Generation 2

Getting back into the swing of Mabinogi after my brief absence has been remedied by playing it non-stop now that I have no immediate responsibilities. I don't quite remember the wheat fields outside Dunbarton being able to talk, but I'm sure they always must have =)

For as long as I've been in the Artifex guild, I felt a bit out of place not being a Paladin. Any time some exceptionally difficult dungeon got in our way, someone transformed and "fixed" our problem, standing gloriously among the bodies of mobs when the dust settled. I wanted to be dependable like that; capable of turning the tide on unsuspecting aggressors. Basically I wanted to not be a weakling!

To warm up for my final showdown with Generation 2 (to become a Paladin), I joined Ashraera, Rikimau, and Perk on a Fiodh Normal run. Ashaera was looking for a Barri Basic pass, which ironically does not drop in Barri Normal. The White Snakes in Fiodh apparently drop it, but we can't attest to that with the way they refused to hand them over. We did find a Fiodh Intermediate pass for 4, though, and Ashaera, being the fearless guild leader she is, didn't think twice before marching the troops back into battle.

For the most part, the dungeon was an exercise in strategic planning. Of course, if you have to plan anything in Mabinogi, that means you're getting your butt handed to you by a superior dungeon. Most of Fiodh Int's mobs are nothing too special: White Snakes, Blue Werewolves, Wild Jackals, and Giant Field Rats. But there are many rooms that spawn quartets of Burgundy Grizzlies, which alone are not a problem, except for the dungeon's "theme" of insanely long-range multi-aggro tendencies. Often, a room of bears would spawn, and if one person was unlucky enough, they would instantly get attacked by all 4 bears at once! From there it was like a pack of roving death as the bears picked us off one by one.

When we entered Fiodh Int for 4, Perk was with us, but because he had to leave for dinner, Ashaera, Rikimau, and I were an undermanned trio in a dungeon clearly designed for 4 capable warriors. If I am not mistaken, we all died almost every time a bear quartet showed up. And I don't wanna mention how many times we died trying to defeat the duo of "Argus" mini-bosses en route to the comically easier Giant Imp dungeon bosses. To summarize our expedition:
"Medic!"
After that epic display of perseverance, I felt plenty capable of tackling anything G2 had to offer. The final quest was a 5 floor Barri Basic run, which was a cakewalk. As a minor spoiler alert, Esras is evil. She and her super golem Tabhartas awaited me at the end of the dungeon.

I want to take a moment and point out how poorly I think the G2 storyline was written. First of all, because G2 follows G1 (duh), there's no way the story of Esras and Rian could compare in terms of importance to the fate of Erinn. G1 had a giant being of infinite destructive capabilities (Glas) summoned by the fomors to wipe out humanity, period. G2 has Esras plotting to preside over Erinn as its sole queen, but not before she makes Emain Macha incredibly prosperous. Um...that's not a quality we want in a leader...right?
She has a point.
Tabhartas was not difficult considering I got to transform into a Paladin to start the battle. As far as I can tell he doesn't do anything a normal Golem can't, so he just has a ton of HP to whittle away. Of course, I slipped up and died anyway.
Tabhartas the Super Golem
I finished off Esras without much trouble, and that was that! Generation 2 down, Paladin up! To celebrate, Kazukikun and I wandered into Rabbie Normal to flex some holy muscle, and took a moment from our work to make sure we looked good for the cameras:
Toy Hammers are standard issue Paladin weaponry
With G2 behind me, I resume my unofficial G3 quest of becoming a respectable blacksmith. I dove back into Barri Dungeon to mine ore for this purpose. Puttin' those divine credentials to work baby! XD
Ceci n'est pas une pickaxe.
I spoke with former Artifex guildmate Angellrose about her trick to open a personal shop without paying for extra storage. Apparently she runs a mule account that has free extra storage as long as she never levels the account beyond 30. She mails items to sell (and money) to the mule, and has the mule open shop all day on her 2nd computer. It's a great work around that I wish I thought of. So in the coming days I will be contemplating opening my own personal shop...