Looking for advice on completing dungeons...

As I am posting here, it is no surprise that I am new to the game and MMOs in general. I am working through the main quests, and have watched a few videos to better understand what to do (as a player) in my role as DPS. Yet nothing has prepared me for the party experience!

I feel as if I am spending all my time running after the tank (which I understand the reason) and then desperately trying to find an enemy to click on and making sure I am pressing the right keys, running when I see the yellow box and not upsetting my party. Hopefully, the sprout gives a clue to the others in the party that I am new and haven't a clue what I am doing, but I had read (watched) that I should let my party know and I (finally) worked out how to type to the party but we were off and running before I could, then I had to click on the screen I wasn't simply typing in a series of 'wwwwww's instead of running after my party between that and desperately trying to click on an actual enemy I feel like I suck :o

I'm honestly feeling a bit overwhelmed, I love the game and the story, but the party dungeons are really making me anxious and these are the early ones. I know I am still a noob and that it is still very early in the game. I suppose I'm looking for reassurance it will get easier and similar ideas.

Sorry for the longwinded explanation but I'm a bit nervous about speaking on the Novice Network (it seems to mostly be the mentors and the few novices are either returners or already at level 30-40, so I'm lost by their discussions) and I haven't yet joined an FC (still looking for the right fit) so I'm hoping the kind people here can help! ;)

I'd recommend running some of the early dungeons again to help you acclimate to the experience.
Though, note that the dungeons become a lot less sprawling and nonlinear as ARR goes on. The shift in design there should help you too.

It does get easier as you get accustomed to your role and the UI. One big thing that helped me early on was getting used to using the left hand on keyboard to move, especially diagonally which can be faster, and right hand to invoke actions. Only occassionally needing to touch the mouse. Tab key can cycle through enemies.

When you first join a dungeon, tell everyone you're new and have never done this before. Most people will slow down and explain things as needed.

Some of the frantic, stuff is already dead before you can click on it, business is exclusive to lower levels. Over time low level abilities have gotten more powerful while enemy HP has stayed the same, so things in low level dungeons melt in ways they didn't in years past. That evens out over time as you get higher level.

My advice would be first off just relax, it's just a game and you are at the low lvl portion of the game, so focus on learning what u can and worry not whether your other party members approve of you, keep your focus on learning and you'll get better as you continue to play, just keep the mindset hey I know I suck right now but I am enjoying the game and I will get better as time goes, that mindset helps alot.

Plus the reason these dungeons seems so rushed is cause people are always trying to get done as fast as possible, just let others know your new and learning when u enter a dungeon or ask advice if u don't understand something

Keep watching your guides and all that cause you're doing good, even though you are new you are a lot less nooby in your actions then what u think, u will do good in this game, just remember youre new and learning so enjoy the ride.

use tab to target (or you can bind it to another key, but it's much easier than clicking). also, you picked a melee, and a tricky one at that. play what you want, but if you aren't partial to pugilist (and later monk), i find that ranged physical is the easiest to run around and shoot things with (that'll be archer and later bard for now).

Don't worry too much if you fall a little behind in a dungeon. Its not too much concern for dps unlike healers, where you want to stay close enough to the tank that you can throw a heal out if needed. The game also has a level sync system that will reduce higher players down to your level if they are joining you in a dungeon. This combined with what bright mentioned makes early dungeons go quite fast. So your not exactly running with just low level players in dungeons, its mix of low level and sync'd players. For targeting you can use Tab, You can also click the tanks name in the party list. When their HP bar shows up the mob the tank is currently targeting will be next too it. You can then click the mobs bar to target it and follow up with attacking it if your questioning what to attack. Just keep in mind you dont always want to be hitting what the tank is hitting. If a boss summons adds you want to get off the boss and attack them just make sure to give the tank a chance to grab them first.

Few tips for dungeon running.

-Don't stand in front of the boss. Only under certain conditions should you do this when playing a dps or healer. Which you will learn as you get further into the game.

-Don't panic if your not at full HP. Good healers will let you linger below 100% hp and top off only when needed.

-Mobs in this game Aggro based on Line of sight. If a mobs back is too you as long as you dont touch it. You can essentially sneak right pass them though I would not advise doing so until you have gotten some experience or have experienced players to guide you. You can practice outside with non-dungeon mobs to play safe.

-Become familiar with different marks presented during boss battles.

-Don't stand in Bad/stupid. Now this one is up there with don't stand in front of the boss. There are times when you will need to stand in bad/stupid but most of the time its dont stand in it. Unless you want incur wrath of your healer :D

-If a mob starts attacking you, RUN TO THE TANK. Do not run around or away!! Go straight to the tank and wait for them to pull it off you. Running around in a panic does not help them or you!!! Once again this is one that there will be times when you want to run away. But at your level currently dont worry too much about it just head for the tank if you get something on you.

Well thats all the advice I got for the moment.

You dont really specify if youre playing with mouse/keyboard or a controller. The advice to tell people youre new is good. If typing a message while going is a problem, you can get the message ready before the dungeon. Typing something like...
/p First timer here or maybe /p New player here
and then hitting enter once you finish loading into the dungeon works. If youre on controller instead, you can turn this into a macro that you can hit with one button at the start of the run. Practice will make all of the issues you mentioned easier. Another thing you should do(if you havent already) is run the training instances from The Smith. The physical location of the beginners hall is nearby to the first dungeon you ran(Sastasha - outside of Aleport in Western La Nosca), but you can also access these lessons from any smith npc(they can be found at the inn in each starting town, as well as outside the first 2 or 3 dungeons). Doing the practices helps most new people, and you get some decent starter gear too. I cant give advice about novice network, because the quality of it varies from server to server. But i can say if you have specific questions, theres usually someone here who knows the answer. Best of luck, and welcome to Eorzea!

Might not sound ideal, but I found running the first dungeon multiple times a good way to acclimate. MOST of the time this dungeon is not gonna result in any deaths, MOST people easily know how to run it blindfolded, so as a newer player, you're not gonna be relied upon to know anything. It's difficult to know what enemy to target when the tank doesn't call targets, or paint them with a (1) symbol, but most tanks won't bother calling targets unless they're scared the party isn't aware of the mechanics. So usually I just watch the target line going from the tank when you approach a pack, whatever he targets first, just go in for that one. Also as others have said, use TAB to cycle between targets, keeping an eye on the enemy list on your left (also good to note that if the enemy name has a flashing red square next to it, that means you are taking aggro from it, as a tank this is good, as a DPS this is not, so make sure you're close to the tank if you are taking aggro and let him retake it, don't worry about your HP let the healer handle that) try and make sure you're targeting the enemy with the lowest HP for quicker clears.

I wouldn't worry too much about keeping up, some tanks want to run through fast and pull a lot of packs, this sucks for dps but just keep running until the tank stops. There's not much else to say really, other than what's already been said, stay out of AOE attack circles and cones, try and position yourself behind the enemy (again, most tanks will turn the enemy away from the party as is) oh and if you're melee DPS, you will mostly be expected to pop your limit break on the boss, usually when they're down to around 10% hp or so (you can find a toolbar shortcut to your limit break in the traits screen, i think under general, took me a while to find that first off, there's also options in the settings to show enemy HP percentage, find that and set it to on) you can also use Shift + F (or set this as a macro) to focus the enemy, this will make it so that whatever enemy you target, you will still have the one you focused HP and cast bar on the screen, this is useful for when you're on bosses, and have to target adds, but still need to watch what the boss is casting.

These are a few things I was never told that might prove helpful to newer players.

I created a macro for informing parties when I was new to a dungeon. Very simple button on my bars that basically just said "/p Hello. First time here. I apologise for any mistakes. Let me know if there's something I should watch out for." Then I just hit that button upon entering the dungeon rather than having to sort out typing in chat, eat food, get pets out, etc.

As for dungeon runs - sounds like you're doing alright - follow tank, kill what they attack, get out of the way of yellow areas, avoid flashing canisters. Dungeons do get easier (and more fun) as you progress and level but don't feel that you need to keep quiet. FFXIV has one of the best (and nicest) communities around so the majority of people wont ridicule you for asking questions or asking for help.

Something to add that has helped me: If you are having trouble with Tab in large groups of enemies, you also have the enemies displayed down the left side of the screen that you can click on. This is especially helpful for DPS during boss fights to quickly see that adds have arrived, and even more helpful during those fights that have certain adds that need to be taken down quickly vs. those that can be ignored.

When playing as caster I have also found it exceedingly helpful because it shows HP bars which saves me a lot of wasted casts.

I also agree about not being afraid to ask for help. You will encounter the occasional jerks and elitists, but they really are very few and far between. Both the new and veteran communities in game have been really great.

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Originally Posted by LogicHatesMe

Might not sound ideal, but I found running the first dungeon multiple times a good way to acclimate. MOST of the time this dungeon is not gonna result in any deaths, MOST people easily know how to run it blindfolded, so as a newer player, you're not gonna be relied upon to know anything. It's difficult to know what enemy to target when the tank doesn't call targets, or paint them with a (1) symbol, but most tanks won't bother calling targets unless they're scared the party isn't aware of the mechanics. So usually I just watch the target line going from the tank when you approach a pack, whatever he targets first, just go in for that one. Also as others have said, use TAB to cycle between targets, keeping an eye on the enemy list on your left (also good to note that if the enemy name has a flashing red square next to it, that means you are taking aggro from it, as a tank this is good, as a DPS this is not, so make sure you're close to the tank if you are taking aggro and let him retake it, don't worry about your HP let the healer handle that) try and make sure you're targeting the enemy with the lowest HP for quicker clears.

I wouldn't worry too much about keeping up, some tanks want to run through fast and pull a lot of packs, this sucks for dps but just keep running until the tank stops. There's not much else to say really, other than what's already been said, stay out of AOE attack circles and cones, try and position yourself behind the enemy (again, most tanks will turn the enemy away from the party as is) oh and if you're melee DPS, you will mostly be expected to pop your limit break on the boss, usually when they're down to around 10% hp or so (you can find a toolbar shortcut to your limit break in the traits screen, i think under general, took me a while to find that first off, there's also options in the settings to show enemy HP percentage, find that and set it to on) you can also use Shift + F (or set this as a macro) to focus the enemy, this will make it so that whatever enemy you target, you will still have the one you focused HP and cast bar on the screen, this is useful for when you're on bosses, and have to target adds, but still need to watch what the boss is casting.

These are a few things I was never told that might prove helpful to newer players.

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Thank you for this, didn't know you could focus an enemy this way. I will definitely remember when I am running as a healer especially, where I tend to keep the tank targeted.

This should make bosses that often don't telegraph (like the chimera in Cutter's Cry) a lot easier.

Yeah the Chimera is usually where you find your first wipe, all it really takes there is for someone to not know the mechanics of the fight, and your entire party wipes. I find it best there to make sure everyone knows the "violet in, blue out" thing before going into the fight, i mean you can't blame a player for dying there if no one tells them what's going on.

Fights like the Chimera are also the game's way of teaching you mechanics you'll need later. "Dragon in, ram out" holds true for every chimera type enemy in the game, and the level 40 dungeon boss is there to teach you that in a low stakes setting, preparing you for harder versions later on.

Hey, none of us started off as god mode end game raiders, just redo some of the old dungeons you have and keep practicing. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it.