BOOTLEG BLOG

FFXIV log!

04/25/2025

Finally got my boy Daelus into Heavensward

Ngl I think Daelus has become my character that is built to force me to get comfortable on tank.
You'd think I would be by now since I'm lvl 100 on Gunbreaker but I still overthink it a lot.

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04/23/2025

Finally started continuing the MSQ

SPOILERS FOR POST-DAWNTRAIL(7.1)

Was super happy to see Koana get closure on his birth family, Koana was always a character who was interesting but I didn't feel like got enough to really connect with me.

Love Erenville's new outfit, makes me hope he gets more PROPER screentime, adore the little robot keychain. Was taken aback by how buff the guy is tho lmao.

I didn't expect Gulool Junior to get his closure already, but god both of his parents sound like they suck, big respect to the little guy to recognizing that both of them were lonely and scared.

I started yelling at the screen "SKINWALKER!! SKINWALKER!!" when 'Sphene' showed back up.

Also witnessed someone get kicked from a party for throwing for the first time while grinding for raid gear. Was a Gunbreaker who kept spamming provoke without a stance on, at lvl 100, that's lvl30 behavior.

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04/21/2025

Ohhh my fucking god, we're free.

We've finally completed the base coils...

For now.

It took us so fucking long to beat it that we caved and turned on max IL.

We're 100% gonna come back to this in the future to beat it proper.

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04/07/2025

Finally got Daelus his CORRECT job, also fantasia'd him a bit.

I changed him to a Rava since that makes a lot more sense with his lore and him being from the New World.

Also, completely forgot to post about it, but I started the Dawntrail normal raids! I've been loving them so far, even if I am, quite bad at them.

SPOILERS FOR DAWNTRAIL NORMAL RAIDS

I really like how charming the plot and characters are for this ngl, Black Cat is fucking adorable I love her.

I remember finally fighting Honey B. Lovely after seeing her CONSTANTLY everywhere, and screaming when I heard her voice, screamed at the top of my lungs "SHE'S SOUTHERN!!!!!!!!!" I love her.

The story feels extremely Pro-Wrestling feeling, very silly but also seems like it's gonna get extremely real.

Also I maaaaay have something special planned today teehee

The special thing is here...

In game wedding event!!!!

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03/30/2025

Just completed The Sorrow of Werlyt questline, oughh, ow,,, my heart and soul...

SPOILERS FOR THE POST-SHADOWBRINGERS TRIAL QUESTLINE THE SORROW OF WELYT

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I LOVE YOU GAIUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



First side questline to make me cry, fucking amazing.

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03/27/2025

Trying to free my rabbit pretty boy from ARR right now.

I wished FFXIV gave more of a reason to make alt characters, bc the character creator is so so fun, maybe that's the only excuse I need, cuz I wanna make 2 more one Daelus is in like Stormblood.

Plus I wanna use him for what might finally be my first video essay, for spoilery reasons.

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03/17/2025

White Mage unlocked! I actually liked the Conjurer quest line a lot, simple like most of the starting class quests are but it's sweet.

Next up is rogue to ninja, which should be interesting.

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03/15/2025

Soooo... Some of the job patches for 7.2 have been leaked.

I'm so sorry Black Mage players, I'm so sorry you have to watch your favorite job get mangled like this, that the only way for them to buff Black Mage is just to water it down to hell even though the whole point of Black Mage is how difficult it is to master. You can join in hands with the Summoner mains in agony, and as a Red Mage player I just hope I'm not next.

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03/03/2025

Gladiator has now been upgraded to Paladin! 1 down 3 to go and then I'll have everything upgraded.

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03/02/2025

Gunbreaker is LEVEL 100!!!! FInally!!

Now look how cursed my set of tanks look!

I will now be going through all the jobs I have yet to upgrade lol

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03/01/2025

Gunbreaker is lvl 99! So close but because of the lack of coffee I am way too tired to keep playing, I did update my Gunbreaker glamour cuz I really liked the top piece of the gear for Dawntrail.

Infinitely more important though:

I got the coolest and most awesome mount in the game :)

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02/28/2025

Gunbreaker is now lvl 98! Just 2 more to go, once I finish leveling Gunbreaker I'm gonna get myself to focus on actually upgrading the classes I still haven't upgraded, both gladiator and conjurer haven't been and I haven't even touched maradur and rogue.

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02/24/2025

Gotta, gotta love playing latest content, gotta love going insane getting better gear. God I need to do hunt trains.

Anyways, got Gunbreaker to lvl 95, I had roulettes I still had to do but my brain is not made for tanking. I also completed the Endwalker Mannderville right before maintence and got the awesome UFO mount.

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02/16/2025

We beat the 2nd turn of the final coils!

If you're wondering where the 1st turn was, uh, I wasn't there when it was completed.

But god I'm glad this one is over, it didn't even feel hard, just hyper-complicated.

(COILS SPOILERS) Here is a clip to remind you to mute your own music and unmute the ingame music when you're about to enter a cutscene.

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02/10/2025

Currently trying to get Gunbreaker to lvl90, I honestly thought that Dancer was gonna surpass it in level but I've been slowly getting over my tank anxiety as I remember that tank does not equal leader and there really isn't a leader in the team. Currently at lvl88.

Recently for the fuck of it I looked up "pizza" on the main website for FFXIV venues and found an incredibly charming place called "Chocoroni's Pizza", I haven't been to the actual location yet since they're open for very little hours
HOWEVER
THEY FUCKING DO DELIVERY!! Which was such a fucking cool experience, I love the little things people on this game do, this is their website if anyone wants to order from them.

Officially hit lvl90 as Gunbreaker! Got hard jumpscared by (Shadowbringers spoilers highlight to read) the Emet-Selch boss fight while queueing for Trials. I get scared literally anytime I get a trial actually suited for my level as tank cuz that means I need to like, pay attention.

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01/20/2025

FINALLY!! FUCKING!!!!! FINALLY!!!

WE HAVE BEEN STRUGGLING TO COMPLETE THE LAST PART OF THE SECOND COILS FOR ALMOST A MONTH NOW, GOD, FUCK YOU NAEL FUCK YOUUUUUU!!!!!

Not to flex but I did kinda save the winning run, both healers went down, I clutch rez one of them and they pop lb3, helping us win.

In other news, I made my first cosplay glamour, it's of Koishi Komeiji from Touhou!

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01/14/2025

Been grinding Summoner so we can have a caster with a rez in my raidgroup and watched a very interesting interaction in which a semi-experienced tank could not get the hint that the healer was extremely new and kept doing the same large pull over and over as we died over and over and just, for some reason didn't think to stop.

Since the new player was clearly nervous I put my big pants on and be the nonsprout that I am and told the tank to stop making big pulls. Idk how they just wouldn't get the hint but hey, they stopped after I spoke up.

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01/10/2025

Got one of the Scion voice packs for mahjong and I am very not normal about it.

Post-Shadowbringer Spoilers, yes this is still about mahjong

Got the G'raha Tia one, naturally, and oh my god oh my fucking god.

When you specifically cause someone to call Ron he asks if you're alright in the most genuine tone that hurt me emotionally, double so because right after he had a voiceline triggered if you lose a large amount of points at once he goes "ouch... do you need healing...?" he's so cute oml.

When you lose sometimes he says something along the lines "even in loss you teach us so much" AND AND HIS WIN LINE BEING "a victory suited for my ispiration!"

my favorite line is probably when you call ron and he says "FINISH THEM!!... ahem- too much..?"

I'm so normal about this red cat.

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01/08/2025

Completed Dawntrail and, I have a lot of thoughts.

Dawntrail Spoilers

I can definitely see why this expansion is so divisive. The first half of the story is incredibly dull and even when the story hits the second half where it's starts to get super good there's still a lot of flaws.

First, let's talk about Wuk Lamat.

I really don't have many problems with her overall, she's a fine character, but that's the big problem, she's JUST fine. And the entire plot relies on her character. Hell someone on Reddit found that Wuk Lamat has more dialog in just Dawntrail than Alphinaud has from ARR to Stormblood.

It honest to god feels like they had bigger plans for Wuk Lamat judging by her characterization in Post-Endwalker but then it feels like they watered her down. Like they were scared of her being flawed god forbid.

I don't hate Wuk Lamat, because there's nothing for me to hate that is her character's fault, but god she either needed to be written better or got less screentime.

I was so excited for Krile and Erenville to get more screentime, but then it felt like they barely got any until the very end of the expansion.

Next, it honest to god feels like the writing of the story must've been rushed in development.

I've seen this play out, so many fucking times, a concept that should be amazing that ends up either terrible or mediocre because of rushed development. If it comes out that the writing team at Square Enix were under crunch or something I really wouldn't be shocked. Because that's how it feels.

Dawntrail's part of Post-Endwalker starts so incredibly late, the first half of Dawntrail feels like a bland shonen as an attempt to make world building, and though there is a lot I love about the second half once shit hits the fan, the pacing of it all feels so incredibly weird because again, it's all in the second half, once you're lvl 95 in quests.

Overall, I think people woefully overexagerate how bad Dawntrail is, but it still has a LOT of problems.

For some positives because I hate complaining, what we DID get from Erenville and Krile was great! I shed some tears when Krile reunited with her parents and when she learned her birth name of "Maya", Erenville realizing that the Golden City was real and his final moments with his Mom were amazing.

And as someone who is incredibly normal about G'raha Tia, the scene on the boat was fucking amazing.

Also I found Wuk Lamat's dynamic with Koana very very sweet and their bond made me very happy, and Zoral Ja was a super interesting antagonist even if the sympathy grabbing at the end of his trial felt pretty forced.

And Sphene, Sphene is easily the best part of Dawntrail. FFXIV really never missed with their villains. Her motive is compelling, the fact that she's repeating the history of the Ascians without even knowing is very poetic, and she's a generally likeable antagonist.

I also made a character tierlist and a expansion tierlist.

tierlist spoiler tag, spoilers for all of FFXIV as of Dawntrail

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01/01/2025

Currently trying to get my Red Mage to lvl 100, so a lot of MSQing is being had.

Dawntrail Spoilers

So, a lot to catch up on.

Finally met Sphene, she is 110% the actual antagonist I think. She is definitely the "I will make everyone happy by forceful means" type. I'm extremely curious about her lore though.

Fucking, poor Erenville though. I'm glad his mom is alive and well, just in hiding, but jesus christ, having his entire home destroyed by basically being obsorbed by another reality.

Sphene and Krile are 100% from the same place, I really wonder if the two have any connection to one another.