There's the second part of the job adjustments on POL today. Some of them are pretty funny (unintentionally, of course).So....what's that do now? Just make for bigger WS? So Warrior has Attack+ JA, Accuracy+ JA, and TP Bonus+ JA? So much for that "trade-off" or stance thing.
The Bard thing falls under "about time."

The Ninja thing could be pretty nice. I was hoping for shuriken, but improving 'Ton spells works too, I guess. (My Gigas's Tiger as NIN/RDM with Aquilo's, Novio/Moldavite, INT+5 Rings, etc and 2x Weather was 590. I shall hit 900 for sure post-update!!! Muwahahahahaha!!!!)
So the Perp-X Magian Staves are now even better? Elemental Siphon being improved is nice. I don't see anyone using any of the buffs listed other than Fenrir's/Diabolos's though. ...Hastega could last five minutes already, anyway?
Activate v2.0? Level Sync not killing off Automatons for 20 minuttes is nice. I'm hoping to see more PUP stuff on update day. Some new attachments would be nice.

UPDATE: A few other things...

First, I'm glad I left NIN group 2 at 5/10 now instead of tossing my extraneous Abyssean merits into it. It remains to be seen how well the :San spells will perform post-update compared to :Ni, but being able to unlock all of them and having a reason too would be nice.

Less nice would be the Inventory -12 from carrying a stack of each tool, plus a stack of toolbags. Plus, presumably, -2 more from the two new Ichi spells. Then again, if the two new spells are like Aisha: Ichi in usefulness, I probably won't bother.

Having played Ninja a lot lately doing my two Katana trials I've got to say I'm liking the job a lot more than I had in a long time. For a while it was my, "Come NIN/DRK to Sky and tank something!" job. Then EpicLS stopped doing Sky like a year and a half ago (or something). So it was my "Come tank something random (and we don't believe Monk can tank)!" job. Then EpicLS mostly stopped doing...any events outside of Zeni NMs and Dynamis once in a while, so it sat idle. I guess my point is that even though my Monk still clobbers the shit out of things far better than my Ninja there's some...finesse that NIN has. Or something. I guess the wider variety of WS, ninjutsu, and Yonin/Innin make it sort of interesting. Being able to /WHM and Haste myself while having shadows is pretty neat too.

I'm still not too psyched about Summoner, but I'm going to finally get it up from 76 to 85 this update. PUP I've been putting off because skilling up the Automaton is quite annoying. It's Ranged skill isn't capped at level 65 even. (Magic and Melee are close to the 75 caps.)

More later.

I’ve never completed the Purple Belt quest.  Yes, my MNK is Lv80.  Lv80 from doing Fields of Valor in Cape Terrigan from 75 to 80. Anyway, these past two days have been quite hectic, and this is how it started… (Yes, I do things outside of Ballista… sort of) ♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦♣♦ T decided  to level up [...]

As previously announced, the September version update will see the unveiling of a variety of new job abilities, traits, and spells. Besides these additions, existing job abilities will also see wide-ranging adjustments and refinements. Read on for the details! The following adjustments will be made to existing job abilities: - The warrior ability “Restraint” will no longer prevent the user from dealing critical hits. - The thief ability “Despoil” will [...]

Gogo pic dump go!

Ishgard Area!













Mor Dhona wut is this dragon I don't even know....

Well my linkshell successfully killed AV again. Now AV is defiantly on farming status and the wishlist is long… ><;. Good times though. Hopefully we can get some sashes and Great Katanas sooner than later. I’ll say this about AV, at least for myself having killed this legendary beast the satisfaction is no where near as when my... Read More

11 of us went in, of which 4 wanted RDM hat.  PLD body went to Slaan, PUP head to Exe and RDM hat… I won with a 787

Server Status: http://www.ff14news.com/serverstatus/ To Register your Square Enix account (if you don’t have one) – https://secure.square-enix.com/account/app/svc/register Apply for Beta code: http://entry.ffxiv.com/ (If it is up, and once you receive e-mail with your beta key) Square Enix Account Management To get official client download for NA testers: NA Tester Site Patch updates – alternate source – [...]

...oh you mean these?

SQUARE ENIX again released a new Video! This time it's the trailer of the new addon Scars of Abyssea!

Unsurprisingly really, it was kind of a madhouse having everyone around the world all try and login to a certain website at 19:00 PDT yesterday, and of course there were issues. After repeated efforts, I had gotten a beta key code issued to me, however I was not able to login to the account management [...]

Or so the end of the Scars of Abyssea trailer says that launched today says.

Episode 220: Denwa Incoming Update, Japanese Class, Bubu Flags, and more! 9/2/10 39:33 Download audio file (Episode220.mp3) Level Cap Increase DJ Plaeskool- Zi’Tah: Rhythm of the Sanctuary Job Adjustments Part I DJ Plaeskool- On Being Taru DJ Plaeskool- Laila, Step Lively! (Autumn Footfalls Remix)

With Scars of Abyssea now available for advance purchase via PlayOnline, players have no doubt been wondering what challenges await them. Well, wonder no more, for a promotional trailer offering a sneak peek at this latest battle add-on is now available! The official site has also been updated with details on Empyrean Armor, a powerful new set of equipment that will be available to those who prove themselves worthy. Players [...]

I'm going to take Summoner and Puppetmaster both to 85 once the Version Update arrives. I'd do it now, but they're just barely 76 and I'd rather only drag them through an Abyssean party (hopefully) once rather than twice.

But I'm a little curious...what do people invite Summoners to do in Abyssea? Hastega and Cure? Damage BPs? I think pet kills all counted as Ruby light (which nobody ever wants) or something? Anybody with some experience they can share please post a comment.

I’m embarrassed to admit that we’ve accumulated 13 consecutive losses in the past two months with our win to lose ratio shooting from 9 – 3 to 9 – 16.  Working with different team setups can be a hassle, but updating our new members about our general Diorama strategies  is our next step towards victory.  [...]

It has come to my attention that there are several viable options for 5-hit builds with several of the Magian Great Katanas. In general, these are only possible with a few requirements. The Great Katana needs to be of at least 464 delay and you are going to make some new trade offs to get to the Store TP required. Assuming you have all of the necessary merits, you will require an additional 29 in Store TP. The problem for doing this is not that the gear doesn't exist, but that there are a lot of ways to get to the goal of +29 Store TP and almost all of them require giving up additional gear.

Now, I know the knee jerk reaction to this statement is why would I ever want to give up good stats for Store TP? The answer is simple, you don't UNLESS you can save a swing in getting to the next WS. For SAM (and for almost all jobs) a WS is always to going to be the most damaging attack you can do. This means that the more WS you get the more damage you will do. The reason people use Haste is to do the same exact thing. If you swing faster, you will get to the next WS faster. The problem is that people don't think of Store TP as Haste, but they should. It just comes in huge big chunks of Haste, rather than small slivers of Haste. Everyone should know the value of Haste by now. It has a multiplicative effect on your damage, which means that every bit of Haste you can get and use effectively will be of more and more value.

The options that I have found so far the Kokushitsunotachi and the Keitonotachi. There are obviously different approaches for each considering the Keitonotachi has +5 Store TP of it's own, making it easier, but still requiring trade offs. In general, you are going to need to keep your normal Store TP gear that you are currently using. Things like Rajas Ring, Usukane Sune-ate and a Store TP body like Usukane Haramaki or even Askar body are acceptable options. After that the trade off's start coming. Rose Strap is an obvious first pick because it replaces a relatively unimportant slot and has a big chunk of Store TP on it. The new Unkai Nodowa is a good option for the neck piece because the next closest option is Chivalrous Chain and it doesn't give nearly as much. White Tathlum is another option, it makes me cringe because it doesn't do much at all to help out with anything else besides the Store TP. After this point you need to start thinking about big sacrifices. Hachiman gear has a lot of Store TP on it. The hands can be used for TP and the feet can be used for WS. These should be your last resort options, but they may be necessary depending on your gearing.

The one shining light out there is the Goading Belt. While this may not seem like the best possible option compared to the Bullwhip Belt, you need to look at the differences in terms of total Haste. A Bullwhip Belt has 2% more Haste, but if a Goading Belt helps you keep other gear you want to be using like say Dusk Gloves or a good WS piece then you could actually gain more from using the Goading Belt than from the Bullwhip Belt. It's a tough balancing act that requires a complete look at all of your gear and options, but it is worth the effort because the difference between a 6 hit build and a 5 hit build is about 17% haste. There is no piece of gear that gives you that much haste.

We would like to announce the appointment of a new director for FINAL FANTASY XI. Former Battle Director Akihiko Matsui has assumed the post, and would like to take this opportunity to offer a few words of greeting to our players. Dear Users, It is both an honor and pleasure to give this address as the newly appointed director of FINAL FANTASY XI. With the commencement of official service for [...]

Square-Enix announced that Tanaka is moving on and somebody else is taking over FFXI as "Director" today.
Artist's rendition of Akihiko to the right. The POL blurb SS'd to the left.

Tried an ad hoc lowish man group in Dynamis last night. Wow does 80 make things sensible. OK we weren’t killing a ton but we managed to get 2 time extensions and have a couple of hours in uncontested ice. This isn’t something we really have room to do regularly nor do I particularly want [...]

While traveling around the world of Eorzea you may run into one of these guys at the various Aetherytes. Talking to them will give you the chance to take part in an event called Behest. Behest is similar to XI's campaign in the fact that anyone can join in with you and help. However with Behest you are required to be in a rank level range of 10s starting at a minimum of 10. Currently in the beta there are 10~20, 20~30, and 30~40 Behests. Before joining the Behest you may want to consider if you are on the lower end of the rank range because they tend to be quiet a bit more difficult, and almost impossible because of how hard the mobs hit. Once the Battlewarden appears, anyone in that Battlewarden's range will have 5 min to talk to him before Behest starts. In the case no one joins he will disappear and Behest will start again for 30min. If Behest is completed though the 30min will start from when it is completed.


Now once Behest starts this will appear in your upper left hand corner of your screen. It will tell you what exactly to kill, and red dots should appear on the mini map for where the mobs are. This should mostly be the same as a guildeve.


Most of the monsters in the Behest you will find are the same as the ones in the guildeves for that area. Their difficulty is on par with 3~4 star leves of the area as well.


Some things you might notice in the Behest is extra monsters that are not involved with your Behest requirements, but appear as mobs with the guildeve symbol by their name. This can be the case for extra mobs of the ones you require. I'm not sure at this point if based on how many people are with you determines if these mobs are required or not, but there could be a connection.


After defeating all of the mobs required you will receive this message and will be given a new objective.


The new mobs that appear tend to be more difficult, then the previous mobs. Sometimes they are special mobs such a Kobalds that have a chance to drop armor or beastcoins, which I'm not sure if there is a use for yet. I would say the difficulty of the mobs tend to be in the 4~5 star leve comparison. However the ones in this pic actually were extremely easy and died in 2-3 hits.


Once the last of the mobs are defeated, you will have to wait for the Battlewarden to walk to you if he/she is not already there. Once there speak to him/her and then they will give you a reward that seems to be based on the number of mobs you killed. Tends to between 500gil ~ 2000gil. I believe there is also a possibility of armor being obtained as well, but I have yet to seen it myself.

That's about it for Behest at this point. Hopefully when the game starts open beta and release there will be more to do with it and the higher behests will be even more rewarding with more difficulty.

Overview

Sorry for the lack of updates the last few months!  I haven't really touched FFXI in awhile and did not feel a need to still make posts unless I felt I had something unique to say.  Regarding the question I've been getting more and more often lately, I will indeed be moving to FF14 when it comes out.  To those that have tried to recruit me to your no-doubt outstanding LSs, it has been extremely flattering; however, I probably will not have the free time to immerse myself in endgame to the degree I did for 11.  Despite decreased playtime, I still look forward to providing a unique, and most importantly, helpful commentary on 14's meta-game when it comes out.  Of course, my "specialty" is the dissection of 11's enmity system and I look foward to giving my best effort on 14's system as well.

I would just like to hear people's input on the hate/enmity system. If you have experience with the beta and could take the time to reply with just stories and anecdotes on how the enmity system works I would greatly appreciate it. I'm not looking for in depth analysis necessarily. Just your experiences are great. Feel free to ramble or give your own opinions - I'll read everything.

Some basic questions:

In general, how do you feel 14 compares to 11's enmity system?

Do you feel mobs have a "memory system" (similar to AION where the more often you kill something the more hate you receive for the same actions the next time around)?

How are party dynamics with regards to holding hate for tanks, and avoiding hate for DD/backline?

What jobs have you seen tanking? What are people using to maintain hate?

For mages, are there any actions you find that draw attention to you more than others?

If you've tried running away from battle, what were your experiences regarding the mobs' ability to track you?

Overall general impressions or stories are great.

Regarding the future of FFXI and specifically my own, I will try to make a dedicated post on the last 7 years in Vana'diel at a later time. 

Thanks in advance for the feedback and happy gaming!


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Finally, a decent augment on a Potent Belt.  With this new piece of equipmentto my arsenal, I actually have a lot of options under my sleeve for my WAR between neck and waist gear.  Currently, the best combination for my WAR between neck and waste is Chivalrous Chain and Potent belt, totaling my STR to [...]

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking as to what jobs I want to be associated with and level. When they raised the level cap I had already gained level 75 with PLD, DRG, SMN, BLU, and RDM (in that order) and was working on BLM.  And with Abyssea style exp I knew I could [...]

You guys know I don’t usually comment on updates. I just let it roll, suck it in, hope for the things not to be IMPOSSIBLE to obtain and pray. For what I’ve seen so far, the new AFs are pretty cool. I really liked the PUP’s hat (…. I know) and specially Corsair’s pirate new

............................Looking a little closer here......this set seems to be based off the ShadowLord Armor from Campaigne. (Specificaly meaning the Head Gear)

........................... Incoming ShadowLord lookalike DRK AF3 Body! ~BAM


Picture from "Clicky"