FFXI: Seekers of Adoulin Update 3/27/13

Okay, so sorry for the delay. This most recent expansion has distracted me enough not only to miss my blog but also in participating in other online events. Here is a quick over-view of the most recent update:

March 27, 2013 (JST) Version Update 

Event-related

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The content of this version update, which includes new expert jobs and new areas, may not be played until Wednesday, March 27 (PDT) or Thursday, March 28 (GMT) even if the necessary software and expansion content has been installed earlier. (Time to get nostalgic while we all have a 6 hour download!)
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• Seekers of Adoulin brings with it several new items displayed in the main menu as outlined below.
  
  

  Missions Seekers of Adoulin 　 Quests Adoulin Coalitions (42 in all!) 　 Region Info. Colonization 　 Status Monstrosity*
  * Monstrosity will be selectable once the content is introduced into the game.

• The following areas have been introduced with Seekers of Adoulin:

  Western Adoulin / Eastern Adoulin / Rala Waterways / Rala Waterways [U] / Yahse Hunting Grounds / Ceizak Battlegrounds / Foret de Hennetiel / Morimar Basalt Fields / Sih Gates / Moh Gates / Cirdas Caverns / Cirdas Caverns [U]

• The Grand Duchy of Jeuno is now recruiting adventurers for the colonization movement on the continent of Ulbuka.
  
  Additionally, several coalitions support these pioneering activities. Read on for details.

• Many additional stories and quests are available in areas accompanying Seekers of Adoulin.
  (Another Expansion means another pretty girl!)

• Defeating monsters in Seekers of Adoulin areas will occasionally cause a strange mirage known as a "Soul Pyre" to appear.
  If the player touches a Soul Pyre from the proper distance and direction, he will receive items and/or bayld. (Kick me in the ass; I just read this and now I know what those damn things do. )

• Gathering activities in the Seekers of Adoulin expansion areas are governed by a new rule.
  Continuing to gather resources in the same area will build a character's fatigue, much like fishing, but will also gradually increase the likelihood of gathering better materials.
  * Moving to a new area will reset both effects.
  * Fatigue recovers over time. (Fatigue returns to help players from FFXIV feel nostalgic. Yep, don't have anything original to say here..)
  
  Certain pieces of equipment and key items that aid in gathering activities throughout Eastern Ulbuka have also been introduced.

• New battle content known as "Reives" have been added. (These kind of work like Bastion but are significantly tougher.)
  (You fight this after you beat the Red Ranger. Seriously, bro.)

• New battle content in an alternate world known as "Skirmish" has been introduced. Read on for details.
  

• The following adjustments have been made to the Nyzul Isle Uncharted Area Survey Assault content.
  • Levels of monsters appearing in this content have been adjusted.
  • By selecting damage types that monsters are weak to, such as blunt attacks, piercing attacks, or magic attacks, players are able to deal more damage than before.

• The following adjustments have been made to Legion.
  • Characteristics have been given to monsters appearing within the maquette.
    Reductions in HP, attack, defense values, and other statistics as well as methods of attacking monsters' weaknesses comprise the majority of these changes, but some monsters have experienced decreases in some areas and increases in others.

• The following adjustment has been made to Einherjar.
  • The HP, attack, defense, and other characteristics of "Odin" as appearing in Odin's Chamber II have been decreased.

• The following adjustment has been made to Voidwatch.
  • Void Clusters are now able to be used in the Provenance jurisdiction.

• The following adjustments have been made to Walk of Echoes.
  • The levels of monsters have been decreased.
  • The following items have been added.

    Frayed Sack (D) / Frayed Sack (L)

• Adjustments have been made to Salvage drop rates.

• The following adjustments have been made to Limbus:
  • Items necessary to enter Limbus will be collected upon entry.
  • Items necessary for entering Limbus are no longer exclusive.
    Accordingly, any of the appropriate items in one's possession that have already been used at the time of implementation may be used again.

 

Battle-related

• Two new jobs, geomancer and rune fencer, are now available.
  (Haven't unlocked.)(Already level 30. ^^ Fun job that places a new spin on tanking.)
  Specific quests must be completed in order to obtain each job.
  Read on for the details.
  * The level 70 to 71 limit break quests for geomancers and rune fencers is scheduled to be implemented in the next version update. In order to level geomancers and rune fencers past 70 before the applicable quests are implemented, players may instead complete a limit break quest for another job.

• New monsters have been introduced to roam the areas appearing in Seekers of Adoulin.
  (Avoided these)(Should of avoided these)(Crabs in need of revenge.)(Screw these guys. Never around when you need them, always aggro when you don't see them.)

• The amount of enmity accumulation based upon how much damage players deal to a target and the amount of HP it can recover will be reduced when facing targets over level 50. (I felt this while using SMN out in the new areas. It hurts.)
  Should the target be level 99 or higher, this type of enmity accumulation will be reduced by approximately thirty percent.
  In addition, testing to reduce the amount of enmity accumulated from using the white magic spell Cure V is ongoing.
  * The static type of enmity accumulation—not based on damage dealt and HP recovered—will remain the same.
  * Additional adjustments regarding enmity are also scheduled to be implemented.

• The attack-to-defense ratio has undergone adjustment.
  When a player's level is vastly lower than the level of the monster attacking him, there will now be times when he will take much more damage than before.
  

• The maximum amount of damage dealt based upon the attack-to-defense ratio is now the same for both one-handed and two-handed weapons. (:/)
  

• Level differential corrections have been adjusted.
  Level differential corrections will now be made when an enemy is two levels higher than the player, and will mirror those previously made when an enemy was one level higher than a player.

• The amount which the Monk ability Counterstance lowers one's defense has been reduced.

• The white magic spell Embrava has undergone the following adjustments. (NERFED!)
  

  	Pre-adjustment		Post-adjustment
  Effect Duration	5 minutes	→	90 seconds (Wat r u doin SE?)
  Haste Potency	Increases by 1% for every 15 points of one's enhancing magic skill	→	Increases by 1% for every 20 points of one's enhancing magic skill (Stahp.)
  Regain	Regain	→	Refresh (STAAAAAAHP)

• The avatar Alexander's ability Perfect Defense has undergone the following adjustment.

  	Pre-adjustment		Post-adjustment
  Effect Duration	90 seconds	→	30 seconds + 1 additional second for every 20 points of one's summoning skill (Skill-up food pricing increase dramatically today.)

• Puppetmasters can now use the weapon skill Asuran Fists. (Cool Story, bro.)
  

• Names for the following monsters in Zhaylom Remnants I, Arrapago Remnants II, Bhaflau Remnants II, and Silver Sea Remnants II have been adjusted.

  Enraged Hydra　→　Enraged Alfafd
  Khimaira Prideleader　→　Khrysokhimaira Elder
  Cerberus Seether　→　Orthrus Seether
  Bloodthirsty Dvdrgr　→　Bloodthirsty Dweorg

Item-related

• New items have been introduced.
  Equipment received by exchanging bayld or obtained through otherworldly skirmishes may be augmented via the process of arcane glyptics.
  * Equipment may be augmented in this manner by trading items such as Ghastly Stones or Coalition Grease to certain Inventors' Coalition NPCs along with an appropriate amount of bayld.
  

• New synthesis recipes have been introduced.

• New synergy recipes have been added.

• The following items are no longer exclusive.

  Coin of Birth / Coin of Advancement / Coin of Glory / Coin of Decay / Coin of Ruin / Frayed Pouch (B) / Frayed Pouch (A) / Frayed Pouch (G) / Frayed Pouch (D) / Frayed Pouch (R) / Ivory Chip / Scarlet Chip / Emerald Chip / Orchid Chip / Cerulean Chip / Silver Chip / Smoky Chip / Magenta Chip / Charcoal Chip / Smalt Chip / Metal Chip / Niveous Chip / Crepuscular Chip

• Additional items are now storable through the Porter Moogle NPC.
  • Moogle Storage Slip 03

    Twilight Knife / Twilight Scythe / Twilight Helm / Twilight Mail / Twilight Cloak / Twilight Torque / Twilight Belt / Twilight Cape

  • Moogle Storage Slip 11

    Adamantoise Statue / Behemoth Statue / Fafnir Statue / Shadow Lord Statue / Odin Statue / Alexander Statue/Ark Tachi / Ark Tabar / Ark Scythe / Ark Saber / Ark Sword / Chocobo Shirt

• Attributes for the Twilight Scythe have been adjusted.
  Its normal attack attribute has been adjusted, and any Twilight Scythes obtained after the implementation of this version update will be enchanted.
  

System-related

• Additional Applicable Areas for "Yell"
  "Yell" may now be used in the following areas:

  Ru'Lude Gardens / Upper Jeuno / Lower Jeuno / Port Jeuno / Aht Urhgan Whitegate / Western Adoulin / Eastern Adoulin

• Rewards for completing the mog tablet quest have been modified.

• New text commands "/colonizationmap" and "/colmap" have been introduced.

• The cutscene that displays at the beginning of Besieged battles has been temporarily deactivated to alleviate Playstation 2 version freezing issues.
  Characters will also not be automatically placed at the start of battle.
  * This cutscene will not appear for any clients.
  * The cutscene is scheduled to be restored in the near future when other solutions can be implemented.

• Spells such as Embrava and Kaustra that may only be cast when the job associated with them is set as one's main job will no longer display in the magic list under the command menu when the appropriate job is set to one's support job.

• Auto-translate Function Adjustments
  • (Cut from post: Let's just say "We added all sorts of stuff and took out crap you never used!)
  (PlayStation 2 Version)
  • Memory allocation adjustments have been made to combat freezing issues.

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Pretty big update, huh? Adoulin is a pretty big place. If you haven't had an opportunity to visit it yet, think back to 8 years ago when you first walked out of Kazham and had to find the EXP party you just got invited too. Scary, big, and a little confusing. Adoulin promises to bring back the difficulty that Abyssea abolosihed. I'd say it's doing it's job pretty damn well. New gear has been updated too which makes you think that SE is trolling us for making fun of PUP gear. I look forward to see more of what this new world has to offer. I also look forward to seeing this girl more:

Stay tuned.