Closing a chapter

It's been a long time coming, but as of today it's finally done. What am I talking about? CoP is fucking DONE!!!

Yesterday, a few US members that needed the last couple of missions teamed up to bust through the pot fight in 8-3 and later on take down Promathia. I couldn't be there for the latter since my internet went out on me for a while. So today I asked if anyone wanted to come and beat up the big guy since I missed out yesterday, and Dreadlockrasta, Zaih, Scorpios, Zabeena and Shirosaki (both of whom needed 8-3 yesterday) graciously came along. Our first attempt, we straight tanked both phases and Selh'teus bit the dust at around 30%.

After regrouping for a few minutes, we decided to try kiting the second phase. That one actually went considerably smoother than before. During that last 1% I was unloading everything I had until Prishe dealt the finishing blow.


To think at around this time last year I wasn't even past promies, and didn't even have a 75 yet. Moreover, three paths and Omega/Ultima gave me so much grief I was ready to bid Vana'diel a not-so-fond farewell if I wasn't in Al'taieu by the end of last October. Indeed this victory means a great deal to me. Yes, I've heard the stories of "'Nam flashbacks" from when this stuff was still fairly new. Yes I know anyone with the manpower and half a brain can plow through CoP these days. I'll never know what it was like to beat it before ToAU came out and all the adjustmants that followed, but it still doesn't change the fact that it feels great to have it all behind me once and for all.



Come tomorrow, I'll be the proud owner of a Rajas Ring! What a nice storyline, and such a cool final battle. Seeing Promathia's final moments and the epic scenes that followed made all the headaches worthwhile.

Many thanks to the people who have lent their support along the way from tagging along on a few missions to encouraging me to keep moving forward.

So what next? Probably Divine Might and wrapping up Zilart missions followed by Bv1 and Promyvion slivers. Hell, maybe I'll even get around to the national missions!

These boots are made for walkin'....

So now I'm starting to have something to show for the months of stoneskin-whoring, SA-cannonballing and more recently Einherjar fishing. I think I'm beginning to get the hang of the third one though, except my MPKing everyone with a nasty link toward the end of tonight's sortie. I'll likely be banned from pulling after that, but I digress.

So why is this titled after a Nancy Sinatra song? After the first of our twice-weekly beatings in Hazhalm, eighteen of us from "US Proper" were off to Central Apollyon to tango with our pal, Proto-Omega. Methinks I'll save the big cannonballs till the fight's almost over. So, a few minutes and 50 DKP later, I'm now the proud owner of a pair of Homam Gambieras.


Those are +1 AF hands, mind you!

I leave you now with the namesake of this blog.

{Blue Mage} {Einherjar} {Fishing}

So after weeks of losses to the denizens of wing 3 of the Hazhalm Testing Grounds, we've had to make a number of strategic changes. The most recent of which being that we have a BLU in both alliances doing the pulling and sleeping in lieu of a BRD. My first pull had me face-down after 5 or 6 demons all casted drain on me simultaneously and there went my shadows, at which point they ran after me to beat my face in. Someone else had to step in while I was dead/weak. When the next wave came, my second pull went slightly better as I managed to bring back what soulflayers I could and get them to sleep. Soon after, they wake up and the ones not being fought at the time decide to manaburn me. I felt like I let everyone down since I was dead or weak for a majority of our time there. I can see this is going to take a couple more runs before I'm finally comfortable in this new role. It was the second closest we had come to winning a T3. Well, there's always Thursday.

After five fucking months....

Finally got my hands on a goddamn Wightslayer after a number of time-outs and crap lots. I'm just missing a radiant lance for my DRG. Looks like I have a new goal next month - finish Nyzul Isle.

An uneventful month

Yeah I know I haven't posted anything all month. Nothing particularly noteworthy has happened to me over the course of this month other than dinging 75 on DRG the other day and obtaining a Bomb Queen ring yesterday.

Cannonball nearing completion

So last night I managed to pick up a triumph earring, and took another look at my current Cannonball setup.


That's without buffs, mind you.

Other than a few upgrades (flame ring #2, triumph earring #2, af2 legs, rutters), this puppy's almost done!

The next time I hit the 15k ampoule mark, I'll likely opt for kubira since a fortitude torque isn't the most realistic option right now unless I collect the 12 chips myself and get 17 others to beat down the jailer.

Now, if only Bastok weren't so goddamn stingy, I'd be 4/6 on the set. But we do have a Valkurm coming up on Tuesday, so there's a shot at head+1 and mirage mantle (loltowngear).

I'll look into an HQ wing sword or jagdplaute another time. I've yet to see either one pop up on the AH.

Here's to blasting sky gods and other big beasts even bigger new assholes!

Return of the Mog Bonanza

So, as promised, SE brings us the Mog Bonanza once again to commemorate the 7th anniversary of FFXI. Hard to believe it's been almost seven years since the game went live in Japan. That's longer than most marriages last these days.

The Rank 1 list looks virtually identical to last year's minus the HQ abjuration bodies (most of those are ass save Shura +1 and blurple-berk anyway). Wait, what the hell is Joyeuse doing in Rank 2!? Yeah I know it's a great weapon for those that can use it, but a slew of other options present themselves. I like how they just added coupons for the iceland AF2 pieces. Would've been cooler if those coupons could be traded in for their +1 counterparts. Yeah, I know, fat chance. Also, thank God they're offering more than just a lousy exp scroll for rank 5.

Here's what I'd see myself getting.

Rank 1: I'd take the money, though I'll be damned if I know how to spend close to 100 mil (which is what it may come out to, or even more with everyone and their mother buying marbles). Well, it would cover the cost of alexandrite for a Tizona, but then there's all the other legwork involved. I'd likely dump it into power leveling a craft. I'd likely just buy off all my desired non-rare/ex gear first THEN go from there.

Maybe a Morrigan's robe since I have zero inclination to set foot in a salvage zone given the horror stories I've heard about the microscopic drop rates down there.

Rank 2: My gut tells me homam corazza.

Rank 3: Homam cosciales or the cash if it's a substantial amount. I'm not about to contribute to the goddamn hauteclaire population. Come June, we'll see another swell of those in the next iteration of the "Gimp/confused/wtf" topic on BG.

Rank 4 & 5: Damned if I know. Probably a behemoth hide or khroma ore. I'll just hang onto it until the prices go back up again after the market becomes saturated like with behemoth hides last year.

Last year I only got maybe 3 or 4 exp scrolls if I remember right.