Middle Delkfutt's Tower, Upper Delkfutt's Tower . Level 40. Defeats = 0
My quest for money and equipment begins! Well, for the most part, this was not very exciting at first. I spent a few days fishing on the ferry. This was safe, but pretty boring. The only real excitement came when some Pirates attacked, but they were no threat to some of the high level adventurers on board. After I got tired of fishing for a while, I went back to the Auction House in Jeuno and put some fish up for sale. Hopefully this will bring me closer to the, like, 600k or so I need to get all the items on my wishlist. /sigh I definitely need a faster way to make some gil.
It had been a long time since I was last in Jeuno, so I decided to pay my old friend Brutus a visit. After all, he was the one to first help me onto the Path of the Beastmaster. As it turns out he had some sad news: one of his Chocobos had recently died. /cry While part of me was relieved to hear that it wasn't the Chocobo I had helped earlier, I was still sad to hear of his loss. He then told me of a mystical Guiding Bell that was "believed to guide the souls of pets to Paradise". Without hesitation, I agreed to help him find a Guiding Bell for his lost chocobo. According to Brutus, the bell was supposed to be somewhere in Delkfutt's Tower. Well, it looks like I'm going to see some adventure after all!!
After a quick side trip to Kazham to pick up some pet jugs - including some Seedbed Soil that I was eager to try out for the first time - I made my way to the Tower. I had only ever been on the first floor before, but as I looked up at the Towers as I approached, it was obvious that the tower was huge. Fortunately, I already had a map due to an earlier quest in Qufim. Really fortunate, for I soon found that it was easy to get lost, even with a map. With a wry smile, I thought that my directionally-challenged friend Suki would never be able to find her way out.
Since the tower was very tall, I will not write down every step of my adventure. I knew from past experience doing the quests for the Goblin Tailor that often valuable quest items could be found in Treasure Chests. That was as good a place to start as any. I also knew that one of the Gigas would probably hold a Key for one of those chests. I figured one of the stronger Gigas would be more likely to have it. After wandering around on the first three floors, I noticed that most of the enemies were Easy Prey or Too Weak to be Worthwhile. I could wander around those levels pretty much unharmed, as the enemies were afraid to challenge me. On the third floor, I camp upon a strange device that teleported me up to the fourth Floor, starting what was known as Middle Delkfutt's Tower.
Middle Delkfutt's Tower was pretty big, ranging from floors 4 through 9. Starting on these levels, some of the enemies would dare to attack me, even though they were still Easy Prey. Sadly, there were not many decent pets to choose from in the area, as most of the bats and such were Too Weak or Easy Prey. I was certainly glad I brought along some jugs so that I could use Call Beast to help me through the fortress. At first I used some Fish Broth to summon a Crab Familiar. (Fish Broth is just so cheap, I usually use it first.) The Crab was very strong, especially against the early level monsters, and did a good job of tanking for me as well. At first, I had problems with the goblins linking. The Crab may have been strong, but still had problems fighting three goblins at once! Soon I got used to pulling them safely when necessary, but for the most part I tried to avoid enemies. These guys were too weak for good experience; I was only there for the Key. As I approached the upper floors, the enemies got stronger and stronger (although none were yet Decent Challenge). By the time I got to the ninth floor, just about everything that could agro me would - including the Bats - so I had to make my way carefully. Moreover, there were some Elementals and potentially dangerous creatures of the Arcana System (such as Dolls and Magic Pots) that were known to agro to magic, so spellcasting had to be done with care as well. Nevertheless, I made it all the to the ninth floor where I found another strange device that took me to Upper Delkfutt's Tower.
At this point, I knew it could be dangerous to continue much further up. My familiar and I started fighting the higher tier Gigas found here, including Spirekeepers, Torturers, Bonecutters, and Stonemasons. The Crab was starting to have trouble dealing damage, and thus had more problems keeping hate off of me, so progress was slow but steady. Hour after hour we fought enemy after enemy, and I had been there so long that my supplies were starting to run low. I came around a turn in the hallway and fought yet another Gigas, but my pet was vanquished in the process. As I was about to try out a Funguar Familiar using my new Seedbed Soil, I turn around to find another adventurer giving me a quizzical look. He was clearly much more experienced than I, and from what I could tell he seemed to be a Red Mage. He said something but I had trouble understanding at first (he was Japanese) but eventually I understood that he was asking me: "Key?". It looks like he was familiar with my quest! Maybe Brutus sent someone to look out for me, for it had been several days since I left Jeuno for the Tower. I nodded my head to the adventurer to indicate that yes, I was indeed looking for the key. He then invited me to join his party. I summoned a Funguar pet, and the pet, the red mage, and I tore into the enemies with a newfound fury. (The Funguar has much better TP moves than the Crab!) As I suspected, the Red Mage was significantly stronger than me, and were were killing the enemies much, much faster that I could have ever done alone. This was a good thing too, because we cleared that floor of the Tower of all life several times to no avail (it would have taken me days to clear that many on my own). Just as I was beginning to despair, a Gigas fell, and his Delkfutt Chest Key rattled on the cold stone floor. Success!
I bowed courteously to the kind stranger who helped me and thought about retracing my steps through the tower to try and find a Treasure Chest. Just then, the Red Mage ran off. Not surprising, I thought. He must be going back to whatever he was going before stumbling upon me. But then he called out to me, and while we still had trouble communicating, I could clearly understand the phrases : "Found it!" and "Treasure Chest!" Overjoyed, I ran over and sure enough, my new friend had already located a treasure chest. I took a deep breath, opened the chest, and was greeted to the beautiful sight of the Guiding Bell in all its glory. I could not help myself and broke out into a joyous dance right there on the spot. Looking back on it now I am a little embarrassed, but that doesn't matter. All that matters is the Chocobo will be able to reach Paradise! After thanking my new friend yet again, we said our farewells. He left the party to do his own thing, and I used my scroll of Instant Warp to get the hell out of there.
Safely back in Jeuno, I sprinted over to Brutus at the Chocobo Stables and presented him with the Guiding Bell. I probably should have done it in a more dignified manner, as befitting the knight I someday want to be. Instead, I held it out proudly, grinning ear-to-ear, and I'm sure my tail was swaying happily was well. Brutus thanked me solemnly, and presented me with a wonderful reward for my trouble: a unique Beastmaster artifact known as the Barbaroi Axe!
Friday, October 26, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Iceday, 5/21/1033
Bibiki Bay - Purgonorgo Isle. Level 39. Defeats = 1
I broke camp and then picked up right where I left off on Purgonorgo Isle. As usual, first I scouted out the area. It seemed that the Alraunes and Toucans were now in the Decent Challenge to Tough range. Every Jagil I saw was only Decent Challenge at this point. I saw another Viscous Clot a little a bit north of my normal camp, but it was still Tough. (Don't worry, this time I kept my distance from that nasty slime!) This time around, on the beach I saw a Kraken roaming around just over the water. It was Tough to me too. While tempted to go on a Familiar induced killing spree, without charges on my Reraise Earring I though discretion might be the better part of valor this day. With all that out of the way, I decided to keep focusing on the Alraunes and Toucans.
When I first started, the camp was set up in an almost ideal way. There was one Even Match Alraune, one Even Match Toucan, one Decent Challenge Toucan, and everything else was Tough. I bounced back and forth using and reusing each of the Even Match pets to take out the Tough enemies. My first fight was pretty rough actually, as the Even Match Toucan had a particularly hard time against a Tough Toucan, but a timely Pet Food Zeta saved the day. After that, the whole day went pretty smoothly for the most part. I hit chain #4 on that first set, and regularly hit chain #2 or #3 after that (the camp never spawned in an ideal way again, with more decent challenges breaking the chains). Every once in a while, the whole area would spawn as Decent Challenge. That was annoying, but I took those opportunities to quickly clear the enemies while skilling up Scythe at the same time.
After I capped my Axe skill about 2/3 of the way through level 39, I switched to Scythe exclusively for the rest of the level. Scythe is pretty cool. I especially liked starting with a 100TP Nightmare Scythe near the start of a battle. The Blindness helps your pet out. It's not much, but it's noticeable. Surprisingly, I found that using a weapon skill early in the fight didn't hurt my hate management too much, although I would have to turn away from the battle for a few seconds every now and then. Actually, the biggest problem with hate management I found was the Toucan's ability, Damnation Dive. If it uses this ability on your pet, your pet could be stunned for several rounds. If you're dealing damage while your pet is stunned, you'll get hate soon enough. Thus, when I saw the Toucan ready Damnation Dive, I would turn away until I saw my pet start attacking again. That seemed to work pretty well.
Soon enough, I reached level 40! Things were going very well, perhaps even routine. I am ashamed to admit that as I was going for my buffer, I started to get a little cocky. Most of the enemies were Decent Challenge now, so I kept using Scythe to skill up for the most part. My pets and I were ripping through the enemies left and right. At some point I ran out of MP, but I was in a rush to get my buffer so I just kept going. Dumb. Feeling pretty good about my pace and eager to get out of there, I go for a routine Charm of a Alraune. Mischarm! And it linked with another Alraune! Heh, no problem. Or so I thought. I hit Tame on the first Alraune and back off with the second so the first wouldn't link again. so far so good, but this Alraune was totally kicking my butt, and remember I had no MP and no Reraise. Hmmm. I wait out the Charm timer, and use Charm on the Alraune hitting me. Mischarm again!!! My first two mischarms of the day at the worst possible time. By now I'm in pretty bad shape. In desperation, I use my Call Beast to summon my last CrabFamiliar and send it after the Alraune. The stupid crab kept missing, and in short order I was face down in the sand, defeated. As my benefactor Lady Lior would say: "Absolutely disgraceful." Even thinking back on it now my cheeks flush with shame at being defeated by a Decent Challenge Mandragora. Luckily, I had just barely hit my buffer before this battle so I didn't lose level 40. I drifted in and out of consciousness while on the ground, and sadly since few people came out to Purgonorgo Isle it looked like no Raise was forthcoming. I blacked out for a while there, and when I awoke I found myself back in Windurst. The Tarutaru must have sent a rescue party after not hearing from me for a while.
Oh well. I dusted myself off and set myself back on course to complete my goals. The first order of business was getting my buffer back. fortunately, I heard of a lost Chocobo at the stables in San d'Oria. So I switched to White Mage, cast Teleport-Holla, and made my way out to the Elvaan homeland. I switch back to Beastmaster, then head over to the Chocobo Stables. Sure enough, there was a chocobo that needed to be returned to Bastok Mines. I had done this ride several times before, and the choco-gals give a nice reward if you can get the Chocobo back in a timely manner. I made the long ride to Bastok, and got there in several hours (19 minutes 12 seconds). Not my best time, but good enough (any time under 20 Earth minutes is good). ((Some guy has the record which is near 18 min, 40 seconds. I don't know how he gets there that fast.)) The choco-gal gave me the reward I was after, a Page from the Dragon Chronicles! I used it immediately and got about 900 experience points; more than enough for a buffer.
The next order of business is saving up a lot of gil for some nice equipment that opened up at level 40. I would definitely like to get a Corsette +1, and a Woodsman Ring will certainly come in handy for years to come. I'l also want a Balance Buckler, Tilt Belt, and eventually some Loyalty Rings and Puissance Rings. Later on, between levels 40 and 50, a Valkyrie's Mask, Brigandine Armor, Life Belt, and Viking Axe should all be good investments as well. /sigh I probably won't be able to afford all of that stuff any time soon, but it's best to start saving now.
I grabbed my fishing gear and trusty Halcyon Rod, and made my way to the ferry in Selbina.
I broke camp and then picked up right where I left off on Purgonorgo Isle. As usual, first I scouted out the area. It seemed that the Alraunes and Toucans were now in the Decent Challenge to Tough range. Every Jagil I saw was only Decent Challenge at this point. I saw another Viscous Clot a little a bit north of my normal camp, but it was still Tough. (Don't worry, this time I kept my distance from that nasty slime!) This time around, on the beach I saw a Kraken roaming around just over the water. It was Tough to me too. While tempted to go on a Familiar induced killing spree, without charges on my Reraise Earring I though discretion might be the better part of valor this day. With all that out of the way, I decided to keep focusing on the Alraunes and Toucans.
When I first started, the camp was set up in an almost ideal way. There was one Even Match Alraune, one Even Match Toucan, one Decent Challenge Toucan, and everything else was Tough. I bounced back and forth using and reusing each of the Even Match pets to take out the Tough enemies. My first fight was pretty rough actually, as the Even Match Toucan had a particularly hard time against a Tough Toucan, but a timely Pet Food Zeta saved the day. After that, the whole day went pretty smoothly for the most part. I hit chain #4 on that first set, and regularly hit chain #2 or #3 after that (the camp never spawned in an ideal way again, with more decent challenges breaking the chains). Every once in a while, the whole area would spawn as Decent Challenge. That was annoying, but I took those opportunities to quickly clear the enemies while skilling up Scythe at the same time.
After I capped my Axe skill about 2/3 of the way through level 39, I switched to Scythe exclusively for the rest of the level. Scythe is pretty cool. I especially liked starting with a 100TP Nightmare Scythe near the start of a battle. The Blindness helps your pet out. It's not much, but it's noticeable. Surprisingly, I found that using a weapon skill early in the fight didn't hurt my hate management too much, although I would have to turn away from the battle for a few seconds every now and then. Actually, the biggest problem with hate management I found was the Toucan's ability, Damnation Dive. If it uses this ability on your pet, your pet could be stunned for several rounds. If you're dealing damage while your pet is stunned, you'll get hate soon enough. Thus, when I saw the Toucan ready Damnation Dive, I would turn away until I saw my pet start attacking again. That seemed to work pretty well.
Soon enough, I reached level 40! Things were going very well, perhaps even routine. I am ashamed to admit that as I was going for my buffer, I started to get a little cocky. Most of the enemies were Decent Challenge now, so I kept using Scythe to skill up for the most part. My pets and I were ripping through the enemies left and right. At some point I ran out of MP, but I was in a rush to get my buffer so I just kept going. Dumb. Feeling pretty good about my pace and eager to get out of there, I go for a routine Charm of a Alraune. Mischarm! And it linked with another Alraune! Heh, no problem. Or so I thought. I hit Tame on the first Alraune and back off with the second so the first wouldn't link again. so far so good, but this Alraune was totally kicking my butt, and remember I had no MP and no Reraise. Hmmm. I wait out the Charm timer, and use Charm on the Alraune hitting me. Mischarm again!!! My first two mischarms of the day at the worst possible time. By now I'm in pretty bad shape. In desperation, I use my Call Beast to summon my last CrabFamiliar and send it after the Alraune. The stupid crab kept missing, and in short order I was face down in the sand, defeated. As my benefactor Lady Lior would say: "Absolutely disgraceful." Even thinking back on it now my cheeks flush with shame at being defeated by a Decent Challenge Mandragora. Luckily, I had just barely hit my buffer before this battle so I didn't lose level 40. I drifted in and out of consciousness while on the ground, and sadly since few people came out to Purgonorgo Isle it looked like no Raise was forthcoming. I blacked out for a while there, and when I awoke I found myself back in Windurst. The Tarutaru must have sent a rescue party after not hearing from me for a while.
Oh well. I dusted myself off and set myself back on course to complete my goals. The first order of business was getting my buffer back. fortunately, I heard of a lost Chocobo at the stables in San d'Oria. So I switched to White Mage, cast Teleport-Holla, and made my way out to the Elvaan homeland. I switch back to Beastmaster, then head over to the Chocobo Stables. Sure enough, there was a chocobo that needed to be returned to Bastok Mines. I had done this ride several times before, and the choco-gals give a nice reward if you can get the Chocobo back in a timely manner. I made the long ride to Bastok, and got there in several hours (19 minutes 12 seconds). Not my best time, but good enough (any time under 20 Earth minutes is good). ((Some guy has the record which is near 18 min, 40 seconds. I don't know how he gets there that fast.)) The choco-gal gave me the reward I was after, a Page from the Dragon Chronicles! I used it immediately and got about 900 experience points; more than enough for a buffer.
The next order of business is saving up a lot of gil for some nice equipment that opened up at level 40. I would definitely like to get a Corsette +1, and a Woodsman Ring will certainly come in handy for years to come. I'l also want a Balance Buckler, Tilt Belt, and eventually some Loyalty Rings and Puissance Rings. Later on, between levels 40 and 50, a Valkyrie's Mask, Brigandine Armor, Life Belt, and Viking Axe should all be good investments as well. /sigh I probably won't be able to afford all of that stuff any time soon, but it's best to start saving now.
I grabbed my fishing gear and trusty Halcyon Rod, and made my way to the ferry in Selbina.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Watersday, 3/23/1033
Bibiki Bay - Purgonorgo Isle. Level 38. Defeats =2
Windurst is one of the closest cities to Bibiki Bay, so I made the long walk back there to refill my supplies for the next adventure. I grabbed a Chocobo from the Choco-gal at the Mea krag in Tahrongi Canyon to make the trip a little faster. When I arrived in Windurst, I noticed that some kind of festive event seemed to be in full swing. Oh! It's the Harvest Festival! Have I really been gone that long? While I had no plans to participate just yet, I made a note to try to return before the festival ended.
Coordinating my efforts with my cohorts and with the aid of my loyal Moogle, I managed to get a fresh supply of Pet Food Zeta as well as some food for myself. While fighting in Bibiki I noticed my damage was starting to get depressingly low. At times I was hitting for damage only in the teens or so. While I did not want to rip hate from my pet, I still would like to contribute more to the defeat of my enemies. So this time I picked up some Meat Mithkabobs, since Meat Jerky is finally a bit obsolete. Moreover, I changed my gear around to focus much more on Attack. I grabbed my Tiger Stole, Royal Squire's Mufflers and Beetle Earring +1s out of storage, and finally bought an overpriced but awesome pair of Republic Panties... err... a Republic Subligar, I mean. I also grabbed my Courage Rings from my Mog Safe to experiment with macroing them in for my Weapon Skills. I lost a lot of MP from switching out those two pieces of Savage armor, but I found that I usually don't use much MP per battle anyway. So with all that said, here is my current set of Fighting Gear.
Once ready, I ran up to the guards posted at the gate and used the last charge on my Empress Band. Then I asked the guard to recharge it, and got a fresh Signet to boot. Then it was time to hop back onto a chocobo and make my way back to... you guessed it: Bibiki Bay. But this time my plan was to take the Manaclipper out to the outer islands to take on some stronger enemies. I arrived at the all-too-familiar docks at Bibiki Bay and asked the Mithra dock workers when the next boat would arrive. They said it was still several hours away, so I passed the time by farming the Efts surrounding the docks, hoping for some Eft Skins and High Quality Eft Skins. I didn't get any, but I did get a few Lizard Eggs and some Fire Crystals. Finally the boat arrived, and I embarked on the voyage out to the Island.
The boat ride was pretty uneventful, and thankfully only a few hours long (about 5-10 Earth minutes?). On the ride a Mithra tour guide whose name I forgot talked about the sights along the way. The scenery really is quite nice if you take a moment to take it in. I had heard rumors of powerful monsters appearing during some ride, but during this trip I only saw an Easy Prey Fatty Pugil.
Purgonorgo Isle is a strange place. It reminds me a little bit of the Yuhtunga Jungle near Kazham, with several tunnels running around the island. Also, there are lots of Opo-opos running around, and I knew from several reports that they could be very difficult to Charm. There are also several beaches on the islands with various creatures, like Coralline Uragnites, Toucans, Alraunes, Viscous Clots, Jagils, and more Opo-opos. At first I was depressed because everything seemed to be either Easy Prey - Decent Challenge, or Tough. It was difficult at first to find appropriate pets. It readily became apparent that the toucans and the Alraunes (strange black Mandragoras) would be my primary targets and pets. Eventually, I found an Even Match Toucan, so I hit my Reraise Earring and started to get to work. I sent it after a Tough Alraune. Now, you have to understand that the last time I fought Mandragoras, it was in the Jungles in a party in the mid 20s (as a White Mage). Back then, the little onion men were... lets just say they were pretty weak. So imagine my surprise when this Alraune ripped my pet bird apart with ease! I even used a Pet Food Zeta Reward to try and extend the fight, but to no avail. When my pet fell, I desperately ate some Meat Mithkabob and used Raging Axe to try and finish it off. But it survived, and proceeded to pummel me with multi-attacks and counterattacks. There were no other appropriate pets nearby, so in desperation I used Call Beast and summoned a crab to help me out. But the crab was too weak and could not pull hate off of me fast enough. Near defeat, I had no choice but to spam healing spells to survive. But that only made it harder for my jug pet to get hate. Ultimately, I was defeated while the evil little onion had but a sliver of health left.
Live and learn, I guess. I made a note that the Alraunes were pretty tough tanks, reraised, and prepared to start anew. While recovering from Raise weakness, I noticed a duo of level 37 adventurers (a BST and WHM) fighting creatures in the area. I did not notice them before, and they were not on the boat when I came, so I guess they were there first. I didn't want to camp on anyone, so I mentally started going through alternate locations for me to go to in case the area was too small to support all three of us. Sea Serpent Grotto would probably be my best bet if I had to leave. Once I recovered, I observed the duo as I explored the island, and only experimented with a couple of fights to see if I could survive there at all. Those fights were close too, and I was just about to Warp (scroll) out when I noticed the duo cast teleport and vanish. I guess I had the area to myself, whether I liked it or not.
I ran around the island for a while trying to find an appropriate camp. It took a long time, but I found a decent area near the South East beach. One "room" had two Alraunes. The next one had 1-2 Alraunes, 2-3 Toucans, and 1-2 Jagils. and then the beach had 3 Toucans. Most of these enemies were Tough, but a few would spawn Even Match, and I tried to use those as pets. My strategy was to use Even Match Alraunes against Tough Toucans or Alraunes, and Even Match birds only against other birds (since the Alraunes seem to tear up the birds). Alraunes make good defensive tank pets, with both counter and monk-like multi attacks. Their TP moves are terrible though. Scream is particularly bad, and Dream Flower is almost completely useless for a pet. Wild Oats, Headbutt, Photosynthesis, and Leaf Dagger are decent though. The Toucans are much more aggressive pets, using the same TP moves as the Ravens back on the Bibiki mainland. The Jagils were usually only Decent Challenge, so I mostly ignored them but kept them in mind in case I needed an emergency pet. None of the enemies in my area were aggressive, but everything linked, even the Mandragoras. Still, it was usually pretty easy to avoid the links.
Soon, I started to get used to the area and started to make good experience. I tried to keep the Even Match enemies alive and used Leave strategically to reuse the same pets over and over. I tried to keep one Even Match pet in each of the 3 areas, and cycled between them to get decent chains. Having already been defeated once, I took it slow at first, but soon was regularly reaching chain #2 and chain #3, and occasionally hitting chain #4.
At this point, I am starting to notice far more mischarms than I am accustomed to. This turned out to be the biggest danger in the area, since a mischarm could easily result in links and death. For that reason, I avoided charming the Opo-opos like the plague; it just wasn't worth the risk. I think the Alraunes might be a little Charm resistant too.
I made a mistake with my pets in my nice little camp and accidentally killed off my Even Match pets. Annoyed I had to run around the island to try and find another appropriate pet. I ran all the way around and couldn't find a single Even Match! Worst, as I made my way back to my camp, I got agro from a really nasty, Tough Viscous Clot. I tried to Charm it. Failed. Tame. Failed. I made a run for my camp to get one of my emergency Jagils. The Clot hits really hard, likes to Double Attack, and occasionally procs a life drain when it hits. I try to Charm it again. Failed. Grrr. I made it to the Decent Challenge Jagil, successfully Charm it, and send it after the Clot. Whew, that was close! Or so I thought. I try to back off out of agro range for a trusty Divine Seal + Cure 2, but before I can take 2 steps the next thing I know I'm face down in the dirt, defeated! What happened?! Well, it turns out the Jagil couldn't hit the broad side of a barn and missed all of its attacks against the Clot. Worse, as I stepped away, the Viscous Clot double attacked me, and both hits were critical. Then, it Double Attacked me again, with another critical in there. It must have done 350+ damage to me in the span of 2-3 seconds. Stupid Clot. Someone should tell it that Double Attack is only supposed to go off like 10% of the time.
When I recovered, I went back to my camp and found that it was still full of Tough enemies. I decided to risk a few mischarms in order to use Leave to convert some of them to Even Match. I did get once mischarm, but luckily no links, and since good old Tame was back up and I was able to avoid too much damage. Soon I was back in business with about 4 good pets. Everything went smoothly from then. While fighting with my pet, my Axe skill soon capped and I switched to Scythe for the remainder of the level. Soon enough, I reached level 39, where this area becomes much easier to handle. At 39, some of the Alraunes and Toucans become Decent Challenge, but some are also still Tough. Experience is a little slower, but much safer since Decent Challenge pets are much easier to Charm if needed. Also, Decent Challenge Alraune pets still do very well even against a Tough Toucan. I fept using my Scythe during the buffer, and soon it reached Skill 100. Woohoo! I got a new Scythe Weapon Skill called Nightmare Scythe. It seems to be pretty cool, and I can see where Blindness might come in handy.
I made camp when I got my level 39 buffer. I fully intend to stay here until level 40. Then, I'll have to start farming up some cash as a lot of new gear opens up.
Windurst is one of the closest cities to Bibiki Bay, so I made the long walk back there to refill my supplies for the next adventure. I grabbed a Chocobo from the Choco-gal at the Mea krag in Tahrongi Canyon to make the trip a little faster. When I arrived in Windurst, I noticed that some kind of festive event seemed to be in full swing. Oh! It's the Harvest Festival! Have I really been gone that long? While I had no plans to participate just yet, I made a note to try to return before the festival ended.
Coordinating my efforts with my cohorts and with the aid of my loyal Moogle, I managed to get a fresh supply of Pet Food Zeta as well as some food for myself. While fighting in Bibiki I noticed my damage was starting to get depressingly low. At times I was hitting for damage only in the teens or so. While I did not want to rip hate from my pet, I still would like to contribute more to the defeat of my enemies. So this time I picked up some Meat Mithkabobs, since Meat Jerky is finally a bit obsolete. Moreover, I changed my gear around to focus much more on Attack. I grabbed my Tiger Stole, Royal Squire's Mufflers and Beetle Earring +1s out of storage, and finally bought an overpriced but awesome pair of Republic Panties... err... a Republic Subligar, I mean. I also grabbed my Courage Rings from my Mog Safe to experiment with macroing them in for my Weapon Skills. I lost a lot of MP from switching out those two pieces of Savage armor, but I found that I usually don't use much MP per battle anyway. So with all that said, here is my current set of Fighting Gear.
Once ready, I ran up to the guards posted at the gate and used the last charge on my Empress Band. Then I asked the guard to recharge it, and got a fresh Signet to boot. Then it was time to hop back onto a chocobo and make my way back to... you guessed it: Bibiki Bay. But this time my plan was to take the Manaclipper out to the outer islands to take on some stronger enemies. I arrived at the all-too-familiar docks at Bibiki Bay and asked the Mithra dock workers when the next boat would arrive. They said it was still several hours away, so I passed the time by farming the Efts surrounding the docks, hoping for some Eft Skins and High Quality Eft Skins. I didn't get any, but I did get a few Lizard Eggs and some Fire Crystals. Finally the boat arrived, and I embarked on the voyage out to the Island.
The boat ride was pretty uneventful, and thankfully only a few hours long (about 5-10 Earth minutes?). On the ride a Mithra tour guide whose name I forgot talked about the sights along the way. The scenery really is quite nice if you take a moment to take it in. I had heard rumors of powerful monsters appearing during some ride, but during this trip I only saw an Easy Prey Fatty Pugil.
Purgonorgo Isle is a strange place. It reminds me a little bit of the Yuhtunga Jungle near Kazham, with several tunnels running around the island. Also, there are lots of Opo-opos running around, and I knew from several reports that they could be very difficult to Charm. There are also several beaches on the islands with various creatures, like Coralline Uragnites, Toucans, Alraunes, Viscous Clots, Jagils, and more Opo-opos. At first I was depressed because everything seemed to be either Easy Prey - Decent Challenge, or Tough. It was difficult at first to find appropriate pets. It readily became apparent that the toucans and the Alraunes (strange black Mandragoras) would be my primary targets and pets. Eventually, I found an Even Match Toucan, so I hit my Reraise Earring and started to get to work. I sent it after a Tough Alraune. Now, you have to understand that the last time I fought Mandragoras, it was in the Jungles in a party in the mid 20s (as a White Mage). Back then, the little onion men were... lets just say they were pretty weak. So imagine my surprise when this Alraune ripped my pet bird apart with ease! I even used a Pet Food Zeta Reward to try and extend the fight, but to no avail. When my pet fell, I desperately ate some Meat Mithkabob and used Raging Axe to try and finish it off. But it survived, and proceeded to pummel me with multi-attacks and counterattacks. There were no other appropriate pets nearby, so in desperation I used Call Beast and summoned a crab to help me out. But the crab was too weak and could not pull hate off of me fast enough. Near defeat, I had no choice but to spam healing spells to survive. But that only made it harder for my jug pet to get hate. Ultimately, I was defeated while the evil little onion had but a sliver of health left.
Live and learn, I guess. I made a note that the Alraunes were pretty tough tanks, reraised, and prepared to start anew. While recovering from Raise weakness, I noticed a duo of level 37 adventurers (a BST and WHM) fighting creatures in the area. I did not notice them before, and they were not on the boat when I came, so I guess they were there first. I didn't want to camp on anyone, so I mentally started going through alternate locations for me to go to in case the area was too small to support all three of us. Sea Serpent Grotto would probably be my best bet if I had to leave. Once I recovered, I observed the duo as I explored the island, and only experimented with a couple of fights to see if I could survive there at all. Those fights were close too, and I was just about to Warp (scroll) out when I noticed the duo cast teleport and vanish. I guess I had the area to myself, whether I liked it or not.
I ran around the island for a while trying to find an appropriate camp. It took a long time, but I found a decent area near the South East beach. One "room" had two Alraunes. The next one had 1-2 Alraunes, 2-3 Toucans, and 1-2 Jagils. and then the beach had 3 Toucans. Most of these enemies were Tough, but a few would spawn Even Match, and I tried to use those as pets. My strategy was to use Even Match Alraunes against Tough Toucans or Alraunes, and Even Match birds only against other birds (since the Alraunes seem to tear up the birds). Alraunes make good defensive tank pets, with both counter and monk-like multi attacks. Their TP moves are terrible though. Scream is particularly bad, and Dream Flower is almost completely useless for a pet. Wild Oats, Headbutt, Photosynthesis, and Leaf Dagger are decent though. The Toucans are much more aggressive pets, using the same TP moves as the Ravens back on the Bibiki mainland. The Jagils were usually only Decent Challenge, so I mostly ignored them but kept them in mind in case I needed an emergency pet. None of the enemies in my area were aggressive, but everything linked, even the Mandragoras. Still, it was usually pretty easy to avoid the links.
Soon, I started to get used to the area and started to make good experience. I tried to keep the Even Match enemies alive and used Leave strategically to reuse the same pets over and over. I tried to keep one Even Match pet in each of the 3 areas, and cycled between them to get decent chains. Having already been defeated once, I took it slow at first, but soon was regularly reaching chain #2 and chain #3, and occasionally hitting chain #4.
At this point, I am starting to notice far more mischarms than I am accustomed to. This turned out to be the biggest danger in the area, since a mischarm could easily result in links and death. For that reason, I avoided charming the Opo-opos like the plague; it just wasn't worth the risk. I think the Alraunes might be a little Charm resistant too.
I made a mistake with my pets in my nice little camp and accidentally killed off my Even Match pets. Annoyed I had to run around the island to try and find another appropriate pet. I ran all the way around and couldn't find a single Even Match! Worst, as I made my way back to my camp, I got agro from a really nasty, Tough Viscous Clot. I tried to Charm it. Failed. Tame. Failed. I made a run for my camp to get one of my emergency Jagils. The Clot hits really hard, likes to Double Attack, and occasionally procs a life drain when it hits. I try to Charm it again. Failed. Grrr. I made it to the Decent Challenge Jagil, successfully Charm it, and send it after the Clot. Whew, that was close! Or so I thought. I try to back off out of agro range for a trusty Divine Seal + Cure 2, but before I can take 2 steps the next thing I know I'm face down in the dirt, defeated! What happened?! Well, it turns out the Jagil couldn't hit the broad side of a barn and missed all of its attacks against the Clot. Worse, as I stepped away, the Viscous Clot double attacked me, and both hits were critical. Then, it Double Attacked me again, with another critical in there. It must have done 350+ damage to me in the span of 2-3 seconds. Stupid Clot. Someone should tell it that Double Attack is only supposed to go off like 10% of the time.
When I recovered, I went back to my camp and found that it was still full of Tough enemies. I decided to risk a few mischarms in order to use Leave to convert some of them to Even Match. I did get once mischarm, but luckily no links, and since good old Tame was back up and I was able to avoid too much damage. Soon I was back in business with about 4 good pets. Everything went smoothly from then. While fighting with my pet, my Axe skill soon capped and I switched to Scythe for the remainder of the level. Soon enough, I reached level 39, where this area becomes much easier to handle. At 39, some of the Alraunes and Toucans become Decent Challenge, but some are also still Tough. Experience is a little slower, but much safer since Decent Challenge pets are much easier to Charm if needed. Also, Decent Challenge Alraune pets still do very well even against a Tough Toucan. I fept using my Scythe during the buffer, and soon it reached Skill 100. Woohoo! I got a new Scythe Weapon Skill called Nightmare Scythe. It seems to be pretty cool, and I can see where Blindness might come in handy.
I made camp when I got my level 39 buffer. I fully intend to stay here until level 40. Then, I'll have to start farming up some cash as a lot of new gear opens up.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Windsday, 2/30/1033
Bibiki Bay. Levels 36, 37. Defeats =0
My adventures in Bibiki Bay continue. When I broke camp I saw that the area was far less crowded than last time, So I went back to fighting in this ultra safe area. At 36, the experience slows down a bit, but is still decent. This time I mostly targeted Dhalmels and Ravens using Efts and bunnies as pets. It actually became pretty routine, to the point where I could almost do it in my sleep. I may have even slept-walked through a couple of battles. Before I knew it, I was already level 37.
I am starting to get the hang of using Leave. It is not too difficult to learn the roaming area of each creature if you simply observe it for a little while. By this point, I have been in Bibiki for so long that I knew the location of each creature like the back of my hand.
Since I have been fighting alongside my pet for my entire stay here in Bibiki, it turns out my lagging Axe skill finally capped while I was level 36. Around the end of that level, I switched to Scythe, which had been even further behind. I was a little surprised to find my pets holding hate even with the larger damage spikes of the Scythe. I figured it was because my skill was too low and I might have been missing often (although it did not seem that way). Because the pets were so effective as tanks, this seemed to be a good opportunity to get my weapon skills caught up. So, at level 37 while working toward the buffer, I kept leveling Scythe trying to get it to a respectable level. Just like the last level, I mostly focused on dhalmels and ravens, using efts and rarabs as pets. Actually, I fought everything with everything, but the dhalmel prey was best for skill ups due to their high health and relatively low evasion. However, while skilling up, I did the opposite of my usual strategy. That is, usually I fight higher level prey using lower level pets, such as Decent Challenge vs Even Match or Even Match vs Tough, and so on. But while skilling up, using a higher level (or at least more damaging) pet was more effective for keeping hate; so I tried to do Even Match vs Decent Challenge whenever I could. To get the last few levels of skill I knew I would have to fight Even Match or stronger prey, but my skill was so far behind I didn't think I would have to worry about that anytime soon.
I only intended to stick around for a little while, but the skilling up was a nice change of pace. The experiences was slow. Really slow. But the skill ups were pretty fast, and I got some decent loot along the way, including 2 dozen Beastman Seals, a few Dhalmel Hides, and a High Quality Eft Skin. Not too shabby. Best of all, I actually went all the way through level 37 in the process. The level may have come faster elsewhere, but that may have required some extensive travel time.
While I seem to be addicted to Bibiki Bay, at level 38 everything in the dock area is Decent Challenge or lower, so it is certainly time to move on.
My adventures in Bibiki Bay continue. When I broke camp I saw that the area was far less crowded than last time, So I went back to fighting in this ultra safe area. At 36, the experience slows down a bit, but is still decent. This time I mostly targeted Dhalmels and Ravens using Efts and bunnies as pets. It actually became pretty routine, to the point where I could almost do it in my sleep. I may have even slept-walked through a couple of battles. Before I knew it, I was already level 37.
I am starting to get the hang of using Leave. It is not too difficult to learn the roaming area of each creature if you simply observe it for a little while. By this point, I have been in Bibiki for so long that I knew the location of each creature like the back of my hand.
Since I have been fighting alongside my pet for my entire stay here in Bibiki, it turns out my lagging Axe skill finally capped while I was level 36. Around the end of that level, I switched to Scythe, which had been even further behind. I was a little surprised to find my pets holding hate even with the larger damage spikes of the Scythe. I figured it was because my skill was too low and I might have been missing often (although it did not seem that way). Because the pets were so effective as tanks, this seemed to be a good opportunity to get my weapon skills caught up. So, at level 37 while working toward the buffer, I kept leveling Scythe trying to get it to a respectable level. Just like the last level, I mostly focused on dhalmels and ravens, using efts and rarabs as pets. Actually, I fought everything with everything, but the dhalmel prey was best for skill ups due to their high health and relatively low evasion. However, while skilling up, I did the opposite of my usual strategy. That is, usually I fight higher level prey using lower level pets, such as Decent Challenge vs Even Match or Even Match vs Tough, and so on. But while skilling up, using a higher level (or at least more damaging) pet was more effective for keeping hate; so I tried to do Even Match vs Decent Challenge whenever I could. To get the last few levels of skill I knew I would have to fight Even Match or stronger prey, but my skill was so far behind I didn't think I would have to worry about that anytime soon.
I only intended to stick around for a little while, but the skilling up was a nice change of pace. The experiences was slow. Really slow. But the skill ups were pretty fast, and I got some decent loot along the way, including 2 dozen Beastman Seals, a few Dhalmel Hides, and a High Quality Eft Skin. Not too shabby. Best of all, I actually went all the way through level 37 in the process. The level may have come faster elsewhere, but that may have required some extensive travel time.
While I seem to be addicted to Bibiki Bay, at level 38 everything in the dock area is Decent Challenge or lower, so it is certainly time to move on.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Firesday, 2/3/1033
Bibiki Bay. Level 35. Defeats =0
I changed my mind. I said I was going to go to Gusgen Mines last time, but my time here in Bibiki Bay was so nice I just had to stay longer. Actually, there's not much to add in this entry that I didn't say last time. The experience here is still fast and very safe. I may even stay until I hit level 37.
I went out a little further from the docks this time around, since most of the Efts are only Even Match or lower. They still make good pets though. Out in the fields, I also started using bunnies and Dhalmels as both pets and prey. Both range from Decent Challenge to Tough. Every once in a while I would take on a Raven as well. Almost all Ravens I saw were Tough, and those fights were definitely more difficult. It was hard to tell if a Raven was only one level higher than me, or 3 levels higher. Every fight is pretty routine, as the pets usually hold hate very well. I eventually even stopped eating roast mushrooms and my pets held hate just fine anyway. It might be time to look into other food options. I wonder if it's too early for Tuna Sushi...?
Leave is a very fun and useful ability. I got to play around with it for the first time during this adventure. Aside from the obvious use - to get rid of a pet before it uncharms - it has some other useful properties as well. First, it seems that if you charm a pet and fight with that pet near it's roaming area, and then use Leave, the pet will stay in that area and regenerate it health at an extremely fast rate. This is extremely useful, as it allows a Beastmaster to reuse a pet relatively soon after fighting with it. (Before, I would have to wait for several minutes for a pet to heal, even after the new update.) Also, perhaps more importantly, if you use Leave on a pet outside of its natural roaming area, it will despawn and soon respawn inside its usual area. But the cool thing about that is, it might respawn at a different level! So now, for example, of all the Efts at the docks were decent challenge, I could charm them, move them outside of the docks, then hit Leave, and they might respawn as Even Match! Using both this and the rapid healing property, I could theoretically keep a stable, so to speak, of Even Match pets that I could reuse whenever I wanted. Granted, this would be a of more use in a dungeon or small area; when outdoors it can be kind of annoying to run back to your pets if the prey is far away.
Nevertheless, Leave is really cool. I am still learning how to use it most effectively. My biggest problem is accidentally hitting Leave on a pet outside of its roaming area, which unintentionally causes a perfectly good Even Match pet to despawn. However, using Leave allowed me to fight at a nice pace, and for the first time in my solo career I hit a chain #4. If the last stupid goblin would have just blown himself up, I might have even hit chain #5. These high chains are still a little rare because outside of the docks the enemies in Bibiki are somewhat spread out. But I was regularly hitting chain #2 and #3 while taking it slow, so there is lots of potential here.
The only problem I had with Bibiki is that sometimes the area can become crowded with adventurers. This slows down the experience for everybody, which is a shame. This time I had to compete with another Beastmaster (who was apparently getting powerleveled), a small party of anonymous players, and a solo dragoon in his 40s. I tried to move further into Bibiki but I quickly ran into an Incredibly Tough goblin and thought better of that plan. I toughed it out to level 36 and decided to make camp for the day once I got a minimal buffer. Hopefully when I return there will be less competition. If not, I guess I could try a place like Sea Serpent Grotto...
I changed my mind. I said I was going to go to Gusgen Mines last time, but my time here in Bibiki Bay was so nice I just had to stay longer. Actually, there's not much to add in this entry that I didn't say last time. The experience here is still fast and very safe. I may even stay until I hit level 37.
I went out a little further from the docks this time around, since most of the Efts are only Even Match or lower. They still make good pets though. Out in the fields, I also started using bunnies and Dhalmels as both pets and prey. Both range from Decent Challenge to Tough. Every once in a while I would take on a Raven as well. Almost all Ravens I saw were Tough, and those fights were definitely more difficult. It was hard to tell if a Raven was only one level higher than me, or 3 levels higher. Every fight is pretty routine, as the pets usually hold hate very well. I eventually even stopped eating roast mushrooms and my pets held hate just fine anyway. It might be time to look into other food options. I wonder if it's too early for Tuna Sushi...?
Leave is a very fun and useful ability. I got to play around with it for the first time during this adventure. Aside from the obvious use - to get rid of a pet before it uncharms - it has some other useful properties as well. First, it seems that if you charm a pet and fight with that pet near it's roaming area, and then use Leave, the pet will stay in that area and regenerate it health at an extremely fast rate. This is extremely useful, as it allows a Beastmaster to reuse a pet relatively soon after fighting with it. (Before, I would have to wait for several minutes for a pet to heal, even after the new update.) Also, perhaps more importantly, if you use Leave on a pet outside of its natural roaming area, it will despawn and soon respawn inside its usual area. But the cool thing about that is, it might respawn at a different level! So now, for example, of all the Efts at the docks were decent challenge, I could charm them, move them outside of the docks, then hit Leave, and they might respawn as Even Match! Using both this and the rapid healing property, I could theoretically keep a stable, so to speak, of Even Match pets that I could reuse whenever I wanted. Granted, this would be a of more use in a dungeon or small area; when outdoors it can be kind of annoying to run back to your pets if the prey is far away.
Nevertheless, Leave is really cool. I am still learning how to use it most effectively. My biggest problem is accidentally hitting Leave on a pet outside of its roaming area, which unintentionally causes a perfectly good Even Match pet to despawn. However, using Leave allowed me to fight at a nice pace, and for the first time in my solo career I hit a chain #4. If the last stupid goblin would have just blown himself up, I might have even hit chain #5. These high chains are still a little rare because outside of the docks the enemies in Bibiki are somewhat spread out. But I was regularly hitting chain #2 and #3 while taking it slow, so there is lots of potential here.
The only problem I had with Bibiki is that sometimes the area can become crowded with adventurers. This slows down the experience for everybody, which is a shame. This time I had to compete with another Beastmaster (who was apparently getting powerleveled), a small party of anonymous players, and a solo dragoon in his 40s. I tried to move further into Bibiki but I quickly ran into an Incredibly Tough goblin and thought better of that plan. I toughed it out to level 36 and decided to make camp for the day once I got a minimal buffer. Hopefully when I return there will be less competition. If not, I guess I could try a place like Sea Serpent Grotto...
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Watersday, 12/9/1032
Bibiki Bay. Level 34. Defeats = 0
Bibiki Bay is great! It was a toss up between this place and Gusgen Mines. I did a Search and the latest reports told me several adventurers were roaming in Gusgen. Hence, I decided on Bibiki since I would be more likely to find a good camp in a more secluded area.
I arrive at the bay after a long Chocobo ride from Jeuno, and there is not a soul to be found, save the dozens of roaming beasts and goblins. I ride around for a bit and soon come upon a dock run by some fellow Mithra. The dock is crawling with many strong but non-aggressive beasts like Efts, Ravens, and Island Rarabs. This seemed to be a good campsite, so I dismounted from my Chocobo and made small talk with the dockmasters while casting defensive buff spells upon myself. Apparently, ships come around to these docks and give tours of various parts of the Bay. I may have to take a ride one day. But not today; I was here for adventure, not tourism.
I first scouted out the surroundings and found that the Efts and Goblins had auras from Decent Challenge to Tough, the Island Rarabs and Marine Dhalmels were Even Match to Tough, and the Ravens were Tough to Very Tough. There were lots of Efts wandering around the docks, a few Ravens, and one Goblin Shaman. If I went further out toward the zone to Buburimu Peninsula, I would find some Rarabs and Dhalmels as well. I decided to play it safe and start with the Efts, which seemed to be the weakest potential pets and prey overall. While none of the beasts were aggressive, I suspected they would all link with beasts of the same type (and I was right). My first fight was a Decent Challenge Eft vs an Even Match Eft. After a quick Dia, I fought alongside my pet the entire time. It may have been the roast mushrooms and Healer's Earring, but my Eft pet kept hate exceptionally well. Even better than the leeches in Qufim Island. My pet and I make short work of the Eft, and I move on the the next one sending my almost-dead pet at it while looking for a replacement pet. Since Efts are everywhere, new pets are easy to find. Several times I hit chain #3 during this adventure, and experience flowed fast and furious. It was a lot of fun!
There are only a few issues with this place that might be of some concern to a new adventurer. First, as I said earlier, everything here links, but only the goblins are aggressive. So take your usual precautions while charming and fighting so you don't get any unexpected additional monsters joining the party. Secondly, Efts are interesting creatures with some powerful TP moves. Of special note is Geist Wall, which seems to be an area Dispel effect. That can be bad news if it happens to rid you of a precious Reraise (but it usually got my Protect; maybe i just got lucky). Reportedly, some of the other Eft TP moves, like Toxic Spit and Numbing Noise, ignore a Ninja's Utsusemi shadows, so be wary of this all you BST/nin and NIN/bst trying this area. Toxic Spit is a very potent poison, so it's great if your pet uses it but bad if you get hit by it (use Poisona asap). Also, it seems that level 34 is a little low for this area, as sometimes all of the potential pets at the docks would pop up as Tough or stronger. In those cases you may have to walk out a little further and pick up an Even Match Rarab or Dhalmel, if you can find one. One last thing to note: the Ravens are much stronger than the other creatures here. Even a Raven that is only Tough will rip into an Even Match pet for 70 to 80 points of damage per hit. As a result, pets have a harder time holding hate against the Ravens too, which makes fighting alongside your pet more dangerous. Still, each Raven gives a lot of experience, so you might find it worth the risk.
I preferred to chain the Even Match and Tough Efts, throwing in a Goblin Shaman (hoping it would blow up), Rarab, or Dhalmel occasionally to shake things up. The Goblin Shaman is a black mage, so it has very low hit points and defense. I found that even a Decent Challenge Eft would often take down an Even Match Shaman. If you ever run into problems, the zone is a relatively short run away; but you might not make it if you get a lot of links along the way. However, I never even came close to defeat in this area. Bibiki Bay is fast, safe experience. Using my Empress Band I was well over 4k experience per hour (and remember, I was playing it safe).
In no time, I hit the magical level 35, and got an new pet command, Leave!! Now, among other things, reusing pets becomes a very real possibility.
I think I'll try Gusgen Mines next, if only for comparison purposes. I hear it is much more dangerous, but the experience is said to be extremely fast as well.
Bibiki Bay is great! It was a toss up between this place and Gusgen Mines. I did a Search and the latest reports told me several adventurers were roaming in Gusgen. Hence, I decided on Bibiki since I would be more likely to find a good camp in a more secluded area.
I arrive at the bay after a long Chocobo ride from Jeuno, and there is not a soul to be found, save the dozens of roaming beasts and goblins. I ride around for a bit and soon come upon a dock run by some fellow Mithra. The dock is crawling with many strong but non-aggressive beasts like Efts, Ravens, and Island Rarabs. This seemed to be a good campsite, so I dismounted from my Chocobo and made small talk with the dockmasters while casting defensive buff spells upon myself. Apparently, ships come around to these docks and give tours of various parts of the Bay. I may have to take a ride one day. But not today; I was here for adventure, not tourism.
I first scouted out the surroundings and found that the Efts and Goblins had auras from Decent Challenge to Tough, the Island Rarabs and Marine Dhalmels were Even Match to Tough, and the Ravens were Tough to Very Tough. There were lots of Efts wandering around the docks, a few Ravens, and one Goblin Shaman. If I went further out toward the zone to Buburimu Peninsula, I would find some Rarabs and Dhalmels as well. I decided to play it safe and start with the Efts, which seemed to be the weakest potential pets and prey overall. While none of the beasts were aggressive, I suspected they would all link with beasts of the same type (and I was right). My first fight was a Decent Challenge Eft vs an Even Match Eft. After a quick Dia, I fought alongside my pet the entire time. It may have been the roast mushrooms and Healer's Earring, but my Eft pet kept hate exceptionally well. Even better than the leeches in Qufim Island. My pet and I make short work of the Eft, and I move on the the next one sending my almost-dead pet at it while looking for a replacement pet. Since Efts are everywhere, new pets are easy to find. Several times I hit chain #3 during this adventure, and experience flowed fast and furious. It was a lot of fun!
There are only a few issues with this place that might be of some concern to a new adventurer. First, as I said earlier, everything here links, but only the goblins are aggressive. So take your usual precautions while charming and fighting so you don't get any unexpected additional monsters joining the party. Secondly, Efts are interesting creatures with some powerful TP moves. Of special note is Geist Wall, which seems to be an area Dispel effect. That can be bad news if it happens to rid you of a precious Reraise (but it usually got my Protect; maybe i just got lucky). Reportedly, some of the other Eft TP moves, like Toxic Spit and Numbing Noise, ignore a Ninja's Utsusemi shadows, so be wary of this all you BST/nin and NIN/bst trying this area. Toxic Spit is a very potent poison, so it's great if your pet uses it but bad if you get hit by it (use Poisona asap). Also, it seems that level 34 is a little low for this area, as sometimes all of the potential pets at the docks would pop up as Tough or stronger. In those cases you may have to walk out a little further and pick up an Even Match Rarab or Dhalmel, if you can find one. One last thing to note: the Ravens are much stronger than the other creatures here. Even a Raven that is only Tough will rip into an Even Match pet for 70 to 80 points of damage per hit. As a result, pets have a harder time holding hate against the Ravens too, which makes fighting alongside your pet more dangerous. Still, each Raven gives a lot of experience, so you might find it worth the risk.
I preferred to chain the Even Match and Tough Efts, throwing in a Goblin Shaman (hoping it would blow up), Rarab, or Dhalmel occasionally to shake things up. The Goblin Shaman is a black mage, so it has very low hit points and defense. I found that even a Decent Challenge Eft would often take down an Even Match Shaman. If you ever run into problems, the zone is a relatively short run away; but you might not make it if you get a lot of links along the way. However, I never even came close to defeat in this area. Bibiki Bay is fast, safe experience. Using my Empress Band I was well over 4k experience per hour (and remember, I was playing it safe).
In no time, I hit the magical level 35, and got an new pet command, Leave!! Now, among other things, reusing pets becomes a very real possibility.
I think I'll try Gusgen Mines next, if only for comparison purposes. I hear it is much more dangerous, but the experience is said to be extremely fast as well.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Earthsday, 10/12/1032
Fort Ghelsba. Level 34. Defeats = 0
As I write this, I feel I am slowly being driven mad. I have been at this for far too long. By my reckoning it has been over a fortnight since I started this camp. Since I started this insanity. Rumor had it that a mighty notorious monster wielding a mystic sword lurked in the Orc infested stronghold known as Fort Ghelsba. Chariotbuster Byakzak was his name. Apparently, this beastly warrior would only appear if one could destroy a dreaded war machine known as an Orcish Panzer. And only rarely at that.
Thirteen times I have destroyed this machine, hoping Byakzak would appear to challenge me. Each time, a pitiful Orcish Fighter appeared in his stead. I am beginning to think the notorious orc should be known more for his cowardice rather than his prowess. But the days upon days of waiting are starting to take their toll on me. My supplies run short, and soon I may be forced to return to San d'Oria in disgrace. Perhaps his plan is to weaken me with boredom before finally appearing.
At times I begin to wonder if the rumors are even credible. But several times during this venture I had to fend off or compete with my fellow adventurers, each with the same idea as me. Once, when I let my guard down, the Panzer was seized by a rival. I was aggravated, but unluckily for him, yet another Orcish Fighter appeared. In any event, there were enough competitors each vying for the same prize to think there might be something to the rumors.
But the real reason I am sticking with it is because I have been here so long already; it would be a shame to leave empty handed now. Of course, I started feeling that way after day 5, and I have been here almost three times as long now. Oh look, the orcs built another Panzer. I had better go destroy it again...
...
...
I did it! I defeated Chariotbuster Byakzak! On the 14th attempt, the fearsome warrior finally appeared. It was more of an epic battle than I anticipated, since I had just run out of pet broths on the previous fight, so I did not have the aid of one of my mighty familiars. Again and again my axe clashed against his sword as we danced our deadly dance. I had the upper hand for most of the battle, but then the orc went all out, unleashing his fury in a series of Mighty Strikes! Each of his blows smashed into me like a battering ram. But I was much more powerful overall. I used my white magic abilities to help keep the tide of battle in my favor. Divine Seal + Cure 2 erased all of the damage caused by the critical strikes. A quick Slow followed by Paralyze severely hindered the orc's battle effectiveness. At last, my axe rang out with the final blow, and Byakzak fell before me. I collected my prize, a fine low level blade called the Auriga Xiphos, and made the triumphant walk back to San d'Oria. (Now my Paladin and Red Mage will have an excellent sword to play around with!)
Thirteen times I have destroyed this machine, hoping Byakzak would appear to challenge me. Each time, a pitiful Orcish Fighter appeared in his stead. I am beginning to think the notorious orc should be known more for his cowardice rather than his prowess. But the days upon days of waiting are starting to take their toll on me. My supplies run short, and soon I may be forced to return to San d'Oria in disgrace. Perhaps his plan is to weaken me with boredom before finally appearing.
At times I begin to wonder if the rumors are even credible. But several times during this venture I had to fend off or compete with my fellow adventurers, each with the same idea as me. Once, when I let my guard down, the Panzer was seized by a rival. I was aggravated, but unluckily for him, yet another Orcish Fighter appeared. In any event, there were enough competitors each vying for the same prize to think there might be something to the rumors.
But the real reason I am sticking with it is because I have been here so long already; it would be a shame to leave empty handed now. Of course, I started feeling that way after day 5, and I have been here almost three times as long now. Oh look, the orcs built another Panzer. I had better go destroy it again...
...
...
I did it! I defeated Chariotbuster Byakzak! On the 14th attempt, the fearsome warrior finally appeared. It was more of an epic battle than I anticipated, since I had just run out of pet broths on the previous fight, so I did not have the aid of one of my mighty familiars. Again and again my axe clashed against his sword as we danced our deadly dance. I had the upper hand for most of the battle, but then the orc went all out, unleashing his fury in a series of Mighty Strikes! Each of his blows smashed into me like a battering ram. But I was much more powerful overall. I used my white magic abilities to help keep the tide of battle in my favor. Divine Seal + Cure 2 erased all of the damage caused by the critical strikes. A quick Slow followed by Paralyze severely hindered the orc's battle effectiveness. At last, my axe rang out with the final blow, and Byakzak fell before me. I collected my prize, a fine low level blade called the Auriga Xiphos, and made the triumphant walk back to San d'Oria. (Now my Paladin and Red Mage will have an excellent sword to play around with!)
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Lightsday, 8/29/1032
Qufim Island. Level 33. Defeats = 0
Last month I spent some time camping some low level items for my Paladin. I managed to get a Clipeus after almost a week of camping (6 Earth hours)! The damned Notorious Monster just would not spawn, and the few times it did, it kept getting taken by some random newbie running by. Oh well, I got the shield eventually. I also got a Van Pendant after much less time. I only had to check 5 fallen eggs before the bird spawned, so I'm happy about that. I tried for a Auriga Xiphos too, but have not yet seen the Chariotbuster Byakzak. I'll try again soon.
Anyway, I got fed up with these long camps and decided to start leveling up again. Afterall, I am very close to the mighty ability, Leave! It was probably best to go back to someplace familiar, so I went back to good old Qufim. Yep, you guessed it. I'm fighting leeches again!! This time i used the Quifim leeches, Acrophies, against each other. As usual, the Acrophies were typically Decent Challenge - Tough. And as usual, I used the lower level ones to fight the higher level ones, helping out with my melee. Actually, the leech pets hold hate pretty well. Don't get me wrong, I still take damage. But during my time here I wasn't worried about dropping dead if I dared to fight alongside my pet.
Every once in a while, I would send pets against the Goblin Bounty Hunters, hoping they would blow themselves up. When they blew up, I would get some decent chains, but that was pretty rare. Bombs make fighting with your pet against goblins much more dangerous, but every once in a while I tried to get a few swings in to level up my weapon. My Axe skills are a little bit behind. I just hit 100 skill by the end of this level and got the new weaponskill Avalanche Axe (the Axe cap at level 34 is 105, i think).
Nighttime is Qufim was even more annoying than usual. Wights and Banshees would spawn, but the problem was they were now only Eaay Prey (wights) or Decent Challenge (banshees). But they were still high enough level to agro and cause problems. They weren't really worth killing, but still had to watch out for stuff like low-life agro. /sigh. Luckily, leeches destroy wights with ease, so if a wight got in my way I could just make short work of it. Banshees really aren't worth the trouble. They are only Decent Challenge, but they are almost as hard to kill as a Tough. If you must fight one, I suggest Banish to help deal with its damage reduction.
I only came close to defeat one time during my stay. I was fighting with an Even Match leech against a Tough one, and the fight was taking longer than usual. Both leeches were using their life recover weapon skills like Regeneration and Drainkiss. When both pets were near dead, the leech we were fighting scores a critical and turns to beat on me. I thought my pet was dead, so I use Raging Axe to try to finish the Tough leech off. It didn't die! I hit Divine Seal and try to time a Cure 2 between hits, since my life is dropping fast. Then I notice my pet wasn't dead, it had just uncharmed! So now I had two leeches on me, each with a sliver of health. Argh! I finally get the Cure 2 off and buy some time, and my next swing skills the Tough leech. Just as I turn to my former pet, another leech links! I quickly hit charm on the new leech and send it against my old pet. We kill off my onld pet just in time, as my life ahd dropped down to 12 hit points. Night was about to fall and my new pet was Tough (so it would uncharm soon). So I logged off right there and came back during the relative safety of the new day. It was a close call, to be sure.
Aside from that one incident, the experience here was fairly safe and uneventful, if a little slow. I grinded my way through it and ultimately hit level 34 with a buffer. This area is probably too slow for level 34, so it's time to move on. I think my next stop is either Bibiki Bay or Gusgen Mines.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot the best part!! After fighting all of those leeches, I finally got a Carbuncle's Ruby!!! After my adventure in Qufim, I talked to the Regional Teleporter and went back to Windurst. I knew just the person to consult about the ruby. As I expected, I found Ajido-Marujido in the House of the Hero. He was a rude as ever, but turned out to be helpful too. He told me how to hear the voice of Carbuncle in the Ruby. It told me to: "Seek and gather...the seven colors...that cover the sky...and embrace the earth..." Clearly, it's talking about the colors of a rainbow, but I'm not sure how to collect them. Maybe if I carry this ruby around, and can complete an epic quest!
Last month I spent some time camping some low level items for my Paladin. I managed to get a Clipeus after almost a week of camping (6 Earth hours)! The damned Notorious Monster just would not spawn, and the few times it did, it kept getting taken by some random newbie running by. Oh well, I got the shield eventually. I also got a Van Pendant after much less time. I only had to check 5 fallen eggs before the bird spawned, so I'm happy about that. I tried for a Auriga Xiphos too, but have not yet seen the Chariotbuster Byakzak. I'll try again soon.
Anyway, I got fed up with these long camps and decided to start leveling up again. Afterall, I am very close to the mighty ability, Leave! It was probably best to go back to someplace familiar, so I went back to good old Qufim. Yep, you guessed it. I'm fighting leeches again!! This time i used the Quifim leeches, Acrophies, against each other. As usual, the Acrophies were typically Decent Challenge - Tough. And as usual, I used the lower level ones to fight the higher level ones, helping out with my melee. Actually, the leech pets hold hate pretty well. Don't get me wrong, I still take damage. But during my time here I wasn't worried about dropping dead if I dared to fight alongside my pet.
Every once in a while, I would send pets against the Goblin Bounty Hunters, hoping they would blow themselves up. When they blew up, I would get some decent chains, but that was pretty rare. Bombs make fighting with your pet against goblins much more dangerous, but every once in a while I tried to get a few swings in to level up my weapon. My Axe skills are a little bit behind. I just hit 100 skill by the end of this level and got the new weaponskill Avalanche Axe (the Axe cap at level 34 is 105, i think).
Nighttime is Qufim was even more annoying than usual. Wights and Banshees would spawn, but the problem was they were now only Eaay Prey (wights) or Decent Challenge (banshees). But they were still high enough level to agro and cause problems. They weren't really worth killing, but still had to watch out for stuff like low-life agro. /sigh. Luckily, leeches destroy wights with ease, so if a wight got in my way I could just make short work of it. Banshees really aren't worth the trouble. They are only Decent Challenge, but they are almost as hard to kill as a Tough. If you must fight one, I suggest Banish to help deal with its damage reduction.
I only came close to defeat one time during my stay. I was fighting with an Even Match leech against a Tough one, and the fight was taking longer than usual. Both leeches were using their life recover weapon skills like Regeneration and Drainkiss. When both pets were near dead, the leech we were fighting scores a critical and turns to beat on me. I thought my pet was dead, so I use Raging Axe to try to finish the Tough leech off. It didn't die! I hit Divine Seal and try to time a Cure 2 between hits, since my life is dropping fast. Then I notice my pet wasn't dead, it had just uncharmed! So now I had two leeches on me, each with a sliver of health. Argh! I finally get the Cure 2 off and buy some time, and my next swing skills the Tough leech. Just as I turn to my former pet, another leech links! I quickly hit charm on the new leech and send it against my old pet. We kill off my onld pet just in time, as my life ahd dropped down to 12 hit points. Night was about to fall and my new pet was Tough (so it would uncharm soon). So I logged off right there and came back during the relative safety of the new day. It was a close call, to be sure.
Aside from that one incident, the experience here was fairly safe and uneventful, if a little slow. I grinded my way through it and ultimately hit level 34 with a buffer. This area is probably too slow for level 34, so it's time to move on. I think my next stop is either Bibiki Bay or Gusgen Mines.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot the best part!! After fighting all of those leeches, I finally got a Carbuncle's Ruby!!! After my adventure in Qufim, I talked to the Regional Teleporter and went back to Windurst. I knew just the person to consult about the ruby. As I expected, I found Ajido-Marujido in the House of the Hero. He was a rude as ever, but turned out to be helpful too. He told me how to hear the voice of Carbuncle in the Ruby. It told me to: "Seek and gather...the seven colors...that cover the sky...and embrace the earth..." Clearly, it's talking about the colors of a rainbow, but I'm not sure how to collect them. Maybe if I carry this ruby around, and can complete an epic quest!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Watersday, 6/29/1032
Konschtat Highlands. Level 10. Defeats = 0.
Valkurm Dunes. Level 11. Defeats = 0.
Hey good news! I was on my way to Eastern Altepa Desert to continue my adventures as a Beastmaster when I checked my Linkshell, FunnyBunny, as I usually do. But this time, my Tarutaru friends Papaya and Pitaya were adventuring! I had not seen them for many months. It was fun catching up on old times through the magic of the linkshell. They were out in Konschtat Highlands advancing in their respective support jobs. That is, usually Papaya is a White Mage, but she was working on Black Mage today. Likewise her brother Pitaya was a White Mage when he usually prefers the dark arts of black magic.
I was almost at Eastern Altepa Desert and I still wanted to check it out. When I arrived I was shocked to see that everything in sight was Incredibly Tough! This couldn't be right. As it turns out, there are two zones into the desert from Korroloka Tunnel. One leads to Western Altepa Desert with several Desert Spiders, Desert Dhalmels, and other too strong monsters, while the correct zone, Eastern Altepa Desert, leads to the Giant Spiders and Sand Beetles I was searching for. I quickly corrected my mistake and tried a few of the Decent Challenge and Even Match spiders vs other spiders. I don't like fighting spiders. They have very strong TP moves, including Acid Spray, a very nasty poison, Sickle Slash, and perhaps worst of all, Spider Web, an area Slow effect. Still, that wasn't so bad since my spider pets had those same moves. But the real reason I didn't like Eastern Altepa Desert was because the enemies were waayy to spread out. It reminded me of my brief adventure in Meriphataud Mountains. I needed to use Wide Scan to find the next prey, which was much too slow for my tastes. There might have been a better location, but I quickly lost patience and decided to move on. I'll probably go back to Qufim Island or maybe Gusgen Mines to continue leveling Beastmaster.
But my friends were adventuring, so it was the perfect time to join them. They were not very far away from Bastok, so meeting them would not be difficult. They were around level 10, and the only job I had at level 10 was Paladin. But that worked out well, since I had been meaning to level Paladin. In fact, I want to be the tank in our little static party. But I only had Beastmaster equipment available, so I had to coordinate a rushed effort from my cohorts in various cities to get some decent Paladin gear in a short period of time. They came through as usual, and I soon had a passable set of normal quality tank gear for the level. You know, Scale Mail, Maple Shield, Spatha and the like. I also had a couple of nicer pieces, like Legionnaire's Mittens and Bee Spatha +1 (for when i hit 11). The most expensive thing was the food. Rice Dumplings are excellent food for a Paladin tank who also wants to deal some damage. But they are probably too expensive (13-14k per stack) to use at such a low level. Still, it was a special occasion so I wanted to pull out all the stops.
I soon arrived at Konschtat Highlands, we partied up, and started to fight the Mist Lizards in the area. The lizards were typically Even Match - Tough. Our first lizard was Tough, and our little party of 3 made short work of it. We had not been together for a while, but we instinctively worked together like a well oiled machine. Just like old times! I had to both pull and tank, which was a little annoying because it was harder to rest for MP, but other than that things went really well. We quickly added Mad Sheep to our prey, and our party was able to reliably hit chain #2-#3 (and once hit #4). We might have done even better, but the enemies in Konschtat Highlands are very spread out too, and my MP was a limiting factor as well. Soon enough, were we all level 11, and the enemies dropped to Decent Challenge - Even Match. It was time to move on.
We then made the short run to Valkurm Dunes to try the Hill Lizards there. There was another party there when we arrived. The other party was slightly higher level and had a PL to boot. Luckily, they were mostly focusing on the stronger lizards and the goblins, so we could usually take on the weaker ones. The lizards were all Tough - Incredibly Tough, so the fights were much more difficult here. We started on the Tough lizards and did very well. However, there were too few Tough lizards to reliably reach chains (only #1-#2 at best). Eventually, we tested our mettle against a Very Tough lizard, and also defeated it with only a little more pain. Things took a turn for the worse when during a pull another lizard spawned at our camp. I tried to pull the lizard we were fighting away from our camp and it seemed to work at first. But about halfway through our fight the second lizard linked and agroed Papaya. Annoyingly, I had just used Provoke the second before the additional attack. I cast Cure on Papaya as she ran away to buy her some time. In retrospect, I should have cast Banish on the second lizard to get it's attention. I thought of that option too late though, and Papaya was soon out of range of my spells. Pitaya and I quickly finished the first lizard, and I ran off to try and save Papaya. The lizard bite into the little taru just as I was moving into Provoke range. She was defeated, and I wept in sorrow for my fallen comrade.
The party survived however, and soon Papaya revived and we were back in business. Soon, we were joined by another friend, Chili. Chili is Sukiyuki's younger sister, and has a tendency to be a little wild. She arrived at our party as a Monk though. I think Suki might have been trying to instill a little discipline into her sibling. I don't know if it'll work though; Chili likes material goods a little too much to adapt to the humble life of a Monk, I think. Nevertheless, she has a good heart, and selflessly volunteered to pull the enemies in my place so I could rest between battles (even though Monk is not the best puller either...).
With four party members, we were also able to take on some of the Incredibly Tough enemies in the area. Those fights were difficult, but still no match for the Taru Beatdown Squad! (+one Mithra) At some point, the other party left the area, probably to move deeper into the dunes. Hence, we had more problems with the goblins since now no one was killing them off. A couple of times one of us would get random agro from a goblin and have run for the Konschtat Highlands. And once Chili was defeated when she accidentally got a lizard link during a pull and couldn't make it to the zone. Aside from those relatively minor snags, things progressed smoothly and before I knew it, we were all level 12!
Sadly, we soon had to go our separate ways and halt our adventure for the day, as we each had outside obligations to attend to. But I definitely hope to join my friends on the field of battle again sometime soon!
In the meantime, I think I might try to camp some nicer gear for my Paladin. I have always wanted stuff like a Clipeus, Van Pendant, and especially an Auriga Xiphos .
Valkurm Dunes. Level 11. Defeats = 0.
Hey good news! I was on my way to Eastern Altepa Desert to continue my adventures as a Beastmaster when I checked my Linkshell, FunnyBunny, as I usually do. But this time, my Tarutaru friends Papaya and Pitaya were adventuring! I had not seen them for many months. It was fun catching up on old times through the magic of the linkshell. They were out in Konschtat Highlands advancing in their respective support jobs. That is, usually Papaya is a White Mage, but she was working on Black Mage today. Likewise her brother Pitaya was a White Mage when he usually prefers the dark arts of black magic.
I was almost at Eastern Altepa Desert and I still wanted to check it out. When I arrived I was shocked to see that everything in sight was Incredibly Tough! This couldn't be right. As it turns out, there are two zones into the desert from Korroloka Tunnel. One leads to Western Altepa Desert with several Desert Spiders, Desert Dhalmels, and other too strong monsters, while the correct zone, Eastern Altepa Desert, leads to the Giant Spiders and Sand Beetles I was searching for. I quickly corrected my mistake and tried a few of the Decent Challenge and Even Match spiders vs other spiders. I don't like fighting spiders. They have very strong TP moves, including Acid Spray, a very nasty poison, Sickle Slash, and perhaps worst of all, Spider Web, an area Slow effect. Still, that wasn't so bad since my spider pets had those same moves. But the real reason I didn't like Eastern Altepa Desert was because the enemies were waayy to spread out. It reminded me of my brief adventure in Meriphataud Mountains. I needed to use Wide Scan to find the next prey, which was much too slow for my tastes. There might have been a better location, but I quickly lost patience and decided to move on. I'll probably go back to Qufim Island or maybe Gusgen Mines to continue leveling Beastmaster.
But my friends were adventuring, so it was the perfect time to join them. They were not very far away from Bastok, so meeting them would not be difficult. They were around level 10, and the only job I had at level 10 was Paladin. But that worked out well, since I had been meaning to level Paladin. In fact, I want to be the tank in our little static party. But I only had Beastmaster equipment available, so I had to coordinate a rushed effort from my cohorts in various cities to get some decent Paladin gear in a short period of time. They came through as usual, and I soon had a passable set of normal quality tank gear for the level. You know, Scale Mail, Maple Shield, Spatha and the like. I also had a couple of nicer pieces, like Legionnaire's Mittens and Bee Spatha +1 (for when i hit 11). The most expensive thing was the food. Rice Dumplings are excellent food for a Paladin tank who also wants to deal some damage. But they are probably too expensive (13-14k per stack) to use at such a low level. Still, it was a special occasion so I wanted to pull out all the stops.
I soon arrived at Konschtat Highlands, we partied up, and started to fight the Mist Lizards in the area. The lizards were typically Even Match - Tough. Our first lizard was Tough, and our little party of 3 made short work of it. We had not been together for a while, but we instinctively worked together like a well oiled machine. Just like old times! I had to both pull and tank, which was a little annoying because it was harder to rest for MP, but other than that things went really well. We quickly added Mad Sheep to our prey, and our party was able to reliably hit chain #2-#3 (and once hit #4). We might have done even better, but the enemies in Konschtat Highlands are very spread out too, and my MP was a limiting factor as well. Soon enough, were we all level 11, and the enemies dropped to Decent Challenge - Even Match. It was time to move on.
We then made the short run to Valkurm Dunes to try the Hill Lizards there. There was another party there when we arrived. The other party was slightly higher level and had a PL to boot. Luckily, they were mostly focusing on the stronger lizards and the goblins, so we could usually take on the weaker ones. The lizards were all Tough - Incredibly Tough, so the fights were much more difficult here. We started on the Tough lizards and did very well. However, there were too few Tough lizards to reliably reach chains (only #1-#2 at best). Eventually, we tested our mettle against a Very Tough lizard, and also defeated it with only a little more pain. Things took a turn for the worse when during a pull another lizard spawned at our camp. I tried to pull the lizard we were fighting away from our camp and it seemed to work at first. But about halfway through our fight the second lizard linked and agroed Papaya. Annoyingly, I had just used Provoke the second before the additional attack. I cast Cure on Papaya as she ran away to buy her some time. In retrospect, I should have cast Banish on the second lizard to get it's attention. I thought of that option too late though, and Papaya was soon out of range of my spells. Pitaya and I quickly finished the first lizard, and I ran off to try and save Papaya. The lizard bite into the little taru just as I was moving into Provoke range. She was defeated, and I wept in sorrow for my fallen comrade.
The party survived however, and soon Papaya revived and we were back in business. Soon, we were joined by another friend, Chili. Chili is Sukiyuki's younger sister, and has a tendency to be a little wild. She arrived at our party as a Monk though. I think Suki might have been trying to instill a little discipline into her sibling. I don't know if it'll work though; Chili likes material goods a little too much to adapt to the humble life of a Monk, I think. Nevertheless, she has a good heart, and selflessly volunteered to pull the enemies in my place so I could rest between battles (even though Monk is not the best puller either...).
With four party members, we were also able to take on some of the Incredibly Tough enemies in the area. Those fights were difficult, but still no match for the Taru Beatdown Squad! (+one Mithra) At some point, the other party left the area, probably to move deeper into the dunes. Hence, we had more problems with the goblins since now no one was killing them off. A couple of times one of us would get random agro from a goblin and have run for the Konschtat Highlands. And once Chili was defeated when she accidentally got a lizard link during a pull and couldn't make it to the zone. Aside from those relatively minor snags, things progressed smoothly and before I knew it, we were all level 12!
Sadly, we soon had to go our separate ways and halt our adventure for the day, as we each had outside obligations to attend to. But I definitely hope to join my friends on the field of battle again sometime soon!
In the meantime, I think I might try to camp some nicer gear for my Paladin. I have always wanted stuff like a Clipeus, Van Pendant, and especially an Auriga Xiphos .
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Firesday, 6/3/1032
Korroloka Tunnel. Level 32. Defeats = 0.
After a short break, I picked up right where I left off fighting leeches and crabs in Korroloka Tunnel. Actually, I waned to fight the Greater Pugils and Clippers in a different area, but that room was taken by a party of RMTs.
My adventure went much the same way as my last one. Except at level 32, this area was even easier to fight in. I set a nice pace killing whatever Even Match crabs I could find, then picking off the Decent Challenge ones afterwards. A couple of times I hit Chain #3s when several Even Match crabs would spawn at once, but usually the chains were broken by a lack of strong enemies. As a result, this was so safe that I came nowhere near defeat during the entire session. In fact, my life only dropped into the orange once the whole time. However, this also meant the experience was a little slower than usual, as it required over 3 days (about 3 Earth hours) to reach level 33, even with the help of the Empress Band. (That's not too bad though; about 2000 experience per hour.)
To shake things up a bit, I took on the Scimitar Scorpions whenever they spawned as Tough or Very Tough. The scorpions are really nasty, chewing through my pets like a lance thorough a Mandragora. I typically had to use 3 or 4 Decent Challenge pets to finish one scorpion. Also, the scorpions have very strong TP moves, so fighting alongside your pet is very dangerous. The last thing you want is to eat 300+ damage from Death Scissors. For the most part, the scorpions were not worth the extra time and effort, but they can be a nice change of pace if you find yourself getting bored at this level.
The only problems I encountered came from some competitors that tried to camp on top of me at various times during my stay. (Note: I am old school and try to follow the Beastmaster Code. I had a search comment describing exactly what I was camping.) Once, when I was throwing pet after pet at a scorpion, an anonymous Hume showed up and starting killing the crabs (i was using leech pets mostly). She had 2 swords, so I think she was /NIN of some kind, maybe RDM/nin. While I was annoyed, it's not my style to yell, scream or complain. Afterall, at that point I wasn't killing those crabs, I was focusing on the scorpion. But I am not one to give up a camp without a fight either. So for a while we competed for the limited enemies in the area, and eventually she left. Similarly, later in the day another level 32 Elvaan Beastmaster showed up and tried the same thing. We competed for a while, and eventually he left as well. The sad thing is the camp is almost big enough to support two adventurers. Even with the competition, my experience per hour seemed to decrease only slightly.
Soon enough I hit level 33, and stayed in the are just long enough to get a decent buffer. The experience in this area really slows down at level 33, so it is definitely time to move on. I ran back to my rented room in Bastok and grabbed the Warrior's Axe out of my delivery box, which was graciously sent to me by my cohort in Jeuno. I put that on, along with my Savage Separates. Now I am wearing full Mithra RSE, and look mighty sexy if I do say so myself. I'll have to remember to take a screenshot next time. For now, it is time to research where to go next.
After a short break, I picked up right where I left off fighting leeches and crabs in Korroloka Tunnel. Actually, I waned to fight the Greater Pugils and Clippers in a different area, but that room was taken by a party of RMTs.
My adventure went much the same way as my last one. Except at level 32, this area was even easier to fight in. I set a nice pace killing whatever Even Match crabs I could find, then picking off the Decent Challenge ones afterwards. A couple of times I hit Chain #3s when several Even Match crabs would spawn at once, but usually the chains were broken by a lack of strong enemies. As a result, this was so safe that I came nowhere near defeat during the entire session. In fact, my life only dropped into the orange once the whole time. However, this also meant the experience was a little slower than usual, as it required over 3 days (about 3 Earth hours) to reach level 33, even with the help of the Empress Band. (That's not too bad though; about 2000 experience per hour.)
To shake things up a bit, I took on the Scimitar Scorpions whenever they spawned as Tough or Very Tough. The scorpions are really nasty, chewing through my pets like a lance thorough a Mandragora. I typically had to use 3 or 4 Decent Challenge pets to finish one scorpion. Also, the scorpions have very strong TP moves, so fighting alongside your pet is very dangerous. The last thing you want is to eat 300+ damage from Death Scissors. For the most part, the scorpions were not worth the extra time and effort, but they can be a nice change of pace if you find yourself getting bored at this level.
The only problems I encountered came from some competitors that tried to camp on top of me at various times during my stay. (Note: I am old school and try to follow the Beastmaster Code. I had a search comment describing exactly what I was camping.) Once, when I was throwing pet after pet at a scorpion, an anonymous Hume showed up and starting killing the crabs (i was using leech pets mostly). She had 2 swords, so I think she was /NIN of some kind, maybe RDM/nin. While I was annoyed, it's not my style to yell, scream or complain. Afterall, at that point I wasn't killing those crabs, I was focusing on the scorpion. But I am not one to give up a camp without a fight either. So for a while we competed for the limited enemies in the area, and eventually she left. Similarly, later in the day another level 32 Elvaan Beastmaster showed up and tried the same thing. We competed for a while, and eventually he left as well. The sad thing is the camp is almost big enough to support two adventurers. Even with the competition, my experience per hour seemed to decrease only slightly.
Soon enough I hit level 33, and stayed in the are just long enough to get a decent buffer. The experience in this area really slows down at level 33, so it is definitely time to move on. I ran back to my rented room in Bastok and grabbed the Warrior's Axe out of my delivery box, which was graciously sent to me by my cohort in Jeuno. I put that on, along with my Savage Separates. Now I am wearing full Mithra RSE, and look mighty sexy if I do say so myself. I'll have to remember to take a screenshot next time. For now, it is time to research where to go next.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Lightningsday, 4/12/1032
Korroloka Tunnel. Level 31. Defeats = 0.
Before I begin this entry, I think it might be a good idea to jot down my adventuring equipment periodically from now on. I am open to suggestions on how I might improve. Here is my default Fighting Gear. And here is my charisma Charming Gear. I know, I know, I don't have a Monster Signa. I'm not made of gil you know. I tried camping the blasted thing, but after trying for 2 weeks and going 0/34, I think you can understand why I got fed up and quit. I would have been better off just using that time to save up money and just buy the damned thing. Oh well.
Anyway, on with the log entry. On the way to the Chocobo stables in Lower Jeuno, I stopped by the Auction House hoping to pick up a Warrior's Axe. Of course, it was sold out. I'll have to come back later and pick one up. For now, I should be ok with my trusty Tigerhunter. Even if don't plan to fight tigers any time soon...
I hopped onto the chocobo and made the long journey to Bastok. I have taken this route dozens of times before, so I could almost do it in my sleep. I arrived in Bastok Mines, made a quick stop to the residential area to rent a room, set my home point in the mines, then ran off to Korroloka Tunnel. I like Korroloka Tunnel. It is relatively safe to travel through it, as long as you don't run along the bottom with all the giants and such. Taking to the back tunnels, I ignored all the Seeker Bats and Land Worms, which were all too easy for me to use as prey at this point. (They served me well in the mid-twenties, however.) I ran past a few lower level solo rangers fighting the worms, and was annoyed to pass by a full RMT party along the way as well. You know the type: unpronounceable names, minimal gear, no support jobs, the whole nine yards.
In any event, I was going much further back into the tunnels this time. My prey was to be the Clippers (crabs) and Thread Leechs near the zone to Western Altepa Desert, close to the area for the Ninja Quest. I know, I'm fighting leeches again! However, this area is great! There are lots and lots of leeches to use as pets, most of which had Decent Challenge - Even Match auras. There are also quite a few crabs as prey which were a little stronger, ranging from Decent Challenge - Tough. In fact, in retrospect it would have been ideal if I had come here one level earlier. None of these enemies agro, and only the leeches link, so it was easy to fight and rest even in the confined area of the tunnels.
I mostly took on the crabs using the leeches as pets. In an earlier entry I said I might try to stop using attack food (I had been using cheap meat jerky up to this point). Today, I decided to try roast mushrooms, mostly for their -1 Enmity. This turned out to be a good decision. With the mushrooms and my Healer's Earring, I could fight alongside my pet much more easily without stealing hate. Every once in a while I would get hit, but in previous levels I would have ended up tanking the mob for over half the fight if I had stayed in melee. Hate management might get worse when I upgrade my axe, but for now it worked well. But I digress. When I killed all the crabs, I would also carefully fight any Even Match leeches I could find. I regularly hit chain #3 out here, and with the Empress Band experience flowed quickly. In fact, this is the first area where I would have hit chain #3 every time, but I sometimes got unlucky and all the crabs would pop up Decent Challenge.
Dangers in this area include a couple of very nasty looking Scimitar Scorpions and some Bogys if you go to far in either direction. But the tunnels where I fought were almost completely safe. The Bogys were mostly Even Match - Tough, while the Scimitar Scorpions were Tough - Very Tough. I didn't want to tangle with either though, especially since ghost-type undead like Bogys tend to be a tougher fight than their aura might indicate. Maybe next level... Actually, the biggest danger is being careful with the leeches since they like to link and there are a lot of them in the area. I was used to working with leeches from my time in Qufim, so it wasn't much of a problem for me. Some advice to other Beastmasters who might read this, you'll do well if you treat leeches in a similar way to how you might treat bats (Bats also like to link). Try to isolate a leech from the others before Charming it, in case of a mischarm. Try to kill off your leech pet before it uncharms. If you think your pet is going to uncharm, try to move it away from other leeches that might be in the area using Heel. Seriously, if you have leveled Beastmaster up to 30 or so, none of this should be a problem. And one of the best parts of this campsite is even if you do run into a problem, the Western Altepa Desert zone is a short run away.
They say time flies when you're having fun, and this adventure was no exception. I found myself at level 32, with a nice buffer of course, in no time flat. At 32, experience definitely slows down here as most enemies become Decent Challenge. But it might still be worth it just because the area is so safe. I decided to set up camp (logout) and rest right there in the tunnel, determined to come back just where I left off next time. I might try the Clipper and Greater Pugil room next time, but that area is usually taken. Maybe I'll get lucky.
Before I begin this entry, I think it might be a good idea to jot down my adventuring equipment periodically from now on. I am open to suggestions on how I might improve. Here is my default Fighting Gear. And here is my charisma Charming Gear. I know, I know, I don't have a Monster Signa. I'm not made of gil you know. I tried camping the blasted thing, but after trying for 2 weeks and going 0/34, I think you can understand why I got fed up and quit. I would have been better off just using that time to save up money and just buy the damned thing. Oh well.
Anyway, on with the log entry. On the way to the Chocobo stables in Lower Jeuno, I stopped by the Auction House hoping to pick up a Warrior's Axe. Of course, it was sold out. I'll have to come back later and pick one up. For now, I should be ok with my trusty Tigerhunter. Even if don't plan to fight tigers any time soon...
I hopped onto the chocobo and made the long journey to Bastok. I have taken this route dozens of times before, so I could almost do it in my sleep. I arrived in Bastok Mines, made a quick stop to the residential area to rent a room, set my home point in the mines, then ran off to Korroloka Tunnel. I like Korroloka Tunnel. It is relatively safe to travel through it, as long as you don't run along the bottom with all the giants and such. Taking to the back tunnels, I ignored all the Seeker Bats and Land Worms, which were all too easy for me to use as prey at this point. (They served me well in the mid-twenties, however.) I ran past a few lower level solo rangers fighting the worms, and was annoyed to pass by a full RMT party along the way as well. You know the type: unpronounceable names, minimal gear, no support jobs, the whole nine yards.
In any event, I was going much further back into the tunnels this time. My prey was to be the Clippers (crabs) and Thread Leechs near the zone to Western Altepa Desert, close to the area for the Ninja Quest. I know, I'm fighting leeches again! However, this area is great! There are lots and lots of leeches to use as pets, most of which had Decent Challenge - Even Match auras. There are also quite a few crabs as prey which were a little stronger, ranging from Decent Challenge - Tough. In fact, in retrospect it would have been ideal if I had come here one level earlier. None of these enemies agro, and only the leeches link, so it was easy to fight and rest even in the confined area of the tunnels.
I mostly took on the crabs using the leeches as pets. In an earlier entry I said I might try to stop using attack food (I had been using cheap meat jerky up to this point). Today, I decided to try roast mushrooms, mostly for their -1 Enmity. This turned out to be a good decision. With the mushrooms and my Healer's Earring, I could fight alongside my pet much more easily without stealing hate. Every once in a while I would get hit, but in previous levels I would have ended up tanking the mob for over half the fight if I had stayed in melee. Hate management might get worse when I upgrade my axe, but for now it worked well. But I digress. When I killed all the crabs, I would also carefully fight any Even Match leeches I could find. I regularly hit chain #3 out here, and with the Empress Band experience flowed quickly. In fact, this is the first area where I would have hit chain #3 every time, but I sometimes got unlucky and all the crabs would pop up Decent Challenge.
Dangers in this area include a couple of very nasty looking Scimitar Scorpions and some Bogys if you go to far in either direction. But the tunnels where I fought were almost completely safe. The Bogys were mostly Even Match - Tough, while the Scimitar Scorpions were Tough - Very Tough. I didn't want to tangle with either though, especially since ghost-type undead like Bogys tend to be a tougher fight than their aura might indicate. Maybe next level... Actually, the biggest danger is being careful with the leeches since they like to link and there are a lot of them in the area. I was used to working with leeches from my time in Qufim, so it wasn't much of a problem for me. Some advice to other Beastmasters who might read this, you'll do well if you treat leeches in a similar way to how you might treat bats (Bats also like to link). Try to isolate a leech from the others before Charming it, in case of a mischarm. Try to kill off your leech pet before it uncharms. If you think your pet is going to uncharm, try to move it away from other leeches that might be in the area using Heel. Seriously, if you have leveled Beastmaster up to 30 or so, none of this should be a problem. And one of the best parts of this campsite is even if you do run into a problem, the Western Altepa Desert zone is a short run away.
They say time flies when you're having fun, and this adventure was no exception. I found myself at level 32, with a nice buffer of course, in no time flat. At 32, experience definitely slows down here as most enemies become Decent Challenge. But it might still be worth it just because the area is so safe. I decided to set up camp (logout) and rest right there in the tunnel, determined to come back just where I left off next time. I might try the Clipper and Greater Pugil room next time, but that area is usually taken. Maybe I'll get lucky.
Windsday, 4/10/1032
Qufim Island. Level 31. Defeats = 2
I spent a little longer than I expected relaxing in the big city of Jeuno. Unlike other, more hardcore Beastmasters, I guess I still enjoy the comforts of civilization from time to time. Nevertheless, today the call of adventure proved too strong, and I once again set out into the wild.
While I wanted a change of scenery from the all too familiar tundra of Qufim, I decided to try and charm the mighty Kraken one last time. It seems I just don't know how to quit while I'm ahead. "Curiosity killed the Mithra", and all that...
So once again, I ran out to the cliffs, and once again, Goblin Bounty Hunters were blocking my path. Annoyed and impatient, I tried to think of a faster way to get rid of the pesky goblins. I saw a few Tough Acrophies (leeches) bouncing around, and thought: "Hmmm, maybe if I charm one of those..." Big Mistake. I charmed one and sent it at the goblin, and the fight went well, for all of, like, 20 seconds. You see, I forgot how fast charm can fade if using it on enemies with an aura stronger than Even Match. The leech uncharmed, and both goblin and leech came straight at me, hungry for blood! I tried to recharm, but of course it failed. I then used my new ability Tame on the leech to buy some time, and managed to recharm it just as my life went into the red. Sadly, I was not out of the woods yet. I ran way out of agro range, then used Divine Seal + Cure 2 to replenish much of my life (but I was still in the yellow). Night was starting to fall, which meant undead would soon appear. And I knew the leech would not stay charmed much longer. So I decided to make a run for the zone to Lower Delkfutt Tower. Apparently, leeches bounce pretty fast though, because I only made it halfway there before the angry, uncharmed leech and his linked gang of leech friends caught up to me and battered me senseless. Defeat! I immediately reraise and cure as fast as I can before undead could appear, and then tended to my wounds (mostly my pride) at the relative safety of the Tower.
Extremely irritated and cursing the leeches, I made my way back, determined to recover my lost experience. This time I dealt with the goblin in the traditional way, using the much safer but weaker pugils and crabs in the area. This particular goblin was very strong for a Tough, and netted me 200 experience when it finally fell. It was still nighttime, so I had to dodge the banshees in the area. I carefully made my way down to the Kraken, used Charm and... it failed! Shocked, I was soon staring straight at a very angry sea monster as it slammed me against the cliff walls with its tentacles. I tried to Tame it, but that also failed. As my life went into the red, I desperately tried to Charm again... but it also failed. A single smack for 115 damage and I was defeated again. Argh! Worse, this time banshees were swarming the area, so I had to wait for daybreak before I could safely reraise.
But I didn't give up! I reraised as soon as I could, dusted myself off, waited out the raise weakness, and tried again. Defeated yet another stupid goblin, and ran back down to the Kraken. Used Charm, and it failed again!! However, this time I didn't panic. I immediately tried Tame. It also failed. (I really need to learn how to use Tame...) I wait until the Kraken hit me, then timed a nice Divine Seal + Cure 2 in between its attacks to keep myself alive until my Charm recast wore down. As soon as it was ready, I muttered a desperate prayer to Altana, used Charm, and it worked! I used Familiar, and once again destroyed Qufim with the Kraken for the next few hours (Earth half hour).
I once again took the opportunity to level my lagging Scythe skill while fighting with the Kraken. I think it went up 3 levels during the Familiar period. I also gained about 1500 experience during the adventure, without the benefit of the Empress Band. This time, we focused more on the weaker giants and pugils rather than the fairly nasty leeches in the area. That said, we also cleared the area of any Dancing Weapons we could find. It turns out the Kraken really does well against those creatures; trey tend to die before they can even think to cast Cure 3.
This time around, I attracted a bit of attention from my fellow adventurers. I guess you don't see a Mithra with a pet sea monster everyday! I received quite a few curious "xxx inspects you." messages, including one from a lower level Beastmaster. Maybe I just inspired the new generation to someday take a crazy risk like me!
In any event, once my fun with the Kraken was over, headed to the Chocobo stables in Lower Jeuno to start my real adventure for the week. It was time to head back to Korroloka Tunnel to start the grind to level 33.
I spent a little longer than I expected relaxing in the big city of Jeuno. Unlike other, more hardcore Beastmasters, I guess I still enjoy the comforts of civilization from time to time. Nevertheless, today the call of adventure proved too strong, and I once again set out into the wild.
While I wanted a change of scenery from the all too familiar tundra of Qufim, I decided to try and charm the mighty Kraken one last time. It seems I just don't know how to quit while I'm ahead. "Curiosity killed the Mithra", and all that...
So once again, I ran out to the cliffs, and once again, Goblin Bounty Hunters were blocking my path. Annoyed and impatient, I tried to think of a faster way to get rid of the pesky goblins. I saw a few Tough Acrophies (leeches) bouncing around, and thought: "Hmmm, maybe if I charm one of those..." Big Mistake. I charmed one and sent it at the goblin, and the fight went well, for all of, like, 20 seconds. You see, I forgot how fast charm can fade if using it on enemies with an aura stronger than Even Match. The leech uncharmed, and both goblin and leech came straight at me, hungry for blood! I tried to recharm, but of course it failed. I then used my new ability Tame on the leech to buy some time, and managed to recharm it just as my life went into the red. Sadly, I was not out of the woods yet. I ran way out of agro range, then used Divine Seal + Cure 2 to replenish much of my life (but I was still in the yellow). Night was starting to fall, which meant undead would soon appear. And I knew the leech would not stay charmed much longer. So I decided to make a run for the zone to Lower Delkfutt Tower. Apparently, leeches bounce pretty fast though, because I only made it halfway there before the angry, uncharmed leech and his linked gang of leech friends caught up to me and battered me senseless. Defeat! I immediately reraise and cure as fast as I can before undead could appear, and then tended to my wounds (mostly my pride) at the relative safety of the Tower.
Extremely irritated and cursing the leeches, I made my way back, determined to recover my lost experience. This time I dealt with the goblin in the traditional way, using the much safer but weaker pugils and crabs in the area. This particular goblin was very strong for a Tough, and netted me 200 experience when it finally fell. It was still nighttime, so I had to dodge the banshees in the area. I carefully made my way down to the Kraken, used Charm and... it failed! Shocked, I was soon staring straight at a very angry sea monster as it slammed me against the cliff walls with its tentacles. I tried to Tame it, but that also failed. As my life went into the red, I desperately tried to Charm again... but it also failed. A single smack for 115 damage and I was defeated again. Argh! Worse, this time banshees were swarming the area, so I had to wait for daybreak before I could safely reraise.
But I didn't give up! I reraised as soon as I could, dusted myself off, waited out the raise weakness, and tried again. Defeated yet another stupid goblin, and ran back down to the Kraken. Used Charm, and it failed again!! However, this time I didn't panic. I immediately tried Tame. It also failed. (I really need to learn how to use Tame...) I wait until the Kraken hit me, then timed a nice Divine Seal + Cure 2 in between its attacks to keep myself alive until my Charm recast wore down. As soon as it was ready, I muttered a desperate prayer to Altana, used Charm, and it worked! I used Familiar, and once again destroyed Qufim with the Kraken for the next few hours (Earth half hour).
I once again took the opportunity to level my lagging Scythe skill while fighting with the Kraken. I think it went up 3 levels during the Familiar period. I also gained about 1500 experience during the adventure, without the benefit of the Empress Band. This time, we focused more on the weaker giants and pugils rather than the fairly nasty leeches in the area. That said, we also cleared the area of any Dancing Weapons we could find. It turns out the Kraken really does well against those creatures; trey tend to die before they can even think to cast Cure 3.
This time around, I attracted a bit of attention from my fellow adventurers. I guess you don't see a Mithra with a pet sea monster everyday! I received quite a few curious "xxx inspects you." messages, including one from a lower level Beastmaster. Maybe I just inspired the new generation to someday take a crazy risk like me!
In any event, once my fun with the Kraken was over, headed to the Chocobo stables in Lower Jeuno to start my real adventure for the week. It was time to head back to Korroloka Tunnel to start the grind to level 33.
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