In case any of my friends are still searching for me, I am currently in a state of retirement from adventuring. I may come out of retirement if Komaru, Papaya, Pitaya, Sukiyuki, or Chili decide to contact me and want to get back together.
I just had to check out one last thing before retiring though. It seems I have finally learned how to dance! The new dance emotes (/dance1, /dance 2, /dance 3, /dance4) are fun to watch, if even just once. They still don't compare to the infamous Tarutaru dance though.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Iceday, 7/9/1038
Sea Serpent Grotto. Level 53. Defeats = 0
Laziness wins again. I really didn't feel like traveling across the face of Vana'diel in search of a new camp, so I decided to stay here in Sea Serpent Grotto. Also, since I was close to Norg, this would be a good opportunity to finally start doing some of the Ninjutsu scroll quests. Leveling Ninja in the future is sure to be a good idea, even if it is only as a possible support job.
It seems this camp is known to at least one of my rivals: a Tarutaru Beastmaster who has been around the same level as me for as long as I can remember. He doesn't seem to be a bad guy though, and has never stolen a camp from me, unlike some others I could name. A couple of times I broke camp only to find him there already leveling. In those situations I just went back to sleep (logout) and resolved to come back later.
On Iceday I awoke to find the camp free at last, and went back to business as usual. At level 53, this camp is even easier and safer. Now all of the Sahagin Parasites were Decent Challenge or Even Match. The Sahagin now ranged from Decent Challenge to Tough. It was not the ideal situation for fast leveling, but like I said before I was lazy. In retrospect I probably should have moved to a better camp. I'm beginning to notice that each level after 50 requires a lot more experience points than the last. This camp turned out to be a very long, slow grind. Once again, I thank the Goddess for the Empress Band, which kept me from going mad with despair. But at the same time, I told myself I had to get tougher. The road to 75 is long, and each level on that road is just going to get worse.
Not much changed from my last adventure here. Even though it was a little easier to kill each Sahagin, the grind was actually slower because each yielded less experience points. Also, experience chains were tougher to come by since fighting any Decent Challenge mobs would break the potential chain. Every once in a while I would slay all of the nearby Sahagin and end up waiting for a new spawn. In these cases, I would sometimes take on a Rock Crab, almost all of which were Tough to me. These fights were often very slow, similar to fighting Marsh Sahagin, and not very worthwhile. Crabs have a lot of hit points and defense, and are also constantly boosting their defense with abilities like Scissor Guard and Metallic Body while lowering the Strength of me and my pet with Bubble Shower. We were never really in danger when fighting the Crabs since they have lousy offense, but that didn't stop those fights from taking too much time. I recommend fighting the Rock Crabs only when you have nothing else to fight in the area. However, occasionally an Even Match Crab would spawn. These are definitely easier to take down than the Tough ones, so knock yourself out. Also, the Even Match crabs make decent emergency pets if you ever find yourself in a pinch.
Oh, there is one thing I forgot to mention last time. My new Apollo's Staff really, really helped with my Charm success rate here. One potential danger of using camps with Leech pets is that there are usually a lot of leeches in the area, and they all link. Often, an untimely mischarm could mean a very quick defeat for you. With my new staff, I had maybe 3 mishcarms in 3 whole days (Earth time), out of literally hundreds of Charm attempts. I felt confident enough that I could Charm a leech even if it was surrounded by its leechy friends. I highly suggest getting at least a Light Staff if you don't have one already. There is no easy escape path from this camp, so if something goes terribly wrong (like a mischarm), you'll likely end up eating dirt.
After a long, long, long, boring, but safe grind I eventually hit level 54. As usual, I stuck around for a bit to get a buffer, which was also very slow. Far too many of the Sahagin are Decent Challenge at level 54, so it is time to move on.
I went to Norg and started working on the Ninjutsu scroll quests. I managed to pick up Utsusemi: Ichi, Hojo: Ichi, Dokumori: Ichi and Tonko: Ichi so far. I still need Jubaku: Ichi (which requires me to travel all the way to Horlais Peak), and Kurayami: Ichi. Why the hells is this guy looking for Rusty Subligars anyway?! Oh well, I'll try to get those last two scrolls next time.
Laziness wins again. I really didn't feel like traveling across the face of Vana'diel in search of a new camp, so I decided to stay here in Sea Serpent Grotto. Also, since I was close to Norg, this would be a good opportunity to finally start doing some of the Ninjutsu scroll quests. Leveling Ninja in the future is sure to be a good idea, even if it is only as a possible support job.
It seems this camp is known to at least one of my rivals: a Tarutaru Beastmaster who has been around the same level as me for as long as I can remember. He doesn't seem to be a bad guy though, and has never stolen a camp from me, unlike some others I could name. A couple of times I broke camp only to find him there already leveling. In those situations I just went back to sleep (logout) and resolved to come back later.
On Iceday I awoke to find the camp free at last, and went back to business as usual. At level 53, this camp is even easier and safer. Now all of the Sahagin Parasites were Decent Challenge or Even Match. The Sahagin now ranged from Decent Challenge to Tough. It was not the ideal situation for fast leveling, but like I said before I was lazy. In retrospect I probably should have moved to a better camp. I'm beginning to notice that each level after 50 requires a lot more experience points than the last. This camp turned out to be a very long, slow grind. Once again, I thank the Goddess for the Empress Band, which kept me from going mad with despair. But at the same time, I told myself I had to get tougher. The road to 75 is long, and each level on that road is just going to get worse.
Not much changed from my last adventure here. Even though it was a little easier to kill each Sahagin, the grind was actually slower because each yielded less experience points. Also, experience chains were tougher to come by since fighting any Decent Challenge mobs would break the potential chain. Every once in a while I would slay all of the nearby Sahagin and end up waiting for a new spawn. In these cases, I would sometimes take on a Rock Crab, almost all of which were Tough to me. These fights were often very slow, similar to fighting Marsh Sahagin, and not very worthwhile. Crabs have a lot of hit points and defense, and are also constantly boosting their defense with abilities like Scissor Guard and Metallic Body while lowering the Strength of me and my pet with Bubble Shower. We were never really in danger when fighting the Crabs since they have lousy offense, but that didn't stop those fights from taking too much time. I recommend fighting the Rock Crabs only when you have nothing else to fight in the area. However, occasionally an Even Match Crab would spawn. These are definitely easier to take down than the Tough ones, so knock yourself out. Also, the Even Match crabs make decent emergency pets if you ever find yourself in a pinch.
Oh, there is one thing I forgot to mention last time. My new Apollo's Staff really, really helped with my Charm success rate here. One potential danger of using camps with Leech pets is that there are usually a lot of leeches in the area, and they all link. Often, an untimely mischarm could mean a very quick defeat for you. With my new staff, I had maybe 3 mishcarms in 3 whole days (Earth time), out of literally hundreds of Charm attempts. I felt confident enough that I could Charm a leech even if it was surrounded by its leechy friends. I highly suggest getting at least a Light Staff if you don't have one already. There is no easy escape path from this camp, so if something goes terribly wrong (like a mischarm), you'll likely end up eating dirt.
After a long, long, long, boring, but safe grind I eventually hit level 54. As usual, I stuck around for a bit to get a buffer, which was also very slow. Far too many of the Sahagin are Decent Challenge at level 54, so it is time to move on.
I went to Norg and started working on the Ninjutsu scroll quests. I managed to pick up Utsusemi: Ichi, Hojo: Ichi, Dokumori: Ichi and Tonko: Ichi so far. I still need Jubaku: Ichi (which requires me to travel all the way to Horlais Peak), and Kurayami: Ichi. Why the hells is this guy looking for Rusty Subligars anyway?! Oh well, I'll try to get those last two scrolls next time.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Watersday, 6/13/1038
Sea Serpent Grotto. Level 52. Defeats = 0
Okay, I have been lying around in my Mog House long enough. I guess the Starlight Celebration holiday season always makes me a little lazy. It's been a fun vacation, but it was time to get back to work!
I was definitely getting bored with my constant trips into the Crawlers' Nest. Looking for a change of pace, I spoke to some other more experienced Beastmasters. Based on their suggestions, I made the long journey toward Sea Serpent Grotto. I got some other suggestions too, such as Quicksand Caves and Fei'Yin. Each location was quite a long trek from civilization. My plan was to try Sea Serpent Grotto first, then try the other places if it was no good.
In the past I was reluctant to adventure in Sea Serpent Grotto because I did not have a map; and acquiring the map is pretty tough at lower levels. However, now I was in my 50s, so I figured getting the map would be less of a hassle. For the most part, I was wrong. Sure killing the enemies that might have the Grotto Chest Key to the treasure chests in the area was easier, but they were still Easy Prey - Decent Challenge. They were just strong enough that my jug pets could not rip through them without downtime. Worse, I had to kill dozens upon dozens of the creatures in the area before I finally found a key. Then of course came the oh-so-fun search for the treasure chest. Some people might find stumbling around in a dark cave filled with monsters without a map an adventure. I thought it was just a tedious chore. Nevertheless, I eventually found the chest and got a beautiful map of Sea Serpent Grotto. It was worth it. Having a map always makes travel so much easier.
So after days of map searching, I was finally ready to start adventuring for experience points again. I made my way to southern part of the first map until I came upon a secret door. I knew from my previous research that it could be opened with a Mythril Beastcoin, and of course I had one on me. Once past the mythril door, I Sneaked past the aggressive Crabs and Sahagin in the area to a small room in the north. The alcove at the top of this room would be my camp, the Sahagin in the room my prey, and the Leeches bouncing around would be my pets. If you have read previous entries in my journal, you know that leeches one of my favorite pet families. They are very resilient and can often take on enemies of higher level without the need for a pet swap.
The Leeches in the area are called Sahagin Parasites. At level 52, they were Decent Challenge - Tough to me. Luckily, very few were Tough to me so I didn't have to spend a lot of time converting pets. The Sahagin in the area were all Even Match - Tough+. There were three types of Sahagin that would serve as my prey: Bog Sahagin, Marsh Sahagin, and Swamp Sahagin. I quickly found out that there were significant differences between each type. Bog Sahagin wielded polarms and appeared to be Dragoons. They even had a Jump-like attack called "Jumping Thrust". They were capable of a lot of damage. They were the only ones that could sometimes take down one of my pets or force me to do a pet swap. (But even then, only when I used a Decent Challenge pet against a Tough Bog Sahagin. Yes, leeches are that tough.) The Marsh Sahagin were my least favorite though. They were Monks, and thus had a lot of hit points and could take a lot of punishment. They had a very high Guard rating and would often Counter attacks from my pet or myself. They regularly took a long time to take down, but never really threatened to kill my mighty leech pets. The big danger when fighting them was the fight could easily go too long when using an Even Match pet, causing it to lose Charm mid-fight. Lastly, the Swamp Sahagins were my favorites. They were Bards and - no offense to my Bard friends - these were by far the easiest prey to take down. Sometimes they would use Horde Lullaby or Foe Requiem IV, which could be very inconvenient, but not really life threatening.
I also soon found out that Sahagin have incredibly annoying special abilities. Two abilities are especially bad. The first is Spinning Fin, which deals decent area damage and stuns. I also heard it strips Blink shadows and deals damage anyway. (I never used Blink here so I don't know for sure if this is true.) If you're unlucky like me, the Sahagin will spam this move often, causing you to take damage even when your pet solidly has hate. However, the second ability is far worse. It is called Hydro Shot, an ability that deals a fairly large good amount of water damage (around 150-200), knockback, and resets Enmity! Normally, Leeches are great tanks, and usually at this camp they tank like champs. But once the Sahagin uses Hydro Shot on your pet, its hate is reset to zero. And that means the mob turns directly on you! In these situations I was forced to turn around so I would stop attacking and take several hits while waiting for my pet to regain hate. It is extremely irritating when they use this attack several times in the same fight. Even these attacks had a silver lining though. First, my Evasion skill went up like crazy while I was there. For the first time in a looong time, it came close to reaching the cap. (Before I came to this camp it was a good 20 points behind at least.) Also, rarely, you might take hate from your pet just in time to get hit by Hydro Shot yourself. This only happened to me twice, but it was awesome when it happened. With my hate reset to zero, I could do almost anything I wanted for a brief time without getting hit. The Sahagin have two other abilities, Hydro Ball and Bubble Armor, but fortunately these are mostly useless and can be safely ignored.
Despite being weaker, using Decent Challenge Leech pets is usually the best option. Often these fights can last a long time - especially against Tough Marsh Sahagins - but if you use Decent Challenge pets you don't have to worry about losing Charm mid-fight. Also, most of the time the Decent Challenge leeches could stand toe to toe with Tough Sahagins without going down. I very rarely had to pet swap while here. As you know by now, leech TP moves are a mixed bag. Some are useful but danergous to use like Acid Mist or Sand Breath. Others are good like Regenration. Others still are decent like Drainkiss, Suction, or Brain Drain. TP drainkiss isn't terribly useful most of the time but might save you from a Hydro Shot. And of course, there is the completely useless MP Drainkiss. As usual be careful using Sic because the area is pretty cramped and you can easily get some adds if you're careless.
Pulling is pretty straightforward. The initial break is the most dangerous because the Sahagin link and like to hang out together. Just be patient and you will get a decent pull eventually. Once even one Sahagin is dead, the rest become much easier to pull. It is rarely problem, but you can Sneak pull if you need to get past some of the aggressive Rock Crabs that wander nearby.
The fights can be long, but once you get going it is possible to get some good chains. I reached chain #2-3 quite a few times. I suggest starting a potential chain with a Marsh Sahagin because they take so much longer to kill. Likewise, try to end a chain with Swamp Sahagin because they tend to go down faster.
Soon I reached level 53 and kept going until I had a good buffer. Still, I can't tell if I like this camp or hate it. Thanks to Hydro Shot and Spinning Fin, I got beat up at this camp far more than I am accustomed to. However, this was also strangely one of the safest camps I ever visited. I never came close to defeat, and I was there for a long time.
One last thing to mention: a Notorious Monster named Mouu the Waverider sometimes spawns here. In fact, it spawned about halfway through my adventure session. You can try him if you want, but my peers told me this NM is too tough to solo at level 52. Since I didn't feel like losing over 1000 hard-earned experience points I just left it alone. I occasionally shouted the location of the NM just in case one of the level 75s in the area wanted to kill it. You can just Sneak pull while the NM is up and go on about your business as usual. Just be careful because the NM is a Sahagin and will link with the Sahagin you pull if you let it get too close. Eventually a level 75 Mithra Thief came by and took down the Notorious Monster. I thanked her for getting the creature out of my hair. Us Mithra have got to stick together!
Okay, I have been lying around in my Mog House long enough. I guess the Starlight Celebration holiday season always makes me a little lazy. It's been a fun vacation, but it was time to get back to work!
I was definitely getting bored with my constant trips into the Crawlers' Nest. Looking for a change of pace, I spoke to some other more experienced Beastmasters. Based on their suggestions, I made the long journey toward Sea Serpent Grotto. I got some other suggestions too, such as Quicksand Caves and Fei'Yin. Each location was quite a long trek from civilization. My plan was to try Sea Serpent Grotto first, then try the other places if it was no good.
In the past I was reluctant to adventure in Sea Serpent Grotto because I did not have a map; and acquiring the map is pretty tough at lower levels. However, now I was in my 50s, so I figured getting the map would be less of a hassle. For the most part, I was wrong. Sure killing the enemies that might have the Grotto Chest Key to the treasure chests in the area was easier, but they were still Easy Prey - Decent Challenge. They were just strong enough that my jug pets could not rip through them without downtime. Worse, I had to kill dozens upon dozens of the creatures in the area before I finally found a key. Then of course came the oh-so-fun search for the treasure chest. Some people might find stumbling around in a dark cave filled with monsters without a map an adventure. I thought it was just a tedious chore. Nevertheless, I eventually found the chest and got a beautiful map of Sea Serpent Grotto. It was worth it. Having a map always makes travel so much easier.
So after days of map searching, I was finally ready to start adventuring for experience points again. I made my way to southern part of the first map until I came upon a secret door. I knew from my previous research that it could be opened with a Mythril Beastcoin, and of course I had one on me. Once past the mythril door, I Sneaked past the aggressive Crabs and Sahagin in the area to a small room in the north. The alcove at the top of this room would be my camp, the Sahagin in the room my prey, and the Leeches bouncing around would be my pets. If you have read previous entries in my journal, you know that leeches one of my favorite pet families. They are very resilient and can often take on enemies of higher level without the need for a pet swap.
The Leeches in the area are called Sahagin Parasites. At level 52, they were Decent Challenge - Tough to me. Luckily, very few were Tough to me so I didn't have to spend a lot of time converting pets. The Sahagin in the area were all Even Match - Tough+. There were three types of Sahagin that would serve as my prey: Bog Sahagin, Marsh Sahagin, and Swamp Sahagin. I quickly found out that there were significant differences between each type. Bog Sahagin wielded polarms and appeared to be Dragoons. They even had a Jump-like attack called "Jumping Thrust". They were capable of a lot of damage. They were the only ones that could sometimes take down one of my pets or force me to do a pet swap. (But even then, only when I used a Decent Challenge pet against a Tough Bog Sahagin. Yes, leeches are that tough.) The Marsh Sahagin were my least favorite though. They were Monks, and thus had a lot of hit points and could take a lot of punishment. They had a very high Guard rating and would often Counter attacks from my pet or myself. They regularly took a long time to take down, but never really threatened to kill my mighty leech pets. The big danger when fighting them was the fight could easily go too long when using an Even Match pet, causing it to lose Charm mid-fight. Lastly, the Swamp Sahagins were my favorites. They were Bards and - no offense to my Bard friends - these were by far the easiest prey to take down. Sometimes they would use Horde Lullaby or Foe Requiem IV, which could be very inconvenient, but not really life threatening.
I also soon found out that Sahagin have incredibly annoying special abilities. Two abilities are especially bad. The first is Spinning Fin, which deals decent area damage and stuns. I also heard it strips Blink shadows and deals damage anyway. (I never used Blink here so I don't know for sure if this is true.) If you're unlucky like me, the Sahagin will spam this move often, causing you to take damage even when your pet solidly has hate. However, the second ability is far worse. It is called Hydro Shot, an ability that deals a fairly large good amount of water damage (around 150-200), knockback, and resets Enmity! Normally, Leeches are great tanks, and usually at this camp they tank like champs. But once the Sahagin uses Hydro Shot on your pet, its hate is reset to zero. And that means the mob turns directly on you! In these situations I was forced to turn around so I would stop attacking and take several hits while waiting for my pet to regain hate. It is extremely irritating when they use this attack several times in the same fight. Even these attacks had a silver lining though. First, my Evasion skill went up like crazy while I was there. For the first time in a looong time, it came close to reaching the cap. (Before I came to this camp it was a good 20 points behind at least.) Also, rarely, you might take hate from your pet just in time to get hit by Hydro Shot yourself. This only happened to me twice, but it was awesome when it happened. With my hate reset to zero, I could do almost anything I wanted for a brief time without getting hit. The Sahagin have two other abilities, Hydro Ball and Bubble Armor, but fortunately these are mostly useless and can be safely ignored.
Despite being weaker, using Decent Challenge Leech pets is usually the best option. Often these fights can last a long time - especially against Tough Marsh Sahagins - but if you use Decent Challenge pets you don't have to worry about losing Charm mid-fight. Also, most of the time the Decent Challenge leeches could stand toe to toe with Tough Sahagins without going down. I very rarely had to pet swap while here. As you know by now, leech TP moves are a mixed bag. Some are useful but danergous to use like Acid Mist or Sand Breath. Others are good like Regenration. Others still are decent like Drainkiss, Suction, or Brain Drain. TP drainkiss isn't terribly useful most of the time but might save you from a Hydro Shot. And of course, there is the completely useless MP Drainkiss. As usual be careful using Sic because the area is pretty cramped and you can easily get some adds if you're careless.
Pulling is pretty straightforward. The initial break is the most dangerous because the Sahagin link and like to hang out together. Just be patient and you will get a decent pull eventually. Once even one Sahagin is dead, the rest become much easier to pull. It is rarely problem, but you can Sneak pull if you need to get past some of the aggressive Rock Crabs that wander nearby.
The fights can be long, but once you get going it is possible to get some good chains. I reached chain #2-3 quite a few times. I suggest starting a potential chain with a Marsh Sahagin because they take so much longer to kill. Likewise, try to end a chain with Swamp Sahagin because they tend to go down faster.
Soon I reached level 53 and kept going until I had a good buffer. Still, I can't tell if I like this camp or hate it. Thanks to Hydro Shot and Spinning Fin, I got beat up at this camp far more than I am accustomed to. However, this was also strangely one of the safest camps I ever visited. I never came close to defeat, and I was there for a long time.
One last thing to mention: a Notorious Monster named Mouu the Waverider sometimes spawns here. In fact, it spawned about halfway through my adventure session. You can try him if you want, but my peers told me this NM is too tough to solo at level 52. Since I didn't feel like losing over 1000 hard-earned experience points I just left it alone. I occasionally shouted the location of the NM just in case one of the level 75s in the area wanted to kill it. You can just Sneak pull while the NM is up and go on about your business as usual. Just be careful because the NM is a Sahagin and will link with the Sahagin you pull if you let it get too close. Eventually a level 75 Mithra Thief came by and took down the Notorious Monster. I thanked her for getting the creature out of my hair. Us Mithra have got to stick together!
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Darksday, 5/8/1037
Crawlers' Nest. Level 51. Defeats = 0
It has been a long time since my last log entry. Truth be told, there has not been much of interest to write about. I spent the majority of the last few months hording gil to buy some equipment that I always wanted to get. That is to say, I have spent days upon days farming creatures for loot or underground in some goddess-forsaken mines. I did manage to save up enough for my afore-mentioned Apollo's Staff, as well as a Woodsman Ring, Dark Staff, and Valkyrie's Mask. I am still not done though. I still want to get another Woodsman Ring, and some other gear for when i reach level 55.
I did spend some time adventuring in good old Crawlers' Nest. One thing I recently discovered was that the entrance to the Nest is an excellent place to practice defensive skills. This was good, because my skills had fallen woefully behind. I spent a lot of time there, pulling Death Jackets (Bees) to the zone and fighting them with weapons that I wanted to skill up, such as Sword, Club, and Dagger. But I was primarily interested in building my Shield and Parry skills. With Signet and Regen, you can last a long time against each bee before stopping to rest. The nice thing about doing this as a Beastmaster is you only need one Bee. Once you have to rest, all you have to do is Charm the Bee, use Stay to have it regain health while you rest, then when you're ready, use Leave to uncharm it and immediately re-engage before it despawns. The only times I had to get another pet was when the bee inconsiderately used Final Sting (and it seems to only to do that when it is below 50% health).
I kept that up for as long as I could stand, then made my way below to gain some experience. I still needed lizard skins to help level my Smithing skill, so I went back to the Labyrinth Lizard rooms on the second floor. At level 51, these lizards are slow experience, only ranging from Decent Challenge to Even Match. However, their drop rate is so good that the camp was nice for farming and leveling at the same time. I camped in the hallway, using Witch Hazels as pets, and primarily focused on the North room. When that room was clear, I would occasionally grab a lizard from the south room as well, if it was safe to pull. The hardest thing about the camp is the initial breaking of the camp. The Lizards aggro and link and start off really close together, making it very difficult to pull them. I used Charm and Leave when I first arrived to pull Lizards away and make them despawn, thus making it easier to pull the remaining lizards. After that, the camp is very routine. As usual, you want to be a little wary about using Sic; the Sapling pets have two large area, relatively useless attacks and only one single target attack. The other thing you might have to worry about is Baleful Gaze. But the Witch Hazels are very good tanks and would very rarely lose hate. If the Witch Hazel is hit by Baleful Gaze, you can either wait it out, pet swap to the other Witch Hazel, or pet swap to a jug pet and use Snarl. The last option is he safest, so I saved it for a last resort just in case anything went wrong.
I grinded away for about an hour and a half (Earth Time) with little incident and was making good progress. Of course, this means I was destined for some bad luck. This time it came in the form of some other punk Beastmaster wearing a Gaudy Harness, also level 51, trying to muscle in on my camp. I hate when that happens. As always, I had a search comment with my camp, prey, and location, but of course it was to no avail. Apparently The Beastmaster Code is dead. (In fact, I think it's the second time that same guy came to camp on top of me. Grrrrr.) Long story short, things really slowed down from that point on. Often I would defeat one Lizard only to look up and find the second Witch Hazel pet gone, taken by the other Beastmaster. At those times, I had to resort to Lizard vs Lizard fights. The sad thing was there were almost enough lizards in the two rooms to support the two of us. Almost. Anyway, enough sour grapes. I dutifully and slowly grinded my way to level 52, and once there immediately set up camp to log out for the day. I was somewhat discouraged by the expeience. It might be a while before I adventure again.
It has been a long time since my last log entry. Truth be told, there has not been much of interest to write about. I spent the majority of the last few months hording gil to buy some equipment that I always wanted to get. That is to say, I have spent days upon days farming creatures for loot or underground in some goddess-forsaken mines. I did manage to save up enough for my afore-mentioned Apollo's Staff, as well as a Woodsman Ring, Dark Staff, and Valkyrie's Mask. I am still not done though. I still want to get another Woodsman Ring, and some other gear for when i reach level 55.
I did spend some time adventuring in good old Crawlers' Nest. One thing I recently discovered was that the entrance to the Nest is an excellent place to practice defensive skills. This was good, because my skills had fallen woefully behind. I spent a lot of time there, pulling Death Jackets (Bees) to the zone and fighting them with weapons that I wanted to skill up, such as Sword, Club, and Dagger. But I was primarily interested in building my Shield and Parry skills. With Signet and Regen, you can last a long time against each bee before stopping to rest. The nice thing about doing this as a Beastmaster is you only need one Bee. Once you have to rest, all you have to do is Charm the Bee, use Stay to have it regain health while you rest, then when you're ready, use Leave to uncharm it and immediately re-engage before it despawns. The only times I had to get another pet was when the bee inconsiderately used Final Sting (and it seems to only to do that when it is below 50% health).
I kept that up for as long as I could stand, then made my way below to gain some experience. I still needed lizard skins to help level my Smithing skill, so I went back to the Labyrinth Lizard rooms on the second floor. At level 51, these lizards are slow experience, only ranging from Decent Challenge to Even Match. However, their drop rate is so good that the camp was nice for farming and leveling at the same time. I camped in the hallway, using Witch Hazels as pets, and primarily focused on the North room. When that room was clear, I would occasionally grab a lizard from the south room as well, if it was safe to pull. The hardest thing about the camp is the initial breaking of the camp. The Lizards aggro and link and start off really close together, making it very difficult to pull them. I used Charm and Leave when I first arrived to pull Lizards away and make them despawn, thus making it easier to pull the remaining lizards. After that, the camp is very routine. As usual, you want to be a little wary about using Sic; the Sapling pets have two large area, relatively useless attacks and only one single target attack. The other thing you might have to worry about is Baleful Gaze. But the Witch Hazels are very good tanks and would very rarely lose hate. If the Witch Hazel is hit by Baleful Gaze, you can either wait it out, pet swap to the other Witch Hazel, or pet swap to a jug pet and use Snarl. The last option is he safest, so I saved it for a last resort just in case anything went wrong.
I grinded away for about an hour and a half (Earth Time) with little incident and was making good progress. Of course, this means I was destined for some bad luck. This time it came in the form of some other punk Beastmaster wearing a Gaudy Harness, also level 51, trying to muscle in on my camp. I hate when that happens. As always, I had a search comment with my camp, prey, and location, but of course it was to no avail. Apparently The Beastmaster Code is dead. (In fact, I think it's the second time that same guy came to camp on top of me. Grrrrr.) Long story short, things really slowed down from that point on. Often I would defeat one Lizard only to look up and find the second Witch Hazel pet gone, taken by the other Beastmaster. At those times, I had to resort to Lizard vs Lizard fights. The sad thing was there were almost enough lizards in the two rooms to support the two of us. Almost. Anyway, enough sour grapes. I dutifully and slowly grinded my way to level 52, and once there immediately set up camp to log out for the day. I was somewhat discouraged by the expeience. It might be a while before I adventure again.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Iceday, 11/1/1036
Crawlers' Nest. Level 50. Defeats = 0
Garlaige Citadel. Level 50. Defeats = 0
11/1/1036 is a day I will never forget. This is the day I broke past what I thought were my limitations. It was the day I reached level 51!
I had finally managed to get my Ancient Papyrus some months ago. However, my search for the Exoray Mold was going far slower than I anticipated. I fought the Exorays in Crawlers' Nest for days on end with no good results. It was very dangerous to solo them most of the time because many of the potential pet creatures were Tough. Many creatures agro and/or link in the Nest, and a single mischarm or mid0fight charm break could easily spell disaster. I used Familiar as much as I could during this period to help deal with this issue. The days soon turned into weeks, and the weeks into months fighting countless exorays. It probably would have been faster in a party. However, I did not want to join a party while I was stuck at 7799/7800 experience points for goddess knows how long it would take. I was starting to get frustrated, but kept at it. At least the drops were good, as I got plenty of Dark Crystals and various mushrooms. (Mushrooms that I later used to get a pair of Mycophile Cuffs for Pitaya, Papaya, and myself.)
Then one day, my friend Komaru happened to be available and asked if he could help. Komaru was a Tarutaru White Mage in his high 40s, recently come out of semi-retirement. While I wanted to try the quest solo at first, by this time I was willed to take any help I could get. We made our way down, and wouldn't you know it? Exoray Mold on the first drop! I joked that Komaru must be good luck, but he just shrugged it off. Since we had made it all the way down there, I asked if he needed a mold as well. He did, and we went to find another Exoray. And guess what? Another exoray mold dropped!! I couldn't believe it. Komaru really was good luck!
Wanting to capitalize of our good fortune, I asked Komaru if he was up for a trip to Garlaige Citadel. Our target was the Explosures, which dropped the Bomb Coal we needed. Fortunately there was a party camping near Banishing Gate #1 so we could easily move to where we needed to be. When there, we found a room with several Explosures and some Droma (Magic Pots). In the tunnel leading to this large room there were a few agro Funnel Bats. The bats were Tough to me, but I wasn't as worried because if all went well, the fight would not last long enough for them to uncharm. And even if they did, I had Komaru there to back me up while I attempted a recharm. The plan of course was to throw bats at the bombs and hope that the bomb would use Self-Destruct. If it used Berserk, that was almost as good, since me and the bats could rip through a low-defense bomb very quickly. Long story short, we both had a bomb coal after only three bombs. Apparently the bomb coal was very common. Well, that and Komaru is good luck. I'll have to ask him to come camping with me more often. =^.^=
It was a long, tough road, but well worth the wait. And the best part is now I'm wearing a pimp new staff. :)
Garlaige Citadel. Level 50. Defeats = 0
11/1/1036 is a day I will never forget. This is the day I broke past what I thought were my limitations. It was the day I reached level 51!
I had finally managed to get my Ancient Papyrus some months ago. However, my search for the Exoray Mold was going far slower than I anticipated. I fought the Exorays in Crawlers' Nest for days on end with no good results. It was very dangerous to solo them most of the time because many of the potential pet creatures were Tough. Many creatures agro and/or link in the Nest, and a single mischarm or mid0fight charm break could easily spell disaster. I used Familiar as much as I could during this period to help deal with this issue. The days soon turned into weeks, and the weeks into months fighting countless exorays. It probably would have been faster in a party. However, I did not want to join a party while I was stuck at 7799/7800 experience points for goddess knows how long it would take. I was starting to get frustrated, but kept at it. At least the drops were good, as I got plenty of Dark Crystals and various mushrooms. (Mushrooms that I later used to get a pair of Mycophile Cuffs for Pitaya, Papaya, and myself.)
Then one day, my friend Komaru happened to be available and asked if he could help. Komaru was a Tarutaru White Mage in his high 40s, recently come out of semi-retirement. While I wanted to try the quest solo at first, by this time I was willed to take any help I could get. We made our way down, and wouldn't you know it? Exoray Mold on the first drop! I joked that Komaru must be good luck, but he just shrugged it off. Since we had made it all the way down there, I asked if he needed a mold as well. He did, and we went to find another Exoray. And guess what? Another exoray mold dropped!! I couldn't believe it. Komaru really was good luck!
Wanting to capitalize of our good fortune, I asked Komaru if he was up for a trip to Garlaige Citadel. Our target was the Explosures, which dropped the Bomb Coal we needed. Fortunately there was a party camping near Banishing Gate #1 so we could easily move to where we needed to be. When there, we found a room with several Explosures and some Droma (Magic Pots). In the tunnel leading to this large room there were a few agro Funnel Bats. The bats were Tough to me, but I wasn't as worried because if all went well, the fight would not last long enough for them to uncharm. And even if they did, I had Komaru there to back me up while I attempted a recharm. The plan of course was to throw bats at the bombs and hope that the bomb would use Self-Destruct. If it used Berserk, that was almost as good, since me and the bats could rip through a low-defense bomb very quickly. Long story short, we both had a bomb coal after only three bombs. Apparently the bomb coal was very common. Well, that and Komaru is good luck. I'll have to ask him to come camping with me more often. =^.^=
It was a long, tough road, but well worth the wait. And the best part is now I'm wearing a pimp new staff. :)
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Windsday, 3/24/1036 (part 2)
Yuhtunga Jungle. Paladin Level 25, 26, 27. Defeats = 0
Yhoator Jungle. Paladin Level 27, 28. Defeats = 0
This will be a short entry because it has been months since this adventure and the details are a little foggy. I teamed up with my friends Papaya, Pitaya, and Chili in Jeuno, and we made our way to Yuhtunga Jungle. We also recruited a Ranger and a Dancer by the time we reached Kazham. We then started our adventure, starting with the Yuhtunga Mandragoras outside.
This was the first time I had ever adventured alongside a Dancer. They are pretty cool. I can see some of those abilities even being useful as a support job for my Paladin or Beastmaster. Our ranger seemed to be an experienced puller. We cut our way through the Yuhtunga Mandragoras with ease. There was little to no downtime with both a Dancer and a White Mage in the party. We also hit Chain #5 a few times, and almost always hit at least Chain #4. At times I had a little trouble holding hate when the Black Mage and Ranger would cut loose, but the vast majority of the time I held it well. We fought a few Goblins as well, but they were much more dangerous and hit way, way harder than the Mandragoras. In the future against Incredibly Tough+ monsters like that I might have to resort to using defensive food. I dislike overhunting like that, but sometimes we have no choice.
Around level 27, our Ranger had to leave, and the Dancer took off shortly thereafter. After a while, we recruited another Dancer and a Bard. I was a little concerned about the lack of direct damage on that party. However, things worked out well in the end. At the request of our new Dancer, we made our way to Yhoator Jungle this time. I gotta tell you - having a White Mage, Bard, and Dancer for support is really nice for a Paladin tank. I never lacked for any healing, my attacks would proc either drain or aspir, I got some MP refresh effects from the bard, and songs would help out our attack and accuracy in combat. In fact, since the Yhoator Mandragora's attacks are so weak, sometimes I had too much healing. That is, sometimes I could not Cure myself for hate effectively because none of us would be hurt. But in those cases I worked on dishing out the pain instead! As usual, Chili and I worked together to form skillchains, and Papaya and Pitaya would magic burst as appropriate. At level 28, I equipped my first Size 3 shield, the Kite Shield. Now that's a real shield - not some wussy buckler. For the first time, I felt like a knight! With that shield, my shield blocks would reduce the Mandragora damage down to as low as single digits, even without defense food or a lot of vitality gear. Heck, with this party I might have even used Berserk if we had reached the level to get it. Unfortunately, our adventure cut short after we hit level 29. Oh well, I need to buy a new set of armor anyway.
Next stop, level 30! And then we can do CoP missions and the advanced job quests!
Yhoator Jungle. Paladin Level 27, 28. Defeats = 0
This will be a short entry because it has been months since this adventure and the details are a little foggy. I teamed up with my friends Papaya, Pitaya, and Chili in Jeuno, and we made our way to Yuhtunga Jungle. We also recruited a Ranger and a Dancer by the time we reached Kazham. We then started our adventure, starting with the Yuhtunga Mandragoras outside.
This was the first time I had ever adventured alongside a Dancer. They are pretty cool. I can see some of those abilities even being useful as a support job for my Paladin or Beastmaster. Our ranger seemed to be an experienced puller. We cut our way through the Yuhtunga Mandragoras with ease. There was little to no downtime with both a Dancer and a White Mage in the party. We also hit Chain #5 a few times, and almost always hit at least Chain #4. At times I had a little trouble holding hate when the Black Mage and Ranger would cut loose, but the vast majority of the time I held it well. We fought a few Goblins as well, but they were much more dangerous and hit way, way harder than the Mandragoras. In the future against Incredibly Tough+ monsters like that I might have to resort to using defensive food. I dislike overhunting like that, but sometimes we have no choice.
Around level 27, our Ranger had to leave, and the Dancer took off shortly thereafter. After a while, we recruited another Dancer and a Bard. I was a little concerned about the lack of direct damage on that party. However, things worked out well in the end. At the request of our new Dancer, we made our way to Yhoator Jungle this time. I gotta tell you - having a White Mage, Bard, and Dancer for support is really nice for a Paladin tank. I never lacked for any healing, my attacks would proc either drain or aspir, I got some MP refresh effects from the bard, and songs would help out our attack and accuracy in combat. In fact, since the Yhoator Mandragora's attacks are so weak, sometimes I had too much healing. That is, sometimes I could not Cure myself for hate effectively because none of us would be hurt. But in those cases I worked on dishing out the pain instead! As usual, Chili and I worked together to form skillchains, and Papaya and Pitaya would magic burst as appropriate. At level 28, I equipped my first Size 3 shield, the Kite Shield. Now that's a real shield - not some wussy buckler. For the first time, I felt like a knight! With that shield, my shield blocks would reduce the Mandragora damage down to as low as single digits, even without defense food or a lot of vitality gear. Heck, with this party I might have even used Berserk if we had reached the level to get it. Unfortunately, our adventure cut short after we hit level 29. Oh well, I need to buy a new set of armor anyway.
Next stop, level 30! And then we can do CoP missions and the advanced job quests!
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