FFXIV: When Glamour is End Game

I know that things have seemed quiet around this blog, but the truth is, I’ve been anything but idle. I noted in my goals post that I’m working on a Camp NaNoWriMo challenge this month, and while the word goal is low, I’ve really been putting a lot into this project.

This is also because I’ve finally spun up a side FFXIV RP blog to contain this story.  Not to mention, I’ve discovered Bard Macro Maker for FFXIV, and I’m working to convert lots of traditional tunes to play on it. I’ll do a post about this later!

This is all on top of my usual leveling routine — I’m almost done with my Armorer and Ninja-to-60 goals. It has, however, made me slow to pick up things like the new Heaven on High, which I really do want to do!

The idea to create a RP for the character/villain Amon in FFXIV has been in my head for quite a while now. I’m the kind of player who really needs an artistic outlet to supplement my long-term gaming. And by artistic, that’s not always just straight blogging… it’s drawing, music and fiction writing.

It’s a silly thing, but I’m having fun, and it’s rekindled my enjoyment of FFXIV. I’m also meeting new folks through my blogging interactions on Tumblr, somewhat like my old GW2 RP blogs (which I still miss from time to time).

When You REALLY Want A Glamour…

I knew that if I created this character, I’d need to get the gear set that represents him in game. I mean, it wasn’t even a question of whether this would happen. Just a matter of getting him to the point to unlock the Syrcus Tower raid and making the runs.

This guy refused to drop his coat for 23 runs!

So, when FFXIV took away the ability to Need on Alliance Raid gear earlier this patch cycle, my hopes were crushed. I didn’t like this change based on principle… but on top of it, I secretly knew that meant that I’d probably never see all the drops required to work on this glamour set.

When they repealed that terrible design choice and gave us Need back, I was celebrating for many reasons. This was one of them… even though I’d never told anyone until recently that this silly fic-RP and glamour farm was a thing I’d hoped to do.

It honestly took a lot of courage for me start running Syrcus Tower… not because I was bad at the raid. I’ve actually run it so many times, and enjoy the run (a rarity for raids). But because I was scared that someone would see my character’s name (Amon D’syrcus) and piece it together to realize I was role playing one of the bosses we fought in that very raid. Surely someone would make fun of me for it!

What actually happened was… no one noticed. Or if they noticed, they didn’t respond to it. Except for one of my healers on one random raid who gave me a /surprise emote in the middle of the fight with Amon. Too funny!

I also came away with silly stories like this one.

Some Glamour Statistics

And because I’m a crazy data person, I kept track of the drops and how many runs it took to get the full set of glamour. Some things to keep in mind:

  • There’s about a 1 in 9 chance at a specific drop per boss
  • Old CT bosses were never upgraded to drop more than one item per fight 🙁
  • I only had to compete with other Bards and Machinists for these drops, though there were many runs where I was the only one with the ability to Need on these items

That being said… here’s the data outcome for trying to get a full 5-piece set — the sash doesn’t count, but I got one just to have the complete set. I took note of duplicate drops (you can see my sorrow as I recorded these in real time). Keep in mind that the boss that drops the pants also drops the hat, which is honestly the most important drop of the set. 🙂

Total Runs – 23

  • 3rd Run – Pants
  • 6th Run – Boots
  • 8th Run – Sash
  • 10th Run – Boots & Pants Drop again XD
  • 11th Run – Pants Again
  • 12th Run – Pants Again ;-;
  • 13th Run – Pants AGAIN?
  • 14th Run – Sleeves
  • 15th Run – Boots, Sleeves, HAAAAAAAT!
  • 16th Run – Sleeves & Pants
  • 17th Run – Sleeves
  • 18th Run – Boots
  • 23rd Run- Sash & Chest FINALLY DROPPED

I don’t know about you… but for RNG, this sure seems pretty biased. Aside from dropping the bard chest piece, Amon also drops one of two helms that look very similar – for Dragoon and Tank. I swear just about every run I saw one of those two helms.

Syrcus Tower only takes about 20 mins to finish with an average party (I timed it). So, there were times when the queue to get into the raid took longer than the raid itself. Syn took pity on me and helped me through with Zeb a few of those runs.

She claimed Zeb was good luck, because I’d often get drops when she ran with me. I can’t deny she was there on that very last run, and got to see me celebrate finally getting that coat drop.

So that’s the story of how Amon got his glamour. Now I can move on to other things in my life… like continuing to write this silly story and maybe working up the courage to RP him for real. 😀

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