The disapointment that is Alexander

[FoxyAreku]

Time to spoonfeed:
From Pierce: the reason I call it artificial is because it doesn't have to do with the number of mechanics or their execution but just the raw numbers. You could nerf the mechanics to hell and back but most would struggle still to beat the fight because it's all about the dps.
From me: A1S's difficulty IS, actually artificial. It has next to no new mechanics- I can only think of one- and the difficulty comes pretty much 100% from the lack of gear people have from the fight.



But I've done A1S and A2S on the first week of release and I would agree that A1S' difficulty is artificial.
Strawman, anyone?

If gear was an issue then people wouldn't even have beaten it yet, yet lots of people have.

I fail to see how difficulty is 'artificial' unless the fight has a lot of mechanics, though. A1 is a great first fight for the raid imo. It tests you to see if you're good enough to be there in the first place, and surprise, most people aren't.

[HReincarnate]

It was underwhelming though. There was just so little to it.

I think we have different thought processes here. You're essentially comparing the climax of one story to the beginning of another. I expected from the start that the first turn of alexander would be slow with not much to it, it gets more intense later. Just like coil did.

Also on another point...I'm hard pressed to call the dps check in A1 difficult. It really isn't, most dps checks in this game aren't that hard. A1 is all about how good your healers are more than anything.

Healing double preys during a tank buster is insane.

Healing double preys is difficult but also doable - just need to have some synergy between the healers.

Your perspective is interesting, but in an MMO hoping to retain subscribers I'm of the opinion it should have been more impressive. The fact is people will compare & it's all well and good saying it's only the start, but people have just experienced the climax of Coil.

As for the dps check, I'm not a dps myself so I can only parrot what the dps' I know say.

[4gotmypassword]

If gear was an issue then people wouldn't even have beaten it yet, yet lots of people have.

I fail to see how difficulty is 'artificial' unless the fight has a lot of mechanics, though. A1 is a great first fight for the raid imo. It tests you to see if you're good enough to be there in the first place, and surprise, most people aren't.

You're wrong. The first savage floor is not built around people with perfect play. Thus it is built for people that can do ~90% of what their job can, with the right gear. If you can play your class with 100% of its capability, you can do it with less gear than it was built for, hence it was beaten early. The third floor is where the really serious mechanics start.

A1S has mechanics, but the difference betwen A1 and A1S mechanics wise is extremely limited. This is less true for A2S, and not true at all for A3S and A4S.

I agree with what you said about A1S though at the end, Faust checks your DPS is good enough, Oppressor checks to see if you can do that same DPS under light mechanics.

[MisterLucie]

A1S DPS check was pretty intense before esoteric weapons and full normal gear. I don't know why anyone would say otherwise. It's not really up for debate.

[HReincarnate]

ITT people who aren't good enough to perform savage mechanics so they just play it off by calling it "artificial difficulty".

Dunning-Kreuger effect anyone?

Ah I was waiting for this response. Trust me, if mechanics were the real difficulty of savage I'd be on A3S competing for server first by now. Instead it's the tight dps checks that lock groups out & leave them either beating their heads at a boss with no result, or waiting for gear, despite their ability to execute mechanics and the fact that they cleared Coil without too much trouble.

[Malevicton]

The most annoying thing about Alexander imo is Mide. She seems to just be a collection of the most cliche possible tropes rolled into one. Her scar has more personality than she does at this point. She shows up out of nowhere, we accept her help for really no reason except because the narrative demands it, she's obviously got the "mysterious past" thing going on (pretty obviously related to the illuminati and Alexander). Her whole character felt forced from the beginning, and then every time I tried to give her a chance I immediately regretted it.

[Stanelis]

Thanks for the topic, I felt the same way but didn't want to start a polemic.

[4gotmypassword]

A1S DPS check was pretty intense before esoteric weapons and full normal gear. I don't know why anyone would say otherwise. It's not really up for debate.

Because a 10:30 enrage was beaten in 9:30 and less without those, more like 7 minutes now.

[MisterLucie]

Ah I was waiting for this response. Trust me, if mechanics were the real difficulty of savage I'd be on A3S competing for server first by now. Instead it's the tight dps checks that lock groups out & leave them either beating their heads at a boss with no result, or waiting for gear, despite their ability to execute mechanics and the fact that they cleared Coil without too much trouble.

Honestly, and I don't mean this as offensively as it's going to sound, but I very highly doubt your group would be good enough to be competing for any firsts if they can't handle doing proper dps while also doing mechanics. A1 was doable without esoteric gear, and it's almost trivial with it.

[Lyrinn]

They should have released Alexander story and Savage at the same time, because a lot of the boredom is coming from the fact that most of the mechanics were figured out weeks before and the fights themselves have been farmed to death. Making story mode be a stepping stone in progression was a mistake.