So... having finished Shinryu and Deltascape (all 4 bosses), I would have to ask this:

Why is Deltascape a heck of a lot easier than Shinryu, when Deltascape rewards a full set of 320 gear (though requiring a minimum of 7 weeks to get such), but yet Shinryu rewards nothing except for a quest clear and a gate to everything else in endgame?

That just seems.... strange to me.

Something with that many mechanics belonged at the end of the expansion, not at the beginning. You can easily compare Shinryu to Final Steps, in fact I think Shinryu is far harder with more plentiful instant-death mechanics and don't even get me started on the hilariously easy punching bag that is Thordan (the MSQ version obviously).

Now, I'm not calling for a nerf to Shinryu, though I do think that a few tweaks would make it a bit more palatable while maintaining its heart-pounding edge-of-your-seat action (such as, checkpoints in the various phases so you don't have to re-do the entire thing when you inevitably wipe in Phase #3).

I'm just wondering what is up with the out-of-whack difficulty progression. Are Kugane Castle and Temple of the Fist as easy/easier than Deltascape? I've yet to try those, I figured I would hurry and get Deltascape done before Tuesday as I saw it as being more important.