Category Archives: Guides

FFXIV: Useful sites and resources

My group of FFXIV friends on Cerberus EU has been growing these past few weeks. Returners and newcomers alike are flocking to the game and the excitement for Endwalker lies heavy in the air.

For sprouts (FFXIV newcomers) it can be an overwhelming start in Eorzea. The game is 8 years old and packed to the brim with different activities, some of which are their own game inside the game. I noticed many are struggling to find the proper resources to look things up, as it can be a bit difficult at times to find the best resource for something in FFXIV. Beginner’s guides (like this one) are fine for the first few days but you will quickly outgrow them. So below you can find my own (ongoing) list of recommended sites to help you navigate your beginner experience!

The FFXIV Link Collection

Basic info & MSQ

All things gear & progression

Side activities

Fluff & Collecting

Black Desert Online Additional Cosmetics Guide

Many Black Desert Online players whether they be in possession of shop costumes or not, are somewhat disappointed at the lackluster choice of gear and armor looks in the game. Gear is an important part of a character’s more unique identity so it’s especially sad if an MMO with sandbox and roleplaying appeal lacks such options almost entirely. I am also not quite sure why we can’t see our combat headgear in the game and it bugs me that there aren’t in fact leg items for further customization (the chest piece includes pants or….no pants for the ladies).

Anyway, I am set on acquiring whatever nice cosmetic option there is outside of class templates and costumes. As turns out after some research, there’s unique looking profession gear as well as a noble and traveling attire that can be created by yourself after some resource gathering and setting up shop! If you’re not deeply into the combat end of things, it won’t matter one bit you’re not wearing all the stats in the world.

Now the profession gear can also be bought in some cities (for example in Calpheon or Epheria Port) for a lot of money or alternatively on the auction house. Black Desert Online being what it is though, I see no reason why this shouldn’t be a longterm goal to achieve by myself. To present an overview, here’s my Black Desert Online Additional Cosmetics Guide!

Silver Embroidered Profession Gear

These chest pieces are created by a lvl 1 costume mill (housing system option) such as can be found in Heidel or Calpheon. There’s no skill level requirements for wearing the first level/crafted items and they come with respective profession boosts. The Processor’s gear is currently missing in the NA/EU version. Equipping these items will un-equip all your other armor. These items aren’t dyeable.

I trust you know how to invest contribution points and use workers to craft, so all that’s required is gathering some mats that aren’t too bad (some might also be cheap on the AH). To check design mats, use this database search or look them up ingame in the costume mill window.

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BDO silver embroidered gear, images courtesy of bdofashion.wordpress.com and http://forum.blackdesertonline.com

Progression: These items can be enhanced by an expensive game of RNG in order to boost the bonuses or alternatively you can get higher level ones from quests and achievements. According to tooltip apprentice level or higher gear can then be turned into a costume by way of exchange coupons which do not appear to be an option in the EU/NA version of the game at the moment (also turning into a costume will lose the stat boosts). The looks of the level 1-2 gear is the same; at/above(?) level 3 you *may* get an alternative look (so far only confirmed for skilled gatherer* model).

Lvl1: Silver embroidered: looks as above, no level requirement – crafted
Lvl2: Apprentice: looks as above, beginner 10 requirement – obtained via quest
Lvl3: Skilled: alternative looks(?), skilled 5 requirement – obtained via quest
Lvl4: Professional: appearance unclear, professional 1 requirement – obtained for achievement “master XY”

Calpheon Noble Attire

The Calpheon Noble’s suit or dress can only be crafted by a lvl 2 costume mill as you’ll find it in Calpheon. These appear to be class-specific items with the same basic looks in blue/red for male/female character, according to the information I was able to gather which was limited. Whether the cuts look significantly different depending on class, I can’t say at this point (screenshots welcome). Wearing a suit or dress boosts your amity gain from conversations by +15%. These items aren’t dyeable.

Besides basic mats, they require a design item bought from the Calpheon Tailor shop which costs 50’000 silver and only unlocks after a certain amount of amity. To check mats, use this database search or look them up ingame in the costume mill window.

Black Desert Online Additional Cosmetics Guide

Calpheon Noble Suit and Dress, images courtesy of bdo-fashion.com

Garner Traveling Gear

I got nothing on these costumes other than that you can craft them with a level 2 costume mill in Calpheon and that they also boost your amity gain by 15%. For whatever reason, the witch and wizard don’t come up in the EU/NA version of the game yet, instead there’s one design for the Musa/Blader class right now.

According to the costume mill window, these also require a design item together with other mats. As for looks, there’s this 3D model of the Musa costume which looks like a jester’s suit. If anyone actually finds more information/screenshots of these and can confirm whether they can actually be acquired at this point, let me know so I can update this asap.

***

I think for now it’s safe to say I’ll be starting to craft some of the silver embroidered gear which looks by far the easiest to make and is also useful for crafting. I’ll be updating and amending this guide with further information in the future, so please tread with caution and send additional info my way – cheers!

[Updates:
– March 14th: added farmer to professions
– March 17th: new image for skilled gatherer
– March 20th: updated prof gear progression, with thanks to Wondo
]

[WoW] How to Unlock your Pet Menagerie the Quickest Way (for Noobs)

So, you are late to pet battles but would still like to activate that pet menagerie in your garrison? Then like me, you will require a little help!

I used to be a pet collector in WoW up until WotLK and only now that I am back for Draenor, did I start looking into the pet battle feature. I’ll be honest, I might have disregarded this entirely had it not been for that empty spot in my garrison, where 5 of my collected pets could be running around the menagerie. Well, it so happens that where there’s a will, there’s a way! I am in no rush to get to any endgame in WoW these days, so I might as well start working on that achievement. The following quick guide is based on my own research on how to  –

  1. get you started with pet battles in WoD
  2. get your first lvl 25 pet(s) quickly
  3. beat the pet menagerie quest “Pets versus Pests“

I am on the second stage myself still and have managed to get several lvl23 pets now within over an hour (give or take, depending on your luck in Kharazan). For step three I have spent the evening reading up on wowhead in order to find pet options for players who don’t have any “fancy beat-all” pets like Pandaren Water Spirit or Chrominius. I’m sure you could look into those but I’m generally quest-lazy and would rather just work with what I have got or can capture!

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How to unlock your Pet Menagerie the Quick & Dirty Way

Step #1:
Talk to the first pet trainer in your capital city (for alliance that means Stormwind next to the Cata portals, for horde Orgrimmar) to get you started with pet battles in WoW. After this, the pet menagerie quest will appear in your garrison and you will also start seeing lots of green pet battle markers wherever you go. Choose mechanical pets for your first team because they tend to take less damage and are more beginner-friendly (some of them are dirty cheap on the AH).

The intro quests are fast after which the trainer will send you off to beat several other trainers in Elwynn and Westfall, as well as Redridge and Duskwood (as alliance). Around the Duskwood stage, your pet party should be roughly around lvl 5-6 which is enough to continue to step #2!

Step #2:
Continue using this excellent guide on how to obtain your three Arcane Eyes in Deadwind Pass and two Dragonbone Hatchlings in Dragonblight. The pets in Karazhan are found around the entrance as well as on all the upper balconies and terraces of the fort. They are not rare spawns but if more players are looking for the same thing, you might need to check back several times. Also, note the Hatchlings will come with two additional allies per fight(!) but you can still definitely do it, even if it means some of your Eyes will die and will require a rez after the fight.

A few tips: if you struggle beating the Hatchlings, aim for lvl 22 ones rather than lvl 23. Heal up after every fight (cooldown ability and stable master if you have no more bandages). Once you got a victory, start using your new pet right away!

After obtaining two Hatchlings, head straight to Pandaria for the Eternal Striders in VoEB. Continue to level up your lvl 20/21 Hatchlings (when you capture them, they lose two levels!) as well as the Arcane Eye and don’t trust the time frame in the guide – it will definitely take longer than 10mins to level 25 (maybe more like 2 hours)! Try not to let your pets die or they won’t get any EXP and keep in mind only the ones actually active in battle will gain experience. The stable master in VoEB is Jaul Hsu (I alternate between visiting him and using my own pet healing cooldown).

Step #3 (in progress):
After you got at least two pets to level 25, you can start boosting a third. There are several boost guides around the official forums but so far, I haven’t found one that doesn’t require you to already own very specific other battle pets as boosters or to be on certain parts of a questchain (if you have any other info, let me know!). This means I am likely to boost my next pets the normal way, by battling for EXP in Pandaria. Since I can battle almost all high-level pets at this point, this means I will try capture lvl20+ pets of the pet families I need instead of boosting any low-level pets.

The three encounters in “Pets versus Pests” require specific lvl 25 pet abilities to beat them. You can spend some time on that wowhead link like me to check if there’s any comment that includes pets you already have. For my own mundane setup, my picks against each boss will likely look as follows:

  • Carrotus: A frog and any water striders (capture some of those you are fighting as part of the first lvl25 pet).
  • Gorefu: 2 moths and any other pet.
  • Gnawface: 3 spiderlings of any kind

It appears that for some fights you’ll only require two appropriate pets and maybe any third to finish off. As for the rotations to make this a success (each pet has 6 abilities of which you can only choose 3), check the comments in the links I included.

I obviously haven’t tested this stage of the guide myself yet but it’s been verified by other players and should lead you to success in a few hours. Most importantly, it will let you skip all the other pet battling business and trainer questlines in order to unlock that lvl1 pet menagerie the quickest way! Good luck!