The NineMoons family in Carracci's latest - and final, for now - accomplishment: boosting its first martial artist to Level 84!
Here is Siuan NineMoons, alias "Flying Snow". For those of you who saw the great wuxia epic film Hero, you know who I'm referring to: the gorgeous assassin played by none other than the great Maggie Cheung. The really cool thing - no pun intended! - is that her assassin name perfectly suits Feng Ling - ice-type attacks, lots of speed, and martial arts! What's not to like?
It looks like Siuan will be my first Veteran in Rembrandt server ^^
***
Testing on the new servers that will house Rembrandt and Bach continues.
If you haven't already done so, please look back to my previous entry to see if there's any more housekeeping you need to do before tomorrow.
Remember that the Server Merge begins tomorrow, 15 October, at 0800 Singapore time. The GE live servers will be shut down by then.
I'm thinking of lighting a few joss sticks my own self - I guess it's all I can do to express my hope that the Server Merge goes without a hitch, and that we'll all see each other again come Thursday evening in the new servers.
***
Watch out for tomorrow's entry!
Yesterday I created a faction. Today, I finished leveling ShenAnCalhar Faction to 52.
I gathered a large group of friends around me to begin, and even advertised briefly in City of Auch:
Points to ponder for anyone who wants to try this:
- Save in Cite de Reboldoeux. Really. Or put a warp point right next to Pioneering Officer Christelle, since she's the NPC what deals with factions. It's Christelle who levels your faction from 1-50 - pay her 10,000 Vis for each level - and it's Christelle who gives the triggers for the Faction Level 51 and 52 Quests.
- Faction Level 50: Start by defeating the Great Hill Giant at E5 in Vegas Javier. Make sure you've got the Honey Water quest item on hand to trigger its appearance. Kill it in 30 minutes to get its Crystal.
Killing the GHG is best done with a LOT of buffs on hand. Bring buffer scouts, at least one Vicente Rio, and at least one elementalist with you.
- On killing the GHG, hand in its Crystal to Christelle, then grab the Raid Key to Prison de Joaquin - Corridor of Assize 1. Open that door at J7 of the Prison de Joaquin, The Mohrgus.
Here's the squad at the beginning of the Corridor of Assize mission:
- After finishing the Corridor of Assize, report back to Christelle. She will give you the upgrade to Faction Level 51, and then send you to Princess Gabriella of the Royalists to continue to Faction Level 52.
Here's the Faction Level 51 leader's glow:
- At Royalist HQ, Princess Gabriella will ask you to deliver a Secret Letter to Simon Ayende of the Republicans. Schlep over to Auch; just before entering the Republican HQ Simon will drop a passionate speech on your head. Go in, deliver the letter, finish the dialogue, and return to the Princess with the reply.
- Once you've assembled the final group to take on the Shadow Temple mission with you, talk to the Princess again to enter the instance.
Here's the second squad, with a few more members.
- Take out the six sub-colonies and the central one inside the Shadow Temple, and click on the Flag that appears to finish the quest.
- Return to Gabriella for the last bit of dialogue, then to Christelle, who will give you a Royal Scroll and the choice to select your side: Royalists, Republicans, or Neutralists. Oh, and you'll get the
Faction Level 52 leader's glow!
I give profound and groveling thanks to all the smexy people who helped me achieve my goal of being a Faction Leader - see above for all the names!
Dovie'andi se tovya sagain - It's Time to Toss the Dice.
In this blog entry I am proud to unveil my latest plan in the New World of Granado Espada: to be a faction leader.
Yes, I've been part of at least four factions already - in Cervantes, Æphemeral and WrathOfGod; in Carracci, Takhisis and Covenant - but I've always been just a member or, in one case, deputy leader, but without the glows.
The entire point of me undergoing this exercise is to experience the Levels 51 and 52 faction quests, and, yes, to wear the glowing light rings o' doom.
So, without further ado, the faction:
Shen an Calhar: the Band of the Red Hand, the guerrilla army of Matrim Cauthon, and a major military force in the deceased Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time fantasy book series. By virtue of his marriage to Tuon Kore Athaem Paendrag, who was once the Daughter of the Nine Moons and is now Empress-presumptive of the Seanchan, Matrim, or Mat, is now the Prince of the Ravens.
The Band of the Red Hand fell in the final defense of the ancient country of Manetheren, and was said to be "the thorn in the Dark One's foot, the bramble to his hand". Its original incarnation had been composed of a large number of brave and valiant heroes, who fell to the last man as they bought their civilian compatriots just enough time to escape slaughter.
Now, the Band has been revived by Mat as an all-new army, with tactics borrowed from many of the world's greatest generals. Its symbol is a large red hand; its motto is Dovie'andi se tovya sagain, meaning "It's time to toss the dice", an ironic homage to Mat's love of gambling and seeing battle as the same; and its unofficial anthem is "Dance with Jak o' the Shadows", this being an idiom for "going to battle - and death". ["Jak o' the Shadows" is an in-universe name for death.]
Dance with Jak o' the Shadows [The lyrics have evolved as Mat and the Band accomplish more and more great deeds.]
We'll drink the wine till the cup is dry,
and kiss the girls so they'll not cry,
and toss the dice until we fly
to dance with Jak o' the Shadows.
We'll dance all night while the moon runs free,
and dandle the lasses upon our knee,
and then you'll ride along with me,
to dance with Jak o' the Shadows.
We'll sing all night, and drink all day,
and on the girls we'll spend our pay,
and when it's gone, then we'll away,
to dance with Jak o' the Shadows.
There're some delight in ale and wine,
and some in girls with ankles fine,
but my delight, yes, always mine,
is to dance with Jak o' the Shadows.
We'll toss the dice however they fall,
and snuggle the girls be they short or tall,
then follow young Mat whenever he calls,
to dance with Jak o' the Shadows.
There're some delight in ale and wine,
and some in girls with ankles fine,
but my delight, yes, always mine,
is to dance with Jak o' the Shadows.
We'll toss the dice however they fall,
and snuggle the girls be they short or tall,
then follow Lord Mat whenever he calls,
to dance with Jak o' the Shadows.
Anthy NineMoons as the leader of ShenAnCalhar Faction.
I hope to be able to tell the tales of my own faction's exploits as the days go by.
And a little over a month after Shandre, Furyk, and Radhanon reached the Veteran mark, now comes: Anthy!
Gosh, it makes me SO proud - that stance that says she's in Outrage Shot mode, and the change in her EXP bar....
Not that it was easy, of course - it took me a few good hours, even with a one-day Expert Combat Manual on, to make it. Here's what happened en route:
I got reported as a bot. I joke not. Look at the gray text in the System chat box...and yes, the reason my musk died at that point was because I got VERY flustered at being reported. I had NOT needed to go to the Underground Prison at just that time, thank you!
My FL Blacksword suggested that it might have been some fool who wanted to take my spot - never mind that I had already been noticed in that location for a couple of days already - or someone who was doing random / griefing bot-report sweeps. Jeez. This team isn't exactly suited to botting, you know.
Anyway, my musketeer made it, just over one month after her elders did! Yay!
Special thanks to Artaxerxes for helping me over the last obstacle. That's his Catherine Summoner/Jack/elementalist team supporting me, plus a friend's Gracielo.
Now I think I'll spend some time leveling Anthy's Outrage Shot stance along with Radhanon and Furyk. Poor wizard, he's been quite bored all this time, what with being stuck in the Barracks and all....
...Or, well, okay, "The Things She Carried".
Having decided to make a female musketeer solely for the purpose of having her get the double-pistol Veteran stance Outrage Shot, I wound up having to indulge in another item-buying spree for her armor and some accessories. Down to less than 30 million vis, I was actually rather lucky enough to score this armor at a rather low price:
Lucky me. But then, afterwards, I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel - just enough to keep Anthy and Shandre in bullets. Luckily my scout and wizard still have enough of their needed supplies to keep going when needed.
Here's Anthy at Level 61.
Her Freestyle Shot stance is now at Level 21. This is just a lark, mind - I'm not really going to have her take the Vet stance [Straight Shot], I just want her to have at least two of her pistol stances maxed out.
Anthy has mastered Double-Gun Shot, thank goodness.
Incidentally, the guns in these screenshots are +6 The 6-in-a-rows.
Immediate goals:
- Lv 64 - take off Rabbit Hairlace, wear her Volume Perm hairstyle [the cute bob cut]
- Lv 68 - Elite armor
- Lv 7x - Stars and Stripes pistols
And eventually, switch armor to the Dragon Coat, and switch weapons to her double Quattro Pinneds.
And here's my [abbreviated] NineMoons family in Carracci. Banner courtesy of Another Lonely Soul.
Okay, now I'm off to work - and after that, a visit to IP e-Games to buy more G-Points. I need the MPs for Bai Hu this week, after all.
***
NineMoons's 50,000 Hits Screenshot Prompt Contest Third and Final Week is Ongoing!
I flailed around for a bit trying to decide what to do after finally reaching Veteran status.
There were a few helpful responses both here and at the IGN.com Vault post, and I did give them all a bit of thought apiece.
When my friends started gushing over how godly Outrage Shot, the Veteran stance for double-pistol Musketeers was, though, I was convinced to create one, and push her to Veteran.
Meet Anthy NineMoons, female musketeer in Carracci server.
As of the time this screenshot was taken, Anthy was at Level 48 and her Double-Gun Shot stance at Level 21. It won't take long till she'll master the stance - and then it's just going to be a question of when she makes Veteran. Of course, with her rifle-bearing sister Shandre [Grace Bernelli] she may just get there that much faster.
And then when Anthy makes Vet - I'll use her and Shandre to level all the other characters, with Luhne, my Catherine the Summoner, taking first priority. Luhne will then take charge of her martial-artist cousins Siuan [Feng Ling] and, when he becomes available by next week, Garet [Bai Hu].
Good times ^^
Now that my main NineMoons team in Carracci has attained Veteran status, I'm torn between a handful of diverging objectives:
- Use Shandre [Grace Bernelli] and Furyk [scout] to level Luhne [Catherine the Summoner]. If I get Luhne to Veteran, then I can use her to leech other characters, in particular my fledgling Siuan [Feng Ling] and Garet [Bai Hu, when he becomes available].
- Use Shandre and Furyk to level my newly-created musketeer, Anthy. I created her for the express purpose of attaining the Outrage Shot stance, since Shandre can't use it.
- Begin the Katovic Snowfield quest chain. This will take quite a bit of time since I want to collect Gavin Jameson's card [but not necessarily build him], gather a crapload of loots just to build some of the KS items, and brave the Ice Tower + Novia.
- Begin the Bahamas Swamps quest chain. Likewise, time-consuming in that there's a lot of hunting to do.
Plus, there's the added requirement of needing to complete both the KS and Bahamas quests since I want to go on to Chaos Requiem, and eventually collect Selva Norte's RNPC card when she finally becomes available.
Taking any of the four options means I have to give up the other three. So I'm trying to decide which option will net me the most benefits, since I will have to spend a lot of time and effort on it.
Anyone have any ideas?
***
NineMoons's 50,000 Hits Screenshot Prompt Contest Week Two is Ongoing!
Yes, it took me a long time to get there, but I finally have a proudly Veteran team.
Presenting the NineMoons Family main team in Carracci server, happy to get some fresh air after a month cooped up with the skellies in Skullic Dungeon 1:
Note the UI bars at the bottom of the screen. I took this screenshot just before they were promoted.
Promotion to Veteran status prompts a little bust-a-move session - Andre approves! And then there's all the new equipment ^^
Next up for leveling to Veteran is likely my Catherine the Summoner, Luhne.
***
NineMoons's 50,000 Hits Screenshot Prompt Contest Ongoing!
I've been extremely motivated to at least get within striking distance of Veteran status, so I've been spending lots of time in the Skullic Dungeon - even if the skeletons always give me the damn creeps!
But I decided to get a quick change of scenery today, and I figured the team was going to need some fresh air anyway, so I decided to pursue some of the other Ustiur quests from Grandice.
Lots of even bigger dinosaurs in Ustiur Zona Cuatro. This is pretty much overlooking the humongous waterfall that dominates the map.
The stone on the left of the screenshot is a quest location, by the way; that's the stone you need to find to trigger the quest that allows Marcelino to make one "Skullic" item for you, and you also need to go back to it for the Grandice card quest. I suggest you save it if you still have space in your warp slots, so it's easy to return to when needed.
Marcelino's the go-to guy for crafting the Ustiur "Dragon" and "Skullic" series of weapons, and here's what I had him craft: the rifle for my Bern, and the staff for my wiz.
Present arms!
Crossing Zona Cuatro, the only other exit, aside from the one that goes back to Zona Tres, is the exit to the Bahamas Base Camp. Here's Radhanon and Shandre as they enter the swamps.
The wiz and the Bern meet Baron Igorni, who oversees the Bahamas Base Camp.
I can't do the Bahamas quests yet, as my level's a bit too low right now. But I'll get around to those, someday.... ^^
***
Family Status:
NineMoons in Caracci
Furyk, full-support scout [and waiting to use Tactical Assistance!] / Shandre, Grace Bernelli / Radhanon, landbound wizard
89 /89 / 89
Currently training in Skullic Dungeon, Levels 1 and 2
So close! I hope to post the Vet status soon - wish me luck!
Blacksword's compilation of the Version 2.6.3 The Requiem posters - and the differences among them. Of course, the original IMC poster was the best one for including both Calyce and Bai Hu, but we've got a bit to wait for them yet....
The official IAHGames combo graphic / poster for The Requiem. D'awwwww that I've still to wait a month for my Bai Hu! Oh no! My poor Feng Ling.......
I really do like the tagline, though, as it's so dramatic [and let me say it here: anything that has to do with Chaos Requiem is NOT gothic. You heard it here first!].
As darkness falls, true heroes emerge.....
***
This might as well be my final screenshot of the previous in-game UI, as apparently the old font from way back in the Beta Testing periods has made a comeback. But here's where I left the NineMoons Family in Caracci before the maintenance:
Getting ready for another long hunt for rare quest drops, Bone Sariras in this case. It might be a little early for me to be in that dungeon, considering my level in the SS, but I've gained EXP quickly since then, boosted just a bit by the Combat Manual.
Taking orders from a disembodied, levitating crystal skull is definitely messing with my team's heads, because now they're making Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull jokes~!
RADHANON: Take the feather out of your hat.
SHANDRE: Do you think you could use my gun-belt as a whip?
FURYK: I should be wearing khakis!
And just before logging out, I brought the team home to check for any final purchases from the Market Manager. Then since they were in Coimbra, I took this wonderful SS:
I wonder what they're talking about as they look over the Port and the Pinta.... The looming possibility of Veteran level, perhaps?
*crosses fingers*
A long time ago I made my first foray into the Ustiur jungles, meeting distinguished base camp leaders Grandice, Queen of Pioneers, and Romina, leader of the Rescue Knights. I only made it as far as Ustiur Zona Dos in Cervantes, though, and had never even had a chance to take out the Tyrannosaurus lurking between Zona Dos and Zona Tres. [Got killed the only time I tried it, and never did it again.]
Not any more! Finally achieving the required levels on Carracci, I powered through Zona Uno and Zona Dos - and took out the mighty Tyrannosaurus on the very first attempt! I'm sorry there were no screenshots, as I was too nervous and too focused on the boss. I can go and try it again sometime, though....
But lest you think I'm just boasting, check out this screenshot:
That is, of course, my NineMoons team in Caracci taking on a Hydradon - and that means I've made it as far as Zona Tres! This shot was taken en route to the Skull Dungeon. Next time I log into the game, I will try to see if I can survive that famous place.
This week will see several major announcements on the blog, so please do stay tuned. I promise I'll really make it worth your while to see what changes are in store!
NineMoons in Carracci
Shandre, Standing Shot riflewoman [stance maxed] / Furyk, full-support scout [First Aid, Fortitudo maxed] / Radhanon, landbound wizard [Psychokinesis, ESP, The Illusionist maxed]
84 / 84 / 84
Ustiur Base Camp
Shiny!
Takhisis Faction instant boss raid: just add one (1) Gerero!
So there we were in TK around midnight, happily leveling, when deputy faction leader Lecat began bopping around several fairly well-known maps, looking for trouble. As it turns out, trouble found him: Gerero in Gehenna Bridge, Channel 2!
I'd never even seen "Rero", the boss's nickname, before, so on a whim, I rushed to join Lecat and AlphaOmega there, and this is what we all got dropped into:
We were eventually joined by Mitchin, making for four families whacking at Rero. That meant we took a little while doing it, but in the end - it was done and ding dong the boss is dead! No one else was on the scene at that time, so all the spoils went to TK ^^
Great job TK! Let's do that again soon!
Tonight's Colony Wars: rather a non-starter, I'm afraid, despite faction leader Fiksdotter's best efforts.
So have some screenies while I'm grinding:
NineMoons on Carracci:
Furyk, full-support scout [maxed First Aid / Fortitudo]Radhanon, grounded wizard [maxed Psychokinesis / ESP / The Illusionist]
Shandre, twin-pistols Grace Bernelli [maxed Double-Gun Shot]
After getting several levels in at the Rion Hollow [special thanks to the FilouetCompany family for the boost], I'm now en route to Prison de Joaquin, to do the Grace Bernelli round of Pioneering Quests, plus finish up the pending tasks for Jean-Pierre Gascon. [Will likely do the Andre Cockatrice quest after 76, go figure.]
Have been trying to get in at least a level a day thanks to one of my Combat Manuals. Current goal: make 76 and then 84. Hope the EQ I have now will be helpful in that aspect.
I especially cannot wait to make 84, as I've made a considerable investment towards that level. If needs be, I'll stay up all night for the next month just to make Vet.
[I'll still be blogging, though! Fear not!]
Today's outstanding GE / SOTNW link: Check out Granado Espada Cosplay Toronto! They're a SOTNW cosplay group who intend to take the 2009 cosplay / con season by storm by dressing up in the various gorgeous costumes / armors of the New World. And they intend to begin with the Le Blanc series, plus the White School Uniform series! Serious pretty here, people!
Am posting this blog to my del.icio.us links!
Okay, now I've finally got the Internet sorted out at my flat.
I can has leveling time nao!
*eyes her FT passes and manuals*
*BIGEVILGRIN at all the hoarded stuff in inventory*
Boy, I cannot wait to make Vet. Seriously.
Notes from THIS venture into the Forbidden Territories:
- I like the "hidden track" that plays only in the Porto Bello Hidden Deck.
- In a previous jaunt into an FT dungeon, I wasn't able to find any "fake" uniques. However, that might be because I was at the Torsche Mansion Annex. Can you actually get the Hollow Footman's weapon as an equip drop? 'Cos all he drops is the Plate Helm and his own Plate Mail Costume.
In Hidden Deck I've picked up no less than THREE Axe di Gavis, which ARE fake uniques. I've collected a ton of stuff for fighters and will most likely have to make one to go with my Catherine Summoner.
- Change of plans for future teams:
Current - Scout, Wizard, Grace Bernelli. The mains. Already spending a crapload on future EQs.
Second team - Scout, Feng Ling, Bai Hu. Obviously, I can't do this until he's available for recruitment. I call this my Breaker team - I plan to toss them into CW so they can happily break colony towers to their hearts' content.
Third team - Scout, Catherine the Summoner, Fighter. Cathy needs a bodyguard, natch.
- Really need to get my mains to Vet. That is imperative.
Meet my team in Carracci server!
From left to right: Radhanon, Psychokinesis wizard; Furyk, full-support scout; Naiyah, dagger scout. [First dagger scout ever ^^]
Proud members of Takhisis Faction, under faction leader Fiksdotter.
You already know what that yellow sparkly buff is: the premium iCafe buff, good from 13-27 March 2008.
Back to leveling, mustn't waste the buff!
