TSDS Guides need YOU!* (*well, your ideas) :)

UPDATE THE THIRD: So episode two is finished which you can check out here: https://youtu.be/xuttxWLfaRo

This episode focused on explaining how to customise the user interface.

I only recorded material for those first 2 guides and it's taken me all day to do the editing of this latest video. Due to my recording restraints and how long it takes to put one of these together, the NPG's will probably come out quite slowly. Once they're done though I think it'll be a pretty nice series so... watch this space!

UPDATE THE SECOND: Here we are, fresh off the... editing room? https://youtu.be/rSFesaPaFlc

Episode 1 of my new player guide is complete!

Unfortunately due to current real-life constraints, these guides will likely come out rather slowly but It was enjoyable to make which is nice.

If anyone knows of any sites or places that would be a good place to embed the video, let me know!

UPDATE: So I got some surprise free time last week and was able to record audio for a Ramuh Hard guide that went live a few days ago: https://youtu.be/TrQPb0WNI8Q

Off of RubyScarlett's suggestion I've decided to put my new player guide plans into action and have started prepping for them now. The guides will be a series of short videos with each video focusing on a specific element of early game noob type stuff. So far I've ideas for videos on the following topics:

The following 3 are in order and I've already typed a rough script for the first 2.

• Series overview + UI Basics
• UI Customisation
• Class System + Cross class skills + jobs explained

The following are not in any order as of yet.

• Quests/MSQ
• Leve Quests
• Guildhests
• Fates
• Mounts
• Free Companies
• Grand Companies
• Hunting Log
• Limit Breaks
• Armoury Chest
• Map + teleporting
• Crafting
• Retainers
• Material and spirit bonding
• Triple triad
• Hall of the Novice

Like all my guides I will obviously show on screen each thing that I'm talking about and I welcome anyone who has any little tips and tricks they would like to share or any other subjects that they think would be useful for a new player to give me a shout.

--------------------

Greetings boys and girls, my name is TSDS and I create guides for encounters in this game that are rather lacking in the guide department.

I've currently updated both Castrum Meridianum and the Praetorium dungeons (as existing guides were so out of date) and I've completed guides for Thornmarch, Whorleater and Akh Afah Amphitheatre hard modes as all 3 were missing quick, concise guides that get to the point.

Right now however I'm a bit stumped for ideas. I'm not currently making guides for things where guides already exist (as people can just go and watch those) however I ask you, people of the forums, what dungeons or encounters do you think could do with a guide (or a better/up to date version)?

Have you come across anything in your travels where you've needed a guide and found the resources lacking?

So, if anyone has any ideas feel free to let me know as I could do with some inspiration!

Thanks :D

The character limit was reached in the initial post so...

Here is a playlist of what I've done so far so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...tVDCxN6vqz3HjE - if you're interested!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TSDS

The character limit was reached in the initial post so...

Here is a playlist of what I've done so far so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...tVDCxN6vqz3HjE - if you're interested!

---

I like what you're doing. You could consider some guides on doing level 50trials unsynced.

Note: You can edit your original post to bypass the 1,000 character limit.

(I quoted you Istaru but it complained at me again for using too many characters)

Ah good tip thanks, I just joined the forums as you can likely tell ;)

And that's an interesting suggestion actually. I'm a bit limited in what I can do as I can't make guides for all the fancy raids due to not being in a raid guild (heck i'm not even level 60 lol) but perhaps some series of how to PuG extreme primals.

I dunno, I've PuG'ed the trials before (and they were rather painful) but tactic videos already exist for them and it's ultimately just a matter of failing until you get a group who actually pay attention. I'm not sure there's a whole lot more I can really add to those other than footage of me wiping with a lot of rubbish groups :s

I don't mind making guides for things that already have guides if it's something people like but damn Urth's Fount is a hard one to get down in a lv50 PuG lol

Garuda HM : Either OT or a healer gets aggro on adds while everyone burns down garuda as fast as they can. Garuda placement south of the map while adds are tanked either NW or NE. Plumes should be ignored completely unless dps is terribad and satin plume appears (4th phase)

Battle in the big keep 1st boss : Don't dispell one of the tethers, that will delay the chicken phase allowing higher dps and possible phase skips.

Battle in the big keep 2nd boss : If dps is good, sac'ing a chained healer will provide phase skips. Using hots on chained healer before it gets chained will also increase the time he stays alive allowing more time of free dps. Gilgamesh sword dance (forgot the name of the skill) is a frontal cleave, it can be dodged by moving to his back.

These 3 are what annoy me the most while running lv 50 content.

edit, forgot a 4th:

Ramuh HM: the add that appears on 3rd phase can be completely ignored.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TSDS

(I quoted you Istaru but it complained at me again for using too many characters)

Ah good tip thanks, I just joined the forums as you can likely tell ;)

And that's an interesting suggestion actually. I'm a bit limited in what I can do as I can't make guides for all the fancy raids due to not being in a raid guild (heck i'm not even level 60 lol) but perhaps some series of how to PuG extreme primals.

I dunno, I've PuG'ed the trials before (and they were rather painful) but tactic videos already exist for them and it's ultimately just a matter of failing until you get a group who actually pay attention. I'm not sure there's a whole lot more I can really add to those other than footage of me wiping with a lot of rubbish groups :s

I don't mind making guides for things that already have guides if it's something people like but damn Urth's Fount is a hard one to get down in a lv50 PuG lol

---

For the edit part, you have to make a post under 1,000 characters first. After you post it, you can select edit and make it as large as you want.

The idea behind my response is that there are some encounters you can DPS too hard. Doing this causes certain mechanics to overlap and will wipe the party.

You don't have to be in a raid group to get the experience you need. For 50 stuff you can PF most of it.

That's interesting mp-please, I've been thinking about doing Ramuh (as it would nicely finish off the Shiva/Leviathan/Ramuh triangle but there were already guides for hard Ramuh. I didn't realise there were any 'modern' tactics for that fight that are not so well explained.

I could do guides for the earlier primals, I just figured the existing guides covered them well enough (although I do remember my Garuda Hard's being rather messy so perhaps not.

Battle in the Big Keep i've not even unlocked myself yet (yeah I'm a bit of a noob still lol) but if there are better tactics going around that aren't explained anywhere then that's something I could fix.

@Istaru, yeah now that you've said that I do seem to recall fights going poorly due to the dps rushing (I'm struggling to remember which specific ones though lol).

I also don't mind making a list of anything at lv60 that needs sorting too (as I'll get there eventually I'm sure).

This has been good though, I'm getting some nice ideas:D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mp-please

Garuda HM : Either OT or a healer gets aggro on adds while everyone burns down garuda as fast as they can. Garuda placement south of the map while adds are tanked either NW or NE. Plumes should be ignored completely unless dps is terribad and satin plume appears (4th phase)

Battle in the big keep 1st boss : Don't dispell one of the tethers, that will delay the chicken phase allowing higher dps and possible phase skips.

Battle in the big keep 2nd boss : If dps is good, sac'ing a chained healer will provide phase skips. Using hots on chained healer before it gets chained will also increase the time he stays alive allowing more time of free dps. Gilgamesh sword dance (forgot the name of the skill) is a frontal cleave, it can be dodged by moving to his back.

These 3 are what annoy me the most while running lv 50 content.

edit, forgot a 4th:

Ramuh HM: the add that appears on 3rd phase can be completely ignored.

---

I like your ideas, but most of these would be considered as alternate strats. So, the guid should have Strategy A and Strategy B, with B being noted to be the alternate way of winning. So, for example, the thing you noted with Garuda, is Strat B, because it's a "burn" method. We need to take into consideration of new players, especially if 4 of them are the tanks and healers, or the dps who barely made the minimum iLv requirement.

The last thing a guide should do if force people to believe that it MUST be completed using a burn method. They will go in a low gear and expect to skip some phases.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jim_Berry

I like your ideas, but most of these would be considered as alternate strats. So, the guid should have Strategy A and Strategy B, with B being noted to be the alternate way of winning. So, for example, the thing you noted with Garuda, is Strat B, because it's a "burn" method. We need to take into consideration of new players, especially if 4 of them are the tanks and healers, or the dps who barely made the minimum iLv requirement.

The last thing a guide should do if force people to believe that it MUST be completed using a burn method. They will go in a low gear and expect to skip some phases.

---

Garuda one is being done since 2.3 ish, newbies these days just don't know about it and waste time killing the adds. Of all what i said the only one that could be considered a alt strat is the healer sac, the rest was done in 2.5 and earlier but not a single new player knows about it.

Leviathan Hard mode
I usually stand around near the fence gap where the water burst so i could hit the head the moment it appears without getting damage (doable in extreme before the fence fall off), but that's mostly preferable stuffs.. The only thing that's invalid is when wavetooth sahagin spawns, getting hit by the dreadstorm aoe (yellow telegraph) only deals damage, while standing on top of the blue puddle gives hysteria debuff.. Also, those wavespine sahagin cleave, the damage is not noticeable in hard mode tho..

I've yet to watch the other.. So...

Some things from the dungeons that i rarely see any other players to notice but i'd like to do:
- Thousand maws of toto rak: the adds on 2nd boss and last boss can be slept, thus completely ignoring them since most dps tend to ignore them anyway..

Haukke Manor: Lady Amandine and succubi's void fire iii (splash upon impact) and thunder iii (big single target) can be avoided by getting away on her front line of sight

Brayflox longstop: on 2nd boss the stupid goblin can be dragged and placed near the center on the drake's target circle, so the fire breath will only hit the goblin instead (similar to T8's strat) of what most players do with running away and such.. Aiatar's dragon breath mostly occurs every 20secs, a good way to spend players' stun to build LB faster

Qarn: you can time your stun for the Teratotaur when the room is glowing (usually occurs around 55ish% - very hard to do) skipping the doom.. The golem's hard hitting room wide obliterate can be stunned which usually saves a lot of lifes when healer isn't dependable ( occured everytime after the stun attack).. Last boss' paralyze can be avoided by not standing on its frontal LoS.

Stone vigil: the lion breath from the 1st boss is dodgeable, i personally always dodge it everytime after swinge occurs.. Tank can face the wyvern boss on the side wall, that way melee dps can also help using the cannon since it's near (they usually make a lot of excuses) and making typhoon flow over to the other side wall since most dps tend to stand directly at the the wyvern's backside..

Dzemaek darkhold: you can ditch and place the void aoe directly beneath the boss, so it's not messy and tank doesnt need to move the boss..

Aurum vale: cointreau's 10 tons swing only occurs after the hp reaches <55%, everytime that troll "consider" something, the aggro meter reset (lots of people blame the tank for being a failure when it's the mechanic being involved).. Tank betters not move misery's miser when she's spawning eggs..

Edit: Those titan's aoe are called Weight of the Land.. Not plume.. Cough...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lvlagmarink

Leviathan Hard mode
<snip>

Edit: Those titan's aoe are called Weight of the Land.. Not plume.. Cough...

---

Erm, hmm? Leviathan Hard I've covered already but what are you referring to with the plume part? The only plumes mentioned here are the Garuda ones and they're mobs.

Going back to Garuda, multiple strategies can sometimes make a video a bit confusing so I usually run with the easiest/most common one. The people making use of guides are obviously the ones who've never done it before and would likely be unable to do any more common cheese tactics.

Heck the first time I did Garuda hard I off-tanked and people moaned at me for not being able to hold aggro on the adds (when they're lv60 downscales and i'm a fresh first-timer) when they started nuking as soon as they spawn (with me still needing to run over and pick them up).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TSDS

Erm, hmm? Leviathan Hard I've covered already but what are you referring to with the plume part? The only plumes mentioned here are the Garuda ones and they're mobs.

Going back to Garuda, multiple strategies can sometimes make a video a bit confusing so I usually run with the easiest/most common one. The people making use of guides are obviously the ones who've never done it before and would likely be unable to do any more common cheese tactics.

Heck the first time I did Garuda hard I off-tanked and people moaned at me for not being able to hold aggro on the adds (when they're lv60 downscales and i'm a fresh first-timer) when they started nuking as soon as they spawn (with me still needing to run over and pick them up).

---

Praetorium all roles -> ultima weapon around 8mins (....plume from the centre, followed by plume from the edges...).

I'm not sure who started to call titan's aoe to be "plume" those things need to end.. Lol..

I edited and gave some tips on lowbies dungeons in case you're interested which are rarely and never mentioned anywhere..

I'll tell you why the game is "Lacking" in the guide department. Mainly because no-one needs them for any of the content in the game. there are a choice few fights where you may need to know one mechanic and that known strategies are pointless once the next update hits.

Unless your trying to go into a fight undergeared you skip most mechanics by nature of the inflated strength of your party making guides a wasted effort if not for bleeding edge content. Welcome to MMO 2.0, where your "Strategy guide" for 90% of content is "Don't get hit by the AOE, and hit stuff"

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lvlagmarink

Praetorium all roles -> ultima weapon around 8mins (....plume from the centre, followed by plume from the edges...).

I'm not sure who started to call titan's aoe to be "plume" those things need to end.. Lol..

I edited and gave some tips on lowbies dungeons in case you're interested which are rarely and never mentioned anywhere..

---

Ah yeah I did wonder if you were referring to that. I didn't know what they're actually called thus the 'things' part at the end of my description for the move. I know Mizzteq calls them plumes (as it's her guides who I've watched for most of the content). I guess the specific name of the move is less important when there isn't a cast bar to be able to watch but good spot :)

This 1000 character post limit is a bit annoying :(

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jynx

Welcome to MMO 2.0, where your "Strategy guide" for 90% of content is "Don't get hit by the AOE, and hit stuff"

---

Yeah well a lot of mechanics boil down to 'don't stand in stuff' but the encounters I've made guides for were a right pain to do the first time around with current guides either being so out of date or just not existing in the first place.

I complete each dungeon/encounter a number of times to get a proper understanding of it and then record it around 2 times per party role in order to make the guide. A lot of wipes still happen in those fights because the information just isn't out there. There are some good guides out there but then there are also some fights where the only guide is a 20+min long video of someone talking a bunch of waffle.

The only time I've found current guides lacking is a few weeks or a few month's after content's release, when most mechanics and phases aren't handled the same. As well as the fact that past the first week of release additional details on mechanics might be uncovered.

I would like to see non-video guides.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cakekizyy

I would like to see non-video guides.

---

I think the wikis generally cover that with boss mechanics written out. Not every page is that well explained of course but it's usually a great deal easier to explain something if you're able to show what you're talking about at the same time.

Don't know much about them but...the leves prehaps? Havent really looked at guides for them since 1.0 when they were more important.

Other then that, quick guides for Aquapolis or PTOD.

Do leves actually need guides?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TSDS

I think the wikis generally cover that with boss mechanics written out. Not every page is that well explained of course but it's usually a great deal easier to explain something if you're able to show what you're talking about at the same time.

---

No reason why the video can't be accompanied by a written explanation. I struggle to understand all that's going on when I watch other people play (which is the main reason I just don't "get" the fascination with Twitch, but that's a whole other thing) if I don't have some sort of reference. If I'm watching a guide before I ever step toe in the dungeon, I guarantee it will only help me a little bit. A written guide will be far more helpful to me, as I absorb that much better (I'm an avid reader). A written guide with a video would be best, as I can read the guide, and watch the video to see it in action. Some video guides are pretty well done, but then I get in game and don't remember the whole gamut of the fight, and I can't just have a video guide running in another window to reference, but I can keep a written one up and glance over to see what I missed (when dead/after a wipe).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cakekizyy

Do leves actually need guides?

---

Even the moonfaire event needs a guide because some players think that killing monster is the only way to complete a quest.. As if someone would actually find a guide with a fully explained descriptions in their quest bars..

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Keramory

quick guides for Aquapolis

---

Use /random to choose which door isn't trap. (< 500 is left, >= 500 is right) :rolleyes:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MaeIsMean

No reason why the video can't be accompanied by a written explanation. <snip> and I can't just have a video guide running in another window to reference, but I can keep a written one up and glance over to see what I missed (when dead/after a wipe).

---

Yeah of course that's true. Once you're in the encounter it's a bit hard to check a video for things you can't quite remember. I try to make my guides as clear and demonstrative as I can but I'm actually just a start-up youtuber (and not some FFXIV pro guide do-er person). The guides are really just something I started to do because I noticed a few guides were super out of date on my first time running things (causing me to get really lost and unsure of what I was doing) and some encounters simply lacking proper guides altogether. The 'DS' of TSDS stands for 'does stuff' so some random guides fall under the 'stuff' category :D

I knew I could just make guides for the future to help out anyone in my situation which is what I've attempted to do but I don't run any website or something where I can page off a bunch of written guides. My Youtube channel is all I've got right now.

My guides are on http://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/FF14_Wiki so I could edit in full written guides too but I like to think my guides do a good job of showing and explaining the encounters (even if you can't check them mid-dungeon to remember stuff).

My request for non-video is due to a severe hearing handicap. So I don't do videos and only use written guides.

For Titan HM:

1) Make sure you're the off tank
2) Get knocked off the edge
3) Go make a cup of coffee
4) Collect loot

Sounds like half my runs as dps witgh high latency.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cakekizyy

My request for non-video is due to a severe hearing handicap. So I don't do videos and only use written guides.

---

Ah that's a great point, I hadn't really thought about that. The things I do are just for fun/a bit of a hobby so I'm not super 'into' making crazy good guides and stuff but I don't find explaining things via text that difficult (I've had guilds request my presence in raid groups just to type out tactics in the past hehe).

If there's something that you would like a written guide for let me know and if it's something I have knowledge on I can type it up on that wiki or something :)

FFXIV Striking Tree (Hard) Video Guide just went live! (https://youtu.be/TrQPb0WNI8Q) - with added 'ignore last add' tip ^^

I literally have no free audio recording time right now (having just starting my new school). The only reason I even got this done today was because for the last half of the day we had a lecture that was given in a language I don't speak.*

I recorded the gameplay on the weekend but the editing took me about 5 hours today - not as long as other guides! Jesus:p

*meaning I went the **** home during the first break lol

A couple of thoughts and guides suggestions:

1) I think it would be nice to have a 'Novice' guide, like things to watch out for as you level such as the challenge log, hairstylist, novice network, Hall of the Novice, etc. Things that someone could watch in 5 mins or less and remember as they set out on their adventures. Clean, short and to the point.

2) Unsynced Coil guides. A lot of the coil guides focus on when it was lv 50 content, and some of the strategies don't come into play when you're doing them unsynced. I know of a lot of people who want to experience the story, but rely an experienced 'Coiler' to take them through it. There's a lot of mechanics that don't really matter anymore, there's a few of them that can be cheesed a bit and then there's some that you literally cannot ignore, but often don't make sense since they're coming out at such a rapid pace (T7 & T8 I'm looking at you).

Yeah the novice guides are a good idea. The main issue I have with them (outside of not having any regular/reliable times for recording audio) is one of discoverability. I started this youtube channel in April this year and while my guides are on one of the wiki sites, my channel is still extremely small. It's easy to get traffic for encounter videos (due to putting them on the wiki) but I've not really anywhere that I can put those sorts of guides.

Even if I were to make really nice ones, new FF players are hardly likely to stumble upon my channel while the information in the guides is still helpful. Even though 90% of my traffic comes from the FF guides (with me mainly being a 'let's play' type youtuber doing these guides on the side), as long as my channel is still so small, I've no real ideas where to put those sorts of guides so new players can see them.

Not that I would be against making them though, I'm more than happy to do anything within my guide-creating powers :P

-

For unsynced coil guides, I've not actually done any parts of the coil before. While I'm not afraid of learning, I have done unsynced pug runs for ifrit ex, garuda ex, titan ex, ultima weapon hard and Urth's Fount - almost all of which were extremely painful.

Having no idea about the coil, I'm unsure as to whether it's something likely to give me similar levels of headache as doing the runs previously mentioned with pugs.

So I've updated the OP with some shizzle. Let me know if you've any cool tips and tricks or new player suggestions that you would like to share!

Episode 1 of my new player guide is complete! https://youtu.be/rSFesaPaFlc

Unfortunately due to current real-life constraints, these guides will likely come out rather slowly but It was enjoyable to make which is nice.

Episode 2 of my NPG has just been finished. OP has been updated but you can check it out here https://youtu.be/xuttxWLfaRo :D