I really would like alexander normal to be a little more challenging

[Samsta]

I enjoy playing "mid-core" content in this game, meaning harder encounters but still encounters that do not require a static group and countless tries and fails. Old extreme primals would be a good example of this. In this current patch we do not really have that, as nobody is doing bismarck ex (I have tried to get a group going many times), alex normal is very easy, and alex savage is hard as fuck.

You get ilvl190 gear from normal alex, so i though initially that the encounters would be the same difficulty level as old extreme primals when they came out. But no, I was actually kinda disappointed as the only floor that has any challenge is a4, and that is also pretty much dependent on healers, being a healer myself after I did the fight like 2 times and learned when the tank buster comes it no longer feels like any challenge and is actually very easy. I belong to pretty casual fc that, on top of everything is also kinda taking a break right now, so I do not really have the opportunity (nor do i really have the commitment in me to tackle these) to try the most challenging content (a3s and a4s).

It would have been so good if a1 would have been the same difficulty level as a4 is right now and then build up from there, eventually leading to the same difficulty level as ravana ex or so. completing alex every week just does not bring the "yay I did it" feeling that I got from content like BCoB turn 1 in 2.0 or beating leviathan extreme when it came out. I have heard that a1s and a2s are much easier than a3s and a4s so maybe I will try to form a party and try these when I get better gear but I doubt it.

I really hope they will make the next floors harder.

[MrTherm]

You may want to glance over at the thread I created in regards to A3S/A4S difficulty. It seems you have the same general complaint as me, but a different view on fixing it.

[Samsta]

You may want to glance over at the thread I created in regards to A3S/A4S difficulty. It seems you have the same general complaint as me, but a different view on fixing it.

Yeah I read your thread, and it focused more on alex savage, when my problem is that the normal alex is way too easy, and we currently have no viable "mid-core" content.

[Risvertasashi]

Yes... I was excited when I heard we were getting a midcore raid, but really it just turned out to be a faceroll raid. Sigh....

[Istede]

Mid-core content does not appear to be something they are really interested in.

Sure we have Bismarck and Ravana, but the Bismarck weapons were worthless (aside from glamour) the moment they were introduced and because you don't need a tomestone to get an eso weapon there's no reason for anyone to farm a Ravana one now aside from alt-jobs.

I might call A1S and A2S mid-core, based on their dps/gear reqs and the amount of time required to learn the fights. My group is still on A3S and it is LIGHT-YEARS beyond the first two in terms of difficulty though.

Hopefully if we get Singularity Reactor Ex it will be fun, challenging, and provide useful loot. That would just be one instance for the next 3 months though, and even a fun fight like Ravana gets old after you farm like 9 weapons from it.

[MrTherm]

Yeah I read your thread, and it focused more on alex savage, when my problem is that the normal alex is way too easy, and we currently have no viable "mid-core" content.

While my wording is terrible+10, generally speaking I am agreeing with you on the lack of mid-core content. While you want to see alex normal difficulty go up, I think that Savage 1+2 work good as mid-core, its just that 3+4 do not. While we have different means, we both want to see the same end goal.

[Metalwrath]

The problem i think with Alex normal was that players could get law and up that gear way too fast when Heavensward launched.By the time Alex came out a lot of players also already had i190 weapons from Ravana ex.Now by this stage when you join Alex even in df it's full of people who already have half their eso gear and some Alex gear.So while you may be at the average gear level for the content half your party is probably already well overgeared for the challenge.
I think Alex wasn't designed taking in the scaling of the gear to the content which is where it's main flaw lies.The mechanics are too simple and the only thing that makes it hard is bad dps.
If you look at previous raid content even the crystal towers had more complex mechanics which made them harder to just win through overgearing.

[Adrasteia]

Mid-core content does not appear to be something they are really interested in.

I would really like to see the metrics on how many people have cleared Ravana Extreme, actually. I thought the difficulty was perfect: complex structure, but the numbers were tuned right to allow for less-than-optimal DPS and a few slipups. I cleared it in a 2.5 hour marathon with a completely random PF group I joined out of the blue one day. It was hard, but not too hard, such that getting through it with 7 random people you met wasn't a completely remote possibility.

Functionally, the problem I have with A1-A4 is that it fulfills the exact same purpose as CT: a "catchup" raid that nearly anyone can do. My suspicion is that it was originally intended to be harder, but the delay in having the new CT out would have meant a paucity of content for more casual players (which form the majority of the playerbase; I'd guess that maybe 20-30% of players have cleared Ravana Ex across all servers, by comparison).

[Samsta]

While my wording is terrible+10, generally speaking I am agreeing with you on the lack of mid-core content. While you want to see alex normal difficulty go up, I think that Savage 1+2 work good as mid-core, its just that 3+4 do not. While we have different means, we both want to see the same end goal.

Oh I see.

I would really like to see the metrics on how many people have cleared Ravana Extreme, actually. I thought the difficulty was perfect: complex structure, but the numbers were tuned right to allow for less-than-optimal DPS and a few slipups. I cleared it in a 2.5 hour marathon with a completely random PF group I joined out of the blue one day. It was hard, but not too hard, such that getting through it with 7 random people you met wasn't a completely remote possibility.

I would love to try ravana extreme, but nobody is doing bismarck extreme. This to me is really bad design, why make the weapons from bismarck be completely useless? Now it just stands there as a block for players like me.

[Trixxy]

You underestimate the community's ability to suck at the game.