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Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward |OT| The Midas Touch
- Thread starter Ken
- Start date
I've heard unsynced Ifrit normals are even faster for light.
If your AOE isn't good for some reason.
It takes just as much time but you don't have to run around, I guess.
Edit: did it with a bored buddy, 10 seconds per clear. Loading takes longer.
No, Mr Bond, I expect you to die.
Yeah it's like 8x the base value of original light now. Did mine in one bonus Sastasha and one bonus Tam Tara, though I'll need to do it again for Mahatma...
Level 50 ~ 60 for crafters is expensive as fuck. And I'm only at level 53 with most classes at the moment, doing company provisions and leves.
My wife is helping with her miner and I have a botanist at 52, but you still need lots of crap to craft stuff. Want a level 53 off-hand for your Leatherworker? You'll need 4 mythrite ores and a mythrite ingot, that need 1 mythrite nuggets to create, that needs 5 mythrite sands. And the holy cedar wood and holy rainbow cloth, that needs holy waters, that need dravanian shit that costs 1,2k each or you can gather from unspoiled nodes. For a damn level 53 offhand.
My wife is helping with her miner and I have a botanist at 52, but you still need lots of crap to craft stuff. Want a level 53 off-hand for your Leatherworker? You'll need 4 mythrite ores and a mythrite ingot, that need 1 mythrite nuggets to create, that needs 5 mythrite sands. And the holy cedar wood and holy rainbow cloth, that needs holy waters, that need dravanian shit that costs 1,2k each or you can gather from unspoiled nodes. For a damn level 53 offhand.
If you can hold out for 2 more levels, I'm pretty sure you can buy lv. 55 gear at moghome? I know there's gathering gear there, not 100% sure about crafting.
I'm going to check, could be a way for saving some money. But if I go that way, I'll probably have to forget about HQ turn ins for leves and for the grand company provisions.
The state of the server I'm on is pretty dire. There are a lot of notable people leaving the server/people from my fc planning to leave. I think Mateus has the smallest population of lvl 60's (going by something I was told) and a lot of people can't find groups to do content with, including me except the few times my fc leader needed a sub for Thordan. I don't really consider myself an elitist so I'm not trying to sound like 1, but my server is almost too casual.
I've heard that the game is having some pretty severe population woes on a lot of servers other than Balmung/Gilgamesh and maybe Ultros?
Overall I think the state of the game is pretty dire. I really, really like the game but there's... not a whole lot to do other than farm glamour and level alternate classes. Diadem is kind of a flop. It's times like these that I'm happy I'm a roleplayer since that gives me something to actually do most of the time, but buh.
Hopefully the new relic weapons inject a bit of life into the game--we really need some longterm goals that aren't controlled by weekly lockouts.
Basically how I feel. I still play a lot but only because of the people in my fc and to help some of them out, basically how I cap my tomes for the week now that pvp is dead. Also the people switching are going to servers like Sargatanas so idk the state of that server but it has to be better then what's going on here
Edit: Lol massive brain flop, wrote Sagitarrius as server name
Mmmm... I've been play too many other things to make serious comments on the game. My FC is dead as dead can be. My LS are slow, our Thordin group tries maybe one a week now. Our raid group is on hiatus, we get a void ark run in and are gearing up another person for the raid group. Beyond that.
HylianScribe
Member
Did all of the Verminion challenges last night. Had to use YouTube help for two of them -- one explained basic "LOL easy win" strategy on non-boss, the other for probably the hardest one of them all if you don't use a guide. Tried all before looking at any guides and cleared, including one-shotting the last two. The last two are amazing, too. Got my Twintania minion, too.
So glad I bothered to learn how to play with a controller. While m/kb combo makes it much easier to play, there's nothing strenuous enough to require it in the challenge mode. No idea about playing against people. Anyway, Asami, is there anyway to game the system to get the last two minions without having to actually git gud? Like if if had another character on another account that could play me, could I just "exploit" that? I had fun with the challenge mode stuff, but looking into the actual player vs player strats, it looks unappealing so don't think this will be like normal PVP where I got hooked.
As for some of the talk of dead servers/game talk...
Two more Ultros groups cleared A4S this past weekend, but overall in the various Linkshells I'm in, it sounds like alex raiding is on the decline, despite the Thordan weapons supposedly being a mechanism to "make it easier for groups struggling on A3S." All it seems to have done is make it easier for groups who cleared A3S to clear it faster, and help a very, very, very small group of people get closer to their A4S clears (on Ultros). A lot of people are already saying this raid cycle is near dead. I see A1S pug PFs that can't clear (I've gone with a few on my alt). And A3S "1 page" runs with people who cleared A3S that wipe to everything cuz either "we're alts, lol, most of cleared, so don't have to play srs" or it's just people too used to their own ways they that adjusting takes nearly a lockout of attempts and people get frustrated and say to hell with it since they've already cleared before. I don't see too many A2S pfs anymore, and most people in the fflogs LS just don't even bother with that turn anymore. A1/2S are pretty much dead at this point, people are less inclined to do A3S because of diadem gear, and the only people benefitting from all of this seems to be group on A4S who can now be decked out in potentially BiS gear in all slots and at least an i205 weapon for everyone.
At this point, I just want an A3S clear because of how much time/effort went into it (will be 4 months in 2 weeks). Will piss me off to no end if I don't get a clear before echo (will quit raiding if that happens). If they nerf HP in 3.15 I don't care, the HP is a bit ridiculous and that's something I can live with. If they say they're nerfing mechanics, I'll want a clear before that (otherwise will quit raiding). I don't care about A4S at this point. Doubt a carry will be possible in A4S any time soon, so will likely have to wait till 3.4 when we're over-geared, it's nerfed, and it has echo so GARF or a trap group takes me through to get the mount. And I need to seriously re-evaluate raiding in general. It's become painfully clear I don't like the set schedule of static raiding. I might give the fflogs LS a chance in 3.2 to see of Ultros pugging will be possible on next raid cycle, otherwise I might need to transfer to another server with a more active pug raiding environment.
So glad I bothered to learn how to play with a controller. While m/kb combo makes it much easier to play, there's nothing strenuous enough to require it in the challenge mode. No idea about playing against people. Anyway, Asami, is there anyway to game the system to get the last two minions without having to actually git gud? Like if if had another character on another account that could play me, could I just "exploit" that? I had fun with the challenge mode stuff, but looking into the actual player vs player strats, it looks unappealing so don't think this will be like normal PVP where I got hooked.
As for some of the talk of dead servers/game talk...
Two more Ultros groups cleared A4S this past weekend, but overall in the various Linkshells I'm in, it sounds like alex raiding is on the decline, despite the Thordan weapons supposedly being a mechanism to "make it easier for groups struggling on A3S." All it seems to have done is make it easier for groups who cleared A3S to clear it faster, and help a very, very, very small group of people get closer to their A4S clears (on Ultros). A lot of people are already saying this raid cycle is near dead. I see A1S pug PFs that can't clear (I've gone with a few on my alt). And A3S "1 page" runs with people who cleared A3S that wipe to everything cuz either "we're alts, lol, most of cleared, so don't have to play srs" or it's just people too used to their own ways they that adjusting takes nearly a lockout of attempts and people get frustrated and say to hell with it since they've already cleared before. I don't see too many A2S pfs anymore, and most people in the fflogs LS just don't even bother with that turn anymore. A1/2S are pretty much dead at this point, people are less inclined to do A3S because of diadem gear, and the only people benefitting from all of this seems to be group on A4S who can now be decked out in potentially BiS gear in all slots and at least an i205 weapon for everyone.
At this point, I just want an A3S clear because of how much time/effort went into it (will be 4 months in 2 weeks). Will piss me off to no end if I don't get a clear before echo (will quit raiding if that happens). If they nerf HP in 3.15 I don't care, the HP is a bit ridiculous and that's something I can live with. If they say they're nerfing mechanics, I'll want a clear before that (otherwise will quit raiding). I don't care about A4S at this point. Doubt a carry will be possible in A4S any time soon, so will likely have to wait till 3.4 when we're over-geared, it's nerfed, and it has echo so GARF or a trap group takes me through to get the mount. And I need to seriously re-evaluate raiding in general. It's become painfully clear I don't like the set schedule of static raiding. I might give the fflogs LS a chance in 3.2 to see of Ultros pugging will be possible on next raid cycle, otherwise I might need to transfer to another server with a more active pug raiding environment.
SliceSabre
Banned
What server population issues? I still get too many users on server warnings each time I log in.
I'm also on Balmung though.
I'm also on Balmung though.
I mean, the Verminion area is usually empty, you could probably queue sync if no one else is around to guarantee that you and an alt get into a match together. It is a DF like system so if someone else is around that could throw a wrench in things. You could also not be lame and play other people
Also, there is just one more minion I think? A penguin for getting double digit wins in 4 tournaments (30 matches per tournament, just need to win 10 per). A tournament is running now by the way until Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile we're trying to make a new raid group and the prospects are looking decently well. The game is as dead as you make it I guess.
Sarg is okay. We're not drowning in active people, but PFs are usually never a problem. We have a severe lack of tanks though.
Gee guys why server population issues? I don't get it lol. Oh btw I'm on the most popular server.
Not saying it's really dead. Just thought that was funny.
tiggerkiddo
Member
Oh yes the hugely popular RP server.
ded gaem
There's no shortage of PF groups, so Excal is pretty okay I suppose. I just find it hard to care at the moment.
I don't think it'd be incorrect to say that the majority of the 3.x content thus far has been underwhelming as a whole. The story was pretty good, but 3.1 had almost no story to really speak of and was something I'd expect from a .5 patch instead of a full patch.
Alexander Normal was boring after the first week or so and Savage just isn't worth most people's time.
I do hope they manage to turn it around, especially because they said 3.x would be about trying new things that might not work. I just hope they haven't invested too much development time into things that people aren't really taking to.
Alexander Normal was boring after the first week or so and Savage just isn't worth most people's time.
I do hope they manage to turn it around, especially because they said 3.x would be about trying new things that might not work. I just hope they haven't invested too much development time into things that people aren't really taking to.
3.1 banked a lot on Verminion--which it doesn't seem like the player base is really taking to--and Diadem which is sort of in a weird spot since it's an excellent timesink if you want a grindfest loot piñata, but has by association devalued other content introduced (people will mass farm Diadem instead of Void Ark because Diadem potentially rewards more and requires less) and will seemingly poof into irrelevance once the thirst for i210 fades since Diadem gear is useless for glamour. Thordan is interesting and pretty fun, but also seems to be a thing that is done mostly by statics in part because everyone needs a break from Savage.
I'm mostly curious to see if all the gear reinvigorates people's interest in raiding. Thordan weapons and access to full i210 will have a massive easing on A3S, and Thordan weapons make the leg 3 check in 4 substantially easier, but... does anyone even really care anymore? Groups burnt by A3S still seem fairly burnt, and nobody's opinion on 4 seems to have improved post-gear (7 MINUTES before of poking kneecaps before you really get to fight the boss yoship why.)
I'm mostly curious to see if all the gear reinvigorates people's interest in raiding. Thordan weapons and access to full i210 will have a massive easing on A3S, and Thordan weapons make the leg 3 check in 4 substantially easier, but... does anyone even really care anymore? Groups burnt by A3S still seem fairly burnt, and nobody's opinion on 4 seems to have improved post-gear (7 MINUTES before of poking kneecaps before you really get to fight the boss yoship why.)
EndcatOmega
Unconfirmed Member
3.1 had more story than any of the 2.1-2.3 story patches.
This is not admittedly a compliment.
This is not admittedly a compliment.
This is true by the way, and nothing happened in 3.1
Lies, Felix got the onion knight hat last night. Glamour game is on point.
Edit: Oh, also to the second half of your post, I stopped giving a shit about A3S like a month and a half ago and I still don't give a shit. /shrug
I was thinking more long-term; since the appearances are all glamoured on, you can't reuse them later when overstatted i210 stops being the shit.
And yeah, the second part is kind of a major problem. A3S is a comparatively fun and dynamic fight; I have no idea what happens if people who have been beaten into apathy by 3 clear it and get confronted by the wall of bleh that is the Manipulator's eternal legs, especially since no gear upgrades on the horizon. Game has a morale problem.
A3S and A4S are arguably the fights that most could have benefited from the 'practice specific fight phases' thing they've talked about before, so it's a shame they never actually got around to making that. Although done 'properly' you can't do A4S final phase without doing leg 4... which is another reason that fight design is stupid and everyone involved should feel bad.
(all that said, I would actually like to see GAF try to set up A3S groups outside of statics to share information and stuff/build our A3S bench, figure out what's wrecking people's day. Also I just really enjoy A3S. Timing is an issue due to static scheduling, and I think people might just be too worn down at this point?)
I'm still not convinced that Savage is going to get echo. I guess it most likely will, but what's the point of it? Everyone saw the story (such as it is) in normal mode, better gear is already available...I guess for people who want the gordian weapon and the mount? But it seems like natural overgearing in 3.2 would be ok for that.
Real talk, as a BLM, I never found A3S to be a fun fight. I don't like being punished for being alive. And yes, I know that you can get the fight down to precise timing and have minimal movement and blah blah blah and I have for the phases that I have gotten through but the fight still isn't something I would classify as "fun"
Thought the story in 3.1 was insanely short, but I guess it had more packed in.
I dunno the whole Warrior of Darkness reveal was much less impactful than I would have expected. Seemed more like a Team Rocket slapping Ravana around then the New and Improved Than jumping in to reclaim his spot at the back of each cutscene immediately afterwards.
Also conveniently placed dragon saves and lots of facial animation.
Savage 1-4 will probably get its knees chopped out, like so few people cleared it they have to probably be scratching their heads about it. Versus Coil people simply don't seem to give a flying fuck when the clear rates were already abysmally small from T1-13 in all.
I dunno the whole Warrior of Darkness reveal was much less impactful than I would have expected. Seemed more like a Team Rocket slapping Ravana around then the New and Improved Than jumping in to reclaim his spot at the back of each cutscene immediately afterwards.
Also conveniently placed dragon saves and lots of facial animation.
Savage 1-4 will probably get its knees chopped out, like so few people cleared it they have to probably be scratching their heads about it. Versus Coil people simply don't seem to give a flying fuck when the clear rates were already abysmally small from T1-13 in all.
EndcatOmega
Unconfirmed Member
There's some vague insinuations of nerfs coming from some of the bluegartr translated interviews, but who knows if that's some translation error or Yoshi-P just trying to fill the allotted time up with random brainstorming.
No surprise whatsoever.
Here's the thing that a ton of people never realized, including the devs. The raiding scene in this game has never been particularly large. Of the people in that scene, people drop out over time, either due to time constraints or burnout. Due to this, to keep a raiding scene going you need new people constantly getting into the scene. You won't have that if each raid is dramatically harder then the last! You need to either have the difficulty peak eventually, or you need to reset things somewhat.
Right now, I know very few people willing to even try Alex Savage, that didn't try to tackle the original Coils. People that arrived more recently by in large feel completely overwhelmed by Alex Savage, which means we're getting very few new people raiding. This puts additional strain on the raiding community, in addition to the strain of trying to learn fights that are already a pretty big middle finger to begin with.
Also, it's no surprise whatsoever that 205 weapons aren't making it significantly easier for people to clear A3S. Most people stuck at that fight aren't even getting to enrage, and that's the only mechanic of that fight where 1 additional weapon damage might make a noticeable difference. Most groups are being tripped up by the mechanics of that fight, and while overgearing a fight can ease up the mechanical difficulty, such a small weapon upgrade isn't going to make a noticeable difference.
I still want to get A3S down before nerfs, but at this point it's bloody obvious that their design for Alexander Savage is a failure, and that the raid NEEDS the nerf. There just aren't enough people in this game "interested," in Savage level trials.
Adds. 1 WD makes a noticeable difference in how fast you blow up an add, which allows for worse group coordination.
3.1 also gave i210 chest and legs to people without A3S clears, which is kind of a big deal. The Vit boost there will let you squeak through things that would have been wipes before (since our Twinesplosion day I don't think I've died to random splash damage once, which was an issue for a while.)
And this makes me sad because I really do think more people are capable of clearing A3S than have, but everyone's psyching themselves out by focusing on how it's this mega-hard static killer that demands ridiculous perfection. What's killing people isn't usually the minutia of oddly specific execution, it's the macro approach to the fight. It's the sitting down and talking out specific wipe points and figuring out the larger moves needed to change it instead of just trying the same thing over and over until gear closes the gap or nerfs fix it.
I dunno, I kind of feel like people need pep talks on it. It's not about infinite time or spending forever grinding out a perfect rotation, it's mostly plan -> execution and not panicking.
Fight will require a ton of movement.
Given the holidays this week, I wonder if it's a good opportunity to try and do something on a Friday - Sunday. See about doing some of these random A3S things. I still enjoy the fight and would love to do it some more as well.
I guess it largely depends on what you find fun in a fight? Like, is Thordan fun? I would have figured it's more punishing on movement. I dunno here, new BLM to me seems entirely unfun in general regardless of the context so I have no real idea here.
I think A3S is a well tuned fight for the most part. It should have been the capstone of the entire tier and not the historically "this is where you get your biggest upgrades" fight but that's another matter. I think A1/A2 being the way they were leading into A3 lends itself to a weird sense of progression. A4S is a complete failure of a fight at every level though, which is disappointing since a good fight exists with those mechanics but the whole idea of the legs made for a stupid fight instead.
A3S to me has a lot of the elements of what I'd conisder a really well design FF14 encounter. Coordination checks, DPS checks, and some mid-fight RNG elements that can be planned out. It really throws nearly every thing at you in terms of mechanics (adds, debuff passing, both tanks spiking, debuffs to cleanse, terrain to avoid, etc.). Conceptually, I think it's probably the best fight they've ever done and getting less fights like that will be the worst thing to come out of 3.X.
Mr. D? Did he leave for A1S?
I do find Thordan more fun and after doing a fairly long farm session yesterday, I can say with certainty that movement effects me a lot less in Thordan than it does in A3S. I think there is more movement in Thordan but it is more spread out so that swiftcast covers me for almost all of it, this is not the case in A3S where there is less overall movement but it happens in bursts.
True-talk, vast swathes of people that actively raid in this game, "resist," planning and troubleshooting. It drives me nuts, but it is what it is.
Even so, this is almost beside the point. Right now the biggest problem is how few people are even attempting to clear the content. Old raiders drop out so you need to constantly replenish the ranks, and most people that haven't done Coil on pre-echo difficulty are going to be completely overwhelmed by a Savage fight.
Most MMO's appear to tackle this by putting in multiple difficulty levels, but unfortunately the difficulty levels of Alex are so vastly far apart that the normal mode isn't going to do anything to train people up for a Savage level fight. A middle tier difficulty level would solve that, but YoshiP insists that they don't have the resources to do that.
Alexander wasn't created by a single design team like Coil was. Because of time and resource constraints they basically had each battle designer create one fight for Alexander. This is probably in part why this raid feels a bit, disjointed in comparison to FCoB.
PS: I believe that the guy that did the SCoB fights, also did the FCoB fights. So hopefully 2nd Alexander is a return to form.
Even so, this is almost beside the point. Right now the biggest problem is how few people are even attempting to clear the content. Old raiders drop out so you need to constantly replenish the ranks, and most people that haven't done Coil on pre-echo difficulty are going to be completely overwhelmed by a Savage fight.
Most MMO's appear to tackle this by putting in multiple difficulty levels, but unfortunately the difficulty levels of Alex are so vastly far apart that the normal mode isn't going to do anything to train people up for a Savage level fight. A middle tier difficulty level would solve that, but YoshiP insists that they don't have the resources to do that.
Alexander wasn't created by a single design team like Coil was. Because of time and resource constraints they basically had each battle designer create one fight for Alexander. This is probably in part why this raid feels a bit, disjointed in comparison to FCoB.
PS: I believe that the guy that did the SCoB fights, also did the FCoB fights. So hopefully 2nd Alexander is a return to form.
Oh I didn't know that! That's interesting. Yeah from what YoshiP said at fan-fest, Mr. D did both SCoB and FCoB.
One of the problem with heavensward and FF14 in it's current state is that yes they do add more content every time. The problem is that heavensward made a bunch of old content irrelevant/obsolete or just plain unfun to do.
Bahamuth Coil is basically there for glamour and story now but it's not done by the majority of people, and new players will ignore it completely as they'll go straight to 60. Crystal Tower is now almost even more completely irrelevant.
The huge swathe of level 15 to 50 dungeons on the levelling thing really do not compare to the newer ones in terms of mechanics, and are mostly a chore (the saving grace is that the levelling roulette is the most generous in gold and are paired with the post 50 leveling dungeons). Doesn't help too that there's still this skill block mechanic which I don't know why it's still here. The dungeons are already easy to begin with, they could at least make them not tedious.
And with 3.1, now it's most of the gear obtained with tomes of law which is becoming irrelevant. And normal gordias isn't too far off.
As FF14 continues on, pushing for more advanced gear and such, it has to pay attention to it's old content. At least that's what I think personally. Otherwise we will have a game where old players will feel gated only to the newest content, and new players will have less people and less enjoyment going up the levels.
I don't think that the game is in that much of a dire situation yet. With all the side jobbing and such. But I do have an actual worry that now that we're going into "pushing the limits of levels" territory, SE has to make sure it's older stuff doesn't fall into irrelevance
Bahamuth Coil is basically there for glamour and story now but it's not done by the majority of people, and new players will ignore it completely as they'll go straight to 60. Crystal Tower is now almost even more completely irrelevant.
The huge swathe of level 15 to 50 dungeons on the levelling thing really do not compare to the newer ones in terms of mechanics, and are mostly a chore (the saving grace is that the levelling roulette is the most generous in gold and are paired with the post 50 leveling dungeons). Doesn't help too that there's still this skill block mechanic which I don't know why it's still here. The dungeons are already easy to begin with, they could at least make them not tedious.
And with 3.1, now it's most of the gear obtained with tomes of law which is becoming irrelevant. And normal gordias isn't too far off.
As FF14 continues on, pushing for more advanced gear and such, it has to pay attention to it's old content. At least that's what I think personally. Otherwise we will have a game where old players will feel gated only to the newest content, and new players will have less people and less enjoyment going up the levels.
I don't think that the game is in that much of a dire situation yet. With all the side jobbing and such. But I do have an actual worry that now that we're going into "pushing the limits of levels" territory, SE has to make sure it's older stuff doesn't fall into irrelevance
EndcatOmega
Unconfirmed Member
The relic quest has been the traditional way, let's see how they deal with that I guess. On the other hand, I don't want them to go too far either- familiarity breeds contempt and I'm perfectly happy never seeing Garuda ever again.
I completely believe this is why we cleared A3S. Not the text on the side, half of it's wrong. Just the positioning. The time spent working that out (10-15 minutes I think?) paid off in making that entire phase of the fight so much easier than previous iterations. So there. Secrets of A3S revealed.
This isn't new for HW, though. A1S and A2S are basically Coil-level fights. The transition from non-raid to raid is the same as it's always been. The only difference is the weird chest-high wall midway through where it demands everyone be able to display basic level competence at the same time and stick to a plan, whereas previous tiers would always kind of let you float and cover for a weaker spot.
The game basically has the same ongoing problem it's always had of no mid core content, just now combined with the poor difficulty curve of this tier. And then just a dumb final fight.
This isn't new for HW, though. A1S and A2S are basically Coil-level fights. The transition from non-raid to raid is the same as it's always been. The only difference is the weird chest-high wall midway through where it demands everyone be able to display basic level competence at the same time and stick to a plan, whereas previous tiers would always kind of let you float and cover for a weaker spot.
The game basically has the same ongoing problem it's always had of no mid core content, just now combined with the poor difficulty curve of this tier. And then just a dumb final fight.
This is true to an extent, but it's also unavoidable to some extent as well.
I mean, you can't really make the gear drops in old raids relevant to progression, or else it creates a huge stumbling block to new players. I mean, imagine if you had to clear T13 at level 50 to get a level 135 weapon to do Dusk Vigil. A ton of players would be stopped in their tracks.
That being said, Coil is at least glamour relevant, so you see people doing it every once in awhile. The old 24 mans are deader than dead, and really shouldn't be. They really ought to put in a 24 man raid roulette at some point.
There's some truth there, but a lot of people right now are only doing the first two turns and calling it quits, or have stopped altogether since two fights aren't enough to keep them satisfied. The lack of middle teir content is DEFINITELY a problem, but I'm really not sure SE knows how to address this problem.
I once saw a chart that listed what content they considered casual, and they listed fetch quests and guildhests in this category.