/ma "Cure"

Sorry I haven't updated, but I have nothing to update with. I've been sick since early Monday, and I haven't been on FF since the Garrison I did on Saturday.

Today is the worst so far, and I actually left work early because of it. I was thinking about logging in for a bit, but I think I'd rather hit my head with a mallet and then pass out until I go to work tomorrow.

Both good, we'll see.

New post next time I get to log in, I swear.

Thanks,
-Pas

Dawn of the Dead...Taru.

So I logged in yesterday to find my LinkShell doing a subligar run in Pneumonia Aquaman, and I decided to join them. I ran to Port Jeuno, where I discovered I had just missed the boat. 10 minutes later I was on my way home to switch jobs and grab my SMN gear out of storage. After getting everything set, I used a warp cudgel to take me back to Jeuno, so I could get a teleport.

Pasquale uses a Warp Cudgel.

=== Area: Windurst Woods ===

Damnit. I could tell right away it was going to be a long day.

I was right.

I finally make it over to the zone my ls was in. On the way to meet them, I managed to aggro a Stegotaur, and was promptly and painfully pummeled.

Death count: 1 (Oh yeah, it's back.)

One of my ls mates came to rescue me and we headed up a ladder to rest.

Apparently, Stegotaurs can climb ladders.

Death count: 2 (Also, this SS is awesome.)

We finally made it to our linkshell to find them battling two Stegos. I hid in a nearby hallway to avoid any AoE attacks, as I was still very much Weakened.

Suddenly, the most adorable assassin ever came up from behind and one-shotted me. Adorable, you ask? I'm talking of course about the Fomor Monk.

Death count: 3 (Not my SS, found it online. But seriously, look at his tiny fists. Adorable.)

I got raised again, and my linkshell started to fight the Monk. He used some fancy AoE move, and apparently I was too close. I was still very much Weakened from my last death. When I am Weakened, I only have 60 HP.

Death count: 4

Once again I was brought back to life, and we rested to full. Weakened wore off and I was finally able to contribute to the group. We had four Fomors going at a time, because of the aggro. We had linkshell members kiting two of them, while I had Carby kiting the third. It kinda reminded me of my level 20 avatar fights, so it went pretty well. Eventually everyone who needed a subligar from that spot got one, and we headed to a different camp.

We were only at the new camp for a few minutes when my screen suddenly shifted. It went from a nice hallway filled with friends, to this:

Yeah. That's me staring at the Minotaur. I don't know how it happened, but it sucked. We quickly charged into battle. There were swords and axes flying everywhere. I even managed to get my 2 hour off before I got murdered.

I died right after taking that SS, but we managed to get a win in the end. This was nice, because I am on 2-3, and now I don't think I have to kill the Minotaur anymore.

Death Count: 5

We made our way to a Fomor Bard and killed it, and the subligar dropped. We were finally done.

I died 5 times, but it was totally worth it.

Dr Jekyll, and Mr Died.

So I have been leveling BLU for the last two weeks. My linkshell is doing a Garrison at the end of the month, and I need to get it to 30. Leveling to 30 would probably take most people a few days, a week at the most, but I think I can honestly say I am the worst level-er ever. (Level-er ever, that's kinda fun to say.)

Party Pasquale
My BLU party experiences have been different than what I am used to. I have spent almost all of my playtime with SMN, BLM, and WHM, and with the exception of BLM, am not used to doing damage while partying. BLU is different. With BLU, its all damage all the time, with a light sprinkling of Healing Breeze if something bad happens.

Now because this is my first time seriously using a DD job, I of course don't know how to do it right. I am not used to attacking, so I do it too much. As far as I'm concerned, my job is to hurt the mob so bad, his own mother won't recognize him. And for the most part, Mission: Accomplished.

Massive damage also brings massive hate, which brings along with it massive beatings, followed by some pretty massive death. When I learn the ability "Self-Control," I'll be in good shape, but until then, {Raise} {Can I have it?}

Something strange happened in my first Qufim party the other day. We had just killed our first mob, and we killed him with a vengeance.

Player: Finally, a BLU that knows what he's doing.

It took me a few minutes to realize I was the BLU he was talking about. I got all excited, because this clearly meant I was the best BLU ever. I thought about what I had done during the fight, and decided to keep doing it, so that everyone would love me.

I decided to turn up the heat:

/ma "Bludgeon"
/ma "Helldive"
/ma "Headbutt"
/ma "Bludgeon"
/ma "Helldive"
/ma "Headbutt"

Needless to say, the mob was not a fan and I was murdered. In one fight, I had gone from "knows what he's doing" to "zOmg, worst BLU evar."

Solo Pasquale
Blue Mages are very powerful. They can unleash a lot of hell in a little bit of time. This makes soloing both fun and easy.

This also makes our hero both cocky and stupid.

You know what's great? Having MP. You know what's not so great? You guessed it... Not having MP.

EXP chains are nice, but impossible with out MP. I have learned that the hard way several times over the last few days. Nothing sucks more than starting the fight with this message:

Pasquale does not have enough MP to cast Wild Oats.

Those fights tend to end poorly, and usually with me crying and HP-ing back to Windurst, because I keep forgetting to set my Home Point to Jeuno. (Three fucking times last night >< )

Links are also fun. I'm a big bad BLU, I can handle a Decent Challenge Bee and his EvenMatch friend at the same time, no problem...

...Or so I thought. After Bee #1's Final Sting nailed me for a third of my HP, I tried to use Pollen.

Pasquale cannot cast Pollen.

What what? Oh, right, I took it off while I was partying, to make room for Healing Breeze. Why not just use Healing Breeze then?

Pasquale does not have enough MP to cast Healing Breeze.

Balls. Aaaand cue Sharp Sting. And death. End scene.

Office besieged.

I typically spend most of my work day with other people in my office. This makes Internet usage very limited, as there are always people watching everything.

At lunch time, I am free to do whatever I want, because I finally get half an hour to myself. That is usually the time I write these updates.

A few days ago, one of my bosses retired. My other boss, who ate lunch with him for 30 years, was now lunch-buddy-less.

Somehow, I managed to aggro my boss on the way to my office yesterday, and he followed me all the way back to camp. I was hoping he would go away when I zoned into my office, but I was wrong.

He spent the next 15 minutes talking about light fixtures, and I decided I had to use one of my job abilities. I slid my cell-phone to my lap and sent my friend a /tell.

Pasquale: Dude, call me right now, I can't take this anymore.

I patiently waited for my phone to ring and my friend to save me, but I was met instead with three beeps, which was an incoming /tell.

Friend: What's wrong? Is everything ok?

I quickly replied, as I was just about ready to Mijin Gakure myself.

Pasquale: Douche, call me now, I need to get away from my boss.
Friend: Fuck you, douche.
Pasquale: !!

Finally my phone rang, although it was not my friend, but my mom. I regretted answering, "About time, douche."

My boss resisted my cell phone attack, and just sat there stunned until I was done. All hope was lost for our hero.

Just before my boss cast "Boredom" on me one last time to finish me off, the power went out in our building, and that pulled enough hate to get him away from me. I'm currently resting as I type this, because I probably would have deleveled had I had to sit there much longer.

(Sorry for the non-FFXI post, but I can't get five minutes to myself anymore. I did my best to make it have a FFXI feel. New post later this week.)

Special thanks.

So I'm done with the Dunes. Forever.

I had originally written up this huge "I hate the dunes" entry, but frankly, I'm tired of complaining about it. And I'm sure you're tired of reading about it.

Just a few last highlights of my last days in the dunes, then that's it, I swear.

These guys, Tayven and Rubio, are great. When we disbanded I was still a few hundred away from leveling, and they stayed and we took down crabs, pugs, and damselflies for a while. I managed to hit my level and learn three Blue Magic spells. It was awesome. Thanks again guys.

Yesterday, I was headed into the dunes for a party, when I met an untimely death at the hands of a Will-o-the-Wisp, that seriously came outta nowhere. Tugg was nice enough to raise me as he was running past.

I accepted the Raise and stood up. As I turned to rest near a wall while I waited for Weakened to wear, that same Will-o-the-Wisp came flying at me, and annihilated the small HP I had left.

Tugg did his best to kill it before re-raising me, but he too fell to the clearly unkillable King of the Bombs.

'A' for effort, Tugg. Thanks for trying to save me^^ (Also, thanks to Awakened for raising Tugg and I when that douche Bomb finally left.)

What's that? You noticed my slick new hairdo? That's right, he's so hot right now. Here's some shots of the new hotness.

I've never messed with the DATs before, because I was always afraid I would mess something up and have to reinstall everything. I decided to give it a try, with sexy results.

I ended my night with a little soloing in the Maze of Shakrami, and I discovered that a Blue Mage is pretty much invincible when he has a little MP.

OneDarkFlame and I duo'ed down there for a while, and it was good times, until we got greedy and tried to take a Tough bat with no MP. Funny story, a SMN and a BLU make a good team, but not when neither of them have any MP...

Sorry today's post is kinda lame, but I was at work for 13 hours today and I'm tired. I wanted to get something up, and these "thank you"s seemed like a good fit.