Out of shots I head to Dion to find some more but no shops have loaded yet.  I scan through my quest list and see a level 39 which is in Dion Temple, right near where I ported. Someone in clan posts they are “poor” with 9 million adena and in my noobish venting I post my sad little pile of adena and cry asking how anyone makes money in this game.

The clan leader, Danhadouha, says you make money from drops.  I ask what drops, the stem and thread I get in abundance?  He links a water stone which he says goes for 3 mill.  Playing stupid again I ask when those drop.  He says 78+ to which I comment “good lord”. I stop griping and talk to Bard Rukal and he says something about my inventory being too full, so I sell some things, get up to 228k adena, then have to pick up shots and drop back down to 172k. This quest promises a whopping 186,077 adena! OMG . I make my way through this quest.

Casian says to visit three places, which doesn’t give me pointers but says silly things like checking near a “puddle” by Giran.

Sigh.  Before I scroll out Danhadouha asks what I’m doing to which I say the magus quest and he asks if I can take a break and go to Aden WH.  I say ports are free why not. I get my first look at Aden town.

and then the clan leader, what a handsome guy!

He trades me, a +4 Homunkulus with acumen, Necklace of Mermaid, 2 Earrings of Binding, 2 Rings of Ages, Karmian Robes, Stockings, Boots, Gloves, Full Plate Helmet, and between him and SokolatakiMou, another 886 C crystals, and over 9k C bsps! He also says once I graduate if I want clan to let him know.  Nice!  I mean seriously really nice, how many clans want a scrubby “big bag of free points” (Emina Olympiad quote) in their alliance?

Anyway, I look at the map and the only thing remotely resembling a puddle is about here, and lucky enough I find the flower girl things around Fellmere lake.

And near the “puddle”

[img]http://ocyla.catchmehooking.com/images/l2/140noob.jpg[/img]

Then on my way buzzing through Oren I see someone looking for people in my level range for a kama, I join on it.

In the meantime I head to Ivory Tower but I do not see anything called “the Gods falls” on the map but I do see  a waterfall. I run that way. Sure enough that’s what it’s called.

Then I head to Dion to do the 36 kama.  I use 500 odd shots to get 29%, no adena no drops.  Hardly seems worthwhile.  Looting rules appear to be a free for all where whoever get it, keeps it, and doesn’t share.  Sharing seems exceptional in kamas and raids I’ve noticed.

Anyway IronAirRaid states that he had been in my alliance, as IronDuals, but “neme” lost it and kicked him for stupid reasons.  I said I’ve only been around for about a week. He states that “shes a jerk”.  (While I suppose that is a possibility, I’ve never seen anyone kicked “for stupid reasons” in all the time I’ve been playing)

This kama is just like an earlier boring one, tanking and spanking with an add that shows up periodically, unannounced, practically within the original mob which makes it hard to target.  Total snooze fest.

I go back to Rukal at this point and this amazing jerk makes me basically repeat the wizard first class change all over again!! UGH. There are no pointers this time. (I want to shoot myself in the leg attempting a class change quest again, let me tell you what)  The quest gives absolutely no progress status on any of the sub steps the elementals give.

I have not seen any players out and about while hunting in quite a while now.

Now I’m at 198k and out of shots again, so back down to 169k. I only buy 500 since I am nearly 40 and have shots waiting.

I discover even low level mobs continue to chase and harrass me for long distances.

In fact, skeletons I dropped off at the Water Undine some hours back are STILL standing there.  Weird!

I laboriously run around to all the elements again, turn in my quest and ding 40! I now have about 372k which should just be enough for a pet, assuming I still need one at this point.

Furrious is not on for me to tell him I hit 40 so I take a break, tired anyway.

Day 11:

I check my map again and decide to head to Plains of the Lizardmen and see how that exp is. That works out quite well, though every time I log in I get reminded by Captain Gosta about another kama.  You’d think those would be more worthwhile in the adena department if they are pushed so hard.

I still cannot afford a pet, as I am at 196k and nearly out of shots again.

at 5% to level I run out of shots, and discover leveling on white mobs without them is slow and painful and takes nearly twice as many nukes. I double check my skills but I find I have no damage absorbing shields, no roots, no freezing skills, snares, teleports, invisibility, etc to make life easier.  I do have a slow, though.

I hit 39, and just in time as I have nearly no HP, no MP, no shots, and my buffs ran out 10 minutes ago anyway.  I have to log for server maintenance.

I log back in and decide to visit Heine as I haven’t been there before, and the map tells me 38+ mobs can be found on an alligator beach.  It is very pretty.

I port out and see some alligators.

They are BIG!

I haven’t seen any players in a while, though.  It also occurs to me I have not gotten another drop or seen any quests that provide me with a gear upgrade. I hit 38, and get a message this time from Captain Gosta about another Kamaloka.

My inventory is overloaded with junk at this point so I clean out my WH and check the buy shops in Giran. The items do not show the NPC price on the items themselves so first I compare to the NPC shops.

Ori Ore: 1,500
Stone of Purity: 1,500
Coarse Bone Power: 750
Thread:50
Cord: 162
Cokes: 600
Iron: 100
Silver Nugget: 250
Braided Hemp: 250
Leather: 450
Coal: 100
Animal skin: 75
Vanish: 100
Charcoal: 100
Stem: 50
Suede: 150
Animal Bone: 150

I have under 50 of each, in some cases only 3-4 of each of those items. I have 135k to my name right now.

I see in some cases, buy shops are trying to buy these materials for less than (or barely over) npc cost, such as a shop buying animal bone for 111 adena, stones of purity for 1,000, etc. That hardly seems worth it when it took 38 levels to only gather a few!  I decide not to sell right now.

Day 10:

I decide to go try the pailaka that Furrious told me about.

I pick up 2,000 soulshots since I recall those would have been useful even with a staff in the kamas which only runs me like 18k, which is ridiculously unfair because the same amount of b sps would have cost me like 5x that.

The mobs are fairly easy with nukes though. I get a really cool heal! Why don’t my heals look like this?

I rest before the second boss since the first one nearly pwned my face.

Then after all that, the mob just stood there and let me nuke it to death and did nothing! uh lol?

The fire one does the same thing!

However the last boss proves almost un-damageable and with 10 minutes left I die and completely out of MP I find I have to do the entire thing over again.  It takes me nearly that entire time to regen all my MP!  Then I realize I have a weight penalty again and I only get about 4 mp every few seconds, I sell some mithril wire I acquired from somewhere, I’m up to 208k and now regen 8 per, which is not super great but better.

I go back and this time the mobs do not bug out and I die over and over.  Then I get a death penalty which costs me 6k to cure, not to mention I am out of shots again after gaining 0 adena in there. Then the dungeon expires again.  I give up, this is clearly a waste of time and/or impossible on a wizard. At this level anyway.  (I’m serious, I couldn’t do it even un-noobing and buying shots, pots, popping the pailaka pots, and summoning my cat with shots and buffs.  Total BS)  I say hello to Furrious who has logged on and I gripe about the pailaka in typical semi-noob fashion and he suggests I wait until 40 and C grade.  I’m not sure I can afford it, as I went down to 104k during that little mess, but it’s certainly sound advice.

I go back to Hardin’s and start grinding (which is boring as hell), which seems to be the only reliable way to get cheap exp and actually earn some money.  The mobs show their displeasure by bubbling what seems like more than EVER. Sigh. Zouboulis gives me some advice for my pailaka trouble and offers prophet buffs for next time I go.  I don’t plan on it until 40 though. He (I always assume he) says I can borrow +16 duals for the last boss and it will be easy. 16 at D or C grade IMO is still very impressive and generous.

I hit 37, and log out.

Day 9:

I am up to 101k from running around grinding on mobs the other day. I look at the map and notice the extra tabs with more info, and decide to head to the Bee Hive since it’s in my range.

The mobs only take one shot, with shots but the exp seems a lot slower. Furrious, who is proving to be probably the best example of a sponsor EVER says hello, apologizes for the minor childish behavior of other members (I’ve seen much, much worse trust me) and explains about quests being more or less pointless.  Another member pipes in that mages are sort of useless and that money is very hard to get.  I’m noticing that. I made no inquiry for help with money but it comes about that I was not able to afford a pet and he offers to buy me one anyway.  I die here when I get stunned and pick up aggro from 2 mobs at once. The EXP and adena isn’t very good either.

I head back to Dragon Valley/Death Pass and go down a narrow canyon but the mobs are much stronger and require many nukes. I get out of there!  I hit 35 on Fettered Souls and Grandis (Grandi?  Grandises?)

I go back to learn skills and pick up some quests offered in the Temple in Dion. One of the NPCs give me a ton of dimentional diamonds which I can use for town specific SOEs.  Oh hell yes!

I go down to Floran again, making sure I got my PK buff and start killing things.  THEN! I get an actual for real drop, a Tunic of Knowledge!  I mention this in clan and someone offers to make cheap shots for me.  So nice!

I do some more quests, sell of some useless stuff and I am up to 188k but out of shots again. I buy some more,  exp some more and hit 36.  I “ding” this in clan chat and Furrious helpfully mentions I can do the Pailaka so I feign confusion and ask where that is (since I wrote the guide for the FT and high level one).  He says Gludin and that it is very hard for mages.  This is very true I remember.

I see a lot of this as well in towns, this one just made me laugh.

I take a break.