Not the path of least resistance

For players obsessed with rewards through safe, unadventurous busywork with long-established best practices, "beastman stronghold invasion" (FFXIclopedia) in "Shadowreign" areas draws almost zero interest, which is also the case for most of WoTG that isn't Campaign so far (deserved or not). Most of the items are lackluster or useless, but it's precisely because of that (nothing lootwhores want) that a group of players shouldn't have too much trouble obtaining access to the culminating battles (18 members maximum) in each of the beastman strongholds. The potential rewards from these battles aren't all that enticing, either--marginal rare/ex items aside from beastman headgear and low-value auctionable stuff--but the battles seem like a fun diversion, and if your group doesn't operate during Japan prime time you shouldn't have any problems with competition for scarce resources. (The NMs are timed spawns and are slow to respawn after being killed.) And even though the items aren't all that, you can still hope "early adopters" blow their gil on these latest toys.

Let's not forget the dealbreaker of having "friends" to do this with, but that wasn't going to stop me from frittering away the exp buffer I unintentionally built up while auto-attacking fortifications last time.

Starting with La Vaule, six of the eight NMs are monks, rangers, or mages (SCH, BLM), automatically ruling them out as feasible for ninja soloing, at least without a dancer sub ("Easy Mode") to try (in vain?) to counter a steady loss of HP. I looked for Coinbiter Cjaknokk (DRK) to see first hand if it would actually spam Shoulder Charge, but it was nowhere to be found.

Dismayed, I shifted my attention to Beadeaux, where five of eight NMs are rangers, monks, or mages, leaving Mu'Nhi Thimbletail (THF), Ga'Lhu Nevermolt (PLD), and Di'Zho Spongeshell (DRK). Spongeshell alternates between melee-absorbing and magic-absorbing states (absorbing meaning healing), and I didn't feel like committing inventory space to elemental ninjutsu (assuming I could even make inroads on it). Thimbletail was nowhere to be found, leaving Nevermolt.

Not unexpectedly, these NMs can be found among the general population, which can make isolating them very time-consuming, but Nevermolt will separate from nearby Quadav, making a pull easy. But, it was painfully obvious after several single-digit katana swings (most for 0) that I had no chance. Even worse, committing to any sort of evasion setup is completely pointless: out of 45 attacks, I evaded exactly 2 and parried 3 and I used my evasion setup exclusively. Paladin spells do consume shadows, yes, but the only reason I even lasted that long was that Nevermolt turns its shell on you periodically, giving you some time to recast shadows. Hojo resisted several times, too.

I hold out hope that I can see Thimbletail in the next 24 hours so I can proceed to get dumped and give up the futility.