FFXIV: Tanking, Healing and Everything In Between

This weekend I spent a significant amount of time bashing zombies in 7D2D, but I still got a good bit done in FFXIV, too. In fact, I’ve accomplished a number of my goals since I wrote my goal post a week ago. I’m practicing healing at end game as much as I can, though I still haven’t taken on an instance as a single healer yet.

Working on Goals

Friday night, Zeb and Zuri bombarded Alex 1 Normal in my attempt to gear up all White Mage accessories. Some of the groups were very good, and some of them were still just hardly making it due to their frustrating lack of attention to mechanics. I can’t be the only one who is tired of DPS who ignore the adds, because we even had a Dragoon who announced at the start of one run, “1 Alarum to each DPS – Ezee Peezy.” Thankfully, the other DPS were mindful of that.

Also, luckily, some people running Alex weren’t always there for the drops, so I was often able to snag the bolts I needed for accessories. It still took more runs than I’d like, but we got it done.

I’m also knocking out the dungeons I need to complete Bard relic, but that’s been much slower than I like. Mostly, that’s because it’s pitching hard mode dungeons I’m not familiar with, so I try to run with FC folks to feel better about it. We’ve even been unlocking some of these for other people!

So, my goals for end game stand at this now:

End Game Stuff

  • Level White Mage to 60 ✓
  • Collect all crystals for second relic and make the first-stage relic for White Mage ✓
  • Complete the second-stage relic for Bard
  • Gear up White Mage enough to play Void Ark ✓
  • Gear up Bard accessories from Alex 1
  • Gear up White Mage accessories from Alex 1 ✓

My crafting goals are going a lot slower at the moment. I pushed Weaver to 59, but it takes a million chimera manes to keep leveling, so I’m waiting for the ventures to bring those all in. Once I have the mats, actually crafting to 60 isn’t a big deal. I plan on specializing in Weaver, and promptly starting on melding my end game crafting gear. Then on to blue scrips for the Weaver III book.

FC Fun and Tanking

We’ve had a few new additions to the FC this weekend, which is nice. Recruitment is slow between patches, and we’re not exactly known for attracting the masses. This is okay, though, as we are looking for a rather specific, family-friendly, group of folks to run with. And while things have been quiet-ish waiting for the new patch, I’m still pretty happy with how far the FC has come since last year when I inherited it.

So, FC folks needed some unknown-to-me hard mode dungeons run early Saturday morning, and Syn roped me into tanking them. Now, these are dungeons I didn’t even have unlocked, had to watch the video for, and I haven’t tanked any dungeons in a good long while. But it was a FC party, so I swallowed my apprehension and brought Tai’s paladin out for the runs. They actually weren’t too bad. In fact, I’m finding a lot of the hard mode level 50 dungeons I avoided over the years aren’t too terrible and are somewhat fun. Even Pharos Siris wasn’t as punishing as I remembered.

I’m not going to claim I’m an awesome tank, but I’m getting more comfortable with it.

I really like the Void Ark chest piece, even if it doesn’t look paladinly.

For Crystal Tower Sunday, I healed Labyrinth of the Ancients for the first time, and we helped a number of FC members get their first-time win. I had to chuckle a bit when someone asked “Wait, this is an 8-man right?” We got through with some fudged mechanics (as to be expected), but no wipes. It’s actually the least healing-intensive raid I’ve run, though it’s the one I enjoy the least.

It’s still great to introduce new people to the Crystal Tower.

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