don't remember which ones they were, so the surest place I know how to party in the new area is the old hike it to Halvung and Escape to Mount Zhayjol.

I did finally get my Runic Portal Pass though so now I really can travel to some of the outer areas using the Runic Portal. How do I do that? Hmff. I dunno.

I just need one more successful Assault Mission to the Lebros Cavern and I will have enough to get my Insomnia Earring. But if I sell it it's worth 800k! Hmmm?

Waking from a bad dream

BLM:72 WHM:54 SMN:36 THF:70 WAR:56 RNG:36

Well it's morning here in Jeuno and two very significant things have happened since two days ago:
1) Last night, I got my tail end handed to me by Diabolos Prime
2) This morning, I got my last whisper needed to trigger the Fenrir fight.

Diabolos uses a lot of Sleepga II and Nightmare. Now Nightmare seems to be more of an ability where Sleepga II is a spell. Attacking from a far off square makes it easy to just cure off the the melees if he throws out Sleepga II. But Nightmare not only sleeps the melees but sleeps everyone. After they are asleep, usu the tank dies cuz noone can cure him AND he stays asleep! Poison potions are also no use against Nightmare.

He also uses Cacodemon which is an AOE Curse spell. You remember how it limits your mp and lasts forever? He also uses Nether Blast much like you see people that have the avatar use it. He hits for like 200 or so to a 75 NIN, just as a regular hit.

Now I am not one to be pessimistic but from the way Diabolos was tossing his abilities this way and that, it seemed almost unlikely that a regular party setup could beat him. His "Nightmare" ability NEEDED to be stunned and it was very hard to do. We were using a NIN DRG RNG WHM BLM BLM. After the fight and basically not being able to Stun him successfully even once, someone in the linkshell told me that you had to "fresh" Stun him. Using a macro, which I had become accustomed to, was slower they said. The other BLM was also not able to stun him using his macro either. I didn't think it possible frankly and the one DRG who was lucky to be there imo, was the loudest to complain that we weren't stunning him.

After dying 4 times, he's lucky I didn't accept that invite from the other party that was already there.

BLM needs a new pair of ...

BLM:73 WHM:53 SMN:36 THF:70 WAR:56 RNG:36

Well this was my last day in my Black Cotehardie. I didn't want to spend on my Errant Houppelande and was saving to buy some expensive nonsuch for my THF but nah. I checked the price and it was down againto 160k from 250k so I forced myself to get them. Now I am really dressed in overkill clothes and gear for BLM. With the 2 pieces of gear (Errant body and pants), I have a RIDICULOUS amount of INT. If I can't land the spell wearing this gear, I wasn't MEANT to land it. I think I need not spend money even on the Diamond Rings or the Phantom Tathlum even.

One thing I DO miss though is my Moldavite Earring. It adds a Magic Attack Bonus(MAB) of +5. MAB +5 means more damage from whatever spell. And you get this without having to switch to the appropriate staff which is really quite tedious. It really is missing from my equipment the more I think about it. Having two Drone Earrings which add +6 AGI just won't cut it with gear that takes away like -12 AGI. It's pointless. I gotta find some earrings that add something useful to BLM and I think one of those is the Insomnia Earring(MP+15) from Assault and the second is the Moldavite Earring from that goblin Mysticmaker Profblix in Labyrinth of Onzozo.

The Uggalepih Pendant is another very capital item missing from my gear. It adds +8 MAB when your MP total falls below 50%. Who wouldn't want that?

Researching into what pops the pendant led me to three items I need:
1) The Darksteel Ingot which I can buy from the Auction House for cheap I think

2) The White Steel which drops from Tonberry Stalkers at G-8 and I-7 in the Temple of Uggalepih

3) The Magnolia Lumber which drops from Rime, Sleet, Snow, and Cold Gigas in Beaucedine Glacier

These items, synthed with a Fire Crystal and 75 Smithing and some 25 Woodworking, yield an Odorous Knife. This knife is used to pop the Notorious Monster(NM) that drops the pendant. If you happen to synth a High Quality(HQ) knife then the drop is 100% on the pendant.

Just the three little items(little?) would make my BLM about as good as I plan to make him gear-wise.

According to Beseiged

BLM:73 WHM:53 SMN:36 THF:70 WAR:56 RNG:36

Doing Besieged is like the most easy and exciting exp there is. You find yourself a party and basically you start to heal. That's right. Don't think that your BLM or RDM has any chance of landing more than 100 pts of damage on the mob unless you cast like a Flare MB or something like that. These monsters have huge HP too so getting them to fall over is a monumental effort.

The best thing about Besieged is that it doesn't last too long and that there is an anticipation effect beforehand too that really adds to the fun.

Besieged was a great idea.

The Hornsplitter

BLM:72 WHM:53 SMN:36 THF:70 WAR:56 RNG:36

Well here he is The Hornsplitter. That's the title all of us got for killing Bloodtear Baldurf, and hey look at Papa! He is taking it to the big bad sheep from behind! I guarantee you one thing, people that know are gonna be like, "What's this Rank 3 guy doing with that title?" Answer: He was becoming, he became, The Hornsplitter.

In other news, I finally finished getting my BLM to 72. I am using my Errant Slops and it looks pretty ok with the Black Cotehardie. I have enuf to buy the Errant Hppl but Nah. I might save up a mil to get my favorite up and coming item for THF later on. It's special and it would be just a throwaway of money but I can't buy good stuff for BLM and THF, and I already have very expensive stuff for THF so he will be my PRINCE and BLM will be my KING.

I am not getting any love for BLM/SMN from the invites btw. :(

Which reminds me of this one time I am in a party as BLM/SMN fighting the Ovinniks in Kuftal Tunnel. The WHM is leader and RDM backup, and NIN says hey BLM, why you sub SMN? I told him cuz you have your healer and backup healer. Ya but whose gonna Paralyna? I said "If I had /WHM the only way I would Paralyna you is by accident." Then he got into a worse mood. He started bugging the WHM a whole lot, which bugged me a lot. Finally NIN sed he didn't like it there and disbanded just like that. We had fought maybe two mobs. What a {little kitty}! If I have to party with BLM/WHM from now on, I'm not doing it with any NINs.

Paladin (WHAT YOU GOT?) types = [Yes, please]
Ninja (WHERE'S MY SUCKER?) types = [No, thanks]

We are all level 70+ now people, where's the trust?

Good news in the linkshell is that we are gonna start doin more activities again so use of the expansion pack will become more widespread. I will have more on my incursions with Besieged soon. ^ ^

COP areas are cool

BLM:71 WHM:54 SMN:36 THF:70 WAR:56 RNG:36

People that know recognize this spot as the one that leads up to the fight with Orhyu the dragon. This is more a fun fight than the mammets. It's still rather difficult and you are going to need BLMs cuz he likes to go up in the air and ignore melees for a while. Still, the fun part about COP is right here. The memories and the journey on your way to the fight. It's all new areas so you can't help but feel some "newness" of the game there.

I got my eyes set on 72 but it's still a ways off. I got like 20k exp tnl which is like 3 Ranger levels. I need to start getting used to the old style again, heh. I love using the BLM/SMN. I guarantee you I shock the hell out of people when they see my MP total over 1000 and see my MP meter bounce like it's a slinky. The problem comes in getting an invite though. Old habits die hard.

For level 74, instead of being gimp for one level, I will just switch to BLM/WHM I guess.

Helpin out a ls member

BLM:71 WHM:54 SMN:36 THF:70 WAR:56 RNG:36

I helped Nicktornetta get some of his BLU abilities. This one came from one of the residents of the island here in Bibiki Bay. It was a pretty good time. Daftorious was along and did most of the work with his 72 SAM. I healed with my WHM. The rate of poison on these mobs was ungodly.

I enjoy helping others usu when I know them pretty good. In general I don't like to help people that ask me directly because I feel they got me pegged for a softy. I mean if you think about it every female player has a story about somebody randomly asking them for help. How many times have I been asked? Like never.

The other day I remember some guy buggin the crap out of Shanisasha about this or that. She told me to take care of it and warped out. As soon as I started to explain a bit about whatever, he just walked off.

I laughed.

Whitegate where are you?

BLM:71 WHM:54 SMN:36 THF:70 WAR:56 RNG:36

I am thinking about what to do next, level my BLM or take my RNG to 40. I really want to get BLM to 72 at least but dying on the way to Whitegate is not helping.

I got a message from my Mog that my Mog Locker license was expired. I was puzzled since I didn't know I had one already. So I decided to buy a couple of Bronze Pieces and open it back up and use it. WOW! A FULL SET of 35 SLOTS OMGWTF! I just poured in my SMN gear and Seer's gear and a set of gear I had ready for Garrison that we never did for level 20. Even after all that I still have like 10 slots left and now I have a huge load of space available in my safe. All the more reason to start crafting I guess but I will wait till I get 75 first.

I went on my Assault mission with Uchipu finally and it was a blast. Uchipu invited me and some alien people from whatever linkshell and we managed to pull it off. I got to use my Olduum Ring that Inverno and Fernanda helped me get but I didn't have a map so I got lost. Uchipu finally gave me directions and I found my way to the city.

It was a difficult mission. I had tried it two times before with Cornnholio and Kirbyprime and Daftorious, but we failed. It was the Excavation Duty one. The goal of that mission is to clear out a cavern of rats and to destroy a set of walls, all under 30 minutes. It is a tough mission to beat but with Uchipu there, we did it. I went as THF but ate some AGI food and it was just waste cuz what I should have done was eaten some STR food. I prob even should have equipped my RSE to add +5 strength on top. Having a THF there is great cuz everyone is hitting for 1 point of dmg anyways so you get more hits in than anyone else. The problem was that I was hitting for zero. Not good. I called out a request for Choke to lower the VIT of the walls and the effect stuck, but I still hit for zero.

I wanted to start leveling my BLM and was sitting in Jeuno as BLM/SMN when I got a call from Dealba to come do Assault so I say ok. The problem is when I warped over, I forgot that I didn't have WHM sub any longer so I couldn't sneak myself. Well np I used a silent oil and I was home free. I even remembered the way to town sort of. What I didn't count on was tigers. They detect by sight and sure enough one popped on over and gobbled up my little Hohito lickety-split.

I hate tigers.

What's HE doing here?

BLM:71 WHM:54 SMN:36 THF:70 WAR:56 RNG:36

See given the right conditions, even Bastok can look good. This is my BLM thinking about what he should do next. I now will start my push to 74 with BLM.I have a number of things that I usually do when I go to Bastok. Usually I pick up a new supply quest. I trade crystals to the guard just for the hell of it really. And I usually check the Auction House for a list of things that may be in demand at the time.

Things in demand that I usually check on would be items that drop from mobs that people use for synthing. I usually will go on a rampage for Quadav Backplates since people use them for Smithing and the Smithing guild is right there. The Alchemy guild is there too, so those items I will farm sometimes too. If I find something rare that's in demand I will try to get that too. It's sort of fun checking through the price lists. It gives me a feeling of being at Wall Street checking stock prices like I probably should be doing in real life.

I took my Ranger to level 36. I feel accomplished. I don't have to visit Crawler's Nest and I feel like I achieved something. I got lucky enough to invite this SMN/WHM that was standing in Rolanberry Fields. He was probably skilling his SMN skill. And even more so, he offered to buy us all food. He was very nice. Too nice. 3 stacks of Squid Sushi too nice. ^^

I died again. I thought I wasn't going to have this happen to me anymore. I pulled a bat and the other bat was just around the corner and then we had two bats. Our BLM, though he was rank 10 and JP, was probably not sure whether to Sleep it or to Escape. We were doing such a good job until then too. We had PLD RNG DRG SMN BRD BLM. It was picture perfect. I even had a nice skillchain laid out of Dulling Arrow > Raiden Thrust for Fusion. It was great cuz the BLM used Firaga and was dusting the mobs.

Then the PLD opened his big mouth. I wasn't even going to invite any 32s but he was a pt member's friend. When PLDs open their mouths, my ability to pull mobs goes down by 2 levels. Now I gotta listen to him like he's important, (even though he isn't part of the FRIGGIN SKILLCHAIN) and I gotta put up with him doing his crazy weaponskills during OUR sc which just drives me crazy. One time he did Shining Blade and totally messed up the skillchain. Even the JP BLM told him in party chat, [Shining Blade] [No, thanks.] Luckily, I have so much stuff going on with organizing mobs and such that he ws easy to ignore.

On a softer note though, I am much more consistent in the skillchain now with the added ranged accuracy. I only missed in the skillchain once this entire afternoon. Sure I had a bard, so what? That JP Bard was uber btw. She was da bomb. As soon as I leveled the JPs left. Too funny.

I will level til 74 perhaps. Since I now have SMN at 36 and RNG at 36, I could feasibly level my BLM to 74, and then be gimp, and then level my THF/RNG to 74. I am really good like that, always doing a good job of ALMOST getting there.

Well it's time. I gotta go be the king of karaoke. Yep, cowards and dyslexics untie. Karaoke is a chance for all you nerds to try really hard at improving skills that you will never use. You're good at that already aren't cha? Well, I do a really good job and I have a following of people that would prob give their best vote to hear me sing. If Billy Joel could get Christie Brinkley then I could probably get someone that good looking too, right? Right?