A Lesson in Friends, Foes, and Following

As morning dawned I decided to call my adventuring fellow. His name is Kolui-Polui and he chooses to visit with me for a short time every few days. His resemblance to a very good friend is uncanny, and I am glad of it for this friend has long been lost to me.

Kolui is very quiet and never talks much, but he is a good companion. He’s quite a bit stronger than me, so I was able to move into the dhalmel camp near the Meriphataud Mountains zone and fight dhalmels with him and only a little assistance from pets.

He’s currently practicing the healing arts (though he’s still a good swordsman!) and it was nice to have someone who could backup heal, and who could also debuff the mobs.
I truly enjoy my time with Kolui. A close friend, the adventurer mithra Kestra, has an adventuring fellow who she does quite a lot with, and who has grown quite skilled. I hope that Kolui and I will have a bond like that.

I know that Kolui will be especially excited when I reach my 30’s because he’s currently level 32. Hopefully we’ll be able to level up together then.

After Kolui left I was able to play more with pitting even match dhalmels against tough enemies. My targets were mainly dhalmels and yagudo. It is very thrilling. I am becoming better able to judge when I can finish a mob off and when I should run or throw several easy prey pets in the way to wear the tough mob down more.

I hit level 15 as I was experimenting more and it enabled me to fight even more effectively. I also learned more about using my Wide Scan ability to my advantage. I can locate mobs to use as pets, obviously. I can also set my radar to track a specific mob. I find this most helpful. I locate a tough mob that I’d like to fight and set my radar on that one.

Then I move over the terrain until I can find an even match mob to charm for a pet. My radar has been tracking my tough target, so I’m able to charm a pet and quickly move back to the tough mob for the fight. This eliminates some frustration that comes from finding a good target and then loosing them as I search for a pet (those dhalmel move fast!)

Besides learning that I need to be familiar with my camp area, since I tend to range across it and could come across an aggressive monster, I also learned I need to watch for links. Obviously I learned this the other day when a mischarm on a bird found me running for my life from that bird and his friend. But I learned a different aspect of linking monsters today.

Monsters will link on my pets. This is ok when I’m fighting an easy prey. Maybe even a decent challenge. The linked monster will not come to me when his buddy does – it will stay and only the original target will come. There is still a problem though. I found this out with dhalmels. I set an even match dhalmel onto a tough dhalmel. Another dhalmel came to aid his buddy and the two of them together made short work of my pet.

The problem with this became clear when a relatively healthy dhalmel came tearing towards me – my pet hadn’t had enough time to do significant damage to the tough dhalmel, and I had to resort to tossing quite a few easy preys at the dhalmel to get it weakened enough to where I could fight it. (on a side note, I learned to use monster weaknesses to my advantage in this kind of situation – saplings can sometimes intimidate dhalmels because beasts are weak to plantoids – so I tried to find saplings to throw at dhalmels if I needed a quick escape).

All in all, today was wonderful. I learned a lot, then snuck back to Jeuno to spend more gil on beastmaster in celebration of reaching level 15 and the ability to ride a chocobo from the cities! I plan to look through the guidebooks and see if I can find a new place to try camping for my next beastmaster session. I hope that soon beastmaster will be my primary focus.

Back to Beastmaster

I had to take several days away from beastmaster. I managed to get to Rank 7 Bastok, I merited warrior a little (and died twice ; ;) and did a few other odds and ends. The biggest end was getting my white mage to level 37. It was very satisfying to know that I am done with that job, though I still eventually need to get the teleports.

But today I headed back out as beastmaster. I decided to give Tahrongi Canyon another go and I am very, very glad that I did. I was close to level 14 already, so I spent some time hunting easy prey enemies on the way through the pass and hit level 14. Bastok took the Kolshushu Region so I took a quick detour into Bubu to set my homepoint. I normally hesitate to change my homepoint, but as beastmaster I feel like it’s the best idea.

I’m also normally hesitant to spend gil and to camp notorious monsters, but for beastmaster I seem to watch the gil fall through my fingers. It’s deeply satisfying to feel excited about getting the best gear for my job. I’m truly loving bst and I’m happy to have a second job that I really enjoy. All of my subjobs felt like chores. This is fun.

I was immediately excited when I checked a dhalmel con and saw “even match” scroll by. This is what the veteran bsts have been talking about! I’ll admit that I was frustrated before because I couldn’t really find even match pets. I did some more reading through my guidebooks this week and found that that is somewhat normal at lower levels. So I went into today’s hunt with a more positive attitude and wasn’t expecting even matches.

But when I saw that dhalmel my heart beat faster. I hunkered down for a minute to refresh my mp and flip quickly through my guidebook again. I know this will soon be second nature, but a brief review helped me feel ready for the fight.

Nearby I spotted a tough dhalmel. I moved up to the even match dhalmel, muttered a brief prayer, and started charming. Success! I had a dhalmel pet. I immediately told him to fight the tough dhalmel and ran off in the other direction, towards the crag.

The Tough dhalmel finished off my pet and so I grabbed a few bees nearby and let the dhalmel tear through them in rapid succession, then engaged the dhalmel to finish him off. Victory! It was so wonderful. I realize now, in hindsite, that I probably could have engaged and defeated the dhalmel a little sooner, rather than throw several pets at him after he finished off my even match pet. But I’m still learning so it’s ok.

After this exciting victory, night was falling. I found a few crawlers and some easy prey bees, onions, and rabbits to practice my charming skills on before I found a small camp and hunkered down for the night.

A Little More Work

Wow, this is really tough. I spent some more time working with pets and I really only have good success with the easy preys pitted against easy preys. In Tahrongi it is hard to find even matches to charm. After a close call just after hitting 13 I decided to roam some and fight with easy preys to give myself a bit of a buffer.

I set my homepoint just inside the Meriphataud Mountains zone and moved back into Tahrongi. I visited my homepoint once when trying to trade up pets. A yagudo killed my akbaba and I failed a charm on a new bird, resulting in that bird and his buddy coming after me. So the two birds and the yagudo destroyed me.

Other than that, however, the afternoon was death free. Pet swapping is not easy. I like crawlers as pets so far. They seem to stand up to quite a bit and they can do some good damage. I can pit a crawler against a tough yagudo and then throw a couple of easy preys at it, allowing me to finish off the yagudo alive.

I roamed up and and down Tahrongi a few times and didn’t really find a place to camp. All of this still feels so new and raw. I’m unsure of what to expect and what to do. I thumb through the beastmaster guides when I’m resting for a few minutes, but I have the feeling that a lot of this is going to be figuring things out on my own.

I turned and headed back for windy as the sun began to sink. I needed to move away and reflect. A friend was also urging me to return to town and to my delivery box, where I discovered a gift – a scroll of Erase J So I’ll probably push white mage on up to 37 now so that I can sell that gear off and be done with it. Tonight I plan to spend more time reading beastmaster strategy. I’m also going to be studying foods. It doesn’t seem that my usual sole sushi is going to cover my needs as bst. Time for some research.

Tahrongi Again

I decided to make an attempt at Tahrongi again today. All the works by veteran beastmasters that I’ve read have suggested that I should seek even match pets and face them off against even match or tough mobs. However, I seem to have trouble finding even match pets. I find plenty of tough enemies and plenty of decent challenge pets, but not really any even matches. It has been perplexing me.

I did want to give it a try again today, however. The area around Windy is my hunting grounds, I know it intimately. I am eager to level there. With other jobs, I’m forced to move to where the parties are. That means Valkurm Dunes. But I don’t want to go to the dunes with beastmaster. It’s a little frustrating to have to shift paradigm and learn a totally new way of leveling, but at the same time, it is exciting. It is exciting to think that I can carve out my own camps, that I can make my own choices, that I can fight the mobs that I want to fight.

So I really want to stay on this continent and not move to the more populated Bastok or Sandy side leveling places. I headed straight back for the dhalmel area early today. I was able to see that it just wasn’t going to work out, however.

I managed to charm a tough dhalmel. I quickly learned that tough mobs do not stay charmed long. The dhalmel kept turning and attacking me before I even found a mob to have it fight. I ended up zoning into Bubu to get away from my own pet! I’m very glad I went /whm and I can’t wait until I get protect.

I had another close call with a tough yagudo. I had to zone him as well. I’m trying to learn the limits of what I can finish off myself after my pet has died. On tough mobs, my pet has to do most of the damage, leaving only sliver for me. Otherwise the tough mob will tear through my defenses.

I chose to work up towards the Crag of Mea thinking that perhaps there would be a good camp around there. I did have some success there and there are plenty of pets. It’s still frustrating though, because most of them are easy preys. I found some decent challenges and pitted them against other decent challenges. That brought in moderately good experience for me.

Thumbing through my thick beastmaster volumes I found the suggestion that I should try and camp near the Meriphataud Mountains zoneline. I headed that way from the crag. I enjoyed the trip over there. I found a tree with two crawlers and pitted the crawlers against each other with great success.

I soon found an area teaming with mobs just west of the Meriphataud zone. I know the area because I leveled red mage a little there with a friend. There is a section of bones just up against the mountain wall and I have to be care there. At night undead spawn, and I’m sure they would present quite a problem for me at this level.

There are akababa bird mobs in that area and I found them to be very good pets. Bees and onions also seem to make excellent pets. They hit pretty hard. I pitted some birds against each other and I also took on some Yagudo. This worked well, though I had to send several mobs at each yagudo. I’m not sure if this is normal or not.

There are still frustratingly few even matches. I didn’t have much time at that camp before I needed take a break and rest, however, so I still need to explore it more. I found a cave to make camp for the night, and I plan to read a little more about this region and the opinions of seasoned beastmasters.

Moving Up

At level 11, I realized that Saruta was not going to offer me much anymore, so I began the trek to Tahrongi Canyon. I also decided to go with a whm sub from here on out. I’m very familiar with Tahrongi because I solo’d my first job, Monk, up to around level 14 there. It’s been quite awhile and I was really surprised to find that the onions and saplings there were already only easy preys with a few decent challenges.

I moved through Ahopahgo Pass practicing more charming and fighting on these easy mobs. I also tried working a little on goblins and crawlers but wasn’t having much luck there. I began to get my first taste of failed charms here as well. I got to level 12 simply experimenting and learning more about my new job class.

I worked my way to the dhalmels by the Buburimu zone and attempted to fight crawlers at the tree nearby there. I’d successfully defeated a crawler only to find myself being beaten on by a goblin. In a last ditch attempt to save my own life I tried to charm a tough dhalmel. I failed my charm and between the dhalmel and the goblin I was quickly toasted. A quick trip back to Windy was the end of my beastmaster journey for the day.

I switched back to warrior and got rank 4 and rank 5 Bastok with a few friends, bringing me a little closer on my trek back to the Windy side (I’m truly miserable as a mercenary for Bastok).

My Second Adventure

On the second day of leveling I headed back out to the same spot on the Nompipi river. I was found there by a Mithran white mage friend. With her assistance I was able to range all over East Saruta. I melee’d for the most part, since with her help I didn’t need a pet. I reached level 9 in this way.

Shortly after reaching level 9 it was time for some events with my warrior so I headed into Windy to change jobs. We did several quests and had a good bit of fun. I also secured help to defeat the rank 3 dragon in order to satisfy my Bastoker employers.

As soon as I could, however, I returned to beastmaster. The pull of excitement for me is great. It is a completely new job to me! I learned through studying the words of more experienced beastmasters that a certain Notorious Monster moves through East Saruta and will drop a ribbon granting the wearer +2 Charisma – a delightful little item for the baby beastmaster.

I set out to camp this NM, a rabbit of the name Sharp-Eared Ropipi. She spawns around the southernmost tower of the Horutoto Ruins, where I had been just the day before. I spent a good 2 and a half hours camping her, defeating easy prey enemies all around me as I camped. I reached level 10 and 11 off these easy enemies.

Finally little Ropipi popped. My mithran friend, this time adventuring as Summoner, aided me in the fight against Ropipi. Carbuncle and I were victorious (I kited Ropipi for several minutes while looking for a crawler pet, but couldn’t find one). I got my ribbon, which I wear proudly. It was an excellent and victorious end to the day.

On the second day of leveling I headed back out to the same spot on the Nompipi river. I was found there by a Mithran white mage friend. With her assistance I was able to range all over East Saruta. I melee’d for the most part, since with her help I didn’t need a pet. I reached level 9 in this way.

Shortly after reaching level 9 it was time for some events with my warrior so I headed into Windy to change jobs. We did several quests and had a good bit of fun. I also secured help to defeat the rank 3 dragon in order to satisfy my Bastoker employers.

As soon as I could, however, I returned to beastmaster. The pull of excitement for me is great. It is a completely new job to me! I learned through studying the words of more experienced beastmasters that a certain Notorious Monster moves through East Saruta and will drop a ribbon granting the wearer +2 Charisma – a delightful little item for the baby beastmaster.

I set out to camp this NM, a rabbit of the name Sharp-Eared Ropipi. She spawns around the southernmost tower of the Horutoto Ruins, where I had been just the day before. I spent a good 2 and a half hours camping her, defeating easy prey enemies all around me as I camped. I reached level 10 and 11 off these easy enemies.

Finally little Ropipi popped. My mithran friend, this time adventuring as Summoner, aided me in the fight against Ropipi. Carbuncle and I were victorious (I kited Ropipi for several minutes while looking for a crawler pet, but couldn’t find one). I got my ribbon, which I wear proudly. It was an excellent and victorious end to the day.

The First Day

I decided to bring beastmaster out since white mage is now waiting on the elusive scroll of Erase magic. I suited up as Beastmaster/Monk and headed out to East Saruta Baruta.

There are a couple of schools of thought on bst 1-10. One is simply to melee your way through to 10 as if you were a normal job without pet abilities. The second opinion is that you should begin to learn the ropes of being a bst in the relatively placid starting areas.

I took a combination approach to my early levels. I moved rather quickly, as do all job classes, through my first five levels. I enjoy leveling in the small area by the beach in E. Saruta, so I did my first few levels there.

Around level six I experimented a little bit with charming, simply charming easy preys and decent challenges and pitting them against each other. It was really a lot of fun. I moved up and around the southernmost tower of the Horutoto Ruins and spent some time there. I didn’t realize that my first true piece of beastmaster gear would see me return to that spot.

I moved to the far eastern area of E. Saruta, where the Nompipi River flows into the mountains. There a found a small pocket of monsters and had great fun playing there. I was able to charm pugils, bees, and maybe a mandragora or two. There were two yagudo in that area and I got a good feel for allowing a pet to fight then finishing the yags off myself. I hit level 8 on my first day and headed into Windy for the night with quite a feeling of excitement and accomplishment.

Me

I’m Rahanna, and I’m an elvaan female. I hail from the Federation of Windurst. I’m currently serving as a mercenary for Bastok, but will return to my beloved Windurst as soon as my contract of service is complete.

My primary identity is that of warrior, and I know it will be many months and even years before I am thought of as more than that. But for my own benefit, I want to chronicle the journey from the very start.

My linkshell was one a respected force on the server but has waned as the members moved on to linkshells offering more activities and more fights with powerful monsters, even gods and dragons. So it is a small linkshell now. My two best friends in Vana’diel are in my linkshell. They are taru and they are beloved. One has had to journey far from us for many months. I hope when he returns we’ll move on to a bigger linkshell together. I hope also by that time that my merits will be maxed and my beastmaster will be fairly experienced.

My Journals

I’ve traveled far and wide across Vana’diel. I’ve reached the Paragon of Warrior excellence (yet I feel I still fall far short of those legendary warriors I catch glimpses of in Jeuno). I’ve reached rank 10 in one nation and quest towards that rank in a second. Seven jobs have I taken through Valkurm Dunes. I’ve leveled all of my subjobs, and have even moved outside of melee and into magic (though I six more levels of white mage to master).

Even as I’ve done all this and much more in my years of adventuring in Van’diel, I’ve waiting with anticipation for the day when I would level one job – Beastmaster. I put this job off for numerous reasons, wanting to hone my warrior and my subjobs, wanting to do missions and quests. I wanted to discover the secrets of the Zilart and I’ve begun exploring Promathia’s chains.

After getting all of my subjobs to 37 (except whm, which is 31 and waiting on the BCNM that will bring Erase to my magical knowledge), completing the ZM’s, and getting several merits on Warrior, I decided that I could begin to devote small amounts of time to Beastmaster.

Bst is a job truly unknown to me. I saved this one, not even bringing it out to sample, because I knew this would be my second job. These are my journals chronicling my time as a bst.