This game prepares no one for raid/hard content

[Aomine1992]

I think the game does a great job at preparing us, look at fights that are completely different like Halicarnassus, her normal mode introduces you to the exact mechanics she does in savage except they are applied differently but the concept remains the same.

I may sound dumb but it’s like learning any kind of math, you are taught the concept of the concept to understand them and then just apply what you already know and you will be fine. This is the same for cruise chaser as well I think his normal mode is an excellent training for his savage cause his mechanics are the exact same just with different application and no AOE circles.

[Payotz]

Extreme is supposed to be the stepping stone into Savage, which is why Extreme drops the weapons.

Really, the content in this game isn't "too hard", because all encounters are pretty scripted. There's almost no RNG, and if they are, it's just a matter of learning two things rather than one thing.
So really the path to tackling end game content is straight forward. You:

1. Make a learning party. Wipe a lot of times. Try to reach enrage.
2. Make a practice party if you're not comfortable with a mechanic. Just wipe and wipe and wipe until the mechanic sinks in.
3. Make a clear party. This also gives you more practice with the fight in general as not everyone's consistent. So Wipe and Wipe until finally you kill it before enrage.
4. Make a farm/weekly party if you're comfortable. If not, go back to 2.

Then just move on to the next fight. Maybe it's an Extreme fight? Maybe it's the next floor of Savage.
Really Savage and Extreme is pug-friendly. The only thing that's not really pug-friendly is Ultimate, which I kinda wish more people to jump in my PFs for.

[Sated]

The telegraphs and introduction to mechanics for each fight seems to vary wildly between expansions and content.

Like I think Eden is fantastic. Titan specifically (N, haven't tried S) is probably one of my favorite MMO fights but it's a good example of a fight that slowly ramps up. Mechanics that you see early on get more complicated later in the fight - you may very well die to them the first time but it's clear afterwords why you did, and it stacks mechanics in a way that you still need to pay attention and figure out where to be instead of just rote memorization. Overall I just think it's a great and well-constructed encounter, also very fun.

I'd like more fights like that, but in general it would be nice to have a more end-game focused Hall of the Intermediate/Expert or something though just to make sure players know what raid mechanics look like so they don't run away with stack markers.

Something like Bardam's Mettle, but on an individual level where the party can't pass for them.

[Nabian]

I wouldn't mind seeing savage level dungeons

[Ursa_Vonfiebryd]

Firstly, none of what you mentioned is really considered Endgame content, at least by community standards. Pretty much none of the 24-player raids are, even though they can be significantly more difficult than dungeons and sometimes even trials.

With that said, the game does prepare you a little (through dungeons and story instances) for whatever you might need to get you through Story--which is the gate through which most of your experience comes. Anything that is NOT story, however, often does not. Sometimes the quest line will throw you a bone now and then but often you are left to simply work things out on your own through either experience or outside sources (like YouTube or Reddit).

Alliance is the worse of the offenders, because its often a mixed bag. Regular (8-player) raids can be as well, but I feel like the mechanics are generally easier to understand because its a smaller group; you tend to see the reactions of your team better and can use the more experienced members as a guide. In 24 player content, it tends to be more chaotic.

In any case, the game assumes that if you chose to stray from the beaten path (Story), that you do so for the adventure of it. It also assumes the community will help but um. I wouldn't rely on that. T-T

[Communion]

All I can say is watch the Work to Game guys or MrHappy on YouTube if you need help. I don't find dungeons very hard after the first couple go-throughs. Figure out the best rotation for a given boss, learn how to dodge skill mechanics and other aoes, and you're done. Why the rant?

[Jeibird]

I disagree that the game doesn't prepare anyone for things. I also disagree that it handholds too much. It certainly handholds for certain things. But for the most part it presents the players with mechanics and the player will either pass or fail them. If they fail they will either die outright or be severely damaged.

Repeated failures of more than 1 person will usually result in a wipe. At this point the party has time to talk about what they experienced or run in again blind and just hope they can brute force the mechanics together. Most mechanics cannot be brute forced with 2 people failing them consistently.

Additionally the game recycles mechanics so much XIV may as well be certified green tech. Sunken Temple teaches there's some doom statuses that can't be esuna'd and that some bosses have attacks that disregard the aggro table, Garuda story teaches enemies can interact with the environment and that your physical location can affect this as well(a precursor to meteor mechanics), aurum vale teaches not every aoe will have an orange indicator, a number of required dungeons teach that some attacks have no visible wind up nor targeting indicator and you need to look at the boss cast bar to figure out what's up.

From what I can tell the game does not handhold, the community does; because it's considered rude to speak up about someone failing something repeatedly and it's easier and less confrontational to just suck it up and carry the dead weight rather than insist they play the game with some semblance of sentience.

[Mavrias]

In any case, the game assumes that if you chose to stray from the beaten path (Story), that you do so for the adventure of it. It also assumes the community will help but um. I wouldn't rely on that. T-T

I mean the community does help. There's a bunch of different videos and text guides for endgame content and job rotations, plus entire discords dedicated to teaching stuff and running people through content. The only issue most people have is when people refuse to use those resources and expect people to accept poor rotations in high level content or for their party members to explain entire fights on the fly.