Lord of the Flies

And here's another common foe in the Dunes, the Damselfly:















Damselflies are pretty important to new players, because they drop a key item required for the "subjob" quest. When you hit level 18, you can participate in a quest to prove yourself worthy of having a subjob. It's a bit complicated, but a subjob is like an added boost that allows you to have some of the abilities of a second job, creating an opportunity to customize your character. For example, a normal Warrior can't use any magic. But if Bronco the Warrior picks White Mage as a subjob, then he gains the ability to cast some basic Cure spells and the like.

However, that's a pretty poor combination, since Warrior will always be pretty crappy at magic. It's generally better to pick a subjob that compliments your main job, rather than something completely different. I like to use a Monk subjob for Bronco, because it adds a lot of health and attack power, as well as some handy abilities for a front-line fighter like Counter and Boost.

In other news, I hit level 30 this weekend and opened up a few advanced jobs - Paladin, Beastmaster, and Dark Knight. Unfortunately the Bucket is having a bit of trouble getting set up to play (Damn you Play Online!), but I'm confident he'll get it worked out eventually!

He Who Controls the Spice Controls the Universe

I'm still focusing on gaining experience for the steady climb to level 30. Sometimes I join up with groups, but lately I've been doing a lot of soloing in Valkrum Dunes. Grouping is fun, but it can take a while to get your party together. Solo play is more slow and steady, and it gives the added bonus that you can work on Fields of Valor training.

In most areas, there are these Field Training books with various pages, each with a different training regime. For example, you might need to defeat 5 worms and 3 hornets. If you succeed, you get an experience bonus, cash, and special tabs that can be used to gain temporary beneficial effects.

In the Dunes, I often slug it out with sheep like this one:















It may seem ridiculous to battle a sheep (even a Brutal Sheep like this one), but these guys can be surprisingly tough customers. They have a lot of health, they can headbutt you pretty hard, and they even have a special ability that can put you to sleep. Maybe by forcing you to count it?

A Noble Steed

I am now Chocobo enabled. It's coming in handy, because I can now cruise between Jeuno (my current base of operations) and the Dunes (where I'm leveling) without sneaking my way through the tough areas in between.

Speaking of Jeuno, I bought a bunch of new equipment from the auction house there, including a sweet Battleaxe +1 and a couple pieces of Beetle Armor. I also completed Mission 2-2 for Bastok and knocked out a couple quests that had really been giving me trouble. I'm currently a level 27 Warrior, so I just need to grind through three more levels and I can start doing the Advanced Job quests. Then, I'll start over again at one, but this time with the help of the Bucket!

Tastes Like Chicken

If you've played Final Fantasy (fill in Roman numeral here) before, then you know what this is:














And if you haven't, then the convenient label shows it's a Chocobo. They're large, flightless birds that take the place of horses in Final Fantasy games.

Once you hit level 20, you can participate in a quest that will net you a Chocobo Lisence, which allows you to rent Chocobos and ride them between locations. Not only is riding a lot faster than walking, but it's also safer because monsters won't attack you as long as you're on a Chocobo.

Everything is spaced out pretty far apart in this game, and the normal walking speed is excrutiatingly slow. So I can't emphasize enough how hard I'm working on that Chocobo Lisence quest right now!

United We Stand!

TUFF was out of town this holiday weekend so I should have done a lot more posting about FFXI, but I was busy...playing FFXI. I can see why people get hooked on these games, since there's so much gameplay to explore. In fact, I never have a problem finding something to do...my problem is choosing from the many things I want to do.


Anyway, Bronco made some major strides this weekend. The big news is that I headed out to the widely reviled Dunes to join a party for some monster killing/experience farming. Most people dread working in the Dunes because there are a lot of new players (like me!) messing up groups with their noobishness. Or noobosity. Or whatever. Given that I'm not what you'd call a "people person" to begin with, I didn't have high hopes.


As it turned out, I had an ABSOLUTE BLAST in the Dunes. Maybe I was just lucky, or maybe I was too wet behind the ears to notice that our groups weren't operating at max efficiency, but every party I joined kicked major butt. I gained a ton of levels (I'm up to lv 21 in Warrior) and I had some interesting conversations with fellow players.















What really surprised me was how nice everyone was...the experienced players were going out of their way to bring the noobs like me up to speed without being overbearing or bossy at all. One player even took an extra half hour to help me get a couple items I needed for the subjob quest, which I couldn't have come close to doing without assistance (Thanks Angeliner!).


There's still a time and place for solo play, but I find myself gravitating more to groups now. Working with other people makes me that much more excited for when The Bucket joins up in a couple weeks!

Bronco the Warrior or Martha Stewart?

Welcome to the wonderful world of crafts...it's a good thing. Actually, it's an expensive, time-consuming thing. The crystals that you can earn by defeating monsters aren't just good for fertilizing your plants. They can also be used in conjunction with various raw materials to make items, a process called crafting. There are nine different crafts in FFXI, each with its own pros and cons. Fortunately you don't need to choose one (at least not for a long time), as you can dabble in any or all of them.

In most games, crafting is a great way to make money. In FFXI, you can make money crafting but usually not until well into the game. This is one of those activities where you invest millions to make millions. As such, it's pretty inadvisable to try doing them all at once...better to concentrate on getting better in one or two.















In this picture, I'm using a fire crystal to fuse some copper and tin ore together, creating a bronze bar. Most people use furnaces and other special equipment for this kind of thing, but apparently I can do it in mid-air with my bare hands. Magic!

For those curious about my gardening results, my first crop was a bunch of corn (which I immediately turned into Roasted Corn using Cooking craft) and my second crop was a truckload of potatoes. Not too shabby for a beginner!

How Does My Garden Grow?

If you get a little tired of quests and missions in FFXI, there are a number of side activities to which you can turn. One of my favorites is gardening. But before you can start, you'll need to gather a few supplies. First, you have to set up your home base with one or more flowerpots. As I noted last time, plants grow better if they aren't sitting on the floor. So it's a good idea to get some kind of flat surface to hold your pots...I went with a nice workbench which gives the additional benefit of more storage space.

Then you need some seeds. Sure, you can buy these from a vendor or the Auction House, but I prefer the old fashioned method of wandering through the countryside butchering plant monsters. There's one last item that's optional but definitely advised...remember those crystals I was talking about from a few posts ago? The ones that monsters drop when you have Signet active? Well, halfway through the growing process you can feed your plant a crystal, which will affect what kind of "crop" you get at the end. I put crop in quotes because you can get some strange items from plants...things like worms, rocks, and even additional crystals.

It's a lot to collect, but the end results can definitely be worth the effort. Not only can you score some useful (and valuable) items, but blooming flowers really spruce up your room!

Home is Where the Moogle Is

Welcome to Casa de Bronco, my little getaway from a busy schedule of slaying monsters and participating in epic grocery-delivery quests.














I admit it's a bit snug (I like to think of it as cozy), but with 30,000 characters living on the Cerberus server, we can't all be kicking back in mansions! If you look front and center, you can see my Moogle buddy. I call him Jeeves, since he reminds me of a butler. Jeeves looks after the place while I'm gone, stores my excess stuff, receives deliveries, and tends to any household chores. He's also in charge of job changes, so any time I want to switch he's the guy to see.

Behind him is my fireplace, which came with the place. Apparently Jeeves keeps it going 24/7 regardless of weather or season. I'll have to talk to him about fuel consumption and household expenses.


Over to the left, you can just see the edge of my workbench, the first piece of furniture I bought for my house. Okay, house seems like an exaggeration...my room is really more accurate. Why a workbench? So my flowerpots don't have to sit on the floor, of course! Don't worry if you're still confused...all will be explained in my next post.


In other news, Bronco is up to level 13 as a warrior. I've also done enough missions for Bastok to earn a promotion to Rank 2. I'm starting to make a bit of a name for myself around town too, as my reputation has increased. Shopkeepers are giving me better rates, and I've opened some more interesting quests. I guess hunting down ingredients for Salimah's cooking paid off!

Shooting Through the Walls of Heartache...Bang Bang!

Unlike most MMORPGs, FFXI allows you to switch your character class any time you return to your home base. Thus, you can try out any or all of the jobs without losing your progress in the game. In fact, it's encouraged to work on more than one of your jobs because eventually you get the ability to have a "subjob", and the more work you put into your secondary job, the stronger you'll be overall.

That's why I've decided to give Monk a break for a while and work on gaining some levels in Warrior. The two jobs pair well because they rely on front line physical attacks. While I lose all my kung-fu moves while rocking Warrior, I make up for it with better armor (including pants...no more drafts!), a shield, and a giant axe. I'm already up to level 11 in Warrior...check me out!

Mission Impossible...Well, Improbable Anyway

Last post I talked about quests, the delivery boy's path to fame and fortune. In addition to quests, FFXI also allows you to undertake "Missions" for your chosen country. No, this doesn't involve spreading word of your religion to the masses. Actually, missions are just like quests, except that they advance the local military or political efforts, they comprise the "plot" of FFXI, and they rarely involve groceries. Most of them actually center on the struggles of the allied races against the Beastmen (aka, the BAD GUYS).

This is all established before the game even starts with a fancy FMV (yay Square!) in which Beastmen sack a human settlement and kill a lot of innocent people. You know, just in case you're not bright enough to figure out which side you're supposed to be rooting for in all this. Hint: not the rabid, horned creatures that carry axes the size of an outboard motor.

The highlight for me so far was the second mission for my country (Bastok), in which I got to meet this guy:















If you've never played a Final Fantasy game before, there's almost always a guy named "Cid", he'll be some kind of engineer, and he'll be at least a little odd, if not batshit insane.

Cid wanted me to go test the pH of some water at a nearby series of springs. Seriously. He gave me a little pH testing apparatus (now with patented color changing technology!) and everything. I guess he's trying to figure out why the Beastmen are so crazy right now...maybe he suspects acid rain?

Whatever, Cid is awesome...

Can You Do Me a Quick Favor?

The life of a budding adventurer can be pretty dangerous, what with all the risk taking, monster slaying, and such. Still, it's surprising how often the local populace gets their big chance to request a favor from me, the dashing and uber-powerful hero, only to squander it by asking me to perform some menial task. These tasks, which the game calls "quests" in a hilarious attempt to make common chores sound heroic, can be shockingly trivial. Take this woman for instance:

She had quite a dilemma on her hands, one that needed my immediate attention. You see, she's cooking a meal and she's missing an ingredient to complete the dish. That's right, she needs me to go get some groceries. Let's just say that I wasn't bragging about my successful delivery in the tavern later that evening.

I've also been asked to perform such astounding feats as delivering a wife's message to her husband (something about what did he want her to cook after work), bringing flint stones to help restart a family's kitchen fire, and collecting stamps in a child's book. Why do I put up with this crap? Well, the rewards can be pretty substantial. As an example, the woman above pays top dollar for fairly common ingredients, and armor doesn't come cheap. Completing quests also helps you earn fame and good will around town, which results in lower prices from the merchants and access to higher level quests.


It's just good to remember that in FFXI, you start on the bottom of the ladder and work your way up one rung at a time.