Mixed Feelings about Atmas and FATEs.Follow

Have to agree with this. Making the Low-Level Duty Roulette significant, and balancing Dungeon EXP with FATE exp, I felt really improved the EXP leveling experience. These FATES have (perhaps temporarily) disrupted that balance.

Sorry to be so down on Level-synched fates. I'd prefer Endgame weapon upgrades to come from, hmm, Endgame perhaps. Since this is an alternate upgrade path, maybe it can just be ignored, but doesn't seem like it. Seems more like this is just the starting point for a longer and lengthly weapon upgrades process.

Perhaps the real problem is I've burnt myself out on FATES already. Surely many other players were tired of FATES even before this patch.


Edited, Apr 4th 2014 12:03pm by Gnu

I can understand why you don't like Level Sync'd FATEs, esp spamming the same ones over and over again.

But, I suppose, they were trying to find a way to get more people to participate so that newbies don't find it ridiculously hard to level up and/or get GC Seals.

I'm not sure Atma is the right method, though. Why not just tone down the FATEs to allow fewer people to complete it? Or tweak the time limit, etc etc etc instead of dumping a bunch of high-level players who are gonna get bored because of the Level Sync stuff taking away all of their fun toys.

Even I felt the ho-hum of Level Sync when doing a few Lv10 FATEs, and I'm only a Lv30 PLD. It is like "Yay, I get to spam Fast Blade and Riot Blade and..... that's it". FB RB FB RB FB RB FB RB the whole time is not exactly fun and compelling gameplay. It is OK when you're leveling the first time, because you're still learning the class and learning your environment and doing other things like quests, but when I come back to an area with Lv5-10 FATEs, I'm like "eh... I think I'll pass". Oh, and the XP/GC Seal Rewards are.... not great, either. I can dump 5+ min into a FATE if there's only 1-2 other people there and I get... what, 1000XP, 50gil, and 50GC seals. Woo. That doesn't seem like a very productive use of my time.

At least low-level dungeons have things like bosses with interesting mechanics (the slime in Copperbell for example), but a FATE usually doesn't. You occasionally dodge a shape on the ground while spamming your 1-2 damage abilities over and over again.

EDIT: And dungeons also have random green/pink loot dropping that you might win on a greed roll for alt classes, too. I've got at least 5 or so pieces of armor for other classes that I've obtained this way and I've only done each dungeon once.

Edited, Apr 4th 2014 10:42am by Lyrailis

I doubt that Echo does nothing for Titan EX. Especially when we get access to perma +50% Echo.

The content you're struggling with will get easier long before 2.3 hits the servers. Maybe you can complain that the content did not get easier immediately after logging in last week, but that starts to sound rather silly, especially when there is new content we can do even now.

I also don't really know which game you're playing but at least I am getting vastly superior soldiery tomes from the 3 new dungeons and the roulette that goes with them. Tomes that will inevitably lead to me becoming stronger and thus giving me an even better chance at beating the 2.0 - 2.1 content casually. It doesn't make any sense to ignore the soldiery tomes even if you are playing casually.

No matter how you slice it, the casuals have gotten and will continue to get the long end of the stick when it comes to content in this game.

I agree with Fyn here, Echo would do nothing for landslides which people keep getting smacked by. If people couldn't dodge anything before, it's not going to change the outcome. Sure you can eat more plumes and other atks, but if you keep getting knocked off, no one can help.

The new content is there for statics, and that's it. You can try pugging King Mog or Levi EX, along with T5-9, but good luck accomplishing anything right now. Once in awhile you get a group of 8 competent people, but that doesn't happen too often. I've cleared Garuda, Titan and Ifrit EX several times with the two statics in my LS, not once have I managed to complete it with a group of strangers. There's always one or two people in the party that are terrible, and the way this game is made, you really can't have anyone slacking. DPS, sure, one can go down, but that's provided the other ones are over geared for the fight to compensate for the dead guy. Healer or Tank drops, forget it, no amount of gear is going to save you.

Endgame content, as long as it remains for 8 players, will be static driven with people like me (who work shift work), replacing static members here and there down the road. If they would develop 12-18 man content, you'd be forced to take along a few stragglers and probably have content that wouldn't lead to a wipe from one member dying. "But hey, we just raise and keep going!" Sure ya do, once you've cleared the same thing 10 weeks in a row and everyone's near the new ilvl cap.

Their best option would be to put a restriction on coil similar to that of CT. Why they haven't, I'm not sure. If it's for fear of people selling runs, well people do that already with primals. That way, people could consistently repeat content with friends they've made without being the odd man out cause you can't send 9 people in.

edit: Also, don't forget a ton of people were clearing Twintania with a Twintania app, it was broken after the patch. Oddly enough, statics who had no issues clearing her were having a hell of time after the release of 2.2

Edited, Apr 4th 2014 7:34pm by Montsegurnephcreep

While it is true that the echo buff does nothing to help being able to dodge in that fight, I find using the echo on Titan EX makes it harder.

It's harder because it is possible to push damage so fast and so hard, that Titan can jump and switch phases at very awkward moments. Putting people into rocks before jumping to the heart phase, or setting off a lagged landslide just as the heart dies when no one expects it.

The echo makes it easier to tank, however. The Mountain Busters in the final phase are a little less threatening when you have way more HP.

Edited, Apr 4th 2014 4:43pm by UltKnightGrover

Fun is kind of subjective as you said...though I think many would agree that doing low level FATEs is not ideal. At the same time, these people would probably be pressed to find a solution that is creative and durable enough outside of FATEs. Grinding something never really requires strategy. Even grinding Leviathan Ex just requires you to perform the same tedious routine once you've gotten everything else memorized.

This is actually better for low level players. FATEs were pretty much dead before this patch. Now, at the very least, they've been revitalized.

I've not run into instability in FATEs but have crashed multiple times upon loading Mor Dhona at peak hours for unknown reasons. I wasn't aware there was load issues on certain areas. I would also argue that seeing people running around maps is more inviting to new players than seeing players sit in town while waiting for queues to pop.

I'm not really sure how I feel about level sync. I sort of didn't mind it in GW2 but only because I could use all my abilities even when capped. I also did overkill damage due to gear scaling. In 14, perhaps the gear scaling is a bit too tough. I don't like spending 5 minutes casting fire 1 at some level 4 mob when I'm actually level 50.

The probability that you are 'screwed' (let's say you spend 48 hours in a zone to be screwed) in 1 of 12 FATEs is not a certainty, actually. Certainty is defined, usually, as 100% probability of occurrence.

You mentioned low level roulette decline but this might be because people are so focused on new content that they are not leveling other jobs at the moment. You will probably see the return of roulette when FATEs die down (meaning you can't zerg them down fast for efficient atma farming).

You shouldn't downplay the pros, either. The seals are a HUGE part of this. Honestly, before this patch, my alt barely had enough seals to get the 4th highest rank in my GC because I had just done dungeons the entire way. It was quite frustrating because I remember hitting 50 on my BLM and being able to automatically buy the weapon. By the time I could buy the weapon, it would be obsolete for me on my alt!

Something boring to do like gear up all your level 50 jobs with darklight? Yes, we've been there. Farming primals for all your alt's accessories? Been there too. Now we farm coil for vanity purposes. It's all just a grind. You may consider it boring but most grinds are, aren't they?

However, we have never seen a truly long grind like this one that isn't limited by lockouts in ARR so far. This is why I say it's needed and that it is an unfortunate necessity to alleviate development strain. It gives them time to push out new content at a later date because, as we've seen, pushing out content updates in a timely manor is very hard in MMOs!

Other pros I can think of....

-Having a reason and practical means to level your chicken
-PF usage and community bonding on your own server (opposed to cross-server)
-Being ready for the next update which will improve the weapons further. Yoshi P has said the relic weapons will never really be irrelevant
-Doing FATEs you might not have ever done before
-Exploring parts of maps you may never have been to before
-Being able to work on something casually, at your own pace, and with the ability to solo where most aspects of 'endgame' are group-dependent

These are just some I can think of. I'm sure there are more.



This is really misguided. There is, without a doubt, a superior candidate for leveling in 2.1 and that was through dungeons. FATEs were dead.



Of course. No variety in leveling and repeating FATEs over and over does this...just like running the same dungeon over and over again for exp. We need variety and they really have done a **** poor job at providing it! Though this patch seems to offer a bit more.

I don't really care to get into the whole "someone else always has it worse" argument, sorry. People have tried to do that before regarding my depression, and surprisingly enough, it has never helped me feel better about my situation.

Good thing I have no plans to try coil v2 anyway, because like I said I can't even get past t4.



I don't mind Titan EX being a hard fight. It is bothersome though when new content is out though that IMO is easier than Titan EX, people keep saying over and over "oh, just do this new content for your new weaponry, ***** relics!", yet I can't do the content because it's gated behind Titan EX. My beef is more against the gating than the fight itself (although that's certainly not to say I think the fight is wonderfully designed, either)

Implement too much gating, and suddenly patches with lots of new content added start feeling quite empty when you're one of the ones stuck behind the gates. This is my overall feel regarding 2.2. Like I said, the removal of myth cap is pretty much the only thing that has kept 2.2 from being a total wash for me.

Edited, Apr 5th 2014 5:04am by Fynlar

It hasn't helped me get any further into the fight than I was getting without it, as I very much predicted it wouldn't. Therefore, I'm calling it useless.

It doesn't help with everything outside Landslides, btw. If you get plumed, you also die. Guess what two things the vast majority of deaths come from?



Isn't doing anything yet, because it isn't implemented yet.

I imagine it making more of a difference in t4 because HP amounts (possessed/dealt/healed) actually matter there, unlike in Titan where any deaths that occur generally occur due to mechanics and not a lack of HP. I can't say anything about t5 because I've never tried (I would assume that if I can't even pass t4, I would stand even less of a chance in t5) or seen a vid.

Echo doesn't do **** if you can't survive the mechanics. The HP boost really only benefits the tanks, and like I said, tanks surviving has not been an issue for me to begin with (unless they got Landslided, which also happens quite a lot)



I don't know why people keep saying this...

Every single group I've done Titan EX with so far has adopted the plume stacking method (to the point where they will openly chastise anyone that isn't stacking well enough with the rest of the group). If you get hit by a plume, you are in all likelihood getting hit by five of them. The only person that the Echo MIGHT help save is your current off-tank (and probably only if it's a WAR). Everyone else is still going to die to two/three plumes; nevermind five.

If you somehow take only one plume (which rarely happens unless you've got someone intentionally standing away from everyone else, which usually gets them prompted to shape up or be replaced by another person), you'll survive, even without Echo.

Echo's still useless.



Fixed. Probably what you meant to say anyway, but defense and HP are not the same thing.



Yeah, but the thing is, people rarely if ever get hit by just one of those. They are immediately eating it to multiple plumes or a landslide.

Well if you didnt hates fates before you will be after this.. I never want to do another fate again.. Se has got brilliant at forcing people to play content now.. I dont think that is a good thing because if people start to hate content they start not wanting to play.

I dont understand fates are a big part of this game why make content that is going to burn people out on such a major part of the game..


I think fates were used to much before this and there are two many. Fates should be far and few between more like odin and that would make them more exciting, give them some awsum random drops too...

Most of my groups don't even make it to this point (or, if they do, they have already half-wiped anyway so the rest of the people alive have already resigned themselves to the fact they're gonna wipe)

There is really no DPS check element to Titan EX like there is with the two other EX fights. As long as everyone actually stays alive, there should be no problem with breaking gaols or heart. But that's the problem, everyone staying alive.