Okay. I know I told them to not be in front of me, but what's the deal with me Covering Mugido and Nanako now? Good thing this was just a hare and not a tiger.

Huh? What Mugido? ... No, I'm not making that joke! I'm trying to keep this page rated PG!! Get a room with Nanako or something... Err...why are you blushing...? /em gives up, confused.

Today, Mugido took about 788 damage and dealt around 3140. He did a 200+ Sturmwind. I was impressed because usually it's around 105. He is gonna start taking hate from me before long. It was his 30th day and 41st call. His pants upgraded to Trader's Slops (level 20), but his boots retrograded to base-level Scale Greaves.

August 18th, 2005 - Hello, boys and girls. Have you been good since last we met? Okay, I won't turn this into "Mister Roger's Neighborhood."

Today was a bit different. We didn't have Edge. Tomorrow, both he and Harl won't be available. Seems like they have some wedding to attend, but the bride and groom decided not to hold it in the Hall of the Gods. The North San d'Oria Cathedral must have been booked too. The nerves. When did I start making friends who have lives outside of FFXI? ^^

Anyway, I decided to bring the big guns with Edge being unavailable today. Roronoya, who is a Mnk 75, makes a return appearance. And, making his debut is Yagami who is a...err...Pld 65... Don't laugh... Ever seen a Pld use Berserk? 'Nuf said... In any case, both Roronoya and Yagami are part of the Salvation Linkshell with me. I've been helping them level their NPC and they decided to return the favor. Okay, okay. I kind of drafted them... ;;

The reason Yagami is in a party by himself is because only three PCs are allowed in a party when you have three NPCs. We weren't trying to get him killed or anything... Although...

@#$%^*!!

Roronoya and Yagami aren't use to how Edge, Harl, and I usually xp here. We normally camp by the zone, but we wandered around today. The fact that there was a Bst xping here on Snolls (ice bomb mobs) wasn't to our advantage either. Early in today's session, Harl's NPC died to a Variable Hare's Whirl Claws AoE attack. We ordinarily try to fight mobs away from Harl, but because it wasn't easy to do today since we were wandering.

Then, we got aggroed by an aforementioned Snoll two kills before our session finished. The above screen shot is the result...

To answer Yagami's question, a Galka War49/Mnk24 has 1118 hp according to the FFXI Status Calculator. Roronoya's Galka War41/Mnk20 would only have 930. Sorry Ror... But, the bright side is that his lasted for 19 kills... ;;

Not a good day for NPCs. Mine was last one standing again...

Today was Mugido's 31st day and 42nd call. He attained level 49 after 39 kills (averaged 194.87 xp per kill). His pants and gloves retrograded to base-level Scale Cuisses/Finger Gauntlets. His body piece upgraded to Doublet. Also, his boots upgraded to Trader's Pigaches. Before, I was under the mistaken impression these boots were Seer's or Garish Pumps.

I don't have exact numbers for the amount of damage taken/given for Mugido today because Roronoya's Mugido threw off the data. I decided to take what I have and divide by two (even though there's an eight level difference). With that said, Mugido dealt around 1431 damage (this number is really skewed) and took around 2230 damage (freaking bomb). Yes, the total damage taken between the two (What's the plural of Mugido? Mugidos, Mugidoes, Mugidi??) was 4461. For comparison, Roronoya took 3859 damage today.

Important note: I was recently made aware that NPCs can and will use AoE weapon skills. I strongly recommend that you do not give your NPCs a Staff. NPCs will use Earth Crusher which may get your NPC killed. With this in mind, be aware of which weapons offer AoE weapon skills. A quick list includes Spinning Attack for Hand-to-Hand (Mnk 49), Cyclone for Dagger (Thf 41), Circle Blade for Sword (Pld 49), Shockwave for Great Sword (Drk 49), Spinning Scythe for Scythe (Drk 41), and the aforementioned Earth Crusher for Staff (Pld 23). Keeping the weapon until your NPC reaches the level of the job that can use the specific weapon skill is fine. But, keeping it after could get your NPC killed. This means that Great Katana, Great Axe, Polearm, Axe, Katana, and Club are safe to give NPCs without having to worry about switching.

August 19th, 2005 - Okay, today I really brought the big guns. In addition to Roronoya and Yagami, today I had Malaki and Ocrash with me. Both of whom are Blm. We xped Malaki's, Roronoya's, and Yagami's NPCs in Xarcabard (we slaughtered those demons), then came to Uleguerand Range to xp mine. We had Slick (a Whm) with us, but he couldn't come help xp my NPC. It's okay though. ^^ By the way, they are all in the Salvation Linkshell with me.

As you can see, they loved the macro I use to call Mugido. ^^ Doesn't the sight of all those orange pearls warm your heart? (Linkshell) (Power)!

Here we are killing a poor hare. Ocrash was busy regaining mp for his nuke strike on a Snoll. He gets bored easy and wanted to make me squirm. To his credit, he knew what he was doing and helped us chain faster. Roronoya wound up tanking most of the mobs again.

Here is Mugido using Keen Edge for the first time in spectacular fashion. He made the level 2 skill chain, Gravitation, with it. This totally caught me off-guard. I could have used Tachi: Gekko and made Darkness if I was on my game, but I used a plain Sidewinder. That would have been awesome, but oh well.

I am impressed that Mugido used Keen Edge at his earliest possible level. Makes me glad I warned people about AoE weapon skills in my last journal update. Those of you who have NPCs using Hand-to-Hand, Sword, or Great Sword and closing on level 49 need to switch soon. ^^

Today was Mugido's 32nd day and 43rd call. His feet retrograded to NSE Galkan Sandals while his body, hands, and legs all upgraded to Seer's Tunic (level 29), Coarse Gauntlets (level 9) or Gauntlets (level 40), Brais (level 11) respectively. Mugido dealt around 1354 damage and took around 932 (I missed two fights worth of data). It's really too early to tell, but it would seem that all that damage he took yesterday fueled today's great upgrades at first glance.

Level 50 tomorrow (if all goes well)!

August 20th, 2005 - Today is the day. ^^ /em bounces like a happy Tarutaru.

Today, we had Ocrash and Pug. Pug is, as you may have guessed, in our Linkshell. He has a level 75 Blm, but he decided to bring his level 67 Smn. Pug wasn't quite up to the task of killing a Snoll like Ocrash can. But, he got saved by Ocrash thankfully. ^^

It took awhile for him to say it, but I learned why Ocrash was annoyed with Mugido after a few fights of him growling and hissing at Mugido. Leveling an NPC everyday, I guess I'm use to seeing mismatched gear. To others who don't, I can understand why Mugido's gear would be an eyesore. ^^

Not having a primary healer slowed us down today. But, luckily we didn't take risks so there were no PC or NPC deaths.

Ladies and gentlemen (and everyone else), I present to you Mugido who has attained level 50!! /praise As you can see, Ocrash was still annoyed with him. ^^

I thought PCs weren't able to cast status removal spells on NPCs, but Pug did. Strange. Oh. The Great Katana that I love is the Soboro Sukehiro. I just got it last night. It's a great toy. I'm able to do skill chains by myself with it. Thanks KoolAid!!

And here he is in his level 50 glory folks; full War AF. Today was Mugido's 33rd day and 44th call. He attained level 50 after 38 kills (averaged 202.63 xp per kill). Mugido dealt 2856 damage and took 1009 damage. There were no new options or messages from Luto.

This is a major upgrade huh? Maybe this is because he used a Great Axe ever since his fourth call... Nah... It's likely due to another reason. As information about it is readily available, I won't detail War AF... Okay, okay. I'll stop playing. If you really want to read about the true gear he got today, then you better click here. ^^

See ya tomorrow. ^^

August 21st, 2005 - Woah... Who bamboozled Mugido...? Where did his War AF go? Oh well. I guess we'll just have to make-do. ^^

By the way, Edge and Harl are back as you can see. They were disappointed that they weren't around to see Mugido attain level 50. So disappointed in fact that both Nanako (level 46) and Yarga-Umiga (level 38) attained new levels themselves today. Mugido and I are both happy that the gang is back together. We also wish to thank the Salvation crew for helping us in their absence. Thanks guys.

Looks like it wasn't a fluke. You can now use status removal spells on NPCs. Imagine Harl's surprise. But, Erase cannot be used for some reason. I'll get a full list from Harl later.

I just need to say, "Oy" however. It could be because of the low damage of the Soboro Sukehiro, but for the first time ever since I first xped with Mugido in Konschtat Highlands (not counting the time he died) Mugido took hate. Not just from me, but from Edge too. What the heck? ! He critically hit for 114, then hit for 29. Maybe he really was wearing War AF beneath the Seer's Tunic. I'm going to have to gimp him with a Club or something soon.

Mugido, don't start having delusions of grandeur now. Okay?

Today was Mugido's 34th day and 45th call. He dealt 3416 damage (big improvement) and took 580. His legs piece upgraded to Trader's Slops (level 20). His feet upgraded to Gaiters (level 11).

/wave.