Final Fantasy XI Then...

[C']

Make sure you compare the price of synthing Shihei versus the cost of simply buying it. At times, depending on amount for sale it is sometimes cheaper to simply buy it. For example a few weeks ago I was getting stacks for 6k (which is 24k for 4 stacks). Comparitvely the items to synth came to 35k.

Obviously the above comparison is assuming there are now breaks and no HQs in all 12 synths. I levelled woodworking to 60 with the pure intention of HQing Shihei and have been doing tests to try and find an optimum time to do the synth and even when I?m 31 levels above the cap I don?t get many HQ synths (I?ve done multiple tests on Lightsday and Darksday and all times got 2/12 HQs).

When deciding whether to synth or buy my Shihei I just check the prices on the ingredients. If the price works out the same (or close, i.e. 1-2k more) it?s worth synthing. However when the price goes towards 5k extra to synth, buying is probably more cost effective.

So you can work out, the ingredients on Shihei are:

1 Black Ink (Materials >> Alchemy, about 8-9k a stack)
2 Bast Parchment (Materials >> Woodworking, about 10-12k a stack)
1 Wind Crystal (Crystals, 4k for stack or cluster)

Shihei last few days has been 8-9k per stack but can go down below 7k when there?s a lot for sale.

[talizker]

Thanks Rare - that is spot on. Will get my head round this when I log on and figure out the best option.

/salute

[C']

Oh and try and heed Apathye's advice regarding the dual tanking. Before Utsusemi: Ni a NIN really struggles to tank on his own (I did it a few times but dual ninjas was always preferable).

In the least you need another melee with provoke and decent armour to do so in between recasting Utsusemi: Ichi (it's a 4 second cast so barring an evade or Parry you will likely get hit mid-cast and interupted). However the best thing is another Utsusemi user (which in the dunes levels is another NIN only).

You essentially trade hate between the 2 of you. The first person has his 3 shadows used up then the second NIN provokes and does the same, giving the first time to recast and so on. When done well it is an amazing sight with little to no damage taken.

I've even expereinced the difference recently. Tried tanking an ENM solo and it was a horrible mess whereas me and Moot dual tanked the harder Promyvion boss version of the mob and it was much smoother.

[Tobal]

Exp took a while to get going last night, the trip in the U.range was abnormally painful, with Apa taking 3 deaths in row on a single slope of the climb we did, half funny/half embarrassment wondering what the hell was going on just little bit behind us. Still we made it to the other side and started exping, the 1st 30 mins didn?t go so well, ninja got doomed and then owned when his shadows fell though and 2 hits later with no cures from Mr.helpful, death. Unhelpful then got himself killed with curega 3 when it wasn?t needed and hate wasn?t set at the start of the fight and proceed to say couple racist words and the party went quiet for a while. Still after that it ran like clock work and made good exp with the 1hr we had left.

15k to go.

So who?s up for ENM Dem (maybe Mea if anyone?s up for it) tonight.

Me ? War/nin
Wedge ? brd

Anyone else?

[C']

Hmmm, if you're going to ENM as WAR/nin I'd be more interested in coming as NIN/war

[mikewl]

Im up for the ENM, I can either do Brd or Whm for Dem, need to level both so whichever works best.

[mikewl]

Tsingtao and Talizker, how would Thursday evening be with you for another BCNM20, would be good to get it out the way before the weekend.

Also anyone else that wants it could also go, we could switch players to get everyones drop.

[Tsingtao]

I could be up for a ENM later, couple of things though...

Do we have a WHM?
Remember if we do them tonight we won't be able to do them Sunday afternoon.

As for BCNM 20 yes I'm up for one, I'm serious considering just getting another couple of bodies and buying my hands and head. What I will need to do is farm some more seals soon, down to 70 now so can do 3 more runs. I would suggest going to level 1 of the promy zones and we can try to farm the map items at the same time.

[mikewl]

For the ENM we will at least have Holla available for Sunday, I could go as whm tonight unless Mosley does.

As for BCNM20 I wouldn't mind giving the other BCNM20 a try just for the challenge, but could do with doing the same one again just to make some more money.

[talizker]

Tsingtao and Talizker, how would Thursday evening be with you for another BCNM20, would be good to get it out the way before the weekend.

Also anyone else that wants it could also go, we could switch players to get everyones drop.

I want to do some more for sure but now I have arrived in the Dunes and all my equipment is Mule'd I am going to have to wait until i'm done there (which realistically is going to be after the weekend. Certainly don't mind doing it several times if other people need the drop.

[vwilsonuk]

Japanese tonight, so no major game plans.

I want to do some more for sure but now I have arrived in the Dunes and all my equipment is Mule'd I am going to have to wait until i'm done there (which realistically is going to be after the weekend. Certainly don't mind doing it several times if other people need the drop.

Once my NIN sub for RDM is up to ten I'm happy to do the BCNM20 for the Mannequin Body as often as you like Tal

[C']

Well last night?s ENM was a bit of a cluster****. We won (by some miracle) but it seemed myself especially was not on form.

Plan was for me and Tobal to go as NIN and WAR respectively and duo tank. Wedge and Mosley both were involved so we were left shouting for a DD and healer. Got the DD easily (a mithra willing to come as BLM or DRG) then we got someone who said they would be our WHM.

Decided to have a bit of fun with them whilst we waited on said in PT chat ?I just bought my account this evening, can anyone explain how to play NIN??

Big mistake!

The person who offered to be our WHM (who was a SAM at the time) became convinced that I actually had bought my account that evening (if I had I highly doubt the first thing I?d have done would be join an ENM). Eventually they started asking me questions (how did I get rank 7, how do you unlock NIN) and I think I convinced here that I was actually joking.

Mental note ? don?t joke with strangers in future about buying account -_-;

This WHM then started asking if she could come as any other job (despite the fact we needed a healer). After listing through her jobs and getting no response from Tobal she bizarrely explained that she didn?t need ?this one? any more and disbanded. Odd.

Luckily we got another WHM and headed out. Started fighting the memory receptacle on the first floor and my connection drops. For some reason wireless connection wouldn?t hold up and kept dropping. Took 15 mins of restarting and repairing the connection until it went stable.

When I eventually logged on again and we got going again I spotted a further mistake on my part. Job = NIN30/THF30. I?d forgotten to swap my subjob from farming the previous evening.

By some miracle we made it to the spire and the fight, whilst not as smooth as it could have been, we won. Tobal did a sterling job solo tanking. The only positive I brought to the group was finishing off the boss with Mijin Gakure which a least brought a couple of smiles.

Now 2k >> level 70.

Which means I need to step up my efforts to get my Optical Hat. Just need the last Hakutaku eye from Ifrit?s Cauldron. Nyoneme and Apathye have both offered to help but I don?t think either know where to go inside. Therefore I need to do an initial look around. Would be easier if I had a map so I?m going to try and solo the coffer key mobs at the entrance to see what I can get.

[Tobal]

It would be much easier and safer to buy the ifrit eye from pattipatty in port jeuno, a mule carrying wooden, earthen and golden eye?s, its where I got my ifrit one from, for 180k at the time.

[C']

No doubt buying it would be safer but I view this as an opportunity to get a quality piece of equipment with minimum gil spent. I?ve spent so much gil on equipment that I would really like to avoid paying when I can obtain what I need.

It hurt when I bought the Den of Rancor eye for 150k. I vowed to at least try for Ifrit?s Cauldron. Luckily the 2 people who have offered to help have done so without duress (Nyo volunteered without me even mentioning me wanting his help, and Apathye said he would come when he heard Nyo was helping) and I?m sure Nyo is aware of the risks. However I really want to find the hecteyes beforehand to see what they check as (to determine if the 3 of us is enough) and to know where to go.

I guess I really need to just try it out for myself first (which I now wish I had done with the Den of Rancor one). If we fail miserably then I will consider buying it.

Obviously then there is the issue of having it synthed (Nyo has said he knows someone with high enough Alchemy), praying for no break (as a break will always result in a critical failure and all ingredients lost) then getting into a party to fight Hakutaku. Yeah, simple.

I could be level 69 for a while -_-;

[mikewl]

I blame the change in weather for my poor performance last night, I was not with it all day and its because I hardly saw daylight, takes some time to adjust to.

At least last night I got level 59 and finished the night upgrading some of my equipment and adjusting my equipment change macros.

Anything planned for tonight, I would be up for whatever.