Alchemy Synthesis Guide |
_____________________ |

This is a guide that pressents simple common synthesis combinations for alchemy from Amateur rank to Novice rank

—–Amateur Alchemy Recipies—–

Distilled water(3) = Lightning Crystal +Tahrongi Cactus

Antidote(1) = Water Crystal + Wijnruit + San d’Orian Grape + Distilled Water

Black Ink(2) = Dark Crystal + Windurst Tea Leaves(2) + Nebimonite + Distilled Water

Beeswax(1) = Fire C. + Beehive Chip(3) + Distilled Water

Tsurara(10) = Ice C. + Rocksalt + Distilled Water(2)

Anumal Glue(1) = Fire C. + Rabbite Hide + Bone Chip (2) + Distilled Water

Silencing Potion(1) = Water C. + Kazham Peppers + 2 Leaf Mandra Bud + Scream Fungus

Wax Sword(1) = Water C. + Beeswax + Bronze Sword

Deodorizer(1) = Wind C. + OLive Oil + Chamomile + Sage

—–Recruit Alchemy Recipies—–

Poison Dust (1) = Lightning C. + Yellow Globe (2)

Silence Dagger (1) = Water C. + Animal Glue + Silencing Potion + Brass Dagger

Bee Spatha(1) = Water C. + Beeswax(2) + Spatha

Mercury(1) = Lightning C. + Cobalt Jelly (4)

Silence Bahjnakhs(1) = Water C. + Animal Glue + Silencing Potion + Brass Baghnakhs

Poison Potion(1) = Water C. + Mercury + Poison Dust

Kodoku(33) = Dark C. + Elshimo Fog + Lugworm + Shell Bug

Echo Drops(1) = Water C. + Sage + Honey + Distilled Water

—–Initiate Alchemy Recipies—–

Poison Dagger(1) = Water C. + Animal Glue + Poison Potion + Dagger

Poison Knife (1) = Water C. + Animal Glue + Poison Potion + Knife

Mokuto (1) = Water C. + Animal Glue + Poison Potion + Shinobi-Gatana

Poison Baselard(1) = Water C. + Animal Glue + Poison Potion + Baselard

Minnow(1) = Fire C. + Brass Ingot + Glass Fiber (Requires Gold Smithing Skill)

Blinding Potion (1) = Water C. + Crying Mustard + Posion Flour + SleepShroom

Sairui-Ran(33) = Earth C. + Kazham Peppers + Bomb Ash + Bast Parchment + Bird Egg ( Req. Cooking Skill)

Silent Oil(2) = Water C. + Olive Oil + Beeswax(2)

Glass Fiber Fishing Rod(1) = Fire C. + Cotton Thread + Glass Fiber (4)

Eye Drops(2) = Water C. + Chamomile + Ahriman Tears + Distilled Water

—–Novice Alchemy Recipies—–

Poison Kukri(1) = Water C.+ Animal Glue + Poison Potion + Kukri

Minnow(1) = Fire C. + Copper Ingot + Glass Fiber (Req. Goldsmithing Skill)

Blind Dagger(1) = Water C. + Animal Glue + Blinding Potion + Bronze Dagger

Busuto(1) = Water C. + Animal Glue + Poison Potion + Shinobi-Gatana

Pioson Cesti(1) = Water C. + Animal Glue + Poison Potion + Lizard Cesti

Blind Knife(1) = Water C + Animal Glue + Blinding Pition + Bronze Knife

Artificial Lens(1) = Fire C + Blass Fiber(2)

Poison Bahnakhs(1) = Water C + Animal Glue + Poison Potion + Baghnakhs

Prism Powder(8) = Light C + Ahriman Lens + Glass Fiber (2)

Jusatsu(33) = Dark C + Black Ink + Beastman Blood + Bast Parchment

Bronze Bullet(33) = Fire C + Bronze Ingot + Firesand (Req. Smithing Skill)

Poison Claws(1) = Water C + Animal Glue + Poison Potion + Claws

Inferno Sword(1) = Earth C + Slime Oil + Firesand + Two-Handed Sword

Living Key(2) = Water C + Slime Oil + Beeswax + Malboro Vine

Firesand(2) = Earth C + Bomb Ash + Sulfur

Potion (1) = Water C + Sage + Lizard Tail + Distilled Water

Black Smithing Guide

This is what I would consider to be one of the most profitable crafts. And the money invested at the start, will be kindly be multiplied many times over.

For this craft I would highly recommend that you take up mining. Mining will help lower the cost of materials and also give you the extra money to feed your blacksmith skills further.

The items below are the items I would highly recommend you craft to save on money and gain your skills as fast as possible.

Also when every possible always use Synthesis support provided by the guild.

Lvl 2 Bronze ingot (3 Copper Ore + Tin Ore + Fire)
(Try and get as many of these as you can price of these have increased so much. It used cost 2k per stack, but since the guild point system was introduced the price of a stack no is from 4-6k you can sell these for profit but I would advise that you keep these for levelling)

Lvl 4 Bronze Sheets (Bronze Ingot + Fire)
(Made from the bronze ingots you ve made)

Lvl 10 Bronze scales (Bronze Sheet + Wind)
(This is where you lose money unless you save the scales to make scale mail, if you don t have any bronze sheets, you can buy them at a decent price in the guilds, about 120g each. I personal sold them back to the guild)

Lvl 15 Tin ingots (4 Tin Ore + Fire)
(Making this doesn t really make any real profit, a stack sells at around 1k in the AH, I sold my tin ingots back to the guild, I camped the guild for tin ore, using the money which I gained from selling Iron, Zinc and darksteel ore which I mined)

Lvl 20 Iron Ingots (4 Iron Ores + Fire) (HQ results in Steel Ingot)
(This is where you start making you real profit, best to mine all the iron you can, yes it may be time consuming but time versus money I prefer to waste that extra bit of time mining than spending 2-2.4k per iron ingot. And when you fail that s a lot of money lost. Also try and save 3-4 stacks for the next items)

Lvl 22 Iron Sheet (Iron Ingot + Fire) (this is an option)
(This will give you and extra 5-7k on top of the sells from iron ingots, but does sell a bit slower than iron ingots)

Lvl 25 Spatha (lizard skin + 3 Bronze ingots + Fire)
(You can buy the lizard skins to make this but I spent about 1-2 hours (also I found that lizards in valkum dunes have a higher skin drop rate than in any other place.)

Lvl 29 Iron Mask (Iron Sheet + Brass Sheet + Earth)
(I highly recommend that you also level Gold smith to the point where you can make your own Brass Sheets. Just take some time out and do it, because 6-7k per stack of brass ingots isn t cheap at this stage)

NOTE: Even though Goblin gear (gob mail and helmet) has a level cap at 30 I highly suggest that you save your money on buying this gear until your at least level 50+

Trick of the Trade!!!
There is a vendor in North Sandy that sells leather belts. Because Iron will become your main ingredient in most of the items made. This is one of the cheapest ways to obtain iron ingots other than mining it

To make a leather belt consists of 1 Iron chain and 1 sheep leather.

If you de-synthesis you will get as a result of:

1 Sheep Leather
1 Iron Ingot (HQ1)
2 Iron Ingot (HQ2)

The Blacksmith level need for this is 0, but this d-synthesis has a high fail rate!!! The only way I have found to counter this high fail rate is to raise your leather to 10+ (the higher the better) Try and d-synthesis on a dark day, and have your Mog House with a lightning enhancement effect (Powerful or overwhelming).

Also try to get your Sandy Fame as high as possible. Because the higher your fame is, the cheaper you can buy the leather belts. Sheep leather can be sold to the AH and the money obtain from it can be used to buy more leather belts or lizard skins to level other items.

Lvl 35 Iron Cuisses (2 Iron Scales + Leather Trousers + Cotton Thread + Earth) (Optional)
(I recommend you level this item because not only are you levelling your Blacksmith you can also level Leather skills to 5 which will help with an item later on)

Lvl 33-35 Rusty Items (Rusty Caps or Rusty Picks + Light)
(I only recommend this if you have a fishing skills, so you can fish for caps and picks. The prices of caps have gone down a lot since SE has lowered the price in which you can sell caps to vendors/stores. Try to only buy these at 1.5k the most. Once restored these will give you results of a war pick or padded cap, caps can be sold back at 2.6k making you a small profit that s if you don t fail)

Lvl 39 Padded Cap (Iron Sheet + 2 Lizard Skins+ Earth)
(Once again you have to go back and try to farm lizard skins (optional), but you don t have to cap out this to level 39, once you re about level 37 move the next item, this will save you on cost/time for lizard skins. Padded caps will also level your level to a cap of 9)

Lvl 41 Iron Mittens (Iron Sheet + Lizard skin + Earth)
(This will also level your leather to 10 cap)

Lvl 45 Iron Subilgar (Iron Sheet + Lizard Skin + Cotton Cloth + Earth)
(This will help you level Leather to 12 also. If you have the time and want to save more money, cotton cloth can also be farmed off Bogy (ghost type MOB))

At this stage you can now de-synthesis Quadav gear, but its best of farm them. It s only worth buying and de-synthesis Quadav gear at level 65+ because the return versus cost would be more effective.

Lvl 52 Darksteel Ingot (Darksteel Ore + 3 Iron Ore + Fire)
(I would highly recommend you mine most of your irons and darksteel ores. Losing a darksteel ore, while you synthesis is really painful. Only start buying darksteel ore to level once your level 48+ and have synthesis support on)

Lvl 57 Gauntlets (2 Iron Sheet + 2 Leather Gloves + Fire)
(Use the Trade trick of leather belts to obtain most of your irons here. You can also buy your leather gloves in the Armoury in North Sandy, Gauntlets can be sold back to the guild to get the cost of the money invested in the items back or sold in the AH)

Lvl 58 Breastplate (4 Iron Sheet + Sheep Leather + Fire)
(Once again use the Trade Trick of leather belts, you can make a profit on breastplates if you sell them to the AH, or break even if sold to the guild.)

Lvl 66 Nodowa (Iron Sheet + Silk Thread + Earth)
(The reason why I have jump 8 levels ahead from breastplates to Nodowa is because cost versus fails on making nodowa. Nodowa comes out on top. Once again use the Trade trick to get your Iron. Its best if you spend time on farming silk thread until you are around level 60+ of blacksmith, because this well help lower the cost on fails once pass level 60 its best to just buy the silk, because you will get your money back. Note Guilds do not buy this item you can only sell to the vendors/stores)

Lvl 70 Hien (Darksteel Ingot + Lizard Skin + Fire) (optional)
(Sometimes it isn t worth making these unless you have gotten most of your darksteel from Quadav gear. Only sells at 2.5-3k to vendors/stores)

Lvl 73 Darksteel Pick (Darksteel + Elm Lumber + Fire)
(This is where the true money on Blacksmith lays. These sell to the vendors/stores at 12.5k. If possible get your darksteel from Quadav gear to maximise profits and try to farm and make your own Elm Lumber)

Information from here on has been obtain through talking to may of the crafters which I have met online and also the main trading forms which I have read

Lvl 81 Darksteel Gorget (Darksteel Sheet + Ram Leather + Fire)
(At this level you should really try to level Leather so that you can make your own ram leather, which will save you money. Also you should be able to get a good HQ rate on Quadav gear to get Darksteel Ingot, which help with cost here. So take time out to farm quadav gear)

Lvl 83 Darksteel Nodowa (Darksteel Sheet + Silk Thread + Fire)
(Same as Nodowa but this time you get a bit more money but still at a lost on darksteel unless you farmed and d-synthesis your own darksteel from Quadavs)

Lvl 87 Celata (Copper Ingot + Steel Sheet + Darksteel Chain + Darksteel + Sheep leather + Fire)
(Once again farm and d-synthesis all you re your darksteel, and if your lucky you can get a HQ1 or H2 on Darksteel Chains which is very nice)

At this stage it is wise to go and do the Guild and raise your Guild points up and get the Blacksmith gloves and apron. Because those 2 extra Skill points will help you a lot and decrease the fail rates so much.

Lvl 90 Adaman Ingot (3 Adaman Ore + Iron Ore + Fire)
(If you can mine Adaman Ore in ifirit s Cauldron, do it as much as possible to cut down on cost. Otherwise make enough Darksteel Picks until you have enough money to buy Adaman ores, Very very pain fully when you fail. A friend of mine failed and lost all 3 Adaman ores, that s 300k+ lost in less than 10 seconds. But he was lucky he didn t lose his iron ore lol)

Lvl 91 Adaman Ingot (6 Adaman Nuggets + Adaman Ore + Fire)
(When every there is Adaman Nuggets on sell try to snap them up, Cheaper to buy that Adaman ore. Just a bit)

Lvl 95 Bhuj (Ebony Lumber + Gold Ingot + Steel Ingot + 2 Darksteel Ingot + Mercury
+ Fire)
(For this is best to raise Goldsmith and woodwork crafts to level 50+ this will help to lower the fail rates and raise your Alchemy up until you can make Mercury)

Lvl 95 Adaman Sheet (Adaman Ingot + Fire)
(Save all the Adaman ingots that you make to help with cost)

Lvl 97 Adaman Cuisses (Adaman Sheet + Darksteel Sheet + Gold Ingot + Tiger Leather + Mercury + Fire)
(You need gold to be at level 50+ to help with the fail rates. Also making your own tiger leather and Mercury helps just a little)

Lvl 100 Culverin (Adman Ingot + 2 Darksteel Ingot + Mahogany Lumber + Brass Ingot)
(The final item that will raise your Blacksmith to level 100.Wood and Gold crafts need to be at level 60 to help lower fail rate)


Other tricks with in Blacksmith which can help you make or save you money are listed below. I don t recommend trying them until your blacksmith is level 60+. The reason for this is that so you can maximise the HQ results that you get. I will give you the level in which you can start to de-synthesis the items also.

De-synthesis Tricks and money savers

Claymore (25-26) (Brought in North Sandy Furniture Shop) Fame will have an effect the price of the claymore (which cost about 3k) I have made a stack from 3 claymores once, 9k for a stack is better than paying 32-35k

Using Lightning
Normal Result = Ash Lumber
HQ1 = Lizard Skin
HQ2 = 3 Iron Ingots
HQ3 = 4 Iron Ingots

Maul (40)(drop off by Garnet Quadav, you need to be above level 50 in a job before you can try to take them on, can be sold for 3k)

Using Lightning
Normal Results = Oak Lumber
HQ1 = Oak Lumber
HQ2 = 6 Mythril Nuggets
HQ3 = 2 Mythril Ingots

Quadav Backplates (45) (Drop off my Amethyst Qaudav)

Using Lightning
Normal Results = Bronze ingot
HQ1 = Iron Ingot
HQ2 = Darksteel Ingot

Using wind you will get sheets instead of ingots


Quadav Helmet (45) (Drop off by Old Quadav in Beaudeax only)

Using Lightning
Normal Results = Bronze ingot
HQ1 = Iron Ingot
HQ2 = Steel Ingot
HQ3 = Darksteel Ingot

Using wind you will get sheets instead of ingots

Antican Pauldron (65) (Drop off by Ranger type Antican)

Using Lightning
Normal Results = 2 Bronze ingot
HQ1 = 3 Iron Ingot
HQ2 = 2 Steel Ingot
HQ3 = Darksteel Ingot

Using wind you will get sheets instead of ingots


Last edited on Mon Jun 19th, 2006 08:25 pm by <A class=username onclick=’show_menu(event, this, ‘menu502′)’ href=’http://strategyfreaks.com/forum/view_user.php?id=502′>chriswheat71

zeke23
Member


Joined: Thu Aug 3rd, 2006Location: Posts: 1Mana: Posted: Fri Aug 4th, 2006 05:32 amQuoteReplyI used the following strategy to level up smithing:

0-2 ———————–
Bronze Ingot Fire Crystal Tin Ore x1, Copper Ore x3
Cheap Synth important in the next steps.

2-4 ———————–
Bronze Sheet Fire Crystal Bronze Ingot x1
Use the Ingots you made in the last step

4-9 ———————–
Bronze Scales Wind Crystal Bronze Sheet x1
Use the Sheets that you made getting to 4.

9-14 ———————-
Tin Ingot Fire Crystal Tin Ore x4
These are very cheap to make and are a welcome after all those bronze scales


14-17 ———————
Aspis Fire Crystal Ash Lumber x1, Bronze Sheet x2
Great to make these and sell them to other players can net a profit

17-20 ———————
Iron Ingot Fire Crystal Iron Ore x4
The First step of expensive smithing no way around them.

20-22 ———————
Iron Sheet Fire Crystal Iron Ingot x1
Use the Iron that was created in the last step

22-25 ———————-
Spatha Fire Crystal Lizard Skin x1, Bronze Ingot x3
You could use the sheets that you made in the last step to make scales.
but this way you can sell the sheets and not be stuck with stacks of cheap scales

25-28 ———————
War Pick Light Crystal Rusty Pick x1
Use these to bridge the gap for rusty caps Sell these to the Blacksmithing guild for profit


26-34 ———————
Padded Cap Light Crystal Rusty Cap x1
A nice way to make gil if light crystals are not overpriced

There are two paths from here one involves some low level leathercraft the other does not
I would suggest making sheep leather and rabbit mantles to 7 leathercraft.

34-40 ———————-
Iron Mittens Earth Crystal Lizard Skin x1, Iron Sheet x1
Make tons of Iron Mittens and sell them to a npc for about the cost of the Iron Sheet
Will cap leatercraft at 10.
Dont forget to rank up at the Leather Guild

40-45 ———————-
Iron Subligar Earth Crystal Cotton Cloth x1, Lizard Skin x1, Iron Sheet x1
At 40 add in some cotton and make subligars. These may sell occasionaly on the AH.
Will take leathercraft to 12.

————————————————————————————–
If leather is to much extra work, shame on you! these will take to to 45 but at a higher cost

34-36 ———————-
Steel Sheet Fire Crystal Steel Ingot x1
Make tons of Sheets you are going to need them

36-40 ———————-
Steel Scales Wind Crystal Steel Sheet x1
Used to make steel scale equipment not worth as much as the ignots used. Making these hurts

40-45 ———————-
Hibari Fire Crystal Tama-Hagane x1 Lizard Skin x1
Buy the Tama-Hagane in Jeuno Tenshodo. These will sell occasionaly on the AH.
————————————————————————————–

45-52 ———————-
Darksteel Ingot Fire Crystal Darksteel Ore x1, Iron Ore x3
45 might be a little soon to start these untill about 48 they should be made on Firesday or Iceday with Advanced suport ONLY!
They can be sold in Jueno for profit

52-55 ———————-
Darksteel Sheet Fire Crystal Darksteel Ingot x1
Use some of the Ignots that were made in the previous step.

55-58 ———————
Darksteel Bolt Heads Wind Crystal Darksteel Ingot x1
Not a good step but hey its better than blowing up tons of Nodowa.

58-66 ———————
Nodowa Earth Crystal Iron Sheet x1, Silk Thread x1
One of the Cheaper synths you will find this high

66-73 ———————
Darksteel Pick Fire Crystal Darksteel Ingot x1, Elm Lumber x1
The resale value of these is what makes them worth while to make
Especialy if the woodworking guild is stocking elm lumber for 1800 gil
These require woodworking and cap it at 8 which by this point should be no problem to get.

Everyone keeps badmouthing this step so I looked for an alternative route.
Origional Route was Karimata Arrowheads but No one seems to like the idea of these
72-77————————–
Bastard Sword Fire Crystal Ram Leather x1, Darksteel Ingot x3
Darksteel Scythe Fire Crystal Darksteel Ingot x3, Yew Lumber x1, Grass Cloth x1

The swords cap at 77 and the Scythes cap at 78. The Scythes will sell because there are used to make Death Scythes. But there is a slight chance you can break even.

77-83 ———————
Darksteel Nodowa Fire Crystal Silk Thread x1, Darksteel Sheet x1
Same as Nodawa make you will be making these for a long time.

83-87 ———————
Celata Fire Crystal Sheep Leather x1, Darksteel Chain x1, Darksteel Sheet x1, Steel Sheet x1, Copper Ingot x1
This appears to be the cheapest synth that can be made in this range. Thick equipment sells
nicely. all the dark knights drool over it.

87-90 ———————
Adaman Ingot Fire Crystal Adaman Ore x3, Iron Ore x1
Ouch this has to be the most costly per synth item you could imagine.
At least you can resell them on the AH.
——————————————————————————–
After 90 everything looks to be Adaman based so i think its best to stop there

This should clear up some misunderstandings about EFs.

An EF has some requirements before you can join. For our guild you must be San d’Orian, Rank 3+, and meet the level requirement for the particular EF of the week. An example is Zulkhiem - The level is 20 and it’s capped at level 30. So a post on the /lsmes would look something like this:

>> VALKRUM EF on SAT3pmEST << (lvl20, cap30)

That would tell you we are going to Zulkhiem on Saturday @ 3pm EST. You must be San d’Orian, Rank 3+ and lvl 20+. Also you would know your gear would need to be below 30.

Here are the basics of the EF. Usually they are run by me and two other group leaders that have gone on them before. If you have questions outside of what you read here ask your group leaders about it, they will most likely have an answer for you. The EF starts out by getting together an alliance of usually 3 groups. If San d’Oria is in 1st place we need 6 people per team, 2nd 5 people per team, 3rd 4 people per team. It’s never good to just have the bare minimum of people because the monsters are very tough. Once we all get assembled, it usually takes awhile. Listen for your party leader to tell you to "Join the EF". At that time you should talk to the Temple Knight (TK) at the gates. Select from the options Join Expeditionary Force > The Place of the EF (Zulkhiem) > "Join the EF" You should then see him cast a spell on you and an icon of crossed swords should appear where signet should be. Again, wait for your group leader to check and see if everyone has done that. Once they have he/she will say "My group warp." This means talk with the TK again and "Warp to the EF". At this time you will be given a Glyph of the gate you left from and be transported to the outpost, in this case the outpost in Valkrum.

Once you’re there buddy up with someone in case you get agro’d and start looking for the Beastman’s Banner. The banner is usually located on the sides of the map, on a wall. When you find the banner point it out to the rest of the teams and wait there. DO NOT CLICK THE BANNER! You’ll see people telling you anyways, but it’s very important that you do not click the banner. There will be someone designated as the "Banner Checker". The reason this is so important is that once the banner is clicked you will get the level cap and 4-5 monsters will spawn and attack whoever clicked it. So it’s very important everyone is ready when it’s finally clicked.

The monsters are no ordinary monsters. These are actual jobs with all the benefits we have in the jobs. The WHM has benediction and will use it, the RNG has Eagle Eye Shot and will use it, the BST has Charm and will make your friends attack you. Ask Saprykin all about how he killed Mastershake and me during one of the fights. Again, this is the reason you can’t click the banner before everyone is ready, you and the rest of the teams will be slaughtered. It isn’t a great way to make friends.

After your teams have successfully killed the monsters, raise the dead, cure the sick and glyph back to the gate. The glyph you recieved just before teleporting will warp you back to the gate from wherever you happen to be. That means if there isn’t a WHM that can raise… omg I hope that never happens in an EF… but if you home point (HP) by accident or something you can use the glyph to get back to the gate in San d’Oria.

When are we done?
This question is asked all the time. The answer is a bit complex. In each region there is certain influences from all the countries and the beastmen. I’m sure you’ve been in a region that was under beastmans control. The idea behind EFs is that every monster you kill, you gain influence for your country. If you kill all 4-5 monsters it’s better than killing just 1-2. So you’re done when your country is comfortably in the lead. You can check the influence in a region by checking: menu > region :and then focus the mouse on the region in question.

I’m sure there are things that are still confusing and things that I’ve forgotten to include. The best way to know what’s going on is to join one of the EFs and do it. Ask your party leader any questions you might have. These are some of the best times I’ve had, not just with the LS, but in FFXI all together.

We all know about the way to store infinite items by sending them to ourselves then going into our mog house and return them to ourselves again.

Well way back when Onyx first found allwaitzero and posted it, I read (but I don’t recall where) that this program had a feature that allowed you to open your delivery box from anywhere. Well I tried this while out of town and it never worked for me so I gave up on it.

However, recently while at an AH in Jeuno with a mule I tried it again, and it worked! The catch is it only works in a zone that is connected to a moghouse. I haven’t tried a city like Kazham or Rabio but I’m will to bet it works there too.

The command to open your delivery box is /deliverybox. That being said here’s the good part, I’m sure most of you have already figured it out. You just go to a delivery NPC near an AH, and send something to yourself. Then type in the command to open your delivery box and recieve the items.

From there you just do it like you normally would if you were walking all the way into your house. The good part is that it saves you a LOT of time, especially if you have a lot of items because there is no wait between opening the NPC’s menu or your delivery box.

One other tip, this works awesome for mules you are using just to sell stuff. You can just park the mule right at the AH and pick up gold, and sell more items, and then return the gold to your main. It saves me so much time. It’s made selling stuff by mules a breeze

Next Wednesday, January 30th, WarCry and EA Mythic will host a Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Developer Chat. This is your chance to find out the answers to questions on our Most Anticipated Game of 2008. The chat will take place next Wednesday at 8pm Eastern. The connection details are:.

When: 01/30/2008 8pm EST

Where: irc.chatspike.net 6667 in #WarCouncil
General chat will be available in #warcry

Who: The developers of Warhammer Online

Need a way in? No problem just use our Java Client or Chatspike’s IRC Client

We look forward to seeing you there!

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Dragon Quest
So we’re all dying to fight that dragon huh? We all want that rank 3 so we can continue moving up, and this dragon seems to be a pesky critter to vanquish, not to mention the 2-3 hours it takes to complete all the preliminaries to fighting the dragon. This, along with constant "dragon complaints" on the LS have inspired me to do a write up on how to easily take the dragon down. Granted there are 2 methods to this.

1. Complete everything required before fighting the dragon, find a JP group to venture with you to Yugatto and take the dragon down.
2. Do the entire quest with a group of 23-25, and then journey to fight the dragon.

I highly recommend the JP group. It’s the best way NOT to die.

When taking the Emissary mission there are two roads you can go. Bastok>San d’orio or Bastok Windurst. I went the Bastok>Windurst route. So that is the way I will take you all.

The quest starts by speaking with a mythril musketeer. I will not give out any story details so there will be no spoilers in here. After you have recieved the mission these are the steps you must take.

1. Visit Naji at the Presidents office for the full orders of your mission.
2. Travel to Selbina and go to I-10, the Sea Travel Agency. Purchase your ticket to Mhaura.
3. From Mhaura you must go Buburimu Peninsula>Tahrongi Canyon>East Sarutabaruta>West Sarutabaruta>Windurst.
4. Once in Windurst you must visit the Bastok Consulate at Port Windurst (E-5) and speak with Melek.
5. After she has spoken with you go to E7 and speak with Machu-Machu I believe and he will transport you to Windurst Walls.
6. Here go to Heavens Tower (H7) and zone in. Now you must find Kipipu, he is straight back through the doors. Once you have recieved the key item from him run back to the Bastok Consulate and have it switched for the other key item. Now you are ready to travel again.
7. Rent a Chocobo if you like, but it isn’t really a long walk. Travel to F4 and zone into Giddeus.
8. Once inside seek out Uh Zhoumo and talk to him. He won’t take your key item. Now you must go to G7 in Giddeus and wait for Eyy Mon the Ironbreaker to spawn. Kill him, he will drop an Aspir knife and then you can trade that to Zhoumo and continue on.
9. Back to Windurst Walls. Speak with Kipipu in Heavens tower and the Consul again. They will thank you and then it will be time to go to San d’Orio
10. The trip is a long one. But can be shortened if you use a white mage with warp to take you from Telepoint, to Telepoint (telepoints are located at the Crags or have warp scrolls. Otherwise consult your maps and region info to get to San d’Oria.
11. IF none of those options are available get a choco and travel West Sarutabaruta>Tahrongi Canyon>Meriphataud Mountaion>Sauromongue
Champaign>Jueno. Get another choco in Jueno and travel to Rolanberry>Battalia>Jugner Forest>La Theine>West Ronfaure>San d’oria.
12. Once in Sand head to Northen Sand and visit the Bastok Consulate at J-9. Speak with Helaku and then you will be asked to go to Chateau d’Oraguille located in Northen San at J-7.
13. Speak with Halver in the first room and you will be asked to go to the Yughott Grotto.

At this point it is absolutely necessary to have a Party of 20+ people. The creatures in Yughott are aggressive and are all 20+. I recommend 2 heaers whm with blm full support jobs. 3 warriors all with support jobs. Then at least one other class that can backup heal. The dragon is NOT easy. I didn’t have the maps for any of these places but it is not hard to find with a little exploring. Or you can get the maps. I think they can be bought in San d’Oria from the map vendor. Never looked into it.

14. Travel to E-4 in West Ronfaure then go Ghelsba Outpost>Fort Ghelsba (J-8)>Yughott Grotto (J-6).
15. Here there is a burning circle. DO NOT go into the battlefield till everyone is ready.
16. Ok zone in. Wait for everyone else and let all buffs etc. get put up. Then heal till MP is full.
17. When you get to the battlefield there will be a cutscene. After this the fight will begin.
18. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU KILL THE SPOTTER FIRST. Ignore the dragon and focus only on heals. Have the warriors provoke well to keep damage heals to min. Treat this like any normal pull. Use your 2hours if you must. Once the spotter is down, kill the dragon, enjoy the cutscene and head back to San d’Oria to speak with the consulate. again.
19. HOME FREE. Travel back to Bastok report to Naji, watch the cutscene and WALA 3k gll and rank 3.

Hope this helps everyone. I did the best I could with the maps and whatnot that I had.

Several of us who have played both the Japanese and International releases of Final Fantasy XIII have noticed some rather irritating changes made to how the game plays. Although the differences are minor, they still have us wondering - Why?

Vibration
Many people have claimed that there is no vibration in the English PS3 version of FFXIII. This is untrue. However, how powerful the vibration is has been changed dramatically. You seldom feel it during gameplay and when you do, it’s so weak it’s barely worth having. This is the first game I’ve played where the vibration is at such a low frequency I can actually hear the motor inside my controller struggling.

Save Points
An extremely minor problem but I assume some of you have come across it. In the Japanese release, when you exit the save menu, you could hold down the analogue stick while the screen quickly switched back to gameplay and you’d immediately start running. Now if you do that you’ll stay motionless. You have to release the analogue stick and then try again.

Shroud Menu
Known as the Smoke Menu in the Japanese release, you could run around with it open and use it at the most opportune moment. Now when you press L1 to open the shroud menu you can’t move. This means you have to make sure you’re the perfect distance from your target to use an aerosol or the time limit will run out and you’ll end up wasting it. This gets especially annoying later in the game. Several times I’ve had to get so close to an enemy that I’ve alerted them and not had enough time to fumble through the menu.

You could say we’re making a big deal about nothing but the main reason I’m posting this is because I just don’t see the reason for making changes that make the experience slightly less enjoyable. We’ll give you our final thoughts on the game over the following days.

Final Fantasy 13: New Characters, Save Data And More
IGNs Japanese correspondent John Tanaka brings us many new tidbits about Final Fantasy XIII, Versus 13 and other square projects. It turns out that…

Contest: Win A Tabula Rasa Box

Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa is the latest MMO from NCSoft Austin and aims to change the way people think about the genre. Garriott has created a game that combines fast action tactical combat with RPG mechanics and character development in a world full of stories that have moral consequences.

Here on WarCry, we offer you the chance to win one of 20 box copies, to be distributed after the game launches.

Interested? Click below to enter for free.

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Game Informer have conducted a post release interview with Final Fantasy XIII’s producer Yoshinori Kitase. In the interview, Kitase was questioned about about the development of Crystal Tools and when asked what he would change, he said they should have concentrated on improving existing technology rather than creating an entirely new engine.

“Tools and engines improve through a process of trial and error and countless revisions, and that s what really makes them more efficient.”

Kitase was also questioned about the rest of the Fabula Nova Crystallis compilation. When asked whether there are more games in the compilation planning to be announced he answered “Please look forward to future announcements.” Even though we’ve had evidence to believe this before, that pretty much confirms it.

Source: Game Informer

Final Fantasy XIII Spot the Difference Competition Winner!
Our Final Fantasy XIII Spot the Difference competition finished earlier today and I can’t believe how much I underestimated your want for free stuff. Over the past eight days we’ve received 631 entries, effectively rendering my inbox useless. I selfishly didn’t tell you how to send your images to me and let you figure it out for yourselves. Luckily most of you used an image host but to the rest of you, sorry for not replying to your pleas for help but I simply didn’t have time. I also apologise to people who sent in descriptions rather than images of their solutions but I couldn’t count them.

I’ve spent a huge amount of the last 2 days checking through all your entries and out of the total 631 I received, 344 of them were correct. You can see the correct solution below. Don’t worry if yours doesn’t look identical. I gave you the benefit of the doubt. I’d like to thank Whiplash for actually creating the puzzle and making this possible.

Original/Solution

Now to the winner! I asked my lovely assistant to pick a random email address from the list of winners I compiled. When I searched the email address to double check the winner was correct, I realised who this person was. By an extremely weird coincidence it’s someone who’s helped us out before.

Shlizar Axis! Well done and thanks to everyone who took part. We’ll be sure to do more competitions in the future.

Ive got a pair of Video Reviews for FFXIII for everyone this evening. Over the next few weeks I am going to be posting a collection of tips/videos and…

We’re pleased to announce a new system that promises to offer adventurers unprecedented customization options for their equipment! Named the…