Whats the difference between ex primals and savage raids?

[BorisDaBlade]

They both have one boss, involve killing trash mobs, and really have no backstory(coils excluded).

Now that they are tuning the 3.5 primal for the "bored" savage raiders, they really don't have any separation from each other.

[MomomiMomi]

No difference. Just like there isn't a difference between non-ex primals and non-savage raids.

One tier is meant to be beatable by everyone. The other isn't.

[Lambdafish]

You really misunderstand the tuning... They aren't making ex primals as hard as raids, they are making zurvan on the harder end of the ex primal spectrum (from thordan to Shiva). They have stated that they will never make an ex primal harder than thordan, but with zurvan we can expect him to be the second hardest primal in HW

[viewtyjoe]

One drops just weapons and we get one per patch (unless we don't), the other drops pieces from an entire set of gear that includes weapons and we get four every even patch. EX Primals are meant to be very doable via PF/RF, while Savage raids are meant to require a level of coordination that typically comes from running as a constant group for a period of time, though this tier is significantly easier to try and get more people to raid.

Also, I wouldn't say either "has no backstory," as the story is simply that of the more "normal" difficulty versions of the fights. They could do a WoW-style difficulty selector in the duty menu and it'd be the same thing.

[Griffey]

You raise an interesting point. From a technical standpoint, there is no difference between a raid and an ex primal-both involve mechanic driven boss fights. I mean you even find the latest ex primal under the RAID finder!

I think 'raid' in the context of FFXIV is a catch-all term for the endgame content. What makes raiding unique is the loot system. All raids have a weekly lockout for loot drops whilst they are the current content- this is true for Alexander normal, savage, and Mhach alliance raids. Ex primals can be beaten over and over with no limit on loot drops.

[Yeol]

Both are harder than the normal version.

They drop usefull loot for current patch. Only the loot is different.