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..

A great day!

Got my Boneworker's Apron today! Hurray!

Also, which may be an even bigger accomplishment, considering all the efforts up 'til now, I got the Trotter Boots!

Denali Bonnet!

We did 4 Nyzul Isle runs yesterday, and I finally got the item I was after the whole time in Nyzul. The Denali Bonnet!
I'm so happy.

3/5 Askar Set

After our scheduled Einherjar and Limbus runs, we did 3 Nyzul Isle runs.
I got the Askar Zucchetto, making me 3/5 on Askar. Its a lovely piece, but it breaks my heart to stove away my Shura Zunari Kabuto in storage, probably never to be used again. Or,nevermind I think it still has a place in my WS gearsetup on SAM.

BLS & Bonecrafting

Took yesterday off to go see a Black Label Society Concert.
Brought my camera with me..
(link)

Also, I finally got Bonecraft to 100!!
0-100 cost approx. 3 million

More new stuff..

Stopped by in Nashmau today and got me a Gleeman's Cape. It's a nice piece, and I can sell my Prism Cape now for some gil. Win-Win situation!



Got my Bonecraft to 98.7 today.

New purchase!

Figured I'm not likly gonna get this by farming the NM in the near future, so I went ahead and bought the Fire Bomblet.

A day full of events..

Yesterday I did a lot of things.
First off, I did some crafting, taking Bonecraft up to 96.5.

Then we did our usual ENM "Brothers".  Nothing good dropped.

After that I went out for some IRL shopping, found a cool microwave owen that I had to buy, lol. Anyways, got back and exp'd my Monk to 21.

After that i headed to Boneyard Gully for our second ENm for the day, but once there we got notice of a lonely Cerberus wandering around. So Seraphi gathered together and pwned it, nice clean fight with an Algol for Delaney.

After that it was time for the ENM "Shell we dance" and the X'S Knife BCNM. Crap drops again. 3'rd empty chest in a row on the X-fight..

After that Seraphi headed to La Vaule for a first attempt on "The Blood-bathed Crown" SCNM. The fight was a piece of cake and we got the "Supremacy Ring" (grats Avy) and soem money drops.

After all that I had a headache, so I went offline and watched the latest Indiana Jones movie. After that I still had a headache but I also wanted to punch something. George Lucas is a f**ing idiot. The movie sucked!! 

Backpiece upgrade for THF & SAM

I decided to spend some cash today. Bought a Forager's Mantle.
Best TP backpiece for my SAM and THF.



After that we did Dynamis Buburimu. Cleared and got 7 AF, 4 of them accessories.

Sunday..

We started of the day doing our usual Brothers ENM. It was a very fun fight this time, mainly because something went wrong and we had to kite to recover. Cleared it with 4 min to spare. And we got a Cloud Evoker! Good start.

After that, since it was a full moon, I decided to poverlevel my Bonecrafting. Did 240 synths(!), since im on Trumpet Rings now and I had saved up alot of materials it went super, and I ended the the day sitting at 92.6.

After that we went and did the "Shell we Dance" ENM. Nothing goood dropped. On the way there we spotted Xolotl walking around, so we decided to go kill it the next gamenight after ENM. Got a few more people to come down and we killed it. 2 dark crystals and a Zoolander hat ><.

After that it was time for Einherjar. This time we had a 50/50 mage/DD setup. It went pretty good, but we got a wave of imps that screwed us over timewise. The mobs where: 6 Dragons, 12 imps, 12 demons, Cerb boss. We timed out on the demons.

After that we had Nyzul planned. Did 3 runs. Got Hydra boss on all 3. First run - no drop. Second run - Askar body. Third run - Golliard Body.I got the Askar body and Aphy got the Golliard.

Nyzul Isle

Yesterday we did 3 more floor 80 runs, trying to get some body pieces.
It was a quite successful run, netting us drops in 2 of the 3 runs. Bettysan got a Goliard Body and I got the Denali Jacket.



We just need to get 3 Askar bodys now and then we can move on to farm floor 100 for some sexy headpieces.

Did some more crafting yesterday, got Bonecrafting up to 83.2 and also picked up Leathercraft again, and took that to 7.6.

We also did an Einherjar as we always do on thursdays, only had 27 people show up, we did ok, got the boss (Khimmy) to 30%ish before we timed out.
I personally think we should try and go for a manaburn setup for this, even if that means having some people not be able to enter. Besides most of our members have atleast one of the BLM, RDM, BRD, WHM jobs unlocked. 15 BLMs sync-nuking a -aga3 spell with brds immedeatly hord lullabying everything again seems like a viable solution to me.
If we wipe, so what..

Quick update

I have been a bit lazy with updates lately..
We've done the usual events and all every day.. I have not gotten anything worth mentioning, but I have worked hard on my bonecrafting mule every day. Its currently at 81.6 and slowly rising. 

I wish I had kept track on my expenses from the start of this mule, so I would know the total cost for the leveling, but I didnt.. I've done a rough estimate and my losses for leveling 0-80 comes to approx. 1.7 million gil.

I could have cut costs a bit, but from my experience with some recipes, farming ingredients is not always the best way to cut costs. For example farming giant femurs for hours, or buying them for 500gil/pcs and using the time saved to do what you usually do to earn gil is way better. 

Also, just blindly aiming for the cheapest synths available for skillups is not always so good. Some items have a much better price when selling back to npc..
Like doing a 100 synths that cost 1000gil each, which npcs back for 50gil may sound cheap, but when compared to a synth that costs 10000gil and sells back to npc for 9800 its easy to see the benefit of the later. The only problem with this is you need some gil on hand just to start off..and something to hit for those times where you do a few critical breaks in a row.

The best advice I can give anyone that is planning on leveling a craft is to use the excellent recipe-database on ffxiah.com

Bone here, bone there, bone everywhere!

Im crafting Marid Arrowheads right now, and that recipe sucks.. Doing it from level 73-78 and the damn marid tusks dont stack..
So I got bones everywhere! 

SE really should increase the number of items you can send at once from the delivery-box too. Sendin g8 items, logging to mule, picking it up, logging back to other character, sending another batch and so forth takes a shitload of time!! 

Well, by bonecraft is currently sitting at 74.2.

Some news to report..

First of all, last friday i went 5/5 on Samurai AF2 when i received the final piece i Dynamis-Xarcabard.


My bonecrafting is now at 66.5. Trying to work on this every day, but its getting harder for sure now..

Yesterday I got my third item using Einherjar points. This is the best available neckpiece for my THF and SAM weaponskill gear setup.

Bonecrafting

Been busy the last week, leveling my bonecraft on my mule. Its now at 58, has been quite easy but I have a feeling its going to get a bit tougher soon.

Also, one time, at bird camp, I stuck a flute up someone's pussy?

Hecatomb Mittens obtained..

..making me 4 out of 5 on the Hecatomb Set. Only (!) need to get the legs from Nidhogg, and finish Mandau for some penis-enlarging weaponskills!

Homam 4/5

This Saturday I got the Homam hands, making me 4/5 on the Homam gear. Its a pretty sweet piece of TP gear. <3 haste!

X's Knife !

I am stunned! It dropped. It finally dropped..

Apocalypse Nigh finished

We finished the fight yesterday and today i got my earring.

Cheaper currency?

Im so happy! SE announced they are dropping the price for Dynamis to 500.000 from 1.000.000gil.

This should effectivly drop prices of currency in half, but of course more people will buy currency now, atleast initially. 

Fishing

Today I did some fishing. Finished the quests for "Inside the belly", and got a Pirate's Chart! Now I just need to do that fight and hope to see a Mercurial kris.

Later we did 2 Limbus farming runs. Went smooth.

The beginning of the biggest challenge yet..

..starts now.
I have decided to put all my future earnings into a relic fund, to ge me a Mandau.
Crazy, I know. But I feel that I have more or less gotten all the stuff I need to make my THf truly amazing. Only thing I'm missing is the Homam legs and I will get those eventually, and they wont cost me anything..
All gear for my BLM (that I need to buy) is mine already, and all buyable gear for SAM, I have already, not counting the Hagun, and I'm willing on skipping that for awhile.

I wont be able to sponsor any Dynamis runs, so I will have to buy currency. But I will get there eventually..

Sunday, same procedure as last week..

Did Brothers ENM first, got crap drops.

Later that night we did a Tier3 Einherjar, got the boss (KB) down to 75% and then ran out of time.

I had enough ampoules to buy me another(!) ring, damn I've gotten sooo many rings this week, lol.



After that we did the X-Knife fight, and then the ENM Shell We Dance, got crap drops from those also.

ToAU done!

Today i finally took the time to do ToAU 44 mission.
So now I have completed that expansion.
I choose the DD ring as an award.



After that we did a Tier3 Einherjar, didnt clear it but got some more ampuoules. Next time I cant buy the Omega Ring.

After that we went to Sea to try and pop Ix'Drg, we split up in too groups, and my group popped it, but it depopped before our tank could get there and claim it.. ><
That sucked, but atleast I got to try out my other new ring I bought today!
The Sorcerer's Ring!!



Yes, finally I have it.

BLM HP-Down Gear complete!!

After Einherjar we did a few Rostrum Pumps runs and I got 1, so I'm now done with my HP-down gear.
Now I just need to buy the Sorceror's Ring, but there's none on the AH ><.