Total cost of Mandau.

As you know I ran a spreadsheet detailing the progress of the Mandau project.

I have now managed to scrape together the currency borrowed from a friend, and I have the final number of gil I personally had to invest in this baby.

That is 42.716.486 Gil. (42,7 Million).
The rest of the currency was obtained with the Interlopers LS through our runs.

Aion, fun!

Ok, so those that check this page now and then, probably have noticed I'm not updating this blog much nowdays. The reason for this is as you probably guessed Aion.
It's a great game and I really enjoy it!<br>

I still play FFXI, but not very much. I do Einherjar twice a week, and Dynamis twice a week, and then I join some of the othr LS events if Im really needed, like Kirins and stuff..
I enjoy the Einherjar event, it short but intense and it doesnt take up the whole evening, giving me some time to play Aion also.

Dynamis is a drag, but I'm still doing it to pay my dues to the LS for helping me with Mandau.

But a lot of IRL stress, and then limited freetime, which is spent on something I dont want to do is not a good combo.<br>
I've noticed that when I play the game and dont enjoy it, Im not the most friendly/positive person and I dont like that.

I have a pretty good idea on what I still want to accomplish in this game and once thats done, I dont really see the point in staying on FFXI. I will still be able to talk to the people on Aion and vent. The day I quit FFXI, I have decided to sell the account, may aswell get something back for the time invested.. Should be roughly $2000, so that will pay for the Seraphi web and Aion subscriptions for awhile.

Augmenting Gear

My first one.. and WOW!
I only use this piece for my Evasion setup and for quick macro in piece for Utsu-Ichi casting. And the augments is spot on.

Paladin

I was bored, so i unlocked (yes it was not unlocked) Paladin, and Im planning on leveling that on and off when im bored.
But Aion is coming out soon, so I wont be bored now will I!

MNK75

I started leveling Monk a year ago, I was never in a hurry to finish it off. But I did last week. I have pretty much all the gear I need for it, just need to get a Black Belt and its done.

Started working on getting Captain Rank for Assaults also. Other than that, the game is still boring.

Not so much FFXI at the moment..

I have recently felt less compelled to login on FFXi. Could be the fact that I don't have much left to work for, or that the game is getting a bit old, I don't know.. Also some of the people I enjoyed playing with are no longer here..

I've recently started playing Aion (MMORPG from NCSoft), and I enjoy that very much.
Its a step in the direction of WoW i guess, but its still got the more adult feel to it that I liked from FFXI.

Several of Seraphi members are currently playing the Chinese version that is out, while we wait for a EU/NA release.

We got a site up at www.seraphi-aion.com 

So what to report from FFXI?
Well, we are still chipping away at the relic polearm Gungnir for Dixus, going slow but steady. Other than that, same old same old..

Assassin's Charge

I have avoided the "Assassin's Charge" job ability up until now, not really seeing the benefit of it. But yesterday I was reading up on it again, and noticed that it will proc on the first hit of weaponskills. (Making it a triple attack).
I never thought it would be worth meriting this since all the weaponskills I have been using up until now are multihit weaponskills..but now with Mercy Stroke, this is a whole new thing. MS is a one-hit weaponskill, so you will get full benefit of the JA.

I merited it to the first level yesterday, and only had time to do once test (since recast is 15min) before I had to go to bed.. but wow!
Testmob was a colibri in Wayom Woodlands.
Did a SA+TA+AC+HIDE+MS.
No food or any other buffs/debuffs on mob.



So today I need to find a better test subject with more HP to see what it will cap at.

Would also be fun to try with food and good bard songs.

Mandau

Last night marked the end of my biggest endeavor in FFXi, and probably any game I have ever played.



This could never have been done without the help and and encouragement by the Seraphi and Interlopers linkshells. Thanks everyone. Now we start on working on the garden fork!
I also want to make a special thanks to my friend Jamibian, I dedicate this one to you.

And here are some screen shots:




(more will be added later)

Animated Dagger! Yes I'm the one..

So, last night we finally managed to get the zone. We went in with less people that I wanted to but everyone did a great job, and this is what happens when everyone work together as a team!

So close, but still so far away..

Above: This is what would happen if I meet that idiot JP LS leader.

So, I have my stage 4 done, have the currency needed for stage 5 (including the last 3000 piece loan).

But, for some reason, it is impossible for us the get into bloody Dynamis-Xarkabard. Yesterday was the 3rd night in a row where we gathered in Xark, just to have the zone stolen right infront of our eyes by a party of jp's, aiming to lowman the zone. I tried to no avail to reason with them, explaining we needed the zone to do a fragment-run. They just ignored us, didnt even bother sending a reply.

I only need that fragment, and I got my Mandau, but..
Sometimes I just feel like giving up..

Woot!

We had an amazing run today with Interlopers. Got plenty of good AF, 2 100-pieces, a successful death squad run, and then we did 2 of the attestation NMs.

And what do you know, the frickin thing dropped! 1/1!
Unfortunatly the other NM didnt drop the Polearm attest tho, but its was a VERY good run.

New look

It's been more or less a year since I did something to the look of the blogg, so I thought it was time for a change.

Wildmuffin showing off his bellybutton while getting cheered on by Wildbone, its a sight for sore eyes. Enjoy!

Wow!

9th of March, It's a day to remember, the day I finally got the long awaited Homam Cosciales, making me 5/5 on the Homam Set.

This also means I got 2 things left on my wishlist now. Hecatomb legs and Mandau, and then my THF is done.

Ranged attack for my THF

When TPing as THF I use my Fire Bomblet, but when pulling and not using bolt (ie. Dynamis) I have been been a bit gimped until now. Really should have gotten this piece earlier but better late than never. Thanks to Daz, Aphy, Brinny and Khazar for helping out.



Ungur Boomerang

Getting good head.

Sagheera in Port Jeuno gives goood head.
It sucks you have to pay for it, but it was worth it. :-)

Dynamis-Valkurm

Today was a pretty awesome CoP run. We got a lot of accessories (incl Valor Cape) and I got 2 pieces.




Sorcerer's Petasos -1


Sorcerer's Belt

What neckpiece to wear for WS on THF.

Today I was browsing the web and found a very interesting Live Journal on what neckpiece to use on THF with Mercy stroke. Yeye, I know, I dont have the Mandau yet, but the point that I found to be was so interesting was that I was in fact correct (weird I know) all those times I've stated I'd use the Kubira Bead Necklace over a Sea gorget.

My summary of the ranking for neckpieces is (based on data below):
SA+MS: #1 Kubira Beads Necklace
SA+MS: #2 Justice Torque
SA+MS: #3 Love Torque
SA+MS: #4 Soil Gorget
TA+MS: #1 Justice Torque
TA+MS: #2 Kubira Beads Necklace
TA+MS: #3 Soil Gorget
TA+MS: #4 Love Torque

I'm just gonna paste the formulas and comparisons here below, but if you want to check the original link it is http://shamayaasura.livejournal.com/4151.html .
So all info below is credited to Shmayaasura.

1-Hit Sa+Mercy Stroke
Soil Gorget
1-hit Sa+Mercy = {(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*125)]WSC)*3.1fTP + 103dex} * 1.914pDif * 1.25piercing
= ((113".25" * 3.1) + 103)*1.914 *1.25
= 1083dmg
To generalize this comparison, to make it more accurate for everyone and not just my own set, I can alternatively not truncate anything. Skipping truncation gives me,
= 1086.4dmg

Justice Torque
Additional 5str will not affect my fStr here. It will change pDif slightly, from a non-crit median of 0.914 to 0.924 with only 2".5" attack.
1-hit Sa+Mercy = {(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*130)]WSC)*3.0fTP + 103dex} * 1.924pDif * 1.25piercing
= ((115".74" * 3.0) + 103)*1.924 *1.25
= 1077dmg
Skipping truncation steps to generalize this, I get,
= 1082.8dmg

So far it looks like Soil Gorget is better here for 1-hit Sa+Mercy. If Str is lower, Justice Torque will become better. Similarly if fStr is lower (ie you're fighting much harder stuff), Justice Torque will also become better. Same if pDif is lower. Given how close they are here for 1-hit, it's very likely that Justice Torque is better for anything HNM level. This, again, is also 1-hit. The more hits you add, the better Justice Torque becomes in comparison.

Now let's take a look at love torque and kubira bead necklace for 1hit SaMS, this time also skipping truncation to favor generalization for each example.

Love Torque
1-hit Sa+Mercy = {(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*125)]WSC)*3.0fTP + 108dex} * 1.937pDif * 1.25piercing
= ((113".25" * 3.0) + 108)*1.937 *1.25
= 1084.1dmg

Kubira Bead Necklace
1-hit Sa+Mercy = {(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*129)]WSC)*3.0fTP + 107dex} * 1.923pDif * 1.25piercing
= ((115".24" * 3.0) + 107)*1.923 *1.25
= 1088.2dmg

2.48-Hit Sa+Mercy Stroke
As mentioned earlier, /nin with traditional merits and WS gear (5/5 triple, brutal earring), the average mercy stroke is 2.48 hits. While there are a number of offhands available, the most common used for DD'ing is still probably blau dolch, which is also what I have.

Soil Gorget
2.48-hit Sa+Mercy =
({(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*125)]WSC)*3.1fTP + 103dex} *1hit *1.914pDif
+{(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*125)]WSC)*1.0fTP} *0.24hit *0.914pDif
+{(33bD + 10fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*125)]WSC)*1.0fTP} *1.24hit *0.914pDif)
*1.25piercing
= 1.25*(869.1 + 24.8 + 119.3)
= 1266.5dmg

Justice Torque
2.48-hit Sa+Mercy =
({(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*130)]WSC)*3.0fTP + 103dex} *1hit *1.924pDif
+{(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*130)]WSC)*1.0fTP} *0.24hit *0.924pDif
+{(33bD + 10fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*130)]WSC)*1.0fTP} *1.24hit *0.924pDif)
*1.25piercing
= 1.25*(866.2 + 25.7 + 123.4)
= 1269.1dmg

Love Torque
2.48-hit Sa+Mercy =
({(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*125)]WSC)*3.0fTP + 108dex} *1hit *1.937pDif
+{(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*125)]WSC)*1.0fTP} *0.24hit *0.937pDif
+{(33bD + 10fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*125)]WSC)*1.0fTP} *1.24hit *0.937pDif)
*1.25piercing
= 1.25*(867.3 + 25.5 + 122.3)
= 1268.9dmg

Kubira Bead Necklace
2.48-hit Sa+Mercy =
({(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*129)]WSC)*3.0fTP + 107dex} *1hit *1.923pDif
+{(39bD + 12fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*129)]WSC)*1.0fTP} *0.24hit *0.923pDif
+{(33bD + 10fStr + f[0.83 * f(0.6*129)]WSC)*1.0fTP} *1.24hit *0.923pDif)
*1.25piercing
= 1.25*(870.6 + 25.5 + 122.7)
= 1273.5dmg

SUMMARY:


JUSTICE TORQUE
#2 for Sa+Mercy by this comparison (greater colibri march/madrigal no food), and #1 for Ta+Mercy. Should be the best mercy neck for HNM's.

KUBIRA BEADS NECKLACE
#1 for Sa+mercy by this comparison, and should be #2 for Ta+Mercy.

LOVE TORQUE
Lingers somewhere in between the above two necks and soil gorget for Sa+Mercy. Likely inferior to all for Ta+Mercy. When you're very high on pDif , gorget should be best, but I'm not sure if there's a point where love torque would ever be the best option. #3 by this comparison for Sa+Mercy, and #4 for Ta+Mercy.

SOIL GORGET
#4 by this comparison for Sa+Mercy, and #3 for Ta+Mercy. However, this is probably going to be the best mercy neck at some inflection point of pDif, when pDif is high enough. If not on merit level mobs, this might be the best option for very weak mobs, like too weak to even match. But then again, the first hit of mercy becomes less and less important as pDif rises. Either way, it doesn't matter.

Sky

I've gone atleast 30+ tries on this, so today I dropped my old Buccaneers Knife, got a new one, and voilá. I got it!

Did a 2 Byakkos and some farming done also.

Dynamis-Xarkabard

Today I finally got the much wanted BLM hat from Dynamis-X.




Also got the MNK headpiece (not so wanted, lol)

I bought this today, cost me 2 million, but they will work for both TP and WS gear setups until I get the Homam pants and the Hecatomb pants.

Quick update

I got nothing really significant to report but we do the usual events everyday.

I'm currently only waiting for 4 drops from the events we do with the LS; Homam pants, Hecatomb Legs, Byakko's Haidate, Justice Torque. I'm first in line for the the Homam and Hecatomb, so those things just have to drop.. The other pieces there's more people after, and it could take some time. Long gone are the times when you had nothing, and you were a potential candidate for almost anything that dropped. Back then, it was like your birthday every week, but now, once you get something you've dreamed about for so long it usually just leaves you speechless. I remember when I got my Love torque, I was stunned. Considering what had to be done to get it, have it drop, and get to lot on it, was something I didnt think I would manage a few years back. It's a good thing its been raining Love Torques over Seraphi, a lot of people can experience that feeling..

Yesterday we did a Dynamis-Xark run, farmed until we had 20 min left, andd then we gave Animated Dagger a try, I mostly wanted to see how tough it was and what needed to be cleared to make the pull possible. Turns out our usual farming was enough to clear a sacpull path. Once spawned it aggrod 1 group of 7 demons and 2 eyes, but these are no problem since they are brought away by the sacpuller. (Sac path is along the the wall towards WHM tower, and west past the PLD tower, down to the "snow-boobies", once there I headed back with the mobs to camp, since the dagger had warped by then. We camp to the south of WHM tower next to the wall)
I think we got it down 46% before it warped, not bad considering we had no bard 2hr and not very melee heavy. We are doing another Xark run on Sunday, which will include a DL fight.

After dynamis was over I was tired, but I headed out to Castle Zwahl to pick up my Dynamis Dagger (Stage 3) that was finished. I went to bed with a smile on my face.

Seraphi goes on..

Quick update. Been a lot of stuff going on at the moment, and we have just started doing events again.
yesterday we did a Proto-Omega, which got us Feet and Head, grats Tylia and Ninebreaker.

Today we did 2 Jailer of Love. Grats to Joshuwa on Torque, Betty on BLM earring, Kuraia on WHM-earring. Also did a Jailer of Justice that dropped nothing..

Back-end update

So, I had a slow day at work, and I though I would work some on the blog.
I realized that all that information you can find on ffxiah.com is public, so that means you should be able to pull that information to this blogg, making it "update itself"..

Sure enough, getting my job's current levels was pretty easy, once I found the solution. I can also pull my crafting levels and current titel, rank etc, but I decided not to do that. I will probably add the crafting once I get Wildbone registered on the auction site, but I'm too lazy at the moment.

What I inially wanted to do was to pull the merit-information, and that proved to be the tricky part, but I got it to work, after several hours of work. I can't seem to get the formatting to work for it, but screw that, atleast I'll never have to update my merits manually here anymore. :-)

Also I took some time and updated the spreadsheet for the Mandau-project, formatting all cells to the correct values (ie percent, currency etc.) So it's a bit easier to read now. I also added a percent counter for the different stages, to make the graph a bit easier to read.

Without getting technical, I'll just say that none of this could have been possible without Google Docs. Google Docs, I love you!

Typo, I love you.

I just realised I had 2 errors in my spreadsheet for the Mandau currency, which I now have fixed. 

Stage 4 needed currency was set to 6700 instead of 6100, and stage 3 was set to 1600 instead of 1400. So by fixing these typos, I just made a huge leap closer to the goal, and it didnt cost me a thing, lol.

My goal for the end of April 2009 is to have have Stage1, Stage2, Stage3 at 100% complete and Stage4 and Stage5 at 10%.
I feel this can be done, but I will have to work hard for it. 

On a sidenote, someone asked me the reason for putting these kind of stuff up here, and the answer is simple. I set up goals (tallgates, if you are in to project management) so I have something to work towards. When the deadline for the goal is due, I evaluate my progress and see what I can do to improve.

So by the 1st of May 2008, I should be able to set up a new goal, depending on the outcome of the months ahead.

Planning for things in this game is sometimes harder than reallife since there are a lot of factors that change and you really cant anticipate what will come into effect until they hit you in the face. But if we ignore these factors for a moment and assume that the economy and such will remain the same on the server, my monthly income should increase as time goes, since I will get my crafting skills up, find more and better ways of making money and learn from any costly misstakes I do. Experience makes all the difference. However this is not something I calculate in when I set goals for the Mandau project. I see this "thingswillonlygetbetter-factor" as a backup fund that will ensure that any setbacks (like sickness, vacations, losses) wont put me below estimated earnings.

Yes, it's just a game, but anything you spend this much time on should be handled in a correct way.

Just a quick update..

..on whats going on.

Einherjar:



Mandau:
Still hunting around for dynamis currency, going slow but steady. I am positive I'll have all the bronzepieces and some more shells in about 3-4 months when we should be nearing completion of Seraphi's current relic (Excalibur).
So far I have been able to keep up with the expenses, pretty much breaking even on what currency I can find and what I can afford to pay. There's a infobox in the right column for those interested in prices/percents etc.

Crafting:
Recently got Wildbone to Bonecrafting 100+2. I want to get Leathercraft subcraft up to 60 asap, and thats what I have begun work on now. This will probably make a small dent in my relicfund, but it shouldnt be too bad. Ill just have to work harder in the weekends, scraping together more gil..

LS events:
We have started the new year good, doing all the usual events, and doing them well.
Things work mentioning so far is 1 Faith torque drop (grats Janeiro) and a Tier 3 clearance in Einherjar, making us 2/3 on Tier 3. Just 1 more before Odin.

Sea

We have started events again after the holidays. Did Sea today, some inside jailers, and 2 JoJ and 2 JoH. No torque drops..

Oh and I got my Hyorin Obi, finally..