I really do think FFXIV has cured my dungeon-phobia

I really, really do.

I have three dungeons available right now: Sastasha, Tam-Tara Deepcroft, and Copperbell Mines, and I'm doing them frequently as a Conjurer, with no anxiety. Well, except my first run of Tam-Tara Deepcroft (the tank was speed-running).

I actually did a pretty entertaining run of Copperbell Mines a couple minutes ago. We were doing the Ichorous Ire boss (I think that's what it's called), and our tank didn't get out of the explosion radius fast enough and she died and one of our DPS got disconnected. I couldn't Raise her in combat, and there was seemingly no way for us to get out of combat due to the nature of the fight. So I healer-tanked it. And it worked. The only other player in combat (due to one being dead and the other DC'd) was an Arcanist, so she helped keep my HP up, spawned the bombs, and killed the Spriggans. I'd grab the bomb with Stone and then keep healing myself until it exploded. And it ended up working out in the end :)

So yeah, I'm feeling more confident about going into dungeons. I'm still nervous when I enter a new one, and I'm dreading Brayflox because I always read about how hard it is. But, it seems like once I know what's going on in the dungeon I end up being okay.

Happy Heavensward Launch Day!

Whoo!

Okay, I've had early access for the past few days so today's not actually all that special to me, but for many people, it is!

Now, if only I was the right level / progressed enough through the storyline to go to the new content!

I'll just settle for playing as an Au Ra!

Yup, there's what I finally settled with. Kind of. My original character, Cardboard Viking, is a Xaela, but I ended up making this character here (Ayame Miyumi) because I wanted to heal and I'm enjoying this character a lot more as well. Probably going to use White Mage, although I might try Scholar, and I'll definitely do the new healing class when I get up there. :)

Exciting exciting, I say!

Ack!

For goodness' sake, if you see a healer with a sprout icon next to their name don't do a speed-run!

That was only the second dungeon I've ever healed and that was not a fun introduction!

People were running off before the dungeon had fully loaded for me / I was able to cancel out of the cutscene, so I had to use Protect while combat had already started, and I didn't have time to notice that Cleric Stance was on for half the dungeon because it was all going too fast!

But yeah, please don't speed-run if you see a newbie. It is very overwhelming! I thought for sure that we were going to wipe at least twice because I couldn't heal the tank fast enough for the damage he was taking and he lost aggro a couple times to the DPS who then proceeded to take a ton of damage too, and it was just very overwhelming to heal because I only have two healing spells and it's only my second dungeon.

Heavensward Early Access Day 1

Day 1 of early access!

Yay yay! I want to make my Au Ra but I don't have access to internet right now. So I am very sad.

Really proud right now

Well, I've successfully defeated the story mode Ifrit, and I'm really proud of it.

It wasn't even half as stressful as I thought it would be, although the part with the nail was a little scary because it didn't feel like we were killing it nearly fast enough, but we were okay, as it turned out.

So yeah, I'm feeling pretty good thus far.

Sastasha = Fine
Tam-Tara Deepcroft = Fine
Copperbell Mines = Fine
Story mode Ifrit = Fine

Feeling good right now :)

FFXIV may cure me of my dungeon-phobia

I don't know if this is normal for FFXIV dungeons, but the two I've been in (Sastasha and Tam-Tara Deepcroft, both for story quests) have been amazingly calm and non-stressful.

Everyone has been so nice. I have yet to run into anyone rude. And people see the little new-player sprout icon next to my name, and they emote pat me on the head and cheer me on and help me along, and it's great. Thus far, I am feeling very welcomed and it is putting me at ease and making me more comfortable with group play. Which is good because I generally actively avoid group play.

Okay, I've decided on a character!

After making 20+ different characters in the Heavensward Benchmark, I think I've decided what one I'm going to use my Fantasia for!

Xaela Au Ra

This one right here. I'm kind of torn as to if I want the nose scales or not. Same with the rings on the horns. I really like her eyes too. They look white from here, but if you see them closer up they are blue with grey limbal rings.

I am wicked excited. I've got my pre-order all ready and everything. Now, here's hoping the launch will be smooth (doubt it will, but I can dream), and the queue for Adamantoise won't be too long.

I might still post my other Au Ra designs because I liked most of them, it's just that this one is my absolute favorite of them.

Which do you like more?

So, in advance of FFXIV's Heavensward expansion, I was messing around in the Benchmark to decide if I need to get a Fantasia or not.

And I would like some opinions because I'm, as always, very, very indecisive.

So, here's what my character looks like now (recreated in the Benchmark, obviously):

Dunesfolk Lalafell

And here's what I'm thinking of changing her into:

Raen Au Ra

I like them both a lot, but I don't want to make the wrong choice and have to buy another Fantasia, you know?

So, just looking for opinions. Should Cardboard Viking (Adamantoise server) be Lalafell or Au Ra?

Oh hey, that's interesting

In case anyone was wondering, it's totally possible to solo Dragon Soul normal as a Shadow Priest with fresh-level-100 gear.

This was easier than the Lich King, honestly.

The boss fights up to Spine of Deathwing didn't pose any difficulty at on (especially since Power Word: Shield pretty much eats any damage I would possibly take). Spine is tricky because it has a learning curve and it takes so long, but aside from worrying about falling off, it wasn't too difficult. It was just a matter of getting a rhythm going as to when to move.
In case you're a Shadow Priest trying to attempt this, a little tip:
If you have the Glyph of Reflective Shield do not use Power Word: Shield when you're trying to collect Corrupted Bloods. It kills them before you want them killed. Just saying.

And then the final battle is easy.

So, the question is: "Toyosatomimi, Kingslayer" or "Toyosatomimi, Destroyer's End"?

HA!

LOOK WHO JUST SOLO'D THE LICH KING.

The raid itself gave me much more difficulty than I remember from when I first attempted this. The Lich King himself was easy though.

Of particular note was the Blood Queen. I died once on her because I didn't use everything in my arsenal to hit her. Killed her the second time around. I beat her at the last possible second. If I hadn't gotten a Devouring Plague right then I would have died again.
And then I died once on the Lich King himself because I got thrown off the edge because I forgot that you have to stand on the stairs. Oops.
Oh, and I also died once on the airship battle because I forgot to grab a jetpack. Oops.

Regardless though, I did it!

Once I got the Field Photographer achievement I'm then going to focus my efforts on soloing Ulduar, maybe. That is possible to do, right? Once I memorize the whole thing for fighting that first vehicle boss?

Ok, here we go. Serious time.

Because Toyosatomimi is now level 100 (Whoooooo!), I decided I would once again face my old adversary. I'm pretty sure I posted a while back about trying to solo the Lich King and failing at it. Well, it's time to try again, and time with a real motive to keep me going.

I want that Field Photographer achievement, which requires me to take a selfie on the Frozen Throne.

And I want it because I just made a new Druid on my server (Tanaris) named Shameimaru.

So, I would really like Field Photographer Shameimaru.

And I would really like to solo the Lich King as well, because he kicked my butt last time.

If I still can't do it, I'll ask my father to come online with his Paladin that is far better equipped than my poor lowly Priest, but I don't want it to come to that. I want to do it on my own.

Explain something to me.

Why do people in WoW find it fun to go to low-level zones and kill the questgivers on PvE realms?
I'm talking really low levels here. Like, the Pre-10 zones.

Because I have yet to hear a good argument for it. "PvP happened on a PvP realm," doesn't work because this is not a PvP realm. If the answer is "it's fun," then why in the world is that fun? There isn't any glory in killing low levels that have no way of protecting themselves, nor is it honorable to ruin someone else's fun by killing the questgivers.

And if you are killing low level NPCs, don't be surprised when one of them logs off and comes back with a max level. Sorry for ruining your fun, but you were ruining everyone else's fun, so it is quite utilitarian to then ruin your fun in exchange for everyone else's.

And I'm not going to guard your corpse or anything; I won't even attack you if you run off to do something else. But I am going to guard the area that was attacked for a while. You're free to get up and leave to do something else that isn't harming the fun of others.

Really though, I want to know the perspective of someone who enjoys this, because I certainly don't understand at all. Is there some angle to this that I'm just not getting?

Oh...

So, I was playing Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 2: Sisters Generation, and let's just get it straight here that I knew very little about the plot of the game before going into it. I played Re;Birth 1, so I was familiar with the CPUs and CPU Candidates, and that's about it. Oh, and I knew this one was primarily about the CPU Candidates.

And silly me, looking up an ending guide (it was a non-spoilers one), and I read a recommendation that you do the "Conquest" ending first so you can get a good weapon. And, being that it was a spoiler-free ending guide, I innocently met all the requirements.

Nope nope nope nope. That was not expected by me at all.

I won't spoil what happens just in case someone else wants to go through it blind (story-wise at least). But I really was not expecting that. At all.

But hey, I beat the game...

Completely irrelevant but I am really bored today. Would anyone be interested if I made another separate blog and compiled a big list of roleplay spots in WoW? Just as something to do when I'm bored? I'm thinking at the most basic level I could do a little post about each Inn and just some basic information for roleplayers for it, like where it is, how many chairs there are, how many rooms there are, etc. Kind of like a list of venues for events and such. I don't know, it's just an idea that popped into my head.

I think I'm going to do it, actually. I don't care if anyone reads it, but I want to do it just for fun :)

EDIT: It's happening: http://innsofwow.blogspot.com/