A series of blog posts that hopes to be a fun way to spend time by telling of a fun way some nerd on the internet spent their time.<<< First | <<Previous | Next >>——————————————————————————————————————————————
On this blessed day, (for every day is blessed when the Garleans aren't so close that you can smell their halitosis), one Dominique Allard had a conundrum. Well, truth be told,
I had a conundrum, for I cannot tell if Dominique has any conception of item levels, item level sync, Duty Finder queues, and other such manners. Our Warrior of Light might be both aware of the fictional nature of this world and strong enough of mind not to break out into hysterics. I'm not about to knock on the fourth wall too hard. I know that axe could cut right through it.
I digress. The conundrum, whomever wishes to take responsibility for it, is such: much of the upcoming duties would be uncapped in terms of item level and I didn't want Dominique to be a base gear level scrub dragging down the team which is scaling to endgame gear levels. The two solutions as I saw them were a choice of buying some of the "catchup" gear from Heavensward via market board or delving through the duties in search of Allagan Tomestones of Poetics. Of course, market availability is a gamble. Market material availability is much less so, so I could have had Dominique start Leathercrafting and level it up to 50 to create the level 51 Heavensward crafter gear, which would in turn give us decent enough odds to make a high quality weapon with nothing more than a small fortune spent in gil on crafting components. Of course, that would be silly.
So, I had Dominique start Leathercrafting and level it up to 50 to create the level 51 Heavensward crafter gear and then synthesised the level 51 Warrior axe, spending about 100000 Gil in the whole process.
Was this necessary? Absolutely not. Was this worth it? In a cosmic sort of way, yes. I was going to go through this process anyway at some point. Would I need to spend a hundred thousand Gil if I had waited a bit more? Don't ask me, I haven't unlocked Economist yet. Did I have fun?
Yes.Mind you, it was more of a mechanics-driven sense of fun. I appreciated Geva giving a level 1 crafter the exact amount of respect they deserve, but the Leatherworker's tale shares its problem with the other noncombat jobs I've seen thus far: bugger all interesting happens until level 35 or so. Even then, the added spice is the storytelling equivalent of one teaspoon of pepper to a cauldron full of unseasoned stew. I'm beginning to see a trend, and one that likely came down to narrative budgeting; when you have 10+1 combat classes and 11 noncombat classes, you're rebuilding a whole MMO, and humans can only stay awake for so many hours no matter how much caffeine you pump into them, you have to pick and choose where you put your effort. The critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV is a combat game in its heart, so of course you would focus on the combat class questlines. I do wonder if this will improve in future expansions, what with the game's development no longer being in survival mode.
In the process of getting the materials for the axe and general prep work, I also got my remaining noncombat classes to level 50. Thus did Dominique Allard embarrass a fast fashion leather designer, made a new blade for a gladiator who used it to execute his old for acts of treason, and learn of the charms of unspoiled nodes, all in one day. With all the setup done and material acquired, all that remained is the Mythrite War Axe that prompted this whole ordeal... and the grim work it was intended for.
I have been informed that, before getting too deep into the Main Scenario Quest, I should check out an side branch proposed by Urianger. It led me down the merry path of barging into beast tribe territory, violating their aetherytes, and then waiting to be plucked by Duty Finder into the arenas of the three newly reborn Primals. My axe was ready, I had read up on the guides to these fights, and my first Full Party duties were to come!
They were a joke. I knew that these fights were designed for a lower item level, but I didn't expect them to crumple so easily. I would have liked a lower item level cap to put some bite into these fights, but it's no skin off my back (heh). I'll get plenty of other opportunities for newer, harsher challenge... possibly right at the end of this side path.
After the three titans fell, Dominique was directed to Wineport for a meeting with the prodigal Alisaie. True to her word, she has been hard at work at a sidequest of her own, and traced the distinctly Bahamutian roar of end credits past to an undeground structure created by the Calamity. The death throes of the primals Dominique had helped slay were a vital component of this research. Just best not to think of the associated disrespect of the native cultures. With our help (including a quick tagging of Castrum Occidens), she would take us below and find out what to make of this mess and the mess that ushered forth the Seventh Umbral Era. Considering that what follows is a series of raids named "The Binding Coils of Bahamut," I think I can make an educated guess.
My souces tell me that getting an actual group for these raids is difficult nowadays. They lie at an uneven spot in terms of difficulty and thus elude the standard roulettes that would normally fill out my parties. My friend has helped offer her big damage numbers to crunch through this trial and get to the juicy marrow of plot within. Dominique's axe, unnecessary as it might be, stands ready for what comes next.
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No theories nor questions this time, seeing as this whole blog post has been a romp off the beated path and into the slightly uncultivated hedgerows. I could make the daring theory that there will be a fight with Bahamut at the end of a series of raids named after Bahamut? No spoilers, dear readers. Only gratitude for having read this far. I will link no socials. The Lalafellin Revenue Service has a few questions for my kneecaps after Dominique's spending spree.
