Defeating Evil Through Dance

June 18-19, 2008

Wednesday was a non-day, since all I did was log in to check auctions.

Thursday, I jumped on at about 10 (thinking it was 9) and soon got a party on Dancer. I really wanted to ding 30 for the new abilities, armor options and satisfaction of progress. When invited by Kimka, I was told we were headed to Sauromugue Champaign to fight evil. Evil Weapons that is. I don’t think I’ve ever camped here, although it’s convenient to Garlaige, the next stop in the level grind.

We were loaded on the healing, with two dancers, Opobant and me and a WHM, Americanangel. We even had a PL. We also had a NIN and DRK if I recall, and 4 of us could cast Utsusemi. The party was largely easygoing, with all of the heal-capables throwing out HP boosts. I handled Quickstep and Opo did Box to enfeeb. Darion (sp), our ninja, used a couple of the elemental ninjutsu techniques as well. For the most part, the Weapons went down smoothly, but not too quickly. I believe my Quicksteps helped some, seeming to really kick in at level 3.

Pretty deep into the party, American quizzes me in party chat about tnl and I reply. Later she PMs and I reply again. She (and probably the others) were concerned about me gimping XP because, once again, I was the lowest-leveled. I did finally ding and we carried on until Darion got wiped out by a Weapon. I had been standing up looking for cough drops on the coffee table and had looked away for a minute. I checked the screen and saw him in the yellow so I reach for my Curing Waltz II macro. What I didn’t see was that the Weapon had already prepped Smite of Rage and it landed before I could take a single step.

The rest of us finished the Weapon and literally, NOT ONE WORD was said in public or party chat. Our PL raised, and he waited out weakness in silence. I felt really bad but wonder why neither Opo nor American did anything either. I can only assume Darion’s shadows fell and he got rocked by a hard hit or crit, and Smite landed too quickly for anyone to stick anything on him.

Speaking of that, this particular PL didn’t impress me. I don’t recall his name, and I know PLs are usually volunteers, but he seemed to focus more on enhancing magic, and we had to cure a *lot* more than I’m used to in a PLed party. He definitely helped, but he didn’t seem focused on the tank or main melees. Darion and someone else went orange far too often.

Near midnight, I PM Kimka and ask if he wants a rep. He does, and the seeking players don’t excite. Only a pair of 30’s, which wouldn’t help the XP. He asks instead for me to find a DNC32, and I search all players, finding two. Marlaa responds almost immediately to my blind invite and after 10 minutes or so, she’s on hand to rep me. I say my goodbyes and head back to Jeuno.

I take a few more minutes to change back to WHM, warp home, and check out the level 30 gear available from our War Warlocks. Opo was wearing a strange mix of gear and or course he was probably kicking my butt on accuracy and damage. He had a couple of the Mercenary’s items which I can buy for 4k CP each. I need to find out what stat boosts accuracy and what helps evasion because if I swap the Bone/Beetle gear I need to know it won’t make me a worse dancer.

Oh, speaking of Opo, before we got rolling, I joked about how tall he was compared to me. He’s Elvaan, but I think I might have been half his height.

Now, as for the mention of the miscue on the clock read… I thought I was going to play for 2 hours, ending at 11, and go to bed when Ape did. Since I started late and we were fully involved, I had to skip out and she got upset. I need to make it up to her, and since she’s roped me into game night at Cari’s maybe that’s how ^^