Thoughts on Savage Tier Rewards...

[Colt47]

I don't really agree with that. The better - and above all, dyable version - is a reward for Savage. And yes, Savage is a more difficult reward and does require more time outside of the lockouts than Alliance Raids or EX Trials. It takes time and Gil to raid, but if one wants more time for other activities, than one should limit the time they spend inside a Raid a week. You can clear them rather casually as well with little time, just not in the first few weeks.

Those who just want the Gear for Glamour can easily do so one expansion later (Alphascape Glamour farms are rather frequent on my DC, even during pre-Patch lull). If you really want the Glamour as quickly as possible, than it needs a little dedication.

[For clarification: Perspective of someone who raids 3-ish hours per week due to work, real life and wanting time for other in-game activities.]

Well, let me put it this way: I think the weapon should definitely be on the final boss given the difficulty curve, but if they are going to stick with dyable armor, that should be the first three. I could see that as a fair compromise because that final fight is way stacked. I mean, they might as well throw in a 10% chance to get a housing permit on top of the armor, weapon, and special mount.

[RicaRuin]

Well, let me put it this way: I think the weapon should definitely be on the final boss given the difficulty curve, but if they are going to stick with dyable armor, that should be the first three. I could see that as a fair compromise because that final fight is way stacked. I mean, they might as well throw in a 10% chance to get a housing permit on top of the armor, weapon, and special mount.

You are drastically exaggerating the difficulty of Savage. It's not impossible to do. Granted, Shiva/E8S is a little tricky, but that's because Light Rampant is difficult because of how the Server Tick works and screws people.

[tdb]

You are drastically exaggerating the difficulty of Savage. It's not impossible to do. Granted, Shiva/E8S is a little tricky, but that's because Light Rampant is difficult because of how the Server Tick works and screws people.

How hard is it compared to alphascapes? I spent half a year on those with a static, raiding maybe 4-6 hours a week, and only managed to clear O9S and O10S. IIRC O10S wasn't an entirely reliable clear either. We had just started on progging O11S when some interpersonal conflicts led to me leaving the static (and I suspect the entire static disbanded not long after). It seems a bit slow to me given how raid tiers are released at approximately 8-month intervals, but it's also the only time I've done savage raiding in FFXIV so I have no point of comparison.

[Colt47]

How hard is it compared to alphascapes? I spent half a year on those with a static, raiding maybe 4-6 hours a week, and only managed to clear O9S and O10S. IIRC O10S wasn't an entirely reliable clear either. We had just started on progging O11S when some interpersonal conflicts led to me leaving the static (and I suspect the entire static disbanded not long after). It seems a bit slow to me given how raid tiers are released at approximately 8-month intervals, but it's also the only time I've done savage raiding in FFXIV so I have no point of comparison.

I'm not really sure myself since this was the first time I've done any savage raiding in ages. The difficulty spike going from E7S to E8S was pretty big. FYI there is truth to what RicaRuin is saying because the final fight was heavily gated by Light rampant. There is a reason every group even after clearing the fight was basically "light rampant prog". Knockback mirror phase was more an exercise of positioning and cooldown management (also warrior gets to cheat that phase so hard.)

[Colt47]

You are drastically exaggerating the difficulty of Savage. It's not impossible to do. Granted, Shiva/E8S is a little tricky, but that's because Light Rampant is difficult because of how the Server Tick works and screws people.

Light rampant was a mistake. It's hardly the toughest part in the fight, but the only part that really comes close is the multi-mirrors when she warps to north or south side. Tanks and groups have to really make sure they got the positions down and I think I cursed myself as a tank each time the red mirror spawned N/S. I could never get her positioned as close to the mirrors going West and East.

FYI I'm not exaggerating at all but there is a good chance that this was largely due to Light Rampant. It was sort of like you couldn't even learn the later phases until you broke through light rampant, and once you broke through light rampant it was pretty easy to make it to knockback mirrors which is a huge chunk of the fight. But it took weeks to get through all of it regardless.