FFXI Picture Update!
Wow... I don't even remember the last time I made one of these posts... but since there was a recent update and I did manage to catch up on it, I'v decided a picture update post is best for it...
Pre-Update
Before the update came, I was busy doing BST stuff.. like farming for subligar for it...
and 'soloing' on Goblin pets...
as well as doing up my coffer AF and AF quests...
fun stuff.
but on to stuff after the update...
Job changes
With the August update, it seems like DRG, DRK and SAM which had been relegated to lower damage output as compared to dual-wielders, received a tremendous boost so I think we can be prepared to see 2-hand weapon users dominating the melee scene now. It would appear to be rather overpowered, but I think this was just as SE had intended. The job which I think is most negatively affected by this is THF, because now they have virtually sunk to the lowest rung of the DD hierarchy. Perhaps instead of tweaking 2handed down, SE might want to consider tweaking THF up again, like the dagger buff patch, because the 2h update has raised the average 2her to above the dual-wielding WAR bottom line, and even a well geared THF is below that.
PUP has undergone amazing changes too, and I'm still not sure where they stand now. What I do know is that it's definitely higher up than before. With all the new frame heads and the whole automaton skill system being worked over, I actually feel like I don't know the PUP job anymore. It is slightly disheartening that they'd entirely abandon what we've put so much research into, albeit to give us something better. But PUP will finally have a place in the game.
New things to do
The first thing I really wanted to do after the update was the missions, but I'll save talking about that till later. The other things that caught my attention were the Mercenary promotion quests (LOL Beetle, Crab, Ghost game = 石头，剪刀，布) as well as the new Serpent General quests (which have amazing cutscenes and storylines) and also the new assaults. The new assaults were rather interesting.
First one I did was this one called Susanoo Shuffle, where we have to fight a weaker Hydra clone.. called Orochi based on the whole Yamata-no-Orochi Japanese myth tale thingy... Cakewalk
Then we tried to do the assault with Khimaira 14X. He's a little tougher. Fulmination still sucks and hes stun resistant.. (and starts off with another moblin mob)
Then was the assault called "The Price is Right". Lol funny name. This was against a rather new mob we'd never fought known as the Dvergr. The fight was still okay at first. The reinforcements in the form of animated weapons that he could call were rather manageable, but his magic defense down -> Fast-cast Ga nukes were too tough to handle for us.. Lack of experience on him didn't help at all, but it was a decent attempt.
Another new addition was the chocobo circuit, which is like taking part in racing or betting on horses, except substitute horses with chickens and money won into gil. The zone was huge tho...
ToA Missions
Ok.. back to the missions. I was really excited about this update for its missions because finally, the ToA storyline is drawing to a close. The feeling I had really was to get it over and done with, because it had stretched for way too long. Perhaps the wait was worth it tho, because the final stretch of missions were very enjoyable and exciting. At first I had worried it could not hold up to CoP mission's story, but I'm quite happy with the epic-ness of this story and the way they chose to end it.
The focus of this story was mainly about Odin and Alexander and that they are destined to clash, and it has fatal consequences.. Hopefully, sometime later it opens up the ability to summon either of them, because such a possibility seems likely based on the info from the storyline...
The new colossus to house Alexander...
The 2nd half of the final battle...
Alexander comes with extremely high HP, but thankfully isn't too powerful. He doesn't move and so doesn't pose a very big threat to mages apart from the TP moves, which he can spam. He has an annoying TP move that recovers 1000+HP... so it takes a while to whittle him down. At 50% and 1%, he does Divine Judgment, which is pretty much his Astral Flow ability. Looks very cool, but also wreaks havok on the party...
And here's Odin about to throw his lance at Alexander. He also wielded a sword later on, but I forgot to screenshot most of the CS here.
Rewards
With the final missions done, I have COMPLETED Treasures of Aht Urhgan (storyline-wise, which is the usual indicator)!!! Yay. Completing it nets players with a new flag, a pretty blue crown (opo reskinned) with no stats on it, as well as a ring of your choice from a list of 3...
The ring I chose...
And since I was in my Mog House putting up the new flag (see 1st pic), I also took pics of the current layout in my Mog House. Its, very empty.. but check out my mannequins :D
Closing notes
With all the stuff from this update, including the new quest stuff that 'heralds' the next expansion, I really do think the vibrance of the ToA expansion' is finally waning. It certainly brought with it many changes to FFXI and rekindled the game after all the damage CoP did to its playability, lol. I actually do think the game is ready for another expansion now. Spread your Wings, Altana.
Also, my FFXI PS2 NA version came in the mail over the weekend, so I'm really happy... gonna be able to play it on my PS3 in future, but then I'd still need to get CoP and ToA for PS2 as well. Hopefully there are shops that still sell them here. Bidding off eBay was a hassle enough.
/end.
Pre-Update
Before the update came, I was busy doing BST stuff.. like farming for subligar for it...
and 'soloing' on Goblin pets...
as well as doing up my coffer AF and AF quests...
fun stuff.
but on to stuff after the update...
Job changes
With the August update, it seems like DRG, DRK and SAM which had been relegated to lower damage output as compared to dual-wielders, received a tremendous boost so I think we can be prepared to see 2-hand weapon users dominating the melee scene now. It would appear to be rather overpowered, but I think this was just as SE had intended. The job which I think is most negatively affected by this is THF, because now they have virtually sunk to the lowest rung of the DD hierarchy. Perhaps instead of tweaking 2handed down, SE might want to consider tweaking THF up again, like the dagger buff patch, because the 2h update has raised the average 2her to above the dual-wielding WAR bottom line, and even a well geared THF is below that.
PUP has undergone amazing changes too, and I'm still not sure where they stand now. What I do know is that it's definitely higher up than before. With all the new frame heads and the whole automaton skill system being worked over, I actually feel like I don't know the PUP job anymore. It is slightly disheartening that they'd entirely abandon what we've put so much research into, albeit to give us something better. But PUP will finally have a place in the game.
New things to do
The first thing I really wanted to do after the update was the missions, but I'll save talking about that till later. The other things that caught my attention were the Mercenary promotion quests (LOL Beetle, Crab, Ghost game = 石头，剪刀，布) as well as the new Serpent General quests (which have amazing cutscenes and storylines) and also the new assaults. The new assaults were rather interesting.
First one I did was this one called Susanoo Shuffle, where we have to fight a weaker Hydra clone.. called Orochi based on the whole Yamata-no-Orochi Japanese myth tale thingy... Cakewalk
Then we tried to do the assault with Khimaira 14X. He's a little tougher. Fulmination still sucks and hes stun resistant.. (and starts off with another moblin mob)
Then was the assault called "The Price is Right". Lol funny name. This was against a rather new mob we'd never fought known as the Dvergr. The fight was still okay at first. The reinforcements in the form of animated weapons that he could call were rather manageable, but his magic defense down -> Fast-cast Ga nukes were too tough to handle for us.. Lack of experience on him didn't help at all, but it was a decent attempt.
Another new addition was the chocobo circuit, which is like taking part in racing or betting on horses, except substitute horses with chickens and money won into gil. The zone was huge tho...
ToA Missions
Ok.. back to the missions. I was really excited about this update for its missions because finally, the ToA storyline is drawing to a close. The feeling I had really was to get it over and done with, because it had stretched for way too long. Perhaps the wait was worth it tho, because the final stretch of missions were very enjoyable and exciting. At first I had worried it could not hold up to CoP mission's story, but I'm quite happy with the epic-ness of this story and the way they chose to end it.
The focus of this story was mainly about Odin and Alexander and that they are destined to clash, and it has fatal consequences.. Hopefully, sometime later it opens up the ability to summon either of them, because such a possibility seems likely based on the info from the storyline...
The new colossus to house Alexander...
The 2nd half of the final battle...
Alexander comes with extremely high HP, but thankfully isn't too powerful. He doesn't move and so doesn't pose a very big threat to mages apart from the TP moves, which he can spam. He has an annoying TP move that recovers 1000+HP... so it takes a while to whittle him down. At 50% and 1%, he does Divine Judgment, which is pretty much his Astral Flow ability. Looks very cool, but also wreaks havok on the party...
And here's Odin about to throw his lance at Alexander. He also wielded a sword later on, but I forgot to screenshot most of the CS here.
Rewards
With the final missions done, I have COMPLETED Treasures of Aht Urhgan (storyline-wise, which is the usual indicator)!!! Yay. Completing it nets players with a new flag, a pretty blue crown (opo reskinned) with no stats on it, as well as a ring of your choice from a list of 3...
The ring I chose...
And since I was in my Mog House putting up the new flag (see 1st pic), I also took pics of the current layout in my Mog House. Its, very empty.. but check out my mannequins :D
Closing notes
With all the stuff from this update, including the new quest stuff that 'heralds' the next expansion, I really do think the vibrance of the ToA expansion' is finally waning. It certainly brought with it many changes to FFXI and rekindled the game after all the damage CoP did to its playability, lol. I actually do think the game is ready for another expansion now. Spread your Wings, Altana.
Also, my FFXI PS2 NA version came in the mail over the weekend, so I'm really happy... gonna be able to play it on my PS3 in future, but then I'd still need to get CoP and ToA for PS2 as well. Hopefully there are shops that still sell them here. Bidding off eBay was a hassle enough.
/end.