Learning Experiences

[Kerberon]

By the way, ilvl means item level. Past 50, progress is measured in terms of the average item level of your gear. That said, it doesn't help when doing low level content where gear is synced down.

Yes and no, it sure seems like someone in endgame gear when level synced does have a small advantage over someone in leveling gear. The endgame gear has a wider selection of stats on it letting the character have a more balanced stat allocation that can significantly help. The gear is higher quality and that does show even if it's not a gigantic leap stat wise. When I heal a lowbie dungeon and have an ilvl 90+ tank I barely have to toss a heal ever, where with a at level tank I do have to pay attention to their health a significant time more.

[Roarey]

He was bragging about how over-geared he was, but ironically the people who feel the need to do that are effectively saying that they're so bad at their job they don't know how to run a dungeon unless everyone is as over-leveled and over-geared as they are.

^This
Yesterday, an impatient blm duty roulette into Navel (HM), demanding an immediate pull before buffs or mt/ot choice. He said "I am ilevel103, I will carry you all!" He proceeds to strike before the tank even tried for aggro. nd then he gets knocked off on the 2nd line attack! LMAO! Gear means little without skill
It is hard to maintain tank aggro against a lot of scaled back ppl for roulette, especially if they decide to rush the process and attack first, or not on the target set. Aggro is not just the tanks job, as any good dps and healer know and work to limit the incidents. I never want to see the mobs with red buttons next to my name, unless I am the tank.

[Kreckle]

I'm completely useless(technical/mechanical advice) to you since it's my first time as a WHM and I've attempted HER several times this week*tear*. There have been instances where I have made mistakes that make me question my competence as a healer*double-tear*. I'm mainly disheartened by the high-level folks that have been rude to me, and disband grp(it makes me a sad panda and it doesn't help as much as they think it does). It's like an episode of scooby-doo where you get to the end to see who the bad guy is, only to find out: there is no one to unmask(what the french-toast!)now the whole episode was a worthless waste of narrative now I have to watch it AGAIN with the hope of a better ending. You're right about the learning experience since this is the point in the game where folks are essentially forced to snap out of their idea of mechanics/role and gel as a team with any group of people their thrown into the "pot" with. Anyway, you're not alone and congrats on defeating her.

[Urthdigger]

Yes and no, it sure seems like someone in endgame gear when level synced does have a small advantage over someone in leveling gear. The endgame gear has a wider selection of stats on it letting the character have a more balanced stat allocation that can significantly help. The gear is higher quality and that does show even if it's not a gigantic leap stat wise. When I heal a lowbie dungeon and have an ilvl 90+ tank I barely have to toss a heal ever, where with a at level tank I do have to pay attention to their health a significant time more.

Yes, a synced player will be well geared for low level stuff, but there's a small difference between synced gear and HQ leveling gear. Most importantly, when synced it doesn't matter if he's ilvl 50 or ilvl 100, it'll still go down to about the same.

[Merryl]

Ilv gear is irrelevant for 2 classes. Tanks and healers. I say this because I earned most of my gear barding and then bought stuff for my mage.
So unless its their only class ...the ilvl of gear doesn't necessarily mean they are an expert at that class.
That being said garuda is a test on the whm to see if they can manage their mana, which sadly doesn't regenerate very fast. I have yet to go back and attempt a run at garuda....kept forgetting to use the 30% increase button, which would have helped considerably in healing.

[Sakuraluna]

So sorry you had to experience that.

It's been my experience in other games as well as xiv that typically the player who feels the need to brag and boast about how great his gear is as soon as the party is formed, will most probably be the player making the worst mistakes. By endgame he should have had not just the gear, but the experience and job-based knowledge necessary to compensate for an undergeared/inexperienced tank as long as the tank is putting effort into tanking properly, which I'm assuming you were doing since you went on to win it with a party of other less experienced players. (Congrats on that, btw~) You did good. Don't let him get you too far down.

[Urthdigger]

Ilv gear is irrelevant for 2 classes. Tanks and healers. I say this because I earned most of my gear barding and then bought stuff for my mage.

Err, what? High level gear is very important for those 2 classes as well.

[Clavaat]

My advice to you, OP, at this point would be to start gathering nice people you find in an LS or FC, or join one that suits that. When it comes to Duty Finder, you never know who or what you're going to get. Some people, unfortunately, have a chip on their shoulder about newer players. By finding people you can actually have fun with and enjoy the game with, you will have a much more pleasant experience, especially once you reach lvl50.

Use the tools at your disposal; check the Server Forums here, ask around in Party Finer, in shout, anything that will help you find people who either share your exact goal or are willing to help you get there. This will be important when you decide you're ready to take on things like The Binding Coil of Bahamut or other high level dungeons. Also, Castrum Meridianum and Praetorium will be a much more pleasant experience if you don't use Duty Finder at all. It may take longer to find at least 8 people who will join you, but the experience and friendship you gain from it will be invaluable.

As far as actual dungeons themselves go, there are 2 schools of thought: those that would prefer to go in blind and learn through practice/experience, and those that prefer to look up everything they can about it beforehand. This sparks tons of debates, and in reality both schools have valid points. Think about yourself, and what you like to do, and try to find people who will share that idea. Have a Goal and Vision in mind. Either direction takes practice, there's next to no avoiding that unless you are a prodigy, but how you handle the failures and pick yourself up are what's important. Good luck, and I hope you find what you're looking for.

[Merryl]

Err, what? High level gear is very important for those 2 classes as well.

did you even read it? I said that people don't have to be geared in their relevant classes to obtain gear. In other words someone who's never tanked in dungeon can use another class to get dungeon drops or allagan tomes. Buy all i90 and still never set foot inside a dungeon with the other class.
Here's your troll cookie for the attempt to take sentences out of context.

[Urthdigger]

did you even read it? I said that people don't have to be geared in their relevant classes to obtain gear. In other words someone who's never tanked in dungeon can use another class to get dungeon drops or allagan tomes. Buy all i90 and still never set foot inside a dungeon with the other class.
Here's your troll cookie for the attempt to take sentences out of context.

I did read the whole post, it's just unclear why you said it's irrelevant for those two classes. One can do that just as well for DPS.