Proposal: Earning a Novus Unlocks Zodiac Quest Dungeon Drops

[MasamuneBranford]

50 light for a low level dungeon? You have to be kidding me when the most you can earn now is 16 from ST in bonus. Go earn your relic and don't expect a handout. Some of you nerf advocates are really pushing it.

Not asking for that in the slightest. Not at all. However - if you really stop to think about it - you do 75 expert dungeon runs for a Novus. An expert dungeon goes by wayyyyy faster than a low level dungeon roulette. Novus gets you 10 item levels / nexus gives you 5. That is how I would have designed it originally (as 40 days of low level dungeon roulettes would seem more than fair for 5 item levels).

HOWEVER - because SE did not design it that way - and countless people have done the grind - I would never ask for such a nerf (would not be fair to those who did do all of the work).

[MasamuneBranford]

But one more reply. How much time do you think you would spend doing 40 low level dungeon roulettes in comparison to the trial grinds? With the duty finder wait times and the new players in the low level dungeons - you might even be faster off with the trial burns. haha - so hold your horses.

[Tiggy]

1) You can earn alexandrite while working on your atma - so i guess the point has already literally been defeated

There is no reason you would be doing this without having your weapon already and making progress with your daily quests at the same time. It's extremely unrealistic to think this actually makes a difference since anyone doing so before unlocking the correct weapon is doing themselves a disservice by reducing options to obtain Alexandrite. It doesn't defeat the point. It's just silly and inefficient and only a player making some misguided point would have any reason to do this.

2) It now takes longer to earn than before. That's typically when a developer makes an adjustment

It takes longer to earn Soldiery(Myth whichever the case may have been) than it did before that is true, but you're barely talking about soldiery.(The cost of Alex maps was nerfed anyway and that would have been a more legit concern) Is this really about the paltry amount of soldiery you need in the current final phase? You can start that quest with enough soldiery for 1.25 of the items soldiery is necessary for. This is already a massive head start. Otherwise there is zero soldiery requirement in the light phase making me think this is even more of a moot point.

3) I'm not talking about today. Item level 110 is perfectly fine today. I'm talking about in a month or so when everyone has an item level 130 and more so during an expansion. You won't be capping your weekly expansion content (when everyone probably has an item level 150 weapon) with your novus.

First off using the expansion is an excuse and a straw man. As far as we know this weapon will be 100% outdated and a new relic weapon quest line begin. You aren't going to win me over with what-ifs that may not even be relevant. It's a weak reason that is still 4-5 months from being a concern. Secondly, I reiterate. The only person that will have an issues are tanks. DPS will already be considerably outgeared for the dungeons. Being a little out geared or extra outgeared won't make that much of a difference and people will clear dungeons just fine. Only tanks deserve this concern and this solution is hardly adequate and solving that specific problem.

There are problems on the horizon. It isn't bad as of today. It's going to get bad. Thus - these changes should be planned.

You're assuming they already don't have a plan. They've already suggested a new relic weapon questline would begin in the expansion leading me to believe you either A) didn't know they've talked about it or B) you're just using this as an excuse to make things easier.
They've already nerfed the first three phases of the weapon. Of course the further phases will be nerfed in due time. However, asking for the nerf to come in the form of making it easier to complete steps you don't have access too is simply too much and comes across as asking for nothing more than a hand out. You're solution is a poor fit for the problem you propose and is likely premature in its demand.

[FranSeara]

Ok
1. Not true, an a good player is a good player even with a item level 110 weapon, I kick axx with a item level 90 weapon. Everyone is OVERGEARED for everything. We wouldnt know what the new stuff will bring untill its here. Finish your weapon already.
2.You can light farm alone. I did for 2 now a 3rd nexus weapon. You dont need anyone to do this quest. Just a Q.
3.Yes, light farm partys are boring.....dont do em. I do everything and anything other then light farming partys. Open yourself up more

Oh yes...you can do both. I do DFS on light farming on Scholar while trying for zodiak items on SMN and SCH. You can stack zodiak items.

ps:Thank you Layla.

[MasamuneBranford]

Tiggy -

Anybody earning soldiery / mythology to earn books was doing hunts (thus earning alexandrite in the process). This isn't much different than what I'm proposing here. Really - there is no difference at all if you think about it.

It takes longer because there used to be countless burn parties in a party finder to simply jump into. There aren't that many people trying to earn a nexus these days. There really isn't.

All i'm saying is - we need some sort of adjustment. I made a proposal. How much light would a player actually get trying to earn their zodiac drops? I think most people are averaging like 70-100 dungeon runs to get all 16? This isn't like some massive advantage given to players who are behind. In fact - I don't think it makes up for the fact that a player can't simply find one of countless trial burn parties to join. I see one maybe once per week.

Bottom line - even with my proposal - I still think nexus will take longer than if a player had access to all of the trial burn parties that once were available.

[Zfz]

I came back to FFXIV last week and upgraded my Zenith to Atma just yesterday. It took me three nights of FATE grinding, so about 7 hours or so, with 3 hours of it just sitting in the same spot waiting for the same FATE because I found a nice online novel to read and didn't want to bother running after FATE spawns that night.

So the Atma step was nerfed severely, so much so that I'd say it was outright generous, compared to the horror stories I found while I was researching it.

I believe the problem mentioned in the op will be taken care of one way or the other when the time comes. The devs have shown that they have no qualms helping the latecomers move along.

[Tiggy]

Tiggy -

Anybody earning soldiery / mythology to earn books was doing hunts (thus earning alexandrite in the process).

False, when that stage came out it was Brayflox speed runs to the second boss or bust. It was THE fastest way to farm books. Hunts didn't even exist yet. By the time hunts DID exist they were introduced at the same time Alexandrites were introduced. Meaning that was always the intention for this particular stage. And for reasons I pointed out above it's silly to think someone would farm all 75 from hunts before they ever reach this stage. That would be an extreme niche scenario and I haven't heard of a single person doing it for their initial weapon.

This isn't much different than what I'm proposing here. Really - there is no difference at all if you think about it.

It is because your original statement is incorrect.

It takes longer because there used to be countless burn parties in a party finder to simply jump into. There aren't that many people trying to earn a nexus these days. There really isn't.

Yes, there is. I've had light burn parties every day for the last couple of days. Since Friday. I see new ones up every new window when I check to see what the lights are. Once again you're just wrong and making blanket statements. Maybe on your server it is bad, but don't assume its the same everywhere. It's not.

All i'm saying is - we need some sort of adjustment. I made a proposal. How much light would a player actually get trying to earn their zodiac drops? I think most people are averaging like 70-100 dungeon runs to get all 16? This isn't like some massive advantage given to players who are behind. In fact - I don't think it makes up for the fact that a player can't simply find one of countless trial burn parties to join. I see one maybe once per week.

A) As already pointed out Square has nerfed the first three phases already. Do you really think them so ignorant of the situation to stop the nerfs there? Of course more are coming and probably will solve the problem better than this as they will be a more robust solution.
B) YOU SHOULD NOT be allowed to half farm the next step before unlocking. Period. This is a very poor solution on that grounds alone. This quest is intended to be a grind. They WILL NOT nerf the newest phase because of the reasons you suggested.

Bottom line - even with my proposal - I still think nexus will take longer than if a player had access to all of the trial burn parties that once were available.

There may be less sure, but hardly so few to be impossible or to require this nerf so soon. I see parties every two hours like clockwork. How about this. Make one yourself. I started farming Friday and last night I went to bed at 29% completion. At this rate I'll have it done next week. You're concerns about how long it takes fall on deaf ears when I'm moving so swiftly.

I believe the problem mentioned in the op will be taken care of one way or the other when the time comes. The devs have shown that they have no qualms helping the latecomers move along.

Exactly this.

[MasamuneBranford]

Where has SE ever suggested that the current zodiac weapons won't further upgrade after the expansion is released? I'm sure there will be a brand new set of relics - but where did they say the current ones wouldn't also continue on?

When the weapons got the legendary Final Fantasy names (Excalibur, Apocalypse, etc.) I'm pretty sure that was the sign that they are here to stay. Are the hardcore grinders going to earn the final version of Excalibur at 2.51 and have a mere month or two to enjoy it before the expansion outdates it? I mean in three years when we are all level 75 or something - are we to look back and laugh at the puny level 50 Excalibur sword? Assumptions these might be - but I don't think SE would have granted the relics the legendary names if they weren't here to stay.

Doesn't make sense to me.

[PArcher]

Wait...110 weapons are not enough for i90 and less leveled dungeons and HM trials?

The only place i110 weapons could be a hindrance is Final Coil; everywhere else it overgears or was the level the place was tuned to (Ramuh, Shiva, Turn 9 and Savage Second Coil). St was geared for i90-i100, Turns 6-8 too.

WoD, Odin and maybe the mystery trial will probably need a minimum of 110,but that won't really be undergeared there either.

[Sapphic]

50 light for a low level dungeon? You have to be kidding me when the most you can earn now is 16 from ST in bonus. Go earn your relic and don't expect a handout. Some of you nerf advocates are really pushing it.

I wouldn't be surprised if they increase quantity of light given per run in 2.5.