Pleasant Surprise

[Saffira]

Nowadays, I am a casual player, in all sense of the word, when it comes to video games. With wife and kids it did become increasingly harder to maintain my hardcore raiding lifestyle that I used to enjoy. The transition has been tough, but I enjoy games now even at a casual pace. I was starting to think that my casual schedule was not going to allow me to have fun with FFXIV because of the difficulty with DF.

Yesterday night, I put myself in Duty Finder (Again) to try to get past the Stone Vigil. Astonishingly enough, the group was perfect. Tank made perfect pace, knew where to pull, where to stand, and waited for all of us to "catch up." We cleared with no deaths, on the first attempt. I'm not saying that that content is hard, but I was starting to think that DF was not the way to beat that part in the story as my experiences were high in contrast before.

Moral of the story: It doesn't matter at what level you are, casual or extreme gamer, just try to not hinder your group, make sure you are adequately prepared (watch youtube), and have fun. Trust me, with preparation, everyone has more fun. Please, please, please do some research on the dungeon before you queue past level 40.

[soshifood]

Whether the Duty Finder is good or not all depends on community effort. If you teach one person how to tank/heal/dps the party will be listening in. This in turn may affect everyone else they run into so long as they are willing to teach.

Research is good, but not everyone watches videos of dungeons beforehand. Yeah, try to watch a video, but always be prepared to teach others who are new and don't know what to do.

[Tokochan]

I love this post ^-^. Even though I'm not healing anymore (lag/latency issues are making it difficult for me) it's still a good idea to look up a dungeon before you que up for it. Even if you're unclear of something I found most people will help with that if you show you at least tried to look up the fights. It also helps running with LS members.. They remind me not to do stupid things lol

[Johnist]

As a Level 50 Dragoon I try to pay it forward by helping my friends with their story content (and side content) when they need it. It's all a matter of trying to help your fellow players. Some FCs are better at this than others...

[BlazeChronic]

As a tank who frequently uses the duty finder, more often then not, at the end of an instance, I get the "This is my Xth time queuing for this instance, finally we beat it"

I've only failed one instance, and that was Sunken Temple of Qarn, and it was mainly my fault, due to attempting it on a crappy laptop from work. If people really have an issue with the DF, I suggest you try rolling a tank. As tank, you really are the one who maintains the flow of the dungeon. The DPS in your group can be terrible, and it won't hurt one bit: it'll only make the run slower.

If you run tank, and are still having issues with the DF, I suggest you try looking in a mirror. The issue will be staring you right in the face.

(edit - this is for dungeons lvl - 15-49. obviously end-game will have more gear-checks for dps)

Having higher dps will allow you to generate more enmity with your weapon skills. I noticed a huge boost to my enmity when upgrading my weapons. Tanks, please PLEASE use heavy armour designed for you, not the generic leather-based DoW stuff, the healers can tell the difference.

I meant, 'the DPS in your group can be terrible'. I'll edit. But to your point, with flash+overpower +RoH combo, I could hold enmity with a bronze dagger, TBH.

[AridElf]

As tank, you really are the one who maintains the flow of the dungeon. Your DPS can be terrible, and it won't hurt one bit: it'll only make the run slower.

Having higher dps will allow you to generate more enmity with your weapon skills. I noticed a huge boost to my enmity when upgrading my weapons. Tanks, please PLEASE use heavy armour designed for you, not the generic leather-based DoW stuff, the healers can tell the difference.

[Bleizahr]

As a casual player myself playing as a healer, I totally agree with OP. I usually run dungeons first time with my FC, then DF for loot or just to have fun. However, I have lot of fun even when my party is not so good and I have to adapt in order to go on. It's somehow challenging.

[Orophin]

Moral of the story: It doesn't matter at what level you are, casual or extreme gamer, just try to not hinder your group, make sure you are adequately prepared (watch youtube), and have fun. Trust me, with preparation, everyone has more fun. Please, please, please do some research on the dungeon before you queue past level 40.

There's nothing wrong with trial and error. When I was going through dungeons there weren't resources online to consult for them yet, so what am I supposed to do, sit on my hands and wait until someone makes a walkthrough if I don't know what to do?

The dungeons required to progress through the story are not difficult. Most of your success will rely on a few factors:

- Keep your gear up to date
- Know how to play your class
- Being able to grasp the mechanics of boss fights

I never had to look up any boss tactics prior to post-story content. We had some wipes here and there, largely due to disconnects (early launch server problems) but there shouldn't be a fight that requires more than 2-3 times of seeing it in action before you grasp it as you go through the story. I realize your testimonial focuses on the Duty Finder specifically, but the three points above are really all you need to be able to abide by.