I hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoyed last session of Beta Phase 3. Square-enix was nice enough to start the last session early on July 10th and it lasted one day longer until July 15th. I originally thought I would lose my will to play since they will reset our character before start of phase 4, thus, there’s no point in putting more hours. Of course, I cannot be more wrong since on Wednesday night, I spent four hours before I had to call a night and it’s getting really addictive which means good and bad at the same time.
My plan for this session was to farm more Imperial seals so that I could rank up and finish up my Grand Company hunting log. FATE (Full Active Time Event) is such a fun event and I love doing FATE for seals. Near Camp Tranquil, there’s a FATE event where you fight a mini-boss called Numyunuvi and it’s not soloable that’s for sure since it hits in 100ish on a GLD. If you manage to kill it, you will be rewarded with 18K exp and 300s seals. It takes about 7 minutes to kill it assuming you have a capable group of competent people.
Another favourite place of mine to farm FATEs is near Drybone camp. If you go east from Drybone, you will arrive at Highbridge. In Highbridge, there are multiple FATE events one after another and I believe there are four of them in total. It starts with ‘Attack on Highbridge: prelude’ then ‘Attack on Highbridge: Act I’, ‘Attack on Highbridge: Act II’ and ‘Attack on Highbridge: Act III’. All four of them will give you approximately 1200 seals.
After farming FATEs here and there, I finally have enough seals to rank up to Flame Sergeant Third Class (fancy title 🙂 ).
One of my friends needed help with Tam Tara Deepcroft and the final boss for this instance is that one ugly squid :). It didn’t take us much effort to beat it and it went very smoothly.
Another fun FATE event is located just south of Costa del Sol. Our monster this time is a giant crab. It did 979 Bubble Shower damage on my PUG and it was an instant death :). Luckily, there’s someone nearby who was nice enough to raise me so I got up and started hitting the crap again. It took some time before we finally beat it since we didn’t have enough DDs. Nevertheless, it was a fun fight.
After doing FATEs over and over, I got sick of it and decided to go back to dungeon instance. Brayflox’s longstop is another dungeon instance and you’re required to be at least level 32 and if you are level 35 or more, you will be sync down to level 34. In this instance, we were friend with goblins and were supposed to help them going through the dungeon.
Final boss for this dungeon instance is Alatar which just another dragon. The fight was pretty straightforward and quite simple to be honest. I was told it may spit out some green goey thing on the floor which does damage over time if you step on it, however, out of the two runs that I did, it never spat any green thing on the ground.
Full gallery of Beta Phase 3 (July 10-15, 2013)
That pretty much sums up my Beta Phase 3 experience and looking forward to Open Beta (ie. Beta Phase 4).
Legal Notice 1: [Trademark] All company, product, system names and/or company logos and marks are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners. Legal Notice 2: [Copyright] Copyright (C) 2010 – 2013 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved.
A highschool bookworm named Kazuhito Harumi was killed during a robbery while he was trying to protect a custom in a cafe. Due to his regret not being able to read his favourite author’s work, Shinobu Akiyama, he was resurected into a dog. Shinobu Akiyama is just a pen name of Kirihime Natsuno, a beautiful, yet sadistic scissor-wielding novelist. Kirihime Natsuno is voiced by lovely Marina Inoue. I gotta say that it piqued my interest quite a bit. Judging from the trailer, it’s going to be one of those silly-anime-kinda-thing (is that a even word?) but nevertheless, I am willing to give it a try for few episodes.
Brothers Conflict
My wife will definitely love this series just from the character design alone which in my opinion, they are too shonen-ish. Brothers conflict tells a story about a teenager named Ema Hinata. Her father remarries and she now has 13 stepbrothers whom she currently lives with at Sunrise Residence Complex owned by her step mother, Miwa Asahina. In effort to spend time with my wife, I most likely will watch this anime with her :). I am not a fan of this type of anime and character design but it couldn’t hurt to try. It does remind me a lot of Sister Princess where this one is total opposite of Brothers Conflict and it has one teenage guy with 12 sisters.
Ro-Kyu-Bu! SS
Ro-Kyu-Bu! SS is a second season of Ro-Kyu-Bu. It’s about a high school freshman named Subaru Hasegawa who was forced to stop playing basketball due to scandal happening at his school. His aunt, Mihoshi Takamura tries to ignite his passion for basketball by assigning him to an elementary school girl’s basketball team coach.
Since I love the first season a lot, watching second season is not brainer. What’s not to love, it’s a loli-moe-basketball anime ;).
Stella Jogakuin Koutou-ka C3-bu
Stella Jogakuin Koutou-ka C3-bu is also known as C3-Bu. It’s based on ongoing manage series with same title written by Ikoma and illustrated by Tomomoka Midori. Anime adaptation was developed by Gainax which obviously I have a high expectation as an anime studio.
Its story is about a high school girl named Yura Yamata who just recently transferred into prestigious Stella Women’s Academy and she’s having a hard time finding friends. However, after her meeting with Rento Kirishima, she’s recruited into airsoft club. The main story revolves around Yura’s interaction with other members of airsoft club.
Girls with gun? what’s not to love. I totally dig this anime and so should you.
Servant x Service
From the trailer, it looks like it’s going to be another slice-of-life type of anime. The story revolves around daily lives of employees in a government office building in an unnamed city in Hokkaido. The title did intrique me quite a bit, however, after further research, I probably will drop this anime after 2-3 episodes since slice-of-life is not my favourite genre.
Kitakubu Katsudou Kiroku
Kitakubu Katsudou Kiroku is also known as Chronicles of the Going Home Club. The going home club usually means that someone does not join any of availabe club, however, in case of Natsuki Andou, main protagonist of this anime series, the go-home club does actually exists in her high school. When I watched the trailer, it gives me the feeling of K-ON like of anime so I will give this a try since I enjoy K-ON series a lot.
Love Lab
Love Lab is set in Fujisaki Girls Academy which’s well-known for their student council consisted of well-mannered students. Student president of Fujisaki Girls Academy is Natsuo Maki. she’s well admired by other students through out the school and she’s highly respected. The opposite of Maki, is Kurahashi Riko who is also admired but she has a very forward and boyish personality. One day, Riko caught Maki practicing kissing with a pillow and learned the other side of Maki and she’s definitely now what everyone thinks she is.
This series is another comedy genre in this summer season and it looks decent enough from the trailer. Wouldn’t hurt to try few episodes.
Kiniro Mosaic
Yet, Kiniro Mosaic is another comedy and slice-of-life genre in this summer 2013 anime season. Our main protagonist is Shinobu Omiya, a 15-year old girl, who once stayed in England and met with her friend Alice Cartalet. One day, she receives a letter from Alice who mentioned that she’s coming to Japan. Surely enough, Alice shows up in her school.
I think the plot is rather simple and is lacking in my opinion. It would be pretty hard to keep myself entertained/interested with this slice-of-life anime but I’ll see how it goes with first few episodes
Genei Wo Kakeru Taiyou
Based on the trailer, it looks like it’s going to be a mahou shoujo anime similar to Madoka or Card Captor Sakura (good ‘ol classic and one of my favourites of all time). It’s an original anime series produced by AIC and Aniplex. The story is set in an alternate world ruled by two tarot decks (oh-my-god…. tarot decks….. it sounds like Card Captor Sakura already). Our main protagonist is Akari Taiyo who aims to be a fortune teller like her late mother using Tarot deck. Her card is “The Sun”. Akari Taiyo is voiced by Mai Kadowaki who’s well-known for her role as Illyasviel Von Einzbern in Fate series and Rorona in Atelier Rorona and Atelier Totori video games. It’s a must watch for any mahou shoujo fans out there.
Fantasista Doll
Gosh, while watching the trailer, I cannot help but think that this reminds me so much of Card Captor Sakura. The story plots is also very similar. Our main protagonist is Uzume Uno who enjoys playing card game and won a card tournament back when she was a little kid. One thing leads to another, she was chosen as a card master who controls five Fantasista Dolls. Each doll is just so moe and cute :). This anime series definitely highlights summer 2013 anime series and one of anime series that I highly anticipated.
Highschool DxD New
Highschool DxD new is the second season of Highschool DxD. I quite enjoyed the first season despite the fan service was little bit too much and was in the border between ecchi and hentai. Nevertheless, I am still looking forward to second season
Blood Lad
Blood Lad tells a story about a vampire named Staz from an alternate world – “Demon World” and Fuyumi, a human girl who accidentally wanders into the Demon World. Unlike a normal vampire, Staz does not suck human blood and is truly obsessed with human world especially anything from Japan. After he meets with Fuyumi, she got attacked and eaten by carnivourous plant and turned into a ghost. Staz pledges that he will turn Fuyumi back to human. Last season, spring anime 2013, we were entertained with a similar story from Hataraku Maou-sama and this season we have Blood Lad. Since I enjoy Hataraku Maou-sama, I can foresee myself enjoying this anime too.
The World God Only Knows III
The third installment of The World God Only Knows is finally here upon us. What sort of girls are Keima going to conquer ? I can’t wait until this series starts.
Kimi no Iru Machi
Kimi no Iru Machi is also known as A Town Where You Live. It’s based on a manga series with same title by Kouji Seo. Kouji Seo is no stranger to all of us since he’s the author of Suzuka manga. Kimi no Iru Machi manga is still on going and it’s going to be interesting on how the anime will develop. Kouji Seo, if you are reading this post, for the love of <insert a deity here>, please finish Kimi no Iru Machi already ^^;
So what’s in everyone’s watch list this anime season summer 2013?
Another weekend is just another FFXIV: A Realm Reborn beta testing. I managed to get to level 24 last week and met my goal to be level 30 by end of this week testing.
Since I am level 24, I thought I started my weekend with another dungeon instance: The Thousand Maws of Toto-rak. The instance is pretty long (at least that;s I felt like) since there’s green goey stuff on the ground that slows you down. The dungeon boss is Grafias, a scorpion. It turns ground into green goey stuff that gives you damage over time (DoT). It’s not an easy fight because Grafias spawns a lot of minions which can be pretty intimidating but it’s doable if your party is competent :).
One main feature in this beta session is ‘Duty Finder’. This feature allows you to find party automatically for all dungeon instances and guildhests. What does this mean ? it means that you need to spend time shouting and looking for party. Duty finder will do that for you. You can enable your duty finder and while you are waiting for a party to be formed, you can levelquests, fates, etc. The party format will always be 1 tank, 2 DDs and 1 healer.
To test the new feature, Duty Finder, I decided on Ifrit instances but unfortunately, we failed the mission 😦
As I mentioned in my previous post, there’ a wandering minstrel who allows you to level from 26 to 29 instantly. As I almost level up, I did levequests in Little Ala Mhigo area which is located in Southern Thanalan. The wandering minstrel is located by each city grand company. Since I am part of Immortal Flame, the wandering minstrel is located just out side of Hall of Flame. he graciously bumped up my level from 26 to 29. At level 29, you can have your chocobo to join you during battle and you can give your chocobo few different commands: Healer Stance, Defence Stance, Attack Stance and Free Stance. For DD like me, Healer Stance comes in handy
At level 29, you will have access to Haukke Manor which is another dungeon instance. I did few runs but only the first run went smoothly and the rest of runs were pretty rough since I had an issue with my internet connection so I kinda left my party hanging and they were waiting for me for 30 minutes which was pretty nice of them. I managed to hit 30 before I had to call it a night.
Overall, it’s a pretty good week since I leveled up from 24 to 30 :). How are you guys enjoying your beta phase 3 so far ? I hate to admit but it’s pretty addictive.
Legal Notice 1: [Trademark] All company, product, system names and/or company logos and marks are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners. Legal Notice 2: [Copyright] Copyright (C) 2010 – 2013 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved.
3rd week of Beta Phase 3 just passed and it’s another amazing experiences in a wonderful world of Eorzea as a FFXIV: ARR player. Continuing from where I was left one last week, I stopped at level 21 before I had to call it a night. An incredible fight against Ifrit is not something that I can forget easily.
To start off 3rd week of Beta Phase 3, I thought I would level up all other classes to 15 ….. instantly. That’s right. You heard that right. There’s an NPC for each class who will level you up automatically to level 15. Of course, keep in mind that this is beta-only feature and I don’t think the final release will have something like this. Here’s a list of NPCs to level your class to 15 instantly (credit goes to FFXIV: ARR Beta Forum):
THM: Swaenhylt in Camp Drybone (Eastern Thanalan)
CNJ: Wihtred in Hyrstmill (North Shroud)
LNC: Aniud in Hawthorne Hut (East Shroud) above the town
GLD: Chechezan in Horizon Camp (Western Thanalan)
ARC: Zacheus in Little Solace (East Shroud)
MRD: Urswyrst in Moraby Drydocks (Lower Noscea) wmoutside gate near Chocobo Porter
PGL: Adelard at the South Hammer (Western Thanalan)
Note that there’s a requirement for this fancy feature. You need to beat Ifrit and join a Grand Company and you should be about level 20+. It shouldn’t take long to level all your classes to 15 and I finished all up with in 1 1/2 hour. It’s just a lot of running around.
After beating Ifrit and joining a Grand Company, you’re allowed to do quest for your company which will earn you company seals. With 1000 company seals, you can buy Chocobo issuance and you will have your own chocobo. I named mine as Sakura :). With a chocobo, traveling will be faster but keep in mine that aggro mobs can still aggro you while you’re on your chocobo. Once this was done, I could get started on leveling my PUG more.
At level 20-22ish, you can get to level 34 by doing some instances as below:
Halatali (Level 20 to 22) [Need to get quest from the Waking Sands]
Thousand Maws of Toto-rak (Level 23 to 25)
Haukke Manor (Level 29 to 31)
Brayflox’s Longstop (Level 32 to 34)
For level 26 to 29, there’s a wandering minstrel that will level you up from 26 to 29 if you have done certain quests.
Thanalan – Halatali
My first party consisted of 2 x THM, GLD and PGL (myself). None of us had any prior experiences with Halatali , however, everything went well and smooth until one of THMs got disconnected 😦 multiple times. We gave it a try with 3 members, however, the second mini-boss, Thunderclap Guivre was too much for us then we decided to find another party member as a replacement. Eventually, the party got disbanded because we couldn’t find a CNJ which is rare to find.
My second party consisted of CNJ, LNC, PGL (myself) and GLD. It was much smoother than the first party. LNC and me did so much damage and we pretty much tore through the whole dungeon instance. Against second mini-boss, Thunderclap Guivre, we fought it on the staircases. Around 1/3 and 2/3 of its health, it spawned few thunder elementals and also shot ball of lightning which did AoE. During this time, the whole party needed to wary of the lightning ball and killed adds at the same time.
Before the final boss, Tangata, there’s a mini-boss, Pit Peiste, on path leading up to him. It was actually a trap so you can avoid it if you’d like to skip. There’s a treasure chest in middle of room and it spawned Pit Peiste if you tried to open the chest. For final boss, Tangata, it was a pretty straightforward fight. As usual, it spawned adds (little flames) which we needed to kill as soon as possible before they reached Tangata. At that point, the adds would explode.
The Black Shroud – Thousand Maws of TotoRak
My party consisted of GLD, PGL, LNC and CNJ. This was a very long dungeon and it took some time to clear it because we wanted to get all treasure chests so we had to explore all areas. Final boss was Graffias. It has the ability to spit out green goey thing and covers the floor. If you step on it, you will get DoT for 100+ damage. In addition, its tail would have a separate HP later around 25-30% health. We also had to be careful to those spores on the ground. If you hit those spores, it would explode and did some AoE damage to surrounding area. It was a tough fight and myself and another DD died from spores so GLD and CNJ were the only fighting Graffias for remaining 20%o its HP.
Enjoy full gallery of screenshots below:
Another fun weekend of FFXIV and looking forward to next beta phase 3 weekend.
Legal Notice 1: [Trademark]
All company, product, system names and/or company logos and marks are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.
Legal Notice 2: [Copyright]
Copyright (C) 2010 – 2013 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved.
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