Alexander, & other general raiding questions!

[Branson Thorne]

Hello all. Just recently I've decided to dip into the raiding side of FFXIV. Have been level 60 for quite some time now and have never touched a raid, nor do I have 50/60 expert roulette unlocked. I've been looking up different raids and I are that uhhh, I think Alexander Savage is what most are running now.

 

So do I need to complete Alexander Normal to unlock Gordias/Savage or is it an entirely separate unlock?

 

Also, my ilvl is at 216 right now. All 220 Elkyion (spelling) gear but only just got the ilvl 200 tomestone weapon last night. Attached is my gear, if that helps with anything

http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/character/9706358/?utm_source=lodestone&utm_medium=sp_mypage&utm_campaign=na_mychar

Is it even worth running Void Ark if my ilvl is already higher than the drop?

 

So I guess my question is very basic: What do I need to do to become relevant in raiding?

[Warren Castille]

First order of business:

 

Completing Gordias lets you access 1) Savage Gordias and 2) Midas Normal. Clearing Midas Normal lets you access Midas Savage. I don't believe you need to clear Gordias S to start in on Midas S.

 

The most important part of raiding is getting a group. The normal modes gives you an idea of what's coming, but really it's just a glance. Savage Midas fights are all (from my position as a spectator, no in-game experience to speak of so take it with a grain of salt) longer, tighter, more coordinated versions of the same song and dance. It's a lot of inching ahead, learning what killed you, and then starting over.

 

For every role and individual, because the game's good at keeping everyone on their toes.

 

So, you'll need 7 other people working at about your progression level (which is freshly starting, unless you dive into videos and try to fake it until you make it, which is very difficult) at a time you all can make it regularly (because practice makes perfect).

 

I'd recommend upgrading your tomestone weapon to 210 ASAP (ideally you'll want a 230 ASAP to replace it but 1k tomes and 7 weeks of A8N isn't rushable). You can do that by clearing Void Ark once and then using the Mhachi Farthing they give you to buy the gobdip in Idyllshire.

 

You need 10 Rowena's Tokens of Lore, which cost 100 Lore each, and also 7 Midan Gears, which only drop from Alexander 8 (aka Midas 4) once per week. The content's been live for 9? weeks now so you're unfortunately behind the curve for this one unless you've got a relic in the making.

 

 

Edit: The qiqirn below is correct: Sephirot EX is a decent benchmark for picking up mechanics and knowing your responsibilities. Also, it's a faster way to a 210+ weapon than the alternatives.

 

It's not necessarily too late to begin, but you have some disadvantages working against you. Weapon damage is not as important as it was in Gordias Savage, but it's still extremely important.

[ExAtomos]

Hello all. Just recently I've decided to dip into the raiding side of FFXIV. Have been level 60 for quite some time now and have never touched a raid, nor do I have 50/60 expert roulette unlocked. I've been looking up different raids and I are that uhhh, I think Alexander Savage is what most are running now.

 

So do I need to complete Alexander Normal to unlock Gordias/Savage or is it an entirely separate unlock?

 

Also, my ilvl is at 216 right now. All 220 Elkyion (spelling) gear but only just got the ilvl 200 tomestone weapon last night. Attached is my gear, if that helps with anything

http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/character/9706358/?utm_source=lodestone&utm_medium=sp_mypage&utm_campaign=na_mychar

Is it even worth running Void Ark if my ilvl is already higher than the drop?

 

So I guess my question is very basic: What do I need to do to become relevant in raiding?

 

Alex (Gordias) Savage is the old raid now. Midas Savage is what folks are running. You do not need Gordias Savage to unlock Midas Savage, just Midas normal (as Warren reminded me, yes, you need to clear Alex normal to unlock Midas normal). Clearing Sepherot EX should be on your to-do list as well since many groups expect this clear as a sign of some capability (was needed for weapon, but now many have the lore weapon or upgraded anima).

 

VA is the casual raid. You will want to run it weekly for the auto-drop that gets you a grade V materia of your choice.

 

You will want to make sure your ilvl is over 220 at this point and know your rotation well. Raiding is much more demanding than any of the 4 man content. Pay attention to the stats on your gear rather than just the ilvl. You can find guides per class out there.

 

Most importantly, make sure you have patience and a thick skin. Good luck! :moogle:

 

(I want to add... "Raids" to me are the hardest endgame content we have currently. Things such as VA and Alex/Midas normal are casual raids.)

[Sounsyy]

So I guess my question is very basic: What do I need to do to become relevant in raiding?

 

A lot of what I'm going to tell you is stuff that's already been said, but...

 

1) You need to get your subclasses up for cross-class abilities. Your Pugilist is fine if you don't intend to have a second mantra in your group (not a necessity!) but you need to get your Lancer up to 34 for Blood for Blood. 10% extra damage might not seem like a lot, but if you're trying to get into raid content you need to optimize and as a DPS every ounce counts, especially in the Heavensward meta.

 

2) Upgrading your gear, particularly your weapon. As a DPS in particular, no single piece of gear weighs as heavily towards your overall dps as your main hand weapon. Seeing as how you're just now getting into 8-man content, my best suggestion would be to get your i210 Berimbau first by running Void Ark to get a Mhachi Farthing, which can be turned into an Illuminati Gobdip, and then traded in to Seika, the gear upgrade npc, in Idyllshire. After that, focus on trying to down Sephirot for an i220 weapon until you can get your i230 from Lore/Midas. As for your other gear, if BRD is the class you're going to main, start farming Lore gear for it asap. This means getting those experts unlocked and running them daily at least. i220 is nice and all, but if you're serious about raiding, you've got to invest a good portion of your time into making sure your gear is up to date.

 

3) Before you even find a group, you should be trying to study, optimize, and memorize your rotations on BRD. Watch videos on youtube, read guides, practice on any training dummy you can find. The new Stone, Sky, and Sea dummies are great as they let you measure your dps against current raid content! If you can't beat the dummy, or its a close shave, you need to gear up or revisit your rotation. More often than not, most people have the minimum gear requirements to down content, even raid content, but their rotation needs work. Getting your hands on a dps parser is also a good way to practice and improve. Do not kid yourself into thinking you will not be parsed in an endgame raid group. (Savage content, mostly.)

 

4) Start unlocking and downing content, even if you haven't found a group yet. If you can do it in DF/PF, you can do it in a steady group. It's not necessary, but I'd also try looking into the old raids as well as unlocking the new. Mechanics get recycled often in Raid, so having a basic understanding of old mechanics will drastically help managing the new. The content is old and easy now, so poking at the old stuff just to see the inner workings shouldn't be a huge feat.

 

5) Find a group you mesh well with who is at your skill level. Don't start by setting your sights on getting into a group that can immediately down content in a matter of a few hours or days. Since you're just starting raiding, look for a group that's also newer to raiding. It may take you a bit longer to learn and down all of the content, but you're months behind the curve anyways, so speed isn't really important. Most often, when you have groups of mismatched skill levels, it ends very quickly in a breakup. Weak links get kicked, or over-skilled players leave lower tier groups for more progressive ones. You may go through a few groups before you find one that's right for you! Don't be discouraged.

[Nebbs]

Others have said stuff you need to do, so...

 

Learn to PvE in 8 man. It is a bit different than 4 man I expect and mechanics more focused in a big boss fight. Do Trials, also the 24 man dungeons, though they can be more crazy than real raiding. 

 

Watch a guide/video so you kind of know what to expect and what your job is. Death and even wipes await the unprepared.

 

Accept that you will be better on your 5th run than your 1st. 

• 1st run - don't wipe the party, try not to die, and if you can do some dps
  
• 5th run - situation awareness starts to kick in
  

Accept that some PuG groups will be all kinds of bad and some will be all kinds of wonderful. 

 

If you want to push end game, find a static/FC as pugging that is worse than worse. If you do join a learning group expect it to split over nothing, but be papered to give it a good shot yourself.

 

Myself I don't do savage because.. too much hassle with people. But don't be a sour puss like me.

[ExAtomos]

 

Edit: The qiqirn below is correct

 

Tinmanoroon fully appreciates the noddy nod! :lol:

[Kodie]

You're good on accuracy so you'll definitely want to focus all Crit materia for your melds since your current crit is pretty low. After accuracy, you want Crit as your next priority in the secondary stats.

 

Doing Void Ark at least once a week will give you an easy opportunity to get a Savage Aim V. Otherwise get SA4's which are cheaper and you won't deal with the loss of a V, so you'll have to save the Vs for maybe ilevel 230 gear and weapons.

 

I would also suggest starting on the Anima Bard weapon quest since that looks to the BiS for the moment.

 

But yeah going through Gordias and Midas normal mode is a breeze, Savage is a whole other ball game, just bare in mind it may take awhile to clear a floor.

 

Basically you're gonna want a good balance of Midas and Lore gear that will give you the best stats, at that point it'll be more important than ilevel.

[Branson Thorne]

Sorry for the delay in replying!

 

And thanks for all the advice everyone! I think I will just need to shoot for being at the lower end of the pack when it comes to raiding. And by that I mean run older content and just go from there.

 

In the meantime I will take the advice above and go from there! Really, my desire for raiding is just to see the content and unlock all the various gear pieces etc. I'm not totally concerned with being update to date on EVERYTHING but more to be able to do decent on what out now, like Void Ark, Diadem, Experts and hardmodes, etc.

[Warren Castille]

Yeah, you can absolutely see the content if you're just running the Normal Mode raids. The best of the best gear comes from Savage Midas, but it's on a very different level from the rest of the game. Unless you're trying to get hardcore into the raid scene, Normal Modes will be more than enough.

[Branson Thorne]

Yeah, you can absolutely see the content if you're just running the Normal Mode raids. The best of the best gear comes from Savage Midas, but it's on a very different level from the rest of the game. Unless you're trying to get hardcore into the raid scene, Normal Modes will be more than enough.

 

I just didn't know if the harder modes had different bosses or if the arenas looked different or what have you. If they are pretty much the same, just an increase of mechanics and difficulty, then I would just be satisfied with Normal mode then.

[Warren Castille]

Yeah, you can absolutely see the content if you're just running the Normal Mode raids. The best of the best gear comes from Savage Midas, but it's on a very different level from the rest of the game. Unless you're trying to get hardcore into the raid scene, Normal Modes will be more than enough.

 

I just didn't know if the harder modes had different bosses or if the arenas looked different or what have you. If they are pretty much the same, just an increase of mechanics and difficulty, then I would just be satisfied with Normal mode then.

 

There are some differences, but barring one circumstance the fights just feature more adds, mechanics, or other ways to punish mistakes.

 

 

Only the final battle in Midas has an extra phase in Savage mode, where after killing the boss

It activates SUPER MODE, regains all of its health and continues to fight

 

 

[111]

Yo!

 

The biggest thing about learning to raid is accepting that everything you likely know about your class is wrong. Like others have said, you should learn rotations, and practice them on content until you can do them flawlessly. I had to learn a lot about PLD (you'd be suprised, despite how simple of a class it is), and I still learn some every raid.

 

I would start with EX primals like Thordan and Sephirot, doing those will help you learn your rotation with difficult mechanics, and also help you meet people. Networking is a big part of the end game scene, and at this point a lot of groups get put together just from people you've met in other content. 

 

You might find from doing Sephie Ex or trying to Pug As5, that you don't actually like raiding though. So I would try the early stuff before spending a lot of time finding a static.

[Yssen]

Doing Void Ark at least once a week will give you an easy opportunity to get a Savage Aim V. Otherwise get SA4's which are cheaper and you won't deal with the loss of a V, so you'll have to save the Vs for maybe ilevel 230 gear and weapons.

 

 

Remember that you can do the old Beast Tribe quests (Amal'ja, Kobold, Sylph, and Sahagin) and part of the reward is Tier IV materia. This is especially awesome if you are doing the big long token step for your relic. You will drown in lots of Tier IVs.