I have the Clan of the Angry Monkey FFXI website up now. I will soon be handing out Linkpearls for it.

Welp, I spent some time levelling my main job. I fought in a good group with a Dragoon for a bit. Oddly enough, I was the big damage taker and dealer for the group (my 517 HP with 106 DEF and 99 ATK kinda kicks ass).

After that, I went back to Dangruff Wadi and killed me some Wadi Hares for their grasses. I filled up my inventory with them and headed north to Jeuno to sell them. Wow, did they ever sell like hotcakes! What an easy and quick way to make gil! Enroute I saw a pretty kick ass summoned beasty.

After that I went and logged for Elm at Gelsba. Elm goes for around 3000-3500 gil each at the San d'Oria AH so it's some pretty easy money (I'm broke, what can I say?) Back in Jeuno, I saw this freak. Man, people need to be careful what armor they buy ;-)

Haven't had much time to play lately, so I've just been logging. I've made quite a bit of gil this way, and even invested in fancy logging wear.

Well, I had a busy weekend in spite of the fact I spent very little time playing the game (I'm still only at level 22, when everyone else who started with me is in their 30s). I started the weekend off with Crescentia power-levelling my sub-job which was pretty productive. My sub-job is now level 14, which is near the 15 I want to get it to so I never have to worry about it again (I don't want to sub WAR after the advanced jobs are available to me). Afterwards, I headed back to Windhurst from San d'Oria so that I could start the Dragon mission (2-3) and participate in it with Crescentia, Kyler, Znaniecki. Enroute to Mhaura, our boat was jumped by pirates. *Sigh*

Back in Windhurst, I spent some time goofing off (because no one else was ready to start the mission). I did some chick watching... pathetic ain't I? Did a few quests, then started the mission without everyone else and headed off to do the solo stuff.

I also blew some 20 large on fishing clothing and gear so I could fish back on the boat.

Remember my first boat ride to Selbina where I was slaughtered by a Sea Monk? Well, I've come a long way since then. On the boat, I was attacked by another Sea Monk while fishing. See? this is what killed me that first time! Anyway, in spite of the fact my defense was way down due to my fishing gear, I prevailed. And I continued to fish even after ariving at Selbina.

I went NM (notorious monster) crazy once there because I had some time to kill, so I tracked down a Will-o'-the-Wisp in Valkurm, and a Battering Ram in La Theine Plateau. I eventually wound up in Sand d'Oria at the castle to start the first part of my mission. Here is the Queen's memorial. The mission involved killing the NM Warchief Vatgit, which was easy and I had already killed accidentally once before.

Later on, I was slaughter in Jugner Forest by two Foresr Tigers and saw a Shiva summons before logging off for the weekend.

Welp, we did it. We fought and killed the Dragon. And boy-howdy was it ever awesome!

I started the day in San d'Oria. Crescentia, Kyler, and Drifter had to finish up their Warchief Wrecker sub-mission, so I logged a bit. Then I headed south to Bastok. Znaniecki was going to go with us, but because Kyler messed up on his Warchief mission, and Drifter had no chocobo license yet (she'd only been level 20 for a day, give her a break) he somewhat flaked out and went to get his new Ninjitsu scroll. I'm not really sure I blame him, but it would have been nice to have him along.

Anyway, we met up with a BLM (Sagas) and a SMN (Evangelakis) in Bastok who were willing to come with us, and we were off to the Palborough Mines. Evangelakis knew the way, so we followed him. We had to ascend some levels via elevator, and enroute we were jumped by Quadavs that were all pretty easy for me. Eventually, we made it to the Burning Circle, which is the gateway to the Dragon. We stopped and rested there.

After a cinema, we were in the battle with the Black Dragon. It was freaking awesome. Evangelakis whipped out Garuda to fight with us, while I used my two-hour (hundred fists) to beat the thing to a bloody pulp. It really should have been straight forward: I focus on the Dragon with Drifter keeping me alive, while everyone else focus on the Eye and Cres keep them alive. Unfortunately, Drifter didn't quite keep my HP in the safe range so Cres had to help out. I had to back off a bit, which caused the Dragon to seek other prey, starting with our little BLM Sagas. This forced everyone else to fall back from the Eye and take on the Dragon, but we prevailed regardless. It just was a bit closer than I would have liked (and than it had to be). Still, I'm not complaining, it was freaking incredible. I want to do it again!

After this we road the boat back. Evangelakis gave us a floor show of his summons. Here is Leviathan, Ramuh, Ifirit, Shiva, Garuda and Titan.

I went back to Windhurst to complete the mission, and called it a day, very satisfied with my accomplishments.

Okay, so it was a "Dark Dragon".... not a "Black Dragon". Same diff.

Well, after my very fun few weeks of doing missions and quests, I figured it's probably time to start levelling again. Mainly because everyone of my cohorts has passed me by (one of them even did it twice with his advanced job). So I headed out to Qufim Isle. Honestly the place is ia little bit hard, there are nasties there like Giants and really bad Evil Weapons. But I found a group that was killing IT Clippers and things. The group was a pretty good bunch of guys, and we fought some pretty cool things. But when some of the better members of our team left, and we were stuck with some people who weren't quite up to snuff, it became harder and we got less EXP. So I called it quits. Didn't level, but came very close.

I just wanted to say HOLY CRAP!. This game as a helluva lot more areas than the official PlayOnline map indicates.

I had a pretty exciting weekend playing this game, in spite of the fact I didn't actually have that much time to play (my in-laws were in town). I started out with a bunch of guys to kill the dragon in Gelsbah. I really liked the arena in Gelsbah a lot more than the one north of Bastok. The Dread Dragon was much easier to make out because it was so much brighter here. With this group (all level 25 or higher) we pretty much slaughtered the poor thing. We nearly beat the record even (by like 20 seconds, as I recall). On my way out, I saw someone training a bazillion Orcs. They were doing it on purpose, so I didn't lend a hand.

I then headed back and did some logging. I capped my logging skills, but didn't realize it until later (and after I left San d'Oria). I then headed off to Jeuno to level up and try to sell my logging wares (because they go for so much more there). When Jugner Forest is clear and the sun is setting, it's really pretty there. When I got to Jeuno, I fought in Qufim. I was only level 22, but an aliance and I fought a Giant Ascetic. It really kind of rocked.

Meanwhile, my lumber wasn't selling too quickly in Jeuno, so I sat around waiting for more parties. I met up with some others and soon we were taking on Giants by ourselves. We also fought a Dancing Weapon or two. At the end of the day, I had made it to level 25 with my MNK. I actually made it there twice, because the first time I was killed ;-)

On my way back to San d'Oria (my lumber is taking too long to sell in Jeuno) I found the NM Battering Ram. I was amazed because I could now solo him.

Well, I am off trying for the Kazham keys. Within the first five minutes of trying for them at Gelsbah, a friend of mine and I got 'em. So I sailed back to Windhurst for the Giddeus keys. There I punched Yagudo Votaries, Priests, and Theologists for hours without a drop.

This was complicated by the fact that, since I was a level 25 MNK I was constantly hounded to PT for the Giddeus Dragon. (I'm a damage dealer, what can I say?) I eventually gave up and fought the damned thing. Actually fought him a few times.

Eventually, I did get the Giddeus key. Now I just need money. I'm down to less than 2000 gil, and it's been a long time since I logged. And my level 21 armor and level 15 knuckles just ain't cutting it anymore. Plus, I do need a Peridot, which is rather expensive (for a quest). Argh! Being broke in the game sucks! Someone buy my Copper Ingots at the Windy AH!

Well, I got a lot further, but not quite where I wanted to this weekend.

Firstly, I started out on a positive note getting the last keys with Valsery. We did get one key right off the bat, which I was awarded, but I stuck around and got both of our keys, making gil in the process because Valsery had a THF sub. It was very successful.

With the three keys in hand, I was ready for the Kazham. The port in Jeuno was really neat and the airship itself was very detailed. Inside, the airship was swank and was quite roomy with a great view. My only complaint was that I wanted to see something attack us on it ;-)

Kazham was excellent and really pretty. But, man, was there nasty stuff outside!

I had a string of great parties and levelled quickly up to 29. Here is a new friend (Altairs) giving me an "Ancient Secret Mithran Back Massage". And here is one of the greatest groups I was in this weekend. We raised levels quickly once we were able to fight Goblin Smithies. Eventually we tried to go farther south on Chocobo, and that's when my luck ran out.

I got killed several times, was in lackluster at best and horrible at worst parties, and never made it to 30. I was even in one group with a bunch of kids that wound up pissing off another player so badly that they started chaining nasty gobs on us. *Sigh* Oh well, hopefully I can make it to 30 by the weekend.

Even though I've heard the Ninja quest is easy... And even though I will try the Ninja job out (I really think RNG/NIN makes one kickbutt combination)... I doubt very much I will make Ninja my preferred job any time soon.

Why? Doesn't the Ninja sound cool to me? Well, yes, it does. If it was really a Ninja. Unfortunately, the Blink skill makes it possible for the Ninja to be a very effective tank... which really goes against the whole idea of what a Ninja should be (which is stealthy, sneaky, coming up and killing by surprise type assassin). A Ninja, quite simply, should not be able to be a tank.

Furthermore, I am someone who hates tanking. I don't mind being a backup tank, but my class is really more of a damage dealer. I hate it when I get in groups who have the kneejerk reaction that just because I am a Galka I should be a tank. Alright, so my HP is higher than most everyone else... But I am a MNK, with much lower defense than most of my WAR contemporaries. So all that HP and low defense makes me more of a mana drain, and makes me easier to kill when being a tank.

Don't beleive that MNK's are damage dealers? Granted, our attack level is generally lower than other meelee characters, but our accuracy and attack rate is generally much higher. For example, with my fancy +4% speed belt I have now I typically land 3 to 4 hits for each of my cohort's one. If I am doing 20-30 points of damage per blow, that's 60-120 points of damage each time my cohorts makes a strike. Even if they are hitting at 60 points per strike, at the very least I am on par with them.

Now, don't get me wrong. If I have the highest defense and HP out of everyone in my group, then naturally I should be the tank. I don't mind working outside "the box" and filling the best roles I can fill in my group. In fact, it bothers me when other players aren't flexible, so it'd be hypocritical if I were the same. I just would prefer people thinking a little bit before automatically shoving me into the tank role just because I have a bit more HP.

Anyway, so instead of trying for 30 (and, alright, I did try for 30, but still didn't make it) I spent some time tweaking my armor. Previously my armor and equipment boosted my already high HP by about 100 points. This would put me at 700 some-odd HP in groups with others who had 300-400 HP. After my tweak, my HP is down in the mid 600s, and my STR, Attack, Accuracy and speed have all been boosted dramatically. Now my attack is 135 without boost, and upwards of 400 with enough stacked boosts. So, it's pretty obvious I'm more of a damage dealer now.

Granted, I am holding onto my other equipment at least for a bit so if I ever do need to be the tank in a group (I'm otherwise the best candidate) I can slap it all back on and gain back that 50 HP. But I'm trying to set myself more clearly as the damage dealer I am.

What's all this rant for? Well, aside from pointing you to my Monk FAQ I am saying all this as a long explanation as to why I wont be going for NIN, even though it would make me very popular. I'd like to try for DRK, but I'll need to level my WAR subjob to make that work, and that would involve me tanking a lot.... *shudder*...

Freaking hell. Finally made it to 30. Yeouch. On the way, I was a part of my share of a few Goblin gang-bangs. Excuse my crudeness, but that's really the best way to describe them.

Anyway, I did finally make it to 30, and I travelled to Norg and began my Samurai quest. I think I'm going to aim for Dragoon/Samurai right now for their mondo damage dealing qualities. Of course, that means I have a long old road ahead (you don't really get the big payoff from that until Dragoon is 60 and Samurai is 30 ;-) In the interim, I'm going to sample as many advanced jobs as I can. The thing is about Dragoon/Samurai is that no one will expect me to tank with that combo. It's a pretty obvious damage dealer, and that's what I am shooting for.

Anyway, just a heads up, even though we've promised this before, this weekend we really are switching over in full to the ClanAM linkshell.

Oh, I have a goal. I need to get some LS members at or above my level and see if they'd be interested in pt'ing to kill Mee Deggi the Punisher. Man I want those MNK items he drops ;-)