Square enix, Stop this.

[Jaide]

Its really not that much of a problem...most of the time ppl just start running too late. Course, no one will admit that to themselves so they'll rage at the server, blame SE for latency, or whatever the case may be. Granted, FFXIV has quite a bit of server latency, but it's always been there and doesn't just show up in Ifrit. Idk how many ppl have noticed, but FFXIV registers "hits" and "misses" sometimes before you even see the skill animate. Most of the time itll register as the skill *starts* to animate. What does this mean? You are not fighting in real-time...not really. The game registers things before you see them, which is obviously really weird but not impossible to get used to. And quite frankly you *should* be used to it by now.

As an example we'll use miss abilities. I can hit a miss ability as soon as the mob starts to attack me. If its a miss my ability will go off. Now why do you think that is? Its simple..the game registers information before I see it. That means you have to either *predict* or react *very fast* to things that are happening. With Ifrit's cracks/plumes you need to cleare them *almost* instantly. If you are a second too slow, and I mean it, its too late....the game already registered the damage and once your computer catches up you will be dead. If you've paid attention to any of your Ifrit deaths, youll notice that you die before the cracks even explode. Again, this is because information is registered before the action plays out on your end. Obviously this is a latency problem, but its not unworkable.

Long story short, death on Ifrit is *usually* the fault of the player. I'm not saying latency isn't a problem, but i've done Ifrit many times and you can run it without dying at all pretty easily despite the latency. You just have realize that you can't afford to be delayed even slightly if those cracks show up, or those plumes show up. The dmg happens before you think it does, so everything needs to be handled preemptively. This means you have to be careful about the risks you take and when you use skills. Even the tail end of an animation when cracks show up means insta-death.

This is true. Once I got used to the fight, the only times I ever died were when I would break out of my routine to try to raise a healer. There are a few simple rules to follow, like get ready for a special right after helfire or after a jump, or (at least for thm/blm) only try to cast one thunder/thundara combo after a special and then get ready to run. As long as I'm prepared to run from the cracks before they happen I always have enough time to get out of the way. As for plumes, if ifrit is positoned correctly and you know where to stand they aren't much of a problem. I rarely had to move more than few steps to adjust into the safe spot and there was plenty of time for that even with latency.

Ifrit is still easy even with latency, it just takes patience. I think the problem is always people trying to do too much in between specials. Yeah I only get off one combo, but as long as I'm focusing on myself I don't die - ever. Remember your DPS drops to zero when you're dead, and I usually seem to be at the top when other people are parsing. Staying alive makes more of a difference than getting off one or two extra lucky attacks.