Hrin's Buff: Reaping the benefits

I suddenly feel like writing after a long hiatus here in my blog. It's the only blog that I have had the most activity through the posts I have here. I have many reasons for the decline but there will be times when I really want to write stuff up just to share insights.

I decided to go on another 24 hour grinding session with boosters and passes activated. Checking out my inventory, I noticed I have some Hrin's Liquors in my inventory. I decided to give things a go and use it for this grinding session.

Normally, I would notice my characters dead when I fall asleep or go on AFK for extended periods of time. Of course, the highest AR possible would be 57. 26 from a veteran character, 30 from the weapons I currently have and 1 from the level 11 Intensify buff. My DR is at 53 highest. Never bothered to upgrade those armors. So costly! Even had to choose Broomy for the buffs and the extra healing power but I still get my butt kicked. But...

For 6 hours (and counting), I have noticed that I have never been wiped out. I have to say that Hrin's Buff is making a major difference in my progress in gaining the EXP.

What's Hrin's Buff? It's a special buff that gives "most attributes" a 15% increase. Getting the buff is a huge difference in getting stronger than not having the buff at all. This buff can last depending which variant you use. Hrin's Ampule grants a 10 minute duration, Hrin's Potion grants 1 hour and Hrin's Liquor has the longest effect: 10 hours. A buff would be gone if you logged off or died but Hrin's Buff will never be lost if this were to happen. Of course, it'll only be gone after its timed duration is up, whether you're online or not (like the Premium Dungeon Passes).

This is not the original name for this buff because Hrin happened to be the (former) Regional Community Manager for sGE. Lorenza has taken over her spot because she had to pursue her studies outside of her home country. Yes, Hrin is a real person! If I can recall, the GM character (a lady with angel wings wearing a night-time garment) can grant this buff upon their discretion. Also, the item's name was originally "Steroid Ampule/Potion/Liquor."

Steroids is known to many people as stuff that bodybuilders (or athletes) take to increase their muscle mass in a short periods of time. This can cause health risks if taken excessively or in long-term use. I can say kGE's choice of using this term is "appropriate" because real-life steroids and its GE counterpart are both performance enhancers. For English-speaking communities, steroids are perceived as bad stuff because its considered cheating using performance enhancing drugs in sporting events. Good idea with the name change, sGE. Totally appreciate it (Hrin really deserves credit. She really did a lot for sGE).

Also, the original item image in-game was a syringe. For reasons unknown, kGE eventually changed it with a round bottle that we now know of. I bet that syringes wasn't a good image to use because of its association with (if not, harmful) drugs in real life.

Being a consumable, this item is only available through the premium shop. Judging the cost of this item, it's (somewhat) reasonable because of the huge difference. Though, this is not going to part of my "grinding expenses." Its because for the Ampule, it'll cost me 110 per piece. 1 day EXP manuals are already affordable for people like me, 1 day wings are just an optional investment but even a 10 hour Hrin's Buff would be too expensive for me to keep up!

It's up to you if you want to get the benefits of Hrin's Buff. If you've got a lot of money to invest, this will help you sleep like a baby while leaving the PC on overnight for your party to grind until they're expelled from the Premium Dungeons. Can't afford it? Squad with some friends!

If I had 84,000 G-Points... (shopping guide of sorts)

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS ABOUT A PROMO RUNNING FROM JULY 1, 2009 UNTIL SEPTEMBER 30, 2008. DO NOT USE THIS AS "FACTUAL IN-GAME DATA OR MECHANICS." YOU HAVE BEEN FOREWARNED.

Seeing this "Back to School" Promo from IAH Games really has me going on. The deal? 20% increase in all G Point loading. That's right. From the humongous 70,000 points to the measly 230 points get 20% more.

I am really tempted with grabbing myself with spending PHP 2,000 straight out of my recent payday and I thought to myself on how or what am I going to spend for 84,000 G Points? I'm no financial advisor/consultant but here's my take if I ever get my hands on it...

First option: Splurge on the costumes and Preimum Items I really want and need. Costumes for RNPCs cost 7,700 G Points apiece. For stock characters, it's 9,900. Consumable stuff you'll need are Promotion Scrolls, Crack of the New World *ehem* Mystery Powders, Enhancement Boosters, Enchantment Traquilizers, EXP Manuals and I could just go on and on! Maybe a little table will help us summarize things...

Item	70,000	84,000
Costume (RNPC)	9	10
Costume (Stock)	7	8
Mystery Powder	318	381
Promotion Scroll - Veteran	15	19
Promotion Scroll - Veteran (bundle)	15	21
Promotion Scoll - Expert	12	15
Promotion Scoll - Expert (bundle)	15	18
Promotion Scoll - Master	10	12
Promotion Scroll - Master (bundle)	12	15
Barrack Slot Expand	63	76
Warp Slot Expand	31	38
Enchancment Booster	127	153
Enchantment Tranquilizer	318	382
Socket Processing Tranquilizer	32	38
+5 Impervium (Normal)	7	8
+6 Impervium (Normal)	6	8
+5 Impervium (Veteran)	5	6
+6 Impervium (Veteran)	4	5
+5 Impervium (Expert)	5	6
+6 Impervium (Expert)	4	5
Combat Manual - Beginner (1 Day)	1,000	1,200
Combat Manual - Average (1 Day)	500	600
Combat Manual - Expert (1 Day)	318	382
Tactics Manual - Beginner (1 Day)	1,000	1,200
Tactics Manual - Average (1 Day)	500	600
Tactics Manual - Expert (1 Day)	318	382
Ancient Territory Pass (1 Day)	32	38
Ancient Shelter Pass (1 Day)	21	25

This little table shows you items I would purchase if I got my hands on the G Points. This ain't a complete list because my needs can change from time to time, whenever the need arises. The numbers are self-explanatory so I leave it to you how to figure this out. With what we have here, I could...

• Get (almost) every character that I have dressed up
• Make lots and lots of Vis
• Make a good number of +(5-7) equipments
• Make a good number of other items that need premium stuff to come true
• Fill open all my barracks in no time
• Get a good number of characters promoted to the next rank
• Lots and lots EXP Manuals to go by

If I focus on making money, I want to post at the forums on what will be the consensus' needs. Of course, I want to make sure I have "something for everyone." The last time I sold Premium Items for Vis was kind of catastrophic. Anyhoo, this is something I'd like to get off my chest and mind as well. Let me hope for better things and save up on my cash. Unless, of course, my sister bugs me to stop buying WiiWare games and go for the bigger titles (damn, she wants Trauma Center!).

Until then, hope to expect more from me! :D

Karjalanien's at 100, AFK notes and a premium item package!

I was able to get Saija (Karjalanien) to reach 100 in a span of 48 hours worth of two days off (24 hours per week) and I was glad that I hit the deadline. I noticed how affective and ineffective using the Outrage Shot stance AFK'ing method. Allow me to list out the good and bad of doing this method:

The good...

• Allows multitasking of the user, both using the PC (if PC is powerful enough, like mine!!!) or doing external tasks (chores, physical favors, etc)
  
• Allows you to virtually leave your family alone while you catch some Z's (sleep)

The bad...

• Eats bullets as fast as 3-4 hours (not good for prolonged AFKs)
• If area of AFK is too much for your character (i.e. heavy damage from mobs), it would an extreme waste of time and effort
• Kill rate is may be slow, thus delivering minimal EXP acqusition
  

Now, to counteract some of the disadvantages, here's something I can recommend:

• Since the Outrage Stance eats bullets the most of all stances, I recommend grabbing some Portable Pistol Bullet boxes from the Feso Item Merchant. It's very cheap and it spills out 10,000 pistol bullets per use for you to pick it up. Perfect for long-term multitaskers checking their family from time to time.
• If you are actually playing the game itself, I suggest using Catherine instead. This counters the kill rate since you can summon as much as 11 puppets (or more depending your skill levels or rings equipped) to kill a lot of targets.

There, I said it. Moving on, I got my Karjalanien hit level 100 minutes before the temporary stuff expired. I amazed at this new cash shop package called "Pet Bonding Package." It's got what I need when doing my powerleveling sessions. Looks like I'm brewing yet another blog post with this!

Oooh! Items galore!

Anyway, the package contains 50x Pet Food, 1x Expert Combat Manual, 1x Expert Tactics Manual and 1x Field Survival Manual. Let me explain what these items do.

• Pet Food gives your active (summoned) pet 5% activity power. They say that 5% activity power is good for 1 hour (at least, for the Broomy and Pilfurr).
• Combat Manuals increase EXP rates for your character's level. Three different rate levels are offered, depending how much you want the rate to increase.
• Tactics Manuals increase EXP for your stance level. Like the Combat Manual, they too have three different rate levels as well.
• Field Survival Manual increases your item acquisition by 20%. If If understand this correctly, this means that it increases an item 20% of it's current rate, not 20% on top of it's drop rate. An example would be a 50% item drop will actually be 10% more, thus having a total chance of 60%. If a rare item was at like 0.1%, you would end having a very small increase of 0.02%. The total would be at 0.12%. Not a very good improvement, huh?

What does this have to do with my Karjalanien reaching level 100? Of course, the premium items helped in boosting (and shortening) productivity and the Outrage Shot AFK did some help when I had to do some chores as well. Okay guys, need to clean the other dog now since I had to crunch time before the deadline hit. Catch you guys again! :D

The glittering gems (and valued) of Granado Espada

No, I don't mean by players/families that are role models. I'm talking about the three different kinds of gems and their importance in Granado Espada.

To start off, you'll get your first gem in a form of unpolished stones. These gems come in three colors and are based from real gemstone of their respective colors. Soon enough, you'll be getting better versions of these gem with a prefix of "Piece of ." At this point, I am not sure if their normal versions, which is a step of from their "Piece of" versions, are dropped by mobs. The high quality version is the next step from the normal gems and are sought out to those wish to craft items usually level 84 and above. The ultimate form of the gems are really rare to seek out, especially when it is needed to craft an item as well.

The thing is, that these gems are usually crafting materials for weapons and armor. All of the recipes involving an equipment (as far as I know) always need a gem, depending on what the recipe needs. So, don't throw away those gems! You may need them craft the item you need or you may sell it to those who need it the most! :P

If you want a simple way to read it, here's a flow on each of their hierarchy (lowest to ultimate):

Unpolished Red/Green/Blue Stone
Piece of Ruby/Emerald/Sapphire
Ruby/Emerald/Sapphire
High Quality Ruby/Emerald/Sapphire
Archangel's Heart/Siren's Scale/Seeds of Rafflesia

For those who craft and want the "easy way out" of getting the Normal, High Quality and Ultimate gems, you can grab crafting recipe from the Precious Metal Merchant in Auch, right beside the Anvil for Accessory Desctruction.

The NPC sells recipes for these gems (with the exception for the unpolished stones) as well as Gold Pieces (for those wanting to plunk gold at the Golden Well at Thueringen Lakeside) necklace crafting recipes and some other stuff as well. Each gem recipe share a similar material listing with the exception of what the gem stone should be. Here's the recipe list for the following:

Recipe - Piece of Ruby/Emerald/Sapphire
Level 40 - Karjalanien Exclusive
Rating: Low
[Material]
Unpolished Red/Green/Blue Stone x 3
Solvent x 5
Progressive Soul Filler x 3
Mana Stone x 1

Recipe - Ruby/Emerald/Sapphire
Level 60 - Karjalanien Exclusive
Rating: Normal
[Material]
Piece of Ruby/Emerald/Sapphire x 3
Solvent x 10
Progressive Soul Filler x 10
Mana Stone x 3

Recipe - High Quality Ruby/Emerald/Sapphire
Level 80 - Karjalanien Exclusive
Rating: High
[Material]
Ruby/Emerald/Sapphire x 3
Solvent x 20
Triumph Filler x 3
Mana Stone x 5

Recipe - Archangel's Heart/Siren's Scale/Seeds of Rafflesia
Level 100 - Karjalanien Exclusive
Rating: Ultimate
[Material]
High Quality Ruby/Emerald/Sapphire x 3
Solvent x 50
Triumph Filler x 15
Elemental Jewel x 1

Now, if we were to craft an ultimate gem from unpolished stones, here's the breakdown:

Unpolished Red/Green/Blue Stone x 63
to
Piece of Ruby/Emerald/Sapphire x 21
to
Ruby/Emerald/Sapphire x 9
to
High Quality Ruby/Emerald/Sapphire x3
to
Archangel's Heart/Siren's Scale/Seeds of Rafflesia x 1

And with each gem quality recipe price rising (not to mention required cash shop items), it's going to be very costly in producing one piece of an ultimate gem! So much for the "easy way out!"

Well, that's one thing gotten of my chest. Expect more thoughts and guide coming soon! :D

Making Millions (for a first time!)

Okay... I loaded up on G Points because I wanted to splurge and maybe pray that I can get myself the Silver Skullic Bracer, Katana and Sakura Branch. But since I needed money to invest in Level 84 Elites, I decided to spend half of what I topped up to get a few million Vis to fund my endeavors. However, that all changed when I began to broadcast my offers...

I had received PMs from a lot of players interested in buying premium items such as Barracks Slots, Warp Slots, Veteran Scrolls, Mystery Powders and Expert Scrolls! I couldn't handle the volume of PMs and in the midst of the confusion, I told my buyers to meet at Auch when I was at Coimbra! :D

That resulted in one family getting pissed off at me and called me a scammer! Ooops... I was totally ill prepared for the event. Eventually, I was able to give my prospects the correct destination. I ended up spending up (almost) all of my G Points just to satisfy my customers! Well, at least I got some millions tucked to spend on indulgences and necessities.

Next time, prepare a lot of G Points for public selling or contact friends who want to buy premium items from me.

P.S.
I do not the the market pricing and you're lucky since my starting are usually WAY BELOW the market pricing. Be a long time customer and I may get you special discounts! :D But people, I'll officially let you know when can I sell premiums! :D Plus, it's a first time to sell to a lot of people I usually sell premium items to friends!

How lucky can I get?

Read about what sGE had to offer with four new boxes. I was appealed in the Japanese swords they made available: Nodachi (misspelled as Nadachi) and Katana! You can get the Nodachi from Najib's Weapons Box and the Katana from the Knight's Cache Box.

Reading the thread stated the hype and that a lot of people have tried from a few to hundreds of boxes but to no avail of getting the featured items per box. I decided to push my luck bought myself 10 of Najib's Weapon Boxes. After opening five boxes, a Nodachi is inside one of them!

Wow, my luck was really good at that time! :D I opened the rest of the boxes and I got Enchantment Chips, Eyewear Boxes, Premium Consumable and unusual consumables. Well, I hope my luck will be the same for the Knight's Cache!

In other news, Vicente's Serenade event has been extended to August 14! Well, looks like production will be delayed now. At least I got time to focus on other things! :D

The Land of the Dead: What goes on...

I have to admit that I finally finished the Baron Quest! I rewarded myself with the White Baron a.k.a. Edward Jameson. Well, I better get to the details on this experience...

For people playing in the non-PK servers, you need to purchase a couple of premium items. The items are "Otite Perfume" and "The Wheel of Destiny." For PK servers, they can do the same or work hard by killing other players until they can craft the Wheel of Destiny. Okay, let do a breakdown why there are two requirements for this quest:

PK server:

• Access to the Los Toldos requires you to be a baron. That means you have to kill players to show that you're a criminal and people at the towns won't interact with you because of your evil deeds. The blood of the innocent has stained your clothes and the person guarding the Los Toldos will smell it and welcome you.
  
• Obtaining the Wheel of Destiny can be done by doing a series of tasks to get that back item. Baron back items provides buff to the wearer and the item lasts forever. It is also possible to get more than one. To talk to Kurt, you need a family member wearing a Wheel of Destiny and that character can only converse with Kurt.
  

Non-PK server:

• Since players here can't kill each other, they have to purchase a premium item call "Otite Perfume." It makes them smell like they killed other families and will grant you access to the Los Toldos. Take note that this is temporary and it will only last for 24 hours on the time it was "activated." Costs 1,200 GP for one.
  
• The Wheel of Destiny can also be purchased at the premium mall for 1,200 GP. Unlike its Baron counterpart, this one is temporary and doesn't have any buffs included. This is sufficient for you to able to talk to Kurt and progress through the quest.

Also, you will need Mystery Powders to access Tierra de los Muertos. This means, one Mystery Power per visit. Stock up around 20 or so. Believe me, you're gonna need it. You have to give the Mystery Powder to the Gloomy Old Man near to an anvil. You'll be going back and forth to Tierra de los Muertos, so be forewarned.

Now, talk to Kurt and he will ask you to hunt 10 Undead Warriors and Gunners as proof of your worth. After that, talk to him and you'll get a taste of what he can do! Yes! You'll see him summoning a Grim Reaper and you'll lose. Don't worry, it's part of the quest. He'll tell you that you were worth his time battling, even though you lost. He'll give you a letter to send to Edward, who is hiding somewhere in Tierra de los Muertos. It's located at coordaintes E3. You'll find some tombstone that you can touch and you'll be at Edward's secret hideout. You'll eventually battle alongside him because some of the undead people have invaded his hideout. Remember, head to E3 of Tierra de los Muertos if you have any business with Edward.

After that task, Edward will give you an item you need to give to Kurt. Kurt will then send you out to kill a boss in Tierra de los Muertos. The location is G9 and it's a giant male fighter wielding a sword and a shield. From how it attacks, this boss is using the Back Guard stance because the skill it often uses is the Vortex Slash. Anyhoo, it took me time to defeat it but it was no match for my fighter's High Guard! You'll get the Otite Pouch that Kurt wants and you'll want to return to him.

Kurt will then send you to investigate the village in the center of Tierra de los Muertos. Once you find it, you'll search for three pieces of information stating that this village was attacked in some time. After delivering these evidences to Kurt, he'll give you 5 Invisible Potions. You'll have to travel to a small town at B6. Before you reach there, use an Invisible Potion and investigate the town. You'll end up facing Montoro Viscount himself (as if meeting him in Ustiur wasn't enough!). You'll have to face him and his minions. After defeating him, report back to Kurt. Looks like you'll have to get back in that small town at B6 being invisible again (Kurt will give you 5 more Invisible Potions). You'll fight Montoro again, without his minions and with Kurt and Edward as your allies. Go ahead and read the conversations before and during the battle. You can let the two defeat Montoro or you can speed things up with your participation.

Now comes the most tedious part of the quest: Gathering 10 Pure Otites for Kurt. In order to do this, you need to speak to the Gloomy Old Man and activate a quest in gathering 300 Refined Otite to produce 1 (or maybe two!) Pure Otite. This means you need to go back and forth Los Toldos and Tierra de los Muertos. Prepare those Mystery Powders, you're gonna need them (hope you don't get disconnected!). After gathering the 10 Pure Otites Kurt needs, he'll ask you to meet up with him and Edward at the center village for a luring operation. Once you head there, enjoy the e-drama that unfolds between THREE CHARACTERS! Can't tell you the details! It's too good to spoil! :D

This is the point where you have to make a choice. It's the choice of having either Kurt Lyndon or Edward Jameson. If you want Edward (like I did), head over to his hideout and accept his allegiance. He will ask of you to kill Kurt. Go ahead and meet up with Kurt. You'll end up fighting him and you can either win or lose this battle. After that, go back to Edward and give him 70 Mystery Powders. Yes, these guys didn't come cheap! You'll get Edward's card after that and you're done with the quest!

Of course, if you want Kurt instead, just talk to Kurt, accept his allegiance, fight Edward, give Kurt 70 Mystery Powders. Take note that you can only get one of these characters in your quest. Want the other one? Go find someone who's willing to part with their character for God only knows the price.

I can say that these can be done by fresh veterans who have elite equips. I was using a fighter in Advance Guard with an Elite Mustang Strider and Elite Rafael's Rapier. For my Elementalist, it's an Elite Bracelet of Uranus and a Skullic Bracer. My Scout just stayed on healing mode, even with the health potions on the side. I had to play Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII on my older sister's boyfriend's PSP while that grinding for the Pure Otites. Well, at least all my hard work gave the fruit of my labor: Edward Jameson's Card!

Well, another long post by yours truly. Hope my insights can help out anyone who wants a Baron in their family! Want an illustrated guide? Check this link! Enjoy!

First Commercial Colony Wars (and updates!)

Alrighty, looks like everyone got hyped for Colony Wars last Sunday evening! Here's the current result of last night's CW:

Colony Wars results of September 2, 2007

Although I got a better video card (nVidia GeForce FX 5550 256 VRAM), it didn't help when the PC couldn't handle multiple characters and enemies at the same time! It took me a minute or so to be able to play properly with low frame rates! Even when I set the character and enemy detail to the lowest, it still didn't help! But anyhoo, I've got some reporting to do!

I was supposed to help in taking the colony in El Lago de Tres Hermanas but by the time I arrived, I was teleported back to Auch. Woah, that was REALLY FAST! Anyway, I was sent to Tetra Hill and try to get the colony. We did what we could, but still no colony (and back to Coimbra). The next target was PB Desolate Cliff.

The Tetra Hill

Upon arriving, I was greeted with attacks from the recently rival faction in order to get it. Sure, I was killed but came back with another team. Even though we put so much effort, we got teleported back to Coimbra...

Porto Bello Desolate Cliff

El Lago de Tres Hermanas was the target again but this one was the best experience I could ever remember. I tried my best to knock the colony down and there were a lot of monster summons and Valkyrie Crashers! Looks like the people are understanding the benefits of these Valkyrie Crashers. They may attack slow, but they really deal more damage to an enemy colony. Sad to say, my faction didn't get it...

El Lago de Tres Hermanas

I tried to participate in getting the Ferruccio Junction colony but the GodLike Faction where already waiting for ambushes! I tried to make a run for it but I was no match their high-leveled skills and I got defeated with no mercy at all! :( After that, I decided to take a break and come back to grind and get the results.

Let's see who's on top now:

GodLike
-Ferruccio Junction
-The King's Garden
-The Tetra Hill
-El Lago de Tres Hermanas
-El Tejado Verde
-Ustiur Zona Uno
-Lago Celeste

Destiny
-Jezebel Glen
-Porto Bello Desolate Cliff
-Pradera de Ceniza
-The Old Port of Coimbra
-El Canon de Diabolica
-Topolo Durga
-El Tierra Blanco

Crusaders
-Bonavista River
-Ustiur Zona Dos
-Scorching Plateau
-Via Fluvial

HuntOrHunted
-The Rion Prairie
-Rio Aibi

For those who got only one colony:

ScarletRose - Porto Bello Deserted Quay

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a tie between the two big shots of Carracci: GodLike and Destiny!

My favorite picture of all:

Good Lord! Aren't they supposed to be extinct?!?!?

And for some updates, I was able to get my hands to G Points and bought four barrack slot licenses! Yay! More characters for me! :D I also took the liberty in adding three new characters in my barracks! :D So far, I have relocated to Auch right now to level my characters up to 48, with my first character to reach Level 51! Uh oh, I better watch what I'm doing! :P After I am done with the barracks expansion, I will upgrade my warp slots next! For the meantime, I'll try to educate you readers on how to expand your barracks.

Expanding your barracks in sGE

When you start Granado Espada, you are entitled up to nine characters per server per account (that means different characters per account, you can't use your character from server A to server B and vice versa). You can expand this by purchasing the "1 Barracks Slot" premium item (1,100 G Points) from the Premium Item Merchant. She is located near every waypoint in Reboldoeux, Coimbra and Auch. After purchasing the premium item, look for either Domingo (Reboldoeux), Nunez (Coimbra) or the Public Servant of Auch to have your barracks expanded. The maximum allowed capacity for your barracks is 36 characters and there will be nine characters per barracks set. You can use different characters from different barracks as well. I hope I will be able to provide some screenies soon.

That's it for now! Will update the post for screenies! :P