Delubrum Reginae is the best raid you've designed... BUT...

[Liam_Harper]

But a lot of these mechanics - probably even most - are just something you have to pick up on.

You're right, but it's the only way they can realistically create any sort of challenge. Dodging random aoe markers and doing mechanics you can figure out on the fly is too easy for any experienced player unless you make them require near-instant reaction time, which just becomes a nightmare for lag or slower players. Either that or they sensory overload you with so many mechanics at once you can't keep track of them all. Mechanics that are a sort of puzzle to figure out just work well for the current game design.

I can understand the frustration when you feel like you just don't get it but the rest of the group (who have a few runs under their belt) all seem to have it figured out. The forums or attitude ingame doesn't help either with the usual "I figured every mechanic instantly and never died once there, easiest raid ever". But in reality it's just how the content is, it works and you're not inept for not getting it. Lots of people die there. We have unlimited Raises for a reason in this game. To be honest, on my 3rd DR run I died so many times I told the healers not to waste mana on me anymore. But I went on to clear another 80 times or so easily, often topping damage. Just embrace it for what it is.

[TaleraRistain]

I think the issue is that you're right, it's not really for casual players. This seems like it had potential to be that strong midcore content that many were asking for, so it could be more punishing. But they tied the casual endgame weapon, the resistance weapons, to going through it. So they dragged in people who otherwise wouldn't touch this content by waving something they wanted badly in their faces. And that's just unfair to the midcore people who could really sink their teeth into this content and be quite happy with it.

[Rinhi]

I think the issue is that you're right, it's not really for casual players. This seems like it had potential to be that strong midcore content that many were asking for, so it could be more punishing.

and that's the great part about DRN! I absolutely love how punishing it is

[TaleraRistain]

and that's the great part about DRN! I absolutely love how punishing it is

Honestly it sounds really fun and if it was just a random instance or at least I didn't have to go through all the rest of the Bozja stuff for it, I'd poke my head in. I would get frustrated as hell I'm sure and there would be much cursing at my monitor, but I enjoy the emotional payoff you get when you finally get that sort of thing down.

I can definitely see how that would be frustrating and very not fun for the casual playerbase, though, and think SE did something really stupid making it required for the relic and thus luring people into it who it's not designed for. If they hadn't done that, they could have, I dunno, "preserved" this content for the midcore mentality and tweaked things to fit. Some might see that as a waste of development time, but I think the midcore audience, while not being as large as the more casual playerbase, it still large enough to make it worth it.

[ForctyusGold]

I think the issue is that you're right, it's not really for casual players. This seems like it had potential to be that strong midcore content that many were asking for, so it could be more punishing. But they tied the casual endgame weapon, the resistance weapons, to going through it. So they dragged in people who otherwise wouldn't touch this content by waving something they wanted badly in their faces. And that's just unfair to the midcore people who could really sink their teeth into this content and be quite happy with it.

i have maxed all jobs but it doesnt mean im midcore or hardcore. im proud casual and this content is really casual friendly. its just about learning . thing you will run it i more then 10 times means, you will learn it . if you dont know , just follow others, ask in chat how to dodge this and that etc. its not designed to be done once and do POTD for other pieces. i wish they would nerf Eureka but thats another thing. this Bozja is good , balanced idk. i hate fates in Bozja but those 3 big battles are great. and if you managed to beat Shadowbringers, it shouldnt be such problem to clear those. also use essences or other defensive/healing actions if you dont feel youre able to make it. like i said some post above , diyng isnt something you should be ashamed of , it happens o/ i also see many crown people on the floor
well obey is something i always dont know where to stay and always writing it chat very negative words about it but its really managable for casuals

[Tulzscha]

True, it's very punishing but very fun once you get the hang of it. The combination of less-than-obvious mechanics with instant death upon failing a couple of them made it incredibly frustrating but after learning them the raid is super fun mechanically.

I've mostly been healing DR and with a good group there's almost no healing required outside of the ocassional raid-wide aoe, but if you get a new person you're just spamming rez. It's not very well designed for healers. I'm guessing this is due to the uneven raid groups, you may not get a healer so they designed the fights with that in mind but I've also had a group with 5 healers and it was so boring.

I also really don't like the lost action system at all (mostly obtaining them). I'd much rather just have a raid designed around having a balanced group and being able to use all my tools. If there are extra actions I'd rather they be more readily available, having to unlock them is fine but having to nolife Bozja to have a random chance at getting any particular action, not fun. Unless you like Bozja which I do not.

The arrow maze is arguably one of the most telegraphed mechanics in that entire instance compared to other mechanics you could have mentioned.

The path tracing happens extremely fast and if you're waiting for the last one you could miss it. What isn't explained well is that the arrows take every available turn.

A lot of the mechanics I think would benefit greatly from having a group talking things over and relating what they see. For a pug, meh.

[Rufalus]

I don't think this example is unfair but I've always felt that way about various other fights. This kind of mmo basically adds difficulty by purposefully making it unclear what you are supposed to do. If you always understand where you are supposed to stand, then it's braindead easy, just go there and keep mashing that attack rotation. Most raiders have at least some moments of dying mysteriously in new content and learning nothing from the wipe. This game has good world building and interfaces but I would never want them to repeat xiv style gameplay in future mmos.

[Rein_eon_Osborne]

Eventually Delubrum is going to need a nerf anyway, though. Maybe not to damage or mechanics but certainly to boss health. The Queen especially is balanced around the idea that the raid is using damage essences but people rarely use damage essences already and will do so less and less the more outdated the content is.

The queen? Not just her. Every raids in said content are basically balanced around the assumption of people utilizing their holster content to some degree (because full extent isn’t something that entire playerbase do & I’m pretty sure dev recognize this trait of us). Pages of informations are even slapped directly to us right before we start dwelving further into Bozjan Southern Front. It’s like ”Hey, use these to make your lives easier.”

Funnily enough no matter how much nerfs they’re going to implement, there will be always that funny individual who’s going to out-idiot the content—or should I say: outsmart by justifying lazy plays.

We already have 16m DRn runs. What, are we going to see a 10m DRn runs in future if they nerf more?

[StriderShinryu]

I also really like DR but it justfeels overly long, not necessarily in length but moreso in content. It feels that there's maybe one too many bosses and the chess piece fight feels like it's less a boss and more just a drawn out tutorial for when you see the pieces later. It could/should have been condensed. Toss the fire breath boss and maybe just incorporate the chess pieces somewhere else, either as a quick sub phase before queen or even as a CE/Skirmish in Bozja.