A little Anecdote

[HelixDraxzonyx]

I think that was what he was trying to say, but he made about 40 typos in that short sentence. He might have been slightly drunk when he emailed me, since his spelling isn't normally that bad. I know he wasn't properly drunk, because he can't type at all like that. The last time he tried, he broke his keyboard in two.

In other news, it seems that assisting a Field Boss kill is more lucrative than doing all the work yourself. While playing as Kotori (Wand specialist) I saw people fighting a Yagyo. Ten minutes later, I run past again and see even more people fighting it, so I decided to chip in, despite the lag. I didn't get the kill, but I did get 67k Ryou, 2 mags that I'm not high enough level to equip, 3 friendship items, a 30k Ryou chest and 2x 100k Ryou chests. Nearly 300k from an assist, yet when I solo a Yagyo I rarely get more than 150k. As for the mags: one's a Rank 7+ Axe SF, so no good to me. The other (need to be Level 51 to equip it mind) sounds a bit better. If POW is below 23 (which it is for her), Crit is boosted by quite a lot (don't remember the exact figure). Combine that with a Chiami, and that would be quite the HP return. I'll hold onto that, the Axe one I'll dissolve once Kotori gets to Izumo.

I might have to try that more often: assisting with Field Bosses instead of soloing. If the rewards are consistent, then it'd be a viable alternative. I doubt they will be that good ever again, but it's worth investigating. I'm always on the lookout for good money and good mags.

[Jakiro]

Too much crit, too little damage. Which is why 1x Chiami, rest are SF mags loaded with Fated Contractors and if flexible, Heavenly shield for elements.

[HelixDraxzonyx]

So I made my first run on Youen today, did not go as I'd hoped. Barely squeaked through Normal mode. It was alright to begin with, up until the first Kanibouzu. That guy knocked me down to 97hp. Then there was that purple Amagaeru that vomited all over me. Didn't appreciate that. Shortly after that all the mobs started chasing me as soon as they spawned, which I didn't appreciate. It was tough enough for me to take on one at a time, but with twenty trying to swarm me, that was not cool. The second Kanibouzu almost killed me as well, and then the Toudaiki/Shunoban duo kept me at low health pretty much the entire time. Used a lot of healing items in all that. Found 23 weapons, only had enough money to identify 21. Most of it is crap. Found one set of acceptable Twin Swords (Onmyouhouken, I think they were called). Also got two sets of Chidori that are massively weaker than my equipped set, and a Meteor Bow that's too low grade for me to waste money on. Most of the drops were Oodachi, which is no good for a Twin Sword/Bow user. I'll have to grind the shit out of Yakumo Hell to try and upgrade my current weapons and raise my DPS. That might make future runs go a little more smoothly, but it'll probably be a few months before I can do Youen Hard. Think I'll need Edo/Echigo area weapons for that. Just not dealing enough damage with what I've got. I'll be spending a fair bit of time at Yakumo tomorrow actually, as Ariel. Two sets of Chidori and an Amanokako Bow. Not cheap to upgrade, so she needs a mountain of money.

[Firon]

Hope I didn't cause a misunderstanding -.-"

It's meant to be hard mode for good weps.

Most of it is crap. Found one set of acceptable Twin Swords (Onmyouhouken, I think they were called). Also got two sets of Chidori that are massively weaker than my equipped set, and a Meteor Bow that's too low grade for me to waste money on.

I think these are Kyoto/Seki drops.

Barely squeaked through

This is the intention since the damage output will probably be lacking. As I'd suggested before, it would be a good idea to summon a Kijimuna and a partner (assuming they're decently levelled).

Then there was that purple Amagaeru that vomited all over me. Didn't appreciate that. Shortly after that all the mobs started chasing me as soon as they spawned, which I didn't appreciate. It was tough enough for me to take on one at a time, but with twenty trying to swarm me, that was not cool.

It should be possible to lure them one at a time. If you just move within one of their lure ranges they should follow you alone. Most of the youkai also move towards you, stop, then attack (so you should be able to attack when they stop -with timing, or attack from the side when they attack without risking taking any damage).

Kanibouzu. That guy knocked me down to 97hp.

These can be killed from behind walls or rocks. You just need to guard the electric balls. It might be a good idea to rely on the partners/pets to help kill these if your damage is low.

Toudaiki/Shunoban duo

Always skippable. I think they only drop stones anyway.

I'll have to grind the shit out of Yakumo Hell to try and upgrade my current weapons and raise my DPS.

If you can do it without this then I would suggest avoiding this since it would just be a waste of time.

Think I'll need Edo/Echigo area weapons for that. Just not dealing enough damage with what I've got.

This would defeat the purpose of underlevelling it...

Btw, Edo weps are id'd from hell mode.

[HelixDraxzonyx]

Yeah, I noticed that Golden Eye is on Hard, not Normal. The Normal drops aren't worthwhile overall. I'm going to *have* to run Yakumo repeatedly so I can upgrade my weapons, otherwise I won't get past the first Amagaeru on Youen Hard, let alone make it to the first Kanibouzu. My Yokai is pretty weak, and I can't level my partners without buying friendship items from Shopping Plaza/Point Exchange. Well, *sometimes* Miroku sells some, but pretty rarely. I can also get one or two from Field Bosses. That's about it unless I decide to get carried to Kaga, but I refuse to leech off others. I want to put in the time and effort to fight my way to the end, without leeching or being carried. Unless it becomes literally impossible for me to progress, which it shouldn't really, but we'll just have to see.

Do Item Drop Boosts work on Warding Dungeons? I've got a pair of 300% drop boosts, so of those work, then that'll increase my chances of getting good weapons. I would say that the Onmyouhouken I found is "good enough" (being Grade 45), but I can probably find better with a bit of effort.

Another reason I need to grind Yakumo: so that I can identify the weapon drops. I've still got two I can't afford to identify. They're not cheap, so I'll need a lot of money for that too.

[Jakiro]

Not worth it if you are using it purely for warding.

[HelixDraxzonyx]

I'm not. I wanted to focus on Warding for a little bit just to get a good bow (namely the Golden Eye) but since that's on Youen Hard, I probably won't be able to get that. Not without using up about 70 Soul Eggs. I *might* make a couple more Normal runs and see if I can get a better Meteor Bow and better Onmyouhouken, but that's not guaranteed to happen. More than anything, it depends on my mood. Even if I don't run Youen any more, I could still do with upgrading my current weapons to get me through Seki and Kaga. Not sure if I'll get beyond Kaga because I hear lag becomes apocalyptic at that stage.

On another note, it seems I've been pushing Spirit Sabre hard lately. He's just one quest objective behind Ariel Yangjali in terms of story progression. Considering she's about two months older, that's saying something. Now if I can just get Albion, Kotori and Dancer Lancer to Kyoto as well, that'd be awesome.

[HelixDraxzonyx]

On a whim I decided to run Youen Hard today. Did a lot better than I believed I was capable of. Made it all the way to the Toudaiki/Shunoban duo, but couldn't beat them. I'd used up most of my allotted Soul Eggs and all of my allotted healing items by the time I got to them. Also lost my Kijimuna and Shizuka was severely wounded. Even so, I picked up 45 items, and about 60 partner items too, so that's good. I now have a Golden Eye equipped, thanks to grinding Yakumo for Exp as well as for Ryou. Also got a Murasamemaru equipped. I found a couple Cyphers, but they're too low grade for me to bother with. Once I reach Level 80 though, I'll be able to equip a Seven Star Sword. I died a few times due to lag, and also from getting swarmed. Once or twice I was one-shot as well. I've been killed by lag a few times today actually. What I wouldn't give for an EU server, even if that meant I'd have to start from scratch. It'd be worth it for less lag.

Once I've got the durability up on my weapons, I'll run a few Warding Dungeons and see if I can get myself some more partner items. Probably better to do it there since the mobs only give 1 exp each (or is that just Youen that does that?)

[HelixDraxzonyx]

So the Golden Eye really makes a difference. Previous record for soloing Nurikabe Field Boss: 9 minutes 14 seconds WITH Ougi. New record using Golden Eye: 2 minutes 7 seconds WITHOUT Ougi.

On a down side though, I think the game likes seeing me suffer. 2 hours grinding Daiku Hard WITH 300% drop boosts... no Orange Glass Marble. Got Navy, got Red-Purple, got six stones, just not what I actually wanted to get. I think my main's spent about 10 hours grinding there in total, never seen orange glass marble. I mean, I know the drop rate is supposed to be something like 0.007% per mob, but that's without boosts. Surely after about 400 runs WITH boosts, I should have at least one, right? At this rate I'm going to end up being one because this is getting tedious.

On another downer, when I ran Youen Hard again to farm partner items, neither Shizuka nor my Kiji came with me for some reason, despite being full health. I ended up doing even worse than when I was searching for the Golden Eye because I didn't have my partners helping me. I still managed to make it to the boss room, but I had no food and only one soul egg by the time I got there. Got one shot for more than 3.5k health, and then later I just died without even being hit. No attack animation, no discernable lag. I just dropped dead. Picked up 13 weapons, all shit. Did get one Aidama though, so that's something I guess.

[HelixDraxzonyx]

So now I've finally seen proof that the people on this forum actually do play Onigiri. By that I mean: I finally saw someone from here in-game. Ran into Winter de Solis in Onigashima. Now that I think about it, isn't there also someone here who goes by the game name blazef2? I think I saw that name somewhere recently as well.

Next goal: Photobomb a forum player.