Alexander 12N Tuning

[Fynlar]

12 didn't seem that bad to me once you know how to handle the markers. Most of the wipes come from that, and as a result, wipes tend to happen very early in the fight until you learn.

11 though... hoo boy. I see myself dreading this one as a weekly just like I dreaded Wiping City. This fight doesn't really get complex until the end, so you'll usually end up slogging through most of the fight over and over only to wipe at that point, which will wear people down and cause people to ditch faster.

Also, I dunno about anyone else, but the music in A11 is also the only fight in the game that makes me want to turn the music off.

[Evergrey]

I like A12, it keeps you on your toes.
It's not too hard. Personally I would say it's because other content is more chill with more breathing rooms than this.

[SublimeIbanez]

It seems fine for me, just a bit bursty. Make sure to keep people topped off and use an AoE heal/buff (adlo/succor, enhanced benefic, medica 2) before the time stuff happens.

[Andres_Lonegrief]

Yes, it can create troubles but I don't think it's any different than A8 and A8. I understand it causes DF parties to wipe but eventually everybody will be able to get past this fight before the reset. Easing the damage means that in a few weeks the fight won't be challenging any longer and we will have another weekly boring task like VoidArk.

Let's see it as an opportunity to test your skills and become stronger. Even if it is a story mode raid, it still is a raid so It is ok if the difficulty curve is a bit above the average...

[aesteval]

It's fine. Number 1 way to avoid most of the heavy damage is to learn to dodge and do the mechanics. It's perfectly ok to have some sense of challenge in story mode content while it's fresh and new - everything does not have to be readily steamrolled and cleared in a day. Echo and better gear will eventually be all the nerf it needs. For now? Everyone should also look into their abilities that support the whole party. I offtanked as PLD. I see the tank buster being charged? I start casting Clemency on the main tank. I have Divine Veil ready? I use it.

[aesteval]

That's tank buster territory on DPS. Meanwhile the tank is getting smacked and a raid AoE damage is coming out. Many are right in the sense that this is going to separate the Good Healers from the Decent Ones, basically Vault 2.0, but again that should be the place of Savage mode, NOT story.

Savage raiders need to get out of this thread because it doesn't apply to them. This mode is for the casuals, the majority of players.

Casual here. New gear is all the fight needs to ease up the difficulty. We have new gear to work towards. We have a reason to get that gear. The fight will be steamrolled soon enough. It doesn't have to be steamrollable on the first week of release. Give it time. You're looking at people going in at near minimum ilvl at this point.

[Ash_]

This is basically WC all over again. It's a wake up call. The only reasons I see people dying is because heals are dpsing away not keeping an eye on the health bars, and dps doing stupid dps things (standing on switches.. forever.. and ever.. and ever..).

For the former it's been happening a lot on the jp servers. I've watched the MT be reduced down to 2k hp and the healer is still focused on dps. I've lost count the number of times I could've been saved if the heals turned off their own tunnel vision.

I like the fights as is though, things will get better hopefully from this week. A9/10 are mostly intimidating but are actually easy, A11 final 15% is intense, A12 is satisfying when things go well.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Again, fueling your own drama, I never said no challenge, and I do think that current content should have some challenge.

Steps was nerfed because it was the gateway to Heavensward. People left when it popped in the DF because there was absolutely no incentive to complete it after the initial completion as it gave no rewards. So they had to nerf it. Otherwise people wouldn't have been able to play their new expansion.

Right. Alexander gates nothing. It is merely a side story you want to have beaten the first week. Why should those who do want some degree of challenge be robbed of it because you can't wait to have it cleared? Yes, it may be poor DF groups slowing you down. That happens to us all, and certainly shouldn't warrant a nerf. People eventualy got over Nidhogg's difficulty once Yoshi stated they had no intentions of reducing the difficulty.

Not everything has to be on the cutting edge of challenge. Dungeons shouldn't be that hard because they should be something you can complete in less than 30 minutes per day. That's why we no longer have the super long dungeons of 2.0 (Stone Vigil, DD, Aurum Vale). Not many liked them. And if running old content for challenge is your thing, use the minimum ilvl button and do it that way. I would guess you've never done that and will never do that. Rose colored glasses and pining for the past don't get you very far in life.

Instead, we have a declining sub total. I would hazard a guess the sheer laughably difficulty dungeons we're meant to spam for three months contributed to people's departure. Frankly, I shouldn't be capable of tanking any level 60 dungeon as a Dragoon, yet ran the entirely of Saint Mocianne's Arboretum as basically a tank because I badly outgeared our Paladin. No one is expecting nor demanding dungeons because an absurd challenge. Just that they actually require more than banging your head on the keyboard. Perhaps you ought to take that advice in regards to your own opinions. Seems anyone who disagrees with you either only covets Savage or has "rose tinted glasses".

We're also "paying customers," by the way.

Finally, according to what I've read, the player base isn't dropping. If anything it's growing, and most of them will never step foot in a Savage. Just like most never set foot in a Coil in 2.0

The unofficial census placed the overall character number at nearly 800k back in January. We have since dropped to approximately 500k, though I imagine some have returned with 3.4's launched. Either way, no the game does not seem to be growing, but has plateaued.

[MrsFluffyButt]

Learn to play

[LineageRazor]

I think it's pretty great that the content has some teeth to it, at least in the first week or so after release. It's challenging to do with a Duty Finder group, but far from impossible. I ran A12 several times this weekend, each time with one or more players new to the content (and generally several who were not new but still had not cleared), and all but one time we were able to win after a few wipes. I don't doubt that there will be groups that will run out the clock without a win (or fall apart earlier), but this is a good level of challenge to expect for a bunch of random players tossed together.