The difficulty curve in the game has... problems...

[Packetdancer]

I forced myself to join another prog at Harma with zero hope of getting any farther. Progged for about an hour before someone had to leave. I managed not to wipe us and get the mechanic right after like 5 tries on Harma. Actually cleared Overflow and the second Overflow easier than Harma. Saw enrage once near the end (~25%) before we disbanded. I died, like a lot, a lot more than everyone else it seemed like, and still am clearly the weakest link.

If you feel like you died more than others... I mean, that was fresh prog for you. Chances are that others had seen the other mechanics before, at least a few times. It's very, very easy to get obliterated when a mechanic is new to you and you're focused on matching what you see on-screen to the description you've seen elsewhere.

(I will also note that if you're feeling self-conscious, you may also have thought you died more times relative to others than you did; especially if you're not the healer, it's easy to not really register someone else dying if you're focused very specifically on making sure you pick up the mechanics.)

That's one reason I do prog ahead of my static within a fight, by spending time in PF. I know that even if I look at a video or a Toolbox or whatever, I personally don't have a mechanic really click for me until I've seen it a few times. But once it does click, I know I can call it (and answer questions about it) when my static gets there.

I will also note that there's almost no way one person alone is responsible for missing enrage by 25%, so you might be judging yourself a little harshly there. Sure, it's worth thinking about your DPS. But focus first on the mechanics; better to do some DPS and execute mechanics correctly than to do more DPS but die.

(Admittedly, the ideal is doing more DPS and not dying, but even the best raiders rarely focus on the two at the same time. You focus on the "not dying" so that the fight becomes smoother to perform, then you focus on the "more DPS" to beat the enrage check.)

But, it may be, minutely possible that I can eventually clear it. Enrage once at 25% is a long a** way from a clear, but it might not be impossible. It's still really f'ing hard though and the game does absolutely nothing to prepare you for it. And I'd be willing to put a large wager that I just lucked into a unicorn group that felt sorry enough not to kick me bringing paper bag tier DPS.

Honestly, it is likely you will clear it. You say that you think the fight is beyond you... but I'm going to point out that from what you've said, you've been in a grand total of... what, two parties for P2S? And you've already seen enrage. That is a great deal better than many people do.

Yes, granted, you probably have other people in there who had cleared the fight before, and who are very well-geared. And even those who haven't cleared the fight can be well-geared by now, given the Aglaia coins to upgrade Radiant gear. Still, to be able to get through to enrage -- even enrage at 25% -- ain't nothing, as far as progress goes. It means you've seen the whole fight! It's less "learning the fight" now, and more "getting practice at doing the mechanics more smoothly".

If you really find yourself stuck... the Discord server for the FFXIV subreddit has datacenter-specific recruiting channels, and there is likely a raid community Discord for Aether. For instance, Primal has the Primal Raid Community server (or PRC), where you can find a static or ask for a learning party to be put together or whatever, in a more active and collaborative way (including voice chat if needed) than just relying on party finder; I have little doubt that a similar server is out there for Aether.

(As I play predominantly on Primal -- and periodically on Crystal a little bit with friends over there -- Aether is not a datacenter I have any familiarity with the raid resources for, so I'm afraid I don't know where precisely to point you. The subreddit's Discord will have Aether-specific channels, though, and someone there may be able to help more directly.)

[Issaella]

Honestly, it is likely you will clear it. You say that you think the fight is beyond you... but I'm going to point out that from what you've said, you've been in a grand total of... what, two parties for P2S? And you've already seen enrage. That is a great deal better than many people do.

Yes, granted, you probably have other people in there who had cleared the fight before, and who are very well-geared. And even those who haven't cleared the fight can be well-geared by now, given the Aglaia coins to upgrade Radiant gear. Still, to be able to get through to enrage -- even enrage at 25% -- ain't nothing, as far as progress goes. It means you've seen the whole fight! It's less "learning the fight" now, and more "getting practice at doing the mechanics more smoothly".

My original suspicions were confirmed. The party that got to enrage was a unicorn/fluke. The ones since then have been lucky to get to Harma, let alone get past it to Overflow. There is enough despair in PF at this point to turn a certain blue bird grey again. I will reiterate my argument - unless you are significantly more skilled the the average player there are only two types of PF groups - [Duty Complete] that you can't get into and Practice/Completion groups that will remain that way forever without 5-6 experienced players to drag the rest through. There is no kind of uniformity, might as well be starting fresh in every group. Even the ones that are posted as "practice X mechanic" take multiple pulls just to get there if you are lucky and "seen enrage", which is just a euphemism for "walled at enrage".

[Packetdancer]

My original suspicions were confirmed. The party that got to enrage was a unicorn/fluke. The ones since then have been lucky to get to Harma, let alone get past it to Overflow. There is enough despair in PF at this point to turn a certain blue bird grey again. I will reiterate my argument - unless you are significantly more skilled the the average player there are only two types of PF groups - [Duty Complete] that you can't get into and Practice/Completion groups that will remain that way forever without 5-6 experienced players to drag the rest through. There is no kind of uniformity, might as well be starting fresh in every group. Even the ones that are posted as "practice X mechanic" take multiple pulls just to get there if you are lucky and "seen enrage", which is just a euphemism for "walled at enrage".

I mean, it's certainly very frustrating at times! But as I said, party finder is not a fast way to progress the tier. It is a viable way, but yes, you will find yourself sometimes having parties that do very well, and sometimes having parties where it's a P4S "Act IV cleanup" party that can't even make it into phase 2 at all, much less to Act IV. PF is a grab-bag, and what you get can vary widely.

Doing it in PF does not take more skill than doing it with a static; it just takes a lot more patience and stubbornness.

But again: if you find PF frustrating, I highly recommend looking around for a static. There are still statics forming at this point in the tier; not nearly so many as when a tier is fresh, no, but there are people who had life commitments that kept them from starting the tier earlier, or who only just got to endgame, etc. Or people who did PF and want to do a static for next tier, and so are looking to put one together now.

Were I you, I would probably be looking for one of the last of those sets -- someone looking to put together a static for next tier now, but who'll be running the current tier to help the group gel (or to help newcomers feel more confident in savage).

I can't help too directly other than pointing at /r/FFXIVRECRUITMENT, because I'm not on your datacenter; I don't know the datacenter-specific resources that would best help you. (If you needed them on Primal, I've got you covered; I can point to half a dozen different places to help. But for Aether...? Alas.)

[Issaella]

I got my clear on my alt. Died 3 times, no one else died. I'm out of the Practice/Duty Completion zone finally.

[histoireancienne]

My original suspicions were confirmed. The party that got to enrage was a unicorn/fluke. The ones since then have been lucky to get to Harma, let alone get past it to Overflow. There is enough despair in PF at this point to turn a certain blue bird grey again. I will reiterate my argument - unless you are significantly more skilled the the average player there are only two types of PF groups - [Duty Complete] that you can't get into and Practice/Completion groups that will remain that way forever without 5-6 experienced players to drag the rest through. There is no kind of uniformity, might as well be starting fresh in every group. Even the ones that are posted as "practice X mechanic" take multiple pulls just to get there if you are lucky and "seen enrage", which is just a euphemism for "walled at enrage".

Also, I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but you are in a really bad time to be trying to prog this current Savage tier. No one I know is hopping into PF, and I know a lot of very good, tippy-top raiders who LIKE hopping into practice groups to help in downtimes or at the end of the week when we're all progging or in reclears, etc. My static last met to do the last fight of this current tier in, uh ... March. Most of the ppl I know are doing DSR, so when they're NOT doing DSR, the last thing they want to be doing is hopping into a PF fight. I really would encourage you to find a static for next tier, if your schedule can stand it, or just start PFing earlier.