Thursday, December 31, 2009

God change, OA 142, and 5th 100+ Skill!

Just been too preoccupied to write of late. Just a temporary thing.

Time to play catch-up...

The two biggest things:


You advanced to level 100 of harvesting!


Harvesting Level 100


5th 100+ skill! \o/


Your overall level is now 142!


Overall Level 142


And I wasn't kicking chims when it happened, hehe.


Other Levels...


You advanced to level 46 of summoning!


Summoning Level 46

You advanced to level 54 of engineering!


Engineering Level 54


You advanced to level 36 of tailoring!


Tailoring Level 36


Sweet.


Lenny and Invasions and Quests

Got Leonard twice, both times in Palon Vertas after having almost walked into him while harving coal.

Participated in the global (well, multi-map at least) invasions. The only kind I participate in these days. Well, hidden ones are fun too, if just for trying to find the invaders...

Two new quests with a server update yesterday... both done. Back to only needing to kill off the ice dragon for the first Novac quest to have all quests done.


God Change

Even with the new "Day of Magic" or whatever it's called, I was just tiring of trying to level magic, needed a break from the constant essie mixing and bear kicking.

So I switched magic for the Crafting god. Means I got a lot of WEs to make (bleh), but it's a change of pace.

May still work on magic, besides normal use, but not in the near future. I really don't "need" a higher level than I have now, though it would be nice to have. We'll see...


Priority Increase - Archery AP

Decided to get my Archery AP up to the maximum 60 as soon as possible. Been slowly adding to it, but thinking to work on more gc now to buy the potions faster. I do all my range training in the arena now, so killing off "training" critters to quick isn't an issue anymore.

It will, however, help with killing off larger creatures during invasions and such.



Anyway, that's the update. Not feeling too well, so I'm off...

Friday, December 25, 2009

Top 10 Alchemist!

You advanced to level 116 of alchemy!


Alchemy Level 116


And with that, I moved up into the top 10 alchemists! \o/


That was yesterday evening, prior to a second invasion I actually participated in.


The night before, there was a 2x ranging day. It was getting late so I only stayed on for one mule load's worth of bolts. Still...


You advanced to level 43 of ranging!


Ranging Level 43



Obviously a lot of my time was spent alching since my last post, working up that alch level (and well, "for the gc" as I have been once again low on it).


But there was some time continuing the hunt for a final quest item for the last of the 4 newest quests that I haven't finished.


And as previously mentioned, I participated in two invasions. Nice to not be Bethel, and not be told every detail in advance. Invasions of late have lacked the element of surprise, and even the lack of being spread out to allow for the joy of hunting down mobs.

I personally find no fun in the Bethel invasions. I know some others do, and I don't want to deny them that, but we really do need more spread out invasions between the constant Bethel ones.

Invasions shouldn't be fully planned out and known in exact detail what's going to happen in advance. That's boring, and no different than normal game play. The opposite of exciting, which is what invasions used to be.

And then last night when an invasion was starting, channel 6 suddenly got filled with a dozen people asking for exact specifics of what was going to be placed where. Damn morons have completely lost grasp of the fun invasions used to be. I don't care the reason, it's an invasion, it's an "uncontrolled change of pace", and people don't have the right to know the exact details of what's going to happen. You're told maps you can be safe on, and that's all you need to know until the invasion actually happens.


But I digress. Spent time hunting down where the monsters were invading, and got quite a many on my own.

Like multi-sslessars in Irsis:

Sslessar Invaders

And extreme multi-feros and white tigers:

Feros Invaders



And yes, during the course of those invasions I lost a couple bricks. I lose none to Bethel invasions because they bore me, so I don't participate at all.

Besides, losing a brick in a Bethel invasion for me means losing one due to extreme resyncing. If I'm going to die, I want it to be on my own (lack of) merits, not because the client is constantly resyncing with the server and I can't see when I'm supposed to heal or even what's attacking me.




Anyway, that's it for now. Taking advantage of a 3x harv day now that I woke up to. Then... eh, not sure. Really do need to get several k of WEs made, maybe I'll finally get around to that.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

My Date With Blackie

Movin' on up, solo ranged my first black dragon!

Ranging Blackie 1

Ranging Blackie 2

Ranging Blackie 3

and Blackie Bites the Big One:

Ranging Blackie 4


That wasn't even remotely easy considering there was no pinning involved. Just lots of hit-n-run, hehe.


Next up, ice dragon. But I'll wait a while to do that. Going to be twice as difficult as Blackie was.




Haven't been posting much... spent a LOT of time of late just mixing essies for sale, working on hydro, and a motherload of time on new quests. 4 new ones added with this last update. I've finished 3, and am "almost" finished the fourth.


Also spent some time putting my Engineering and Summoning gods to use:


You advanced to level 53 of engineering!


Engineering Level 53


You advanced to level 44 of summoning!


Summoning Level 44


You advanced to level 45 of summoning!


Summoning Level 45



There's also been a few hours on the desert chims during Sun Tzu, but not much compared to the time spent alching.



Reworking my plans, again. They didn't take summoning and engineering gods into account well so future plans will include a bit more focus on those skills, without completely ignoring others of course.


For now, that's about it. The quests, and just mass mixing essies to sell have taken up the majority of my time since my last post.



Current plans:
- Finally get back to mixing essies for magic leveling
- Another eng level
- Ranging level (actually only about 5k away from that, so this won't take long)
- Another sum level
- Another tailoring level (need to mix WEs and harv 20k more BSFs before I do this mixing)

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Ranging Big Critters, and a Few Levels

Been an odd several days. While I did a few things that were on my usual to-do list, for the most part I strayed into doing other random stuff.

Which is fine, I do what I want, it's a game, hehe.

Most of it has nothing to do with levels, surprisingly, though it does of course work up to them, experience being experience and all. Just not power-leveling as I tend to normally do.


I spent some time meleeing to death chickens in WVF, not an easy task at my levels. Requires 1-2 disses to refill mana.

Then went on to range some big critters that I'd have no shot of killing melee-style.

Like a giant:

Ranging a Giant


And an arctic chim:

Ranging an arctic chim


And up to my first solo red dragon kill:

Ranging a Red Dragon




Also been on hydro runs, mixing S2Es for that, and selling the bars for gc. Yeah, I'm broke again as always. :P



Level-wise, a few... Crafting level 56, again from reading the experience books, so caught me by surprise so no screenie. ;)


As well, levels for two of my god skills:



You advanced to level 43 of summoning!


Summoning Level 43


and



You advanced to level 52 of engineering!


Engineering Level 52





I also did some testing for something new coming on the next server update, but I can't discuss the details of such things here. It's interesting, though. (And don't ask, as I won't tell. No matter who you are.)



Umm... that's about it I guess.


Mixing some essies to sell on my bot now, then I guess it's time to get back to work on my planned stuff. This week of slacking off slowly comes to an end. :P

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Att, Def, Sum Get a Boost

Well, getting the Summon God has definitely given me that boost needed to be more encouraged to spend hours at the gypsum. Something that gets a bit tiresome done too long considering the heavy ings to mix summon stones which means lots of trips. And the 20 gypsum each makes for an extreme amount of harving for them. Summoning does take a good amount of time to level...

But doing it anyway, hehe.

With only about 3 stones away from a level, I finished off the last handful for it at storage.


You advanced to level 42 of summoning!


Summoning Level 42


And with that, moved on to other things. Been doing mostly random mixing, whatever I felt like at the time, mostly alch but some indicators for engineering as well as moon meds for crafting. No levels, just random mixing.


Woke up to Sun Tzu yesterday, and took advantage of about 4.5 hours of it.

My attack officially passed my defense during that time:


Attack Surpasses Defense


And as they were so close, I got the defense level only about 5 minutes after attack:


You advanced to level 109 of attack!


Attack Level 109

You advanced to level 109 of defense!


Defense Level 109



After Sun Tzu I spent a couple hours hunting down 2 hidden mare bula invaders. I can't kill them but I can help find them, and I did, finding both. :P


Still just random mixing... mixing according to my plans when I feel like it, but mostly just stocking what I need and mixing to sell on my bot.

Haven't decided if I'll return to my normal planned mixing today or not. We'll see. I may plan to do things, but don't always follow those plans. It's a game, I do what I want. ;)

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Mmmm, Finally an OA and Then Some

Had a 3-fer day two days ago:

You advanced to level 51 of engineering!


Engineering Level 51


I'd actually done a few H/D Indicator runs mixed in bag at the turqoise to get harv points as well, finished off the level with saltpeter for later tailoring use.

Knowing I wasn't far from an OA, I went Desert Chim kicking for several hours, taking pauses to ensure I got harv points in...


You advanced to level 99 of harvesting!


Harvesting Level 99


One more level and I can become a moderator! Er.... hmmm.. okay, 1 more level to have my 5th 100+ skill, heh.


And of course, more time on the chims to finish off:


Your overall level is now 141!


Overall Level 141


Sweet, a wraith-visit OA as it gave me 2 pickpoints to play with.

And a visit I did.


Rest of the day, and part of yesterday, was spent on stocking ings for SRs as well as mixing some.


Yesterday saw mostly harving as I was preoccupied. Got all the coal needed for another batch of S2Es, harved suns and BSFs, got some more SR mixing and LE mixing done...

Last night I started my gypsum runs, bagmixing bear stones there and that's where I'm at this morning.



Today's goals:
- Finish summoning level with bear stones
- Restock my EnEs
- Restock my MatEs
- Ummmm... and whatever, heh

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

115 Alchemy Levels and Counting

Finished my steel bars (and got my first of four batches of S2Es for next nexus... or will I sell hydro bars again... hmmmm).

Got to work on the motherload of LEs I am going to be needing for summoning now that I got summon god...


You advanced to level 115 of alchemy!


Alchemy Level 115


Wooohooo, movin' on up to the top 15 alchers! :)


Starting to get hard up for gc again. Between overkilling on leather helms for school day (last post), buying some books to get read (regular knowledge, not experience books), and other assorted costs the gc is drying up quick.

Which is making me think my next hydro batch may end up going to sale for gc rather than buying a nexus.

Ah well, we'll see.



Meanwhile, a break from the LEs to work on engineering. Bag mixing H/D indicators at the turqoise a bit for a level. Also hoping to finish off the last of my "500 grizzlies" for magic experience later today.

And figuring out a better means of earning gc than selling off what should be going towards my next nexus...

Monday, December 7, 2009

Manu Top 50! And a God Switch

Did a god switch yesterday. After a couple hours with the chims, my attack got up to where it was almost even with my defense experience-wise.

So I dropped the Attack god, and got Summoning. That and Animal 5 Nexus are assuring me I'll see the gypsum a lot in my future.

But if it'll save me some of the pain of mixing stones there with extra experience, it's worth the god switch.


Also been mixing my iron/steel bars for next S2E batch. And even ranged some for the first time for a Bethel invasion. Dunno if I'll make that a habit though, I kinda prefer global invasions.


But the biggie of yesterday was a School Day. Burned a lot of gc for it when I hauled a motherload of leather and thread as a mule to poof away as helms in the manu school.


You advanced to level 69 of manufacturing!


Manufacturing Level 69

You advanced to level 70 of manufacturing!


Manufacturing Level 70

You advanced to level 71 of manufacturing!


Manufacturing Level 71


Sweetness :P Though I was kinda wishing at this point I'd taken the Manu god a while before moving to the Summoning god, hehe.

But that makes the 6th skill I'm in the top 50 ranks for. \o/

Somehow doubt I'll ever make top 50 for attack and defense, but I can certainly try to get all the others up there, hehe.



Anyway, today is back to the steel bars for S2Es. And some LEs since I'm gonna be needing motherloads of those. And hopefully finish off my round of mana drains and radiation shields of 500 grizzlies, still got about 150 more of those to do.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

All Skills 35+! And More Bear Furs

You advanced to level 35 of tailoring!


Tailoring Level 35


And with that, all my skills are at 35 or higher! \o/ Allrounder bonus, hehe.


No experience books involved, still strictly mixing for tailoring experience. And still feels weird being ranked #42 in game for tailoring, yet still haven't made anything higher than blue dyes.

I may change that soon, give some higher stuff a chance. Maybe even dye some fabrics.



Later, I got all the radiation shield and most of the mana drain essies mixed when we were blessed with several hours of Scholar's Day. Not having much in the way of ings to mix, I decided to work on magic leveling during that time.


Normally I get a total of 572 magic experience for 1 mana drain and 1 radiation shield combined. (For those who don't know, I have magic god, and I level magic by using a radiation shield which takes 30 mana, then mana draining a grizzly for 30 mana. That's the total of 572 exp per grizzly.)

With scholar day, got a total of 716 experience per bear.

And of course...


You advanced to level 71 of magic!


Magic Level 71





IWannaRock, my bot, has been quite useful. In the last 2 months he's bought over 60k in fire essies, which has left me with none to mix in recent times.

Sure, he pays slightly more for them than is common for other bots/players, but it's worth it in the end if I don't have to mix those damn things anymore. :P


People claim there's not enough HEs to go around, so of late I've been emptying the FEs from my bot and replacing them with HEs to sell. Done this for over 28k HEs so far and still doing it. This both puts more HEs in the game (at a reasonable price as well, they sell fairly quick), and helps pay for all the FEs the bot buys.

Simple process of (1) bag mix about 454 HEs in the silver cave (by way of Naralik sto through gold cave), (2) donate the HEs to my bot on the way back to storage, and take an equal amount of FEs from him.

Works nicely thus far.




In other news, I sold the majority of my hydro bars I originally made to buy another nexus, just because I was tired of constantly fighting a low gc stash due to my constant use of gc sinks.

Feels nice to have a bit of extra gc to use for once. :P Delays my getting another nexus, but I'll survive. In fact, already got the FEs and coal for my first batch of S2Es for my next nexus buy attempt. Just a matter of bagmixing bars at the Naralik iron now.


Down to just 800k experience needed for my next alch level. Between HEs and the planned iron/steel bars for S2Es, that shouldn't be too hard.


Hopefully get around to some more chim kicking soon as well.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Top 50 Engineer and Contest Winner!

Been too busy to write here of late, so time to play "catch up".

1) Getting saltpeter (and of course the ashes for it) mixed for my next tailor level brought me up a notch in Engineering.


You advanced to level 50 of engineering!


Engineering Level 50


5th skill that I'm in the top 50 ranks for (pot, alch, range, tailor, eng)!


2) Leonard died at my hands twice since my last post.


3) I'm rich! Sorta, hehe. Two new quests were implemented. One the second Novac quest, the other a hidden one that started on an already-implemented NPC.

A contest was set up by Radu, 200kgc to whoever finished the Novac one first, and 50kgc to whoever finished the other one first.

I ended up putting aside everything to do these two quests. Most of the time was spent on the Novac one. By evening of the first night, I'd found 4 of the 5 critters that you had to find. Not easy!

But by evening, noone had even found the NPC to start the other quest. So Radu offered 6 binding stones to the first to find it.

I found it in about 15 minutes. I just hadn't looked for it before. I also happened to be in Palon Vertas hunting the final critter of the Novac quest, so I started by checking those NPCs as I looked for the critter.

So I got the 6 binding stones.

After which, I started that quest. But it was late and I was tired so went to bed, thinking I could easily win all 250kgc if I kept playing, but couldn't.


Fortunately when I woke up, only 1-2 other people had found the NPC. I ended up speeding my way through that quest as quickly as possible, winning the 50kgc for being first to do it.

Went straight after that back to hunting the final critter for the Novac quest. After hours of searching, found it in EVTR just as I was leaving that map to check another.

(Note: The critters in the second Novac quest can respawn when killed on any map, so my mentioning that map isn't a spoiler. Only random chance it will appear there again.)

So I won the 200kgc prize for that too.


Total winnings: 250kgc + 6 binding stones \o/


4) Outside of that, been mixing essies, particularly those needed for my next round of mana drain and radiation shield magic training on bears. As well, stockpiling HEs (and some to sell on my bot).

5) Crafting ... still reading experience books for this skill. I also just finished doing a full stock of C1 rings for personal use as they were running low.

Got myself up to crafting level 55 now. No screenie because I was actually kicking a chim when a book finished and gave me the level, caught me by surprise.

5) Archery AP - On a reconstruction day, I used the 8 Archery AP potions I'd stockpiled in storage waiting for this day. Unfortunately didn't get any extras out of it. But it brought my Archery AP up to 20. 40 more to go...

6) A/D training - Between experience gained in the quests above, and some random training (nowhere near as long as the time in my last post), I'm down to only a 235k experience difference that defense is ahead of attack.

Which means I'm looking at gods as I make plans to drop the Attack god when it reaches a 0 difference.

7) Gods - I've decided that once the diff in a/d experience reaches 0, I'll drop the Attack god for Summoning. This will be the first time (since my reset in 2008 to remove godless) that I'll not have either the att or def god. But I need more experience in other skills.

And even though I've been doing an occasional summoning level, I've been waiting to get the god to really put my 5 animal nexus to use.

So I'll have summoning, magic, and engineering gods. Obviously due to cost I'll be keeping the eng god for some time to come. The next to change will be the magic god, but not until at least 10 more magic levels.

8) Nexus buying - I did my hydro runs and got the bars mixed to have enough to buy another nexus. However I'm realising two points:

- I'm forever low on gc
- I'm not in THAT big a rush to get the remaining nexus

So I've decided to just sell the bars for gc. Already starting my first batch of S2Es that will definitely be used for a nexus buy, but this could help with my gc issues in a big way.

Granted, I just won 250kgc, but the way I am going through books and gc sinks, that won't last long, hehe.