Castrum Fluminis and item level

[splinter1545]

I don't really see the issue here. Sure, it's a big ilvl jump, but It's also 3 patches in to the expansion. This game throws gear at you like at just about every corner with minimal effort. And thanks to creation being uncapped, you can just farm that for a couple days and you'll be fine.

Like, it just sound like you're complaining about doing end game content, to do end game content. It's really hard to believe that the devs would make MSQ, and a trial associated with it, around ilvl 300-310 when the cap is 370 currently.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

The problem is not the ilvl requirement, nor the need to do side content. The problem is the big jump in ilvl requirement which necessitates breaking off the MSQ and doing a lot of side content in a big chunk.

There should have been 2-3 more mandatory dungeons and/or trials between Drowned City of Skalla and Castrum Fluminis, each with a smaller increase of ilvl requirement. Then the progression would feel far more natural, and the grinding more spread out.

I suspect they stopped mandatory dungeons because not only does it limit the scope of storytelling by forcing them to weave a dungeon into every patch series, many people didn't like the interruption of a dungeon while doing the MSQ. As for natural progression, it's hardly different than any usual JRPG. I recall getting to Seymour Flux in FFX and being woefully outmatched simply because he's far harder than the mobs you fight up until that point. The solution? Figure out a cheese strat or grind until my Sphere level was enough to overcome it.

[Aylis]

It's because this game is built primarily around the MSQ and there will never really be a happy medium between those that kept up to currant vs the ones just starting/progressing through the story through multiple patches. Around 80'ish percent of the games content is worked into the MSQ and the other 20'ish percent being the games "optional" content. The devs did this presumably to save time and money by shoehorning as much new content as they can into the MSQ instead of a 50/50 split of story content with content that exists outside the story. They act like they want to assume everyone is currant and caught up with the story. Meaning when they release a new patch they assume every player has done the previous story patch, farmed the last two story dungeons into oblivion to get the item level needed to do the same thing again in the new story patch.

Sadly every player just going through the story as fast as they can will eventually encounter this. There's no real answer or way around it aside from older dungeon grinding for tokens and money and daily hunts along with working the auction house for more money to get crafted gear.

[Vaer]

It's not like they even hide the "optional stuff", it's just a purple quest. They decoupled some of the stuff off of the main quest so the people playing a couple years later down the line don't have to trudge through extra stuff and can get through the old stuff quicker. People complained so hard about the old format (2.x, you know all the random silly tataru stuff which is literally in a sidequest this time instead of the MSQ like it was in 2.x) we have jump potions now. Even if they moved the lock to the actual quest before you can start the new arc you would still be locked.

You get level locked while leveling up in the MSQ, too. I remember hitting Abania and I wasn't the level so I had to go grind the previous dungeon or do sidequests. I remember a jump at the end of ARR and even HW before they added the EXP bonus and the preferred server buff.

Could it flow better? Sure. You're still going to get locked at some point if you skip most of the content.

[Hestzhyen]

I don't want to be dismissive but this is an MMO with gear progression. At some point you do have to gear up to be able to do the stuff that has been added since the launch of the expansion.

That said I do have sympathy for OP since gear progression in this game is just bigger numbers. The gear treadmill exists to keep subs; they could have the i310 Ala Mhigan gear be the only gear with stats and have all subsequent gear released be glamour for all the tiers matter. There are no sets to work on for bonuses, no pieces of gear that augment or complement how you play, no gear that even gives noticeable boosts in performance- it's just inflated stats so you meet the threshold set by SE. Feels pointless to keep up if all you're after is the story and maybe some of the side content. Dumbing down the gear system to this point so people don't have to be worried about which sets to buy means that it pisses people off when they suddenly have to care because their numbers aren't large enough to meet seemingly arbitrary thresholds.

[OIIIIIIIO]

You can farm Creation tomes for easy i330 gear; just do roulettes on level 70 jobs for Creation tomes. After that, you should be able to queue into either Sigmascape NM raids or Swallow’s Compass. Sigmascape drops tokens for i350 gear; Swallow’s Compass drops i345 gear.

You can also just farm Creation gear, and then do Rabanastre a few times for the Rabanastre Coin to upgrade them to i340. There is no weekly limit on the coin, so you can do it enough times to boost yourself from i330 to i335. Rabanastre also drops i330 gear that you can use if you want to buy some with Creation, but not grind as much.

I wanted to have the above quoted for what I'm about to contribute to this discussion because it is the most relevant thing to talk about. I've played MMOs before and have a decent understanding of how this sort of thing works.

Speaking as a brand new player, I didn't see it coming as well. In doing everything up to here I did hit the dungeon where I needed minimum ilvl of 300. I wasn't close to that and since I hadn't had to spend any gil on really anything, I used almost all of my liquid assets to hit that so I could progress. Now I have another big gap without any warning.

Having played other MMOs I get there'll come a point where you have to grind. it's kinda the thing you work for in leveling up and progressing. This has simply been done very poorly here. Almost universally though this happens after you have attained max level and are beginning to do endgame raids. Coming to XIV as a brand new player and having already realized the stuff I've been blowing through was endgame content at some point doesn't make the situation any better at all. It's a hard stop in progression because... well I don't know. I don't think anyone else really has the correct answer either. Probably not even the developers?

The biggest point I'm going to make is that I found this thread via Google. The reason I quoted the above is because I had NO IDEA that those things actually existed whatsoever. Without any clue that those dungeons exist, of course I wouldn't have the required ilvl to progress. Now it makes sense. It should make sense naturally through the flow of the game. Not through searching on Google and finding the poster that I quoted being genuinely helpful albeit through the rest of the thread somehow defending this. Imagine you're reading a fiction novel/book and you have to stop almost at the end to Google how to finish the book. What kind of experience is that for the reader?

I'll stop complaining here and go figure out where these dungeons are, how to unlock them and how to progress. I have absolutely no idea how to do any of that. I do appreciate the help and guidance that has been given here and none of this was meant to make anyone here feel badly. Except for the people making the game who thinks this is ok. It's not. This is jarring and disjoints the whole experience. It could and should have been done better.

[Zsolen]

On Gilgamesh, everyone can show you where to unlock things. Just ask anyone. The vast majority would know exactly what to do. There are multiple ways to level up, and the grind has always been a thing. This game makes it incredibly easy to increase ilvl. If anything, the gear is too easy to replace.

When the ilvl of your main is significantly lower (or even just lower) than that of top tier crafters and gatherers, you need to grind. Seek out unlocks. Ask for help. You can do pvp, HoH, roulettes, 24 mans, and/or Eureka. You can level crafting and gathering, so you can make your own gear. I never heard of a mmo, where you do one straight questline and then simply log off.

[Hestzhyen]

I'll stop complaining here and go figure out where these dungeons are, how to unlock them and how to progress. I have absolutely no idea how to do any of that. I do appreciate the help and guidance that has been given here and none of this was meant to make anyone here feel badly. Except for the people making the game who thinks this is ok. It's not. This is jarring and disjoints the whole experience. It could and should have been done better.

Basic info here: https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/Dungeons
Swallow's Compass is a side-quest, you'll need 330 to get into it. The dungeons that preceeded it - Fractal Continuum (Hard) and Hell's Lid - drop i325 which can give you a boost as you need it. You'll mostly want to run them for the tomes though.

Rabanastre (drops 330 gear) is a side quest as well, requires i305 to get in. No limit on how much you can get but RNG drops + rolls will foul you up a bit, guaranteed.

Creation tomes drop from all level 70 content, you can buy 330 gear and use the coins from Rabanastre to upgrade them to 340 like Hyomin mentioned. (A coin is given to you at the end of each Rabanastre run, no luck required.)

Personal opinion: buying a 350 weapon is probably a good idea since weapons are the most difficult pieces to get if you don't raid. Body gear comes easily through normal grinds.

And of course there is the latest 360 gear from Mendacity, those tomes drop in lvl 70 content and especially from Roulettes. They drop in small amounts though and you probably won't have access to the roulettes that give the most due to ilvl.

Those are the most time-efficient methods; there are longer grinds like Eureka, Pagos, Heaven on High, and raids too.



I think they should stop pretending stat inflation matters enough to force people to grind for it but it is what it is at this point.

[Vaer]

I'll stop complaining here and go figure out where these dungeons are, how to unlock them and how to progress. I have absolutely no idea how to do any of that. I do appreciate the help and guidance that has been given here and none of this was meant to make anyone here feel badly. Except for the people making the game who thinks this is ok. It's not. This is jarring and disjoints the whole experience. It could and should have been done better.

The game used to flow better and made more sense, people said the MSQ took too long (saying how their friends quit midway because of so many quests and having to play for 50-100 hours to get to the end) so they pulled stuff out of it where it isn't mandatory, but if you ask the devs they probably want you to do it. Ironically, this change was supposed to help the new players later down the line, but it seems now the new players have to deal with it.

[Sacred_Nym]

The biggest point I'm going to make is that I found this thread via Google. The reason I quoted the above is because I had NO IDEA that those things actually existed whatsoever. Without any clue that those dungeons exist, of course I wouldn't have the required ilvl to progress. Now it makes sense. It should make sense naturally through the flow of the game. Not through searching on Google and finding the poster that I quoted being genuinely helpful albeit through the rest of the thread somehow defending this. Imagine you're reading a fiction novel/book and you have to stop almost at the end to Google how to finish the book. What kind of experience is that for the reader?

I mean, you hit the maximum level and you know by now that Blue+ quests unlock stuff right, did it not occur to you that it was time to stop blitzing the MSQ blindly and start working your way through the end game progression curve? I do apologize if this comes off as rude but the game changes once you hit the level cap. It has to or there wouldn't really be a game for those of us who are max level, and all I'm seeing is a failure to realize that.