The MSQ Endwalker Trial Bosses are WAY too hard for newer players to FFXIV

[HyoMinPark]

If you can't clear it due to visual issues, there are settings to reduce visuals until you know the mechanics better. If you refuse to take advantage of those options because "MAH IMERSHUN!!" that's a you issue.

To be fair, the game options don’t help for things like P3N/P3S, where the orange arena on top of the orange glow on top of the neon colored boss are very tiring to the eyes. Sometimes it’s more so the arena that causes visual strain or issues in people that don’t have the best eyesight. I don’t find this applicable to any of the story trials—but there are other fights that exist where the boss or the arena make things more difficult for the visually impaired than they need to be. The colorblind options don’t help much for non-colorblind individuals in terms of reducing the visual strain fights like P3N/P3S either. The only thing I’ve seen is a GShade filter for it—but that won’t help console players.

I also personally struggled with E10S a lot, since the boss’s shadow mechanic was difficult for me to make out—given the black shadow laid over the black boss model.

I do recommend toning down battle effects for those who get easily distracted by all the flashies, though. I use all for myself, limited for party members, and then off for everyone else. I’d recommend going no lower than limited, since if you turn them all off, you won’t see beneficial things like healing bubbles (Asylum/Sacred Soil) or Earthly Star (not that you can really miss it now that it’s the Earthly Galaxy, but still).

[TheMightyMollusk]

I wish I could turn off just summoner effects, because holy crap those are painful to look at, especially if there are multiple in the party and/or if I'm on a melee job and stuck in the middle of it. It's like a red mage LB3 every minute or so.

[Jojoya]

I wish I could turn off just summoner effects, because holy crap those are painful to look at, especially if there are multiple in the party and/or if I'm on a melee job and stuck in the middle of it. It's like a red mage LB3 every minute or so.

Have you at least reduced the displayed size of their summons? It does help a lot.

/petsize all small
(or medium/large depending on what size you prefer)

[TheMightyMollusk]

It helps with the clutter of the summons themselves, but it doesn't do anything about the spell effects.

[Larirawiel]

You can reduce or completely disable the spell effects of other players. So you can see the telegraphs and enemies again. Your own spell effects are not so disruptive.

Cheers

[kaynide]

To be fair, the game options don’t help for things like P3N/P3S, where the orange arena on top of the orange glow on top of the neon colored boss are very tiring to the eyes. Sometimes it’s more so the arena that causes visual strain or issues in people that don’t have the best eyesight..

This is a fair point; the Orange-Hazard area colors should be customizable like names etc. Or, at the very least, should have more thickness to be more clear.

I don't think the trial bosses are too hard.
Whenever a mechanic is first introduced, it's usually introduced by itself so you can see how it works and so getting hit by it will at worst give you a vuln stack and a bit of damage.
The first trial boss is even generous enough to disable controls and zoom the camera out so you can understand how his gimmick works.

To add, not directed at you, but others having trouble:

In addition to what DontreadThis says, mechanics are constantly recycled; Most new dungeon bosses utilize mechanics seen in previous raids, full on copy-pasted. Very few "new" mechanics are actually new without that introductory bit.

[Carin-Eri]

Well, I have to admit that I am stuck at the MSQ duel with a certain entity of light. Just a friendly duel...ya right.
I don't whine about it, I just do other stuff. It is what it is. I don't need everything if the game demands I do things I don't enjoy.
I spoke with some "veterans" of the game and even they said it was a brutal encounter that tested their abilities to the limit. As I am a casual player it is highly unlikely I will reach that level of skill. My game now consists of hanging out with friends in town and making music. I don't feel a compulsion to finish anything if it stops being fun.
The best way of handling it is to do what you enjoy. If it's too difficult, forget it. Do something else. Try to have fun instead.

Sound advice, for the most part. The tricky part comes in when it's the story you love and admitting defeat would mean not seeing the story through to the end.

And I'm admittedly not at this fight yet, but considering how very badly I've struggled to get to this point (Early Endwalker) I suspect it may end up being a brick wall I can't overcome, and that's assuming I don't hit that wall before the encounter this thread is about. I've pretty much reached my personal 'peak' and it's FAR below what will be required to overcome a challenge like that.

And I'll also note - and not intending to be offensive - those saying "well, you aren't new anymore". Okay... that's a touch dismissive to be honest and I'd have to ask.... by whose standards is a player not 'new'? 'New' is a broad definition and in some cases the player's level is just a number. I've been playing FFXIV for approximately three months now (although generally only for a few hours every evening); I have no doubt whatsoever that most players had mastered the game in that time. I'm not 'most players'. I struggled like hell to get to Endwalker and had to do a good many solo duties on 'Easy' or 'Very Easy', which feels kinda humilating to be honest, particularly when reading through this thread. My reflexes/reaction times are laughable and I can't see them improving.
So please (to those who've said it) stop acting as if there is some sort of set standard for how good player should be by the time they reach a certain point. I don't think anything in life really works like that.

Anyway, I really hope I can see the story through to the end, as it has been incredible to this point but honestly? I'm not convinced I can do it.

[TMW001]

If you made it to Endwalker and are a new player you should be fine if you just story skipped well that's on you get to practicing or watch youtube guides.

[Illmaeran]

Sound advice, for the most part. The tricky part comes in when it's the story you love and admitting defeat would mean not seeing the story through to the end.

And I'm admittedly not at this fight yet, but considering how very badly I've struggled to get to this point (Early Endwalker) I suspect it may end up being a brick wall I can't overcome, and that's assuming I don't hit that wall before the encounter this thread is about. I've pretty much reached my personal 'peak' and it's FAR below what will be required to overcome a challenge like that.

Anyway, I really hope I can see the story through to the end, as it has been incredible to this point but honestly? I'm not convinced I can do it.

If I could do it, so can you, seriously. I had difficulty doing all of the EW duties and died at least once in all of them; some more then once. I think I've said this to you before; even if you have to do a Trust on Very Easy and let the NPCs do the work for you while you avoid mechanics, DO IT! Get through that story while learning the mechanics as well as you can for future use. If you get it again in a roulette, do your best to avoid the mechanics while doing damage. Each time you do it, try to push your damage even more while maintaining mechanic avoidance (dead DPS do no damage) and you'll be in good shape.

I'm far from the world's best player and have some decent reflex/mental processing limitations so I'm on the lower end of the player ability spectrum. Take it from me, for the first time, do it in Dungeon Finder, not as a Trust if you can work up the courage. I went into it for the first (and so far, only) time in DF and made sure everyone knew it was my first time. If you use the "This is my first time here" translation in party chat while watching the cutscene, EVERYONE will know it and will cut you a lot of slack. After that, all you need to do is relax, avoid the mechanics you can, and do your best to do damage. Bard's actually a really good class for that fight since you're so mobile and can attack while moving. Focus more on avoiding mechanics and living than on doing max DPS and you'll be fine.

If you've only been playing for three months, you're still a brand-new baby!

[Carin-Eri]

If you made it to Endwalker and are a new player you should be fine if you just story skipped well that's on you get to practicing or watch youtube guides.

No skipping - enjoy the story too much for that. And whilst I do turn to guides/Youtube when I get stuck I do admittedly still struggle to put those lessons to practical use. I don't have the skills of the players who make those videos/write those guides.

If I could do it, so can you, seriously. I had difficulty doing all of the EW duties and died at least once in all of them; some more then once. I think I've said this to you before; even if you have to do a Trust on Very Easy and let the NPCs do the work for you while you avoid mechanics, DO IT! Get through that story while learning the mechanics as well as you can for future use. If you get it again in a roulette, do your best to avoid the mechanics while doing damage. Each time you do it, try to push your damage even more while maintaining mechanic avoidance (dead DPS do no damage) and you'll be in good shape.

I'm far from the world's best player and have some decent reflex/mental processing limitations so I'm on the lower end of the player ability spectrum. Take it from me, for the first time, do it in Dungeon Finder, not as a Trust if you can work up the courage. I went into it for the first (and so far, only) time in DF and made sure everyone knew it was my first time. If you use the "This is my first time here" translation in party chat while watching the cutscene, EVERYONE will know it and will cut you a lot of slack. After that, all you need to do is relax, avoid the mechanics you can, and do your best to do damage. Bard's actually a really good class for that fight since you're so mobile and can attack while moving. Focus more on avoiding mechanics and living than on doing max DPS and you'll be fine.

If you've only been playing for three months, you're still a brand-new baby!

Thank you for the advice/encouragement. I realised, earlier, that I lost my 'Sprout' - actually find that strangely daunting!