Recently, I hit 30 and moved to Skysong. It's the level 30 to 45 area. Skysongs' main city is a sort of Buddhist temple replica, which I suppose is sort of the point as a male Skysong dresses somewhat like a Buddhist monk might. Of course now that I've hit 30, it seems 30 wants to hit right back. Gone are the good old days of one or two hitting the mobs and moving on. Now it seems like I have to add strategy to how I play. At least the quests give better experience too which is always enjoyable, of course they need to now because gone are the days where you could get a few levels a day easy peasy. Nope, we're moving on up in the minor leagues and the mobs are coming out to play in full force. The one thing about the Modo class is that it's a slow starter; while other classes have various niches to fill, the Modo is sort of a rebel without a cause, if you will, at least in the beginning. A Modo can't even get the Modon, its highest level transformation until level 55. Still, at 150 levels, this ain't no rabbit race.

A lot of chatter has been said about the Meditation and Invigorate abilities of Jade Dynasty, and how they affect Jade Dynasty. If Jade has taught me one thing, it's this; every new MMO needs to have something similar. Let's face it, MMOs are grind fests. Doesn't matter if they're quest heavy or light, PVE or PVP; in the end the grind is inescapable. Meditation and Invigorate can change that. Meditation means that after a long play session I can go to town, switch on meditate and gain some valuable experience while I'm eating or sleeping. Invigorate means that the hunt to get materials or cash or level up my espers or pets goes that much easier and quicker. Innovations, especially those of the last few years have been geared to replace the mind numbing madness of the grind. That should be received as a good thing, not a joke or a byline; still only time will tell where we go from here. End rant.

Level 45 is the first Tier quest in Jade Dynasty. Each faction has to fulfill certain requirements to reach each new tier of skills. Think of it as the Limit Break ala Final Fantasy XI of Jade Dynasty. For the Modo faction, we get the pleasure of beating a big boss. While some might question why, at level 45, we're taken to an area for level 60 characters, I prefer to think of what fun it will be to have to run from everything I see. Pay no attention to the sarcasm, in actuality the quest is hard enough that you gain a sense of satisfaction that you were able to complete it solo, yet not difficult enough that you throw your keyboard against the wall. Whatever the reason, the tier quest is difficult to do alone and one should put a good hour or so away to get it done. Frankly if it wasn't for the fact that I have no clan or alliance at the moment I probably wouldn't have done it solo, but I'm glad I did. Once you get the carrier pigeon quest automatically received at level 45 and every level thereafter that until you complete it, you are given a task by your head faction leader. For us Modos' that's the bright and shiny Mr. Gho in Doom Bog. So as I was saying the Modo tier quest brings you to The Billows.

The Billows are a coastal area with all the pirates and booty that entails. Your fight is against the Cursed Pirate Leader and as such he cons red against anyone short of level 50 or so.) This fight can last anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes depending on play style and level. One word of warning, if you go at him solo remember to bring a lot of HP pots or make sure that the dew you get at the beginning of the game is near full, cause he packs a punch and even ten minutes of him can be devastating on your pot supply. Anyways I started the match quite foolishly, I had my HP settings on Invigorate well enough but I wasn't utilizing my skills all that well and as such probably cost me five extra minutes. Instead of using an esper skill that was a huge spirit drain I used my best Modo skill. I also went Demonic Posture for the extra defense, after finding myself getting hit for around 250 every two seconds. Finally I triumphed against my foe and he was smote down as I shouted 'I become Death, destroyer of worlds'. Ok so maybe not but I might have done it. And there is my word of advice for the day, always have a cool quote to say when you smite down a boss or else you'll be stuck making something up; like me sad and alone. Making my way back to the Doom Bog I headed to Mr. Gho and received my reward, not only did I get the new tier skills, I was able to wear the level 45 gear which requires the level 2 enlightenment. That is really just a snazzy way to say that you've reached a certain skill level. And I must say the level 45 gear is a nice change. It's red, orange, and black so it looks like your wearing clothes of fire, which is much cooler than the black and green from level 30.

I also made a new character a few days ago. I figured as things started slowing down level wise it would behoove me to get a low level character to play when things got boring. Amina is a Lupin and gearing up to hit Jadeon soon. She's different from Ettarre already because I usually play a tank style when playing with Ettarre, so it's nice to put up some good damage numbers. I haven't really looked too much at where I intend to take her skill wise but I'm sure it'll be all out damage, because she don't need no stinking defense.

So that was what I did in Jade Dynasty for the week, I'm looking forward to hitting 60 and putting on a new set of armor. And of course then I want to see what the Modon can do.