Alexander Normal difficulty...

[gorezilla1]

Am I to understand that they're eradicating the midcore from raids now too?

Alexander Normal IS mid-level raiding.

[Jarinolde]

Alexander Normal IS mid-level raiding.

Alexander Normal is EASIER than current Coil, and current Coil IS medium core raiding. Therefore there is technically NO medium core raiding in the expansion, only casual and hardcore.

[Gardes]

Alexander Normal is EASIER than current Coil, and current Coil IS medium core raiding. Therefore there is technically NO medium core raiding in the expansion, only casual and hardcore.

Personally I thought hardcore would be clearing coil within 3 months of coil intro while midcore clears within 6 months while casual clears during echo. Though apparently my estimation seems to be two grades too high for most people. Would people still attempting t9 right now consider themselves to be midcore? Really?

[Chibilidawg]

Alexander Normal IS mid-level raiding.

No, from the sounds of it ("cleared in a day or two" & "to relax and enjoy the story), it's straight up easy-mode.

And Alexander Hard will be overly difficult for a mid-core player (equivalent to "FCoB Savage").

Point is, the game desperately needs 3 difficulty tiers (for raiding, at least).

Dungeons have their easy, leveling counterparts & the tuned-for-level-50 alternatives which are quickly out-geared (turning them easy very fast, because a lot of them are mechanically light).

24-Man's just have their one easy difficulty (same as dungeons, quickly outgeared & becoming "zerg tower" in no time).

Primals are just perfect I think... except I think this game needs to implement a much harsher ilvl sync on its hardest difficulty settings (e.g. EX Primals).

I would say pre-nerfed, non-echo SCOB was perfect raider midcore.

Now, it's important to note that "raider midcore" & plain midcore are very different.

When I say raider midcore, I'm emphasizing some sort of effort put into accomplishing the raids, gearing for it, & forming up.

Midcore in general tries to keep their gear in check I would say, caps their Poetics for the week at least, but doesn't necessarily min-max to the extreme or contemplate the meta or strategies in their sleep. This' partly why I wouldn't consider the 50 Dungeons or the 24-Man's midcore due to them turning into zerg-fests pretty quickly as a result of their mechanical lightness. Maybe pre-nerf Pharos could count but that's about it for 4/24 Content.

I typed this in a major sleep stupor just as I awoke so I'm probably not giving the best or clearest picture, but this gives you an idea.

Implementing EX Dungeons, a third Raid Difficulty, & Savage 24-Mans would be PERFECT.

[Teuciont]

Implementing EX Dungeons.

This would be an absolutely fantastic feature.

[Whocareswhatmynameis]

While i do agree with you, i don't necessarily think they should just add more difficulty levels to alex. I feel they need to add more things like the Ultima HM and Odin (Urths Fount), kind of fights for a more medium level of difficulty. Maybe have 1-2 mechanics that will kill people instead of 8+ like in coil.

Let's hope in future content patches we get more stuff like that. Unfortunately in 3.0 endgame is gonna be slim pickings.

[Dualblade]

No, from the sounds of it ("cleared in a day or two" & "to relax and enjoy the story), it's straight up easy-mode.

What makes me think that no, it isn't just "easy mode", is that he probably isn't saying casual/non-hardcore players will complete it in a day or two, but that it can be as such. The hardcore will have it complete before the first week is done, everyone else will have guides to help them but still have something challenging for themselves. Lots of players still haven't cleared T5 with current echo, even though it is easy once you know what to dodge.

[Teuciont]

What makes me think that no, it isn't just "easy mode", is that he probably isn't saying casual/non-hardcore players will complete it in a day or two, but that it can be as such. The hardcore will have it complete before the first week is done, everyone else will have guides to help them but still have something challenging for themselves. Lots of players still haven't cleared T5 with current echo, even though it is easy once you know what to dodge.

I don't think the players that haven't managed to clear content that is a year and a half old and outdated by 40 item levels should honestly be taken into consideration when creating what is supposed to be some of the most difficult content of the game meant to last for 6 months.

[Zaft]

Implementing EX Dungeons, a third Raid Difficulty, & Savage 24-Mans would be PERFECT.

I would kill for WoW challenge mode type dungeons with leaderboards and the like. Players are COMPETITIVE. They want to fight to improve and battle against their friends or try and climb the ladder, and the popularity of things like challenge modes, greater rifts and Hearthstone seasonal ladders just prove this.

[Gardes]

A small number of Players are COMPETITIVE.

Fixed. The rest would rather claim that they can do it but don't actually do it and use a bunch of lame excuses to justify it.