Lightsday, 10/25/1035

Crawlers' Nest. Level 49. Defeats = 0
Western Altepa Desert. Level 49. Defeats = 0

As I feared, level 49 was just as bad as level 48. Well, not quite. This time I wasn't defeated at all. But it was excruciatingly slow. This week every time I checked Labyrinth of Onzozo it was occupied, so I had to try other areas. I am not sure I wanted to go there anyway, since I really don't like getting hit by Baleful Gaze.

My first attempt was back to Crawlers' Nest. I have never had good luck here, except perhaps my first visit some ten levels ago. I tried going to the Labyrinth Lizard rooms on the second floor. This is actually a decent camp. There are lots of lizards in each of the two rooms, ranging from Even Match to Tough. There is a small corridor between rooms that is safe to pull to, only containing two Witch Hazels (Saplings), both always Tough. I would Charm an Even Match Lizard, send it at a Tough Lizard, and use Heel to pull it to the corridor to fight. The best part about the lizards is they have very good drop rates. I got lots of Lizard Eggs, Fire Crystals, and a few Lizard Skins as well. This is a good place to level and make some cash at the same time. Though it should be noted that sometimes this area is farmed by high level characters, leaving you high and dry.

There are several dangers as well. First, all of the Labyrinth Lizards both agro and link. I few times I had to use Sneak to move around safely. But keep in mind the using Charm breaks Sneak, so you have to be very careful. The Lizards have a very small agro range from what I could tell, but a large linking range. Pulling them was very hazardous. Another danger was of course, Baleful Gaze. If the lizard uses this move on you, you will almost certainly be defeated. If your pet gets hit by it, you may have to prepare for a dangerous mid-fight pet swap. On the other hand, if your lizard pet uses it, the fight becomes way easier. Another danger is the Witch Hazels in the hallway. They link, but usually leave you alone, but if you use Sic and your pet does a area TP move like Fireball, you'll be fighting both saplings as well. Lastly, since you have to drop down into the lizard room, escape from the area is all but impossible if you run into trouble.

However, with all that said, my biggest problem with this camp was that I was just a little too low level. Far too often, everything in the area would spawn as Tough. This left me with no viable pets, and would have to try to convert them. Converting agro, linking Lizards is not the most fun of experiences. The one time I came close to defeat was when I was trying to convert a pet and got a Mischarm followed by a link, and then Tame failed. I was losing health fast and didn't have enough space to safely cast Cure III. I called a Crab Familiar using Call Beast, had it fight both Lizards and used Snarl, then quickly moved away to log out. I barely made it out in time.

I had terrible luck converting the pets to Even Match that day. They kept coming back Tough every time! Soon I got fed up and decided to leave. However, I think this place would be good at level 50 or 51. It would really help to be able to use the Witch Hazels in the hallway as pets. So reluctantly I headed back to Western Altepa Desert. The plan was just to grind it out on the Desert Beetles out there. It was very slow, but very safe. I was able to easily keep my Axe skill capped due to the ridiculously long fights. In fact, I got a new Weapon Skill out here called Spinning Axe! It is only one hit, but it's pretty powerful. I think I can finally retire my trusty Raging Axe. After I capped Axe, I tried to level Scythe out there too. My Scythe skill is way behind though, and that made the fights even longer. I had to switch back to Axe against Tough Beetles, otherwise my pet might uncharm mid-fight. Occasionally, I would break up the monotony by taking on an Antican Eques or Antican Retiarius. Antica are formidable foes. They have annoying TP moves like an area Blind, area Silence, and area Petrification. Also the Antican Eques would spam Cure III like there was no tomorrow. Still it was worth it to fight them sometimes just to get away from Beetles for hours on end. All I can say is thank the Goddess for the Empress Band! In fact, as I neared level 50, I even burned a charge off my Anniversary Ring to get though those last few fights.

But it was all worth it in the end. I am finally level 50!! I need to take some time off to farm up some cash to get several items, most notably an Apollo's Staff. Other items on my wishlist are Valkyrie's Mask, Spiked Finger Gauntlets, and Jaguar Mantle. But most importantly, I need to do some quests and missions and try for the mighty Gaudy Harness down the line.