How are you liking Pilgrims Traverse?

[NorthernLadMSP]

Once you get into the 60s, it's a total fucking joke. Every enemy has one or more skills that one-shots you and they're very fast. One time I was killed literally 10 yalms OUTSIDE the AOE. I'm going to lose any motivation really fast to continue to try if this is the kind of "content" they come up with.

[MAJRIS]

I tried going solo and got killed by the stage 10 boss. Kinda lost my motivation after that. :')

Lost motivation as well. Solo instance - wasted 30 minutes on first 10 floors cleaning every room and opening every silver chest, and then boss wiped floor with me despite using pomanders because I stood in one aoe attack (skill issue).

the first 10 levels feel sluggish because you can't do big pulls, even one by one it wont die fast fast but also wont hurt you. just bullet sponges and sometimes bad RNG on aetherpool.

most likely I won't bother again at all because these 30 minutes were for nothing and on my second attempt I might wipe again as well. that's 60 minutes for nothing.

[Ankhira]

I think the hoards feel worse than ever. While yes, in previous DD they could also give junk, I feel like 99% of the time I'm just getting potions and the new sacramental junk I don't want or need. There's a little too much RNG for my liking considering it takes 15-20 minutes to do early floors and up to 40 minutes for higher floors, the rewards should feel more.. well, rewarding for the time you spent in it. But then checking 8 hoards getting 5 potions, 3 lilies and one music roll is not my idea of rewarding, sorry to say.

[Heavenchild]

I did stages 1–30, but I’ve heard more things about that one-shot disaster. I’m definitely not going any further alone.
Apparently that lazy one-shot design wipes entire groups, too. :’)

I really wonder why they brought that back again. I thought I wasn’t the only one who quit Eureka Orthos because of that
whole “Tetris fight” design. It feels more like you're a Tetris trying to find the right spot just to stay alive. Nothing about fighting at all.

[SkankyRoe]

Once you get into the 60s, it's a total fucking joke. Every enemy has one or more skills that one-shots you and they're very fast.

Just gotta learn them all. Every single enemy ohko is very simple and comes with a lengthy telegraph in the form of an aura, a cast bar, and/or a floor indicator. Once you know how to dodge them they'll stop being an issue until 81+ when patrols start becoming a significant risk.

One time I was killed literally 10 yalms OUTSIDE the AOE.

The only way this is possible is if you were snapshotted as being inside the aoe due to lag or just moving a moment too late, or if you got hit by a separate aoe that you didn't notice.

While yes, in previous DD they could also give junk, I feel like 99% of the time I'm just getting potions and the new sacramental junk I don't want or need.

I'm fine with the potions because they're at least useful for everyone; the sacramental items are completely useless to anyone that isn't doing Quantum and they don't seem to sell well on the MB.

[Toutatis]

Once you get into the 60s, it's a total fucking joke. Every enemy has one or more skills that one-shots you and they're very fast. One time I was killed literally 10 yalms OUTSIDE the AOE. I'm going to lose any motivation really fast to continue to try if this is the kind of "content" they come up with.

It was the case with EO too. For the new dungeon, soloing requires knowing what mobs do. Going in with a team requires that as well as knowing where your team is. Having someone running like a headless chicken ahead of the entire group and trapping other teammates in a giant aoe from an mob they can't even see = fail (I've been blacklisting people for that). Being able to queue directly for 70+ has advantages but also disadvantages where you can end up with ppl who don't care.

[Deedlit]

At 4 disconnects on 90+, so fantastic.

[CarlCarl]

I'd say its overall the current best deep dungeon in the game for the average player. Full kits, beautiful aesthetics, good music selection and nice bosses combined with proper HP scaling make this DD way smoother to get through while not being too boring (yet).

Way more checkpoints, one-shots starting from later floors (~51+ instead of 31+) that can still be survivable for tanks under certain circumstances, and overall less mob mechanics that easily wipe your entire party in the blink of an eye make for an overall better experience. Potsherds (and by extension, sustaining potions) being far more common and AP going up faster (feels like its +2/3/4 for silvers now instead of +1/2/3) also help with this.

My only real criticism (especially compared to previous DDs) is that there is perhaps too little friction now. Soloing PT is the easiest any solo DD has ever been, and that is impressive after EO. I would like for a future DD to at least be more difficult solo, while not particularly affecting the current group experience.

[Mesarthim]

Already solo'd it within its first week, cleared it solo starting at 71+ (to buy earrings), and already at 61+ on another job.

As far as deep dungeons go this one is very easy. Bosses can be hectic but that is only until you learn how they work.

[DynamoAce]

I will very boldly say having back to back wipes just below the final floors due to RNG (several patrols with giant AoEs coming at the same time in a room, moving into traps because you try to dodge the giant aoe, the list goes on) and you're doing this with randoms in a matched party where there isn't always a good comp or people that won't know what theyre doing (Running into things they shouldnt, pulling everything for funsies, etc), then it becomes a point where it really isn't a skill issue on the player at all, your clear is reliant on RNG, getting lucky, and there is a certain threshold where it just is not good game design IMO.

If they were planning to open it up to matched parties for accessibility or some other reason, I don't think it's doing its job very well. You're guaranteed a far better experience going in with a fixed party that has some group coordination in their party comp if not knowing what to do/expect. This is all provided you can actually find a fixed party who are all aligned on the same floors and have a spare save file or two if they're not already running a save.

You can't really have that with random people in a matched party, so the outcome really is all based on just luck. While it's nice we can start at later floors, it doesn't feel like anything is really tweaked or balanced to work around these random party comps and randomly grouped players that are going in with zero coordination and this ends up wasting A LOT of someones time if the wipes that happen may not even be their fault.

Bosses are at least something you will eventually learn how to fight since you're just learning choreography so they're a lot less of an issue if not really an issue at all.

TLDR I give this a 6/10 at best. Deep Dungeons even in the past had their quirky BS that could end runs but you're at least with coordinated groups and can plan for these things a lot better. You could plan the same for PT if you're in a fixed party and have a smoother run but that just isn't gonna work out well in 90% of matched parties. If you'd like a good time, go with a fixed party or try solo on particular classes.
Speaking of rewards, when you're fighting the additional RNG battle for loot, it's really not a great feeling when you're walking out of all those hours spent and your rewards are... materia, lillies/spirits/loot for quantum (when you havent reached it yet and some may not even go for it when they do), and more potions! For all the other rewards that exist, it feels pretty bad when these are the ones you're getting 90% of the time.

All of these traits are what makes up the identity of a Deep Dungeon, but that doesn't make the negatives to this extent any less of a problem.
For the sake of identity I don't think the random RNG BS needs to be 100% taken out of deep dungeons, but I feel there should be some balancing and tweaking of the parameters SOMEWHAT. It's not all bad but when it's bad it's bad.
Good game design finds a way to reward players for the time invested. Losing all that time to RNG and things that aren't a skill issue, just isn't it.