Requiring Castrum Litore completion for the next Bozja area is a bad decision.

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Originally Posted by Deceptus

Technically correct and functionally correct are two completely different things. This is the FFXIV playerbase we're talking about here, lets be honest. The "good" players aren't running Castrum anymore because they sped to Rank 10/15 when Bozja first came out, and got their rank really early, and ran Castrum then. Now they're in Cluster Groups / CE groups for coins.

Regarding buffing / nerfing the content: Look how long it took them to fix the FusterCluck that was Pagos. Lets just say my confidence in their abilities to fix it in a timely manner isn't very high.

Especially when they made the situation WORSE by putting coins in CEs which disincentivized people from running Castrum. There were much better, easier, more elegant solutions (that have been repeatedly pointed out) and they didn't do them.

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Yeah I have to agree. I think at the least they should allow any rank 10 and above to start collecting coins, honestly so theyd at least have a couple pieces for castrum, but the end result, as you said totally took the incentive out of doing castrum for those that cleared it already, which was kind of not a cool gesture, that could have been fixed with replenishable mettle gains in Castrum itself. Sort of like the whole level 50 dungeon mobs dropping 1 gil each at launch, and people stopped doing dungeons cause gear repairs were higher than the gil theyd make doing the dungeons

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Originally Posted by Deceptus

the problem is still having to find at minimum 24 people who want to do the content and right now that's simply not happening.

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Ive done it with 16. The difficulty scales just like BA did.
I often do it without ever needing a party, this includes main tanking things without getting healed.

It’s not difficult content. In fact it’s about as easy as any other story fights.
Just don’t shrug and exit when you see only 20ish people join.


While I’m on this rant, since I’m here, a PSA, don’t slow down on the first boss to get them to die at the same time. I still don’t know how that misinformation is being spread! Bosses damage the drill, post-boss adds do not. The colossus can be stunned + Lost Deathed.
Since the coin change, there’s been less people running just as you state, so it’s more important than ever to know the mechanics!

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Originally Posted by Canadane

Ive done it with 16. The difficulty scales just like BA did.
I often do it without ever needing a party, this includes main tanking things without getting healed.

It’s not difficult content. In fact it’s about as easy as any other story fights.
Just don’t shrug and exit when you see only 20ish people join.


While I’m on this rant, since I’m here, a PSA, don’t slow down on the first boss to get them to die at the same time. I still don’t know how that misinformation is being spread! Bosses damage the drill, post-boss adds do not. The colossus can be stunned + Lost Deathed.
Since the coin change, there’s been less people running just as you state, so it’s more important than ever to know the mechanics!

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"Just clear it bro" I've been at this since this morning. Several, several, times. When we give it a go, we wipe. They leave. I have to continue HOPING we get a team that can either coordinate with half the required people, OR pray to the Lord we get the full amount registered. Neither seems to happen. People keep saying "the weekend", I hope so. If I don't get this cleared I'll be locked out of Borzja, having this horribly implemented blocker in place. All because I had the gall to stay unsubscribed for too long, apparently.

You having a group of 16 that knows what they are doing doesn't take into account the purpose of this thread, story requirement. This means many of the people, including myself, who are doing it now have never done this instance. New players are stuck at the whims of the rest of a group who leaves as soon as anything goes wrong. Leaving no place to learn. Guess I'll read later, "just watch a video bro". Yeah, sure, I'll watch a video, doesn't change the fact that I and many others who have are at the mercy of the rest of the group. These people leave, or we fail, then we have to wait AN HOUR to even get a chance again. It's ridiculous. What happens when the zone is dead, probably after the patch, it NEVER pops? Yeah. no. This sucks.

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Originally Posted by SturmChurro

"Just clear it bro" I've been at this since this morning. Several, several, times. When we give it a go, we wipe. They leave. I have to continue HOPING we get a team that can either coordinate with half the required people, OR pray to the Lord we get the full amount registered. Neither seems to happen. People keep saying "the weekend", I hope so. If I don't get this cleared I'll be locked out of Borzja, having this horribly implemented blocker in place. All because I had the gall to stay unsubscribed for too long, apparently.

You having a group of 16 that knows what they are doing doesn't take into account the purpose of this thread, story requirement. This means many of the people, including myself, who are doing it now have never done this instance. New players are stuck at the whims of the rest of a group who leaves as soon as anything goes wrong. Leaving no place to learn. Guess I'll read later, "just watch a video bro". Yeah, sure, I'll watch a video, doesn't change the fact that I and many others who have are at the mercy of the rest of the group. These people leave, or we fail, then we have to wait AN HOUR to even get a chance again. It's ridiculous. What happens when the zone is dead, probably after the patch, it NEVER pops? Yeah. no. This sucks.

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This is part of why I hope they make Castrum mandatory for the next weapon upgrade. It gives longevity to the place simply because people will need it to upgrade the weapon to the next stage. Or if it could be queued from Gangos like the next Castrum will be, since that'd relieve a lot of the headaches.

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Originally Posted by RyuDragnier

This is part of why I hope they make Castrum mandatory for the next weapon upgrade. It gives longevity to the place simply because people will need it to upgrade the weapon to the next stage. Or if it could be queued from Gangos like the next Castrum will be, since that'd relieve a lot of the headaches.

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Castrum needs a reward fix and sadly the patch notes do not indicate any. Perhaps they'll be in the final patch notes but I'm not too optimistic at the moment. I have no clue why they aren't addressing the issue because it is a big turn off for those trying to get clears.

It's not impossible to get a group I ran Castrum 4 times this weekend, twice on Chaos, once on Crystal and once on Aether. Oddly enough those runs had 30+ people. My aether toon needed the clear.

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Originally Posted by LaylaTsarra

Castrum needs a reward fix and sadly the patch notes do not indicate any. Perhaps they'll be in the final patch notes but I'm not too optimistic at the moment. I have not clue why they aren't addressing the issue because it is a big turn off for those trying to get clears.

It's not impossible to get a group I ran Castrum 4 times this weekend, twice on Chaos, once on Crystal and once on Aether. Oddly enough those runs had 30+ people. My aether toon needed the clear.

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I was hoping (and still am) to get this dog poop zone done before the weekend. I have spent tens of hours in this garbage zone, just sitting around doing FATEs. Not because I want to, because I am waiting on Castrum pops. At the very least hopefully I can get it done by the weekend, but I just want to get OUT of here.

It sounds as if it is most definitely NOT rewarding enough to justify the hour long breaks in-between.

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Originally Posted by SturmChurro

It sounds as if it is most definitely NOT rewarding enough to justify the hour long breaks in-between.

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Doesn't sound like you were doing the content pre hotfix but Castrum became a problem the minute they added Coins to Skirmishes and Critical Encounters. That was the major cause of the issue we have now and it seems to me it can be easily remedied by adding mettle/role xp and perhaps other rewards to the mix upon a clear. We used to get a lot of good tomes in Eureka and even adding tomes to the clear say 50 would help considerably in my opinion.

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Originally Posted by LaylaTsarra

Doesn't sound like you were doing the content pre hotfix but Castrum became a problem the minute they added Coins to Skirmishes and Critical Encounters. That was the major cause of the issue we have now and it seems to me it can be easily remedied by adding mettle/role xp and perhaps other rewards to the mix upon a clear. We used to get a lot of good tomes in Eureka and even adding tomes to the clear say 50 would help considerably in my opinion.

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No, I just resubscribed and started playing again late November. I was unsubbed for about 2 and a half months I think, I was subbed for about two months previously, but wasn't really playing. I've been catching up since I resubscribed. Yes. The biggest thing I hear is about the coins, not needing to do castrum for them. If increasing rewards is their way of getting people to do content, then so be it. Personally, I wish this content was both fun AND rewarding.

However, GOOD NEWS! I FINALLY after hours upon hours, and many attempts I was able to get a clear - with a full group no less! I am FINALLY caught up. Relief. I may or may not try to get gear for my SAM here, in preperation for the next zone, now that I don't feel like I'm wasting time. I like the story here, it's a shame the zone sucks.

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Originally Posted by SturmChurro

However, GOOD NEWS! I FINALLY after hours upon hours, and many attempts I was able to get a clear - with a full group no less! I am FINALLY caught up. Relief. I may or may not try to get gear for my SAM here, in preperation for the next zone, now that I don't feel like I'm wasting time. I like the story here, it's a shame the zone sucks.

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Grats! Was about to suggest that you can always do cluster farms while waiting they are both very generous in clusters for cluster rewards from the vendor and for memories. A good cluster group will have people in all 3 zones so you get potentially all 4 types of memories. If you have both quests active you can get bitters as well. I don't know how many weapons you would like to do but that's something I find to be worth my time.

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Originally Posted by LaylaTsarra

Grats! Was about to suggest that you can always do cluster farms while waiting they are both very generous in clusters for cluster rewards from the vendor and for memories. A good cluster group will have people in all 3 zones so you get potentially all 4 types of memories. If you have both quests active you can get bitters as well. I don't know how many weapons you would like to do but that's something I find to be worth my time.

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I was just FATE grinding, so I had quite a bit of mettle, wasn't doing any specific farms though. If I spend more time in that zone to try and get a SAM set I may look into some of the groups calling in chat. I've gotten weapons through FATEs for my tank, and dps RDM/SAM. I need to turn in the memories for RDM though. Depending on how Borzja evolves and the specific Glamours of the weapons, I may try and get more. I'll probably wait for the patch though. Glamour or mounts will probably be my motivator going forward, after the patch.

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Originally Posted by LaylaTsarra

Doesn't sound like you were doing the content pre hotfix but Castrum became a problem the minute they added Coins to Skirmishes and Critical Encounters. That was the major cause of the issue we have now and it seems to me it can be easily remedied by adding mettle/role xp and perhaps other rewards to the mix upon a clear. We used to get a lot of good tomes in Eureka and even adding tomes to the clear say 50 would help considerably in my opinion.

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Just had a thought with the other Bozja thread:

3 Bosses, three currencies needed for the relic.

Drop 10 Tortured Memories per boss (10 Tortured for door boss, 10 Sorrowful for Adrammelech, and 10 Harrowing for Lyon) and 1 bitter memory per boss. (Along with appropriate mettle)

1 Castrum run would get you half your relic.

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Originally Posted by Deceptus

Just had a thought with the other Bozja thread:

3 Bosses, three currencies needed for the relic.

Drop 10 Tortured Memories per boss (10 Tortured for door boss, 10 Sorrowful for Adrammelech, and 10 Harrowing for Lyon) and 1 bitter memory per boss. (Along with appropriate mettle)

1 Castrum run would get you half your relic.

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I floated asimilar idea in that thread, but with the twist that the Bitters are added as well and somehow based on how well your party preforms like with the coins

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Originally Posted by Deceptus

Just had a thought with the other Bozja thread:

3 Bosses, three currencies needed for the relic.

Drop 10 Tortured Memories per boss (10 Tortured for door boss, 10 Sorrowful for Adrammelech, and 10 Harrowing for Lyon) and 1 bitter memory per boss. (Along with appropriate mettle)

1 Castrum run would get you half your relic.

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The idea is good, but the amounts seem way too much. Half a relic in one run of Castrum, would just make it so everyone was only there for Castrum again.
But Castrum should offer EVERYTHING that Bozja is meant for, so Coins, Clusters, Mettle and Memories.
I'd say 3 memories per boss, with a bonus 1 of each if you're in the party that faces Lyon, and 1 Bitter for completing the duty.
Add in clusters randomly from the adds in the prisoner section, and each prisoner chest also drops a random memory including bitters.

That's 10 minimum, +6 for chests +3 more for facing Lyon. Along with clusters, coins and a chance at the gear upgrade parts, and also contributes to mettle.

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Originally Posted by Gemina

I'd wager that a good portion of players inside Bozja are not aware of even half of what you wrote here. Especially those who need a Castrum clear. The coordinated effort required for clearing with fewer players is a tall order, and cannot be expected from those who need Castrum for the clear. If players who have cleared it are running it, why would they be willing to forego even one prisoner? It is also risky as the loss to mettle should the instance fail is massive. Anyone less than rank 15 will feel this hit hard.

Just because it can be completed doesn't mean there are not fundamental problems with Castrum. I agree that I don't believe Bozja will die out. Bozja has incentive such as leveling and cluster farming. Castrum has little to none.

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I ran CLL on day... 2 or 3, when barely anyone knew what was going on.
We had about 17/18 people. (I'm sure about this because we only had one party of 8 up the top in the first boss, and we still killed it before the bottom group and had to fight off waves of magitek because of it)
Only a few people had done it before.
We still cleared and saved five prisoners.

Of my 5 or so subsequent runs, all of which were clears, though only one six-save, I don't think I ever had more than about 22 players.

I can only assume the issues that have arised are due to people being defeatist and giving up before even starting, and some really bad players that just keep dying to AoEs.

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Originally Posted by Seraphor

I ran CLL on day... 2 or 3, when barely anyone knew what was going on.
We had about 17/18 people. (I'm sure about this because we only had one party of 8 up the top in the first boss, and we still killed it before the bottom group and had to fight off waves of magitek because of it)
Only a few people had done it before.
We still cleared and saved five prisoners.

Of my 5 or so subsequent runs, all of which were clears, though only one six-save, I don't think I ever had more than about 22 players.

I can only assume the issues that have arised are due to people being defeatist and giving up before even starting, and some really bad players that just keep dying to AoEs.

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Everyone's experience is different. For me, out of every 5 or so runs...only 1 raid seems capable of making it past the first boss, and even then they probably won't clear. I got real lucky last night and managed to get mine, but I haven't been able to repeat that success prior to that run or since.

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Originally Posted by Seraphor

The idea is good, but the amounts seem way too much. Half a relic in one run of Castrum, would just make it so everyone was only there for Castrum again.
But Castrum should offer EVERYTHING that Bozja is meant for, so Coins, Clusters, Mettle and Memories.
I'd say 3 memories per boss, with a bonus 1 of each if you're in the party that faces Lyon, and 1 Bitter for completing the duty.
Add in clusters randomly from the adds in the prisoner section, and each prisoner chest also drops a random memory including bitters.

That's 10 minimum, +6 for chests +3 more for facing Lyon. Along with clusters, coins and a chance at the gear upgrade parts, and also contributes to mettle.

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Here's the thing though. For the amount of time it takes to do a castrum, I can do SEVERAL FATEs. 10 doesn't seem like much to me at all.

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Originally Posted by Seraphor

I ran CLL on day... 2 or 3, when barely anyone knew what was going on.
We had about 17/18 people. (I'm sure about this because we only had one party of 8 up the top in the first boss, and we still killed it before the bottom group and had to fight off waves of magitek because of it)
Only a few people had done it before.
We still cleared and saved five prisoners.

Of my 5 or so subsequent runs, all of which were clears, though only one six-save, I don't think I ever had more than about 22 players.

I can only assume the issues that have arised are due to people being defeatist and giving up before even starting, and some really bad players that just keep dying to AoEs.

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I wanted to keep going, but apparently Castrum wasn't worth the time investment, or mettle cost with several new players.

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Originally Posted by Vahlnir

Everyone's experience is different. For me, out of every 5 or so runs...only 1 raid seems capable of making it past the first boss, and even then they probably won't clear. I got real lucky last night and managed to get mine, but I haven't been able to repeat that success prior to that run or since.

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Looks like we both got lucky! I got a full group in my clear, and I registered* for it a bit later (2 clears). I kept doing Borzja so I could get my SAM set.. But after those two runs DEAD night. The next run after that had 8 people registered. New people in chat were begging others to register.

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Originally Posted by SturmChurro

Here's the thing though. For the amount of time it takes to do a castrum, I can do SEVERAL FATEs. 10 doesn't seem like much to me at all.

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Which is how it should be, because Castrum also offers other rewards as well.
2 runs of Castrum for a Relic seems like way too little to me.

That said we all know the HW FATE drops are way too good at 100%, it probably shouldn't be any more than 50%.

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Originally Posted by Seraphor

Which is how it should be, because Castrum also offers other rewards as well.
2 runs of Castrum for a Relic seems like way too little to me.

That said we all know the HW FATE drops are way too good at 100%, it probably shouldn't be any more than 50%.

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Unless they do that and nerf the droprate for HW FATEs, then any less wouldn't be enough to make Castrum rewarding in this sense. If the other rewards that Castrum offered were actually REWARDING maybe I could see your point. On it's own, as it is now, people don't want to do it.