To start off, I finally capped Shield Skill on Paladin! I tried PLD/RDM vs. Pucks in the Den of Rancor, but that ended in death, so I went back to my old friends the Steelshells as PLD/DNC. I proceeded to pull only EM or T ones and beat them down with my Warp Cudgel so it would maximize fight time. I believe each one took over 30 minutes to defeat as I had to recast Protect IV and refresh food. I also got Club past 230 so I can flag Black Halo now if I so choose. I will probably save that for last as the Club of Trials is excellent for an Earth resist build, but I plan to just use my Kirin’s Pole or elemental staves for resist builds so it is a moot point.
I wore the following gear to maximize shield skill+ and evasion- to force shield to proc as much as possible while maintaining Haste and Accuracy to enable the TP that /DNC feeds on:
Warp Cudgel / Koenig Shield / blank / Tiphia Sting
Walahra Turban / Shield Torque / Ethereal Earring / Buckler Earring
Haubergeon / Dusk Gloves / Woodsman Ring / Woodsman Ring
Amemet Mantle +1 / Swift Belt / Valor Breeches / Gallant Leggings +1
In addition to that, I used Reprisal whenever its timer was up. Seemed to work rather nicely. I occasionally swapped Peacock Charm in for Shield Torque if I was having trouble hitting. Losing 7 Shield didn’t really affect me too adversely.
A Crystalline Prophecy hasn’t been too disappointing, but the whole Dragon’s Aery-like situations of Too Weak mobs is amusing, to say the least. I am up to the first BC fight, and while I’ve traversed Fei’Yin on numerous occasions, wandering it to find the glowy spots was actually somewhat fun! I hope to finish it with LS mates soon, as then I will have my Nuevo Coselete!
Now I just need to get another 280 Ancient Beastcoins so I can get my Loquacious Earring, Boxer’s Mantle, Musical Earring, and Brutal Earring. Additionally, Seiryu needs to give up a martial abjuration: head that I can lot on to get Koenig Schaller. Quite fun stuff indeed.