WK Plays FFXI

[Wolf Kanno]

Update Time!

Got my katana, so now I have access to SAM. Managed to power level PLD to 40ish, so I've switched over to DRK and leveled it to about Lv. 11. The plan is to now kill the additional 100 enemies. I used Trusts to level up, but since I believe the kill has to come from the blade, I'm likely starting now with the countdown.

Still no action at the auction house, but I did manage to farm the Mistletoe needed for that weird quest in San d'Oria with the dresser and earned 12,000 gil for my trouble. I also played around the Crawler's Nest and snagged the item for the Castle Gardner. It did take all freaking evening to get the mistletoe though because the Walking Trees didn't want to spawn. Not helped that I ran into a NM that was way out out of my league and I was promptly killed for my hubris.

It has been a while since I was this low level, so the Chocobo shirt and Destrier Cap are back out of the closet and making me look like a tourist again for DRK. I do plan on leveling SAM as well, and perhaps DRG, but we'll see. I kind of think I am going to basically focus on either MNK, PLD, DRK, or Sam for the rest of the game. I may level WAR RDM, depending on if I need them as a subclass. But I plan on sticking to these four classes for the rest of the scenario I am planning on actually doing. If I do manage to reach Aht Urghan in my travels, I may add BLU to this list, but we'll see.

For now, the plan is to level DRK, upgrade Chaosbringer, do a few quests in Bastok while I am doing the first two things, and finally complete the last task for my Nation Mission so I can obtain my Adventurer's License and move this whole thing along.

[Wolf Kanno]

Update Time!

Finally got a chance to do an extensive play session and I finally feel like I am moving a bit forward now. I've gotten DRK to level 30 and have been working on raising proficiency with Scythes. Didn't think I would like them, but surprisingly I do. Though I have him back with a Flame Sword now. I also did get the extra hundred kills and have Deathbringer. I am a little sad this wasn't the weapon they chose for his Relic Weapon seeing how it was Cecil's best Dark Knight sword, but I'll stop whining and let XI be its own thing.

Managed to clear up a few lingering quests I had in Windhurst so I could make some room in my inventory. Raised my Smithing to Lv. 6 and got Woodworking to Lv. 7. I am still annoyed how tedious leveling crafting skills is, but whatever. It is technically cheaper than grinding 100,000 gill for a Bronze bed and storage upgrade it brings.

The big news was finally finishing the last Rank 2 Mission and getting Rank 3 finally. The funny part is that I read the wiki wrong and was doing the wrong mission because apparently the mission objective changes depending on which order you go to the nations. Got to see Ayame in action and Lion is still always showing up at the wrong time. I also tripped over the first cutscene for the Chains of Promethia expansion. Altana save us all.

With my Adventurer Certificate, I was finally able to access my Mog Garden which was really cute. My Chocobo is also now in his teens and has turned into a real brat now. I'll have to keep letting him race or something to change his disposition, but I miss my cute Chicobo.

So Now I am going to dive into the next nation mission on my next playthrough and see if I can get DRK to level 40 before switching to SAM. Still debating about DRG, but once those two are at Lv. 40, I plan on moving one of the classes to Lv. 50 so I can start working on getting to Lv. 65-75 so I will have a good shot at beating the Shadow Lord. I am really loving DRK, so I may drop MNK for it, but we'll see. I kind of feel sentimental about beating the game with the class I started with. I also want to do the Tenshido quest just so I can reach Aht Urghan because I really do want to unlock BLU. SMN is the only base game class I have not unlocked and Ninja is the only one from the Zilart Expansion I haven't either. We'll see if we get there.

I also should start really cleaning out my inventory and spend my Sparks of Eminence because I've managed to max it out. I may do my original plan and sell anything of no use between powers of tens to clean out the space and then spend my hard earned sparks on some decent gear. I am also surprised how good the Conquest gear actually is with the stat bonuses they give.

[Wolf Kanno]

Update Time!

Not a huge one, but I did the Infiltrate Davoi mission, and that was easy peasy. So it didn;t take long to complete. So now I'm on the mission to catch a Crystal Bass in Jugner Forest. Which has not been going super well, but I'm exactly trying too hard here. I don;t want to buy it from the auction because 10,000 gil seems a bit steep. Course I'm a miser in general in FF games. So we'll just keep going at it. I am finally leveling up my fishing skill, which is nice.

I also let my Chocobo teen race the choco-breeder team, so hopefully his mood improves. I'm also switching up his feed to San d'Orian Carrots to raise his abilities more. I did not check back on my Mog Garden though.

I also tried to finish the time traveler quest from my Nation, and still got my ass kicked by the NM it summons, but I lasted much longer this time and managed to beat the skelly he summons with him. So I feel if I just gain one or two more levels, I can finally beat this one.

I also used my Conquest points to pick up some better armor options than what I am wearing. Again, the Conquest gear is nice because in addition to having decent defense stats, all of it comes with some boost to it as well. Why yes, I would love to have armlets that boost my accuracy and boots that increase my agility. Please and thank you!

So I will keep trying at the fishing mini-game and likely level DRK a bit more in my next playthrough.

[Wolf Kanno]

Very minor update.

I largely spent my night fishing for the Crystal Bass for one of my Nation missions, and I am now starting to understand why the guide I'm using said to just buy it.

The issue is that when I use this one type of bait that's supposed to lower the opportunity of catching the wrong fish, it seems the only option I really have is to try and catch something I don't have a good probability of catching. So I have a feeling its a numbers game because I get the impression I need some serious fishing levels to catch it somewhat painlessly. The other bait option I had kept having me catch an army of crayfish I put up for auction for various prices as a screw over the economy in there because I'm more interested in getting quick cash, not gouging prices to get the most money. Which has surprisingly been working for me in the past.

Anyway, I may spend one more night trying to catch this fish naturally before I just stop being a dragon miser and just spend some gil I'm hoarding.

[Wolf Kanno]

Major Update!

Got more than I was bargained for done last night. So I managed to catch the Crystal Bass for the Nation mission. As I began to expect the other night, the trick was going for the fish where the text read, "you don't think you'll be able to catch this one" as that turned out to be the one I needed. Though it took me three nights to catch this thing, I can't argue that it wasn't very lucrative for me. I managed to put up at least four stacks of 12 Crayfish on the Auction and managed to sell two of them for a combined total of 30,000 gil. So it wasn't a complete waste of time for me.

Following that, I barreled into the next Mission which had me becoming a member of my Nations embassy in Jueno. This was going to send me to Quifim Island to explore the Delfkutt Tower for the ambassador, but I decided to do a few side gigs first, the main one being getting access to the Tenshodo organization, which means I might be able to access Aht Urghan and obtain my coveted BLU class.

I did climb the tower and finish the mission first, and I managed to build my DRK to Lv. 40, so I am currently a SAM at the moment and will start working on that next. I know I haven't done a Job Breakdown in a while, but I've only dabbled in two of the Advance Classes and I feel if I tried to get to Lv. with the others, I would be ballooning my time even further. I'm only like two story missions away from my goal line of beating the Shadowlord, and while I've been having fun, I'm ready to move onto the other FFs at this point. I will say that I LOVE DRK. Definitely my favorite class so far.

Unfortunately, the server maintenance will be active during my usual play time, so I will have to keep myself occupied differently this evening.

[Wolf Kanno]

Whoops, looks like I spoke too soon, the maintenance is the following day from when I posted.

So Minor Update.

Reached Rank 4, moved the Rhapsodies of Vana'diel forward again, and I sort of wish I had been doing that when I was a DRK because looking ahead, I was in the location I needed to be and the proper level. Not that I couldn't just change back to a Lv40+ Job and reach that point... I might do that because the next item I gain from this questline boosts my XP gains again and that should help me for the final stretch.

Other than that, I leveled SAM to about Lv. 14 currently. Nice to have a Job Class that can actually hit things with their two-handed weapons, not that DRK was completely awful, but damn WAR can be annoying with Greataxes. I am liking the class so far, but I'm not sure what to Sub with it, so I originally had my DRK, but later switched it to WAR for the Double Attack ability. I am also switching out my fishing gear for a proper bow and arrow to finally raise that weapon up as well. Though I may frop this eventually since I do have RNG for this kind of stuff.

Other than that, I am leveling SAM, probably going to do a few minor quests next playthrough since it looks like I need to raise my Fame in Jueno, and probably trade in some Conquest Points and Sparks of Eminence to get some good good gear while I phase out more of the gear clogging up my storage. I did forget to check on my Chocobo though...

[Wolf Kanno]

Update time!

I'm on the 4th Mission tear where I have to investigate the strongholds of the three biggest Beastmen tribes to obtain their Magicite they are using to revive the Shadowlord. I've acquired several of the items needed to enter these places with the exception of the two needed to reach the inner sanctum of the Quadav territory. I did have to hunt some Coeurl to get one item.

I also raised my nice Chocobo to adulthood and have a mount, I also unlocked the non-chocobo mounts as well and my favorite is an adorable red crab.

SAM is around Lv. 38, and is in stiff competition with DRK as my fave job. Also helps they have great synergy with each other. I also reached the area the Galka used to live! I can't fight anything in the are or I will be turned into a bloodstain but hey, we got some lore, I reached an oasis, and I finally managed to get the Fire weather for the damn SMN quest. Now I just need the Ice weather, but unfortunately for me, all of the Ice zones are basically locked until I reach the Shadowlord. I tried real hard to hoof it through Raugemont Pass, but the demon enemies pretty much succeed with their Gandalf roles. So it looks like I won;t be unlocking the class until almost the end. This is easily the most annoying and worst Job class quest of the bunch due to all the RNG.

So, when I have more time to play, my goal is to:

• Get SAM to Lv. 40ish.
• Finish the Rhapsody of Van'Diel questline up to the point where I don't need to reach the original hardcap of Lv. 75 so I can get the item with the next XP boost.
• Try out DRG for a bit, but likely just get it to Lv. 20.
• Finish getting the MNK's first class-centric weapon in Bastok.
• Lv. MNK to the lv. Cap. so I can start the Lv. Cap quests. and get up to the one I can coincide with my current mission and kill two birds with one stone.
• Finish Mission 4-1.
• Decide if I'm doing MNK/WAR for endgame or DRK/SAM.
• Try my best not to get sidetracked with nonsense that doesn't pertain to any of these things.

So that's my game plan. My overall goal is to have this game finished sometime in March so I can move back to FFXII and move through the rest of my backwards playthrough.

[Wolf Kanno]

Minor Update!

I did an attempt on the NM that spawns in the Rhapsody questline, and was killed at the last minute when it managed to pull off a devastating attack that killed all my squishy trusts, but he had almost no health by that point. I did attempt this two levels shy of the recommended level. So I'm going to get SAM to Lv. 40 and try again.

Other than that, I finished one easy quest to get a specific weapon to a dude in Jueno once I learned I can purchase said weapon from the Sparks Vendor, of which I have almost maxed out Sparks to use. There is also a neat armor set for MNK/NIN/SAM the vendor sells, but I'm going to have to wait until I get one of those classes to the default lv. cap.

Other than that, I visited my Chocobo and finally unloaded a bunch of elemental crystals I had been hoarding to the Moogle in the craft shops. I also got another 13,000 gil for a set of Crayfish i put up to auction.

I may slightly alter my plans. I know I said I wasn't going to bother with the other Job Classes, but I noticed I have a few abilities/spells taking up inventory space in my Mog House, so I might venture into a few of them to clear up the space. But I'm going to wait until after I get the next XP Boosting Key Item so I can make those ventures as short as possible. Though it looks like I'll have to level WHM again...

[Wolf Kanno]

Weirdly productive evening.

So I attempted the NM for the Rhapsodies quest once again after gaining another level and still got destroyed towards the end of the fight due to a super move it likes to save when it has low health and lots of TP. So I opted to try to level again the Raugement Pass dungeon and managed to actually make it to the glacier and get the last weather element to gain the SMN class. But before I did that, I decided to do get the SAM's Artifact weapon because I happen to have acquired one of the items needed for it when I was originally trying to unlock the job. So I did that questline and was thinking of jumping into DRG instead, but then read up on the NM that keeps beating me and learned the creep has a move I hated in FFXII where the monster caps the damage I can do. This largely might be affecting how I am losing to it because Shantatto II and Zeid may not be as ideal as some other choices. Likewise, it recommended going for multi-hit attacks and that's why I jumped back into MNK!

So I had to upgrade the armor because everything I had for the class was Lv. 28 and not going to do for my Lv. 42 MNK. But I also remembered I never finished getting his Artefact Weapon either, and then realized I can alos fo a quest to upgrade the MNK White Belt.

So the goal is to get the Artefact Weapon, maybe acquire the Purple Belt depending on how tedious NM farming gets, and level it up a bit to fight the Rhapsodies NM and get the next Umbra key needed to boost my XP gains. Then I'm going to level MNK to the soft cap of Lv. 50 so I can start doing the Level upgrade quests. I think when I need to upgrade to 65+ is when I will get a quest that coincides with the current Nation Mission and then I'll do it so I can kill two birds with one stone. I also haven't played MNK in awhile and figured it would be nice to go back to my starting class.

[Wolf Kanno]

Minor Update!

I mainly did the quest to get the MNK Artefact Weapon, which was better this time around due to being more thorough about wiping out the surrounding monsters and being better leveled and geared. Wandering Ghost was still a bitch though with his status effect. I did manage to also fight another NM that spawned in the same room, and despite being higher leveled, I had a much easier time dealing with him and snagged a nifty halberd for my trouble. I also gained two more levels for MNK so he's about Lv. 42 at the moment, so slowly getting close to the Lv. Cap.

While in Bastok, I started the quest to obtain a Purple Belt and may focus on that my next night. I'm a little annoyed my evening got sidetracked so bad as I was hoping to do more this evening, but every step is still a step forward.

[Wolf Kanno]

Minor Update

Had a semi-productive evening. I tried to get the items needed for the Purple Belt, but I might give up on this idea because it involves farming to get thew NMs, of which I am really not a fan of XI's NM system. I mean it makes sense for the medium, but I still feel it is annoying having to murder weak ass monster in the chance the rare powerful one you need might show up. I gave up, but I did manage to farm enough Ram Skins to put up to auction and I got that special animal fat needed to make the Holy Candle for a quest in Jueno.

My biggest success for the evening was beating the monster to get to the first soft cap of the Rhapsodies of Vala'diel questline. This monster just kept wrecking my team and sort of proving why Trusts are very limited because their A.I. can sometimes reach FFXIII levels of stupidity. Like Shantatto II is a wrecking ball, but she's not very bright as a mage and doesn't try to steer clear of an enemy blast zone. I managed to beat the guy, because another high level PLD player was watching me get my ass kicked and saw this monster practically one-shot my team when it entered it;s final phase and took pity on me. He kept casting Cure IV on me which kept the monster aggro on him despite not being part of the fight, and gave me the chance to whittle down the things health to zero. He saluted me, I thanked him, and we both went on our merry way. I managed to push the questline up to the point where I got another Umbra Key to boost XP gains, and now the questline is stalled, because I need to beat the Shadow Lord to move it forward again.

So, my next goal is to basically grind until I reach lv. 50. I am going to the Moblim holdout in Movlopolis or whatever it is called, because one of the guides placed it as the best leveling spot for my lv. 45 MNK. Once I hit the level cap, I'll do the quest for it and also start the next Artefact quest for MNK. The goal is to get to level 65 before I face the Shadow Lord. But I alos have to deal with the fact that while MNK is badass, I think I had more fun as a DRK and a SAM. So I am debating now if I should switch gears class wise or stick to my starting class?

[Wolf Kanno]

Update Time!

After getting smacked around by a l;ot of NM's wandering around the Goblin area, I learned a better spot was actually the gray ash version of T-Zah I unlocked by doing the Rhapsodies quest. So I was able to power myself up to Lv. 50 and start both the Lv. increase questline and the next MNK Artefact Armor quest. I feel like I will stick to MNK to do these quests, but I may end up switching over to DRK or SAM instead because as nice as MNK is, I did enjoy those job classes a little more.

So the first grind is over. Only two more to go. I think I'll finish collecting the MNK Artefact Armor and move back to either DRK or SAM and do their questlines now that I know some spots to level quickly. I may even throw in PLD if I feel saucy, but not likely.

I also picked up an item to see if I can reach Aht Urghan, because I do still want to unlock BLU, since it sounded like the most interesting class lore wise.

[Wolf Kanno]

Update Time!

Finished the quest for the first level increase. I capped MNK at 50+ but switched over to DRK to level it while I finished the actual questline. I also managed to finish the Save my Sister quest and received a Holy Mace for my trouble. I had to get some upgraded armor fro DRK though, because I was running with Lv. 30 gear. Granted, I liked that gear better because most of the pieces had some stat bonus, but sometimes defense is the better option.

I also did the Weapon Artefact quest for DRK as well and got him some more magic. I might farm some enemies for the ABS spells I'm missing. I really wish I had noticed the Dark Magic class when I was running BLM or RDM, because it is woefully under-leveled compared to some of my other magic classes. I'll jump DRK to Lv. 51, so I can start the next level increase quest and probably switch to SAM and get it to the soft lv cap of 50.

So we're making some slow progress, but I am reminding myself that this is sort of like the endgame grind in games like FFII and III, where being prepared is better than not. Besides, I get the impression the next couple of Missions assume I stuck to one class and would be trying to get the level increases. So I feel I am good with my current plan. Been making money sending items to the auction, I may need to go fishing again though.

finalfantasyxi_final_fantasy_xi_image_egm_cover_by_Yoshitaka_amano.jpg

[Wolf Kanno]

Update Time!

Leveled DRK to Lv. 50 and did the first Artefact armor quest to get the leggings. Unfortunately, the quest involved going back to a low level area, so I am still stuck at Lv. 50 and I can't even equip the armor piece yet, because I need to be Lv. 52. I also unlocked this other quest to find some special lumber for Cid's assistant, and that took me back to Carpernter's Landing, which, I never fully explored because I was a bit underleveled when I found the place originally. Unfortunately, I could not get the right creatures to spawn or get to the place where easier targets do spawn, but the reward if 2k gold and I'm not going to sweat over it. I did manage to finish up two more stacks of Crayfish, so that went to the auction house.

Unfortunately, this quest would spell the theme of the rest of my evening. I decided I was going to hunt down the missing Dark Magic spells and focused on trying to get Tractor, which involves hunting down Wights. The drop rate isn't bad, but the enemy mostly spawns at night, so I opted to hunt them in the Gusgen Mines instead. I must have terrible luck, because they dropped everything, but that spell, including two that are supposedly rarer. Lost two hours grinding and nothing. So I am not bothering with this anymore. I might still do the quest quest in Windhurst for Aspir but I will likely just purchase the remaining spells I'm missing if I feel up to it.

I did splurge and buy a Bronze Bed so my Moogle would shut up about it, but now he wants me to find a Power Bow and Beetle Necklace.

The one good thing I will say is that I finally tried DRK/SAM and this is certainly a magical combo of death that I really appreciate. Feels much nicer than MNK/WAR. I will be curious to see if SAM/DRK is just as fun.

[Wolf Kanno]

Minor Update!

I largely spent the evening activating quests. I started the quest for the Lv. 60 increase, the Chaos Helmet, and the Chaos Glove quests. For the Helmet, I even managed to get the drop I needed to do the second part with the nasty fight. I might try to acquire the gloves first, and may even see if I can get the leggings and armor itself since I do happen to have keys for both dungeons. I also upgraded to a Darksteel Sword, and was surprised to learn that Zeid's "Flamberge" must be a unique weapon because DRK can't use it, unless it's a different weapon and just uses the same design.

I also raked in a bunch of money with some of my auction sales. I did get to Xarcabad or whatever it is called thanks to a tip I received about abusing the Unity system to teleport you to places you haven't been before. I tried to beat one of the beasts to get the item for the level increase quest, but was badly beaten just as I got it down to an inch of it's life. C'est la Vie I guess. So the goal now is to focus on the armor acquisition and hope the upgrades they bring may turn the tide of the conflict. That or change my team lineup to something more offensive focused that can perform Magic Bursts or Skillchains better.

My DRK is Lv. 54 at the moment, so I may end up switching to SAM soon. I also emptied a few items filling up space in my inventory because they were spells for various classes. I may have to level WHM just so I can dump all these spell scrolls I keep getting.