When you Love the Story, but are Really Bad at the Gameplay

[xenahawk]

I had one of those moments during a scenerio took me like 15+ attemps before i finally got past it. Might i suggest i didnt see you say you tried it but maybe there is a video guide that might help you see something you might be missing. You really shouldnt stress yourself too much to dieing in a dungeon your not used to because personally i find i play worse when i start doing stuff like that, its almost like the more cautious you are the more the game is like challenge accepted.

[TaleraRistain]

Are you having fun with the game? Then keep at it.

Often times those solo instances have a "trick" and you may be missing the cue either visually in the fight or by what NPCs in the duty may be saying. You might find it valuable to look up a video guide, especially from a BRD or at least a dps perspective. Your tactics will be a bit different than a tank or healer class. You can always stop the guide after you get to the part you're having issues with, so you don't spoil anything past it for yourself.

Also, check out your gear. Being undergeared is something that can make those instances ten times harder.

And like someone else mentioned, just step away for a second. There may be something not clicking and if you step away and do something else in game or IRL, it may click when you come back to it.

You can try another class like some say. But duties are designed to be completed by everyone. So there should be a path forward to completion as a BRD. You shouldn't have to change from the class you're enjoying.

IIRC I think that one got a lot of complaints, too, because isn't that one with phases that doesn't have checkpoints? It won't help you get through this one, but I can say that they learned from the feedback on that so we see checkpoints more often in future solo duties instead of all them taking us all the way back to the beginning when we fail one phase.

[Gemina]

I had one of those moments during a scenerio took me like 15+ attemps before i finally got past it.

It was Musosai Sensei that did it for me in FFXIV. Definitely failure in the double digits. Thing is, I kept thinking there was some mechanic I was not getting. Nope. No tricks, or gimmicks, or DPS checks. Just need to use your kit, and be smart about it.

I'm not adverse to looking at a video, or seeking out some tips. That's what happened with Musosai, and when trying to find out what his trick was. I was told that he is simply just one of those fights where if you can't get past him, then you shouldn't play Samurai. That totally triggered my inner Azem, and I was like, "He is so going down!" Then I figured out how to beat him. Oh man. That was so much fun. I can still feel that accomplishment too, and SAM is now my go to when I want to bring the pain to high-end duties.

[Xtro99]

If you are a slow learner like myself sometimes you've got to take a step back and discern what you're doing wrong. Most of the mechanics in this game are not beaten by quick reactions, but experience. I've been stuck in certain duty scenarios like Naadam for like 10+ attempts until I finally stopped to analyze what was killing me instantly

[Roflcopter]

Okay, to start at the beginning, I started playing FFXIV mid-December (last year), on a Free Trial account (I registered several months before but hadn't actually played the game) and was instantly hooked - the story the game is telling is amazing and really does leave you with a 'just one more quest/cutscene' feeling at almost every step. I've subscribed and played through to the post-Stormblood/pre Shadowbringers quests so far.

As much as I love the game and it's story... I'm really, really bad at the gameplay element. My character is at level 73 now although I'm not sure how I scraped my way to said level. I feel like I should have enough experience to play my favored job (Bard) at least fairly competently by now but that isn't the case - I don't think a single MSQ duty finder goes by where I don't spend a great deal of time being resurrected by healers, or just completely failing at a mechanic (repeatedly). Anything involving waiting for visual cues ends poorly because I'm usually either too slow on the uptake or staring at my hotbar and trying to figure out what I should press. None of this is coming naturally to me and I feel like I'm a burden to the teams I join when teaming is necessary. I did try reading guides/watching videos and such but haven't been able to put what I learnt to good use.

Point in fact - I hit a proverbial brick wall a few days ago. Try as I may (and I've tried repeatedly) I cannot complete the 'A Requiem for Heroes' duty - I can just about scrape past he first stage (playing as Hien) but when it swaps to my character Ascian Zenos just keeps wiping me out no matter what I do or try. To my utter humiliation I can't even defeat him when have tried setting the difficulty level to 'Very Easy'.

I've seen threads/posts on this forum referering how many feel the the game is too easy and tried talking to a friend who dismissed my comments as me being defeatist - so I have to ask - since I don't feel as if I am really competent enough to play the game at this point, should I continue?

You’ll improve with practice. You may want to carefully evaluate what you are doing though as dps should never die in MSQ roulette. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it beyond occasionally someone stupidly pulling agro on the praetorium mobs you are supposed to rush past. Occasionally tanks die on the second set if they can’t get the second teleporter activated fast enough. You might want to consider a class with more sustain so you can absorb mistakes easier. Bard really doesn’t have the same forgiveness as a red mage, a tank or a healer. Maybe consider dancer or machinist if you like the physical ranged. Dancer has a shield and a heal. Machinist is just super bursty with a straightforward rotation. I’d really recommend red mage though. Once you get down the rhythm of the playstyle, you will find it works very nicely for solo play and that heal is very strong.

[Roflcopter]

It was Musosai Sensei that did it for me in FFXIV. Definitely failure in the double digits. Thing is, I kept thinking there was some mechanic I was not getting. Nope. No tricks, or gimmicks, or DPS checks. Just need to use your kit, and be smart about it.

I'm not adverse to looking at a video, or seeking out some tips. That's what happened with Musosai, and when trying to find out what his trick was. I was told that he is simply just one of those fights where if you can't get past him, then you shouldn't play Samurai. That totally triggered my inner Azem, and I was like, "He is so going down!" Then I figured out how to beat him. Oh man. That was so much fun. I can still feel that accomplishment too, and SAM is now my go to when I want to bring the pain to high-end duties.

For me, it was the red mage level 60 trial. Insanely unforgiving and took a number of attempts. Grit my teeth and figured it out. Refused to go easy mode on any of the trials. I think the one where you play Estinien took a couple attempts though, but that was just due to overlooking a mechanic.

[SugarPuff]

Usually when I'm stuck at a particular boss it helps to entirely rethink my approach. It often lead to a few quick failures that reaffirm various ways not to go, then success with some seemingly (to me) minor change.

I don't know if that's helpful, necessarily, but it's the method of someone not especially skilled at the game who also happen to main bard. Don't give up! For me, the Zenos fights were some of the toughest solo duties in the msq and I'm at the tail end of EW now. As others have said, there's no shame in taking a break from that fight to focus on something less frustrating for awhile, though. I've certainly done that and benefited fom it!

[Carin-Eri]

It was Musosai Sensei that did it for me in FFXIV. Definitely failure in the double digits. Thing is, I kept thinking there was some mechanic I was not getting. Nope. No tricks, or gimmicks, or DPS checks. Just need to use your kit, and be smart about it.

I'm not adverse to looking at a video, or seeking out some tips. That's what happened with Musosai, and when trying to find out what his trick was. I was told that he is simply just one of those fights where if you can't get past him, then you shouldn't play Samurai. That totally triggered my inner Azem, and I was like, "He is so going down!" Then I figured out how to beat him. Oh man. That was so much fun. I can still feel that accomplishment too, and SAM is now my go to when I want to bring the pain to high-end duties.

Advice taken - and have figured what the issue is. Assuming those three swords the OP idiot summons are the key to surviving that ridiculous one-shot 'Art of Sword', but I just can't DPS those swords out of play in time

[Catwho]

I'm a long term veteran, and I failed a solo duty just two days ago when I was trying to unlock Sage. (Ooops....) Sometimes you just have to pick yourself up and try again.

As for bard specifically: I rearranged my hotbar to make the things I use most often be the easiest to reach. Bard's core rotation is two DoTs and Heavy Shot, with Iron Jaws replacing the recast of the DoTs once you're in the 50s. There are some role actions on bard that I hardly ever use (the action that Silences, for example) and they are kept out of the way so they don't confuse me. There are certain times I'll need those in some fights, but it's rare enough to not need to occupy a prime spot on the layout.

You can also rearrange the rest of the HUD to make things easier. I have my song gauge moved down to the very bottom next to the hotbars, and Focus Target (the boss) right above the hotbars. This way, I can keep an eye on what the boss is doing, what my songs are doing, and what the next bit of my rotation is, without having to zoom my eyes all over the screen.

[kiwispirits]

I am an older player and have run into the same issues as yourself. Not very good at multitasking. I struggled for ages with getting my white mage through the story line, but gave up. Instead I levelled a Warrior, which is a LOT more forgiving. If you mess up a mechanic you have a very good chance of surviving and continuing. The rotation is easy and there is less to track than healing.
I know this will not help you with your current road block. The only way I succeeded with those was to rewatch the online video and see where the critical mechanics are. I found I had to concentrate less on DPS work and more on being in the right place at the right time. All the best for the future.

P.S. I forgot to mention that I have levelled Healer, Tank and DPS to 90. In my opinion Healer is the hardest role in the game. You have to dodge mechanics/stay alive, watch the party health and react with heals, and do DPS. I still die in dungeons, and I do a lot of the story solo fights on Easy mode.
I have to keep reminding myself of the priority list: 1. Stay Alive. Nothing else is as important. When dead you cannot heal. Map a hotkey to a macro that does a self heal. 2. Heal tank. 3.If time and resources allow, heal group. 4. Fit in some DPS when you can, but skip it if you are having problems with 1 and 2.