Final Fantasy XIV - A Let's Play Reborn! - The Something Awful Forums

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CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

LATEST UPDATE (10/04): Chapter 88: Dressed for Conquest

"Final Fantasy XIV doesn't count because it's an MMO." - some person on the internet, probably.

Final Fantasy XIV was originally released in 2010 and it bombed hard. Things were so bad that Square-Enix had to issue a formal apology, while replacing the director with Naoki Yoshida. A not-sequel for the game was planned to replace it, named Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. While FFXIV: ARR was in development, Yoshida's team developed the finale to the original's storyline, culminating in an apocalyptic event before the severs ended. The original game even ended on a pretty rad cutscene. Seriously, check it out.

A Realm Reborn itself lives up to the name. It actually feels like Final Fantasy, and it's actually a pretty good game!

It's been five years since the Garlean Empire inadvertently released Bahamut from his prison, devastating the realm of Eorzea in an event now known as The Calamity. The realm is finally beginning to rebuild, but its people still aren't out of the woods yet. The Garlean Empire looks to move once more, and local beast tribes continue to try and summon their deities despite the cost to the land.

With all the pressure on their forces, the city-states of Eorzea look to adventurers for support. Among those is an adventurer and their allies who may just bring a new era to the land.

A lot of people will undoubtedly miss out on FFXIV because it's an MMO, so I've been wanting to do an SSLP to share it with everyone. I won't really be covering the sidequests immediately, but at the moment we'll be making our way through the original release from 2013 (with all the additional improvements since). The game has tons of content, so I'm open to making this an LP megathread.

Admittedly, I've tried to LP this game before. It was back in a bad thread in 2014, but there's no need to care about that anymore. All of the old updates have been rewritten for the thread, and I'm looking to re-record and update them again with some improvements (namely, the larger dialogue bubble the game now offers) and our new main character.

- No untagged spoilers. Context is also really important when tagging them, so please provide that too!
- In the spirit of the game being an MMO, you're welcome to contribute your own LP. Please just make sure not to progress beyond the main one.
- I want this LP to be as interesting and helpful as possible, so I'm open to feedback.
- FFXIV is chock-full with references, but be careful not to spoiler the other games in the series. There's almost always an LP for each game, and this game has served as a gateway for people to get into Final Fantasy. Tagged spoilers with context is totally fine though.

CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 17:29 on Oct 11, 2020

# ¿ Jun 3, 2016 12:22

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 19:35

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

The city of Ul'dah is a prosperous city located in the desert region of Thanalan. It is home to merchants and conmen. The city storyline serves as Crash's origin story. These chapters cover the original thread, and back when the game was on patch 2.3, which is before the Heavensward expansion was released.
Chapter 0: Prelude
Chapter I: A Realm Reborn
Chapter II: Close to Home (Ul'dah)
Chapter III: Way of the Gladiator

(Gladiator Lv. 1 Quest)
Chapter IV: Kicking the Hornet's Nest

(Gladiator Lv. 5 Quest)
Chapter V: Under the Sultantree
Chapter VI: Spriggan Cleaning
Chapter VII: Way Down in the Hole

Crash's adventuring is slowly bringing him more fame as he spreads his influence throughout Thanalan. The Ul'dah storyline sees the tutorial for players new to the genre concluded, covering character levels 1 - 15. This is where the new thread began. The game was on patch 3.3, which is a huge difference to 2.3 given that a whole expansion has since released.
Chapter VIII: Ul'dah's Most Wanted

(Gladiator Lv. 10 Quest)
Chapter IX: Last Letter to Lost Hope
Chapter X: Storms on the Horizon
Chapter XI: Secrets and Lies
Chapter XIII: Aether You'll Explode or I'll Game Over (Bonus: 1.0 Story Summary

)
Chapter XIV: Towering over the Sultana
Chapter XV: Feast and Famine
Chapter XVI: Assisting Aldis is like killing two birds with one shield

(Gladiator Lv. 15 Quest)

Aggro's fame reaches new heights as the Flame Commander from Ul'dah's Grand Company makes her his envoy. Aggro must travel to the other members of the Eorzean Alliance with a message. It's here that her horizons are expanded, and there may be some dungeon exploration too. Midway through, the game hits patch 3.4.
Chapter XVII: I'm on a Highwind to hell
Chapter XVIII: My new friends are Grand Company
Chapter XIX: Curiosity killed the Coeurl

Chapter XX: Chasing Madison

(Bonus: Class Summary

)
Chapter XXI: Aggro will become A Beauty Reborn

Chapter XXIII: Terror of the Deepcroft

(With guest: TiamosLoren.)
Chapter XXIV: As the adventurers come to an end Patch 3.4
Chapter XXV: What Can Go Wrong

(With guest: TiamosLoren).
Chapter XXVI: A Story Reborn

Chapter XXVII: The Alacran Ambush

(Gladiator Lv. 20 Quest)
Chapter XXVIII: Aggro Takes Cooking Classes

(Culinarian Lv. 1 Quest)
Chapter XXIX: Aggro Gathers Her Thoughts

(Fisher Lv. 1 Quest & Botanist Lv. 1 Quest)

As a fresh recruit for the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, Aggro Crag is tasked with leading the investigation to determine if there has been any Primal involvement in the recent disappearances in eastern Thanalan, which have been linked to the Amalj'aa Primal Ifrit.
Chapter XXX: Retaining a Little Bit of Progression
Chapter XXXI: Meet the Team
Chapter XXXII: A Proper Burial
Chapter XXXIII: Dressed to Deceive
Chapter XXXIV: Life, Materia, and Becoming the Ultimate Iron Chef

(Culinarian Lv. 5 Quest)
Chapter XXXV: Lord of the Inferno
Chapter XXXVI: The Bowl of Embers

Chapter XXXVII: Concerning the Tempered

Aggro's reputation has soared since she slayed the Amalj'aa Primal, Ifrit. Now, the Grand Companies of Eorzea are tripping over each other to have her swear an oath and join them. This leads to a new assignment for the Scions of the Seventh Dawn: Aggro must investigate the Sylph beast tribe and determine whether their ability to summon the Primal, Ramuh, is a threat to Gridania. This was recorded during game patch 3.5 and 3.56, which was the final content patch for the Heavensward expansion.
Chapter XXXVIII: A Hero in the Making (Part 1)
Chapter XXXIX: A Hero in the Making (Part 2)
Chapter XL: The Company You Keep
Chapter XLI: My Little Chocobo

Chapter XLII: Hello Halatali

Chapter XLIII: On Holy Ground

(Gladiator Lv. 25 Quest)
Chapter XLIV: Sylph-management
Chapter XLV: First Contact
Chapter XLVI: Spirited Away
Chapter XLVII: Into the Beast's Maw

Chapter XLVIII: Believe In Your Sylph

After being introduced to Lahabrea, Aggro's new investigation takes her throughout Eorzea on the hunt for information on the Ascian. This was recorded right after Stormblood (patch 4.0) was released.
Chapter XLIX: Highbridge Times (Bonus: Stormblood Changes

)
Chapter L: Meeting with the Resistance
Chapter LI: Big Trouble in Little Ala Mhigo
Chapter LII: Dodo It Yourself

(Culinarian Lv. 10 & 15 Quest)
Chapter LIII: Terror at Fallgourd
Chapter LIV: Skeletons in Her Closet

Chapter LV: The Rematch

(Gladiator Lv. 30 Quest)
Chapter LVI: Paladin's Pledge

(Paladin Lv. 30 Quest) (Bonus: My Feisty Little Chocobo

)

Returning to work for the Scions, Aggro must now hunt down yet another Primal. This time, the Kobolds are summoning Titan, and it's up to her to stop them. Recorded during Stormblood's patches 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4.. Look, it was a difficult time.
Chapter LVII: The Lominsan Way
Chapter LVIII: There and Back Again
Chapter LIX: The Things We Do for Cheese

Chapter LX: What Do You Mean You Forgot the Wine?
Chapter LXI: A Final Ignominy
Chapter LXII: Lord of Crags

Titan has been defeated, but some foreboding news lies waiting back in the Waking Sands. Recorded during patch 4.4.
Chapter LXIII: All Good Things
Chapter LXIV: All Good Things (Part 2)
Chapter LXV: Lost Honor

(Paladin Lv. 35 Quest)
Chapter LXVI: You Can't Take It With You
Chapter LXVII: Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie

The time to mourn is over as the world continues on. The Ixal have summoned Garuda, but the way is blocked by her powerful hurricanes. Together with Alphinaud and Cid, Aggro must search the frozen wastes of Coerthas in the hopes that they may find Cid's lost airship. Recorded during patch 4.5 and after the Shadowbringers (5.0) release.
Chapter LXVIII: Cold Reception
Chapter LXIX: The Rose and the Unicorn
Chapter LXX: The Talk of Coerthas (Bonus: Shadowbringers Changes

)
Chapter LXXI: Road to Redemption
Chapter LXXII: The Final Flight of the Enterprise
Chapter LXXIII: Ye of Little Faith
Chapter LXXIV: Power Struggles

(Paladin Lv. 40 Quest)
Chapter LXXV: Influencing Inquisitors
Chapter LXXVI: The Heretic Among Us
Chapter LXXVII: In Pursuit of the Past

Level 36 Quests - Observatorium & Skyfire Locks Sidequests

Now that Aggro's party have gotten the Enterprise, it's finally time to take on Garuda. First, though, some overdue rest. Recorded during patch 5.1 and 5.2.
Chapter LXXVIII: Into the Eye of the Storm
Chapter LXXIX: History Repeating
Chapter LXXX: The Curious Case of Giggity
Chapter LXXXI: The Lady of the Vortex
Chapter LXXXII: The Howling Eye

Chapter LXXXIII: Free Wing Night

The Primal situation has been resolved�at least for now. All that remains is the restoration of the Scions, and that requires taking the fight to the Empire. Recorded during patch 5.2, prior to the A Realm Reborn MSQ changes.
Chapter LXXXIV: Reclamation
Chapter LXXXV: Monumental Hopes
Chapter LXXXVI: Revenant's Toll
Chapter LXXXVII: Poisoned Hearts

(Paladin Lv. 45 Quest)
Chapter LXXXVIII: Dressed for Conquest

CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 17:29 on Oct 11, 2020

# ¿ Jun 3, 2016 12:22

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

Final Fantasy XIV has a lot of extra stuff outside of the main story. Job storylines, seasonal events, and other miscellaneous content can be found here. Some additional content will be covered by other LPers, which you can find in the Contributions post below.

Seasonal events will occur periodically over time. Some events are an annual event, while others are one-offs.

2013 - All Saints' Wake (SSLP Post)
2014 - Moonfire Faire (with 2013 bonus)
2014 - All Saints' Wake
2016 - The Rising: Rising Up to a Different Challenge
2016 - The Rising pt.2: Letting amateurs appear on stage can lead to a Calamity
2017 - The Rising

Usually an update in the LP, but posted here to be found more easily too.

I. FFXIV 1.0 Summary (sans Calamity)
II. Classes Overview
III. Stormblood Changes
IV. Shadowbringers Changers

CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 15:17 on Aug 7, 2020

# ¿ Jun 3, 2016 12:22

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

This is where you can find contributions from others in the thread. Will likely contain spoilers up to the current update in the LP.

Fister Roboto shows us what it's like to start in Limsa Lominsa and play the Arcanist class.

Chapter I: Now I'm Here
Chapter II: Play the Game
Chapter III: I'm in Love with my Carbuncle
Chapter IV: It's a Hard Life
Chapter V: Cat Bottomed Girls
Chapter VI: We Will Rock You
Chapter VII: Another One Bites the Dust
Chapter VIII: Seaside Rendezvous
Chapter IX: Ogre Battle

TiamosLoren breaks some new ground with Miner and studies the science found in the Alchemist' Guild as well.

Mining Episode 1: Rocky Starts

TiamosLoren set up a playlist to give readers the Gridania/Lancer perspective of the story. Contains commentary, and is broader than just the class and city-state. Gets updated whenever the LP catches up to another one of his videos.

Chapter 23-B - TiamosLoren also did a write up about our Tam-Tara Deepcroft dungeon run.

CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 03:17 on Jan 13, 2019

# ¿ Jun 3, 2016 12:22

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

Now that I'm also done with the very first update in the new thread, I can finally make one particular change! I've wrote a backlog of updates already, but Crash's name has been bugging me for a while now. It just feels really awkward writing, and like I'm speaking in third person. Originally, I was going to just change it, but I decided it might be more interesting to put it to a vote. I'm probably also going to let people vote on the race they want the protagonist to be, if anyone would be interested in that too?

The rules for the voting on the name for the protagonist in this LP are simple:
- Share whatever names you think are funny, clever, or interesting for an adventurer. You can also vote to keep the name. The name with the most votes will be selected.
- Needs to be a forename and surname. Both must be no no larger than 15 characters each, and can only total a maximum of 20 characters together.
- Whatever works so long as it won't get me banned in the game. Try your luck if you want. A GM visit might be a fun little bonus.
- The name has to be available on Midgardsormr. This means no Viewing Cutscene, no Anna Banana'chan, and no Prostate Puncher to name a few. If you're unsure, just share it anyway!
- Make sure to post the name in bold!

I'll note that for a while, screenshots will probably still say Crash Screen. I'm bad at photoshop, and I don't think it matters too much since we're all in on the change anyway. At the very least I'll be making sure it's at least changed in dialogue (including in screenshots) even if it's not changed in the party list for a while.

I originally had a vote in the update, but I figure this might actually be better left outside of it for now.

Edit: Voting closed.

CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 02:36 on Jun 10, 2016

# ¿ Jun 3, 2016 18:47

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

I'm pretty down with changing race if everyone's voting for me to do that too. The change might take a little longer, since I've got a bit of extra footage from before the hiatus. We can pretend that's due to the one month subscription veteran reward, right?

The next update is going to be short like this one, since it's just a self-contained gladiator quest. I might just post it in the middle of the week, so I'll let voting continue after that update.

Obligatum VII posted:

I kind of went on an FF14 hiatus a ways back, might just get back into the game soon. Which server were you playing on, again? Was it the main goon one of Excalibur?

I'm playing in the sever equivalent of the sticks. It's nice and quiet for a thing like this, and I have friends there to help, but I heavily recommend you play most of your game on Excalibur. I've got a character on there as well, even if I'm not on it much. You'll be able to get groups for full party content way easier.

# ¿ Jun 5, 2016 03:21

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

Obligatum VII posted:

I wasn't about to abandon my existing, if now rather dusty, character on Excalibur. I was just going to volunteer to to help out with dungeons during the LP and such if you did happen to be there.

Ah, my bad. In that case, the server I'm playing on is Midgardsormr. I'm also in the "goon FC" for the server, even if it's not just goons in there (server isn't populated enough).

# ¿ Jun 5, 2016 13:03

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

Chapter VIII: Ul'dah's Most Wanted
After getting a bit of good shut eye in the Inn, it's probably time to go catch up with the Gladiators' Guild and see what's going on and if they have any work for Crash to do. Last time, guild leader Mylla had Crash run around scaring away miscreants from town as part of my training. While doing this, he ran into an ex-member of the guild named Aldis. Momodi asked Crash to keep his run in quiet from Mylla, as it turns out that the pair seem to have some history.

Music: Sultana Dreaming

Back in the coliseum that players can't participate in, Mylla is waiting with a new task now that Crash is level 10.

There have been several violent murders recently, the victims of which were all Hyuran men. Based on the multiple spear wounds found upon the bodies of the deceased, we believe that lancers are responsible for the crimes. I fear it is only a matter of time before one of our own is targeted.

I'm glad to see that we're privy to what should likely be Brass Blade information. Y'know? The private force that's basically Ul'dah police?

I have just received reports of foreign lancers skulking about in Stonesthrow. Considering the circumstances, I find it likely that these are our culprits. Go to Stonesthrow, and speak with any you find in the area. With luck, we may find these lancers before they strike again.

That's some seriously vague information that she's sending Crash to go kill people over! It sounds like his task is to go find anyone with a spear in Thanalan and poke them to death with his sword.

Music: To The Sun

Stonesthrow is just outside Ul'dah. It's a small camp for refugees who weren't permitted residence within the walls of Ul'dah. Crime is kind of rife here, but they aren't even at the bottom of the barrel. There's much worse further up north in the central Thanalan zone.

It's not long before Crash finds a cowering gladiator. But who is he cowering from?

Oh.

The lancers will use a combination of Feint and Heartstopper. Feint was a Lancer ability that players can learn, and inflicts Slow on the target. The player version is now an off-cooldown melee ability that reduces the target's physical attributes. Since the enemy's version is still the regular weaponskill, there's no indication of it coming and I just have to put up with an increased cooldown on Crash's actions. Slow only affects the global cooldown, meaning that his auto-attack is unaffected. Considering that auto-attack contributes about ~20% of damage in this game? Slow could be worse. The other attack, Heartstopper, is a frontal AoE that lets me dodge it. Heartstopper does about three times the damage of their regular attacks, which means that it still doesn't hurt.

The fight is pretty easy, and Crash kills them both without breaking a sweat. It's certainly a good thing that they attacked him, otherwise he'd be slaughtering random, and possibly innocent lancers right about now.

Looks like Aldis is at the center of this, and those lancers were freelancers. Someone seems to really want him dead. We'll need to report this to Mylla, much to Momodi's disappointment.

Music: Sultana Dreaming

Thankfully!

But what brought Duskwight freelancers all the way from the Black Shroud? And why were they murdering Hyuran men with swords?

Momodi asked us not to tell Mylla about Aldis, but I guess we have no choice? Fortunately, we don't have to say anything, as another Gladiator rushes in and interrupts.

First Sword!

What is it?

Lancers, First Sword! A gang of 'em, hidin' in the tunnel south of Black Brush Station!

Bruce, accompany Crash. See that he doesn't die.

Well, I can't keep the bloke from gettin' skewered, but I'll patch him up best I can.

You have your orders, gladiators! Send those freelancers to the Seventh Gate!

Music: To The Sun

The tunnel Mylla was talking about is located almost directly across from the main entrance to Ul'dah. There's two tunnels obscured by the giant rock with a lot of greenery, and the one we want to enter is where the railway tracks lead.

The path to it is rather scenic, and not very dangerous despite being on a railway track. There aren't any aggressive enemies nearby. I've mentioned it before, but that larger flower there is pretty cool at night when it glows.

Inside the cave is the marker that we need to reach in order to continue the quest. It's a sign that another duty is coming.

Music: A Fine Death

This quest is basically the tutorial for Gladiator's party role: tanking. At the start of the duty, three Lancers will swarm in and attack Bruce. Crash's goal here is to draw their attention away from Bruce, who will heal Crash when things get dangerous.

While it's not important to know it in depth yet, this is finally the opportunity to discuss enmity. Every action produces enmity equal to the damage dealt, and each enemy has its own separate enmity table which tracks the values for each party member. As the name suggests, an enemy will target the player or character that's scored highest on its enmity table. It's not a concept you tend to find in a Final Fantasy game, but it's pretty important in an MMO. Of course, all this means that the hardest hitting player would normally be under threat. This is when the Savage Blade additional effect comes in.

Until now, we've used the more potent Riot Blade. While it inflicts less damage, Savage Blade receives a ~~3.5x~~ ~~4.5x~~ 6.3x enmity modifier. Going back to 100 potency being the equivalent of 100% damage, the enmity generated is the equivalent of a ~~700~~ 1323 potency attack with the combo bonus. We'll be referring to this as enmity potency, or ePotency, from here on as it's important to separate it from the actual damage dealt.

Now, Savage Blade is a single-target weaponskill. It won't do Bruce any good, at least at this moment. This is when our until-now ignored Flash comes in handy. While it inflicts no damage, it generates an ePotency of ~~600~~ 1200 over a wide area. You actually produce more enmity by spamming Flash (2400 ePotency in 2 global cooldowns) versus Fast Blade -> Savage Blade (1483 ePotency). Obviously, we want to actually do damage when we can, so Flash is simply for establishing and sustaining enmity over a large group of enemies. That's what this duty is mostly about. Two or three casts of the spell will do the trick.

Since Flash costs MP, it actually has a little bit of neat synergy with Riot Blade. When Riot Blade gets a combo bonus, it restores MP equal to about half the cost of a single Flash. If you can keep on top of the enmity tables then Savage Blade isn't really necessary on groups. For extra security, it's best to focus on the same target that Bruce is as that'll avoid him facing their hostility.

Another group spawn south down the tracks, targeting Bruce again. With a couple of Flashes, they're Crash's.

Normally, Crash doesn't take very much damage. With a duty catering specifically towards our class choice, the content can be tuned actually have a threat. We've not seen his HP drop so much before. Fortunately, Bruce's heals will keep Crash alive without issue--provided we keep the enemy off of him. Bruce's heals also generate enmity. I'll get into it in more detail on how exactly that works much later, but Crash will still need to use flash every once in a while to avoid losing any of them to Bruce.

After defeating the second wave, a captain will spawn in. He's essentially the boss for this fight. Continuing the theme of teaching you how to tank through trial by fire, just holding the Captain's hate won't necessarily be enough to protect Bruce. Another common mechanic in MMO tanking is the cleave. Cleaves hit anything in front of the attacker.

In fact, this is just a regular Heartstopper like the lancers from before. Functionally though, this effectively means that boss should only be facing the tank. Everyone else should be to the boss' side or rear. Of course, since Bruce is a dumbass NPC, he won't budge.

By drawing the boss' facing direction away from facing Bruce, we ensure that his heart isn't put to rest. He's kind of blind and can't see the indicator (neither can most players in later party content). Bruce wasn't alone in his inability to see the indicator, though. In the beta version of the game, this boss didn't actually have an indicator either. Too many players were unaware that they could avoid it, so he was given one.

The duty is cleared when the boss finally goes down. With that, it looks like Crash's job is done. It's time to head back to the coliseum and report to Mylla.

Music: A New Hope

You have shown tremendous growth since you joined us...and though it pains me to do this, you have earned the right. I grant you leave to join other guilds. You may even join the guilds of other nations, if that is your desire. Before you head off, I wanted to ask you - Bruce believes the freelancers were out for a bounty. What is your opinion on this, Crash?

We're given two choices here. Either option results in the final dialogue box for the quest, so it doesn't really have very much importance and is only really there for flavour.

They were tracking a man named Aldis.

Aldis!? Are you certain that this is the name you heard!? He's...he's alive? But how...?

Their motives died with them.

I see... Mayhap it is best that we put this sordid affair behind us. Still, I cannot help but wonder...

Right. Crash has done his duties as a gladiator, so it's time to hit the road again. However, now that we've unlocked the armory system, I figure that it's probably best to explain it a little.

Completing your first level 10 class quest unlocks the armoury system, which is basically the ability to swap classes. Unlike most MMOs, but rather familiar to Final Fantasy; players can freely swap class almost whenever they want. The only real restriction is that you can't change class in a duty or in battle.

Basically, your current class is determined by the equipped weapon. A Gladiator uses a one-handed sword with a shield, while an Archer uses a bow. Each of them have their own level, starting from 1. This means that if Crash unlocked another class, he could alternate between his level 11 Gladiator and level 1 whatever class. I like to explain it as Crash's skill with those weapons, though that doesn't account for values like HP changing, but you get the idea. What's also cool is that gathering and crafting are also separate classes, such as Fisher or Goldsmith. ~~There's also a cross-class system for equipping abilities you learn on other classes. I won't get to any of this right now, though.~~

We'll be sticking to Gladiator for now. I won't dabble in other combat classes until around level 30, and I'll leave the crafting and gathering classes up to a vote in the thread once they're all available. Unlocking a new class requires access to its guild, which means only 1/3rd of the options are accessible at the moment. They also have their own storyline, and I'd rather not have too many plot threads hanging at once. In the next update, we'll be continuing with the main scenario.

In the mean time, this was a short update, so let's take another look at something else we've unlocked for reaching level 10. Up over in Horizon, where we did our leves, is another NPC called Lost Rabbit. They're the Battlewarden for Horizon, and will unlock a new content type that will also probably not show up again. I might cover Guildhests again eventually, who knows?

This is our first time looking at the duty finder, but we'll probably cover it in more depth later. Instead, know that this lists all multiplayer duties and is where players will be matched up with others. If you already have a full party, then you'll use it to access the content from anywhere. Today, we'll be doing two leves designed to teach players to play together prior to the dungeons teaching us how to play party roles.

Once an instance of the duty is created and the party has been matched, we'll get a confirmation window. Withdrawing will run the risk of a penalty, preventing us from trying to queue up again for 30 minutes. Some players are weird, and queue up to things only to withdraw and throw the matching repeatedly. This is to stop that. Just don't go to the bathroom while you're waiting on a low queue. Murphy's Law and all that.

New Music: Brothers in Arms

In the first Guildhest, we're faced with two separate enemy groups. The idea is that the tank will grab the group and everyone will jump on them, but that's not going to happen. For a start, the second tank (Marauder) ~~doesn't even get an AoE attack for sustaining group enmity until a later level~~ can now use their Flash equivalent at this level. Secondly, each class performs similarly at a low level, so there's not much point. Instead, feel free to have a free for all. Who cares? It's a level 10 duty.

There's really not much to say about the monsters here. They die fast, and they can't withstand four adventurers beating on them. It's even possible to grab both groups and beat them up without breaking a sweat.

Defeating both groups will spawn the Elder Goobbue and I guess his minions? This can be a little bit more hairy if you're not careful, and there's two ways to handle it. The first is to get a player with range to pull one of the smaller groups clumped next to him. The second is to gently caress everything and murder them all at once.

Being the actual boss for this duty, the Goobbue should outlast everyone else. It'll occasionally do a higher damage frontal-cone AoE called Moldy Sneeze, which matches its description, but otherwise it's just an HP pool to burn.

Since this is our first time clearing the duty, Crash is rewarded with bonus experience and gil. The bonus completely overshadows what we actually get, and it means that they might sometimes be worth the effort of clearing at least once. The bonus is actually marked against our classes, rather than Crash himself. This means we can get the bonus for our other classes too, once we unlock them.

Guildhests unlock sequentially, meaning we'll get a new one whenever we clear the previous. Though, we only actually get two for every five levels, with 45 serving as the final two hests. Since we're here, let's clear this new one as well.

This guildhest is all about the boss battle. The idea is that additional enemies, or adds, will spawn in through-out the fight, and our party has to learn that it's important to kill the adds first. We're going to go ahead and ignore those. Seriously, they actually serve more as a distraction than an actual threat. This is a bad lesson, much like the previous hest actually.

For some reason, our healer was silly and wanted to heal. It's actually pointless even bothering with anything more than piling on the damage on the boss. If you ignore the adds that spawn (~~and make sure to use Cleric Stance as a healer, to swap your Mind and Intelligence stats~~ they've changed how this works), then this boss will die quicker than the tank will. Crash will still want to keep the attention of the Bockman though, since there's actually a chance he'll murder someone before he actually drops dead.

To add to that, the adds will focus their attention on the tank if the healer doesn't heal either. It's unnecessary here. Trust me. It's especially unnecessary because they're a Scholar, which doesn't need to heal at all in low level content.

And we're done with the Guildhests, most likely for good. They'll show up again later on, but ultimately only as a footnote to other content. Anyway, the next update will begin a new story arc in which we'll experience lots of filler between events that finally setup the main storyline for Final Fantasy XIV.

Chapter Summary

Guildhests are actually based on old 1.0 content, which explains why they're fairly redundant. There were locations in the sprawling, huge and bland maps of 1.0 that served as locations for a number of Behests. In there, up to fifteen players would attempt to tackle a target. You'd have to wait thirty minutes between each for a Battlewarden to show up at a camp, though. In fact, they're similar to FATEs as well.

Guildhests still retain some element of that. Speaking to a Battlewarden can let you enter with a group, and the locations for the hests are actually open world locations. The first took place in the La Noscea region, governed by the city of Limsa Lomisa. The second took place in the Black Shroud region, which is governed by Ul'dah's neighbour, Gridania.

CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 00:45 on Jul 7, 2017

# ¿ Jun 8, 2016 01:25

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

e: Voting closed.

CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 02:37 on Jun 10, 2016

# ¿ Jun 8, 2016 01:48

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

Figured I'd drop a new post in here to share that we now have our new protagonist for the LP: Aggro Crag.

I hope I got the look right!

There's just a tiny bit of old footage left to wrap up before she'll finally be making her appearance in the LP. The next step is to enter the closing arc for the Ul'dah story quests. Now that I've wrapped up the loose ends from the hiatus, I'll be posting another update in the next day or two that'll finally start moving the story forward more. In just about a couple of updates, we'll be all caught up with the 1.0 story! There's an explanation coming, which serves as a good break point to replace the lead.

I've also made a change to my rule on spoilers. It's a little less stiff compared to what I originally had in the last thread. This isn't Star Wars we're discussing here, no matter how much Final Fantasy sometimes wishes it was. I hope that helps!

# ¿ Jun 10, 2016 02:46

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

SSNeoman posted:

im triggered

Well. I think I know how I want to handle the first dungeon now.

HenryEx posted:

Lemme just say i will be extremely miffed if we don't get video footage of the first queue primal trials.

For what it's worth, I'll be adding a video of these type of fights at the end of an update. I'll still be doing them in the regular screenshot format to explain them though.

# ¿ Jun 10, 2016 22:05

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

Now that I've resolved the leftover stuff from the last thread, I can finally make some progress in the story. It's been a little while and a whole thread hiatus since I'd last been here in the Adventurer's Guild, so I'm going to quickly recap the point in all of this.

Chapter IX: Last Letter to Lost Hope

With his leads all dried up, it's time for Crash to return to the Adventurer's Guild to look for more work. The story up until this point has been very much "an MMO story". As an adventurer fresh off the carriage, Crash has registered at the Ul'dah Adventurers' Guild to find work and make a name for himself. The motivation is entirely up to the player, and the story has been relatively sparse. The only real element of a continuity is Thancred, who seems to have a bigger job that Crash keeps winding up involved in. We'll be catching up to that one eventually, once we're effectively done with this tutorial.

While we're still in the introductory portion of the game, the next arc will ultimately lead us into Final Fantasy XIV's actual story�when it begins to feel more like Final Fantasy. Wanting for more work, Crash returns to Momodi for advice on where to begin next.

So happens I know a fella by the name of Dadanen who needs a hand. He's a merchant by trade, sellin' precious stones to those in Ul'dah with the means to buy them. He's asked that I send any lookin' for work his way. You can find him over in Horizon, if you fancy.

Horizon is located in Western Thanalan. The zone is split into two almost-halves, and Horizon is found on the side we've not been to before. It doesn't sound like Dadanen have any impressive work for us, but anything is good right now.

Music: To The Sun

The bridge crossing the gorge splitting Western Thanalan can be somewhat dangerous at times too, as it seems to come under Peiste attack quite a lot. The enemies are a lot more aggressive once you cross the bridge, but following the path won't lead you to too much harm. Peistes are also among the first enemies in the game to have a new AoE indicator, but I recorded this footage before it was added. A giant eye symbol means that the attack will only affect you if you're looking at the enemy. We'll show it off when it's more relevant.

Not too far from the bridge is Horizon itself. Okay, I'll admit, we've been here before. That was only for the bonus in the last update though.

Music: The Gift of Life

Located between Vesper Bay�Ul'dah's port town and link to the island of Vylbrand�and Ul'dah itself, Horizon is packed with merchants. Crash attunes to the aetheryte in the center, allowing for easier transportation to Horizon through teleportation. Additionally, he sets it as his Home Point.

Dadanen is pretty close to the aetheryte anyway. Let's go speak to him and see what work he might have for us.

And so have I expected you to expect me.

And here's a casual reminder that you'll be harassed by player groups with invitations if you're new. I could set myself to /busy status, but that would be too sensible when recording footage, wouldn't it? Anyway, Dadanen tells us to come back to him when we're ready for work. This just breaks the quest up a little, giving us some exp in the process.

We're rewarded with some Hempen Trousers for our efforts. Here's a casual reminder that Accuracy was replaced with the Direct Hit stat in Stormblood (the second expansion). Crash is ready after he equips this.

What's worse, I paid my man in advance for his services. I've heard nothing since he departed for Copperbell Mines days ago. Find Drunken Stag and give him this notice. I cannot afford any further delay.

It's a fetch quest! We're not really out of the woods with that stuff yet. At the very least, Copperbell Mines sounds like it could be an interesting place, right?

Copperbell Mines aren't very far from Horizon, located a short dash away to the east. Sadly, there won't be anything taking us into the Mines this time. That happens once we hit the level 15 quests.

Unfortunately for Dadanen, there's not really much we can do for him. This finishes off the quest and there's not much more we can do. Despite that, Drunken Stag does have a little bit of work for us. He was digging up some Nashachite�a very valuable mineral�for Dadanen when some Coblyns showed up. Crash is asked to collect them.

We were also rewarded with some Leather Jackboots for handing over the notice. We look a little silly, but such is the attire of a low level Final Fantasy MMO character.

There's three ore mounds for Crash to collect the Nashachite. All the monsters lurking outside the mines are passive, making this a simple enough task. It turns out that the Coblyns don't take too well to adventurers coming in and taking their food away, and a quest-specific variant spawns in.

The Prism Coblyns are out of luck. Crash isn't an adventurer that cares whether a monster can eat or not, and opts to murder them instead. As with any open-world monster, they're pretty weak. Occasionally, they can cast Shatter to triple their damage, but even failing to avoid the AoE will still result in barely a scratch.

After picking up three Nashachite, Crash returns to Drunken Stag. At least we're inadvertently assisting Dadanen, since he'll have access to Nashachite as its value is likely to go up. There's not much glory when indirectly helping folk, though.

Drunken Stag gives Aggro five Potions for her efforts, but also has a tip on finding more work. Sun midges are actually a danger to the Chocobos that lead carriages around here, and the Brass Blades are offering a small reward for culling them. They're only midges, so this sounds like easy work to do with a sword. And by that, I mean that this is silly.

To make an honest effort, Crash is to kill four swarms. There is nothing of note to say about them. Pest Control is fun!

Crash only killed four, dude. Anyway, this is Fufulupa, the leader of the Brass Blades of the Roses�the Western Thanalan branch of the organisation. Since we're a free and available adventurer, Fufulupa is interested in hiring us for an errand of his.

It's worth pointing out that Crash is also nearly level 14, and the next main scenario quest is for players at level 11. He's a bit ahead.

Captain Leofric is stationed there. Ever since he was transferred, we've exchanged letters, but never before has it taken this long to receive a reply. And so I fear that the courier may have met with some misfortune en route.

Lost Hope is located north of Black Brush Station in Central Thanalan, and the way there is littered with Brass Blades on patrol. Fufulupa reasons that the courier must have at least made it to the region, and so the best place to start the investigation is at the station.

Crash doesn't have to travel far through Central Thanalan before finding Seseli�the courier. What is she doing here?

It turns out, her Chocobo got injured and she's not been able to complete her delivery. She does realise that Black Brush Station is just around the corner. It takes Crash like two minutes in Eorzean Time to reach it. Has she been camping here for a few nights? It's 5am ET. Does Fufulupa mean yesterday by "the other day?" Of course he's not received a reply yet.

Not pictured: Fufulupa currently writing yet another letter asking, "Why have you not replied yet?2 and "You said you were just going for a quick shower! It's been ten minutes!" Does he not have a linkshell with Leofric?

Because adventurers are glorified gofers, Seseli sends Crash to Lost Hope with the missive. Well, the settlement is like five minutes away, so why not I guess?

Lost Hope is just a little north-east of Black Brush Station, as you can still see the station's aetheryte on the mini-map. It's a small community that's in a worse shape than the refugee camp directly outside the gates of Ul'dah. Many of the people here live inside a nearby cave, and the soil isn't fertile enough to grow crops. To top it off, this is where Brass Blades who rub their bosses the wrong way are sent until they resign or die. It's a sad place for ex-Captain Leofric to be located.

Inside the cave isn't as dire, but it's also a settlement inside a cave. That's so fifth calamity. There doesn't seem to be that many people around either, but that might be because Black Brush Station staff are exploiting them for labour. Crash can even assist their exploitation for a little bit of quick gil himself.

They're also growing food from plant pots inside the cave�something players have only been able to do with private housing since the third update of the Heavensward expansion. How envious.

Leofric is located just outside the entrance to the caves, and it seems like he's just as frustrated with Fufulupa's impatience as I am.

After handing him the letter, Leofric rewards Crash with a bit of gil and a choice of equipment. Crash takes the Hard Leather Harness. Crash also levels up, obtaining the Enhanced Rampart trait that no longer exists in the game. It increases the mitigation of the Rampart ability from 10% to 20%, but that's been the default value since Stormblood released.

Completing this quest unlocks the Lost Hope quests. I won't be showing them off, since they're just mostly generic MMO quests with a little bit of flavour. Even that flavour isn't too interesting, simply just reinforcing how poo poo life is for these people.

Leofric is warning Crash to leave this hellhole, but I think Crash is feeling a little bad about their situation. He's looking to help, and Leofric obliges. The task is simple: we've to kill a local bandit leader named Eolande Quiveron�a person who has styled themselves an heir to a Syndicate member who died in the Calamity. It seems like he and his crew regularly rob Lost Hope, which isn't cool.

Music: The Land Burns

The Quiveron Manse is located in The Clutch�an area west of Black Brush. It's up on top of a cliff, facing the river that separates The Clutch and Black Brush from each other. Quiveron is protected by two attendants and two guards�all of whom need to be murdered as well. It's easy to accidentally be overwhelmed in this area, because there's a few aggressive enemies walking around at level 11 as well.

A detail worth some note: there's a side quest in Lost Hope that has Crash come back up here to murder some more of them for their Nashachite. It's just interesting that it comes up again in a side quest, and it'll come up once more soon too.

Crash finally does make his way to Baron Von Quiveron III Esquire and murders him as well. The Lalafell is a Thaumaturge, meaning that he's a caster. Baron just spams Thunder, but his version is nothing like the player version. For a start: it's got an incredibly short cast time. It also doesn't apply a DoT on Crash. Instead, it inflicts straight damage. There's not much more to say since these fights are designed for anyone to clear.

Soundtrack ends.

We return to Leofric and inform him that Baron is dead. With that done, he has one more task left for Crash.

Leofric gives crash an Antique Dagger.

Although it's just an old, ornamental dagger, it belongs with the Brass blades of the Rose. Aye, I should've given it to the boy before I came here...

Rather than giving Fufulupa the dignity of a letter response, Leofric decides that a dagger should probably give him a hint. Sure, alright. Maybe Crash can chase Fufulupa up for some pay for the last errand he did for him anyway.

Back in Horizon in Western Thanalan, Crash hands Fufulupa the dagger to his surprise. This might suggest that Leofric believes that Fufulupa should be the rightful captain.

Captain Leofric says I am to have it? There must be some mistake! He couldn't possibly mean to tell me that�No, no, of course not. I am not worthy to wield it. Nevertheless, I shall respect the captain's wishes and take the dagger into safekeeping until he comes to reclaim it.

Fufulupa likes to sell himself short, but Leofric clearly has some faith in him. With our little trip to Lost Hope over; let's see if Fufulupa has any more work available for us.

Next time: Things escalate!

Chapter Summary

CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 00:46 on Oct 23, 2017

# ¿ Jun 11, 2016 16:01

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

Fixed. Thanks for pointing those out.

# ¿ Jun 11, 2016 22:03

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

Fixed that too. Copy and paste has clearly failed me here.

# ¿ Jun 11, 2016 22:47

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

e: nm

CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 14:48 on Jun 18, 2016

# ¿ Jun 15, 2016 21:05

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

Unguided posted:

What flavor of Honest Healer were you stuck with

They did actually DPS at points, but they also seemed scared to let me lose any health at all. It makes for a good note in the LP at least.

# ¿ Jun 18, 2016 02:34

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

Chapter X: Storms on the Horizon

Music: To the Sun

We last left Crash after he met Fufulupa�a member of the Brass Blades of the Roses. It seems like he has a problem and would like us to help.

Thaumaturges from the Ossuary are presently surveying the Footfalls for ancient relics. As the area is rife with wild beasts, the Horizon garrison has been charged with their security. But Captain Baldewyhn sent only a handful of Brass Blades!

Fufulupa wants Crash to help out his pals over in the Footfalls, which is a new area in Western Thanalan for us. The Arrzaneth Ossuary is a temple for worshipping Thal (who rules over the realm of the dead), and is home to the Thaumaturges' Guild.

To the west is Horizon's Edge. This is a tunnel that takes us down to the Footfalls. Back in 1.0, you used to have to traverse through some caves to reach it. There used to be two layers to this area, with the Footfalls as a big, open wetland area in the bottom layer.

It's still wet, but there's a lot less coverage from rock formations above. Presumably, that's because of the Calamity. Likewise, a lot of ruins have been forced up from the ground.

The group of Thaumaturges are over by the statue, known as "The Silent King". This is a new landmark that wasn't around in 1.0. Kind of like anything interesting in the environment, really.

Rather than looking for relics, it appears that they're looking for a hidden entrance. Who knows what this could be about? I don't remember anymore, though I know I was referencing something I found in Heavensward when I wrote this. I guess we'll find out together some day.

The Brass Blade that's in charge here doesn't seem too happy to see Crash either.

Anyroad, we've got this under control�an' besides, this operation ain't got nothin' to do with Fufulupa. Boy's got a stick up his arse the size of a sabotender. It's no wonder the cap'n told him to stay at Horizon...

It sounds like poor Fufulupa might not be very popular among his peers, and even the current captain holds him in low regard. Whatever the case, this also appears to be a dead end for Crash.

On the plus side, we get a new shield for our efforts. ~~Shame about the Parry, though.~~ Oh, Parry. How I don't miss you.

Whether it's to make us get out of the way or to make us useful, one of the Brass Blades has an errand for us.

Captain Baldewyn's plannin' some festivities for the thaumaturges, see, and he wants 'em treated to the finest food and drink. Head west and south to the village and tell Raffe that he's to deliver a bounty of fresh fish to Horizon for the feast.

Following the directions, Crash arrives at Crescent Cove. It's not even noteworthy enough to get the settlement theme, instead using Thanalan's BGM.

We can see the Silver Bazaar from across the water, and there's available transport to ferry us across. Not that there'll ever be much need to go there. Like most of the villages in Thanalan, Crescent Cove was hit hard by the Calamity. Fish don't bite as often as they used to, which is a pretty bad thing for a fishing village. Apparently the water doesn't flow anything like it used to. That being said, this village didn't exist in 1.0 either, so I guess the settlers are just really bad at finding places to settle.

I appreciate that the level design in A Realm Reborn doesn't neglect the necessities. Crescent Cove really looks like a fishing village, and we'll regularly see places with food sources and the like. The same can't be said for some other games in big franchises.

We can find Raffe at one of the piers, smoking a pipe. He seems rather startled by the request. It sounds like they've been having a rough time catching fish lately, but Raffe promises he'll get the fish in time. Why do I feel like we've almost strong armed him?

Putting aside the unsettling conversation, there's one positive thing to come from this. Crash gets his first piece of tank equipment. This also has materia slots on it, but we'll come to that later. Completing this quest also unlocks the sidequests for Crescent's Cove. Some of those will supply more tank equipment. Again, we're not going to do that here. I might just cover these sidequests when I level another class, but for now let's push on.

Traveling back up to the mainland, Crash finds himself speaking to Merilda. She's a tavern waitress who is being harassed by some rather aggressive patrons. Merilda is desperate for some ingredients, and being the helpful adventurer that we are, Crash agrees to help her out.

One of the few things I remember about my brief time with Final Fantasy XI is farming these Thickshells in Valkurm Dunes for hours. We've got to kill two of those, two buzzards, and two scaphites. There's not much to say about any of them, and these are all creatures just roaming about nearby. Let's not waste too much time on them. This isn't Final Fantasy XI, and Crash doesn't need to murder countless crabs to progress. Though Thickshells are on the Gladiator hunt log. The developers have a sense of humour.

Scaphites are also on the hunt log and can inflict poison. Killing them levels Crash up to 16~~, granting him the Enhanced Vitality II trait~~. That reminds me that we really need to do the class quest. I'm breaking my own rules here by putting it off, but screw it. I'll do that off-screen and show the update later to keep our tempo. Back to Crescent Cove we go.

Crash returns to Merilda to hand her the ingredients.

Though I know not what terrors tomorrow may bring. These outlaws do whatever they please, and we have not the strength to stand up to them. The Brass Blades of Horizon and Vesper Bay see no profit in protecting a poor village like ours. Most of them pretend we do not even exist.

What are the Brass Blades even doing? They're harassing villagers for the sake of their rich guests, but offering none of the protection the villagers are owed. This is what happens when you let an unregulated police force do what they want, I guess.

Worst of all are those in league with the bandits...

Wait. Say that again?

Soundtrack stops.

They are to meet with their co-conspirator soon, at the Footfalls�

(Offscreen) Wh-wh-what did you say!?

That voice comes from Fufulupa, who has just wandered over. I'm not sure if Fufulupa is more shocked at Crash's attire, or by the revelation just now. I'm assuming he came over while wondering where Crash had gone.

Forgive my eavesdropping, Crash�I came to Crescent Cove merely to thank you in person. I never imagined I'd uncover a criminal conspiracy right outside Horizon's gates.

Fufulupa then darts off with possibly his worst idea yet. He's too pure.

No, wait! You mustn't! Oh, gods...

Crash nods.

It kind of bothers me how quickly this escalation happens. Rather than focusing on the filler quests in the last update, couldn't we have spent a little more time uncovering the corruption here?

Crash finds Fufulupa pretty quickly. The Brass Blades are at a crossroad that splits into Crescent Cove and a future location�Vesper Bay. Captain Baldewyn stands in the middle of the group with some thaumaturges, and is the only intractable person.

It's been a while since we saw this warning. Accepting will send us into a private instance for a boss battle, and the level sync is to ensure Crash won't be too powerful for this duty. Spoilers: Crash is too powerful for this duty anyway.

I accept and it triggers one last cutscene before the fight.

Someone has been stealing gemstones from Copperbell Mines and... Wait, those gauntlets, those boots�why, you're one of Quiveron's men! Sir, that man is a thief and a scoundrel!

...And? What of it? His coin's good, and that's what counts.

Surprise. The Brass Blades of the Roses are corrupt and are working with the bandits that are causing trouble in most of Thanalan. It explains how the central Thanalan group had Nashachite, but that's such a small detail. We could easily have done without the mandatory merchant quests. That was side story fluff.

They'd get their Nashachite, I'd get my gil, and none would be the wiser.

B-B-But, sir, what if your crimes are uncovered!? What if Lord Lolorito finds out!?

I am acting under the authority of Lord Lolorito himself! Why do you think people join the Brass Blades, Fufulupa? To serve and protect? Hah! We're not the bloody Flames here! We do this for the coin!

This isn't really that surprising. We know from the last arc that Lord Lolorito owns the Brass Blades, and that he's a member of the Syndicate who only care about their own greed. This isn't even just common knowledge for the player�Lolorito's corruption seems pretty well known in Thanalan. Fufulupa is just incredibly naive. He isn't the only one in trouble though.

Crash was spotted. It looks like the brother of Baron Von Quiveron IV is here, and he is pissed at Crash for murdering his brother. He should probably also be pissed at his parents for giving him an identical name but with a number.

Music: Pennons Aloft

Well, looks like we've got ourselves a boss battle. This one isn't too bad, but there's room for error that can get you killed if you're not careful enough.

Straight off the bat, the red squares in the enemy list tell us that both targets are gunning for Crash. These are who we want to focus on. Even though Fufulupa is a Gladiator like Crash is, don't expect him to take either of the two boss targets for himself. There are two Brass Blade archers, one on each side of the screen. They're not too important to us at the moment, since they're focusing their aim at Fufulupa.

It's normally a good idea to wait just a few seconds at the start of a duty. This way, we be sure who our intended target is meant to be. A good way to get overwhelmed is to fight who we don't need to. This fighting doesn't go exactly as expected though. Baldewyn is more interested in Crash than Fufulupa, and Fufulupa still can't bring himself to attack Baldewyn.

Much like his brother, Quiveron IV is a Thaumaturge. His fire spells will give him a buff to fire damage, while his blizzard spells will restore his MP. That last part is pretty pointless, since NPCs don't have to think about MP.

Baldewyn, however, is a lancer. He can occasionally use Leg Sweep, which inflicts Stun. This is the pre-Stormblood version, so it causes damage too. Baldewyn can also use the pre-Stormblood version of Feint, inflicting Slow to increase Crash's global cooldown time. He's more of an inconvenience than a real threat right now.

I can see players in other roles having maybe a little bit more difficulty with this one. It's not immediately clear that Quiveron should be who you kill first. Fufulupa isn't a very good Gladiator and can't seem to get Quiveron's attention. I guess Savage Blade just doesn't generate as much enmity as the murder of your sibling.

We finally kill Quiveron IV, freeing Fufulupa up to target the archers that are currently shooting at him. We need to make sure to keep Fufulupa within range, as he'll cast Cure whenever Crash's HP drops into dangerous territory.

Dropping Baldewyn below around the 50% HP mark will trigger the next phase.

The captain will pacify himself for a full minute, meaning we won't need to worry about any Feints or Leg Sweeps.

Instead, Baldewyn will rely on Heartstopper for most of his damage. Since this is a frontal AoE�complete with an indicator�it's easily avoided. At this stage, we want to ignore him and just get rid of the remaining Brass Blades.

Despite being the class with the weakest damage output in the Ul'dah storyline, Crash managed to kill the adds and Baldewyn before his pacification ran out. There shouldn't be too much challenge here if you focus on the right targets, and this rule will be true in most of the early single player duties.

It's a fairly simple fight, but it's actually a little easier to fail this one. It's the first time Crash has had to do more than spam his most powerful attack on a single target.

The screen begins to fade.

Soundtrack ends.

Ex-Captain Leofric just kind of shows up from Crescent Cove for some reason. It looks like he decided to be dramatic and take the long way around to the action by ferrying across from the Silver Bazaar. Either that or he circled around the fight.

(Baldewyn) I may have spared your life before, but if you interfere, I will not show you mercy!

Oh hey, plot twist. Is this not actually Baldewyn? Is he really a sneaky bandit who replaced the captain?

(Leofric) Imagine Lord Lolorito's surprise when he learned that a rank-and-file Brass Blade was using his name to advance a personal agenda...

Baldewyn is hosed. At this point, you can forget about him. He literally disappears from the cutscene from here. There's no taking him into custody either. He just hangs around off-screen and we'll never see him again. He doesn't even attempt to escape.

Captain Leofric! Captain Baldewyn, he... he said that Lord Lolorito�

Lord Lolorito wouldn't waste his time on a small-scale smuggling operation. This is all Baldewyn's doing. What else did he say? That all our brethren are no better, and that each and every one cares for naught but coin? Hah! Mere excuses to justify his schemes.

But there are men like you, Fufulupa�men good and true, whom the smallfolk respect. Which is why I gave you the dagger. The Brass Blades of the Rose need a leader with honor, and you're the most honorable man I know.

Thank you for all your help, Crash! The captain and I will escort Captain Baldewyn back to Horizon. Pray visit me in town when next you return.

Music: To the Sun

We end the cutscene on our own, with Fufulupa already at Horizon. That was quick! Let's bring an end to this investigation.

Until a new one is designated, I've been ordered to serve as acting captain of the Horizon garrison. Though doubtless this is only a temporary arrangement, I will do my utmost to represent my brethren and protect the people of Horizon. Thank you for your service to the sultanate. You are a true hero!

For his efforts, Fufulupa is now acting captain for the Brass Blades of the Rose. I get the impression that this will be a lasting position.

We also got given a Bronze Cuirass for our efforts. In any case, we're not done yet. Next time, we'll say goodbye to Fufulupa as he sends us deeper into this conspiracy.

Chapter Summary

CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 23:12 on Nov 12, 2017

# ¿ Jun 18, 2016 02:36

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

Fufulupa is pretty refreshing when Lalafells tend to be the villains.

Gloomy Rube posted:

Umbral Ice doesn't increase ice damage, it just increases MP regeneration, as opposed to Astral Fire which turns off regeneration in return for the fire damage buff. I don't think 'Ice Mage Roleplay' would be such a joke in FFXIV if Umbral Ice also had a damage buff

Kicking myself because this is one I know and wasn't in earlier drafts of this update. Thanks for keeping me straight though.

Also, it's interesting that you had a different experience with this duty. I deliberately avoided aggro at the start to see who I should go for, and both enemies just stuck to me like glue. I'm leveling another character to reshoot some things later on so I can bring Aggro Crag in sooner, so I'm going to try that on thaumaturge and see if it makes any difference. It'd be interesting if it does.

# ¿ Jun 19, 2016 19:03

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

I'd appreciate any help people are offering to give. It would be fun to play through the thread too, but my time is fairly erratic so it will be hard to organise for a while. I do need to reshoot the three first dungeons and first trial though.

In the last thread, someone suggested I use Twitter to announce when I'm about to play. I could probably do that again if that seems interesting to anyone?

# ¿ Jun 20, 2016 21:23

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

I'm a little bit distracted by some of the big things happening over here, so the update might be delayed until tomorrow or so.

On the subject of helping out: I've got a Twitter just for the thread that I'll announce things on, but I'll announce when I'm running any duties here too. Setting up an FC isn't too far away, so I can create one for this purpose as well.

# ¿ Jun 24, 2016 11:45

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

Chapter XI: Secrets and Lies

In the absence of Baldewyn as captain, Fufulupa will be serving as acting captain of the Brass Blades of the Rose. While we now know that the previous captain was working with bandits, he's still under investigation. Perhaps there's been a development in this case.

In our efforts to ascertain the full extent of the former captain's corruption, we have been poring over his personal correspondence. Our search unearthed this sealed letter addressed to a man named Owyne. But he is one of the Sultansworn elite! I can think of no reason why he should have any dealings with Baldewyn!

That's alarming. If Baldewyn was pals with a Sultansworn, then he could have probably gotten away with much worse crimes than playing kingpin in Western Thanalan.

We now know that the former captain was consorting with a coalition of criminals... Could it be that Owyne was, too!? This letter may well serve as evidence of their collusion, and so I dare not tamper with it myeslf. But given the events of recent days, I knew not whom to trust with this information�until now.

I can see where this is going.

I have chosen you, Crash. Pray bear the letter to Mistress Momodi of the Quicksand, and relate the circumstances of its discovery. Not only is she a staunch supporter of the sultana, but she is well acquainted with the Sultansworn. She will know how best to proceed.

We're going to teleport off to Ul'dah. This won't be the last time we see Fufulupa, but nobody will probably remember him when we do. It's a long rear end way away. Goodbye, Fufulupa.

Music: A New Hope

Crash hands over the letter and explains.

Fufulupa's thinking Owyne might've been in league with Baldewyn�that this letter could be proof of something shady. Well he needn't worry. Owyne's as loyal a Sultansworn as I've ever known. I haven't the foggiest what this says, but�

Oh, hells... I've got a bad feelin' about this. Listen, Crash�I think I know what this is all about, but I need you to swear to keep it quiet.

Before Momodi can continue, she takes pity on Crash and decides to give him a pair of trousers. Thanalan gets very cold at night. Starting the next quest hops us right back into another cutscene.

But she might struggle to keep even that if a certain incident becomes public knowledge. It pains me to say it, but the crown of Her Majesty, symbol of the royal dynasty, has been stolen. Owyne's the Sultansworn who was charged with guardin' it that night.

It can't be a coincidence that a man we know to have been fraternizin' with thieves had a letter for Owyne of all people, at this of all times.

Crash receives the letter back.

Alright, to find Owyne, Crash must first find where the Sultansworn hang out. Given their association with the Sultanate and nobody else, it's likely they're to be found in Hustings Strip�the top level in the Steps of Thal.

Just outside the Quicksand is a Lift Attendant, who'll let us take an elevator to Hustings Strip. It's pretty easy to get there without navigating Steps of Thal.

Jenlyns, the Sultansworn captain, actually faces the doorway leading to their base.

That path takes us to Scholar's Walk, where we can find a Sultansworn guarding the entrance to the Heart of the Sworn.

New Music: Machinations

In there, we find Owyne. Crash hands him the letter.

Even when speaking to a Sultansworn, Crash does little more than shake his head.

The blame is mine, you see. I grew lax in my duties, and in a moment of carelessness... No, it will do no good to recount the tale now. Since the hour of the theft, we've searched frantically for any signs, any whispers as to the whereabouts of the crown. We have found nothing.

And though it pains me to say it, I fear I have no choice but to acquiesce to their demands. Too much is at stake to do otherwise. The crown symbolizes Her Majesty's birthright, and identifies her as the custodian of the Ul legacy. It must be recovered.

Crash can't exactly turn down a member of the Sultansworn. Without a moment of hesitation, he teleports to Black Brush Station in Central Thanalan.

Music: To The Sun

From there, we take the path leading east and follow the Royal Allagan Sunway�an ancient road for trade that's at least three millennia old.

This isn't our first time stepping into The Clutch, but we've never really gotten a chance to see it properly before. Last time, Crash had to visit The Quiveron Manse and murder some bandits. This time, we're heading into the heart of it: The Unholy Heir.

This area is named after the giant rock in front of us. It first appeared after The Calamity, and earned the name The Unholy Heir when people started thinking of it as the son of Bahamut. Perhaps, any moment, it could hatch to reveal another dangerous dragon? Probably not.

It is at this moment, gazing at the waters surrounding The Unholy Heir, that Crash realises he didn't ask for the time that the exchange was due. I guess we'll wait, enjoying the scenery until Owyne and the bandits finally show up.

Chapter Summary

CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 17:55 on Mar 18, 2018

# ¿ Jun 25, 2016 23:52

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

I definitely had the same problem when I first played. I'm pretty sure I spent a bit of time before figuring out where Hustings Strip actually was, because I didn't notice you could toggle the map.

Silegna posted:

Wait, are you looking for people to join the FC you're gonna make? If so, I wouldn't mind signing up for it!

I was going to make one just to show it off in the LP anyway, but enough people have sent me a PM or posted in the thread with interest to help. I figure it might be a neat way to organise that a little bit. I'll make sure to let the thread vote on a name when it's time, too.

# ¿ Jun 27, 2016 21:48

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

Chapter XIII: Aether You'll Explode, or I'll Game Over
After uncovering a possible conspiracy, Crash has been drafted into assisting an elite Sultansworn to return a Sultanate heirloom. Making haste towards the destination without thought like any inexperienced adventurer would, Crash now has to wait for the meeting.

It may have taken a while.

After the wait is over, there's a prompt for the duty much like a couple of updates ago. Similarly, players above level 18 are synced down to that level. This was a pretty funny spot back when the game was released or in beta. There used to be piles of dead player bodies. If you were unprepared then this could wreck you.

Click to play: Fracture

This is the first time we'll have heard Fracture.

A bunch of enemies suddenly show up in front of Crash. Maybe they were on the other side?

Unfortunately, Rogue wasn't an available class choice when I recorded this footage, so Crash isn't very good at hiding.

"You have made mock of our trust. The deal is off."

Owyne then desperately throws an item we can't see at the thieves. The thief, Garibald, then catches it and sniffs it to confirm it's the real deal. That's... pretty weird.

"And now, at long last, we have it! The power to create an army of undying soldiers--The Traders' Spurn!"

Foresight isn't a thing in Eorzea. Also, can I add that Owyne is an absolutely terrible elite guardsman? Not only did he lose the crown on his watch, he just handed over an incredibly dangerous item over to a group of bandits without even finding out what the item was. What the gently caress is wrong with you, Owyne?

Garibald's smug, expositional taunt seems to be the cue to call in an army of shirtless dudes and archers.

Remind me why you even brought Crash here?

Just then, Crash notices something up the cliffside he waited all week at.

Click to play: Torn from the Heavens

Fortunately, Garibald isn't the only one who has reinforcements. Standing behind Crash is Papashan and some Sultansworn, here to kick rear end. If you don't remember Papashan, he's the Lalafell in charge of the Sultana rescue operation that Crash assisted. Y'know, back before the thread hiatus.

"Sultansworn!? Hah! No matter! Kill them all!"

Garibald remains a smug bastard, even in the face of an army of elite paladins.

Everyone takes up battle positions, and then the boss fight begins.

When the actual fight begins, everyone wants you dead. Don't worry though, because the Sultansworn are all Paladins. They'll be grabbing all of the aggro here.

Owyne instructs you to fight with him. You won't have to contend with any damage here, which is a nice bonus if you're a man of the cloth or fist. Just make sure that you target an enemy that is already being attacked. Attacking someone who is being ignored will only result in some (very, very mild) pain, but being careless for too long will find you getting overwhelmed fairly easily.

The aim of the fight right now is really just to clear out all of the nameless cannon fodder. You'll want to burn through them as quickly as you can. The remaining Sultansworn will help take the boss down much quicker.

Soon enough, only Garibald will be remaining. It's kind of fun watching a train of elite guardsman just mow down cannon fodder and then make a bee line for the boss. This is the end of the first phase.

Once the area has been cleared, Garibald will summon a demon from the void. Anyone with good memory might remember that a similar voidsent attacked the Sultana almost just two years ago (in real time). The Sultansworn are assholes and leave the giant terrifying demon to the hands of a fresh off the carriage adventurer.

Also, the leader of a band of thieves just happens to know how to summon a demon. This is a really dark art that even Thaumaturges currently don't have access to. I'm also pretty sure Garibald said the item Owyne gave him raised undead, and didn't say anything about summoning voidsent.

That being said, the demon isn't as scary as it looks. It barely scratches Crash's armour, and even its ability Terror Eye only tickles despite being really flashy. It's a lot weaker than the Blanga that Crash fought with Thancred previously.

The Blanga doesn't have very much defence either. The white flashy bit of its health is the damage I dealt with my Fast Blade, which is the first step of my combo. Thaumaturges will most definitely burn through its health really fast.

It really doesn't take very long to slay, and Garibald goes down just moments before it too. Crash didn't even need to bother with him. They were really outnumbered. Killing both will immediately start a cutscene. We're probably overdue some exposition about our deus ex Papashan.

Click to play: Tranquility

The "general" that Papashan is referring to here is the Flame General, who is in charge of another private military organisation in Ul'dah known as the Immortal Flames. There'll be more on them later, including their relationship with the Sultansworn.

"He suspected something was afoot and ordered us to keep an eye on you."

Papashan runs ahead, while Owyne turns around to speak to Crash directly. I'm assuming that the Traders' Spurn is safe, given that the now deceased Garibald had it and Papashan doesn't seem concerned. Also, is Papashan really not going to say anything about the fact that Owyne just handed that dangerous item over without any thought?

For some reason, I quite like this shot. Anyway, it looks like Crash helped saved the day. Though it seems like he didn't do much, I assure you that being passive in that duty would have resulted in the death of many of those Sultansworn.

Despite Garibald's plan to trick Owyne, I really hope one of his men brought the crown with them. It might be a fruitless chase otherwise. I guess we'll find out when Crash returns to Owyne in Ul'dah. It's time to head back, I think.

Oh. Maybe not.

Click to play: Without Shadow

The man then explodes into what appears to be dark aether. It surrounds the immediate vicinity, turning everything dark.

Even Crash, who basically just nods, is reacting to it.

The masked man begins to chant, as if summoning something. Notice the unusual speech bubble. This denotes something, but the game doesn't yet make clear what it is. All we know is that Crash is interpreting it differently, but cannot make any clear distinction between ordinary conversation and this chant.

A portal is created on the floor, summoning a voidkin that we've yet to have seen. It looks pretty intimidating compared to the Blanga Crash just fought.

What has Crash gotten himself into? And why does this person care so much? Also, again, notice that the dialogue has reverted back to normal now that Crash is being directly addressed.

The Lesser Gargoyle looked much larger in the cutscene, but it still definitely shames the Blanga. The Masked Mage will also talk over the fight. He's not very good at trash talking.

Also, do you remember when I mentioned that a pile of bodies would usually be found at the starting point for this duty?

Well, the Gargoyle isn't the reason why. Honestly, this fight isn't even that challenging. The Gargoyle barely hurts, while his HP seems fairly low. This is a much easier fight than the last one which could be tough if you didn't know what you were doing.

As the fight comes to a close, Thancred will come to the rescue. Except it's not really a rescue. I could have done this on my own rather easily, to be honest.

He basically just shows up to be a dirty kill stealer. Upon its death, the Lesser Gargoyle explodes into dark aether.

Next order of business is taking care of that drat stalker mage. Thancred will utilize Gladiator abilities to maintain aggro on the boss, but he does so much more damage than you should be capable of right now that his bonus enmity doesn't really matter so much.

As an extra note. Keen eyed readers may have noticed the dagger in Thancred's hand in one of the previous screenshots. Before patch 2.4, Gladiators also wielded single daggers. Those weapons got replaced when Rogue was introduced to the game. I'm unsure as to whether that change was reflected in this fight however, as I recorded it before the new class was added.

The only thing to really watch out for are the Fire II spells. It's an AoE with a decent range and it has a cast bar that gives you ample warning to avoid it, though you can just stand at the Masked Mage's side or rear to avoid it too. That being said, this was a critical hit and it only did 57 damage to Thancred, so who cares really?

Alternatively, the Masked Mage can also cast Blizzard II. Unlike Fire II, you'll need to step away from him to avoid it. It's easier to just eat the attack though, because if you fail at avoiding it then you might suffer from Bind while out of range. Bind prevents you from moving or changing face direction, which can prevent you from attacking the mage. If you're a Pugilist then this might be a little bit more annoying, as Pugilists need to change positions to optimise their damage. Otherwise, it's a low hitter so it doesn't matter.

During the fight, he'll start whining about how much better you are than him. Next he'll be complaining that you're cheating by fighting two-on-one after just siccing a demon on Crash. For some reason, he wouldn't do anything when yelling when I recorded this. I'm unsure what was going on here, but I guess he was probably too busy yelling to concentrate on casting in a similar way that Silence stops you casting? He could have ran out of MP, explaining the Blizzard spells with their MP regen buff, but enemies don't have MP pools in this game.

Most status ailments in the game have a diminishing return. The duration of the effect will decrease with each attack, and you'll eventually become temporarily immune. Crash has already started resisting the Bind effect. Pugilists, eat your hearts out here.

Without breaking a sweat, we kill the Masked Man.

I joked about how useless Thancred's help was on the voidkin from before, but his help was actually really useful in this fight. Crash likely wouldn't have survived without him. I want to point out that barring the Golem fight and arguably the Baldewyn fight, Crash has needed help in order to beat the bosses so far. I really want to draw attention to this right now: Thancred has been a really important and helpful ally in these boss fights that Crash wouldn't have been able to clear. There's a reason I'm highlighting this, but I won't say much more. I'll leave that for the spoiler tags in the thread.

Soundtrack ends.

Even though he had a death animation when Crash and Thancred beat him, the cutscene starts with another death animation while he drops the biggest 1.0 spoiler out of spite.

Wait, what?

It is?

Click to play: Canticle

Another track from 1.0 makes its reappearance. I honestly have no idea who the composer is though, so I left it in Japanese. If anyone can tell me, that would be great! The name of the track itself is a type of hymn or chant with biblical text. As far as I was aware, the theme was associated with a certain significant NPC in 1.0 named Louisoux. I'll get to him later.

"We had long suspected the involvement of the Bringers of Chaos-Ascians, to give them their true name."

Thancred walks over and examines the Paragon corpse. Or is that Ascian corpse? Who knows? People who know things in JRPGs don't like to share the things that they know right away.

"But we could not be sure they were responsible for the recent disturbances until now. As if the sultanate needed any more enemies..."

"Ah, yes, that's right-you're one of the gifted."

Okay, so, let's take a moment. Paragons, Ascians, and "gifted" were all big parts of the 1.0 storyline before the lesser moon hatched and unleashed a furious dragon on the lands. This is the point in the A Realm Reborn storyline converges with the original story before it was interrupted. For newer players, this will all get explained. It's basically lip service for the legacy players who have waited patiently up to this point, possibly while already at the level 50 cap. I'll make a post about it in the next update.

Also, Thancred says that his homeland is in Sharlayan, but this isn't true and it'll be a long time before we find out the truth. I don't know whether this was a silly oversight, a mistake in the localization, or because Thancred isn't the most fond of his origin, but whatever. I'll just say that his organization from 1.0 originated from Sharlayan and leave it at that for just now.

Thancred proceeds to walk away, leaving our protagonist alone again. Crash glances over at the corpse, and the camera pans over...

... to reveal a small shard emanating some dark aura.

Crash walks over, and then it bursts into aether.

This then proceeds to do nothing more. That was rather anticlimactic.

And that's all for now. Are you confused yet? Well, in the next update, we'll catch up to speed with the legacy players. I'll do a short summary and if there's time, we'll also visit Papashan in that update. We have to find out if the heirloom was ever recovered, after all.

CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 00:36 on Sep 9, 2016

# ¿ Jul 1, 2016 12:49

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

I don't know. If you'd said that six months ago then I'd have agreed with you, but while 3.2 was more of the same it still felt pretty strong. Depending on how Palace of the Dead goes, the most recent content patch could be overall pretty great too.

# ¿ Jul 3, 2016 23:29

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

I've finished rewriting the old updates, and updated the chapter number. Chapter 13 is now number 8, and the most recent 18 is now 13. This should make things smoother for people catching up instead of reading the old chapters that were a bit of a slog. If anyone wants a refresher, that's probably a good time too. It was pretty fun to rewrite and I got in a lot of extra bonus material with far less filler.

HenryEx posted:

So uh, hypothetically, if i were to make a character on Midgardsormr to get in on some of that dungeon party goodness that's coming up soon (and also mad LP fame), what would be the best way to get in touch with you in-game?

Asking for a friend

Fair question. My main is actually on Midgardsormr as well, so the goon LS or (sort-of) goon FC on the server would be a good way. I'll be posting in this thread when I'm running things too, and when Crash eventually gets to the point that he can make his own FC then that will probably be the easiest option. It's a shame that there isn't any service like PlayOnline (but better) to make this a lot easier.

# ¿ Jul 5, 2016 21:08

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

Chapter XIII-2: Sometimes it's Goobue to study history.
It seems like something really big is going on in Thanalan, just barely out of sight. There are masked men summoning demons, and dangerous plots that involve the Sultanate in some way. Thancred appears to be involved in these events, too. Crash somehow manages to get himself involved, but not a lot of this stuff is known. Crash also doesn't really currently have any real motivations to get actively involved either, but those will come.

I mentioned last week that I would make an update about 1.0, so here I am. It's already fairly well documented, and if you want a really in-depth look at what happened then you might as well skip this update and read this or watch this instead. I'm not going to cover everything. Instead, I'm going to be focusing on the main story of 1.0 before it got dumped in favour for a clean slate and a soft reboot.

Like A Realm Reborn before it, the player assumes the role of a custom adventurer who begins their journey in one of the three city states. Similarly to Crash Screen, they'll be exposed to a meteor shower of sorts that only they can see.

The 1.0 adventurer also experiences visions like Crash's dream of Thancred's past. While we're aware that it's not actually happening at the current moment, this wasn't actually clear in 1.0. Players would be able to explore the memories of other characters in the story without being made aware that they were in a memory. This lead to a weird dissonance in which characters they met five seconds ago would have been confirmed to have died ten years ago.

In particular, the Ul'dah storyline involved Ascilia. Ascilia was the daughter of a man who escaped Ala Mhigo after the Garlean invasion. He died during an accident at an Ul'dah parade. The incident was orchestrated by a group of individuals that wanted fame, but they didn't mean for anyone to die.

In the end, most of them ended up with some sort of bad fate - though the extent as to how bad it was varied with each person. They'll each show up at some point again, and I'll cover them in more depth when they do. Ul'dah is the only 1.0 city state story to get some real exposure in A Realm Reborn as far as I can remember. In any case, the events in the city state stories in 1.0 occurred ten years in 1.0's past (which makes it 15 years before A Realm Reborn) and what's important is that Ascilia was also exposed to meteor shower.

After experiencing multiple events from ten years prior, the adventurer eventually collapses. They're fortunately discovered by a woman named Minfilia and taken care of by Momodi. This is when the adventurer gets introduced to an organisation known as the Path of the Twelve. It was a group of outcasts with a small variety of unique abilities. Some members were able to communicate with anyone, beast tribes included, regardless of their language. Others could explore people's memories.

Now grown up and calling herself Minfilia, Ascilia is the leader of the Path of the Twelve. She named these gifts collectively as the "Echo". Little else was known about it. At this point, our knowledge of the Echo in A Realm Reborn is almost at the same point as 1.0. Characters with the Echo can experience the memories of others they come in contact with. The "understand any language" aspect of it is now mostly on the wayside in A Realm Reborn though.

Anyone familiar with the X-Men will be familiar with how individuals gifted with the Echo are also treated. The Garleans even announced that anyone with the Echo will be treated the same way as the beast tribes. Regardless, the Path of the Twelve sought to keep peace in Eorzea. For the player, this meant helping a merchant group attempt to bridge the gap between beast tribes and the spoken races (read: playable races) through trade. This is important, as it brings us to one of the most significant plot points in Final Fantasy XIV.

Relationships between the spoken races and beast tribes were wavering. Beast tribes acquired the ability to summon after the massive battle of Silvertear Falls when the Keeper of the Lake and King of the Wyrms, Midgardsormr, died in battle with the Garlean invaders. After this event, the various beast tribes started to withdraw and attempt to summon their own Primal deities.

Something had spooked the beast tribes, and the Amalj'aa had already successfully summoned the Lord of Inferno, Ifrit. Primals are the names of the Final Fantasy summons in XIV. They include series staple characters such as Ifrit and Shiva, as well as some less frequent summons like Garuda. They're also really dangerous, but let's put that aside just now. How did the beast tribes learn to summon?

The beast tribes acquired knowledge on summoning from a group known as the "paragons". You'll remember that's what the masked man in the last update referred to as basically the source of his power. Thancred also referred to that masked man by another name.

In 1.0, one attempt to illicit trade between beast tribe groups and the spoken races resulted in failure as a ghastly figure interrupted the meeting.

This was an Ascian. It terrified the living hell out of the beastmen, and even the player was warned to absolutely not get detected by it. It was clear that it was something horrifying. Because 1.0 ended prematurely, this was the only sighting of an Ascian for the player.

There was no real link between them and the paragons established in 1.0, but Thancred just recently revealed that they are one and the same in the most recent update. At this point in the story, we still don't know what their aim is. All we know is that they're teaching the different beast tribes how to summon their Primals. I'm not sure if the term "Paragons" comes up anymore in A Realm Reborn or not after this revelation either. Regardless, they've now been re-introduced in A Realm Reborn so we'll be seeing more of them soon.

So we now know that the "gift" Thancred referred to is called the Echo. The source of that gift is unknown, as well as anything else for that matter. There was one last clue about it before 1.0 ended, but to discuss that we'll have to discuss the Primals. Meet Ifrit.

What makes the Primals so dangerous is their ability to temper ordinary people. This process ultimately makes people a willing slave to the Primal. However, the adventurer in 1.0 was immune to the effects of Ifrit's tempering.

Ifrit suggests that the 1.0 adventurer had already been tempered by another deity. It was fortunate for the player that the Ascians, still known as the Paragons, had informed Ifrit not to harm any individual that had already been touched by another deity. They got out alive. Unfortunately, this was roughly as far as the story had gotten in the original Final Fantasy XIV. It shipped pretty much unfinished, and featured loads of areas that hadn't even been touched.

Rather than continuing the story, a shift in management resulted in a shift in direction. XIV was to end and be replaced by A Realm Reborn. The result was the lesser moon Dalamud falling shortly before cracking open to reveal Bahamut inside it. Bahamut torched the lands and changed the environment, while killing off a lot of characters. 1.0 then went offline.

And that, as they say, was that.

Other events happened, but that ultimately covers the main focus of the FFXIV story. Right now we know that Crash is gifted (with the Echo), and that something big is happening with the Ascians and Thancred. Crash hasn't yet had much of a run in with the local beast tribe, the Amalj'aa yet, but they're not too far away either. The story is starting to creep in, so I figured now was a good time to introduce the 1.0 story to the LP. If it's confusing, don't worry too much about it. A Realm Reborn will set it all up at its own pace.

For now, Crash has to return to Ul'dah and find out how the Sultansworn got on with retrieving the crown. I was originally going to do that here too, but this is a lot of information so it's probably better to split them up. A lot of A Realm Reborn kind of suffers from trying to pad out its story, most likely to make up for the fact that the dev team was working on it while also updating 1.0 at the same time. Despite that, the story will still be progressing for a little while and I do like what it offers. Things will be advancing for a little while yet, and it won't be long until we'll be leaving the arid desert of Thanalan behind us for a little while too.

# ¿ Jul 8, 2016 09:37

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

Silegna posted:

Jeez, I knew 1.0 was unfinished, but..it stopped at Ifrit? Really?

Garuda and one other Primal I won't name was added too, but as part of the story they added after the 1.0 release to setup The Calamity.

# ¿ Jul 8, 2016 19:35

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

I know you said videos don't really do it for you, but this is the closest either of us will get to experiencing it. This video is really good. 1.0 definitely went out in style and it kinda makes me wish I stuck to it more. I have to remind myself that there was a reason I gave up on the game when it was free.

Dreamy Souffle posted:

If I recall correctly, though I might have the number wrong, didn't the original story only continue until level 34 out of the 50 cap too? Then it was nothing but those leves.

Ifrit was definitely in the original story though, but not as playable content due to the whole "play the entire game as a crafter" thing you mentioned. The second storyline is the one that let you fight him, along with the other two. They had planned Titan and Leviathan too, so those would have been in 1.0 as well if it wasn't for the 2011 Tohoku earthquake/tsunami. Honestly, I think the new storyline eclipsed the size of the original, didn't it?

# ¿ Jul 8, 2016 23:02

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

So, I upgraded my computer and made a few changes at my desk, and now I realise I don't have enough plugs for everything I need. There may be a small delay to the next update, but it shouldn't be much later than Sunday at the worst. I just can't power the drive I need right now because I'm a giant idiot. Figured I'd give a heads up.

# ¿ Jul 14, 2016 00:18

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

Chapter XIV: Towering over the Sultana
After helping the Sultansworn deal with an exchange gone bad, Crash was left alone to face an dark, voidsent summoning mage. Once more when dark arts are at play, Thancred also shows up. He dropped a few hints about what was going on before disappearing, leaving Crash with nothing more than the promise to return to the Sultansworn.

The Sultansworn are back in the Heart of the Sworn over in Hustings' Strip. As before, Crash can only enter by talking to the Sultansworn Elite.

Click to play: Machinations

It isn't Owyne that Crash has to talk to, but Papashan. After running off, we don't actually know if they successfully recovered the crown or not. Hmm... Crash is looking taller than usual.

"Whenever Her Grace ventures outside the gates, I have the honor of protecting her person. Never before had I seen her so despondent as when news of the crown's theft reached her ears."

So, if you were wondering why the Sultana had ran away in Crash's very first foray outside the walls of Ul'dah, now you know. She was hoping to find the crown, and was praying at the Sultana Tree.

As for Crash's new look, well, meet Aggro Crag (spelled Agro Crag for a little while). When I brought the thread back, I put Crash's new name to a vote and suggested the possibility of also changing race. My original intention was to change race after catching up to the old footage, but the race change and the new name came as a set.

Click to play.

Papashan then bows to ~~Crash~~ Aggro, and the screen fades into the next scene. It's voiced, but I'll be transcribing it too. You can just skip to the end video banner if you watched the video.

Soundtrack ends.

A voice of unknown origin shouts up to announce the Sultana making an entrance, and everyone kneels. This will be the first time we'll have seen Nanamo as herself. In the background, some NPCs are shouting over each other in a muddled mess to welcome her.

Click to play: Thanalan Theme (1.0)

Twilight Over Thanalan is the old Thanalan overworld theme from 1.0. It now strictly gets used in cutscenes.

Refreshingly, there's nobody here telling the fish out of water to kneel.

"Never did it occur to me that it might be you. Bring it forth!"

"Betokening our gratitude and esteem, I, Nanamo Ul Namo, Sultana of Ul'dah, confer upon you this gift."

The gift in question is the Ul'dahn Ring, which provides a +1 bonus to blunt resistance and accuracy. The accuracy is actually kind of nice right now with Aggro's current gear, but the blunt resistance is a stat bonus we'll probably not ever see again for a reason. It only affects melee damage from the mages and from pugilists.

Nanamo then turns to the big, bulky Highlander Hyur that entered the room with her.

"See to it that our champion is my personal guest at the banquet."

Soundtrack ends.

Ul'dah has the Brass Blades, owned by Lolorito, which is a private military that basically serves as the corrupt police in Thanalan. The Sultansworn are another armed force, likely paid for with the tax-payers money and work specifically for the Sultana. There's a third force that was introduced in additional story updates back in 1.0.

Click to play: The Sand's Secrets

Raubahn here is in charge of the third force: the Immortal Flames. The Immortal Flames are a Grand Company, and basically the army for Ul'dah. In a previous chapter, ~~Crash~~ Aggro learned about a gladiator who made it rich from the coliseum and joined the Syndicate. That was also Raubahn, and that was how he funded this new military.

"Brave souls are few and far between in these times. I count my blessings when I find one. Her Grace invites you to join her at the coming banquet. I trust I will see you there."

Aggro nods and an audience of two Sultansworn cheer wildly. The voice direction is kind of weird here, and they both have two identical lines that are spoken very slightly apart. It basically just amounts to noise instead of dialogue, and they don't even get a speech bubble. Honestly, the voice directing in the vanilla version of this game isn't great, but this whole scene might be one of the worst examples. I might say this a lot.

I also find it quite funny just how much our new Roegadame hero towers over everyone else, including the incredibly tall Raubahn. Her head doesn't even fit into the frame.

Click to play: Machinations

Aggro seems to have impressed the Sultana a second time, and is finally going to be rewarded. Considering she feeds off of whatever random NPCs will hand her as a reward, a banquet would probably go a long way. I can imagine changing your race into something almost twice your size might work up an appetite.

"There are, of course, certain protocols that must be observed... But I am no authority on them. Fear not, however - Mistress Momodi has long been responsible for familiarizing foreign guests with our customs."

Click to play: Ul'dah Theme (Day)

There's been a few changes since our last footage, and not just Crash's identity. There's been two years of frequent updates to the game, so there will be some new NPCs and UI elements that haven't been shown previously. I'll be skipping a lot of this for now, but certain things will still get touched on. That Smith over there? I'll be returning to them soon. For now, let's go speak to Momodi.

"All guests to this banquet are required to wear a pair of ceremonial earrin's. Bein' of a design unique to the occasion, the earrin's serve as a security measure. The Sultansworn won't let you near the hall without 'em."

I suppose, in a world where a male Hyur can drink a bottle of Fantasia and turn into a giant, female Roegadyn, it makes more sense to require a unique item than have a recognizable face.

"Your set should be ready and waitin' for you at the Goldsmiths' Guild. Mistress Serendipity is expectin' you, so you'll want to head down there now."

We've never really been to the Goldsmiths' Guild before, so this will make for a nice trip to somewhere new. It's located inside the Steps of Thal, which can be a pain to navigate at times. The easiest way to find it is to first access it through the Ruby Road Exchange entrance, which is right next to the elevator for Hustings' Strip.

The Gold Court is presented as the sort of center area for the Steps of Thal, even though there's a couple of streets in the outside that's also a part of the map. There are different paths, but each is sign posted.

Each sign post for a guild displays the class logo. For a Goldsmith, it's a bracelet that keeps reminding me of a coronet, for whatever reason. I'm sure you can probably guess what the other sign post is for.

As Aggro goes down the corridor, she sees two Mammets welcoming in anyone passing by into the Goldsmiths' Guild.

Inside is the guildmaster, Serendipity. We'll get to see a lot more of her later if we choose to join the Goldsmiths' Guild, but for now Aggro just needs to collect her earrings.

For some reason, I couldn't really find any concept art for Serendipity like I can most of the notable NPCs. In any case, she hands Aggro the earrings and informs her that the box containing them is locked. Since only specific individuals are allowed to hand them out. Aggro will have to return to Momodi to get them unlocked.

Momodi will give Aggro the new earrings, named the Voice of the Just, and tell her where the banquet will be held. The Royal Promenade is up in Hustings' Strip, so Aggro will need to return there again. It's a good thing the elevator is right next door.

The separate carpet makes the Royal Promenade very easy to identify.

Like Momodi suggested, there's no more progressing this quest unless you equip the earrings. If you somehow lose them (why would you discard it already?) then they're easily replaced.

The earrings themselves are actually one of the few pieces of equipment in the game with a description. This is usually reserved for your class-specific weapon.

Aggro isn't really impressed with how small they are. It's kind of hard to see, even when I haven't resized. In any case, it's time to enter.

And... we'll continue this next time. There'll be lots more video, and a lot more goofy and questionable voice acting. Tune in then!

After drinking the Fantasia and getting a name change, Crash Screen is no longer the protagonist of this LP. From here on, we'll be with Aggro Crag. Though it is the same character anyway.

CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 00:42 on Sep 9, 2016

# ¿ Jul 18, 2016 03:49

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

Yeah, I actually added a little bit about them in the rewrite for an old chapter, so I'll just quote it here while it's relevant.

Chapter IV posted:

Roegadyns are the largest race in vanilla FFXIV. Being able to play as a female Roegadyn is actually a new addition in A Realm Reborn, as 1.0 made them a male-only race similar to the Hyur Highlander.

The first Roegadyn clan - the Sea Wolves - are notorious in Hydaelyn. Hailing from the islands of the North, they're often brutal pirates who leave the women and fishermen behind, even when the immigrated to Eorzea. They're the largest population in the city-state of Limsa Lominsa, located on the island of Vylbrand.

The Hellsguard are the second Roegadyn clan. They're primarily mountain dwellers, growing up in volcanic regions and guarding what they believe to be the gate of the underworld. The Hellsguard are valued as smithies and guardians.

In regards to the bonus attributes (that ultimately don't matter), looking at it may be surprising. The Hellsguard also make very capable healers, though they're also strong too. Meanwhile, the Sea Wolves are the toughest around and are the most capable tanks and melee fighters.

The bonus attributes for each race is more of a flavour thing. It tells you what they're naturally good at in lore, but as Xenoveritas said, it's fairly niche. I should also add that each race is split into two clans as well, and those are what determine the attributes.

There's actually one race the rewritten updates don't cover, so I'll probably throw them in a bonus section soon too.

# ¿ Jul 18, 2016 15:41

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

Chapter XV: Feast and Famine
All of Aggro's hard work has finally paid off, and now she's been invited to a banquet as the Sultana's guest. Be warned, almost this entire update is also on video this time, but keep an eye out for that Video End banner anyway. There's two videos, and a final scene just after it.

Click to play.

When we begin the cutscene, Aggro is already mingling with Papashan. She's easy to spot, being the tallest person in the room by a mile. Elezens and Roegadyns aren't very common in Ul'dah.

Click to play: Return of the Hero

It must be a fun conversation they're having, because Papashan seems very bashful here. I was going to make a dating sim joke, complete with a UI. When I finished, I realised that I should never, ever try that again. That one went straight in the bin.

Raubahn interrupts all the playful banter with an introduction to Nanamo.

They then exchange pleasantries, before Nanamo...

... climbs up on his arm. Lalafells are adorable.

The Sultana introduces Aggro to her audience as the hero of Ul'dah, all the while casually just sitting on her general's arm. This is so normal that nobody in the audience even takes a second glance. It's kind of great.

Aggro also gets the praise she desires. Finally, after all that hard work delivering mail, slaying midges, and fighting demons; Aggro has attained her glory. Well, people told me that attempting to LP an MMO was stupid, but I've successfully cleared it!

Nanamo calls for the feast to begin, but Aggro decides to walk away.

There's a weird, seamless transition into the next scene with Raubahn talking to her. It's actually kind of jarring, because he looks like he straight up teleports in front of her. She's not impressed with the editing here.

The conversation is also a little jarring. Nanamo literally just introduced the hero of Ul'dah and started the feasting, and Raubahn is immediately off to go tell the hero about how much the rest of the city suffers while she gorges herself. What's your deal, dude?

"Nor can Her Grace do aught to help them. She is thwarted at every turn by those on the Syndicate who derive their wealth from the workers' poverty."

The writer for this quest chose a really strange time to provide some exposition. It might have been alright with a decent segue, but instead it kind of provides a bit of tonal whiplash. He turns this around into something about appreciating Aggro's work, but wanting her to realise that this celebration doesn't mean there isn't more work to be done. It's a sensible thing to say, I suppose, but it might feel more natural if he lead with that first.

In any case, hearing about how much the Sultana and General care about their people really warms Aggro's heart.

"That light - what is it?"

Soundtrack ends.

Aggro reveals that the light is emanating from the crystal that ~~Crash~~ she picked up beneath the Sultantree.

Taken aback, Raubahn begins to ask a series of oddly specific questions.

Click to play: Canticle

"Tell me true - have you been troubled by strange dreams of late? Visions - of the Crystal? Mayhap you put them down to an excess of aether?"

The delivery of these lines is really weird, and sometimes the voiced cutscenes makes me wonder if Square even had a voice director for vanilla A Realm Reborn. Though credit where it's due, because he at least sounds like he's struggling to remember ~~his lines~~ the symptoms of The Echo.

"Yes. You are like they were..."

It's appropriate because of the mass amnesia all the NPCs in the world suffered. If you recall, Momodi explained that nobody can remember the adventurers from 1.0, allowing this new adventure to happen even for returning players.

Rest assured, the game believes that you've probably already forgotten this detail and provides another expositional dump. We get a little bit more this time, though.

The Adventurers of 1.0 are credited with bringing together the Grand Companies, including Raubahn's Immortal Flames, to fight the Garlean Empire. Raubahn was present on the day of their sacrifice, at the Battle of Carteneau.

Raubahn then offers a warning to Aggro as he reminisces.

"You must protect that crystal at all costs. It is a gift from Hydaelyn, Mother of all - and the one She gave to you for a reason."

I'm going to add a little note here, because it's relevant and sometimes a subject of confusion. Hydaelyn is the name of the Mothercrystal, which we've seen in previous cutscenes. It's the giant crystal that spoke to Aggro, back when she was a male Hyur. Hydaelyn is also the name of the planet in FFXIV, with Eorzea only one of its realms.

At this point, Raubahn might be spewing up a little too much exposition and gives Aggro a convenient, vision-inducing headache.

Raubahn, this is your story.

Soundtrack ends.

Click to play.

We return to the past, during the final moments of the Battle of Carteneau.

Click to play: The Echo

Regardless of which city-state you begin in, you'll see this same cutscene. To make it relevant to all players, there's a bit of a roll call with the Grand Company leaders from each city-state.

This awesome, and generally well voice acted Roegadame is Merlwyb, leader of The Maelstrom from the city state of Limsa Lominsa. She managed to bring the local pirates to their knees and took over as Admiral.

The third Grand Company leader to be barking orders is Kan-E-Senna, leader of the Twin Adders. She belongs to a non-player race known as the Padjal, but she used to be a Hyur. No, she didn't use a Fantasia potion. That's culturally insensitive to the city-state of Gridania, and they hate foreigners enough already.

It's really hard to see, but there's actually a man standing on the cliff in the background watching them.

Let's just zoom in a little and yeah, it's still sort of hard to see.

The blurry silhouette belongs to this guy, who is most definitely not associated with the previous masked and cloaked man Aggro beat up.

Kan-E-Senna does manage to notice the mysterious man, but they're in the middle of a war here. There's no time to ponder.

You see, the Gridanian White Mage has a shield to sustain for the rest of her party.

Soundtrack ends.

The scene then changes to an undetermined time in the future. The battle has been lost, but not to the Garleans. There's no longer any soundtrack playing, but the ambient noise includes some snarling and devastation. Bahamut has been released from his prison.

Raubahn is losing his poo poo trying to contact any survivors when codename Mad Snake finally gets through to him. It seems like Bahamut wrecking the land is also interfering with communications, which is actually consistent with what the Delivery Moogle told Aggro.

Click to play: Forever Lost

The General then takes a Codec pose to communicate over linkshell.

The other leaders watch over, and Mad Snake screams before going silent for good. It's a sombre scene, and there's a strong sense of all hope being lost even despite Raubahn's goofy voice acting.

That is until we get a really silly Metal Gear Solid reference. Ordinarily, the localization is great, and there's some decent humour. The lead localiser loves his puns, but there's also a lot of pop culture references in this game, for better or for worse.

The other leaders give their linkshells a shot too, and all while Raubahn is screaming at the air. They're significantly less melodramatic here.

Yes, that would be the sensible thing to do with that giant doom dragon flying around.

Meanwhile, over on the other cliffside our new mysterious mage reveals that he's older than one of the moons.

On that note, remember when I pointed out the deliberately different text box? The Ascians haven't been speaking in whatever tongue the Eorzeans speak. Instead, they speak in their own language, and the voice acting here is the same deal. The reason we can read it is because of Aggro's Echo, which in the recap chapter we learned also translates languages in real-time. It still rarely comes up, but these are nice touches.

We also can't have a villainous monologue without a maniacal laugh.

The laugh serves as the trigger for Aggro to wake up from this nightmare.

Click to play: Behind Closed Doors

Aggro wakes up to find herself back in The Hourglass - the Inn at the Adventurers' Guild. At Aggro's bedside is Momodi.

"You sure you're gettin' enough rest, Aggro? The life of an adventurer can be pretty taxin'."

Momodi is a saint and has been looking after Aggro since she collapsed, for Twelve knows how long. Funnily enough, she went through the same thing with the 1.0 adventurer too.

"Oh, 'fore I forget, the General left a message for you. Said that when you're feelin' up to it, you should come and see him at the Hall of Flames. Probably wants to finish the story he was tellin' you when you fell asleep."

The cutscene then ends, leaving Aggro free to do what she wants to do next. I'm going to leave this decision up to the thread to vote on.

Talking to Raubahn will start a new chain of quests that will take Aggro away from Ul'dah. However, Aggro hit level 15 a little while ago. This means that there's some new work at the Gladiators' Guild, and the current milestone also gets her a new ability. We'll have to do that at some point, but there will be another opportunity before it matters. It's up to all of you.

CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 00:46 on Sep 9, 2016

# ¿ Jul 23, 2016 03:01

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

Regarding the class quests,I'd be doing it before the need for the skill everyone is thinking of comes up. It's really a matter of what you want to see first. If I recall correctly, there won't even be combat until the point I'm thinking of doing it.

Really, it's an option because I'm not sure just how engaged everyone is with the gladiator stuff anyway.

Eldataluta posted:

Also, what's the status on that fc? I wouldn't mind signing up for it, if only so that I can stop being bombarded by invites every time I stop moving in a city.

I'll be able to create an FC at around level 20, which isn't too far off. Until then, there's a goon LS on the server that can be used, though you'll need someone to invite you. The details are in the megathread but I'll share them here when I get back home if someone doesn't beat me to it. That should be an okay alternative for now. It won't help with the bombardment though.

# ¿ Jul 23, 2016 14:43

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

I feel like I'm being bullied.

On the details about the Linkshell, the Lodestone page is here. You should be able to get in if you just message one of the members. As a temporary thing, the FC that most of them belong to is a semi-goon FC too so you can apply to that as well. The FC is in the first ward subdivison, plot 25.

# ¿ Jul 24, 2016 02:15

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

I didn't expect to be back doing this so soon for the LP already.

ModeWondershot posted:

Look forward to meeting goons through this game!

Yeah. This should be a pretty fun part to get involved in with the LP. I'll probably actually set up a bit in the OP to keep track of players taking part.

e: I remember someone mentioning earlier in the thread that they could dump seasonal stuff. I don't really consider seasonal events spoilers (save for a couple of character appearances), so post whatever you want about them. I'll be covering this one eventually, but it'll take a while so I don't really care if people dump videos here or whatever.

CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 00:40 on Jul 27, 2016

# ¿ Jul 27, 2016 00:34

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

TiamosLoren posted:

I also did some streaming videos while the LP was on hiatus, rolling a new character and just running through the game as part of the Lancer/Dragoon/Gridania storyline if people are interested. The playlist is here (and I will be filtering this playlist to be spoiler-free specifically for this LP thread and updating it as the thread progresses)

This is pretty cool, and I appreciate the effort of separating it into a spoiler-friendly playlist. I've added it to the contents. Feel free to update the thread after an update to the playlist as well.

# ¿ Jul 27, 2016 18:58

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

Chapter XVI / Gladiator Chapter III: Assisting Aldis is killing two birds with one shield

Click to play: Ul'dah Theme (Day)

Since the thread doesn't want me to be a bad role model, I'll be doing the next Gladiator quest today. There hasn't really been much in the way of a story, but this next quest changes that. This will also be the first time that Aggro has acquired a new ability from a quest.

The ability in question is Shield Lob, which is Aggro's first ranged attack. The damage still scales from both Vitality and Strength though, unlike the other ranged jobs. It also has an enmity multiplier, while it does slightly less damage than Fast Blade. It's really important, and really worth doing the quest for.

Mylla has a new task for Aggro, and this time it's actual work that the guild got hired for. Amalj'aa raiders have been attacking more frequently recently, and so Mylla wants Aggro to stamp them out in eastern Thanalan, which is where Camp Drybone is located. She'll need to locate another Gladiator to get filled in on the situation. Easy stuff. This will be the first time we've gone to eastern Thanalan, sans the opening cutscene.

Now, how to get there? There's no direct link from Ul'dah, so this involves a bit of traveling. Without having been there before, Aggro can't use the aetheryte to teleport there either.

Keen-eyed readers might have noticed the chocobo porter near the Gate of Nald (which is where ~~Crash~~ Aggro first entered Ul'dah through). You would think that this would be an alternative means of travel.

Unfortunately, you first need to register to a porter in order to be granted access, similar to an aetheryte. There is a difference between porters and teleporting though, and that's that you need to let your chocobo transport you to your destination in real time. The gil saved isn't really worth it unless you want to relax and enjoy some chocobo music.

Once you've registered to two locations, you'll be able to use the porter. There's actually another restriction too: they have specified routes. Aggro can only currently travel between Black Brush Station in central Thanalan, and Ul'dah. Unlocking the porter for Horizon in western Thanalan unlocks the route between Horizon and Ul'dah, but will not provide transport between Horizon and Black Brush Station. You won't be seeing me use the porter in the LP, outside of maybe a bonus in a later update.

Click to play: Thanalan Theme

Incidentally, the journey to Camp Drybone requires a trip through central Thanalan. The shortest way is through the Unholy Heir, where Aggro slayed her very first Ascian.

It's dense with enemies, so new players may feel a little intimidated with this route and stick to the path. There isn't much need, as only the enemies with the red triangle will attack you. Furthermore, every aggressive enemy in this area will require Aggro to pass through their line of sight in order to be targeted. Sneaking behind them will avoid all conflict. There are some enemies with different methods of detecting a player, but they're really rare and won't be seen this early.

Passing the trees next to the small oasis will bring Aggro into eastern Thanalan.

Welcome to eastern Thanalan, thread! In a couple of months when we return, this place is going to end up feeling like home. It's actually got a lot of really neat scenery and is one of the first places in the game to make me just adore how great the environment looks. In the background, you can actually see a landmark that's also visible from central Thanalan and southern Thanalan. Unfortunately, we're here during the day. You should really see it at night!

Located right next to where Aggro zones in are a bunch of Tuco-tuco, which will be on the hunting log for most Ul'dah players if not all of them. Make sure not to miss any hunt log targets on your first class because the exp is especially rewarding on it.

Click to play: Camp Theme

Slightly north and down a hole is Camp Drybone. I won't really explore it now, but if you're starting in Ul'dah like me then you'll save yourself a lot of trouble with a quick visit here.

Not only is it really pleasant (and probably very cool for your character), it will be a very important location through out the entire vanilla A Realm Reborn campaign. You should always register to nearby aetherytes anyway, but this might be one of the most frequently visited maps in the game.

If you absolutely have to unlock everything like I do, there's also a chocobo porter on ground level. In any case, there aren't any gladiators around and Aggro will need to roam out into the wilderness.

Aggro eventually stumbles upon an over-turned wagon while traveling along the ancient Royal Allagan Sunway. It looks like someone didn't do their job properly.

Click to play: Thanalan Theme (Battle)

Somehow, Aggro managed to miss the giant lizardmen that were hanging around the wagon. It's a good thing their aim is about as accurate as a Stormtrooper's.

The Amalj'aa Ravager are archer class beastmen. They only really have two noteworthy abilities. The first is Devastate, which anyone should be able to easily dodge by this point. If you're a physical fighter (which includes the ranged jobs), remember to try and face your opponent while you dodge. That auto-attack damage is worth trying to let as many ticks hit as possible.

The other ability is Enfire, which you don't actually have to care about. It modifies their attacks to inflict fire elemental damage. Elemental damage doesn't matter in this game, and this is probably partially a carry over from 1.0. Your elemental resistance might influence how much damage you receive here, but it's negligible.

After defeating the Amalj'aa, the injured gladiator tells Aggro to return to the guild. Aggro just uses return, as the Ul'dah Aetheryte Plaza is still registered as her home point.

Click to play: Ul'dah Theme (Day)

Back in the Coliseum, Mylla congratulates Aggro for a hard days work. The jokes in which I preemptively pat myself on the back for work done is a bit tired, so instead we'll just jump straight to the interruption.

"Seven hells, this place reeks of sweat! How do you expect a man to concentrate on his swordplay like this!?"

Returning from the previous Gladiator quest is Aldis, the ex-gladiator who helped rescue Aggro from a poor guildmaster decision. Everyone thought he was dead, but I guess that's not going to last.

I said this before and it may have been taken as a light joke, but Aldis is the main character for the gladiator quests. Ultimately, Aggro plays his support. This isn't really a bad thing (think: Mad Max), and he's a decent enough character to carry the quests.

Mylla is, of course, shocked. Momodi had asked Aggro to keep quiet about Aldis still being alive. The two clearly have history.

"Good to see you too, Mylla my dear. You're more beautiful than I remember."

"Y-you're alive!? Where have you been all these years!? Answer me!"

"Me? Well, if you must know, I'm on a spiritual journey of self-discovery."

"Dammit, Aldis, this is serious! We all thought you were dead! And for you to walk in here, as though nothing ever happened - have you forgotten how you dishonored us!? I should cut you down where you stand!"

"Ho ho, that's the Mylla I remember, all fire and brimstone! I knew that pretty face could still contort itself into terrifying shapes!"

Aldis can be a bit of a dick.

"Ahhhh, don't pout, girl, I'm just having fun. But, as you wish, I'll go."

Clearly pissed off that a person she actually cared about had pretended to be dead without saying a word for so long, Mylla turns away from the group. Aldis then does the inappropriate thing.

"Aggro, was it? Why don't you join me at the Quicksand? I could use some company, and I doubt anyone else here would be so kind."

...

Mylla is left wondering why Aldis has finally shown himself after all this time. Is something going on? Aggro investigates by taking Aldis up on his offer. Sorry, Mylla.

Click to play: Adventurers' Guild Theme

Aldis is exactly where he said he would be in the Adventurers' Guild. Judging by this prompt, I suspect we're about to find out what's going on.

You're rather dense, aren't you Aldis?

"Listen, Aggro. You're good with a sword, that's plain to see. But more than that, you've got a purpose. There's a fire burning within you. As a former man of conviction, I can recognize a kindred spirit."

Gerolt is a pretty great character, but we won't be seeing him until we hit ~~the level cap~~ level 50. It's a nice little reference to the legendary weaponsmith.

"The man who wielded her twin had eyes that burned like yours..."

Aldis is just about to open up to Aggro when they hear a loud scream.

Click to play: Damnation

A bunch of armed men storm into the Quicksand. The bar quickly empties out.

In particular, though, I love Momodi's reaction here.

She just looks so fed up, like this sort of thing is normal, and hops off of whatever is allowing her to stand over the counter. The game has a lot of fun when it comes to blocking Lalafells.

"If you do that, then how the hells am I supposed to enjoy my ale?"

Aldis' provocation begins the fight. It's a two-phase fight, but it's incredibly straight forward.

Click to play: Boss Battle Theme A

When it begins, Aldis will have ~~aggro~~ enmity on every enemy. You will want to keep it this way, because it will make the fight far smoother. The first phase is all about letting Aldis do the work while you help whittle his target down. I think the aim here is to show the player how to tank by example, to mixed results.

Aldis picks a really awkward place to fight, but it actually makes it a lot easier for Aggro. Since she's only level 15, it's possible for her to miss. Your accuracy actually depends on where you position yourself relative to the enemy. An attack from the front requires a higher accuracy value to guarantee success, while the side and rear require less respectively. The back is denoted by the gap in the target display below the enemy.

Since Aggro isn't looking to tank this, she can get away with using her more potent Riot Blade combo.

Once enough Nameless Attackers have been taken down, more will spawn alongside some Stout Ambushers. The new Nameless are level 20, and definitely out of reach for Aggro at this stage, but the Stouts immediately target Aggro. The rule of thumb for these duties is to focus on anything targeting you by default, or on what your ally is fighting. Aggro will have to go beat up some ambushers.

They're weak, and all you need to do is just beat them up with your ~~sword~~ block of wood. Defeating them will spawn in one last group of Nameless Attackers, this time at level 14.

This is when it might get a little dangerous, since the encounter is actually designed around the fact that Aggro has high defence and HP. The archers will put Venom Bite on Aggro, which gradually ebbs away at her HP. Four enemies piling up on her also starts to make their measly damage begin to hurt a lot.

It makes it even more vital to avoid the AoE attacks. A Heartstopper might actually stop Aggro's heart if she's not careful.

Fortunately, sticking within range of Aldis will allow him to heal you if things get too hairy. That is a massive chunk of life restored, even though he's a bit preoccupied.

Take too long and Aldis will come to your rescue. If his attack lands, it's basically a one-hit kill for these guys. Aldis runs in and absolutely destroys the remaining straggler, ending the duty.

Soundtrack ends.

"Why is it never a bevy of beauties? Let's continue this another time, shall we? I need to find a new place to drink - one with more attractive company than this sorry lot."

Click to play: Ul'dah Theme (Day)

Aldis disappeared when the cutscene ended, so all that's left to do is revisit the Coliseum and let Mylla know what happened.

Mylla explains that Shield Lob involves, funnily enough, lobbing your shield at an enemy and points out that Gladiators are ordinarily close range fighters/ After giving Aggro this late advice, she then hands Aggro a sweet sword to replace her wooden board - and some ancient money for some reason. Thanks, Mylla.

Well, that's all for this week. This update is getting a bit long, so I'll show off the ability next week or something.

CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 12:24 on Sep 9, 2016

# ¿ Jul 30, 2016 00:36

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

AweStriker posted:

I've heard you have to go to Western Thanalan a lot, too, though. Staying there for an extended period of time, maybe not, but traveling there...

The most common way of traveling there isn't actually by aetheryte at least, which lead to eastern Thanalan remaining my home point for a large portion of the game.

SkyTalon2314 posted:

This is all good. Honestly, I totally forgot about how bad those regions were back when we had to travel through them a lot more. I'll bring that up in the LP when we get to them.

# ¿ Aug 1, 2016 21:39

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

Chapter XVII: I'm on the Highwind to Hell

Now that she's done helping out her guild; it's time for Aggro to meet up with Flame Commander Raubahn. He's located in the Hall of Flames, right next to the Ul'dah Aetheryte Plaza, and has been waiting here for over nearly two weeks now. He's probably losing his patience.

Click to play: Immortal Flames Theme

We may have caught him at a bad time.

Raubahn then hands Aggro a bunch of letters, which she then proceeds to put in her rear pocket like any other protagonist would.

"Five years ago, we looked on, powerless, as our brothers and sisters were taken from us at Carteneau - first by the Garleans, and then by the thrice-damned primal called forth by their treachery. Not a day goes by that I do not think of my fallen comrades... And the Warriors of Light, of whom no trace remained."

I've thought about this a little bit, and I've decided that I won't be cutting out very much dialogue for the three leaders in this quest. They'll explain The Calamity and give us some extra detail on it, but I think it also conveys a bit of their personality fairly well. Considering this will be the first time we meet them, I hope you don't mind me letting them explain the events instead of me summarising it like usual.

"And so I mean to mark the fifth anniversary of the Battle of Carteneau with a memorial service honoring the fallen. It is my hope that my counterparts in the Alliance will agree to do the same."

That's great Raubahn, but what has Aggro got to do with this? Don't tell me you plan to make her some sort of glorified roadie?

Oh. Hey! That's a huge step up for Aggro. It was barely that long ago that Aggro was killing road side midges for scraps of gil, but now she's already managed to work her way up to becoming the personal envoy of the Flame Commander of Ul'dah.

"Why you? Because your deeds mark you out as the nearest thing I have to a Warror of Light. I can think of none more worthy of the role. Will you accept it?"

Aggro is a bit of a social klutz. She nods in agreement, but also flashes a really menacing glance that's more fit for a high school delinquent about to start a fight.

Hindsight of Raubahn's character makes me unsure as to whether he's agreeing to Aggro's challenge, or is excited by her accepting the role of envoy.

"You will journey to Gridania and Limsa Lominsa as my official representative."

There's a bit of a problem with that. Gridania can be traveled to on foot, and it's not hard to get there. Renting a chocobo can get you there in ten to fifteen minutes of travel, which is nothing compared to Final Fantasy XI. That being said, Limsa Lominsa is across the ocean and this is ~~2016~~ 2013. Raubahn hands over another item to Aggro.

This is a pretty big deal right now, as Raubahn proceeds to explain.

"These passes are only granted when circumstance demands it - as in this case. Though there were others who insisted you be granted on regardless. Aye, Aggro, I am not alone in seeing it... your potential is plain."

We're loved.

"See for yourself the wonders of the realm for which the Warriors of Light risked all. Rise to your calling and fulfill your promise. And should your path be barred by man or beast, strike fast and true, for victory belongs to the bold."

Click to play: Ul'dah Theme (Night)

Fireworks for the current Moonfire Faire greet Aggro as she leaves the Hall of Flames. There's just one more detour before she departs Ul'dah. See, Aggro has had one staunch supporter ever since she first step foot in Ul'dah as a male hyur. She wants to share this news with Momodi before leaving the city.

Momodi continues to be great and is super excited for Aggro.

"So you'll be bearin' the great man's words to the leaders of the Alliance, will you? And by airship! Bugger me... that's an honor and a half, that is... But I can't think of anyone who deserves it more. I'm proud of you, Aggro. I truly am."

Momodi then reconfirms what Raubahn said about the airships. Most of the city's citizens won't ever see Eorzea from the skies, and so she recommends that Aggro savour the priceless experiences. There's just one last thing.

"Ul'dah ain't the only place beset by troubles. Truth be told, that might well be exactly what the General wants you to realize. I think he knows what kind of woman you are, Aggro. And what kind's that, you ask? Why, the kind that can't resist stickin' her nose in other people's business, of course - and don't you ever go changin'!"

Right. We're off then. To travel by airship, Aggro must first reach the airship landing.

Fortunately, it's really easy to reach. A recent patch even added it to the aethernet for each city, but Aggro will take the traditional way for now. You can reach the landing in Ul'dah by simply talking to the lift attendant and taking a trip on the elevator.

There's not actually much to see in the landing, so Aggro goes straight to the ticketer. There's a bar behind the ticket office, but there's nobody to even interact with. There's a nice little detail about the airships when you talk to Elyenora too. The company running the airships is called Highwind Skyways, which is a little reference to our favourite, abusive scumbag pilot from Final Fantasy VII.

The landing area is actually only accessible through this quest. I don't think there are any others that let you walk around in here, and you can't get here normally. Enjoy the sights while you can, I guess.

You can even see down to a player area in Ul'dah. It seems pretty accurate!

It's also probably the only good place to see the fireworks in Ul'dah. There's one other place, but it's not as good as this could be. In any case, it's time to stop admiring the view and depart.

:siren:

Recommended viewing. :siren:

The departure scene isn't voiced, but I feel like it needs to be seen.

Click to play: A World Apart

You know that you're playing a Final Fantasy game when this theme kicks in after the introduction.

They weren't kidding when they said nobody can use it anymore. How does Highwind Skyways stay afloat?

Momodi is outside the door to the Adventurers' Guild to see Aggro off. She's not alone, as a bunch of others also join her from behind.

Thancred doesn't want to stick around, but I do wonder where Mylla is as well. I guess she has more important things to do now that Aldis is around.

A couple of onlookers have something to say about Aggro as she disappears over the skyline. I still love how straight the game plays the royal Sultana perching on her Commander's arm.

It's not all sunshine today, though. The scene changes and we're about to get treated to our first FMV sequence since the start of the game.

Soundtrack ends.

Click to play. Voice acted.

Our new scene is in La Noscea, which is the region Limsa Lominsa is located. An airship flies overhead, but it's not the same as the one Aggro rides. This one is made of metal.

Welcome to Castrum Occidens, a Garlean base on Lominsan soil.

It looks like the Garleans have been busy during the years they kept quiet.

Click to play: Imperial Will

Until now, there's not been a real antagonist in the story. Aggro has been doing what an adventurer does by helping out the denizens of Thanalan, with no real specific goal beyond finding something as abstract as glory. I think it should be clear by now that we're now entering the real story of Final Fantasy XIV. The introduction is over.

This is when the FMV sequence begins, as the armoured man we saw depart the airship begins his monologue. If you've looked up anything on 1.0 then you'll already recognise him as Gaius van Baelsar.

Gaius is in charge of the XIVth Legion of the Garlean military.

He was also the main antagonist of 1.0, though nothing ever really came of that in 1.0's main story as it was left unfinished. You may remember that it stopped after the introduction of Ifrit in a previous update.

Gaius actually did appear again in the 1.0 story, but this was in the new storyline that Yoshi-P's team added to shut it down.

In the new story, his role was actually overshadowed by the Legatus in charge of Garlemald's VIIth Legion: Nael van Darnus. That guy was a bit of a crazy case.

It was actually Nael van Darnus that was the one who dropped Dalamud on Eorzea.

Gaius ended up in a weird position as a result. Officially, he couldn't support the Warriors of Light, but he openly wished them success. Unlike Nael, he wasn't an evil or corrupt man. He truly thought what he was doing was right.

While those events happened five years ago, in 1.0's final story, the events Gaius is describing now was the backstory for the Garlean Invasion in 1.0.

If you consider the final story of 1.0 to be a bit of a detour, A Realm Reborn's story is about returning back to where 1.0's original story was left off and resolving it. With this little re-introduction to the first Garlean attempt to invade the rest of Eorzea, we're now almost in the same place 1.0 was. It didn't make very much progress.

And so we return to the present day, as Gaius begins another monologue. This time it's not flashback exposition, but an expositional speech to his men.

"For all the destruction it wrought, even Meteor, the Great Sin, failed to yield us control over it. And for this failure, the realm has sunk deeper into depravity. Yet it must be saved. Only Garlean rule can bring order to Eorzea. It falls to us to deliver the misguided masses from their ignorance."

Gaius' three Tribuni respond in unison and then leave. Gaius then clocks something being flown into the base.

It's hard to tell what it is, but it certainly seems ominous.

We then join a couple of Imperial engineers while the weird Garlean ships land. I'm going to keep this scene brief, since a lot of it is kind of excessive.

The midlander asks a really stupid, question. In real life, you'd probably immediately assume this idiot was a really bad spy. The Garleans are on Lominsan soil, are amassing a force, and their leader is yelling about ruling the land. No poo poo he's planning to take another tilt. Of course, this is a videogame so it's easy to assume it's just bad exposition.

The highlander is equally as stupid though, because he just asks what hole the other dude was hiding in and answers him seriously. Unfortunately for the midlander, they're overheard.

"I sense you harbor certain doubts over the wisdom of the legatus's plan."

One of Gaius' Tribuni, Nero tol Scaeva shows up, having overheard the midlander's dumb question. It's no surprise that his identity is already known. He's an idiot.

Meanwhile, Nero is a big rear end in a top hat who takes great pleasure in snuffing out lives. That was one creepy grin.

After barking a new order at the remaining Engineer, Nero puts his helmet on.

Note that he says Garlond. Don't mistake it for Garlemald (the country), or Garlean (the name for people from Garlemald). It's a reference to a 1.0 character, but we'll save that for another time.

With the end of the video, we're done our little reintroduction to the Garlean Empire. It's time to return to Aggro.

Click to play: Limsa Lominsa Theme (Night)

Elsewhere in La Noscea, Aggro's airship finally lands in Limsa Lominsa.

Like in Ul'dah, Aggro is able to move around in the landing area freely and check out the views. There's a nice view of the original Aetheryte Plaza in Limsa. Unfortunately, Aggro isn't here for the sightseeing, so exploring the city will have to come another time.

Admiral what? The names for a lot of Roegadyns can be difficult to read, but there's actually a rationale to them.

A member of the Maelstrom - the Limsa Lominsa Grand Company - is waiting for Aggro and gives her directions to find the Admiral. First, Aggro must speak to the Lift Attendant and be transported down to Bulwark Hall, which is on the ground floor.

Next, Aggro must make her way across the hall to the Storm Sergeant guarding another elevator.

He needs to see Aggro's missive before granting her entry. Once that's done, Aggro gets on the elevator and is taken to the top floor of the building. The screen blacks out.

And the familiar voice of Merlwyb from Raubahn's memories calls out. How will this go? We'll find out next week when Aggro finally meets both leaders of the two other city-states.

The first two NPC's Aggro spoke to in Limsa were both Miqo'te, so this is probably a good time to cover the very last A Realm Reborn race. Note that there's one more race in the game right now, but I'm going to keep that under wraps since the story leading up to the expansion takes some pleasure in slowly revealing it.

The Miqo'te are a race that first emigrated to Eorzea during the calamity that froze the seas. They're typically hunters, and have a strong sense of tail. They're also known to be territorial, and lone wolves. In an interesting detail, male Miqo'te weren't playable in 1.0. In another interesting detail, Square-Enix reduced the size of the female Miqo'te butts, which upset a group of players who still continue argue for butt inflation.

The two clans are known as the Seekers of the Sun, and the Keepers of the Moon. They inhabit the Sagolii Desert in Thanalan and Limsa Lominsa the most, and are known for their vertically aligned pupils. Seekers also have a single alpha male and a single breeding male, which can be the same Miqo'te. They have to be the physically strongest. Meanwhile, Keepers are more solitary and only usually meet to mate.

Seekers are often more of the outdoor types, with good dexterity and strength. Meanwhile, Keepers still have good dexterity but are the most talented clan in Eorzea for healing.

This will conclude our look at races, at least until Heavensward.

All Cutscenes - I've decided that I'll start trying to share all the cutscenes from the current chapter in the bonus area too, for some reason. Here it is.

CrashScreen fucked around with this message at 12:26 on Sep 9, 2016

# ¿ Aug 5, 2016 15:18

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 19:35

CrashScreen: Nov 11, 2012

Silegna posted:

Funfact: Agent Hummingway is a reference to a race of rabbit people that lived on the moon in Final Fantasy IV.

There's a nice extra layer to appreciate when you consider that Namingway was one of them, and this dude is masquerading as someone else to be a spy.

# ¿ Aug 5, 2016 22:39

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Final Fantasy XIV - A Let's Play Reborn!

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