Nations Complete

I finished off the Rank 9-1 and 9-2 missions today, completing not only Bastok's storyline, but all the starting nations of Vana'diel's stories. While the nation missions past Rank 6 were never anything amazing, I do feel that Bastok's story was the weakest of the three. It involved lots of emo galkas and a very underwhelming final boss. Zeid was angry at Volker because his uncle killed a galka thirty years ago, challenged him to a fight, and when he lost all was right somehow as long as he learned the meaning of friendship with his Mythril Musketeers. On a more interesting note, I used Zeid II trust companion from the Rhapsodies of Vana'diel storyline in the fight with Zeid. In the end, Zeid was guaranteed to win.

Zeid on Zeid violence.

I had been having trouble killing things quickly playing on WHM. With trusts that can heal, it felt a bit of a waste to play WHM in a non-party setting. So I went ahead and leveled my black mage up to 99, and used that to plow through the missions. I completed the Bastok missions with BLM, and have been using it on Wings of the Goddess as well. I am roughly halfway done with WotG now, and have been pleased with how the story is finally starting to pick up, and not just seem like a bunch of fetch quests and cameos of future important figures.

 DINB!

Killing mandys in a jungle setting brings back fond memories of xp parties in Kazham and Yuhtunga Jungle. Ceizark Battlegrounds is a beautiful place when you stay near the beaches.

Not everything has been done on BLM lately. I attended a mini-LS event on WHM to kill some anticas for a SCNM. While doing so, I accidently stumbled my way into a Moogle Kupo d'Etat mission I had not completed there, and we ended up fighting a famous cat burrrglerrr and her goblin lackeys.

"meOW!!!"

I picked up some eminent weapons with sparks from Records of Eminence, and they are a godsend for skilling up underleveled combat skills. I took out an eminent scythe and was able to hit things that were lvl 100 reliably even though my native skill was merely 61 (when I started, its 100+ now). It made me want to start a melee character up. I have always toyed with the idea of playing one, I just never quite  settled into which one I wanted to devote time to: PLD, DRK, DRG, or SAM. I am leaning towards PLD or DRK at the moment, but we will see how I feel when the urge to level a lowbie class comes along.

The Endless Gear Grind

Throughout most of my adventuring career, I have been a white mage. I rarely soloed, I spent my time in groups with allies around me. The new trust system leaves me a bit lonely, and makes me feel like I should change to something else, as an NPC alter ego can now do the same amount of healing as I can. I have no problem playing other classes, I've had a blast playing around with scholar and blue mage in the 75 days, but I keep coming back to WHM as my main always.

The equipment that I have worn as a WHM has not really changed much in my 75+ career. Almost since the beginning, I have been wearing a mix of noble's tunic and blessed gear. It has a distinctive blue and white color scheme that compliment each other in a way that always assured me they were meant to be worn together as the same set. I actually think the white and blue colors are more fitting than the red and white peppermint color scheme of the artifact and relic WHM sets. I am beginning to outgrow my beloved blessed/noble set, however. It was time for something new.

Fynlar took me to Abyssea to farm up the seals and coins I needed to upgrade the base empyreal set (I had the cap at +1 from Zephiris and Zadine pulling me through Abyssea when I came back briefly in 2011). In two days I went from one +1 piece and four base pieces to a full five-piece orison +2 set.
I could not see fit to sell off my old set, though. I just have too many fond memories of it, and it will always be in my eyes The WHM Set. So instead of just having some old gear sitting in my moghouse collecting dust, I did some aggressive bazaar shopping and managed to get the final two mannequin pieces I needed to finish off my quest. I now have a permanent reminder of what a WHM should aspire to be, noble, blessed, and orison (prayer).

Pictured left: Noble's Tunic, Blessed Mitts/Trousers/Pumps, Blessed Hammer

Pictured right: Orison Attire +2 set and Chatoyant Staff.

Return Home to Vana'diel, 2015

It has been a very long time since I have set foot in Vana'diel. Nearly four years away now, so even the smallest things seem to be new again. The last chapter of Abyssea had been released, as well as a new expansion, Seekers of Adoulin which was completely new to me. The current content being released is from a free mini-expansion, Rhapsodies in Vana'diel.

Rhapsodies is a bit of a bittersweet experience. It stands as the very last content update FFXI will ever have, though the game will continue in life support mode for some time afterwards. It's storyline will weave it's way through all the previous stories, and bring final closure to the myriad trials of Vana'diel over the past thirteen years. As much as I thought I was done with Vana'diel for good, I knew that I wanted to be here to see the ending for it all. There were also a few things I had always wanted to do ingame, and it seems like it is now or never, speak now or forever hold my peace towards FFXI.

My first impression upon returning to Vana'diel was how everything felt so familiar, and yet the mechanics of everything felt alien once again. I stumbled through my first couple days not knowing where to go, forgetting where the warp NPCs were, and even forgetting how to join a group. I was only level 90, with the level cap raised to 99 after I had quit.

This last one might remain a mystery to current players, as it seems FFXI has made a complete 180 in terms of content. Long gone are the days of waiting with your party flag up to do a quest or get some xp, now you can summon multiple trust NPCs to fill out the roles, whether you need a healer, a tank, or just damage dealers. It makes for an instantly satisfying experience because now you can solo experience levels, farm for materials, or finish most quest and missions without needing to wait on anyone else to help out. It can lead to a somewhat lonely playtime, however.

Not really sure where to start again, or how to meet people, I decided to change allegiances to Bastok, the only nation I have not been a member of yet. I started leveling a thief to get a feel for the mechanics, but quickly changed back to WHM to progress through the mission ranks. With no help and only using trust NPCs, I managed to get to Rank 9-1 in only four days.

Around this time, Thayos had heard that I'd come back, and was preparing to come back as well. He pointed me towards a friend of his, Fynlar, who would prove invaluable in my acclimatization with the current state of Vana'diel. He introduced me to the Rhapsodies in Vana'diel storyline, which carries with it strong key items that aid in leveling, He carried me and plowed through the battles so that I could gain the necessary rhapsody key items to level up quickly. In the process I made level 99 with my WHM, and had a lot of fun running into characters from past missions, as well as enjoying the new character, Iroha, who is a central character in Rhapsody's story line. I finished off chapters 1 and 2 with Fynlar, and next week the third (and final) chapter will release as the F I N A L content update for Final Fantasy XI. I hope my home of seven years will get the proper send off it deserves.

Current to-do list: Captain's Rank, Apocalypse Nigh, Rank 10 Bastok, WotG "Lest We Forget", level up melee job (PLD, DRK, or DRG maybe)
Playtime on return: 192 days.

I tried to stay away . . .

I tried to stay away, and nearly succeeded. I managed to leave FFXI inactive for sixteen months, not having the heart to log on to a different server than the one I started on. I rationalized it away, telling myself half my LS was gone, I did not want to be on another server, the new content was uninteresting, and I kept away because of that.

Then, a gentle pull began on me. I wanted to finish off my missions. I never finished San D'Oria's (my second home) missions. I never killed Eald'narche and finished off the Zilart story. I never fought Bahamut's second form because of Eald'narche. I never figured out what Cait Sith was up to. I never finished my climb up Nyzul Isle. Most importantly, I never did achieve the Captain's rank I always had my eyes set on.

So I reinstalled. I had to fight with S-E for a few days to let me log into my account again, but as the login music played over the character select screen, I knew I had had the right thing. There is tons to learn now, I have already taken WHM to 83 and BLU to 76, and brand new areas to explore and puzzle over, I still do not grasp all of what Abyssea has to offer yet, but I joined an LS of old Garudians and was warmed to see many familiar faces. Lakshmi is not so bad, afterall.

Farewell Garuda, goodbye Vana'diel.

I never noted the passing of Garuda. Once that world was wiped clean, I never followed my fellows into Lakshimi. I had already written off Vana'diel as a place to explore and have my fun in, and a large part of that was because our linkshell had become so fragmented at the end. There are many things I miss, the music during the Summerfest almost had me coming back, but I decided it was probably better to just wait for a better time.

With less than two weeks to go, Eorzea will be open for new adventures, new friends, and seeing old faces with new names. This is the moment I was waiting for when Garuda shut down. I look forward to Final Fantasy XIV not as just another game to play, but as a return to camaraderie that it will bring to me.



I look forward to falling and getting pulled up by all my old adventuring buddies.

To all who will join me once again, I will see you all in Eorzea under my old name, Kilill.

Return to Vana'diel

It has been many months since I have been active in FFXI. The end of a linkshell and unsuccessful start of another one are major factors in making me wish to stay away, but something always draws me back in each time. For this round though, I have sworn off Dynamis forever. It is one of my goals to never set foot in a Dynamis zone again.

One of the main goals that I have been working toward is attaining Captain's rank with Aht Urghan. I have been grabbing random pickup pickup parties, and managed to climb to First Lieutenant within the month. This leaves me to steel myself for the long road of convincing/bribing others to complete all the assault missions with me. Even the hard ones worth almost no points. I guess it is a challenge worthy of placing as a top priority.

As for linkshells, CatTail is dead (surprise there). I got invited to Shibby by Zephiris, and it has worked out very well so far. I have run into someone who loves assault as much as I do, and they do not have any requirements of needing to show up for endgame events. I am glad to be back in a social shell that just casuals endgame again. It feels a bit like returning home (just, with different people living in the house now ^.^;).

The majority of my time though, has been spent pushing my blue mage up those final few stairs to that great DINB at the end. I have only had one xp party in the last month, so my xp diet consists largely of campaign, Besieged, and FoV. I am currently sitting at lvl 71, and just today broke my Sapara of Trials and killed my WSNM for Savage Blade. I went straight out and started spamming it in a campaign battle, and every time I took off in a gravity-defying leap, I could not help but chuckle and grin to myself. Now I just want to get myself a Perdu Hanger and Assault Jerkin, that will set me for BLU equipment. Then comes farming all the spells I am still missing . . . /fear

Hello again.

It has been a rather long time since I updated, but not nearly as much has happened compared to times in the past. RL circumstances caused me to stay away for awhile, but I have been back on a regular basis for awhile, and it is time to recap what has happened.

The Summer Breeze festival is running at the moment. This is one of my favorite times. The music that plays at night is one of my favorites (though it seems to be everyone else's hated song ^.^;). I missed out on last year's swimsuits, but took part in all the festivities and got my paws on some good event items. I spent quite some time dancing for the hope of all Vana'Diel, and helping the Fantastic Fraulein Mumor defeat her rival, Uka Totlihn. It was good, cheesy fun watching them drop hearts and stars on each other's heads through their dancing techniques.


I particularly like the new yukata, and the way it matches with my new face. It is a mithra port of Lillisette's face, with purple eyes. It matches very well with the lavender floral print. Here is a moment of frustration during a bombing run in Sauromugue Champaign [S], with Zephiris and Kipupu in the background. The imps kept eating my bombs. The little bent ears help make this picture as well.

I have been campaigning like crazy lately. I know, there is a possibility I have gone mad listening to all those drums, but it is a means to an end. That is what I tell myself, anyway. I am currently 66 on my blue mage, and am trying to get a full set of the cobra panty (err... harness) set. This means I have been seeing a LOT of death lately.

But I also managed to break my previous record with this nice little lump of XP in Fort Karugo-Narugo [S]:



Bluefenris has a dancer just a little lower than I am, so we have been duoing as well. FoV has been my main course of XP ever since starting a melee job. I was having trouble with the RDM weapons, and the fights were lasting too long, when Bluef (as he hates to be called) ran up and helped, despite being too low to stay there on his own. It helps make killing weapons in Ro'Maeve a little more stable and minimizes deaths due to links. The downtime has been cut also with a second, so its a good setup.

We have also almost got our static back together in Tuesday night assaults again. Makai is probably not coming back, so we have been subbing in other people we know. This has worked somewhat well so far, and I am currently sitting pretty on Second Lieutenant (5/25). The promotion exam involved not-Naja schooling us in Officer's camp, and for some reason it involved a galka and a lot of baby chocobos. Yeah, I have no idea why either, but it was pretty damn cute.

I also have a static with some former Team Suicide members for Nyzul Isle on Saturday mornings. Not sure why I picked it up just yet, as I am not a big fan of Nyzul, but it will be nice to finally reach Floor 100 and be done with it. Einherjar picked up for a little while, and we cleared all the Tier I wings. We seem to have hit another block now, and have been having problems with the Tier II wings. At the moment, I am one win away from an Omega Ring.

Speaking of TS, it seems everyone I know is burning out on their events. I have already stopped running Dynamis (on account of my deep hatred of anything Dynamis related) with them, and only attend their Monday Limbus and Sunday Einherjar events. In looking for a shell that was less endgame-oriented and more just friend-oriented, Zeph suggested I start my own social shell. It ended up being called CatTail and is still uber small, but every person in it knows everyone else. So that is a nice little return to prioritizing little things done together. It is also the very first shell I have ever led. Oddly enough, despite the name, I am the only mithra at the moment. I still think KaersKrew would have been a better name. =3


Ishkur seems to be online more often, which is good because it seems all the people I have known for awhile have been gone more often than not. He helped Emi and I out by tanking some mobs we were trying to learn BLU spells from. Diamondhide is a pain in the ass, but I learned Zephyr Mantle and Enervation in this party. I helped him out as well by jumping into a Nana Mihgo BCNM (I still do not even have Moogle Kupo d'Etat -_-;) and killing some THF AF NM for his buddy in the shitadel.

Finally, here are some strange little WTF moments. Thayos and I were campaigning (again in Fort Karugo-Narugo) when I pulled a rafflesia while we waited for the yagudo to arrive. Methinks he plays RDM too much.

Also, I spotted this little beastie in Xarcabard [S] and had to literally stop and recheck to make sure it was not just my eyes and imagination playing tricks on me.