One shot mechanics in Normal Raids

[KageTokage]

The good thing about the line mechanic is that even on savage you can just stick with someone else if you feel more confident in their judgment.

[StriderShinryu]

The good thing about the line mechanic is that even on savage you can just stick with someone else if you feel more confident in their judgment.

There's little question that the mechanic, and this fight in general, does require a little more in terms of sort of general gaming skill than a lot of fights in the game. As such, it's definitely a fight that some people are going to have issues with even if/when they understand what's going on mentally. It's more about reading and reacting than just a "go here when this happens, or stand at X for that mechanic" fight.

That said, however, the advice quoted above is 100% true. You don't even need to have voice comms or know the person/people you're playing with. Find the person/people who do seem to know what they're doing and just follow them. That should help most people get through this one.

[Stanelis]

There's little question that the mechanic, and this fight in general, does require a little more in terms of sort of general gaming skill than a lot of fights in the game. As such, it's definitely a fight that some people are going to have issues with even if/when they understand what's going on mentally. It's more about reading and reacting than just a "go here when this happens, or stand at X for that mechanic" fight.

That said, however, the advice quoted above is 100% true. You don't even need to have voice comms or know the person/people you're playing with. Find the person/people who do seem to know what they're doing and just follow them. That should help most people get through this one.

Except this strategy doesn't work because light and dark debuff are attributed randomly. It then requires as much work to try to find the player with the same debuff on time than actually looking where light and dark will go during the mechanic.

[StriderShinryu]

Except this strategy doesn't work because light and dark debuff are attributed randomly. It then requires as much work to try to find the player with the same debuff on time than actually looking where light and dark will go during the mechanic.

Eh, you do have quite a bit of time to recognize what colour you have and what others around you have. It's random who gets what at the start of each phase but there is no randomness beyond that. If you're sticking close to the other players in general then find a player who has the colour you do and move with them. Your own colour will be swapped to match theirs as you do the mechanic. Maybe you're having trouble with the mechanic but it's just blatant hyperbole to say it takes as long to see what colour you have and figure out where you need to go as it does to just see someone else with your colour near you.

[Gofr]

I've survived taking the wrong hit before, but I have to be at full hp and it leaves me with literally like 2% left (maybe also had a shield going too when that happened, not sure), so if you're missing even a small sliver of hp, you die. Anyway, as for the mechanic itself, it's pretty easy once you understand it. I usually take the time to preposition myself in advance before it fires off, that way once I'm in place, I can just stay there and continue dpsing. I don't see what's so hard about taking a few seconds to look where they're going and pre positioning yourself accordingly, really.

[EaMett]

Yeah it's hit or miss atm but everyone will get used to it. My personal experience was pretty mellow, caught us off guard the first time around and then cleared on the second pull. All pug of course. So your experience may vary depending on how experienced the people you end up with are.

While we're on the topic of hard encounters. I feel like shiva's difficulty in savage might be overtuned. I love it and wouldn't change anything about it, but I have a hard time picturing pugs doing it anytime soon.

[Gemina]

I have a feeling you are interpreting the latter part as an independent sentence, when in reality the "Stand where" applies to both the first and the second parts. Adding some more words: "Stand where the birds are opposite your debuff, and also where the portals behind you and to your side are of different colors." Or putting it another way: "Stand where the birds are opposite your debuff, and at an intersection of two different-colored portals."

Explanation, which you probably already know: Portals of the same color are linked. If white birds go into the red portal at the back, then white birds will come out of red portals at the side. Red = white, blue = black (in this example). You want to get hit by different colors. Thus if you have the dark debuff to begin with, you want to stand in front of the red portal (where white birds go in) and with a blue portal to your side (where black birds come out).

Further explanation: The portals and their intersections form a checkerboard pattern of alternating safe and lethal squares. The initial positions of the birds make two entire columns lethal. Thus there will be four safe squares on the playfield. This is somewhat similar to the grid mechanic on the first boss of Orbonne Monastery.

Edit: The goal of this sort of short instructions is to give players who do not grasp the logic of the mechanic something to memorize. Those who do grasp the logic will sooner or later come up with their own way of figuring out the safe spots from the clues, as you have done. But given how impatient people are it's impossible to teach the full logic to people after entering the instance.

Most of what I've written is simply how my brain is processing things. As I said before, I believe there are a lot of ways to explain what's going on that are all perfectly valid. However, the way some might try to explain where it is safe to stand may differ from how their brain will finally lock it down. As an example, the way you added some additional context to my explanation only made it more confusing for me, but I also understand that it is all accurate information.

What I have found in my PUGs is that players are being patient. No one is rage quitting or anything. Those trying to figure things out are asking questions, and those who have are answering them the best they can. I find that this particular mechanic is more difficult to explain than it is to grasp, especially in a PUG where even if those players are being patient, you still feel a certain pressure or rush to get the information out, and you may not word things the way you would like to. This feeling of a time constraint is exactly what is going on during this phase of the boss.

[Crushnight]

I would just like to say that this thread has gone some way to restoring my faith in the XIV community. Unlike most threads on this kind of thing, very few people have been downright rude and told the OP to 'git gud'. Most people seem to understand why this mechanic can be very difficult to grasp. As Gemina said, it's two different thought processes at once (a bit like patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time).

I found 'Git Gud' should only only apply to people who get snarky or snappy ie they stoop low 1st, regardless of content from dungeons to ultimate.

It just doesn't help people who are struggling with something so explaining even for 90 minutes is better than a single 'Git Gud'.

[Limonia]

I tried this fight for the first time today and was so bad at that portal thing. I'm usually quiet and calm but I get so very angry when I'm new in normal mode content and I'm the only one failing the mechanics even though most others are new as well. How does everyone grasp it right away?

Then I just went as off-tank instead of healer. My boyfriend who only ever does casual content went as MT and kind of carried me through it, because he understood it immediately as well.

The portal mechanic just is the kind of I'm really bad at. It reminds me a little bit of the Atomos mechanic in Dun Scaith. I can only do it right when he tells me where to go. I mean I understand the portal mechanic at least, he explained it to me with a video and I got it, but in the fight I was still too stupid for it. Maybe I'll get better after a while. I'm the last person asking for nerfs, I'm fine with "trickier" mechanics (yes, I know, you understood and executed it perfectly immediately). But I really don't like this one.

[Valorak]

I just did it again this morning to see if people were struggling with it, and this group definitely had a harder time with it than my first group. That said, we only wiped a few times before people really started catching on. Just hang in there and talk it out with your group members.

I tried this fight for the first time today and was so bad at that portal thing. I'm usually quiet and calm but I get so very angry when I'm new in normal mode content and I'm the only one failing the mechanics even though most others are new as well. How does everyone grasp it right away?

Then I just went as off-tank instead of healer. My boyfriend who only ever does casual content went as MT and kind of carried me through it, because he understood it immediately as well.

The portal mechanic just is the kind of I'm really bad at. It reminds me a little bit of the Atomos mechanic in Dun Scaith. I can only do it right when he tells me where to go. I mean I understand the portal mechanic at least, he explained it to me with a video and I got it, but in the fight I was still too stupid for it. Maybe I'll get better after a while. I'm the last person asking for nerfs, I'm fine with "trickier" mechanics (yes, I know, you understood and executed it perfectly immediately). But I really don't like this one.

Hahaha, well hopefully no one thinks that someone is stupid just because they aren't good at solving puzzles quickly. There are different types of intelligence and everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Personally, if I have a choice between someone with a good attitude that struggles sometimes or some elite gamer with a crap attitude, I'll always pick the person with the good attitude.