The last few solo trials in the main story need a nerf... (Lahabrea, Rhitatyn...)

[EderTheBro]

As a new player I really enjoyed the story and the dungeons. Everything is really fun so far. There is, however, a huge difficulty spike at Lv 46. The game has up to this point basically let you do the MSQ and that's enough XP for everything but suddenly you needed to grind 3 levels to unlock the next quest when you're at Lv46, which is pretty grindy since you have to grind a Lv41 dungeon to level.

Then I got to Rhitatyn which seems to be one of the first solo trials in the game. At first I thought it was pretty cool and the mechanics like the earthquake mechanic got me a few times but it was super cool. But the fight was literally like 3 times as long as any fight you have been in up to this point, had like 4 phases with different mechanics. The last phase was also just basically impossible. Maybe I'm not getting it but I just died so much to it because he literally just locks you and burns you and you can't do anything about it. I had to try like 5 times, go on very easy, and even buy better gear just to beat him. It's just a huge difficulty spike that kinda took the fun out and killed the tension of the game.

And then once you get to Lahabrea it became even more insane. It was just new mechanics after new mechanics the game throws at you and every time you make a mistake it takes half of your health away. That fight also took me like 3 tries.... which is kinda weird when the dungeons were not that bad.

I don't know if it's just me but the difficulty spikes are kinda insane IMO and probably need a nerf. I also hope the rest of the game isn't like this and gets harder and harder. I really don't want to play a hardcore game :/ Any advice?

[Krokov]

Just going from personal experience just keep at it my friend. It can be difficult. I agree with you but each new battle is a new learning experience and once you get the rhythm of it you'll get it done. And yes can be frustrating and so forth but just keep at it you'll get it.

[EderTheBro]

Just going from personal experience just keep at it my friend. It can be difficult. I agree with you but each new battle is a new learning experience and once you get the rhythm of it you'll get it done. And yes can be frustrating and so forth but just keep at it you'll get it.

Thank you. I just hope the rest of the game isn't as brutal as those two fights.

[Mosselyn]

Thank you. I just hope the rest of the game isn't as brutal as those two fights.

It does get harder, but gradually, so that you have time to learn and adapt. A friend and I often laugh about how hard or intimidating certain encounters were when we were new to them, but now they seem easy. Also, most of the more challenging encounters aren't solo duties, so you don't have to pull that weight alone.

A couple things that have helped me in the past:

If you're struggling, watch a guide. Sometimes there are mechanics I don't notice or misunderstand in the heat of battle. Also, there's no shame in dropping the difficulty down to Easy or Very Easy if you need to.

If there are NPCs fighting with you, pay attention to what they say in chat. That took me much too long to learn. If they tell you "I'll handle X, you go take care of Y", DO THAT. Sometimes it makes all the difference.

I sometimes practice tough dungeon encounters with the Duty Support NPCs. I'm not embarrassed to die (sometimes repeatedly!) with them. The fights in this game are almost all choreographed, so practice can make perfect, or at least more competent.

Good luck out there!

[NekoMataMata]

The game will get harder. HW and SB probably will be a bit of a break from what you're experiencing, but ShB and EW have a lot more movement to them. It's honestly why I prefer how they've modernized the early game fights. It's prepping you for later on.

I always felt like most people get to ShB or the patch content before it and they're a bit overwhelmed because previously nothing really compared.

[Kranel_San]

Thank you. I just hope the rest of the game isn't as brutal as those two fights.

Fun fact: Rhitatyn and Lahabrea used to be 8-players boss fights but they were super easy to the point they were considered joke bosses. However, in recent patches, these bosses were buffed up and moved to their own solo battle instances, turning joke bosses into proper solo bosses as they should be lore-wise.

There are going to be difficulty spikes, but the mechanics you're seeing and learning are going to show up over and over again, so it's highly recommended to learn them in order to navigate more easily through the next bosses.

[Kaurhz]

Mechanically speaking, the game does get harder, however, the amount of leeway you're afforded in the later levels increases greatly. e.g., for some mind-boggling reason, these earlier solo instances have a much more stringent gear sync imposed, than compared to the latter.

Just keep trying at it and you'd nail it! Speaking from having experienced both (reran the MSQ), I can say it's much, much more engaging now than it was.

[Rongway]

suddenly you needed to grind 3 levels to unlock the next quest when you're at Lv46, which is pretty grindy since you have to grind a Lv41 dungeon to level.

That gap is really awkward in terms of MSQ pacing, yes. However, for leveling xp there is a Lv44 dungeon (Dzemael Darkhold) and a Lv47 dungeon (Aurum Vale).

To unlock Dzemael Darkhold, do either the quest "Fort of Fear" in Coerthas Central
or the quest "Shadows Uncast" from your GC as a Sgt First Class.

To unlock Aurum Vale, "Going for Gold" in Horizon (Western Thanalan).

These quest icons should be easy to spot because they will be blue +Q icons (the symbol for quests that unlock features or content--pick these up whenever you see them!).

These dungeons will also give you better gear than the Lv41 dungeon, which will make the Lv49 and 50 stuff easier. Also make sure you've done your job quests because they give you IL50/55 gear at Lv45/50. All incoming and outgoing numbers are based almost entirely on gear; dps doesn't increase that much with just level alone.

[SannaR]

They don't need a nerf. Use any self heals that you might have including potions. Did you do your last two job quests? As those should have given you enough of a left side. I see that you're posting here with bard set to your job so making sure you're keeping your dots on bosses all the time are very helpful. Always have one of your songs playing. Use focus target if you feel the need for a second place to keep track of cast bars. Anything that has a flashing cast bar can be interrupted with head graze. I did them both on my alt that's a bard that just had the ilv 90 stuff from the chest you get after completing the lv 50 job quest, a nq Crab Bow and a mishmash of accessories.

The solo fights do get tougher, but they've made it so that you'll have learned what most of the mechanics look like by the time you reach the later ones. As others have said you can always watch or read a guide. Situational awareness is a skill everyone needs to develop. So don't feel bad if you have to zoom out or pan the camera. Or if you need to error on the side of caution.

[ICountFrom0]

Here's how it goes. The entire rest of the content, you can be carried in, by friends or by game features.
The single player instances can not be carried past. Most of them can't be cheesed.

Most of the time they serve as gear checks, so that you have good enough gear for the next 5 to 10 levels.

A very few of them are skill checks, so that you pass either by dumb luck, or by understanding a mechanic that they view as important.

Folks above have described better gear and where to get it.
Others have given hints about guides.

So, I'd just be redundant with that.

But it's never redundant to say goodluck, and I know you can do it.