White Mage Refresher

Today was going to be a few hours of Dancer-leveling before the troupe headed off to dinner and the annual Riverside Luminaria festival. I managed to ding 12 and was headed to Jeuno’s AH to get some better gear in hopes of getting a Dunes invite.

I used the free warp Taru in Al Zahbi and wound up at the Qufim Island zoneline. As I made my way to Port Jeuno, Drewman PMed me and asked me if I was near an AH and if I wanted to have some fun. I told him I’d be at Jeuno’s in a couple of minutes and asked what kind of fun. Turns out he wanted healing support while he killed a NM Orc called Marauder Dvogzog. It might have been for Sandy 7-1. No orb was required (I didn’t want to spend any seals away from RDB activities) and so I said yes.

At the AH, he asked for one Silent Oil, and I grabbed that and level 11 Brass gear for Dancer. I met Drewman in Chateau d'Oraguille and we made our way through its basement to the West Ronfaure area with the ??? to pop the Orc. He used the oil between basement floors and wound up needing Sneak from me. I only bought that stupid oil because I thought he needed it to pop the NM or to trigger a CS. He knew I was WHM so why he did that…

Of course, he paid up front, which I refused, and he resent it anyway. The money was never the issue – I just wish I knew that’s all he needed it for so I could’ve saved him a grand. Anyway, I owe him bigtime – he got me LB1 along with Mrbill, and later Fhox, so 10k would have not been enough to repay that.

Anyway, on to the fight… We got to the combat area at about 1:10 and we buffed up. He warned me that Dvogzog is a MNK and would be using Hundred Fists. I told him I had no idea what that meant and he lol-ed me and said I could fight if I wanted, just to be ready on the cures.

It only took 20 seconds of fighting for me to realize I wasn’t going to have time to blow my nose, much less fight. Even with Drew as SAM75 (IIRC) and over 1400 HP, he was taking damage a couple hundred at a time. I threw C3s and C4s with abandon, never pulling hate.

I tried to keep Drew Hasted and Dvogzog Dia-ed, but my MP was falling very fast. I eventually used Bene, expecting to die but the Orc never looked my way once! I healed Drew for over 1k on the Bene and then rested up about 300MP before coming back up. Drew was deep in the yellow again and so I Divine Sealed a Cure IV for nearly 800, then rested up a bit. I ran out of MP as both Drew and the orc were down to vapors. Fortunately for our efforts, Drew got in a big hit and did the job. It was maybe 20 minutes in total.

We chatted a bit, he expressing appreciation for my work and asking if I needed anything. I told him I was glad just to be there and that I had just had the most fun on WHM doing the fight. I also mentioned that I needed to hone my battlefield support instincts to keep me from losing focus in bad spots and letting people down. In hindsight I wonder if a Flash now and again would have helped any.

He split to carry on his mission and I eventually warped back to continue working on Dancer. Fhox had been quizzing me just as the fight ended and I told him what I was up to and why. Mag offered to help, not knowing we were already through ^^

Fhox and I had a brief chat, the gist of which went like this:

Me > I need combat experience to fix my instincts.
Fhox > Bad things happen
Me > Doesn’t mean I have to like it
Fhox > Sometimes others (puller, tank, etc.) are the ones who make things bad
Me > True, but I want to make sure I’m not one of those people making it worse
Me > I feel like I hesitate or make bad calls when trying to react to bad pulls, links, etc. and I don’t like doing that. I don’t like people dying in my care.

Fhox said something about needing to improve his RDM front-line tactics. I felt like maybe I came off snobby, implying other people (not specifically RDB) don’t try to improve or care about how they affect others in the party. I certainly wasn’t trying to slam anyone at all – I just want to be the best WHM I can be!

I finally got my Mog Locker sorted to make some more room for all this new gear. I also changed into my new Dancer duds – ugh! Why do certain outfits look like they were made to insult the wearer? What’s worse is that this dominatrix-y outfit is what NIN and WAR and possibly PLD will have to wear on the way to 20. /sigh

I outposted to the Dunes before leaving for dinner. On returning around 11pm, I flagged up for about 25 minutes and eventually gave in. I was too tired to do anything but one grind through Giddeus for another 4 Yag Necks. Monday night I need to check my Norg fame and pop the Vollbow region outpost via Kuftal Tunnel. If I can I need to get the Kuftal chest as well for the map.

After Friday’s marathon I thought I might be losing the passion for WHM but today helped reaffirm it. I really think helping others is my true calling in Vana’diel. That’s why I’m happy Dancer is what it is – a front-line support role.

Fhox had asked me earlier to help him in his party but then found out I was WHM57, too low for his crew. He told me to level up, which I’ve been doing. The XP gaps TNL are getting quite large now. I definitely want to get to 60 or 61 soon for RR2 and C5.

Oh yeah, two new Brigaders: Bigbirdfly and Dijena.