I’m kind of bad about this…

But I hope to get better.

Two months between updates is a little bit excessive, I’ll admit. I apologize (if anyone reads this anyway) however, I have been busy, and I hope to convey that in this post!

When last we met, I was talking about an update that hadn’t happened yet–now we’re almost due for another, and the impact of the last one has all but been absorbed into the community. I know that I was wondering about Elemental Siphon, which has turned out to be quite nice indeed. That said, what have I been up to, and what do I hope the future holds?

Let’s get started!

Evoker’s Ring

I finally did get my Evoker’s Ring. I tried for a while to get friends to do a Fenrir run, but hardly anyone had the Bauble. This is one downside, I find, to not being in an HNMLS–it’s kind of hard to find help for things like this. However, just a couple of weeks ago, I was invited out of the blue to a Astralburn/SMNburn Fenrir Fight. We took him down easily, and I am now the proud owner of an Evoker’s Ring.

I had been holding off leveling SMN for a while because I didn’t have it, because I’m a little gear-conscious; though my gear may not be ‘perfect’ or ‘elite’ I like to have those pieces I deem ‘essential’ or that will aid me in a considerable fashion. There’s just no other good substitute for the Evoker’s Ring, and now that I have it…

Leveling SMN Again

That’s right, I’ve been leveling SMN again. Unfortunately, I’m on dial-up internet at the moment (yes, kids, there’s still places where you can’t get high-speed) so Campaign is a bit of a chore. Therefore, my prey of choice is Aglooliks at the top of Uleguerand Range. Admittedly, this is with the Anniversary Ring effect on, so the numbers are a bit crazy. By the way, are you guys glad they gave us another? I know I am.

With all that said and done, I’m now 73 SMN, and well on my way to 74. However, what was I doing in the interim? Well..

Subjobs and Other Such

I got THF to 41, for one. It’s rather fun, since I’m not exactly used to melee jobs. I camped Leaping Lizzy (1/7) and the Valkurm Emperor (1/2) for the Bounding Boots and Empress Hairpin, which I’m also using on my Ninja (now 32) and Dancer (now 20). I figure at the very least, I’ll get THF to 45 for TH2, and NIN and DNC to 37 as multi-purpose subs. Also on this list (that still require leveling) are DRK, BLU, and SAM, and to a lesser degree PLD.

To faciliate Ninja, I decided to try to BCNM my own scroll of Utsusemi: Ni in order to save precious gil. I figured I’d go through enough of it just for tools and such (and boy am I); however, my first attempt was a bust (that is, doing Steamed Sprouts). However, my second bore much better fruit.

That’s right, Ni and an Archer’s Ring in the same crate–and on my orb. I was floored. Heck, I’m still floored. I wasn’t expecting that. It’s as good a Royal Jelly loot pool as I’ve ever seen.

What else is there?

Elitism

I’m not an elitist really; if you have decent gear and you do your job well, I’m not gonna raise a fuss if you’re not wearing +1 equipment and all the best for every slot. I’ve been in those shoes, and I know it’s sometimes hard to get all the best gear. I hope other people afford me the same courtesy, though I’m well aware many will not.

However, despite this outlook, I do study up and learn about the jobs I play. I like to make sure I am doing a good job, especially if my gear isn’t absolutely perfect. I may not understand all the worst math, but I try to make an effort nontheless. So…sometimes, things throw me off.

When last I leveled my THF (I haven’t since) I was invited to a party at level 40. We gathered in Jeuno, the setup decent; NIN THF WAR WAR BRD WHM, I believe it was. We discussed camp options, and finally it was decided we would do Beetles in Western Altepa Desert, despite being a little on the low side.

“It should be fine if all the melees eat sushi,” the BRD said.

This threw me for a loop. Admittedly, I spoke without thinking, but the first thing I said was, “I’m not. I may use Rice Dumplings, but I’m sure as hell not going to use sushi at level 40.”

This caused a bit of a stir. However, I like to think I’m not unfounded in my decision. First of all, I wouldn’t use sushi before 50 on any job. I’ve been instructed that the returns are not worth it in terms of the cost, and that it is especially prohibitive due to a lack of significant attack or haste gear. Due to this, you may be accurate, but your damage will be pathetic. The Bard proceeded to lecture me in /tells, and the main points seemed to be such; it was foolish to use attack food, because all that a THF should be worried about should be SATA. Squid Sushi was all I should eat, from then til kingdom come.

I have taken the opportunity to study a bit and consult with some higher level thieves I trust; almost all my sources agree that attack IS important to a thief, and that the hits in between SATA DO matter. I’m beginning to think, sadly, that this BRD was a misinformed Rank 10 critter, like some others I’ve seen. I know that I was having acceptable results with both Meat Mithkabobs and Rice Dumplings, and I doubt my damage would have been as good with Squid Sushi even if my SATA damage had been a bit higher.

If anyone is a higher level melee and if I am misinformed, please do tell me; leave a comment or contact me in game. For all I can see, I was in the right. However, if there’s something I’m missing I’d love to hear it.

That said, the BRD also sort of insulted my pulling skill when I dared to stop and ask the WHM if his MP was okay for another pull. Well, whatever.

Wrapping it up…

The Next Update

All I can say is, Nomad Moogles in Selbina and Mhaura? FINALLY! Oh and Nyzul Relic info at last! I’ve joined a Nyzul Static, and so far we’ve not managed to get very far in. However, I’m confident we’ll do better in the future, and I’m interested in a few of those–particularly Nirvana, Laevateinn, and Tupsimati. I can’t wait to see what the stats are, and just how hard it will be to obtain one.

I hope everyone’s having a good time in Vana’diel! Talk to you again soon.

Annnnnnd ROBE!

Dinged 71 in a Mire party, slapped on my robe, and boy do I feel good!

Well, until I realized I forgot my Hierarch Belt in my safe.  And that I still need to kill Fenrir again so that I can get the Ancient’s Key for my Evoker’s Ring…

But you know, besides that, it’s still awesome!

I tried it out today helping a few people in the LS get Carbuncle Mitts.  Grats to Saionji, Cahl, and Jubeekabee!

Now to get to 75…

(By the way, the spirit update sounds intriguing.  I hope it helps with my MP use!)

It’s a Super Special Awesome Update!

That’s right. I’ve been slacking off on updating, but actually accomplished several things in game! Let’s get right down to it, why don’t we?

Rank 10

Probably the biggest thing that happened, I finally got Rank 10! (Along with Kerrick.) I immediately spent the large majority of my conquest points on this spiffy Aketon. You can see my neato flag in the background, too!

Static Party!

Our static party continues strong. We’re up to about level 42, and Scholar is sorta fun, if a bit gimmicky. And yes, we DID level there. On Makara and crabs. The birds we killed a couple of, but they’re kinda rough. I throughouly recommend the camp if you can get a 40’sh party to go here (38-40 on the crabs, 40-42 on the Makara). There’s a ton of mobs and it’s just gorgeous!

Mulecrafting!

I’m starting my Bastok mule on Alchemy. Here you can see him in all his droolworthy swimsuit goodness happily making Tsurara. I’m not very far yet, but I think I’ll appreciate the diversity on down the line. (By the way, the guys in the LS make fun of me for having male mules but I know several of them have female mules–or play girl characters–so what’s up with that?)

NPC Fellows!

Yep, this is my NPC. His name is Voldai, and he’s the attacker type (mostly because I’ve always played a class that can heal, at least in some capacity.) I’m thinking of changing him to the ‘tank’ type when the new update goes live! I’ll probably level him a little more too–he’s not that high of a level yet (mid 40’s or so, I think). Gosh I’m terrible, I just summoned him to take this picture and then pretty much told him to leave. Still, I haven’t forgotten you big guy, I promise I’ll level you up soon!

Besieged!

…is always an excuse for me to stalk Rughadjeen, and also to get some tasty Imperial Standing and skillups. I thought this picture turned out neat–I’m standing back-to-back with Seril (who subs Dancer for these sort of things). Male Humes dancing is awesome.

As I write this, I’m doing a fort-bashing Campaign in The Eldieme Necropolis [S] and 236 exp away from level 69 on my Summoner! So, in a few days, I would expect an update with pictures of me in my shiny robe. I’m excited. Are you excited? I hope so, because it’s awesome.

Happy adventuring, everyone!

Oh my God.

I think this image should explain everything.

Basically last night me, Cahl, Kerrick and Ziero were in The Boyahda Tree to fight Agas (for the Sleepga II quest) and afterward, I asked if we could swing by Ro’Maeve to see if Shikigami Weapon was up, not thinking it would be.

However, it was.  We didn’t claim, but we got the TOD, and came back today, and that, as they say, is history.  We took Seril with us as well–so if anyone is curious, our party makeup was a bit on the sad side– BLU/NIN (Cahl), BST/WHM (Kerrick), THF/NIN (Ziero), WAR/DNC (Seril), and BLM/WHM (myself).  In addition, we had Cahl’s NPC, a Soothing Healer type who was I want to say level 56.

I think the big factor was that we were uncontested.  This kind of thing NEVER happens to me, so I’m flummoxed.  Ker widescanned, Cahl claimed, Cahl and Z held while the rest of us ran over…a few things aggro’d during the fight, but we slept them and kept on trucking.  Then bam, Shiki dropped.

It was still full moon so maybe that helped the drop rate, and I’m sure Z’s TH2 did as well.  Either way it dropped and I’m more than glad.  I can’t quite wear it yet, but you can be sure I’m rushing to level 71 as fast as I can.

My mannequin gets to wear it for now.

And how am I rushing to 71?  Djinn.  They were nerfed a little, but you can still solo them quite well on Iceday and Lightningday, which are conveniently one after another.

This was with empress band on, but the exp is still quite nice without.  I was pulling approximately 10k/hour on these guys once I got my rhythm down.  Too bad you only get about two hours a stretch on them; if we could do more…well, I suppose that’s why they were nerfed.

Any way, I’m a very happy SMN, and I’d especially like to thank Kerrick, Seril, Ziero, Cahl, and Saionji…Saionji didn’t quite make it to Ro’Maeve in time, but he was on his way, so we’ll count it as moral support, ya?

I’m back!

Sorta.

Okay, I’ll admit the break from updating the blog was longer than I’d intended, and I got less gear in the interim than I’d care to admit.  However, I did get something that made me do a 180 and change my direction in FFXI…

That’s right, after much toil, I finally got Diabolos!  So now I’m leveling SMN like crazy.  Up to level 64!

And HOW am I leveling it?  Well, I’ve been soloing Volcanic Gas and Morozko, got a couple exp parties, and now I’m off to Eldieme [S] for some more cheesy-as-Hell fortification thrashing.

65, here I come!

The static party’s also going nicely.  Got my SCH to 40, boy do I dread the AF though.  Start getting storms next level!

(That said, the -ga stratagems rock.  I just wish I could use them with SCH set as a sub.)

On hold, maybe?

I’m back from vacation and desperately embarrassed of my gear.  So I might be a bit quiet for a while as I furiously try to make money.

The other side of tanking.

No picture for this one, sorry.  Just something I’ve been thinking about for a few days.

My main job, though I don’t play it much anymore, is 75 BLM.  BLM, obviously, puts out a lot of damage.  Of course, BLM can sleep, do some minor enfeebles, and other such duties, but it’s not incorrect to say its primary job in most situations is to deal damage, and deal a lot of it.

So here’s the rub; dealing damage is your primary function, so you should deal as much of it as possible, right?  Yes and no.

Today I’m talking about tanking–from the other side.  From the side of the damage dealer.

“What do you mean from our side?  We’re damage dealers!  We don’t tank!”

In the most literal sense, that’s true.  But really, you have a part in tanking.  Hear me out.

I want to preface my statements tonight by saying I’ve never leveled a ‘tank job’ past level 21, though I plan to in the future.  Any mechanics about tanking here are largely my perceptions of how things are done, and may have little to no bearing on how a tank actually goes about their business.  If I’ve gotten anything incredibly wrong, please let me know and I’ll do my best to make corrections.

Right, so, tanking.  You have a part in it too.  How so?

Consider the tank.  Whether it’s a Paladin, a Ninja, or some other more esoteric job filling in the role for whatever reason (Warrior, Red Mage, Blue Mage, Dancer, etc) they have one role in the standard party, and that’s to hold hate.  If they can’t hold hate, they are usually lauded as incompetent and incapable of doing their job.  True enough, in the large majority of cases this is the problem.  However, there are times when it is not.

Consider the role of the damage dealer.  Your job is to do damage; you have access to many tools to do that damage, no matter which kind of damage dealer you are.   They may be spells, or they may be job abilities.  Whatever it is, it depends on your class.

New Black Mages often discover something in the Dunes.  Casting Fire puts Fire on a long cooldown, but instead of waiting, you can cast Aero instead!  If Fire still isn’t ready, follow it up with Water!  This chain-nuking, compared with the usual incompetence of Dunes parties, leads Black Mages to a conclusion.  They should chain-nuke, always.

This makes life very difficult for a tank.  Tanking is a two-way street.  If we go over the aggro line that exists even with the best tanks, then we are making the tank’s job that much harder, risking death, and causing a plethora of potential problems.

It’s true that your job is to do damage.  But instead of carelessly unloading, gauge your damage.  Find the hate line–if you go over, do your best not to do so again.  In time, you’ll gain an innate sense of how much damage you can do before you pull hate.  If you party with a tank multiple times (such as someone in your LS) this becomes easier.  However, once you’re used to watching the hate line, you’ll be able to gain a decent feel for it even in pick-up parties.

Tanks, if you get a person in your parties that just refuses to scale their damage back slightly to actually let you tank, even if you’re using every tool at your disposal…well, don’t feel too bad.  Maybe after they die a few times they’ll wise up.

In conclusion, be considerate to your tanks.  This doesn’t exactly apply to HNM or other endgame activities, but in typical parties there’s no need to show off and cause a lot of problems.  Maximize your effective damage by riding the hate line, and you’ll make life easier for the tank, the healer, and just about everybody else.

(As a side note, I’ll be gone for the weekend.  Updates will resume early next week.)

Cheapest Campaign ever.

But I’m loving it anyway.

Basically I heard about Campaign in dungeon areas.  Go melee Fortifications, get points…that easy.  It sounded too good to be true, so I was honestly incredibly suspicious.  But when Saionji was 700 TNL two nights ago, I suggested Eldieme to see what all the fuss is about.

All the fuss is about the fact that you can melee this as a lower level job, or with subpar skill, and cap out your exp (or at least come a lot closer than you could in a regular campaign at that level…) I’m hitting with near-perfect accuracy with my terribly underleveled club skill as a level 59 WHM, and as for the EXP…you be the judge.

That’s right.  All this EXP came from Eldieme Campaign.  And that’s just from two days.  Sure, it doesn’t beat one really good party, but I’m lucky to find that one really good party as a WHM.  I had my flag up for most of this, changing my search comment constantly, then had to stop because we were going to do Assaults.  However, my point remains–this is drastically easy Campaign EXP for solo players or those on lower level jobs.

The catch?  Well, just be careful.  Me and Kerrick were doing it last night, and Bakgodek decided to show up in the middle of the very room the Fortification spawns in.  We managed to escape and died in a safe place up on the stairs near the Campaign Arbiter in Eldieme, where a large group of us started hacking away at the orcs.  However, there were plenty of people right next to the Fortification that took a beating.

That said, I fully recommend it.  I forsee that they’ll ‘adjust’ the EXP rate on this soon, so go crazy in the time being.  I know I am.

Static Parties!

Static parties!

I actually like static parties, and I’m currently in one with some LS mates. We’re having a ton of fun, and I’m leveling SCH, which takes care of two birds with one stone, so to speak.

The other good thing is it gives people a chance to level jobs that they might not level otherwise, or might be hard to find a party for. The static party I’m in? PLD, SAM, BLU, DNC, PUP, SCH. A PUP?! He actually does okay. (You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover…)

Obviously this isn’t an optimal omg TP burn setup, nor do we expect it to become one. It’s just a way for us to hang out and get jobs leveled together. We’re currently around 28 and we plan to go all the way to AF, so I’m sure tales of our weekly exploits will end up here from time to time.

It’s nice to know you have a guaranteed party once a week, where you can look past the deaths and get some work done. I mean, death happens…

…but the important thing is that a party like this gives you the opportunity to get past them and move on, where a regular party might break or slow down because of a death or two. Despite dying twice due to pulls that just ended up wrong through nobody’s fault really, I went on and…

Level 28 Scholar!

That said, I don’t know how much I really like SCH. However, since I seem to be primarily a caster, I might as well level it to see how it goes. Since I’m not very far, I can’t talk on theory much, but I think when I get it to an appropriate level I’d like to try it out as a sub for WHM.

All the same, consider a static party if you’ve got some friends amenable to the idea. They can be a good bit of fun (our PLD has adopted this as her theme song, for instance) and may even give you a chance to unwind and relax leveling a lower level job, or even a higher level one in a non-standard party. After all, sometimes it’s not about the EXP as much as it’s about just having fun.

Thoughts on Campaign

Okay, so, Campaign. It’s like the child of Besieged and Garrison in a way, and doesn’t suck as much as either. Or does it?

I’ve done a few Garrisons in my day. We used to do them a lot as a Linkshell, and I actually had fun doing them. We mostly did the level 20 ones so everyone could participate, but it was always a challenge getting people to cooperate and heal the NPCs. (On a similar note, does anyone remember Eco-Warrior?)

Besieged, on the other hand, is much more massive and chaotic. There’s a certain Tarutaru who throws marshmallows at people in BR a lot who just loves Besieged, and will rabidly gibber if she happens to see one starting. Then we go and try to protect Rughadjeen with our very lives.

That said, Campaign is a nice mix. You defend an outpost, so it’s not overly crowded, but the NPCs mostly take care of themselves and you don’t lose exp for participating, which is awesome. However, I have just a few gripes with the system…

1) “Why should I heal you? I get more EXP if I melee.”

Now, I’m the first person who’ll tell you I’m not one of those mages that melees in a normal party; much like I said in my intro post, I usually have way too much going on. I may enjoy melee outside of parties, but not usually in a competitive sense; to that end, my melee skills are somewhat underleveled (I still need to make a few more trips to Kuftal and Boyahda…) so this hits me a bit hard, especially as WHM.

Basically the amount of EXP you earn for curing, buffing, and basically doing your job in a backline magely fashion is far eclipsed by the amount you can earn if you take up a melee weapon and poke at it. However, this comes with a whole slew of other problems. Mages don’t want to cure because they don’t get exp, and they contribute a ton of extra TP to mobs, which makes the lives of people they’re not-curing that much harder. In short, it can make things really hard really fast.

Combine this with the fact that I’ve been doing campaign as my WHM (which is still only 5 and thus take an exp penalty, and it gets even harder. I walk away from long Campaign battles where I empty all my MP several times over with 400-500 exp, while my dancer friend who lays down steps and self-skillchains with Wild Flourish and Dancing Edge walks away with 1500 after doing a minimum of curative dances. I know life isn’t fair, but it seems woefully imbalanced to me. Hopefully when I hit 61 I can do a bit better (especially if I can get some club skillups before then.)

2) “Get away from this monster, I’m soloing it.”

Great. This leads to a whole bunch of other problems though. I’m sure everybody’s seen it–the person who drags a monster way off, so that once the other monsters are dead, the group fruitlessly searches until some helpful RNG or BST announces that there’s a monster over THERE and it turns out someone was just poking at it the whole time.

I understand you can solo. It’s great you’re trying to keep a monster off the fort. However, there’s no need to drag it so far away, and no need to get all up ons people that help you unless they’re not actually helping (RDM and WHM that melee but don’t cure, for example). In that case, I’d just dodge hate and let them have it.

3) “Oh look, a NM! And it doesn’t have an army with it!”

Imagine my frustration the other night when I was with Ziero, Saionji, and Illyian in Passhow and I said “Don’t stand there, the mobs will path in and aggro.” An NM showed up, and the crowd of people started attacking it, including my three intrepid companions. I was swift to warn them that NMs run at flee speed and that a group of monsters would be along later. When the army showed up, people scattered. I ended up getting ‘MPK’d’ by someone dragging about ten Quadav–it’s not true MPK, I didn’t lose exp or anything, but it’s rather annoying to have to RR and then lose a large portion of my MP pool, since it’s my only true way of gaining EXP in Campaign on my WHM.

In short, stand away from the aggro path. Wait for monsters to aggro the fort, then peel them away one by one. Leave the NM, and don’t attack it first. It WILL arrive before its comrades, and if you foolishly stand and fight it when you first see it, the rest will come along and bring the pain. Trust me on this one.

In short, I believe it’d be beneficial of SE to buff the EXP gained through healing and buffing. There’s not a whole lot we can do about people soloing or not curing or dragging a huge train of Campaign mobs throughout the area while they perform a waltz of death upon every squishy they see–but hey, if one person reads this and stops, maybe that’s enough.