GUPS 010

Holding true to my new Crafting philosophy, I have been burning through the Adept ranks and am now midway through the 90s as well. Although it might not be the cheapest way to level Alchemy, I plan on targeting recipes with abundant ingredients to reach 100 as soon as possible.

On a side note, I have also decided against purchasing abjurations for the time being. By doing so, I hope to avoid arguing with Ariane and use the savings for synthesizing HQ cursed pieces.

Other Stuff





 

Above, I tackled some KS30 Copycat runs with Masani last week, and we both netted some decent drops for our pockets. Sadly, I already used my earnings to purchase many Iron Ingots, Bomb Arms, and pinches of Bomb Ash and Sulfur for my Alchemy marathon. 




New MP merits thanks to the merit PT above. I have decided to place points into MP rather than BLM-specific merits because I have a very small MP pool as an Elvaan. With 765 MP, I can only cast four tier IV nukes or two AM spells unless "Conserve MP" kicks in, so I am hoping 80 more MP can provide me with some much needed relief.



















I have also adjusted the banner slightly, and I doubt I can improve on it anymore. Moreover, I have edited both myself and Liabelle, and the hardest part was drawing the faint streaks in Lia's hair (shown above in red). Originally, I had no idea how to approach this task, but after recalling a similar technique that I used on Snippy, I decided to try my hand on Lia as well.

Guttler Updates 

Currently, I am working on Stage 2 -> 3 of my Guttler.

I have acquired:
[1/1] Leonine Axe
[1/1] Tabar
[1/1] Darksteel Tabar
[1/1] Tabarzin
[7/14] Montiont Silverpieces

Gil towards level 100 Alchemy (subject to change):
[298,000/~500,000] Papillion ingredients
Status: 59.6% Complete 


Crafting Status

Name changes:
Fishmule #1 ---> Cooking mule
Fishmule #2 ---> Smithing mule
Secret mule ---> Alchemy mule

Khaki
[96/100] Fishing Skill
[16/100] Woodworking Skill
[20/60] Smithing Skill
[13/60] Goldsmithing Skill
[7/60] Bonecraft Skill

Cooking mule

[15/50] Fishing Skill
[12/100] Cooking Skill

Smithing mule

[11/50] Fishing Skill
[28/100] Smithing Skill (+10)
[19/60] Goldsmithing Skill
[35/60] Leathercraft Skill (+5)
[7/60] Bonecraft Skill

Alchemy mule

[94/100] Alchemy Skill (+14)
[19/60] Goldsmithing Skill (+1)
[34/60] Smithing Skill (+2)
[8/60] Bonecraft Skill

Efficiency

Ah yes, welcome, and have a seat. So, it is the end of the second quarter, and as such, it is time for another report to all my shareholders -- I mean readers -- regarding my productivity. Recently, Team Khaki has expanded its Crafting borders, and by the unnecessarily complex and confusing graph below,
we have only been increasing the manual labor put into Alchemy since January.









In fact, this increase has my team working overtime, and we are all exhausted from maintaining the effort. At this point, I am going to make a radical shift from my current Crafting and NM policies. Instead of hunting items directly, I will be purchasing Crafting materials, gear, and even abjurations from other players and linkshells.









By investing into Alchemy now and buying abjurations from other players, I hope to reduce my future costs and avoid committing to a HNM shell, respectively. Now, you might be in utter disgust at this point, but fear not, you are not alone. There has been at least one other person, a dear friend, who feels that buying abjurations with gil is analogous to purchasing items through the RMT -- regardless of whether I made the money legitimately or not.

I probably will not be hearing from that person again, but I figure it is only fair to warn everyone now of my "slimy" intentions. In fact, I have created a new banner if enough people harass me about it:

That is right, people; you have been warned. Snippy and I are treading into hot water from now on.



Notes:
a) "Red Snippy" is a spoof of Red Lobster, the not-so-popular, North American food chain.
b) "RMT" stands for "Real Money Trading." This is where parties exchange virtual currency for real cash.

How to Solo "Uninvited Guests"

Remember those Hi-Potion leftovers I accumulated a while back? I finally found a use for them in the CoP quest "Uninvited Guests." To start this quest, head to Justinius (Tavnazian Safehold, upper floor, J-6) to receive a key item used to enter the Monarch Linn.






Next, you will need to farm a Giant Scale in order to reach the Monarch Linn; I recommend switching to a non-BST job for this task. Personally, I decided to use my NIN/DNC to solo the scale, and the following is recommended if you wish to do the same:

• Hi-Potions or better
• Echo Drops
• Remedies
• Evasion Gear
• Attack Food
• Signet
• "Reraise" items
• Plenty of NIN tools

Be prepared to use "Reraise" a lot because Wyverns tend to spam "Dispelling Wind."















Since the Pyrodrakes in Riverne - Site B01 can spawn from levels 50 to 55, target EM Wyverns for both easier kills and to take advantage of the Evasion and Accuracy bonuses from Signet. I found my Giant Scale after five kills, but sometimes, the drop rate can much, much lower. Alternatively, you could use Ancient Magic, "Sleep," and "Bind" on BLM/NIN or Sleep Bolts and "Steal" on THF/NIN; I am sure you can get very creative using other jobs as well.

Once you have acquired the scale, prepare your BST/NIN for the upcoming battle. I would suggest bringing:

• Heavy melee gear
• 20 or more Hi-Potions
• 6 jugs of Fish Oil Broth
• 2 Pet Food Zeta Biscuits
• 1 Marinara Pizza
• 2 or 3 Yellow Liquids
• 1 Icarus Wing
• Plenty of NIN tools

Once you have all your gear, start making your way to the Monarch Linn. Consider flagging the quest "Spice Gals" beforehand to earn an exp scroll along the way.















Now for the fight itself. Perform the following once you enter the BC arena:

1. Summon Courier Carrie, and use "Familiar" immediately after.
2. Cast "Utsusemi: Ni," and then use your food.
3. Wait for your "Call Beast" timer to reset.

During the fight, the Mammet NM will periodically switch modes (below), so decide which mode you prefer the most. Lock the mode of preference using a Yellow Liquid; the liquid will prevent him from changing forms for the next little while.

Unarmed Form (No weapon)

1. Uses ranged attacks at a normal attack speed.
2. Has the Transmogrification ability, which absorbs melee damage while active. Lasts 30 seconds. 
3. Deals around 150 damage per hit on Courier Carrie.

Staff Form (Elemental Staff)

1. Likes to cast AoE spells.
2. Swings his Staff at a slow attack speed.
3. Melee hits deal less than 100 damage per swing on Carrie.

Halberd Form (Red Polearm)

1. Deals heavy damage per swing, but attack speed is slow.
2. Melee hits can deal over 200 damage per swing on Carrie.
   

Sapara Form (Scimitar)

1. Swings his Sword for heavy damage, and can score multiple hits per round.
2. Melee hits range from 150 to 200 damage per swing on Carrie.
3. Avoid this form at all costs.
   

Ideally, you want to lock the Mammet in one of the first three forms, but they all have their downsides. For my fight, I decided to test all four, and if I were going again, I would probably lock it in the first or second form. In all cases, use the Icarus Wing early to establish enmity on your pet, and expect your jug pet to die quickly (even with "Reward" usage).















Once Carrie dies, use "Charm" to "Bind" the Mammet, and build up enmity before summoning her again. This will make the transition easier because Carrie will not have any enmity once resummoned. You can skip this suggestion if you feel you can manage your enmity adequately, but expect to use "Snarl" frequently nonetheless.















If all goes well, you will defeat your foe and earn a new chew toy for your Crab. Head back to Justinius afterward for your reward. Most of the time, you will receive an exp scroll, but rarely, you might receive one of the other prizes.

Purple, The New Black

Hopefully, everyone has tried the new WotG missions, but for those who have not, fear not! I have created a spoof on the missions thus far to minimize spoilers. 

Click here for part two of the spoof series. 















After meeting my long-lost NPC twin on a trip back to Southern San d'Oria [S], Ragelise and I decided to celebrate by hitting the local night club. Apparently, Rage is an officer for the Royal Army and is very interested in a Dancer named Portia.















The show finally started with Portia and two others taking the stage, and Rage decided to ask which Dancer I liked the most. Since I had no real preference, I chose the one in the middle one because she had blazing red hair like mine. Rage then told me her name was Lilisette, a child born from a Hume mother and Elvaan father. This shocked me because I initially thought she was just an Elvaan child.















If you choose Lilisette as your favorite Dancer, she gives you a slightly different (read: erotic) dance for the cutscene above. As a result, I decided to stalk her after the show and left Rage and Portia to a quiet moment. After exiting town, I found Lily with a group of her friends in East Ronfaure [S], so I started playing Peeping Tom from the shadows.















Unfortunately, Lily caught on and demanded to know what I was doing. Quickly, I told her that I writing a column for the Tarutaru Times, but Lily saw through my lie and demanded I get lost, even after I offered her a Cait Sith apology plushie. Oh, some ladies are just too difficult to please.















But fate would have us meet once more. Rage soon requested that I travel to La Vaule [S] with him and help safeguard the town, and as luck would have it, Lily, Portia, and their dancing troupe would be accompanying Rage. Unfortunately, Lily and I got off to an awkward reunion, but things got interesting when a Kindred assault force breached the town's perimeter. It was not long before fighting broke out in the streets.















Yes, lots of helpless knights were caught off guard like the one above. Rage then asked me to escort the villagers, Portia, and the rest of her Dancer troupe to safety, but I knew he secretly wanted all the glory to himself!















Unfortunately, I ended up getting the refugees lost and angry -- especially Lilisette. Snippy suggested a shortcut through some shady acres, and a few minutes later, we were ambushed by some fashionably-challenged purple mages. Yes, that is right, purple mages!















Luckily, Rage doubled back and found us just in time. However, I am still having trouble deciphering his job. Wait, he is a Paladin!















No, a Dragoon!















He is Tom Cruise from "The Last Samurai"? Come on Rage, pick a job already, and give me a chance to impress the ladies.















What is this, you are letting me have this dragon-thing to myself? Why thanks, Rage; surely, this will impress Lilisette. Snippy, dinner time!















Regarding this fight, I managed to solo it on BST/NIN, but I found it more difficult than I had expected. Supposedly, a BST was able to slay the Dragon using only one LDL and two Pet Food Zeta Biscuits, but I ended up calling Snippy twice.

Expect this fight to be a slightly tougher Maat fight, where your pet and your foe exchange 80 to 150 damage hits. The Dragon also uses "Regain" and "Draw-In," so if you are used to attacking from the rear, you should attack from the side instead. I also used a bunch of Hi-Potions for this fight, but I think one might be able to win with only three or four.















After slaying the Dragon, the brat who summoned it also dropped to his -- I did not think he was a man either --  knees and started moping over his dead pet. Of course, I could not kick a man while he was down, but if he got up just a little...















... and it does not look like that will be happening anytime soon. Since I really wanted Aquila out of my sight, I decided to explain his Dragon's death in terms of a popular trading card game. Here goes: I sacrificed two Courier Carries and eight Hi-Potions to play "GAME OVER" on your Dark Dragon. Now start running, Aquila...















... I will even give you a head start. Oh snap, Rage has been injured?! Lily, what are you murmuring? Father? She is your daughter, Rage?! Oh, I am so sorry for stalking her earlier. Please do not fire me, sir; I have a Crab and Liabelle to feed!

Gotta Slay 'Em All

Tired of a certain Japanese franchise captivating millions of youth worldwide into trapping fictional monsters in airtight, red and white spheres? So am I! But it seems that our good friends at SE have decided to mimic the fad. First with Pankration, and now with their latest quest, "The Miraculous Dale." Since most of the latest update has emphasized a reuse and recycle theme, it comes as no surprise that this particular quest is no exception.

You start this quest, if you are insane enough, by heading to Lower Jeuno and talking to the Tarutaru NPC standing near the fountain. He then hands you a "Data Anaylzer and Logger EX (DALE)" -- read: pokédex -- and asks you to defeat and record data from select NMs, and there are sixteen NMs in total.



Once you have successfully captured -- I mean slain -- a monster, you will receive a message similar to the one above, indicating that you are ready to hunt the next one on the list. Since I had nothing better to do and because I am a complete sucker for quests, I decided to hunt down all sixteen NMs, and in total, this quest took me around three days to complete.



















Even with the 59,630 gil reward, I can honestly say that this quest is the biggest waste of time, ever. Apparently, the number is a cultural pun in Japan for "thanks a lot" or "much appreciated." I cannot help but wonder if I am being thanked for hunting some of the most useless NMs in Vana'diel or if someone was trying to distract me from being underpaid; I might never know which.

Now if SE is going to continue using Pokémon-related content, could I at least get my own bike?