I want to get into Raiding

[ExcentricNoob]

So, I've been giving it some thought, and I'd like to try getting into the Raiding scene. I'm a casual player and I got no shame in that. My Raiding experience is just using the Roulette when trying to farm for the currency needed to upgrade gear on one of my max level Classes. My fear is that trying to get into the Raiding scene outside of the Roulette would get me shunned from whatever Raiding FCs or communities that are out there because I have very subpar gear (my Red Mage is still rocking Green gear in a few slots), only two max level Classes (Red Mage and Dancer), no knowledge on min/max stat priorities, and no Materia on my gear (I think?) since I don't know what kinds to add to my gear, or when to even start using Materia. Like, should Materia only be added when you have the highest item level gear? Things like that get me scared and just cause me to continue using Roulettes for Raids instead of trying to branch out and find a regular group that does Raid regularly. Not sure if I'm making any sense in all this, but any tips for a player interested in trying to join the Raiding scene?

[HyoMinPark]

If you’re discussing Savage raiding, then you should take baby steps first.

Familiarize yourself with the job you wish to raid on. Learn its rotation and practice extensively on a striking dummy until it’s muscle memory. Damage, more or less, doesn’t matter in most content—but it will matter in Savage raids; so you want to make sure you have a good understanding of how your job plays to meet the damage quota.

Second, familiarize yourself with proper gearing techniques. For Savage, you will want to keep your gear as updated as possible. Right now, the best there is outside of the new Savage/Tomestone gear is the i480 Neo-Ishgardian set. It is essential that you have this gear for tackling the newest Savage raid. Melding it will also be important. Generally, you can find out which materia your job prefers by joining a discord like The Balance, where they post resources like this. They also post your Best in Slot (BiS) sets for each new raid tier. BiS includes proper materia melds. Generally, interim gear should also be melded.

Third, since it seems like you haven’t tried any high-end content in FFXIV yet, start going into Extreme trials. They are harder and more demanding that things like dungeons, and they will also introduce you to dealing with punishing mechanics and enrage timers. You will want to get used to EX before going into Savage, as Savage is harder and more demanding. I recommend, after gearing yourself, to join some EX primal party finders. Start with learning ones. Focus on learning the mechanics while simultaneously dealing damage. Don’t get discouraged if you get killed or mess up. It happens to everyone.

After you feel comfortable enough in EX trials, then you can start tackling Savage. Savage is fairly puggable in Party Finder, so do the same thing: joining learning parties and practice the fights. Do not join a clear party until you have at least been to enrage a couple times, and feel confident that you understand the fight and the mechanics.

[Sasarayu]

The oldest and best advice for raiding in FFXIV is: "have seven friends to raid with or don't bother".

I've personally never found a more inaccessible environment than the so called FFXIV raid "scene" and the amount of energy it requires isn't worth what little you get for it imo.

Compare it to WoW where I log on and do my daily lonewolfing and everything else, including the highest difficulty raiding, I get through the guild just by having the ability/ambition level I have.

[Rymm]

Let me preface this by saying that I do not have a Static and the highest end content I usually do is EX Primals in PF PuG groups. That being said, until a Savage raider would like to step in and offer something more constructive, my basic advice is to educate yourself and put effort into being the best you can right now. I personally recommend the Balance as a great resource.

Pick which class you would like to main and focus on gearing it up as best you can in the short term- buy the new tier of crafted gear or burn your tomes for the best vendor gear you can get at the moment. Replace your lowest ilvl items first. Once you have decent gear that you don't feel you'll be replacing in the immediate future, meld it (I would save overmelding for when you get BiS or once you find a static, if they require that).

Do research on your chosen class and make sure you are optimizing your rotation. Watch boss fight videos to learn the strats before you ever set foot in them. Make yourself a player that other people will want to have on their team.

I know it's not terribly specific, but I hope it helps. Good luck out there!

[MPK]

Perfect time to start. New EX just dropped and a new raid tier just dropped

[VenKitsune]

The oldest and best advice for raiding in FFXIV is: "have seven friends to raid with or don't bother".

I've personally never found a more inaccessible environment than the so called FFXIV raid "scene" and the amount of energy it requires isn't worth what little you get for it imo.

I disagree completely.
Raiding with existing friends causes drama, drama breaks friendships.
The Raiding scene really isnt hard to get in to - Not when generally savage is much easier than other MMO's raids, and not with the stepping stone that is extremes.

[HyoMinPark]

The oldest and best advice for raiding in FFXIV is: "have seven friends to raid with or don't bother".

I've personally never found a more inaccessible environment than the so called FFXIV raid "scene" and the amount of energy it requires isn't worth what little you get for it imo.

Compare it to WoW where I log on and do my daily lonewolfing and everything else, including the highest difficulty raiding, I get through the guild just by having the ability/ambition level I have.

I disagree with this. I was a nobody when I started raiding—I had no raiding experience (this is my first MMO), I was honestly not that great of a player, and I really only had 2 friends that actually did Savage content. We just dove in and did random PFs during Creator to introduce me to the content (I’d already been doing Extremes for a bit at that point). Eventually I started searching for statics and doing Party Finders (I don’t do much PF nowadays because I’m a little too busy, but it was never an issue doing them before with random people). I managed to “get into this inaccessible scene” and clear an Ultimate fight last year. I might not be well-known in the raid scene, but I’ve never really tried to be. I’ve never been kicked or otherwise “blacklisted” by anyone in the raiding community, so. /shrug

Anyways, I don’t find the community inaccessible at all.

[QooEr]

when i wanted to start raiding i kind of just did it. find yourself a casual static if you have time or pug stuff if you dont.

obviously make sure youre good enough at the job u want to play and that your gear is up to par too. the balance discord has very good resources for rotations, optimization and gear.

that said, more casual players tend to think savage is super intimidating and hard but its really a lot of fun. we all start somewhere after all

[Thoosa]

The difficulty of savage is reduced significantly by doing it in a static because normally you’re surrounded by similarly skilled players who are happy to dedicate the time to clear.

Pf is a lottery and normally takes longer to progress as people leave regularly and get replaced, so by the time the group is in tune with each other with the mechanics, someone leaves and the new person has to relearn and the group retune. Savage is doable in pf though, especially when you clear and can get into Duty Completed groups.

Ultimate is impossible in pf most likely, so you need a static. The gap between savage and ultimate is huge though, so only worth trying if your group finds savage super easy.

[Curisu]

Like everyone already said, it is quite easy and when you got your gear ready then you can start.

But I would recommend to first get the ruby weapon and then try for the savage raid.

Watch/read a guide and join a first time group.
Aftrer you have got the first impression of the boss just watch the guide again and maybe a kill video and you will understand a lot more then at the first time.
By raiding via PF you can do it in your own pace, no pressure and you can join as many "phase x" training groups as you need to understand the mechanics and continue to the next big phase.