Dunes Parties

[Taskmage]

And the Crawler's nest camp TM mentions wasn't that good either unless there were people outside killing the Ochus, otherwise you ran the risk of having to go around them and I think gobs or something around that place. And Grubs weren't that low level to begin with, so you probably had to be at least lvl 20 to try that place anyway if I remember correctly.


So the test needs to include data between levels 18 and 22 in order to disqualify Qufim because that's the level people went there. You got 18, leveled your sub, went to Jeuno and killed worms, got 20 and your choco license, then crabs and fish or gobs inside etc. Same with subs, except without the License part.

I always stayed in Dunes until 20 chaining pugils at secret beach, especially during the time period in question. Then you went to Jeuno for your chocobo license. I didn't hear of moving to worms at 18 being common practice until much later, but even then I preferred Valkurm.

And seriously, ochus and goblins? I bet nobody would ever party in yuhtunga then, since there's so many higher level goblins guarding the mandies, and that awesome furrier camp at the outpost must be crap because of overgrown roses. Having a puller with the barest level of competence is obviously an outlying scenario.

[Armando]

I always stayed in Dunes until 20 chaining pugils at secret beach, especially during the time period in question. Then you went to Jeuno for your chocobo license. I didn't hear of moving to worms at 18 being common practice until much later, but even then I preferred Valkurm.

This was my case as well. There wasn't a whole lot of room for multiple parties there though. Kinda sucked to have to run all that way just to find the camp taken. Weren't there also some aggro bats in the tunnel leading there?

[Taskmage]

Worst part about Mandies were the fact that pretty much everyone back then was "NIN tank or GTFO" even though NIN takes are useless against Monk mobs without utsusemi Ni and a decent evasion set (you won't have either at 25-34)

Fun fact about this, btw. Mandies and monks are the easiest mobs in the game to time ichi against, because their attack rounds are farther apart. If you start the cast right when their first hit lands, it'll always go through uninterrupted. The second hit will animate right in the middle of your cast, but because it was a two-hit round in the first place, that attack was calculated at the same time as the first one, and as far as the system is concerned that's when it landed: before you started your cast.

That said they still do eat shadows at double speed, so they are expensive to tank as ninja, and you'll take some hits during recast, but you could still have reasonable defense and on balance tank them just as effectively as another class. Shuriken are even viable at that level, so you can cement hate on yourself better than anyone if you're willing to drop the gil.

Damn, you guys have me reminiscing.

[Taskmage]

This was my case as well. There wasn't a whole lot of room for multiple parties there though. Kinda sucked to have to run all that way just to find the camp taken. Weren't there also some aggro bats in the tunnel leading there?

The Qufim tunnel? Iirc those bats are linking but not aggro. It's only the weapons you have to worry about. But yeah, I remember going out to fight worms and finding 3 parties there, then sticking it out anyway and eking horrible exp because you were already in the ass end of nowhere and it was either that or run the weapon gauntlet again and start from scratch. Thankfully there's a grounds tome there now for easier egress.

[Armando]

The Qufim tunnel?

No, no, the secret beach. There was a tunnel with bats dividing the "main" part of Valkurm that shows up on the map from the secret beach. I vaguely remember individual party members having a hard time with that when they died and had to come back, or when you had to get a replacement.

[Taskmage]

Oh, yeah. Those bats would aggro, but they're the same level as the ones in the tunnel to Konschtat, so they're not that big of a deal. A single party member who linked a couple of them I could see having trouble, but moving as a group it's no problem.

[Mezlo]

All this talk about the dunes has me reminiscing... I miss the dunes... I hope ffxiv 2.0 can bring a similar experience once released.

[Armando]

Speaking of reminiscing...one of my very first EXP parties as a level 12-14ish MNK was in Maze of Shakhrami roaming for worms. It was a very unconventional experience and I don't recall ever partying there again. Likewise, I dinged Lv25 WAR fighting tigers and orcs in Batallia Downs, pulling them to one of the Eldieme Necropolis entrances.

But partying with friends was always a problem. I'd have killed for Level Sync to have been there from day 1. Maybe some of my IRL friends wouldn't have quit the game so soon. It's really lame how being even just 3 levels apart kills your ability to party with someone.

[Leggomyeggo]

What can I say? I met good people there! Granted, I had a lot of crappy experiences too. Maybe my memories are clouded because it's been so long...Thanks. I heard back when I first started again last year that Dunes PTs were a thing of the past but my friend was in one yesterday so I thought I'd see if they still happen!Thanks for the answers all.

The Dunes were my first real exp place with a party. I had a lot of fun there when i started in 08. Sadly even then it was hard for me to get a party and i didn't stay long,just got back and having a blast. My wife and i duo there often on carby server.

[Yellow Mage]

Out of curiosity, is your wife in the LS, Leggo?