KSNM 30: Operation Desert Swarm!

I've been doing this KSNM for 2 weeks now. My friends and I have a good strategy down that it works quite nicely without any sort of mana burn. 1 or 2 deaths are expected in these runs, but we do quite well. So far, out of 13 runs, we have seen v.claw drop x2, d.ingot, and d.cloth. Around 2.7mil - 2.8mil from the pool. Everyone is doing the same work and expecting same threat, so we should all split equally. I think that in FFXI, every character, not the player, is good at something. Some characters are better at NM drops, some are great in BCNM, and I believe that my character is good at BCNM runs. I have never gotten disapointing drops from any orbs I have traded. BCNM 40, first toughest BCNM I did, I managed to get Erase, Survival belt as high price items so I could afford the Gluttony Sword. KSNM 30 has been very profitable for me.

Every character should experiment with NMs, BCNM, KSNM to see what the characters are good for. Then again... FFXI drops is all based on luck....

Dynamis Bastok

Here are pics of Dynamis-Bastok with BtD. I needed Bastok clear and BtDII was doing the north lands, which I didn't have a clear for. We cleared with about 10 min left and NM gave us another 30. We had 2 full wipes before and 2 full wipes after the clear. Dynamis is kinda... laging. Feel like Lower Jeuno AH with many players cramped in to one tiny area. To clear the Dynamis of each area, plaers must kill 3 place holders who are NMs and after that players must pull the main NM while avoiding army guarding the main NM. Most dynamis strategy involve one player or 2 sacrificing. One player pulls the army and NM in opposite direction of the camp. While this is going on, main NM is pulled by another player while an army is chasing one guy. I think THFs make a great sacrifice for these events with their flee ability. Still need Windurst and off to doing more north lands. SE added more Dynamis areas, but to get access to them, I need CoP diablo fight cleared, Diablo, who is the guide to the new realm. Hopefully I can have this cleared by the end of summer.

Level 75 and couple other stuff.

I finally reached level 75 PLD. I managed to get 20k buffer the same day. I'm going to start on merits. First 12 merits are going to 3 Enmity+, 3 Crit Hit up. It's gonna be great for leveling my next job to 75, NIN. Also crit up would be nice for DRK and MNK as well.


I took this pic of NM cactar. Thing runs like its on crack. Only way to cattch it is really to link the NM to normal cactar mob in Easter Altepa Desert. Heard it does 10k needle attack. It doesn't drop anything interesting either. What a waste of NM other than getting the title to prove that you and your alliance defeated the thing.

FriendsEternal LS throw me and Aryon a birthday bash. This is probably the coolest item you can use while inside... It's too bad I can't do savage blade in here. Would look real gay. >.> I want to thank Edrik, Crowman, Jurge, Repah, Aryon, and Jano.

Chain #20 and Besieged.

Besieged is really nice and fun. 100s of people are defending a city from beastmen forces. The lag isn't fun but the fact that you defend a city and gains some experience points is really cool. The new expansion areas are really cool too. Lots of new places for high level players to gain merits/exp, and much easier than CoP areas. There are few true sight mobs that are not NM but still cool enough and easy to get by them. I've included a pic of me getting upto chain 20 with a pld in the party, XD. It's easy to get 6-10k per hour. I'm wearing ACC, EVASION, and STR/ATTACK gear, compared to my normal def, vit, and enmity. People can skip CoP exapansion but this is a must for everyone looking forward to level 50+.

Leveling my second job.

I have MNK past 42 and I haven't had fun or excitements with it yet. Since all I have to do is get tp, use ws, rinse and repeat. I leveled my DRK past 32 today. 35 now, with 5k tnl. It was fun. I pull, I get TP, WS, cast MB, and go out there and pull again. Pulling skill sucks, but I'm getting up there. I should level THF to help with the faster pulls. I'm going to need THF past 37 for subjob for DRK and SAM anyways. I'll try SAM soon. Only 9 now, but I hear lots of good things about the job. Best thing is building TP faster than other melees. I've seen it too many times to ignore this.
Lastly NIN has to be past 37 also. Subjob for solo, events and just to look good dual wielding weapons. I heard it's challenging, so I know I'm going to enjoy this.

SKy Access and CoP 2-3

Lots of updates.
For last couple weeks, I've been saving up and spending my money on getting my character access to sky. ZM 4 and 5 were long but ZM6, 8, and 12 were push overs.
Few tips. Bring your patience and time for all the missions. Be forgiving if someone makes a mistake. Lastly, Bring Echo drops for all the fights.

Before you begin, try to get most of the outpost warps donw as soon as possible. I would say level 60+ can solo all of this no problem.

ZM4 - Try to gather a full alliance to travel down here. I was lucky enough to hear a /shout in Jeuno to get into this party. I was lucky enough for 2 Expert players to light all 4 torches. Ever since that run, I've managed to open the Gates to BCNM area with just 2-3 lanterns when people were thinking it was hopeless. BTW, the flames on the first map is the only one able to open the gate. The Crimson or other colour flames will make your unlit lantern useless. NMs are easy. Just need AoE sleep and tank need to grab hate as much as possible for all 3 NMs.

ZM5 - Solo the ones you can. You can save Quicksand Caves until NM fights. Try to avoid join last minute shout parties unless there are more than 6 people. I would have to say Ifrit's Hell is hardest place to get through. About 20-40 min travel time. Requires at least 2 stacks of invisble and silent oils for melees. Mages should bring at least a stack, because the bombs in the area aggro by magic. The big room with the wyverns sometimes have the NM in there. It uses a move called Draw In often, which sucks you in from even far distance to right where the NM is.
Once you get to the NM fights, be patient and if you are fighting in small party, use sneak and pull with a range method.

ZM6 - Echo drops are a must for magic/ninjutsus/sing/summon casters. AoE Sleeper is a must. 3 NMs have jobs and may use the 2HR matching the job. Takes about 4-5 min to kill each nm.
There is a move that petrifies you. WHM should cast stona on the Tank ASAP.

ZM8 - I've heard horror stories about this NM. But really a push over. It has dispelga and some AoE stuff, but most dangerous thing is the hate reset move. I've had the NM run to mages 3 times, everytime right after the hate reset move. As a PLD, I tried to save my vokes and Flash as much as possible and relied on my cures and enmity to grab onto my hate.

ZM12 - This dude wasn't easy as people mentioned. Maybe I was tanking him wrong ><. Casted Tier 3 magics 3 times in a row to bring me down to the red. But I had high potions, flash and spaming cures as much as possible. Didn't take long, but only NM that brought me down to red HP in the run upto Sky. Sky is a sweet play ground. Try to avoid use magic and avoid weapons as much as possible when you first get here. Now I need to find a HNMLS that will take a meat shield. CoP 2-3 was a great run. About half the alliance died, but it wasn't a total wipe and it wasn't as hard as people mentioned. Best thing I got from this run is the Pisces Subligar. My character looked like he was wearing briefs.





Anyways, the item can be traded in for a JSE. I chose Parade Cuirass.





It's going to come in handy for level 50 cap event in later CoP missions.
I'll post some pics I've got.

These images were taken from FFXI.ALLAKHAZAM.COM, good place to research for items and crafting.