Back in Hazhalm

So last week, after a nearly 7 month hiatus, it was decided that we would venture back into Einherjar no matter what. This past Monday and Thursday we made good on that. To ease us back into things, we started with a tier 1 room. As with some of our past sorties I was pulling on BLU. Monday's encounter had us pitted against ghosts with Morbol Emperor as the boss. Things were going OK until I got a little too close and pulled the boss prematurely. We were pretty good on time but having the big pink bastard in tow threw a monkey wrench into things. It just felt good to be doing it again after so long. Last night's run found us greeted by dark elementals with a buffalo boss. There I was, {Blue Mage} {Fisherman} once again except this time I had a pretty good rhythm down. In spite being screwed up by sleeps and what not from the elementals, we managed to win rather handily.

No events all next week because of the (very hefty) update Monday.

Also, medal of Altana today. I'm hoping they don't put out something that shits all over nocturnus head/body, otherwise I will be sad. At least it should be somewhat easier to get zones now.

Here we go again

Looks like it's time to dust off the old Magus Bazubands once again.

Looks like we're getting Plenilune Embrace (AoE heal spell), Animated Wail (AoE Haste), and a new water-based breath spell to name a few. There could very well be more in the second phase.

Here's a video showcasing the new effects so far. Here's hoping Animated Wail isn't a dumbed down version of refueling. You know the recast is going to be balls either way. Plenilune embrace seems to have potential, but I'm not sure about the whole moon phase thing. The healing effect is most powerful during a full moon. That ability is part of the reason I like moonfang campaign battles so much. Those things are practically immortal, meaning shitloads of EXP/AN. One of the few times I enjoy campaign. Speaking of which, I need to re-cap my BLU buffer.

Just kill me now...

Here we go, possibly our last encounter with Kirin before the big update. But something is amiss.... WHY WHY WHY are we kiting a Kirin (let alone three of 'em) in 2010!?!? The numbers were indeed available to TP burn the bitch. I know it was togi city last summer every time we zerged. Ironically enough, when I got my w.legs back in October, it was on a kited one. We did two that night and both put out. So we try that again on subsequent encounters and get worse results than d-body. So yeah, just kill me now.

Wait, why do I still have this Nuevo with fast cast and enmity+5 on me?

Eve of the revolution

Vana'diel shall be rocked to its very core! OK, well maybe not THAT dramatic, but this is some pretty big stuff coming down the pike. So in preparation, many of us have been hitting East Ronfaure (S) rather hard. Nothing is at 49 here yet, but NIN is close at 47. I figured I'd take that one to 49 first given that it's always been my least favorite. I'm sure there are many folks with BRD/RDM/WHM/BLM/SCH/PLD that plan to leave one or more of those parked at 75 after this update. I know I may fry for this, but my PLD is staying parked at 75. Nearly two years of having it at 75 and I still suck at it. I really don't use it that much outside of campaign and I just don't really care enough about it. If it's something where atonement isn't viable then a RDM is usually the better option if there's someone more comfortable playing the job that way. If it IS an atonement-friendly fight, a SAM could do it better. Even then, one could still defer to RDM. No I'm not exping RDM. Blow me.

As for which of the three remaining that will go past 75 first, definitely BLU. Of course I'll probably end up soloing most of the time. And the hang-up with SAM and DRG will be the fact every melee DD and their mother will be flagged up for the first few days/weeks. It will be interesting to see how congested exp camps get. But god help you if you don't do things during the "January sale rush" that is the first few days following an update. Which reminds me: I won't be able to go to walk of echoes on day 1! Oh noez! A few friends and I were doing Wings missions around early-April, but we stopped around "Crossroads of Time" for some reason. Shouldn't be too bad getting to that point with the level caps going up. That is, assuming the BC fights aren't capped at 75.