Lord of the Hunt

After acquiring my new Jelly Ring, Masani called for help fighting a NM in the Sea Serpent Grotto, so I decided to go help her out. Unfortunately, Novv the Whitehearted got the best of me the first time around: I released a pet too early and linked a bunch of Novv's Sahagin friends. They turned me into mincemeat soon after.

Given my BST nature, I could never let a NM win that easily, so after Masani revived me, I recklessly used "Charm" on a nearby Robber Crab and attacked Novv despite being weakened. After a few minutes of fighting, it was clear that my pet would fall, so I told Masani we would engage the NM, even though I was still weakened, once my pet died. Given Novv's "Hydro Shot" move, enmity bounced between Masani and me a bit, but once I could summon CC, "Snarl" took care of the rest. Unfortunately, Novv did not drop a Minstrel's Coat in the end, but with my new found experience on this NM, I am positive I could solo Novv despite my earlier failure.








Afterward, I decided to hunt Centurio XII-I, for an Intruder's Earring, to take advantage of a server maintenance that occurred the day before. Although I arrived on the scene twenty one hours after the maintenance period, I did not manage to claim the NM, and to make matters worse, I botched calculating the respawn time for the next day and wasted five hours then for nothing. Despite my error, I did manage to catch the Dune Widow NM on Widescan as a consolation prize.















So after calculating the earliest respawn time for the day after, I decided to arrive early to stay on top of my competition, but I was shocked when the NM spawned earlier than I thought it could. Unfortunately, I failed to get the claim again; it seems that Centurio XII-I can spawn as early as twenty hours after its previous death. However, my persistence paid off the next day when I finally managed to claim the NM, against four other players, and I was even lucky enough to get the earring.















As such, I definitely recommend using BST/THF for any dicey NM drops. Using /THF allows a BST to quickly "Flee" towards a NM that has just spawned and minimize the average number of kills needed for a particular item. That is all for today folks; merry Christmas Eve!

Ischemia XII

Ischemia has seen several new members thanks to the recruiting efforts of a certain Tarutaru, Yoshitaka, and as a result, we have started doing small events again. The LS scheduled a Bomb Queen run two Sundays ago, and given my current DRK desires, I just had to go. Unfortunately, some members, including myself, were short a pop item(s), so the LS decided to send its BST team to gather pop sets while the main group fought the NM itself. I also decided to take plenty of pictures and redesign my site banner while I was down at Ifrit's Cauldron.





For the most part, Poodlehat and I were farming the more difficult pop items, Bomb Queen Cores, from Volcanic Bombs while the rest of the LS farmed for Volcanic Ashes when they were not fighting the NM. The main reason we decided to split our forces was because failing to pay attention could result in...




... instant death! Although "Barfira" and "Fire Carol" can help resist the damage taken, there is still a chance to suffer instant death if you are unlucky. To further complicate matters, we did not have any form of "Stun" in the alliance.















To speed things along, I volunteered to go last, and we managed to farm three cores in three hours. During that time, the main alliance slaughtered Bomb Queens left and right until they finally decided to wrap things up with my NM. After rejoining with the rest of the alliance, I discovered that I would be keeping the local wildlife and lesser NMs at bay with the rest of the alliance while two NINs kept the main NM occupied. Since the lesser NMs would quickly explode after appearing, I decided to use my TP to ensure they died promptly rather than unleashing it on the main NM as instructed.















Overall, the fights proceeded fairly smoothly, and I now have a new ring for my DRK's "Souleater" set. This set still needs many more pieces to complete, but I will post about those another time.






We also witnessed two pairs of Avengers drop from the ten or eleven pop sets we used. Supposedly, the claws are relatively rare, but as a BST, I am not too concerned about novelty items.







I also did two more "Treasure and Tribulations" runs yesterday and succeeded with one of them. Unfortunately, the drops were pretty shabby, but a Tamer's Ring might be useful if I ever get around to creating a "Killer Effect" build for my BST.

Sewer Syrup Showdown

Do you remember that post back in early November where I said I would attempt something BST-related for once? Well, Khaki delivers, and at long last, I ventured out to solo one of the harder NMs in FFXI: Sewer Syrup. This NM has been soloed by BSTs before, but the details on such feats still remain rather sketchy. As such, I will be sharing my own experience on this NM alongside pictures of me chipping away at Syrup's HP.















Sewer Syrup resides in the Bostaunieux Oubliette, the ancient dungeon beneath the Chateau d'Oraguille. Some players have reported that S.S. can take up to nine hours to pop; however during my own hunt, I only skewered an hour's worth of Mousse (Slime) placeholders.















Since S.S. popped near a couple of Haunts (Ghosts), I decided to drag her away into the nearby passageways, and within moments, I knew I would be in for one of the longest fights of my BST career. On average, Werebats (Giant Bats) dealt 6 damage per hit, Mousses (Slimes) dealt 7 damage per hit, and CCs dealt 15 damage per hit. On the other hand, my pets' WSs only did 100 damage per use, 140 damage per use, and 125 damage per use, respectively. 















Against a NM with 10-11k HP, fighting Sewer Syrup thus became a war of attrition, so taking care of hate was my first priority. After noticing that none of my pets could maintain enmity after using "Sic," Ninjutsu, or anything in general, I decided to lessen the distance my pets needed to chase S.S. by standing directly behind them. This stratagem ensured that my pets would be able to land their WSs even if S.S. took after me; she would usually be right on top of them as they executed their WSs.















In total, S.S. took around two hours, nine Courier Carries, ten Werebats, thirty Mousses, and my NPC Liabelle to achieve victory. Most pets were worked to death; however, I did release some pets early, while they were hit by Syrup's WSs, in order to grab stronger ones. After all this work, I was rewarded with...








... a shiny, new kiting ring! If you managed to notice that the picture above is edited, you are very sharp! Since my inventory was full at the time, some of Syrup's drops did not fall into my bag immediately, so in order to get a picture with all drops included, I ended up editing the original.

How to Solo Escort: San d'Oria

Team Khaki apologizes to any readers who checked this page on Sunday; I did not finish this quest until early Monday morning. Unfortunately for me, there were a lot of Japanese (JP) players who attempted this particular "Escort for Hire" quest around JP midnight. If you happen to encounter a JP group yourself, please respect their "first come, first served" queues -- they do not like people cutting in line.

This is one of the easier escort quests because the dungeon is relatively linear. After trying this quest as a BST/NIN, I would recommend having good melee equipment, or you might find yourself hard pressed on time. Like the other "Escort for Hire" NPCs, Cannau can take multiple routes through her dungeon, so I will be performing route 1 listed on FFXIclopedia.















At point 1, two BLM and WAR Skeletons bar the way -- hack them down. After the Skeletons are gone, move Cannau up to the doorway ahead and take out the Hell Hound below the stairs. Guide Cannau towards the next door once it is safe.















Three Revenants (Ghosts) lurk inside the room at point 2. I only needed to defeat one of them before Cannau could slip by the other two. Cannau will then run towards the room on the right, so plan accordingly.















The tunnel at point 3 has more Hell Hounds to deal with, but I forget how many there were in total. Hounds are especially weak to Slashing damage, so dealing high damage on these mobs is not uncommon for Axe-users.















This picture was taken where the word "FORK" is. Stop Cannau by the stairs and decimate any enemies that prevent her from hugging the right wall to the nearby stairs. There will be several Blood Souls (Ghosts) and Ka (Shadows) in this room, but you probably will not need to slay them all for Cannau to reach the stairs. Avoid stepping on the large square tiles; some of these will plummet you to the basement below.















Once you have climbed the stairs, stop Cannau at the top, and find the Azer (Bomb) lurking near the gravestone. Destroy the Bomb first because its "Self-Destruct" move can one-shot Cannau. Let Cannau run inside afterward to hit the nearby switch.
















After hitting the switch, Cannau will then choose either the upper (Path 1) or lower (Path 2) path to her final destination. For either path, be prepared to face some Tomb Wolves around points 4 and 5. If you happen to notice a closed door at point 6, stop Cannau before she reaches it because she can pass through solid walls -- unlike you.















At the intersection (point 6), there will be three Skeletons inside: either two Liches (BLMs) and one Fallen Knight (WAR) or vice versa. Since these monsters agro by low HP and have AoE moves, keep Cannau as far away as possible during combat.












 


The final room at point 7 has three Utukkus (Ghosts) and two Dark Stalkers (Shadows). Despite being EP monsters, they will not agro a lvl 75 BST, so you might decide to have CC attack them all and drag them into a corner once you reach them. Again, talk to Cannau once she halts for a Completion Certificate before you leave the dungeon.

How to Solo Escort: Bastok

This quest is not to be confused with the other Bastokan Escort quest "All by Myself."

This is most difficult of the three "Escorts for Hire" quests because you will need to traverse most of the Crawler's Nest in order to finish it. Although you can solo any of the three routes Olavia can choose, I am going to guide you through the second route listed on FFXIclopedia -- the other two are done in a similar manner.















Move Olavia along until you get to a room with four Doom Scorpions (point 1). The Scorpions will, surprisingly, link with one another, so deal with them however you feel fit (you can use CC to crush them or pit them against each other). Have Olavia run into the room once the Scorpions are dealt with, and continue along until you get to the tunnel at point 2. If there are any Scorpions pursuing you, deal with them before continuing.















There is one Doom Scorpion and three Soldier Crawlers near point 2, so stop Olavia before then. "Charm" the Scorpion (or a Crawler if the local RMT manaburn PT has killed it) and unleash it on one of the Crawlers in the room. Once all the Crawlers are pounding on your pet, send Olavia inside. Olavia will make a U-turn out of the room, so once she is clear, prepare to deal with the Crawlers you attacked. Afterward, keep heading along until you approach point 3.



















There is another Doom Scorpion and possibly a pair of Puroboros (Bombs) at point 3. "Charm" the Scorpion and use it to distract the Bombs if they will agro Olavia passing through. Once you have cleared the way, use "Leave" on the Scorpion and continue towards point 4 with Olavia. 















There are up to six Crawlers between points 4 and 5, so stop Olavia well before point 4. "Charm" the rearmost Crawler and then attack the next rearmost Crawler. The idea is to drag your pet, under agro, back to Olavia to clear a path for her. Once she is through, release your Crawler and deal with the Crawler you attacked. Afterward, lead Olavia forward until you reach a cliff. Stop Olavia once more to deal with the Labyrinth Lizards below. Again, you can either hack your way through or "Charm" and link mobs; head towards point 6 once the Lizards have been dealt with.















Four Soul Stingers (Bees) lurk inside the tunnel at point 6. Luckily, these mobs link with each other, so you can use one Bee to distract the other three -- just remember Bees agro by sight. Move Olavia through the tunnel once it is safe, and head towards point 7.















Olavia's final goal is to reach the center of the room at point 7. To complicate things, three Exorays (Funguars) patrol the room, so you will need to clear her way. Unfortunately, Funguars do not link with one another, so you will need to dispatch them one by one or with AoE moves. Once you have secured the room, send Olavia in and talk to her once she stops moving. Collect your Completion Certificate, and return to the starting NPC in Port Bastok for your reward.

I think you can all guess what my next post will be about.