When the Pawn...

When the pawn hits the conflicts he thinks like a king
What he knows throws the blows when he goes to the fight
And he'll win the whole thing 'fore he enters the ring
There's no body to batter when your mind is your might
So when you go solo, you hold your own hand
And remember that depth is the greatest of heights
And if you know where you stand, then you know where to land
And if you fall it won't matter, cause you'll know that you're right

When Update Notes Fail to Impress You

Things look grim for XI's future as all of its development team talent is busy breastfeeding XIV. I hope the WotG missions were finished before the transfer, because otherwise we might see some serious quality control issues. As the final version update news trickles in, I find myself, not excited with the content to come, but rather wanting to close my account. And that, my friends, is sad.

Nahn, You're a Window Shopper

Nahn

VANQUISHED

(1/12, no TH)

It's anyone's guess what wicked sorcerous crabs would be doing with handwoven Turkish scarves.

Zugzwang

Sighted between (H/I-8) during Full Moon (95%) on Iceday between 0:00-4:00. Either it's triggered by the Lunar Phase, day of the week, or it has a high repop timer. It wasn't up the following 2 nights, and since no one killed it when it first spawned, I'd imagine if it goes unclaimed past 4:00, its respawn timer is reset.

Such a shame no one was around to kill it with me.

Losing My Edge

Everybody thought I was crazy.
We all know.
I was there.
I was there.
I've never been wrong.

But I'm losing my edge to better-looking people with better ideas and more talent.
And they're actually really, really nice.

Job Rebalancing: Who Goes Where

Above, BLM AMII Damage,
Restoring Original RDM < BLU < BLM Damage Distribution

BLU was a pretty weird job. A lot of its high MP cost/Area of Effect spells were supposed to parse it somewhere between RDM and BLM as magical nuker. Of course, the mistake (or perhaps success) the developers made was to make the damage differential between physical and magical spells too low, the MP cost spread too large, and the cast and recast times of the physical spells too attractive. BLU became a DD, not a nuker.

Se Me Fue La Mano

I think SE might have overdone it a little in this update. From what I hear from other players, Vanity Dive does 700-900 damage for ~55MP and 2 Set points (and Accuracy Bonus). Benthic Typhoon, for about the same MP cost, can do upwards of 3000 damage with Sneak Attack and adds DEF Down and closes Darkness. Quad. Continuum, perhaps the craziest of all, appears to consistently hit between 2500 and 4000 damage even on EM+, assuming you're using Chain Affinity/Efflux.

Your New Endgame Build Just In

Cannonball is a beloved favorite of Blue Mages because it can be cast at such a great distance from the target. However, as I have mentioned in previous posts, Cannonball will eventually die because its damage will eventually cap. It appears, however, that Cannonball is already dead, and in its place, we have Benthic Typhoon.

Taking Back Skillchain Artistry

Unbeknownst to me and doubtless a lot of other players, in addition to Savage Blade>Goblin Rush = Light, we also have Expiacion>Benthic Typhoon = Darkness. There's some important things to note here.

Spellset: Level 85

I can't speak from experience, but from what I hear, the Blue Magic arsenal continues to get better. In light of that fact, I've already started to consider what might be a good "full time" spell set. Here's what I came up with:

Magus, Mirage, Mavi

Oh, damn you, SE. You've finally learned that people want to look more like the job they play, not less. This was the sole reason I started playing XI, and this may be the reason why I come back. It will really depend on how time-consuming and tedious it will be to upgrade these pieces of equipment. PS I called "enhances Job Ability" JSE.

I'd also like to see what these new spells are like. It seems SE is pandering to current playing styles, as we see a huge influx of DD spells and self-support spells since the level cap increases. Debuffs and nukes appear to still be fairly uncommon.

Be expecting some new layout changes.

Escaping What You Love

The reason I left: real life. The reason I came back: jubbahs and keffiyehs.

Seriously. The whole reason I reactivated this month was because I kept stumbling upon BLU cosplay on Google Images. It's actually kind of shocking how the vast majority of Final Fantasy Blue Mage-related media is related to FFXI. Nonetheless, seeing it made me miss running around in typical Blue Mage attire. It made me miss Disseverment. Yes, it made me relapse.

It was a regret from the beginning not knowing what the new spells were like, and I want to see what spells are to come. But I already feel conspicuously detached from FFXI; in one month, I already don't recognize anyone or anything. It's probably for the best and probably why I kept fighting quitting for so long--the longer you stay away from it, the easier it is to let go.

Unless something changes drastically, I plan to keep my account active until no further Blue Magic is added. I'm not planning on participating in events or anything though. It doesn't even seem prudent to bother investing in anything at all until we see what SE ultimately plans for all the jobs. A job like BLU in particular could go in just about any direction, and honestly, I have neither the time nor the desire to gamble on what its future might be.

I'd rather wait and see.

I Leave for 2 Months and...

Look how much my Imperial wootz ingots  have depreciated!

Aug. 11, 2010

Erriyna

Diabolo

640,000

Neat. I remember when 1,015,000 was a steal. OH WELL. It's only like 4+MILLION GIL.

With updates every few months, you can't really trust anything any more. I have NO DOUBT in my mind that Haste II and Refresh II are on the way, the latter of which will be Accession-able, which will put Diffusion, once again, in the backseat. In a way, this is kind of a good thing. I'm not planning on getting attached to anything because DOUBTLESS it'll either get replaced or nerfed within 2 months.

I think I want to poke my head into XI for a while to see what all the hubbub is about. My incessant activating and deactivating accounts ad nauseum, my dear readers, is why I tag my fatalistic, endgame posts as "Running Away from Home."

The End of an Era - Moving On

Apparently, Cimicine Discharge + Blazing Bound = Dual Wield, and Demoralizing Roar + Acrid Stream = Double Attack. Really, Square-Enix gave BLU everything it needed in this update. Now, it's a vert-less RDM with more Traits and more MP-efficient damage. Lord knows I'm just a complacent person; I was already thrilled to be a Blue Mage before this, but now everyone will want to be one. I was a Blue Mage before it was cool.

But honestly, I think it's about time for me to move on. Real life and all that. Two close friends of mine have also decided to quit, and I don't want to repeat the experience of the last year. I got so used to being alone that it never really occurred to me that there's a world outside that I, too, can be a part of.

To all my friends and the readers of this blog: FFXI is changing. Some of us can't keep up with it, but I believe it's for the best. The stodgy old world is dying, newer players are taking over. Ironically, I should be riding the tide, but I've gotten far too attached to the status quo and its newly-found discontents. Without them, this is just another video game to me.

And no, you can't have my stuff. I want it buried with me like an Egyptian Pharaoh.

Learning (Blue Magic)

So, according to preliminary info on wiki, Plenilune Embrace appears to be 50% more MND-efficient than Magic Fruit with a higher cap. That alone makes the buffs added like icing on the cake. Cimicine Discharge is approximately equivalent to Slow II when used by Gnats, but I'd have to test it in Brenner or something to confirm it. Battery Charge appears to be 4MP/tic for approximately the same duration as Refresh. Regeneration is only 2 set points and restores 5HP/tic for 5 minutes for a total of 500 HP healed; that's more than Regen III...

I wonder if Animating Wail really is above 15% magical Haste. These new support spells are an absolutely amazing addition to the Blue Magic arsenal.

Post-Update

All I did was learn spells. And that's all I'm doing until I learn them all. Then I'll cap my Magic Accuracy Magian Swords and THEN I'll worry about exp.

Woot for Regen II on BLU Main for a measly 2 set points 8D! Battery Charge seems promising too. :)

Tonight's Main Event: Capital Loss

Ladies and gentlemen, we regret to inform you that several actors will not be in attendance tonight. Instead:

6/21 - Update Notes FFFFUUUU

"The scholar ability 'Accession' does not affect the white magic spell 'Haste'." 

"Enmity generation for the following spells has been adjusted: Sleep, Sleep II, Dispel, Blind, Blind II, Bind"   

Oh, SHIT. Inb4everyonequitsthegame.

Why Double Attack?

Why does SE keep adding gear with Double Attack for jobs that can't use it? Well... I think it's time for a little math:

6/20 - Bhaflau Remnants

I hate this zone. Wind Weather just as we port up to the 4th Floor just to fuck up all the Gear-pulls. Again. Thanks, Salvage.

P.s. Sorry to my group for being such a queen bitch. I'm apparently starting to manifest an anxiety disorder, and it's spitting in my coffee every morning. That and I'm just a jealous motherf*cker. I'm a skittish cat when in groups of people I don't know, especially when they all know each other.

6/19 - Bhaflau Remnants, Yilbegan Redux

2 Gate Widows, another Mdk35, putting us at 2/9. That was all that went right.

6/18 - Silver Sea Remnants

What exactly are you implying, Raubahn?

• Cotton Coin Purse (100%)
• Hoshikazu Hakama (100%)
• Macha's Slops (4.3%) 

1/1, TH4.

No screenshot, but now FW is 2/3 on Usu Feets.

June 17 - Job Adjustments

"Several new Blue Magic spells will be added."

No... really?! Although I guess we're getting more spells than any other job, but seriously, SE? Not a single unique trait/JA for Blue Mages? We had better get some badass new set traits from these new spells. Tier I traits don't count for much as it is, unless you're giving us something like Double Attack... 

06/15 - Bhaflau Remnants

The above was completely and utterly unintentional

I forgot to take screenshots. Anyway, 2/6 people had no pants, which apparently turns Gate Widow the hell on. 7 Spawns from the same rampart: 2 Morrigan, 1 Marduk. So M35 Hands are mine now, and I randomly snagged M15 feet too (And S15 Legs but w/e). No Skirmisher Pephredo (Shocker) to make up for the Usu35 we got last time.

Nice One, Dev Team

Walk of Echoes sounds like the stupidest idea ever. MORE CAMPAIGN UNIONS because I'm not already tired of 3 years of campaign, or because I don't already have campaign to fall back on in the highly unlikely case that I'll miss the dysfunctionality and pervasive lack of teamwork. In addition, you only need to be up to "Cait Sith" in Wings of the Goddess, which means that the final WotG reward is probably going to be 99 Angelwings.

Thanks, SE.

The Slow Climb isn't so Slow Any More

... You just have to do it 16 times! NIN is finally done, and even capped its skills just because I'm OCD like that. I could have tanked (probably extremely well) on NIN, but I went solo, 37-49, through FoV. Took about a week of on-and-off exping. 

Now, a smart person would move on to MNK (yes, seeing another breath spell 75-80 tells me HP-based magic isn't going anywhere), because of the gear overlap, but no! I want something different. So now it's WAR. :3

There's still no word as to whether BLU is getting Dual Wield on main yet, but then again, no job adjustments have been announced either, so I can still dream. I'll need /WAR for PUP anyway, and here's to hoping I can sub WAR, whore DA/sTP and spam Vorpal Blade.

June 11th - Level Cap Concerns

1. DRK/SCH: Zomg. Manifestation Drain II.
2. No Afflatus Solace/Misery/Yonin/Innin.
3. Acc Check to Shadowbind... K...
4. Manifestation/Accession triples Recast Times. Oh no... >.> because a 60 second recast on Haste will disincentivize Hastega >.>... Anyway! RDM/SCH and WHM/SCH rejoice :o! 

• Caveat: I suddenly feel a lot less special for getting Animating Wail unless it happens to give more than 15% Haste... I wonder if this will just keep RDM the top choice for parties...

Intrigue!

June 10th Dat Mine - Blue Magic

Oh Gosh

"oh gosh"

Yilb4 Nothing Drops

I got to help kill the big baddy ancient dragon thing, Yilbegan, tonight. Actually, 5 of them. All 5 of them were "NQ" if you will, and you would not believe how many crystals we ended up getting.

Checkmate

Lady Lilith: It would appear you have deprived me of two Pawns. No matter--a small price to pay to flush out your Queen. And with that, I draw my final playing piece, my King, to close this match. 

Scattered pieces lie where they fall. Whoever shall pick them up again...?

So, this time around, we had a much easier time. I can affirm that Magic Accuracy and Blue Magic Skill affect Head Butt processing to an extent that greatly warrants their use. If other additional effects behave the same way, the Dark-path soulsaber is a Blue Mage's best friend. Additionally, we finally have a good use for mirage mantle and Sturm's report.

Anyway, what a plot twist! The Development Team is completely absolved of their previous laziness (the last one was awful), because at least this laziness is sexy. Like always, I'm hooked, dying to finish the next set of missions as soon as they're released. Next stop: Abyssea.

Haste Makes Waste

If the denizens of Vana'diel had a religion, it would be the Church of Haste. We would pray 7 times a day facing the Holy capital of Haste. The bishops and clerics would renew our faith in Haste with their sermons during our ritual visit to the "BG." And God would say, 'Let there be Haste,' and there would be Haste. We're living in 2010 A.H., the year of our Haste. 

Now, don't get me wrong. I am a Haste-fearing, Forumgoer just like you. Haste is awesome. It makes an otherwise painfully slow game move faster--what's not to like? However, in the last update, Square-Enix decided to unleash upon the player base two... unusual items:

and

Alpha Test Date 4/29

What news do I have to unload. Oh, so I'm 0/4 on Sim now, but we managed to get the Damascus Ingot (5%) drop instead. Awesome. Soon it's going to be out of my time zone, so I suspect I'm never going to have enhanced speed on THF. :3

And before I continue, rofl.

As for the much anticipated FFXIV Alpha test date, it was today. Yap. I didn't actually get to play it, but I did get to experience it vicariously through my close friend (whose PC can actually run it). Apparently, the Alpha server is really crummy. Takes ages to log in and when you are logged in, another player on your screen will almost freeze your computer.

How... Fortitudinous

Jailer of Fortitude

VANQUISHED

(1/2, TH3)


And in other news:

Thank you, Stew and App. We'll miss you. ; ;

Maze Monger Madness

For English-speakers, Moblin Maze Mongers is an extremely underrated event. We know that MMM mazes can provide ~30k/hour EXP mazes, drop decent equipment, and greatly expedite Magian trials, yet wiki is completely impoverished of any useful information and testing.

Currently Open Quests

• Nobilis: √
• Antea: √
• Soulsaber(no.1): √
• Soulsaber(no.2): √
• Fortitude torque: √
• Toreador's ring: _
• White tathlum: √
• Mirke wardecors: _
• Mirage shalwar +1: √
• Mirage jubbah +1: Mirage jubbah -1 _, Mirage jubbah √, Smooth velvet √, Ordelle bronzepiece 0/26
• Morrigan's robe: Imperial wootz ingot 11/12, Imperial gold piece 10/10, Macha's coat _, Bodb's robe _, Nemain's robe _

I'm Seeing Double

Yap.

Blue Mage 101: Trial of the Magians

So, I've been getting pestered a lot about the Magian trials lately. Either I get that they're pointless and not worth one's time or that the only useful weapon is the "Occ. Atk. Twice" weapons. I think I need to lay down a little knowledge for everyone:

Thining Thummer Thuplex

Wow, so I kind of forgot about this, but while I'm here, let me chew your ear (or, in this case, your EYE) off about all the news!

So, um... Ayd finished Gungnir, which is neato because Additional Effect: Weakens Defense saves me 3 set points and makes me feel uber. It's ubrosity by osmosis, really. Congratulations, Ayd!

Wings of the Goddess, thus far, has been excellent. This expansion continues to deliver while keeping the requirements relatively light. The cast is really starting to grow on me, a lot more than say, the cast of CoP did. I'm a little worried the final battle will pull a U-turn like ToAU did, but let's hope by then, 80Cap will make it feasible for certain lighter DDs to participate.

We finally got around to killing Odin tonight. He's a bit of an assclown. I know Square-Enix's new thing is making enemies that inflict 5000 status effects to get those WHMs busy, but it's kind of obnoxious for blink tanking, which apparently SE has outlawed in all of its newer events. Oh, he also is immune to stun and flash. :D

Turning One's Luck Around

And for the curious-at-heart:

Vanafest 2010: Practical Applications

"Up until now, most job adjustments have been implemented with ease of party-forming in mind. From this point onwards, we plan to shift the focus towards ease of participation in endgame content. The role of each job will also come under review."

Blue Magic Ideas

Ideas after the jump.

When the Saints Go Marching In

When the Saints win, so does everyone else.

Internet Interaction: A Conundrum

Oh, I do love calling on friends for favors. It's such a delight. On occassion, it's a chance to reconnect with someone you haven't spoken to in months. Other times, it's a valuable lesson in internet ettiquette:

'Crappy Hour' -- Why I Hate Dynamis

This is something I've been noticing ever since I started Dynamis one-and-a-half years ago. For some inexplicable reason, I appear to experience a period during each Dynamis in which all my physical spells' potency and/or accuracy are diminished for reasons I can't explain. It seems to have nothing to do with mob-type or zone--it just seems to come in cycles.

Concordia: An Analysis

[1] Sword Weaponskills: Attack +14
[2] Sword Weaponskills: Critical Hit Rate +1-6%
[3] Darkness/Water/Fire-elemental Blue Magic: Magic Accuracy +3 
                      OR    
     Blue Magic: Physical Attack +3-6

Damage Per Second: 10.3
TP Per Hit: 7.1%

Analysis: First of all, it should be noted this is the highest DMG weapon a Blue Mage can use. Of course, higher DMG is always a plus, but at what cost?

Don't Name Your Son 'Helenus'

Eldritch Edge

VANQUISHED

(1/2, TH3)

Blighting Brand

VANQUISHED

(1/9, TH3)

We Like to Make You Work For It

Jaded Jody

VANQUISHED

(1/2, TH3)

Timeworn Warrior

VANQUISHED

(1/13, TH3...)

Dynamis - Xarcabard: NONE FOR YOU

Assassin's Armlets: O
Pantin Taj: O 

BUT NONE FOR ERE.

Clearly in an effort to spite me, Dynamis dropped only those two relics tonight... Oh, and WAR, which is pretty much complimentary with the continental breakfast.

Anyway, I'm next for Ass Hands. :D

What's a 'Boompadu'?

Boompadu
VANQUISHED

(1/3 with no TH c.c)

Ose
VANQUISHED

(1/1 with TH3)

And for the record, Ose was just standing there, carefree and big as day, when we got there.