Level Sync QoL: Keep Abilities Intact

[Kemiko]

This went all over the place rather quickly. o.o

Now, I'm just as annoyed by being level sync'd and losing all my superior abilities that makes me the big professional I am. Heck, even ilv sync annoys me, when my damage is suddenly cut and I lose about 2k hit points and wondering why ToB is suddenly giving me less than 1k of HP. This annoys me. Massively.

As far as level sync goes (not ilv sync) I think nothing needs to be done. It works the way it is now and does what it's intended to do. Low-level dungeons are, in fact, lowbies. I've often made the joke about every single dungeon pre-Wanderer's Palace/Ampador Keep (with the exception of Castrum and Praetorium) are tutorial dungeons. That, the whole game prior to that first roll of credits is, in fact, just the tutorial. Let's face it, the game does a fantastic job slowly introducing you to new mechanics, retaining anything they've thrown at you previously and just add a touch of something new. Every time. It's beautiful. The game didn't hold your hand through the progression but also didn't throw you to the wolves. And level sync is intended to maintain that guidance. Low-level dungeons are not there to assist LV50+ players. And those of you asking for these handouts should be ashamed. Is it boring? Maybe. And if you're returning there for your relic quest-line the Devs already told you it's intended to be a grind. If you don't like it, it's not for you. Go do something else. But if you really want that swag i135 Zeta, grit your teeth and bear the grind. That's what it was made for. The lolgil/tomes, as some put it, was put there as an incentive to assist new-players coming to Eorzea so that you'd get something out of going back to that dungeon, as save for maybe some iffy gear to glamour, you'd have no reason to return. You've already done the dungeon. It is them who needs the clear and the guidance to play their role effectively. Please, stop being selfish. We have enough of that in high-level play. Let the game run as intended.

Now, as far as ilv sync goes, the thing is laughable and it needs a tighter reign. My first realization of this was during my light farm, where Ifrit got a bonus and everyone and their grandma was running Ifrit. But, even when the bonus wore off I decided I wanted to keep running it in hopes for the Ifrit's Battleaxe (that I magically never got ever. Never even saw the drop once). All the light farmers have moved on to other things and I'm now being paired up with people doing their relic quest for the hotter-than-the-seventh-hell-Ifrit-heart or those doing Trial Roulette. Things went south quickly. Stun resists were there before Ifrit's first Eruption. Healers dying left and right, Summoners forgetting that they too can raise. Though, as long as we made it past Nail phase, I could, and have, solo'd Ifrit HM. And while that would normally be awesome, it wasn't. Because just then, how many people were just carried and thus, didn't learn squat.

My wife recently joined the game. In about 8 days, she's made it to LV50 and to help ease her into the high level play I crafted her some HQ i70 armor, weapon and got someone else to make her HQ i70 accessories. I could've farmed or bought the mats for i90 gear, but I figured she'd replace the gear quick enough that I wouldn't have to. After all, i70 gets you into ST which drops i100 gear and everything you need to get the i100 weapon. Easy stuff, right?

Now, I main WAR and she enjoys being the center of attention and as a result, tanks. She finds WAR more fun than PLD, so she plays WAR. I have every job at least i106 so I can fill in any gap she needs when doing something for the first time. We get into Garuda HM so she can do her relic quest. We have a full pre-form party of 8 and get in. I'm healing. WHM, i106 (which is 4 ilvs lower than any ilv sync'd content). Just one Medica II and all hell breaks loose. She's struggling to establish hate and I'm standing right next to her, watching as she does everything right. She's in all STR accessories, pops Infuriate, Unchained & berserk. Garuda has dancing edge debuff and she's spamming butcher's block combo. It takes her 3 full rotations before Garuda is off me. And I just stood there. Ready to just die and get raised so I'd lose all that enmity and I think, what the crap? I did ONE skill. And someone who's i71 and spec'd to deal damage struggled. If this bled down into low-level dungeons the people that those dungeons were made for would be the ones to suffer. And I pity the people meeting anyone who actually doesn't want to help them getting into the LV50 dungeons that just barely meet the entry requirements because, i110 is not low enough.

The only way I could think that would honestly work for ability retention in low-level dungeons is, if you're a pre-made light party of LV50 players. I could get behind that. But only that really.

[Gardes]

Now, I main WAR and she enjoys being the center of attention and as a result, tanks. She finds WAR more fun than PLD, so she plays WAR. I have every job at least i106 so I can fill in any gap she needs when doing something for the first time. We get into Garuda HM so she can do her relic quest. We have a full pre-form party of 8 and get in. I'm healing. WHM, i106 (which is 4 ilvs lower than any ilv sync'd content). Just one Medica II and all hell breaks loose. She's struggling to establish hate and I'm standing right next to her, watching as she does everything right. She's in all STR accessories, pops Infuriate, Unchained & berserk. Garuda has dancing edge debuff and she's spamming butcher's block combo. It takes her 3 full rotations before Garuda is off me. And I just stood there. Ready to just die and get raised so I'd lose all that enmity and I think, what the crap? I did ONE skill. And someone who's i71 and spec'd to deal damage struggled. If this bled down into low-level dungeons the people that those dungeons were made for would be the ones to suffer. And I pity the people meeting anyone who actually doesn't want to help them getting into the LV50 dungeons that just barely meet the entry requirements because, i110 is not low enough.

So let me get this straight. She's i71 working on the relic, which means she's likely to have less than i80 for a weapon and you're i106 and likely have i90+ staff, probably even i110. She's trying establish aggro, as you said, and from the rest of the skill usage and buffs description the battle has just started and...you popped medica 2. Probably the WORST skill in whm's arsenal when it comes to playing ball with tank's aggro management (yes, it's not just the tank's job). And THEN you just stood there for 7+ seconds instead of cutting your enmity in half with SoS.

You basically sabotaged your own wife's attempt, you know? She may be trying her hardest and trying to do everything right but I'm not even sure you're even qualified to judge her war performance.

[Kemiko]

So let me get this straight. She's i71 working on the relic, which means she's likely to have less than i80 for a weapon and you're i106 and likely have i90+ staff, probably even i110. She's trying establish aggro, as you said, and from the rest of the skill usage and buffs description the battle has just started and...you popped medica 2. Probably the WORST skill in whm's arsenal when it comes to playing ball with tank's aggro management (yes, it's not just the tank's job). And THEN you just stood there for 7+ seconds instead of cutting your enmity in half with SoS.

You basically sabotaged your own wife's attempt, you know? She may be trying her hardest and trying to do everything right but I'm not even sure you're even qualified to judge her war performance.

You sure made a ton of assumptions there. The fight had actually gone on long enough that Garuda had already did her first jump. The other healer and myself were the only ones who actually hid behind one of the rocks to avoid damage - a habit I assume from all the Garuda HM farms they did. That was when I healed for the first time. It happened literally last night. The experience is still fresh and shocking. I could've popped Shroud and it's my fault I didn't but that doesn't change how I stole hate like that.

But, I do appreciate that you took the time to read that, play out the fight as you assumed it happened and then insult my ability in my main role.

[Gardes]

You sure made a ton of assumptions there. The fight had actually gone on long enough that Garuda had already did her first jump. The other healer and myself were the only ones who actually hid behind one of the rocks to avoid damage - a habit I assume from all the Garuda HM farms they did. That was when I healed for the first time. It happened literally last night. The experience is still fresh and shocking. I could've popped Shroud and it's my fault I didn't but that doesn't change how I stole hate like that.

But, I do appreciate that you took the time to read that, play out the fight as you assumed it happened and then insult my ability in my main role.

So you're basically admitting that you screwed up and then tried twisting it into another player's fault? Your own wife no less? And then somehow made it the system's obligation to help the lower ilevel player when it isnt them that screwed up? Btw 1st jump IS early and pretty much the first arena wide aoe. Even if ignoring it is the norm now, there's no urgency for medica 2. Hell, going by what you described, your wife should be hurting bad and hurting the most since she didn't hide and she's at that ilvl AND she's the main tank.

[Kemiko]

So you're basically admitting that you screwed up and then tried twisting it into another player's fault? Your own wife no less? And then somehow made it the system's obligation to help the lower ilevel player when it isnt them that screwed up? Btw 1st jump IS early and pretty much the first arena wide aoe. Even if ignoring it is the norm now, there's no urgency for medica 2. Hell, going by what you described, your wife should be hurting bad and hurting the most since she didn't hide and she's at that ilvl AND she's the main tank.

This is beautiful - gorgeous, prismatic, beautiful. I'm having a grand time watching you jump all around. I screwed up by, oh no, healing people. After 6/8 people took roughly 2100 damage? As a healer no less. But no, I'm in the wrong. And now, I'm supposedly suggesting that it's the systems ilv fault, no wait, obligation to help the lower ilv person? I'm terribly sorry but, where exactly did I demand these things?

I recall quite clear when the ilv sync was first introduced and many, many people were quite adamant about how terrible it was and screw the newbs/n00bs. If anything, your overzealous insistence on my horrible ability is only proving that the ilv gaps need be made tighter. If a WHM can just use Medica II after the fight had been going on for at least 20 seconds, especially against a singular enemy, and snag the hate for the next 18-21 seconds then the gap is just too big.

Also, regardless of what you think about my skill with anything that I do, the gap is there. It causes problems and turns people off. Don't let it bleed into low-levels dungeons or level sync. Also, in case people haven't realized, the changes to level sync will also affect overworld content: Fates. Good luck getting any credit when people rush in with all their abilities at their fingertips in their end-game gear chasing after atmas, alexandrite and light. Sooner or later people will just start pointing at Fates and going, "Nah, that's for those LV50 guys. But sometimes you get lucky and no one's doing them and you can nab some XP."

[Teuciont]

This is beautiful - gorgeous, prismatic, beautiful. I'm having a grand time watching you jump all around. I screwed up by, oh no, healing people. After 6/8 people took roughly 2100 damage? As a healer no less. But no, I'm in the wrong. And now, I'm supposedly suggesting that it's the systems ilv fault, no wait, obligation to help the lower ilv person? I'm terribly sorry but, where exactly did I demand these things?

"What is Medica I?": The post. And the gap is there because bad players like you don't know how to make up for a difference in gear.

[Gardes]

Are you kidding me, 1 you do NOT get Shield Oath til your 40's we are talking much lower levels aswell and Flash can easily be out agroe'd by over zealous DPS I have Tanked as a PLD since 1.0 and only started levelling WAR in 2.0 I KNOW how to Tank and I KNOW my skills.

So? I tanked totorak a couple days ago. That was in the lvl 20 range no? I had a rogue and a bard. The bard always attacks whatever I lobbed first while the rogue always seem to go for the other mobs. I didn't feel like messing with my hotbars to replace my mark macros so I just...pressed my aggro skills. Just flash and fast and savage. No trouble from them what so ever.

This is beautiful - gorgeous, prismatic, beautiful. I'm having a grand time watching you jump all around. I screwed up by, oh no, healing people. After 6/8 people took roughly 2100 damage? As a healer no less. But no, I'm in the wrong. And now, I'm supposedly suggesting that it's the systems ilv fault, no wait, obligation to help the lower ilv person? I'm terribly sorry but, where exactly did I demand these things?

You overkilled it with the healing knowing full well what your wife's max aggro generation was and then did nothing to fix it. Then suggested that the game system wasn't doing enough to help her fix your mistake. How is that hard to comprehend?