Do I really have to miss out on such a great story-driven game?

[EveK]

Doing them specifically with friends always helps if that's an option. A lot of the stress people experience with dungeons is centered around the people they're randomly matched with having different goals. It would help, of course, to know precisely why you "dread" them.

If you spent much time on your previous character, I'd also recommend resuming play of that and just starting a new class rather than making an entirely new character.

[Mahoukenshi]

I just restarted and have a dread of doing the dungeons. I always avoid dungeons and pvp in every game I play. So despite getting into ARR at the beta stage and when it went to full release, when I got to the run of dungeons between level 15 and 20 I quit the game.

I would love to play this game without dungeons but know that isn't an option. Thing is I really like the rest of the game. Questing is really enjoyable and I especially enjoy the fetch quests (I know right, a lot of you will think I'm nuts for that). I also enjoy gathering and especially the crafting system.

So with a new char what would you advise as a planned gameplay to learn to tolerate or even enjoy dungeons? Thanks

I had similar issues, where even the simple procress of joinig DF and the waiting time started to cause over the top nervosity issues. Over the top because in retrospec I had no negative - as in toxic/rude/jerk party comments on messing up - experiences.
Even though I only started shortly before ShB's early access, I also decided to make a fresh caracter for a "clean 2nd chance" and hoping to adapt an "improved" mindset. What I did was to start as a job with more responsiblity - mainly tanks, and at least in the very beginning try to block negative thoughts out and register for DF asap + adding a "first time doing/tanking this" at the start and do leveling (and main scenario) roulette on a regular basis. At first it worked out nicely, but towards the end of ARR and during HW, I also switched to DPS again despite the longer queue times XD, especially after my horrendous tank experience in the Vault (self-caused mistakes). I also watch short dungeon guides to calm myself down, even though for me it looks quite easier to dodge bad stuff than actually having to do it myself .

So yeah: "just doing them" sounds lame, but it helped me tolerating them. If you can ever enjoy them, will be hard to say. Having someone or a group should be a plus if everyone gets along (or has enough patience), but my solo DF runs have been - again - without negative party backlash, even the afore-mentioned Vault run.

[Nanami_Naniwa]

I hate dungeons! They stress me out very very much. I've tried as WHM, SCH/SUM and BARD. I suspect I will never enjoy them and I'm getting so stressed when the storyline needs a dungeon. I have managed to get myself to level 53 and it's been a mix of joy and horror. I really am struggling. Do I really have to miss out on such a great story-driven game just for hating dungeons so much? I love all the pve outside dungeons and even manage the duty instances fairly well now. I love gathering and crafting. I love exploring and having a quest show me a gem I had no clue was there when I explored an area originally. I LOVE this game... all apart from dungeons!!!

Hey Mirinda,

Me and my friends are on Spriggan in a very family like FC. We are very helpful and trying our best to make our members feel at ease. If you want to stay on Spriggan, hit me up ingame. I should be online the whole weekend. We can get you through this dungeons without worrying about anything o/

Cheers,
Nanami Naniwa

[Shurrikhan]

Honestly? Maybe. Probably not, though; in all but the absolute worst cases you can ask some friendly people to carry you through the main story dungeons. Even if that fails, there are complete playlists of the MSQ, down to every line of dialogue if it truly comes down to it. There's no reason to be denied the story itself just because the gameplay doesn't work for you.

[Hasrat]

Terrible piece of advice: Why not just hide chat while running? Can't let any criticism get to you if you can't read it. Sure, you might end up getting kicked once or twice if things are really bad. But hey, you can just treat it as if it's like failing any solo duty.

Bottom line, nobody really cares all that much as long as you're not just leeching. Make it look like you're putting some effort in, have some reasonable understanding of your job beyond the bare basic combo, and try your best not to tunnel-vision too hard. Probably the hardest part right there, getting too focused on doing good that you don't notice the incoming bad.

[Elladie]

Hi Mirindi, know exactly how you feel. ShB has helped a lot with my experiences in duties because the DPS for healers is simpler now - I can focus on learning mechanics while I can still contribute some DPS - but I often experience times where I can't face dungeons at all. I'm on the same data centre as you, so my friends and I will happily jump over to Spriggan and run you through the story dungeon/trial. We are level 80 so we can do it unsync'd if that helps your stress levels!

[Marc-Vigar]

I don't understand how can people in this game be so oversensitive...

Next post: Why SE made daytime so bright???? my eyes hurt!

[Umo]

I don't understand how can people in this game be so oversensitive...

Next post: Why SE made daytime so bright???? my eyes hurt!

Replies like this one don't help in any way or form, and we are here for helping new players, aren't we?


About OP, maybe you could rethink the whole situation? I mean, your post makes me think you're anticipating the worst case scenario if you "fail", leading you to stress yourself out, ultimately causing you distress right from the very beginning of a dungeon. That alone would lead you to unfocus (the memory issues you talked about, remember?) and hinder your own performance, thus validating the "I'm not good at this and I'm failing for sure" idea. A textbook self-fulfilling prophecy.
Just play down. No doom will come if you fail. On top of that, repetition is the key, and I'm pretty sure you're good at that since you do like gathering and crafting, so enter any dungeon, play through it, rinse and repeat, then move to the next one.

[Zarabeth]

I'm not a huge fan of dungeons either. I tend to do them mostly with my FC or my LS. I suggest leveling dps then all you have to do is follow the group and kill stuff. Just make sure to use aoe skills if there are more than 3 monsters.