To The Dunes!

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1 month ago
by XeroxCopycat in

So, a quick update for everyone on our new adventures in Vana’diel. Got black mage to level 20, and with it, the two most dreaded words in all of FFXI… Subjob Quest. Now granted, back in the old days this quest was fairly easy. You get 3 items either from Valkurm Dunes of Burumibu Peninsula, then turn them in at either Selbina or Mhaura, easy enough when these zones were the backbone of early level partying and such…

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Not so much now of days, the old dunes are all but deserted, which makes getting the first two of the 3 required items (the crab apron and the damselfly worm) that much harder to get. So, you got two options, you either solo even match or harder mobs and hope for a drop, or you get help. I was thankfully able to get a bit of help on the first part thanks to a kindly Mithra in the area. I won’t say it was easy, even with two level 20 folks, but we got the first 2 items done in bout 30 minutes top. Not bad considering such a quest would take hours back in the old days.

So, for the last item on our subjob shopping list it was time to pickup a magicked skull from a ghoul. Here, you got two options, either wait for dark in the dunes and hope you find a ghoul wandering about, or go to nearby Gusgen Mines and farm the 24/7 ghouls wandering about. So off to the mines I went… Now, remember what I said about the dunes being bare and deserted?

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Surprise, welcome to party central for all the low-level folks. So why here? Well, from what I found out the secret lies in the Grounds of Valor tomes at the zone entrance. It’s an expansion of the original Fields of Valor that was prevalent back in my days, but now they’ve expanded into the dungeons and hidden places of Vana’diel. Better yet, they can be set to automatically repeat themselves. So, queue up an alliance, a few skeletons and dogs right at the zone entrance, and you’ve got an easy path from 10 all the way to the 30 range. They call it book burning, me, I call this arson 101. Suppose I should have expected this given the hyper-leveling of Abyssea to eventually expand into the low-level game play.

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I didn’t get the chance to really take advantage of it, but thinks to another kindly summoner in the area I managed to gun down a magicked skull in short order. A quick trip back to Selbina later, and *clink* subjobs unlocked and ready to go. Finished up the night getting some red mage under my belt, and called it a night shortly after.

Gonna take a day off from the game tomorrow to get some creative works done, after that. We’ll see about getting some more levels under my belt and start the long slog toward Jeuno and getting some fame and fortune in the 3 nations (more on that later).

Till next time everyone!

Mission /panic

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1 month ago
by XeroxCopycat in

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Day 2, configuration 2.0…

I remembered today just how much of a pain in the ass nation missions can be. Guess I’d gotten too used to the quick fix of WoW style quests that take maybe 5 minutes tops. For FFXI, it’s more like go to your gate guard to receive the mission, talk to NPC A…

Go to said area which takes 10 minutes to get to, place X orbs into Y recepticle. Throw the switch…

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Go back to town, only to realize that you have to go back and pick up the same orbs you just plopped in place. Run ALL the way back to the same area that’s 10 minutes away and pick up said orbs. Then finally head back to town to complete the mission.

Ahhhh, I miss these sorts of quests.

(PS: Also, my brand new mog house has already sprung a leak, and apperently has a number of code violations. Something tells me this will need to be dealt with soon enough.)

Day 1 In Vana’diel

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1 month ago
by XeroxCopycat in

Oh it’s good to be back. As of late last night, I’ve officially returned to the world of Vana’diel. Officially, it’s been nearly 2 years now since I last played Final Fantasy XI in any effective way, shape or form. It’s a game that brings back a lot of good memories, and the company of good friends alike.

Prior to leaving Vana’diel last time, I had a black mage by name of Kimiko (yes, it was inspired by the character of the same name from Megatokyo). For nearly 7 years, I had raised her to as close to black mge perfection as I could along with a few other choice jobs. Eventually though, as times changed, I eventually stepped away from the game and embraced other worlds like World of Warcraft & League of Legends. Normally, I would want to pick Kimi back up and start right back where I left off. Sadly, two years has made her info difficult to find or remember (not to mention it’s still packed in one of about 30 boxes from the move). So I’ve decided that if I’m going to enjoy Vana’diel anew, it’s time to do so from the beginning.

Meet Harukiki, a new black mage just starting out in the world of Vana’diel. She may just be starting out, but already she’s got a lot of advantages going for her to start her out right. Right out of the gate she’s got a chocobo shirt & destrider beret, giving her innumerable benefits to regen, refresh, and accuracy right from the start. You get these as part of the ultimate collection package, which includes every expansion up to and including the new Seekers of Adoluin. To also make things easiler for the newbie hero, the XP you gain from defeating foes is now double what it normally is (this is before XP boosting items like Emperor’s Ring and the like). It looks like SE has made good strides toward making the early game player friendly.

Of course the early game is just the beginning of the story, there’s still a huge amount of content to start working on. Everything from quests to nation missions, subjob quests, storyline missions, and so much more await a new hero in the world of Vana’diel. Though much of which I have experienced before in years past, it’s been long enough that every victory feels like a new experience. I guess it was time to take the ol’ game out for another spin, and enjoy the world of Vana’diel just like the old days.

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