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

[Jojoya]

As the others have said, keep trying because it's worth it. For every negative player going "git gud", there will be players who want you to succeed and have a good time that are willing to share tips.

I usually level BRD and WHM at the same time as I do MSQ. I think it's safe to say BRD is probably the worst job choice when it comes to completing solo duties. It's built around sustained damage through DoTs supplemented by Heavy Shot/Burst Shot (which has stupidly low potency for something called "Burst") while the solo duties frequently have phases where good burst damage is needed. That takes some advance planning for BRD. Even healer jobs are better for solo duties (the DPS requirements are scaled down to match what healers can do with their toolkits). I will usually switch to WHM for doing the solo duties so I can get them done first try instead of having to hope I've guessed correctly about when I'll need the burst available.

I'd recommend leveling something like RDM for solo duties. You end up with similar mobility but better much burst, plus the ability to give yourself small heals on demand if needed and it starts as level 50 so you can catch up on levels fast. Or if you're interested in playing melee, unlock Reaper since that will start at 70.

[hagare]

As the others have said, keep trying because it's worth it. For every negative player going "git gud", there will be players who want you to succeed and have a good time that are willing to share tips.

I usually level BRD and WHM at the same time as I do MSQ. I think it's safe to say BRD is probably the worst job choice when it comes to completing solo duties. It's built around sustained damage through DoTs supplemented by Heavy Shot/Burst Shot (which has stupidly low potency for something called "Burst") while the solo duties frequently have phases where good burst damage is needed. That takes some advance planning for BRD. Even healer jobs are better for solo duties (the DPS requirements are scaled down to match what healers can do with their toolkits). I will usually switch to WHM for doing the solo duties so I can get them done first try instead of having to hope I've guessed correctly about when I'll need the burst available.

I'd recommend leveling something like RDM for solo duties. You end up with similar mobility but better much burst, plus the ability to give yourself small heals on demand if needed and it starts as level 50 so you can catch up on levels fast. Or if you're interested in playing melee, unlock Reaper since that will start at 70.

speaking of bad jobs to do quests.
Is it just me, or is SMN well...... prone to dying?
I tried the ananta roper quest and the lvl 60 job quest and boy do I fold like wet tissue.
Had to resort to kiting both quests.
I know I know, not meant to tank. But DNC didn't have the same problem as a range character xD

[Carin-Eri]

Thank you for the advice everyone, and to address the points around my choice to play as a Bard - well, to be honest I have touched on other jobs, particuarly Red Mage, but - through sheer stubborn stupidity - want to stay the course with Bard.

I know it sounds a bit ridiculous but it was Archer/Bard that pulled me back to the game in the first place. As have noted, I started playing in December, but the only reason I was able to do so (new accounts and Free Trials) were suspended at that time) was that I already had an account. I made a character and tried the game about eight months prior; I tried Black Mage, struggled with it/didn't enjoy it and at that point decided that the game probably wasn't for me. However I decided to give it another try and made a new character, with the job I'd wished I'd picked in the first place. And whilst the job has (obviously I didn't expect anything less) become increasingly difficult through the levels, I do really want to see the story through to the end playing the job that attracted me back to it in the first place.

I noted here and in the other thread you specifically bring up the body swap scenarios. I'm not a fan of borrowed skills or body swaps which EW seems to use a lot of. With their reduced number of skills it still takes some time to get in a rhythm and figure out the best way to play them. As I dislike them so much I automatically fail the first try so I can go easy mode right off the bat to get the scenarios over with as quickly as I can. Even on easy I fail on some of the tries (for the get good folks out there it ain't going to happen as I'm in the stage of life where slow reflexes only get slower and eye sight only gets worse). I do like FFXIV for the main story line but would prefer to play myself for scenarios rather than be stuck with gimmicks that don't really advance the story being told. As to your situation all I can suggest is to not get bogged down repeating the scenarios endlessly. I've found when I fail once or twice it is best to relax and not go back to them for a day or two after which I will frequently be able to complete them.

Yeah - as much as I've often struggled playing Bard, it has been the 'play as an NPC character' that I've struggled with more. The MMO I used to play did this too - badly - and I hated it in that game just as much, partly because I hate playing as an NPC with a limited moveset playing a job I probably wouldn't opt to play otherwise, and partly because the moment it becomes obvious that I've been placed in that scenario my motivation completely disappears.

[Carin-Eri]

There's not, at least not past what the game requires. People just try to gatekeep. They have opinions on who is "worthy" to come play this game. Just try to ignore them.

I'm sorry you're not having fun. The only thing I can say is take heart. In SE's Live Letter about the next 10 years, they mentioned they wanted to try to attract the fans who avoid their online games and only play the single player games. And since those players most likely aren't going to have years of MMO experience under their belts (or they would probably already be playing) then we can probably expect some adjustments to make the MSQ more tenable for more people.

Stormblood was a bit of a bear on some solo instances. They seem to have learned from the feedback and made some adjustments going forward (outside one or two annoying instances). So hopefully that will be some encouragement.

And there's nothing wrong if you need to take a break and focus on something else for a bit. The game will still be here when you come back. You will only come to hate your time more if you push yourself when you aren't having fun.

Advice I really do need to take to heart, since am seeing plenty of evidence of what you say!

Eitherway - appreciate the advice and encouragement

[Rilifane]

I think it would help both you and everyone here a great deal if you could be a little more specific.
"I just suck!" is as unspecific as it gets and nobody can really help you except with generic short-term bandaid fixes. There are always things you struggle with while others are okay and among the things you struggle with there are also always some that give you more trouble compared to others.
Identifying what exactly you struggle with is the first step to finding ways for making your life easier. I'm just assuming here but if you just opened a YT guide for BRD, felt overwhelmed after a few minutes and closed it thinking "Even guides can't help me, that's how bad I am!" you're not doing yourself any favors, no matter how well-intended it was.

You mentioned somewhere that you're often staring at your hotbars, trying to figure out which skill you should even press.
Why?
Do you have trouble remembering the effect from the skill icon alone? If so, is it like that with every skill or only some, e.g. you remember what Straight Shot does just fine but keep forgetting what Pitch Perfect does?
Do you have trouble keeping an eye on timers, like debuffs and cooldowns? If so, which timers are difficult for you and why? Are the debuff icons too small/ too far away?
Do you keep forgetting certain skills exists and suddenly remembering it throws you off enough that you forget about what else you were supposed to do? If so, which ones?
Do you have trouble pressing buttons while moving?
Do you have trouble comfortably reaching enough hotkeys for the amount of skills you have? If so, which ones ended up being difficult to reach for you?
Because for that problem and all its variations alone exist several solutions depending on what exactly your issue is.
"I just suck!" often isn't even true and it's more a problem of someone setting the wrong priorities, trying to focus on too much at once and then failing at everything, having keybinds/ UI settings that work against how they naturally move their eyes/ hands etc.

Just to give you an example: almost every MMO has the minimap in the top right corner.
No matter how many years I played them, I never got used to it and can't use it to quickly spot my or someone else's position. I need it to be bottom centre. So I moved it there. That's where I will look on instinct.
Most party lists are on the left by default. Nope, I always look right and I'm faster and more accurate when moving my curser to the right to target party members than to the left. So my party list is on the right side.
I had to redo part of my UI when I started playing BLM because I had trouble keeping track of procs and buffs with the settings I had before.
You can move it around and resize it to accomodate your preferences. It's also great for adding a seperate mega-sized hotbar if you keep forgetting certain cooldowns or for learning in general. You can also change where the tooltip pops up if you need quick reminders in combat which skills have which effects.

Another big problem for many people is setting priorities. Instead of sticking to the absolute basics and nailing them and then gradually moving forward, they try to do everything at once because a guide said so but you need to build a solid foundation first.
And it seems that you spent the majority of your time leveling approaching it in a way that made it even harder for you to get to a level where you can comfortably play the story so spending a little bit of extra time on building a foundation might be a good time investment long-term.
There's always more to it when someone says "I'm just bad at this game" and I've yet to encounter a lost cause.

[TaleraRistain]

Advice I really do need to take to heart, since am seeing plenty of evidence of what you say!

Eitherway - appreciate the advice and encouragement

Well also remember, the forums aren't indicative of the player base in general. Most people are just trying to get through the run. Sometimes it's lightning quick. Sometimes it's a bit pear-shaped and we might need to adjust. It's the people who can't do that who scream that others need to uphold some arbitrary standard they made up in their mind about the level that people randomly matched with them should be at. There's also a hefty lack of empathy. Just because something is easy for one person doesn't mean it's easy for everyone and someone doesn't need to have the same experience to be able to empathize with the person having trouble. But if they lack empathy, they won't be able to do that and will make heavy-handed "Well you SHOULD be able to do X" type of statements. Which is why I say just ignore it. Those people aren't worth your time.

I see you're on Sarg so we're on the same data center. I'd be happy to friend up sometime. I main WHM but I secondary DNC/BRD. I don't do Savage because I'm not interested in it, but I can hold my own and can give you some tips if you need them. A lot of it is just finding a setup that works for you that allows you to keep track of procs and keep your DoTs up, while staying mobile enough to react to mechanics.

[JamieRose]

Thanks for the replies everyone! Have to admit I wasn't expecting much of a response!

One positive I will say is that I have generally found most players on the majority of teams to be pretty forgiving, particuarly since I'm still a 'Sprout'. I have to admit I appreciate that, as came from a game where the playerbase were pretty unforgiving of bad players/mistakes.

That's because you had problems with something they don't care about. Bring up an issue about how hard Ex/Savage content is or something similar and you will be bullied into submission here. These forums are horrible and just because you had one good experience, doesn't mean they'll go easy on you next time. Do yourself a favor and get as far away from this hellhole forum as you can.

[Merrigan]

That's because you had problems with something they don't care about. Bring up an issue about how hard Ex/Savage content is or something similar and you will be bullied into submission here. These forums are horrible and just because you had one good experience, doesn't mean they'll go easy on you next time. Do yourself a favor and get as far away from this hellhole forum as you can.

"Oh, look. A nice post; you have to take advantage of it at all costs to shoot down a community that I complain about H24 while I myself participate in its toxicity by complaining and refusing to notice any good times."

And yes: there is a difference between HL content and normal content. In one, knowing how to master your character is a prerequisite. It is perfectly normal that people expect more there, and are more patient in a side content. The basic rules are simply not the same.

For the OP, several solutions here:

- Training, watching some online guides. What is your problem with the gameplay exactly? Is it that you don't understand how the class works, or is it a muscle memory problem? In the first case, a guide could greatly help you (you can look at "the balance"); in the second case, there is no miracle solution: repeat, again and again. You'll get there, there's no need to worry.

- Equipment. Are you properly equipped? With grey/broken parts, it is normal to miss a dps check. Take the time to go buy some really good parts on the HV, it will drastically change your experience.

[Fyrebrand]

OMG, congratulations on finally conquering that awful Zenos! I hate that guy, lol. Reading through a bunch of this thread, I was worried you had already quit or something, because this sounded really frustrating. So happy to see you prevailed in the end. Enjoy Shadowbringers!

I know it's old news now, but what item level was your gear? Did you know that in Rhalgr's Reach you can buy weapons and armor that are item level 400? I am asking because that Zenos battle is basically the last thing you ever do in Stormblood, so the game expects you've spent some significant time with that expansion's content and upgraded your equipment a lot, yet from your story it sounds like you're progressing through the game very quickly. When you identified the precise point at which you were struggling and knew what to do, but still not doing enough raw damage, I wondered if that's the issue. It's entirely possible you've been rapidly pushing yourself through the game in underpowered gear, and only at this point did the gear check catch up with you. FYI, this is a thing you'll find in each expansion: once you reach the end of the "vanilla" MSQ before patch content, there will be a vendor that sells best-in-slot gear for tomestones. Load yourself up with that gear, it will make a big difference that will last for a long time!

[Carin-Eri]

Well also remember, the forums aren't indicative of the player base in general. Most people are just trying to get through the run. Sometimes it's lightning quick. Sometimes it's a bit pear-shaped and we might need to adjust. It's the people who can't do that who scream that others need to uphold some arbitrary standard they made up in their mind about the level that people randomly matched with them should be at. There's also a hefty lack of empathy. Just because something is easy for one person doesn't mean it's easy for everyone and someone doesn't need to have the same experience to be able to empathize with the person having trouble. But if they lack empathy, they won't be able to do that and will make heavy-handed "Well you SHOULD be able to do X" type of statements. Which is why I say just ignore it. Those people aren't worth your time.

I see you're on Sarg so we're on the same data center. I'd be happy to friend up sometime. I main WHM but I secondary DNC/BRD. I don't do Savage because I'm not interested in it, but I can hold my own and can give you some tips if you need them. A lot of it is just finding a setup that works for you that allows you to keep track of procs and keep your DoTs up, while staying mobile enough to react to mechanics.

That'd be good - thank you

"Oh, look. A nice post; you have to take advantage of it at all costs to shoot down a community that I complain about H24 while I myself participate in its toxicity by complaining and refusing to notice any good times."

And yes: there is a difference between HL content and normal content. In one, knowing how to master your character is a prerequisite. It is perfectly normal that people expect more there, and are more patient in a side content. The basic rules are simply not the same.

For the OP, several solutions here:

- Training, watching some online guides. What is your problem with the gameplay exactly? Is it that you don't understand how the class works, or is it a muscle memory problem? In the first case, a guide could greatly help you (you can look at "the balance"); in the second case, there is no miracle solution: repeat, again and again. You'll get there, there's no need to worry.

- Equipment. Are you properly equipped? With grey/broken parts, it is normal to miss a dps check. Take the time to go buy some really good parts on the HV, it will drastically change your experience.

I've taken advice about equipment onboard and doesn't really seem to be anything wrong with that. I'd say it is more a muscle memory issue. And guides do help somewhat, but don't always find putting those lessons into practical use very easy.