Sky Completion Percentage

Seeing that I've been in Sky for the longest time, I'm gonna make an awesome list of how much of Sky I have completed. >.>

READY GO!

Kirin:
Osode: +
Pole: -
N. Body: +
W. Legs +
D. Body: -

Byakko:
Haidate: +
Axe: +
D. Legs: +
N. Hands: +
E. Feet: +
A. Head: -

Ullikummi:
Axe: + (tossed)

Despot:
Scythe: + (tossed)

Seiryu:
Kote: -
Sword: -
M. Head: +
W. Hands: -
A. Legs: -
D. Head: -

Steam Cleaner:
Katars: -

Mother Globe:
Shiranui: + (tossed)

Genbu:
Kabuto: +
Shield: +
M. Hands: +
A. Hands: -
A. Head: -
W. Feet: -

Olla Series:
Skofnung: +

Zipacna:
Ushikirimaru: -

Suzaku:
Sune-Ate: -
Scythe: -
N. Feet: +
E. Head: -
D. Hands: -
A. Legs: -

Faust:
Tonbo-Giri: -

Brigandish Blade:
Buccaneer's Knife: -
Bartholomew's Knife: -

Well... that was a nice timer killer until the next campaign. >.>

Sekkanoki: Thoughts and Stuffs

Among all the crying DRKs out there, all the SAMs were treated to a nifty new gift. Does it make SAM more awesome or is it simply a diversionary toy that serves no purpose?

Sekkanoki is a level 60 SAM ability that allows the SAM to restrict his next WS to consume only 100%, thus forcing their WS to have a TP mod of 100% (even with Hagun). The duration is 1 WS or 1 minute, which ever occurs first. The recast is 5 minutes.

The practical usage of this ability really all depends on what type of player you are. In my case, I WS for a lot of damage so I tend to hold my TP. This results with me having 300% TP a lot of times, especially if I'm SA/TAing. Sekkanoki allows me to get 2 WS out of a 300%, which results with a WS at 100% potency and another WS at 300% Potency (due to Hagun). This can setup for a nice lv2 SC, but also allows me to balance hate a bit since I can SA for slightly lower damage and TA for higher damage.

Now, the 5 minute recast, though shorter than I originally thought, is still pretty long and really, you're gonna be WSing so much during that 5 minute period. It would be nice to stack it up with Meditate... but wait, you have a 30 second off sync timer on that ability because you merited it... >.> DAMMITS.

The use of this ability is fairly situational and its nice when you can find a use for it. Otherwise, this isn't going to make or break SAM, its a nice nifty toy that isn't useless but the practical usage may only be found in the HNM areas, merits not so much and will probably not be too useful to save anyone.

On another note: Liseth is broken, nerf her. >:3

Edit: and like an idiot, I didn't realize that Meditate was on a 3 minute timer.... whoops. >.>

March 10th 2008 Update: RETALIATION!!!!!

Basically a copy and paste from a forum post I did this morning. Hopefully, it will turn out nice. <.<

Traditionally, I go through each update thing, post a quick opinion about it and point out funny things. >:3 READY? GO!

New areas have been added to past Vana'diel.

Yay.

NPC spectators have been added to Chocobo Circuit.
These new NPCs can be observed purchasing chocobet tickets and rooting for their favorites.

... lol

"Brygid the Stylist Returns" quest is now available for dancers and scholars.

More JSE... can't go wrong.

Characters below level 20 are no longer able to mine for items in the following areas:
Newton Movalpolos/Mount Zhayolm/Halvung/Gusgen Mines/Ifrit's Cauldron

This made me laugh for a good 20 minutes.

New Notorious Monsters have been added to the Wings of the Goddess areas.

HNM quality? Heck, anything would be good at this point.

A maximum limit has been placed on the total amount of bonus attack speed that can be gained from a combination of spells, abilities, and items.

Uh oh.

The chance to resist damage from skill chains has been adjusted.

Oooh, nice~

When receiving weapon-enhancing spell effects from other party members, the additional damage caused will depend on the caster’s enhancing magic skill. Magic accuracy for these spells has also been adjusted.

Well, at least this is not that stupid... no wait, its still pretty stupid.

The process for calculating “Absorb” spell resists has been adjusted.>

"Absorb" spells that previously did not take effect when resisted will now take effect in the case of partial resists below a certain percentage. However, partially resisted spells will have their durations reduced.
“Absorb” spells will still fail to take effect in the case of a complete resist.

The following spells have been introduced:
Recall-Jugner (WHM Lv.53)
Recall-Pashh (WHM Lv.53)
Recall-Meriph (WHM Lv.53)
Retrace (BLM Lv.55)
Absorb-ACC (DRK Lv.61)
Klimaform (SCH Lv.46)
Monomi: Ichi (NIN Lv.25) *Uses the ninja tool, "sanjaku-tenugui."

Wait wait wait.... did they say... "Absorb-ACC" O_O;
And yay, Sneak Spell is actually <37.
I can't really say I like the location of the teleports though...
Retrace sounds like going back to the past...
Eh, that's why we have DATs. Someone will figure it out before the servers go up.

The new warrior job ability “Retaliation” has been introduced:
Retaliation
Allows you to counterattack but reduces movement speed.

Oh shit... RETALIATION... !!!!!!!!!!!!!

The new thief job ability “Collaborator” has been introduced:
Collaborator
Steals 25% of the target party member's enmity and redirects it to the thief.
*This ability shares a recast time with “Accomplice,” a thief ability introduced in the previous version update.

A 50% and a 25% version? @_@?

The new samurai job ability “Sekkanoki” has been introduced:
Sekkanoki
Limits TP cost of next weapon skill to 100.

Hmm... this I actually like. Would actually make things easier to self Skillchain I'd imagine. Also allows for good conservation of TP when using Meditate at the same time.

... Also allows for less enmity gain because I do too much fucking damage. >.>

The new summoner job ability “Elemental Siphon” has been introduced:
Elemental Siphon
Drains MP from your summoned spirit.
*Only effective on spirits summoned by the summoner.

Uh... spirits... huh...

The following changes have been made to the corsair job:
- The recast for the job ability “Quick Draw” has been changed to a “charge” system.
Each use of the “Quick Draw” ability consumes one charge, with charges being regained over time.
When using the “/recast” text command, it is necessary to nominate a specific shot, such as “/recast Fire Shot”. This command will display the amount of time remaining until a new charge will be generated, as well as the current number of charges available.

Uhm... I hope Quick Draw recharges every minute? <.<;

- New “Phantom Rolls” have been introduced:
Dancer’s Roll (COR Lv.61)
Scholar’s Roll (COR Lv.64)

Yums.

The following changes have been made to the dancer job:
- The recast time for all Waltzes will now be reduced to 6 seconds while under the effect of the job ability “Trance.”
- The effect of attributes on Waltzes will now be calculated differently depending on whether dancer is set as the main job or as the support job.
- An accuracy bonus will now be applied to “Steps” when dancer is set as the main job.
- The durations of the job abilities “Haste Samba,” “Aspir Samba II,” and “Drain Samba III” have been increased.

All of these are good... except for the subjob thing... @_@

eee... I'll let someone else figure out the scholar stuff... Though it does look pretty interesting...

The fee structure for obtaining and altering mannequins has been reduced as follows:
-Price for your second mannequin and onwards: from 250,000 gil to 100,000 gil.
-Cost to change your mannequin to that of another race: from 10,000 gil to 2,000 gil.
-Cost to change your mannequin's pose: from 1,000 gil to 200 gil.

OH GOD @_@ MUCH NEEDED CHANGE~

Magic effect explanations have been added to item help information for magic scrolls.

nifty~

The following data can now be backed up on PlayOnline's servers.
-"Config" settings inside the main menu (excluding platform-specific settings such as "key assign", and language-specific items).
-[Current tell target] history for "chat" inside the active command window.
-Macro and book data.
-Map marker data.
-Item display sorting data for the "bid" option in the auction menu.

[Storage Location]
It is now possible to store configuration data on PlayOnline's servers, in addition to your game machine's own hard disk drive. Up to four slots are available on your hard disk for this purpose, while one slot is available on the server. One slot stores one character's worth of configuration data. Selecting a used slot will overwrite existing data.

[Saving Configuration]
Bring up the configuration file save screen by pressing the following buttons/keys at the character selection screen, and choose the slot in which you wish to save.

"PlayStation 2": L1 button + L3 button
Xbox 360: LB + left stick button
Keyboard: [Shift] + [Alt] + [Ctrl] + [B]

[Loading Configuration]
Bring up the configuration file load screen by pressing the following buttons/keys at the character selection screen, and choose the slot from which you wish to load.

"PlayStation 2": R1 button + R3 button
Xbox 360: RB + right stick button
Keyboard: [Shift] + [Alt] + [Ctrl] + [R]

[Deleting Configuration]
Bring up the configuration file deletion screen by pressing the following buttons/keys at the character selection screen. Confirm deletion to restore default settings for the currently selected character.

"PlayStation 2": R1 button + L2 button + R3 button + L3 button
Xbox 360: R2 + L2 + right stick button + left stick button
Keyboard: [Shift] + [Alt] + [Ctrl] + [D]

What this basically means, those with windower macros don't have to worry about SE looking into your macros as saving is purely optional.

The maximum number of screenshots that can be stored has been increased from 99 to 200.

lol...

A new text color has been introduced for the name of monsters currently engaged with alliance members.

A new text color has been introduced for the name of monsters that anyone can attack.

Nifty.

The following new emote commands have been added:
/dance1
/dance2
/dance3
/dance4

Finally~

Well, I skipped a lot of things (usually things I have nothing to really say about or wish to point out). Not a bad update at all really. I would like to see how the Counterattack rate is like for that new WAR ability and if shadows count first for it or not. What I really want to see first though is the max limit to the amount of attack speed you can have. For all we know, it could make the whole Rune Chopper thing useless now... but I hope it isn't that bad.

One thing I will note is that quite a bit of jobs got a bit of a buff this time around. WAR/SMN... maybe/DRK (though you could argue a nerf here)/THF (I guess?)/COR (maybe)/SAM/Any job that uses /NIN/BST even. Reason I say this is because I don't think

Actually wait a second...

A wyvern’s attributes will now increase in correspondence to the amount of experience gained from the moment the wyvern is summoned.
*This increase will not be affected by experience gained from Campaign, Besieged, or items.
**A wyvern’s attributes will be reset to their original values when the wyvern is KO’d, dismissed, or changes areas.

Even DRG got buffed a bit.

The whole SCH thing is a beast of an update in itself. Will it allow it to float better? Time can only tell really. From what I gather...

They added more charges for Stratagems.
They reduced the time for recharge.
Looks like they have an ability that saps your HP for MP (which I think is awesome... now if only it can go the other way around for PLD... >:3 Taru PLD Top Tier).

Now this is interesting: Addendum abilities that allow you to cast even more White and Black magic. :o~~~

Oh and Emperor Band... uhm... Basically double times your Empress Band, I'd go with it I guess... I guess...

Hmm... La Vaule, Beadeaux, Castle Oztroja in the past zones... Sexy.

Again, all around, good update, kinda want to see how everything turns out. I just hope we don't have to wait another 5 months for an update.

And as always, the update can be found on the POL website (which I believe will be going down at 11AM PST but will come up later.

Update Notes

Seriously...

I made my own Linkshell...
I borrowed from so many others...
I've been involved with stupid drama involving this piece...

And seriously...

Why the fuck did I get "this" just now?



Fuck this game.

Oh and I also got Shura Haidate... yay~

Chocobo Racing: Using that Gil for Something

One of the benefits to raising a chocobo is being able to take it to the racetracks and race it for gil and chocobucks! Too bad no one cares about this! :D

Fortunately for you, assuming you're staying with the program, this means potential pocket change for you everyday. It also serves as a good time killer between events.

There are two types of Chocobo Races: Mission based races and Circuit races.

Mission races are all instanced solo races that you do for a little bit of gil and getting yourself a nifty title. I believe that there is no real reason to do this other than to beat the Novice challenges (which opens up Free Runs) and to get a nifty title. However, you will need to do them to at least open up Free Runs, as that will be your primary source of Chocobucks. Otherwise, the point of the missions is to win... much like any other racing venue <.<; Mission races are free in Novice level but as you progress farther in, it requires Chocobucks to take part in the races.

What are Chocobucks? Think of them as tokens or tickets that you gain from beating Free Run races, winning Chocobo Hot and Cold sessions, and various other chocobo related stuff. They allow you to buy feed, stat enhancements, and colored dye for your chocobo. It even allows you to increase the stats of a retired chocobo... ain't taht nifty? :3

This leads to Circuit Races. You need chocobucks for Circuit races as well. Circuit races are your PvP races, except no one does them so don't expect to be racing against any real people any time soon unless you bug a friend. You can only do these races once every 24 earth hours and they often have some requirements you need to fulfill. Entering these races can be a total pain in the ass, as it requires you to wait for the appropriate NPC to allow people to sign up and waiting 30 more minutes for the actual race to start. For all intents and purposes, it is better that you set it, go through your day, and come back a few hours later to reclaim any rewards.

The high stakes races though... 100k gil for first place... @_@;

Hopefully this blog post will entice you into giving this thing a try. <.< If you're... that bored that is.

Chocobo Crazy~

Considering that I find myself not doing much of anything during the night time, I have opted to try out raising my chocobo for actual racing. This a very long process that can take several months before a high-grade chocobo is created. Of course, legends have to start from somewhere <.< (like yours truly).

First off, what can raising your own chocobo do for you? An immediate answer would be "next to nothing." And that's true for the most part, you really won't get too much of anything until waaay later, and by the time that rolls around, you'd probably lose interest. If you do stick around however and have fairly low expectations, you'll probably have a fun time picking this up every half hour, everyday.

So, where do you begin? You need a chocobo egg. You can get it from four different sources:

1. ISNMs
2. Mating a male and a female chocobo
3. A quest involving Brutus from Upper Jeuno
4. Buying it from the Mithra NPC next to the Ru'lude AH, assuming her business is high.

What is interesting is that there are 5 chocobo eggs. Honestly, no one knows what is the real difference between them. After you get one, you then go to whichever nation's Chocobo NPC (in the chocobo stables) and give them your egg. I obviously recommend doing this at your home nation but you can do it at any of the three nations.

Now you got an egg to raise... it doesn't do anything. It won't do anything for about 4 real life days. However, there is something you can do to prepare it for when it cracks open into life. Once you get your egg, examine your egg about 100-200 some times. When it hatches, the affection level will be maxed out, thus allowing you to easily modify its stats.

What do you do after that? <.< Well... that's for a later post.