Raiding: you, your group, and the bosses at your feet
Hello and welcome to a new post! Yes it has been ages since I was informational, but lo and behold the sun has risen on a new day! And on this day, we begin taking a look at being a fresh 50, still new to the game, and ready to pick up where the game really begins. So, let's define raiding, shall we? MMO veterans will know raiding to encompass two main points: a party larger than your usual dungeon group and bosses that require a lot more skill to kill. But wait! Final Fantasy XIV brings three forms of raiding! WHOA! Of these you have: Extreme Primals, Syrcus Tower, and the Binding Coils of Bahamut. We'll talk further about what separates these in a moment. Before that, let us talk about party sizes in game. If you're brand new to the game, just recently hit 50, and are looking to do some raiding here's what you know. Parties vary in size between Light (4 man parties) and Full (8 man parties). Full parties are what you'll be raiding with. These consist generally of two tanks, two healers, and four DPS. Now sometimes the formula gets skewed, but you'll be able to find out the party composition best for a fight via guides you can look up on YouTube. Outside of the general party set up, there exists the Alliance. Alliances are groups of full parties to do content. To be more precise, an alliance is a group of three full parties. We'll discuss alliances further in the section about Syrcus Tower. Our first look at raiding in XIV is through Extreme mode Primals. After you finish CM and the Praetorium you'll have a host of options, one of which comes in the form of Extreme mode Primals. These fights take challenge to an extent you only prayed never existed. If you're working on your relic weapon and find the hard modes difficult, wait until you see these bad boys. Ex Primals are designed to be side content to current endgame (well the current ex primal is, the rest can help fill gaps in ilevel as you gear) as such, they are made to be doable with gear comparable to the last tier of raiding. These fights focus on mechanics that make you look at the primals in another light and should never be taken lightly in your first encounter, lest you end up tanking the dirt. The second form of raiding comes to us in the form of the Syrcus Tower raids. These three raids are designed around alliances working together to defeat vicious foes that one group alone would fall to. So how do they make content for 24 players in this game? By using mechanics that force your groups to work separately during the fights while also working together as a team. Something many of you may have noticed, these raids are all themed around Final Fantasy III, which happens to be my fifth favorite FF game of all time. If you enjoy theming in dungeons, you will love it here. Finally, there is the end all be all of raiding in XIV, the Binding Coils of Bahamut. Much like Ex Primals, once you complete the main story up to the Praetorium and have a relic weapon, you can start going through these raids. While some are now trivial to an extent, these are the quintessential raids of the game. There is the Binding Coil, the Second Coil, and the Final Coil. With a total of 13 turns (wings) each with one or two bosses. Depending on your gear, your skill, your group, and the coil you are currently in you may be looking at nearly insurmountable challenges. Take heart, for while the later coils are indeed difficult, they are winnable. There you have it. A quick look at what raiding means and is in Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn (spoiler free!). This is by NO means a guide, but a brief bit of information to get newer 50s up in the know that raiding has many faces in this game. While some are easier than others, the fact remains that if you want to be a raider, you can choose what you want to do. Let no one laugh at you for what you achieve! As always, if you enjoyed this, found any of the information useful, or simply wanna spread the word that I am posting again feel free to like, share, and give feedback! I am Aust the noob, and until next time, share some love to some sprouts!