Live In the Now

I logged on in Tahrongi Canyon, but first I decided to scope out West Sarutabaruta [S] to see if the mandragoras outside Windurst were any closer to my range. I couldn't get the Allied Sigil because I'd allowed my Campaign Medal to expire, but at least I got my Brass Wings of Service when I checked the NPC. As much Campaign as I'd been doing, I'd probably have been maxed out already like Neyla if I hadn't been so lazy.

The

Maybe we can scare him into surrendering.

mandies were still Toughs, so I returned to the present and ended up in Giddeus. I'd never tried leveling there, although I'm not sure why because it's closer to town and the mobs are a lot easier to find. Everything up to and including the first tunnels were Easy or Decent, so Bishop and I slaughtered our way through them. I eventually reached the second tier of yagudo, at which point Bishop started getting melee skillups again.

I stayed there until I hit Lv. 12 and then decided to try the past again. I very quickly learned what a terrible mistake that was. The mobs are so much stronger that a Decent mandy crushed Bishop in seconds; I think it may have been Linda Hamilton in disguise. My Activate timer only needed another three minutes, so I waited to make sure it wasn't some fluke. Again, Bishop died quickly.

Returning to the present and running for the canyon while my Activate timer cooled down again, I was amused to get an invitation to party in the dunes. I was nearly ready to log out, so I declined.

"That'll probably be your last party invite ever on PUP," Nanunanu joked when I mentioned it in the linkshell. Nan is a Lv. 73 Puppetmaster, and he gave me a hearty "Woot!" when he saw what job I was leveling.

I fought a few mobs in the clearing when Bishop was up and running again. He takes more damage than expected, but it's not too bad. I'll get back to the grind soon.

Test Drive

Neyla

Bishop looks like al ittle Paladin.

was over here watching DVDs for awhile after work, but I logged on a few minutes after he left to pick up my new automaton frame. It makes Bishop look like a tiny mechanical Paladin who's watched Edward Scissorhands way too much.

I fought my way from Windurst to Tahrongi Canyon so I could log out there and be in position for my next leveling session. There were a few bunnies hopping around, so of course I had to kill them first.

Some Assembly Required

When

I feel strange in this babymage gear.

I traveled to Nashmau the other day to buy attachments for my automaton, I made a goofy mistake. I'd purchased a few of the parts and ran out of inventory space, and I started to warp out. I should've spun around and used the Nomad Moogle standing a few feet away to clear some space, but it was too late and I ended up back in Windurst. I didn't feel like riding the boat back out there again, so I started leveling in West Sarutaburta.

Now skip ahead to today, when I continued my entry-level grind in West Sarutabaruta. I wandered north toward the outpost and Starfall Hillock, killing anything that moved. When I dinged Lv. 8, I was able to equip new gear. It's been a loooooong time since I've worn a tunic, mitt and soleas. I mean, that's stuff I wore back when I was staring out on Black Mage. It was a total nostalgia trip.

I took a break from it to ride to Nashmau and buy the attachments I'd missed the other day. One of those parts was the Strobe, which causes the automaton to use Provoke as long as a Fire Maneuver is active. Another was the Shock Absorber, which allows Bishop to give himself Stoneskin when an Earth Maneuver is going.

They made a huge difference. Instead of bouncing hate between us, Bishop tanked the entire time and I just had to punch mobs and keep the maneuvers going. With the Auto Repair Kit's regen, he was never in any real danger of being destroyed. Some crawler poison almost did him in, but I stacked three Light Maneuvers to give him 3HP/tick. Very handy.

The doubts I was having about the job and my lack of control over the automaton largely evaporated when I realized I just wasn't geared up for it. Now I'm starting to see why people like playing Puppetmaster.

Neyla had been doing Campaign battles in Windurst Waters all afternoon -- the beastmen still control the entire world, which makes me wonder if we'll see an "adjustment" to their levels soon -- but took time out to track me down and laugh a bit. He followed me around awhile and watched me kill stuff, but there wasn't much for him to do because Bishop was doing most of the work.

I

Ghatsad is going to build a new frame for my automaton.

managed to reach Lv. 10 and returned to Windurst so I could pay for another quick trip to Al Zahbi. I went to the Automaton Workshop to consult with Ghatsad, the galka craftsman who builds new frames. I requested the melee-centric Valoredge frame. He needed materials -- a Woumora Cocoon, Imperial Cermet, a Brass Sheet, and a pair of Tigerfangs -- and three Imperial Silver Pieces as payment.

Everything was in stock at the auction house, and I paid about 15k for the whole mess. I also bought a Flashbulb, which will let Bishop cast Flash on mobs. I can't wait to try that out. The new frame will be ready tomorrow, so I'll pick it up and at least see how Bishop handles. I'll probably go out to Tahrongi Canyon on Wednesday and start leveling on mobs near the Luck Rune, unless West Sarutabaruta [S] is a viable option.

I'm still not sure what my long-term goal will be for Puppetmaster, but I'm definitely feeling better about it.

Short Circuit

With

A goblin feels my unholy wrath.

the rich mix of being up late playing Resistance: Fall of Man and taking away valuable nap time to attend the company picnic this afternoon, I was half-asleep and not really in a big mood to level Puppetmaster. Still, I logged in and slaughtered some mobs in West Sarutabaruta.

I'm still wearing my fishing gear and using those Lv. 1 weapons I bought from an NPC in Port Windurst. Hopefully I get some upgrades soon.

I wasn't online very long, though. I dinged Lv. 7 before dropping out again to watch a movie and doze off in my chair. I'll try again tomorrow.

Bishop

I decided to take the plunge and give Puppetmaster a try today. First on my agenda was to hit Al Zahbi and pay the fee to rename my automaton. Since "Marvin" never got off the ground, I decided to go with my original second option and named him "Bishop." From there, I rode the ferry to Nashmau and bought attachments from Yoyoroon.

I

Bishop and I fight in West Sarutabaruta.

warped out and ended up in the middle of an epic-length Campaign fight in Windurst Waters [S]. It was wave after wave of yagudo, and they managed to go the full hour before finally retreating back to their nests. I wasn't really in the mood to run around with Bishop at that point, so I logged out for a bit and watched a movie.

I eventually came back and wandered out to West Sarutabaruta to fight bumblebees, mandragoras and rarabs. I copied and modified my Beastmaster macro bank, trying to keep some similarity going by putting Deploy in the same slot for Fight. Still, it was a little awkward and I made constant adjustments. The biggest struggle was figuring out how to add attachments; it seemed to take forever to find the automaton equipment menu.

I wasn't out there very long and only managed to get to Lv. 4 before I retired for the evening. I'm not sure it's the job for me -- I'm used to a much greater level of control over my pets' actions than I have with Bishop -- but I'll probably give it another shot tomorrow.

Beastmen Reign Supreme

I

I wish the yagudo would leave my town alone.

know mages get the shaft in Campaign battles unless they jump in and melee, but it seems like all of them ignoring the corpses and not bothering to Raise. Neyla ended up homepointing twice during a battle in Windurst Waters [S] because of it. I'm really missing those temp Reraise Scrolls the NPCs used to sell.

Yes, the beastmen are still in control this week. They even managed to wrest Batallia Downs away from the elvaan in their march to glory. I'm sure part of it is the time they had uber-powers from last week, but checking the Campaign map and seeing the levels of influence on the different regions does not give me hope that we'll be taking back West Sarutabaruta next week.

We've been shirking our duties, anyway. Instead of fighting beastmen, Neyla and I have mostly been playing through the perfunctory Rainbow Six: Vegas split-screen co-op Campaign and will probably finish it up tomorrow.

The recent revelation that I've been considering leveling Puppetmaster has been met with unbelieving chuckles and plenty of eye-rolling. If I'm not doing anything Thursday, I may dust off my Animator and give it a try.

Forget-Me-Nots

Neyla finally used merit points to unlock Chivalry, and it was instant success. I didn't realize how much MP it would actually restore, thinking it would give him half or something. No, it filled up completely. You've gotta love that. He'll be meriting his ass off to get that recast timer whittled down.

The

The pulse-pounding action continues in Windurst.

week has mostly been about meriting in Campaign battles, and I raised my Hand-to-Hand skill to 7. The fights are getting harder, mostly because the Campaign NPCs are no longer dispensing temporary items. I was constantly spending Allied Notes to buy Reraise and Body Boost, so now when I die I have to hope some wandering mage will notice my corpse and get me up.

One of yesterday's battles in Meriphataud Mountains resulted in Neyla dying on the eastern side of the tower. He'd been down quite awhile and nobody would go near the mobs swarming the area. As soon as the battle ended, every ran for the gate at the zone without bothering to search for the dead. As a result, I hoofed it back to Windurst and changed over to White Mage to get him back on his feet.

The funny part was that I'd completely forgotten about the Recall-Meriph spell. I'd warped back to Windurst and was going to outpost, ride a chocobo to the Maw, and then track down Neyla's body. I'm glad he reminded me I could be there a lot faster by using the spell. It says something about how little time I spend on White Mage, unless I need it for fishing.

I did my last Campaign battle of the day as White Mage, but of course I didn't have my better gear because I'd only switched over for the Raise. The lag was so terrible that Neyla and I fell through one of Windurst's bridges and ended up down in the water with a tarutaru named Inutiyo; I was going to teleport us out, but the taru knew a spot where we could run up on the bank and work our way through the trees and back onto the road. Very handy!

On a side note, I want to extend a tarutaru shout-out to two players who read the blog. Arcanos, who'd been stationed in Iraq, sent me a /tell to say Travels in Vana'diel was his main connection to FFXI while he was over there because most of the game sites were blocked. I joked that I would've updated more often if I'd known I was feeding his addiction. The other shout goes to Elian on Cerberus server, who e-mailed me with compliments.