Summary: Finishing the 50 blue mage quest and Azulmagia. Challenges #1-25 in the Masked Carnivale.
---
I haven’t played blue mage in over a year. My first two sessions with the job:
Part 132, Crystal Blue Persuasion: http://coldrungaming.blogspot.com/2019/04/ffxiv-p...
Part 133, Plague of the Whalaqee: http://coldrungaming.blogspot.com/2019/04/ffxiv-p...
I left off at the end of the 50 story, need to collect more spells and do the Masked Carnivale challenges to progress.
-First,
I grinded up to 60 while getting a bunch of new Heavensward abilities.
Thanks to Danny B for the blue mage tips! My friend Almaeron helped me
with a couple of key spells too, Diamondback and Aetherial Mimicry.
For the carnival itself, I plan to do as best I can on my own but use a guide if a challenge is too tough for me.
---
The Masked Carnival
-Some
of the early challenges are just a matter of hitting the enemies a lot.
With weaknesses if possible (e.g. lightning against
lightning-vulnerable enemies).
-The first weird one is #5. Three turtles sit there and do nothing, taking basically no damage. Hm.
Aha! It’s vulnerable to “Flat Damage/Death.” I got a spell called Tail Screw that drops it down to 1HP, then can finish it off.
-Y’know what? I’m feeling pretty good about my kit. I’m going to try Azulmagia again.
-First phase, down! Just dodging and magic attacks.
-Second phase is tougher. Drops blazing spears I have to kill ASAP, but more importantly is immune to magic damage. I just picked up Drill Cannon though from a magitek this evening, which gives me a physical spell.
-Third and final phase time, and… I’m stuck. Literally and figuratively. Azulmagia casts web on me, making it impossible to move, then drops a huge meteor. I can’t run out of it. Too slow.
I tried using Exuviation (a Esuna effect) to cleanse the slow from his web spell. It doesn’t work. Really dunno what to do, so I just look it up.
AHA! I should’ve known. I have to use a spell I actually have in my arsenal called “Loom.” It’s a short-range teleport. I can teleport while webbed to safety from the meteor.
-Still, the execution is nasty. I’ve tried a few attempts at this. The whirlwinds Azulmagia summons cloud my vision, Loom is tough to use, and there’s just not much room to move.
*four attempts later*
I’m
getting pretty frustrated. The main struggle is that Loom is TERRIBLE. I
hate abilities that use those aiming reticles, especially when you need
precision.
*two more attempts later*
FHDSJKLFHDSKLFHDSL FINALLY!!!! WOOO GOT HIM!
My
biggest adjustment was to stop trying to nail the most precise Loom.
Instead, I started casting Loom as soon as Web hit. Then I’d immediately
cast a second one, neither of which had to be max distance. That took
me out of the meteor hit.
---
Turning Over a Blue Leaf
-The main quest
focused on two blue mages. Whastrach is exploiting the land sacred to
the Whalaqee (a thinly disguised Native American metaphor). Marten is
not a great guy, but an ally trying to amend the harm done to the
Whalaqee.
My battle against Whastrach took place in a
WWE-style arena. I played “Azuro the Second” while Whastrach was full
heel as “Azulmagia.” (I still love that FFV callback. Perfection.)
-Beating Azulmagia saved the sacred Lapis Canyon for the Whalaqee.
-Whastrach is an antagonist, but not a full-on villain. A businessman who will still look to exploit “the New World,” but maybe in less aggressive ways than using their sacred land. I guess that’s something?
In his favor, he’s hiring a Whalaqee guide, Ceadda, to help him steer clear of sacred land.
---
More Masked Carnivale
-Now that I have a reasonable baseline of spells, I’m really enjoying the masked carnival. The trial and error process is fun.
For instance, #19, “On a Clear Day You Can Smell Forever” against a malboro named Reflective Rebekkah. A two act fight, with no obvious weaknesses.
ATTEMPT #1: She pops up Reflect early, making her immune to magic. I have a physical spell though, Drill Cannons. First phase is just dodging aoe telegraphs. Second phase though, she summons adds all around the room that have a gaze attack. They’re all around so I can’t avoid it. It hits me, stuns me, and I get killed by her Bad Breath.
(ATTEMPT #1.5: I just got sloppy and hit by Bad Breath in first phase. Silly death.)
Rekt by Rebekkah.
ATTEMPT #2: So the problem is those gazer adds. What can deal with them? I tried using Diamondback, but it just reduces damage and makes me not move. The status effects from Rebekkah’s breath still hit.
ATTEMPT #3: The gazer adds stun me, but don’t do damage. Their only threat is how they set me up for Rebekkah’s aoe. This time, I try moving just out of Bad Breath before the stun lands… AND IT WORKS! I kept moving and got stunned just outside Rebekkah’s breath.
Finished her off for a victory.
-WOOOO!! Completed the 25 Masked Carnivale challenges!
-My favorite challenge was #18, Midsummer Night’s Explosion.
It wasn’t hard, but it was SUPER satisfying. The enemies were manticores with long wind-up attacks, and the arena was filled with explosive kegs. I had to position them so that the manticores’ attacks hit the kegs instead, doing big damage to them.
-I figured out most strategies myself, but sometimes needed a guide. Like the Typhon/Ultros fight. I just could NOT beat the third act. Ultros’ tentacles stun-locked me, bouncing me around the arena forever.
The
guide’s solution was a bit cheesy tbh. Basically, I buffed with Bristle
and Off-Guard, and then used Final Sting to do a double knockout (which
surprisingly counts as a win).
-Beyond that, I learned a lot about how to use my abilities that I didn’t know before. Some keys:
FLYING SARDINE: (an instant cast interrupt) was a lifesaver.
ACORN BOMB/RAM’S VOICE: Great crowd control.
DRILL CANNON: My only real physical attack, absolutely required in some cases.
DIAMONDBACK: Felt absolutely mandatory in some fights to survive huge damage bursts.
---
Random Stuff Around Eorzea
The spellbook entries for blue mage spells are flat-out hilarious:
So are the punalicious names of the Masked Carnivale challenges:
Name and dress out of a gothic romance:
Stylish blue mage Ququshu:
Player with a cool design:
-Some great player names seen recently:
Yubaba Dook – one of my favorite horror movies ever.
Kim Chiii – …an acquired taste
Cutest Munchkin
Lord Kittylover
---
Next time: The 50-60 blue mage story.
