Weekend Warrior

Despite the fact that I was sick all weekend, I did manage to get a few things done. Or rather, I participated in a few things. Some of it was fun, while others were pretty frustrating. I'm always frustrated though, so it's nothing new. Anyway, read on:

A Painful Day in the Past

Last week was a pretty awesome week for Cerberus. We actually took over all of the northland zones and unlocked the Fiat Lux BCNM! I think we may have unlocked it once before, but that's not important right now. Naturally, shouts were heard all over the place. So I went to the past to get the campaign operation, but realized my rank wasn't high enough. Off to the battlefield I go.

Contrary to the picture above, I did really well in campaign. Xarcabard [S] is just a pain in the ass place for a campaign battle. I usually go as SAM/DNC or RDM/BLM when I want some good exp, but it looks like DNC/NIN is a solid choice now too. Having Pyrrhic Kleos helps a lot as well. So a few fights in and I was at the highest rank. Most people already had the DD needed, and were searching for a bard. Just so happens I'm a bard, and somehow a few people knew this. I got an invite during a dagger trial and gladly accepted.

I rethought my happiness along the way.

First, taking the Manaclipper in Bibiki Bay sucks. Seriously. I had just arrived to camp an NM when I got my invite. The NPC said 14 minutes for the next boat. I figured that would give me some time to kill a few placeholders and maybe spawn the NM. I set aside 10 minutes to do this and then I'd run back to the dock. Ten minutes later, I reach the dock, only to find that the boat the NPC was talking about was the wrong one. In the meantime, one of the group members tries to take the boat on the other side to reach me, but that one just goes in a circle. While he was on his way, I went back to the NM so we didn't miss each other on boats. That was a mistake, because I didn't realize his route was in a circle until the boat coming to my side had already passed. The end result of this was an hour wasted until I finally go to them. I'm surprised they waited, to be honest. Still, I'm thankful.

Now we get to the fun part: the trip to the throne room. After we all arrive in the castle, I start buffing myself in case I get aggro. They asked for me to go as /whm, and I didn't have any oils / powders on me. So what do I do? Cast sneak of course. Four seconds later, sneak starts wearing. I take a few steps back and recast. Magic aggro. I ran back to the zoneline and lost aggro, but lost the group as well. A few minutes later, I catch up. We get to the maze area with all the doors and whatnot, but someone gets aggro in a bad place. Some ran, some fought. We killed our initial aggro, but then a domino effect of aggro took place and we ended up wiping.



One of the guys was in a really bad spot when he died and had to homepoint. Turns out this was a good thing, because he also had forgot to get a new campaign tag while waiting for me. The rest of us regroup and move forward, while one member stays behind to assist the other when he came back. Once we made it to the BC, I got all of the rules explained to me. Thankfully, I wasn't there to be the sacrificial lamb. I die enough without trying; getting me to kill myself intentionally would be problematic.

We managed to do two runs before my LS event, but both ended in failure. We got really damned close on the second run, but the Shadow Lord decided to spam the HP down move and his shadow clones. We didn't have enough stunning power to handle that, and we lost again. I queued the mission so I can go again, but so far I haven't had any luck with a group.



Operation Pixie Freedom!

It's been a long time coming, but it looks like OPF was a great success! Read this post if you don't know / remember what I'm talking about. Every now and then, I still visit Witchfire Glen and drop off a pixie if I'm ever in possession of one, and it looks like many others have done the same. Pixies are in the present! Maybe this isn't news to anyone other than me, but can it. I'm happy.

I haven't seen them in many areas, but the fact that even one is in present time is a cause for celebration. Keep those pixies alive and free!




More Mercury!

I think I said more than enough the Trial of the Magians in my previous post, but here are some pictures to go with it. It's a good thing I managed to run into a few helpful / courteous people while going through this. At least I'm not the only one in this mess of a quest.

My evil dancer impression while waiting for the Nocuous Weapon to spawn.

I got some Lv38 drg greaves from this. A shame I'm already 75.

Really, there was no point having Karyn. Even at 70, she barely hit them.

Guilty Kindness?



A picture is worth 1000 words. I don't have the picture that I really want to show (passing of an item), but I can at least explain the situation. Before I get started, let it be known that I think the end result was extremely selfless and kind. However, due to the circumstances surrounding the act, I think it would've been difficult to choose any other path.

As you can see, we were doing KS99. I think this was the third run of the night. We were on a winning streak and I think we may have just let ourselves get comfortable and relaxed. Dizz started getting hammered and his HP was low. Unfortunately, there was a fatal delay in healing and even though we semi-recovered, we ultimately lost. Koroki, the orb holder, was less than pleased and everyone felt bad. To end the night on a better feeling than this, we did a final run and made sure everyone had their act together.

When the run was over, the chest contained some pretty decent drops. Of particular interest was a Wyrm Beard. This orb holder, Negaa, didn't have a use for the beard at the moment, so it was decided to let our Monks cast lots on it. Just so happens that Koro was a 75 MNK and needed the item. One of our newest members, Fahzewn, is also a 75 MNK. After it was declared that neither had the beard, they both prepared to lot. Fahz went first with a whopping 900+.

Now here's the situation. It was suggested that it would be a kind motion to allow Koroki to have the beard since his run was...well, ruined. I can understand this to a point but, at the same time, the holder of that beard was to be decided via /random. From that point forward, the only thing that should have mattered was who had the highest number. Instead, it seemed as if the entire shell went silent. Staring at the treasure pool while waiting for Fahz's decision. No pressure, right?

Fahz is a nice guy. He's been really nice since I met him on Hades. Even though he was given an option to keep the item, I don't see him choosing any other option. Such a choice is made even harder when everyone is waiting for you to make a decision and the clock is ticking. I think in such a case, everyone else should have just left the area and let those two decide what will happen. Or, since it was the entire LS that failed to finish the run, that we should all pitch in to do something for Koro to help recoup his loss. Fahz did a great thing in passing the item, and I'm sure that kindness will be returned many times over.

Anyway, there are other things I did, but I didn't take many screenshots. Now I have to get back to the game, as I'm sure people think I'm ignoring them since I'm not answering their tells.