Missions: Dawn (CoP 8-4)

Friday night marked the end of a long and wonderful journey that Kiki made together with her friends Grymalkyn, Elboron, Itera, Wendell and Splinte. We started off just over 10 months ago with Ancient Vows, fighting 3 Mammets in Monarch Linn. We were determined to complete the entire Chains of Promathia together as a team, despite some people telling us we'd probably have to level different jobs for some of the missions, as our line up of PLD, THF, BRD, MNK, WHM, and WAR was considered unlikely to succeed.

We did use different jobs for two of the missions, with the PLD and THF both using BST for the Mammets, and the PLD as DRK and the WAR as NIN for Diabolos, but other than that, we stuck to our guns, and proved that we could do it. It wasn't the easiest way to get through CoP, but we didn't see it as something to simply "get through". We enjoyed the challenges each mission presented, and it was very satisfying to come up with a winning strategy for each.

At times, real life seemed to threaten our progress, since Friday evenings were the only time that all six of us could be together in the game. This just meant it would take us that much longer. It's not like there was any time limit on saving the world. I'm so happy that we were able to do it all together as a team.

This past Friday, we headed back to the Empyreal Paradox for the final showdown with Promathia. From our sight-seeing trip the previous week, we knew the first form was pretty easy, and that I would have to bulk up my HP while I was kiting the second form. Grym, Itera, and Splinte all subbed NIN for some protection from shadows, Wendell subbed SMN for the autorefresh, while Elboron was his usual /WHM and I was my usual /WAR. We slept for TP before entering the BC, buffed up and headed in. With my gear and food (Carbonara), I had just over 1500 HP, and as much enmity as I could have, balanced with the increased HP.

The first form was pretty annoying, using his stun move more than I would have liked, but we got it down, rested up and started in on the second form. I was kiting around the edge of the BC, as I had with the Elvaan Ark Angel in Zilart Mission 14, but this meant I was out of range of Wendell's cures too often. We ended up wiping, but Splinte and Prishe made a valiant effort when the rest of us were dead. A timely Benediction from Prishe got the two of them back to full health, and Splinte avoided Promathia's attacks for a good while, but got a bit over-zealous with a Rampage, pulled hate and died. I really hate the AOE stun, the amnesia, and the perma-silence from Promathia too.

Itera and Elboron had both used their two hours on the first attempt, but we weren't concerned about having them missing for our second attempt. This time the first form was less annoying, and I opted to kite the second form across the circle rather than around the edge. This worked a lot better. It also helped that Promathia used Comet more than Meteor, which meant only I was taking damage, if I was in range when he finished casting. I ended up dying as we got him down to under about 10%, having got hit twice quickly for ~300 points each, then hit with Comet for over 1000 damage, all in quick succession. Everyone else finished him off, and we had won!

After our cutscene, we headed to Blueblade Fell for a final group picture. That's the location for the final cutscene from the missions, and I didn't think we'd be able to do them as a group, but thought it would be a fitting setting for the last group picture. It was a bittersweet conclusion.

On Saturday, I traveled around Vana'diel to see all the cutscenes to complete the mission, effectively saying goodbye to the starring characters. I started off in Windurst, headed to Mhaura to see the Sin Hunters, then Purgonorgo Isle for the Chebukki siblings. Later I went to San d'Oria, followed Louverance to Uleguerand Range, and then back to San d'Oria. Next I went to talk to Cid in Bastok, and said farewell to Tenzen, then saw Jabbos in Oldton Movalpolis. It was off to Jeuno where I talked to Wolfgang at the Palace and then Esha'ntarl at the Marble Bridge.

Esha'ntarl offered me my choice of three rings as a reward: Rajas Ring, Tamas Ring, or Sattva Ring. My intention for months and months was always to get the Rajas Ring, which is considered by many to be the supreme melee ring available in the game. My life in the game has changed significantly since I made that decision, and I'm actually doing things I never thought I'd be doing: "end game" tanking.

I'm a PLD, I love being a PLD, and I really don't envision leveling any other job past 60. So it became clear to me that the Sattva Ring was the right one for me. There's just so much good on that one ring. It's like having a Nimble Ring, a Robust Ring, a Hercules Ring, and half a Bomb Queen Ring all on one finger. I get 5 VIT, 5 AGI, 30 HP, and 3 Enmity. How could I turn that down? It's true the Rajas Ring would be much more useful for other jobs, but even then, I see it as a weapon-skill-only ring, as I'd generally be wearing +Accuracy for TP-build.

After getting my new ring, I headed to Tavnazia to see Ulmia and Prishe. Prishe went running off, but I found her in Lufaise Meadows, above Blueblade Fell. A final fullscreen cutscene later, and it was all over. I'd completed the Chains of Promathia, along with my best friends in the game. It's a very sad conclusion to our long journey though, as it signals the end of the game for Grymalkyn, and most likely Elboron. I'll miss them both so much, but I'm glad that we got to save the world a few times together (Mission 5-2, Windurst Mission 9-2, Zilart Mission 16, and CoP Mission 8-4). Hopefully the world won't need saving again, since it will be hard to do it without them.

New titles: Averter of the Apocalypse, Banisher of Emptiness