November!

Surprising it's already the 1st of the month. Well - by the time this is posted it probably won't be, but I'm still awake so for me it still feels like it's the 1st.

Win notes concerning November:
- I'll be working on a Sword2 cosplay for a couple Cons later this month. Err, finishing one, rather. It was one I started some time ago but life bumped in and made me put it on the shelf for the time being. Recently I re-found it, and so the sewing has begun again! Which.. will be interesting as my sewing skills are par nonexistant. The good news? I can sew in a straight line! I'll add more info as I progress.. On that note (a hint?) making pants without a pattern is... difficult. ._.;;

- NaNoWriMo has now begun, so a good portion of my creativity will be fueling into that.

- And... maybe update? I haven't been on the forums or in-game as much as I'd like to be lately, so I feel a bit out of the loop on what the current plan is, but last I knew they were looking at mid-November as a launch for the next major patch. I think some might be saying it's been pushed back more.. but.. I haven't really run across anything concrete. So - here's to crossing fingers and hoping for the best. ^^;

My ongoing afk-leveling has been.. sporadic.. but progress is still continuing. I'm starting to get really tired of staring at Rion Dungeon everytime I log in to afk now, buuuut - on the upside the Family level is now 29! Whoohoo!!! Currently still clanless but that's alright. I don't have a bunch of free time for much activity in-game as it is. ^^;; November is looking like it'll be pretty busy for me so... maybe I'll have better luck come December.

So far in terms of leveling the nubs, being there are more who can wear only leather than those who can/can also wear metal I've been capitalizing on that option as much as possible. Unfortunately I've just about completely ran out of characters under 60-79 who can wear metal armor. I just picked my last one left, Callista (Rescue Knight), to add to my leveling team tonight. After this (as I level two sub-80's with Victoria (Grace) at the same time) I'll have to dig around for a decent leather to keep them alive. I believe I have a +3 DR leather armor sitting around somewhere.. *hunts*

All in all, my updates will be pretty sporadic for the next month or so. Oy, I miss boss farming.. *drools a little*

Oh - and before I forget, Ancient Orbs are freaking expensive.

Recap II

The week has been pretty silent. I know I haven't added a post in a while, and there's been reason for that. the main however is that most of the Family's time has been spent leveling up the lowbies! Been feeling a bit burnt-out on grinding with the Experts or Vets, coupled with re-finding an old game along with a number of guildies in it has resulted in the mass-leveling adventure currently taking place.

Thus far:
- Adelina, Idge, Claude, Andre, and Lorch have reached lv 80.
- Jose and Najib are currently 78

Once they're all lv 80 (I may add some more characters to that list at whim) I'll start leveling them up to 100. I won't Vet them until necessary. On the upside - all the leveling has been kind to the Family Level - as that too is gradually increasing as well. :D Whoo! Moar %'s to HP and ATK? yspls <3

- - - - -

I'm not in a huge hurry to get into Errac currently - I've heard after the uber patch of doom next month, it won't cost 5 runes to enter Occulta anymore. Given current rune hunting beats my Experts senseless and drags their sorry corpses across the map floor I'm in much, much more favor of waiting a few more weeks to complete those quests - get Nar - get that diary - and start working on those Expert stances than burning pots (and patience) hoping for 4 more drops of an item that Italy and Co. aren't even a decent level to farm drops for.

I just remember how much being a Vet sucked until I got some Vet stances, kind of like how Expert sucks right now. I currently can't AFK anywhere decent level without dying <15 minutes later. I'm hoping that like the Vet ones did for Bahamar, a few Exp stances will fix that for Katovic. *crosses fingers*

- - - - -

And to anyone reading.. (I know at least some of you do :P) ..if you have any grander advice.. do feel free to share. <3 I could use it.

Progress?

Very very slow weekend game-wise, very busy weekend Life-wise = little to none active playing = even less things to share ^^;; unfortunately..

In-game Mei (Soso) has been soloing in Via Fluvial. I've forgotten how slow Vet leveling can feel after being spoiled in AA for a month. Yes, I know mine ended a while ago - but I'm still noticing it. xD About the most exciting thing that has happened thus far was getting killed by the Dream Blade Antelope while I was AFK at work. I found out about it.. oh.. some three hours later. I shall have my revenge!

And maybe get a symbol? *crosses fingers*

Next to that - Mei reached Vet Lv 3. I'm considering crafting a Trump knuckle so she can kill faster.. but I'm not entirely sold on the idea. She's killing just fine with a pio wep. Actually.. all I really need to craft one right now is more Mega Talt.. Hmm... >_>

- - - - -

Goal Updates

- Hunt up a clan for CW, raids, and chaos chattage.

- Get some e92 3DR.. +'s don't matter.. but a bonus.

- Farm Katovic for the rest of those Apples/Cabbages - sell extras

- Try to solo PY again - aka: Chimmy dps test v.2

- Revisit Novia...

Pansy Leveling Pt 2

Well - our resident Squishy now known as Pansy Rio, formerly known at Caelan, commonly known as Vincent Rio finally made Veteran! *cue large sigh of relief here* I don't understand *what* it was about this boy, but he has been the most stubborn family member to level to date. Even Isabel who only has 32 Con (8pts less) had better survival at the same levels than Caelan did. With the same gear! So - either Caelan is just a bit of fail - skeletons REALLY hate musicians - or Isabel is just made of pure survival magic.

Dawn (Claire) was also promoted to Veteran despite her points still being undecided between Dex or Str. I figured my Scout didn't have her points allocated until she was Vet Lv 4 or so, but Dawn could use the extra AR/DR point, not to mention any Exp. ^^

- - - - -

Bought a Spirits of Ice ring for Mei (Soso) off the MM this week, and also an Enhanced Frostbite ring. I know these two don't stack QQ but each has their strengths so I got them both. Very fortunate! Especially considering I've been haunting the MM for an Ice ring for eons.. and finally found one. :D

- - - - -

Clan-wise the Family is still clanless. Party from curiosity and interest I've kept an eye out for where other former clannies have gone. A few started their own (so-far) one-man clans, a few others have joined one random clan here or there but I've heard the name of each before at some point or another. Interestingly enough the two largest migration destinations has been to either Core or Ethereal.

I'm a bit interested in Ethereal, but that's going solely off of their thread on the forums. I'll admit I am drawn to the number of colonies they possess yet I've also noticed Ethereal hasn't been involved in CW recently (past few weekends) which.. concerns me. Now don't get me wrong - that sort of colony buff would be very nice - and extremely helpful - but I want to get out there and fight each Saturday too.

Maybe that's why people keep moving to Core. o.O Mmm.. either way more research is needed as I have way too little info, as I'd like to CW weekly and join in raids if possible. Maybe I'll just post in the 'looking for a clan' thread. That might work too. -.-

Pansy River - I mean Rio.

Mwahahahahaha.. I am just tired enough I shouldn't be making a post, and just awake enough to be stubborn and make one anyway.

In my quest for twin Trump blunts, (after finding a bargain of Mysterious Powders one night) the Family found itself 9x short on Mega Talt needed to craft both tickets. Recalling an earlier event where a passer-by recruited our help for farming Mega Talts in Interchange 1's, we found that Spotlight 1's aren't too shabby either. 12-15 talt a round isn't too bad. It's actually better than what they were finding in the Interchanges.

Also found out - Spotlight 2's don't give any Mega Talt. -.- Just more MM fodder to sell.

The Family's fourth and fifth trumps were crafted earlier this week. Also - Vet Ania + dual Trump blunts = scary yet fun to watch. I can't wait to test it out during CW sometime. I'll also be looking forward to when she eventually reaches Expert. Also - Italy's (Fighter) Defender stance damage shouldn't suck so badly now. I know Defender isn't a damage intensive stance, but.. still.. when the 'best thing available' was an 84 blunt with only an undead mod at Expert, damage was very VERY pathetic.

- - - - -

The leveling fiasco has continued. Dawn (Claire) has reached Lv 100. She hasn't been promoted to Vet yet as I'm not sure what to do with her at the moment. I've read that apparently she should have points in Str for Greatsword, or into Dex for cannons. Issue is - I'm not sure which I want to focus on. On one hand she is the only one of two UPCs who can use cannons. But.. there's something adorable about her causing damage with a sword that's bigger than she is. And comedic. And scary. Like Ania.

Caelan - as the title implies - is now the 'pansy' of the Family. While trying to diligently level him to Vet for his Serenade stance, Caelan seemed more interested in dozing off at random intervals instead. Found out that the quest for acquiring Serenade requires entry into Occulta as well, so maybe it's a good thing the family hasn't managed to enter quite yet.. Sitting at 81, he's got 19 more levels to go until then, however.

Oh, and Niyone apparently makes for an excellent 'stay alive or else' motivator. Since her addition to the plvling team, Caelan's yet to attempt dozing once. :P

Moar Vets!

Well it's been a productive (albeit boring) past few days. Xaele (Ania) reached Veteran, and a day and many many skeletons later so did Isabel (Helena). Overnight Isa worked on maxing Forgotten Magic with Emanuel (Wiz) who worked on and maxed Anathema, and also finally Levitation! Almost went and got him Incantation buuut.. even with the MM I still would've been short the Mega Ioniums needed. It can wait.

I found out that Fire Isle.. as much as I like the place - unless you have a large portion of a map all to yourself - it's a bit overrated. While leveling Xaele the last leg to Vet, she was only getting about 30% an hour in 500k. Moving into a hot spot in Skele, her exp shot up to 50-60% instead. Guess where Helena finished leveling..  ^^;

Xaele, Emanuel, and Isabel. ..they mostly got along..

I'm.. kind of running out of characters I want to level. Yes, I have a lot I can level up to Veteran - but there aren't that many that I actually want to play. For the meantime, it seems it is now Dawn (Claire) and Caelan's (Rio) turn. After that? Hmm.. well.. I guess I'll just have to resume leveling Expert.

Crafting needed Trumps might also need to sit aside for now.. well, at least until the Family gets more funds. They do possess a small hoard of Bellem Boxes, however. Hmmmmmm....~

Time Goes By.. So Slowly

Whoo... dramatics.

It's been interesting the last few days to see where other former clan members are going. It seems a number of them are reforming in a clan called Last.Order which.. I'm hesitant about pm'ing about. What can I say? I browsing my options.. Saw another former clannie broading, asking about what clans were recruiting currently. I pm'ed them and got a little information. I wasn't intending on looking that info up, but when I saw the broad it was too perfect an opportunity to mooch off a little ^^; I don't think I'll try pm'ing anyone until after next week's maint, however. Not sure the use of finding a clan you can join, if you still can't join it yet.

- - - - -

In other news, after getting Xaele(Ania) and Isabel(Helena) up to their late 80's - and partially to my annoyance at how slow non-AA places feel now - Xaele has been paired up with Victoria(Grace) and Anwen(Romina) for the last leg of her leveling to Vet in Fire Isle. Only about 6 levels to go currently.. ie: about 18 hours.. Merg.
Isabel will take Xaele's place once she hits Vet.

- - - - -

While training, once Xaele hit 84 she was able to have two blunts to equip. I do like the Combatant stance quite a lot.. save I've pulled oooone small blooper. While upgrading some skills, I moved all to lv 9 before deciding what ones to max/not max. Now I have to pick between either maxing Shoulder Charge, or Rolling Thunder and Battle Smash. They're all at level 9 and I only have two points left. Shoulder takes two, Rolling and Battle take one each. Help?

- - - - -

Other than that, nothing of really any interest has happened much. Though on one hand I am enjoying the peace and quiet, I'm also starting to miss having a clan-full of people to poke too. But I am considering Team Area one of these nights..

Oh - and the Red Tickets are calling me once again.. and so is my lack of Talt. ;~;

A Neverending War

So it seems it's that time for Maint again. So far since my last update the Family decided to open the mysterious AM boxes recieved from the heavenly G1-Cresius and G1-Fynlo. The four boxes in total yielded  10 AMs Boosts, 100 Hermes Potions, and~ *drumroll* Otite Perfume!!! Now I know the last item is crap for a lot of players, but.. Los Toldos has yet to be explored.. and I wasn't wanting to spend the gold to buy one from the Bazaar. xD

In the meantime, I've said 'screw it' to trying to AFK my Experts in any place decent level. They can level actively in plenty of places.. even farm Katovic just fine.. but put them at AFK? They'll all be dead in under 15 minutes. Methinks.. I really.. really need to get some e92's.

In light of above complaint, I decided to finally cave and level some of my favorite UPCs. At current that would mean: Xaele (Ania), and Isabel (Helena). Starting at 66 the other day they're at the early 80's now.. I know it had been decided to wait until I had aquired Nar before leveling Ania more but.. she's just so pretty! I couldn't resist.. ^^; Isabel on the other hand has mastered Evocation Fire and Lightning in preparation for Vet, and Ice isn't far behind. Next to-be freshly minted vets? I do think so~

- - - - -

In other news, it seems the clan I've been in has died - and quite rapidly at that. I've avoided listing the clan for a while for reasons preferential and practical. A main one being that the 'who was where vs who' in the adventures I post isn't nearly as important as the 'what happened, how?' and so is frequently omitted. But considering they're a fairly well-known clan on Orpesia, I would at least relay what I know of it's fate.

That clan would be OompaLoompa.

It was lively when I joined not long ago, with lots of chatter and a number of people online at any hour. For a while I couldn't understand anything that was said, but it got better with time and there was always someone willing to translate. CW was fun, and even the few raids I got to join in on before it ended. Even if we only all died.. repeatedly.

A few weeks ago the leader suddenly left the clan, parting with well-wishes to the rest of us. Leadership hop-scotched a bit, and was finally settled by vote. The elected also vanished offline not long after. I don't know why this is, and I'm sure all had their reasons. I'm not here to point fingers, only to report what's been done.

In the past week, especially since the last CW (the one that didn't happen) the number of remaining members dwindled rapidly. After pm'ing one of them, I was told that the new leader had apparently quit. Logging back in tonight I found nearly all of the active members that had been there earlier had also left, including the deputies. If that isn't a sign to go, I don't know what is. So, with that I also left. I'm not sure who all remains, but there aren't very many.

- - - - -

But here's to future adventures, and in a week.. Clan Hunting very well might begin..

Ps. Sleeping-pill clan.. enjoy your perm war. ^///^ Fufufufufu~

Small Update

Well, this post will be a bit early tonight. Colony Wars is only part way through, but tonight I have nothing to do for it. Apparently we're not participating in it this week, which is a bit disappointing. What can I say? I like my two hours of getting re-blended into a bloody pulp. Why? 'Cause at some point I get to return the favor to some hapless family - several times. And it's worth every point of damage too. Ah well, at least there is always next week to look forward too!

In other news~
- Margaret (Ele) Has leveled the Domination stances enough to where all the skills are maxed, save for Ice. The stances themselves aren't maxed, but that'll come with time. Novia is only a matter of time, now.
- Anwen (Romina) reached Vet lv 2 while mooching exp from Mei (Soso) and Margaret.
- Opened some Elite Treasure Boxes and five Ethereal Chests that were injected into accounts recently. In total I got from the Boxes:

• 2 Lv 100 Enchantment Chips
• 6 Lv 96 Enchantment Chips

From the Chests:

• 50 Great Stones
• 1 Socket Flux
• 1 Symbol of Sagittarius (Helloooo Equites!!!)

I was a bit surprised to see a Symbol in there, but I was half expecting one all the same. But still good news!

Got snagged by a random passer-by. He was looking for someone to do Interchange 1's with him for Mega Talt. I lost count how many we did but the Family came away with about 100 in total. Good for trumps! I was just starting to run low too.. Another bonus was finding an Ararat Ring for Jillian (Viki), two Castor Swords, two Castor Guards, and a Pollux Guard. Now I need to be able to get into Los Toldos (it is there, right?) and fetch me a few vindictive stones. Fufufufu~ I smell e92's in the future.

Today also had an event! G1-Cresius summoned Vergo a few times out in Old Port. At least three times, from what I saw. He had nerfed stats, virtually 4 DR, and some XXm hp. After much lag, and much spam, (and a bit of patience) the Family walked away with two AM boxes. What do these do? I have no idea.

Tales of Errac (Part 1?)

So after a very very long delay (it's been some time since the Family gained entrance to Errac), and with the crafting of a few trumps and Italy's (Fighter) promotion to Expert, the group returned to Errac to farm Rhodolites and hopefully - a few runes as well.

After acquiring the needed 50 Rhodolites for the Captain (read: Found 2, bought 48 - ..what? They were cheap!) he commended our survival and took us to Chief Haman.

 Such a warm welcome..

 Now this woman.. I'm not entirely sure what to make of her thus far. Going to the Entrance Guard for advice, he too told us that she is indeed a scary woman, but she also has a definite penchant for shiny things. Shiny things that also happen to be spendy as well, naturally.

Upon Mr. EG's advice we returned to our current home in Reboldeux and purchased an Elemental Jewel. At 10m each they're spendy little buggers. Returning to Errac Niyone (Scout) showed the gift to EG, and he quickly approved (he was speechless) of the gem. Brought into the Chief's presence once more by the Captain, Niyone presented the Jewel and waited anxiously for Haman's opinion. In short, she approved! Well, long answer is she did like the color. And that even someone 'as puny' as our family 'have something useful'. Acknowledging we deserved her attention, she sent us off to meet with her warriors.. Huzzah!!! Wait.. sending our 'puny' selves to meet her warriors is good... right? Gulp.

Inhibitions aside, our Diplomat spoke with Nar. Now.. Nar is a huge warrior. I'm pretty sure he makes Claude look scrawny. Meeting him he advised the Family follow the laws of the land to survive, and informed that the name of the Captain from earlier was Khan, and were warned to touch not break or steal anything - or we'll be dealing with Nar personally. Not even touch? Heh.. uh oh.. his warning was a bit too late on that one..

Told you he was huge.

With the warning of the creatures outside, he also gave a warning of what would happen if we failed to help defend the village. The Family never realized at the time until later, how foreshadowing this was going to soon be.

No sooner had this chat happened when suddenly monsters from outside attacked! Italy, Jisket and Niyone were rushed outside with Nar to help defend the village.. which oddly turned more into keeping poor (squishie..?!) Nar alive. Italy was agast at his mediocre stats (55/55 AR/DR? Out here? Really..?) and Niyone's attempts to persuade him away from the fight were unsuccessful, so the fight commenced! Stubborn, stubborn Nar insisted on fighting (he was a Warrior, after all) and the only way to drag him out of harm's way was to have Italy draw any mob near him away to the side of the field. Nar actually died a few times, but apparently Erracian's get amnesia upon death, as he didn't seem to remember any of our failures.. but on the upside..

Success!!!

Resuming our 'casual' conversation, we found these are frequent events. We were also told of another Warrior in the village, a - and I quote - 'a beautiful lady called 'Ania'...' ..mmmmmhm, we see what's going on here. Timing couldn't have been better, for while Nar was chatting it up with the foreign ladies Ania apparently got stuck in a rush by these monsters outside the village.

 Of course you do..

Now, Lady Ania is no stranger to this small family. Joining our ranks around the same time as Isabel (Hellena) she took on the name Xaele. While Andre has apparently expressed interest in meeting the unusual lady (something to do with clothes... or so he says), it's been decided to wait until Nar can be persuaded to also join before training for her commences further.

Defending Ania was much like helping save Nar, though fortunately for Ania she managed to survive on the first try... but while on the field, lo and behold what did we find? A pair of glasses.. Nar spazzed at seeing them, noticed they were Lorenzo's (while still spazzing) and then told us to throw them away because they were old. Right. Thinking of dear Emilia back in Port Coimbra, the glasses were delivered to her instead.

Poor Emilia! She cried upon receiving them, knowing they were from her father. With much gratitude, apparently the mourning girl also is convinced it was a sign to keep going. But apparently.. asking Nar about the glasses hadn't been such a good idea after all..

The trio returned to Errac and were confronted by the Captain. He had been given a report that while the village (and the 'beautiful lady' known as Ania) was under attack, the Alzeda Family stood by like spectators at a boxing match and just watched the flayed flesh fly. The guy was pissed, and immediately banished us.

As Nar stepped in, a murmured whisper betrayed the truth. The glasses had provoked him and had brought back 'a piece of the past' that he wanted to hide, and keep hidden. He'd lied to the Captain about the Family's role in saving Ania. Just one curious thought.. why didn't Ania defend us?

But no - apparently mere 'banishment' wasn't good enough for a group of foreign visitors! 'Kill the Kobold Crouches and Elders' the Captain told us (more or less). If we return alive, the Family will be pardoned. Dias had already turned to Noche by that time, but the terms of our pardoning only complicated one little thing..

Occulta requires runes to enter..

 

..and I'm pretty sure offering a sacrifice isn't going to get us any.

Well ..maybe.

Recap!

Okay, so now that I'm back home and have time on my side again, time for those little updates I wanted to put up before!
In Short:
- Found out that the lv 100 shotty I got recently also glows by itself. I want more glowies. ^^;
- Tried out pvp for the first time. Learned that Mighty Cruz > Lv 15 Defender. Also - first to skill/strike first wins. We'll see how it goes once Defender is maxed, however ^_~
- Was found (and thrashed) by Katovic's Giant Avalanche Apparition. Reviving and returning with friends, the Apparition became thrashed instead.
- Defeated Golden Bat! Two of them actually. Needless to say, Italy found the value of full Food Packs in the Capybara Plantation, Capybara Keys, those funky reward chests.. and.. Brain of Bat?
- Got some friendly advice on Expert stances. Italy (Fighter) will be getting both Hanging Guard and Equites when possible. Anwen (Romina) will just have to wait until she can get Equites.. Speaking of which..
- Got thoroughly OWNED by a map boss in Katovic, and not in the 'smeared into itty bitty bloody bits' way either. (More below.)
- Accidentally found a side quest for Gracielo. Two, actually. (Look near bottom.)

A Mild Pic-Spam of Events!!!

The Family's 3rd Trump, El Sol. Given to Margaret (Ele) while her protege Isabel (Hellena) looked on.

The family has recently been struck with a sudden (seemingly contagious) case of narcolepsy. Here Italy is caught dozing under a particularly bushy tree. Although a clan we're in a perm-war with is also suspected of slipping them sleeping pills. Our Zinnia(Caly) was more than happy to return the gifting to a few unsuspecting Enemy Clan Members! On that note: Invis Grace/Musk with Flintlock is an excellent idea.

 

The earlier mentioned Black Wisteria Costume for Zinnia. <3

Probably one of my now most favorite moments in Sword2. The Family found Elmorc while farming in Katovic earlier. After downing the boss once before the family was feeling pretty confident in taking him down a second time. Several minutes (and several Soul Crystals (due to Italy) later) Mr. Map Boss made the below announcement to the trio, and promptly vanished!!!!

Pwn't. 

There was a small measure of QQ'ing that happened after that. I'm pretty sure Italy vowed revenge now that she's an Expert. I lol'd. I do believe I have a new favorite boss.

No new CW news from last Saturday. I was able to join for a bit. Lost both our colonies. One perm-warring clan (we had two at the start) truced, and other is still warring with us. I'm looking forward to this following Saturday. And Equites. I want Equites, badly. xD

- - - - -

Excellent news! Now that Italy is Expert, the Family can successfully farm Errac! With Italy, Jisket, and Niyone (Fig/Musk/Sco) it is now possible to kill of Dias mobs.. and not die in the process! They aren't exceptionally fast, but they don't take forever and a half to kill off the mobs either. After finding another Rhodolite, and some cloths.. (not sure what they're for yet), and stumbling upon a bargain in the MM the trio acquired 50 Rhodolite pieces and commenced the Errac questline.. more on that in a future post. ^^

Any my current endeavor:

...defeating Lady Novia.

Ran a few test runs on Novia and learned a few things:

- She hurts.

- Her minions hurt more.

- Invisibility is indispensable.

That's all I have for now, I'll be making another post on my adventures in Errac (it's worth enough to have it's own post), so until then! ~Alze.

Success!!!!

Alright, now. Initially I had a long post and a lot of things I wanted to put up and tell about, and the more I went through my screenshots, the more I found I wanted to share! But alas, for the moment I'm a bit tight on time so they'll have to wait until next week. But I did want to share this...

Italy finally made Expert!!!

It took a lot longer than I wanted it to, but I've succeeded in the one goal that most of my future progress has been hinging on. Maybe later I'll put up the other pics I wanted to add, but for now a mini goal update!

The updates:

- Tried STo a second time with a clanmate. Made it to the second floor, downed one Betelgeuse. The other two teamed up and made mincemeat out of us. ^^; 

- Crafted the Family's 3rd Trump, El Sol for Margaret (Elementalist).

- Experted Italy ^^ - also significantly leveled her Defender Stance.

The goals:

- Level stances for Italy (Defender) for Errac Questline.

- Level Margaret's Domination Fire/Ice/Lightning Stances

- Get Incantation for Emanuel (Wiz)

- Buy those Rhodolite! (ie: Prepare for Errac Questline)

And also thought I would share what I thought was a neat pic of Zinnia.

On that note, also got a Black Wisteria Costume for her today. ^^ But sleep now, moar news later!

~Alze

Italy haz a pretty!

Something I just found out about that Daemon Sword I got from the Circus run earlier today..

 

 It. Freaking. Glows.

This completely ups the 'leveling Great Sword stances' appeal, as I do believe my night just became that much more awesome. <3 I have a such a weakness for anything auto-glowy. ^^;;

Team Arena!!!

I could make three full-length posts for all the things that've gone on since my last upday, but I'll try to be brief. ^^;;

Since last time:
- Bought a +3DR e84 leather, upgraded it to +6 myself.
- Mei (Soso) reached veteran.
- Katovic farming has been found profitable! Half way done with soup quest.
- Decided I will be crafting a trump LoE once MP's are a decent price again.
- Fought Elmorc for the first time with a clanmate and won.
- Tried STo, farmed for hour and a half, only got one key.
- Seriously purged my inventory. I think I turned some 50+ items into chips. I have room again! (Thank you for motivation, hoard of Katovic items..)
- Crafted second trump, a pistol for Jisket (musk). Her AR went up by 2! (How sad is that? xD)

- - - - -

I completely missed CW yesterday night. Real life interviened and more important matters required my attention. While I was gone, the clan gained two colonies! Last week (due to perma-warring?) they left the Royalist faction, and so now have joined the Republicans. Good news? We can't die from the perm war outside of CW.. which is fine, I guess.. if you're really bothered by a six-person clan. o.O I haven't seen a one of them outside of CW, but then again I'm not a high level Expert/Master either. On that note, Schiavona still only has 11 people.. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing. I'm opting for good..?

 Revisited Errac, found out that Dias easily slays the Ele, and Noche slays the tank. Then again, they were both vets. An Expert trio of Scout, Musk, Grace seems to do.. not too shabby. As long as nothing reckless is done, they don't die.. much. Still takes forever to kill a group. On that note, I found my first Rhodolite! And first Te rune! 1/50 and 1/5 done, 49 and 4 left to go.. x.x Ele would be useful, if only her AR was above 55. Hence next trump: El Sol.

Clan attempted Lightning Gate but eventually most/all of us got lost. I think our leader did too. Lots of death. I know three families persevered and made it to 2nd floor.. but did they make it to where the boss spawned? No idea. I was back in Skele AA.

- - - - -

Today was a fun one. In short: got to go help kill off the bosses from our two Colonies, and I got some decent drops from it too. Immediately after I joined for my first Circus run! I took Niyone (scout) along with, being so far she'd have the best odds of surviving. She mostly buffed/rezzed the other three clanmates, though was a bit hampered since she doesn't have her Expert stance yet. After divvying up the loot, several members gathered together for Fire Gate!

As you can see, it was more death. A lot more death. Leader dc'd - and he had the orbs, soo...

- - - - -

Off we went to Team Arena! Now I've never done TA before, and had little idea how it worked beyond what I've read in threads and guides. Don't get me wrong, guides are helpful, but they just don't compare to actually getting in and trying it. Drops were distributed by request/fc. I must say TA is.. really fun.

All in all, after a bit of recent QQ'ing over lack of funds (and lack of fun ways to get funds - farming Katovic doesn't count) the Family is in much better spirits now. In total they earned several e84 weapons, a couple recipes including a green circus ticket, 2-3 rough stones, a lv 100 shotty, and a lv 100 Great Sword (w/a +2AR no less) making it the first 32 AR (total) weapon owned. Also got several 88, 92, 96, and a couple lv 100 chips. Those will be sold in the MM for profit/gear. As my chipping luck.. leaves a lot to be desired.

- - - - -

New To-do:

- Do moar TA, learn to Solo.

- Try STo again

- Craft El Sol

- Sell chips for vis, buy e92 armor w/+3 DR already on it. +5/6 not necessary.

- Get going on those Ele stances!

- Fighter.. is she Expert yet?

Trump!

This week so far has been rather productive. Cove (M'Boma) reached Veteran, and a few hours paired with Emanuel (Wiz) procured some Golden Apples and several Cabbages. Now that I have two levitating chars, I want a third, I want my deadly farming trio! On that note, Reckless Emilia gets levitation, so I believe I'll just save the spot for her. ^^

Finally decided to promote Jillian (Viki) to Veteran. He's been sitting at 100 for next to forever, but I believe I may have a use for him once again. No Testis stance yet, too spendy. I have better, more impending uses for those Mega ores than to use on one quest.

Pearl (Karlajain) is now 100! Maint delayed the achievement, so she hit 100 a few hours after. Torben (Jack) reached 100 just before maint. Also found some very very cheap Mysterious Powders in the MM (under 900k each!!), bought a few Amrita for 4m each (owie) and crafted a red ticket. So now..

Dun dun dun!!! The first of many, I'm sure. ^^;;

I've seen a definite increase in damage with the new polearm, so Italy (Fighter) has resumed training to Expert in Skele AA. She should reach Expert by sometime this weekend.

New goals!
- Expert Italy
- Vet Mei (Soso) in preparation for MMA quest
- On that note, craft/acquire trump knuckle or gaiter
- Acquire a (much needed) e84 3DR leather. +6 if possible, upgrade if necessary.
- Check out Secret Tower
- Complete quests AKA: ..hello Novia?

The Weekly Carnage Report

Admittedly, I missed most of tonight's CW. Running errands in town for some much-needed new shoes (and food!) I returned in time for the last half hour of it. Turns out we lost our last remaining colony, and - once again - are in a perm war. With the same clan. Again. (Yaaaaaay~ >_>) On the upside of things, I managed to deal the deathblow to a Master! It was a collaborated effort between my Exp musk and Vet fighter to do so, but they were able to take the last chunk of hp away. It might sound petty to some, but considering I'm running with pio weapons and only Vet stances at best - I feel pretty accomplished whenever I can land some damage on a Master char in the first place. Even better? I did that twice.

Schiavona (*snerk* Sorry!) is up to 11 people now. Yes, I'm watching you. I'm watching you closely. I'm not sure who's all in it, but I've yet to see one Expert in their ranks at all. All Masters. I could be wrong, but.. cripes.. xD

- - - - -

In other news - Fighter is about half way to Expert, and I've been leveling Cove (M'Boma), Reina (Emilia), and Pearl (Karlajain), they're in their 8x's now. Cove and Pearl will be plvled by Grace and Romina (Yes, Romina - I need resses ^^) individually until Vet/Lv100. After finding a very cheap Domination Lightning Stance Book on the MM, their sister stances for Domination Ice and Fire were made and Margaret (Ele) learned all three. In spare/bored time she's been leveling them, trying out the new skills. New bracelets will definitely be on the 'want to get' list soon! Also got Defender for Italy(Fighter). People were right - it is really slow to level.

Also, while checking out Baha AA, I was just scouting out the KoC spawn spots for future reference when all of a sudden *dun*dun*dun* a certain message flashed across the screen.

Doing a 180 KoC was spotted little more than a few squares away. Italy went in and attacked first, drawing him to the wall where Jisket and Niyone waited. But once again - dissapointedly - they were thoroughly thwarted by the infamous 'regen'. They couldn't even put a dent into his hp - well - no dent that actually lasted more than a second or two - and that was with skill spamming!

Our valiant first attempt!

The family noted another family in waiting, and so turned the King's fate over to them. Tuckerman of Ethereal made relatively short work of him, and wished good luck to the trio for getting the 'right gear for it'. Upon request he offered some advice for good undead weapons, or expert melee (stances) and ET. Which for me, however, hinge on getting through Errac. ^^;;

- - - - -

The road to getting through Errac and acquiring Expert stances is hazy, but clearing up. I'll probably outline a more comprehensive plan later, but right now I need to get Pearl(Karlajain) to 100, Cove(M'Boma) to vet, and start farming those Cabbages/Golden Apples.

Considering Sword2's Level Up! Event going on, I'm strongly considering opting out. I probably could take a crack at it, and churn out 3 Masters with some all-nighters, coffee, and several trips to Caeb AA (SA?). But considering I'd have three masters with armor no better than e84 3DR, no Expert Stances (which I've heard are a bear to level at Master), let alone even Trump weapons (or a way to craft them) it may be best not to rush it. As much as I'd love to be Master by September and try to acquire Catherine Torsche, and Reckless Emilia the day they're released, I don't want to nerf myself over by needlessly rushing. Not to mention - those two ladies are tough. With sets of 69 and 67 AR/DR respectively - e84 isn't going to cut it - even at Master. :P

A Vague Plan

So, in order to get those Expert Stances I've been drooling over, beyond acquiring symbols, I need to finish the quest in Errac ie: get the old missing guy's Diary of 1517 or whatever year. Said diary is in occulta (apparently?) and to get into there I need either 5 Ti or Te runes. To get those I need to farm mobs in Errac.

This I can do.. I hope. I've heard other people have managed with only e84 armor (still hurts a ton) so, so can I.

Currently - I need to go through the sewers to get there (no warp saved atm), problem is door is locked by 'a magical force' or something. I've done the quests (been there before several times), nor is the Undertaker spawned in it's room.

I have no idea how I'm going to get in there.

..I wonder if the elections winner has done that one quest yet.. Hmm.... :/

Ohai thar Maint

Leveling my fighter over the weekend hasn't progressed as much as I'd hoped. Currently she's at vet level 4, and exp isn't very fast. Well - it's decent - but it could be a lot better. Been keeping an eye out for an UD polearm *or* trump.. but no luck in either. Found a few nice UD polearms buuut.. either no speed mod (which I've been advised to get if going for that) or.. just a few too many million vis out of my range. Either way I bought a red ticket a few days ago. Been actively either leveling Reina(Emilia), Cove (M'Boma), and Pearl (Karlajain) together in Torsche FA. Cove with evocation fire aoe spam.. oy.. I have to spam it as soon as it cools down or they'll easily get killed off. The upside is they're leveling about once an hour, if not a bit faster. ^^

Looking at getting Karlajain to 100 so she can craft that ticket (I'm going to be needing a lot more later in the future), and M'Boma so I can pair him with my wizard to go Golden Apple/Cabbage hunting in Katovic. And Reina..? Well.. I just wanted someone close to their level who could rez - and she fit the bill. :P

Good news! We're not stuck in a perm-war anymore. Granted it was rather short, but I'm not complaining. If I'm not mistaken the other clan lost about two members and switched leaders as well. I've no idea of anything beyond that, but I wouldn't be surprised if it affected the sudden truce we got. Not that I'm complaining.. no.. not at all! Whoo! I hate being killed afk. On that note.. (Sorry, Erufen!) *former ThePretender member*

In other news, my days of obsessively farming/camping/hunting Golden Spider/Thoractomy/Giant Komodo are paying off. If anything, strategy wise at least. Opened about 1k of Bellem Boxes for Keys to AQM, Tetra, etc.. on that note the guy in Joaquin hurts if you aren't mindful. Actually his lil guards gave more more trouble than he did.. but anyway~!

Been checking in periodically, and figuring how to pinpoint (best I can) the respawn times of Lantem, Treasure Golem, Chimera.. both channels included. Yes, I'm hunting hoping for some Symbols, and the type of drops I've been getting so far seem promising, so I expect to see one before too long (I hope!). For a long time I was really put off to trying to farm them for Constellation Symbols from all the massive QQ I'd heard about it. From my GS/Thora/Komodo days I've learned one important thing - just get there before the other guy. First come first serve after all. I don't know about other servers, but most in Orpesia seem to observe it pretty well. So far.

A Goal Accomplished

Oy.. I have so much I could put on here, I'll try (try..? Ha~) try to keep it from becoming a miniature autobiography. From fresh-out-of-the-Master-Room Experts, to Katovic's cold quests, to Clan Wars.. I've got a bit to cover. ^^;;

First off - I did it! Victoria (Grace) hit Expert the other day with little difficulty, and Niyone (Scout).. oy.. by the skin of my teeth. She became Expert within an hour of the deadline - but I made it! By the time all was said and done I think I fed her some 400+ cards. Left my musk by the memorial, while Grace plvled my Scout in a mobby area far away. Made card farming very easy! All I had to do was just switch leaders and click. ie: Kneeling Shot ftw.

Splurged towards the end and got a 50% exp book (1 day), still had half left over so gave it to my fighter and she leveled overnight. Meanwhile I crashed, and was lazy for most of the following day. I was so glad I didn't have to return every 5hrs around the clock to refill bullets! Yes, that might sounds a little crazy, but dag nabbit - when I have a goal I'm going to get it! And get it I did. ^-^

- - - - -

Returning (eventually) I sent them off to explore Katovic and progressed in both the main questline (up to the soup) and while 50 of each item is going to take a while,  I'm looking forward to finishing it. I also made progress on Garcia's quest just up short of having to fight Novia (I only have to take off at least 50% her hp? Really? That's it??) and tried continuing Selva's but Elenore wouldn't react to the fact I finally had two hero seals. I wasn't up to the soup part at that time, so maybe that had something to do with it. I'll check again later. Discovered the famed golden apples and cabbages I've heard so much about, and several other oddities that (except said two items) I have no idea what they're used for but I suspect crafting. It included a Marksman's Magic Bullet and a Fragment of Ice. Also found a High Quality Belt recipe!

- - - - -

Been considering I should try the Caebolan questline, as (apparently?) it needs to be done to be able to get to Caeb AA/SA/whatever. I'm skeptical if this is true, but it gives me an excuse to throw my chars into mortal harm once again. >:D Speaking of which - as part of my 'Experted Trio' celebration, I paid a visit to Errac. Good news! I ran there and didn't get lost (for once)! Good news! I can kill Noche mobs and not die! Bad news! They mob you - you will die! Ugh D: Once again I am reminded I require better armor than I currently have. Then again given what I've heard - two groups mobbed at once - not sure many can survive that at all - given what I've heard about the place.

- - - - -

Clan wars was.. interesting as usual. Found out Schiavona (lol.. it's still funny to me) upped their ranks with four new additions, who are probably no less lethal than the rest of them, if I'm to wager any guesses. Found out from clannies that our Leader was gone traveling for a few days, so it was just us and the deputies against the raging hoards. Err.. hoard. Singular. Our sole colony was taken, and lo and behold who showed up around then than our very own Leader. He wasn't on long, just until the end of CW, but we waged war and stole at least one colony for ourselves. And - now - apparently - we're in a perm war with said clan we took the colony from. I don't know much about it, and I can only assume maybe they're sore that we won it from them, but yet again I can't even be sure who declared war upon who. Us or them? I've no idea. It's what I get for not paying attention to the server announcements. xD

On the bright side, I made two kills!!! Now for some this is piddly in CW, but it's a bit of a big deal for me. I was hoping being I now had Experts I could finally lay down some killing power, but it wasn't an Expert who got the kill at all - it was my Vet Fighter. Against an Expert. Twice. I don't understand it, but I'm not going to question it either. ^^;; If anything - I can just say I discovered the value in spamming the proper skills upon an enemy. Scary - I'm learning the sketchy sketchy basics of PVP beyond 'beat the other guy' and 'don't die'. Whoohoo!

- - - - -

Downside of this all is currently the servers are AWOL. So someone must've kicked the hamster cages - again. Don't think I'll be able to get back online tonight. Next up! Working on Experting my fighter, getting a trump polearm recipe I bought crafted, considering leveling Baek Ho, and my hunt for Expert Stances!

First Expert!

Yesterday I finally got my first Expert. ^^ Between rl and maint/dc/random acts of nature I've slowly been running out of time to get all three to Expert before Friday night. Yes, yes, I know their Level Up event might be a bit frivolous to get into, but still - it's a deadline - and deadlines make for nice incentive xD

Anyway - fed my Musk (Jisket) whatever exp cards I had to get her to Expert, figuring the faster she reaches Expert, the sooner my Grace and Scout can get a better exp rate per hour - and also Expert sooner. I ended up giving Jisket some 60%+ in cards. Several were the 14m Vet G cards from quests, and about 90+ exp cards from the memorial in Skele AA. And voila!

Found out you apparently only get one stat 'point' (or 10, take your pick) instead of two when you advance to Expert. A little dissapointing, but not too much. I finally have an Expert :P Whooo!

- - - -

Right now I'm farming up earlier said Skele AA cards. After crunching a few numbers I realized there's a very good chance I'll run out of time in Experting my Scout, so time to farm a few up. It takes me about 15 minutes, and there's four quests, and each card gives about 0.1% ie: an extra 1.6% per hour. I'm saving them for when she reaches Lv 10 being Exp will be slowest then, but still. Figured between now and Friday night, I'll be able to farm up (very possibly) up to 50%-ish worth in Exp cards. Considering her current rate lands her at Experting at anywhere from 11pm Fri-4am Sat - I think I should be fine. xD

Got talking to some of the other clan members earlier and got a little advice. Now, in the last clan I was in and now my current one I tend to have a thing I call my 'noob question of the day'. Usually it's some silly little thing I feel I should've known eons ago but don't, or advice on leveling/bosses/equips/etc. Today I asked how far e84 armor will get me in terms of being an Expert. Apparently for leveling it'd be ok, but raids? Not so good. xD I was also advised to buy a trump pole and get my Vet Fighter to Expert, so that will be my project this weekend. The downside of this is I don't have all her Vet stances, nor will I have time to level them. That could be problematic in the future (maybe?) After I find a polearm, I won't have the resources to buy said stances either. Hmm..


I also got a word of advice to get some of my chars to Exp lv 4 (lv113) then get into a squad for Caeb SA and farm exp cards. However - I'm going to need to reach level 113 first! One step at a time, one step at a time.. right now I need to finish Experting my team.

- - - -

In other news I found a neat article to check out. It's in Japanese, and the Google translation is mediocre at best, but the screen shots are pretty. Go check it out. :)

Once the Dust Settles..

Well - now that this week's CW is done, time to scrub the blood out of the armor again - *our* own blood, that is. Now this is pretty normal for me - being I only have vets (for now!) I'm better suited for attacking towers than attacking other enemy clans, but this week the clan I'm in decided best to defend against the raging hoards than to be one of the raging hoards this week. Makes sense - considering we started with four colonies.

Key word - started.

Now recently it's come to light that there's been some apparent chaos going on with Phalanx. Just from my own observances it looks like leadership has switched 3-4 times in about as many days, and their member count has gone down. Given what I've read on the forums and heard in-game, it seems some of their key members left - hence after a week of dominating the week before - Phalanx almost got wiped off the map last week. (Who am I to complain? I'm in a competing clan :P) but that leaves one wondering - if x-members left - where did they go? Join other clans? (Also wouldn't complain) Nah.. in true Aegis/Citadel/Phalanx legacy they apparently started their own. Their name? Schiavona. Just like Claire's greatsword stance - which for some reason makes me giggle - a lot.

We'll see how long the 6/100 lasts..

Did I mention we got ah.. (err well I did) mopped the floor? By six people? (And they took 3 colonies at one point, but ended up with 1 :P) At least one of them kept pulling a nasty tactic of using a Wiz to put everyone's chars to sleep, then a Nar to smash them to tiny bloody bits. I have to admit - it was pretty fun to watch post-death too. Kinda makes a person want to level up a wiz and try it out themselves.. almost.. I have my Scout/Grace/Musk to deal with first. Speaking of which..!

- - - - - -

All in all it was a royal bloodbath - wars between more clans than I could keep track of and more deaths than I could count. So - with the 2hr war over I poked my nose into Baha AA, and then returned to my home in Skele AA for my grind to Expert. On the way to Fl 2 I found and killed Thora (on both channels no less!) got a 92 uni rod for it and 3 lv 88 weapons. (1 GS and two cannons) Can't turn them into chips, unfortunately. And for some reason lv 88 items have nerfed AR compared to neighboring weaponry. Just 22 AR? Really?

Now according to my guestimations my trio will hit Expert on Mon, Tues, and Thurs each around 3ish pm, respectively. - In my choice spot I'm making about 3.8% per hour per character. Duoing Scout with Grace later will give me 4.3% - at least until the mobs start turning brown. So far my Musk leads the way with hitting Vet Lv 9 this afternoon, Grace not too far behind and my Scout still playing catch up.

So agonizingly close! So agonizingly far! D:

Hopefully Jisket will hit 10 by tomorrow, and I'll be able to Expert her on Monday - which would be awesome winsauce because then I'll get to duo Niyone and Victoria to Expert sooner then I'd earlier thought. And then? Hmm..

I hear Errac is pretty this time of year.

The Tweakings Continue!

Spent the better chunk of my afternoon tinkering around with this, the blog n00b that I am. It's still missing.. something.. but I've yet to put my finger on exactly what. There are some things I'd like to add, a little texture here, a pic or icon there.. but in the meanwhile it's looking alright.

Game wise I'm working on acquiring my first team of Experts. That means my Musk, Grace, and Scout are stuck amidst hoards of Mudmen for the next week (they've been there for almost a week already). I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do once they start hitting lv 108 and the mobs start turning brown, but in the meanwhile I'm hoarding exp cards and just waiting until they actually get that far first.

Hopefully if all goes well, I'll expert my musk, get her out of there and let my Grace and scout go nuts until they reach Expert as well - given Grace seems to be the main damage dealer. Gigantic blaster ftw! Right now they're pulling anywhere from 3.4-3.74% per hour depending on location. Not too bad with just a moppet.

Hmm... *tweak*

This is still largely under construction - and I'm still trying to figure out all what's what for now. However~ for the moment I just need a blog post up here so I can continue tweaking ^^ More later!

~Alze