Difficulty of normal content.

[FlorineC]

The issue with mechanics and encounter difficulty in FFXIV is that, at its core, all mechanics are flawed. When I first started playing, I couldn't wrap my mind around how if you are still in the orange circle when it disappears, but before the actual damage animation happens, you are dead. To me, this was just so dumb and still is. I should not be dying to a mechanic before the animation occurs, this is the 1st giant flaw and is really at the base of everything.

This isn't necessarily directed only at you, because I've seen this sentiment from several people in this thread, but the fact of the matter is that that's just how the game is. It's weird and un-intuitive, but it's consistent and has been for 10+ years, and at this point you either gotta accept it or accept that this game's combat system isn't for you. Once you know how it works, which is that damage snapshots at the end of the cast/when the aoe disappears and not when the animation plays, it's really not that hard to work around. For better or worse, it's a part of the game.