Can't say I find much originality in RUN. It's basically a GS DRK with tanking ability and RDM buff spells. It's fun to play but it just feels like a mash-up rather than a unique class. GEO is pretty interesting and really feels like the FFXI equivalent to WoWs Shaman. I love Aldouin as a setting, but haven't really gotten into the Rieves or Skirmish yet. I applaud SE for trying new things but there's such a polyglot of unused and/or broken systems I wish they'd focus on things people enjoy instead of trying to reinvent the wheel every expansion/major update. When was the last time anyone played Brenner? Off the top of my head we have Expeditionary Force, Garrison, BCNM, KSNM, Gods, Kings, Dynamis cities, Dynamis out lands, Dynamis Dreamlands, ENMs, Assault, Salvage, Nyzul, NNI, Einherjar, Limbus, Sea Gods, ZNMs, Beseiged, Voidwatch, Abyssea, Campaign, Campaign Ops, Legion, Fields of Valor, Grounds of Valor, Clamming, Synergy, Chocobo Digging, Pankration, Chocobo Raising, Chocobo Racing, Moblin Maze Mongers, Rieves, Skirmish, and I'm sure I've missed a couple more. I wish they'd move away from game concept du jour and focus more on some core systems rather than this constant rebranding and reinvention.

New Letter from the Producer is up but nothing terribly interesting. I did stumble upon a relatively new interview with Yoshida I hadn't seen before and thought I'd share.

Beta phase 2 will also be in late April :(

New dev blog is up.

Magitek armor mounts anyone?

This is not accurate. There have been no announcements as of yet. We are in week 3 of phase 1, each phase is supposed to be roughly 4 weeks with 1-2 weeks between each phase per the roadmap published late last year. They do reserve the right to change their testing schedule as needed and their stance is that the game will launch when it's good and ready. Realistically, do not expect a retail release until late summer at the earliest.

The latest live letter from the producer just went up.Here. No subtitles yet but it shows some great footage of Thanalan and Uldah and some port towns around Limsa Lominsa. I've stopped playing the beta until they have more consistent playtimes. Right now I'm not interested in burning out on content before actual release. Being limited to Gridania is bad enough but having to restart 4 times sucks. I will second Parn's assessment of the game. I'm a much bigger fan of action combat for MMOs but there's enough going on skills-wise endgame in 1.0, I'm sure ARR will be just as interesting. There's alot more mobility required for combat which is a good thing.

I was considering Spiral for MNK, but Aesthetic's Fury still dominates in Abyssea. I guess I'm really looking for a collection of merit WS that don't require another 12 bag slots for incidental gear and that have utility inside and outside of Abyssea. Resolution is pretty much par for course, the others are much less clear cut and situationall. I'm sorry to hear scythe has fallen so out of favor with DRK, especially since its our A+ weapon.

I don't plan on playing long enough to invest in a relic or a mythic. I may finish my Empyrean though since I'm pretty far along.

Ok, that explains alot. After spending a decent chunk of time with Shoha, i'm not very happy with the damage inconsistencies. To be honest I'm really thinking of ditching it and going with Stardiver.  Any decent feedback on Entropy?

So I finally got 357 skill in GS and GK and picked up Resolution and Tachi:Shoha. I'm 5/5 on Shoha and the damage is incredible when both hits connect and crit. Average damage is really good but man if I haven't had a couple 400-800 damage whiffs. Working on Resolution next, so hopefully it will be more consistent. Is it worth the effort hunting the elemental gorgets/belts to boost the WS damage?

Yeah. I'm pretty stoked to get both. I'm honesty thinking of resetting Exenterator and getting Stardiver. I already have Phyrric Kleos and Unlocking Mandalic Stab for DNC and THF respectively. Plus Evisceration destroys it in Abyssea. Though I love my MNK and PUP so Shijun Spiral is attractive also. Soo many choices.

BTW any skill up location recommendations for 300+? Having a hell of a time in DO parties.

Awesome. Thanks Hathen! I think I will do GS and GK. Any idea if they will raise the merit cap for that category. You mentioned them strengthening 1-4, do you have a source link?

Would it be worth meriting the star modifiers? AGI for example. It just seems alot of merits for such a small boost vs gear.

These new merit WS are giving me a headache. I fully merited Exenterator, but haven't been too impressed with it. I haven't had a chance to play with it outside Abyssea, which is supposedly where it shines. I was thinking of doing the GS and H2H. Though I've read the GK and Polearm WS's are pretty sweet. I'm really annoyed that we can only take 3 to full. Any suggestions or feedback would be appreciated. So far the Mythic WS's seem to be winning out easily over these new ones.

I reactivated recently to play with some old friends and have been enjoying the old game immensely. With the new cap of 99, we were looking into clearing alot of content that went by the wayside when we were still active. We are going to try to trio Nyzul Isle investigation to finish Feight and Suspiria's Runic Discs and farm some precursor Mythic Weapons for the WS's and start the main quest. Since I know quite a few people reactivated, I figured I would ask to see if anyone still needed to finish Nyzul and was interested in joining our little static.

Only a couple of us got into phase 1 beta with this first wave, but Solaris will be on Bahamut server for phase 1. If anyone would like to join us for testing, shits and giggles, PM me for the ventrilo info.

Beta client is up bitches, get downloading! :)