Stuff completed!
February is only half over, and has already been a highly eventful month for me! o.o;; I've gotten to complete quite a few goals I've had my eye on for a long while, now.
Warning! post contains spoilers for some missions from both Bastok and ToAU storylines.
First of all, my application with veteran linkshell Ultima was resolved. :) Back in September when I originally left CTB, I was considering applying to Ultima, but refrained from doing so for two reasons: They didn't have open applications for PLDs (and I always was irked when people applied to CTB even though we blatantly stated we were closed for their particular job), and I was certain I wouldn't get in. However, after being strongly encouraged by a few friends, I decided to go ahead anyway. I was flattered when I got positive words from some people I didn't realize even knew who I was, and from a few of the players I've looked up to for a long, long time. :D Makes a gal all warm and fuzzy inside. ^^
I did more dynamis with DynamisX, and not only did I get to sponsor a Xarcabard (which even though I've been told the yield was lower than normal - not surprising considering it was Xarcabard - was a better profit in terms of currency than I've ever seen), but I got the clear. :D I've now received the clear for every "old area" dynamis zone. Just missing Buburimu, Valkurm and Tavnazia. :D
February 5th (psst, Ultima people, the date is wrong on the member's list :p) was the day, though. I was headed to do Ultima limbus, and just before we left, I was presented with this pretty, blue pearl. I haven't had a pearl for over two years, since before Pat made my CTB pearl into a sack. The lack of responsibility is... amazingly liberating. I feel happier, more relaxed, and it's a lot easier for me to enjoy events, now that I don't have to worry about complaints, alliance setups, strategies, and whatever else comes up as part of the leadership. ^^ Ultima is also full of extremely talented and amazingly humble players, and I feel very much at home.
Me and Pat have also been working pretty hard on our Assaults. I'm now 3 clears away from Captain, and he's about the same. Our strat for Black Shuck that I mentioned last time worked out for us, even if it was a close call. I kited the elementals, while Pat took care of the Cerberus-copy tanking. Our biggest problem was for me to get the attention of all the elementals at the same time. I ended up subbing /gimpwhm for Diaga (dear God, I need to finish my RDM), but it severely reduced my survivability (Stoneskin or not, Flare HURTS when not absorbed by shadows). We beat it, anyway, that's what counts. :) We also made (surprisingly) fast work of Orichi (Hydra-lookalike), and I can't for the bare life of me figure out why he gave me such a hard time the last time I attempted it. x.x
So anyway, since our rank-up opportunity is rapidly approaching, we made sure to work on our ToAU missions as well. Taking, of course, a brief stopover to kick this NM's ass, just for kicks (it drops nothing of value or event remote interest - just some spectacularly shitty gloves). The double chicgoes he kept spawning certainly kept things interesting. XD PS. Did you know a hume female PLD can tank two chigoes better than an Elvaan MNK and a Galka WAR? :p Lawl!
Now this is an interesting story. See, due to the impatience of some of us (hey, now, we can't all be born patient and rational), half the static ended up pulling ahead of the other half. So this resulted in us needing help for the final fight. And my, what epic help it turned out to be!
The Story Of Why Lexa Owes Spit Her Soul - (here be wall-o'-text)
We were told pretty much from the start that we could not, could not do it without a BLM in the group. Well, a BLM wasn't an option for us, as we spent hours trying to find someone to help without much luck. Our initial setup was PLD WAR MNK RNG RDM WHM. Our first attempt only took ten minutes, as we exited when we realized we were killing the Blue Mage too slowly. We adjusted our strat a little, then went in again. This time it actually went surprisingly well, until the very, very end, where I died, leaving the DDs very vulnerable. We wiped with Alexander left at about 12% or so. Pat, being the suicidal maniac he is, RR'd and let loose a Chi Blast which ended up taking more than 7% off his total life. Unfortunately, we ran out of time right after. :/
At this point, it was getting really late, and our RNG had to leave for work (those crazeh EU people... err... wait...). The DDs had burned their 2-hours, and were pretty annoyed, but determined to try ONE more time (that was all the RDM had time for), if we could get a sixth. Enter Spit, from Ultima, graciously putting his Assaults on hold to kindly come out to help blow shit up. We adjust the strat further, and Pat brings /whm and full Chi Blast gear, just in case. Once again, things go decently well. Until Alexander is at about 20-21%, and we wipe. Time was running out for us, we got the five-minute warning, and generally it all looked really bad. I was up, Pat was up, and the RDM was up I think, but that was pretty much it. We start sadface-ing about losing yet again, when Pat starts Boosting. So quickly, a cunning plan is thought up.
Fae was dead right by Alexander, but with RR and tp. We already knew Pat's Chi Blast could do devastating damage to him. Spit still had Manafont, but would probably get one-shotted if he attracted Alexander's attention. So this was the order of events that followed:
Lexa > raises Spit > eats Taco > cures to full Weakened HP (about 550-600 HP)
Pat > Boost x 12 > Chi Blast, bringing Alexander down to 11-12% or so
Fae > Reraise > SA Steel Cyclone, for another 5%-ish
Lexa > Flash > Sentinel > Invincible
Spit > Manafont > Nukenukenuke
While this was going on, Kirae (RDM) and Maisee (WHM) were spamming cures on me for what MP they had, and the RDM was also helping to nuke (lol, 0 dmg Stone). As I die, I notice Alexander at 1% HP, and the 30-second warning scrolling across my screen, just as Spit starts casting a Blizzard III. But to my horror, the Blizzard doesn't kill it! I don't dare look, thinking we lost despite our final hurrah - until Alexander suddenly falls to the ground, deader than dead. A well-placed final Thunder III from Spit with less than ten seconds left on the clock, and we got our win. I got my Ulthalam's Ring and my (urk) Glory Crown (HI2U Inventory-1), and I will never post a picture of me wearing it, since female humes look RETARDED in crowns.
So anyway, back to our normal schedule.
Ultima requires you to have two jobs at 75, one of which should be a mage job. Since I'm a big slacker, I don't have two jobs at 75, much less a mage job. What I do have, however is Regn - BLM74. I ended up taking him to JoL, and it was fun. :)
Then I ended up dying to Absolute Virtue, which was even funnier!
And I got my Swift Belt, which I was extremely happy about! :D
Between limbus fees, my crafting and my now pretty acceptable /nin haste buidl and -dmg%/MDB builds, I've been pretty broke, so I spent 30 of Regn's KSs on Copycat. I was gonna save them to do KS30 for Morbolger Vine (I hate camping), but money > boredom of camping. Fortunately, I got Fuma Sune-Ate on my orb, as well as an Adaman Ingot which has risen considerably in price since it was included in the Gobbie Bag quests, so that definitely helped.
I also got an interesting party on my NIN - they invited me to DD. I have a decent DD build - nothing spectacular, but not too shabby. The rest of the party consisted of DRK PLD SAM RDM BRD, and on a whim I decided to parse the party, to see how I did. The results were... really surprising!
Cervantes was the SAM, Rizzen was the PLD and Arpeggio was the DRK. And yes, that's me outparsing the SAM. I realize that 42 battles isn't a lot (I wasn't parsing the entire party), and I also realize it could be a fluke, and that parse numbers tend to even out and really settle only after a gazillion more battles - however, after having spoken with some friends of mine, I do believe I could have continued to outparse him. He wasn't badly geared by any stretch of the imagination (Store TP pants, Haste feet, Haub, Okotes, Soboro), but I was told that Soboro will be outdamaged by other GKatanas at this level (we were 63-64). I also know that I was using food, and wearing a decent amount of Haste, and being constantly Hasted, so I was actually geining TP faster than the SAM. the accuracy rate of 80% isn't completely correct - it was at 91% until I stopped eating food, because the colibri kept snatching it when the DRK started SATAing me. Regardless of the fact that they both should have (and would have) outparsed me eventually, I'm pretty proud I held my own for as long as I did. ^^
I've also been working on my Bastok missions. :) Redd kindly helped me activate the weight switch in Altep for my 8-1 cutscene, and Sojourn covered up his normally exposed midriff to gear his SAM and 2-hour the ghost for 8-2. Pat was also there to punch it. :D I was dreading 9-1, since I recall it taking a horrible crowd of BLMs (I helped on Regn once) - not to mention, otherWiki says not to attempt it without at least a party of 75s. Well, I've never been one to give up when a challenge presents itself, so when Benny (BLM) and Ehon (RDM) offered to help, we shrugged and went to trio it. It was a very focused fight, and we beat it without much problem. It was extremely amusing. :D Thank you so much, guys!
After that, only 9-2 remained. Redd dressed up his SAM and came out along with Tarja (RDM) and a SMN who responded to my shout. We were not certain we could 4-man it, but decided to try anyway. It didn't go so well, as the shadows that Zeid spawns decided to first make Fragmentation on my ass, then continue to make it a Light. We'd wanted the SMN to Astral Flow as soon as they appeared, but clearly there was some miscommunication somewhere, because he didn't. The SMN ended up leaving afterwards. Since we were up there anyway, though, Redd, Tarja and I decided to try to trio, this time with the clever use of all our 2-hours. When Zeid spawned his shadows, I Invincibled, Tarja Chainspelled the shadows down, and Redd Meyiko Suishu (sp?) Zeid himself. The result - Rank 10 for me!
Two pretty flags for my Mog House. :) Back in yonder days, I wanted to do Windy as well to have all 3 flags, but now I'm certain I never will. I value my OPs too much.
Our little Assault static was hoping for at least three clears this week. Unfortunately, life did not agree. King Goldemar - what a whorebag! We discovered that it's really true - the order in which he summons down the weapons to help, means everything. We wiped hard the first time. The second time, we wiped harder and horribly. The third time, we finally won, having gotten a good order on the weapons, and lucky with the -gas. At which point some of us were out of tags (because they forgot to pick up an extra *pointed stare*), and I had to run because...
...I got to see this big lug for the first time. :D Well, technically second, I guess, since I obviously beat Bahamut version 1, but - first time I set foot in The Wyrmking Descends battlefield, anyway. It was a very awesome fight to be a part of, and I can't wait until I get my own shot at tanking him. ^^ He seems really annoying (terror, petrifications, dispel, dispelga, all sorts of fun stuff), but that's where the challenge lies. :D I got some gear to work on before that, of course, though.
My job was pulling the wyrm adds. I'm extremely relieved Ultima has not yet conformed to the "NOTHING BUT TP BURN!" mentality that so many endgame shells has these days. I also really amused that the first time I got to see Tiamat and Jormungand, had to be in this BC. I've wanted to see them a few times - I've even travelled up Uleguard Range five times, for the sole purpose of suiciding on Jormungand (and see if I could shield block him in the 3 hits I'd be able to keep alive) since everyone always tells me he's "always up!" Not once have I found him up, though. I guess I just have shitty luck, lol! Anyway, congratulations to those who got dorps! :D
As you can see, it's been a REALLY eventful couple of weeks. o.o;; I leave you now, with some random funny screenshots.
Ran into an asshole on a random Swift Belt run. A REAL asshole (as witnesses can testify to). That's fine, be an asshole to me if you want. I have my ways to snoop into your game career. I don't think I've ever seen anyone this freaked out. He followed up by bombarding me with "HOW???" tells.
Pat gains brownie points, loses brownie points, and goes into minus.
Amentis is, by his own admission, a whore.
Even seasoned 75s sometimes make hilarious mistakes.
Raist and Pat demonstrate their mutual love for each other.
The end.