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

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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. ^^;;

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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. ^-^

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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!

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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.

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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!

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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!

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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.

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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..!

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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