Life in Vana'diel

Shikaree Showdown!

Last weekend, I finally decided to take down a quest that I have had in my Quest log since the days I slogged through the Chains of Promathia storyline: “Tango with a Tracker.” Over the years, I was unable to get a group together to make their way through one of my least favorite zones in Vana’diel, Attohwa Chasm, and to take down Shikarees X and Y. But with the new found power in my BST and my trusty sidekick, Bouncing Bertha, I somehow made my way to Boneyard Gully without consulting an online map (much to my immense surprise!). Needless to say, I made short work of the duo!

After the Conquest reset the following Sunday, I grabbed the following quest “Requiem of Sin,” which was a rematch against all three Shikarees, including Z. Thanks to the Home Point that I attuned myself to during my previous trip to the Gully, I traipsed my way to the battlefield and let Bertha one-shot them with Tegmina Buffet. Instant win! And I’m totally thrilled to check another quest off my to-do list!

Catching Up!

Aaaand I’m back!

After a few months break since my last August post, I decided to return to XI once more. After FFXIV’s Patch 3.1 failed to keep me hooked, I decided now was as good a time as any to finish up more quests and missions in XI! Besides, I think Cajus was missing his home world after so long in Eorzea (in my mind, Cajus can traverse between Vana’diel and Eorzea at will)!

I returned to Vana’diel at the beginning of December to find only one friend still actively playing the game; the Tarutaru Beastmaster, Jesdes (who was formerly Asuraren the Elvaan)! Deciding to level Beastmaster myself, Jes has been an incredible source of tips and tricks as I continue to learn the job (and trust me, I am still actively learning). 

I left Beastmaster at Level 17 many, many years ago when, at the time, the job was ostracized as a solo-only class. Back then, having a pet out caused an exp penalty on not only the BST, but any other party members in the group, too. I had found a guide on Zam that described BST duo and trio exp parties and how effective they might be instead of the traditional 6-person parties. These BST groups were also well known for being able to take out tricky BCNM fights that dropped lucrative loot. I convinced Finral and Lunarus to join me as BSTs so that we could level up together and hopefully make some money in the process, but unfortunately we didn’t find ourselves having fun with the job, and the idea quickly fizzled out. 

Fast-forward to the final month of the year 2015! Thanks to the EXP bonus event going on, I managed to get BST from Level 17 to Level 99 in about a week’s time. And that was with only logging on sporadically. I probably could have accomplished it in half the time had I put more focus onto the task. Nonetheless, it was a fun experience and definitely a major change from the old days of taking several months to get to max level. 

My primary reasoning for leveling BST to 99 was for its ability to solo, in the hopes that I could finish off the Seekers of Adoulin and Rhapsodies of Vana’diel storylines. It didn’t take long for me to realize that it was going to take more effort to accomplish this, especially in iLevel 117 Sparks gear! Thanks to Jesdes, who directed me to some better i117 Bayld gear, as well as letting me borrow a very nice waist piece, my gear has improved! 

I’ve managed to get to Chapter 5 in SoA, mostly with the help of Jesdes on the fight against Balamor in Chapter 4 (thanks again Jesdes!). Also, around mid-December, I was pleasantly surprised to see the return of Chihatora! I foresee the three of us doing many exciting things in the future together.

My progress in Rhapsodies of Vana’diel - Chapter 3 has sadly been stalled as my iLevel is too low to fight enemies in Reisenjima at the present time. And from what I’ve read, the next fights are very tough and are not easy to solo. So I have quite a bit of work to do! I’ve so far amassed 4 Job Points (woo go me!), but it is definitely something I will be working on slowly. With the New Year Battle Fiesta beginning on January 10th, now is the perfect time to get those Job Points! I also hope to start working on some Alluvion Skirmish for a good i119 Weapon. 

Memory Flashback #21

Memory Flashback #20

The victory photo after defeating the Final Boss of the Wings of the Goddess expansion pack! Originally, I did most of the beginning WotG missions with Reikou and Finral. After they left the game for good, I was stuck in limbo until I ended up joining Chihatora, Evangelus, and Unyanertag as they themselves were working their way up in the missions. Somehow, the four of us busted our way through and finished what I thought was one of the most compelling storytelling in the game (after Chains of Promathia, of course). I do recall Lilcrumpette doing some of the Bastok quests that were tied with the main storyline with us, as well. Great work, guys!

Memory Flashback #19

Memory Flashback #18

A photo I took during a tricky battle against the Voidwatch NM, Aello, a Harpeia type enemy whom you can barely see on the right side of the screen (the big pink wing). 

I died many, many times during my first run against her. At the time, I was in a Voidwatch Linkshell that I regretfully cannot remember the name of. It was led by an Elvaan named Moonglow who helped lead several groups through some of the more outlying Voidwatch fights. By time we reached the final leg of the Zilart VWNMs, Aello stopped us dead in our tracks. After a disastrous alliance-wide wipe, tempers began to flare. I voiced my opinion about a particular tactic that I felt was holding us back, and Moonglow, along with his girlfriend or maybe wife, fired right back at me in a rather distasteful fashion. Upset about being ganged up on, I immediately disbanded from the group and returned back home. I tried to mend things with Moonglow afterwards, but he declined and told me to drop his linkpearl. I did so, regretfully. I was hurt and didn’t play the game again for several days. Looking back, however, there are no hard feelings! It was worth it in the end!

Not too long after that, I recall joining a more experienced group that wiped the floor with Aello and her Handmaidens. Nailed it!

Wow! It’s been a long time since I’ve updated this blog! I figured now would be as good of a time as ever to update and share my musings.

This photo was actually taken a few months ago during the first free week when Rhapsodies of Vana’diel Part 1 dropped. Don’t judge my disturbingly awful looking gear! When I returned, Arte was quick to find me and help me catch up on how the game had changed. And wow, the game had changed A LOT. I’m still blown away at how the game has changed and evolved from my early days in the year 2004 (11 years ago!!). 

And yet, I’m sad, knowing that SE has finally decided to stop updating the game come November of this year. Having just finished Part 2 of Rhapsodies of Vana’diel, I’m anxious and nervous to see the conclusion. It’s been such a barrage of emotions to see the characters that I once spent so much time to see and experience (I’m looking at you, Chains of Promathia). Part 2 in particular felt like the story writers were really putting an effort to see this through to the end. I can’t wait to see Part 3, even though it means Cajus’ journey in Vana’diel will soon come to a final end...

To my Lodestar friends...I miss all of you terribly and it’s so painful to get on the game again and see Chiha’s heartfelt /lsmes. But I was happy to see that Chiha still plays, along with Jesdes (formerly Asuraren). I have yet to see Ziha or Unya (although I did meet with Unya earlier in the year in FFXIV, but that is a story for another time [ha!]). 

After my old friends quit, I didn’t think there was anything left for me in FFXI. But then Snowkitty returned, and we concocted a crazy idea to create a new LS to help new players to the game. Although I was far from a good Leader, I had an incredible time and I’d go as far as to say some of my fondest FFXI memories come from my days in Lodestar. Thanks so much, guys!

Before I finish, I do want to apologize to those in Lodestar who I may have hurt or offended from my...”off” behavior the last few months of my time on XI before FFXIV: ARR dropped. I let what I was experiencing in my real life affect how I behaved in Vana’diel, and that was very unlike me. I hope you can forgive me.

I doubt any of you will see or read this, but I feel better having wrote it. I’m going to try and keep this blog updated more whenever I’m on XI or have a thought about the game. And while Cajus’ adventures in Vana’diel may be coming to an end soon, his adventures in Eorzea are coming along wonderfully! In fact, I created a blog dedicated to my adventures over there so I’d have an excuse to blog again. Please look forward to it!

To all of the people in Vana’diel that I have met over the past 11 years, please take this opportunity to come back to the game during the free week! You won’t regret it. 

Dragoon AF Weapon!

Today I went out and finished the first AF Quest for Dragoon. It was an easy fight against an Antican in West Altepa. Piece of cake!

Pirate Attack!!!

Also over the past week, I decided to complete a quest that I've wanted to finish since the year 2004. That is The Sand Charm, which rewards the map for Bostaunieux Oubliette. Being the completionist that I obsessively am, it was something I couldn't leave Vana'diel without doing. So I hopped on the Selbina/Mhaura boat and went back and forth a good eight to ten times. After almost giving up, I decided to give it one more go, and lo and behold, the pirate ship showed up! I got my Sand Charm off my second or third Crossbones! I was then surprised to see Blackbeard, an NM who drops a great WHM club (when the level cap was 75). Surprisingly, I managed to get the drop! Luck was on my side that day!

Fun Over the Weekend!

With my FFXI goal list shrinking as August 27th is ever approaching, I decided to try messing with some other jobs that I haven't considered leveling. This search led to Dragoon! And with the double EXP event, I figured it couldn't have been a better time to try it out.

I last left Dragoon at level 21 a couple years ago, so I decided to pick it up again and give it a shot. I went over to Pashhow Marshlands with my trusty wyvern Lumiere. It wasn't long before my good fellow Balu-Falu joined in to make a perfect trio! 

The following day, I was joined by Unyanertag (DRG) and Chihatora (WHM) for some good old fashioned fun like in the old days. We had a blast! I hope we can do that again real soon, guys!

Memory Flashback #17

Memory Flashback #16

Just this past week, my assault team and I finally reached Captain Rank! It was one of the last goals of mine to reach before I left Vana'diel, and I'm so pleased that I was able to do so. Although it was a great accomplishment, we were missing one of our closest friends, Chihatora. My next goal is to get him to Captain rank, too!

Memory Flashback #15

Finally, I completed the evening by assisting another Linkshell Member, Evangelus, in a battle against Tenzen for Chains of Promathia Mission 7-5.

At first, we attempted to win with a THF, THF, SMN, and WHM (me) setup. We had no problem getting him to near death, but his Cosmic Eludication attack was impossible for us to stop, which always ended up causing us to lose. I eventually changed to BLM, and even then we still couldn't win.

We finally decided to change our strategy. To prevent him from Skill chaining us, we kept him under the Gravity spell effect, and when he started going crazy with his Weapon Skills, the one who had hate would run around the arena while I spam casted my spells. It ended up working! One Burst II took him out and we won.

After I finished Campaign, Lilcrumpette asked for my help in Divine Might. Although quite hesitant at first, I agreed and I met him and his group at Ru'Aun Gardens.

After everyone gathered together, we all went inside La'Loff Amphitheater, the location of our battle against all five of the Ark Angels. After a few minutes of preparation, we entered, but it only took us a few minutes to royally lose the fight. Bummer!

Afterwards, we regrouped and went in with a fresh new strategy, which we successfully carried out, and won the fight!