Basic Help for Markers (AoE, Stacks, etc.)

When I go into a new dungeon, trial, or raid, sometimes it gets hectic with multiple things to deal with. This is the first game I've actually played at level dungeons in groups frequently.

I know there are different approaches to learning these things. I've gotten frustrated with the "just play the content and learn while there" approach. That works a lot of the time but sometimes it gets so confusing that I don't feel I'm doing a good job and I take it to heart when I frustrate other people who are playing. I want to improve.

So I've been searching for guides and found a couple that were useful. One is a google slides guide that I made a copy of to add to (What is this thing? Markers and You A Comprehensive Guide: Written and Compiled by Aletin Ves’ser) and a reddit post (Guide to Universal Markers in Final Fantasy XIV).

However, a lot of information I find tells you what the marker is but not what to do. I've also read that markers are somewhat inconsistent. Meaning I can't count on it being the same mechanic.

With that said, I don't know what terms to use as keywords to get more in depth information. If you know some, help me out with letting me know!

I think I've got a decent grasp of the orange AoE's and the arrows for stacking or running away. I know you are to face away from red eyes. I know that there are mechanics specific to each of the dungeons, trial, etc. I know the basic stationary meteor/tower that should have people standing in each one.

What I don't have a good understanding of are the personal markers. Does anyone know a good guide for those? In general I try and take those to the edge and drop them there but are there some I shouldn't do that with? How do you deal with multiple people having green and then red personal markers on them? There are so many shapes and colors. I really need to find an explanation of each.

Tethers: Is there a good guide on those somewhere? Some you stay apart with, some you pull something somewhere, some you break, but how do you know which you do what with? What do you do with purple ones? How do you know which ones you give to someone else? I realize that I can read up on each dungeon/trial/raid to see what to do in that specific one but with duty roulette you don't know where you are going to end up. It would be helpful to know some things in general.

I'd also like to find a guide for the different types of "puddles" or circles. I've seen a list of the types and know what fire and ice looks like but would like to see the others.

I also found pictures of friendly AoEs (some of which I had been avoiding :o). I'm looking at you salted earth, slipstream, doton, and earthen fury!

TLDR: Can you direct me to good guides to improve my handling of the things that kill you in dungeons/trials/raids? Thanks for any help you provide!

There are no such guides because the markers are not universal. They must be considered case by case; the mechanics are going to differ depending on which duty you're in. I have found that most other players are both patient with players learning/remembering a specific duty's mechanics and also happy to explain what they are to those that wish to be told during the duty. So if you have any questions about a specific mechanic in a specific duty, we can certainly help you out. For broad and general terms, though, the best we can do is to encourage you to not worry and have fun.

https://imgur.com/a/c9oxF1d
https://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Common_Mechanics

You can lookup a guide for every dungeon, trial and raid from https://www.youtube.com/c/MTQcapture/videos but be aware that it can spend minutes explaining a mechanic that is obvious when you see it and lasts a split second, so it can create as much anxiety as it solves.

A lot of mechanics are designed to be obvious or introduce themselves to you and then get added together to test if you understood them.

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Originally Posted by Katz_McKatz

Tethers: Is there a good guide on those somewhere? Some you stay apart with, some you pull something somewhere, some you break, but how do you know which you do what with? What do you do with purple ones? How do you know which ones you give to someone else? I realize that I can read up on each dungeon/trial/raid to see what to do in that specific one but with duty roulette you don't know where you are going to end up. It would be helpful to know some things in general.

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Thorn vines: Wait close together before the thorns appear to shorten the starting distance, then spread. The break distance is related to the starting distance. If you're already far apart before they appear, one of you might have to go off the edge of the arena to break the tether. If you start right on top of each other, it will only take one or two steps each to break.

Chains: Context-dependent. In some fights, the chained person/people take more damage the closer together they are. In some fights, they take more damage the farther away they are. Some chains are meant to be broken. See thorn vines above. You will need to glean the specific chain conditions from the debuff description.

One way arrows, pink/purple: the person with arrows pointing toward them needs to run away.

Two way arrows, toward the middle: shorten the tether.

Two way arrows, toward the ends: lengthen the tether.

Purple scribble: other tethers become this when their handling conditions are satisfied. I.e., a lengthen tether becomes this when you reach the minimum safe distance. If you get a tether that starts as a purple scribble and you don't know what kind of tether it's actually supposed to be, maintain your current distance so you don't unsatisfy it before it resolves.

Blue and red magnets: when the tether expires, magnetic effect activates. This functions like real world magnets. If one person is red and the other blue, they will be drawn together when the tether resolves. If the two people are drawn all the way together, they receive a debuff. Lengthen the tether as much as possible so that you do not collide when the tether resolves. If both people are red or both people are blue, they will be pushed apart when the tether resolves. Stand together and position yourselves so that you won't go off the edge of the arena or into any AoEs when the tether resolves.

Lasers, especially multiple lasers on one target: other players should body-block the lasers so the central target doesn't take multiple hits when they resolve.

Transferable tethers are context-dependent. Tanks seeing an unfamiliar tether on another party member can attempt to intercept it if it can be done safely. Or watch to see if the tether gets passed when someone else intercepts it. If the tether is transferable, it's probably meant for a tank, though this is not universally true. Transferable tethers usually, but not always, come with explosions; when in doubt, take transferable tethers away from the party.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rongway

Thorn vines: Wait close together before the thorns appear to shorten the starting distance, then spread. The break distance is related to the starting distance. If you're already far apart before they appear, one of you might have to go off the edge of the arena to break the tether. If you start right on top of each other, it will only take one or two steps each to break.

Chains: Context-dependent. In some fights, the chained person/people take more damage the closer together they are. In some fights, they take more damage the farther away they are. Some chains are meant to be broken. See thorn vines above. You will need to glean the specific chain conditions from the debuff description.

One way arrows, pink/purple: the person with arrows pointing toward them needs to run away.

Two way arrows, toward the middle: shorten the tether.

Two way arrows, toward the ends: lengthen the tether.

Purple scribble: other tethers become this when their handling conditions are satisfied. I.e., a lengthen tether becomes this when you reach the minimum safe distance. If you get a tether that starts as a purple scribble and you don't know what kind of tether it's actually supposed to be, maintain your current distance so you don't unsatisfy it before it resolves.

Blue and red magnets: when the tether expires, magnetic effect activates. This functions like real world magnets. If one person is red and the other blue, they will be drawn together when the tether resolves. If the two people are drawn all the way together, they receive a debuff. Lengthen the tether as much as possible so that you do not collide when the tether resolves. If both people are red or both people are blue, they will be pushed apart when the tether resolves. Stand together and position yourselves so that you won't go off the edge of the arena or into any AoEs when the tether resolves.

Lasers, especially multiple lasers on one target: other players should body-block the lasers so the central target doesn't take multiple hits when they resolve.

Transferable tethers are context-dependent. Tanks seeing an unfamiliar tether on another party member can attempt to intercept it if it can be done safely. Or watch to see if the tether gets passed when someone else intercepts it. If the tether is transferable, it's probably meant for a tank, though this is not universally true. Transferable tethers usually, but not always, come with explosions; when in doubt, take transferable tethers away from the party.

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Thanks! This is very useful!