Difficulty hiearchy (PvE)

[Nora_of_Mira]

I would say from easiest to hardest:

Expert Roulette
Normal raids
Alliance raids
Extreme trials
Savage raids
Ultimate trials

Hope this helps

this this this.

if you want more challenging content than expert roulette, start with the Omega raids (delta-, sigma-, and Alphascape).

This is when the content of FFxiv takes a significant "jump" in difficulty. If you conquered the entire Omega Normal Raids and you're still itching for harder content, start the Extreme primals and join a learning party. Imo, the biggest difference between expert roulette/Omega raids and Extreme Trials, is that the Extreme trials will have mechanics so confusing at first you may need to look online to figure out whats going on. There are TONS of guides out there and a ton on Youtube if you prefer that. Or you can go blind, just depends on your own level of patience. do not expect to clear extreme content on the first pull, or even the first several hours of trying unless you're being carried by experienced players. It can take days or weeks of wiping for new starts to Extreme content, but its hard for a reason.

MY personal experience below leaving casual content:

I started learning extreme trials in HW, learning Bizmark and Ravana after I had cleared the story mode of Alexander. During HW, I think i cleared every extreme primal except for Nidhogg and Zurvan.

In SB, I made it a goal to get every primal mount. So I started joining learning parties for each primal as they came out (im caught up on mounts, currently). Once that was done, I felt like giving Savage raids (Sigmascsape) a try. This is where everyone's experience varies, but i applied to a static via PF and we set a schedule to learn each fight, every week and we managed to beat 3 savage fights before disbanding.

Then when Alphascape savage came out, I applied to a new static via friends in-game and we did the same thing: schedule times to fight each raid a couple times a week. After 6-8 weeks (i lost count) we managed to take down the final Omega fight and it was amazing. It's the first Savage weapon I earned in a current raid tier, and my first savage mount. It's pretty exciting! And the people I met along the way are still valuable in-game friends, which is a huge plus.

tl;dr; try it out, be patient, get humbled by the ridiculous fights, use that to hone your skills and try not to get discouraged. oh, and try to have fun. :0

[Fynlar]

It isn't so much an increasing level of difficulty, more like an increasing expected item level.

Increase in item level requirement alone doesn't necessarily indicate a more difficult player experience, just an increase in how well it expects you to be geared.

[Derio]

From easiest to hardest. For me with the lower stuff its more of the players who make it harder rather than the actual mechanics.
Expert Roulette
Trial Roulette
Alliance Raid Roulette
Leveling Roulette
Normal raids
Alliance raids
Extreme trials
Mentor Roulette
Savage raids
Ultimate trials

[TheMightyMollusk]

It's hard to rate difficulty of roulettes because the real challenge is the rest of the party. That said, personally....

Main Scenario
POTD/HoH
Guildhest
Expert
70
Trial
50-60
Leveling (mostly due to being an enormous mixed bag of level ranges)
Normal Raid
Alliance Raid

Leaving out PVP, Savage, and Ultimate, because I don't do 'em. I'd like to, but my FC's pretty dead and I have social anxiety issues.

[Liam_Harper]

I'd say

-Normal 8 man/Alliance Raid/Dungeons/Trials/Duties/Guildhest all slot into the same difficulty assuming you have the correct ilv. Basically tourist mode intended for a guaranteed clear for all players.

then a massive jump with no in-between.

-Extreme trials
-Savage
-Ultimate

PotD/HoH have their own seperate category where the difficulty scales depending on floor.

[LineageRazor]

It isn't so much an increasing level of difficulty, more like an increasing expected item level.

It's definitely more than just ilvl. Once you get into the Extreme and Savage fights (and to a lesser degree but still occasionally present, normal and alliance raids), avoiding damage becomes much more crucial. Up to that point, players are conditioned to feel like moving out of aoes is a recommendation, not a rule, and the healers can easily cover for your mistake - and even if you somehow die, chances are good that the fight can be completed anyway. Once you get to Extreme or Savage, only the most generous of cases allow you to survive a mishandled damage mechanic (and even then, they'll usually give you a vulnerability stack that ensures you can't do it twice), and if you do die, depending on the fight you'll often be ensuring a wipe.

They are also the point at which Enrages become a regular thing; not only do you NEED to avoid the damage, but you need to do so while also cranking out an expected level of DPS. None of this is necessary in the more casual content.

This results in a pretty huge gap in difficulty, to be honest. Before the gap, ilvl is irrelevant beyond what you need to actually access the content. After the gap, it's important, but it's not the only thing that's important.

[Gemina]

I haven't done relevant savage raids or EX trials. Out of everything else, I would say normal raids are the most mechanically difficult, while alliance raids would be the most difficult due to the sheer number of random players, many of whom work against each other. As such, the mechanics don't require a whole lot of coordination so much as individual players playing well, but they do hit like bricks.

It's difficult for me to say which is harder. Both have left me with an increased heart rate, and happy to get the hell out of there with a clear.

There are also 'git gud' dungeons like aurum vale, the vault, Baelsar's wall, etc. that I would rank higher than expert roulette.