Final Fantasy XI Then...

[Tsingtao]

New member found! Bryjazz - think he's quite high level 60 odd I beleive

Was partying today down in Valkurm Dunes when whop should I run into but a scotsman from my very first ever party. Was chatting away and asked if he was interested in a Euro / Uk LS to supplement the one he had and the man said yes...

So can someone either let me have a sack when I',m next on or pass this fella a pearl and let him know it for the LS I told him about. Should provide us with another frequent player

[Marvelon]

Bry partied with our static for a while, and I believe he has been given a pearl before but hes levelled past us rather quickly. We'll sort him out tonight though.

Party last night was good, as usual. 8k in just under 3 hours (or so) is very respectable ^^. More tonight, I believe.

On the other things to do list... Serious stuff this. Like Rare I've not quit, but recently due to good games coming out out (not Tekken5 ><, Shadow Hearts: Covenant) I've not been online much, lately I've found I'm not having as much fun. I've taken up the plan to level WAR/thf a bit. However, I also have taken up the idea to flog all the equipment I have that I'm not using for PLD, so that means all my lv 30 Promy gear O_o and use the cash from that to fund WAR/thf which I think will be fun to level as a side job.

[Darwock]

We were partying with a scouser named Dunpeal last night. If any sack-holders meet him on their travels he's a potential member as well.

[C']

On the other things to do list... Serious stuff this. Like Rare I've not quit, but recently due to good games coming out out (not Tekken5 ><, Shadow Hearts: Covenant) I've not been online much, lately I've found I'm not having as much fun. I've taken up the plan to level WAR/thf a bit. However, I also have taken up the idea to flog all the equipment I have that I'm not using for PLD, so that means all my lv 30 Promy gear O_o and use the cash from that to fund WAR/thf which I think will be fun to level as a side job.

I?m hearing you Mihki. I?ve been doing some reminiscing of late. Mostly because on Wednesday this week I finish work at lunchtime and don?t return to work until the day after Easter Monday. That is close to 2 weeks off. The reason I reminisce is because I had a similar period of time off this time last year. However, whereas last year I was having a blast levelling my character (I think I was about NIN25 and was working towards having Federation gear (at the time 20k per piece seemed like a fortune) the fun just isn?t there at the moment. The motivation to log on is lacking.

This is unrelated to Wedge being ?bored? as I have plenty to do in game, and plenty of aims. I guess it?s just a lot of it seems to require more and more gil and matters don?t seem to be improving, as was demonstrated when I checked the Jeuno AH last night.

A week ago the price of a piece of armour I want had a history ranging from 600k-800k with the 4 most recent going for 750k. However there was then a jump with the next 5 that were sold went for 1 million gil. Now people have been saying that the inflation happening in game is natural economics but to me a jump from 750000 to 1000000 is not natural, but a sign that something is seriously wrong. I can still afford it if I desire but whereas the previous price left me with enough money (or close to) a second Sniper Ring, buying it now would leave me well short.

But, again like yourself, I have been thinking, maybe ignore NIN for a bit and level another job. As has been demonstrated when I level my second character with Vanicent, I can still have a lot of fun with FFXI (although his Uni commitments mean levelling on that character is limited) so possibly the problem lies at the stage of NIN that Rarehero has reached. I?m currently thinking about:

THF/NIN ? already at 30 (although I did say this should be deleveled to 15 to make amends for THF/BLM stupidity early on). Good thing about this is that many of the key pieces of equipment needed by a THF I already have from my NIN.

WAR/THF ? I enjoy this job combination so much. Much less stressful to just play a pure DD role. Only problem is that whilst my use of a Great Sword I have been able to get away with as it?s a subjob, I will need to level Great Axe properly should I wish to take it further (and have G.S. in support depending on SC needed). Again I have some good quality transferable equipment from NIN

BLM/WHM ? this requires more effort on my part. Although I have BLM15 my WHM is 1 which means both subjob and main job need levelling. Also would need whole new equipment sets.

DRK ? I love Great Swords and this job allows me to play with one as my main weapon. DRK do get a lot of stick in game (often referred to as a n00b job) even by myself, although always tongue in cheek, but a well-played DRK can be truly great.

The problem with all this is that, deep down, I want to be NIN, and any time spent doing stuff on other jobs, I may feel as though I am wasting time to push that job forward. With all this, I tend to feel all conflicted and in the end don?t log on and just play something else.

I?m struggling >_<

[Marvelon]

That post rings so true Rare, its scary. For one, the reason I've decided on WAR/thf is that it's at 37 currently, and with my THF at 25, I can take it to 50 with no worries (at which point, due to Rampage, WAR/nin with dual 1h-axes becomes the better option) so it means that I only need to get the equips to get this job to lv 50.

Basically I just want to go out, swing my GREAT axe combined with Sneak Attack, eat Rocking food and show every party I join just how powerful WAR/thf really is ^^

the reason for wanting to sell off my gear is that I find having two sets of gear firts in my inventory/moghouse without having to send stuff back and forth between mules, which suits me.

And yes, a jump from 750,000 to 1,000,000 is NOT inflation. It's Wrong. I think a good idea atm would be to shut down the AH for 3 days and reset everyones gil to 100k. A lot of people would leave but who needs 'm? They can't complain because, and the rules state this, you can't have bought the gil with money, so you didn't lose any real-world cash, so prices will plumet, because there will simply be no-one with 6-7 million to spend

[talizker]

I'm sleepy!

Well, it was another late night, another death and another push towards 30 in the Jungle...

Finally finished at 29 +2.2k which means 30 +buffer seems to be entirely possible tonight and given a good party should also leave time for a trip to Dem to farm for Hysteroanima. Darwock made 30 +buffer last night so things are falling into place for Promyvion-Holla.

Speaking of which, I am asuming it's still on for tomorrow (9pm?) and was wondering if there was a confirmed list of people going? Is it going to be our previous single group setup or (hopefully) a nice LS event? Do the people going have any Anima's yet?

[Tsingtao]

Top work Tal,

As far as I know at the moment we have the core party again, Tsingtao, Hicory, Talizker, Darwock. After that we were going to try to find 2 rangers to fill up the remaining spots (think gemlni is going to come, ranger from the first run) to give us...

PLD/WAR
WHM/BLM
SMN/?
BLM/WHM
RNG/NIN
RNG/NIN

Reckon wth that set up we should be good to go kill the thing. I can go WAR/NIN but not aving played it much I'm concerned I could get us all killed if I do.

Plan is to go the same routine as the first time with full buffs this time. Use a pysho anima straight off and then spam hystero from 75% onwards. Was thinking of staying poisoned from almost the start as well this time.

Found out one important thing as well, each character can only activate 1 anima at a time, so to stack psycho and hystro we'll have to work in pairs.

So what's this I here about selling your promyvion gear Mihki going to give it a break? If you're looking for something new in the game though CoP could be your perfect remedy, loads of L40 to quests to do...

...so anyone else from the LS up for tomorrow? Like I said once I've done this one I'm up for helping others get holla or dem whilst we look to get the full set with Mea.

[Darwock]

heheh, yeah.. after all my worrying about how to get back to Kazham, in the end a Goblin Smithy very kindly showed me the way. After being holed up in the jungle for what seems like ages with no access to signet, my crafting materials or food it was a weird experience heading back to Jeuno - civilisation again!

I really hope there is a 2nd party from the LS coming along for Holla, it seems to be the best way to safely get to the top.

[Darwock]

For holla, I intend to start my astral flow at around 50% - I'm not looking to use it as a finishing blow because for one thing it's impossible to predict when it's HP will get that low, and I don't want to waste the opportunity to do a full three attacks. It should help accelerate it down to the point where you guys can finish it off though. The other advantage of using it earlier is that it will most likely ease pressure on the tank until Ramuh is defeated.

Early last night I had a perfect example of what I don't want to happen - we got goblin aggro in our party, I 2hr'd and Ifrit readied Inferno, then the whm cast a cure which drew hate and the goblin ran right out of range so Inferno was wasted.

I'm trying to think how to deal with this possibility - binds don't stick, and it's too dangerous having everyone standing closer to the boss. I guess if I macro in a 3 second warning then people could hold off any big attacks or cures that might draw it away? Also I should try and time it so it's right after one of your provokes Tsingtao.

Fighting the Yhoator mandies has revealed another potential problem - avatars get put to sleep just like the rest of us, but they can't be poisoned. The only way I can get them back is to release them and summon a fresh one. Meaning I would really like to do my blood pacts in a period where hysteroanima is taking effect... if this means I have to start at 75% perhaps I should do that.

Lastly - Terroanima is going to f*&k it up completely if I'm in the middle of this process.

[vwilsonuk]

Early last night I had a perfect example of what I don't want to happen - we got goblin aggro in our party, I 2hr'd and Ifrit readied Inferno, then the whm cast a cure which drew hate and the goblin ran right out of range so Inferno was wasted. (snip) Lastly - Terroanima is going to f*&k it up completely if I'm in the middle of this process.

All good stuff here Darwock, would it help if I was close to you, so that if I drew hate the mob would move towards both of us? Or is any movement a problem. WHM shouldn't generally draw that much hate, if they do the healing is clearly going to t!ts.

Also the crazy terroanima thing - is that where it runs round and around? I'm not sure what the best time would be to use this - at any point we kind of need it to be in the same place so dmg dealers can target it. I wonder if it affects rangers? We might be able to use the terroanima early or late and just have the rangers attacking while it is in effect.


Hicory

[Tsingtao]

How about using teros straight out of the box and allowing the nukers to spam damage for 3 animas worth. After that drop terro number 4 heal MP, I go in tank and then we spam hystero and let the 2 hours go. Only problem could be if I can't get any hate back following the flaying of the thing.

Final though was I'll set up macros to tell people to use their anima's etc. Last time I found it hard typing so I'll create a party mangement set of calls.

[Darwock]

We did use a terroanima at the end of the 2nd attempt, after which I was the only one alive still in the arena - it was running around going mental but it *didn't* stop attacking. It would hit me, run around, hit me again on the way past kind of thing.

On our 1st attempt it was the ranger who broke the tank's hate first. I think the best formation is to have all the people who are likely to pull hate standing on the same side of the boss. The avatar *can* turn on the spot but it can't move once readying the attack (it's only a couple of seconds wait but that's all it takes to miss!). So if I send it in from the side where you are standing, even if it runs that way it may still be in range once it turns.

Where I am standing won't really affect things much. I'm just going to stay right back until I have to move closer to issue orders to the avatar. On some occasions the use of astral flow itself can draw hate so for that I'll make sure I'm in the right place. Oh yeah I'll also be taking poison from the start this time!

[Darwock]

How about using teros straight out of the box and allowing the nukers to spam damage for 3 animas worth.

The problem I can see with that, with my black mage hat on again, is that Talizker would then run out of MP very quick at the start. Even a lot of hi-ethers aren't going to sustain constant nuking for the duration of 3 terroanimas, and then he'd only be left with a lot of resting and a manafont if we're still alive.

Also what I already mentioned, it still hit me while in the terro state last time (either that or the condition only lasts a very short time!) so it won't guarantee you can rest for MP. ANother possibility just occurred to me - maybe the fact I attacked it while it was running caused it to snap out of the terro effect, which is why it then attacked me.

If that's the case, and we cant attack while it's running, then it's definitely got to be used only when tal & hic need MP (but not if I'm in astral flow!!).

[talizker]

I was just having a quick look at the food options for tomorrow and I think I will take Melon Pie +1's:

Melon Pie +1
MP +30
Intelligence +5
MP Regeneration While Healing +2

BUT, does anyone know how much this godly sounding food costs???:

Ambrosia
HP +7
MP +7
Strength +7
Dexterity +7
Agility +7
Vitality +7
Intelligence +7
Mind +7
Charisma +7
HP Regeneration While Healing +7
MP Regeneration While Healing +7
Evasion +7
Defense +10
Accuracy +7
Attack +10

I am guessing a SERIOUS amount of gil^^

[Marvelon]

I know it seems counterproductive Tsing, to stop playing Promy to make the game more fun, but at the moment, I just can't be asked to go through the whole Promy thing, I want to have some mindless fun. Promy to me just means: Having to keep 3 sets of armor (PLD60, PLD30 and a lot of switchout/secondary job gear) plus Anima's, Medicines etc. When I store it on a mule, it just becomes more hassle to get ready for it. And then everyone else is STILL late, so I'm waiting for god knows how long to get started.
And to do what? Fear for my exp, get annoyed with people who do get aggro only to get to a boss that costs about 10-15k to defeat. bleh, no thanks.

I'm flogging all the stuff, sending back to Tobal what I have borrowed and I'll start on assembling a set of gear for a lv 37 WAR/thf, something I can level on my own whenever I feel like it.