Difficulty spike?

[Sida]

Sure, and then you'd tell them to stay until it finishes. People not communicating is not a valid reason for nerfing a fight.

Which is what I'd do, even before the fight. At times it makes me think some people ran those things with chat box hidden. And by no means was I asking for nerfs, I actually like the step up in pace this patch introduced. Nothing of the new stuff requires godly skills or the utmost topnotch gear. But it does require paying attention.

[Zojha]

At times it makes me think some people ran those things with chat box hidden.

As a matter of fact, many people do just that to avoid spoilers. Or because they don't wanna hear the salt.

I personally haven't bothered with Nidhogg yet, so I don't know how the fight actually goes. But from what I heard, I wager I'll rather ignore it until it either has become more pug-friendly or I simply have to because all my new goals are locked behind MSQ progress.

[Sida]

As a matter of fact, many people do just that to avoid spoilers. Or because they don't wanna hear the salt.

Which is a shame since by being uncommunicative and seemingly not reacting to advices given they actually contribute to the salt. Guess I was in good fortune for my both first clears, weeping city and nidhog, by getting a DF party which acually exchanged advice and had "let's do this" attitude. Stuff is so much easier when everyone's on the same page (or even same chapter..)

[Geist]

Did this for the first time in the late, late evening alongside two of my FC mates (hello there Kori, Rugiada!).
Most of the people in our group were new to the trial, anyway, and we were a pretty uneven mix of iLvls - with the majority being barely above the minimum, if I'm recalling it correctly.

We wiped a couple times while learning the pacing and developing a strategy that would fit our group. On the third attempt we got it right: the healers were key in both keeping up with the flow of damage and pumping some nice extra dps, which came in handy during add phase (our tanks managed to gather them for a LB, cutting down on the time required to burn them).

It's obviously going to be harder for barely-geared entrants, and you need to learn the pace to be effective, but it's a great, intense battle as it should be. If I may offer a piece of simple advice, the previous step in the MSQ does drop ilvl 215 gear, as does Hullbreaker, so there are ways to "buckle up" (at least in terms of better armor and accessories) before undertaking this trial, besides the known avenues of raids, crafted gear or Lore pieces.

There's a reason these are "The Final Steps of Faith", after all: it isn't going to be easy.