Opinions on Crystal Tower: Labyrinth of the Ancients and Syrcus Tower

[HyperiusUltima]

I'd like to know people's opinions of them because there's been some talk about how it has been getting in the way of relic since patch - and both first impressions and later impressions welcome.

I'll start by saying that when I did Labyrinth and Syrcus before WoD when ARR was the current story, I didn't feel like it was a braindead slog. It actually was pretty fun. Though, nowadays since our damage as a whole is so strong, I just feel like both of them aren't really fun anymore and it's moved to the side as slop. Void Ark still shows mechanics at least, even if it gets ran over pretty quick still, and Alliance Raids don't actually start to present a challenge until you do the Weeping City of Mhach.

[VeyaAkemi]

The fact of the matter is that LOTA, Syrcus and WoD need some sort of rework, the obvious and easy solution would be stricter iLvl, reducing WoD from however much it is now(my guess is 135?) to, say, 100, would be quite significant. A full on rework could also be an option, but more time consuming for the devs.

Personally though, I think the real fix is for them make other Alliance raids mandatory in some capacity, at least mandatory to use the roulette as I suggested in another thread, the problem isn't CT being CT per-se, it's CT being omnipresent in the roulette, and while making other Alliances mandatory wouldn't remove CT outright, it would significantly even things out.

[LotteYanson]

They were nice when they were new.
The powercreep made them bad.
I dont even care to stand in the water anymore or to bring the thunder balls to the pillars.
Stuff cant kill you anymore except for 3 attacks or early pulls.
Cant see 99% of the mechanics anymore.

[Jeeqbit]

If you do them Min Ilvl, they can be like an actual prog that you can join discord voice for and prog through. Except unlike Chaotic, you're actually likely to clear in that one session. It's a ton of fun figuring out these mechanics you normally skip and deciding who tanks what, positioning, mit (which is considerably limited at level 50), etc.

For relic, didn't matter. I just did it then re-queued to get a better one. Rarely got it, either. Like 3 times?

[TaleraRistain]

They could tighten up the sync a bit to where it was before the stat squish. We still saw a few mechanics at that point like second Flare. They have to be careful how much they tighten it, though, because it is required for the MSQ. They need to be careful about making that too much of a roadblock. Using it for relics was a decent choice. The amount given if they do that in the future could use some adjusting.

I'm not a fan of forcing anyone to do optional content even to unlock roulettes. I like their carrot idea we've been seeing more of, though. If you wanted to do Bozja, you needed Ivalice. If you wanted to do Tataru's side quest, you needed Void Ark.

[Exinias]

They're good raids for sure but I never queue for AR anymore because of the probability I will get one of these. Yes, they are quick, but I'd much rather have any Ivalice raid/any other AR because it's more engaging and fun. But I'm also not gonna go out of my way to just queue for an Ivalice raid because then you don't get daily rewards.

I really would enjoy if they did move ARR raids to MSQ roulette and then move Castrum and Prae to trust only, unless you genuinely want to run it with some friends/pre-mades. Then MSQ roulette would be 3-raids and 1-trial, but would they still give massive exp like current MSQ roulette does?

[HyperiusUltima]

They're good raids for sure but I never queue for AR anymore because of the probability I will get one of these. Yes, they are quick, but I'd much rather have any Ivalice raid/any other AR because it's more engaging and fun. But I'm also not gonna go out of my way to just queue for an Ivalice raid because then you don't get daily rewards.

I really would enjoy if they did move ARR raids to MSQ roulette and then move Castrum and Prae to trust only, unless you genuinely want to run it with some friends/pre-mades. Then MSQ roulette would be 3-raids and 1-trial, but would they still give massive exp like current MSQ roulette does?

No because that massive EXP is accounted for when it comes to the forced cutscenes the game puts you through in Praetorium and Castrum Meridianum. Same with Ultima Weapon. That was the whole point, but CT probably should get shoved in there - the only issue is that it's not 4-man content, it's 24-man content, hence why it's in Alliance Raids.

All I would really like them to do is just make CT palatable so it's an actual experience - not faceroll that's braindead and hasn't been upgraded at all.

[YumieYumiki]

No because that massive EXP is accounted for when it comes to the forced cutscenes the game puts you through in Praetorium and Castrum Meridianum. Same with Ultima Weapon. That was the whole point, but CT probably should get shoved in there - the only issue is that it's not 4-man content, it's 24-man content, hence why it's in Alliance Raids.

All I would really like them to do is just make CT palatable so it's an actual experience - not faceroll that's braindead and hasn't been upgraded at all.

You can sometimes enhance the atomos fight experience by placing ABC markers in reverse order

[ChrysOCE]

Even if they re-did the sync, lvl 50 isn't really engaging anymore. I'd rather eat the penalty than ever do CT again.

[PyurBlue]

Even if they re-did the sync, lvl 50 isn't really engaging anymore. I'd rather eat the penalty than ever do CT again.

Exactly, there is no engagement at that level. You're pressing a couple of buttons in an endless repetitive cycle and that's it. A couple of expansions ago I would often hear the opinion that a player wouldn't get to experience a job truly until hitting level 60 at least. Where things stand now that point is closer to 70 or beyond. I can't bring myself to queue for Alliance Roulette until the level 50 stuff is put somewhere else.