Assault

(Learning by Doing)

Tonight, I had another first – I was able to get a spot in a Nyzul Isle run. This is technically part of the AU assault eval system. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

I logged in and flagged up on WHM while looking for VE. I gave up on that and made my way to AU to see if my luck would improve, and failing that, perhaps I could make a bit doing tele-taxi runs.

I took some time to cycle junk through my d-box so I could get my latest loot proceeds. I also put the three hi-pots Fhox had us buy for BCNM’s. Speaking of that elusive RDM, he must’ve logged on recently because he took the two Yag necklaces I didn’t recall from his box.

Neemomo shouted for a Yhoat run and I think I had a Vahzl passenger, but that was it. I also spent some time chatting with Tetskei about… Nyzul Isle. He was newish to AU missions and didn’t know what the requirements were. He wanted help and I gave him as much info as I could. I even escorted him to Salaheem and Ryzaal. Turns out he’d already gotten at least this far, meaning he could in fact go to Nyzul.

But he only had him and possibly me. Nyzul runs appear to be full party affairs, at or near 75. And just as we were thinking about trying to assemble a party, Goltoros shouted for a healer, @5/6.

I jumped at the chance, asking Gol if WHM70 would cut it. He said to hurry, and unfortunately I needed to swap subs. BLM wasn’t going to work in a mana-heavy situation.

I excused myself from Tetskei and eventually Portaled into the zone. Most of the rest of what happened was a blur, as the rest were waiting on me and once started, the timer doesn’t stop until victory or a 30-minute maximum.

NZ runs work like this – at least 5 floors must be climbed. Victory happens when that floor’s objective is met – kill ‘em all, find NM, kill one type of mob, switch-quest, etc. If successful, there’s points to spend on future temp items and you can start from the next set of floors, if you have the points for the “line-cut fee.”

Floor 1 went well enough, as did 2. But three did us in. Supposedly we were after Ebony Puddings but the two we found took an eternity to finish off. Time ran out then and we were ejected. Thankfully, we got dumped next to the RP.

Now the good news: I got quite a lot of Divine SUs. Nobody died. I didn’t run out of mana once, although it would have happened on the 4th floor. I missed our DNC Hyhi on the first couple of Sleepgas – I was trying to wake the wrong person >< I got a Werebuster, one of the WHM drops. It’s 75 and has less DPS than my Maul, but still, w00t!

Lessons learned: Apparently, nobody casts sneak or invisible – item use only. Makes sense now with mana so precious and time far more so. Also, while Sublimation kept me awake, I did get slept once or twice when I was between subs or a hard hit put me under 50% thus ending the fill-ticks. Parties often go tankless in favor of maximum DD, letting the mage(s) sort out the healing.

On breaking up, I thanked the group for the opportunity and promised to improve. Nobody seemed to mind my performance (and why should they? I did a good job. But had we made it past the third floor things would have changed.

I’m going to try going on more runs but I think I’ll have to stick with the first floor until I build up some points and some familiarity with the process.

Aaaaand, in GD news, Aleu beat Maat on SAM, first try! Congrats Aleu!

Jesup On Point

(One for two...)

OK, this was supposed to be a cool moment for me - I'm gonna PL my Clone on his first real party. And since he was on WAR, he'd be doing some real work. I'd spent some time pre-party levels trying to explain job roles, battle flow, hate management and more.

And very shortly after flagging, Jesup got an invite, from Falout. of all people. This was gonna be awesome! A sympathetic leader and good Dunes action. But unfortunately my net connection would not cooperate.

Not once, but TWICE, double R0's. And the second one came just as Fergus came back with a fly, with the party synced at 14. Apparently Fal was the only casualty. Tookie, Sizzlepimpit and Guise survived.

And Fal left so when I got back on, I couldn't apologize to him. I did catch the others though.

In other news, anyone still reading may have noticed my Gamercard finally changed. I've been fighting Japanese fonts on this machine to update Sufhi's status as she dinged during my WHM scroll hunts. I'm not happy with the super-thin fint but the bold version's too blurry.

Dusting Off My Healer's Cap

(Aleu!! Yalto keeps lol-ing at me!)

I logged in after some GTAIV freeplay. The Clones enjoy watching the random chaos of freeplay. Some people just want to explore. Some race. Some FPS. Some grief. It's nutty random fun and without real chat, it can be just as fun trying to figure people's motivations out.

Anyway, I picked up in SSG where I left off. After like 20 busts with the Spring Sahagins Friday, today I think I went 2/3 for Cura drops. I looked up Esuna and decided it wasn't worth it. I can sell the extra Auspice and Cura, buy Esuna and have change left over, which I did.

Now, I can try flagging up on WHM in the 60s and not feel underequipped. In fact, Kushiel got on and we chatted briefly while I was in Jeuno selling and buying. He's only up to 55, so that's not gonna work. He does have a 17 and so do I...

I also got hit up by Stoik for a Tele-Holla and after finding out why, I tagged along. He was helping Djlevation with a WAR test in Davoi. We killed quite a few Orc Dreadnaughts. And we were joined by Snowman and Truirony's party. Snow needed an Orc Warchief and a Bugaboo killed. The warchief was easy-peasy but the Bugaboo really tested my skills. Much red HP and I wound up tanking after DS'ed Curaga III and Benediction. But NOBODY died (beside the Bugaboo). The clones watched with concern and at one point I explained that it was all OK because I'm a very good WHM ^^

OK, maybe I'm not very good. But I'm trying, and stuff like this is great for learning better strategies for dealing with tough battle situations.

(Intermission)

Upon returning from Ape's work thing (casino-themed fundraiser and silent auction to support the school) I flagged up. No takers. I went ahead and unlocked Ranger to see if it helps with VE. I haven't had time to try yet but it beats my lousy BST17 in Widescan ability.

I also tried skilling on worms in Kuftal but I never actually got to a worm camp. Even at 70 crabs and haunts still aggro. I held my own and got a couple SUs but it was harder than it was worth.

Although I was a bit disappointed I didn't get an invite, I realize nobody parties at 68+, my seacom's target. I may have to do like Yalto and get my needed skillups in Besieged and possibly Campaign.

Speaking of Yalto, I'm not sure he thinks I'm serious about getting married in game. Yes, I *am* going to marry Jesup (Ape's char) as soon as I can. Jesup should be the required level 20 this week and I need to find a petitioner to take the last of my gil to the Powers That Be.

I may not actually need all of my gil - I wanted the church wedding (80k) but Ape seems to want an outdoor wedding, Windy-style. So that might save me some. Still gonna have to drop 50k on the dress.

Yes, I *am* buying the Wedding Dress set. No, I am not into dresses IRL. I may be a little into crossplay as it suits Aer if I ever pull that off. I'm not sure why I'm mentioning this, except it seems to bring lols from those I tell. Oh well ^^

Final WHM Prep

(Yes, I'm prepping WHM again)

After Date Night (Japanese and Crank 2) I logged in for some more farming and Sufhi-time. I also had a major migraine and I popped some Advil PM. Meaning I was playing under a DoT sleep ^^

I managed to get Auspice x2 and that's it. I did chat briefly with Benlioni about the movie. Sufhi got halfway to 42 and I fell asleep with controller in hand. That's when I packed it in for the night.

...

I don't have enough of these for what happened at work today...



Rereading my "Centering Myself" post helped a little. As did knowing tomorrow was Friday. And thinking of Ape helped too.



But then, Ape's prolly gonna drag me to a crappy movie for Date Night ^^

???

It *IS* Harder Than It Looks

(But nobody died!)

I seem to have lost my partner in crime. So I had to try running both Aerin and Jesup, in the same way I've seen others do it.

Firstly, I pretty much nearly forgot how to PL. Aerin, the great healing touch, couldn't reliably hit a needy player with a cure for nearly 5 minutes. But good habits die hard - I recovered and the party Jesup got invited to did well. It didn't hurt someone else brought a PL of their own lol

I tried to keep Jesup engaged and everyone else healed. The other PL did some curing and enhancing while I escorted pulls and tried to stick as many Solace-boosted cures as possible.

Jesup got two full levels and I don't think anyone was complaining about his occasional laziness.

Frezza said Hi and I missed a lot of shell chat because I had the only USB keyboard we have in TFM for Jesup.

Only 5.5 levels until I can get someone to put in for our wedding!!! And if Fhox doesn't get it together I'll have to find another chaperone. He still hasn't picked up the 4 yag necklaces I sent him ages ago...

Oh, almost forgot, on Jesup's maiden voyage to Selbina, a Sea Horror popped. Guess I can't solo those ^^ I held out for nearly 8 minutes on cures, subs, Benediction and hope. I died maybe one minute before docking >< Got a raise at the dock fortunately because Sunday's death farming plus this one deleveled me!

Miscellany

* New-scroll farming for WHM. I've had a change of plans here. I'm going to resume partying, at 65 and up, to get the skillups I need. If nothing else, I can make faster progress on Healing and probably Divine. Then regular SU parties to get the rest.

I got Sacrifice and RR3, partly thanks to Icedragon. He was killing Gob Alchemists in SSG while I was there. He offered some help after I had a bad moment with a linkfarm. He asked me if I was looking for the WHM Test and I said I was looking for the two scrolls instead. He must've been on THF because in like 4 kills I had both. I tried to offer him one first but he politely refused. He also said he didn't need my help going on so I left.

My efforts in SSG were a bust, but I did farm some sellable items.

* Tried duoing with Jesup at 10. Aer went on SMN and Jesup was WAR (of course). It didn't really work.

* Tuesday (I think) I self-PLed and that worked far better, at least for Jesup. 10 to 12 rather quickly, so it was shopping time. Swapped Aerin's just-bought scale armor for Jesup's stash of loot. It's party time!!!

Daily Double

(Doubled-Up Dancing)

Friday and Saturday I got parties with Khardis on Dancer. These were good parties and I even got to try out some Japanese! Saturday's group included Eri from Fukuoka and we tried some Japanese. I even got a head-pat ^^

Also, Nava was in for quite a bit Saturday!

I also got DNC37, and after a job change, NIN28. Late late nights but solid progress.

Future Rest

(Hopefully *very* future)

More than once Ape and I have said we hope when the time comes for us to leave this world, that we go together. Neither of us can bear the thought of life without each other. I said that I hope we'll be like 90, in bed together holding hands. We look at each other and say, "See you in a bit."

When all else passes from this world, our love will remain, eternally constant. A reminder that no force created by God nor Man has such potential for change, motivation, passion, sacrifice or devotion.

"From my heart to yours," a gift - a bond unending, a love unyielding.

Binge Report and Other Stuff!

(Wedding Bells?)

Ok, ok, I've been a lazy Mithra. Not in Vana'diel, but here. I'll try to keep more up to date. Here's the highlights:

Sunday: Got a PLD party after buying 3 of 5 of the Eisen pieces. Badjuju led us into the Citadel (again) and with Mercrising on PL duty, we did fine. I also hit 37! Full-sub number 3!

Monday: Duoed with Jesup - got from 7 to 9 in a hurry on band and book boosts. Was going to try hitting the Mea crag but ran out of time.

Tuesday: More binging. Got a WAR party from Rysadian who brought a PL (Stewiegriffin) to Qufim Island. I never tanked, despite dropping gil on the Eisen helmet and Kampfbrust body. Got to 37 and then some with major fast XP. Shared in the pulling duties and despite some slot swaps, the party rarely stopped. Lifesbreeze passed along greets from Firekiss.

Wednesday: Duoed again, to 10. Then took on Mission 1. I coulda sworn the Ruins were much rougher at 10 when I did it the first time. In any case, we got the key item (busted orb) but ran out of time to complete the mission. I took over his controls for like 3 fights to hit 20 on Bard.

Then, got to interact with Fhox again! Told him to get those darn Yag Necklaces out of his d-box. Also told him of the big plans: Jesup exists so that I can get married! I'm planning a smallish thing but all of my friends are invited. Don't worry - when the time comes I'll post a proper notice and directly invite people.

Also, helped Oshi with a R3 after he, Fhox and Puma finished 8-2.

Thursday: Off today because it's Ape's birthday! We had lunch and dinner together and she got some nice outfits, jewelry, statuary and gift cards.

-----------

I've been reading up on the WHM tweaks. I need to start farming Cura, Sacrifice, Auspice and Esuna. Also I need to grab Reraise III. Also also, Afflatus Solace is completely awesome! Stoneskin and curing combined mean less damage taken and less MP used.

Connection Lost

(This sucks...now I have to go outside)

Overheard in shell-chat "You are such a White Mage" /smile

I can't get this to work - the beach house we're in until Sunday has no internet, and the one neighbor with the open access point is too far out for TheAlmightyII to see it ><

Oh well. I'll have to binge Sunday on our return...

In other news, the weather here is fantastic, the water is very blue and we're having a blast (as we always seem to) as a fam. Also seeing old friends is great too!

Compassion

(Someone else's learning curve)

Last night was the big April update and this time I had two systems that needed updating on my slowpoke internet. For Jesup’s sake, I started TheFunMachine as soon as we saw the server up status on POL. It finished at about 10 and he played a little but apparently spent more time wandering town than fighting.

Ape and I hung out until a little after midnight and then I logged in. As is my custom lately, I flagged up on Bard. Or tried to – it turns out TFM doesn’t have my latest macros from TheAlmighty and so I had to make due. I soon got an invite from Conflix for a 10-sync in the Dunes. I wasn’t jazzed about going all the way down to 10, but what the hey, I wanted moar XP.

As we gathered at the OP, there was a vote to go 14, even though Knighthawk, our WAR, was 10. Concern over his life expectancy aside, that’s what we did. Con asked Knight his tnl and was told 1k. We grabbed our pages and moved to camp near the ledge.

And things went south. Poor Knight ^^ - he didn’t seem to understand we were doing an FoV page calling for crabs and lizards. He kept pulling hard-hitting mobs we didn’t need to mess with. Algorin and Con kept telling him to stop pulling as Alg was the nominated puller. He didn’t listen. Ultimately, he got us half-wiped and I had to change jobs to raise. 500-odd book XP tossed…

Ultimately, he wound up dead again at the Oasis after a relocation. This latest pull-mishap earned him a kick. Con found a rep quickly and we resumed action, with a much better level match and role fulfillment. However, the whole time, Knight is begging me in PM to raise or cure him. I had to explain I wasn’t changing jobs again.

I shouted three times and just after the third one a very nice RDM on chocoback rode up. Slyfox raised him and took off before I could do anything about him losing his bird. I actually thought he had been kicking in some cures and when we finished a pull to thank him he’d gone.

There was a lot of commentary in party chat about Knight’s performance and I called for compassion, seeing that Knight was likely on his first job, had no sub, and clearly had not yet learned the Warrior’s ropes. Compassion aside, I was relieved when we were able to resume full-powered battle.

The night ended exhaustingly… I feel for Knight and hope he’s learning what he needs and wasn’t too put off by what happened tonight.

I Have An Apprentice!

(This isn't the "big plans" thing...)

Monday: Off

Tuesday: Was gonna start the fun task of soloing Jesup to party levels. I was even going to PL myself but the lag is too much for me to stand. The Clone the Younger asks to try. 2+ HOURS LATER, only half that with me PLing, he's hit 7 and is ready for his first shopping trip.

I never really expected to have a wiling partner in this but he asked me questions non-stop and loved experimenting with abilities and such as he skilled up. Believe me, seeing a toon with zeroes in everything is about as sad as seeing SUs nearly every swing is satisfying!

Wednesday: Update day. We're queued up for the April drop and Crystalline Prophecy expansion I bought. I still can't decide if I should also pony up for the RSA key and the accompanying Gobbie Satchel.

Odds are good the update won't be done on TheFunMachine until later tonight. We're traveling tomorrow and odds are fair that we will have no Internet. If so, I'll (we'll) just have to sweat it out until Sunday.

I think I've lost most of my readership. In any case, to all of my friends in RDB and GD, my /flist buddies, and to everyone I've bonded with: I love you all.

Saturday and Sunday

(Big plans brewing)

Saturday: Partied with Fawnaa in the Dunes on BRD. 2 levels in no time and no drama. I had to sleep a link or add once or twice, but otherwise it was a textbook performance. It was fun seeing Fawnaa again and we all had fun together.

Saw Aawravi again and planned to help her get to the Dunes as she was 14 now ^^

Sunday: Came home to find Aaw is 18 and already partying. So I changed it up - I'd help her with her subjob items. I also got a pearl request from Leppa, an Italian player. I was going to help both but he wound up getting an invite just before I came back.

I was gone because...

It's A Boy!!! Jesup came into the world (of Siren) last night about 9pm. This is Ape's character, a Hume. It took over an hour to create the POL account then create the toon. I was able to have her logged in on one system while I used the other - Mucho lag!

I didn't stay on long with both systems and shut one down to resume helping Aawravi. We got 2 of 3 (still need a skull). She actually got her tank from her earlier party to help on the skull as I had to get out at 10:30. We chatted about game stuff for a bit then I hit the pillows.

Thursday And Friday

(Chilly learning curves)

It took some doing but I *was* able to get TheAlmightyII online. Friday was a failed flag-up on BRD16. Stoik was looking for help on Kuge's LB1 and I offered to go if I made it to Jeuno for new instruments without an invite. No 'vite.

I met them in Garlaige after they wrapped up in the Nest. We only had to fight 2 or 3 Explosures for the drop, which was good because I was sleepy. There was some fun with Derf who was soloing in the 'Del and joined us when we arrived. She linked a bunch o' bats and died so I got in early and Raised her. Later, after the drop, she'd be in trouble again lol.

Saturday was... interesting... I had to string my gear outside since my MIL was sleeping in the living room of the condo. The only net jack was in the living room. And no wi-fi. So I found myself sitting on the balcony in the cold (didn't pack a jacket since I didn't expect to be OUTSIDE).

I was able to get an invite on Bard with Nejjetjet in the Dunes, synced to 14. There were frequent reps (but quickly handled). There was a lot of Japanese. And there wasn't a lot of certainty about who was doing what. It didn't help we didn't have a proper tank - 2 Monks on the front...

I would have tried to offer advice because I thought many of these fellows were newer players. But the language barrier and my shivering made communication difficult. I gave Nej fair warning with 45 to go and at about 20 left, we got semi-wiped by a gob that never should have been messed with.

I switched to WHM/SMN (what? How the hell...) and went back to the ledge camp. I was done so I offered to PL for about 15 minutes. The party got a sixth but for 10 minutes nothing happened. Then Sync came off, signalling the end of the party. Oh well. I went back to Selbina to fix my SJ and get some sleep.

Don't get me wrong, Nej. I don't regret being in your party and I know everyone has to learn somehow. That's what the Dunes is for after all. I don't mind the deaths or the delays. I just wish the party mix had been a little more solid DD-wise because we could have really kicked butt.

Speaking of that, VAGUSTAE, what's the deal with taking my boy Yalto on a SMN-burn and getting him 7 levels in mere minutes? I have a Summoner! I even have 4 avatars too ^^

Disappointment Revisited

( >< I get to have bad days too!)

I said I wasn’t going to let this kicking get me down, but I was in a gray mood all day today. I talked it over with Ape and I believe it honestly boils down to this:

• Yes, I was under-DEFfed, leading to faster mana consumption. However, I didn’t lose hate often (Cure 3?!) and was able to hold hate pretty well overall
• We were pulling too high – Sync 33 versus crawlers in the Nest or bats in the Citadel. Going up to 35 helped. The one clean pull we did in the ‘Del at 35 went very well and we got 282 xp (banded).
• The party was lacking in DD: SAM/DNC (!), THF/WAR, DNC/?, PLD/WAR (me) and two mages, SCH and BLM.
• The event that led to our escape and my eventual kicking was a linked pull. Which we were actually handling OK. Yes, we were rapidly running out of mana, but still…

WRT the link, I would have asked the BLM to go on sleep patrol: keep one down while we finished its mate (which he and we did), THEN sleep the leftover while we rested HP and mana. That didn’t happen.

I admit partial failings in bringing gimp gear to a level 35 party. I can buy the Eisen set for maybe 25k and sell it when PLD and WAR are done in a couple levels. I committed to the group not to head out on pally until I have better gear.

If any career PLDs can comment on the overall difference between Savage and Eisen given the HP/MP boost of my RSE, please do.

In any case, it isn’t being kicked from the party so much that bothers me – it’s WHO did the kicking. Someone I’ve busted my fuzzy tail for in the past with only a few refusals due to other commitments… Oh well.

Tonight until Sunday, I'm in Orlando. Not sure what kind of connectivity I'll have but hopefully I can have a little fun with my friends. Later!

Disappointment

(What day is it again?)

If I'm not mistaken, something happened today that's never happened to me before. I got kicked from a party. And not for poor performance or rudeness or whatever. Because the SCH and THF didn't like me on PLD wearing my Savage RSE.

I know it's not the best gear at this level. At 35, I can wear the Merc's set (lv 30, 55 def), Windurstian doublet (lv 35, 60 def) or the standard Eisen (lv 29, 71 def). Mithran RSE is basically level 33 and offers 41 def. Not great. But all these sets offer a few points in other stats, mostly VIT, DEX, AGI or EVA. What RSE gives me that none of the others do is 48 more HP and MP.

I can't find a page detailing how def affects damage taken, meaning MP burned curing. But I feel the extra HP and MP (2 self-Cure IIs) balance out the higher def of the other sets.

Anyway, it happened like this. A shell-mate invited me to the Nest. We synced to 33 and nearly got eaten by the first Crawler pulled. We tried 35, but nearly the same result. Long kills and no MP left. I had to use Vince to avoid death on the third one. We relocated to the Citadel. First bat at 33? Nearly dead. Sync to 35. Not too bad. Next pull is a link that our BLM escaped us from.

That's when the SCH and THF jumped on me about my gear, basically saying I had to go shopping or leave. I didn't have a lot of time left so I opted to leave, then go shopping. I wasn't coming back.

Many thanks to Yalto, Aleu and Kushiel for covering my back. While I was taking pretty rapid damage, I wasn't having trouble with hate holding and nobody died.

I'm not going to take this personally because I do understand their viewpoint. I just can't believe I got kicked for it. And not only that, had they tossed me 15 minutes earlier, I could have gone with Kush on a Promy run. Did I mention I finally saw him again? /smile

He sent one last /tell before I shut down: “night, lovely” - don’t know why this gave me such warm-n-fuzzies, but it did. Thank you K!