Random Estuary Screenshot

Talas likes Meshra a lot

We were talking about how annoying Flotsam Meshra are, which Talas is recently studying in order to get the morph. Talas is very excited about getting closer to morphing into them while the rest of us hate how they come in a group and feral everywhere.

I also turned on the settings option to have this post posted on Google+ which I thought would be automatically set to do it but I was wrong. Now Eviler Toaster can see how awesome Clan Lord is, especially compared to some Star Wars game. Who needs lightsabers when you have bloodblades, gossamers, and fell blades?

Estuary is still dangerous

Never let your guard down.

Azel's Estuary Team has been going to the Estuary for many months now and it's easy to forget how dangerous the place is.

Our rangers have completed many studies and morphs and with Mujin-kun's power and Lorikeet's durability one can be forgiven for assuming that nothing could possibly hurt us too badly.

Until today when we were in the newest area where the lizard boss resides. Mujin-kun had lured him out along with a few other beasts and it was already slightly difficult since there was so much stuff running around.

Suddenly Spicy Manders spawned everywhere. The above picture doesn't show just how many there were. Every free spot was filled with them and since they feral that meant that escape was nearly impossible. I chained a bunch and tried to run south where Lorikeet and Mujin-kun were, but there were just so many that I quickly fell.

I assumed it would be a depart but Mujin-kun found a healer in the library and got some other people to come out to rescue us. Fortunately this area is pretty close to the southern dock so it didn't take long for them to get to us. They were probably delayed by getting enough people out of the library and killing everything that spawned. Talas and I also poofed and came back much further south which also helped.

I don't think it was a natural spawn. Before the hunt started there was a huge spawn of Death Vermine in town which is also unnatural. I wonder if there will be future spawns of this type and what it could mean.

Why I haven't been going on hunts (long, semi-ooc)

A pause in the action.

It's kind of strange that the entry following the one in which I exalt at Jeanne finally getting out of the library I'm explaining why I haven't left the library at all in the past two weeks.

I'm going to be using some OOC (out of character) terms and explanations because I don't want to bother with finding an IC (in character) reason. Even if I did it might just muddy the issue which is contrary to what I want.

For a few weeks I have gone on Azel's Estuary Hunt from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and then Mujin's Hunt from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. That's a minimum of 4.5 hours every day devoted to Clan Lord and I began to feel that was too much.

Plus, I was getting a bit bored with healing in Ash City. There was some excitement, but there just wasn't much challenge. I could entertain myself with reading blogs or sites at the same time but can't easily do that on the computer I have. It's an old PowerMac G4 and a small 17" monitor and I have dial-up all of which add up to not being able to see the Clan Lord screen and the browser at the same time and any time I open up a web page that means I can't do anything in Clan Lord due to lack of bandwidth.

The only job I have that does pay me money requires me to write news articles and seeing an article I wanted to write get snatched up by someone else, thus denying me needed dollars, was painful.

Yes, I know I need a new computer but I also need a job and finding work is damn near impossible.

Besides, even if I could do this I'm not sure I'd want to after seeing Lorikeet standing off in the corner while fighters fall left and right and me being unable to keep up with the damage being done. That always frustrates me and I don't want to mimic that behavior.

Frustration is why I haven't been going to Azel's Estuary Hunts either. I found myself becoming very negative and saying only negative comments, especially to Azel, and I don't want her to think that I'm only thinking negative thoughts or are a negative person.

I just don't like the tagging mentality hunts seem to always have. It's tough enough having to keep in mind what you've tagged so you don't do too much damage before everyone else has tagged. Plus you have to remember what you haven't tagged so you can tag it before everyone else kills it. Then there's Mujin-kun who basically can kill everything in the Estuary just by looking at it and there's no telling when she'll decide something has to die even if it's at high health and you're trying to get to it to tag it first. There have been many times when I've been running to a beast or two trying to be able to hit and just as I get to them, Mujin-kun kills them before I have a chance to swing. I don't expect her to remember what everyone has or hasn't hit but she can see me running up to her if she's paying attention. Maybe she thinks "I don't need Jeanne to help me kill these things. I'll kill them before she gets here!" while I'm thinking "I haven't hit those things. Please don't kill them yet!

The tagging mentality also means that no one pays much attention to anyone else. It's as if the only things they see are themselves and the beasts. It doesn't matter if they make it difficult for you to get out of their way, thus trapping you and making you fall and miss tags. It doesn't matter if they lead a bunch of stuff to you which makes you fall and miss tags. It doesn't matter if a bunch of stuff is on red and attacking the healers because they've already tagged it. Then when you kill the stuff on red to help the Healers they then kill the stuff you haven't tagged before you can get to them. It's as if the minimal strategy Clan Lord has is just thrown out of the window and it's a purely chaotic environment where no one tries to work with anyone else. As long as Lorikeet and Mujin-kun are up they could care less about who else misses tags as long as they get theirs.

It makes me frustrated and it's no good asking people to be more considerate because the only thing they wait for are Rangers getting their last hits. If a Ranger wants to get a last hit on something it's even harder to tag because people will be focused on keeping that person alive and everyone else doesn't matter. I admit to doing this on Moon Kitty at times although I've tried to put a stop to it if there's a lot of stuff so the fallen doesn't miss out on too many tags.

It's not that I don't like missing tags because of the missed experience, although that's why I'm there in the first place and that is a factor in my frustration. It's just that after a certain amount of missed tags one begins to think that it would have been better to just stay in the library and that working so hard for no return is a waste of time and effort. One also thinks that they're not needed on the hunt at all and that maybe one's time is better spent elsewhere.

Although missing tags and experience are frustrating, I think that not being able to use all of the Bloodmage abilities is even more so. It seems like being able to use my Bloodblade damage as a big hit or over time could be useful depending on the circumstances. Being able to add extra damage with hemorrhage and weaken the beast with disable and/or cripple could help with healing. None of that matters because I have to keep on control mode to avoid doing too much damage, reducing the strength of a beast doesn't matter with regards to Mujin-kun, and hemorrhage uses more spirit than what I can replace with blood.

I'm reduced to running around desperately trying to hit everything before I fall without regard to tactics or what's stronger and should be killed first or the people around me and what they have or haven't tagged because I can barely keep up with my own tags much less everyone else and I can only hope I am not too inconsiderate in the process even though I try my hardest not to be.

THIS IS NOT FUN!

Anyway, I'm considering returning to Azel's Estuary Hunt but on Moon Kitty and not on Jeanne because I know that as long as the hunt contains Rangers who need last hits and taggers, it will continue to be frustrating for me. I also need to return the armor she borrowed from Azel. Well, Azel will have to accept me back of course and considering I disappeared without a word she may be very angry at me and not want me around. If that's her decision I will just have to accept it as my due for being an inconsiderate jerk.

Jeanne may as well be retired and I may just use her for role-playing purposes or if I want to revive the Sun Dragon Clan and/or Catenae for anything or if I want to go out hunting for coins. If I have the opportunity to go on a tactical hunt instead of a tagging hunt then I'll certainly go but I doubt those exist at all. I still like the Bloodmage class and it has a lot of nifty tricks and tools no other class can even approach, but being on a tagging hunt fills me with a murderous rage that can only remain unfulfilled.

Once Himitsu gets to a higher level and becomes a Ranger herself she'll be much more fun to run around and kill stuff with. Unfortunately this won't happen for a long while. I should give her some coins so she can spend time in the more expensive library.

As to Mujin-kun's hunt I'm less certain I want to return simply because her hunts are longer. Going on one 1.5 hour hunt every day is acceptable but then going on another hunt immediately after for another 2-2.5 hours is too much.

Therefore I think I'll apologize to Azel and ask to return on Moon Kitty and tell Mujin-kun I won't be going to her hunts.

Gosh this was a long post.

Monkey Line

Megan got her Gloaming Wendecka morph!

We went to the Metz Rainforest for the last time in a while as Mujin-kun's hunt is going to go to Ash City from now on. Apparently it's better experience there and since more people will show up that equals more tags which equals more experience for everyone and especially Mujin-kun.

We went to the Rainforest to get some more jungle vines to get access to Ash City (although I don't see why we just can't go in through the Rebel Cave) and to get Megan her Gloaming Wendecka morph which has the atkus she needs.

I immediately thought back to the accusations Asparagus had against Mujin-kun at that Estuary hunt and chuckled. How many other people would go to a place just to get someone a morph so they can go to where you want to go when you don't particularly need them there?

We all wanted to get a phial of disgusting liquid.

It's true that more people want to go to Ash City if this line is any indication. I can't recall seeing as many people in a Rainforest hunt so Ash City must be better experience by far or at least more interesting.

On this hunt I was able to free a slave and get to the Scrap Metal guy and turn in a shank thanks to Mujin-kun, but it wasn't enough. Even though some of the Rebel's messages changed I still can't get to the Rebel leader and need more esteem. I'm not even sure there's anything there worth getting besides more talking and being able to turn in the Phial of Disgusting Liquid for experience, coins, and more esteem. Of course I did miss two Blue Skulls which might have made a difference but oh well, there will be plenty more of them.

Since I'm going back to Mujin-kun's hunts I haven't had the time to spend more time on Himitsu aside from collecting her Evus ranks and writing down the messages from Atkus, Histia, and Swengus. Right now I've learned that 18 Evus = 10 Swengus which is close to Azriel's numbers. Maybe Evus hasn't been changed at all since he last researched him, but that's what I want to find out. Even if it hasn't I am going to stick with Evus since 125 effective ranks for every 100 trained is too good to pass up.

Two Pictures

I don't usually see such a strong reaction from her.

On one of Azel's Estuary Hunts it seemed Mujin-kun wasn't coming so Tabatha asked and got permission for Asparagus to come. I knew he used to be Blindkan-C (aka BKC) and a Dwarf, which I always thought was a really strange name, until he changed both his name and race. I didn't mind him coming and kind of hoped that his change was an indication that he was a nicer guy. Even though my interaction with BKC was limited he seems to be the same pompous and arrogant person he used to be.

Seems he gave Mujin-kun a ton of bad karma and criticized her on her style of leading groups previously and did so again in this instance. He actually said that she didn't wait for Rangers to get last hits which made me chuckle. It's true that when we're overwhelmed she'll kill everything and not wait for last hits, but she's actually very patient when it comes to Rangers. Sometimes a lot more patient than I am feeling at the time. Generally speaking I think she does a good job between enabling Rangers to get last hints and preventing the entire group for falling and having to depart. She's not perfect, and sometimes she kills when I think she could have waited, but she's a lot better than most other group leaders and fighters when it comes to last hits.

Anyway, Asparagus and Tabatha finally left after some awkward moments and the hunt went smoothly after that. I think Tabatha has bad taste in men but I think it's a combination of "It's okay if he treats others badly because he treats me like a princess" and "My love will make him a better and kinder man". So far her love doesn't seem to have made much of a dent in his personality.

My first day as a fighter!

Just in case you needed proof that I really did reset. Here's me as an undisclosed fighter.

Update

I haven't written in a while and don't want this to be one of those Clan Lord journals that end up dusty and forgotten so I'll tell you what's been happening recently. No pictures though, sorry.

Moon Kitty

I've stopped going to Mujin-kun's Rainforest hunt because I've been much too busy writing, but I've learned that she's disappeared suddenly and hasn't been around for three zodiacs. We all hope that she's doing well and will be back soon.

Her absence did make Azel's Estuary hunt more difficult since we didn't have strong fighters and so stayed in the first area. On the plus side that enabled us to find more Reed Cats for Azel and since Tabatha hasn't been showing up we didn't need to get to the frogs for her to lasty. However, I advertised and we've been getting some strong fighters recently including Stinkfist, Ravenstorm, Kalian, and Hel so it's been going much better. I hope that continues as it was easy to take Mujin-kun and her immense strength for granted.

Azel is down to less than 120 Reed Cat lastys so she'll get the morph soon. She said that once she gets the morph we'll continue the hunt and that I can switch to Jeanne and she'll bring out one of her healers. That would be nice since as much as I enjoy healing, I miss being able to kill stuff too and Jeanne has improved as much as possible while being stuck in the library.

My training is going well as I've been with AnDeux Faure for a while and will be training with him for a long, long, long time to come. What he trains is 2 respia and 1 faustus for every 3 lessons with him which are precisely what I need. I started out with 300 faustus and 800 respia which is pretty low for my level and when I'm done I'll have 400 faustus and 1,000 respia which is much better.

I don't know what I'll do after that though I have a few ideas. My original idea was to alternate between Sprite and Respia with some extra Horus every now and again but I'm not so sure now. My 500 horus is more than enough, and I don't really want to be a rod and many healers never heal me anyway even if I'm at low health so my 600 sprite is probably enough. I'm not sure if I want to focus on improving my radius healing since it is situational although I do have 100 ranks in it already. I was thinking of doing AnQuart Faure (4 respia/1 faustus) and/or AnDeux Faure and Higgrus for better healing and survivability. I really don't know how I survived with 300 higgrus all this time as I really underestimated how powerful having lots of health is and overestimated how much damage I can avoid by having lots of proximus. I still love proximus, don't get wrong, there's just too much stuff that ferals and no reliable way of tanking. Anyway, it'll take so long to get to my goals that I'm sure I'll think of what I'll need when I get there.

Jeanne

Not much has happened with Jeanne since she's been stuck in the library working on getting her Bloodblade to 200 ranks so she can then further increase Cryptus and work on other Bloodmage skills before returning to the Bloodblade to get a total of 400 ranks. Primarily I want to get enough Bloodblade to have the atkus to hit anything whether on high or low health and get most of my damage through hemorrhage.

This will take a long time and while I try not to be impatient, because without going on daily hunts to places with good experience such as Estuary, Rainforest, and Ash Barrens the amount of experience gained is small. However, I don't think I'm at the point where I'm ready to go on hunts to those places until I get the 200 Bloodblade and all of the Bloodmage skills that will make me useful in a group. Maybe once I get the Cryptus, Dantus, and Crato and am working on my second 200 ranks in Bloodblade I'll try to get in a regular higher-level hunt but I doubt it will be easy. People would much rather me bring Moon Kitty out than Jeanne.

Himitsu

I still haven't reset her but I'm pretty close to doing so. I just need a good time when I can devote some hours to taking her through the rat towers.

Accomplishments

After what felt like forever I reached 400 ranks with Higgrus. After exploring further in the Estuary and Rainforest, I wonder how I ever managed to survive with just 300 higgrus. Many times I've survived with only a little bit of health which means I would have fallen if I hadn't trained with Higgrus. It makes my previous assumption that I could avoid most or all danger by just having enough proximus as being naive and silly.

I may train more health in the future, but for now I'm getting a tad more radium until 100, and then getting enough AnDeux Faure until my Faustus is 400 since my healing speed is woefully inadequate at 300.

The next area of the Estuary has been released and it's incredibly awesome. Tons of folks to talk to, a new story with the Orga, new pinkish clothes, maybe even something new for mystics, and best of all there's a pier that needs fixing so the area will get even bigger. The folks who worked on this area definitely put a lot of love and care and it's gratifying to see.

Ansset came with us on our trip and I was glad he came because not only did he find a mystic illusion but he was able to get a cage and capture his very own parrot. It sits on his shoulder and makes a lot of noise but it still makes me a little jealous. As a pirate where is my parrot?

I want to write a long article about the Estuary but I'm afraid I have many other things to do today and can't spare the time. I will say that it's definitely a place that everyone should experience at least once.

Even Mujin-kun gets tired of the same look!

Finally I left Daimoth's clan and returned to the Sun Dragon Clan since he isn't clanning much or at all, isn't doing anything to expand the clan, and since only he did the inviting I didn't see any point to staying in it. Even though most clans are dead I'd rather have Sun Dragon Clan on my label than anyone else's.