I scream, You scream...

We all scream for icecream!
er... I mean for Screamineagle!

That's right. Screamin finally FINALLY got his Byakko's Haidate last night! Woo hoo!!! Which, unfortunately, means he will probably no longer be joining us up there anymore, which *gulp* means Treu is more-than-likely done with sky too. I suppose he may stick around for another week or so just for payouts because we still are sitting on a couple Kirin sets, but then I'm sure he's out like a fat kid in dodgeball.

His BRD and SAM shall definitely be missed for Kirin burns, as will his RDM for farming, but he deserves a break. 4 years of sky tends to cause mental issues. (And I know this after only spamming sky for ... what... 8 months?)


Also, three cheers for Lastok! Bastok took over Sarutabaruta! So that was one more Supply Run Mission (outpost) that I can cross off my list. Only Ronfaure and Tavnazian Archipelago to go!


As for personal progress: I did end up putting that next merit into STR, taking it up to 2/5.

My whole "skill-up guarding" plan though... well, long-story short, it didn't work out like I had expected it to.

I went out to Caedarva Mire to kill some Chigoes. I MNK/RDM and throw up Stoneskin... which lasts all of 4 - 8 hits and it's gone. (not NEARLY as effective as I thought it was supposed to be.) And even worse, I would counter them every now and then and take out a third of their HP. (and this is me fighting barefisted too!) 6 Chigoes later, I decide to take this elsewhere because I had only gotten a single 0.1 increase to my Guard skill.

Next stop was SSG beyond the Mythril Gate to fight some MNK Sahagins. These worked out alright at first... until 2 respawned right behind me and took me out before I even realized what was going on. Again, Stoneskin basically made no difference. Hell, even Phalanx didn't seem to do anything. I swear, with Phalanx up, they were hitting me for 25-28. When Phalanx wore, they were hitting me for 22-25. WTF Mate? So I die. Had to bring Screamin down to Raise me. Then I start using him as a PL. Step 1: I attack 1 BRD Sahagin and run him around to aggro 2-4 MNK Sahagins. Step 2: Take out that initial BRD and the target something in the distance and, while still staying engaged, face the MNKs so that the only hits they're actually taking is from my counters. Step 3: Screamin cure-bombs me... and never takes hate because I haven't touched the other mobs. ^^ Well, after probably around 2 hours, I had still only gotten a single 0.3 skill-up. /sigh

So I give up and decide to get back to PUP. Yes, PUP. Fought a few randoms in Korroloka Tunnel and headed out to Altepa to kill Spiders. It actually went fairly nicely. With my h2h capped and fully-merited, I really didn't have any issues with my accuracy at all. And my automoton (Lobo) is pretty smart in knowing when to cast Silence and DoTs and nukes.... Having a PL helped because I was just soloing, but I ended up getting all the way up to 38 this past weekend. The Field Manuals helped a ton too. Att+ Food. Regen. Niceness. ^^

Pretty sure I'll be getting the White Turban once I hit 40 because I can then use Lobo as a backup healer in any party I join. ... OR I could go for the Black Turban and use him as a nuker, but then there's always the problem of him taking hate and dying on me. Yeah, probably WHM, but still not 100% sure. I also decided to get my RNG automoton head and body... but I don't even know why considering I will more-than-likely NEVER use them. Whateva.

Using Maneuvers more and more is definitely helping me understand how they work and how you can use them to control what Lobo does next. (Thunder to cast more often and for magic attack bonus. Water to reduce hate. Light to regen himself and to cure me. Dark to refresh himself. Earth for stoneskin. And obviously all of this depends on the attachments you have active too.)

Oh, and btw, while leveling PUP, my Guard skill increased about 3 full points. This might just HAVE to be the way for me to go... at least until I get my Guard up to around 100 or 120 and then start trying again on my MNK.

Another note: It definitely seems like a Full Moon helps with skill-ups. Again, it could be a coincidence, but whenever I'd see multiple skill-ups within a minute of each other, I checked the time and yeah... Full Moon. And just because I was curious, I did 3 quick little Leatherwork synths... and 2 of them gave me a 0.1 skillup. I'm about 95% convinced a Full Moon helps skillups now. But what do I know. I'm just a n00b. lol

THF @24. Almost have flee!

Aight. Enough for now. Back to work. haha