What's next?

So, yesterday evening we were planning to use that Ultima pop set we've had for over a month, but the person that had it (who was a former sackholder) wasn't around. Therefore plan B involved our old pal Proto-Omega. So off to central Apollyon we went, and what do we find in the crate?



Now, one of those would've been mine, but I was outbid by a paltry 100 points. So close. >_> A brief twinge of buyer's remorse came over me for that N.body from our last Kirin but it was quickly assuaged when I get a tell saying "you're the only one needing legs with 750+ points." Or am I? N.body is a solid piece for DRG pre-Zahak's and is also nice for wheeling thrust so I'm happy. With all this time in Apollyon, the number of people needing homam is shrinking. It wouldn't surprise me if we end up doing Ultima chips for the rest of the year.

Yesterday was also a good day since I finally closed a chapter on BLU by getting the last group 2 merits I needed. I'm thinking of doing STR next, which is a whopping 360,000 limit points from start to finish.

Lately I've pondered my future in the endgame circle God forbid my current linkshell goes by the wayside. No (real) mage job? BLU, PLD, DRG, SAM? We got about 65536 of those. Sorry noroom4u. So let's look at some of the possible back-line options.

BRD - Probably the easiest trip to 75. Play songs, surf the web, rinse, repeat.... and repeat. Fuck no! On the other hand, you can be a total ass when it comes to merit parties since you're the onecontrolling the pace. I guess this is how some BRDs who are on said job 24/7 get heir kicks. "Everyone /NIN or I ain't pullin!"
RDM - Heal/haste/refresh slave. I'll pass. Though in a merit setting, you practically hold everyone's lives in your hands. Gimp DD? Let his ass die.
WHM - See RDM, minus refresh.
BLM - Blow shit up, make things go nighty-night in Dynamis. God help you getting this to 75 though. Assuming you don't live in East Ronfaure with friends. Of course that'll just mean your elemental skill will be gimped as cardinal sin by the time you reach 75.
COR - Expensive gambling pirate. Also see BRD, but with guns and dice. Not unless I get alchemy up to where I can make my own ammo. We already have a glut in those. Next!
SMN - Not your daddy's summoner from FF games of yore. Oh hey! Astral burn! Not long before SE wises up and fixes that.... then retroactively slaps everyone that did it with a big fat LM-17
SCH - You can change the weather? You must be a god! This one seems the most attractive one to me. And hey, the AoE stoneskin is even better than a BLU's diamondhide if you gear for it right!

But, this is all for another time. I need to "invest in the future" in another way by doing some more much-needed meriting first. No matter what, I'll still be a blue mage at heart.

One step closer...

So last night was a great night for Beyond having given us 9/9 Einherjar feathers. So if we win on Friday and next Tuesday, we're back in Valgrind next Friday for a rematch. Our first wave was a pack of Marids, which went down quite smoothly. Our next wave pitted us against a bloodthirsty pack of ahriman with a host of soulflayers waiting in the wings. We were also graced with the appearance of the boss for the night -- Freke.

We've had something of a sordid past with this particular boss, probably more so than the ever-annoying Motsognir. Actually it stems from a single incident a few weeks back. One night we got the big three-headed hell hound as our boss. Everyone was instructed to stand on its front paws. Simple enough, right? However, many people were everywhere BUT there, and several people kept running away like decapitated chickens when they drew hate. Despite the runners being told to stay put with varying degrees of urgency throughout the fight, it still continued, and we lost as a result. If I remember right it was so bad that some people were on the verge of being canned for that debacle as it cost us a crack at Odin. It was a touchy subject for a while, and the words "stand on the feet" were not well-received in any context. I may have left out a minor thing or two, but that was the gist of it. Thankfully last night's encounter went so much smoother and having a solid turnout didn't hurt either.

After our jaunt in Hazhalm, it was time to head off to Dynamis - Bastok to play with some overgrown turtles. Whatever AF's dropped that night, we ended up with more than one, with the exception of SCH and THF. Finally, after a year of waiting and crap lots, I finally managed to obtain my BLU pants, making me 4/6 for the set. Of course we had three more drop over the course of the run. I never thought I'd be so giddy over city AF2, but man did it feel good finally getting those!

One night in Valgrind...

Last friday's Odin sortie was a no-go due to several key people being unavailable as a result of Labor Day weekend. So we ended up doing a tier 1 because that was all one person needed for entry into Odin's chamber. However, that did not go over too well as we timed out on the boss.

Now, fast-forward to earlier tonight. It was decided that tonight would be the night that Beyond would square off against Odin for the first time. However, the iron colossus proved too much for the twenty valiant champions, but we did not go down without a fight.

We got Odin down to 7% but we ran out of time. Had we a few more people, we would've most likely emerged victorious.

We'll be back, horse-riding bastard!

O-DIN! O-DIN! O-DIN! O-DIN!

So after a long and arduous journey, Beyond will have its very first confrontation with the mighty Odin. Like some of us, this will be my first foray into Valgrind. I am a bit nervous though, but we are a solid team and I am confident we will be victorious.

Heeere kitty kitty kitty!

So the big white tiger put out earlier tonight.



Needless to say this totally made my day, hell even week. The other two lotters for said pants (one of them having a Maat's cap) weren't on hand so I was the next in line. Thank you once again to Beyond!

Green Eggs 'n Ham?

SAM I am, green eggs 'n ham!

Have I lost it? Nah. But apparently it seems I REALLY like slicing things with an overgrown meat cleaver. So I dinged 75 on SAM this past Tuesday after being put out of commission for two weeks by my PC breaking down. It crapped out on me not once, but TWICE. I bring it home from the repair shop the first time after it being gone for a week with a new power supply, and it goes out on me the very next day about an hour before I was to go to Einherjar that evening. Back in the shop it goes first thing that following Monday. That Friday rolls around, and I take it home again. Out again within not even 20 minutes of turning the damn thing on! I politely told the retard that fixed it to go fuck himself and took it to another shop in town. Got it back the following Tuesday and things have been fine since, but I digress.

At any rate, I've been on a real meriting kick in the past few days. Store TP merits were finished the other day, now I'm working on Overwhelm. I'd forgotten what it's like dealing with primadonna BRDs and RDMs. Also, this apparent crock of shit called "respecting the healer with utsusemi". Apparenlty I'm being too nice by going along with these, but I need the merits and as DD's our bargaining posture is highly dubious. In spite of that, I really don't mind meriting too much as long as kills go as quickly and smoothly as possible.

Have I given up on BLU? No. Though I have been sliding away from it in the past few weeks. Lately I've been re-examining it however. Have I been "doing it wrong" all this time? I dunno. If we win our next T3 on Tuesday we'll have an Odin coming up on Friday. I'll be ready to cannonball him in his backside on that day while sorting out my identity crisis.

Been a while.

Yes, I know I went the entire month of June and some of July with no posts whatsoever. So what have I been up to? Well, for starters I'm no longer on fairy. I've found a solid endgame LS on phoenix called Beyond and I'm digging it so far. We don't really do HNM's since the scene there is dominated by two rival linkshells (one of which is said to have the infamous "nasa" bot). We DID however claim KV today and some other LS called a GM on us for holding it which meant we had 30 minutes to kill the thing. We did manage to get the numbers out mid-day to rush it down. Of course we got completely jewed on drops though, but oh well.

Outside of endgame, I've been leveling SAM a lot lately, which now sits at 68. I figured I'd see what all the "bandwagon mania" is about and experience it first-hand. Already have my "DOMARUUUUUUU" waiting in the wings. LOL! No. I am however saving up toward a hagun and I am about 2/3 of the way there money-wise. A couple of friends and I trio the ENM every week and split the money three ways in the event that damn antlion coughs up the goods. It did last week, which made us very happy. Once I get to 75 and eventually get my hands on a haidate, it's "SAM I am" at most events or in merits, since I'm not asked to bring BLU specifically very often anymore but I do anyway since it is the most developed of my three 75's. This could very well be my final 75, but who knows? I said that about DRG, and now look what happened.