"In from the Cold" Scenario, any way to skip it?

[Avidria]

...

I don't entirely agree with this take. And I'm gonna start by saying I do have some issues with the quest's story, and the general context and related story.

But I liked this duty. I liked it a lot. It was definitely tougher than a lot of the other duties we've dealt with, and the sub-objectives weren't terrifically clear, but it ended up feeling more like a puzzle to me than anything else. I actually liked that the objectives weren't completely obvious, and that you kind of had to figure them out. What I liked most about it though was that it showed our character still coming up with solutions and working their way through a high-stakes situation and managing to still make a difference, even in a body without the strength and power that they're used to. The situation was far from being in their favor but they still managed to pull through, but it also still had that sense of urgency to it - of knowing they easily could've failed.

As for the rest, I have a TON of issues with Fandaniel and Zenos just in general.

I am so far beyond tired of Zenos and his obsessive self-important drivel. At this point my character has little reason to view him as anything other than an incredibly powerful and incredibly dangerous nuisance, seeing as he seems to mostly just be sitting around giving orders that seem to be primarily getting carried out by Fandaniel for... reasons I'm still not entirely sure I understand. Watching those two interact feels like watching a bizarre horror-comedy sit com with Fandaniel in one corner being the passive aggressive cousin ready to tear out someone's throat for a laugh and Zenos being the other cousin who's tolerating him because he's far too edgy and cool to cut him in half like he probably wants to.

All of that rambling to say, that for me the only thing that felt cheap about this particular quest is that it feels an awful lot like this entire little subplot was entirely just a whim of the current main antagonists, a diversion on top of a distraction that sure, delayed us but also accomplished... nothing?? Of note that the attack wouldn't have done already?? Like Fandaniel did this just to see if he could. For. Reasons, I guess.

Imo the story problems with this quest are less a function of the quest itself, but of the broader context of the story... and having one half of your dynamic duo villain pair being a one dimensional murder bot whose entire personality is being obsessed with fighting the warrior of light.

That said I'm still only on the L84 quests so have a lot to go, maybe my feelings on that will change, but so far the outlook isn't great lol

[Abelisk]

I was fine with the concept, I just thought it was too copy-pastey

[Catwho]

Got through it after the second try. Didn't see an echo or anything, but it felt a lot easier, so it might have automatically bumped it down from normal to easy because I failed the first go round.

I'm just glad I was able to get through it....

[PredatoryCatgirl]

I get a feeling of accomplishment when I beat a difficult boss or master a rotation. This I just felt relieved it was over. This wasn't a challenge, it was dropping you into an entirely different game and making you adapt to it. The worst part was the removal of regeneration, which is something that is, as far as I know, unprecedented in MSQ.

[Baxcel]

I get a feeling of accomplishment when I beat a difficult boss or master a rotation. This I just felt relieved it was over. This wasn't a challenge, it was dropping you into an entirely different game and making you adapt to it. The worst part was the removal of regeneration, which is something that is, as far as I know, unprecedented in MSQ.

As far as we know, natural health regen is from the body processing Aether to heal itself. So it would make sense that being in a Garlian body would remove your ability to regen.

[DontReadThis]

It wasn't that bad. I enjoyed the stealth gameplay.
However, I do have 1 criticism: The scenario should have barred off all the paths to the northern area until interacting with the magitek armor in need of refueling.

I spent my time exploring the entire area before interacting with the magitek, and despite my experience from other quests and typical game design convention hinting that the fuel canister would be important, I was unable to transport it until actually interacting with the magitek to update the quest objectives. This meant I had to backtrack all the way to the fuel which I already knew was important, and then go all the way back to the magitek.

Aside from that, it was a fun mission. I would highly suggest people interact with all the things to get all the medkits, and also look for the interactable thing which gives a 4 min HP regen buff.

[PharisHanasaki]

Oh, weird, I was expecting the opposite of this thread. I really enjoyed this trial. I finished it on my first go, with 10 mins still on the clock.

There are things that could've been improved, I agree. It took me a bit of exploring to understand what I had to do, because the instruction was misleading. Also, there was no indication that you've cleared out the enemies with the broken magitek, so I was still mounted for a min before realizing I was done.

[Krotoan]

I will say anyone who has done Eureka will easily pass this. I fought maybe 1 extra enemy I didn't see. All in all I didn't find it any harder than any other "weird character" instance and as to the story I can appreciate how it meant to take us down to trash mob level and strip us down to only our determination to save our friends from falling for a trap. The timer did make me worry a little and I think that's the point, to induce anxiety even if you don't actually care for your fellow scions. It was a little vague on where you were supposed to go with the map and no real directions, but once I got the idea that it was a giant half circle I just explored both sides.

Also, there was no indication that you've cleared out the enemies with the broken magitek, so I was still mounted for a min before realizing I was done.

There was though? I think I literally had the text on the screen "you have cleared out the enemies, continue on" or something to that effect. Though maybe they should just have the armor shut down and kick you out.

[Riastrad]

Ok. So here is what you do to make this a bit more relaxing. Just before this cutscene into duty, dress up in the most terrible glam you can imagine and have Zenos attempt to be edgy and cool in your skin suit.

Sit back and enjoy!

[Averax]

Took me a couple tries. Was annoying. Simply adding automatic healing out of combat would work wonders for that quest.