3.4 new content

our 3rd week, what do you guys think of 3.4 so far? for me it's an improvement. the new raid while easier, seems to fit more with the mid-core, and offers an entry for casuals to try savage. i love Sophia fight as well, it was well done specially the music.

crafting wise, it was challenging for me to gear up the first few days ( thanks to overpriced materia in mb ) , it was fun to make some of the weapons and gear for my raid team.

I do however, have some negative feelings about some of the new additions , the squadron seems nice that u can get rank, but i think it's a very cheap way from SE , similar to Wondrous Tails/relic quests, to force players to redo the rehashed old content again , instead of doing new content, we just keep getting more and more check lists of old content, to help new players. while sadly open world remains empty / ghost towns.

We will get lots of new stuff too. They are working on a big expansion. But when it comes to rehashing, Wondrous Tails does an awesome job of it. Really reinvigorated some old duties and made party finder more active.

Yeah it's not like squadrons and wondrous tails are all we get. We got a new raid, two new dungeons, a new trial, duels, tweeks to palace of the dead and diadem, and even things for triple triad. A lot of people hate the patch cycle, but I like how we know how long we have to wait for certain types of content. Besides we always get something as a bonus. If it makes old content more compelling, cool. It makes leveling other jobs easier.

I have rather mixed feelings.

Raids/Sophia
I agree with you that the difficulty of the new raid is more in line with midcore. I am having more fun in it for that reason. That said, I like the fights the least. I don't hate any of the fights (like how I hated A6S), but I don't love any of them either. Same goes for Sophia.
Raids Difficulty: Great
Raids Story: Not bad
Raids Mechanics: Not great
Sophia Difficulty: Not bad
Sophia Story: Not great
Sophia Mechanics: Not bad

MSQ
I think the story was really good and the execution was kinda meh. The pacing felt off for the WoD, and certain things felt a little weird. Like, Xelphatol felt off in many ways. First, we wanted to take a ground approach in so that we wouldn't be hit with large resistance, but then we were hit with large resistance. We would have faired better just flying to the top I am sure. Second, I felt pretty bad killing all of the Ixali. We went there to stop the Warriors of Darkness and then just decided to slaughter all these Ixali in their homes. It sure made me feel like a hero! Third, the dungeon itself just felt weird. We're invading their home that is apparently just a bunch of narrow bridges lined together with guards that spend their entire time watching for invaders. Overall the presentation of this part of the story and dungeon just didn't seem to fit for me. It's also disappointing that most of the story is just cutscenes now.
MSQ Story: Great
MSQ Execution: Not good
MSQ Length: OK
MSQ Playability: Poor
Honorable Mention: Gu Ba

Wondrous Tails
I have been both impressed and disappointed by this. I went in thinking the idea was pretty meh and that I'd try it out anyway. I've done it and it's hardly meh. It can kind of be fun to go back and do this old content solo, with friends, or in queue. I was surprised to see an instant queue for my healer on T1. That said, the sticker system completely ruins this content for me. The RNG factor is just frustrating and most of the rewards can be obtained in other ways. For example, once per week, I can do 9 different activities in it (or replay some, i.e. solo running Sastasha) for a chance at 2 TierV material, or I can just run PotD or Weeping City to get it and know that at the end of it all, I will in fact get it. None of the rewards in this content are even good enough to warrant the RNG nature of it. On another thread someone mentioned how you get the "best" armor with 3 lines. However, it's hardly the best. It's 20 ilvls below the max ilvl in this tier, and each week you're locked to one of 2 jobs/roles that you may not be playing. I received my 260 chest piece last week, which is already better than the caster chest piece in WT this week.
Wondrous Tails: Mixed

Squadrons
I have got the quest for this, because the same as above I want to give it a try despite my misgivings. That said, I am having a really hard time encouraging myself to unlock this content. It seems so much like Garrison Missions in WoW, and I already know that I thought that was the stupidest thing Blizzard has done (probably ever?). Since coming to this conclusion, I've glanced over a few forum threads talking about it - some praising, some complaining - and none of them have made my desire to try this out even more. I won't grade this, as I haven't tried it, but I suspect it will rate pretty low for me.

Aquarium
I'm not a fan that this is locked behind crafting/gathering. I find that a lot of casual content in this game is, and it frustrates me as I really dislike crafting and gathering in FFXIV. I do want to have some fun in casual content though.

Gubal Hard
Story: Not great
Mechanics: Not great
Difficulty: Horrible
Atmosphere: Not bad

Overall, I'd say 3.4 has a good blend of stuff to sate people's appetite, yet is plagued by a few reoccurring issues. To borrow, Kaurie's format



Raids/Sophia
This is, perhaps, the most active I have ever seen Savage in Party Finder. I cannot speak for servers outside Balmung, but I never once saw any groups attempting to learn or clear earlier tiers of Gordias or Midas. That alone is a definite improvement for the raid scene. I still have small reservations phases are being pushed already, but I'll reserve any definitive judgment for one I get better practice in. My one complaint is actually towards Normal, which remains a complete joke. Yes, it may be story, however I don't think you should be able to push Alexander to 10% despite 5-6-7-8 deaths. This wouldn't be so bad in 260+ gear, but we're mostly rocking a sub 250 overall ilvl.

Raid Difficulty (Savage): Great
Raid Difficulty (Normal): Below Average
Raid Mechanics: Fair (Better from A11 onward)
Sophia Difficulty (Extreme): Average
Sophia Difficulty (Normal): Poor
Sophia Mechanics: Good

MSQ
Although I did enjoy the story, it felt a tad rushed. The WoD subplot seemed like wasted potential when the patch itself hinted at being wholly dedicated to their involvement. Gu Ba's story arc may have single-handily solid a great detail of the story. Frankly, I'm not opposed to increased cut scenes, though I would prefer more voice acting. Aesthetically, I had no qualms with Xelphatol, and was under the impression we simply invaded a garrison. Which does lineup with how the story present it as only a small exertion force. My larger complaint is yet again: difficulty, or a lack thereof. For a brand new dungeon, we shouldn't be capable of mowing things down like it were a sporting event.

MSQ Story: Great
MSQ Execution: Above Average
MSQ length: Decent
Xelphatol Aesthetics: Decent
Xelphatol Difficulty: Poor
Boss mechanics: Poor

Wondrous Tails
Something of a mixed bag. I actually enjoy the reinvigoration its brought to old content, however the reward structure seems a bit... odd. I suppose the intent is to help gear up another job without relying on weekly caps, however the RNG nature not only severely limits that potential, it also only benefits those who like the job showcased for the week. On the one hand, I get why they made this gear rare; it would utterly destroy the crafting market if it were easily obtainable. But an improvement here would be awarding a token to redeem an armour of your choosing. Retry should also be tweaked as it is essentially worthless.
Rating: Fair

Squadrons
Obviously a work in progress; the current implementation of Squadrons is... fine. There is nothing overly compelling about it nor do I find myself seeing it a complete waste of time. Judging only what is available now, I wish our recruits actually had some character. Even if it were minor fluff. If squadrons evolved into our own Crystal Braves, I might actually grow to enjoy the feature. At the moment, it just exists. I neither dislike nor like it, but it is better than expected.
Rating: Average

Aquarium
I like silly glamour-esque additions, however they still spent far too much time building a whole system around something we put fish in. Nonetheless, it's cute for what it is.

Gubal Hard
Suffers a similar issue Xelphtol does: far too easy. The interactive boss mechanics and silly stories spread along the way made it feel more enjoyable though. So kudos for distracting my attention.

Story: Decent
Aesthetics: Decent
Difficulty: Poor
Boss Mechanics: Decent

My static cleared savage raids on end of week 2 (monday), and now we spend one evening there, and have no reason to log in for the rest of the week. Everything else is same old grind which is not fun for me.

I would say this as a warning, do the Squadrons otherwise if u don't u will wish you had when SE makes them usefull for something. for example,. i am guessing the new GC ranks to give u materials for crafting that is exclusive for higher ranks. possibly even items for your next relic quest upgrade.

Squadrons: I don't see why we can't send 2 groups at the same time

I am getting less and less motivated to run dungeons. While not the fastest way to get tomes PotD atleast have hoard items that could sell at a decent price; I had good luck with RNG and I got the hair + grade 5 materia, etc and ended up making 1 mil gil after a complete PotD run .... whereas dungeons jusy gave me clear prisms and gear that I can't turn in yet since I'm already GC seal capped.

That and no matter how different the dungeon looks, it all boils down to mass pulls and aoe mobs till boss.