Difficulty in the msq

[MassivEdgelord]

I recently finished the arr msq and while it was good I found it to be very easy and so I would like to propose a harder difficulty option people could use to make it slightly more challenging, or maybe even make ng+ do that... idk what does everyone think.

[Enkidoh]

You have to remember it's content from 8 years ago when the level cap was only 50, and players have long since worked out the 'tricks' for dungeons and trials during it. Add in level 80 players in end game gear doing that content via Duty Roulettes for Allagan tomestones which even level synced down, still are far more powerful than someone at the 'correct' level for that content, so it's little wonder the ARR content seems a breeze now.

Speaking as a Legacy player from version 1.0 and in the Beta test and thus I was playing since before the game launched, I can honestly say at launch the ARR MSQ was actually much much harder back then from what it is like now. Brayflox's Longstop especially was a rite of passage for players (I can't remember how many times I failed the dungeon to that damn dragon's poison), and I still remember when Praetorium could have it's story cutscenes skipped, but those doing so usually risked certain death if other members of the party watched them anyway. And to say nothing of the Steps of Faith having end game mechanics and difficulty originally and served as an effective roadblock (SE later nerfed it though due to complaints it was too difficult). ARR's MSQ was meant to guide new players into the game anyway, especially players who were new to MMOs and the FF series so it makes sense it would be not challenging.

The MSQ does get more difficult later though, so just hang in there.

[Vyrerus]

To add to what Enkidoh said, the general potency on skills has gone way way way way way way way way way WAY WAY up since the quests themselves were the latest and greatest thing.

For reference, in 2.0 a DRG's strongest direct attack was a combo'd Full Thrust with a potency of 300. It could be buffed by an additional 50% to 450 potency for a short 20 seconds during Blood for Blood(Lance Charge) with the addition of the maintain buff/debuffs Heavy Thrust/Disembowel. So in general, DRG's strongest attack under its own buffs was sitting at roughly 360 potency with a chance for critical hit.

Nowadays DRG's Full Thrust is 540 potency before any buffs. It still has Disembowel as a +10% and Lance Charge for +15% more for that same 20 second window as old Blood for Blood window. But you know, this means, even outside of that window, it's still 594 potency. In that window it's 675 potency. It also has the added factor of Direct Hits, which did not exist, meaning more damage. It's the same across all other skills, with less invested in DOT, with stronger oGCD potencies too.

Basically, even the old DPS that were current during 2.0 are worth like 1.5 DPSes, putting your DPS total in standard party of 8 at like 6 2.0 DPS. This is to say nothing of the new jobs which were not balanced at all against old content, which have utterly insane potencies at lower levels. For instance, Ninja's Raiton is 800 potency. Samurai's Midare Setsugekka is also 800 potency with its dot Higanbana being a total of 1050. Nothing in 2.0 was ever that strong, and these attacks may be further enhanced, even at level 50, by potions and other raid buffs/debuffs like Trick Attack and Battle Voice.

This basically means that no matter what your composition is, you are overgeared and overpotencied for every piece of content, even the Binding Coil raids. It also means, even if you do current content at minimum iLvl, it will still be easier with much more leeway on DPS checks than in 2.x.

[ItMe]

The MSQ is "story mode" levels of difficulty, and considering how MUCH of it there is that's probably for the best.
The game has challenges elsewhere and along the way, but yeah the MSQ does nothing to really challenge the player.

[Jojoya]

Unfortunately, this isn't a single player game where only you are present so the difficulty level only affects you. With most of the MSQ taking place in the open world that has to be accessible of players of all skill levels, it wouldn't be possible.

If you're looking for more challenging content, I'd suggest trying out Extreme trials and Savage Raids at minimum ilvl. It will mean forming your own groups through Party Finder and selecting Undersized Party then Minimum iLvl in the Duty Finder settings.

If you're looking specifically for more difficult solo player content, a popular challenge is to solo all 200 floors of Palace of the Dead and all 100 floors of Heaven on High. While it will start off fairly easy, it does get progressively more difficult as you reach the higher level floors.