Crystal tower raid fights could use a rework

[Saraide]

I’ll take any kind of rework so long it means I don’t have to suffer through the CT raid series (or any same raids in a row tbh) because ilv cheesing shenaningans 6 times in a week via roulette.

Pretty sure at least Trial & Leveling roulette ignores your iLv (CMIIW, I remember getting paired with a rando that admits doing this & groans when they got Zodiark normal), why can’t that apply to AR as well?

There is no guarantee preventing ilvl cheese would reduce the amount of crystal tower runs. One person doing it for msq, shb relic, queueing up with a job under 60 or not having other ARs unlocked is enough to force it and those are all legitimate. Meanwhile it needs 24 people to not do any of those things to make another AR possible. I feel like I cant get crystal tower raids because ilvl cheesers push me out of those.

[Rein_eon_Osborne]

There is no guarantee preventing ilvl cheese would reduce the amount of crystal tower runs. One person doing it for msq, shb relic, queueing up with a job under 60 or not having other ARs unlocked is enough to force it and those are all legitimate. Meanwhile it needs 24 people to not do any of those things to make another AR possible. I feel like I cant get crystal tower raids because ilvl cheesers push me out of those.

I'll reiterate what I mean:

I don't mind having it pop if at least 1 from 23 other players legitimately needs that, either because all those things you mentioned, or pure RNG god picking CT raid. I don't mind it if I see that cheeser in the same raid either. Yes, I will groan cause I'd prefer to see the other ones but I'll still do it---I signed up for it.

I do mind it if none of those happens except I spotted that one nakey player in starting area without gear; in the process of reequipping their gears; OR knows better to reequip their gear after snapshotting lower ilv before commencing the duty to avoid detection (something we'll never know of course, I'd just assume the RNG picks the raid). At that point, even World of Darkness would be a much more appealing option vs the other two.

[Azuri]

Absolutely love getting CT. Take it all off, queue, insta pop, put someone on follow and enjoy 15 minutes of forum shitposting. Come back to some free tomes. Fantastic content, we should have more like it.

[Saraide]

I'll reiterate what I mean:

I don't mind having it pop if at least 1 from 23 other players legitimately needs that, either because all those things you mentioned, or pure RNG god picking CT raid. I don't mind it if I see that cheeser in the same raid either. Yes, I will groan cause I'd prefer to see the other ones but I'll still do it---I signed up for it.

I do mind it if none of those happens except I spotted that one nakey player in starting area without gear; in the process of reequipping their gears; OR knows better to reequip their gear after snapshotting lower ilv before commencing the duty to avoid detection (something we'll never know of course, I'd just assume the RNG picks the raid). At that point, even World of Darkness would be a much more appealing option vs the other two.

How do you check if no one forced lota or syrcus through legitimate means?

[Illmaeran]

So it's my own generalized consensus that nobody ever likes getting queued into these. I've seen people drop right after loading in. Some people agree in the party chats that they'd like to see a revamp of the fights. I can't say that I'd be excited to bring friends into this content for the first time.

Frankly I think they could do with some updates to the bosses or mechanics. Nobody ever sees the pots needing to be healed, it is not necessary mostly because of the huge ilvl creep. I have seen people who aren't invisible-tethered on that boss just idling...

Since this is content that pretty much all new players have to do for 80 expansion, it would seem like a good investment to revamp it considering it may not leave a great impression on free trial players/or people who only buy standard edition.

It seems like the reactions were positive with the ARR dungeon revamps. I don't see why we couldn't expect a future update to the CT raids if the developers are counting on the free trial experience to bring in more money.

I disagree, the Crystal Tower raids need to stay as they are for the ease of getting people through them so they can get on with the MSQ. Rather than be the challenging content they were at release, they're essentially a 24-player dungeon instead of a raid. While they may be boring for a segment of the player base, it's important that they remain fully accessible to new players. Personally, I like getting them during roulettes since it normally means a smooth and fairly quick run. In fact, I prefer it. If I want something more interactive, I'll queue for it specifically.

I agree with the sentiment of previous posters saying they should be moved to the MSQ roulette as it's MSQ-required content. I disagree with it in practice as it will significantly reduce the pool of people queueing for it and thereby slow down peoples' progress.

The thought of turning it into an 8-player scenario or even a 4-player Trust capable dungeon is good. If SE are stuck on having it be an Alliance Raid then it should remain as it is.

[Avatre]

To an average brand new sprout, the CT series is simply overwhelming. Castrum and Prae are vastly improved for a level 50 player in level 50 gear, same needs to happen for the similar point in the story.

It needs a rework, and removal from the constraints of a full Alliance where you have all those geared level 90 destroying the content before you can even get off a single spell.

Leave that until 500 or so quests in the future when your gear has caught up a bit. But right now, CT isn't that much fun for an on-level player, and it's not like they will see a single mechanic outside of "A: All in the belly / B: Belly time / C: Can we join you in the belly?" which they are likely dead on the floor for anyway.

Just force minimum ilevel in them, and that would solve a lot of the level 90s destroying everything before new players know what is going on.

How do you check if no one forced lota or syrcus through legitimate means?

It's almost impossible unfortunately. Unless you're able to see all their achievements and such for having cleared it.

[Jeeqbit]

Honestly even with a better ilvl sync it might be a bit too easy considering just how much has actually changed since then.
It's not just bloated gear stats, direct hit replacing accuracy gave you a huge damage boost in old content, and potencies have been increased tremendously over time too.
Take Ninja's basic 3-hit combo for example:
When it first released its potency was 150 > 200 > 320
Now it's 220 > 320 > 440
There's just been power creep all around that's left old content in the dust.

The last time I did it with ilvl sync (in Shadowbringers) it was a decent challenge, many people died and mechanics had to be done, but some of the bosses did die a little earlier than desired. The first boss in Syrcus has a lot of mechanics but even after everyone has died, you can have the tanks finish it off and that probably shouldn't happen when most of the alliance failed the mechanics. I would like for all ARR content to be adjusted to account for stat and potency changes, but syncing to minimum would still be a big improvement if we want the mechanics to matter.

[AmiableApkallu]

I disagree, the Crystal Tower raids need to stay as they are for the ease of getting people through them so they can get on with the MSQ. Rather than be the challenging content they were at release, they're essentially a 24-player dungeon instead of a raid. While they may be boring for a segment of the player base, it's important that they remain fully accessible to new players.

In their current state, I don't believe the Crystal Tower raids are "accessible." As a new player, there is still enough going on that you get a sense that there are mechanics, but no one bothers to explain them, and everything goes by so quickly by virtue of sheer force that you don't really learn them. You can get your clear, but there's no sense of accomplishment.

[SturmChurro]

where you have all those geared level 90 destroying the content before you can even get off a single spell.

You could say the same about much of the content in this game that a new player would be doing.

[Zsolen]

To be fair, there are a considerable amount of veteran players that still don't understand the purpose of the iron giants in the behemoth fight. I've seen tanks use invuln and step away from the comets, because the alliance itself refused to take down the giants. It's possible they don't know to or don't care if 1/3 of the people die. I've also seen iron giants not tanked.

Edit: Also to mention, we still have people using the ABC strat for the doggo. Many cannot comprehend that you don't have to split among party lines. I fear that will never die.