Quote Originally Posted by Local_Custard View Post
What else might I do it prepare for harder content?
Have you done any of the EW extremes? The current unreal?

One of my worst habits is freezing up whenever faced with mechanics I do not understand well/at all. I might entirely stop casting…
If that means dropping casts of Malefic, I say meh. Worry about that after you're comfortably clearing the mechanic and/or fight, or consistently seeing the enrage.

…or I might act too slowly for what the mechanic is asking of me.
I think the only way to truly get used to pacing and nature of harder content is to just step foot in it and give a whirl.

Consider the final trial of Endwalker: Running it at min ilvl doesn't change the pacing or nature of the mechanics. It just makes the fight take longer.