Black Cloak infused with Love~

So after hitting level 68, Lissy decided to congratulate Moggie by giving him her very own Black Cloak that she has been using since forever! Truly, I am touched and just having this thing on me makes me feel like my power level is over 9000! @_@;

After freaking out and falling in love with Lissy's Black Cloak, I decided to head out to Sea and nuke some fishies.... then realized that I still havent' figured out the trick to it and I'm still getting really low XP per hour. Maybe I need to level /RDM and use that!

Anyways, I know a few posts ago I did a bit of a thing with /BRD and all that stuff. I decided to screw doing that and actually do Campaign battles. As I'm pretty sure the trend is following on other servers where it's mainly beastmen controlled. Now, I heard some weird ass crap from players as to how to "resolve" this issue on the player side. Kinda ranks along the thing I heard about Besieged and donating Imp. Bronze Pieces to the NPC that gives the Turban (yes, this is false, yes, you are retarded for believing in it).

I'd like to start off the theme of today's post as.... Cautionary Tales of Campaign.

@_@;

Honestly, Campaign isn't really a bad thing. Sure, it causes your Xbox/PS2 to crash from time to time but when you... ya know... actually get on a decent PC, it isn't so bad. You see a lot of crazy stuff in Campaign though. I mean, yes you can kinda just glance at it and be like "eh, that's a bug, whatever" at some of the things ya know? But, here's something that just totally shocked the crap outta me. Given the fact that I'm writing this at 3 in the morning, I might be wonky but... don't you guys find this to be sorta strange?

o_o;

There's just something about that turret... Something... wrong...

So anyways, ignoring that there's a huge pecker from that bird turret, went on to tackle down the baddies.

I got into the habit of casting Stoneskin constantly. I think Lissy said something along the lines of "I'm gonna kill you if you don't put Stoneskin up" or something.... I dunno, I don't like dying in either case so... Stoneskin up! I can't believe how many times this thing saved me from damage. At the beginning I had really low Enhancing and MND so really, it was almost pointless to put stoneskin up. Now I have to teach myself to do it constantly.

FOX...... DIE!!!!!!!!!! ..... THINK AGAIN.

That gimped SAM made us lose the battle. :( Not even Ares Galka Dancer PLD Man can save us.

Meet defeat by GOLDEN EAGLE.

This... doesn't look like a Belfry at all.

So, a got myself about.... 6k total exp from doing a ton of Campaign today... Hmm...

Getting BLM to 75 will be one long trip. @_@;

... There was nothing cautionary about this post at all!

I'm a Repetitive Taru... really, I am!

Now for an actual, somewhat lengthy post!

Again, I keep forgetting to abuse my screenshot button, I really should map it on my controller or something.

But anyways~

SE and the Random Doings.

There's quite a bit of FFXI related news that has been tossed around, most of which I'm kinda late on the delivery of. The more important ones include the fact that Somepage, a huge database of FFXI related material, has malicious code somehow implanted into their website. I would advise (especially at this point because I don't even think they update their stuff as of late) to not even go to that website any more. This is kinda the second time that it has happened and I can probably say it is the more common websites to get quick item details and has a really powerful search function. However, as I have said, it is the second time that they had malicious code on their website and for the most part, it is probably nailing a lot of people.

I could go on and on about web security and how to protect yourself from such hazards but... let me give you some names of some programs to use to help yourself.

- Firefox
- NoScript Plugin for Firefox
- PeerGuardian 2 (btw: a bit of tweeking is required to get FFXI working on it as it blocks SE's website)
- Sygate Personal Firewall
- AVG
- Firefox

Anyways, Nomad Moogles being added in Mhaura/Selbina, more Fellow stuff, Campaign NPCs that heal you, and Outpost Warps get saved~

Would be nice if we could like... store Pre-25 Equipment Sets... but that's just me.

Paladin vs Paladin: Who Can You Hate More?

One thing I've been really frustrated about is trying to keep up with a PLD in my linkshell. The guy just holds hate so spectacularly that I can't figure out a way to keep up with him. Now, tanking usually involves the tank trying to keep their hate to cap and trying to outhate the rest of the DDs/Support/what have you. I think I'm at a point where I can get there but I'm probably doing something really wrong with my playstyle and having a hard time achieving such an effect. Granted, the PLD I mentioned has a lot better gear than I do but I feel that while enmity can do so much for me, I don't think I'm using it to its fullest potential, and that is what really irks me because then I know I'm not doing my job right. I also don't think it is a matter of "knowing" what to do, its executing it effectively, and that's skill right there. I figure that its something I have to fully devote my time to. As I keep playing, I should get better... but eventually, like in everything that people do, they hit a "wall" that they need to get around. I think that's where I'm at right now, I'm at that "wall," that limitation that blocks you in your mind.

The Wanderer: Taru Samurai Spirits

I got something pretty nifty the other day, despite all my PLD troubles. We did our first Jailer of Justice fight and we managed to get a Torque Drop on the first kill~

I manage to win the lot on the Justice Torque, which helps my SAM quite a bit with my TP Build. We also did a Jailer of Prudence which also dropped a torque and another Justice that didn't drop a torque. Needless to say, we were very lucky and I think most of it was due to the addition to Chinchilla to our LS. Great THF, probably a great RDM too but never got her to bring it. X3

My Samurai has been the focus of my attention for a bit, at least until I'm "ready" to take on PLD again. It is one of those "emptying your cup" situations where I want to take my mind off of it then go back with a new fresh view. But anyways, I decided to try to follow Xanthe's advice (minus the Not Tarutaru part) and try to get my hands on things that I'm able to at the moment. Currently, I'm messing around with KV... that's all I can really say about the subject. Lets just say I'm losing a lot of sleep over this NM. Ace's Helm would be very nice on my SAM as it would be 3 great things combined into one robo-cop helm. I can't refuse such an item! :3

I still need to farm my Flame Gorget items... been pretty lazy with that, especially when I'm trying to redo some of my merits. I finally hit 8/8 GKT and I've been wanting to parse my SAM for awhile without Acc Songs/Rolls.

I also been trying to work on a Damage Reduction Set for SAM again since I'm finding myself doing Salvage a bit more. Maybe in a few more weeks...

My First Mage Job: Black Mage

Managed to hit level 58 a few days ago. However, I am somewhat less motivated to level the job. The main reason is because I think 50 spoiled really bad because I can one shot Goblin Pet mobs assuming I don't resist. It had a huge negative affect to me in the sense that...

1. My enfeeb skill isn't increasing.
2. My dark skill isn't increasing.
3. I'm not learning how to be an "effective" soloer for later mobs.
4. Soloing in general isn't helping me be better at being a party person.

Needless to say, I'm gonna "fun" readjusting myself to be an effective BLM later on. By the way: I hate buying spells.


By the way: you can get some pretty decent XP out of Campaign if you know what you're doing. More on this in a later post.

Mog of Windurst: Warrior Within

I honestly have not touched this job in awhile and maybe its because of the whole DW to 2h shift that I have yet to fully transition myself to. WAR compared to SAM just feels so dry with 2h because I can't really play aggressive as much as I would want to. That's the problem I think, I try to treat GA WAR too much like SAM. I will probably need to read up on more things on WAR and look into other applications for it. As for right now, I'm trying to get the IS to get the Perdu Thingy and going to probably concentrate on getting GAxe merits up while demeriting my Sword/Axe Merits, which are now obsolete to me as I rarely use my DW build now.

On another note though: Rabbit Pies I heard were pretty good for tanking and DDing.

DownRightFierce: Tiamat Burgers for $4.59

We bagged our first Tiamat and... well, it dropped something but it wasn't anything uber. We've been doing really well with Sea/Sky/random HNMs/Dynamis/Einherjar.

Sea I've mentioned already~ Sky was a funny situation though! Someone apparently by accident typed /help instead of /heal (btw: he plays on the 360 so no plugins to prevent it)... which never made sense to me but ok. Anyways, they CFH Seiryu (which is no biggie) and it took us awhile to recover, it was a bit of a mess since it was really unexpected. He didn't drop any of the stuff I wanted... so meh! Screw that dragon! Next time!

Dynamis, luckily for DRF this time, didn't involve me MPKing people as I was not the one pulling. However, we did manage to get a few nice drops from Sandy such as 2 PLDs and a BRD hat. There were some deadly pulls... I wasn't joking when I said the pulls from the Ronfaure gates were a pain in the ass. If someone can help me figure out how to pull them, it would be great. ;_;

The Einherjar alliance with PPN (or is it PNN? Its one of those two) has been going great and we've been getting about 30 some people each run. Maybe we might end up fighting Odin soon...!!! I would really enjoy doing such a thing as many people have not really done it... Yeah. Though, I still would like to see what changes they plan to do for Einherjar in the later updates. 1000/15000 until I get a Ritter's... I got some time.

By the way, we got a mention from Chinchilla about our LS in the Pet Food Alpha podcast. :3 I think I'm starstrucked or something for having her in the LS... or somethin. You can hear a short tidbit about us in Episode 102: Garrison of Pet Food Alpha. Hey, any publicity is good publicity... I think.

And finally, here's a Mog in a Box.

I'm a PLD... really, I am!

I think my priorities are a bit messed up in FFXI. Right now, I am balancing between 5 jobs: PLD/WAR/BRD/SAM/BLM. Every week I use each job at least twice and I gotta keep my gear up for them and I'm never going to be satisfied with what I have. I figured though that the same feeling is going to happen even if I have only one job so... yeah, a desire that can never be full.

Anyways, I've been looking at my PLD gear and I realized that I really should do something about it. I'm doing fine with what I have but I know deep down I can do better. So, lets have a look at what I have. <.<

When I tank as /NIN, I have on...

Main: Enmity Paddle +1
Sub: Koenig
Ammo: Shell
Head: Assjammer/Haste Turban
Neck: Harmonia/Parade/Shield
Ear: Pigeon/Ethereal
Body: AF1+1
Hands: Homam
Rings: BQR/Herc
Back: High Breath
Belt: Swift/Warwolf
Legs: Homam/WLegs
Feet: AF1+1/Askar

Honestly, I'm not sure how to really improve on this... the only idea is...

Shield: Wivre
Neck: Ritters (Or whatever the Einherjar thing is called)
Ear: Hades +1 (This is gonna hurt my wallet)
Body: Valor Surcoat
Back: Cerberus Mantle
Belt: Trance

Though I have wonder if this is all really worth it in the end. Another thing is what about alternate and gear swaps? I lack a fire resist/magic damage down build and people have told me that some PLDs use an HP Swap Set so they can get more HP slack to heal themselves with. Pretty much, I'm just a bit clueless as to where I should go with this. With some higher end PLDs in DRF, I usually end up not being able to keep up with them and somehow I feel its just more than just more enmity that is giving them that much of an advantage... Maybe I'm doing something wrong or maybe that is really it: more enmity.

I've also been messing around with a PLD DD set just for S&Gs and if I really don't need to tank all the time but I need to come PLD anyways.

Another question I have... is the Hauteclare worth it? I gotta keep thinking ahead here. :3

Damn teh cold :( Damn teh flu

Due to how I'm getting every single textbook sickness in my body, I have not been able to really post on my blog or even play FFXI to the point where I can pull off anything interesting to talk about.

So, here's a quickie. >:

- Claimed Khimmy the other day, tanked for awhile but had a doc's appointment, was a national hero.
- Started duoing my DNC with Liseth's SCH. Muchos fun, want to do this more.
- Found a nice static to do missions and assaults with. Nice group of people, I think I'll fit in nicely.
- Hoping to get LS to do more EINHERJARS, mainly for something different.
- LS recently taking a break from doing Dynamis. I could careless about Dynamis (>: I want my Surcoat)>
- Started working on a ghetto Damage Reduction Set for SAM, will probably sell it off once I become unsatisfied with it.
- Liseth is hot.
- A bunch of Chocobo racing and raising stuff, I can now do C3 races.

Other than that... hopefully this damn cold goes away, sore throat is killing me. ; ;

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~

Mog Style: SAM75 TP Equipment (General Use)

Hello folks! Now we will have another glance at my current equipment. >.>



Main: Onimaru
Sub: Pole Strap
Head: Walahra Turban
Neck: Chi. Chain
Ear1: Fowling
Ear2: Brutal
Body: Haubergeon
Hand: O. Kote
Ring1: Ulthalam
Ring2: Rajas
Back: Amemet +1
Waist: Swift
Legs: Byakko's Haidate
Feet: H. Sune-Ate

In total this set gives:

Attack: +44 (Not counting STR)
Accuracy: +25 (Not counting DEX)
STR: +18
DEX: +25
Double Attack: +7%
Store TP: +12
Haste: +14%

Obviously, there could be better upgrades for certain items.

Hagun
Justice Torque
Busha (Which I don't intend on getting for the mean time)
Speed Belt (Which I don't intend on getting.. any time soon @_@)
Forager's Mantle (which costs too much for just 1 extra STR)
Usukane Feet
Hauby +1

Now some things I'm not too entirely sure on switching in and out just yet.

Dusk Gloves/SAM AF1+1 Hands

I haven't really done much meriting, I also don't have these gloves just yet, so I'm kinda in the dark as to how much of a difference these things will make.

Mog Style: SAM70/WAR35

Tarutaru Samurai: 6 Hit Desperation >.>

Main: Kazaridachi
Sub: Pole Strap
Head: O-Hat
Neck: Chi. Chain
Ear1: Spike
Ear2: Fowling
Body: Haubergeon
Hand: H. Kote
Ring1: Woodsman
Ring2: Rajas
Back: Amemet +1
Waist: Swift
Legs: Shinimusha Haidate
Feet: H. Sune-Ate

I couldn't wait until level 75 to get my 6-Hit TP build setup (which I recall only needs +11 Store TP if you have maxed out Store TP merits), so I sold all of my BRD gear and managed to get myself a pretty decent 6-Hit TP build for my SAM. This puts me at +25 Store TP (going past the required amount of +21 by 4) and allows me to put some WS gear on in place of some Store TP gear for the first hit.

I was very satisfied with the results, though it did take a huge drain out of my pockets. Hopefully I can hit 75 soon with max merits so I can sell back some of this gear.

Hmm... Going to need to get some stuff at Sky... but I really don't feel like going back there, that and I have no time for silly stuff like that now. >:3