Final Fantasy XI Then...

[C']

I'd be interested in VNM (especially if we could do tier 3 for my OAT katana drops).

[djtickle]

Yeah i think its just adding a few extra numbers to do what we currently cant (or have to use some horrible low man method). As at the moment its always tobal, rare, rep, dara, eld and myself in the shell.

I dont mind creating a new shell if you want to keep Rargh to get away from stuff or we can do it in rargh its up to you guys like i said i dont want to step on anyones toes.

[C']

I know Rep did try to get a few VNMs going a couple of weeks back, but people went off to do EXP parties and stuff at the time that was suggested and people ended up logging off so nothing happened.

We did do some low man VNMs a while back though when they first came out and the majority we tried were very easy with our 6 man group.

[Rep]

Regarding stuff, been meaning to organise ****, but I've been so busy lately. There's plenty for us to do though.

Are we doing some leveling tonight for main jobs?

Walk of Echoes is pointless at this point, there was a total of 9 people including myself in the zone last night. 1 RDM pulled a slime, which linked half the zone, then all debuffs got resisted, along with shared hate from the mobs.

There's also new Teiwaz Trials, Cure pot goes upto 17% now

[Rep]

Rank 5 prize: "2" (last digit)--, 588,940 winners.
Rank 4 prize: "80" (last two digits)--, 54,994 winners.
Rank 3 prize: "019" (last three digits)--, 5,857 winners.
Rank 2 prize: "4291" (last four digits)-- 633 winners.
Rank 1 prize: "52682" (all five digits)-- 58 winners.

[C']

Definitely no rank 3 or 4 for me this time.

Not sure about rank 1 or 2 but not holding my breath.

[djtickle]

Thought there would be more winners, not as many people playing as i thought.

[Rep]

Just a Rank 5 for me, so picked the Shadow Lord Statue. Was hoping it would be his Shadowreign form, but sadly not. Had 81 as one of my numbers, so just missed out on the Odin Statue.

WotG and Abyssea tonight?

[C']

So, Howl from the Heavens has to be one of the greatest quests in the game so far both in terms of the quality of the cutscenes and the battle itself which was quite unique and fun to play.

In fact, I have to say that Wings of the Goddess is right up there challenging Chains of Promathia as the greatest add-on in terms of storylines. I will spoiler my thoughts but there is a few things I wanted to get down in writing. Obviously people who haven’t done this quest shouldn’t read on until they have so I guess only Tobal will be ok to read this post but would be interested in hearing other people’s thoughts.

I’ll split the spoilers into pre-battle and post-battle cutscenes so people who have done the prep can read if they want.

Pre-Battle

->Open Spoiler<-

First off it was good that they at least acknowledged the cutscene at the end of the previous set of missions that strongly implied that Robel-Akbel was one of Lilith’s spitewardens. Whilst he was his usual enigmatic self in explaining that moment away we did finally learn that he is of course not the original War Warlock Robel-Akbel but in fact another time traveller from an alternate timeline where clearly the Fenrir summoning either didn’t happen or went wrong.

I think the scene between himself and Karuha-Baruha was most telling as although we didn’t see what was underneath his bandages, his reaction implies that there was at least something under there (suggesting that he is not a spitewarden at all who, as best as I can tell, have no faces). Maybe I’m assuming wrongly here but my impression was that Robel-Akbel was in fact Karuha-Baruha himself.

And the scenes just before the battle were so incredibly well done. Young Ajido-Marujido has been brilliant in all the cutscenes so far but I particularly enjoyed the moment where his father Zonpa-Zippa basically told everyone that they should have him around as he’s probably a better black mage than most of the adults was brilliant.

Post-Battle

->Open Spoiler<-

It’s cutscenes like these that made me glad that I worked through all nation storylines last year as although I imagine this is an awesome cutscene regardless, it just feels that bit more epic having gotten Windurst rank 10. Finally seeing what is probably the single most important moment in Windurst’s history actually in person was every bit as impressive as I’d imagined. The combination of the sheer might of Fenrir tearing through the confederate armies in combination with the Alexander battle theme was incredibly well done.

I thought the quick scene where Karuha-Baruha spoke with Ajido-Marujido was quite telling and you have to wonder if this is the moment that led to him becoming obsessed with Windurst’s hero as detailed throughout the Windurst rank missions. Certainly that’s what I feel S-E were implying.

Obviously no surprise as to what Karuha Baruha’s fate (which still felt especially tragic despite knowing it was coming) but was a little shocked that Robel-Akbel suffered the same as there still unanswered questions. Whilst it became clear that his actions were all done for the benefit of Windurst just WHY exactly was he in that Lilith cutscene?

And as a RNG it was interesting how this tied into the RNG AF quests. When the Shikaree told Lehko that the caravan that Nhev and Syu Befrathi was travelling with was attacked by the yagudo, this moment is actually shown via a flashback cutscene during RNG AF (albeit the cutscenes were a lot more simplistic in those days). Been a couple of years since I cleared those but if I’m remembering correctly there is some ambiguity as to whether or not Syu Befrathi is Semih Lafihna. Think I may replay those cutscenes when I get some time just to get a full grasp on this.

Oh and we now know how Perih Vashai came to obtain the Bow of Light that eventually led to her blindness.

All in all, probably the storyline I’m most excited about finishing off (and I thought nothing could top Bastok’s cliffhanger during the previous set of quests).

[Rep]

Obviously i've not read the the spoilers but it's just occurred where in the time line this quest takes place. So pretty psyched for it now. I collected the Magicite last night, so ready to go.

[Rep]

So Walk of Echoes then, it's obvious now that it's not designed for random people hanging about the zone. Managed to squeeze in with a HNMLS last night on the slime battlefield and despite a wipe half way through, was the most fun i've had in ages.



Just got beaten on Cure VI too:

[djtickle]

Finished with ASA over the weekend went 1/1 on the final boss were I was expecting another moogle effort. So was pretty chuffed. Not got my rewards for either yet as really not sure what to get, even more so with the legs. Any ideas?

Gonna hopfully push on with Wings, will give you a shout rep if i can get a grp together for that Windy BC.

Also going to do a Abyssea Run tonight in the LS i created if any of you wanna come along at 8pm. Had quite a lot of interest so should be good but will see how many turn up. Defo names thou off top of my head are Me, Tobal, Berem, Danl, Moridin, Monkee, Entreri so a good few there.

[C']

Looks like the Wiki has finally updated it's update details page so it's easier to see all the gear that was added last week.

http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/2010_-_(06/21/2010)_The_Version_Update_Has_Arrived!/Details

Some pieces that stand out to me:

Arcane Cuffs
DEF:23 MP +20 INT +2 Magic Attack Bonus +4
Lv.78 WHM / BLM / RDM / BRD / SMN / BLU / PUP / SCH

I imagine Morrigan's still win overall but would these replace Zenith Mitts?

Augur's Gloves
DEF:20 INT +7 MND +7
Healing magic skill +5
Enchancing magic skill +5
"Cure" potency +4&#37;
Lv.79 WHM / BLM / RDM / BRD / SMN / SCH

Best curing gloves by quite some way I think.

Timarli Dastanas
DEF:21 STR +4 Haste +4% "Subtle Blow" -6
Lv.79 WAR / PLD / DRK / BST

Best TP gloves for those 4 jobs, no questions asked.

Ocelot Gloves
DEF:22 DEX +4 AGI +8 Haste +3% Enmity +3
Lv.80 MNK / THF / BST / RNG / NIN / BLU / COR / PUP / DNC

Similarly, unless you have Dusk Gloves +1 these are new TP gloves for the jobs that can equip. Haste gloves for MNK is new too.

Loki's Kaftan
DEF:58 DEX +11 AGI +11
Ranged Attack +13 "Store TP" +7
Increases critical hit damage
Lv.79 MNK / THF / RNG / NIN / BLU / COR / DNC

I'm pretty sure this would replace Kirin's Osode as the ultimate RNG TP piece for those RNG who never created a Snapshot Mirke Wardecors. The loss of STR+10 is likely to result in slower lower damage per hit but the Store TP is massive boost when working on a 5-hit build.

Arcane Robe
DEF:51 MP +30 INT +10 MND +10
Adds "Refresh" effect
Lv.80 WHM / BLM / RDM / BRD / SMN / BLU / PUP / SCH

Would this replace Dalmatica?

[djtickle]

Nice!

Arcane Robe would replace Dalmatica in my view yes defo.

As for

Timarli Dastanas
DEF:21 STR +4 Haste +4&#37; "Subtle Blow" -6
Lv.79 WAR / PLD / DRK / BST

Id still use homam for PLD and DRK for the ACC. Depends how much ACC you have in other slots.

[C']

I can't imagine your DRK especially would miss the acc+4 that Homam offer. Haste is so incredibly potent (to the point that it's almost overpowered) that you need so much of it to even compare to 1&#37; Haste increase in terms of DoT (especially for 2Hers).

Put it this way, jobs that can use Blitz ring (Haste+1%) are dropping either a +5 or +7 accuracy bonus to get that 1% and see an increase in damage on all but the most evasive mobs.