Returns, cap increases, missions, etc.

So as a bunch of my old friends on Unicorn evidently noticed, I've been MIA for a few months. Sorry about that!

I got back ingame a little more than a month ago, just a day or two before the much-anticipated June 21st update. For those who are either a) unfamiliar with FFXI (unlikely, if you're reading this blog) or b) living under a rock, this is the update that increased the level cap from 75, where it had been for most of the life of the game, to 80. Every job gained something out of this, and BLM's no exception. My BLM (which was 75 before I disappeared) is currently 77, waiting on me to level my support jobs (WHM38, RDM27). Black Mage gained the following things out of the cap increase, disregarding support job gains:

Job ability: Mana Wall (level 76): Damage is taken with MP instead of HP.
Spell: Stone V (level 77)
Spell: Water V (level 80)

Of these, Mana Wall is the only one I currently have. (Stone V and Water V scrolls are rather expensive, so I'm waiting to find them in Abyssea if possible; more on Abyssea later) I have to say, I'm loving it. I've had it for a week now and it's saved me almost once per day since then. All HP damage is converted to MP damage at a 50% rate, so a hit that would normally do 100 HP damage instead takes off 50 MP. In addition, since there is no HP damage, this prevents spell interruption from damage, allowing a quick Warp out of danger, an additional nuke, more Stoneskin, whatever.

Mages also gained a lot from their support jobs in the equation here. Subbing White Mage, one can now use Haste, Stona, Teleport-Altep, Teleport-Yhoat, and various other smaller spells. Red Mage, though... Red Mage support job gained Convert. This allows the user to swap their HP and MP once every ten minutes, which is a godsend for pretty much any mage; this more or less doubles our MP-longevity in most situations. There's even less excuse now for a Black Mage to not sub Red Mage, which is why I really, really need to work on levelling my RDM. (For other mage jobs, a Black Mage subjob now provides Warp II, which is a very nice spell to use after a party or event.)

Now, onto a less job-specific note: Abyssea. Abyssea is a new set of battle areas introduced with the most recent update and, more specifically, the mini-expansion "Visions of Abyssea". I was honestly not expecting much out of this, but I was hugely surprised.

For background info: Abyssea is an alternate dimension (how many of those do we have now? Dynamis, Abyssea, maybe the past depending how you look at it...) where huge, concerted monster attacks overran the Three Nations at some point in the recent past, leaving the survivors to flee to nearby areas and set up encampments for their own continued survival. The currently available areas are altered-dimension copies of Tahrongi Canyon, Konschtat Highlands, and La Theine Plateau. These areas have high-level monsters all over them. These include familiar families (Mandragoras, Coeurls, etc.) as well as unexpected sights (some of the NMs are avatars, while others are Empty, and some of the normal monsters are Luminians) and new faces altogether (the Limules and Clionids).

Abyssean monsters function slightly differently than Vana'dielian monsters. For one, they generally don't aggro to begin with. When killed, they drop Sturdy Pyxides (think Treasure Caskets, with more than one minigame, and more than just items as prizes) at a frequent rate. Their XP starts off ok, but as a group kills monsters of the same family, they will gain more and more XP per kill. With enough time into it, an alliance of 18 players can easily exceed 500 XP per kill, with more than one kill per minute, making for ridiculously fast XP after a while.

However, one can only remain in Abyssea for so long; to enter, you must turn in "Traverser stones" (obtainable from an NPC in Jeuno every twenty hours, and he holds them like Assault tags) to a Conflux Surveyor inside the Abyssea zone. Each stone is worth half an hour, and most players can hold three at a time. It's possible, however, to expand this to four. Purchased time will carry over into a future visit if you leave before it expires, but you can only purchase up to 120 minutes tops, counting the carried time. On the upside though, Sturdy Pyxides can also give ten-minute time extensions, so a fast XP group can actually finish with more time than they had when they started. Sturdy Pyxides also can give XP, cruor, (Abyssean currency, used to buy temporary items, maps, and very nice level 78 gear) augmented gear, and "lights", which temporarily enhance various things depending on the color and quality of light. Lights can also be gained from defeating enemies.

In summary: levels 75-80 are very, very easy to gain, because Abyssea XP is extremely fast, very easy, and notably, generally accessible to all jobs, since even Black Mages, party pariahs since ToAU, can provide a unique role in XP groups (XP, cruor, and time chests drop more frequently from monsters defeated by magic).

Also, the update removed the level caps from Chains of Promathia areas and boss fights. Promyvion, which used to require a good group of six level 30 players? Soloable by a single level 75-80 player, easily. A lot of people (self included) have taken advantage of this to get rather far into the CoP storyline. With the help of Shadowdog, Hunnybunny, Chella, Pumkin, and some others, I'm on the next to last mission of the CoP line.

Back to what I've been up to: BLM77, SMN67, WHM38, RDM27, BLU22. I'm planning to level BLU after I'm finished with BLM. Also, I got Divine Might (stupidly hard Zilart quest/mission hybrid) done with a crappy pickup group. I think we got lucky, there's no way we should've won.

Here's hoping I post more often.