Holy Crap, I'm a Black Mage.

Yes, BLM. The job you were afraid I would level. Well, that much at least you can blame on Izman as he was the one that came up with the idea of us doing this, but I can’t say that I didn’t think it was a good idea. We have duo’ed a lot of the way to where we are now (which is halfway through 73 for me), but lately we have been able to leech or synch down some of our friends to us. Since I am going on vacation after today, I am sure that Iz will and should be 75 by the time I get back. Then it’s on to merits.

I have to say that I am both excited and apprehensive about using Spellcast, which is pretty much requisite for most BLM these days because of all the conditional combinations of gear you need to use to maximize your damage and efficiency. I have started lobbying a few windower developers through a thread on BG to try to get them to make a graphical interface that you would input variables into and it would spit XML out at you. Some people think it should be easy and some think it might be difficult. Being an optimist in general and blissfully ignorant of the programming acumen necessary to design something like this, I think it should be totally possible. I am even considering offering a cash prize to the first person that develops something that works comprehensively.

Although I have put a lot of thought into the process of playing BLM, the real pain is being felt in my pocketbook. I have spent close to a half million on things that I know I am going to replace with better gear inevitably, but it is gear I can’t go without in the mean time. At least some of the gear I was able to pick up in Einherjar and some of it I am ignoring until I have the gil to deal with it. So let’s look at my shopping list.

Igqira Weskit: Check
Igqira Tiara: Check
Mahatma Slops: Check (Yes, Ailee I DO want signed ones from you, but you need to make them and we can swap)
Cursed Mitts: Check
Those are the things that I have picked up so far, but they aren’t the only things that I need. For example, I am missing a bunch of different spells. Fire IV, Blizzaga III, a bunch of Stone spells, and of course Poison II, which I will not buy just out of spite. Why the hell does a BLM need Poison II anyway? The gear I still need includes Snow Rings, Enfeebling Torque, a better second nuking earring, maybe a Demon Helm (Is 1 INT worth the MP lose from the Wizard’s Petasos for an Elvaan?) and Yigit Feet.

That is going to take some gil and time, but it going to be nothing compared to my Macha’s Coat. I am still paying back the gil I borrowed to get the Imperial Wootz Ingots for my Usukane Harimaki and I am going to need to get 12 more after that. :( Iz is going to have the same problem, but he is lucky that he already has all the pieces for Morrigan’s Body, Hands and Feet. I wouldn’t be surprised if he already has the hands and the feet already completed. I will also get to level into my Omega Ring, which will be very nice for Dark and Enfeebling.

Now, you might have noticed that I said I need a better second nuking earring. That is because you grand old gimp has finally gotten a Moldavite Earring. I just wanted to pick up a Sacrifice scroll for my WHM and the Goblin Alchemist that drops the scroll could be found in Labyrinth of Onzozo, so I figured why not try to get my Moldavite while I was there. So, I not only got a Scroll of Sacrifice for myself, Omoikitte and Iceblazek, but I also got my Moldavite Earring and I am not so gimp anymore. A special thanks to Iceblazek, Izman, Omoikitte and especially to Whmrock who helped me get it even though he still doesn’t have one (while still being a very capable BLM). We are going to help Whmrock get his earring as soon as we can!

So, there I am as a BLM. I was happy to find out that level 73 is “good” level when BLM gets their end-game gear and moves from being pretty lame to pretty cool. Only 20k to 74 then 42k for 75, and then another 44k to cap my XP. And then I need to merit, and merit for all of my jobs not just BLM. My WHM has been pretty much completely neglected when it comes to merits and that disappoints me really. My RNG is also in dire need of merits because it barely has any at all. At least BLM will let me solo some of those merits if I can’t drag Omoi and Iz to merit with me! ;)