Support Job
-There’s a Nomad Moogle in Selbina who can either change my primary job or support job. It seems I can only have one support job at a time.
-The only jobs I currently have access to for support are warrior, white mage, monk, black mage, or thief. I… don’t know much about them. I’m hesitant to get white mage or black mage since I already get access to some spells in each area.
-I’m also hesitant about thief. Stealing stuff sounds great, but my inventory is stuffed pretty full. It’s the same problem as I ran into with thief in “X-2: Last Mission.”
-Or… gosh. I really don’t know what exactly a support job gives me and game hasn’t been super clear. Going to test it out a bit and may ask for help if I still feel lost then.
My working theory is that it boosts part of my skills and gives me access to new skills. So, if I were to get white mage as a support job, it probably boosts my healing and gives me access to new healing skills. If I boost warrior, it probably boosts my tankiness.
-I think I’ll want eventually to play around with other jobs, like bard or dancer or geomancer or blue mage, but I can’t unlock extra jobs until level 30 according to the Adventurer’s Primer. I’m currently level 25.
-First thing to test: if I kill as a 25 red mage/1 monk, will monk get experience? Probably not.
-Killed a giant sheep outside Selbina (which used the hilariously-named “Lamb Chop” attack), and… I don’t think my new support job got xp. All I see is the one experience bar.
-So I may have to swap to monk and go all the way back and grind it up fresh. That’s kind of unfortunate and inelegant, but I’ll try it. Going with Monk, since I figure it might help me do more physical damage.
-OH GOD I’M NAKED
-So yes, this resets my level. Which also means that all the gear I was wearing with minimum levels of 10, 12, 15, etc. all gets unequipped.
-I spend 500 gil and teleport back to the Bastok Mines. Training time!
---
Training Montage – Monk, 1-15
-I wonder if I can still use Trust magic or if I have to wait for a certain level… yes! I still get (a scaled-down) Naji to help.
-“Prowess attained: Enhanced “Cure” potency.” What does this mean?
-Hit level 4 VERY quickly in the mines, with a training regimen there. The training regimens are repeatable quests to kill certain groups of enemies. (Like, to kill 3 Ding Bats.) I get gil, experience, and “tabs” which can be spent to teleport elsewhere or get buffs.
Really digging the monk punching animation.
-AHA! Shit’s starting to click in place. Now I see what those books that teleport me to different areas are really for. I teleport to Dangruf Wadi, where the next training regimen lets goes from 3-8.
-“Prowess attained: Enhanced magic accuracy and magic attack.” Again: hm.
-“Prowess attained: Increased crystal yield.” This HAS to related to support jobs somehow.
-Ah, found it. Prowesses aren’t related to support jobs, but rather to training regimens. As I do them, I get temporary benefits to the area in which I do the training regimens.
-Neat! Found a level 75 bard instrument in a treasure chest.
-Okay. Hit level 15. That’s as high as I want to go, since I want it to support Red Mage to level 30. Then I may try out other jobs as I unlock them.
-This is also a nice starting path to build up future jobs: Zeruhn Mines 1-6, Dangruf Wadi 7-20. Went by much quicker than I had expected.
---
Bastok Mog House
-Now that I hit the level I want, I’ll swap back to red mage and see what this support job really does. Heading back to my nation for the job switch.
-A moogle here mentions something about Mithra cubs getting information and the MHMU (Mog Housing (Something) Union?).
-WHOA CINEMATIC IN THE MOG HOUSE
“it all began with a raindrop, or so the legend says…”
-My mog house has a leak in the roof. This moogle in my house starts flipping out, but telling me not to fear, for he is the “most renowned handymoogle [HANDYMOOOOGLE ] in the three nations!”
-Apparently my house sucks and needs lots of repairs. I need three things: “Orcish armor plate, a Quadav backscale, and a block of Yagudo caulk” to fix it.
-Checked my mission, and yes. This mission is the first in the “Moogle Kupo d’Etat” chain. WOOHOO!! I could probably farm a Quadav backscale from the Palborough Mines, but not sure about the Orcish armor plate or the block of Yagudo caulk. Hopefully I’ll find them in my travels.
*hug*
-lol when I ask my house moogle to change my job, he twirls around and says: “Chaaaaange… job! Kupopopopooooo!” Quite a magical incantation.
-Tried using 25 red mage with my monk support job and again with a level 1 support job (warrior).
The higher level monk support job gives me extra stuff. A tiny bit of extra strength, dex, vitality, mind, and charisma. Not world-beating, but something. And about 50 extra HP, which is very nice.
---
Mission: The Beginning (Rhapsodies of Vana’diel)
-Ready to move on. Do I go to Norg for “Rhapsodies of Vana’diel,” or Mhaura and Windurst for the Emissary mission?
-Norg. I know the Emissary mission helps open the way to rank 3, and gets me closer to another Trust member (Ayame), but I can’t say no to Gilgamesh.
-Found his crew. The Elvaan he was with is Pacomart, which I’m a bit sad about because I thought he’d be Enkidu.
-We set sail, and they take me to a new place. A cave called Norg. Seems to be a pirate den.
-Some vendors here sell a lot of monk, samurai, and ninja gear. I’ll bet this is where I’d come for the samurai/ninja missions.
-A random guy, Magephaud, says something that chills my blood: “If ya ever have any problems with those pesky little Tonberries, just come to yer buddy Magephaud. It doesn’t look like you’re in that much trouble, though.” ??DHSFJKDHSFKLDS FUCKING TONBERRIES, OF COURSE THEY’D BE A THING IN FFXI. I’m pre-emptively terrified.
-Found a vendor selling ninja scrolls. They look really, really interesting – they deal damage from one element and lower resistance to another element. Like, one deals lightning damage and lowers resistance against earth. So this means ninjas might fight in a certain cycle, casting one of these to lower resistance, hitting with another that exploits that resistance, etc.
-Another random person here:
“When Ifrit, Lord of the Inferno,/ Woke from his age-old slumber,/ Magma poured from the jagged cracks,/ As the ocean floor ripped asunder.” Sounds like Ifrit’s Cauldron on Mount Yuhtunga might be where I find Ifrit himself.
-Norg connects to Sea Serpent’s Grotto, which has lots of Sahagin in it.
-This island has two jungles, the Yhoator Jungle and the Yuhtunga Jungle. Both are convoluted and someone says I should get a map first.
-A little Tarutaru ninja tells me ninjas get dual wield. HOLY SHIT THAT’S AWESOME?? She tells me of a legendarily strong ninja that might even have been stronger than Gilgamesh. “If only she was still around… You coulda asked her all about how t’be a ninja!” No doubt she’s the ninja questgiver.
-A pirate here says that pirates are like summoners in combat, but instead of summoning monsters, they summon the souls of dead sailors. Is that the lore behind the Corsair job? Cause that’s trippy af.
-Made my way deeper into the pirate den where Gilgamesh (who seems to be the pirate boss) awaits. A woman is with him.
???: “Master!”
Uhhhhh. What?
???: “I have followed your instructions to the letter. Months upon years have I toiled, seeking guidance from both man and the heavens, never once letting my training or dedication falter. All this I have done so that we may meet once more.”
LADY WHO TF ARE YOU??
-Her name is Iroha. She’s not surprised I don’t know who she is. Do I have amnesia or something?
IROHA: “This time is many, many years before I came to be…” Ok. Something timey-wimey is going on.
-HAHAHA THIS IS TRIPPY AND AWESOME!! Iroha comes from the future, when Vana’diel is in deep shit, and I eventually became her master.
-She’s a guardian of the “Reisenjima Sanctorium,” the chief priestess. By Gilgamesh’s reaction, it’s an eastern faith.
-She was sent back in time by spirits to prevent the darkness that engulfed her era. This is some Terminator shit right here.
-She gets my permission to discuss the future, and I give it.
-In her time, the “Emptiness” is the main enemy. “A blanket of darkness that infects all it touches.” In her time, I’m basically John Connors, leader of the resistance.
-As she speaks of the Emptiness that began to cloud and dominate the world – Quon, Mindartia, Adoulin (continents of Vana’diel) – we see sketches of this. I love the art style.
-She survives because I eventually sacrifice myself for her.
-Iroha’s mother is from the island of Reisenjima, the land where the final struggle took place against the Emptiness.
-This is INTENSELY CREEPY. We see that Iroha couldn’t beat the Emptiness, only hold it at bay temporarily. We get a glimpse of her kneeling alone in the darkness of her island’s temple. She was trapped there for YEARS!!! THE ONLY PERSON LEFT ALIVE IN THIS DEAD AND EMPTY WORLD!!!
”A Pyrrhic victory, indeed, as the walls of Reisenjima’s sanctorum could do naught but echo back my own solitary cries.”
Then a spirit visited her.
-The spirit sent her back here. It gave her something to pass onto me – a glowing stone that looks a bit like a hearthstone.
-Gilgamesh asks the question that’s been on my mind: if that’s the future, how can I stop it? Iroha says that I can somehow exist in both worlds – where the Emptiness wins and where it doesn’t – and work to bring the latter world into reality.
-oh no! Iroha begins to disappear. She was only given a short time. She fades.
-Gilgamesh is as gobsmacked by this whole thing as I am. He has a companion here named Aldo who says he’ll look into it.
GILGAMESH: “<sigh> I’ve ne’er been too good at dealin’ with complex twists and turns.” Well, you dealt with them admirably in FFV, if I do say so myself.
-I examine the stone Iroha gave me before fading, the Reisenjima Sanctorium orb: “A pale yellow orb given to you by Iroha that can light the way to the future.”
---
Mission: The Flame of Prayer (Rhapsodies of Vana’diel)
-I leave the room briefly, then head back in to talk to Gilgamesh.
-He mentions that things have been weirder than usual recently – new beasts appearing, people getting lost in familiar place, etc. Our next step is to look into the situation.
-GILGAMESH HAS A DAUGHTER! HER NAME IS LION!! This makes me incredibly happy.
-An old man in the room with Gilgamesh, Kamui, says that Lion ran out recently to either Bastok, San d’Oria, or Windurst to investigate the threat from the Beastmen. He says she’s a “tomboy” and a top-notch investigator. I really, really want to meet her.
-My next steps in “Rhapsodies of Vana’diel” are to complete the rank 2 missions that I’m working on, and then track Lion down at one of the Crags, like that weird Crag of Dem structure in Konschtat Highlands.
---
Next time: Got as far as I could in the Rhapsodies of Vana’diel missions for now, so I’m going to move on towards Windurst and then San d’Oria to work on my Emissary mission for Bastok.
THIS GAME IS GETTING SO GOOD Y’ALL.
