Mission Progress

  • Windurst Rank 10, Complete.
  • Bastok Rank 10, Complete.
  • San d'Oria Rank 10, Complete.
  • Rise of the Zilart, Complete.
  • Chains of Promathia, Complete.
  • Treasure of Aht Urghan, Complete.
  • Assault Rank, First Lieutenant.
  • Campaign Rank, Wings of Honor ∮∮∮∮

Salvage Progress - Skadi's Cuirie Set

  • 15 - O - O - C - O = Skadi's Visor
  • COMPLETED = Skadi's Cuirie
  • COMPLETED = Skadi's Bazubands
  • O - 25 - O - O - O = Skadi's Chausses
  • COMPLETED = Skadi's Jambeaux

Salvage Progress - Morrigan's Robe Set

  • O - O - 35 - C - G = Morrigan's Crown
  • 15 - 25 - 35 - C - G = Morrigan's Robe
  • 15 - 25 - 35 - C - G = Morrigan's Cuffs
  • O - O - 35 - O - G = Morrigan's Slops
  • O - O - 35 - O - G = Morrigan's Pigaches

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Izman, Fairies & Turtles, Oh My!

My first day back was a pretty good one! Nearly, great!

I would have loved to have spent my first night back dying in Nyzul or killing Goobue's in the Boyahda Tree with Miss Teila. However, she was absent from the world of Vana'diel this week. =(

Coming in at a close second, however, was Mr. Izman! (And a very others who shall be named hereafter).

I'm very excited and very ecstatic to be back -- but, alas, not all is well in Kallo Land. When I left from the game for my three month hiatus, I had to sell my beloved Blau Dolch in order to pay off the rest of my Skadi Cuirie. It would have been rude to leave those debts unsettled after all.

So, Mr. Izman, was kind enough to buy me a Fane Baselard (Because I'm super poor), and we got a group together to go try out some of these Fey Weapon Augments.

In the line-up we have...

Highlife and Invyiana! I'm not so use to Invy being a class that can punch things...uh, well! Punch things well! But she did a pretty good job. =) She didn't die like Izman forsaw, so that's good. Highlife came how he usually comes! A Hagun wielding, TP buildin' Cowboy! He splashed about 200TP worth all over my face for fun between pops. =\ Thanks Highlife.

Also! Highlife had this! ; ; and I tried to nix it, but it didn't go over so well. =(











Then of course, we have the ever looney Omoikitte and Clubber! As soon as I was back in game, Omoi proceeded to catch up on all the heckling she's missed out on in the past 3 months. =P There was much rejoicing (her) and much crying (me). Honestly, I just think she's jealous of the tantalizing tentacle. /shrug. And surprisingly enough, Clubber didn't die at all during this! GASP! He did, however, stand with his back towards the camera...to be mysterious? Probably. Had he died, I'd say it was to be Emo. =P

And finally, we have the Champ himself, Iron Will Izman. Who, as anyone who is anyone should know, is a hell of a player. Other than that one death (which, to be fair, wasn't his fault -- I guess. 1900 Skull Smash. =P Though it was funny.) did an amazing job kiting the Qaudav. He has it down to a near science, it's not even kiting so much as the turtle running back and forth and back and forth, not really knowing how to get back the wall to get the Izman.

Also, not pictured -- is Whmrock! Who took Omoi's place as White Mage. I would've had a picture of this cute little Tarutaru, but he was too big and awesome for the Camera! D= Maybe next time. Now, the Damage and the Accuracy are each One away from being perfect (as far as I know), I would KILL for that Stun to be Triple Attack +2. However, Stun isn't bad for Campaign\Solo'ing. So, I was very happy with it. Especially since I got it after only two tries.

I'm going to keep plugging away and see if I can't nab one or two more with that same stats, except a Triple Attack instead of Stun. =) We'll see how it goes.

And on a side note, while I was doing campaign I got a random dex buff (from a SMN I think) and ended up with THIS! That's a lot of Dexterity...

And lastly, I'd like to leave you with a fitting little quote from Izman, dedicated to everyone's favorite (or not) old ranting, raving lunatic, Ringthree...

Ancient...get it? He's Ancient...as in old! Heh heh heh...that's a good one...

Monday, September 7, 2009

How To Make A Party.

Firstly, I would like to say I miss everyone! I know I said a short vacation but real life has a way of you know, screwing things up. For awhile there, I thought I had quit...I know it's been going around and I know I even told a lot of people I quit. Hell, I even believed a did for awhile. However, things are looking a tad bit better, so I'm going to try and come back in a smaller capacity...see if real life lets me do that.

Anyhow! I thought as a small celebratory post I'd let you all in on the secrets...of how to make a successful party at any level (read: 75) in 9 easy steps.

Step One. Locate a Tank. (Warrior, Ninja, Paladin.)

Step Two. Make sure they have the appropriate sub. (Ninja.)

Step Three. Find a Healer. (Red Mage, White Mage, lolScholar.)

Step Four. Refresh is nice. (Red Mage, Bard, Corsair.)

Step Five. Kick the Corsair for having Ranger subbed and wanting to be a Damage Dealer.

Step Six. Good, you've found a Bard.

Step Seven. Fill up on real Damage Dealers!

Step Eight. Do you have a PUP? Kick the PUP from the party and find a not PUP.

Step Nine. PAR-TAY!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Vacation Time!

Hey Everybody, this is going to be a short one.

I've suspended my content IDs today in order to try and readjust some real life things. I promise I'll be back, and this is really just the equivalent to me sitting in my Mog House pretending to Bonecraft except I get to keep 10$'s a month. =)

I'll still post here occasionally, probably some more Triple B stuff. So, yep! I'll see you all around. =)

Friday, June 12, 2009

Nyzul Isle: Perfection.

Now, I’ve been doing Nyzul Isle for quite some time. I have a static on Saturdays where all we do is farm Armor. But, lately, I’ve been climbing floors on Tuesdays with Teila to get to Floor 100. Well, as of a few weeks ago…

Floor 100 Runic Disk: Obtained.

Quick congratulations to Kittkatt and Sirfrice who completed their Floor 100s along with Teila and I, and a big thank you to Xzaver and Potpressure who helped us on the final few floors!

At this point, my plans are to collect all three armor sets. I’ve already got every Nyzul Weapon, and from there I’ll probably just never do Nyzul Isle again. Maybe, maybe not. I’ve thought about using Nyzul to try and get high demand NM drops, such as E Bow or Peacock Amulet, but for now I’m not really too worried about it.

However, what I’ve come to realize over the past few weeks playing Nyzul is just great of an event it really is. I know some people probably have some gripes about, those gripes may or may not be valid. Honestly, I don’t really care. I think it’s an amazing event and for several reasons.

The most prominent of those is that it’s something the casual player, as well as the hardcore player can do. If you only have 30 minutes to play, it’s enough time for 1 run. If you’ve got all day and you’re a Captain, then you can do 5 runs.

Another reason is the different tactics you have to employ to actually be successful in Nyzul. It’s not just about grabbing all your best Damage Dealers and burning through it. Floors like Lamp floors require a very high degree of communication. Or floors such as “Eliminate specified enemies” or “specific enemy” or “enemy leader”, you have to be able to avoid agro in order not to waste any time.

One of the things that I think is exceptionally unique about Nyzul Isle, is that any job can participate and potentially shine. Just in case some of you may be confused about this statement let me explain. When fighting Dark Ixion or Odin – Rangers and Summoners excel at dealing damage. You’re not going to bring 3-4 thieves along in order to down either of these. Blue Mages unless you have a good Cannonball setup, isn’t as prominent in end game as say, a Samurai. These kinds of ‘rules’ apply all across the game. But in Nyzul, every single job if played skillfully has the potential to be the difference between and win and a loss.

Blue Mages for example, in Nyzul Isle can kill a LOT of the trash mobs without even drawing their weapons, making “Eliminate all enemies” floors go exceptionally fast. There was one instance where we had to fight a Soulflayer NM with White Magic restricted and our Blue Mage main healed the entire group while stunning. It wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done.

Samurai, Dark Knight and Warriors with Ninja or Samurai sub jobs can tank the “Enemy Leaders” and even the “Boss Floors” with great ease if geared well enough or if the player is skilled enough. Even as a Thief, I’ve tanked every single one of the HNM Bosses in Nyzul Isle.

Now, of course there are some of those little ‘rules’ that seem to pop up everywhere. You don’t find groups taking very many Paladins or Ninjas to tank when things like Samurais and Dark Knights can do it just as well, AND provide significantly more damage. However, because group sizes for Nyzul are so small – no more then a party – anyone can do it. So those Paladins or Ninjas who can’t seem to find a group can always just make their own for friends or shout for more.

However, with all this in mind, Nyzul Isle didn’t become one of the most player-friendly events introduced by SE until the recent changes. Being able to record multiple discs at a time it was really made this take off. Since then we’ve left the age of “get to floor 100, then stop doing it” or “form a single group, get one person to 100 then farm floors”. Now we’re in the era of “get floor 100 for multiple people, then shout for boss floors”. The more people that get floor 100, the more each server has access to participate.

The only problem is, it seems there are still quite a few people that don’t understand that they can participate in any floor of Nyzul, even if they themselves don’t have a runic disc that high.

Oh, well. If they don’t know at least THAT much, it’s probably better they’re not trying to activate lamps in order with us, eh?

Friday, May 29, 2009

Triple B, Series 1, Round 1

I know! I know! You're asking yourself, "What the WTF is Triple B". Well! See, it stands for Brutal Ballista Brawls and I created it! How so? Well, that's another great question! See, with all these people nagging me to make a post and me asking, "What would you like to read about?" and them saying, "ME!" I thought "Boy! I sure wish there was some way I could just smash in all their faces and watch them writhe about in pain..." And so as I imagined the awesome gorrific details in my head I thought...thats it! I'll write about that! And hence Triple B was born.

I also figured, since a lot of people make me angry (well, not angry really...I'm just a mean, evil person) I could make this a regular thing! After all, other peoples misery (fictional or not) is always entertaining to those not affected!

So! Without further ado, let's join our two Triple B Annoucers Jim and Bob for the action!

~ ~ ~

Bob >> Welcome Ladies, Gentlemen and Galka's from all walks of Vana'diel to the first ever Brutal Ballista Brawl showcase! We've got a hell of a list of Adventurer's in todays line up! From top of the line Relic Wielder, to bottom of the barrel Dancers no one has ever heard of! And today, they're going to lay it all on the line for...well our entertainment!

Jim >> And the best part is, they don't really have much of a choice!

Bob >> That's right Jim! So, why don't we take a look at our Adventurer's in todays match?

Jim >> In Round One, we have Four Matches; Match A consists of a hotshot Paladin from San d'Oria! He's a local from way down south someplace, who enjoys long strolls through the pasture and spending qaulity time with the 'family'.

Bob >> Oh, I bet he does! Izman is one hell of a tank, but will he be able to outlast his opponent? A daring, charming young Mithran Dancer from Windurst! Shrew! She's recently traded in her Elemental Staves for a pair of Dance shoes! We'll see how she fairs against the veteran Tin Can from Sandy!

Jim >> Match B has an interesting setup! From the far far away lands of...to be honest, I don't know where he comes from! Hard hitting, dirt sucking Warrior Clubber! Always a crowd favorite.

Bob >> That's right Jim! His numbers always seem to be the highest, but his survivability rate is usually somewhere around 5 seconds.

Jim >> And that's tops! But, we'll see what happens. His opponent today, Iceblazek, is sure to have some tricky cards up his sleeves.

Bob >> Always a thinker that one. Planning every and researching any possible way to overcome his foe. And when that doesn't nessicarily work, he's always got gil to drop on a solution. We'll see if it helps him with his opponent today.

Jim >> Match C features what today will be, perhaps our shortest match!

Bob >> Shorter then Clubbers life expentency in End Game?

Jim >> Ok, well maybe not that short...

Bob >> But damn close! Our first Adventurer is a long time Dynamis Veternan and proud--

Jim >> As proud as one can be wearing Purple...

Bob >> And proud owner of a Gungnir...Qtipus! Decked out in his Cuirass, he's actually got a fairly respectable opponent today!

Jim >> Correct you are Bob! Darkdawn! World class multi-classer! The biggest surprise for this match is going to be which job Darkdawn shows up as!

Bob >> And for the final Match of the day, Match D we've got what is being called the Battle of the Sex..iest two men to ever grace Vana'diel's soil!

Jim >> In one corner -- sporting the ever popular, ever respected, heralded and even worshipped, Beard of the Beards -- Arminius!

Bob >> And opposite him, he who needs no introduction...The Ninjafox himself. Just one whisper from that beasts lips and any soul -- man or woman -- melts like a hershies bar on a hot sunday afternoon sidewalk!

Jim >> Speaking of the action! It seems Match A has already started!

Bob >> ...

Jim >> ...

Bob >> And...is already over.

Jim >> Oh! Now that's just embarassing right there. Poor little furball couldn't even take half the beating Izman had in store for her.

Bob >> Apparently not Jim. Iron Will Izman, as he's sometime called, seems to have an Iron Fist behind that shield. All it took was a shield bash to the face and that poor kitten is going to be intensive care for weeks on end!

Jim >> I think perhaps she's given a whole new meaning to the letters L, O and L. Let's hope Match B lasts a bit longer!

Bob >> Speaking of, it seems Iceblazek has shown up Thief to this little exursion! Well, that's an odd choice considering how heavy of a hitter Clubber there is.

Jim >> Well, I don't know now Bob...he hits hard. But it's also pretty slow. I think Iceblazek is going to rely on his agility and evasiveness to come out on top here.

Bob >> And there's Clubber opening up with a meditate, and shouting his signature line, "It's Clubbering Time!"

Jim >> There goes the Steel Cyclone...the moment of truth!

Bob >> And Iceblazek's ninja subjob gives him the edge he needs! That TP was totally waste ---wait! Wait a minute whats this?!

Jim >> Clubber is down!? Iceblazek didn't even need to take a swing!

Bob >> Well, this is quite an interesting discovery...perhaps all those times it wasn't Clubber just pulling hate from hard hits and dying.

Jim >> No, it would seem not Bob. Apparently, he just swings so goddamn hard he tuckers himself right out.

Bob >> Well! Whatever the reason, Iceblazek walks away the victor in this case! Lets move on over to Match C.

Jim >> I just got word Match C is being delayed...apparently Darkdawn hasn't shown up. Qtipus is down in the ring now awaiting the appearance of his opponent.

Bob >> This here Jim, could be both a blessing and a curse. It gives Qtipus the time he needs to gain control over his mental state and think out all possible strategies based on what job Darkdawn brings to the ring...

Jim >> Right you are Bob! But the real question going through his head right now...Gungnir or Valkyries Fork?

Bob >> Meanwhile! We've got Arminius "The Beard" and Ninjafox "Dark Chocolate" taking thier places in Match D right now.

Jim >> Foxy looks pretty intimidated by that beard, Bob.

Bob >> He sure does. It's not an easy thing stepping into the ring with that bush. But, still, Ninjafox does have a look of confidence about him...

Jim >> He's saying something...I...I can't quite make it out, it's more of a whisper...

Bob >> Wait a minute! What have we here! Arminius seems to be struggling with something...oh! No way!

Jim >> His beard seems to be peeling itself off from his face! It's...it's leaving Arminius! The beird is parting with it's host!

Bob >> Ninjafox must've whispered gentle sweet nothings to it...I told you nothing can withstand his sexy voice!

Jim >> Apparently not! Arminius' beard has just attached itself to Ninjafox's face! He's got double the sex appeal now!

Bob >> Seems to me Arminius just can't take it! He's turn his Hagun on himself! Oooh! That's just brutal!

Jim >> This is a first! We've never had a adventurer commit seppuku!

Bob >> Can you blame him Jim? He loses his beard and THEN has to look onto that...incredibly...sexy...motherfucker...

Jim >> Bob! Control yourself!

Bob >> Ah! Sorry there Jim...for a second I got carried away...

Jim >> It's bad enough half the female spectators were just instantly impregnated by Foxy's piercing glare. Keep your lid on!

Bob >> You're right Jim! Let's take a look over at Match C!

Jim >> Mm, Darkdawn is still a no show. It seems our referee's our declaring Qtipus the winner here.

Bob >> Well, sadly, it seems like our viewers are robbed of the main event tonight! As deadly and calculating as Darkdawn is -- he's just as notorious for taking way to long to get dressed!

Jim >> With a wardrobe as extensive as his, you got to cut the guy some slack!

Bob >> Well! That wraps up todays matches! Be sure to tune in next time for Round 2!

Jim >> Match ups will include the mighty Iron Will Izman verse Iceblazek! And Qtipus verse Hot Chocolate himself! Till next time!

~ ~ ~

And that's that folks! Hope you enjoyed it! If you did, I'll make this regular thing as I had a lot of fun writing it!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Nags.

Izman and Iceblazek said I have to update my blog.

Keep your panties on ladies. I'll do it soon. Promise.

<3 Pew Pew~

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

The Merits of a Good Thief

Thanks to Mr. Darkdawn, here I am again about to impart my infinite wisdom unto thee. Today's topic is going to be about Merits and which are best for you, as a career Thief! This guide won't be anywhere near as long as my Gear guide and it's not as clear cut as some of the gear is. Opinions here may be a bit different depending on how you play or how you want to customize yourself. I will tell you what I believe to be the best choices, but in the end it's always up to you to make the decision.

In other words, I don't want to hear you bitching that "something isn't right" because someone else told you different or you want to do it another way. On with the show!

Attributes
Strength: This is an obvious choice as all melees will benefit from more strength. If you have more than just your Thief you're going to want to chose this as your main attribute merit.

Dexterity: The best choice for a Thief since all your weapon skills and your main job ability are modified by it. This is an especially good choice if you're a race with low dexterity. A nice amount of other melee jobs will also benefit from this since it affects critical hit rate and accuracy.

The Bottom Line: It's really a dead tie between the two as far as I'm concerned. You can't losing choosing one over the other. Personally, I went 3 into strength and 2 into dexterity. I had Ranger in mind when I choose the Strength, otherwise, I would've went full into dexterity.

Combat Skills
Daggers: This is the obvious choice, make sure you go the full 8\8 into it. I would suggest this as being one of the first things you choose to merit.

Evasion: Another good one, put 4\4 into this. Especially if you're into solo'ing on your own a lot.

Marksmanship: This one is great if you plan on solo'ing a lot with your crossbow. If you're a hardcore Thief I would strongly recommend putting your last 8\8 into this category. However, if you have other melee jobs it would be better served in another combat skill.

Sword: This is an obvious choice if you're one of the lucky Ridill Thieves. Then again, if you're a Ridill Thief you already know what to merit and did so years ago, what the hell are you doing reading my blog?

Parrying: This is one I've told myself I might try out if I ever cap parrying. Thieves are tied with Corsair, Samurai and Ninja for highest parrying, and we've got the highest Evasion. So with capped\merited Evasion\Parrying I can only assume our survivability would be amazing with solo'ing. But, I'd recommend sticking to the above options.

The Bottom Line: 8\8 Dagger Merits and 4\4 Evasion Merits are a must. The last 8 are all in your hands.

Other
Critical Hit Rate: This should be any melees first choice from this category.

Spell Interruption Rate: Good for obvious reasons. If you're a Melee\Mage user, this doubles on both fronts as long as your melee is in constant use of a ninja sub job.

Enmity Increase: I wouldn't suggest Enmity Decrease as a Thief for any reason since it would have adverse on Trick Attack. However, Enmity Increase on the other hand would help Trick Attack immensely. Since we don't push out the numbers like Samurai and Dark Knights do, I don't think you would be pulling too much hate over tanks. Even if you do, we as Thieves have the ability to duck and dodge a few hits.

The Bottom Line: Critical Hit Rate and Spell Interruption Rate are your best friends here, but if you feel like pulling away from the norm a bit, try replacing the Spell Interruption Rate with Enmity Increase and having a little bit of fun.

Thief
Now here is where we get to the meat and potatoes. This is also where things start to get fun for Thieves as a job, because nothing in here is going to affect 'other melee' jobs you might have. This is also where we get to solve a few problems you might noticed in your every day thief life.

Group One
Sneak Attack: This should be one of the first choices that crosses your mind. Sneak Attack does more damage than any of your others job abilities and you use it most often. Now, if you're a career thief and you have a decent TP build you should also notice in Merit parties that you get 100% TP way quicker then your Sneak Attack recharges. I got news...this isn't going to completely solve that problem as you get stronger. In most cases it will, but still you'll get a couple times where you hit your macro and WS...and miss Sneak Attack by 1 or 2 seconds. This still a solid choice though.

Trick Attack: You're looking at the same general reasons as above, however, in my eyes the overall effectiveness of this merit is going to be aimed at a more concentrated area. End Game, most specifically, Wyrms with Spike Flails. You are basically useless as a Thief at this point since we're not allowed around back. However, as long as you can gain TP at a constant rate on the Wyrm, you got a nice chunk of WS every 50 seconds here. Combined with a gear set that strengths that and you've got a decent reason to merit Trick Attack.

Triple Attack: I'd recommend this as your first priority in this category and your second after doing your Dagger Merits. For the obvious reasons, Triple Attack is sick. A full Haste build with Triple Attack maxed out and every so often you get this 'mini-hundred first' animation going. It's so gratifying to see.

The Bottom Line: Sneak Attack and Triple Attack are going to be your best friends. If you're in the End Game Scene a lot, Trick Attack might have a nice home with you over Sneak Attack.

Group 2
Aura Steal: For me, Aura Steal is sitting right on the line between being "extremely situational" and a "novelty". There are so many other jobs who can Dispel easier and more frequently then a Thief can. However, there have been a few times where Aura Steal has saved my ass. A single merit into Aura Steal won't hurt you -- but no more. Additional merits only add an increase in a chance to absorb the effect and the big draw from Aura Steal doesn't come from absorbing the buff, just from dispelling it.

Assassin's Charge: Similar to the above -- because of Assassin's Charge long recast, it's not as useful as it could be. I'd say put a single merit into it and have it for occasions when you really need to pump out just one high damage weapon skill. Like, if you need to stick hate on a Tank for an NM. Otherwise, leave it alone.

Feint: This here is probably the biggest draw to the Group 2 merits. Feint drastically lowers the evasion of a target monster. I'm not sure what the exact amount of evasion down is, but it makes a Thief evade as well as a White Mage. Most people will probably tell you to max this out and if you're into the HNM scene -- or Salvage especially, that's a great idea. The more you can use this in Salvage the quicker things will go. However, I'd recommend only putting three merits into it and I'll explain why with the next one.

Ambush: This merit gives you +3 Accuracy and Ranged Accuracy for each merit, but the Accuracy and Ranged Accuracy is only in effect when you are behind a monster. Which, as a Thief...is nearly always. Full merited you have +15 Accuracy. Now, the reason I recommend this over fully meriting Feint is that you will get far more use out of Ambush. Whereas Feint's greatest use comes in during Boss-type monsters. Most battles with Bosses last long enough for a single feint and are dead before a fully merited Feint is up -- there are plenty of exceptions, but I believe this to be true in most cases. The only great exception is Salvage. If you do Salvage on a regular basis, fully merit Feint. Otherwise, a 6 Minute Recast is going to be fine and you'll benefit in and out of every event with Ambush more.

The Bottom Line: Ambush and Feint are going to be your biggest draws. Aura Steal and Assassin's Charge have their uses, but not as much as the other two. Go full into Ambush or Feint, then spend one each on Aura Steal or Assassin's Charge. If you can't decide which you'd prefer, go full into both Ambush and Feint and forget the other two.

The Final Merit Map

Strength or Dexterity: 5\5

Dagger Skill: 8\8
Marksmanship Skill: 8\8
Evasion Skill: 4\4

Critical Hit Rate: 4\4
Spell Interruption Rate: 4\4

Sneak Attack: 5\5
Triple Attack: 5\5

Aura Steal: 1\5
Assassin's Charge: 1\5
Feint: 3\5
Ambush: 5\5

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

How To Become a Succesful Thief

Although there may be better guides out there to specifically suite your needs, there are certain topics on which I feel a strong connection and would argue that perhaps I know at least a little bit about. Enough to write you a small How To on, well, How To be a better Thief. Both in practice, functionality and perhaps. A bit more simple and easier then both of those, is to tell you which gear is going to best suit your Rogue.

Now, some of things are going to be common knowledge, choices that have been generally accepted by the community at large. Others may perhaps be my own personal preference, but everything does have some type of rhyme or reason behind it.

Today, we're going to talk about gearing out your Level 75 Thief -- at a later date, perhaps, I'll go back and create a listing of gear for progression from early levels to later levels, but I'm going to assume that everyone's goal is to reach the level cap, even if you decide to smell flowers on the way.

Similar to when I made the mock post about how to pimp out your thief, I do believe to be the best you can be there are several different sets of gear you need to have. However, we're only going to go over the bare essentials for now and perhaps cover more of them at a later date.

Before we get into what equipment to best choose for your setup I like to make sure we're all on the same page as to what kinds of stats a Thief is going to want to look for. Your main stats are as follows; Dexterity, as it's a modifier for Sneak Attack, Dancing Edge, Evisceration and Shark Bite, as well as affects your accuracy and your critical hit rate; Agility, as it affects your Trick Attack; Strength, as it affects your damage and attacks on all levels. I'm personally of the opinion that Dexterity is always better then more Agility and that Sneak Attack will always out damage Trick Attack -- even with Rogue's Armlets +1 and with the most insane Agility Build, simply because your Dexterity works over time as a modifier for both Sneak Attack and your Weaponskills. Whereas with Agility and Trick Attack you'd need to make sacrifices and min\max between Agility and Dexterity. Also, for most of your career your going to want to eat Sole Sushi for the Accuracy (as well as the STR\DEX. Or Squid which has the same stats, but gives AGI instead of STR.), as you start to get more comfortable with your accuracy try switching to Marinara Pizza (which has Acc and Atk) but ideally, you should shoot for some type of meat. Red Curry is amazing for Atk, but also extremely expensive. With that out of the way, it's on with the show...

Choosing Main Hand Weapons and Off Hand Subs
There is of course, one general setup that any player knowledgeable in the ways of the Thief will tell you to use, but there are plenty of alternatives. Just keep in mind that most 'generally accepted' gear choices are such for a reason.

The Blau Dolch and the Sirocco Kukri, are going to be your best and most obtainable option for Main and Off Hand, respectively.

The Blau Dolch is very expensive, but has one of the highest damages and a very low delay as well as a hidden effect of Attack\Accuracy. The latent is active when your TP is below 100%, and because of the way Weaponskills work, this means it's also active during Weaponskills.

The Sirocco Kukri is about a 30% drop from the NM Kreutzet which is easily tanked by an Evasion Geared Ninja or Thief with decent support from a RDM or WHM. The main draw to the Sirocco Kukri is the 150 Delay, and the 100% Proc rate of the Wind Damage. It's not going to be amazing all the time, but on certain monsters it does do up to 10 damage each time.

However, if the Blau Dolch is out of your price range, or the Sirocco Kukri is out of your skill level other great alternatives are the Perseus' Harpe, Stylet, Misericorde (Or the +1).

If you can get your hands on it, however, outside of a Mythic or Relic Weapon, your best option for Main and Off Hand is going to be the X's Knife\Blau Dolch combo. This is going to take a significant amount of dedication and luck, though.

Some people may ask as to whether or not the Kraken Club or the Ridill would be a good off hand for Thief for TP gain. It's my opinion, that while both of these are very powerful pieces of gear they're really not as practical for Thief as they may be for other jobs. With the right gear and haste setup Thieves can attain a very fast rate of TP gain without the help of these two items. Unlike Samurai's, as an example, there isn't as big of a difference in our Weaponskills when we have over 100% TP. And since out biggest numbers are put out with the help of SA and TA, we have little use for using TP beyond those two Abilities. While, I'd never turn down a Ridill -- the only reason for that is that along with the 'Occasionally attacks two to three times' Ridill does have a decent base damage. The Kraken Club, however, for a Thief, would better serve as gil to get us better gear.

Top 5 Choices:
1. X's Knife
2. Blau Dolch
3. Perseus' Harpe
4. Sirocco Kukri
5. Stylet

Ranged And Ammo Slots
There are two aspects to Thief when choosing your Ranged\Ammo Slots. Partying and Soloing. Thief does have a decent skill in Marksmanship, and as such it gives us access to the ever popular Status Bolts. It's with these and a decent Ranged Accuracy Setup, that allows us to solo some monsters as good as we do. In a party setup, most monsters die to quick to worry about using Status bolts, not to mention we'll never be as good at it as mages are. So, I'd worry about using Ranged Weapons only when soloing or in extreme circumstances (Salvage, for example, is a great place to use Acid Bolts).

While I will be covering Soloing in a later post, some good Crossbows to watch out for are; Ziska's Crossbow and the Velocity Crossbow. Both of them have very, very low delay, and the Ziska's Crossbow has the most Ranged Accuracy availible on a Ranged Weapon.

In a party situation I recommend using Darts, or some other form of Ammo pulling device. This way you can macro in a Fire Bomblet for TP use and a Bomb Core, or Black Tathlum for Weaponskill. The first two being my own personal preference.

Top 5 Choices: (Crossbows excluded)
1. Fire Bomblet
2. Bomb Core
3. Black Tathlum

Head Slot
For TP Gain, you have several options; Optical Hat (Or even a Pahluwan Qalansuwa, a War Beret or the +1) is a good old fashion choice when you're just hitting the 70s and haven't got the merits or accuracy to make a solid haste setup yet. However, in the long run you're going to want to aim for a Walahra Turban, Denali Bonnet or Homam Zucchetto -- in that order. Though, really, it's a toss up between Denali and the Homam. I'd put the Skadi Visor in there somewhere as well, but with the Walahra Turban being better and infinitely more obtainable, there's not much reason too. Especially considering both the Denali and Homam would be a better choice.

Top 5 Choices:
1. Walahra Turban
2. Denali Bonnet
3. Homam Zucchetto
4. Skadi Visor
5. Optical Hat

As for your Trick Attack, a good solid piece that's easily obtainable is the Empress Hairpin, or the Dragon Cap. The Enkidu's Cap is also a solid piece of gear, but a bit harder to come by. I reccomend the Dragon Cap since it's got more Agility and a hit of Enmity. Keep in mind, my Trick Attack set is no where near where I'd like it to be, so there may be better options I'm not aware off so please feel free to let me know where I can improve on this particular aspect.

Top 5 Choices:
1. Dragon Cap
2. Enkidu's Cap
3. Empress Hairpin

As for your Weaponskill piece, I'm going to start with the best option and that's the Hecatomb Cap. Now, it does come HNMs and a lot of more casual endgame players just don't find themselves with the time to camp HNMs. However, the Neptunal Abjuration: Head is a very, very common drop and you'll often find that most HNM shells will part with it for a small fee (usually around 1 Million Gear) which is a very good price for a piece of gear you'll likely never replace. Next down the list is from the SCNM battle in La Vaule S, Gnadbhod's Helm, and your third best option and most easily obtained is the Assassin's Bonnet from Dynamis - Windurst. If you're just hitting 75 you're probably still wearing your Empress Hairpin, so get it replaced as quick as possible. Even the Skadi's Visor would be a better choice here, but again, based on the difficulty of Salvage you'll have better luck getting the Relic Hat or one of the previously mentioned.

Top 5 Choices:
1. Hecatomb Cap
2. Gnadbhod's Helm
3. Assassin's Bonnet
4. Skadi's Visor
5. Empress Hairpin

Necklaces and other jewelry
The obvious choice is the Love Torque, every Thieves wet dream, I know. But, it's also a drop from the highest tier Sea NM. So, while you're waiting, you should look into perhaps buying a Peacock Charm or camping a Peacock Amulet. Some of the less expensive\time intensive options are the Chivalrous Chain. Those are your best TP options.

Top 5 Choices:
1. Love Torque
2. Peacock Charm or Peacock Amulet
3. Chivalrous Chain

As for TA, look for something with Agility -- your best bet is going to be a Hope Torque, but good luck getting that for TA over a job that is going to utilize it a whole lot better.

Top 5 Choices:
1. Hope Torque

As for Weaponskills, your best option is going to be looking into the Weaponskill Sea Gorgets from the quest In The Name of Science, Dancing Edge and Shark Bite are the Breeze Gorget and Evisceration is the Shadow Gorget. Now, if you're a creationist and don't quite beleive in stuff like Gorgets or Science, then a Love Torque will work great as a Weaponskill piece too, other cheaper alternatives are the Kubira Bead Necklace or the Spike Necklace.

Top 5 Choices:
1. Breeze Gorget and Shadow Gorget
2. Love Torque
3. Kubira Bead Necklace
4. Spike Necklace

Equipping your Ears with rings
For your best options, you're going to need to have quite a bit of the Story content done, by this I mean Rise of the Zilart and Chain's of Promathia. Because your best option for TP comes from both -- Brutal Earring and the Suppanomimi. The Hollow Earring and Ethereal Earring are both good choices too, in that order. If you can't get any of these for TP, you can always go for something simple like Coral Earrings. It's unfortunate we don't get any real good accuracy earrings outside of these, but it's a curse most jobs have to deal with.

Top 5 Choices:
1. Suppanomimi
2. Brutal Earring
3. Hollow Earring
4. Ethereal Earring
5. Coral Earrings

For TA, get some Wing Earrings or Drone Earrings, they're both extremely cheap.

Top 5 Choices:
1. Drone Earrings
2. Wing Earrings

For Weaponskill, you have quite a few options. I opt to keep my Brutal Earring in since it's a 5% Double Attack rate and the chance of a double attack procing is very high. As for your other ear, look into one of these choices; Pixie Earring, Delta Earring, Melnina's Earring (Elvaan Only), Adroit Earring.

Now, I'll probably get a few people questioning my choice on the Delta Earring. But, since I never stack SA with TA anymore, you don't need Enmity for SA so it's not really a concern and since Charisma is a modifier for Dancing Edge, it's a win\win situation.

Top 5 Choices:
1. Delta Earring
2. Pixie Earring
3. Melnina's Earring
4. Adroit Earring

Body Armor
Alright, here is where things start to get fun for our gil purses! The best option all around is going to be the Skadi's Cuirie. It's got absolutely everything you will ever need. It's only downfall, is in a haste setup, it's not the best choice, but it's still an amazing addition even to that. I'd wear it over the Rapparee Harness any day of the week because you may not be hitting as often, but whats the point of swinging faster if you're not going to hit? However, the Rapparee Harness is still a very good piece, make sure you have the accuracy to back it up, because it really hurts loosing the +10 Accuracy you'd get from a piece like the Scorpion Harness (or the Pahluwan Khazagand) which is what you'll probably wear until you're at least using Marinara Pizza. Ideally, you'll want the Homam Corazza though, it has an insane amount of Accuracy and Triple Attack to boot. Another excellent option, which, I would put above the Skadi's Cuirie for TP gain is the newly added Mirke wardecors, put Accuracy +10 and Dual Wield +3% on that and you're in business. With /nin and a Suppanomimi you're looking at somewhere around 23% Dual Wield on top of whatever your haste setup is and of course your Triple Attack and Double Attack.

Top 5 Choices:
1. Mirke wardecors (with Accuracy\Dual Wield)
2. Homam Corazza
3. Skadi's Cuirie
4. Rapparee Harness
5. Scorpion Harness or Pahluwan Khazagand

For TA, your best piece is going to be Nyzul Isles Denali Jacket, however, Skadi's Cuirie is a close second and until both of those I'd stick with a Dragon Harness.

Top 5 Choices:
1. Denali Jacket
2. Skadi's Cuirie
3. Dragon Harness

Now, your options open up a bit more here for Weaponskill and as such we also get a chance to get very specific. At the very minimum, you should use Dragon Harness. However, if you get the option grab a c from Kirin's Neptunal Abjuration: Body and use that for Dancing Edge since it has Accuracy +10 on it. I'd personally, still use Dragon Harness for Shark Bite -- but what you should really be aiming for is the Skadi's Cuirie. A nice alternative to all three of these is using the Mirke wardecors with Attack +10 and Accuracy +10, it basically becomes a Skadi's Cuirie ver .5 at this point. If you can get your hands on an Enkidu's Harness, this might serve as an alternative as well, but being as it has no Dexterity, you're losing out on both Sneak Attack and Weaponskill modifiers.

Top 5 Choices:
1. Skadi's Cuirie
2. Mirke wardecors (with Accuracy and Attack)
3. Hecatomb Harness
4. Dragon Harness
5. Enkidu's Harness

Different gloves for different jobs
I'm going to start off with TA options -- there is really only one option for Trick Attack, get the Rogue's Armlets +1. With as good as these gloves are they get exponetially better the more Agility you stack since they increase the damage modifier by 15%. There are other gloves (Dragon Mittens or Skadi's Bazuabands) you can use until you get these, but you should at some point make sure to get these.

Top 5 Choices:
1.
Rogue's Armlets +1
2. Dragon Mittens
3. Skadi's Bazuabands

For TP, you're absolute best piece of gear is going to be Homam Manopolas for the Haste and the Accuracy. Any melee will tell you the two best stats are Haste and Accuracy, but the only piece of gear that gives both of these is Homam and as such, it should be a top priority. An alternative and your second choice should be Dusk Gloves, they haven't got any accuracy but you can make up for this with food or in other slots. If you can't afford Dusk Gloves, find something with Accuracy, my suggestion would be Pahluwan Dastanas, War Gloves or the +1 version, or better yet, Enkidu's Mittens.

Top 5 Choices:
1. Homam Manopolas
2. Dusk Gloves
3. Enkidu's Mittens
4. War Gloves
5. Pahluwan Dastanas

As for Weaponskill, you'll want to aim for Hecatomb Mittens over all. Personally, I use Hecatomb Mittens for Shark Bite and Enkidu's Mittens for Dancing Edge and Evisceration. Overall, though, I think Hecatomb is your best choice. Skadi's Bazubands aren't bad, but they could use some Dexterity and since the previous two are easier to option it's a no brainer. If you're just hitting 75, Rogue's Armlets are alright to be wearing for now, but you should get them replaced as soon as you can as the other options are significantly better.

Top 5 Choices:
1.
Hecatomb Mittens
2. Enkidu's Mittens
3. Skadi's Bazubands
4. Rogue's Armlets

Rings and Trinkets, but mostly Rings
There is a wide array of rings here, and most of them are pretty expensive, but all of them are entirely worth it. We'll start with TP; now, personally I've never used Accuracy rings on my Thief and I never really had a problem. But, nonetheless, for TP gain you're probably going to want to look into Sniper's Rings. Because Dexterity affects accuracy, you could technically main dexterity rings but you'll get more benefit out of straight accuracy. If you have Chains of Promathia done, the benefits of Rajas ring are great enough to keep that equiped at all times. The Ulthalam Ring is also a very, very good choice from the end of the Treasures of Aht Urghan expansion.

Top 5 Choices:
1. Sniper's Rings
2. Ulthalam Ring
3. Rajas ring

For TA get the most agility on your rings that you can. Emerald Ring is Cheap but good, Breeze Ring is the best.

Top 5 choices:
1. Breeze Ring
2. Emerald Ring

For Weaponskill you're going to want Rajas Ring all the time, if you're in the appropriate zone the Ulthalam's Ring as well -- otherwise, but a high Dexterity Ring beside your Rajas. Spinel Ring if you're being cheap and Thunder Ring if you have the gil.

Top 5 Choices:
1.
Rajas Ring
2. Thunder Ring
3. Spinel Ring

Note: Since the introduction of the Augments system and A Crystilline Prophecy you can use the Ebon Key rewarded from completing the final mission to attain a random Level 74 Ring, such as the Spinel, or Emerald Ring. There have some reports of people receiving anywhere from +1-+3 of a particular stat on the ring. If it's random, which some beleive it is, then it's theoretically possible to get a Spinel Ring with +2 or 3 Dex, or Str even on it. So, if you have the means to obtain Ebon Keys on a regular basis it wouldn't be a detriment to do so.

Cloaks for your Daggers
There is unfortunately, no cloaks or capes out there with Haste and there are very little with Accuracy as well. If you're an avid assaulter then I would look into trying to attain the Aileron Mantle, better then that, however, since it doubles as the best Weaponskill piece is the Cuchulain's Mantle. Beyond those, the better back pieces don't give anything that directly attributes to faster TP gain, but are still well worth the money. In order from best to not the best they are; Forager's Mantle, Cerberus Mantle, Amemet Mantle +1.

Top 5 Choices:
1.
Cuchulain's Mantle
2. Aileron Mantle
3. Forager's Mantle
4. Cerberus Mantle
5. Amemet Mantle +1

For Trick Attack you'll want to look into something along the lines of an Assassin's Cape or a Commander's Cape -- both of which are also going to double as our alternatives for Weaponskill when you can't afford Cuchulain's Mantle. Personally, I use the Assassin's Cape -- though, I suppose it's debatable if three STR would outweight one DEX. Since you're using SA and DE though, that 1 DEX is doing twice the work...so I would stick with an Assassin's Cape.

Top 5 Choices:
1.
Cuchulain's Mantle
2. Assassin's Cape
3. Commander's Cape

Utility Belts
Starting with your TP options; your best choice if you have the time, dedication and luck is going to be the ever amazing Velocious Belt. If thats a bit out of your league, you cannot afford to pass up on the Swift Belt. Until you get a Swift Belt, however, you can use a Potent Belt just fine, or even the ever cheap Life Belt as a last resort.

Top 5 Choices:
1. Velocious Belt
2. Swift Belt
3. Potent Belt
4. Life Belt

For TA scoop up a Scouter's Rope as it will double in your Evasion Setup,

For Weaponskill, you have a bit of a judgement call to make here; both the Cuchulain's Belt and the Warwolf belt are very good choices. And one is only 5,000g compared to the nearly 1 Million gil price tag on the second. I use the Cuchulain's Belt myself sine it has one more Dexterity and 10 attack, whereas the Warwolf gives 5 STR, and thats only half the attack in the long run.

Top 5 Choices:
1.
Cuchulain's Bel
2. Warwolf belt

Pants and Subligars
Yes, I know...Subligars, bleh...they're a nessicary evil the world of thieves though. We'll start with TP -- you're absolutely best option is going to be Skadi's Chausses. They have Accuracy, Haste and Store TP+7. They're simply beautiful. Just barely below them on the list you have Homam Cosciales for the same reasons, minus the Store TP. You should make getting either of these your number one priority. If you have the money to spend the Bravo's Subligar is a very good piece that has a tad bit of haste and is very low level -- until then, just put on something with accuracy. I use Pahluwan Seraweels, myself. In all honesty, Enkidu's Subligar is a good TP piece if you dont have haste and don't need accuracy because of the Store TP, but the things are just so damn ugly. It's up to you -- but get one of the first two mentioned.

Top 5 Choices:
1.
Skadi's Chausses
2. Homam Cosciales
3. Bravo's Subligar
4. Enkidu's Subligar
5. Pahluwan Seraweels

For TA, nothing beats the good old Rogue's Culottes! I'm sure there is something better with more Agility, but +4 is still pretty good.

For Weaponskill you'll want to start off with Dragon Subligar since it's cheap and readily availible. As your options expand, you can hunt down Enkidu's Subligar, or aim for the big golden ring, the king of them all -- Hecatomb Subligar. Now, this is going to be a bit harder to buy from an HNM shell, so Einhjerar might be a good option if you don't have the time to dedicate to HNM camping.

Top 5 Choices:
1.
Hecatomb Subligar
2. Enkidu's Subligar
3. Dragon Subligar

Boots, Shoes and Leggings
We're going to talk about WS first because I have a very important point to make: It is NOT ok to still be wearing your Leaping Boots or Bounding Boots at this point in the game. Especially when you have access to Dragon Leggings, at the very least. Pick up a pair of those. You want to aim for the Hecatomb Leggings -- but there are a few options on your way up; Pahluwan Crackows for example, Enkidu Leggings are great for TP and WS alike. Now, with that out of the way...

Top 5 Choices:
1. Hecatomb Leggings
2. Enkidu Leggings
3. Dragon Leggings
4. Pahluwan Crackows

For TA, you can probably use whatever your using for WS -- Dragon Leggings and Enkidu's Leggings both have some good AGI and Attack on them, Dragon even has some Enmity.

For Haste, and this will round out our TP Set and our guide -- you want to aim for Homam Gambieras. Enkidu's Leggings and Dusk Ledselsens will make a nice alterantive until you can get them though. If you can't manage anything with haste, Accuracy is your next best friend. Pahluwan Crackow have some, Skadi's Jambeaux have some, hell, even Cobra Leggings have some. Just find whatever has the most and make sure to keep working towards your Homam.

Top 5 Choices:
1. Homam Gambieras
2. Enkidu's Leggings
3. Pahluwan Crackow
4. Skadi's Jambeaux
5. Cobra Leggings

Conclusion
So, all in all, what you should've noticed is this -- For TP gain, get as much Haste as you can but make sure you have the Accuracy to back it up. Double and Triple Attack is amazing, so push that in where can to be more awesome.

For Weaponskills, focus as much as Dex as you can since it doubles on Sneak Attack and Weaponskills -- but make sure to include some Accuracy for Multi-hits.

Any questions, concerns or feel like I've left something out? Feel free to comment. Otherwise, enjoy or piss off. <3

Note:

The Top 5 Choices does not ALWAYS apply, you should chose what equipment is best for you based on the performance of your gear as one. As an example, If you're missing a lot even with Sushi, do not swap Scorpion Harness out for Rapparee Harness.

Updates:
5/4/2009 Added the "Top 5 Choices" to each section. Added Bravo's Subligar.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Raising the Bar

It's been quite awhile since my last update and a lot has happened recently. I don't just mean, a lot has happened in the since that there's been quite a few things that have gotten done. Oh, no, that's too vague, too general of a description to suffice for the merit of the happenings of late. You see, I've been playing this game for a very, very long time. To even call this a game anymore, seems...unjust. Gaming to me is a hobby, of course, but this game has me ensnared to much that it could easily be said this game itself is a hobby independent of gaming.

Bearing all of the nonsensical mumbo-jumbo in mind, you have to realize that the happenings which happened are so monumental to me as a player, it's a crime I haven't written about them sooner.

So, without further ado...I'll cut to the chase, then provide the exposition...




















Mmm...that look as good to you as it feels on me? I bet it does. First, thanks are in order -- Teila, Shrew and Izman for helping lend me the last few million I needed to complete the Harness. Thank you to my Salvage group for all the times we had to kill that stupid Chariot in Arrapago to get those damn boots.

Thoughts...

The Boots -- I don't know how I lived without these. The speed is very, very noticable! When I take them off, it's like walking in Dusk. And no one likes walking in Dusk!

The Body -- the first thing I did was go out into Bhaflau Thickets and TP up to 300%. Then I had my good friend Erell come out as Corsair and put an 11 Chaos Roll on me and an 11 Hunter's Roll. Then I feinted the Colibri, had Erell Light Shot it. I threw up SA, Assassin's Charge and I whipped out a whopping 2,500 damage Dancing Edge, even. Perfect 2,500. I about shit my pants. Now, yes, I do realize I was amazingly buffed up -- but this goes to show the potential my new stats on my body give me. Before this, when I did this Solo my average on these birds was somewhere around 1,100-1,300. So, to have it jump THAT much is just insane.

Even in Merit Parties on VT-IT Mobs, my weapon skills are hitting for 1,200-1,500 without food! I absolutely love it.

What excites me most about coming so close to completing Skadi's Gear is I finally feel like I'm accomplishing something as an individual. I've talked before about how as we play the game, no matter how strong we get, or how awesome our gear is...we never quite feel like the cream of the crop. There's always someone else just out of range that we still idolize that we think, "Man...I'm never going to be like that Blaize guy." However, standing around and seeing people check me three times in a row, like they're taking a double take really makes me feel accomplished as a player.

As it stands, I'm only a few pieces away from completing my gear as a Thief -- realistically, there's still that unattainable status gear I'd love to have. But thats still a few years off.

Even with all this good news...Arrapago still has the last laugh. You see, Zhayolm was kind enough to give up a pair of Freya's Trouser's for our Salvage group. Un\Fortunately, Ninjafox, who was first in-line for them wasn't there. =( So they went to me. But, Arrapago, who is determined to run me into the ground is now hording my 25 Freyr's Trousers like he had did with my Freya's Ledelsen's these past few months...soon though...soon...

Now, for a bit of a break from all the text, I give to you the Chat that ensued the morning after I got Freya's Trousers with the ever lovely, graceful and super awesome Ninjafox...

I <3 you Foxy. I really do.

My Black Mage as well, is growing at a very fast rate. My gear is perhaps, still sub par, but I'm working very hard on fixing that. My merits, however, are coming along even faster. I've recently just capped Elemental Magic Skill merits and I'm halfway through Enfeebling. Dynamis Xarcabard dropped Sorcerer's Petasos for me, and now all I need is to claim the Tonban and the Belt to finish it off. The biggest problem, is that all of the Black Mage gear I want is Rare\Ex and very hard to attain; Morrigan Gear, Novio, etc. etc.

Nyzul Isle is coming alon very nicely. Teila and I have started climbing, two-three floors every Tuesday and right now we're up to Floor 51. Once that's finished we'll probably start using our two-three tags to get Captain Rank done, then use every tag to finish off our Nyzul Armor Sets.

Wednesdays have become known as our "X's Knife BCNM Day". Teila, Sene, Xzaver, Peeper, Kittakatt and Myself are all static'ing that BCNM on Wednesdays in order to get Peeper and Sene a Z's Trident and me and Xzaver an X's Knife...and I guess Sene want's one too. We'll see...=P

That's about as far as everything goes in the past month or so. Coming up in the next few weeks will hopefully be news of more Salvage Gear being completed -- however, my good friend Darkdawn, has recently been leveling his Thief and has came to me for gear advice on more then one occassion as well as macro suggestions.

So, in the coming week or so, I'll be dropping a few Blog Posts concerning Thief Gear and some macros. I promise it'll a bit more affordable then my "On the Pimp" Guide. =)

Monday, April 6, 2009

Belt of Swiftness.

Perhaps one of the most elusive pieces of equipment (other then Skadi's Ledelsens) is the all-awesome Swift Belt from the Sacrarium RS NMs from the Chains of Promathia expansion. This belt has Accuracy +4, Attack-5 and Haste +4%. It's level 50 and is wearable by all jobs it's a very desirable piece of gear.

The drop rate is said to be 33%. 66% with TH2.

I went 1\15.

At first, it was an interesting little thing...my very first time popping, everyone else seemed to get drops and I was just the odd one out. No big deal, it happens sometimes. So, a friend of mine made me take one of his extra pops. No drop. That's fine, 0\2 isn't bad. Mathmatical odds dictate that next time I should be fine.

So, next time I bring two books -- just to be safe.

0\5. Hmm...

Three books next time and I'm now 0\8.

Three MORE books...0\12.

Alrighty, this is getting a bit ridiculous.

For awhile now, I didn't even bother. Probably months! Until Aniero decided HE wanted one and made me drag him down there with some people. Well, of course I'm not going to do it for others and not try myself. So...the first time...I took two books, popped them both. 0\14. Ugh...

We went again a few days ago. We had 5 people who needed Swift Belts, I had three books on me. All of the people there were my friends and today, I was determined not to leave those sewers until EVERYONE had a book.

You've fucked me over 14 TIMES Sacrarium...today, I wasn't going to let you push me around.

First book I tell everyone is a free pop -- if it drops, everyone can lot. So we pop Mithra and kill it...

"Mithra NM drops a Swift Belt."

Fuck yes. Everyone lots and I pass. Xzaver has a shiney new belt! And then I get yelled at for passing. X.x; Love you guys too.

We pop my second one -- no drop. Ok, that's cool...Sacrarium showing some balls. Let's do it.

Teila pops hers next -- BOOM! "Hume NM drops a Swift Belt" Congrats babe. =)

Aniero pops his next -- BAM~! "Hume NM drops a Swift Belt" What now Sewer bitch!?

Xzaver pops his book -- ...no drop. Whatever, he has his already! So suck it Sacrarium!

At this point no one had full hate, so we went and took a short break and I sent Herra back to Jeuno to pick up a new book from my mule. We had two more Belts to get and we had three -- four more pops.

So, Herra comes back and we do our thing at Mithra again...SWIFT BELT! Peeper wins the lot after forcing me to lot first.

We pop the second one...no drop. Two books left.

We pop one...SWIFT BELT! And it's mine, mwahahaha! DAY IS COMPLETE! FUCK YOU SACRARIUM!

Now! At this point everyone who had come originally got thier belt...just as planned. Kallo 1, Sacrari--I'll just not finish that setence. But! If you can count at all, I still have one book left at this point and a friend of mine, Erell, did come to help and also needed a belt. So, why not! I used the pop to try and get her a belt...

The Sacrarium has the last laugh...

For now.

Left to Right Top: Peeper, Xzaver, Kallo, Aniero, Teila.
Left to Right Bottom: Erell, Thazienne, Herra.

Thank you to everyone! Especially to Thazienne, Herra and Erell who came out to help for hours and hours without asking for a single thing or expecting anything in return! <3 you all! Congratulations to everyone who walked away with a Swift Belt! =D

On a side note: Lots of EPIC shit happened between this and now so I'll be posting that soon enough! WOO!

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

"On The Pimp: Thief."

As a sort of tribute to my good friend, and in many cases, mentor Ringthree, I wanted to do my own take on a little project he's started entitled "On the Cheap". Now, Ringthree has written a few guides for jobs were he instructs the casual end game player on how to properly outfit said job without being super OMFG uber. This is not to say that you won't have to invest a pretty penny sometimes, but for the most part it does stay true to his title.

Unlike, Ringthree though, I don't want to teach you to justify your gimpiness. Sorry. But that shit just don't fly with me. So, I present to you...

On The Pimp; Thief.

First let's cover the rules of "On The Pimp."

1. You can't be gimp. Sorry, if you are gimp, I can't help you. If you are the kind of person that hears something and then sticks to it no matter what, just quit now. If you can't adapt to changes in the game, quit. If you refuse to do something because something isn't worth that much gil, then just fucking die in a fire. MONEY is key, the more we have in the game, the more we fucking pwn all over the gimpy-ass newbs!

2. You have to really be an end-game player. I am expecting you to have every title in the game, and have done every mission everywhere, I do expect you to have done main story-line content. This should be a goal of an end-game player at the very least. Zilart should be finished. CoP should be finished. Aht Urghan should be finished. If you don't have these, or at least most of it and trying to get to the end, then you aren't an end-game player, you are just lazy or your are just making pretend. So DIAF.

3. You have to be able to do ALL end-game events. I am not demanding that you be in a full-time HNM LS, you should at least CO-OWN it. If you don't then you really aren't an end-game player, you are just a player with a job at 75.

4. You have to be willing to spend gil. Not just a LOT of gil. All of it. That's why it's called the Pimp. I am going to tell you to get all HQ gear, regardless of price, and I will also indicate expensive items that you will need anyway. This is like the Frugal Gourmet for FFXI. Yes, I know, none of you got that reference. :(*

*This has nothing to do with MY guide, I just wanted to leave it in so we all know how much of a nerd Ringthree is.

Ok! Now on with the show!

1. Weapon
Is there really ANY need to discuss this? Mandau. Vajra. Let's move on.

What? Ok! No, you're right, you're right. Ok, X's Knife is very, very good. But, we're not trying to maximize our potential here, we're trying to be Pimp. X's Knife is good, but technically...it's free. So, fork over the Millions of Gil for Mandau and Vajra, gimp.

The only real problem here is which do you Main Hand and which do you Off Hand? Honestly...switch it up a bit. Mon\Wed\Fri Mandau, Tue\Thu\Sat, Vajra. Midnight to Noon, Mandau. Noon to Midnight, Vajra. Done deal.

2. Ranged\Ammo
Now to be trully PIMP, you can't just have one...so, what you're going to need is a Ziska's Crossbow, of course. Then you'll also want a Fire Bomblet for TP and then a Bomb Core for WS. Since you won't lose TP just switching your Ammo. Moving on.

3. Head
This one is really a no brainer...for TP you're going to want a Walahra Turban, I know, I know...doesn't cost much. But, really, you won't be standing around in Whitegate in your W. Turban -- because your WS piece is the big shiner! Hecatomb Cap +1. The real goal of being truly Pimp is so get that White Box around EVERYTHING. Ok, Professional Pimp Kat Williams will be the first to tell you -- the more shine, the better. Every day you be hustlin'.

4. Neck
Now, it's at the neck we sort of run into another problem with the TP set...the best choice is going to be a Love Torque...however, Love Torques aren't really that far out of your grasp if you put in enough work. So, I suggest spending a few million on the Ancient Torque. Not as good...sure, but remember, it's not about functionality. It's about status. So if anyone tries to tell you other wise, just say you screwed thier mom. For WS, go ahead and use this, the Love Torque, or better yet, spend money to get people to farm you organs for the WS Gorgets.

5. Earrings
Ok, first and most obvious choice...buy all your ABCs and get a Brutal Earring -- other accessories though they won't cost you much gil, are Delta Earring and Suppanomimi. You can also purchase a Pixie Earring from a local HNM shell.

Now, to be truly Pimp -- screw ALL of these and just drop your gil into two Androit Earrings +1. Again, keep that White Shimmering Box in mind all the time.

6. Body
I'm going to be met with a bit of resistance here...but, it's got to be said. For WS Gear -- you're going to want to make a judgement call. Skadi's Body is easily the best...however, Hecatomb +1 may be more gil depending on your server. So check prices -- there's also something to be said about a person who has FULL +1 gear, rather then someone who is missing one piece. For TP I'd go for the Antares Harness, nice and expensive piece. If only we had some way to HQ it.

7. Hands
This one should be a no brainer to everyone! Dusk Gloves +1 and Hecatomb Mittens +1 is going to easily cost you around 30 Mil. If you even have to question this, just give up and go play WoW.

8. Rings
Do Thunder Rings have a HQ Version? Find out. Buy them. That's for WS, of course, for TP you're going to need two Sniper Rings +1. You can't afford not to have them.

9. Back
With the addition of the WotG Campaign Ops BCNM in each of the Allied Nations -- we now have one of the most expensive back pieces! Cuchulain's Mantle! Easy 3-4 Mil for WS...but...for TP, and standing around in Whitegate you'll need to pick up a Cerberus Mantle +1. Gotta have those White Boxes lined up for the /check after all.

10. Waist
No discussion here. Sonic Belt +1. Don't even take it off for WS. Anyone who ever checks you needs to see this and only this. Period.

11. Legs
Sadly, Skadi's Legs are very affordable and all the other pieces for TP in this slot are virtually free. So, go with the Skadi's as they say more about how much time you dedicate to playing. The WS piece is a no brainer -- as long as you've been following this guide you should know...Hecatomb +1, duh.

12. Feet
This will of course round out the Hecatomb +1, completing our WS Gear and FULL HQ Hecatomb. As for TP...all the good options are more or less free. Buy a pair of Strider's Boots, just so you can run circles around all the gimpies. It just doesn't make sense to come to the final gear slow and NOT spend money on it, you know?

Now, you have to realize -- playin' the game within the game and being a playa is a very difficult job. This guide here, really only serves to get you started...it's a foreword, more than anything. So as you start pimping yourself out you need to keep in mind that other then a TP and WS set there's a LOT more you need to focus on...below are only a few other sets you should invest some time and money into.

  • Haste Set for TP Gain
  • Accuracy Set for TP Gain
  • Attack Set for Parsing Closer to other DDs
  • Ranged Accuracy Set
  • Kiting Set
  • Solo Set
  • Shark Bite WS Set
  • Dancing Edge WS Set
  • Evisceration WS Set
  • TP Set Geared toward Off Handing your Ridill
  • TP Set Geared toward Off Handing your Kraken Club
  • Evasion Set
  • Sneak Attack Solo Set
  • Trick Attack Solo Set
  • Enmity Gear Set
  • SATA Solo Set
  • SA WS Set
  • TA WS Set
  • SATA WS Set
So, with all of this under your belt...I wish you luck. =) Once again, this has been "On the Pimp; Thief."