Achieving Grandmaster Artisan...

...Nearly made me cry. Seemingly endless pearl farming in the Portico, hours spent bazaar-sniping sunstones and sandstones...I came very close to a mental breakdown many times.

This harrowing journey to Grandmaster Artisan-hood has changed my views on anyone else who's achieved this rank. Before, I regarded Crafting as an easy, 2-second thing. Boy, was I wrong. To anyone with more than 1 Grandmaster Artisan, I applaud you. I would never want to re-experience that type of grind, hour after hour after hour...

I also learned in the course of finishing the quest, was to read the directions very closely. Everything up 'til GM Artisan, you had to craft 2 of an object. So, like a total dummy, I assumed the same for the Seal of the Seven Seas. Had I read the quest dialogue, I would've found directions to only craft one Seal. That was 2 hours wasted on bazaar-sniping, and another 2 wasted banging my head on the wall.

The beacon of light that shone through the darkness, though, was that the Sunstones were needed for the Cosmic Kris and Stellar Signet. It left me thinking, "Do all of the recipes in here require sunstone?!"

In case you didn't know, the Cosmic Kris and Stellar Signet are an athame and ring. Together, they give 400+ HP, 32% power pip chance, and about an 82% boost to heals (incoming and outgoing combined). They're all the rage amongst PvPers because let's face it: 82% is a huge boost.

Here's the mathematical proof:
Pixie (normal) = 400 HP
Pixie (with Infection) = 200
Pixie (with Infection and Stellar Signet and Cosmic Kris) = 364

See? With this set on, you could get nearly normal heals even with an Infection on you. This set is like the new-and-improved Malistaire set. It's also my next goal. Wish me luck as I embark on hours of bazaar-sniping and head-banging!

Jess.

Identity Crisis and an Announcement

Well I decided to dust off my Grandmaster Balance and take her through Celestia. 

As I PvPed with her, and did some questing, I came to a startling realization: I enjoyed playing my Sorcerer more than I did my Theurgist. 

I LIKED not being a healing machine who kept everyone alive. I LIKED helping out others but still having attack power of my own. I didn't want to be the weak one who everyone depended on, but rather someone who could match you in attacks and still be helpful. 

And PvP was *so* much more fun! When I was Life, I was the instant target from the start. Pelted with spells from start to finish and healing like a psycho. I didn't have fun with this tiring cycle. 

However, a Balance person in PvP is usually ignored; the common perception is that our power only lies in Judgement. I liked having free will to do my own thing for a while. I could help any teammate I was paired with. I could launch a surprise attack of my own, if needed. But most of all, I wasn't the bloody-red bull's eye for the entire match! It felt so amazing to have a change from that.

Another 'big relief' was that if we were to lose a fight, it couldn't be blamed on me, well at least not entirely. As Life, it is your job to keep everyone in as long as possible. A lost match could always be pinned on "You didn't heal soon enough" or "Why didn't you have the right heals in your hand?" and so on. 

But being Balance, you don't have to be the one being squished by all the pressure coming from your own side and the opponents. 

So I guess I'm in the middle of an identity crisis: am I really JessTheTheurge anymore? Or Jessica GreenRiver? Or am I now JessicaDreamriver?

Who am I? 

And now, onto the announcement: I probably won't be ITS or on Twitter or posting on this blog. At least, not until after New Years. I'm going to be out of the country during then. So for now, have a happy holidays everyone, and see you soon!

Bye for now,
Jessica

My First Ranked Match

Sorry I haven't updated this thing in forever. School, projects, all of that stuff. But....guess who won her first ever ranked match? 

Me!

Prior to this, I've only done PvP on Practice.

The matchup ended up being me and my Myth partner (Talon) against a Myth and Death. 

So me and my Myth teammate started the match going second. Immediately, I did a *heddesk* Going second usually prolongs a match for about half an hour. Annoying, no?

However, I got the feeling the other team didn't exactly know what they were doing. The opposing Myth passed twice and the opposing Death put up Elemental shields, which were no help against us.

In four turns flat, Talon whipped out a Medusa (and lucky for us, I had a Feint) and the Death was out. 

We thought we had it won, but neither of us had Infection and the opposing Myth Polymorphed into a Treant. However, with a very well-placed dispel, I managed to rid him of all his pips when he used Dryad ;)

Eventually, he used two Satyrs, but was knocked out by Talon's Medusa and my Forest Lord. The Myth followed soon after. 

I think we got lucky, too. I drew just the right treasure cards at the right time and we didn't fizzle. 

Good fight, it has really opened my eyes to the amazing world of Ranked PvP.

Whew, sorry you had to endure that super-long narration. I'll have my deck posted later; always opened to suggestions :)

The Spiral Unbalanced??

Hey Spiralites. Been kinda scarce lately because of school and such. If perhaps you live under a rock, you may not have heard: the Selena Gomez quest has gone live and Celestia is coming out in the very very near future. And if you DON'T happen to live under a rock, you're probably saying "Duh! You're so late!" Am I right?

Anyway.

I've been questing with DreamRiver, the Balance wiz (just turned 36). And I bought a permanent Faithful Dragoness mount for about 62,000. And you know what? It was so easy to save up for because since all the Dye prices have been lowered, all the Bazaar sell and buy prices have been raised...and none of the buy-for-gold amounts have changed in the Crowns shop. Which means until KI realizes this, it'll be almost easy farming 60,000 or so to get that awesome mount ;)

Shh...

The Warehouse Slaughterhouse

Hey Spiralites! Exciting news today--at last, I, Jessica GreenRiver, have braved the dreaded warehouse and I finally have my own horror story to share (sorry, Paint was malfunctioning--so no screenshots today).

So first, we went into the Warehouse with a non-chat Diviner, 2 Theurgists, and 1 Sorcerer.

First 2 floors went without a hitch, except my deck wasn't very well-fitting, and the Diviner was kinda doin' his own thing, shielding and buffing only himself.

Then, the boss. What was his name again...? Anyway, we learned that AOEs weren't a good after 2 Tempests and Power Novas. The 3 of us just stopped and started to hit the Life and Storm skeleton minion, but Mr. Diviner never got the hint. He kept trapping (which doesn't work) and using Storm Lord. Then, I had to go after all the minions were dead. I wish you guys the best of luck facing the final boss /cue dramatic scary music.

And for anyone looking to try the Warehouse, here are some basic tips:

1st and 2nd floor-
Nothing really new here except all the monsters have 1,000+ health and über resist. The 1st floor has 2 Balance and 2 Life, and the 2nd floor is 2 Ice and 2 Life.

3rd floor-
Full of red health wisps. Use them wisely. Also, there's a book (it should read RIGHT LEFT LEFT RIGHT RIGHT) but I have no idea what that's for.

4th floor-
This is where I had to leave.
Keep in mind:
1. After you hit Boss (he's a crab dude) he summons a Life, Storm, and Ice minion.
2. They can use Rebirth, Storm Lord, Collossus, and other strong spells without having the pips.
3. After the minions are summoned, you must kill them before you hit the boss. The Life will use Rebirth every few turns and if you use a hit-all spell, the Storm will Storm Lord, regardless of pips.
4. The boss is Myth, and he uses a functioning Earthquake frequently. He can also Tower.
5. Take the minions out in this order: Life, Storm, then Ice.
6. Any trap put on will be immediately removed (unless it's a spirit/elemental trap, then only the one on the left is removed).

Annnnnd, that's about it. Happy questing and try not to die in the Warehouse, namely.
JGR :)