Lest We Forget

Warning: Spoilers of the WotG variety below!

Click here for part six of the spoof series.















We are back for more fun, mayhem, and misadventures in Xarcabard [S], so if you do not recall what transpired in the last few hours, I had just switched allegiances to escape certain defeat, ignored Lilisette as she was clubbed to death, and started a flirtatious relationship with Lady Lilith. Unfortunately for me, Cait Sith managed to escape during the chaos, and as a result, Lady Lilith dispatched me to hunt her down while she dealt with the Allied remnant.















Speaking of whom, there is my lover now, but how dare she smooch and caress that other red-head behind my back! I should charge down this hill and give her a piece of my mind...















Just as soon as I discover why her other lover emanates this sickly, purple aura.















And now he is dead. Something tells me that a healthy relationship with Lady Lilith would result in an early demise, so I will be retreating towards San d'Oria [S] now.















Predictably, my return to San d'Oria [S] proved nigh fatal when a furious Cait Sith thrashed me upon entry. Please stop pummeling me, Super Cat -- I will renounce my evil ways and rejoin the Allied Forces!















Thankfully, Cait Sith agreed to give me a second chance, but she immediately demanded that I confront and subdue Lilith's subordinates in the Walk of Echoes. I suppose we better set foot now if we are to catch them in a preemptive strike.















So immediately after, Cait Sith and I ventured into the Walk of Echoes to storm the Spitewarden's barracks, or more accurately, I discovered that I would be squaring off against all the wardens alone given Cait's uncontrollable superpowers.















Ah, Rage and Portia, just the two I wanted to see! Wait, what do you mean Lady Lilith knows of my betrayal and replaced me already? I have only been gone for an hour! Who could she possibly replace me with?!















No, it cannot be! She could not have replaced me with this fruity mockery! All right, Spitewardens, I will give you all five seconds to surrender unconditionally. One, two...















Yeah, I did not think anyone would. En garde!















So after a long brawl, the four remaining Spitewardens finally capitulated, and Cait Sith and I promptly escorted them back to San d'Oria [S] for detainment. Reflecting back on the fight, I could have forewarned the wardens that the new player cap is level 90, but what fun would that be? Despite defeating four Spitewardens simultaneously, Lady Lilith still remained at large, so I needed a new sidekick to defy her might.















Luckily, Cait Sith had just the solution: Lilisette could be resurrected via a Pixie cloning hatchery in Grauberg [S]. Unfortunately, Cait Sith neglected to inform me that I would be incubating the Lily egg for several hours, and I was not particularly interested in becoming a hen.















Oh well; no use complaining. Cluck, Cluck, Ba-gawk!















It worked! Lily#2 has arrived!















Say, Cait Sith, she does not retain any memories of me abandoning her, right?















Good. Now that Lily is back, can I nuzzle her face too?















After our happy reunion, Cait and I informed the new Lily on current events and of our pressing need to defeat Lady Lilith. After a small picnic, we decided to set foot into an undisclosed location in the Walk of Echoes...















... where Lady Lilith was already awaiting us. Your feminine wiles will not save you this time, Lilith! I will be receiving a harem of Lilisettes after this is over, right Cait?















Thankfully, the ensuing fight went in our favor given Lilith's reliance on sorcery rather than summoning Odin to decimate us. All was going well, and victory was all but ensured until...















... Lady Lilith impaled Lily#2 and merged essences with her!















Behold, Lady Lilith's ascension!















Unfortunately for her, I was not interested in ladies with twice my height.















And it appears the Lily-Lilith entity could not withstand the rejection; she must have triggered the self-destruct command!















Five, four, three, two...















Oh look, Atomos noticed the commotion and promptly devoured her whole! Now we can all return to -- wait, now he is trying to devour me too! Cait Sith, I need another Lilisette!















All right, Lily#3, time is short and Atomos wishes to destroy all life, so you will need to clog his stomach until he suffers from indigestion. Ready? Set? Toss!















Goodbye, Lily#3; I will be sure to ask Cait Sith for a clone just like you! In the end, four babes perished needlessly and a happy couple wound up in jail, but since I just saved the world, it is time for an ice cream sundae at Cait Sith's expense. Hurray for me and the end of the WotG missions!

Banner Adjustments

Since April has been a fruitless month in the Dragon's Aery (especially after butting heads with a certain HNM LS remnant), I have decided to comment on the new site banner instead. If you happened to visit the Den frequently in the past few weeks, you might have noticed numerous edits made on Liabelle and the banner's lighting.

For the most part, I created a new Liabelle from scratch: only her hair, lips, and ears remain intact from the previous banner. Moreover, I wanted a constant light source for all characters, so I adjusted everyone accordingly with a light source from the left. Unless I can improve on Liabelle's nose, I believe I have finalized the changes for all time, but as this recent adjustment shows, I can always count on surprising myself.

If anyone preferred Liabelle's pink Demon's Harness over the current one, I have also included an alternate banner below for comparison; the main reason for the switch was to allow readers to discern what Liabelle was wearing more easily. While I am sure I fell short of banner perfection by any and all means, if Liabelle appears cuter than before, then I have done my job.

EDIT: Banner has been updated again.

Before:










After:

Fafnir Revisted

So while the servers are down, I thought I would share some adventures in the Dragon's Aery undertaken a few weeks prior. Given that Fafnir used to be a HNM that required a small party to defeat, I was pleasantly surprised when a BST/DNC managed to conquer Fafnir solo. Naturally, I decided to mimic his technique in hopes of slaying my own Nidhogg someday.















For the most part, it took only a single DipperYuly (other jug pets might work too) to defeat Fafnir, but one does require a stack of Pet Food Zeta Biscuits to keep Yuly alive. Constant use of "Snarl" and "Curing Waltz III" should sustain one's life indefinitely given Fafnir's lack of hate reset abilities; each fight took me around 20-25 minutes solo.















In the end, I only managed to vanquish three Fafnirs before the servers were taken down, and no Ridill dropped from all three. However, I do feel my chances at earning an Earthen Abjuration: Body have improved at long last, so maybe -- just maybe -- I can pick up a Ridill along the way.

GUPS 024

I will admit it: I do not want to blog lately, and I do not know why. Perhaps the looming jaws above my head have something to do with it, or maybe I have finally become jaded with FFXI. Whatever the reason, I have not updated my blog in almost a month, so here is a summary on my last two month's worth of exploits.

Other Stuff


















First off, I have exterminated countless NMs these past couple of months and picked up numerous trinkets along the way. For the most part, the upper half of the collage represents trophies that I obtained solo while the bottom half represents goodies that I collaborated with my LS for. Moreover, I would like to specially thank Mclovinn for pursuing an Epona's Ring for me -- I definitely could not have done it on my own.














On the other hand, I have only managed to upgrade two AF3 pieces to this day, again thanks to Mclovinn's efforts. While I do admit the completed BST AF3+2 set would greatly improve my TP and WS set, I still believe in holding out until level 99 to assess what new gear will become available then.














A giant heap of merits thanks to the bountiful land of Abyssea...






... and finally, a Temperance Torque from the latest Mog Bonanza for one of my mules. Thank you, SE, for too little, too late.


HQ Crafting Addenum













I finally decided to synthesize a giant batch of Cursed Hauberks and managed to HQ 3 of 66 as a result. While I did possess Mega Moglification: Smithing, Guild Image support, and both a Blacksmith's Apron and Smithy Gloves for all attempts bar the first, I still believe I had only a tier 0 chance at HQing despite having over 106 Smithing skill. In other words, I got real unlucky, or one or more subcrafts for this recipe are over level 49 -- my HQ rate should have been closer to 10 percent.

Cursed Hauberk -1 (Tier 0)
14) NQ 15) Fail 16) NQ 17) NQ 18) NQ 19) NQ 20) NQ 21) NQ 22) Fail 23) NQ 24) Fail 25) NQ 26) Fail 27) NQ 28) NQ 29) NQ 30) NQ 31) NQ 32) NQ 33) NQ 34) NQ 35) NQ 36) Fail 37) NQ 38) NQ 39) Fail 40) HQ 41) Fail 42) NQ 43) NQ 44) Fail 45) NQ 46) NQ 47) Fail 48) Fail 49) NQ 50) NQ 51) NQ 52) NQ 53) Fail 54) NQ 55) NQ 56) NQ 57) HQ 58) NQ 59) NQ 60) NQ 61) NQ 62) NQ 63) HQ 64) Fail 65) Fail 66) NQ 67) NQ 68) NQ 69) NQ 70) NQ 71) NQ 72) NQ 73) NQ 74) Fail 75) Fail 76) NQ 77) NQ 78) NQ 79) NQ


Guttler Updates






So, I have lost all hope in finishing my Guttler and obtaining an Armada Hauberk as of late. I simply refuse to create the former before the latter, and the latter has become impossible thanks to the difficulty of procuring the corresponding abjuration. Moreover, I have tried HNM LSs, Einherjar LSs, mercenaries, and close friends, but nothing has prevailed for one reason or another.

In summary, I am nothing but demoralized from chasing a piece of paper that should have been mine by now, but in reality, the new level cap and advent of Abyssea have only made it harder to obtain. Nowadays, there are few players who are willing to spend long hours hunting outdated gear, and with the latest updates, I do not blame them.

What I will attempt next is anyone's guess. Despite moderate success in Abyssea, no amount of new items compensates for the lack of an Earthen Abjuration: Body, so if I am truly unable to obtain it by this summer, I believe it is time for me to depart from XI at long last.

Currently, I am working on Stage 4 -> 5 of my Guttler.

I have acquired:
[1/1] Ogre Killer
[1/1] Shard of Necropscyhe
[1/1] Runaeic Fragment
[9/100] Lungo-Nango Jadeshells

Gil towards next 100-unit currency (subject to change):
[???/1.1M] Lungo-Nango Jadeshell
Status: N/A


Crafting Status

Khelandros
[100/100] Fishing Skill
[80/100] Woodworking Skill
[54/60] Smithing Skill
[14/60] Goldsmithing Skill
[8/60] Bonecraft Skill
[8/60] Leathercraft Skill
[59/60] Cooking Skill

Cooking mule
[100/100] Cooking Skill

Smithing mule
[100/100] Smithing Skill
[60/60] Goldsmithing Skill
[39/60] Leathercraft Skill
[16/60] Bonecraft Skill
[60/60] Clothcraft Skill
[45/60] Woodworking Skill
[54/60] Alchemy Skill

Alchemy mule
[100/100] Alchemy Skill
[19/60] Goldsmithing Skill
[34/60] Smithing Skill
[16/60] Bonecraft Skill

Bonecraft mule
[40/100] Bonecraft Skill

Adieu, Lilisette

Warning: Spoilers of the WotG variety below!

Click here for part five of the spoof series.
Click here for part seven of the spoof series.















After botching an assassination attempt, rescuing Rage's girlfriend instead, and dragging an unconscious Rage and Portia into Xarcabard [S] in the aftermath, Lily and I were about to celebrate when we suddenly noticed a massacre outside Castle Zvahl Baileys [S]. By some luck, we managed to find some stragglers nearby, so we promptly disposed of their Demon oppressors.















Which of course woke the honeymooners right up. Now that we are all assembled again, you there -- whipped soldier of negligible importance, explain what happened to the San d'Orian front, posthaste!















So let me get this straight, an ominous cross appeared in the sky.















It turned out to be an invitation for cookies, from the Shadow Lord himself.















The San d'Orian army waltzed into an unforeseeable ambush...















... that resulted in utter annihilation. Is it just me, or do thoughts of the Shadow Lord decimating the entire San d'Orian front, past or present, seem utterly ludicrous?!















Oh look, yet another ominous symbol; I cannot believe our enemies would try the same gimmick twice! Now let us get organized, men. Have all survivors retreat several hundred yalms and -- wait, where did Rage scamper off to?

Rage? Portia? What do you mean they have bolted towards Castle Zvahl [S] again? Is there not anyone rational in this storyline? Sigh. I must hinder Rage and Portia before they repeat their predecessors' mistake -- those cookies belong to me and ME alone! Come, Lily; we have two naive fools to halt!















So after storming Castle Zvahl [S] once again, Lily and I reached the Throne Room [S] in one piece, but unfortunately for us, Rage and Portia were nowhere in sight. Since Lily could barely control her sugar cravings and since the doors behind us were bolted shut, we decided to search for cookies first and save our friends afterward.

Now let us batter this door open, Lily! Three, two, one...















... we did it! And behind giant door number one lies... the purple clowns that plague us to no end! Judging by their presence and the earlier invitation, they must intend to sue for peace via pastries!















Alright gentlemen, we accept your proposal. Now, where are those desserts you two promised? It was just a ruse to flay our hides, you say?















Now you guys have done it: Lily becomes a murderous madwoman when denied sugary treats...















... and now only thoughts of bloodlust emanate from her eyes! I will not even lift so much as a finger for this fight. Thrash them good, Lily!















So after unleashing her primal fury upon Aquila and Haudrale, the two Spitewardens dropped to the floor, writhing in agony. Just as she was about to strike two deathblows, Haudrale muttered there were cookies around the corridor, calming Lily somewhat.

Alright you two tricksters, march outside to the Allied encampment, and turn yourselves in -- I will not be able to restrain Lily if either of you refuse.















So after coercing Haudrale and Aquila to surrender, Lily and I dashed around the corner only to discover Rage and Portia collaborating with Lady Lilith.

Hey lovebirds! Are we interrupting anything?















Did Lady Lilith just summon Odin right before our eyes? How did she manage to summon a god, or better yet, why are Rage and Portia accepting cookies from him?

Rage! Portia! Those cookies are clearly tainted; do not accept treats from gruesome strangers!















Great, so much for my advice. Now Rage and Portia have been brainwashed into Lady Lilith's servitude.

Lily, we must vanquish friend and foe alike for the good for Vana'diel. Prepare to meet Altana, Rage!















But wait, what is this? Lady Lilith had a crush on me from the very beginning (see above picture), and she will enlist me into her forces if I betray Lilisette? Why thanks, SE; I appreciate the fan service and the convenient escape from certain death!















I am sorry, Lily; we cannot hold hands anymore. I will be befriending your sexy alter ego now given my current situation. That and she seems far more promising to sleep with!















But why the long face, Lily? I promise not to harm you personally. You only need to dodge Larzos' spiked club, backtrack your way through Castle Zvahl [S], and rally a new band of heroes to stop us. Surely, you can manage all that.















Or not... Larzos just struck a decisive blow on Lily. I suppose I would not have gotten very far, myself, in her situation. Well, goodbye Lilisette... try to grow up faster and seduce your sidekick sooner in your next lifetime!















So as they say, all is well that ends well, except for Lilisette perhaps. Until next time!