Can Someone Help Me Understand The Endgame

[Harlot]

I am a WoW refuge, and back in the day when i was playing WoW they were strict things to do when it comes to endgame. Like i had a daily checklist included doing x dungeon and x raid etc. But when it comes to FFXIV i couldn't find a decent end game guide. All their saying is there is that raid you can do, and there is that trial you can do but they are not saying when or why should i do them.

And the other thing i really couldn't put my mind to it is this. Correct me if i am wrong but seems like when it comes to a player like me who enjoys doing raids, dungeons and trials there is only 2 option you are either a casual player or hardcore player. Like the normal raids are too easy doesn't reward you enough and when you got to some point you have to jump from easy trial like normal trial to a really hard trial like extreme trials. There is nothing between. I am not a hardcore player, i don't wanna do extremes but i don't wanna do anything but raiding, trials and dungeons. So in order to upgrade my ilevel i have to do extreme after i am done with normals then i have to do savages? I don't have time or skill for either of those things.

Like in WoW you start with looking for raids, then normal, then hard and thats where i stop cause like i said i am not skilled enough for mythic raids and i don't have time for it as well. But in FFXIV i can't do that cause after i am done with normal raiding it sends me straight to the mythic hard content like extremes. And even if i am able to do extremes you only need to do them few times until you reach certain ilevel then all you have left with is savages which is equal to mythics or even worse. So please help me if i am missing something here.

Edit: There is one thing that i wanna make clear is that. As someone who played WoW over 6 years i can easily say extremes trials are not equal to normal raids in WoW. They are so much more harder, i would say they are equal to heroic or even mythic raids. And there is one thing you guys need to understand is that even if i learn all of the mechanics there will always be people who doesn't know them as much as i do. And the result will still be failiure. And as someone who doesn't have guild or friends in game i don't have time to regroup over and over again.

[KageTokage]

Extremes are really not anywhere near mythic level WoW raids.

For better or worse XIV's encounters are heavily scripted, meaning you can memorize exactly what the boss is going to be doing at a specific time in a fight. What seems brain-meltingly difficult at first glance can quickly become second nature with the aid of guides or experienced players to pick it apart and explain what's going on.

[Veranolth]

I wouldn't try and approach FFXIV's endgame like it is WoW.

[Harlot]

Yeah maybe you are right, maybe its not mythic level but its not heroic raid level as well. Heroics are so much more easier then extremes in my opinion. And even if extremes are easier you only do them few times until you reach certain ilevel and then all you have left is savages which is equal to mythic raiding.

[Lustre]

Youre correct in thinking that difficulty generally goes Normal>Extreme>Savage>Ultimate, but its worth noting that a lot of these terms make them seem harder than they really are. Extreme is midcore content, and would probably be equivalent with normal or heroic raid difficulty in wow. Normal content here is like LFR in wow. I do believe that the jump from current normal content to current Extreme content is way way too big of a jump for most people who aren't experienced with MMOs, but that's a topic for another day lol

if you're looking for a treadmill to run on between patches, this game isnt the best for that, for better or for worse.

[VelKallor]

Endgame is basically whatever you want it to be.

and back in the day when i was playing WoW they were strict things to do when it comes to endgame

FF 14 doesnt suffer from that colossal mistake. WOW's "raid or die" mentality is one of their biggest ongoing failings..one that is still driving people away.

In brief, do whatever you feel like.

[Harlot]

I am sorry but as someone who played WoW over 6 years and who started playign FFXIV i can easily say that extremes trial are not equal to normal raid or even heroic raids. Some of them are almost as difficult as mythic. And that really bothered me.

[HanWenqing]

FF14 is not really a mmorpg it's more a game to relax, I mean the difficulty is absolutely ridiculous when you compare to other mmorpg

FF14 is getting closer and closer to a simple rpg, at least I consider it that way, I play other mmorpg for the challenge but FF14 is just a relaxing game for me

[Harlot]

I am someone who likes to do trials, raids and dungeons but looks like as long as i don't put enough mind and time for it i won'T be able to do them cause extremes trials are too time consuming and hard for me. And i don't wanna do anything else but raiding, trials and dungeons.

[GrigoriMarbas]

I haven't played WoW or a lot of MMORPG of this genre myself so I can't claim to understand 100% what you're looking for, but I'll try.

I feel like the issue of the lack of a middle ground is less marked than it seems in theory, due to the combat working more like a dance. While the fights themselves are hard, once you've learned how a mechanic works you can solve it pretty consistently yourself, so despite it still being punishing if done wrong it doesn't feel as "hard". I would wager a lot of people who clear harder content would not call themselves "hardcore". Many learn the fight and only repeat it weekly for the weekly capped loot and call it a day, many run the same fight over and over to maximize their damage output.

I also have little time due to work and only manage to really play during the weekend, but as long as you're prepared and do your homework with guides you can absolutely clear harder content without wasting all your free time on it. The way ffxiv is structured with weekly limits encourages you to not grind all your gear in one day but spread it across weeks.

About the when to do them, any time is good to start. If you want to "feel" ready, I would personally suggest looking at a lv90 gearing guide (consolegameswiki has a good one) to get a feel of what's good and easily available gear, and try Endwalker's version of Stone, Sky, Sea to make sure you have a good hang of your rotation.
Keep in mind the next patch is very close so current gear will become mostly obsolete, but currently I would recommend spending some of your blue tomes augmenting classical gear to get your ilvl to 590. That's good enough for a lot of content.

After that you can simply watch a guide for the fight of your choice (unless you prefer doing it blind), and make a [Practice] Party Finder to learn with other people. We're both on Twintania so we might end up in the same PF, who knows lol