Honestly? i respect this take, not trying to change the DF version. Objectively speaking, the version when doing it with the Trusts SHOULD be easier because first and foremost, the Trusts are SO bad. I don't know whos idea it was to make them do such low damage and almost never do AoE's but its genuinely painful. Secondly, if one is using the trusts, they're likely a super casual player just wanting to do the story (Which is perfectly fine, I did not mean "Casual" in a derogatory way) or just not really up to interacting with folks at that time.

Ive always thought the trusts were bad if im being honest. on average trust runs take nearly 4X as long as a sub par party found through DF.

Mind you, all of this is coming from someone who LIKES the difficulty of the new dungeon. I will be sad when its nerfed (I can nearly guarantee the incoming damage will be nerfed). Much like i liked strayburough (Minus that one boss with the seemingly random moving dudes that stun you or whatever, then they used the mech for honey Bee, but i digress).

My advice? while its likely not something you want to hear, queue for it. maybe try tank ideally WAR or PLD so you have healing if needed. Ideally WAR tbh for the mob packs. or a DPS like RDM. something with healing. I actually found the last boss to be more difficult than the 2nd one, but different people are better at different things.

I too am getting up there in age. it absolutely sucks when dexterity and hand eye coordination take a turn for the worse. but you can absolutely continue improving it if you want. as well as problem solving on the fly. those were the 3 main things that hindered me once i hit 30 ish XD