A sudden change of fortune.

So, over the past few weeks, things have not been going well for me in-game. many of my shouts have not gone so well, and while there were little things like some clears and some THF leveling, I felt stuck in a rut on WHM because of how the hunt for a certain item from Abyssea was going, and how me and Milyardo's moneymaking excursions into Dynamis hit a snag or two. But I think today marks things finally starting to turn around.

After so many failed shouts, I finally have these pants. after so long feeling stuck, I feel like I'm starting to get traction. "But Granis" you might ask. "It's just one piece of gear.". Now, like when I got the +2 Bliaud, I'm not trying to say that "having certain pieces is required." And I know that people generally complete AF3+2 pieces rather quickly. (due to many reasons, having jobs that do well in Abyssea, like NIN or BLM, or they have LSmates or friends that they help with Empys a lot, and thus saw a lot of +2 items before Adoulin lauched., etc.) the +2 pantaloons are still a really major accomplishment for a few reasons:

Cards of Balance are, probably, the most annoying of the +2 items to get. this is because the NMs that you can get these from are Trisitia, Sobek, Glavoid, and Chloris. Glavoid's too much of a pain in the ass to rely on for cards, as when I got my clear, Jayhawk just brewed him and it seems like a huge pain in the butt to fight otherwise. Trisitia has the best Card of Balance droprates, but is a rather tough VNM, Alahra and I died to it because we couldn't get a stunner. Chloris needs a lot more pop items than Sobek, and as far as I can tell, the droprate is just as bad as on Sobek. Which means Sobek IS your best option for getting your +2 pants done if you're a WHM, DRG, COR, SMN, or DNC. and believe me, it took me doing a LOT of Sobek to get my cards. Anyway, it seems like WHM is the one that absolutely NEEDS them, though, as I would hazard a guess that outside of maybe the DNC and the SMN +2 pants, good alternative pants exist for those other jobs, and aren't neccecarily as "best in slot" for their purpose as WHM +2 legs. That's just the impression that I get, though.

There is no leg equips in the game that beats Orison +2 for WHM for curing. As I just explained, they are hard to get these days, with less traffic in Abyssea and less people doing the NMs you need, but unlike other jobs where newer alternative equips to AF3 gear have come out, WHM still need to get these legs. and it took me a long time to get mine, and it felt horrible as nearly every WHM in Jeuno and Adoulin probably got theirs ages ago when healing those NMs when Aby had higher traffic as many people were still trying to build Empyerans. I think total, I must have did Sobek at least 16 times before finishing.

Tonight I popped him no less than 6 times, I met up with some people who were happening to doing him when I headed over to ABy- La thiene on a whim after a shout I was trying to put together fell apart, and they were nice enough to let me in for the shot at my last few cards. (A previous bunch of pops with Alahra ended with me being 4/6) So Mr. NIN and his Taru BLM buddy invited me in, and we had 3 pops ready to go rather quickly. So we did 3 pops, and unfurtunately, we missed Grellow the first pop because they ended up being BLU proc. Then we did the two others, and only got one Balance Card total, leaving me at 5/6. The NIN and BLM had gotten what they came for, with the NIN being at 50/50 skins for Kannagi. However, as I was pretty depressed about being close and everything, I asked for a D2.

However, the NIN and BLM said "We're not leaving until you get what you came for, too." and we went and built just 1 more pop, we popped Sobek, BLM, grellowed up very early in the fight, , and I got my last card. I thanked them both for helping me overcome this, and left.

So, for WHM, this takes a huge chunk out of my Abyssea checklist, I have my Orison Locket and Earring, as well as a +2 Body and +2 Legs, and a +1 head. main thing I need from Aby now is clears, and maybe to pick up a Twilight Torque from Shinryu for my idle, and the rest of my WHM goals are outside of Abyssea. there are little things like +2ing my head, or getting +2 Orison feet and/or hands, but unlike the body and legs, alternatives exist for those slots depending on set.

So, my plans are as follows.

1. Find some people for it and become a Salvager. I have enough Assault Points for 12 permits by now. Doing V1 Salvage and Salvage 2 to get Marduk's gear is definitely something I wanna do. (the +1 Tiara would be an excellent piece to get, as would the body and hands for fastcast.) and getting a share of some Alexandrite would get some money coming in to buy stuff that would help.

2. Do other events, I definitely am dying to do some Meeble Burrows for some nice accesories, and hitting up Old Nyzul to spam floor 40 for Goliard pants. Dynamis and Limbus would be good to get into too if I can find a solid DD to duo with and split currency with in exchange for healing.

3. Missions, ToAU done and WoTG done for the good accesories they offer. Perhaps also Shantoto as well for a nice piece of idle gear and a FANTASTIC Atma.

4. Start healing Delve. Bokwus Gloves are the best healing gloves in the game, and if I can get the clear on CHapuli, should only take a little bit of Plasm farming. Delve is hard, though, well, maybe not Plasm farming, more the NMs that scare me.

So, if my plans go well and I find group, explect to /sea me in Remnants or in Fractures real soon! Or in ToAU/WoTG areas a hell of a lot in the next few weeks!