Friday, October 31, 2014

Day #539 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~107:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~145:00
Total Play Time - 1,280:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 8
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 49... ugh...
Total Game Overs: 71

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Going through Via Infinito getting every oversouled monster... Currently Cloister 27 (95% Complete (RAWR!), Bestiary 97% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-1. Currently Levelling Up some Side Jobs (Current Levels RDM 76/THF 30... BLK 45)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Continued on through Via Infinito... getting down to Cloister 27 while on track clearing out oversouled monsters... also headed over to Mt. Gagazet to see Kimahri's statue (guess I misanswered one of the questions to get the Yuna statue) and to see Lian and Ayde who got a Garment Grid from their guado friend... they gave it to us and said there were plenty more where that came from???

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Died alot... no seriously, I mean alot... I couldn't go anywhere without dying... somehow managed to get my Black Mage levels up to 45 along the way...

Status & Notes: 

Oh man... I'm only typing that because I was just putting some time in on X-2 and had something EXTREMELY painful happen... suffice it to say I lost about 2 hours of work... ugh....

Anyway... ever have one of those days playing an MMO where absolutely NOTHING went right. Yeah, this was one of those days. I literally couldn't do anything without accidentally pulling an extra enemy or running into a NM and dying, It was seriously awful.I probably tried 3 or 4 different locations and it all just ended the same... me dying.

Over in Spira, I was despearately trying to find out where the heck I missed story points... and I can't figure it out. I got the scene with Lian and Ayde and that didn't give any story points... I checked out Cactuar Nation to be sure I didn't miss anything there. I went through all the treasure spheres to make sure I watched em... and I'm still stuck at 95%. Not fun... so, with that frustration, I headed back into Via Infinito... made it down to Cloister 27... which probably puts about 1/3 of the work done... The first 50 cloisters are a pain, everything changes every 3 or 4 floors... once you hit 50 it gets ALOT more spread out and should go rather quickly.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Day #538 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~107:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~145:00
Total Play Time - 1,280:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 8
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 41
Total Game Overs: 71

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Going through Via Infinito getting every oversouled monster... (95% Complete (RAWR!), Bestiary 97% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-1. Currently Levelling Up some Side Jobs (Current Levels RDM 76/THF 30... BLK 41)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Went through the first 12 Cloisters of Via Infinito, clearing every oversoul monster I needed and doing some major AP grinding along the way

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Levelled up my Black Mage through Beaucedine Glacier. Got up to Level 41

Status & Notes: 

This is kind of time consuming... going through Via Infinito and getting all the oversouled monsters I mean. I honestly need more than I thought, so I can only help myself out so much going to the monster arena to at least get the monster type to oversouled... what I may do is when I know a monster type that takes an exceptionally long time to get to oversoul... such as Behemoths or Blades... I may go in and do the arena to get the quick oversoul in that regard... but otherwise I don't know if its really any faster to get the oversoul in the arena.

Now, the one thing with this is that it will actually get faster the deeper we get into Via Infinito as the encounters change less often and there are less possible encounters. I had alot that I needed especially in Cloisters 4-6... the other thing is finishing Via Infinito won't actually get me all the monsters... I have to head back into the Bevelle Underground and go back to the towers and get the Precepts Guard there to finish things out. Another thing I need to do at some point is head back to Mt. Gagazet and see the statue... I haven't done that yet... that gets me another Garment Grid. (and if that magically puts me up to 96% story completion, then Bully!)

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Day #537 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~107:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~145:00
Total Play Time - 1,280:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 8
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 41
Total Game Overs: 71

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Finishing up Loose Ends... (95% Complete (RAWR!), Bestiary 97% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-1. Currently Levelling Up some Side Jobs (Current Levels RDM 76/THF 30... BLK 36)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Finally got my Strength of One Garment Grid!!! Next, I headed into the Arena to try and fight the last few teams I haven't encountered yet.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Levelled up my Black Mage through Sauromugue Champaign and Beaucedine Glacier. Got up to Level 36... made some money.

Status & Notes: 

Yay!!! Figures... first time I send all 4 chocobos to Besaid... the 4th one comes back with the Garment Grid. So, now I only have 1 garment grid to go. I'll be starting on that tonight... I printed out a list of all the Via Infinito encounters so I'll be able to mark off which ones I need to get oversouled... thankfully I already have Chac... that's the tough one... I can probably make things easier by fighting certain monsters in the arena until they're about to oversoul and then heading back into Via Infinito... I'm mostly thinking of ones like Paragon. I'll get it done...

Also, before I head to the end of the game, I am going to run around as much as possible to find whatever scene I missed. I'll rewatch all the treasure spheres and head back into the engine room and all the different areas of the ship if I have to to try and get it.

FF XI is really going to be boring this week, as all I'm going to be doing is levelling and hopefully getting as much money as possible.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Day #536 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~107:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~145:00
Total Play Time - 1,280:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 8
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 38
Total Game Overs: 71

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Finishing up Loose Ends... (95% Complete (RAWR!), Bestiary 97% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-1. Currently Levelling Up some Side Jobs (Current Levels RDM 76/THF 30... BLK 26)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Did ALOT of sending chocobos out... and all I've gotten from it is a bunch of AP...

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): So, Doctor Shantotto's curse was accidentally killing someone... whoops. Of course she wanted to pin it on me... she did want to try and reverse it though. So... we fetched some more stuff. Including some hair... a tree root... and some ammunition. Seemed to do the trick I guess. She did have more for us to do, however. She wanted us to head into the Beacudedine Glacier and inquire about a new spell she had developed and the Orastery had been testing out.

Upon arriving and hearing that the doctor was asking about the spell sent panic into the Orastery workers. Something was blocking the magic from inside Fei'Yin. We took the long walk over, and inside we found the head researcher along with some golems... apparently they were blocking the magic. We returned to Shantotto to report what we'd found and she finally agreed to go through the Trust ritual with us!

With that out of the way, we headed over to the Burburmu Peninsula to begin some Black Mage training.

Status & Notes: 

Okay... this Chocobo Ranch thing is getting REALLY annoying. It is really completely random what you get,.. did some research and perhaps I've been sending my chocobos to the wrong region. The point is to send them to somewhere they don't want to go while they are at a low to mid heart level. This other chart I'm looking at has Kilika as a neutral site for Bold chocobos... and says I should try Besaid or the Moonflow instead... I'll give that a shot when I can.

Other research I've done in X-2 is telling me that you can't use the arena to fill up Shinra's Bestiary... sigh... that is going to make things mighty annoying. Going to mean another long trip down Via Infinito... with the express purpose this time being to gather all the oversouled monsters.

In Vana'diel I've finished getting all the city trusts. The Shantotto quests really weren't all that bad. Even got the Warp II spell out of it... not a bad deal. Definitely making some good money out of the treasure chests too!

Monday, October 27, 2014

Day #535 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~107:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~145:00
Total Play Time - 1,280:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 8
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 38
Total Game Overs: 71

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Finishing up Loose Ends... (95% Complete (RAWR!), Bestiary 97% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 6-1. Currently Levelling Up some Side Jobs (Current Levels RDM 76/THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Did some chocobo work in the Calm Lands... sending my chocobos out in hopes of Garment Grids... got the Mounted Assault one... still hoping for Strength of One

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Headed deep within Castle Zvahl Baileys in Xarcabard... and by that I mean I teleported there and I went one-on-one... okay *4* on one... with the Shadow Lord himself... and it turns out the Shadow Lord is none other then Raogrimm, the Gelka we saw in all the magicite cutscenes.

Anyway, we had to alternate our attacks between Magic and Physical, but it turns out the shadow lord was no match for our might. As he crumbled before us, he explained to us how he was the talekeeper of the Galka, and it was just too depressing for him so that's why he turned into the Shadow Lord.

We returned to Windurst and was congratulated on our victory, however, something still seemed to be bothering the Star Sibyl... we returned to Xarcabard and was visited by the shadow of Raogrimm, apparently his soul was cut in twain, and the half that was stolen to be changed into the Shadow Lord was taken by the Beastmen into their realm and they are looking to now resurrect it within their realm.

Meanwhile, back in the cities, we congratulated ourselves on our victory by becoming trust buddies with the Elvaan prince Trion, the Taru sorcerer Ajido-Marujido, and the Bastokian mercenary Volker, as well as his compadre Iron Eater. We then began the process for getting the trust of the Taru sorcerer... Doctor Shantotto!

Ya see, he cursed someone outside his house... and he recruited us to help him get components for his curse. We'll see how this turns out later.

Status & Notes: 

Yay, I've beaten the initial release of FF XI... solo... again, really not all that difficult. But kind of a cool fight.. The first fight I've done that REALLY reminds me of a WoW raid fight. He has different phases, different abilities, requires some strategy. Actually, a pretty cool fight. Fortunately, I was also a little overpowered for it. Eh, no matter. So, I believe gaining Rank 6 opens up the raid area of Dynamis... I think alot of my Linkshell runs there alot, I'm still not too familiar with it though... I'd like to finish up my training first.

Logged in today, and saw that Myriad Mystery Boxes is in effect for the week... this means it is going to be a GREAT time for me to farm some gil by levelling my side classes which I mainly do in outdoor areas... so I plan on taking full advantage of this.

Over in Spira... man I'm hating this little quest of mine to get these Garment Grids... it seems as if it really is completely random if/when you get it. I have at least now gotten myself 4 level 5 Bold chocobos I can send out... so I can just repeatedly send them all to the same area... and just hope when I get back... unfortunately, they also don't return at all a decent amount of the time which requires then resetting the game. If there's one thing I dislike about the Remastered version of X/X-2 it is the time it takes to reset the game... I mean the amount of menu screens you have to go through it is just ridiculous. If there's anything good about this, it is letting me get a good amount of AP grinding done... I would really like to move on though. Once I get Strength of One, I am going to move on getting "The End" garment grid, which requires beating every oversouled enemy... really shouldn't be THAT bad with the Monster Arena. We'll see though.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Day #534 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~101:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~125:00
Total Play Time - 1,254:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 8
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 38
Total Game Overs: 71

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Finishing up Loose Ends... (95% Complete (RAWR!), Bestiary 97% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 5-2. Currently doing some in-town prep... raising level cap, increasing inventory space, etc. (Current Levels RDM 75/THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): None

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Finished grinding the 12 Merit Points I wanted... so switched back to EXP and capped out. So headed back to Jeuno, where I talked to to the Nomad Moogle... he called a Magian Moogle who dropped some stars on my head and ressed me... this somehow raised my level cap... it was so awesome I had him do it again!!! This time, we enlisted the help of a tarutaru... this made it even more painful... the res was good though... so level cap to 85!

Next, we headed over to the login vendor and bought us some Goblin stew. We took that over to the junk shop on Jeuno and with that, increased the size of our bags...

you know what? I think we're ready to go take on the Shadow Lord now!!!

Status & Notes: 

Just a FF XI day today... but hey, the last few saturdays I don't think I've had any play time... Very soon I think I'm going to have to inquire about getting into some XP groups... solo levelling is pretty slow now... just too much XP needed. So, I think my plan in XI now is to actually go do some questing now. I'm strong enough now, I should be able to easily increase my rank a bunch. The immediate bonus from this will be that I'll get my hands on some new Trusts... including some Black Mages, which will be VERY interesting to try out... so far all I really have are healers and other melee guys.

After I finish the questing and missions I want to do, I'm going to switch over and do some levelling in Thief, and Black Mage... I may go ahead and get Dancer as well, the Dual Wield alone would be pretty cool with Red Mage... double the Enfire fun.

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Day #533 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~101:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~125:00
Total Play Time - 1,254:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 8
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 38
Total Game Overs: 71

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Finishing up Loose Ends... (95% Complete (RAWR!), Bestiary 97% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 5-2. Currently grinding up some Merit Points (Current Levels RDM 75/THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Headed to the Calm Lands. Here I was looking to make some dough to purchase a couple of Garment Grids... so, what better way then to play some Gull Force! But, yeah, made some cash and then bought the Garment Grids.

Next, I headed over to the Chocobo Ranch and sent out some chocobos hoping they'd bring back a garment grid... no dice so far.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Grinded up some more Merit Points... up to 9 now...

Status & Notes: 

Alright, so Gull Force is a fun little side game... and the best part is, it is not required for anything! It is probably the best way to make... credits... in the game. I wish you could bet actual gil and use it as a way to make gil... but.. oh well.

There seems to be some different theories amongst the community into how you actually get the two chocobo ranch related garment grids... the most popular theory involves sending a Level 5 Bold Chocobo with heart between 55-95 to the calm lands. The other one you get from sending a Level 5 Bold Chocobo with exactly 30 heart to Kilika island.

I suppose I'll give it a shot... what do I have to lose?

Friday, October 24, 2014

Day #532 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~101:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~125:00
Total Play Time - 1,254:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 8
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 38
Total Game Overs: 71

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Finishing up Loose Ends... (95% Complete (RAWR!), Bestiary 97% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 5-2. Currently grinding up some Merit Points (Current Levels RDM 75/THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Finished digging up the parts I needed in Bikanel Desert. Along the way I did find the key to the chest back in the camp and got the Garment Grid. We then headed back to Djose Temple where the experiment had gotten so powerful it was now out of control. Whoops, we kicked its butt... and got a dancing book! Sweet.

Next, I headed into Luca, and it is time to play some Sphere Break! Really, I'm just interested in some stuff from Shinra... and a dog... that's right, a dog plays Sphere Break... sigh... anyway, you just look for the item property on the border coins, and you get yourself a couple of Garment Grids!

I next headed back into the Farplane... actually reached the bottom, where Leblanc and crew were waiting for us... how'd they get around the Dark Aeons?!?!?!? Grr, anyway, Nooj told them to not come after him, and Leblanc is going to be a little obedient puppy. We then headed back to the Celsius, where Brother and Buddy were talking about needing to recruit some new people... or they'd be stuck with Cid.

To get our last Garment Grid of the day, we headed back to Farplane Glen... through EVERY possible route. This netted us the Megiddo Garment Grid... so we can cast Flare.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Just grinded up 4 Merit Points...

Status & Notes: 

So... somewhere in the last few areas I did, I guess I screwed something up... and I'm going to be about .1 or .2% short of 100% in my FF X-2 run... that's... annoying. I mean, yes, it's not a huge deal since I was planning on doing a New Game + run anyway... but still, bleh.

So, still a few things left to do. I know I need the Garment Grids from Calm Lands, and the one from going through Besaid Island again with the second set of Sphere Ciphers... also, the one where you get oversouled everything... ya know, I realize that one is a TON less painful thanks to the Fiend Arena. Probably one or two more, but I have to consult a list to see which else...

Over in FF XI, I think I've decided that I'm going to get 12 Merit Points for now... this will be enough to get through the 75, 80, and 85 cap quests, I'll worry about the rest I'll need later.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Day #531 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~101:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~125:00
Total Play Time - 1,254:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 8
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 38
Total Game Overs: 71

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Bikanel Digging... (93% Complete, Bestiary 97% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 5-2. Grinding up some levels a bit... then time to take down the Shadow Lord! (Current Levels RDM 75/THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Finished getting the last couple SP traps I needed and caught Baralai, Nooj, and Gippal. I then headed over to Bikanel. Remember the last time we were there helping the Cactuar Nation and the big monster was coming to attack the Al Bhed camp? Well, I'm so glad we didn't rush over there, since ya know, he didn't attack the camp... he didn't leave either. Anyway, his name is Angra Minyu and he has a crapload of HP, and an occasional Meteor like attack which hurts. Luckily, though, I'm still super OP... so no big deal really.

With Angra Minyu not bothering the camp anymore, we were free to go digging! We were looking for some parts to upgrade that "unstoppable" fighting machine back in Djose Temple... as well as a key to open up that chest back in the camp... we got enough parts to level the Machine up to Atk. 4/Def. 4/Spec. 5... so still a bit to go.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Finished the EXP grinding I needed to reach Level 75.  I then returned to Jeuno, where I spoke with the Nomad Moogle, who said he had found a new way to break our limits. He then gave us the aptly named Limit Breaker! This item lets us stop gaining EXP and gain Limit Points... 10k of these convert to Merit Points which we can then spend on various things... I'll get into it more when I actually start spending them.

Status & Notes: 

So, made some progress in both games today. In X-2, I am now absolutely positively complete with the Creature Creator section until the NG+... this playthrough is done! Seriously... so now it is just cleaning up various things... mostly gathering Garment Grids. The one episode we have yet to complete, however is Djose Temple... which requires beating the MAX level mechanical creation... which requires ALOT of digging. Seriously way too much if you ask me... anyway, we need to unlock the chest back at the Bikanel camp for a Garment Grid... so you also have to spend the time picking up all the White spots as well... sigh... hopefully will get this done tonight.

In Vana'diel, I've opened up the Merit Point system... for Red Mage at least. Kind of an interesting alternate advancement system. It is nice in the fact that it actually gives you some options for your character, other than the strict vertical levelling we've had so far. I plan on doing the DoT debuffs for my Red Mage... Dia III and Bio III. Not exactly sure at which point I will pick them up, however... I do want to get to Level 99 sooner than later.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Day #530 Recap

aCurrent Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~101:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~125:00
Total Play Time - 1,254:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 8
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 38
Total Game Overs: 71

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Bikanel Digging... (93% Complete, Bestiary 96% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 5-2. Grinding up some levels a bit... then time to take down the Shadow Lord! (Current Levels RDM 73/THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Made my way to the bottom of Via Infinito. Here, we discovered Paragon... he looked a lot like Ultima Weapon and Omega Weapon... except not. Anyway, we fought him for a little and then an old guy showed up and suplexed him like a train!!! Wait, no, that was a better another game... the old guy did kick the large thing into a wall DBZ style though... so that was kind of cool... it was Trema. He told us that he stole all the spheres so everyone could stop concentrating on the past and start thinking about the future. However, in creating a training camp for everyone, he underestimated their boredom in having nothing to fight,

So... Trema takes a while to kill... but he's a lot easier to kill than Chaca Khan... Chac Fu.... Large stony snake guy... we got an Iron Duke for killing him (yawn)...

Next we headed back to the arena to capture Paragon and Trema... no need to train... (anything anymore)... however, we need SP traps to catch anything else we need... and they're kind of annoying to get... I'll go over it more later.

Next, we headed to Mushroom Rock Road... and we are finally able to head into the Den of Woe with all those Crimson Spheres we've collected along the way.. Paine is finally ready to face her past... so in we go... there's really not a lot in here,,, in the back, we find... a lot of pyreflies. Apparently this is one of those areas where the pyreflies fuse with memories... kind of like Macalania Lake back in the original FF X. So, obviously, it is the despair of Shuyin that has taken shape here, and was what caused the Crimson Squad to kill each other. No one had survived until Baralai, Nooj, and Gippal... so Shuyin decided to possess Nooj.

The pyreflies got to all of us, so I had to shoot down Paine and Rikku... and then the pyreflies took the spahe of the Crimson Squad guys so we shot them down too... yawn... for our efforts we got some stuff... including a new ability for the songstress. Paine and the rest of the girls finally put together what we knew months ago, that Shuyin went from Nooj to Baralai...

Finally, we headed back to the arena to farm some more SP traps so we can catch the crimson squad guys... we're still working on this.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Just grinded a bit... up to RDM 73

Status & Notes: 

So, some progress made in X-2 today. I'm literally down to 6 more creatures to catch in the Arena including the NG+ only ones... sweet! Plus, I finished Via Infinito and Den of Woe. Basically, a whole lot of story... including why the crimson squad members went their separate ways and why Paine has been journeying with the Gullwings. Yay... not really.

So, the LAST thing I have to do in Creature Creator is basically play tournaments over and over until I get a bunch of SP traps... the last bunch of guys can only be caught with them, 2 of them can only be caught in New Game +. The last guy you get for catching the rest of them... if that makes any sense.

So, Trema is really pretty easy with all the Iron Dukes... unlike Chac, you can really just go in as whatever and kill him. You could use a healer though... so, there's some strategy... I guess.  I went with Gunner, Dark Knight, Alchemist. Gunner for Table-Turner... Dark Knight for Darkness, and Alchemist because it's pretty much the best healer in the game...

So, yeah, once I capture the Crimson Squad guys, we'll move on to Bikanel where we can finally do some digging without it possibly messing up the 100% run. Then, it'll be on to just pick up the last few Garment Grids we can get in this playthrough, and we can finally go finish the game... yay...

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Day #529 Recap

aCurrent Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~101:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~125:00
Total Play Time - 1,254:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 7
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 38
Total Game Overs: 70

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Via Infinito... Cloister 89 (90% Complete, Bestiary 94% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 5-2. Grinding up some levels a bit... then time to take down the Shadow Lord! (Current Levels RDM 72/THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): None

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): After failing to put Maat to sleep once again... I needed to go fetch another Red Mage Testimony... luckily, I got it on the first try this time. So... it was back to Maat, who took me out twice more... once I couldn't get him to sleep. The second time I got him to about 30%, and really should've killed him... tried to out him to sleep when one more Aero III spell prolly would've finished it off. Anyway, I then had to wait an hour for my chainspell to be back up. This time, I went in, and was able to hit every single one of my Sleep spells and took him down... though I will admit, it was close.

After that, I looked for a good levelling area, and tried out a couple places, and eventually settled on killing crawlers and beetles back in Crawler's Nest

Status & Notes: 

So, a MAJOR checkpoint passed today as I was finally able to take down Maat... yeah, it was six tries altogether, and a lot of Gil spent... but it was worth it, as it is a huge checkpoint passed. My strategy ended up being, just get a sleep and dispel him completely, try and get 1 or 2 Aeros off followed by sleep, then heal up and nuke nuke nuke with Chainspell. Honestly, I was losing the race for a bit, and managed to get a final sleep spell off, popped an elixir and then was able to finish him off pretty easily.

So, what's next? Well, I'm really free to grind up to 95 before the next checkpoint that requires a fight. At some point I'm going to have to level my subclasses... mainly Black Mage and Thief to start... they've got to get up to 50. From a purely plot point of view. I'm going to be pretty much able t go through the rest of the Windurst missions very soon. Really, I'm probably strong enough to take on the Shadow Lord right now, but why not gain a few more levels and make it easier on myself?

Again, I also still need to figure out a good way of making some gil. The best ways may wait until I get my black magic levels high enough that I can AoE stuff and make a ton of sparks... we'll see. That will take quite a while.

Anyway, today, we should be back into Spira, hopefully finishing Via Infinito, so we have that to look forward to. Until tomorrow!

Day #528 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): ~101:00
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): ~125:00
Total Play Time - 1,254:34 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 7
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 35
Total Game Overs: 70

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Via Infinito... Cloister 89 (90% Complete, Bestiary 94% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 5-2.  Maat fight... umm... not going so well. (Current Level RDM 70/THF 30)

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): None

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Was finally able to retreive the Red Mage Testimony from deep inside Qulun Dome within Beadeaux. With that, I gave the fight with Maat a chance... and I got fairly destroyed... Twice... with this knowledge I decided to head back into Cape Teriggan to cap my enfeebling skill... get him to sleep more.

Status & Notes: 

Alright, so I've finally seen the Maat fight... and it is very much a pain,  His physical attacks hit pretty hard, he can cast all kind of direct damage spells at you, and he likes to resist all the controlling you do at him...  to be honest I had one good attempt, where I was getting a good nuke sleep combo going... however, one resist and he catches up to you and it is pretty much all over. My plan is to do what I can to get him to about half health and then blow chainspell and just nuke him down... we will see how that will go.

Coming tomorrow... the downfall of Maat... will probably be another couple days before we continue  on through X-2

Day #527 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): 85:49 (+)
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): 53:18 (+)
Total Play Time - 1,157:41 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 7
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 32
Total Game Overs: 70

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Via Infinito... Cloister 89 (90% Complete, Bestiary 94% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 5-2.  Pretty much ready for the Maat fight... just need to retreive the Red Mage Testimony

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): None

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): None

Status & Notes: 

Wishing a very happy birthday to my beautiful wife. As such we've kept this day FF Free.

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Day #526 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): 85:49 (+)
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): 53:18 (+)
Total Play Time - 1,157:41 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 7
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 32
Total Game Overs: 70

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Via Infinito... Cloister 89 (90% Complete, Bestiary 94% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 5-2.  Pretty much ready for the Maat fight... just need to retreive the Red Mage Testimony

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): None

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): With some more skills in tow, I headed back into Garlaige Citadel for a rematch with the Guardian Statue... this time, after a long fight, I came out victorious! I was able to open up the Oaken Box with the Nail Puller I retreived from the statue. Inside were the remains of Rainemont, Curilla's Father. With this knowledge in tow, we returned to San d'Oria. When we returned, ghosts were coming out of the cathedral. Trion, the prince of San d'Oria and Curilla came running after. An evil ghost tried to convince Curilla to slay Trion, however Rainemont's ghost came and cleared it out. He then gave me his hat as a prize.

We then headed into Jeuno where there were rumors of ancient gauntlets that possessed more power than anything created today. We headed into the Eldieme Necropolis and had to retreive a key to open up the coffers. Inside were the old gauntlets, however the blacksmith was unable to repair them. We talked to the shopkeeper who told us someone in the Tenshodo guild had a repair kit. WE found the person who we paid for the repair kit... she said she had left it on top of some old crates in the Port... so we went and the ghost of Boghertz showed up and said he could repair the gauntlets if we brought him a Shadow Flame from Castle Zvahl Baileys. For those who don't know, this is where the shadow lord lives... I haven't bothered to pick up his mission yet, so, we travelled there, killed a bomb monster to get the flame and then walked to the Shadow Lord's throne room so I could get the warp point there... easy access later. We returned to Jeuno with the Shadow Flame, and the ghost of Boghertz fixed my old gauntlets into Warlock's Gloves.

To gather the remaining artifact pieces we had to open chests in Garlaige Citadel and Castle Ozstroja heading deep within where only some of the strongest mosnters held the keys to the coffers. After a bit of grinding on them they gave up the keys and we located the chests where the Tabard and Leggings were held! Full artifact set go!

Status & Notes: 

Actually managed to finish up the artifact set today for my Red Mage. It took a lot of work. Was quite satisfied to get the Guardian Statue down solo... I guess all my grinding paid off. To retrieve the rest of the pieces... it really was just a matter of going into the dungeon, finding the monsters who could drop the coffer keys... and then finding the coffer. Easier said than done. Usually, these monsters were in the deeper parts of the dungeon, and the coffer spawn is pretty random... The worst was figuring out where I needed to go in the Necropolis for the gauntlets... that place is a big maze with false floors and what not. Yuck.

Another good thing about the gauntlet quest was I had to head to Castle Zvahl Baileys... I figured while I was here, I would just walk all the way to the throne room where there was a Home Point... this way I could warp back here quite easily once I decide to take out said Shadowlord... which shouldn't be TOO far off.

So, yeah, the next step is for me to retreive the Red Mage Testimony which is needed for Maat to actually fight me. This, I think I'll get in Beadeaux, there's only 1 monster there that can drop it, but its a really high drop rate, and the other places I can get it are filled with monsters that will aggro me, and I'll just die alot... so it is probably my best bet... of course it couldn't be in an easy area... seriously, just skill grinding and coffer key grinding, I managed to find 5 different testimonies... good for if I want to fight him as other classes down the line I guess.

My other problem right now is money, I need to find a good place I can grind some cash... I'd LIKE to be able to buy the Dispel spell before Maat... however, it is VERY expensive... I'll probably try the fight once or twice without it first. My best guess for money grinding right now is to head back to Xarcabard and to grind on Gigas... I'll kill them quickly and hopefully can get a bunch of chests to spawn which will give me 3-4k gil each. Not awful.

Friday, October 17, 2014

Day #525 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): 85:49 (+)
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): 53:18 (+)
Total Play Time - 1,157:41 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 7
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 32
Total Game Overs: 70

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Via Infinito... Cloister 89 (90% Complete, Bestiary 94% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 5-2.  Prepping for the Maat fight. Doing the Artifact Quests... Grinding out skillups... etc.

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Finished up the Bestiary, or at least as much as I can get it filled for right now. The trickiest part was recruiting Auron. This involved getting him to be my opponent in the first round of the Farplane Cup and then winning the tournament... which is far more tricky since Major Numerus entered... Took two tries, but I got it done with my main team now equipped with Iron Dukes.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Started by finishing my grinding to 70. I then immediately started on my next artifact armor quest. I returned to San d'Oria where I heard a rumor that throwing an ancient coin into a dried out fountain in Fei'Yin will let you communicate with the dead.

I headed to Fei'Yin where a ghost held the coin I was looking for. I had to recruit some help to take him down... while I waited, I ventured further in and came upon a battlefield. On this battlefield was a lich and his two sorcerer friends. Thankfully, since we had trained alot, we took him down pretty easily. Afterwards, a Galkin showed up, along with the hume Lion who todl us that the seal here had already been broken and replacing it would be pointless. He didn't believe the rumors of the Shadow Lord returning... but there was something strange about the Castle Zvahl being the place where fate would come to pass or something like that...

Anyway, I finally recruited some help and took him down. Throwing the coin into the lake showed Curilla's father who still had something he needed to tell his daughter. We returned to San d'Oria where we heard rumor of a treasure hidden in Gargaige Citadel in an Oaken Box... we headed over there and checked the box and was immediately attacked by a Guardian Statue! It was a long fight... and unfortunately, I came out on the losing end.

So, I left for the Altepa desert, where I tracked westward through the Kuftal tunnel into Cape Teriggan, where I found some rabbits, lizards, and crabs I could fight to get my skills up a bit.

Status & Notes: 

So, today in FF XI was full of fail. I mean, really. It was a bad day. I died... alot... I first got to 70, and figured I could get through the artifact armor quests... well, the first Named Mob I needed to beat in Fei'Yin was massively difficult. His melee attack could drain 500 HP from who it hits... and basically, even with my trusts, I couldn't outdamage what it was healing. I tried a solo kiting strategy a couple of times, but couldn't quite get it to work right. Eventually, I got help from someone in my LS and with Level 99 help, it died pretty easily.

The next named mob, is more of a fair challenge I'd say. It is a hard fight, yes, and I died with his life at like 1% twice... that said, I am going to kill this guy without any help. That is why I took the time to run over to Cape Teriggan and pick up the checkpoint. The enemies I've been fighting to skill up are in the low-mid 60s so I'm actually getting some decent skillups... I'd love to be able to cap them all out before the Maat fight, but we'll see. Of course I died once along the way as well... and then another time during my grinding... yeah, just not a good day. Plus, I really need to get some gil... still have a couple of things to buy.

Over in Spira, we had a good idea at least. I've finished up the Bestiary work I needed to do, getting the entries for Concherer, Chac, etc... I also needed to recruit Auron still... this was a bit of a challenge. I tried going through Farplane Cup using Mushroom Cloud instead, but even with 2x Iron Duke, he was still dying too easily... plus, by the time I made it to Numerus he had already learned Ultima, and so I wasn't able to weaken him. I just used my base team, now powered up, and it wasn't a big deal, sure I had to use Full-Life a couple of times, but really, he died pretty easily... I now have more Iron Dukes than I'll probably ever need. It is good though, I wanted to see if I could beat Major Numerus without Mushroom Cloud and while in the Farplane Cup, and I accomplished both of those!!!

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Day #524 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): 85:49 (+)
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): 53:18 (+)
Total Play Time - 1,157:41 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 7
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 26
Total Game Overs: 70

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Via Infinito... Cloister 89 (90% Complete, Bestiary 90% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 5-1  Also, just trying to level up a ton to make doing missions easier.... currently am RDM 69/THF 30...

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Continued down Via Infinito... running into Lord Zaon and Lady Yunalesca at Cloister 80... they changed into the insidious Chac... this bastard snake REALLY likes to stone you, and has a TON of HP. Luckily, he won't stone your last person... so we used this to just outlast him basically.

Went down a little further and then got bored of Via Infinito... and was getting a little worried that my levels were getting too high... so I headed back to the airship to clean some stuff up in my Bestiary... so I'm starting to catch most of what I have remaining and get their fiend tales... after this all I'll have left is a few end of Via Infinito entries.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): More grinding... nearly got myself to 70... so hopefully some more interesting stuff to come tomorrow

Status & Notes: 

I know I'm stating the obvious here... but Via Infinito... is REALLY long... like REALLY long. I do like how they keep finding ways to make the levels more and more difficult. Just when you think you have a pattern down they'll change something up, like making you fight certain enemies, or making the levels longer. Its kind of cool, but you can only take it for so long... luckily I had some guys who I hadn't caught yet... actually, I was pretty surprised that I missed a few goign through. Like a couple I could've caught in Chapter 3... oh well, really, I'm just getting what I can from the guides... with so many things to catch I was bound to miss a few. Luckily now it is just about filling in the spaces. Takes a bit longer now, since I'm basically catching everything at Level 80... oh well...

Over in Vana'diel... I'm still grinding to 70... it is a long road... I started doing some work in skill grinding... of course since I'm only killing level 50ish monsters I can only grind that so much here... I'll have to do some work once I hit 70. I have a spot in mind... so my goal once I hit 70 is first to get the gear I'll need... some will come from the Auction House... some will be from the Artifact quests... while I'm doing the Artifact Quests... I may as well do some missions as well... you basically have to go to the same place for both... so yeah... probably am still quite a bit away from taking on Maat...

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Day #523 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): 85:49 (+)
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): 53:18 (+)
Total Play Time - 1,157:41 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 4
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 26
Total Game Overs: 67

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Via Infinito... Cloister 76 (89% Complete, Bestiary 88% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 5-1  Also, just trying to level up a ton to make doing missions easier.... currently am RDM 66/THF 30... next checkpoint is level 70 for Maat fight. Also, did Level 65 Limit break quest which just made me go find 4 different people and give them a fairly common item... one of those look it up on the wiki quests... shrug

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Continued down into Via Infinito... getting through another couple unsent. Paine eventually filled us in that Trema is the original founder of New Yevon... yeah, the guy who stole all the spheres and disappeared. Apparently, this is where he disappeared... perhaps he was an unsent to begin with,.. and we continued down some more until we got to Cloister 76.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Basically just grinded... trying to get to Level 70 for what will be the most difficult mission to date... going one-on-one with Maat.

Status & Notes: 

Let's answer some questions first. Yes, I do have the Ray of Hope Garment Grid that could guarantee me 20 Iron Dukes per Numerus fight... haven't played around with that yet... Also, yes, I'm well aware of NG+ and what I'm going to have to do... the thing is I still have so much to do in my first game I haven't even gotten there! Yeah, my plan for NG+ is to do what I'll need to do to Platinum Medal the game and get the rest of the Garment Grids and of course the rest of the Bestiary entries... I don't know if they ALL can be gotten in Chapter 1... most of them I think.... too lazy right this second to look it up.

So, yeah, I'm going through Via Infinito with 6 Iron Dukes... it is fun... I even didn't bother using a real strategy for Concherer... I just powered through... it took a little while... I think I'll still go Cat Nip Gunner for Chac and Trema just for brevity's sake...  but it is kind of fun... you know, as much fun as you can have in Via Infinito... stupid little puzzles... at least they did it right by letting you leave the dungeon pretty much whenever you want, it is not like a single playthrough type of thing... that would be just unbearable.

In Vana'diel... been starting to do some research into the last real roadblock for the limit break quests... which of course is to defeat my guide himself... Maat... basically to beat him you have to be pretty well geared and skilled up and capped at Level 70 with some good consumables and a good strategy... and you have to farm an item from a dungeon... Apparently it is a very hard fight... it is different for each class. For the Red Mage... it seems very much in the vein of some FF XIV fights I did in the beta... Sleep/Nuke/Lather/Rinse/Repeat... though we will see... I have a lot of work to do before we actually get there.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Day #522 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): 85:49 (+)
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): 53:18 (+)
Total Play Time - 1,157:41 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 4
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 26
Total Game Overs: 67

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Monster Arena Done!!!. and Via Infinito (89% Complete, Bestiary 88% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 5-1  Current Levels are RDM 62/THF 30

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Firstly, I cleared out the Farplane Cup twice more, for a total of 4 times... this got me an Iron Duke! I quickly equipped the Iron Duke and Invincible on my Battlesnake and levelled up my Omega Weapon and released it... he died when I did, and Shinra absorbed the pyreflies and became Almighty Shinra! To defeat him we had to win the Demon Cup again... and he was strong, but really no match for Iron Duke/Invincible/Peerless Battlesnake... 2 Full Autos and he was dead.

So, now it was time to head back into the Farplane Cup... there were a few new guys here. The Master of Spira was Paragon!!! Yeah, remember him? Well, he's back with a crapton less HP then he had in FF X... So, he has a nice spell that can one hit me... but it's perfectly possible to kill him before that happens... so yeah.

Next is the Outer Plane Envoy... aka Major Numerus... aka the Four headed hydra of doom. He has 4 heads... each with over 600k HP... they all have a nasty attack that can go a long way towards killing you. How can I kill him?!?! Well, the answer, comes from catching a different monster... Mushroom cloud!!! Why??? Well, see below, I'll talk about it there. My first serious attempt, I was able to get two heads down netting me 2 Break HP Limit accessories... after that I was able to kill him twice... netting me 3 more Break HP Limit, 4 Break Damage Limit and 5 Iron Dukes.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): None

Status & Notes: 

Fiend Arena done!!!! Woohoo!!! Well, sort of... I have a few teams that still need to be unlocked and some fiend tales that I have to do... and maybe I'll farm some items... but the challenge part is over... I asked the question yesterday if I was going to need Break HP Limit to have a chance at the hardest enemies... and the answer really was yes, but just for Major Numerus. The rest of the enemies was really just a damage race that could be won by getting full auto off with Iron Duke, Invinible, and Peerless Garment Grid equipped... whcih basically made Full Auto do about 250k damage.

Major Numerus on the other hand, man he is a pain. And he is painful. He hurts... alot... and it is a LONG fight.. seriously... my fights probably took about 30 minutes each... and I'm sure I can get that down... but man... long fight... the key to doing this fight without an OUTRAGEOUS amount of HP is Mushroom Cloud... you need to have a mushroom cloud with about 10k HP and probably  1-2 Adamantites and Minerva plates for Def/Mg. Def... He had Vigor and Pernicious Pollen as attacks and THAT'S IT! As far as passives... First Strike and Ribbon are a must... Break HP/Dmg Limit are nice obviously as well as spellspring. You do this to ensure he uses Pernicious Pollen first... if he survives the first round of attacks and uses it, it will SEVERELY weaken Numerus to the point that while still deadly... he's killable at about 18k HP for your other 2 damage dealers... Your cloud will learn Ultima from getting hit, which he'll spam at that point... which is fine because pollen doesn't stack on Numerus.

The great thing is you actually get decent rewards from him... seriously... a one in 8 shot from each head you kill of getting 5 Iron Dukes... holy crap. So, yeah, sadly my time in the Fiend Arena is over... what a damn fun thing they added. This really makes the game in my opinion... so what do we have left??? Well, a bunch! We have to finish Via Infinito... go through the Den of Woe... play some Sphere Break... AP Grind... try out Blitzball a bit... finish up some fiend's tales... do some digging... actually get the 100% ending... and oh yeah... we still have Last Mission to do after that!!! Its really the game that never seems to end...

Monday, October 13, 2014

Day #521 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): 85:49 (+)
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): 53:18 (+)
Total Play Time - 1,157:41 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 4
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 26
Total Game Overs: 67

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Monster Arena Part 5!.. and Via Infinito (89% Complete, Bestiary 86% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 5-1  Current Levels are RDM 62/THF 30

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): None

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Finally found a good levelling groove... would like it more if I was making some gil while I was doing, but I'll take what I can get

Status & Notes: 

Alright, so my theory was correct about levelling. Killing things that are lower, that I can kill at a higher rate, does work out better in the end. I went back and actually was killing mobs at an even lower level than originally. As I said above, the only problem is in a dungeon you don't really get locked chests... this being my primary source of income. Yes, you can get nest chest keys... and the problem with these, is you have to go find a treasure chest somewhere in the dungeon... and doing this can really cut into your levelling time... basically, I'm going to just level now and worry about money later. I figure I'll eventually be able to find a good way of making gil later... can't be that hard can it?

Well, today is going to be a pretty big X-2 day... as I said, hopefully I can get an Iron Duke quickly enough... I'm wondering if I'm going to have to grind some more HP for my fiends... (can equip Higher Power GG to Break HP Limit)... in order to do Major Numerus and Almighty Shinra... we'll see.... after I hopefully am able to grind a couple of Iron Dukes, I'm most likely going to head back into Via Infinito... and maybe be able to finish it out... should be fun going through it superpowered... mwa ha ha

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Day #520 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): 85:49 (+)
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): 53:18 (+)
Total Play Time - 1,157:41 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 4
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 26
Total Game Overs: 67

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Monster Arena Part 5!.. and Via Infinito (89% Complete, Bestiary 86% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 5-1  Current Levels are RDM 60/THF 30

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): None

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Again, struggled to find somewhere to start levellign again. Tried a few places, but eventually settled back into heading into the Crawler's Nest and just grinding it out.

Status & Notes: 

So, first thing's first. I was able to get back in to FF XI, so that's good. Definitely seems to be an issue with my daytime connectivity. Will be a couple days before I can see if that has been fixed at all.

Now, solo high levelling I guess is a big pain. I'm not really sure exactly why yet. I don't know, if its just a function of higher level mobs gaining HP at such a high rate as opposed to the damage output... I don't know if the trust NPCs just stop damage outputting as well or what. However, there are some things we can still do... my current theory is that the best bet is to just kill things that are about as low as possible and collect the Grounds Tome/Field Manual rewards as quickly as possible....

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Day #519 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): 85:49 (+)
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): 53:18 (+)
Total Play Time - 1,157:41 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 4
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 26
Total Game Overs: 67

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Monster Arena Part 5!.. and Via Infinito (89% Complete, Bestiary 86% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 4-1!!!!!  Current Levels are RDM 60/THF 30

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): We first spent a bunch of time catching and levelling up some fiends. Finally, we were able to catch the Critical Bug. Levelling that up got us what we were looking for, the Yojimbo aeon... the Aeon cup was now unlocked! This cup was... again, disappointingly easy... we did win the Peerless Garment Grid from it... so that was something I guess.

Winning the cup also unlocked the final cup... the Farplane Cup. Here, there are some actual difficult fiends... kind of. Concherer is sort of difficult. He can one shot anyone, but if you keep the Battlesnake up, he'll die quick enough. Trema... is a long fight. Funnily enough, you still get the achievement for beating him in the arena. It's not really all that difficult... the only thing he does that is really scary is his Meteor. I've won the Farplane cup twice so far... need to win a couple more to get an Iron Duke... best accessory in the game.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Oh, this was a day. First, we headed over to Castle Oztroja. We had to go around and find three passwords on Brass Statues... mind you these passwords change every RL hour... So, we did that, while avoiding lots of Yagudo, and headed to the depths of the castle. The passwords got us into a room with a trapdoor which we fell down and was finally able to retreive the Yagido Crest.

In Davoi, we first had to construct a Crimson Orb to get us through a magical wall. This involved taking a white orb and dipping it into four different lakes. Once, this was done, we could enter the Monastic Cavern under Davoi to get the Orcish Crest.

Once this was done, we found another entrance to the cavern past the Wall of Dark Arts, this led us to the Optistone Magicite. upon approaching, we saw a vision of the leaders of San d'Oria. They had sent a party to the northlands to investigate the rumors of the return of the Beastlord. The journey was arduous and a couple people even died.

We next headed to Beadeaux. Here, we had to trek all the way to the far end of the fortress. Once we did this we went underground into the Qulun Dome. In here was the final crest we were searching for, the Quadav Crest. We headed back to the entrance where we found another entrance to the Qulun Dome. In here, we saw a vision of Bastok, where the Humes and Galkin just weren't getting along. A Hume even tried to kill one of the Galkin, but a female Hume jumped in the way and sacrificed herself, because the world needed the Galkin or something.

I then had to return to Castle Ozstroja. Here, we had to take another long walk into the depths of the castle, where we came upon an alter room. Here, we saw some Windurst visions. The Star Sibyl was said to be working on a new kind of magic... summoning magic. Ajido-Marujido had gone into Castle Ozstroja to parlay with the Yagudo... that wasn't going too well.

Finally, we were able to return to Jeuno. We gave the crests to Maat who once again raised our level cap to 65. We then gave the Magicite we gathered to the Archduke. When we did so, he also received word that the beastmen had just attacked all three of the big cities of Vana'diel! The Archduke's little brother than came in and wished to speak with Verena, the hume who had befriended the goblin Fickblix, and wished to speak with her... and then my game crashed.

Status & Notes: 

So, seriously. That questing in FF XI. Oh man, that was ALOT of walking. Yes, these were probably the longest quests I'm going to take for a while. Each dungeon section probably took a little over an hour... and it is just walking for the most part. Yes, you need to be careful to sneak around and avoid certain mobs... but really, most of it is just walking. The Castle Oztroja part especially was frustrating, just because the whole thing has to be done in a time limit, before the passwords change.

Then I finished everything, and yeah, my game crashed. Apparently it had something to do with my ISP just not being able to communicate with the game server... I'm not really sure, it seemed that the connection speed and everything was still good... can't really check if it is a temporary thing until Tuesday.

In X-2. I've finally made it to the Farplane Cup... this features... some long fights. Trema especially probably takes about 8-10 minutes to kill. I'm very much looking to getting an Iron Duke, this way I can put it on to my Battlesnake... he's really the only thing doing any appreciable damage... and with the Iron Duke on it should cap his strength and I can still have the Invincible on to Break Damage Limit. Of course in one or two more victories, we will be unlocking Major Numerus in the cup... and that fight will be... yeah... yikes.

Friday, October 10, 2014

Day #518 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): 85:49 (+)
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): 53:18 (+)
Total Play Time - 1,157:41 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 4
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 24
Total Game Overs: 67

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Monster Arena Part 5!.. and Via Infinito (89% Complete, Bestiary 82% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 4-1!!!!!  Current Levels are RDM 60/THF 30

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): First, we finished up the remaining bugs in the monster arena... as well as the Monolith. Once we finished him up, and released him, the three "Tomb" type monsters came and summoned the traitor of the fiend world... Ultima Weapon!!! He joined us and was AWESOME... I mean seriously, these were some fun fights... but alas, I had to release him... why? Well, doing so opens up the portal to the Fiend World... and a new tournament!!!

This tournament was a little different, it is a four round tournament where your HP/MP carry over between rounds... yeah, really not that difficult. Waiting at the end of it was Omega Weapon, king of the Fiend World... we defeated him, and was able to recruit him!

Anyway, we next headed over to Bevelle... here we ran to Maroda... and his brother Isaaru, he's come to fill the void left by Baralai. We got Episode Complete and then headed back in and found the Kinderguadians in a side cloister. We investigated the portal they found and discovered Via Infinito, a group of cloistes holding some roaming unsent... it was discovered by a man named Trema who descended and had not been heard from.

We descended 20 levels into Via Infinito and discovered Maester Kinoc! He transformed into an Aranea... who died really quickly. We then warped out, because its time to catch some more monsters!

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Headed into the Crawler's Nest and was finally able to level fairly efficiently. Made it to Level 60 finally... I then headed into the city where I purchased a WHOLE bunch of new spells. However, now, it is time for some very long and difficult quests...

Status & Notes: 

So, we've made it to what I'd call the END game of the Fiend Arena. Getting through Via Infinito Level 20 unlcoks the last couple monsters you need to open up the Aeon Cup in the arena. Once I beat the Aeon Cup... having already beat the rest of the cups... will unlock the FINAL cup... the Farplane Cup.... where we can meet the HARDEST enemy in the game!!! And farm some Iron Dukes.,...

Anyway, I was a bit disappointed in the Fiend Arena... I mean, there's nothing there that comes anywhere NEAR the level of the Ex-Crimson Squad from Youth League Cup.... Yeah, there's Tonberry the Ripper... but he dies to one Full-Auto... so, yeah. I mean, its good for farming Adamantites... so, I can easily max out Defense now... and get a few AP eggs, which will be nice for gaining abilities for everyone at once.

As far as Via Infinito goes... I'm interested to see how easy it is after I've farmed a bunch of stuff from the last arenas... mwa ha ha  ha ha.

In FF XI... I finally hit Level 60... hit a nice couple of camps in Crawler's Nest... just took a while. Also, had the nice side effect of being able to make a good amount of money from getting the rare chest keys. I did die a couple times learning how to pull correctly... but the good thing was I was able to buy a lot of new spells for my Red Mage... which in turn is really letting me learn HOW to play the Red Mage which is a buffing/debuffing machine. I really like the trust system in that you can learn your role in a party WHILE playing solo. Very cool.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Day #517 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): 85:49
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): 53:18 (+)
Total Play Time - 1,157:41 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 4
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 21
Total Game Overs: 67

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Monster Arena Part 4! (89% Complete, Bestiary 79% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 4-1!!!!!  Current Levels are RDM 55/THF 27

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Went into the mage of the new dungeon in the Chocobo Ranch, and found a mazy place based on elevation. Killed a big Chocobo Eater and looted the place, then found the Amazing Chocobo... yay...

Next, I headed to Mi'ihen where a warp to a new cave was. Inside, we could blow things up! In fact we had to... we had to bomb walls to progress through... the place was filled with bugs by the way... bugs that drop bombs... yup, you heard me right. We made it to the end and fought the king bug, and got a garment grid for our troubles... meh... oh yeah, also a bunch of new monsters unlocked in the arena... so we caught them... and started levelling them up. I also took a little detour under Besaid Temple, where we quickly took out Dark Shiva and unlokced even more monsters in the arena...

Put that 2x EXP garment grid and the AP Egg to use!

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Began by circling the four towns finding anyone and everyone interested in joining the mercenaries of Aht-Urgan, getting some membership cards in the process. I then headed out to Beadeaux and Castle Oztroja to get some special rare drops from lowish level enemies as requested by the Tenshodo. In return for these items as well as an item I randomly picked up in Davoi earlier, I got a boarding pass for Aht'Urgan!

Upon making it to Aht'Urgan, I headed to the nearest jungle and found the enemies to be a bit harder than I was hoping for... so I asked around, and found what I hope to be a good place to try tomorrow...


Status & Notes: 

Can't say this was the greatest day I've had in FF XI. There was a lot of running around, and I did unlock my path to Aht'Urgan which will be useful, however, apparently, a little more down the line... I was told there's some good levelling spots in the Crawler's Nest, so I'm going to try that out... gotta get to 60, and then there'll be some more quests for me to do.

Over in X-2, we had the two side dungeons in the game. The Chocobo dungeon actually has some interesting stuff, like the AP egg, and really, if you have a map, it isn't that bad... the Mi'ihen dungeon, though... yikes. There really is nothing of value here other than the garment grid. It is a bit of a pain wandering around there finding the exact locations of the walls to bomb, even if you have a map. Thankfully, you can farm up some bombs a bit in the arena, so you can fight less bugs... really trying to keep my levels low so I can get as many fiend tales as possible and still have Via Infinito to go through.

Final Fantasy X-2 Current Setup (Day #517)

Party:


Yuna - Lv 63

HP: 1952 MP: 86
Str: 134 Def: 92 Agi: 55 Eva: 3
Mag: 20 MgDef: 23 Acc: 121 Luck: 11

Equipment:
Garment Grid: Highroad Winds
Current Dressphere: Alchemist
Accessories: Speed Bracer, Champion Belt

Abilities:
*Gunner*: Trigger Happy, Potshot, Cheap Shot, Enchanted Ammo, Target MP, Quarter Pounder, On the Level, Burst Shot, Table-turner, Scattershot, Scatterburst, Darkproof, Sleepproof, Trigger Happy Lv.2, Trigger Happy Lv. 3
Gun Mage: Blue Bullet, Scan
Alchemist: Mix, Potion, Hi-Potion, Remedy, Dispel Tonic, Phoenix Down, Itemx Lv 2, Chemist, Elementalist, Physicist
Warrior: Power Break
Samurai: Mirror of Equity
Dark Knight: Darkness
Berserker: Berserk
Songstress: Darkness Dance, Samba of Silence, Sleepy Shuffle, Carnival Cancan, Slow Dance, Brake-dance, Jitterbug, Dirty Dancing, Battle Cry, Cantus Firmus, Esoteric Melody, Disenchant, Perfect Pitch, Matador's Song
Black Mage: Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Water
White Mage: Pray, Vigor, Cure, Cura, Curaga, Esuna, Dispel, Life, Full-Life, White Magic Lv 2, White Magic Lv 3
Thief: Steal
Trainer: Holy Kogoro, Kogoro Blaze
Lady Luck: Bribe, Attack Reels
Mascot: Moogle Cure, Moogle Regen, Moogle Wall, Moogle Life
Festivalist: Fire Sandals
Psychic: Psychic Bomb
Floral Fallal: Heat Whirl, Ice Whirl, Electric Whirl, Aqua Whirl, Ribbon
Right Pistil: White Pollen, Hard Leaves, Tough Nuts, Mirror Petals, Floral Bomb, Ribbon
Left Pistil: Dream Pollen, Mad Seeds, Sticky Honey, Halfdeath Petals, Silent White, Ribbon

Rikku - Lv 65

HP: 2206 MP: 100
Str: 145 Def: 94 Agi: 55 Eva: 4
Mag: 52 MgDef: 43 Acc: 127 Luck: 30

Equipment:
Garment Grid: Highroad Winds
Current Dressphere: Gunner
Accessories: Charm Bangle, Champion Belt

Abilities:
Gunner: Trigger Happy. Potshot, Cheap Shot, Enchanted Ammo, Target MP, Quarter Pounder, On The Level, Burst Shot, Table-turner, Scattershot, Darkproof, Sleepproof, Trigger Happy Lv 2, Trigger Happy Lv 3
Gun Mage: Blue Bullet, Scan
Alchemist: Mix
Warrior: Power Break
Samurai: Mirror of Equity
*Dark Knight*: Darkness, Drain, Demi, Confuse, Break, Bio, Doom, Death, Black Sky, Charon, Poisonproof, Stoneproof, Confuseproof, Curseproof, Deathproof
Berserker: Berserk
Songstress: Darkness Dance
Black Mage: Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Water
White Mage: Pray, Cure
*Thief*: Steal, Pilfer Gil, Borrowed Time, Pilfer HP, Pilfer MP, Sticky Fingers, Master Thief, Soul Swipe, Steal WillFlee, Item Hunter, First Strike, Initiative, Slowproof, Stopproof
Trainer: Sneaky Ghiki, Ghiki Gouge, Mugger Ghiki, Ghiki Cheer
Lady Luck: Bribe, Attack Reels
Mascot: Cait Fire, Cait Thunder, Cait Blizzard, Cait Water
Festivalist: Fire Fish
Psychic: Psychic Bomb
Machina Maw: Death Missile, Bio Missile, Break Missile, Ribbon
Smasher-R: Howitzer, HP Repair, MP Repair, Homing Ray, Ribbon
Crusher-L: Howitzer, HP Repair, MP Repair, Homing Ray, Ribbon

Paine - Lv 66

HP: 2229 MP: 100
Str: 187 Def: 135 Agi: 55 Eva: 5
Mag: 53 MgDef: 44 Acc: 128 Luck: 20

Equipment:
Garment Grid: Highroad Winds
Current Dressphere: Gunner
Accessories: Champion Belt, Champion Belt

Abilities:
Gunner: Trigger Happy, Potshot, Cheap Shot, Enchanted Ammo, Target MP, Quarter Pounder, On The Level, Trigger Happy Lv 2, Trigger Happy Lv 3
Gun Mage: Blue Bullet, Scan
Alchemist: Mix
Warrior: Sentinel, Flametongue, Power Break, Armor Break
Samurai: Mirror of Equity
Dark Knight: Darkness, Drain, Demi, Poisonproof, Stoneproof, Confuseproof, Curseproof, Deathproof
Berserker: Berserk
Songstress: Darkness Dance
*Black Mage*: Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Water, Fira, Blizzara, Thundara, Watera, Firaga, Blizzaga, Thundaga, Waterga, Focus, MP Absorb, Black Magic Lv 2, Black Magic Lv 3
White Mage: Pray, Cure
Thief: Steal
Trainer: Carrier Flurry, HP Flurry
Lady Luck: Bribe, Attack Reels
Mascot: Dark Knife, Silence Knife, Sleep Knife, Berserk Knife, Poison Knife, Stone Knife, Stop Knife, Quartet Knife, Arsenic Knife, Auto-Shell, Auto-Protect, Black Magic
Festivalist: Blind Mask
*Psychic*: Psychic Bomb, Maser Eye, Telekenesis, Brainstorm, Express, Teleport, Time Trip, Magic Guard, Physics Guard, Excellence, Fire Eater, Ice Eater, Lightning Eater, Water Eater, Gravity Eater
Full Throttle: Aestus, Winterkill, Whelman, Levin, Wisenen, Ribbon
Dextral Wing: Venom Wing, Blind Wing, Mute Wing, Lazy Wing, Stamina, Mettle, Ribbon
Sinistral Wing: Steel Feather, Diamond Feather, White Feather, Buckle Feather, Stamina, Mettle, Ribbon

Creatures (79% Completed):

Sallet
Bicocette
Barbuta
Armet
Bascinet
Heavy Sallet
Divebeak
Peregrine
Aquila

Flan Azul
Flan Amarillo
Flan Palido
Flan Blanco
Flan Rojo
Flan Azabache
Purpurea
Leucophylla
Cephalotus

Yellow Elemental
White Elemental
Red Elemental
Gold Elemental
Blue Elemental
Dark Elemental
Boris

Coyote
Wild Wolf
Killer Hound
White Fang
Canis Major
Lupus
Tindalos
Coeurl
Queen Coeurl

Gecko
Agama
Skink
Anole
Archaeothyris
Shantak
Zu
Rukh

Death Dauber
Assassin Bee
Aculeate
Wasp Queen
Ahriman
Fly Eye
Vertigo
Grim Gaze

Nashorn
Quadricorn
Balivarha
Lesser Drake
Spine Drake
Bolt Drake
Greater Drake
Iron Giant

Bomb
Detonator
Volcano
Gigas
Gug
Hrimthurs
Takouba
Barong
King Takouba

Bully Cap
Mycotoxin
Big Bully Cap
Protochimera
Rhyos
Kukulcan
Gucumatz

Recoil
Flak Python
Viper Sniper
Battlesnake
Tonberry
Ochu
Flailing Ochu
Drowsy Ochu

Creeper
Flame Dragon
Zalamander

Sahagin
Haizhe
Deep Haizhe
Xiphactinus
Dinictus
Amorphous Gel
Protean Gel

Zurvan
Varan
Elder Zurvan
Haunt
Lich
Tomb
Dolmen

Daeva
Aka Manah
Aeshma
Jahi
Cactuar
Jumbo Cactuar
Chocobo Eater
Anything Eater

Stalwart
Ironside
Behemoth
Humbaba
Tentacles
Malboro
Adamantoise
Adamantortoise

Machina Ranger
Machina Hunter
Machina Soldier
Machina Leader
Scout Machina
Guard Machina
Assault Machina
Killer Machina

YAC-13
YAC-62
YAU-28
YAU-71
YSLS-99
YSLS-Zero
Pop Fry
Machina Striker
Machina Panzer

Shell Shocker
Guardian Beast
Azi Dahaka

Goon
Mr. Goon
Dr. Goon
She-Goon
Ms. Goon
Fem-Goon

Yaibal
Elma
Garik Ronso

Brother
Buddy
Chocobo

Tournaments Won:

Standard Cup x 12
Standard Cup:Hard x 5
Grand Cup x 5
Grand Cup: Hard x 6
Chocobo Cup x 59
Cactuar Cup x 4
Youth League Cup x 9

Arena Team


Tonberry - Lv 86

HP: 9999 MP: 999
Str: 249 Def: 230 Agi: 87 Eva: 6
Mag: 141 MgDef: 255 Acc: 125 Luck: 17

Equipment:
Garment Grid: Abominable
Current Dressphere: Trainer
Accessories: Recovery Bracer, Crystal Bangle

Abilities:
Main: Darkness, Vigor, Esuna, Full-Life
Auto: Ailment Def., Auto-Protect, First Strike, Auto-Haste, Half MP Cost, Ribbon, Auto-Regen

Chocobo - Lv 87

HP: 9064 MP: 999
Str: 156 Def: 87 Agi: 73 Eva: 27
Mag: 255 MgDef: 255 Acc: 121 Luck: 32

Equipment:
Garment Grid: Abominable
Current Dressphere: Black Mage
Accessories: Soul of Thamasa, Crystal Ball

Abilities:
Main: Vigor, MP Absorb, Meteor, Esuna, Full-Life
Auto: Auto-Protect, Auto-Haste, Life-Preserver, First Strike, Turbo Black Magic, Ribbon, Magic Booster

Battlesnake - Lv 99

HP: 9171 MP: 990
Str: 255 Def: 202 Agi: 64 Eva: 20
Mag:149 MgDef: 255 Acc: 125 Luck:18

Equipment:
Garment Grid: Abominable
Current Dressphere: Trainer
Accessories: Champion Belt, Kaiser Knuckles

Abilities:
Main:  Vigor, Esuna, Full-Life, Full-Auto
Auto: Ailment Def., First Strike, Auto-Protect, Auto-Haste, Half MP Cost, Ribbon

Cactuar - Lv 49

HP: 2315 MP: 266
Str: 43 Def: 36 Agi: 72 Eva: 52
Mag:193 MgDef: 255 Acc: 112 Luck:35

Equipment:
Garment Grid: Tricks of the Trade
Current Dressphere: Mascot
Accessories: Regal Crown, Regal Crown

Abilities:
Main:  Attack, Quick Flare, 1000 Needles
Auto: Ailment Def., Ribbon

Garment Grid List:

First Steps
Vanguard
Bum Rush
Undying Storm
Protection Halo
Hour of Need
Unwavering Guard
Valiant Lustre
Highroad Winds
Heart of Flame
Ice Queen
Downtrodder
Sacred Beast
Tetra Master
Still of Night
Mortal Coil
Raging Giant
Bitter Farewell
Selene Guard
Helios Guard
Covetous
Healing Wind
Heart Reborn
Healing Light
Wishbringer
Seething Cauldron
Stonehewn
Enigma Plate
Ray of Hope
Pride of the Sword
Samurai's Honour
Chaos Maelstrom
Black Tabard
Tricks of the Trade
Tempered Will
Covenant of Growth
Salvation Promised
Unerring Path
Font of Power
Higher Power
Intrepid
Abominable

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Day #516 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): 77:11(+)
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): 53:18 (+)
Total Play Time - 1,149:03 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 4
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 21
Total Game Overs: 67

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, cleaning up a couple loose ends, and then Via Infinito (89% Complete, Bestiary 78% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 4-1!!!!!  Current Levels are RDM 55/THF 27

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Caught some chocobos and sent them out into the world. I did this alot... until finally I opened up a new cave in the chocobo stable. I then sent out a couple more to find a new cave in the Mi'ihen Highroad as well as a new digging area in Bikanel.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Started off in Xarcabard, both levelling to 55 as well as collecting the 3 pieces of Frigicite I needed to raise my level cap again. They were guarded by some seriously difficult beasts... but really I could aggro them, have my trust guys take aggro and just run, get the frigicite and run away... cheap I know, but who cares.

Next, I went looking for a new place to level. I head into the Altana desert, and found some okay levelling spots and picked up some outpost warps and a city home point as well. However, I realized that the best levelling spots for me were going to be heading into Aht'Urgan


Status & Notes: 

Oh boy, could I have screwed up the Chocobo stuff anymore in X-2? Well, I guess I could've... but still I screwed it up pretty bad. I... forgot, you were supposed to not level them up until after you send them out... you do the silly 3 Level 1s, then 3 level 2s... yeah, well I was more worried about making sure I had enough level 5s... luckily, I only had to throw out some chocobos and catch new ones twice... and I did get it done at the end...

Oh, another little error that cost me like 40 minutes... I forgot you can only catch chocobos with Gysahl Greens... yeah, the nutritive greens don't do squat, and in fact, any chocobos you find will just run away if you don't have any Gysahl Greens in your inventory... fun stuff.

Most of what I did in X-2 today was... running. There's a lot of distance between the frigicite pieces in Xarcabard... and then a lot of running to get from Bastok into the Altana Desert. Now, the next thing I want to do is get to Aht'Urgan because there's some good levelling areas. Of course, there's some quests I need to undertake to get there. The first ones allow you to sign up for the mercenary groups there and open up some cheap warp points... then I have to head to a few dungeons and farm some rare drops off level 30ish monsters... shouldn't be all that tough, and I can get a couple little prequests done too for Windurst 4-1.

Planning on doing some more X-2 today as well. Really, I want to clear out the Amazing Chocobo dungeon as well as the Mi'ihen Highroad dungeon. There will be 1 or 2 monsters I can catch after doing this... so I'll probably do that really quickly. I may also drop into the Deep Farplane to unlock a couple more catchable monsters. After this, it'll be time to start Via Infinito.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Day #515 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): 77:11(+)
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): 53:18 (+)
Total Play Time - 1,149:03 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 4
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 21
Total Game Overs: 67

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Chocobo Catching Time (89% Complete, Bestiary 78% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 4-1!!!!!  Current Levels are RDM 53/THF 26

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): Finished training up the last few monsters I had available, then since I had a cactuar on me, I entered the Cactuar Cup and beat that a few times... not that there's really a lot interesting from it, but its real quick to clear out a few times.

I then took off walking around the world talking up Argent Inc. Finally, I returned to the Calm Lands where Argent Inc, and Open Air Inc came face to face... I think the totals ended up 510 for Argent and 400 for Open Air... doesn't matter they are both Level 5. Tobli showed up and convinced them to merge... (We'll see what the Spira Trade Comission thinks of this monopoly). We then headed over to the guy who was trying to marry his son off, and a lot of women showed up, yay. We got a Speed Bracer... this was a great reward back in the day, before you could bribe them from Chocobos...

Finally I headed into Clasko's ranch to see where I was at with Chocobo catching... and to get a lot more greens to catch more. Unfortunately, I've only caught 7 so far, and only *1* of those could be raised to level 5... sigh...

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Found a fellow Red Mage over in San d'Oria, he said he'd tell me his tale if we found him some Dried Orc Rations... so we took off for the orc stronghold of Davoi in Junger Forest. We first found an orc wizard who gave us the key to where they kept the rations... and then we searched Davoi, high and low... and all around... and then some more...  and when we searched everywhere, we kept on searching... and *FINALLY* we found the dumb storage box and were able to claim the Orc Rations.

We returned to San d'Oria and the red mage told the tale that he was praying in the cathedral and he saw the ghost of a legendary red mage who gave him a pair of boots which he could not wear. He gave them to us, and sent us to see Curilla, the daughter of the ghost. She asked us to look into the matter, giving us the information that a similar pair of boots were decursed by burying them in the crawler's nest.

So, we headed over there and first killed some lizards to get a treasure chest key, we then searched out a treasure chest and unlocked it to get some crawler's blood. We found some loose dirt and buried the blood with the boots, and in an hour's time voila, we got the Warlock's Boots! Sweet.


Status & Notes: 

Well, I have a couple things to talk about today. First of all... the first artifact quest in FF XI. Oh boy, did I hate this quest. It is incredibly ridiculous. First, I think someone stole my named mob when I first went to get it... so I went all the way over to him and he wasn't there... so I had to leave and come back in like an hour... okay, actually, I went the wrong way first and died on some VERY high level orcs... I did kill a couple of them though... lots of experience.

Anyway, after I finally got the key from the named mob...well, there's probably about 20 different locations this thing can spawn on, and there's no minimap marker. You have to align your camera right to see a pattern on the ground and search EVERYWHERE. I probably lapped the place 4 times before I found it, it literally took me almost 2 hours to find this spawn point... all for a sword I'll never use... well, and to unlock the next quest which was a lot easier and more straightforward.

I really do just need to level my guy up to 99... there's so little you gain from doing these quests at a lower level then you can... I've said it before, but I haven't really practiced it. The questing in FF XI is really completely separate from the levelling... well ya know, except for the quests that raise your level cap....

Over in Spira, we're up to Chocobo catching... the goal is to get a full stable of 14 chocobos with 4 different ones that can get to Level 5... (these will be your active chocobos). Whether or not they can get to level 5 is completely random, so you just have to keep catching them. Now, to catch chocobos your best bet is to set the Alchemist Job on the Highroad Winds garment grid... this way you can use your greens really quickly and get first strike, so I'll have to grind 30 AP real quick to get Item Lv 2 ability unlocked.

We will definitely get some X2 in today and my goal is to have the chocobo stuff finished. It will take a bunch of work

Monday, October 6, 2014

Day #514 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): 77:11(+)
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): 53:18 (+)
Total Play Time - 1,149:03 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 4
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 18
Total Game Overs: 67

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Fiend Arena Part 3!(88% Complete, Bestiary 76% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 4-1!!!!!  Current Levels are RDM 51/THF 25

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): None

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): Levelled up to 50, then headed into Jeuno and met Maat, a guy who really wants to help me break my limits. He told me to go collect a few items from a few dungeons and he'd help me out.

The first place we visited was the Crawler's Nest, here we need to collect some Exoray Mold... yum... we found our way around, and using our lovely sneak ability, we were able to collect a few spores which then combined into what we needed

In Garlaige Citadel, we first had to pick up a bag of weighted stones... somehow this let me open up the gates. We were trying to collect a few Bomb Coal Fragments This place was definitely a bit of a maze that took a little figuring out. I kept getting ambushed by Explosures, which stunk, they blow up for a LOT of damage... luckily, we were able to take one down, and it gave me the piece of Bomb Coal as requested by Maat!

We then found the Eldrieme Necropolis... that took me a while to find the entrance, and  Once we were able to find our way to the correct area, we were able to just run around a bit and easily collect the three papyrus scraps we needed. We returned to Maat, and got our Level Cap raised to 55!


Status & Notes: 

Well, got my first taste of a real quest in FF XI today, and it was quite fun! Alot of the challenge is just figuring out where to go. The dungeons are real mazes, with some paths looking open that really aren't. Here is where you need to know what monsters detect what, whether it be sight, sound, casting... this way you can skip as much as possible.

I also, just kind of discovered that you can start getting Artifact Armor at level 40. This is very interesting, its the armor that actually makes you look like you're the class that you are playing as. I was also able to pick up the quest that will raise my Level Cap from 55 to 60. This is a lot quicker quest which just involves killing a few named mobs in Xarcegard... which is where I'm currently levelling. So, these are my next 2 goals here... raise my cap up to Level 60 and start picking up the Artifact Armor... actually get some stats and what not.

We'll definitely get some X-2 in today I think. If you've forgotten, we're finishing up the fiends that unlock after the Cactuar Hollow opens... and then we're going to run around and get the PR points finished and go head to the Calm Lands.

Day #513 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): 77:11(+)
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): 53:18 (+)
Total Play Time - 1,149:03 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 4
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 14
Total Game Overs: 67

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Fiend Arena Part 3!(88% Complete, Bestiary 76% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 4-1!!!!!  Current Levels are RDM 48/THF 24

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): None

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): None


Status & Notes: 

As I said, this was a recharge day for me. A very necessary one. Really only planning on getting a bit of FF XI done today. The goal is to cap at Level 50, and then do my Level Cap quest for that, should take a bit. We'll see how it goes.

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Day #512 Recap

Current Game(s): Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XI

Current Play Time(Final Fantasy X-2): 77:11(+)
Current Play Time(Final Fantasy XI): 53:18 (+)
Total Play Time - 1,149:03 (+)

Current Game Overs(FF X-2) - 4
Current Deaths(FF XI) - 14
Total Game Overs: 67

Where I Currently Am(FF X-2): Chapter 5, Fiend Arena Part 3!(88% Complete, Bestiary 76% Complete)

Where I Currently Am(FF XI): Windurst Mission 4-1!!!!!  Current Levels are RDM 48/THF 24

Stuff Did Today (FF X-2): We found the last few gatekeepers in Bikanel. The last one ran off into Cactuar Hollow. We followed it in, and found him with some of his rogue friends... they are a bad crowd. They turned a regular old Sallet into a giant one... so we had to put it down. Finally, we caught up with them, and they turned one of their own into a giant cactuar. So, we killed it, and shot up the gatekeeper until it fell in line... and gave me a garment grid.

Anyway, the cactuars summoned their shield and drove away the fiends... right to the Al Bhed camp... they need help right away! So, obviously, we headed back to the Fiend Arena where a new batch of monsters were ready to be caught... so I did so and started training em up... then caught a Cactuar which I'll need to enter the Cactuar cup.

Stuff Did Today (FF XI): I was summoned by the Star Sibyl herself for a mission. I was appointed as a regional attache to Jeuno. So, I went to go speak with the ambassador, but he was out. In fact, they told us to go see what he was up to.

Over in Pelkfutt tower on Qufim Island was where he was last seen. Inside the tower was a machine that seemed to be malfunctioning... I'm still not really sure what its all about, we'll get into it more later I'm sure.

Anyway, at the top of the tower, we procured an elevator key, and used to it head back to the bottom where there seemed to be some cells. Inside one of them was the ambassador. So, we took him back to Jeuno, where we were officially appointed as attache. Very nice, Rank 4!

We were told of the Beastmen's plan to bring back the Shadow Lord using three pieces of Magicite in the strongholds of Davoi, Beadeaux, and Castle Oztroja. We'd need some special items to get to where the magicite was kept.

We procured a key for Castle Oztroja from Muckbix the goblin. We then traded a piece of Couerl meat to a boy in Jeuno for the Silver Bell that should get us into Davoi. We'll have to retrieve some items from the Quadav of Beadeaux to get the last couple items we need.


Status & Notes: 

At an interesting point in FF XI. It seems this is where things get a bit more complicated. Both in mission requirements and general complexity. I'm going to have to start doing the Level Cap quests shortly. At 50 I can probably get through Mission 4-1... but I'll have to get to about 60 before I take down the Shadowlord at 5-2. Of course there's also the question of when do I start unlocking some of the advanced classes and training them up. Also, at some point I should really look into doing some work levelling up some professions... ugh, lots to do, but all fun!

Today is going to be a light day... its been a long week and I've gotten a lot done, so I just need to recharge a bit.