Missions: Magicite (Windurst 4-3)

Some of you may have noticed that Cialense and Naukhel, then Grymalkyn and Kiki have attained Rank 5. Hurray for the airship pass! Here are my comments on the mission.

Part 1 - lots of running around in Jeuno. I think most of you have done this part.

Part 2 - Magicite from Davoi. Grym and Kiki were in Davoi on Saturday afternoon, looking once again for the randomly-spawning jar which is supposed to contain the rare/ex Power Sandals that Kiki would really like to have for her PLD (best boots available until level 29). Since the Wall of Dark Arts was nearby, and there were several high level people cleaning up the Orcs, we decided to go ahead and run through the Wall of Dark Arts and pick up the magicite. We were able to just run right in, since there were no door guardians. Leaving was a bit more interesting, as the orcs had respawned, but they didn't notice us as we came back out the door and Grym turned us both invisible.

Later that evening, Cialense and Naukhel were ready to start on the Mission, as was Manon, so Grym and Kiki came along for the Davoi part. We fought several Orcs, mostly for fun, but when we saw the guardians of the Wall of Dark Arts were checking IT for Cia and Nauk's level 40s, we all got invisible and slipped past them. We did have to wait for the Orcs to turn away from us before activating the door (since you have to drop invisible), but we all made it safely. A quick teleport courtesy Cialense got us safely out of there.

For this part, you must have the ability to be invisible. It's really close to the zone, and easy to get to, but it would also be handy to have someone with warp II, escape, or teleport with you if you don't have warp (or instant warp scrolls, or gate glyphs left over from Summerfest).

Grym and I are willing to tag along on this portion to show the way if needed.

Part 3a - getting the two items from the named Quadavs in Beadeaux. Next we headed to Beadeaux to fight the named Quadavs. This was much tougher, and because we didn't know the way very well and got jumped by an Elder Quadav that gave my WAR35 100 EXP even though we had 2 level 40s in the party, Cia got killed. :( I'm still not sure how we managed to survive that fight. Grym used Benediction near the end of the battle and we somehow got it killed before it killed her.

We had to kill both named Quadavs twice to get enough items for the 5 of us (they have about a 15 minute spawn cycle). The fights were quite tough, but manageable with our party of THF40/NIN20, WHM40/BLM20, THF34/WAR17, WHM34/NIN17, WAR35/MNK17. The second time we had to kill the second quadav, we actually had a 50+ PLD helping us, and that fight was much much shorter. Cia teleported us out, and we broke up for the night.

For this part, if you don't have a 50+ PLD helping you out, you will need to be in a full party, and you must have the ability to Sneak. All mages should have echo drops with them as well, so you can use the Muter and avoid being cursed by the Afflictor. Cia has Cursna, so she didn't get muted, but got cursed and cast Silena on those that needed it. I think echo drops would be better, to avoid being weakened at all. It also helps to have the ability to leave quickly instead of taking the long way back to the exit. Grym and I are willing to go along for this part if needed.

You have to take the two Quadav items back to the Tarutaru in the Tenshodo HQ to get the key items to open the door to the Qulon Dome to get the Beadeaux magicite. Trade him the items one at a time.

Part 3b - back to Beadeaux for the magicite. Kiki spent a couple more evenings in Qufim levelling her RDM, and on Monday hit the magic 25 (now has invisible in addition to sneak). Tuesday night Grym (WHM34) and Kiki (RDM25) headed back to Beadeaux, cast sneak on themselves, and ran right over to the door to get into Qulon Dome. On the way out, they swung past the Afflictor to complete the Curse Paper quest from Bastok Markets (have to be both muted and cursed in Beadeaux, and they'd already done the mute part Saturday). You might want to pick up this quest before doing the Beadeaux part of the mission. Reward is a nice pair of Poison Cesti. This part of the mission was even easier than the Davoi part, but the ability to sneak is essential, at least if your level is 35 or below.

I don't think anyone would need us to tag along for this part.

Part 4 - Castle Oztroja magicite. Grym and Kiki did this last night. This is one of the reasons I levelled RDM to 25, and I am very glad I did. Cia and Nauk finished up this part on Tuesday, so it was really good to get advice from them on it. You have a very long walk past dozens and dozens of Yags and bats. You must have sneak and invisible both active at all times. This is something you must do yourself, unless you have a couple very high level people killing everything in your path. Cia tagged along with us for most of the way last night, but it nearly got her killed when she got aggro'd when she had to re-sneak and re-invis herself. Fortunately, she was able to warp out while fighting her aggressor.

I will not help anyone with this part until I'm level 50. Seriously. There is no way a mage could survive if they're responsible for keeping another person both sneaked and invis'd in addition to themselves. It's hard enough just doing it yourself. There are too many yags and bats, and sneak and invis have a habit of dropping at the most inopportune moments.

The Torch Door provides a very scary moment, as there are two very high level Yags guarding it. Cia and Nauk got smacked around by them when they did this on Tuesday, but Grym and Kiki got very lucky, since the Yags had their backs turned. This was fortunate, since the Torches are really hard to activate. I had to try SEVEN times before it stopped saying I was too far away and let me through. I was right on top of the stupid thing - how could I be too far away?

We used instant warp scrolls to get back to Jeuno and talk to the Archduke and get our airship pass.

If you don't have RDM or WHM levelled to 25, you're going to have to do this with stacks of silent oil and prism powder. Or get very high level help.