Leveling & Player Skill in PotD - am I the odd one out?

[SilkaN]

PotD has become the subject of many rants and jokes, you see posts like

OH LORD THESE STUPID SCRUBLORDS PROBABLY LEVELED USING POTD AND THAT'S WHY THEY SUCK, I'M UNSUBBING BECAUSE OF THE AVERAGE PLAYER SKILL LEVEL NOW!!11!!

almost every day (and yes, I am exaggerating).

This got me thinking... How do people level in PotD?
In my case, whenever I decide to level something new, I always start with floors 1-10 and work my way up (or down, in this case).
Once I hit level 30 on my class outside of PotD and unlock my job, I start again at floors 1-10. Then, after I got all my skills, I try to organize my hotbars a bit so that playing with and getting used to a job's unique features feels comfortable.
At that point I only use floors 50+ to level.

I simply dislike being thrown into something as chaotic as PotD and being confronted with a sh*tload of new skills without having the time to get used to them.
Learning them step by step gives you a general gist of your options, helping you to play more efficiently and therefore making your runs go smoother.

How do you level in PotD? Do you just unlock stuff and jump right into 50+ to be the next reason someone rants in the Duty Finder thread or do you take your time to get used to your new class / job?
I've seen several people complaining about features like PotD and how they would lower the average player skill level, but as always, the fault lies with the players and not with the tools they are given.

if you find any typos, you can keep them. still getting used to my new keyboard

[MistakeNot]

Problem is that within PotD things usually happen so fast that there is no time to actually learn the skills while inside. This is especially true for the early floors where everything dies as soon as you look at them, and levels are gained equally quick.

PotD is fine for gaining levels. It is not fine for learning a class/job - except perhaps if you play solo in there and can go at your own pace.

[SilkaN]

Problem is that within PotD things usually happen so fast that there is no time to actually learn the skills while inside. This is especially true for the early floors where everything dies as soon as you look at them, and levels are gained equally quick.

PotD is fine for gaining levels. It is not fine for learning a class/job - except perhaps if you play solo in there and can go at your own pace.

It doesn't help you to learn your endgame rotation, yes, but it gives you a general idea about how to play your job.
I'm currently leveling summoner and from what I've learned, it's about keeping up your DoTs on as many mobs and as long as possible, making the best use out of Dreadwyrm Trance, managing your Aetherflow wisely etc.

Some people seem to insinuate that it's PotD's fault when people only know how to press 1 2 3 on their job, but that's simply not true. It's their own fault.

[Faliandra]

Some people seem to insinuate that it's PotD's fault when people only know how to press 1 2 3 on their job, but that's simply not true. It's their own fault.

You are right, I agree it's people's fault.
But the game is allowing it to happen and actually encourages new players to spend a good amount of time in it because:
"OMG, I can level in there and get a good weapon?!"


And Idk if you noticed but I sure have, that during the last few months, DF player quality has dropped drastically.
I do not remember it being nearly as bad before.

Also take into account, that PotD got nerfed quite a bit when they introduced floors 51+, so it became even easier.
Before that, it wasnt too uncommon to wipe in floors 31+ when people became too reckless.
Now hardly anything bad can happen in PotD that will really make you use all of your abilities.

Monk is probably the best example. PotD has no positional requirements, and keeping your Greased Lightning stacks for very long is basically impossible. These are important skills for Monk and simple cannot be learned in PotD, no matter how long you spend in there.

I made exactly that mistake and spent most of my time with my MNK in PotD. Now, I am one of those people who just wanted it at 60 for the sake of having it at 60. I do not enjoy melee classes in particular,
I am absolutely NOT used to positionals etc. And really, mobs in PotD die before i can even build up my buffs and they usually run out before we get to attack the next mob.
Trying to keep your stuff up absolutely doesnt work there as people mostly just do SINGLE pulls that are killed in 2 seconds. I would like to do better as a MNK,
I even have a nice spreadsheet with rota and opener of monks, but I'll be frank, I just cant memorize it along with the positionals. I just dont care enough
because I wont ever play my monk.

I definitely wouldnt call myself a bad player, but I'm a bad monk. And you know what? When I did do a few normal dungeons in the end to get it to lvl 60, it wasnt too
uncommon for me to still be first in DPS. That was scary AF and I have no idea how its even possible.

[Noscifer]

POTD is awesome, I've switched to DPS from tanking seeing how the community is (Good luck future tanks...) And here's what I did : I went inside floor 51 solo with a fixed party, took a look at all the skills and checked synergy, then I placed them all on my keybinds to ensure it makes sense. Once I've done that, I left the floor then queued for matched party. I am now level 50 on my dragoon and can say that I'm used to skills, orders and keybinds associated. Personnaly I think it is a good way to train as DPS.

[SeriousxSarcasm]

It doesn't help you to learn your endgame rotation, yes, but it gives you a general idea about how to play your job.
I'm currently leveling summoner and from what I've learned, it's about keeping up your DoTs on as many mobs and as long as possible, making the best use out of Dreadwyrm Trance, managing your Aetherflow wisely etc.

Some people seem to insinuate that it's PotD's fault when people only know how to press 1 2 3 on their job, but that's simply not true. It's their own fault.

Little off topic, but most important part! Learn to micromanage the pet, or you'll always be a subpar SMN that other casters are secretly judging. XD You have any idea how many SMNs don't know the bare basic of retargetting their pet when they switch targets? :/

[SilkaN]

Little off topic, but most important part! Learn to micromanage the pet, or you'll always be a subpar SMN that other casters are secretly judging. XD You have any idea how many SMNs don't know the bare basic of retargetting their pet when they switch targets? :/

Oh I do try to make my pet attack the enemy I'm currently obliterating, but I'm not sure if I'm using the most efficient method XD
I didn't mention it because I thought it was common sense lol

[SeriousxSarcasm]

Oh I do try to make my pet attack the enemy I'm currently obliterating, but I'm not sure if I'm using the most efficient method XD
I didn't mention it because I thought it was common sense lol

lol ok. <3 There's a handy guide in the DPS forums called "connecting the DoTs" that has some good tips on how to handle pets. First step is having Heel/Obey/Sic on your main hotbar and slowly working up to more complex management from there.

And yeah, you would think it was common sense, right? ;P But apparently it's not, because you see everything from leaving the pet to auto attack the boss while switching to adds, to not putting garuda on obey so she flings enemies everywhere. @_@;

On the bright side, this makes it really easy to pick out a lazy/bad SMN in the crowd. ;D

[Ilan]

It doesn't help you to learn your endgame rotation, yes, but it gives you a general idea about how to play your job.
I'm currently leveling summoner and from what I've learned, it's about keeping up your DoTs on as many mobs and as long as possible, making the best use out of Dreadwyrm Trance, managing your Aetherflow wisely etc.

Some people seem to insinuate that it's PotD's fault when people only know how to press 1 2 3 on their job, but that's simply not true. It's their own fault.

How does it give you a general idea if the mobs in palace die so fast that you don't even have to use more than 1,2,3? I mean yes if you are really interested you get a little preview of the higher skills but thats all.

Sure its not the fault of palace that people are playing bad but it supports that to a certain point.

[SilkaN]

How does it give you a general idea if the mobs in palace die so fast that you don't even have to use more than 1,2,3?

Because I am one of the (apparently few) people who actually read tooltips?
Like, I see a group of enemies and use Bane to spread my DoTs to all of them instead of just doing Ruin, Ruin, Ruin, Ruin again and again.
PotD enemies die too fast for a proper rotation but slow enough to learn what skills / combos are the most effective in certain situations.
Applying this knowledge to actual group content is another thing, but I always try to practise.