Summary: Rhapsodies progress. Siren, the masked man, Tenzen, and Iroha. Limit break to 99. A frustrating weapon skill quest.
Mission: The Fallen Avatar (Rhapsodies of Vana’diel)
Last time, I followed the masked Void Eater into Yuhtunga Jungle where Siren came to his defense and obliterated me. Like, it wasn’t remotely a fight. I barely touched her. Let’s try again.
-Her defense is still high and it’s slow going, but I’m chipping away.
-I tried using a Skillchain: Light, but she just absorbed the damage. Whoops.
-Come on come on…
YESSS YHAHAHA FINALLY
VOLTO OSCURO: “It’s over, Siren.”
Is that the name of the masked dude? Is he actually speaking?
-It is. Volto Oscuro drains the energy from Siren’s floating body and disappears.
-OH CRAP SIREN WAKES UP – please say no round two please say no round two…
SIREN: “To think my charms turned against me… I thank you, Detolilla.”
!! Whew. So Siren is a good character who just got temporarily corrupted/hypnotized by Volto Oscuro.
-Apparently, Volto Oscuro did more than just brainwash her. She says:
“It took me to a future… a bleak future, where my wings fluttered despite myself carrying me upon the wind. It called itself the ‘ambassador of the void,’ yet I cannot tell from whence it came, nor why it chose to appear before me. Nor can I fathom whether or not it was acting of its own volition.
-Siren also assures me that although it looked last time like Iroha got whomped by Volto Oscuro and killed, she will help us again. “The blessing enveloping her ensures it.”
The blessing enveloping her? Hm. I know that Volto Oscuro is a servant of the Void, the Emptiness. Perhaps Iroha is blessed by whatever the opposite power is.
-Siren gives me her blessing, and will help me.
Btw, I frigging LOVE Siren’s design. “Let your communion with nature reverberate throughout the sky and sea!”
She casts some blessing magic on me, then folds her wings and vanishes.
-Ooh, I got Rhapsody in Azure as a reward for that quest! The main reward for it seems to be a 30% experience bonus.
---
Mission: Volto Oscuro (Rhapsodies of Vana’diel)
-With Siren returned to her old self, it’s time to report back to Gilgamesh in Norg.
-Zeid and Aldo are also here.
-Aldo found someone familiar with Reisenjima Sanctorium, the place that Iroha was protecting in the future. The person is someone new: Tenzen. Yay an airbender!
Oh wait, he’s a warrior from the east. He came to Jeuno a while back asking for help about an “Emptiness” threatening his homeland. Well. That sure as hell sounds like the Emptiness from the future.
-Tenzen is not around currently. He’s wandering “the Middle Lands.”
-So our next steps: Aldo will search for Tenzen, and Zeid will search for more information about that gray parallel dimension, Escha.
-HAHA HOLY SHIT YSES, ZEID GAVE ME HIS ALTER EGO! I can summon him as a Trust NPC now. That’s awesome.
Mission: The Fallen Avatar (Rhapsodies of Vana’diel)
Last time, I followed the masked Void Eater into Yuhtunga Jungle where Siren came to his defense and obliterated me. Like, it wasn’t remotely a fight. I barely touched her. Let’s try again.
-Her defense is still high and it’s slow going, but I’m chipping away.
-I tried using a Skillchain: Light, but she just absorbed the damage. Whoops.
-Come on come on…
YESSS YHAHAHA FINALLY
VOLTO OSCURO: “It’s over, Siren.”
Is that the name of the masked dude? Is he actually speaking?
-It is. Volto Oscuro drains the energy from Siren’s floating body and disappears.
-OH CRAP SIREN WAKES UP – please say no round two please say no round two…
SIREN: “To think my charms turned against me… I thank you, Detolilla.”
!! Whew. So Siren is a good character who just got temporarily corrupted/hypnotized by Volto Oscuro.
-Apparently, Volto Oscuro did more than just brainwash her. She says:
“It took me to a future… a bleak future, where my wings fluttered despite myself carrying me upon the wind. It called itself the ‘ambassador of the void,’ yet I cannot tell from whence it came, nor why it chose to appear before me. Nor can I fathom whether or not it was acting of its own volition.
-Siren also assures me that although it looked last time like Iroha got whomped by Volto Oscuro and killed, she will help us again. “The blessing enveloping her ensures it.”
The blessing enveloping her? Hm. I know that Volto Oscuro is a servant of the Void, the Emptiness. Perhaps Iroha is blessed by whatever the opposite power is.
-Siren gives me her blessing, and will help me.
Btw, I frigging LOVE Siren’s design. “Let your communion with nature reverberate throughout the sky and sea!”
She casts some blessing magic on me, then folds her wings and vanishes.
-Ooh, I got Rhapsody in Azure as a reward for that quest! The main reward for it seems to be a 30% experience bonus.
---
Mission: Volto Oscuro (Rhapsodies of Vana’diel)
-With Siren returned to her old self, it’s time to report back to Gilgamesh in Norg.
-Zeid and Aldo are also here.
-Aldo found someone familiar with Reisenjima Sanctorium, the place that Iroha was protecting in the future. The person is someone new: Tenzen. Yay an airbender!
Oh wait, he’s a warrior from the east. He came to Jeuno a while back asking for help about an “Emptiness” threatening his homeland. Well. That sure as hell sounds like the Emptiness from the future.
-Tenzen is not around currently. He’s wandering “the Middle Lands.”
-So our next steps: Aldo will search for Tenzen, and Zeid will search for more information about that gray parallel dimension, Escha.
-HAHA HOLY SHIT YSES, ZEID GAVE ME HIS ALTER EGO! I can summon him as a Trust NPC now. That’s awesome.
---
Mission: Ring My Bell (Rhapsodies of Vana’diel)
-Some time presumably passes in game. I go back to Gilgamesh’s room. Zeid, Aldo, and Gilgamesh are here, along with the newcomer, Tenzen.
-More rifts are appearing in the world, rifts that lead to “Escha” – parallel versions of zones.
-TENZEN. LOOKS. AWESOME.
“I am Tenzen, a humble warrior with roots planted firmly in the Far East. May our meeting bear fruit.”
-He came here after hearing about Iroha, sad now to see that hse’s missing.
-Tenzen searched for Iroha at Reisenjima Sanctorium in thep resent time, but nobody has heard of her. She probably hasn’t been born yet.
-All of a sudden, a new character appears next to Tenzen in a puff of smoke. She must be a ninja. Kagero.
-Kagero examines the orb that Iroha gave to me, saying that it connects the bearer (me) to a higher power somehow.
-Yikes. I get a brief glimpse of a figure with long bluish-white hair in a black void. Very brief. Not sure who that is. All I know is that she’s in Delkfutt’s Tower, whoever she is.
-Tenzen leaves, heading to Delkfutt’s Tower to explore.
---
Mission: Spirits Awoken (Rhapsodies of Vana’diel)
-I head to Delkfutt’s Tower.
-IROHA IS HERE, HI IROHA!
-She says she just needed a “respite.” Uh. Okay. You were shot with evil magic by a void dude, but okay.
-She learned that the energies of all the mothercrystals in Vana’diel converge here.
IROHA: “The crystal… it murmured something to me… ‘the chains of Promathia.’”
OH SHIT HERE WE GO, NEXT EXPANSION REVVING UP
-I tell Iroha about Tenzen, and she’s “intimately familiar” with “Sir Tenzen.” He was the one who strongly insists in the future that she train under me.
-My next task is to deal with whatever trials surround the chains of Promathia. So I have to complete this next expansion’s content, and then I’ll continue with Rhapsodies of Vana’diel.
-While I work on this expansion, Iroha will investigate those rifts opening up to Escha around the world.
---
Quest: Impulse Drive (Polearm Skill)
-This is a quest to gain a new weapon skill. I was going to skip writing about it because it’s not, like, super interesting storywise, but it’s mechanically interesting to me.
-The story is that an old trainer in San d’Oria wants my help to train new soldiers in using the polearm. To do so, I have to take this training polearm he gives me and gain “300 points” with it. I gain points by using it for skillchains. More powerful skillchains lead to more points.
-So this is my chance to experiment a bit with skillchains with my trust NPCs.
Mission: Ring My Bell (Rhapsodies of Vana’diel)
-Some time presumably passes in game. I go back to Gilgamesh’s room. Zeid, Aldo, and Gilgamesh are here, along with the newcomer, Tenzen.
-More rifts are appearing in the world, rifts that lead to “Escha” – parallel versions of zones.
-TENZEN. LOOKS. AWESOME.
“I am Tenzen, a humble warrior with roots planted firmly in the Far East. May our meeting bear fruit.”
-He came here after hearing about Iroha, sad now to see that hse’s missing.
-Tenzen searched for Iroha at Reisenjima Sanctorium in thep resent time, but nobody has heard of her. She probably hasn’t been born yet.
-All of a sudden, a new character appears next to Tenzen in a puff of smoke. She must be a ninja. Kagero.
-Kagero examines the orb that Iroha gave to me, saying that it connects the bearer (me) to a higher power somehow.
-Yikes. I get a brief glimpse of a figure with long bluish-white hair in a black void. Very brief. Not sure who that is. All I know is that she’s in Delkfutt’s Tower, whoever she is.
-Tenzen leaves, heading to Delkfutt’s Tower to explore.
---
Mission: Spirits Awoken (Rhapsodies of Vana’diel)
-I head to Delkfutt’s Tower.
-IROHA IS HERE, HI IROHA!
-She says she just needed a “respite.” Uh. Okay. You were shot with evil magic by a void dude, but okay.
-She learned that the energies of all the mothercrystals in Vana’diel converge here.
IROHA: “The crystal… it murmured something to me… ‘the chains of Promathia.’”
OH SHIT HERE WE GO, NEXT EXPANSION REVVING UP
-I tell Iroha about Tenzen, and she’s “intimately familiar” with “Sir Tenzen.” He was the one who strongly insists in the future that she train under me.
-My next task is to deal with whatever trials surround the chains of Promathia. So I have to complete this next expansion’s content, and then I’ll continue with Rhapsodies of Vana’diel.
-While I work on this expansion, Iroha will investigate those rifts opening up to Escha around the world.
---
Quest: Impulse Drive (Polearm Skill)
-This is a quest to gain a new weapon skill. I was going to skip writing about it because it’s not, like, super interesting storywise, but it’s mechanically interesting to me.
-The story is that an old trainer in San d’Oria wants my help to train new soldiers in using the polearm. To do so, I have to take this training polearm he gives me and gain “300 points” with it. I gain points by using it for skillchains. More powerful skillchains lead to more points.
-So this is my chance to experiment a bit with skillchains with my trust NPCs.
-My Wheeling Thrust + Valaineral’s Swift Blade = Gravitation, a Level 2 skillchain.
-Ayame’s Tachi: Gekko + my Skewer = Impaction, a Level 1 skillchain. Meh.
-Valainareal’s Uriel Blade + my Wheeling Thrust = Light, a Level 3 skillchain. YES THIS.
-Zeid’s Ground Strike + my Wheeling Thrust = Light. This too.
-Valaineral’s Savage Blade + my Wheeling Thrust = Light.
A level 3 Light skillchain.
Good! I have a set of things to watch for, and some practice with skillchains.
-Hah. The problem I’m having so far with this quest is that enemies are dying too quickly, so I swap out my samurai Ayame and swap in a bard, Joachim, who heals and buffs.
*two hours later*
-I am filled with a burning hatred for my trust NPCs.
So the gist of “closing a skillchain” for this quest is that someone uses a weapon skill, I wait 2-3 seconds, and I use my corresponding weapon skill. Like, Zeid uses Ground Strike, three seconds pass, I use Wheeling Thrust. Bam! A super satisfying ball of light erupts of the enemy’s head for a blast of damage.
-AND YET.
-Like 90% of the time, they fuck with this in two ways:
1)They wait until the enemy is almost dead, so that their abilities kill the enemy. I can’t close the skillchain against a dead enemy.
2)They steal my chain closing. If Zeid uses Ground Strike, and any other character uses any other ability before I close with Wheeling Thrust, then it seems to interrupt and stop me.
This is SO FRUSTRATING.
*many hours later*
Eventually, I swapped around my trust NPCs for Ayame. I like her because she syncs best with me. Sure, the skillchain she creates syncing her Tachi: Gekko with my Wheeling Thrust is a level 2 skillchain and not a level 3, but it’s reliable. Whenever we’re both at 1000 TP, we can do this, as long as the enemy doesn’t die or someone else doesn’t interrupt it. These happen, but not often, and I can control it to some degree.
*many more hours later*
-This is getting ridiculous. How is the quest not complete yet? The game doesn’t have a way to track how many “points” I get, so apparently the way it tells me I’m done is that a buff (“latent effect”) on the weapon will disappear when I close enough skillchains. I feel like I’ve done this many times over, but that buff is still there.
I started this quest at level 91. I’m now level 97.
-A linkshell-mate was also confused, and told me to just try turning in the weapon. Apparently, if I turn the training weapon into the questgiver, the questgiver will tell me how far along I am. Ok.
So I turned it in, and… I was done. The game bugged out somehow, the tag on the weapon that was supposed to disappear to tell me I finished never disappeared, and that’s it.
Ok. *deep breaths*
-There’s another stage to this quest though. The questgiver, Balasiel,
tells me to go to Sea Serpent Grotto to take find the “Annals of Truth,”
presumably some secret polearm technique.
Normally I wouldn’t even mention this, but this quest is just another perfect glimpse into the mindset of an old MMO. Do I go to Sea Serpent Grotto, look for the area marked “Annals of Truth,” kill a boss, and win?
Lol no.
1.Talk to a random dude in Norg about getting a Sahagin Key. His hint: “I dunno, talk to one of them and ask if you want a key, har har!”
2.Find a hidden door, click on it multiple times, trade a Gold Beastcoin to the Door, go through, find a hidden passage on the next map, click a hidden door, and talk to a friendly Sahagin who tells me about some Sahagin betrayer.
3.Go back to the first map in Sea Serpent Grotto, find a different hidden door to click on multiple times, trade a Silver Beastcoin to the door, find another hidden passage on the newly discovered map, click another hidden door, and talk to the Sahagin betrayer. He offers to make me a key in exchange for three Mythril Beastcoins and a Norg Shell.
4.Go back out to the main map, fish in a lake within Sea Serpent Grotto until I fish up a Norg Shell, and give the Betrayer the items. Betrayer gives me a key.
5.Find a final locked door and trade the Sahagin Key to it.
6.Go beyond the door and search the ground for an invisible “???.” Click on it, kill the boss that spawns, and then click again on the “???.”
7.Success.
-Balasiel is happy upon my return, saying that I look stronger after going through his training regimen. I’ve helped him devise a training system for his new knights, and unlocked the new weapon skill “Impulse Drive” within myself.
-Whew. What a quest. Not that interesting story-wise, but mechanically it was involved as hell. And as much as I crapped on some of the vagaries around it, it taught me a TON about skillchains, so I’m glad I did it.
Normally I wouldn’t even mention this, but this quest is just another perfect glimpse into the mindset of an old MMO. Do I go to Sea Serpent Grotto, look for the area marked “Annals of Truth,” kill a boss, and win?
Lol no.
1.Talk to a random dude in Norg about getting a Sahagin Key. His hint: “I dunno, talk to one of them and ask if you want a key, har har!”
2.Find a hidden door, click on it multiple times, trade a Gold Beastcoin to the Door, go through, find a hidden passage on the next map, click a hidden door, and talk to a friendly Sahagin who tells me about some Sahagin betrayer.
3.Go back to the first map in Sea Serpent Grotto, find a different hidden door to click on multiple times, trade a Silver Beastcoin to the door, find another hidden passage on the newly discovered map, click another hidden door, and talk to the Sahagin betrayer. He offers to make me a key in exchange for three Mythril Beastcoins and a Norg Shell.
4.Go back out to the main map, fish in a lake within Sea Serpent Grotto until I fish up a Norg Shell, and give the Betrayer the items. Betrayer gives me a key.
5.Find a final locked door and trade the Sahagin Key to it.
6.Go beyond the door and search the ground for an invisible “???.” Click on it, kill the boss that spawns, and then click again on the “???.”
7.Success.
-Balasiel is happy upon my return, saying that I look stronger after going through his training regimen. I’ve helped him devise a training system for his new knights, and unlocked the new weapon skill “Impulse Drive” within myself.
-Whew. What a quest. Not that interesting story-wise, but mechanically it was involved as hell. And as much as I crapped on some of the vagaries around it, it taught me a TON about skillchains, so I’m glad I did it.
---
Quest: Beyond Infinity (Final Limit Break)
-Last in this quest, the Tarutaru named Atori-Tutori challenged me to a fight that will presumably let me get to level 99 if I win.
-I did a side-quest first though. I talked to Maat and Degenhard and farmed some items for “Old Rarab Tails,” pickled food items that will supposedly make this fight easier.
-HEE! It turns out that the pickled food, the Old Rarab Tail, so disgusts Atori-Tutori that he’s just stunned for a few minutes and lets me whale on him. I use a few of these tails and he goes down.
-Well, not him exactly. “The Atori-Tutori you defeated was merely a part of me. Specifically-wifically speaking, my shadow.”
-I tell him I want to fight the actual him, not just his shadow. He warns me off.
“Trust me, Detolilla. You’re bettaru off quitting while you’re ahead.” Probably right. This guy scares me.
”Tra la la, off to commitaru some murdery-wurdery!”
-I return to Maat and the Nomad Moogle. These two are happy for me, having overseen all my prior limit break quests, but they mentioned some kind of contract.
Atori-Tutori mentioned the same thing. That I’m now under contract to him. As his student.
-Maat walks off, and comes upon Atori-Tutori waiting in the shadows. They talk about me fondly as a student. “With more ambition ‘n sense.”
-Well, Maat and Atori-Tutori did it. They took this scrubbish rookie and trained her up to the final limit break. Thanks, friends.
---
Next time: Hitting level 99 and back to the Bastok storyline.
Quest: Beyond Infinity (Final Limit Break)
-Last in this quest, the Tarutaru named Atori-Tutori challenged me to a fight that will presumably let me get to level 99 if I win.
-I did a side-quest first though. I talked to Maat and Degenhard and farmed some items for “Old Rarab Tails,” pickled food items that will supposedly make this fight easier.
-HEE! It turns out that the pickled food, the Old Rarab Tail, so disgusts Atori-Tutori that he’s just stunned for a few minutes and lets me whale on him. I use a few of these tails and he goes down.
-Well, not him exactly. “The Atori-Tutori you defeated was merely a part of me. Specifically-wifically speaking, my shadow.”
-I tell him I want to fight the actual him, not just his shadow. He warns me off.
“Trust me, Detolilla. You’re bettaru off quitting while you’re ahead.” Probably right. This guy scares me.
”Tra la la, off to commitaru some murdery-wurdery!”
-I return to Maat and the Nomad Moogle. These two are happy for me, having overseen all my prior limit break quests, but they mentioned some kind of contract.
Atori-Tutori mentioned the same thing. That I’m now under contract to him. As his student.
-Maat walks off, and comes upon Atori-Tutori waiting in the shadows. They talk about me fondly as a student. “With more ambition ‘n sense.”
-Well, Maat and Atori-Tutori did it. They took this scrubbish rookie and trained her up to the final limit break. Thanks, friends.
---
Next time: Hitting level 99 and back to the Bastok storyline.
