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.
Stay tuned and wish me luck!!
