Magian Trial Journals

[Areya]

Since there's some interest on this, I'd thought I'd recount some of the progressions on my Magian Trials, with info like camps, job choices, and other advice...

First:

"Cure Staff"

The starting item is a Crook:  lv75, WHM/BLM/RDM/SMN/BRD/SCH.

Note:  June Update lowered the totals on some of these trials after I had already done them, original number will be posted in parentheses.
Note 2:  All targets must give exp.

Trial 790: 50 (100) Treants - Weather Effect Active

Fortunately, treant saplings count.  in Caedarva Mire, around Nashmau, are some Treant Saplings.  Did this as SMN.

Trial 791: 50 (100) spiders - Fire, Wind, Lightning, or Light Weather

Bark Spiders in The Boyahda Tree.  Rainy season (Game Spring) works best.  Also did this as SMN.

Trial 828: 50 (100) Any Target - Light Day/Weather

Lot of freedom for this trial, overall.  I chose to do Lesser Colibri in Wajaom as RDM/BST.  Between Joyeuse's multihitting pierce damage and Red Kissers completely owning Colibris, this didn't take long.  Note that I macro swap in the staff before pet gets the kill.

Trial 829: 50 (100) Arcana - Light D/W

While a lot of people go to Ro'Maeve for this one, it was overcrowded at the time, so I took RDM and went behind the Blue Door in Pso'Xja.  The Gargoyles and Magic Millstones behind here ALWAYS pop Easy Prey, unlike the ones in other sections, and 8 kills / 16 minutes isn't bad.  I swap in the staff and use a nuke to finish off the targets, or sometimes even staff swinging works.

Trial 834: 150 Beasts - 50+ Light Damage Kill

This trial's a bit trickier.  My targets were War Smilodons in Jugner Forest [ S ]; east of the fort, past a couple of one-way drops, there's a small cluster of tigers.  I went SMN for this, and used Carbuncle's Meteorite to finish off the targets.  (Again, swapping in the staff.)

Trial 838: 10 Bottled Pixies

The Yagudo High Priest that spawns near Castle Oztroja in  Meri. Mt [ S ] has a 100% drop on Bottled Pixies.  I went NIN/DNC and soloed these, hit the C.A. in Castle Oztroja to get back to town, swapped to WHM, Recall-Passhow, then chocoed to the Fay Spring to turn in the pixie.  Since they're r/e, I had to do this several times.

At this point, the staff is Lv 75 Teiwaz with +4DMG and Cure Potency +15%

Trial 1700: 15 Bottled Pixies

See above.  This trial was added after the level cap went up to lv80, so I was actually able to solo the Yagudo High Priests (lv 76-78) as WHM to save time having to swap jobs.  Recall-Pashhow to turn them in, Recall-Meriph to get back to camp.

Trial 1701: 150 Elementals, Light Day/Weather

Thankfully, summoner pets count!  Good targets here are Yagudo's Elementals in West Saruta [ S ].  As SCH/BLM, I was able to one-shot the pets with Ebullience if I was unresisted.  Blizzard IV for the wind and earth spirits, Thunder IV for the fire.  There's a total of 4 Yagudo Mendicants in the area, solo you only need about two of them.

Currently, the staff looks like this:  Surya's Staff - lv 80 WHM/BLM/RDM/SMN/BRD/SCH, Cure Potency +17%

I'll add more later.  I've also completed a Fire Path Shamshir, a Lightning Path Guichard's Axe, and worked on some others.

[Areya]

"Fire Sword"
This sword is for RDM, BLU, and PLD, and goes along the "fire" elemental path.  A few weapons share some of these trials, and as such in many cases you can find pickup groups for these, esp. on JP time.  For example, I know Polearms and Bows both need the Flans.

Unlike the previous set where my job changed around a bit, I did every one of these as BLU.
Also I'll list how the sword is shaped after each trial, so you can see the "progression" that most elemental path weapons take.  The same basic stat changes happen on every elemental path, but the numbers change.

Base Item: Side-Sword DMG29 Delay236 LV75 RDM/PLD/BLU

Trial 164:  50 Leeches - Weather Effect Active
The first trial, converts the crappy base Ex weapon to an Aug/Ex version.

Pashhow Marshlands [ S ] is a good bet here.  The narrow areas on the west side of the zone have many Thread Leeches, and water and thunder weather is fairly common.

New sword: Soulsaber DMG31 Delay240 LV75 RDM/PLD/BLU

Trial 165: 50 Sea Monks - Fire, Wind, Lightning, or Light Weather
Splits the "Light" elemental paths from the "Darkness" elemental paths.

Not really a lot of choices here.  Labyrinth of Onzozo has Devil Mantas and wind weather, but unfortunately some of these can pop Too Weak and thus not count for the trial.  I tended to clear out the Too Weaks while waiting on the weather change.

Sea Serpent Grotto has a few mantas but lightning weather is fairly rare there.

Added Stats:  Fire/Wind/Lightning/Light Resist +5

Trial 166: 50 Any Target - Fire Weather/Firesday
Further filters the "Light" elemental paths down to a single element.  Note that if you were to make, for example, a thunder path sword with DEX/Accuracy, the first two trials would be the same.

I honestly don't remember what I did here.  I think it was killing things in Kuftal.  You have a lot of freedom here.

New sword:  Soulsaber DMG31 Delay240 Fire Resist +10  Added Effect: Fire Damage +5

Trial 167: 75 Aquans + Fire W/D

I went to Toraimarai Canal for this, killing Canal Pugils and Scavenger Crabs.  Kuftal Tunnel or Vunkerl Inlet [ S ] would work fine as well.

Soulsaber Changes:  Delay-6, STR+1, loses the Fire Resist

Trial 168: 100 Beasts + Fire W/D
At this trial there's a split between the stat boost trials, and the added effect trials.

Remember that spot I mentioned in the previous post, the War Smilodons in Jugner [ S ]?  Went back there again for this one.

Soulsaber Augments:  DMG+7, Delay-10, STR+2, Attack+5 (erases old augments)

Trial 169: 200 Flans + Fire W/D

Eww.  This one is awful.  Flans are evil evil critters.  Highly recommend picking up a group to do this one!  That said, the Ebony Pudding camp in Mount Zhayolm that used to be popular with BLM groups is the way to go.

Alternately, if you -have- to solo this one, the Black Puddings in Halvung are lower level.

Soulsaber Augments:  DMG+12, Delay-10, STR+4, Attack+12

Trial 1208:  200 Vermin + Fire W/D
First of the "second phase" of trials

For this one I slaughtered Worker Crawlers in Rolanberry Fields [ S ], outside of Crawler's Nest.  There are other workable spots, such as the Dragonflies in Meri Mt [ S ].

Soulsaber Additional Augments:  DMG+2 (plus all the ones from previous)

Trial 1209: 250 Manticores + Fire W/D

Another doozy.  Outside of Cloister of Gales in Cape Teriggan is a nice thick area of manticores.  Watch out for Frostmane if he pops, however.  These Manticores go up to level 79 so again, highly recommend picking a group up.  Also be careful of the Sand Cockatrices and an Air Elemental spawn.

Final Sword (so far):
Shamshir  DMG48 Delay230 STR+6 Attack+16 Lv80 RDM/PLD/BLU

This is a very nice blade for Blue Mage!  And not shabby for the other two jobs.

[Areya]

"Thunder Axe"
I made this axe with one purpose in mind:  Boosting the accuracy of my familiar.  Therefore I took the Thunder path, however I took the "pet" subpath.  This alternate set of trials is similar to the normal, except it requires pets to get the finishing blow.

Much like the staff, I did some of these before the kill values were reduced, but I'll just mention the new values here.

Base Item: Chopper DMG35 Delay288 LV75 WAR/BST

Trial 296:  50 Crabs - Weather Effect Active
The first trial, converts the crappy base Ex weapon to an Aug/Ex version.

I went to Vunkerl Inlet [ S ] for this one.

New axe: Skeggiold DMG37 Delay280 LV75 WAR/BST

Trial 297: 50 Evil Weapons - Fire, Wind, Lightning, or Light Weather
Splits the "Light" elemental paths from the "Darkness" elemental paths.

Ro'Maeve is weapon heaven, and is obviously a great choice.  Rainy season helps.  Note that Thunder weather counts, but Water doesn't!

Added Stats:  Fire/Wind/Lightning/Light Resist +5

Trial 314: 50 Any Target - Thunder Weather/Firesday
Further filters the "Light" elemental paths down to a single element.

Red Kissers vs Lesser Colibri in Wajaom.  Too easy.

New axe:  Skeggiold DMG37 Delay280 Lightning Resist +10  Added Effect: Lightning Damage +5

Trial 167: 75 Birds + Lightning W/D

Same as above.

Skeggiold Changes:  DEX+1, loses the Lightning Resist

Trial 318: 75 Pet Kills vs Undeads + Lightning W/D
At this trial there's a split between the stat boost trials, the added effect trials, and the pet boost trials.

The first of the petkill trials.  Here I went to The Eldieme Necropolis [ S ]  and picked on the Hell Hounds.  The annoying thing about petkills is, random pickup groups are usually uncooperative to letting your pet get the kill, so many times you have to do this solo.

Skeggiold Augments:  DMG+7, Delay-4, DEX+2, Pet Accuracy/Ranged Accuracy+5 (erases old augments)

Trial 319: 150 Pet Kills vs Imps + Lightning W/D

Imps versus a properly leveled BST familiar is just plain unfair.  Imps are pretty squishy.  I did a circuit of the three imps around the graveyard in Caedarva Mire for this one.  There's another decent spot in Arrapago Reef near where the Qutrubs are.  And of course you can kill imps around Azouph Staging Point, but that's where most people doing the trial normally go, so petkills may be difficult.

Skeggiold Augments:  DMG+12, Delay-4, DEX+4, Pet Accuracy/Ranged Accuracy+8
As a comparison:  Trial 317 is 200 imps instead of 150, and player gets the +8 Accuracy instead of the pet.

Trial 1314:  150 Pet Kills vs Plantoids + Lightning W/D
First of the "second phase" of trials

Brasscaps in Grauberg [ S ] are a decent choice here, although it's fairly popular.  Thunder weather isn't uncommon in the zone as well, so you may be able to sneak in some kills outside of Lightningsday.

Skeggiold Additional Augments:  DMG+2 (plus all the ones from previous)

Trial 1315: 200 Pet Kills vs Magic Pots + Lightning W/D

You have a choice here:  Weaker pots with slow repops, or stronger pots with faster repops.  I went with the latter, killing Sprinklers in Ru'Aun Gardens.  Unfortunately, solo I could only get about 18-19 kills per day, so 200 took a long time.

Couple of alternate spots for when Lightningsday isn't close:  Upper Delkfutt's Tower or Garlage Citadel, can catch thunder weather.

Final Axe (so far):
Guichard's Axe  DMG56 Delay276 DEX+6 Pet Accuracy/Ranged Accuracy+12 Lv80 WAR/BST

A nice utility axe with good damage, accuracy boosting both for me (DEX+6 isn't half bad!) AND my pet.

[Zerila]

That's the same axe I'm going for on BST. Now I just need to take the time to work on it...

[Areya]

That's the same axe I'm going for on BST. Now I just need to take the time to work on it...

Then you know exactly what to expect! 

Oh, I should mention that for all of those axe trials except for the last one I was using jug pets.  For the Magic Pots I was using Flamingos; although they're weaker than familiars, it was faster to just dump them and get a new pet than Heel and rest up a Familiar.

And a couple other spots I should mention:
The Boyahda Tree has plenty of plant critters and lightning weather if Grauberg is too crowded.
Also, if you have the Moongate Pass, can do Magic Flagons in Ro'Maeve for magic pots, recommend /DNC for that.

[Areya]

"Thunder Dagger"
A very nice dagger for Dancer and Thief, and not shabby for Bard either!

Base item:  Peeler  DMG24 Delay201 lv75 THF/BRD/DNC

Trial #16
50 rabbits + any weather

Two spots are good for this one.  Ulegeurand Range has many hares and ice weather is common.  Alternately, The Boyahda Tree works as well.

Rewards you a Dakini:  DMG25 Delay 195 lv75 THF/BRD/DNC

Trial #17
50 crabs + Lightning Day/Weather

Kuftal Tunnel is an obvious hotspot for crabs.  Vunkerl Inlet [ S ] works well too, and even has thunder weather fairly commonly.

Trial #30
50 any + Lightning D/W

As with all of the trials that don't care about targets, simply pick something you can smite quickly.  I chose Dragonflies in Meri Mt. [ S ] (there's a cluster of 5~6 east of the fort) and it only took me one Lightningsday.

Trial #31
75 plantoids + Lightning D/W

I was still leveling Dancer to 80 while working on this dagger, so I actually did most of these kills while fighting Pachypodiums in Abyssea-Tahrongi.  Check some of the earlier posts for more suggestions on plantoid hunting.

Trial #32
100 arcana + Lightning D/W

Ro'Maeve.  An alliance of people doing trials cleans house.

At this point, the dagger has augments DMG+7 Delay-5 DEX+2 Accuracy+3

Trial #33
200 qutrubs + Lightning D/W

Qutrubs are very dangerous opponents, particularly the BLM types, and although they take double damage, they have enormous amounts of HP.  Two spots work for this one.  In Arrapago Reef there are several Qutrubs with Lamias and a section of Heraldic Imps to the south of Ilrusi Atoll Staging Point.  These have slow repops but are "only" DC.  Outside of Dvucca Staging Point in Caedarva Mire, Lamia Idolators are still dangerous opponents (DC-T at 80), but have 5 min repops.  Camp #2 works better if you have a large group.

New dagger augments:  DMG+9 Delay-5 DEX+4 Accuracy+8

Trial #1108
200 lizards + Lightning D/W

Kuftal Tunnel is a decent hunting spot here.  There are many Sand Lizards in the southern reaches of the zone, just watch out if Guivre is up!  Cape Teriggan works as well.

Trial #1109
250 Golems + Lightning D/W

Outside of sky, there are no good clusters of golems, so I highly recommend having sky access.  In Ve'lugannon Palace, the area where Zipacna spawns has many Enkidus, which are only DC to 80.  With a larger group, the better bet is in The Shrine of Ru'Avitau, in the area near The Celestial Nexus.  The Aura Statues here are very difficult (still T-VT to 80!) but it's a small area with a large number of spawns.

Final dagger:
Kila  Lv 80  DMG38 Delay190 DEX+6 Accuracy+12

[Areya]

Important note:  September update has changed trials a bit.  On trials where you either kill the targets on a certain day or in a certain weather, if you kill during the weather, you get 5 points towards your goal instead of just 1!  If you match both day AND weather, you get 6!  While not all trials can really abuse this (particularly those with rare weathers like Light), use this to considerably speed up progress.

And on that note, an update on my axe:

Trial 1998
250 Pet Kills vs Beasts, Lightning W/D

Jugner Forest [ S ] was feeling particularly stormy (it's game fall, could be useful to know) so I used my standby War Smilodon camp.  Thanks to the aforementioned point boost for weather matching, this trial took very little time.

Reward:
Guichard's Axe +1  LV 85
DMG61 Delay276 DEX+8 Pet: Accuracy+14 R.Acc+14

[Areya]

More trial updates, listing one I've completed and a couple that are in the future:

Shamshir  DMG48 Delay230 STR+6 Attack+16 Lv80 RDM/PLD/BLU

Trial 1945:
300 Birds + Fire W/D

An alliance full of BLUs vs a ton of Lesser Colibris around Leypoint is anything but fair.  Quadratic Continuum, Disseverment, Goblin Rush, and Benthic Typhoon chew them up in no time flat.  Some of them were dropping in less than 3 seconds!  Was averaging around 120 kills per Firesday.

Shamshir  DMG51 Delay230 STR+8 Attack+18 Lv85 RDM/PLD/BLU

Dagger:
300 Beast + Thunder W/D

Still working on this one, but the same spot as mentioned above would work nicely.

Staff:
175 Elementals + Light W/D

Same spot as last time for the staff, just need a few more kills.

Thought I'd mention some of the new trials of this update here too:  A new trial for the Empyrean weapons gives them a sick set of sets, access to the Empyrean WS (such as Tachi: Fudo for Great Katana), and an aftermath effect that occasionally doubles damage.

Also, there is an alternate version where you can get a weapon with access to the Empyrean WS, but no aftermath, not as good stats, but still a lot of work...

There are also upgrade trials for the so-called AF3 pieces; Scars of Abyssea gives us head, leg, and feet pieces.  To upgrade to the +1 versions (the base versions only have minor stat ups) you have to collect 8 seals of the appropriate type.  For example, to upgrade Orison Cap (WHM) you need 8 Orison Seal: Head.  The +1's can further be upgraded to +2 by getting 6 items.  These +1/+2's have some incredible stat boosts..  Many of the headpieces have +5% or greater haste, and there's lots of Job Ability/Trait boosts.  BRD legs enhance Ballad, NIN feet enhance Utsusemi, SAM head enhances Seigan, etc.

[Areya]

Been a while since I updated this, so thought I'd add a few I've completed or working on before update happens and I have to do more...

Garuda staff

Base:  Crook

Trial 790:  50 Treants in Weather

Since the weather update, this one really becomes kill 10 treants.  Too easy.

Trial 791: 50 Spiders, Fire/Wind/Lightning/Light Weather

Again, it's really 10 kills now since matching weather is 5 points.

Trial 804: 50 Any Target, Wind Day/Weather

Lots of zones with Easy Prey or higher and wind weather to choose from!  I think I did Grauberg [ S ].

Trial 805: 75 Plantoids, Wind Day/Weather

Definitely did Grauberg [ S ] here, Brasscaps.  Alternately, in the windy season the Empire would work.

(These first few trials go by way too fast now if you can match weather...)

Trial 810:  150 Undeads - 50+ Wind Damage Killshot

While I did most of these trials as Summoner, and could have this one as well, I went a different path on this one and suited up RDM.  The hounds in The Eldieme Necropolis [ S ] (I mentioned this area before) were my targets due to their general tameness and ease.  I used Aero III as the kill shot.  On Summoner I would have used Wind Blade.

Trial 813:  200 Sheep, Garuda Killshot

One word:  Ouch.  There are no real Easy Prey sheep at high level to exploit for this, only the Karakuls in Mire which are level 70+ and pop Chigoes.  Not fun.

Thanks to Level Sync however, you can take a lot of the pain off of this one.  In this case, Eezypeezy's level 37 Dark Knight.  There are a number of Ornery Sheep in North Gustaberg [ S ] around the Cavernous Maw, and this is where I trudged through the kills.

After this trial, the staff gains "Wind Affinity Avatar Perpetuation Cost -4".

Trial 1674:  200 Rabbits, Garuda Killshots

While the last trial was painful, this one was incredibly easy, although slow.  Best targets are the Goblin's Rarabs in Bibiki Bay, which a Predator Claws will one-shot if they have any decent accuracy.  Summon Garuda, send Garuda to smack bunny, make Garuda use Predator Claws, release (assuming it died), and wait (or run to another BST goblin) for a resummon.  It's not that shabby of experience either.

Naturally, you can do normal hares as well, just remember if you team up with others that -A- Garuda needs to get the final blow.

Trial 1675: 250 Mandragora, Garuda Killshots

Mourioches in Boyahda for this one.  Not particularly difficult, just slow.

After this trial, the staff upgrades to lv 80 and -5.

Trial 2178: 250 Coeurls, Garuda Killshots

Your first guess would likely be the Toramas in Onzozo.  And that is definitely a good spot, especially with the current cost of Coeurl Meat...  But I instead went to Northeast Meri Mt. [ S ] and did War Lynxes.  They're virtually the same level but faster repops.  Muq Shaqeel pops in this area and I ended up killing him a few times while doing this one.  Lynx Meat is pricey too but much rarer to drop.

Final Staff so far:  Lv 85 Vayu's Staff +1  Wind Affinity: Avatar Perpetuation -6

[Areya]

Fenrir staff

Base:  Crook

Trial 790:  50 Treants in Weather

Where have I seen this before....

Trial 841: 50 Slimes, Ice/Water/Earth/Dark Weather

Again, it's really 10 kills now since matching weather is 5 points.  I did this as SCH to make things simpler.  And I went to Mire, which gets both Water and Dark.

Trial 878: 50 Any Target, Dark Day/Weather

Castle Zvahl demons did the trick here.  Note that the demons in the bottom of the pits in Baileys are still easy prey but don't aggro, perfect for making this quick.

Trial 879: 50 Beasts, Dark Day/Weather

Gigas's Tigers in either Xarcabard [ S ] or Beaucedine Glacier [ S ] are your bet here if you want to match weather.

Trial 884:  150 Birds - 50+ Dark Damage Killshot

Prospect of killing with dark based damage scare you?  Drain works.  But I was already above 78 Summoner so I abused Fenrir's Lunar Bay for the killshots.  As for targets, Lesser Colibri are nice.

Trial 887:  200 Crabs, Fenrir Killshot

To sum it up, I spent a while in Kuftal.

After this trial, the staff gains "Dark Affinity Avatar Perpetuation Cost -4"  Which means it covers both Fenrir and Diabolos.

Trial 1748:  200 Slimes, Fenrir Killshots

Slimes.  Everyone hates slimes... 

Well, I went to Garlaige [ S ] to the rooms west of Gate #3, there's 8 slimes on 16 min repops.  Doesn't sound like enough?  Solo I could only kill 5 before they started respawning.  Get help if you can, preferably from nukers.

Trial 1749: 250 Raptors, Fenrir Killshots

Well, you can do FoV while doing raptors in Cape Teriggan or Valley of Sorrows.  I did about half there and half off the raptors in Southeast Meri Mt. [ S ].

After this trial, the staff upgrades to lv 80 and -5.

Trial 2215: 250 Sea Monks, Fenrir Killshots

The one I'm currently working on.  The Flying Mantas in Onzozo are the best bet here.

Final Staff so far:  Lv 85 Yama's Staff +1  Dark Affinity: Avatar Perpetuation -6

[Areya]

Aaaand one more that I'm working on, a Great Katana:

Base: Keitonotachi  DMG 78 Delay 464  Lv 80 SAM

All the previously listed trials started with lv 75 base items and have gone down the elemental paths.  This one's a bit different, as you'll see.

Trial 1595:  Tachi: Goten 100x, Any Target

Not much to say here, just find EPs or higher and use the WS.  Note that it has to connect to receive credit.

Reward GK has a DMG boost and Tachi: Goten Damage +10%.

Trial 1596:  Tachi: Jinpu 200x, Any Target

Still easy, just twice as long.

Another DMG boost and Tachi: Jinpu Damage +10%.

Trial 1597:  Tachi: Koki 300x vs Birds

While I recommend Colibris for bird targets a lot of the time, Feather Tickle would slow this trial down, so I picked on bats instead.

More DMG, Tachi: Koki Damage +10%.

Trial 1599:  Any Great Katana WS 800x vs Aquans

Even though Samurai are the kings of large number of Weapon Skills, 800 is a huge number.  Not much to do except grind away.  I did about 250~ of these in an Abyssea - La Theine party on Crapaudy (toads).

At this point, the GK has augments of:
DMG+13 (now 91 total) Store TP+5

Trial 2139:  Any Great Katana WS 800x vs Bees

Again, more time consuming.  And since no one exp's on bees, can't really cheat this one.

After this one, the weapon becomes:
DMG 95 Delay 464 Store TP+10

The intent of this weapon, of course, is to help the hits-to-100 value, getting 5 is a lot easier with this.  Now if I can stand all the beekilling...

[Areya]

Quick update note:  For the elemental path weapons, 85->90 upgrade is trading 15 geodes of the proper element, which are AHable and not too uncommon.

And now, for something different:

Base Sword: Side-Sword

Trial 150 - Serpopard Ishtar x3

Since the dhalmel placeholder can move around between two different areas, and there are so many dhalmels, Wide Scan saves a lot of trouble here, allowing you to focus on killing the right target.

Trial 151 - Tottering Toby x3

Again, Wide Scan saves some headaches here.

Trial 152 - Drooling Daisy x3

This one can be stubborn to pop.  Wide Scan isn't vital here since the Ochu placeholder is easy enough to monitor.

Trial 158 - Birds x400

Here the trials branch off from NM killing to mass quantity kills.  Anything considered a bird works here, such as bats, cockatrice, colibri, etc.

Trial 159 - Clusters x300

Two spots shine here:  Near Havlung Staging Point there are lv 74-76 Sweeping Clusters, and in Abyssea-Miseraux there's a large quantity of Dynamo Clusters.

Trial 161 - Vermin x500

Not much to say here, lots of vermin to choose from, some notable mentions are damselflies, crawlers, and beetles.

Trial 162 - Demon x600

Imps are by far the most fragile demons you'll run across, so I highly recommend choosing to do them.  Blue Mage with Atma buffs in Abyssea can shred them quickly.

Trial 163 - Rafflesia x400

One of the few trials of these I did outside of Abyssea.  Fort Karugo-Narugo [ S ] has plenty of low-EP Rafflesias to exploit.

At this point, the sword finally becomes worth using:
Antea DMG 23 Delay 264 Occ. Attacks Twice

Trial 1205 - Arcana x600

Spheroids (Detectors) in Abyssea are fragile and fairly tame to kill.  Also of note, Abyssea exp groups on Sand Sweepers in A-Altepa will whittle away this trial quickly.

Trial 1206 - Wamoura x450

The trickiest trial in this bunch.  Thankfully Wamouracampa count.  The Gullycampas in A-Attohwa do not seem to curl up (which significantly increases their already high defense) so I recommend doing them if possible.  Outside of Abyssea, prepare to see a lot of Mount Zhayolm.  Joining forces with people on Firesday that need Wamoura for certain weapon trials helps.

Now the blade becomes:
Khanda - DMG 25 Delay 264 Occ. Attacks 2-3x Lv80

Trial 1943 - Vermin x 700

That's not a typo.  700.  More Vermin...  Have fun.

Reward:
Khanda +1 - DMG 29 Delay 264 Occ. Attacks 2-3x Lv85

Trial 2342 - Beast x 700

Another grinding trial.  Mandogoros in A-Altepa allow you to do D. Ops while doing them, also Bluffalo parties in A-Ulegeurand are common.

Final Reward (So far)

Khanda +2 - DMG 29 Delay 264 Occ. Attacks 2-4x Lv90 PLD/RDM/BLU

A sword made for gaining tp and racking up En- spell damage.

[Areya]

And now, the Path to Masamune!

GK stats are boring for a while so won't list them.

Trial 644: Vuu Puqu the Beguiler 3x

Not much to say here.  He's lotto off the one Yagudo Piper in the south room.

Trial 645: Buburimboo 3x

Can be slow to pop, be patient!  Note that one of the fish can spawn as a ghost during nighttime.

Trial 646: Zo'Khu Blackcloud 3x

Lottery pop off a couple of BLMs in the SW corner of Beadeaux.

Trial 647: Seww the Squidlimbed 4x

Don't forget a Silver Beastcoin!  He never took too terribly long to pop.

Trial 648: Ankabut 4x

This is a spider NM in N. Gusta [ S ] east of the maw.  PH is 6th spider in a group of 8, so going SAM/RNG is worthwhile.

Trial 649: Okyupete 4x

I..  really don't like this guy.  PH is first Diatryma in a group of four south of the bridge in Miseraux.  /RNG HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.  Although the PH can spawn anywhere in the clearing, the NM always pops in the little area in the west.  Also, this is the first NM where survival can be a concern.

Ah, the old style NM camping is over.  Time for a few Voidwalker NMs!  Note that I recommend upgrading Clear Abyssite to Colorful in East Ronfaure, the pugil and crab are pretty easy.

Trial 650: Urd 6x

Urd is soloable as SAM/DNC but takes a bit of skill.  Violent Flourish to stop Stoneskin can help the fight from dragging on too long.  When she uses Trance, which is every 20% HP and freely below 20%, RUN.  She'll always follow with a specific chain of 4 TP moves.  You can't just run blindly though.  You want to let her get in range to try a TP move, but fail and get the "too far away" message.  So you have to let her catch up a bit and then run some more.  Lethe Arrows can inflict Bind and Amnesia which is a real problem, but its accuracy is fairly low.

Bringing help makes this mostly trivial.

Trial 651: Lamprey Lord 6x

While Urd is an easy target, Lamprey Lord is not.  His Enpoison varies in strength but can max out at 300 hp/tick!  Acid Mist, which is the only TP move he uses, resets hate.  It also has a high double attack rate.

Well, my best advice is to bring enough people to finish it quickly.  You can stun Acid Mist but it tends to trigger a paralyze aura.

Trial 1554: Chesma 8x

Chesma can be soloed as SAM/DNC, but you need a lot of luck.  Paralyze and Petrify can easily ruin your day.  Bringing a mage friend with Stona and Paralyna makes it a fairly simple battle.  Note that there's only 3 spawns of Chesma and they're on one hour repops, so this can be a bit of a bottleneck.

Well, there's good news and bad news.  Good news:  You're done with VNMs.  Bad news:  It's about to get far worse...

Trial 1555: Carabosse Gem x50

Carabosse is the evil pixie queen in Abyssea - La Theine.  Mind that she drops 1-2 Gems per kill.  To spawn Carabosse, you need the Shimmering Pixie Pinion from Baba Yaga and Pellucid Fly Eye from La Theine Liege.  You can also find these in gold chests.

That said, this is one of the easier Visions of Abyssea Stage targets.   Especially compared to Glavoid or Chloris.

Carabosse herself can be a little painful.  After Benediction she starts mode based combat, based on what Breeze move she uses.  Spring Breeze halves TP and puts everyone in range in sleep and triggers RDM mode, where she uses -ga enfeebles.  Summer Breeze removes a status ailment and gives her Regain (Dispel ASAP!) and shifts her to WAR mode.  She also uses the dangerous Cyclonic Turmoil (fully dispels and knockback) and Torrent (inflicts mute, can't Silena it!) in this mode.  Autumn Breeze puts on Regen makes her a WHM causing her to buff/cure herself; she also absorbs magic in this mode.  Winter is the most dangerous mode:  The move itself stuns and dispels one buff, but it causes her to go BLM and gain a large amount of Magic Attack.  Tornado II and Aero V can easily wipe out characters unprotected.  After Benediction she also gains a lot of damage resistance which drags out the fight...

Tank + healer (WHM esp.) is sufficient for killing Carabosse.  Bring yellow !! trigger jobs if you can though, she drops Card/Coin of Voyage.  Stun is handy as well.

After this trial, you get the base Masamune!

Trial 2117: Cirein-Croin Lantern x50

The Abyssea - Miseraux zone boss.  This requires Doffed Poroggo Hat from Heqet and Glistening Orobon Liver from Cep-Kamuy.  Heqet is timed spawn so there is often competition for it.  Both items can be gotten from gold chests.

C-C uses TP moves in pairs, so if you're triggering procs, bear that in mind.  The worst move is Mayhem Lantern, which is damage + Drown + Charm!  Be prepared to kite when this is used.  Gnash and Deathgnash ignore shadows and do % based damage.  Gnash halves HP and Deathgnash reduces it to 1.  Deathgnash also resets hate, however.  The belch attacks add a lot of statuses so healers need to watch.  Note that C-C is vulnerable to Gravity (a rarity among Abyssea NMs) and also moves slower than normal, so kiting is quite possible.  Fighting this around the bridge is a useful tactic.

C-C drops a lot of useful Empyrean +2 upgrade items (Balance Jewels are the most common, up to 3) so your help can get rewarded.

After this long trial (50x drops at 1-2 / kill takes a while!) you unlock the Masamune!

Trial 2523: Isgebind Heart x75

Requires a Begrimed Dragon Hide to spawn.  This can be obtained from Kur or found in gold chests in Abyssea - Ulegeurand.  This is basically Jormugand with a few adjustments.  Doesn't fly, for one.  Paralyze aura and higher tier ice magic too.  Fairly easy for a Heroes of Abyssea Stage target.  Unfortunately it doesn't drop any armor upgrades, but does drop some nice items like Triplus Dagger.

[Ryudei]

Man, I bet you could finish an Empyrean in the same amount of time it takes to document all this!

I'm actually looking at that Cure Staff path with mild horror at myself for considering it…

[Areya]

The Surya's Staff with Cure+22% is actually not that bad.  It's actually easier than my initial listing due to a couple of things:

1)  The weather bonus really makes the first couple of trials fly by if you catch the weather.

2)  Pixies count as elementals.  Instead of the SMN pet nuking you can go to Abyssea - La Theine and shred pixies.

The most time consuming part is the 150 beasts with light damage, honestly.  Depending on weather luck and how Lightsdays line up, you can probably go from base staff to finished staff in 3-4 days.