FFXI and WoW

[thistlechaser]

Such a creative subject line!

Tonight I discovered something on FFXI. I actually still enjoy it when I have something to do!

We did the 3x3 Sea NMs stage of CoP mission. Next week is escort, week after is towers, week after is final BC and then we're done!

It's very odd, but once I'm finished with CoP I'll have beaten FFXI (sort of, if such a thing can be done). All the ZM, CoP, ToAU, and Wings missions will be finished. This becomes an issue, when you note my discovery mentioned in the second paragraph. What am I going to do next? Level another job to 75? Been there, done that x6. Craft? Ha ha, I have a finished crafting mule for all crafts but two. I don't want to quest just for questing sake. I don't need to make money, so things like farming are out. I'm bored of Dynamis. What's that leave?

Hm. I guess I had been planning a MMM static. 60K XP in three-ish hours is nothing to sneeze at, and that sure would count as something new. Nyzul Isle was something I've been pondering, though I'm a little wary of trying to lead a group myself since I have neither experience nor a sense of direction.

Maybe I'll tackle MMM next... *ponder*

WoW: What an exciting night! I decided to deal with getting my skinning uncapped. (It's been stuck at 300 for ages, since I didn't have the expansions.) But how to get to the Outlands? I read about the portal and asked on the MUX, so I set off on the long, long trip to it (I had no flightpath nearby, never been in that area before). Got to the portal... nothing happened. Level 58 required, I was 53. Oops! Ha. D suggested that I go back to the city and offer to buy a spell trip thingie there, so I did. Other than that my first two requests on /trade offered gil instead of gold (*cough* I always roll my eyes at people who confuse gold/gil on FFXI!*cough*), but on the third I said gold and someone did it for me.

I landed in an odd city. Pretty but odd. Full of laughing NPCs. (WTF? Endlessly laughing, it was very strange.) Problem was, the NPC I needed was in Thrallmar. I looked at the map. No worries! Short run! Just follow the road!

Ha ha ha ha ha. Nevermind the roads were swarming with mobs. I don't mean they were wandering near them, they were in the road. I died more this evening than I have my entire time playing WoW and FFXI put together. At one long stretch of road, I moved one or two steps, died, raised, one or two steps... It was full of some sort of humanoid things (orcs?), and they had a taste for beef. :/

Eventually I made it though, yay! Got my skinning cap raised to 375 and logged. Had no time for anything else.

Comments

[citizenbleys.livejournal.com]

Wow, you haven't experienced expansion content at all yet?

You'll hate Hellhole Penisula. Worst. Zone. In the game. And that includes Syphilis, or whatever that zone with all the bees is called.

Hit Zangarmarsh at 62 and Nagrand at 64, they're the least painful Outland zones.

Get used to the fact that random green drops will be better than anything else you've ever seen in pre-expansion content. This is a good thing, it makes it easy to make and keep money. (Not that it's hard in WoW compared to FFXI--I was always scraping the bottom of the barrel in FFXI, and my WoW gold doubles every 2-3 days; don't expect to see this without some high-level professions, though. I'm sure this won't be a problem for you)

Northrend, now, is awesome. Quest rewards are 15k/25k exp per quest, awesome gear, and tons of money. You can start there @68. The Battle for the Undercity quest chain is epic...it kind of reminds me of FFXI. I don't think it's as good if you're Alliance, though.

/ramblerambleramble

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Woo, thanks for the info! I'm semi-low level still (53) and I level slower than heck (a couple levels a week), so it will be a whole before I can really use the zones well.

on't expect to see this without some high-level professions, though. I'm sure this won't be a problem for you)

Skinning is really the only thing I do. I also have herb picking, though it's not very high. Still, I think I probably do okay with money? I have nearly 1K gold now (though if/when I hit 60 I think there's another mount to buy).

[citizenbleys.livejournal.com]

You can train a slow flying mount at 70 for 1k gold; fast version costs 5k; another k to use it in Northrend, but you can't train that until 77.

I'm making about 1-2k per day just buying stuff from the AH, processing it into disenchantable items, disenchanting them, and reselling the enchanting materials. They sell fast and for a high price, especially Northrend stuff. I do Jewelcrafting & Enchanting, although you'll need a character with a gathering profession to make enough money to get JC or chanting high enough to make a profit. I prefer mining as a gathering prof, but I hear people make good money with herbalism too.

The problem with skinning is that you have to kill stuff to gather with it. When I make my money, I never leave org. The stuff I mine up while levelling is just gravy--and at 80, my money-making techniques will still be just as good even though I'm not out killing stuff.

You really don't need to worry about flying mounts until 77, since you can go to Northrend at 68 and you won't be flying until 77 anyways.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

The problem with skinning is that you have to kill stuff to gather with it.

Problem and positive. I'm killing all these things anyway for XP, so I'm making all my money by just one additional click after I've killed it. (Plus it's fun to follow someone killing without skinning -- free money!)

I prefer mining as a gathering prof, but I hear people make good money with herbalism too.

I've been thinking about switching to mining. I hate seeing all the points and not being able to do anything with them, and I so rarely stumble over herb picking spots...

[citizenbleys.livejournal.com]

You'll make massive profits getting up to 300. Almost nobody mines in Azeroth anymore--just Northrend.

On my server, Thorium ore (requires skill 245) sells for 60 gold per stack, whereas the Saronite (mined in Northrend) that all the miners are going after sells for 17-20g per stack, which is less than the average value of the gems prospected from it.

I've seen mithril (the step before Thorium) retail for 100g per stack. Stuff you can mine before mithril sells for less, but it's still pure profit.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Wow. I've seen tons of mithril and Thorium around, too.

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

She still needs her epic ground mount at 60. I'm sure that's what she's referring to.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ah, that's what I meant, yep. Unfortunately I'll never hit 1K gold now (or at least not for a long time). I spent 300 last night to upgrade my bags. I still have enough for the level 60 mount/skill, but suddenly I feel poor. :P

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

300 gold on bags? What were you getting, frostweave?

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, three of them. I upgraded from 16 slots per bag (soulweave, I think?) to 20 per. Big hit in money, but the extra space is nice.

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

Yikes, they're expensive on your server. They go for about 80g on mine a lot of the time.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, nice. I snagged those at slightly undercut, too.

[darte.livejournal.com]

Have you finished all the other nation missions?

Have you done the 3 "mini missions" for each nation for wings? (since I hear a lot of people just skip those for some odd reason)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ah, good point. No, I have zero interest in the Windy/Bastok mission lines in either the current timeline or the past. That's kind of an odd thing, as I do like the FFXI storylines, but I love Sandy and just don't have interest in the other two nations...

[veloxe.livejournal.com]

Bastok storyline in 3 words:

Zeid is emo.

Windy Storyline in 2 words:

Zombie Tarus.

There ya go! :P

[darte.livejournal.com]

While I can't vouch for current timeline's windys mission being interesting, I *CAN* vouch for Windurst[S]'s questline.

Bastok[S] though....zzz

[achika-soladia.livejournal.com]

You still have Bahamut and Apocalypse Nigh after CoP! XD

And your story of trying to get to Thrallmar reminds me of when I took my priest there at 50 so I could uncap her two skills. XD

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I think my LS has plans for the Bahamut one, though I've already done Apocalypse Nigh! *shows off his earring*

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

Nope, that's your earring from Divine Might. ApocNigh is only available after you finish RotZ, CoP, beat Bahamut, and do a quest that involves getting key items from the three initial Promyvions. The reward for ApocNigh is also your choice of several earrings, but they're different earrings.

And oh, hey, I think "my LS has plans" = "Cydori has mentioned it in vague terms" so I should probably start thinking about it in more concrete terms. ^_~

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Oh! Duh. I mixed up Divine Might and Apoc Nigh.

And oh, hey, I think "my LS has plans" = "Cydori has mentioned it in vague terms" so I should probably start thinking about it in more concrete terms. ^_~

Northy has mentioned things like this multiple times, so I'm not sure if we have potential plans in two LSs or what.

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

Oh, I should talk to her, then, especially since I was going to ask her if she wanted to help. I know I mentioned it once on the forums as something to potentially do once your group finished CoP but I think only Naya responded. That was fair, as I think you guys were somewhere in Chapter 5 at the time, so no need for concrete plans then.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think you did mention it, and I hadn't responded and then I lost track of the thread. The FI board isn't easy to use in some ways (if there are two new threads in one subboard, you never see the other one unless you go into that board...)

[achika-soladia.livejournal.com]

Wait wait wait.

How can you have cleared Apocalypse Nigh if you haven't cleared CoP? D= Are you thinking Divine Might?

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Apparently I was confused, yes! :P

[doxxxicle.livejournal.com]

Yeah.... running through Hellfire Peninsula at 53 is just a recipe for pain XD

As citizenbleys says, try to get to Zangarmarsh as quickly as you can. After that you'll do a stint in Terrokar and then move on to Nagrand and thenBlade's Edge Mountains. Depending on how many quests you do in each area, you'll probably ding 68-70 by that point since they've accelerated XP gain in the 60-70 range.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

by that point since they've accelerated XP gain in the 60-70 range.

Oh, handy!

[pomr.livejournal.com]

Ow. :)

I can't imagine making that run at 53! citizenbleys is right about Hellfire Penninsula sucking. It is just plain awful. I get out asap when I've been there.

My favorite outland zone is Netherstorm though, it is this collection of shattered islands floating in the void of the Twisting Nether. What makes it so gorgeous is the sky -- it is mind blowingly gorgeous.

With skinning you can make good money, and if you're out leveling anyway the skins you gather are free gold. :) In Nagrand you've got some quests to kill 30 of X, Y, and Z mobs -- then you turn those in and get quests for killing A, B, C mobs x30 as well and most of them are skinnable! Nesingwary is the questline, a camp of hunter guys.

Outland quests are worth more money and give much better rewards than anything you found in the old world, and the drop greens are better than a lot of old world Rare or Epic loot.

And Northrend is even better. :)

One thing you don't want to bother with is to get too caught up in the rep grinds you can do in Outland -- they're rather painful, and Northrend has equivalents or better for most of rep related purchases you can make.

Not too familiar with Herbing, but I think that some of the rarer herbs sell well. :) Also -- plant elemental looking mobs can often be 'skinned' for herbs! :)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I can't imagine making that run at 53!

If I had known what it would be like ahead of time, I never would have done it. I died dozens of times. I got literally just a step or two between deaths -- as soon as I got back on my feet, they hit me again. One always hit me from behind, so I got that dazed thing and couldn't do more than a slow walk... Oh well! :D

With skinning you can make good money, and if you're out leveling anyway the skins you gather are free gold. :) In Nagrand you've got some quests to kill 30 of X, Y, and Z mobs -- then you turn those in and get quests for killing A, B, C mobs x30 as well and most of them are skinnable!

Yeah, that's my opinion as well. I'm killing them anyway, so with skinning I make money with just one extra click. And woo! I love quests that require me to kill skinnable mobs. The ones against humanoid mobs always seem like such a waste. :P

Also -- plant elemental looking mobs can often be 'skinned' for herbs! :)

*blinks* Oh wow. That's cool!

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

If you want to get a head start on collecting marbles, you're welcome to join my group on Wednesdays when you're not ZNM'ing. We're doing mostly farming runs, though we did do an xp run last week and got about 8k out of it (this included use of an Emperor Band).

Also, I hate to rain on your parade, but you're missing a step in the CoP missions. 8-2 is the escort + NM fight at the end. 8-3 is the tower climb, some running around inside to get key items (but not too bad compared to the escort/clim), and then a BC. 8-4 is the final BC. The good news is that the 8-3/8-4 BC areas are really easy to reach.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Thanks, but I think I'll just wait and do it whenever I get the new group together. :)

And oops! There's a BC with the racial tower climb? Okay, yeah, I missed that step then.

The good news is that the 8-3/8-4 BC areas are really easy to reach.

Ha. That's rare in CoP. :P

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I guess they figured that since you're on the second to last mission, they can finally start making things easy for you. ;p

8-3 BC required a wipe and reraise strategy for us, although I'm not sure that's necessary for all groups. I complicated things by dying in the wrong spot, which meant that everyone else had to reraise and unweaken, then I reraised, pulled the mobs to the right spot, died again, and waited out a lot of the fight. Not quite as bad as aggroing the Omega Weapon, but it was yet another manifestation of my horrible lack of spatial/distance perception. (I hide behind the fact that Cydori's just not too bright. ;p)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ah. I haven't looked at the 8-3 BC at all yet. But at least reraising isn't so bad now, since there's no XP loss!

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they'd implemented the no xp loss in BCs by the time we got to the later CoP missions. Was really nice for 6-4 in particular.

You guys want help with the 8-2 escort? I may not be able to stay for the whole thing (will have to duck out around 11PM Eastern) but some extra DD power probably can't hurt. I'm guessing Eco will probably be canceled if Renard, Tharpy, and Nayami are all out. (We did Eco with 6 people this week, but Tharpy and Renard were two of them.)

I don't remember if my group did sleeping or fighting mobs. Possibly a mix of both, as we had a BLM with us. We also had a couple of extra people around to help.

Edit: Oh, and if you can come as BLU, you'll potentially be able to pick up a few more spells. Dunno if that's possible with your party layout (do y'all need your COR for sleeping?) but it's something to consider.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Oh, I think help would probably rock! Post in our FI thread? ^^

Yeah, if we had a BLM, I'd be more open to sleeping stuff. I think with our party we're probably going to mostly fight?

Edit: Oh, and if you can come as BLU, you'll potentially be able to pick up a few more spells.

That's my plan! ;)