Oh, Hello.
Doesn't seem like any of my friends update their LJs anymore and there hasn't been a whole lot to report lately, so I haven't made any posts in awhile myself. However, I got some prompting from a few people to make some updates, so I figure I will. It's all boring stuff that most people have been doing lately >.>, but I can give the people what they want fo shizzle.
XP/Merits:
The next Abyssea add-on came out since my last update, so the level cap is now 90. I've got THF, NIN, RDM, and WAR to 90 so far. RNG is 89, due to lack of opportunities to play it. COR is 87 and currently only XPing in Walk of Echoes. DRK is 85 cause lolDRK. I mean, unless I get a Twilight Scythe or something else cool that is DRK only I don't have any reason to XP it at the moment.
The shocker for people that have known me awhile is that my RDM is level 90. I had just gotten it to 30 before the last add-on came out, but with a couple of opportunities to XP while AFK, which I was grateful for, it got to 75 pretty quickly. From there, I used a mix of actually playing it and picking up some "leech" XP to get it to 90. In the time since, I've managed to gear it up pretty decently and I like playing it enough. I'm not very good at keeping up refresh or haste cycles, but I'm also not emo about being asked to provide one of those spells if I've lapsed and someone reminds me ... so it all works out.
So far as merits go, I've gotten well over 100 in the last couple of months. WAR, RDM, THF, RNG, and COR are all capped out on G1 & G2 merits. At this point, I'm not left wanting merits for anything... I will apply them for NIN and DRK as I get them, but it won't be long until I'm totally capped out and XP will be mostly meaningless for my high level jobs.
On the subjob front, I'm trying to get BLM to 30 without actually having to play it ... via XP scrolls and what not. SAM is up to 49. I need to delve into leveling up SCH to 49, but until I get more proficient at playing RDM, I don't see the point in adding SCH to the mix.
Linkshell Stuff:
Immortality is still kicking it, but we're more casual and lower man than ever. A lot of long time regulars are on breaks or have quit. A lot of more recent members just use the LS as a place to hang out and don't come to many events, and few others have taken to spending time outside of LS for their own purposes.
Through all the changes, we still do what we want to do, albeit slower than most full-time LSes. Our schedule has whittled down to mostly Abyssea and Walk of Echoes, with a spattering of Dynamis, VNMs, and Einherjar thrown in... although some of those should be coming off the table at some point.
The dabbling in WoE has done wonders for the pocketbook though. Between the boosts to the LS monthly payout the sales of those items provide, and the items I've obtained from personal chests, I'm richer than ever. The sadly ironic thing is that now there's almost nothing worthwhile to buy. A lot of the previously high value items have been obsoleted by newer ra/ex stuff... but I digress.
Current Goals:
The hardest thing about playing FFXI lately for me is finding obtainable goals. The "new hotness" in FFXI are the upgrades to Empyrean weapons in Abyssea. While not overly difficult, they are time consuming and mostly NOT soloable, so completing one or more of those is mostly out of the question. I've begun collecting Carabosse Gems for Armageddon, but I'm not very far. I think I might be able to work together with Riz and get some more, but I'm not hopeful that it will finish anytime soon.
As a result, I've decided to tackle the less difficult but also time consuming path of upgrading the alternate path to the WoE weapons in order to gain access to the new Weapon Skills. Right now, I'm far along the path for both Dagger and Bow, with plans to begin Katana in the near future. I suppose I could do GAX at some point as well, but it's hard to say. Once the level cap increases to 99 it will be a lot easier to see which weapon paths would be easier to pursue and I may re-evaluate then.
Beyond my weapon upgrade goals, I'm obviously interested in getting all the AF3+2 items completed as I can. Right now I've only fully completed THF Legs and COR Feet. Starting this month in the LS, we're going to be focused on these more than we had in the past. Previously, we worked a lot to get zone boss kills and important Atma/Abyssite for our members, but now we need to go out and get these upgrades for people.
Wrap-up:
Um, so yeah. That's about it for now. I could come up with a ton more, I'm sure, but it's just normal boring stuff. I wish I was a more visceral person and could realize when something cool was going on that I could screenshot to spice up this LJ a bit more, but I rarely take screenshots of anything. Not to mention, I don't always have access to them.
XP/Merits:
The next Abyssea add-on came out since my last update, so the level cap is now 90. I've got THF, NIN, RDM, and WAR to 90 so far. RNG is 89, due to lack of opportunities to play it. COR is 87 and currently only XPing in Walk of Echoes. DRK is 85 cause lolDRK. I mean, unless I get a Twilight Scythe or something else cool that is DRK only I don't have any reason to XP it at the moment.
The shocker for people that have known me awhile is that my RDM is level 90. I had just gotten it to 30 before the last add-on came out, but with a couple of opportunities to XP while AFK, which I was grateful for, it got to 75 pretty quickly. From there, I used a mix of actually playing it and picking up some "leech" XP to get it to 90. In the time since, I've managed to gear it up pretty decently and I like playing it enough. I'm not very good at keeping up refresh or haste cycles, but I'm also not emo about being asked to provide one of those spells if I've lapsed and someone reminds me ... so it all works out.
So far as merits go, I've gotten well over 100 in the last couple of months. WAR, RDM, THF, RNG, and COR are all capped out on G1 & G2 merits. At this point, I'm not left wanting merits for anything... I will apply them for NIN and DRK as I get them, but it won't be long until I'm totally capped out and XP will be mostly meaningless for my high level jobs.
On the subjob front, I'm trying to get BLM to 30 without actually having to play it ... via XP scrolls and what not. SAM is up to 49. I need to delve into leveling up SCH to 49, but until I get more proficient at playing RDM, I don't see the point in adding SCH to the mix.
Linkshell Stuff:
Immortality is still kicking it, but we're more casual and lower man than ever. A lot of long time regulars are on breaks or have quit. A lot of more recent members just use the LS as a place to hang out and don't come to many events, and few others have taken to spending time outside of LS for their own purposes.
Through all the changes, we still do what we want to do, albeit slower than most full-time LSes. Our schedule has whittled down to mostly Abyssea and Walk of Echoes, with a spattering of Dynamis, VNMs, and Einherjar thrown in... although some of those should be coming off the table at some point.
The dabbling in WoE has done wonders for the pocketbook though. Between the boosts to the LS monthly payout the sales of those items provide, and the items I've obtained from personal chests, I'm richer than ever. The sadly ironic thing is that now there's almost nothing worthwhile to buy. A lot of the previously high value items have been obsoleted by newer ra/ex stuff... but I digress.
Current Goals:
The hardest thing about playing FFXI lately for me is finding obtainable goals. The "new hotness" in FFXI are the upgrades to Empyrean weapons in Abyssea. While not overly difficult, they are time consuming and mostly NOT soloable, so completing one or more of those is mostly out of the question. I've begun collecting Carabosse Gems for Armageddon, but I'm not very far. I think I might be able to work together with Riz and get some more, but I'm not hopeful that it will finish anytime soon.
As a result, I've decided to tackle the less difficult but also time consuming path of upgrading the alternate path to the WoE weapons in order to gain access to the new Weapon Skills. Right now, I'm far along the path for both Dagger and Bow, with plans to begin Katana in the near future. I suppose I could do GAX at some point as well, but it's hard to say. Once the level cap increases to 99 it will be a lot easier to see which weapon paths would be easier to pursue and I may re-evaluate then.
Beyond my weapon upgrade goals, I'm obviously interested in getting all the AF3+2 items completed as I can. Right now I've only fully completed THF Legs and COR Feet. Starting this month in the LS, we're going to be focused on these more than we had in the past. Previously, we worked a lot to get zone boss kills and important Atma/Abyssite for our members, but now we need to go out and get these upgrades for people.
Wrap-up:
Um, so yeah. That's about it for now. I could come up with a ton more, I'm sure, but it's just normal boring stuff. I wish I was a more visceral person and could realize when something cool was going on that I could screenshot to spice up this LJ a bit more, but I rarely take screenshots of anything. Not to mention, I don't always have access to them.