My Weapon Skill Accuracy...

... leaves more to be desired. ;_;

Either this is a rant or a plea to figure out what's wrong with my gear. Well, as many of you should know (I hope), SAM weapon skills are mostly one-hitters, especially the YGK group. Unlike many other WS that other classes use a lot, such as Rampage, Guillotine, Dancing Edge and so on, I get struck with the whole "missed" messages when I do my WS. But it doesn't just happen a few times, this happens like.... all the time. I'm sitting thinking "Okay, I have almost the same gear as all of these other SAMs, I have my Sea Gorgets, I have 8/8 GKT merits... what gives?"

Really, I'm pretty sure it is just the fact that with one hit considered, I'll get that bolded message a lot more than say a WAR doing Rampage, mainly because you'll notice your misses in your TP return and no one is gonna point out your WS damage sucked unless you missed a signficant amount of damage. Pretty much, not sure if it is me but missing Tachi: Koki on Proto-Omega 4 times in a row (which btw, we believe that it made Omega's Heart dropped) is a bit of a.. weak chuckle at that point.

4 Kokis... :(

Anyways, it seems that a few people have taken notice of all the singers in Bastok [S]. With this, they decided to make a game of making my life a little bit harder by grabbing campaign mobs and throwing them at us. Not that I can't just relocate myself but it is right next to the Campaign NPC. I guess I have no reason to complain, I am, after all, getting XP by just hitting a few macros over and over again... Kinda like an actual XP party... Ironic!

I haven't fought a single monster as a BLM67 and it will probably remain that way for awhile. Consider it a bit shameful but at this point I just want to get my BLM to 75 to do things with Lissy as soon as I can. It also doesn't help that the beta for Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix just came out (Yes, that's the whole freakin name of the game) and I plan to play it during the off periods of me playing FFXI and blogging. In any case, my goal is to hit 75 before July.... and I have about 5 days left... things don't look swell for the Taru.

Yes, there is a huge lack of screenshots as of late and it mainly has to do with the fact that I'm too busy doing a lot of things at once that I don't have time to think about hitting the screenshot button. It sucks but I realize that maybe talking about what I have accomplished in game isn't really that much of a... thing people might be interested in unless it had a lot of spice. And really, the past few weeks were great, they were nice but they're not anything I could write a story about without repeating a legacy that has already been told. I hope that I have more stories to talk about soon, lately it has been fairly dry... though I sorta guess I have one now?

Nah not really.

On a side note: Chinchilla got Homam Body.

She was having a seizure on vent.

Grats Chin. :3

Well, at the very least, I have a KS99 on Thursday and hopefully something good comes out of it. I kinda need a little bit of extra gil in my pockets considering that I still haven't really caught up on my BLM spells or equipment. See, this whole Campaign thing is making me too lazy! ;_;

Oh btw. Xbox Gamertag: MogKnight Prime. If you want to do some rounds of Street Fighter, hit me up~

It's not about "if," it's about "when."

Something I still have to learn and remember in FFXI, or even live in general.

Anyways, post update has been pretty tame lately. While there is still a huge surge of players hunting down Ixion, Sandworm, ZNMs and the like, I have been doing my usual thing.

Not to drag my real life into the mix again but lately things have been going pretty rough and I'm overly stressing about things. I'm hoping this week will subside that, especially since I no longer have to worry about classes and so on bugging me for awhile. I actually have about 5 blog posts in draft that I have yet to complete, mainly because I haven't been motivated to finish them. Hopefully I can drive myself to tackle them once I'm out of this "phase" that I'm in.

But for right now, how about a progress post? :3

Black Mage has been going pretty well now. I'm sitting at level 64 and while I would want to keep leveling today... I figure I'll take a break and just sleep at a normal time. I'm pretty sure Liseth is dead worried about me and not maintaining a proper sleep schedule. On that note, Lissy did say she would help me by leeching off of her once I hit level 70... though she did continue to say that I would have to "kiss her ass" if I were to just sit there and do nothing... I guess I'm gonna have to nuke stuffs~ Not that I don't mind, it is in the job description anyways! I will need to level up my RDM soon enough. Would benefit me greatly for soloing situations.

Samurai has still been a pretty long journey. Equipment that is needed for it is still very far from grasp and it all becomes a waiting game. I guess one thing I can work on is a Damage Reduction/ohshi~ set to help me when Seigan/Shadows are down. Thanks to Lissy and the DRF Salvage group, we manage to snag me up the rest of my Usukane Feet parts. It is not without a struggle however, as weird things have happened and weird complications occurred. I'm very happy to have received this, even though I did not appear to be. It was mainly because after so many retarded frustrations that happened that I was just "glad" it was over. What's done is done and time to move on really. I don't see myself getting the rest of the Usukane set for awhile, I don't think I should be aiming that high this soon anyways.

Paladin and Warrior has been in hiatus for awhile. I can't do much with Paladin until I can get more gear for it and Warrior has been waiting on a new build for awhile. It's fine though, I still can pull these two jobs whenever I need them and still do a great job.

Bard on the other hand... That took a major hit as I have resold my equipment to keep my other jobs floating.

I've yet to do the rest of my WotG cutscenes. I'll work on them later.

Lissy has changed to Windurst and is pushing me to finish Windurst up to Rank 10. I'm gonna be working on the last few parts of 8-2 tomorrow before Dynamis I think.

Nothing else other than that I suppose. Hopefully I'll get BLM to 75 before July, would be very nice to go into Independence Day with with some awesome nukes. ;3

Xbox Live Achievements Explained

Trust me, there are quite a bit of people out there that still give a damn about Xbox Live's Gamerscore thing. While I really don't care too much about it, any extra bit helps and it makes me feel good inside~

Anyways, there were 250 points added with this update. To sum it all up for you, here's all the achievements and how you earn them.

Note: When you complete something from this list, you will need to talk to a BRD Title Changer to unlock these achievements on your gamertag. You don't have to earn the requirements on your Xbox 360 but you must unlock them with the BRD on the Xbox itself as the option will only appear for Xbox users.

(Insert Job) Lv. 75 - 30g each job
Have the job at level 75.

(Insert Nation) Rank 10 - 30g each nation
Get your nation Rank to 10

Synthesis Skill 100 - 50g
Get a tradeskill to 100, this counts fishing as well. You can only get this one for one skill.

Relic Weapon - 40g
... Yeah. You need a Final Stage Relic to get this achievement. However, it is unknown if a Nyzul Relic counts.

(Insert Expansion) complete - 40g each
Oddly enough, even though I'm on Dawn for CoP, I still don't have credit for it... odd.
Zilart I got credit with Dawn.
Aht Urhgan I got credit with Eternal Mercenary.

Breaker of the Chains - 30g
Complete Apocalypse Nigh and get the title "Breaker of the Chains"

Apollyon Ravager - 20g
Temenos Liberator - 20g
Beat Proto-Omega and Proto-Ultima in their respective Limbuses and earn their titles.

Top Assault/Merc Rank - 30g
Get Captain Rank for Assaults

Dynamis - Tavanazia/Xarcabard Interloper - 30g each
Complete both Dynamis and earn their titles.

Chocobo Whistle - 5g
Get a chocobo whistle from raising your own chocobo

VCS Registration Card - 5g
Retire a chocobo that is in adult stage

Extra Job - 5g
Unlock an extra/advanced job (anything besides WAR/MNK/WHM/BLM/THF/RDM)

Support Job - 5g
Get a subjob, you noob

Pure White Feather - 5g
Go to the past at least once

Ballista License - 5g
Get a Ballista License by talking to your nation's Conflict Director...

Bastok - Invincible Shield - Metalworks - G-8
San d'Oria - Excenmille - Northern San d'Oria - D-9
Windurst - Mhabi Molkot - Heavens Tower, next to the reception desk

... Then go see your two opposing nations leaders...

Bastok - Karst - Metalworks - J-8
San d'Oria - King Destin - Chateau d'Oraguille - I-9
Windurst - Star Sibyl - Heavens Tower, talk to Kupipi at the reception desk

Imperial Army I.D. Tag - 5g
Simply get one Tag for Assaults, you don't have to be in possession of the item when you talk to the BRD Title Changer NPC

Boarding Permit - 5g
Get the permit to allow yourself access to Aht Urhgan

Airship Pass for Kazham - 5g
Get the Airship pass to Kazham

Airship Pass - 5g
Buy it or get Rank 5 to get the Airship pass

Chocobo License - 5g
Get a chocobo at level 20 by doing the quest in Upper Jeuno

Guild Membership - 5g
Level a craft to at least Novice level (28+) and join the guild

Artifact Quests - 5g
Unsure if you need to complete just a single AF quest or complete a set to get a Paragon Title. Its one of the two!

Destined Fellow - 5g
Get an NPC Fellow by starting the chain quest with Luto in Upper Jeuno

Star Breaker - 5g
Cloud Breaker - 5g
Sky Breaker - 5g
Summit Breaker - 5g
Horizon Breaker - 5g
Complete the Genkais: Note that the Genkai 5 must have been completed with a job that fights Maat.

Official Soul Reflector - 5g
Make a Soul Reflector for Pankration.

Unknown stuff: a 20g, 30g, and 40g
One can assume that they are the following:
Get highest medal in Campaign. (Unattainable at this time)
Complete WotG . (Unattainable at this time)
Get a Nyzul Relic Weapon. (Unattainable? at this time)

:3 Good fookin luck in getting all of this done...

Mog to the Future!

After getting BLM to 75 and having that as a great option to do some stuff with (oh and not to mention being a perma BLM in the LS because Lissy is evil), I'm thinking about what other jobs I want to level to 75. Really, at this point I should probably try to go for Maat's Cap but first I want to get the jobs I would enjoy out of the way and just grind the other jobs to 66 later.

Here are some ideas and thoughts for what jobs I would want to level next:

Monk: The Punching (and soon to be Kicking) Fiend!

I figure that I have most of my MNK gear already due to SAM. Another thing is that I have a D. Body Abj sitting in my Mog House and really all I would need is the 900k or so to buy the cursed body. I kinda would place MNK in the same Category as WAR in terms of play style. You pretty much sit there, buff up when your JAs are up, WS when appropriate, use any other abilities whenever. Really, after playing SAM and BLM, I really do feel like playing another sit back job where the majority of the time you'd be sitting there not having to think so much about partitioning your TP so much. It also would be nice for Salvage and maybe even some farming. I'd give this a go... but then I gotta worry about the Belts... Also with the new update to MNK, I would really like to see how this job ends up.

Red Mage: Pimp.

Honestly, I always wanted to level RDM but I just can't be arsed to buy new equipment for it. The problem is that RDM equipment is neither Mage stuff (Seers) or typical melee stuff. I could just go until I hit AF like a gimp... it really doesn't matter though, everyone would want me for my curing, hasting, and refreshing. Debuffing would sorta be a problem for me due to the lack of MND as a Taru but maybe it'll all work out if I equip for it.

I honestly always admired Liseth (Well, I love her too but that's besides the point) and her ability to solo many things in this game. While I don't have access to Gaiters (for now), I do have W. Legs and I would like to do the same things she does and what many other RDMs do. My only real problem is that AF would be a pain in the ass for me and trying to keep up with all the buffing and debuffing that goes on. I can probably do it but I dunno how long I can keep it up...

Dark Knight: "Go Suck on a Moogle"

I took a heavy interest in DRK even prior to SAM. The only real reason why I never continued leveling it is that I went back to playing SAM one day and... Well anyways. I like hitting hard, I like big numbers and I like their abilities of being able to draw HP to deal damage and even having additional buffs to those moments. Plus, I can pick from a huge sword and a scythe and can even make a Zerg build of sorts since I have most of my Homam. I think its an option that I'd like to explore but it isn't really high on my priority list.

Blue Mage: You'll be like Quistis... just not hot.

People have always been telling me that I should level a mage job (at least long before I started BLM). At the time, I drew a lot of interest in this when ToAU came out. However, I chose to not level it due to the fact that the job was still new, it has high potential but I wanted to see everything ironed out before I take it up and become disappointed. Even now, I don't see that many BLU, I still think it is a powerful job but not really a job that I can see myself enjoying all too much at the time. It was still MP reliant and I thought it would be like playing other types of MMOs where it would just be spell/ability spamming. Now, I still feel the same way... but now I feel like playing some Korean MMO. What way to do it other than play BLU? The job also gets stronger as updates occur with new mobs but I have yet to see anything really significant.

Puppetmaster: Oh... I know what you're gonna say...

Despite the ridicule it gets, out of all the pet based jobs in the game (DRG I wouldn't count in this category), PUP seems to be the most fun because it has the ability to be almost as potent as another party member, probably even more so, who knows. It is also very nice because you as the PUP really don't need to concentrate too much on your own gear to function correctly. Can you do the job naked? Probably, I dunno... it really looks like you can or even be close to naked.

That's really it for now. Who knows, I might even pick a job that's not not on this list. I still think FFXI can be enjoyed so much as you unlock more jobs into the higher levels. It gives you another perception of things and opens up more windows of opportunities, even if you play a job that is undesired by End Game LSes. The hard part is leveling up with the idiot people... But that's just something you'll learn to deal with in life.

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

R...

Reborn...
Regeneration...
Revolution...
Revival...
Reality...
Returns! >:o

Okay, so dramatic effect over (and a lackluster one at that!)

Today marks the day that I leave UnforgivenLS. I could go into the details about it but I think I'll save that for another post.

So, what's with the R? Well, obviously I had a few R- words, a list actually, on top of my post. This probably has no real concern with anyone who is reading this, even from people in Carbuncle. However, to me and Liseth, there's a deeper meaning to this. Really can't say what it is in its entirely yet, mainly because its still in the planning stages. We'll see what happens.

In other news though, shocked that generic WAR/SAM outparses WAR/NIN Ridill. Gonna figure out how I'm gonna redistribute my merits. I am a teapot, short and stout~

Wrist Strain = Vinegar + Laptop

I really gotta use the screenshot button a bit more... Need to spice up my posts.

Anyways, Wednesday nights consists of Limbus with UF and Nyzul Isle runs with my usual static.

Limbus... Yeah, I'd rather not talk about it. I mean, what is there really to talk about with Limbus? I guess I say this because after doing so many runs and just experiencing so many Omegas and Ultimas being doing with a huge group and just be messy all the time... It all discourages me to really attempt to bring out anything interesting out of it.

SO YEAH NYZUL!

Nyzul was like what Limbus was to me. Its fun, its different, its random which is not a quality that Limbus has. My Nyzul Static (cool people :3) did 2 60 runs yesterday and manage to pull up a pair of Askar Hands. I already got myself a pair from a previous run, which is great for my WAR since I don't have Dusk Gloves yet. I really should work on that though...

For some reason, my blog just ate like a good chunk of my post that I was writing up, I'll just toss that into a later update. But, here's a bit of Mogdramatica~

Can't really say I like Dynamis except for weird Mog Drama Periods.

Went to do Dynamis - Bastok today with UF. Oi... so far, this run makes me want to run into a knife.

Aside from that: WW71, Fishing 36, going to do Salvage in a bit and yummy cashews to eat.

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

Short Review of Nov 07 Update + WotG

Well, its been roughly 2-3 months since the expansion came out and it will be roughly a month before the next update. I'd like to take this time to kinda review what was presented with the Nov. Update along with WotG expansion being included.

Now mind you, I was gone from the game for about a month prior to the release of WotG and also I transfered servers and also note that if you're reading this and you're from another server, it might be different on your end.

Anyways, lets get started.

Execution of the release

When this expansion came out, the shipment for the PC version was delayed in NA. That sucked... bad. We would be without the expansion for roughly 3 or so days due to the fact that it was released on the week of Thanksgiving. The release date of it was also pretty bad in general, as people with family would not be able to experience the expansion on the first day, and usually those days are the most interesting.

Poorly executed release, though for those who managed to get it for the 360, PS2, or used other methods of obtaining access to WotG without the PC discs but bought the codes from the 360, PS2 release, it was a pretty nicely executed experience, and everything was fairly streamed nicely.

Ease of getting to the new content

For the most part, it was a bit rough to get to do exactly what you wanted to do. The new jobs were easily accessible as it required short quests that can be done within less of an hour's time with very little effort. The main problem was trying to figure out how the Maws worked when you first got in them. Many players went into the past and exited out of the Sauromugue Champaign Maw and then they warped or died or whatever without seeing the other Maws. That was a bad thing to do because they would have to go back to that Maw to go back to the past. The said Maw can only be reached by going through Garlaige Citadel in the present, which is a pain the butt.

As for going through the campaign, it took a bit of effort and figuring out. It took me about a good 5 hours before I was able to partake in my first Campaign, and most of it involved running through unknown territory.

The new zones look very nice and seeing the older zones in a state of war was much exciting. However, I was not fond of the fact that the position of certain Maws and Campaign Arbiters are located in areas that involved a bit of off walking. While the Maws can be understandable, the Campaign Arbiter locations would require a player to spend time and effort and maybe even their EXP should as it involves wandering around dangerous areas even to a 75. I believe some locations were fixed after a few updates.

Campaign Ops, for the most part, can be ignored and does not reward too much of anything. While they are "free" to do, we also have Assaults that are also "free" to do and they reward so much more.

The ranking system in Campaign is a bit of a toss up. The rewards for having a high rank is not as apparent as it should be, the EXP limit that you get from campaign isn't balanced enough to warrant a rank up, except for the fact that you have to keep attempting rank ups to even keep your rank. I found this to be a bit bothersome and even useless at times. While it unlocks more Campaign Ops, the Ops themselves still feel rather meaningless, and many aren't even fun to do.

However, the campaign battles themselves are probably the biggest great addition to FFXI. Being able to solo EXP/Merits/buffer in these Campaigns make life easier for jobs that cannot normally land a party. While this may not replace parties, it is a good filler for times where you are looking for group. One thing that I don't like about Campaign is the fact that everyone solos it to the point where those who are getting beat up will most likely die because there is no support going on. With that said, if you are to do campaigns, bring a healing buddy with you or sub WHM for reraise.

Along with the expansion, they got rid of the Rent-A-Room system and just made it so that you can just walk in and you're set. Inventory was increased to 70, which is a godsend. People can be invited to your Mog House, which is a nice feature but one that can easily be forgotten.

The update itself changed many things, but that is because there was an expansion with it. The next update will most likely continue the story and so far we know there will be changes to campaign. What I would like to see is more Campaign Op changes and probably a better implementation of being able to see when Campaign battles will occur.

The Lament of DRF (1/5): The Beginning

Well, before I start going into the present with how my life in FFXI is right now, I feel the need to let go the past. Best way for me to do that is to write about it. Now that my old LS back in Cerberus broke apart (DownRightFierce), I think I'm more open to write about things, as the only real thing that will happen from this will be fairly insignificant to the point where no one cares. Of course, no one probably would care for what I'll be writing here (and for the next 4 posts after), but I consider this my moment to explain that moment in Cerberus.

==In The Beginning==

The time before I created DownRightFierce was when DynamisLordHNMLS has gone down and a new LS was formed: Thunder. DynamisLordHNMLS (or DL) was a linkshell that was concentrated towards Dynamis. However, it had a problem of trying to do things outside of its own jurisdiction. DL did Sky events, Sea events, and Limbus as well. For the most part, while DL did what it did well, when it came to other things, it became a huge mess. This was not a lack of skill but rather a lack of an understanding of how the linkshell was meant to be ran. As stated, DL was meant for Dynamis and was known as a Dynamis linkshell. However, when it started to reward players for doing Sky events or Sea events and so on, that is where the floodgates began to overflow. When players expect to join a dynamis LS, most expect to join a LS where they spend 3-4 hours out of two days to do Dynamis and thats it, no catches or anything.

Eventually, the linkshell leader lost interest, mainly for the reason that he was most likely overwhelmed by the crap he caused and had other things that he feels is better to focus on. I can't blame him, with all the things that did happen, I don't care if playing WoW is the excuse to leave and quit. If a person needs to get out, they need to get out and while there are many people who can't respect that, I, at least, do.

To this day I still respect the leader of DL. Sometimes, you just want to just sit down, play the game and have fun with it and not give a crap about what items fell to you and so on. I kept this mentality going (for the most part) throughout most of my end game career (and I still do now as a social player). But at the same time, you have people that need tending to when you're the leader. Sometimes, you will just break under pressure and end up tripping all over yourself, regretting making decisions and often times, not able to retreat those decisions. This was probably one of my bigger problems in running DownRightFierce. I made a lot of bad decisions and held a lot of regrets.

We all treat the word regret as a way to say that we made a bad decision and therefore, we look back upon it in a rather negative way. Sometimes, you hold regret in two directions, where you soon realize no matter what decision you pick, it will both end up in an equally bad situation. That's one situation you just don't want to be in your life but it happens all the time.

DL, while having many great memories (along with bad ones) in it, was not the main influence in why I decided to step up to the plate and create DownRightFierce. DL rewarded me with great ideas, but it was the various situations of what I have encountered in both DL and Thunder.

You see, at this time, I was bored with the game. When you lose your main LSes, it kinda happens unless you can find another LS. There were no LSes that I believed would have worked for me after the end of Thunder. I was also sickened at the progress of Cerberus. At the time, server transfers were not introduced, so I was generally stuck with what I had at Cerberus. Cerberus just felt like it was many years behind, which had many reasons behind it really. I do believe the general populous of Cerberus are too lax, too family based, too afraid to step out of that box. I do complement one linkshell to this day though that is actually trying to do something for the people that just don't want to join WhirlingWind or KoN(Now Progeny), that LS being CaptainCaveman. I think out of all the linkshells I've seen in Carbuncle thus far, I can tie it more towards CaptainCaveman than any other LS. Do I think CC is doing better than WhirlingWind or KoN? I can't say because they are of a different caliber.

I really don't have too much to say about Thunder. The reason being is because Thunder, in the long run, did not accomplish too much that I would really say is worth talking about. It isn't to say Thunder was a bad LS, it was more or less the same thing as DL but with less emphasis on Dynamis. It did lack a clear system of what to expect in terms of items. It made it difficult to keep attention of the players as well. All in all, there really isn't much to say about the LS, except after when the LS broke apart.

One night, after the leader of Thunder announced his leave of the game, I was leveling up my WAR while on TeamSpeak with Eugene, Lillie, and Thelan. I don't remember the conversation all that well but all I know is that I said something along the lines of giving people their Haidates and working hard enough to get a full Kirin set. I guess I was angry at the time. RMT were ravaging Sky, the added competition from all the linkshells that were starting just made things harder, and keeping people interested in trying to attempt Sky again and again just made things almost impossible. Did I really keep my words and do what I intended to do?

I knew one thing for sure though, eventually later that week, I was discussing what to name the LS with Thelan and what color the pearl should be. DownRightFierce, in a blue "chi" like color. What was the goal of the LS?

Most importantly, where was I going with this idea and what did I want to achieve?

The only thing I had in my mind was "I was going to make a small linkshell that will be so great."

Was it that great?

Find out next time. >.>

Grand Opening! @_@

Hello and welcome to MogKnight's FFXI blog. Here, you will find blog posts relating to the ever on-going adventures of Mogknight from the server "Carbuncle."

For the most part, this blog will only relate to FFXI related material. For a bit of Mog's real life adventures, you may check the blog entitled "MogKnight's Slice of Life" located the right side of the blog.

Today's entry will be short since I am doing this all at like 1-2 in the morning so, I'll go with a quick introduction.



This is Mogknight. Tarutaru, Windurstian, PLD/BRD/WAR all leveled to 75, SAM currently at 68. Originally from the server "Cerberus," Mogknight has been in various linkshells including DynamisLordHNMLS, YourFantasy, and I have created my own Linkshell named "DownRightFierce." After my girlfriend Liseth (which you can also find the link to her blog on the right) moved to Carbuncle and deciding to devote more time into my studies, I have left the end game circle in Cerberus and started a social take of the game on Carbuncle. Currently, I am in the linkshell "ProphecyReborn" while doing dynamis with "NoLimit."

Well, there is your small quick introduction. @_@ Until next time~