FFXI update 3: Cooking up some progress!

Since we last left our brave catgirl, she's been quite busy! For starters, she's packed her bags and made the move over to Asura, THE server to be on nowadays, it seems. Right away I noticed a difference: OTHER PEOPLE! In an MMO, what a concept! It's not so crowded that it becomes a disadvantage, which is a good thing. It just feels more... alive. Ragnarok was a pretty fun place, but I'll be needing help with some upcoming content, so it's nice to know the support is there if I need it! If you see Kittywoo scampering around on Asura, be sure to say hi.

At least I've got a nice view!

This month's progress has been a variety of odds and ends. I finished up the (amazing) Treasures of Aht Urhgan storyline, and have spent the rest of my time split between grinding levels and grinding... crafting levels! One of the achievements is to get one craft to 100, and I decided early on that Cooking would be my jam, pardon the pun. There's currently a double crafting skill gain event going on, so I plan to take full advantage of it and push on to level 100. The last event got me from 1 to 49, so I'm hopeful I can get it done and over with this month!

My crafting method is pretty much to burn through it as quickly as possible, spending quite a bit of gil in the process instead of farming up my own materials and crystals. It's not the ideal way to do things, but I've got so much else to accomplish before March! Plus, the truth of the matter is, I don't have much else to spend my gil on anyway.

I never want to see one of these ever again.

Luckily, FFXI has greatly simplified the crafting process. Once you use a recipe once, it gets stored in your "History" tab under crafting. From here, it's just a matter of clicking... over... and over... oh, and refilling ingredients when necessary. Cue hours of me doing this while watching videos or playing 3DS, among other things! Definitely one of the more monotonous tasks I've had to do thus far for my goal, but it's a nice break from the usual, I suppose.

Job level-wise, I've recently gotten Paladin to level 75, and Dark Knight is soon to follow. (Hey, it's Final Fantasy IV's 24th anniversary, maybe I was feeling nostalgic?) This month's EXP bonus isn't quite as good as before, since it's basically just doubling the chain EXP bonuses and EXP boost from ring items, as opposed to doubling the base EXP from enemies. Still, I have quite a bit of leveling left to do, and we just don't know what future campaigns are planned, so I intend to take advantage of any kind of bonus.

Storyline-wise, I just have Wings of the Goddess left of the major scenarios, although it's quite lengthy. I'd say I'm roughly 1/3 of the way through it as of now. I also have to change nations and get through the San d'Oria and Bastok missions, although these should probably go quickly on a level 99 character with all the relevant Home Points unlocked!

Wings of the Goddess: the funny cat video of the FFXI storyline?

That's all until next time... oh, be sure and take part in the FFXIV/FFXI crossover event if you play! It's quite a treat for FFXI players, plus you get Iroha's swanky outfit if you finish it. The event goes on until December 31, so there's plenty of time to celebrate.

FFXI update 2: Electric Goobbue

Since I posted my original entry on the subject, I've had several people offering to help me along and even join me in trying to unlock all the Xbox 360 achievements in FFXI! It's nice to see people interested in XI, and I really do appreciate the support.

I'll most likely be transferring to the Asura server once the discount campaign begins again this month, since that seems to be the place most English-speakers have congregated in. That'll be my chance to grab the Ballista achievement (more on that later) and maybe help out some fellow adventurers!

Today we'll take a look at some of the achievements I'm after. Strap yourselves in, it's one heck of a ride. Our first set involves leveling up jobs to an appropriate level. Once you meet the requirements for an achievement, speak to a Traveling Bard while logged in on an Xbox 360 and select the "Unlock achievement" option.

No, no, I said level UP, dammit!

Bard Lv. 75

Value: 30 points

How to unlock: Level up the Beastmaster job up to its maximum level.

Beastmaster Lv. 75

Value: 30 points

How to unlock: Level up the Beastmaster job up to its maximum level.

Black Mage Lv. 75

Value: 30 points

How to unlock: Level up the Black Mage job up to its maximum level.

Blue Mage Lv. 75

Value: 30 points

How to unlock: Level up the Blue Mage job up to its maximum level.

Corsair Lv. 75

Value: 30 points

How to unlock: Level up the Corsair job up to its maximum level.

Dancer Lv. 75

Value: 30 points

How to unlock: Level up the Dancer job up to its maximum level.

Dark Knight Lv. 75

Value: 30 points

How to unlock: Level up the Dark Knight job up to its maximum level.

Dragoon Lv. 75

Value: 30 points

How to unlock: Level up the Dragoon job up to its maximum level.

Monk Lv. 75

Value: 30 points

How to unlock: Level up the Monk job up to its maximum level.

Ninja Lv. 75

Value: 30 points

How to unlock: Level up the Ninja job up to its maximum level.

Paladin Lv. 75

Value: 30 points

How to unlock: Level up the Paladin job up to its maximum level.

Puppetmaster Lv. 75

Value: 30 points

How to unlock: Level up the Puppetmaster job up to its maximum level.

Ranger Lv. 75

Value: 30 points

How to unlock: Level up the Ranger job up to its maximum level.

Red Mage Lv. 75

Value: 30 points

How to unlock: Level up the Red Mage job up to its maximum level.

Samurai Lv. 75

Value: 30 points

How to unlock: Level up the Samurai job up to its maximum level.

Scholar Lv. 75

Value: 30 points

How to unlock: Level up the Scholar job up to its maximum level.

Summoner Lv. 75

Value: 30 points

How to unlock: Level up the Summoner job up to its maximum level.

Thief Lv. 75

Value: 30 points

How to unlock: Level up the Thief job up to its maximum level.

Warrior Lv. 75

Value: 30 points

How to unlock: Level up the Warrior job up to its maximum level.

White Mage Lv. 75

Value: 30 points

How to unlock: Level up the White Mage job up to its maximum level.

... so, as you can see, we're going to need to level up a LOT in order to unlock all these babies. BUT WAIT, it's not quite as bad as you think it is.

You see, we have a couple of advantages here. The 360 achievements were added to the game quite a while ago, back when level 75 was the maximum (it's 99 now), and before two jobs (Geomancer and Rune Fencer) were introduced. This means we get achievement credit even though 75 isn't the level cap anymore, and we don't need to bother with GEO or RUN.

Getting to 75 is much, MUCH easier nowadays, since we can summon a full party of Trusts to level up with instead of waiting for EXP parties. We also have the advantage of permanent EXP boosts from the Rhapsodies of Vana'diel key item rewards; it's around 180% right now if you've caught up with the storyline. EXP loss from death has also been greatly reduced, to the point where you'll most likely never see a "LEVEL DOWN" message [shudder].

Pick an appropriate leveling camp and just smash everything you see until the FF victory music plays. I'd recommend following Fields of Valor for general ideas of what areas you should attempt based on your level. If you can summon 4 or 5 Trusts, I'd recommend focusing on Tough/Incredibly Tough monsters whenever possible for the best EXP. You may need to do a bit of traveling to find these areas at first, just make sure to click on any Home Points or Survival Guides you see to enable warping back later.

Our lord and savior, floating book thing.

While leveling might be our first 75 will be a huge pain because you'll have to finish various "limit break" quests to increase your max level, starting at level 50. They'll slow down what is otherwise a relatively quick process, but once they're done, they're done. Future leveling will be much easier without those things in the way. My recommendation is to choose a non-Aht Urghan or Wings of the Goddess job as your first 75, since those limit break quests are more straightforward and easily accessible.

We don't HAVE to level beyond 75, but I highly recommend getting at least one job to 99 in order to completely trash and humiliate every storyline battle that you encounter, and it'll also make traveling through areas much safer and quicker, too. This speeds up getting through the various storylines significantly, which takes up a large chunk of the time we'll spend getting those achievements.

My personal progress: I've gotten Samurai to 75 and Dancer to 99, along with various other jobs in the 50s and 60s, and a number that are quite a bit lower. The upcoming bonus EXP campaign in November should hopefully help me grind through the rest of them!

Final Fantasy XI: My solo quest to achieve greatness. Or level down trying.

Carby Cap: the most appropriate cutscene armor for every situation.

Some of you might've noticed that I've been mentioning Final Fantasy XI lately, either through random twitter pictures or possibly overhearing a Valkurm Dunes reference at your local Best Buy. Regardless, it's true, I've been playing FFXI. I have both a good reason and a kind of silly reason for doing so.

Firstly, I want to experience FFXI in full, or at least hitting the main bullet points, simply because one day I might not have the chance anymore. FFXI's last "major" update will happen in November of this year, and while PC support will continue, console support ends in March of 2016. There's no telling exactly how long the servers will stay up after that point.

Secondly, I'm dumb, and I want all the Xbox 360 achievements for FFXI. It's been a semi-serious goal of mine ever since I experimented with returning to the game back in 2010. After the announcement of console support ending was made, I knew that my time to get this done was limited, and I'd never have the chance again unless I did it now. Ultimately, it's a great motivator to get me logged in and plowing through storylines and other content, so getting some little pop-ups of victory along the way is a nice bonus.

It should probably be noted that I'm not a serious Xbox person at all. I probably put more time in with my Wonderswan Color than my 360, but it's got some exclusives (<3 Blue Dragon) that make it worth hanging onto. My point is, it makes it all the more ridiculous that I'm attempting this, but hey, why not?

Oh, did I mention I'm doing everything completely solo?

As it turns out, FFXI is a different game than it was in 2010, let alone 2005. The three main points that are making my life a lot easier are:

• "Trusts": NPCs that act as party members, which can be acquired by various means, usually involving progressing in the main storylines. Basically, you get to summon your favorite story characters and fight alongside them, eliminating the need for a party full of those pesky real people. Trusts are permitted in most major content, meaning any storyline battlefields or bosses can be tackled alone.
• Teleportation: Home Points and Survival Guides are scattered around the major areas of the game, allowing you to warp there instantly for a small amount of gil or other currency. This speeds up fetch quests and other story missions considerably. While you need to "unlock" the warps by traveling to them the old fashioned way, once you've gotten most of the important ones at your disposal, travel times become trivial.
• Rhapsodies of Vana'diel key items: Rhapsodies is the final storyline for FFXI, bringing together all the other stories for one final climactic finish. Progressing through RoV awards you with key items that each grant a 30% permanent EXP boost (we're up to about 180% now), in addition to other rewards like being able to call forth more Trusts at a time and lowering warp costs to almost nothing.

These additions allow me to summon up a full party out of thin air, warp to the best leveling spot instantly, and gain RIDICULOUS amounts of EXP in a short time. That's right: the leveling parties of the past are long gone. The main goal of the game is to get to endgame quickly and participate in the advanced content, not gain levels.

For my purposes, I have a lot of jobs to level, so the ease of leveling up is very much welcomed. I also have to do a lot of running around for storyline missions and quests, meaning those warp points are saving me hours and hours. It's a wonderful time to be a solo player in Vana'diel, to be sure!

I've got until March to reach my goal of acquiring every Xbox 360 achievement, which will complete most of the major content in FFXI as a result. I'm actually well on my way, I've been playing so much that I haven't had any time to write about it! Stay tuned for future updates, assuming I get a chance to stop playing in the next few months.