What would you do first on Dawntrail?

I always take time off work for Early Access so I'll be focusing on MSQ and side quests and crafting and gathering when I want a break from questing that week. Also will unlock Viper and Pictomancer and try them out. I didn't give Sage and Reaper a chance because I didn't think them. Now they're my main healer and dps. So I'll try out the new ones right away.

First thing I'll be dealing with is the inevitable login queues.

Check for new character customization and easy to get glamour to level up the two new jobs and do the msq with them as per tradition

I would first thing level gathering and crafting all to max level.

Depends on what they do to DRG. My character typically changes jobs heading into a new expansion and what happens to DRG will determine if it's that or Viper.

In any case, it's straight to the MSQ. Though I am predicting the first unreal will be Ravana (much like how UW was chosen for this expansion before releasing HW trials), and if it is I'll be hopping right into that encounter.

MSQ with BLM then i level DoH/DoL and finally the rest of DoW.

Level up Viper to 90 and then do the MSQ with it.

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Originally Posted by Carin-Eri

Thank you for the advice - appreciated!

First time have been present for a expansion launch!

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Actually, I forgot the most important piece of advice:

• Click the Event tab and stay in it. So you only see NPC conversation and can't see player chat in the other tabs.

I'd likely do the MSQ. But the end game content won't really even be ready for another year after that so will likely take a break after doing some of it to wait for it to be completed or at least reasonably so.

That said... in all honest Endwalker was filled with so much cringe this time around I am actually hesitant to even get the new expansion. It wasn't like Stormblood where I was constantly wanting to throw up in my own mouth because I was forced to help the Al Amigans, it was just pure cringe. I comfort myself somewhat as generally every other expansion is pretty good.

Heavensward had probably the best and most powerful story out of the whole batch. But Shadowbringers also had a strong story, and while it had some cringe too, they had some really powerful storylines going, like Thankred and his father/daughter relationship with Ryne, or Emet-Selk the real story behind the Ascians. Still not as good as Heavensward, but it had some real merit.

And as much as I may detest the setup story for Stormblood the reality is, that expansion had the best raids right alongside Heavensward. Seriously the coolness of those 8-mans really did at least approach Alexander. And the Alliance Raids I think are some of the best in any expansion so at least it had some merits. I really can't say that about Endwalker. I don't have much good to say about this expansion.

But like I said generally every other expansion is pretty good and Dawntrail is hitting the "every other" mark.

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Originally Posted by Silverquick

It wasn't like Stormblood where I was constantly wanting to throw up in my own mouth because I was forced to help the Al Amigans

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So you'd rather have helped the Garleans secure their footing?

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I may detest the setup story for Stormblood

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Not everyone can appreciate Stormblood, but I did because of how it was based on reality. I expected the storytelling to be poor and just have us go there, ask people to form an army, they say yes and then defeat the Garleans. But what actually happened was it was realistic.

They said no. They feared that if they stood up against the Garleans, then all the others might get scared and not come with them, causing them to stand up alone and get arrested or killed. Which they can't risk because they have families. That is how it is in real life too - we don't stand up to governments because we'll get arrested. We need to know that if we stand up against those in charge, that millions of others will too. And it's hard to be certain they all will be there on the day and not chicken out.

I loved that they went with the latter. I was not expecting the storytelling to be realistic. It was exactly what I wanted.

But as I said, not everyone can appreciate Stormblood. It's just how it is. It might be that way with Dawntrail too, maybe.

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that expansion had the best raids right alongside Heavensward. Seriously the coolness of those 8-mans really did at least approach Alexander.

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So you think a bunch of robots and machines is cooler than Eden, E4 Titan, Shadowkeeper and Cloud of Darkness (from E9). Personally, for as much as I enjoyed Alexander and Omega, Eden was both fun and aesthetically pleasing to me.

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And the Alliance Raids I think are some of the best in any expansion so at least it had some merits. I really can't say that about Endwalker.

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The design direction obviously changed for Shadowbringers and after. I think they are perfectly capable of designing them like Stormblood, it is just a decision. While I hope they will not be afraid to put deadly, difficult, varied and team-oriented mechanics into Dawntrail alliance raids due to how we'll get through it with resurrections, we haven't got any indication of a change in design direction so far.

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Originally Posted by Jeeqbit

So you'd rather have helped the Garleans secure their footing? *snip*

Not everyone can appreciate Stormblood, but I did because of how it was based on reality. I expected the storytelling to be poor and just have us go there, ask people to form an army, they say yes and then defeat the Garleans. But what actually happened was it was realistic.

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That wasn't even half the problem...

The problem was throughout the entire ARR and Heavensward storylines the Al Amigans were complete scumbags. The very first time you meet them in little Al Amigo they try to kill you and are hostile. That only builds throughout the entire Ilberd storyline. I felt that way about the Al Amigans before we even got to Stormblood. I seriously to this day question whether who was actually worse the Al Amigans or Garleans and how long before the Al Amigans turn into the next Garleans. At least the Garleans were honest about what they were, the Al Amigans constantly stabbed you in the back. That only gets expounded on in Stormblood with the Al Amigan traitors serving Garlemond and how ruthless they are.

But... one thing I will not say about the Stormblood storyline is that it was ever cheezy or cringeworthy. They legit gave me a real disgust for the Al Amigans, I felt zero happiness about "liberating" them.

Kugane though... different story.

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So you think a bunch of robots and machines is cooler than Eden, E4 Titan, Shadowkeeper and Cloud of Darkness (from E9). Personally, for as much as I enjoyed Alexander and Omega, Eden was both fun and aesthetically pleasing to me.

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I never once said the Raids in Shadowbringer raids sucked, I enjoyed Eden as well... all I said was the one redeeming feature of Stormblood WAS the Raids which were top notch and even competed favorably with HW Raids.

But I never did like Alliance Raids of ARR, they were far too simplistic. But I give that a pass since it was their first time out. HW and the Void Ark series was really cool. And the Ivalice Raids of Stormblood were the best I've ever seen. Hell I even enjoyed the Shadowbringer Alliance raids, even though they were kinda out of place.

However... Coils of Bahamut on the other hand for ARR... now that was pretty good.

1st I'll check out the "2 dyes" system and re-dye all my glam. I will use so many different dyes, I want to puke rainbow in DT!
Then I'll do MSQ on my main.
Then I'll max shared FATEs because it's the fastest in the first weeks when people mow down FATEs really quickly. (I hope we will get new shared FATEs).
Then I'll level my DoL/DoH to max.
Everything else is optional/depends on my mood.

work, probably.

unless it ends up fairly late in summer, it'll be dropping during my work's busy season when taking PTO is extremely limited.

Do MSQ and skip all the Cutscenes, probably mhm

Unless I really dislike the media tour reveal, I'll probably start off with levelling VPR, with a plan to fall back on NIN afterwards if VPR ends up being undertuned. I'd be more interested in PCM if the job had a chance to dethrone BLM, but that seems unlikely.

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Originally Posted by Silverquick

But I never did like Alliance Raids of ARR, they were far too simplistic. But I give that a pass since it was their first time out.

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Crystal Tower had some interesting mechanics, but thanks to years of power creep and an over-inflated item level sync, you'll never see most of it anymore.

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Originally Posted by Silverquick

I never did like Alliance Raids of ARR, they were far too simplistic.

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Not true, actually. We just skip all the mechanics now.

If you learned them in ARR or did them Minimum Item Level, they have loads of mechanics. In fact these mechanics even wiped us in some runs I've done Min IL. One of them required a tank swap both Min IL and when I did it almost a decade ago due to the amount of auto attacks on the tank overwhelming all their mit.

Scylla and Amon in Syrcus Tower for example are very complicated mechanically and I've seen both bosses wipe. Glasya Labolas involves jumping from pad-to-pad we just skip that entirely now. In World of Darkness, the five-headed dragon is a pretty complex fight that wiped us Min IL and caused us to learn lots of mechanics we didn't even know existed, the dog fight is pretty complicated involving chaining it up and entering its stomach and even if the core mechanics are done right, it can just wipe everyone from the back cleaves and dashes it does and Cloud of Darkness is what required a tank swap when it was done Min IL.

In Labyrinth I've seen Bone Dragon wipe because all the skeletons rushing into the boss really hurt, and without the health pool we get due to gear increases that is deadly. Thanatos is pretty complicated we just kinda kill it before it's a problem, but if we don't then all the pots can die so healers need to heal them and alliances with certain buffs can kill certain enemies. We've no doubt all seen a few wipes to King Behemoth due to asteroids not being placed right (or them being cleaved by robots that tanks didn't grab) or the last boss due to too many people being caught by Ancient Flare.

I really can't stress enough how massive a difference gear increases transform the ARR alliance raids. They are actually as great as Heavensward design if gear didn't reduce them to a striking dummy. The difference between the release item level (50) and the max item level for level 50 (130) is more than double the item level. The downside is mainly that they had more loading screens then.

First I need to decide if I am playing as a Summoner of Red Mage, then run the MSQ.

From Stormblood to Endwalker I went out of my way to level a new job before taking that new job through the expansion's MSQ, but this time, I think I might do what I did in Heavensward and just run the MSQ as my current main: MNK. But the OP was asking what I'd do FIRST: I'd fantasia in to a FemHroth, then I'd proceed through new MSQ.

I'll be doing MSQ first on my SMN (unlocking flying as I go), then doubling back and unlocking the new jobs. I'll probably focus on leveling Trusts after that, but with some sidequests and FATE farming on the side.

MSQ.
Then set up for various projects ASAP.

Unlock pictomancer and take it to my ingame house and set up my buttons and hit the striking dummy some before dungeon spamming to 90.

Log in and update the game.

MSQ. Obviously. Since most content is locked behind it.

I'd probably be stuck at work, and then come home to a 2k queue, get to 30th in line, get kicked from the lobby, and then be stuck in the now 5k queue again for hours.

Ah, memories.

I always do the MSQ with my partner first.

the same thing i allways do. stand in limsa wearing a dress and practically beg for attention
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GF8XzzFW...jpg&name=small

I'll probably take my time and see if DT is even worth buying because Endwalker has left me pretty disillusioned. That should also ensure that when I actually get around to playing the expac, the login queues won't be as crazy anymore.

I'll obviously tackle the MSQ first, everything is locked behind it. I have zero interest in either of the new jobs, so I guess it will be raiding after that.

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Originally Posted by Jeeqbit

Not true, actually. We just skip all the mechanics now.

If you learned them in ARR or did them Minimum Item Level, they have loads of mechanics. In fact these mechanics even wiped us in some runs I've done Min IL. One of them required a tank swap both Min IL and when I did it almost a decade ago due to the amount of auto attacks on the tank overwhelming all their mit.

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Well I can tell you it's been that way at least since the HW Expansion. That was my first time playing them and they've always been this way. I joined in ARR shortly before the HW Expansion. I played them during the HW Expansion and they were never much different than they are right now.

SO if they over iLvL'd them... they've been doing it since HW.

Probably MSQ ...buuuuut, i usually stray off at the beginning of every expansion and explore (until i can't).

https://i.imgur.com/KUx5JDB.gif

read all the salty threads about ques

Oh, I'd forgotten they were calling one of the new classes Viper... would Assassin or Hunter really have been so terrible?

And I'll probably make some tea and settle in to read the posts discussing the new MSQ and gameplay, seeing as I have no desire to hand over more money only to be disappointed again after Endwalker. Truthfully, I'm more interested in seeing what direction the devs have decided to settle on more than anything else since that is what will plot the course for the game for the next however many years, as well as how the fans will respond to that. Endwalker was a very strange and awkward transition period that divvied up a lot of people with its inconsistency, whereas Dawntrail will be a definitive statement of the devs' intentions. How that pans out and how it will affect current general sentiment towards the game will be very interesting indeed.

Spam esc on every msq quest to rush it asap since I hate the games story(sorry not sorry). Grab flying, then spam doh/dol like I have since HW.

First thing will be going to Sharlayan and handing in my 300 HQ Manganese Ingots for the Blacksmith levequest there to see how far into the 90-100 grind 100 levequests will get me.

After that, grind out 90-100 Miner, then use the gathered items to hopefully finish up Blacksmith.

Then off to the MSQ.

First things will be leveling Viper and a fantasia to Femhroth - if I like them based on the information available prior to launch. Next I'll be having a quick look at the new QoL features, sending out retainers and submarines and finally doing MSQ.

I wait and read the 10000 Complaint Threads here and will not waste my Money for a 0815 Expansion. Endwalker was pure let down and everything that has been interesting is now gone.

Hopefully the story has a good twist at the end or something, because atm I would rather play 1.0 all over again. That's how desinterested this new xpac has made me.

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Originally Posted by missTori

what is 0815?
https://c.tenor.com/FefbVfQ57DUAAAAC/what.gif
most people are going to buy it anyways though. it's the last shot a lot of people are giving SE.

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Are we pushing our Posting Count here?

MSQ First like always, not a fan of either of the new jobs and I have a feeling they're gonna get rid of positionals in DT and I wanna tank most likely. Then gearing for Savage.

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Originally Posted by missTori

what is 0815?
https://c.tenor.com/FefbVfQ57DUAAAAC/what.gif
most people are going to buy it anyways though. it's the last shot a lot of people are giving SE.

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Most likely this: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/08/15_(Redewendung)

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Originally Posted by missTori

why didn't they just say Mid/mediocre expansion lol instead of acting like i'm a bot

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I think being on the internet toxic is just normal to a lot of people