How hard is Alexander Normal

[Nephisto]

I cleared T5 and all the 2.X Primals EX. Am I going to survive in Alexander Normal? I read the difficulty is something like the CT. Is it really this kind of difficulty?

[Ashelia_Ferron]

Alexander Normal is story level difficulty.

Anyone with competence can faceroll through it

[Jamillion]

It's a cakewalk but you might get a few terrible groups. It's pretty hard to wipe on A1-A3 normal

[ChandraNoctis]

Because so many people are running it right now for relic drops, it's super easy for most groups through the duty finder.

Occasionally I got a group with a lot of new people just at gear level and then it was a bit more challenging but from my runs yesterday 85%+ were easy fast clears (A1-4), the others involved one wipe or a longer run due to failure to do mechanics.

Prior to the relic quests it seems there were more inexperienced and lower geared groups (looking for the gear upgrades) and so a higher wipe rate.

[Februs]

Because so many people are running it right now for relic drops, it's super easy for most groups through the duty finder.

Actually, if anything this is the one thing that might provide additional "difficulty" to this content right now.

Alexander Normal is ridiculously easy. Sometimes it can be a little annoying (A2, I'm looking at you), but there's nothing particularly difficult about it. There's barely any mechanics worth mentioning (If you've cleared T5 unsync'd then you'll laugh all day at how easy the "mechs" of Alexander are), and the current average gear level makes Dps checks a joke. Dps checks weren't ever really a thing even when Alex first released, so no worries there. As long as you're roughly ilvl 175-190 you'll be fine.

The "difficult" part, right now, is dealing with your party. Because of the Relic grind, there are more and more groups turning up in Alexander Normal that skip mechs or act like general asshats because they're trying to clear as quickly as possible. Progressing without Ready Checks, ignoring buffs, not bothering to ask if new people know what to do.. etc. All of this is common place nowadays, because people are bringing a Farm Party mentality into the DF. So you might find that you feel rushed or overwhelmed, or just generally are not learning what to do because the party isn't slowing down enough for the new people to keep up. It's not the Raid you have to worry about. It's the people who run it.

[BrielleBeaudonet]

It's a little harder than CT / WoD / Void Ark, but not by much. Just a little less forgiving with how many mechanics you can miss and make it through. Tanks need to grab adds a little faster, healers need to be a little more on the ball, etc.

[Ashkendor]

It's a little harder than CT / WoD / Void Ark, but not by much. Just a little less forgiving with how many mechanics you can miss and make it through. Tanks need to grab adds a little faster, healers need to be a little more on the ball, etc.

I wouldn't even say that anymore. I've had A1 normals where almost every mechanic was ignored (actually ignored, not 'didn't happen at all due to high dps' or anything like that) including 3000 tonze missile going off twice, and we still cleared it.

[bardaboo]

Use your noob status to your advantage. Start a pf asking the relic grinders to clear you through. They'd get bonus tomes.

[viewtyjoe]

Aside from a few mechanics in A4 which actually require people to pay attention, the majority of normal is easy enough. The relic grind may mean more competent people are doing it, but between 3.1 and 3.15, groups were generally iffy at best for it in DF in my experience.

[Lunafreya]

Disappointingly easy as pie. That doesn't mean farm parties on my server always burn through it though. Some people wipe and then just rage quit. Still, the relic grinding alex part is terrible game design.