Dawntrail's 8-man raid discussion

[Voidmage]

For me till now probably the best 8 man raid in the game.

The story is separate from the MSQ and it’s actually funny how interesting it can be. Wonder who wrote it?

Our character is actually acknowledged, we aren’t forced to just agree with the soul using stuff but have an actual goal with ending it and the fights are omg great.

Like… the first fight is just fun with the tile and sucker punch mechanic.
The second fight is so hectic it’s nuts while being fun.
The third for me was the weakest but still great.
The last one has an actual enrage! Like a real enrage and healer check. Awesome!

I actually want to know how the story unfolds compared to Pandemonium.
The stakes are actually pretty high for ourselves with our soul on the line and I wonder how it will be further down the line.

Also Eutrope is my new waifu. 10/10 can have my soul anytime.

It sucks ASS as a melee. First time I've ever considered swapping to ranged. It's not even about the hitbox size. They just move WAY too much. Screw positionals. Even True North can't save you.
I'll do it once a week to get my shit, but if I get it in roulettes otherwise I'll be leaving.

You see. As a magical ranged main since forever I like that for once melee are not in a blatant favored position for most of the fight. In EW it was starting to annoy me that I sometimes had to play blm perfectly only for a melee to just get automatic high numbers almost.
An entire expansion was in your favor fightwise AND damagewise.

Don’t worry, savage will have strategies again for everyone else to adjust. It’s already happening with the first EX and that one has a dps check the last raid here laughs on.

[RyuuZero]

I really had a really Bad Experience with the 2nd Fight yesterday.. That Queen Bee Fight made me so angry that I twisted my neck and now everykind of movement or rather my neck hurts still.. pugs man.. which makes me wonder why they don't add trusts to normal mode +getting my 92 drop rolled by 98 also isn't fun.
Overall:
1st Fight is okay, though I recommend to put Otherworld from FFX as BGM on loop.
2nd Fight is from hell
3rd Fight is kinda funny
4th Fight is gimmicky but good

[Turtledeluxe]

The fact that the disease, or rather how they go about hiding it, involves actually letting these people die for real is part of the hook. They're specifically detached from the Endless system, not that it actually works anymore, in order to keep people in the dark about how these people are dying because everyone remembers them so clearly they're just living it up in retirement somewhere.

It's a disease caused by using souls that destroys your own soul. I'm not hooked.

It's like if you sat down and thought "hmm what could be a major downside of using feral souls??" and picked the very first thing you thought of. "Well what if you just destroy your own soul?"

[EusisLandale]

It's a disease caused by using souls that destroys your own soul. I'm not hooked.

You're not curious at all about how there's someone out there with the ability and/or authority to circumvent the system in place?

[Voidmage]

It's a disease caused by using souls that destroys your own soul. I'm not hooked.

It's like if you sat down and thought "hmm what could be a major downside of using feral souls??" and picked the very first thing you thought of. "Well what if you just destroy your own soul?"

I actually like it.
The plot starts slow but not too slow.
The thing with the soul detoriating was actually already implied in the MSQ with how the soul device works. (“Fills” your missing aether of the soul after death and a feral soul almost overrides your personality)

I’m sure it won’t stay there. Alone the implication to use our more dense soul as a medicine is… kinda nightmare fuel with how nonchalant they talk about that. It’s really creepy and with the fighting to the death because they have spare souls just shows how far gone the entire system is.
I’m also pretty sure the entire thing with the “champions having their soul safes for later” will get important and is probably the main goal why they wanted us in the first place.
To use the WoL’s soul as an amusement system in the future.

Gives me nightmares tbh.

[Khutulun]

The fact that the fights even got me to consider coming out of raid retirement for Savage is a huge compliment, since even Ultimate wasn't doing it.

Story is just Chapter 3 from Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door and I am absolutely here for it.

This was enjoyable overall. A direct hit. Honey B Lovely, I have high expectations for your fight.

I feel less insane knowing I'm not the only one with that story opinion.

[Glacierre]

I found the MSQ so bad it was offensive and insulting. However, I'm really pleased with the raid series! The concept of a tournament arc for a raid is inherently exciting, it's great.

The fights themselves are so silly and campy in the best way possible. I love the focus on female stories, characters, and dynamics. The announcer is great, the crowds are great, the colours pop. Folks don't know we're the WoL, so us being special because we don't use souls is satisfying. Using beast souls for entertainment, people recognizing the WoL's strength, us chilling with Black Cat, the plot with her sister (it makes sense, there's stakes, there's a dilemma, it's topical), everything lands. I love that Black Cat admires us and isn't a sore loser, she's my homie. The raid series doesn't take itself seriously and it's very effective.

It goes without saying that the fights themselves are great too. Love the mechanics, and the thought put into the fights is very charming (the ref-bot, the funny attack names, HONEY B. LOVELY <3, Cheater McCheaterFace, etc). Everything was such a fresh air and returned my agency after Wuk Lamat. It just oozed pure fun. This gives me a good feeling about FRU, which is a huge deal to me because I want FRU to be my ultimate Ultimate.

[DarkCobalt]

The 2nd fight kind of puts me off of the tier not gonna lie, I really dislike the whole themeing and the bullet hell nature of the fight (it just doesn't work with FF's snapshot), and as if Moogle King and Titania weren't already brainrot-inducing enough with their soundtracks...

But the rest were ok. Nothing special, just ok. More of the usual. I'm not really seeing the "fresh mechanics" people keep describing, I guess I'm just burned out on "dodge aoe telegraph, stack, spread, tower" which is most of the normal raid mechanics that have been reused and recycled and telegraphed 5 seconds in advance for the past 3 expansions now. I think there's like 1 truly new mechanic with the knockbacks on Black Cat but that's about it? So idk, not exactly enough to surprise me or keep me engaged at this point.

[Wildheaven182]

Fun meets the bare minimum. But things do need to be new and creative from here on. Choreographed dancing into the correct places to stand wont carry the game another 10 years, let alone 3.

[fioravictorine]

Arcadion was great - It was a short, simple and fun story with likeable characters

I also like that I get to be myself again and not Wuk Lamat's mind controlled slave