LEO CROSSBOW +1 ! ! !

I haven't talked much about this but, behind the scenes, I've been working hard on getting this awesome crossbow for the past month or so. It is the fastest ranged weapon a Thief can equip and the second fastest ranged weapon in Vana'diel. A while back Carste had talked about how he was trying to craft one without success. Not only is the recipe hard to HQ (get the High Quality) but the crossbow required to craft drops from a Demon NM with a 21 hour respawn which means that the Lion Crossbow is only up in the Auction House once every 3-6 days.

Looking at it and how useful it would be for claiming from a distance, something I do often, I decided to pursue it. I began to keep a constant eye on the Auction House in order to spot the Lion Crossbows as soon as they popped up. If I wasn't able to buy it myself, I would send someone to buy it just to keep it from selling. This is how I sniped my first one, which I proudly took to Carste with some mahogany lumber so he could attempt the craft. He was already 0/7 at this point and the attempt yielded a regular Leo Crossbow. -.-; He handed it to me mentioning that he was gonna give up on them for the time being since he didn't use Marksmanship that much on his Thief anyways. I could understand his frustration somewhat but I didn't let it discourage me.

In a month I managed to buy 11 Lion Crossbows, only missing about 3 sales to other people. Each night I would meet with Carste at the San d'Oria Woodcrafting Guild to attempt the synth without success. He asked me to do every single emote and dance there is in an attempt to give him some luck. When Lion sellers began to increase the price to 35k, I kept buying them without hesitation.

Last night, I rejoiced when I noticed another Lion up on the Auction House. I was about to enter Dynamis so I couldn't personally go buy it. I asked some peeps if anyone had a relative in Whitegate or Jeuno that could do me the favor. Chisei offered and I mailed his relative the 35k gil. Couple of minutes later I hear that the crossbow is not buying for 35k, which means that its been raised in price once more. I make the decision to not pursue it until it goes back down in price. All through Dynamis, the thought of the crossbow keeps hunting my mind so I start keeping an eye out on Carste's location. He seemed to be doing another Dynamis zone at the same time as me. lol

When my run was over I notice that he is in Whitegate and send him a tell asking him to buy the Lion and the lumber. He responds a couple of minutes later informing me that the Crossbow was gonna cost more than 35k and asking me if I really wanted to buy it higher as it would just continue to increase the price. I said I would rather not pay more than 35k, but I would pay more for that one just to give it one last faithful attempt before waiting for the price to come back down, which could take weeks. He mumbled something about me being retarded but bought the items anyways. He was also a little bit frustrated because he had been making sure to sign all his attempts, just in case the HQ succeeded, and it was running him low on Guild points.

We met, again, in the Sandy Woodcrafters Guild. This was becoming too funnily repetitive for both of us. He tells me that I am probably screwing everyone else by helping sellers raise the price. I responded that I was faithful I wouldn't have to buy more Lion Crossbows after that night so the price would go back down. He asked me to do the rain dance and began to craft.

It was the longest time its ever taken him to craft that thing. At this point, I wasn't even sure what the HQ animation looks like as I swear I kept seeing it for the past month but regular Leo Crossbows would always come out. So, the usual shiny explosion of color occurs and something I really didn't expect, or maybe deep inside I knew already, happened.
I screamed!!! There it was. Finally!!! Carste's response was priceless...
He tried to scare me by attempting to Warp and then canceling but I was too happy to care. Plus, aside from being a complete jerk, he is a great friend. :P I am now the owner of a Leo Crossbow +1 signed by Carste which, as gay as it sounds, makes it even more priceless. :)
I want to thank Drimergirl, Zerayla, Falk and Chisei for being able to buy the Lion Crossbows when I wasn't able to. And, I also want to give a huge bundle of thanks to Carste for ultimately succeeding in crafting the crossbow. It only took him 19 attempts. XD I can't wait to go play around with it!

Tales of a Beastaru o( ' _ ') / ===O

Here begins the long and bor... I mean exciting and marvelous tale of my endeavors amongst the beast kind. I originally unlocked the path of Beastmaster in order to successfully do Wings of Fury, a level 20 BCNM that could potentially drop the Astral Ring, which myself and some friends wanted to sell for profit. What I discovered on my way to level 20 was quite remarkable. Not only was the job fun but a complete and utter rush.

My big eye opener was this one time around level 17. I was training around the Crag of Holla in La Theine Plateau. I was in the process of finishing off a hare when my pet sapling dies. I suddenly realise that there is not that much surrounding me to charm. I panic and start running towards a sheep. I put on my Charisma gear and throw my heart at the sheep successfully charming it. Then, I throw the sheep at the hare thats chasing me. Sure enough, the hare is defeated. I sit there to assess my surroundings and figure what to bug next. Suddenly, my now uncharmed sheep takes a shot at me. ::Chomp:: Ouch! I stand up and throw my heart at it again but, this time, it bounces off unsuccessfully. At this time I decide to actually check how strong this thing is. INCREDIBLY TOUGH!!! T_T I start running like there is no tomorow. How was I so retarded as to charm an IT sheep. I see a crab in my way and toss my heart at it, success! I throw the crab at the incoming angry sheep and continue running. At this point I am hit with the dilemma: Do I run or do I go for this? Being the power hungry Taru I am, I decided to go till the end. Crabby dies, sheep resumes its chase, I toss my heart at another crab and throw it at Sheep. This time I ran a little bit farther and found myself around the chasm that leads to Ordelle's Cave. Crabby#2 dies and I find myself with a problem: All there is around the chasm are Goblins and Bombs. I start to run!!!

Up the hill and into the trees I went in order to finally find a bird I could throw my heart at. Now charmed, I throw it at the hill climbing sheep from hell and keep running. Another bird and two sablings later, Mr. Sheep finally sucumbed to my mad beastly powers. There I was, standing almost at the zone, in utter shock of what I had just acomplished. I took down an Incredibly Tough mob. Sure I had to throw half of La Theine Plateau at it but I lived to tell the tale. I gained a confidence in myself that no other job had ever managed to give me.

Needless to say, I didn't stop at level 20 but kept going till about 25, when for one reason or another I put it down to continue leveling something else. Years later, with Summoner and Dark Knight at 75 and Paladin and Thief getting closer, I began to think what would be the next job I would take to 75. Beastmaster was the first thing to jump into my mind. A job that would take me all around Vana'diel, be very useful at NMs and BCNMs, and a much needed break from the party life.

Last weekend, it felt like the right time and I informed Rafistar and Maristar to mail me all the Beastmaster gear I'd left with them and bought a couple of pieces I was missing. All in all, my Beastmaster was ready to take on the world... or be taken by it. XD So, I stepped out into Qufim Island, where I last remember being all those days ago, ready to continue my beastly journey. I find the Fields of Valor book and find a good easy page to warm up on: 1 Worm, 8 Crabs. I get some Book buffs, find a suitable crab and prep up for my first charm attempt.

I throw my heart at it.

It doesn't like it.

I pick it up and throw it again!

It seems to be on a no-heart diet.

I run.

It chases.

I die...

~ ~ ~

I couldn't decide whether that was the most glorious or most horrible start to my new Beastmaster career. Either way, I got up and, after a couple of more deaths, I was finally on the path to possitive experience gain and did see level 26 by the end of the night.

The Beastaru is BACK~!

- P I C T U R E _ T I M E -

Beastin' in Qufim Island.

Weird NM I found in Kuftal Tunnel.