Yilbegan revisited

Last night, Beyond took two more shots at the void-walking Yilbegan. Our first encounters taught us two important things. The first big thing we learned was that PLD/NIN tanks were useless in this fight. Another thing was there wasn't enough incoming damage to keep up with his high regen. A faster Yilbegan kill is what we sought. But how do we get there? It was "back to the drawing board" so to speak.

Magi-what?

While several of my colleagues have been dutifully hacking away at magian weapons over the past month, there are a number of us (myself included) that have elected to boycott these pains in the ass altogether. Some of them are nice and give options to jobs that didn't have them previously (i.e. a multi-hit for BLU) but others are just WTF. Kill triple-digit mobs under weather conditions? Camp NM's with bullshit pop conditions and kill them x number of times? No thanks.

In other news, the past few days have found me plugging away at DNC sub, which as of this posting is 33. After hitting around level 20, the feeling of "why didn't I do this sooner?" began to set in. Certainly would've made my life on SAM a bit easier while leveling it up.

Yilbegan sucks

So last night Beyond took a crack at the new "big daddy" VNM, Yilbegan. The first time we popped, it despawned at 89% after the popper went too far away. The second time, we tracked it all the way to Xarcabard where a battle of epic proportions ensued. What did we get for our troubles? A gold ore and a couple dark crystals. So I've learned in the case of BLU, /THF and shoot cannonballs up its ass when it's casting.

Time to exp RNG now I guess. >_>

What a week

Well, for starters, Temenos was good to me this past Sunday. We did have a cobalt mithril sheet drop, but someone else won it. However, it did put out not one but two scarlet odoshi, meaning I'll have a pair of Myochin Haidate +1 this Sunday. :) But the fun doesn't stop there. Dhalmels, ponies, 3-headed dogs and fulminations, oh my!

Lots of stuff

So last month's Vana'fest brought us many interesting revelations. The first being that after several years at 75, we'll be making a climb to 99. So to safeguard against our current gear falling into obsolescence, SE had the foresight to add a series of quests called the "Trial of the Magians", which allow us to upgrade our hard-earned gear. Moreover, it looks like we're getting Walk of Echoes in June. Time to catch up on those damn Wings missions. Maybe getting help won't be so terrible now that we know the pot of gold at the end of that rainbow. But since the older stuff isn't being scaled to accommodate for the higher levels, I'm half-tempted to just wait until the level cap goes to 80 in June and bang out as many as I can solo.

So it seems I've got my work cut out for me in the next three months in terms of catching up on campaign and missions as well as leveling subjobs to 49. I'd already be hacking away at this were it not for being sidelined by PC issues late last month. But I should be back up and running Monday, or even Tuesday since I'd have to re-install and endure that 4+ hour patch-a-thon.

When applying to endgame linkshells...

When someone applies to an endgame linkshell, you would hope that they have the presence of mind to put their best foot forward and paint themselves in the best light possible with what they have available to them. This is often their would-be colleagues' first glimpse at them. Now imagine yourself in this situation. While you may not, for example, be a pimped out BLM with a novio or AF2 head and other premium BLM gear, you can still show what you have to prove that you can intelligently equip said job. Another thing is merits. Be specific! How you merit the job provides insight into your understanding of the job. Here's how NOT to answer this part.

Important Merit Status: SAM

OK, that speaks fucking volumes. Yeaaaahhhh. For all we know, you could have some stupid shit like 5/5 Zanshin and Warding Circle recast. This would prove that you have absolutely no understanding of said job and how your merits enhance its performance. Absolute waste of a DD slot that could have been used by someone more competent that ended up going as something else.

Now let's look at how this SHOULD be answered.

Important Merit Status: SAM: 5/5 Store TP, 5/5 Third Eye, 5/5 Overwhelm

This is more like it. They may not be finished meriting the job, but this explains EXACTLY what's there and also demonstrates an understanding of the job itself.

This is something that's always bothered me. People that apply to Beyond (or really any LS) and just half-ass it by being really vague and having a poor attitude just drive me (and others) nuts. You either want to be a part of our team or you don't. If you do, please make an effort to show that you do. If you don't, then stop wasting our goddamn time!

I feel pretty, oh so pretty....

So it seems Omega has had a penchant for leaving us doubles of its body parts the past three fights. Back in November, we got double feet before we went back to Temenos. So after our business with Ultima was concluded, we were back in Apollyon where we faced Omega again last week and it too yielded double feet. Fast-forward to this evening. Pattern of doubles continues. But....



Then moments later, this happened.



So yeah, I'm now the proud owner of a pair of Homam Manopolas making me 3/5 on this stuff. Many thanks to my friends in Beyond.

But the night wasn't over yet. After taking a short break, it was off to Mt. Zhayolm to beat up on some three-headed dogs. So the big doggies we beat put out rather nicely. Among the obligatory hides/meat, we saw an oracle body, a Sarameya hide, and the coveted Hachiryu haidate. So yes, a great night it was. Now let's hope our encounters with Kirin are as bountiful.