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.