Postcard from the Land of Death

I had bought the LOD pack when it came out, but I was waiting to do it with my clan. But I guess that sort of stuff interfered with their AFKing on the beach, and we never got around to it. I wanted to do it solo, but didn't want to leave my clanmates out. But since I left the clan, I no longer had anything stopping me. I also bought some more gold and bought a couple more LOD packs (since they are a really good deal). And so off I went, late night Monday.

First off, the entrance to the Baron city is a pain to find. I had the coordinates, but had to broad for help. And I might add, almost everyone who had been there gave me directions. I was impressed, I never had gotten so many PMs at once. Basically, as you come out of Porto Bello, hug the right wall.

The land of death is pretty, but really bogged down my computer. I don't know if it was the lighting, or all the flowers, but I was getting some huge choppiness. It's an old computer though, 3 years, and my graphic card isn't the best (7600 GS). But the first time the game was ever really choppy, graphically.

Other than that, and my internet connection deciding to lag horribly (good timing on their part, I knew it would happen), it's a fairly easy area. Harder than Toppolo, but easier than any other 100+ map I've been to. The only really nasty enemy on the map are the Muertos Elementalists, (especially the Elite ones) because they use that skill that picks you up and knocks back down. That can take off half your hp and knock you prone for a while. Usually you can see them cast, but sometimes they hide in the flowers. And they run fast, too.

(I went with my Fighter, Romina, and Scout, all pioneer armor. Used Forte Ring)

The quest to get Kurt/Ed is actually pretty easy. It's just long. Sort of half delivery missions, half boss fights. I didn't have any troulble with any of the fights, though my fighter died in the 2nd one vs Montoro when Kurt and Ed help you. But basically just let them do it. I think that took me 5 hours total (I got Kurt, since Ed looks like the female scout's transsexual sister. Yech)

It takes about 12 minutes to do the hunting mission to get 1 pure ottite (very rarely it gives you 2). I guess squading might cut down the time, but not by too much, because it's just a matter of finding the ones you need to kill (they die really easily, 2 shots from my Romina). You need 30 pure ottites to make one 92 Elite. So basically 6 hours of farming. Which really isn't bad at all, considering how powerful they are
But it's just kinda boring.

I only made enough for 1, but I sold some of the excess junk from the LOD pack and bought some more pure ottites others had farmed (they go for about a million each). So I ended up with 2 pistols. Wasted 5 chips (with boosts) trying to get something good on one, stopped on attack 20% up.

It's really not a bad investment in buying pre-farmed pure ottites. Figure MP goes for 350k on average, so basically you're paying an extra 550k or so. Sure, that's a lot for 12 minutes of effort, but at the same time, it saves you from a lot of boredom and it also takes away time pressure.

I mean, you don't have to worry "Oh no, I only have 1 hour left on my wheel. I need to get 6 ottites. Argh!". That actually making farming much more relaxing.
In my case, I probably DC-ed in the Land of Death about half a dozen times, so that wasted a lot of extra MP. So it was an even better deal buying the ottites.

The drops rate of items isn't terrible, but what you get isn't very good. Cheap stuff to sell, bracelets, sabers, robes. 80-84. No megas.

Mics are only 3000 vis in the Baron City. I bought 400 of them, which should keep me in them for a few months (I use about 5 a day).