Mastodawn

@tess I keep forgetting how pretty FF XIV is...

I kinda got lost in getting past ARR, so am probably missing out on a whole lotta stuff 😄.

@tofticles how long ago? They shortened ARR/Post-ARR and also did a massive graphics upgrade that affects ARR zones as well. Might be worth a revisit (or you could just buy a skip to Heavensward, I'm not your mom).

Anyway, everything through the end of Shadowbringers is now free.

@tess I poked my head in last fall - so ~late October, I think.

Might have to do so again 😄.

@tofticles oh, well, I think the upgrades were in. ARR is slow but man the game gets so good even in late ARR. Where did you give up?

@tess There are two fights you have to do solo around level 60 IIRC and me and my partner kinda noped out.

(EDIT: I was wrong - they are level 50 - it is around the part with the ultimate weapon stuff).

@tofticles oh I've heard that Rhitatyn got made into a pretty challenging solo duty, especially for newer players!

Did you try it on easy or very easy?

@tess We walked into it blind and kinda got so disillusioned that a) we couldn't try it together and b) they were playing a bard and got squished ultra quick.

The annoying part was this odd spike in difficulty where everything up to then had been okay and then this SQUELSCH-moment.

(And yes, it was this Rhitatyn guy that got us)

@tofticles Just watched the new version and yeah, you really gotta do the mechanics (especially if you're not a tank).

There's like 2 of these solo duties per base expansion and maybe 1 or 2 in the patches, but the vast majority of content can be done together.

If you cared: for this particular one if you have not done the full Hall of the Novice, I'd strongly recommend it; they now teach you most of the stuff you'd need to solve that fight.

Also buy some healing potions from a vendor :)

@tess Fair 😅 We are, by all accounts, newbies and are mostly interested in the pretty outfits (and the story) and not really the combat system.

@tofticles The combat doesn't get significantly harder than that for story content, and starting in 8.0, you will be able to go into dungeons and some trials as a pair with 2-6 additional NPCs, if you don't want the pressure of playing with other people.

(Currently the options are solo + NPCs or a full party of players.)

@tess Gotcha! Might have to try it again ^^.

Frisk Fyrste Tofty for Helvede 20h ago

@tess That is a whole point in itself - we feel bad coming in as complete newbies along with two (usually) experienced players that have to wait for us to watch cutscenes, get lost in the layout.. fumble with our spells (I play a healer)..

The ideal for us - for the first playthrough would be the one you write is possible in 8.0 and later. The pair of us and two or more NPCs that don't do spectacular poor choices, but also do not rush ahead with us trailing behind hearing distant noises 😄.

Dana Fried 17h ago

@tofticles in general, especially with earlier dungeons and other duties, if you're a sprout, they're going to give you a *lot* of leeway; we tend to like new players.

From what I understand, giving grief to new players is considered a moderate-able offense. The point of the sprout icon is to point out that "this player is new and might not know what they're doing, if you want people to play the game you need to be nice to them".