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Fister Roboto
Feb 21, 2008

Chapter V: Cat Bottomed Girls



It's time to get the story moving again. Baderon has a lead for me.



Baderon: Still in Limsa, are ye, Freddie? 'Ow'd ye fancy a trip outside the city walls?

I'd like ye to visit an orchard by the name o' Summerford Famrs. Ever 'eard o' the place? The owner, Staelwyrn, is an old mate o' mine.

'E's got 'imself a crew o' mostly reformed pirate types, if ye can believe that, and 'as been tryin' to bring a bit o' life back to the fields after the Calamity ruined the soil. 'E mentioned needin' another 'and or two, and yer name sprang to mind.
I gave ye a glowin' recommendation, so make sure ye work 'ard and impress the old bastard. Ye need directions? The place ain't 'ard to find. Just take the Zephyr Gate out o' the city, and follow the road northeast.




Like Baderon said, you can't miss Summerford. It's almost literally a hop, skip, and jump away. MMOs aren't exactly known for their sense of scale.



Staelwyrn: You honored his word, so that's a good start. I'm Staelwyrn, the "old bastard," as Baderon likely describes me, and this here is my humble orchard.

A good number of the lads and lasses workin' here once terrorized the high seas. And if you're wonderin' why I employ these scrags, well, they used to crew my pirate ship.

But the Calamity did for our ship, like it did so many others, and I was sore wounded into the bargain.

I had to feed myself and my crew somehow, and Admiral Merlwyb's initiative to get us landlocked buccaneers workin' the fields seemed too fine an offer to refuse.

Well, it turns out you can take the pirate away from the sea, but you can't take the sea away from the pirate. A lot of my blokes just never took to tendin' the soil, you see.

And unfortunately, the botanists I called in to train 'em have been wringin' their hands in black despair. With so much work pilin' up, I need a tougher soul like you to step in and help where it's needed.




Of course, before I go to work, Staelwyrn has to check my gear to make sure I'm up to snuff. Only one problem...



Wearing a cowl counts as wearing nothing in your head slot, and since the quest requires wearing a level 5 item in every slot, I can't proceed. Fortunately, I haven't sold my old hat or robe yet, so it's an easy fix.



Staelwyrn: Erstwhile buccaneers are an ornery lot. They rage in love for the sea, and care little for the laws of the land.

But they respect strength, and by the looks of you, I'd say you'll have little trouble gettin' their attention.


Well, that was easy. Guess I'll just grab the next quest.



But I haven't gone anywhere! I swear everyone is losing their minds.

Staelwyrn: I hope I've read you aright, for I've a task that requires the attention of a capable adventurer. Might that adventurer be you?



And what's this got to do with Summerford Farms, you might ask. Well, that remains to be seen, but it seems a collection of right unsavory fellows with azure-tattooed faces has been creepin' up to the edges of the fields and spyin' on my yeomen.

Now, I doubt anyone would enjoy bein' scrutinized by such savages at the best of times, but the farmhands are convinced that they're the kidnappers of rumor, come for their hides.

Needless to say, they're beside 'emselves with worry, and their work's sufferin' for it─which is the very last thing I need when my old crewmen are still gettin' used to their new jobs. 'Tis a struggle to get 'em to leave the farmhouse of a mornin'.

That is, as they say, where you come in. Would you be willin' to investigate these tattooed thugs for me?


Freddie casts Stoic Nod Lv. 3. Freddie earns the achievement "Brotherhood of Nods"!



Staelwyrn: I suggest you begin by havin' a look around Seasong Grotto. If reports are to be believed, our unwelcome visitors have occupied the place.

Be careful, though, Quicksilver--I couldn't say for sure what manner of miscreants we're dealin' with here. If they are the kidnappers...well, just be on your guard, all right?




Well, it's not like I have anything better to do. The grotto is a little hole in the ground with a monument at the center, and it's haunted by bogies, weird balloon-shaped ghosts.



Inspecting the monument initiates a special instance. It's time to meet a new character.





You can actually read what's being spoken on the monument. The Eorzean alphabet is just the Roman alphabet with a few alterations.



A lot of people should recognize this character even if you haven't played the game. This is Y'Shtola, and she's the representative of this game in Square-Enix compilation games like Dissidia and Theatrhythm, although she doesn't give me her name yet here.



Y'Shtola: It is both a litany against misfortune for those out on the waves...

...and a prayer that the souls of those who perish on land might find their way back to the sea.


If you're playing a legacy character, she remarks that you seem somehow familiar. Otherwise...



Y'Shtola: I thought myself on the trail of the kidnappers, but it would seem I have missed my mark.



Suddenly!



Like I said earlier, goobbues are normally docile, but this one is pissed for some reason.

Y'Shtola: Nor is it a coincidence that the two of us should come here in search of those responsible for the disappearances only to be attacked.

But who stands to benefit from the keeping of this secret?

Such thoughts must wait. Let us attend to the task at hand, unpleasant though it be.




Y'Shtola does about a hundred times more damage than I could right now, so trying to help her out would be a token gesture at best. Freddie does his best to soothe the savage beast by rubbing its belly instead.



That doesn't seem to work, so he changes his strategy to providing moral support.





Eventually the beast is felled!



After the battle, Freddy finds a beautiful blue crystal on the ground. He takes it back to Limsa Lominsa to show it off, and everyone is in awe of it. Unfortunately, it's actually a chunk of cesium salt from a nearby Garlean outpost. Within days, Freddie and most of the residents of Limsa are dead or dying from acute radiation sickness.

The end! No moral.














OK, not really. Instead, something weirder happens. Freddie gets swept away to the empty black void, where a giant crystal tells him to go out and collect more radioactive isotopes crystals of light.



Boy, those tights leave nothing to the imagination.

Back in the real world...





Y'Shtola: I have seen knives of this kind before─they are most commonly used for the cutting of rope.

It would appear our culprits are seafaring men of some persuasion...piratical being the most probable.


I don't think piratical is a word, Y'Shtola.



Y'Shtola: I confess, I was rather taken aback when you collapsed at the very moment of our victory. Mayhap a surfeit of aether...?

Freddie describes his vision through a complicated series of nods and hand gestures.



Y'Shtola: Well, well... This has been a day of unexpected revelations.

I must continue my investigation.

In the meantime, I suggest you deliver this knife to your patron, along with a warning concerning the pirates' probable involvement in this murky business.

The days ahead promise little rest, I fear...




Freddie returns to Summerford post haste.



Staelwyrn: My lads were all gabbin' about hearin' what sounded like all seven hells breakin' loose near the grotto, and I feared I'd sent you to your death.

If you were in the middle of that commotion, I hope it yielded somethin' of interest. I'd hate to think you'd risked your life for naught.


Freddie shows him the knife.



Staelwyrn: Aye, I'd agree that such a knife would be part of any seafarin' man's kit.

I'm startin' to think that these ruffians are pirates, come to lure my farmhands back to a life of plunder. Chances are, they didn't take kindly to your appearance on their doorstep, and set a maddened goobbue on you.

Aye, the pirates have been addin' to their numbers of late. I'd best warn the lads and lasses in my employ to be on guard against their

...Hm? You met someone else at the grotto? A woman with a strange contraption...? Ah...Y'shtola!

She's been in Limsa Lominsa for a good while now. Her studies of the aether often bring her out to Summerford, so her presence at the grotto is hardly unusual.

She's an odd-lookin' lass, I grant you, but she's not the kind to associate with kidnappers. You may take my word for that.



Staelwyrn: You have my thanks, Quicksilver. If it weren't for the efforts of stalwart adventurers like yourself, this farm would be in a far worse state than it is.

Just you keep on lendin' your talents to those in need, eh? Help bring Limsa the brighter future she deserves.




I'll end this update with some pirates-turned-farmers singing a filthy sea shanty.

Minor lore note: For Seekers of the Sun, the clan that Y'Shtola belongs to, the first letter of their name actually denotes their tribe. So in this case it's short for Shtola of the Y Tribe, although only people who are very close to her would call her Shtola. Similarly, K'Lyhia would be Lyhia of the K Tribe.

And yes, there are 26 tribes, one for each letter of the alphabet.

Fister Roboto fucked around with this message at 21:05 on Sep 18, 2016

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CrashScreen
Nov 11, 2012

For such docile creatures, Goobbue do seem to have a track record for running rampant on a scene. They're kind of terrifying when they do.

Fister Roboto posted:

You know what, let's just move this off this page.

This was good.

Fister Roboto
Feb 21, 2008

I'd say they're kind of like hippos, they mostly keep to themselves but they're also one of the most deadly creatures on the planet.

ReturnOfFable
Oct 9, 2012

No tears, only dreams.

Fister Roboto posted:


Minor lore note: For Seekers of the Sun, the clan that Y'Shtola belongs to, the first letter of their name actually denotes their tribe. So in this case it's short for Shtola of the Y Tribe, although only people who are very close to her would call her Shtola. Similarly, K'Lyhia would be Lyhia of the K Tribe.

And yes, there are 26 tribes, one for each letter of the alphabet.

drat, I actually did not know this. That explains why certain characters later one address her as Shtola.

Fister Roboto
Feb 21, 2008

There's even more to it than that, but I don't want to go full sperg. The writing team put a lot of effort into naming conventions for every race and clan.

Schwartzcough
Aug 12, 2009

Don't tease the Octopus, kids!

Fister Roboto posted:

Minor lore note: For Seekers of the Sun, the clan that Y'Shtola belongs to, the first letter of their name actually denotes their tribe. So in this case it's short for Shtola of the Y Tribe, although only people who are very close to her would call her Shtola. Similarly, K'Lyhia would be Lyhia of the K Tribe.

And yes, there are 26 tribes, one for each letter of the alphabet.

How very convenient.

SkyTalon2314
Aug 8, 2013

Fister Roboto posted:

There's even more to it than that, but I don't want to go full sperg. The writing team put a lot of effort into naming conventions for every race and clan.

Which is something I enjoy fully.

Even if when I was making my character I didn't realize that the 'name randomizer' uses that.

So, I changed my character's first name to something else, because I didn't understand that 'Lunene Lune' is a legit Plainsfolk Lalafell name. So, in my head my character has that as her birth name, and just goes by Cawti Lune because it's a bit easier on non-lalafell tongues.


On an earlier note: I cheered when they introduced the TP bars to the Party List. You don't need the numbers there, since everyone has 1,000 TP, so it's relatively easy to eyeball. It's great because two classes have abilities that regen TP, so being able to actually see those bars is a godsend. If you want to really stun those heavy AoE players, be one of those two classes and actually give them the TP restorers without them asking. Easy commendations.

Shaezerus
Mar 24, 2008

God? Or perhaps a devil?
Show me which you'll choose!

Schwartzcough posted:

How very convenient.

In-lore the tribes actually took this as proof the exodus from their original continent was justified and Eorzea the true homeland by providence. :v:

Fister Roboto
Feb 21, 2008

SkyTalon2314 posted:

Which is something I enjoy fully.

Even if when I was making my character I didn't realize that the 'name randomizer' uses that.

So, I changed my character's first name to something else, because I didn't understand that 'Lunene Lune' is a legit Plainsfolk Lalafell name. So, in my head my character has that as her birth name, and just goes by Cawti Lune because it's a bit easier on non-lalafell tongues.

Yep, and one of the most noticeable ones is for male catgirls male seekers of the sun. For them, all of the surnames the randomizer gives you are either "Tia" or the occasional "Nunh". The latter shouldn't be available if you ask me, though.

There's a lalafell NPC somewhere named Memedesu. 100% lore-friendly!

Fister Roboto fucked around with this message at 23:46 on Sep 18, 2016

CrashScreen
Nov 11, 2012

The lore is honestly one of the reasons I originally wanted to do this LP. The game is really rich in detail, and you can even see a lot of it even in the environment. It's one of the coolest things.

SonicRulez
Aug 6, 2013

GOTTA GO FIST
The lore in this game is great because it's so much bigger than it really has to be. The extra work shows passion. I think of all the hours I've played and there's still metric tons worth of stuff that I know literally nothing about. Every bit of the game has flavor text and detail and lore bits tucked away in a way that's inviting if you care and easy to ignore if you don't. Speaking of, are you guys gonna show off the journal when it has stuff of note?

CrashScreen
Nov 11, 2012

In all honesty, I should already be including the journal at least under the bonus heading, since it usually does have some neat things. I think I'll work on that once I'm done tidying up older updates for consistency. I'll start adding it from the next update.

CrashScreen
Nov 11, 2012

I'm curious to know if anyone will be up for doing the next dungeon tonight at around 9.30pm GMT?

TiamosLoren
Apr 20, 2013

CrashScreen posted:

I'm curious to know if anyone will be up for doing the next dungeon tonight at around 9.30pm GMT?

I'm good for that. Also gonna throw up my B-Side post of our previous dungeon later (once I'm sure that I'm not double-posting and people have had enough time to see this, at least).

Shoopuf
Oct 18, 2010

Don't touch shoopuf. Tailss will be shlapping!

Schwartzcough posted:

and as people are pointing out, the latter isn't even a bad example of an MMO interface, or even bad for XIV I'm sure, since it's still so early and your abilities and buff/debuffs are probably limited.

Believe it or not, if you manage your upgrades and setup properly it doesn't get that much worse. My setup is done in a way I can heal by touch on the numpad instead of using the mouse or F# keys, and I'd say it still looks rather nice and tame (discounting the lack of enemies and aggro tracker of this screenshot).


Of course, my resolution is higher but you can also change the size of pretty much every single element in the HUD so it works out.

(Sorry to come into this late, I only just found this LP! Good job so far, guys. :allears:)

Seraphic Neoman
Jul 19, 2011


TiamosLoren posted:

Top right bars? Maybe you meant the top left bars.

Yeah I did. my bad. Agree with the rest of your post for sure tho. I think the UI is just worst for tanks cause those agro bars are way too tiny IMO. The whole point of bars is so you can gauge the situation at a quick glance.
eh maybe it's just me

TiamosLoren
Apr 20, 2013


...well okay then!

Chapter 23-B: From Another Point of View



So for this extra content, I'll be highlighting a few of the quirks that transpired during the dungeons that I was able to catch, and flag up a few pointers and lessons for anyone looking to jump in. I'll try to make a bit of comedy alongside as well, but no guarantees. I can be a bit too serious sometimes.



So, to start us off, the classic blunder: Summoning a different Carbuncle. I'll allow Fister Roboto to cover why this was the wrong one to summon when he gets to the point himself, but in group scenarios like this one, you almost always want to go with the Emerald Carbuncle. You only want to use the shown Carbuncle if the tank's not any good or spontaneously dies. Luckily for us it got picked up on immediately and the right one was summoned immediately after, so I'll put money on it being just a simple error on the Arcanist's part there.



As for me, yes, using this move is a spectacular waste of time, but I get a kick out of it. Piercing Talon is the Lancer's ranged attack similar to Agro's Shield Lob, but doesn't generate anywhere near as much aggression. At this stage, it's really difficult to run out of TP before the enemies are dead (unless you actually go out of your way to spam that attack over and over) so a little fun with it is had in this dungeon.



This little segment is interesting for a number of reasons. There's typically two means of understanding who you should target, which is dependent on whether the leader (in this case, Agro) designates target orders or not: If target indicators are used, then you use that as a guide for priority targets, otherwise you go for the one who gets hit first. In this case, this Varlet gets the shield and there's no numbers, so my instinct is to poke the poo poo out of him first then move on from there.



However, in the quickness of the moment, a temporary hiccup! One of the other varlets get marked as first and the one I started on is temporarily forgotten about! I also end up getting it's attention as well, as you can see from the red box to the left and the "A" mark under my class icon in the top left. Luckily, I'm not a squishy caster, so I can take a bit of a beating myself, but at this point my priorities would be between keeping up the damage and bringing the enemy close to the tank so it can regain aggression on it.



As you can see, though, all's well that ends well. Agro regains the attention and the markings get remedied. No more confusion! That isn't the only incident in this fight, however, and part of it comes from my own miscalculations.



You see...at this point, I figured that this guy was done: 6% left, Aero placed on him, he would be dealt with by the next tick from that damage over time effect. So it was at this point I felt it was safe to switch to the last target, poke him to death, then move on.



See the problem yet? The poo poo got born under a lucky star and survived the damage! Also, Aero has faded away. With no other damage going his way, he could've continued on contributing damage to Agro, placing more pressure on the Conjurer to keep the HP up and...



...ah, who am I kidding? I saw the lucky sod and speared him out of the picture for his efforts.



So as Agro highlighted in his own post, Condemnation is a move you don't want to get hit by, and all of the Void Soulcounters can use this. On top of paralysis (which is a nuisance at the best of times, even for tanks), it does a lot more than the chip damage of Dark Orb on top of that. As Agro pointed out, as well as simply avoiding it, the Lancer has it's own technique that it can use to stun it out of the attack.



Leg Sweep has several advantages over Agro's Shield Bash: It's not tied to the global cooldown, which means that I can use other abilities before and after this is used. It has a slightly stronger potency (which is effectively another 20% damage over Agro's). It also has no TP cost, which means I don't expend any energy using it. It's a pretty good deal, all things considered.



While it largely would have been negligible in the contribution to saving Agro's hide (smart people get out of the way regardless), it's good practice to use these abilities on these early bosses to get used to the idea of preventing harmful attacks from happening if they can be stopped by stuns or silence. It does, however, have the added bonus of keeping the creature's facing the exact same for the duration, which means it won't just turn around and face Agro while she's to it's side, which helps for classes with positioning requirements.



Of course, the eagle-eyed or experienced among you will know the major downside I mentioned: That 30 second cooldown timer for it. I still have 3 seconds left on it by the time the Void Soulcounter decides to use it a second time and he gets it off before I can do anything about it. As I said though, smart people get out of the way regardless, and Agro suffered no damage due to carefully sidestepping the attack. This does get shortened to 20 seconds when I reach Level 28.



Okay, so Agro's death at this point, marking 2/2 for dying in the early-game dungeons for our tanking heroine. What you have in this screenshot is the tipping point of no return: Agro has headed off to get the attention of the thaumaturge Varlet, catching the rest of the group off their guard. As you can just about see, the Conjurer had switched into Cleric Stance (which swaps over the Intelligence and Mind values while active), likely expecting to get an attack or two off before the Varlet gets into range. Agro's charge for the Varlet was likely not anticipated.



Of course, he could've tried healing in that stance, but it would be pretty hampered and would likely have not been as effective. In the time between activating and deactivating the Cleric Stance, however, Agro is already down to 103 HP from 364 in that short space of time. The Arcanist would have also had access to healing, which would've been about as effective as the Conjurer's healing in Cleric Stance, so there was the smallest of spaces to salvage it if the group were robots quick on the recovery.



As valiant as the attempts to recover were, sadly it was to be a second too late and Agro would take enough damage to be knocked out on the ground before the Cure could connect. While it was the only death at all in this place (and actually not in the place I would've expected it to be), it does mean that while Agro was returning back to the group, the Conjurer switched to devoted healing (as it often collects the aggression from anyone the DPS weren't attacking) and so me and the Arcanist were tending to our own foes. Because this is a starter dungeon, we get through it. Later ones won't be this kind.



Also unfortunate is that the Conjurer attempted to use a customised macro to revive Agro. This is a very common use for macros in Final Fantasy XIV, allowing the immediate casting of a revival spell to bring someone back into the fight, which would otherwise have taken a long casting time to commit. As he recalled, however, Conjurers cannot revive in the middle of combat until a later level and the specific talent gets unlocked. This ultimately meant that Agro had to go back to the start and rejoin us after a little jog instead.



OH BUDDY. Look at what we get to dissect for this bit! Mister Goddamn Carbuncle, running up to the plate and batting for the sake of shits and giggles, using it's Backdraft to knock it away from the two melee characters currently wailing away at it...



...right into the altar (and making it look like it got merged with the Cultist Orb for a fraction of a second)...



...and out the other side! :argh: This is exactly why these moves are horrible: It forces those already in melee range to react to a shift in position that they shouldn't ever have to think about. It's also another reason why casters should stay away from the fighting if they have these abilities: Using them when the enemy is coming at you prevents you from needing to move for the tank to reacquire aggression (since you can actually judgement call it and knock them back right into the middle of whatever the tank is doing).

"Oh, but Tiamos! I can't see the Arcanist, he must've been far enough away!"



Not far enough to stop the fucker lunging forward to blast the Void Soulcounter like it was a goddamn golf ball! When I say "stay away" as a caster, I mean stay away. There is only one reason you would ever get close to the fight and that's if you don't have an ability like this to deal with aggression that comes at you unexpectedly (and the only caster class that doesn't have that in ARR is Thaumaturge, so the others have no excuses)!



Crash actually skipped this little bit in the post (it's between the yarzons), but I wanted to bring this up because out of the many times that I've ran through this place, this is possibly the most ideal scenario of catching all three of them in combat I've ever seen. It's two Thaumaturge Varlets and a Groundsman clustered together (that's hard to see here), but they are so densely packed together that it's an ideal spot to Shield Lob the Varlet not aggression-linked to the other two (who is usually tucked into the left wall instead), Flash at the other two (of whom usually one or both are spread out over to the right) and maintain attention from all three at the same time without dancing around for a straggler or two. Typical scenario is that one of the Thaumaturges are out of range, so when the tank gets healed, the spellcaster ends up going for the healer. Because of the compactness of this, however, that never happens.



Agro takes a moment to jump for joy at the achievement of level 20.



This is the fight that usually catches a lot of people unaware (and as you can see from Agro's gif, it did this time as well - namely the healer). The problem comes from several things: Firstly, facing four enemies of equivalent strength at the same time when, up until this point, you maybe had to deal with three at most on equal standing or four at once but with three of the others being considerably weaker. This makes the job of the healer more crucial at the start of this fight because that's a fair amount of damage very early on until the damage dealers can get their killing on. Secondly, the two spellcasters in the back row have to be held in check, and they're not exactly close together, making the judgement on when to Flash all the more critical for maintaining aggression. One step out of range, and that next heal will mean the healer now has to focus on healing themselves and the tank. Throw into the mix the fact that you have a Groundsman in there as well, which means Overpower will force you to move, and this is actually a fairly tough fight for all concerned, since the tank is unlikely to focus on more than one target, resulting in the unattentive DPS also taking a few smacks to the face if they're not careful about their attacks.

Sadly, I still don't have the recording of this fight. :eng99: I had no idea about Crash using that potion though, so that's pretty awesome/quick thinking there.



I'm playing videogames at 1:11am on a Friday morning. My insomnia makes me always ready.

Also, Mapping the Realm achievements. If you didn't get to explore Sastasha, this could be the first time that you get to see this achievement appear, though it can also be missed here if the extra rooms are left unexplored.



SPEAR! So this guy is a bit of a nuisance for melee people, if only because of that Mind Blast. Beyond that, he's honestly not much of an issue in and of himself. As already explained, the imps are the bigger annoyance for melee since they tend to get spread out to one of the small stumps dotted around the circular arena. As for the adds...



The first lot went down easily enough, but the second lot? Well I start on this Miteling. As a sidenote, they only take about three hits to be eliminated, so they honestly are pushovers at this point, but if left alone they can put pressure on the rest of the group, so it's often a good idea to get them out of the way.



The problem then is that as I dealt with that Miteling, all the rest get pulled along with Agro who runs off for the second imp! I also don't have the luxury of freely using my Sprint because I need that TP to prod things to death!



So I take my frustrations out on the first imp instead and beat the poo poo out of it. :black101:



And then the Dominator gets dominated...and I still never got to use the Limit Break. :argh:



Well...I guess on the bright side, he looks happy enough. Also, notable thing on this victory pose finish: It's actually in a preset order dependent on who joined the party in descending order (or order assembled into the Duty Finder), with the leader being first (which, as it turns out, was me). Of course, since the character you play as is "The Hero", only yours gets the close-up. This is why in Crash's screenshot, I'm behind Agro, and here Agro is behind me. Same pose, though, and the other two are in the same places as well.



Another thing to note here is that you cannot give Player Commendations to people who you joined a Duty Finder with as a group. So in this case, I cannot give a commendation to Agro, I can only give it to the Conjurer or the Arcanist. This is a preventative measure to ensure people can't really play the system and farm areas for commendations (mostly because they are linked to achievements that have some rather appealing loot tied to them). These tend to be easy enough to get if you're a good tank or a good healer, though. If you're a DPS, you'll probably only get a commendation if you step up when someone's slacking behind in their job, I tend to find.



And I think that'll do it for now. I'm gonna take a back seat again...at least until next time.

CrashScreen
Nov 11, 2012

Some technical difficulties got in the way of the run, so if anyone is up for 10.30pm GMT on Tuesday then let me know.

InwardChaos
Oct 21, 2010

Before the beginning of great brilliance, there must be chaos.
When I run Tam-Tara as a class that can stun off-gcd, I actually prefer to use it to interrupt the casting of the buff the Soulcounters put on themselves. (Indicated by the purple lightning symbol with the pointed top, which indicates it's a buff)
They will always cast it as soon as someone generates emnity on them, and if you interrupt it before the cast completes (about 1.5 seconds) they will not cast it again until 30 seconds later, perfectly matching the cooldowns of all classes with off-gcd stuns at that level. The timing is difficult to pull off, but it is possible, and once you practice enough, you can do it reliably.
This will reduce the Soulcounter's damage by about 50%. If you look at Crash's gif of the enemy using Dark Orb, you can see that before the cast, he took two separate instances of damage, 62 and 34 points. The 34 points are caused by the thunder buff, which adds additional lightning damage to each auto-attack.
Using this strategy, you can allow the healer to heal less, and contribute more dps.

TiamosLoren
Apr 20, 2013

CrashScreen posted:

Some technical difficulties got in the way of the run, so if anyone is up for 10.30pm GMT on Tuesday then let me know.

The only justifiable response I can contribute to this:

CrashScreen posted:


CrashScreen
Nov 11, 2012

That certainly didn't help when my frame rate started tanking.

e: In any case, the problem is already fixed.

CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 00:04 on Sep 20, 2016

Fister Roboto
Feb 21, 2008

CrashScreen posted:

That certainly didn't help when my frame rate started tanking.

That's an easy fix, just use provoke.

Shoopuf
Oct 18, 2010

Don't touch shoopuf. Tailss will be shlapping!

CrashScreen posted:

Some technical difficulties got in the way of the run, so if anyone is up for 10.30pm GMT on Tuesday then let me know.

Here I was hoping to have a healer up on time for a run, then time zones had to get in the way. :v: If something forestalls that run at all too, I'd like to join. Or maybe some other run.

CrashScreen
Nov 11, 2012

The run went smooth barring a couple of things I'll point out in the LP, but I'll definitely be calling in here in advance before any runs. These were just short notice since I'm traveling tomorrow.

Obligatum VII
May 5, 2014

Haunting you until no 8 arrives.

Fister Roboto posted:

Yep, and one of the most noticeable ones is for male catgirls male seekers of the sun. For them, all of the surnames the randomizer gives you are either "Tia" or the occasional "Nunh". The latter shouldn't be available if you ask me, though.

There's a lalafell NPC somewhere named Memedesu. 100% lore-friendly!

My favorite lore compatible lalafell name was something like "Popoto poto" or something along those lines (context: popoto is the Eorzean equivalent to a potato. Lalafell are often derisively/jokingly called potatoes amongst the playerbase)

TiamosLoren
Apr 20, 2013

Fister Roboto posted:

That's an easy fix, just use provoke.

I think he tried to, but when he got overpowered, all he could really do was wait for the cool down.

CrashScreen
Nov 11, 2012

Chapter XXIII-2: Exploring Gridania


Since we've not had much time to take a look at the starting city for about a third of the classes, this might be a reasonable time to do it. If you're not interested in a brief tour then you can skip this update. There'll be nothing important.



We'll be starting in New Gridania first, which is the southern side of Gridania. Gridania is my least favourite of the city states, but it's still really nice! Starting from where we've been, the Carline Canopy is the name of the Adventurers' Guild here. It was apparently named because the proprietress, Mother Miounne, liked the flower. There may or may not be more history there.



Don't go expecting to drop by to try the local cuisine, though. It's notoriously bland. Though don't go sharing that either. Folk from Gridania are a little bit averse to foreigners.



Carline Canopy is where travelers will arrive by airship, and also oversees the Jadeite Flood. A path along the south follows the body of water to the Blue Badger Gate, which takes you out to central Shroud. What's not actually apparent in A Realm Reborn is that Gridania is surrounded by water. Both the Blue Badger Gate, and the White Wolf Gate to New Gridania's west lead through a bridge into central Shroud. It's something players could witness back during 1.0's seamless transition tunnels.



The all important aetheryte is located in the center of New Gridania. It's on a nice platform above a small pond of water.



There's an NPC teaching some kids near the Aetheryte named Oswald. He's actually here to explain things about his role and the elementals. The elementals are the spiritual guardians of the Black Shroud - which locals name the Twelveswood - and ensure that the balance of nature is preserved. It was 500 years ago when the elementals granted the Gelmorrans permission to live above ground, which established Gridania.

It turns out that only special Conjurers, known as Hearers, are able to communicate with the elementals. Oswald is a conjurer himself, and I guess he's here to give the children beside him a history lesson.



North-east of the Carline Canopy is the Carpenters' Guild. They're responsible for the wonderful waterwheels around the city. It's not very visible from here, but from the airship landing bay you can see Figaga's Gift. It's a large waterwheel that's considered the biggest architectural achievement in Gridania, and it's used to power the tools of the Carpenters' Guild.



The guild leader was also responsible for the children's playground just right next to it. That's pretty neat!



This is the Adders' Nest. Depending on the thread vote, we may or may not be seeing a lot more of this. It's home to the Twin Adders, Gridania's Grand Company.



Don't forget to attune to all of the aethernet shards you can find. Attuning to them all will give you a quick teleport outside one of Gridania's gates. In the background is the Quiver's Hold, which is where the Gods' Quiver are located. It's also the Archers' Guild, for players that begin the game as an archer.



There's even a firing range just outside.





Passing through into Old Gridania from the most eastern path, Aggro comes across Gridania's market. It's split into two sections: Rosewood Stalls and Ebony Stalls, with the Shaded Bower in between.



The Shaded Bower is where adventurers can peruse the market board and interact with their retainers. Aggro won't be able to get a retainer yet.



Meanwhile, the markets look like..., well, markets. There's not much to say here. They all have items on for sale for players typically around the level range of the city-state storylines.



North is Westshore Pier, which can transport to east Shroud where Gridania's Honey Yard is. There's nothing to see there at the moment, though. It'll come a bit later.



Beside that is the Wailing Barracks, home to the Lancers' Guild. TiamosLoren has been assisting Aggro in a couple of dungeons as a lancer, and this is where Aggro can unlock that class too. The Wailing Barracks is also home to the Wood Wailers, who protect Gridania. They're functionally similar to the police for this region, with some small differences.

The barracks were apparently founded by a legendary captain of the Wood Wailers called Mistalle. We'll probably never hear about him again, though.



North of the Lancers' Guild is Black Boar Gate - a gate that leads to an inaccessible area. Nobody knows what lies beyond. The north of Old Gridania is actually kind of interesting, because there are a lot of paths to inaccessible areas. Aggro is as far north in the Old Gridania map as she can go, so let's head a little west.



...N-No, forget I said anything. My mistake.

Nemoh here has been an NPC that's been around since the A Realm Reborn launch. It took until 2015's valentine's seasonal event to confirm that she's waiting for a lost love. There's a story to that too, but sadly, that's the one seasonal event I have no record of.



Keeping to the north region, Aggro finds another inaccessible gate. It's guarded by a wood wailer that basically tells Aggro to gently caress off, since this is a gated community. Sadly, the out of bounds glitch to jump the fence was removed last year. There wasn't too much to see anyway, though I'll try to dig out the screenshots at some point.



West some more is a very short path that leads to rubble. This was where adventurers could find the Mih Khetto's Amphitheatre for some good old fashioned entertainment. It used to be accessible in 1.0, but the Calamity ruined it. Sadly, while Noes family and friends lost their lives, the Amphitheatre was fortunately moved more central in Gridania. We'll be seeing that soon. Similarly, the old conjurers' guild location is also blocked off by rubble.



As the northern path starts to wind back south, Aggro finds a wonderful sight in Apkallu Falls. According to the rumours, this used to be where creatures known as Apkallu were bred. They're a type of bird that are very similar to penguins, except they're usually located on a beach in La Noscea on Vylbrand. They're named after Mesopotamian demigods that were fishlike.



I do wonder what became of the man... I should like the chance to meet him in person.

This is also where Louisoix meditated before sending off the Warriors of Light to go fight off primals like Ifrit. Sadly, Y'shuwahe will never get her chance to meet the archon, as we learned during the Crystal Caravan's play.





South is where the Amphitheatre was moved after a lot of hard work following the Calamity. More often than not, this is where players will participate in seasonal events.



The Leatherworkers' Guild is pretty nice. It's situated above a small pond and grassy field. It's the workshop for the world famous Atelier Fen-Yll, who minimize waste to honour the elementals. Unlike most other guilds, their leader is very harsh.



We've nearly seen all that there is to offer in Gridania. Going west, Aggro crosses a bridge where a rather confusing man is. He seems to be the type to wave his knowledge around with buzzwords to show the world what a giant metaphorical cock he has. He brags about being a student of a Professor Lamberteint. That probably won't come up again.



Greatloam Growery is located in the far west of Old Gridania, and it seems to be where they grow their food. At the far back is the storage, but the area to the right and past the gate were actually inaccessible in 1.0. Strange. Let's talk to Cicely and see what we can learn about what goes on here.



Oh..., I'm sorry.

This is also where the Botanists' Guild is located. Players can pick up their scythe to not kill monsters as a Dark Knight, but to harvest materials as a gatherer.



As the tour winds to a close, Aggro bumps into a Roegadyn who basically serves as a prime example as to why the Gridanians are a bit annoyed by the cultural insensitivity of adventurers.

Truly amazin'. Ahem. Don't suppose you could tell me what an "elemental" is now, could you?



Yellow Serpent Gate takes players into north Shroud, leaving only south and west Shroud the only areas not directly accessible from Gridania, at least.





Aggro's actually been to Nophica's Altar before. It's where she was granted permission to meet with the Seedseer, Kan-E Senna.



This is also where the conjurers' guild was moved to.





The conjurers' guild hasn't changed very much since 1.0, besides moving location. It's a pretty neat place, located underneath the roots of a now shattered holy tree. It's hard to tell in a game that still currently uses voice acting sparsely, but there is meant to be a really strong silence here. The guild leader is also a Padjal, similar to the Elder Seedseer.



Heading back into New Gridania again, there's one last location to check in the west-end of the city. White Wolf Gate is currently blocked off, requiring Aggro to get permission to enter. She'll need to clear a level 30 sidequest after progressing the story to get permission. This gate leads to a different section of central Shroud, though the area is still accessible by traveling the long way through central Shroud.

Similarly to its eastern counterpart, White Wolf Gate also requires travelers to cross over the Flood. It's a shame we don't get to see much of that in A Realm Reborn.

Fister Roboto
Feb 21, 2008

Chapter VI: We Will Rock You

Last time, Freddie and his new feline friend narrowly avoided goobbuey death. This time, he kicks some former pirates into gear and gets Summerford Farms back to ship-shape.



STAELWYRN: That sea-sloth Sevrin and his lot─never around when there's work to be done! I'd sooner hire you for the sake of gettin' things done, but then the rapscallions would never learn. Round them up and let them know that Staelwyrn would like a word... And don't take “no” for an answer!



Like Staelwyrn said, it's hard to teach an old seadog new tricks, and the Summerford farmers spend most of their time boozing, brawling, and generally being pirates.



The botanists he hired to supervise them are at their wits' ends.



While pirates are gonna pirate, Sevrin here is definitely the problem child of the bunch.

SEVRIN: Tell my dear old captain not to wet his britches. I'll be along. Oh, and just so we're clear—I don't care for landlubbers. Go find the chocobo you rode in on, and ride on out.



Turning in a sidequest brings Freddie to level 10, and with that he gains 3 bonus attribute points. For almost every class, this is a no-brainer: just put the points into whatever increases your damage output. They even made this question simpler in 3.2, by making vitality increase the attack power for tank classes. But arcanists are special. For reasons that aren't obvious now, they have to choose between intelliegence and mind. Fortunately, changing your bonus points is easy and relatively cheap, so it's not a critical decision. Since mind will only help out if I want Freddie to heal, and he's still classified as a DPS class, I elect to put the points into intelligence for now.



Freddie also learns Miasma, his second damage over time (DOT) spell. Unlike Bio, this one has a cast time and some secondary effects. The malady effect isn't terribly useful right now, but the heavy effect makes mobs move slower. This gives me more time to spam Ruin before the mob gets to melee range, but Freddie is rarely at risk of dying from melee attacks, other than angry goobbues. The total potency is 300, so over the full duration it's the strongest spell available at this point. Bio is better damage per second, however, so it has higher priority on weak mobs that won't survive for the full duration.

It also does a little bit of damage up front, unlike Bio. This is an important distinction, because it means that Miasma can miss. Actions that don't do immediate damage, like Bio, always hit. Right now this isn't terribly important, but it's something to keep in mind.

Anyway, time to report back to the old bastard.



STAELWYRN: It's no fault of yours he squirmed out. I've let that worm wriggle through my fingers more times than I can count. But rest assured, the next time I see him, I'll put him squarely in the dirt, where all such worms belong.



Speaking of which...

STAELWYRN: Pains me to say, but all the gil in the world can't buy loyalty. There are some, like you, who can be trusted. But then there are others... Until now, I've had no choice but to rely on that charlatan Sevrin, even though I am full aware he's been doin' shady deals behind my back. More than once I've heard tell of improper tradin' with goblins. I wouldn't be the least surprised if that were happenin' right now. Not a bell ago, a sack of oranges vanished, as did Sevrin. I want you to find and confront the bastard for me, Quicksilver. I'm sure there's wrongdoin' afoot, so be sure to doubt anythin' that comes out of his mouth.



Down the road, Freddie quickly finds Sevrin and gives him a piece of his mind.

SEVRIN: What's this now? Staelwyrn sent you for the oranges? Huh... So the old bugger had known all this time... Argh, what does it matter anyway? Listen, you're one o' those goody-goody adventurer types, right? Go rescue me mates from those double-dealin' goblins! They're just over yonder by the bonfire. You save me mates and, by the Navigator, you'll have your sack o' scurvy snacks!



Sure enough, the gobbies are up to know good. Freddie does what adventurers do best, and that's dispensing swift violence without moral reservations.



It doesn't look like Sevrin gave me the whole story, though.



SEVRIN: S'pose I should be ashamed I couldn't clean up my own mess... But a pirate knows no shame! I've no qualms about goin' back on my word! I'm only givin' you this sack 'cause I like the cut of your jib. Take it to Ossine, an' send him my regards.



The Yellowjackets at the checkpoint are pleasantly surprised by the punctual delivery. A quick teleport back to Summerford...



STAELWYRN: Ah, this is what I was aimin' for! Looks to be all I was owed, all right. Though, I'd be tellin' you false if I claimed I had not held out more hope for Sevrin. I was even willin' to overlook the skimmin' off the top, but to sell us all short in favor of those godsforsaken goblins... You'd do well to mind yourself around that two-gil cheat. If he'd leave his own mates for dead, there's no tellin' what he'd do to you.

There's a few main story quests now without much plot significance. The farmers need more fertilizer, and apparently some pirates have been stealing their shovels.



Rhotwyda directs me to the solution to the former problem. What are aurochs, other than the mascot of a terrible blitzball team?



These ugly sons of bitches.



Adventuring is messy business sometimes.



Here are the shovel-stealing pirates. This guy has a unique name, but beyond that there's nothing special about him. He doesn't drop anything important, he's not the target of a quest or a hunt, and he's not involved in any FATEs. I don't think there are any other mobs like him. Weird.



Sevrin's still up to no good, as it seems. Better let Staelwyrn know.



STAELWYRN: It eases my mind to have your ear. You're no doubt familiar with that scoundrel Sevrin by now. Well, the schemin' scapegrace is at it again. Since that letter came for him, he's been skulkin' about in that manner he does when he's up to no good.



STAELWYRN: I've grown accustomed to his insolence, but somethin' tells me this is different. It ain't exactly damnin', but when last I had words with him, he didn't look defiant so much as hunted. I can't help thinkin' he's gone lookin' for trouble and found more than he wanted. So I was hopin' you might hunt his sorry hide down and drag it back here before it's too late. The ungrateful little cur bites me every chance he gets, but I can't quite bring myself to cut him loose. I s'pose he reminds me a bit of my younger self.

Suffice it to say, I'd rather he didn't come to a sticky end. As for how to find him, I'd try askin' Grynewyda at the aetheryte. She was the last one to see him. I daresay she'll be able to tell you where he was headed.




Off to Woad Whisper Canyon!



What a scenic place for a confrontations.





TATTOOED MAN: We were prepared to overlook the matter of your desertion on the condition that you provided us with suitable replacements. That was the agreement. Yet your latest change of heart leaves your debt to us unpaid. Few are they who betray the Serpent Reavers twice. You will not do so a third time.



TATTOOED MAN: Cowering behind your protector will only delay the inevitable. Honorless wretch...your life is all you have left. And worthless though it be, we shall take it!







Just like Crash in Thanalan, I have to face a golem alone here. It looks intimidating, but he's kind of a pushover, especially if you've been doing sidequests.



I don't even bother moving out of his AOE attacks, because all they do is damage that I can withstand. Also, the localization team had a lot of fun with this game.



Adventurers are silent murder hobos, so I'd say Freddie is as ordinary as they come.



Y'Shtola shows up too late to get kill credit, and mumbles something under her breath about early pulling.



Freddie decides that this is a good time to have somebody else's flashback.





Y'SHTOLA: But the timing of their appearance coincides all too neatly with the recent surge in Sahagin and kobold activity... Something is afoot. The question is: what?

...Could it be that the tribes are planning to summon their primals? Twelve help us if it should prove so. Limsa would be hard-pressed to keep a single primal at bay, let alone two. But all is yet speculation. I must needs find evidence.








Y'SHTOLA: And ilm by ilm, the world becomes ever more unlike itself.
It is as Louisoix foretold... The coming of chaos has rendered the laws of nature mutable, blurring the boundary between the material and aetherial planes... Little now stands between us and the primals... But they are not here yet.

“Though time be against us, hope shall ever be on our side.”




Sharlayan is yet another of the six city-states of Eorzea, although very little is known about it by the player at this point.

Five years later, Y'Shtola has apparently never changed her clothes, but she got some sweet new goggles.











Well that ties things up nicely. Back to reality...



Y'Shtola gets a call on her codex linkpearl.





Y'SHTOLA: A golem is a mindless automaton, inert save when commanded to be otherwise. Common pirates could not hope to control such a thing, so arcane are its workings. But then these tattooed wretches are no common pirates─they are the minions of the Sahagin. As to their purpose...well, I shall get to the bottom of it. But first I must escort Sevrin back to his place of employment. I daresay Staelwyrn will be wondering what has become of him. And you too, for that matter. I will bear word to him of your preservation, but I am certain he would like to thank you in person. Pray pay the man a visit.



Y'SHTOLA: I am...a naturalist of sorts, surveying the aether in the hope that it might offer up some clue as to our predicament.



SEVRIN: 'Tis a debt I can never repay. But I'll not make things worse by runnin' away. Take me to Summerford Farms, an' I'll face the consequences.



Y'SHTOLA: Until our paths next cross, farewell.

Upon returning to Summerford...



STAELWYRN: Y'shtola delivered Sevrin a bit ago. Tales of your heroic deeds precede you! The rest came shufflin' back, too─the lot of 'em sportin' the same haunted expression.

SEVRIN: It's me who's to blame for that─that an' the rest. I was once a Serpent Reaver.

STAELWYRN: ...A thrall to the Sahagin? Seven hells... Reavers may look and sound and act like pirates, but they're naught but the fishbacks' flunkies.



SEVRIN: Us pirates ain't much for laws, but there's things we won't do. We've got a code, see─but the Reavers've never followed a word of it. A few years back, they started snatchin' law-abidin' Lominsans. I'd only just taken my oath when our captain bent the knee to his new Sahagin masters. I knew I had to get away. So I crept off one night, got myself a new name, an' found myself a new home─Summerford Farms. Trouble is, secrets don't stay secret for long 'round here, an' word soon spread...all the way back to the sea. The penalty for desertion is death, but the Reavers offered me a way out instead─my freedom in exchange for my mates'.

STAELWYRN: The letter...

SEVRIN: I dunno what I was thinkin'... I wasn't bloody thinkin'. Too busy soilin' meself.



SEVRIN: Be that as it may, no deed, however good, can atone for the crime of betrayin' your brethren. I know that─I do. That's why I'm going to hand myself over to the Yellowjackets. I'll bring shame to the farm no more.

STAELWYRN: Hm. You'll hear no arguments from me. Each man must sail accordin' to his own moral compass. I just hope yours guides you back here someday. There will always be a place for you at Summerford Farms, lad.





STAELWYRN: If I could ask one more favor of you, it'd be this: tell Baderon what's happened, from start to finish. I'm certain he'd put in a good word for Sevrin if he knew the whole story. And he's one of the few people I know who the Yellowjackets'll listen to. Well, I reckon I've asked all I can possibly ask of you. Safe travels, son.



Home again, home again, jiggity-jig.



BADERON: Ah, but ye needn't worry yerself over young Sevrin. The Yellowjacket as 'ands out the punishments is a good mate o' mine. If I ask 'im nice, I reckon 'e'd be willin' to commute the lad's sentence from 'angin' to keelhaulin', kindly gent that 'e is.

...Ah, I'm only jestin' with ye! I'll see 'e's treated fair. Now, it sounds to me like ye've done everythin' ol' Staelwyrn asked o' ye an' more─justifyin' me generous finder's fee in the process. Much obliged, lad!




As a reward, Baderon lets me stay at the inn for free whenever I want. Not bad! I also get a new hat.



I guess it's an improvement over the yellow raincoat.

Fister Roboto fucked around with this message at 00:27 on Sep 27, 2016

TiamosLoren
Apr 20, 2013

Fister Roboto posted:



SEVRIN: Ah, this is what I was aimin' for! Looks to be all I was owed, all right. Though, I'd be tellin' you false if I claimed I had not held out more hope for Sevrin. I was even willin' to overlook the skimmin' off the top, but to sell us all short in favor of those godsforsaken goblins... You'd do well to mind yourself around that two-gil cheat. If he'd leave his own mates for dead, there's no tellin' what he'd do to you.

I don't think that was Sevrin who said this. Just a guess.

Fister Roboto posted:



Here are the shovel-stealing pirates. This guy has a unique name, but beyond that there's nothing special about him. He doesn't drop anything important, he's not the target of a quest or a hunt, and he's not involved in any FATEs. I don't think there are any other mobs like him. Weird.

I've always wondered what was up with this guy myself. He is, to my knowledge, the only named NPC that is not only hostile, but also has nothing attached to him whatsoever. Unless he is some carry-over from the original FFXIV, but I'm no veteran who'd know that kind of thing.

Also, I'm that weird guy that, when given points to spend as an Arcanist, I throw them at Piety, because I can never stick to either Intelligence or Mind (since I tend to use both later on). Personally I don't think it's too bad of an idea to do that, since it means less switching later on and, given how the potencies so far are fairly weak (the DPS scales higher the longer the battle with Arcanists, I feel, rather than power) it's better to be able to sustain it than it is to try and burst it. I don't know though, don't have any kind of comparison to make on that end.

Fister Roboto
Feb 21, 2008

Sometimes Sevrin likes to refer to himself in the third person, ok??

TiamosLoren posted:


Also, I'm that weird guy that, when given points to spend as an Arcanist, I throw them at Piety, because I can never stick to either Intelligence or Mind (since I tend to use both later on). Personally I don't think it's too bad of an idea to do that, since it means less switching later on and, given how the potencies so far are fairly weak (the DPS scales higher the longer the battle with Arcanists, I feel, rather than power) it's better to be able to sustain it than it is to try and burst it. I don't know though, don't have any kind of comparison to make on that end.

MP isn't going to be an issue for you at all until you get past level 50, and even then it's not worth putting points into piety.

Fister Roboto fucked around with this message at 23:48 on Sep 26, 2016

CrashScreen
Nov 11, 2012

Sorry about the lack of an actual update from me by the way. I'm just back from a trip, but I also developed a bit of a bad fever. I was hoping for that extra update to not be this week's one. It makes me pretty glad that I'm not the only one LP'ing in this thread. I'll try to have the update posted soon since I was nearly done.

Fister Roboto posted:

Off to Woad Whisper Canyon!



Fun bit of trivia: Woad Whisper Canyon used to be in a completely different part of La Noscea back in 1.0. It was in western La Noscea, just a little east of Sastasha. It used to allow players to teleport to Camp Skull Valley, which is now a Yellowjacket fortress between Aleport and the Sahagin. Either Limsans are partial to the name, or there's just some weird fuckery with the map post-Calamity.

TiamosLoren posted:

I've always wondered what was up with this guy myself. He is, to my knowledge, the only named NPC that is not only hostile, but also has nothing attached to him whatsoever. Unless he is some carry-over from the original FFXIV, but I'm no veteran who'd know that kind of thing.

1.0 used to have Notorious Monsters in it. I just figured that this guy was a holdover from that, when Square-Enix may have been planning to retain that NM concept in ARR before they used FATEs for that.

Fister Roboto
Feb 21, 2008

In tomorrow's patch, they're adding a way to hide UI elements during non-cutscene dialogue, so a lot of these screenshots should be less cluttered.

CrashScreen
Nov 11, 2012

I've still to catch up on the new patch stuff, but that's pretty great news.

JDRockefeller
Apr 26, 2010
A couple of QoL stuff in this upcoming patch I'm super excited about, including all cooldown resets on wipes and Healer Limit Break not only no longer giving weakness to players it brings back, but actually removing weakness status from them if they have it.

Schwartzcough
Aug 12, 2009

Don't tease the Octopus, kids!

I've seen that outfit before somewhere....



Mustache is a little different, though.

JDRockefeller
Apr 26, 2010
I always wondered what FF6 Cid would look like in artwork. The sprite just makes him look like he's wearing a giant yellow raincoat, but now I see he's wearing a giant yellow raincoat over his french clown outfit.

Solitair
Feb 18, 2014

TODAY'S GONNA BE A GOOD MOTHERFUCKIN' DAY!!!
Just caught up! I'm glad that someone here has the ambition to take on this game.

CrashScreen
Nov 11, 2012

Chapter XXIV: As the adventurers come to the end
This update marks the first to be recorded during patch 3.4, but there's nothing to really comment on. None of the new adjustments really impact anything we've seen so far.


Click to play: Gridania Theme (Night)



After delving into the depths of the re-purposed Gelmorran ruins, Tam-Tara Deepcroft, to clear out a bunch of cultists; Aggro returns to Gridania to talk Mother Miounne about the job being done. Looks like she's beaten her rival adventurers yet again.

Welcome back, Aggro! I'm reliably informed that your foray into the Deepcroft was a success. Bowlord Lewin asked me to pass on his thanks. I must say, it's something of a relief to be able to call upon such a capable adventurer.



While this means no shortage of work for able souls such as yourself, it also provides ample opportunity for the inexperienced to overreach themselves - with predictable consequences. Ah... as if to illustrate the point...





Over in a dark corner of the guild is what remains of Avere's party. They're the ones with the healer who needed to collect the potions and things... seem a bit grim. It looks like the party had a bit of a terrible time in Tam-Tara.

<sniff> B-But I tried! He bolted out of range before I could finish the spell! <sob> He shouldn't have been so hard-pressed in the first place... We should've done more to lighten his burden...



Paiyo Reiyo decides to storm off, while Liavinne has some parting words for Edda.

I'm leaving as well. I doubt this comes as any surprise, but I never liked you. I only suffered you for your healing, but you couldn't even do that one thing right. Cruel though this may sound, you brought this upon yourself.

This seems like a pretty bad breakup for this party. I feel pretty bad for Ed-

Oh, and by the way of some parting advice... get rid of Avere's head! Bury it, cremate it, do whatever the hells you like with it - but for gods' sakes, stop carrying it around! It's... it's just... Just get rid of it, all right?

:eyepop:







Now you see why I'm grateful for adventurers of your experience. I can send women like you on a mission without worrying that you might not return - well, not so much, at any rate.

Well, that quest has kind of ended on a really grim note. Life in Eorzea still goes on though, and Mother Miounne has more work for Aggro if she hasn't lost her appetite.

Speaking of missions, I would entrust you with another. About a bell ago, I received a message from my counterpart in Ul'dah. She seeks the services of a reliable adventurer, and you are nothing if not reliable.



It looks like Aggro's adventure abroad might be over already. It's been a little while since she was home in Ul'dah. Aggro receives three Hi-Potions for completing the quest, and can choose a role-appropriate piece of equipment for her hands.



Hi-Potions aren't actually that bad right now, and can recover 32% of Aggro's max HP with an upper limit of 340. They have a 25 second cooldown, so she won't be able to rely on them. Still, Aggro avoided becoming just like Avere with a really quick potion use in Tam-Tara, so I can't really knock these anymore.



The new gear actually fulfills a sort of weird gear role that doesn't show up very often any more. It has high defence at the expense of low magic defense, and is equippable for lancers as well as tanks. Lancers were in a very weird place at the start of A Realm Reborn.

There is one other thing to note about the equipment Mother Miounne offers, and it may have shown up before. I'd need to check the updates. These gauntlets contain materia slots. Unlike Final Fantasy VII, materia doesn't give you any new abilities or anything like that. It's a way to add additional stat bonuses to your equipment. For example, I could meld spell speed materia and piety materia to increase the rate of casting Flash and Aggro's MP pool. Not that I would, because that would be awful. Aggro won't be able to meld anything for a while yet, anyway.



The actual trip to Ul'dah is a separate quest, so Aggro will need to speak to Mother Miounne again.



You know, travel used to work the same way in FFXIV before A Realm Reborn as it did in FFXI? I'm not even sure there were airships in 1.0 (though the landing bay was there), but you had to wait for the ferry to arrive at a port before departing on it. You'd also have to wait in real time for the ferry to get you to your destination. It was possible to miss your ship. Though, you couldn't actually get random battles on them and would have to pass the time by fishing instead, from what I gather. I'm unsure as to whether this changed.

I can appreciate things like that, but I'm also really glad that A Realm Reborn doesn't do it anymore.




Click to play: Another Round

After a short journey, Aggro returns to Ul'dah where she makes her stop in the Quicksand.



Oh, it's you, Aggro! And there I was, spoutin' the same tired line! Miounne sent word that you'd be reportin' for duty. She also made a point of callin' you the adventurer of the moment. That ain't no small praise, comin' from her. But you didn't come all the way here to listen to my prattle. Doubtless you're eager to get started, so let's talk business, shall we?

I don't really show off how the story splits up the quests too often. Talking to Miounne to travel to Ul'dah, teleporting over, and speaking to Momodi is actually one complete quest. Some quests have multiple objectives, but generally you'll find it often involves just hopping to people. Talking to Momodi again starts up the next quest, which won't actually give Aggro anything useful beyond exp because the rewards are non-tank head gear.

The petitioner ought to be arrivin' any moment now...

Since Aggro dropped by without a word of warning of when she was to be expected, her client isn't actually here yet. Hopefully it won't take them too long.





Oh? Why, if it isn't my good friend Aggro! It does my spirit well to know that you are the one who will be helping us.

Mayhap you'd like to apprise Aggro of her mission?

Yes, of course. The petition in question was submitted by an acquaintance of mine at Amajina & Sons Mineral Concern. It relates to an unfortunate development at Copperbell Mines.

Don't confuse Amajina with Amalj'aa. The miners' guild would be very offended.

To be plain, giants have seized control of the place.



Alas, it seems they have managed to break through the layer of rock which served to imprison them, and now prowl the tunnels where the miners ply their trade. The creatures are justifiably angry about their treatment at the hands of our ancestors, and their presence has forced the suspension of all mining activities on the site.

It's no wonder they're angry. Didn't the Thorne Dynasty come to an end over three hundred years ago?

You know your history well, milady.

That sounds terrible. I wonder what the hecatoncheires could have done to deserve a 300+ year imprisonment?

The people of that age used the hecatoncheires to work their mines. By way of enchanted helms, they were able to bind the ferocious creatures to their will. But as is oft the way in such tales, these enchantments eventually failed, and the slaves rose up against their masters.



So let me get this straight. Aggro's task is to go slaughter a bunch of giants whose only crime was revolting against their slavemasters and then having a mine collapsed on them to imprison them. That doesn't sound like heroic work at all!



It said the mines were bein' reopened so as to meet the risin' demand for the buildin' materials. Like as not, our boys dug a bit too deep and freed the giants. Gods... to think the poor creatures are still alive an' kickin' after three centuries... That's a long time to nurse a grudge. They must be seethin'...

Welp, I guess we better to go murder the poor creatures. We can probably chalk this up to yet another tragedy caused by the Calamity.



I'll not deny that the mission will be rife with danger, but our need is great. And so I beg you: put an end to this sorry business.

Aggro nods.

Gods bless you! I feared you might have reservations, but I assure you it is for the best.



There's just one last task before Aggro departs for Copperbell Mines, and fortunately, that task is right behind her.



It turns out that Painted Mesa doesn't really have anything new to say, but he's a worker at the mines and so briefs Aggro anyway. They all actually already knew about the hecatoncheirs, but assumed the giants were already dead. It must have been quite a surprise when they broke open a cavern with a bunch inside.



Aggro is actually going to try a different mode of transport today. She's not actually ridden on a chocobo yet, and this is a Final Fantasy game. That needs fixed. Chocobos become accessible from level 10, so this is overdue. A rental chocobo will only last her ten minutes, and will cost 80 gil. Ten minutes is enough time to actually get to Gridania, but isn't enough to really explore the world. There are other regions outside of the three we've visited.

Also, I want my money back because all chocobos share the same speed. That was some false advertising.




Click to play: Rental de Chocobo

Rented chocobos actually have their own theme music. We won't be hearing the regular chocobo theme for a little while, though Aggro is at least at the level requirement for one. Unlike a chocobo porter, which takes you to your destination, you are in full control of a rented chocobo.



The real reason I'm using a chocobo here is because I actually forgot to attune to the aetheryte in western Thanalan. I... I know, okay? Look. I'm an incredibly forgetful person. It's a problem, and that'll resurface again in the next update.



The journey isn't so bad. It's a little bit over a minute before I've crossed the bridge into Horizon. While Ul'dah has three gates, the chocobokeep is only located next to the main one for central Thanalan. I have to travel from there, so it might have even been a little quicker to walk here. But then I wouldn't have been able to ride on a chocobo. I'm fairly certain most of the world outside of Eorzea doesn't have them.



You can jump on them too, and they do a neat little animation that looks like they're trying to fly. Chocobos can't fly though. What was that about Heavensward?

Another little bit of chocobo trivia: they weren't actually originally rideable in 1.0. It took a later patch in that game to add them, and this was another contributing factor the game feeling unfinished. There were chocobokeeps, but no ability to ride them. Also, the Japanese version used the kanji for horse(馬) and bird(鳥) instead of the katakana for chocobo, which stirred up a bit of a fuss in Japan. 1.0 was a fascinating bad game with lots of weird decisions and controversies.



Soundtrack ends.

The chocobo phases out of existence when Aggro disembarks it. Poor thing.



Outside the entrance to the Copperbell Mines are Isildaure and Alianne. Good to see that they're doing fine. Edda's party is no longer competing, but I don't see Dolorous Bear. Knowing him, he's probably already rushed inside because he's lost to Aggro twice already. Let's see what the last remaining party of adventurers has to say before we enter.



Adventuring has ever been a quest for self-betterment through challenges freely faced, and ever shall it remain so. As an adventurer becomes more experienced, he will naturally acquire a love of justice, and an understanding of the spirit of self-sacrifice. I sense a light within you, young one, and it tells me that you are destined for greatness.

I don't know what you're talking about Isildaure. Aggro just seems to enjoy murder. Well, let's speak to Alianne. Maybe she might have some info on this dungeon.



Another party down. :smith:



We are all our own worst critics, and our desire to better past achievements can rob us of good sense. Thus do we become more given to recklessness. While it is important to have goals, one must not fixate upon them to the exclusion of all else. Do so, and one will surely pay the price, as Dolorous Bear and his comrades did this day.

It sounds like Aggro might have been indirectly responsible for Dolorous' death. That's a real shame. He liked to talk, but he was a cool guy roegadyn.



Aggro may need a moment before she steps over his corpse to murder a bunch of angry giants revolting against their slavemasters' descendants. Actually, do the hecatoncheirs even know how long they've been down there? This game has gotten kind of dark.





The hecatoncheirs are named after the Hekatonkheires from an early stage of Greek mythology. Their name basically means hundred-hands, and they were three giants that surpassed even the Titans. They later guarded the gates of Tartarus - which was the prison for the titans (and admittedly, a bit more than that). Also, Hecatoncheirs was the name of a Final Fantasy XIII summon or something, but gently caress that game.

The FFXIV version only has two hands, as we'll see later, but this certainly sets them up as something rather intimidating and dangerous. Perhaps Aggro should be careful, lest she become like Dolorous Bear?

CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 16:27 on Mar 19, 2017

CrashScreen
Nov 11, 2012

Sorry that I've taken so long to get an update. It's been a busy two weeks, but I'll have the next update out before the usual time to make up for it.

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Solitair
Feb 18, 2014

TODAY'S GONNA BE A GOOD MOTHERFUCKIN' DAY!!!

CrashScreen posted:

Sorry that I've taken so long to get an update. It's been a busy two weeks, but I'll have the next update out before the usual time to make up for it.

No problem. In the meantime, I found something that veteran players will appreciate:

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