Missing Out

(And we were just beginning to rock the Lab, too...)

To Fhox, Isa, Stoik and Dark, {Please forgive me.} I hope you all know me well enough to know it tore me up having to bail on you - I really hate letting down those who I'm trying to support.

Ape kinda flipped out over this project thing - She and Matt have been working on it off and on for a month and it's due tomorrow. We have a display board, a paper, and a zillion note cards. And tonight, she found out he did the whole thing wrong. He had a rubric that somehow didn't make it home until now and the scoring is for things they didn't even do.

As for you my friends, I hope things went well and many SUs, gil and fun was had. I'll be on tomorrow and Saturday a lot (I hope) and I'd love to make it up to you.

It's bad enough that before we started in the Lab, I wound up nuking a treasure pool Stoik had worked hard to fill. Raki invited us to Zi'Tah but had to leave. I got promoted but didn't see it. When checking the party roster for Stoik's level (because I rarely /check unless I have to) I disbanded instead. *Poof*

Double /facepalm

I Am Ashamed

Today on the way home, a woman on the right of the interstate pulled off with a shredding and smoking tire. I was on the far left and getting to her might have required a U-turn. But I chumped out. I'm sorry lady - I should have done more than nothing. I thought I was better than that.

Nope!

I decided to face Maat, sans DVD recorder.

The good news friends, is by the time I get another test, I may have bought a DVD recorder.

I geared up for about 45 minutes, between shopping (see below) and macroing in things I thought I'd need. I even chatted with Kakuzu about a "no points" event shell (Dyna or Sky I can't recall ><). I do want to start Dynamis soon to try for my Cleric's bits. What I bought: Meds:
Icarus Wing
Sleeping Pots (stack)
Jack-o-Lantern (Acc +10, Eva +10)

Gear (that thankfully I can resell)
Life Belt (Acc +10)
Silk Headband (Eva +7)
Dodge Cape (Eva +5)
Darksteel Maul
Opo-opo Necklace (for slept TP)

I set up buff sets, sleep, cure and paralyna macros. And thinking I had a plan, I traded the test and entered the arena. I had the strains of "Through the Fire and Flames" amping me up. Unfortunately Maat had a song too. Kind of sounded like DJ Aligator Project. Y'know, "The Whistle Song".

As per many others' strategies I opened with Diaga to wipe his shadows. Didn't work, because the subsequent Paralyze and Slow were eaten by clones. I did get off two Hexa Strikes and some curing but then I got silenced and in the next few seconds, he rolled me.

Since I had reraise up and he retreated to the center of the ring, I was able to reraise, use my Buff2 macro (Stoneskin, Blink and Aquaveil) and then watched as Maat nuked with Banishga III followed by a critical. Then some insults.

So, the next time I'll do things a little differently:
* Buff1, sleep TP, Buff2 (and be quick on the pots - they don't last too long)
* Remember to cast Haste and Regen /facepalm
* Either Diaga doesn't wipe shadows or my macro only threw Dia (gotta check)
* Consider running straight at Maat and Divine Seal + Repose to stop him buffing up, allowing me to buff then enfeeb uninterrupted
* Bring ethers (unless potions don't count TOWARD the win condition, then maybe bring lots 0f 'em
* Totally underestimated how much he casts while fighting. Barpara and Baraera! And more Echo drops. Or just shut him right up with a stuck Silence.
* Try my best knowing these adjustments will probably result in more bruises ^^

I was a little surprised that Maat didn't miss me - +22 on top of capped Eva? Seriously? And I think I will work on Shield (56%) and Enfeebling Magic (92%).

Maat-Mashing Time?

(Hexa is Sexah)

Last night I logged in a little early. Ape was so desperate for FB she told me to play rather than bug her for the laptop. Yes Ma'am! ^^

Almost as soon as I awoke Raki was ready to skill up. He's working on Great Axe and was as 153. I agreed not realizing he was level 65, not 70. He's already done LB4 so I figured he'd been XPing all the while. His choice of camps didn't give me much hope for my skills but I wanted to help.

Altepa was kind of a bust for both of us. The desert Manticores gave some SUs but were too few and I really hate that MP cut move of theirs. So we moved to the Tree.

Long story short, he got nearly 10 full levels in about 90 minutes off a mix of spiders and crabs. And a Water Elemental and Aquarius. My only clubs came from the latter, and we took a helluva pounding in the process. When the Water aggroed my magic during a crab fight, Lilrayray (remember me?) asked if we needed help and once it was obvious where this was headed I called for /help. Ray and Samoht came to our aid. I had been using Sufhi in an effort to extend our lives and get her some needed XP and she paid the ultimate price - the Elemental spent a Flood cast on her, knocking her right out. Raki soon bit the dust also ><.

When I spotted Aquarius I mentioned it to Raki. He wound up inviting Samoht (who was still nearby) and we tried as a trio. We all died, hard. Aqua is supposed to be a 71 PLD with accuracy issues but damn if he didn't tear up Samoht and Raki fast... I was able to RR safely then R3 them both.

At 10ish, I told Raki I needed to go and wanted to try soloing the crabs by the Cloister zone upstairs. He expressed concerns over my lifespan taking on 73+ crabbies, but I had enough of a buffer to do 3 die/RR loops. All I needed was 0.7 after all. And I got it! YES! Hexa is mine! And I didn't die once :p

Actually, fighting the crabs (and a Thunder and a fly) gave me some insights into Maat's fight as they hit pretty close to his power and speed. Clearly recasting SS and Blink is probably a no-go.

Speaking of Maat, after some reading, I learned I need to open with Diaga or Banishga to eat his shadows before trying Paralyze or any other enfeeb.

I'm torn over MND building (for Hexa and SS if I recall) versus accuracy and evasion. Thankfully that last run of mobs capped my Eva. Shield is useless at 113 but hey... I think I'm going to gear a mix of MND and Eva and eat some good Acc+ food.

And the more I watch WHM melee vids the more I wonder if they're truly beating Maat physically or just wearing down the timer and/or "HP cured" limits...

If I go through this I'd love to know I won (assuming I can) by beating that Limit Break out of him, not getting it by annoying him to death.

Beach Bum

(soooo booored)

Didn't do a lot tonight since I was doing car stuff all day. I spent less than an hour camping VE before giving up and going to bed. I just grabbed the Matrix 4-pack at Target for 10 bucks and I wanted to watch the Animatrix again anyway...

Lulz of the night courtesy Chukky, a taru BLM who's been hairpin hunting awhile now. I sat to indicate my non-compete status while helping Ape with something. When I came back about 10 minutes later I was standing and Chukky was very pleased with his rescue. Turns out I got aggro again just from sitting! I didn't have the heart to tell him I only took about 20 damage and the HP loss was from Sub, not gobbie and crab attacks.

I was appreciative though and paid my respects.

Weekend Update

Thursday - quiet time with Ape

Fri - late-ish night. Chatting with Dark prolly cost me claim on VE (missed by less than 5 seconds to RNG75 called Linrin). Spent rest of night with Arch and two others for Arch's WS quest. Involved opening Gate of Alteps via 4 columns, then fighting a monster of a scorp. Major wipe, plus it killed 4 idle players not even involved. I R3'ed everyone.

Interesting leadup - we were clearing room, Puma called to back up but Arch got a link. Tried our best to CC but it wasn't working. I deliberately avoided Bene because I believed it would be wasted - we were taking far too much damage and the two ants were still too healthy. I retreated to die in a safe place then raised the group once the lead and despawned.

During the NM fight we were dying and I died, leaving Arch alone. I RR and tried to help him out but it wasn't working. AoE attacks were pretty rough too.

I feel bad about the deaths but I'm satisfied (for once) I handled the situation appropriately, i.e. blowing Bene early or other magical heroics would not have altered the outcome. I did use Bene (I think) during the scorp fight but it wasn't enough. Also felt bad four non-combatants got flattened. Thankfully, once again /SCH saves the day as I was able to speedily R3 7 people.

Sat night - lost claim again, this time while passing a Taru I thought was farming or skilling. Nope, as soon as I ran past, he finished up, saw VE and claimed. I completed my sweep of the far corner and found him in battle.... /sigh,. Got to tease Dark about it tho'. Also ran into Firekiss again (don't tink I've seen her since September and she remembered me as a nice person ^^) and a party wipe. Aaaand a marraige proposal. I did my best to let him down gently.

In WG was witness to major shout war. Tried shouting for SU help then announce I was going to retreat to Jeuno if anyone wanted to come along ^^ Actually got two takers! Cottoneyejoe (PLD/RDM) and Funkysloth (THF/?). They agreed to try SSG and after a lot of running around we found some worthy foes. Not a lot though and it was slow going. We were all getting the odd SU and then on the way lower to the mantas Funky DCed. A fight and 5 minutes later, no Funky. Joe and I continued and had good luck with mantas for SU. He actually made it to 220 from like 212, and I got from 213 to 218.2.

Twice had my CC skills put to the test and I think I did quite well - I'm definitely getting better at it. Had to deal with 3x mobs when I pulled aggro, then alter with just Joe had crab + 2x manta. We packed it in when we decided to give a NM fish DRG a shot and it was clear it wasn't happeneing. Even with long-lasting MP, neither of us were making significant progress. I called for a tele retreat and we eventually made it safely to Mea. We split up there and I was very grateful for his (and Funky's, wherever he wound up) help.

It was already after 3 but I went to Valkurm and camped, mostly alone for an hour but no pop... /yawn

I think I'm going to go after Maat when I unlock Hexa whether or not I get the Empress hairpin. But before THAT, I need to make sure the DVD recorder works. I'm going to have a permanent record of my success or failure!

P..S. Remember me saying I wasn't going to write a backstory fo Aer? Changed my mind - I've got an outline and the opening begun.

Life in the Lab

The last couple of nights have mostly been in Onzozo with several Brigaders. I've been getting the odd skillup (mostly from the toramas) and have otherwise been having a great time. I still prefer /SCH to /BLM (even with Isa and Fhox refreshing). I think it's the poor-man's Convert coupled with half-price spells (135 for C5 and 60 and up for Curagas) that does it for me. I just don't seem to be running low like I do without Scholar's help.

Last night I camped VE for 20 minutes then logged out to spend time with Ape. Fhox was trying to put something together but Isa and I were sleepy and I think he was too. Tonight Fhox wants to mount another assault on the Lord of Onzozo - hopefully he's up this time ^^

P.S. Isa, sorry about the delayed delivery! I need to get back to Windy to pull the scroll out of storage...

An Historic Moment

On Tuesday, just after noon, I made it to our company breakroom. Which was full of people watching the Inauguration events. I snuck in about 2 minutes before Senator Obama took his oath (Who goofed? Roberts or Obama? Hmmm?!) and became Prez #44.

I loved his speech and I hope he meant it. I voted for you Sir and I hope I don't live to regret it. I know much needs to be done and it doesn't all fall on you. I just hope you continue to inspire and give hope to all America as you did to your supporters before your history-making election.

Change is coming indeed - change has already begun. May it all be progress and not regression!

Oh, other historic news - Fhox is logging in regularly and many of the Old Guard are partying/farming/skilling together in places like Onzozo.

Playing With a Headache Sucks

Sunday night's marathon cost me - I felt lousy all day at work and when I got home too. But I logged in at 9 anyway because Raki and I were supposed to go skilling.

When I awoke on the Holla platform, I found RDB, including Raki, at work in Onzozo again. I quickly joined them and for about an hour we wasted anything that moved on the first floor. Initially it was Fhox, Isa, Raki and me, and Bene soon joined. We beat up a few toramas at the end, just as Raki and Isa announced their time was up. I grabbed a couple more levels in magic and I think Eva even dinged. Only a tenth on club ><.

After splitting up I tele'd Raki to Mea and then went on to Beaucedine to finish the Blessed Radiance quest. All that's left now is to visit Palometa and Luto.

Raki mentioned someone in one of the Charby party LSes wondering about /SCH. I invited Raki to set up a dialog because I'd love to hear if I'm missing something. Of course, note that I was /SCH for skilling not NM hunting which I rarely ever do anyway. But now I know what Raki's mt ({Penury} {Sublimation} {Can I have it?}) was all about - he was sticking up for me ^^

Anyhoo, I really need to get club done. I'm tired of being 70.

And P.S. - Isa, check your delivery box later tonight. Blizzard III is yours once I get back to Jeuno.

See you all after Y night!

Long Nights

I can't remember it all, so here's another list:

* Not on Thursday to spend time with Ape
* Saw Mall Cop then was on late Fri...
* More time spent camping VE - missed out to Broly and one other. Can't believe it didn't occur to me sooner to get this thing for Maat fight! /sigh
* Worked on Chameleon Capers (done) and Blessed Radiance (50%) for my lil' buddy Sufhi
* Crafted when the opportunity struck - got to 38.4 and made some money finally. Need Feather Collar for test
* Unlocked Bard
* Actually ran some teles, making about 10k total

Sunday night I got back on to skillup with Raki. We went to SSG and moments after I pulled the first Greatclaw (which never found us from its bridge above) we were asked to help out with Zeroknight's NM run. Raki knows these guys it seems and I didn't mind. The NM? Charybdis a mega-Manta dropper of Joyeuses. It's a big deal for level 70 fighters.

After forming one group for my effectiveness, I saw that TigerKiwi was on WHM/BLM. Haven't seen her since that Zilart mission in Tonberry town. We also had Vin and Okari (sp). The first fight seemed to take forever and then I had to Benecide. I managed to die away from camp so I could RR and continue. I even lasted long enough to unweaken but even with two WHMs it wasn't enough - Charby is too good at breaking shadows with AoE and multi hit attacks.

Then we tried again. This time I went Dark Arts for Dispel and paid more attention to MP (well, not like I didn't before but tried to spread things out a bit more). We were doing better but then Okari's shadows fell and back-to back hits flattened him. Raki wound up dead in the middle of the room where Charby and a friend cruise. I joked he was supposed to kite for 5 minutes while we reraised and unweakened but he said no :p.

Much thanks BTW to TK for having tractor and for helping with curing and raises - I died twice but managed to stay 70 with her help on R3.

We were almost ready for Round 3 when Stweie swept in. Vin tried to beat Stew to the claim but lost by >< that much. We watched as Stewie SOLOED for 5 minutes. NIN/DNC owns, it seems, much like MNK/DNC. Note to self, make DNC a priority after SCH ^^

He was soon joined by two RDMs, Reaumond (sp) and Ominousknight. Raki was discussing in Party chat what a bad move it was for Stewie to be here because he only found out Charby was up from Zero's shell (I think - could be from a common shell?). I wanted none of the drama but did enjoy watching Stewie own Charybdis. Only 3 times did Stewie seem close to biting it, but the very successful Paras from the RDMs gave him time to recast shadows.

Aside from some public catcalls, not much else happened and then we left. I was up for close to 3 hours on this series of fights and am still sleepy. But it was amazing experience nonetheless.

Much thanks to Zero for the chance - don't worry, I'd do it again anytime.

Real Life Geekery

(Be careful what you wish for...)

My current real job can possibly be described as PGM33/JAV05. There used to be a different "sub" there but this is a new thing for me. Well, not entirely new, just new professionally.

I mention this because I have just been given an assignment which must be presented for peer review in like 3 weeks. Starting from scratch. I'm sure I can do it, and thankfully I have a rare item with a latent that grants bonus XP per "battle" when under pressure. JAV05 won't stay that way for long.

However, it's that pressure I'm noting for my friends - depending on how it goes I may be working late or at home to meet the deadline and may see my playtime cut drastically on weekdays. If I do disappear for a bit or lose some of my usual chattiness, it's not you, it's me (Sorry George!).

Wow - Just... Wow

Last night I spent about 2 hours in Onzozo with 7 other Brigaders. Fhox was leading the troops in to kill mantas and possibly the NM King downstairs. That was already a "Wow" moment. Then I screwed up and got aggroed by two regular mantas - for some reason I didn't think they aggroed. I had left the party to help Raki who was trying to reach us and was under attack. I slept one and then returned to the party's camp to avoid more trouble. However, they had picked up a gob and so now we had 2 pissed of mobs. Then three as the other awoke. Then a parade of links as gobs and mantas decided to dogpile us.

Throughout it all, I managed to keep enough MP to heal a lot, and a Benediction helped out too. But Alima still died - Sorry! Thankfully, with R3 and the crazy chain she wound up gaining a little XP. Raki was able to reraise and met up with us. Then Dex came in too, died along the way, and got rescued by Fhox and me. With 8 in the alliance, we took on some toramas and I started getting skillups again - yes!

I announced I had to go at 11:30 and at 11:26, Fhox announced {Last Boss}. We hadn't made it to the King's lair but we were seeing manticores and heavy gobs. I said we could do 2 more. Then, I pulled another {Amateur} when I cast Haste to prep for a manticore fight. There were three Water Elementals nearby but I had seen the closest leave around a rock formation. I can only assume he came around the other way because I started getting hit from behind. We finished him easily and then took on our chosen prey.

The manticore went down OK but I sure do hate their "Max MP Down" move - I wasted an entire Sub charge by popping it seconds before getting my mana pool cut in half. Then a Gob alchemist and his Sheperd friend were to be the last. The Shepherd died first, then the Alchemist. The drops from the Alchemist? White Mage Testimony and Curaga IV. I actually missed Curaga in my excitement over the test, which I desperately wanted. The crew was gracious enough to let me lot. But I think they were thinking Curaga ^^ They let me have that too. Thanks guys! Fhox did get a shot in by saying to use it to be a better WHM lol

We took on one more manticore then split up.

Club is now 211.2 - just a bit more and I can use that test!

Hunting the Emperor

(I'll dethrone him yet!)

Today was a split day - about 50 minutes prior to Y-time, then about 90 before bed. In the first stint, I spent just under 10 minutes killing flies and VE popped. My record so far, 0/1. I headed for Jeuno to sell some Monomi supplies at a loss because I'm getting tired of seeing them in my red list. The resell fees are killing me.

Turns out Ape passed on the Y having too much classwork to grade so after watching some Reba, Still Standing and American Idol, I got the big TV back ^^ I piddled about in Jeuno and then Fhox (you remember Fhox, right? RDB boss, RDM badass?) asked if I wanted to join him, Isa, and Ali in Battalia Downs of the Past killing stuff. It took 5 minutes to zone in and from the moment I pulled out my club to a breakup about 45 minutes later, I didn't have to call for rest once.

We had our hands full too - the gobs loved to link in at will and Smilodons would come by from time to time. Fhox and I handled Sleep duties to keep things manageable but otherwise it was a 4-person beatdown party. Ali's dances helped and Fhox and Isa did the nuke/fight thing.

And me? I wound up tanking for a good bit! I pulled so much hate for sleeping mobs then Curaga 2/3 casts that some of them rarely left me. I also Flashed a lot (to Dark, the spell not the Mardi Gras thing) and my enfeebs (when stuck) pissed them off too.

Isa and I learned a couple neat things about Sublimation. It blocks Refresh for one. And when left alone as a DoT, I can't rest. Using Stoneskin fixes this but, odd... Between Subs, SCH's conserve MP tricks and Starburst, I didn't have mana issues for once. Maybe now I could survive chain-pullers a little better.

Before going to bed I returned to Valkurm and spent 20 minutes or so killing flies but no Emperor.

Random Question For All

Ape and I want to know, when taking a pill (vitamin, headache, etc.) do you put the pill in first or the water/drink?

Any and all answers and comments welcome!

Getting Sand Kicked In My Face

(Fun with other people)

I logged in late - 9:30 and, trying to be good to myself, wanted to log out by 10:30ish so that I might actually get 7 hours of sleep. I saw Archer partying in the Dunes and so OPed there to see about PLing his group as repayment for his help in the Tree. Turns out, he already *had* a PL - Ronuma.

So I ventured over to the Valkurm Emperor's tree stand and, not seeing anyone around, grabbed a fly. I was going to run around and link all four then kill them sequentially so I could watch the repops easily. But my plans took a sudden detour when I saw two mentors standing near the water's edge: Dolphjagsfan and Aalysa (I think, my apologies). Rather, my plans changed when DJ saw me because after a couple of checks he slapped me!

When I arrived they were standing idle NEXT TO A FLY so I assumed they weren't here for VE. I finished off the two I had and was running for the third when Aalysa PMed me saying they'd ben camping for 3 days straight with no luck and that she apologized for DJ's frustration. I thought about my options but not being a total jerk decided to take the high road. I knelt, wished them good luck, and left. ...Just as two more people crested the ridge. Good luck indeed!

Phax had contacted me by now asking if I wanted to sync. I didn't have the time but offered PL instead and he agreed. As I ran across the zone to his bunny camp near the La Theine line he died. By the time I found them it was a 5/6 wipe and the last one was at nothing HP-wise. Luckily as /SCH I could afford the MP to pull off 5 R2's in quick succession. Phax asked after my new abilities and I gave him the "back of the brochure" rundown on Scholar.

I PLed for about 30 minutes. I checked in with their leader Alta who seemed OK with me there. Actually, despite the odd hard hit, I rarely pulled hate. They really had it down. When I announced {Last Boss} x 3 they decided to throw gobs into the mix, but it worked out fine. There were a few dings along the way and I didn't kill anyone this time.

On my way to log out I decided to return to VE - nobody was there. I grabbed a couple of flies for fun but no VE pops. I may have to make a 20-30 minute campout a ritual - I could really use the Emperor's Hairpin on my melees and I can't afford the regular one at 400k!

I really enjoyed tonight. After the grind that was Saturday and Sunday it felt good to be helping other people again. However, I still want to put Maat down and finish off WHM - I'm getting antsy about working on other jobs but don't want to until I hit 75.

Clubbing with Archer

(I know I played late Saturday night - I just don't know what I did...I think I soloed crabs and fish in Gustav for Shield skillups)

Sunday I was on for about 6 hours. I logged in and began hunting for SU help in Whitegate. I saw Damu trying to put together something in GD, and after giving him a chance, threw in my own request. Archer accepted and we quickly OPed to the Zi'Tah region. I love that music, BTW.

Basically, we were there for a couple hours. I don't think Arch expected any skillups but was happy to help and work on his WS quest (300 landed WSes!). Well, when we gave up downstairs when I started capping out, he got more than he planned on upstairs. He pulled ina lot of Sword, Parry, Shield and I can only assume Eva. I got my usual assortment, MINUS club. I think in close to an hour up there I only got a few tenths... Maybe I'm too high for downstairs and too low for up?

We also had some drama when we pulled aggro from korrigans (my fault for not checking their aggro triggers), Goobbues, and a Water Elemental, then everyone else in a great dogpile. I facilitated one wipe by sleeping an angry Goob, trying to get Arch to move, and then hitting it with my club when I forgot I re-targeted to cast and walked close. Arch got himself dead when I got aggroed by the aforementioned elemental. I was sleeping it when he voked and started attacking it. It killed him shortly thereafter. Thankfully it depopped rather than coming after me. I was able to handle the crab he'd been working on and also got him raised.

Another death was mine when we were Sneaking back downstairs and that same Elemental didn't care for my Sneak recast. It hit us both, dropping our stealth and causing everyone else to come after us into the downstairs tunnel. It was a funny sight seeing giant Goobs stuffed into the little pathway. Thankfully this time only I died.

Despite grabbing pumpkins for us after one wipe, I was having a lousy time upstairs. So I think I'll have to return to Gustav or try SSG. 65-69 range overall. One great thing though, other than Club=210, was I also fixed my WHMsch macro bar and really got into the groove of using my "save MP" macro to stretch my mana, especially on the frequent Regen III's and Hastes I was using.

With the deaths came a 2k loss into 69 and no more R3 or Sublimation! So I tried a Campaign battle. One battle, because it lasted like 90 freaking minutes! I did get to hang with Lori and Nutbutter (Missed you guys!). I wound up raising a few people and getting a few myself. I even kited Dee Quia (sp?) for a bit after I pulled his hate and someone nearby was kind enough to stick a Gravity on him so he'd stop with the fast running.

So, I still need 10 club and 8 eva to cap those at 70. And 92 for Shield... The Saturday Gustav skillup experiment worked - TW mobs will grant points as long as the skill cap is below the mob. Man I love VanaCalc - makes this so much easier. I need to share that sheet soon.

Return of the King

(The king...has returned)

Fhox logged in.

It's the first time I've had a conversation with him in maybe 3 weeks. He grats-ed me on 70 ^^.

I continued soloing in the tree, working on the Robber Crabs and doing pretty well. Raki was on RDB and wanted to skill up Axe and made his way out to Zi'Tah. I almost left not knowing he was coming but thankfully heard him mentioning it in shell chatter.

As a duo, we were able to take the DC (well, to me - VT to him) crabs and after about 2 hours with him, plus my first solo hour, I made it to 207 club, 181 eva, 103 shield and 180 enf.

Oddly enough, with him pulling hate I was spending far more MP. Even out-Deffing me, 320+ to 309, he seemed to be really taking a beating. Whenever I could steal hate things were better, as my eva was really kicking in and/or Phalanx was reducing damage nicely.

I need to fix my skillup macros to include party support when not soloing. I also learned to ignore Raki's damage until a Cure IV would fill him up - I was able to take hate pretty often that way. Also, when I could land enfeebles the effect was noticeable.

After over two hours together, the two of us nearly got raped twice. Back-to-back "DC" crabs wouldn't miss, hit hard, and resisted everything... I had to Benecide at the last and we finished one off with maybe 25% HP and vapors in MP. The second I remembered I could use Divine Seal and really jack Curaga III. Again, nearly dead and no MP. But I kept both of us upright!

Laughs of the day came when we were resting and I took off all my gear to check my raw magic stats. Raki ashed "wtf are you doing" followed by "clothes now lol". Shortly after, Dark /poked me in tell and I told him, "Not now, I'm naked... In the Tree... With Raki...". His answer, "ROFLMAO!"

Tonight is Bran's 10th birthday, and the Gators' run for the NCAA "foosball" title. See you all Friday!

Sony Sucks

I called them today to see what the status of "Angry Letter Number Two" was. (Angry #1 went to Akai about my POS TV and the two fails they tried to replace it with).

Nope, Sony can't or won't help me. I told the lady (Toni?) off and will not buy anything Sony again, save for key RPGs on PS2 and FFXI-related stuff. If I do have to buy Sony, I'll focus on used so at least they won't get the benefit.

Also, I'm now going to dive into the PS3 hacking scene and see if any breakthroughs have been made. Eventually, someone will solve this for me and I don't give a flip if Sony cares how I solve it. They made this mess by screwing over a legitimate and lifelong customer. Screw 'em!

Why Didn't I Do This Sooner?

(It's still work...)

I'm talking about skilling up mano-a-mano, rather than being in a SU party. I don't think I considered it until I desperately searched for skillup advice and saw a nugget of wisdom regarding using Phalanx. I have Phalanx! Hmmm... So why didn't I try this sooner?

Well, aside from the fact I can be a little slow, I never thought much of WHM as a soloer. I don't tend to think of myself as a squishy, but I'm no tank, either. But what the hey - I had a good enough buffer and some strategies for soloing skills in the Tree.

Heading in to find Robber Crabs or Steelshells, I forgot the sound-aggro tendencies of a few mobs. Even at 70 I got hate and stupidly ran for it. I totally forgot with /RDM I could bind one, gravity another and set up Stoneskin and cloak. Or teleport. Couldn't warp or escape since I wasn't /BLM. But no, I ran instead and got run over by a crab and crawler mob train. WHOOO-WHOOO~~~

Back at the entrance I tried again. Turns out, I was gimped enough to be able to use the Bark Spiders and wound up getting 10 on club and who knows how many on Evasion. Shield went up too. I did eventually cap out on the spiders and tried Robber Crabs, AFTER returning home briefly for my Lilith's Rod. This, plus Starburst, meant I had MP for the entire fight. Which laster ober 10 minutes per crab. But it's not too hard to stay healthy. Further skillups came but clubs were fewer and farther between, which was odd because according to VanaCalc my current level left several "dings" before capping on the lowest-possible crabs. Oh well.

I ran through maybe 3 crabs before going to bed. Some chatter with Dark and Phax, and grats from Isa on hitting 70 (continued thanks for reading Isa!).

Tonight I plan to continue in the Tree. I checked the scenarios on VanaCalc and it looks like I'm too close to cap on club, eva and shield to make leveling on other higher-ranked jobs useful. I'd have to go into the 50's on other jobs to reach where I am on WHM.

I need 23 more on club, 13 more on eva and about, ummm... 99 on shield. I don't think I'll worry too much about capping that one. But I'd love to face the old man with club and eva ready. I might also pay some attention to enfeebling...

Final Fantasy VII GET! (finally)

(Where's that forgotten copy of Valkyrie Profile?)

A guy walks into a store...

...And for once the FFVII on the wall (when there is one) isn't a Greatest *hits copy, or missing the manual, or [whatever].

All 3 discs, doesn't look faded, discs professionally resurfaced. Nice! And only 60 bucks too. Not bad for a timeless classic.

Now, to begin the long process of converting it for PSP use...

70 The Hard Way

(I caved...XPed on WHM again)

For New Years, we did stuff IRL. Then I got to do stuff online later:

Saturday:

I crafted sanjaku-tenugui. 13 stacks. 34.2 to 37.5. Only lost 5 each of Cotton cloth and thread, about 4k. Sold about half of them and will keep dumping them. Looks like about 20 go through Jeuno every day at about 7k, and I prefer these to ninja socks because the ingredients are plentiful from either the guild shop or AH.

I partied, very briefly, on WHM, synced to 59. I swear I almost forgot how to main-heal at that level. No disasters and I ended the party (was warned about Last Boss) by Beneciding and pulling hate. I actually got a Stoneskin off while being hit. I needed to Benecide because they had pulled a little fast and I hadn't rested. Also, I think two of the front-line had been poisoned, so Bene took care of my curing and status problems.

Sunday:

I ended about 4.5k short of 70 and for some brain-dead reason opted to get it in Campaign. I haven't been to the past in so long I got busted down to Ribbon 1. I ran 4 battles and got 2k and 1.6k from one pair, 500 from one and I think 900 off the other. Plus piddly XP from a few Crystal Fist synth lessons. The battles took forever but they were fun. In one, I wound up in West Saruta kiting two Yags around waiting for reinforcements from the Optistery.

In any case, I got 70 in Meriph, popped my Raise III scroll, had no takers left dead in the mountains and warped home to try out Sublimation with a fully-powered WHM main. Dayum. Can't wait to PL now!

I still need 37 club points before I face Maat, and I'd love to see if anyone I know is trusting enough to rent me a K club for the fight when I have my junk together. I'm more than willing to pay for the rental, too.

Any takers? Any referrers? Post back please! ^^

Firsts Before the First

(I'm happy)

Hey all! I got a little time in today and wound up doing a few things for the first time:

First mog party with Raki, on his mule Miniraki. I think my "grooming" macro may have surprised him ^^

First Recall run as a tele-whore

First use of Dispel as a WHM/SCH. I have GOT to get this Maat business sorted so I can hit 70 and enjoy the multiple benefits of /SCH: Nearly-capped BLM magic, cheaper faster casts and of course, Sublimation

First Guild Points drop-off (Vagabond Tunica)

And in real life, I heard my dad's present for my mom on their 40th: he wrote her a song. He's played guitar forever and he wrote her an AMAZING love song! I told him that of all the things he's done (and he's done a lot of *interesting* things in his life) this was the coolest. I almost cried it was so romantic.

Today (1/1) is Aerin's second birthday - yay!