Do you think pre Endwalker bosses are in need of adjustments?

[Aldath]

I'm grateful for the Endsinger adjustments, but the rest of the bosses are in desperate need of adjustments, the balance seems to be all over the place and I don't get why some are an absolute pushover while others feel like they released yesterday.

Some examples, off the top of my head:

• The Four Lords Trial series still feel fun to do and they don't die in seconds, they released in SB. Compare it to the Weapons in ShB that nowadays are an absolute pushover. I was hyped for the Big Fat Tacos music and instead all I got was dissapointment.
• Eden's Verse raids in normal were an absolute blast, yet you make it to Miss Turndelaeeton and her lights get turned off way too fast, with a battle that doesn't end immediately thanks to the crystal phase and the ice breaking phase.
• The bosses in Malikah's Well barely get to do anything, yet you make it to BE NOT AFRAID and the boss isn't an absolute pushover.
• Every boss from the Void Ark gets snuffed, except Echydna. Arachne in Mhach often gets her vortex phase skipped and Forgall often skips the first add phase, yet every other boss do their things. For some reason, only Proto Ultima is a joke in Dun Scaith.

There's more, but I'm impressed at how radical the shifts in difficulty are, sometimes inside the same instance. I know power and ability creep is a thing that has affected ARR and HW heavily, but I'm surprised to see how many of the ShB stuff is marginally less threatening in terms of HP than some of the SB ones...

That's my opinion, how about you?

[Jeeqbit]

Yes, I agree the syncs should be readjusted to at least tier syncs if not minimum item level. The problems mostly happens with content that was released earlier in the expansion. Anything released in the final tier survive a lot better, although sometimes that is a little less fun as well.

Since you gave the example of Void Ark, that was released in the first raid tier, about 100 item level lower than what we sync down to, so naturally none of the mechanics even matter nor are they threatening.

Weeping City had 3 bosses that I personally witnessed walling alliances and causing them to abandon or leave, when it was current. But the moment the raid tier was over and our item level increased, the whole thing became a joke. Ozma got skipped right to the black hole cast really fast, which is an add phase and then it dies shortly after that, which made it a shadow of its former self.

There used to be a different boss instead of Proto Ultima. The boss that is Proto Ultima was the fanfest fight from what I recall and they have to make that easy because people are not used to the keybinds on the computers there, nor are they necessarily good at the game (they might be journalists). Proto Ultima replaced the fight that was previously there and the raid then gave a reward we could exchange for accessories that were potentially BiS, something they haven't replicated since from alliance raids.

Let us be honest, we've all requested this for years and Yoshi-P has been asked directly about it in a media tour interview and nothing changed. All we can do is hope they eventually do something, but they don't seem to be in any rush.

[KarstenS]

Since you gave the example of Void Ark, that was released in the first raid tier, about 100 item level lower than what we sync down to, so naturally none of the mechanics even matter nor are they threatening.

Void Arc was even at release a joke. It just got worse by time.

[Nestama]

Void Arc was even at release a joke. It just got worse by time.

Only tricky fight in there was the adorable Cuchulainn, but then Ozma came along and made him look like a joke. Void Ark is pretty much the Syrcus Tower (also a joke on release) of the Mhach raids.
Though I have seen wipes on the second boss in Void Ark, but that was because: people didn't kill the adds and also let themselves be eaten (the plant in the middle enrages if you feed it too much).

[Kuroka]

Though I have seen wipes on the second boss in Void Ark, but that was because: people didn't kill the adds and also let themselves be eaten (the plant in the middle enrages if you feed it too much).

I have never seen that in all my years lol

Are you telling me it used to be worse?

YES.

Before the nerfs ppl instantly bailed. It was so bad, multiple wipes on every boss... heck ive had wipes on the first pack of trashmobs xD

But even if you manage ok, Cid was usually a wall. Either ppl messed the adds, by not killing em, dying on em, or - my favorite - killed the other party with their aoe.
Also all 3 parties needed to be alive and tank. if an tank is dead, someone else gets their aggro and if the tank doesnt get up fast, ppl would die. Sometimes you could watch him eat a party alive that way lol
-IF a party managed to die and ANY of the 3 party mechanics were up, it was a fullwipe. even IF you were lucky and no mechanics were up at that moment, you had the aggro that would pick any other party and start hurting.

Due how his arena was made, it was harder to ress the other parties too...

And if everything worked out somehow, he had that other add phase with the ice orbs that would fullwipe if you dont kill em in time, unless you manage a tank lb3 lol

It was fun.


Oh and then you still had ULTIMA to deal with, which often killed the alliance with her aoe, long before phase two. Though once you reached that, it was rather easy.. unless again, if no one handled adds and everyone ate all aoe lol

Edit: and ofc we never had the 10% echo boost they have added there nowadays xD

[Nestama]

I have never seen that in all my years lol

The enrage also isn't even a insta-kill. It just spams Root Storm every 4 seconds (4-5k damage).
But yeah, for that to happen I think 10 people/adds had to be eaten.

[TaleraRistain]

Every boss from the Void Ark gets snuffed, except Echydna. Arachne in Mhach often gets her vortex phase skipped and Forgall often skips the first add phase, yet every other boss do their things. For some reason, only Proto Ultima is a joke in Dun Scaith.

To be fair, he was always a joke. The succubus that was there before could actually wipe the alliance because she wouldn't get interrupted.

[Jeeqbit]

To be fair, he was always a joke. The succubus that was there before could actually wipe the alliance because she wouldn't get interrupted.

Indeed, the strategy was also to burn that enemy down as fast as possible.

[TaleraRistain]

Indeed, the strategy was also to burn that enemy down as fast as possible.

Which is why she would wipe the raid, since nobody would stop a second to interrupt, lol.

I've seen the succubus in Forgall's fight wipe the raid, too. It's wild.

[LilimoLimomo]

Personally, I do notice that Eden 8 ends before it's gone through all the mechanics, and that's a bit disappointing to me. I have fond memories of doing that fight when it was cutting edge.

That said, I think it's more important that content become easier over time. In a game like FF14, easier means more accessible, and the bulk of the player base is casual. There are plenty of players who wait a few extra patches before tackling MSQ trials because they feel like they need the extra iLevel boost.

And heck, being able to over-gear for some fights is one of the only ways FF14 still plays like an RPG; without that aspect it would just be "oh, Eden 8? Gotcha, here are the canned stats and moves you'll be using to fight this canned enemy", and at that point you'd have arguably removed 99% of the RPG elements from the fight.

Thankfully, anyone who wants something closer to the original experience can set up a min iLevel Party Finder, so I think that's good enough. If enough people want it, perhaps they could have a separate min iLevel matchmaking system, that way folks who were looking for that more challenging experience could be automagically matched with each other.