What a difference

Yesterday I languished for hours in Qufim Island with total newbie parties and managed to get two levels in something like 4 hours. Painful as hell, even with my powerlevel courtesy of Miori's character and two monitors hooked up to my laptop. Today didn't start out much better, with a semi-noob party in Qufim that managed to eke my way up to 24, but when I found an opening and ditched for Yuhtunga, things started flowing to the tune of 6.5k/hour. That's crazy good xp for the newbie levels, and before I knew which way was up I had slammed out eight levels and dinged RDM30 (before finally deciding I needed to play at least a little poker tonight).

Fighting mandys can be hit or miss. They're pretty soft, but their AOE sleep can often slow a pt down, even one with a good PL. Not this pt, for most of its length at least. We had a crazy good Japanese DNC and with me on the PL, had our routine down pat. The mandy would bust out dream flower and the PL would immediately heal the DNC, at which point the DNC would immediately fire out his Curaga waltz. Clockwork. It didn't even come close to slowing us down. Our puller, a THF, was way on top of his game as well, chain pulling like a pro. No surprise everyone in the party, with only like 1-2 exceptions throughout the night, was rank 7+.

It seems silly and noobish to be raving about things that really should be expected in any party and that I'm crazy not to want all the time. But it goes to show that even with ideal job distribution, skill counts for most of what goes on in the game, whether it be a newbie xp party (which requires only minimal skill) or a highly coordinated endgame HNM fight. Skill means more than even gear.

Although my platinum nuggets are finally selling and I can start the laborious and expensive process of putting the final ungimping touches on my BLM as I get my RDM sub the rest of the way up to 37. As far as I can tell I still need:

Snow Ring. Cost: 400k. I went for my Tamas Ring after completing my final CoP cutscenes so at least I only need one, but there's no excuse for me to be missint out on that +1 INT.

Prism Cape. Cost: 470k. I'm still on my Black Cape +1, a level 32 item. That's some shameful shit right there. But it's +3 INT, and seriously, I'm plunking down a good chunk of change just to bump that by one.

Morion Earring +1. Cost: 460k. Another +1 INT. The other really shameful piece I'm carrying is my regular Morion Earring. I'm good with my Moldavite's, and eventually want a DM earring to take its place (and down the road, a Novio), but for now a Morion +1 will do.

Uggalepih Pendant. Cost: 430k. I'm good with my elemental torque most of the time, but the +8 MAB from the pendant (latented when your MP after cast takes you below 50%, something I can easily work into my Spellcast xml) is simply invaluable.

Forest Rope. Cost: 370k. One less INT than my Penitent's Rope but +60mp. Maybe I sell my Penitent's, maybe not. I can always work my Penitent's back into my mp maximization in Spellcast, but that's a lot of work for just the +1 INT.

On legs, I just bought Mahatma Slops, which are much less ghetto than my old Druid's Slops, which are now for sale on the AH. I'm also fine on hands (Zenith Mitts/AF1 for high magic resist mobs) and feet (zenith pumps for MP, AF2 for normal usage), body (Weskit, Errant for resting). My Demon Helm +1 is still one of the best headpieces for BLM (+6 INT), although I wouldn't mind a Faerie Hairpin for my Max MP set (right now I'm using my Walahra Turban). For MP gear, I could also use a Blue Cape +1 (20MP, 300k) or an Errant Cape (30MP, 1.5M), but that's low priority.

For rare/ex gear, my primary focus is my obi set; I'm 2 aern organs away from my dark obi and definitely want to get an ice obi right away as well. The ice obi should come very fast, with 7 Xzomit organs (a 100% drop from the big squids) and 3 Phuabo organs (which drop prodigiously from sharks, sometimes 2 at a time). A far cry from the 3 Hpedme organs (which the goldfish are very stingy about) needed for my Rairin or the absolutely painful 7 Aern organs needed for my upcoming Dark obi. Still, dark is probably the most important, due to dynamis (although I could see myself going 8/8 what with getting SCH up). I probably want to get a Relaxing Earring as well, to swap in with MP Resting.

All in all a good day. Once I get RDM up to 37 I can apply to Remedy and hopefully get my ass back into endgame with a real plan.