How many players are required for the old Savage raids?

[SublimeHawk]

I am going for the trophies for completing the Savage raids in Heavensward, Stormblood and Shadowbringers. I thought they would be pretty easy to solo given that Echo is in effect, but unfortunately this has not been the case for me. I tried to solo Alexander: Gordias Savage (A4S) and I kept dying at around 80% as the boss has an instant kill move that I don't know how to resolve (or if it can even be resolved solo). I also tried to do Deltascape 4.0 Savage, and that was too hard for me to solo. The boss was hitting me like a truck, even with Echo, as a level 90, i622 WHM. It also has multiple moves that can knock you off the edge of the arena, which is an instant death. So onto my questions. Has anyone soloed these fights? What job did you use? I assume you still need to know the fights and can't just brute force them, even with Echo. Is this correct? If I can find a few people to help, would I still need to learn each fight? I didn't do Alexander Savage or any of the Omega Savage raids when they originally came out as I wasn't playing the game when the content was still relevant. 

[oYazmat]

Soloing HW savage is doable, but why bother ? just put a Party Finder and go in with 2 or 3 other players and you should clear them really quick. Same goes for Omegas.

 

As for Shadowbringers, that's another story, put a Party Finder and go with a full party, you can get 1 Tank and 1 Healer and the rest DPS to make it quicker. Watch out of a few mechs as the fights are still tricky, but they are still waaaay easier. You can watch a video just to be safe.

 

You should know that many farm those for mounts so it shouldn't take long to make a party, just go to a Data Center with a lot of players like Aether, and try around peak hours.

[Tentativeuser]

These fights are easily soloable (even with far worse gear than what you have) and I can message you with proof if you'd like. You absolutely do not need a group for most Heavensward and Stormblood content at this point and most encounters in this game can be resolved with simple pattern recognition. You also do not need a guide or video for this content either, as I have cleared virtually all content in this game blind. 

 

If you're in the same region as me, we can set up a time and you can just jump off at the beginning and I'll get you the trophy. 

Edited March 4, 2023 by Tentativeuser

[MakoSOLIDER]

It's absolutely possible to solo them. I've soloed them fairly recently and I barely know what's going on in most fights in this game, was pretty easy. I understand that difficulty is relative though. A part of it comes with raid experience with pattern recognition and mechanics which you should have built up from the numerous dungeons in the story and extreme trials. If you want a safety net though make a party finder and a "mount farm" and some people will come (though in some cases more players can make some mechanics harder). My first clears on them were also blind (visually too, I'm blind ?) and unsynced during shb so it should be easier now. You shouldn't need a guide but there are plenty "unsync" specific quick pick-up guides on YT if you need them after all. Plenty of people are willing to carry you on old content but certainly not for current.

 

Gear is not the most important thing in this game. It helps sure, but the most important factors for savage raiding (especially current and beyond) are the enjoyment of the game, dedicating the necessary time to clear, sheer luck sometimes (player synergy in pf), and taking failure in stride (attitude). Without those, you will burn out. Good luck!

 

[iamthedotcom]

Hopefully its okay to hijack this thread to broaden the question. What do you all think the minimum number of IRL friends would I need to do all the content required for trophies? Lets pretend for a minute that the grown man with a Sora profile pic is not the most extroverted person in world and would prefer to avoid having to voice chat with strangers during a stressful event like a hard raid. I played old school WoW, but I never progressed far as a solo player and hated having to try and work with guilds, etc. However, I love the chill/addicting gameplay loop of MMOs. I like to grind for gear, skills, etc. I just hate having to coordinate with large groups. 

 

If I had two or three additional friends who were committed to playing this game, would I be able to get 100% of all the trophies (including new content)?

Edited March 29, 2023 by iamthedotcom

[MakoSOLIDER]

2 hours ago, iamthedotcom said:

Hopefully its okay to hijack this thread to broaden the question. What do you all think the minimum number of IRL friends would I need to do all the content required for trophies? Lets pretend for a minute that the grown man with a Sora profile pic is not the most extroverted person in world and would prefer to avoid having to voice chat with strangers during a stressful event like a hard raid. I played old school WoW, but I never progressed far as a solo player and hated having to try and work with guilds, etc. However, I love the chill/addicting gameplay loop of MMOs. I like to grind for gear, skills, etc. I just hate having to coordinate with large groups. 

 

If I had two or three additional friends who were committed to playing this game, would I be able to get 100% of all the trophies (including new content)?

 

You sound like me but with irl friends ?. You don't need to voice chat but plugging in a keyboard to type in the chat will go a long way for communication. The game doesn't have an in game voice chat only text. I've done all the hard group content in pick up groups in the games "party finder" which is essentially a lobby system. So you don't even need irl friends or a "static" to get all that trophies. Ironically the trophy I'm struggling with the most and is the only one I don't have right now is for solo content.

 

Make sure your intentions are right before you start though. If you view the trophies as an additional goal to just playing the game in the franchise with the best story, music, realized world, and boss fights you'll have a better time. But if someone is after the 100% as your only goal they just won't have a good time because of the difficulty and time the game demands from you to improve. Casually this game is excellent. Hardcore trophies are very hardcore even if they don't require friends. 

[iamthedotcom]

9 hours ago, MakoSOLIDER said:

 

You sound like me but with irl friends . You don't need to voice chat but plugging in a keyboard to type in the chat will go a long way for communication. The game doesn't have an in game voice chat only text. I've done all the hard group content in pick up groups in the games "party finder" which is essentially a lobby system. So you don't even need irl friends or a "static" to get all that trophies. Ironically the trophy I'm struggling with the most and is the only one I don't have right now is for solo content.

 

Make sure your intentions are right before you start though. If you view the trophies as an additional goal to just playing the game in the franchise with the best story, music, realized world, and boss fights you'll have a better time. But if someone is after the 100% as your only goal they just won't have a good time because of the difficulty and time the game demands from you to improve. Casually this game is excellent. Hardcore trophies are very hardcore even if they don't require friends. 

Thank you for the detailed answer. I would be the only one who would ultimately want to collect all the trophies. I have a couple friends who are really into gaming but will only occasionally go out of their way for trophies. We are old school JRPG gamers and have been chatting for a while to play a ridiculously long grindy game. The last one we did was several years ago, so we are ready for the next big undertaking. Everything I've been reading has been highly complimentary of game.  

[Tentativeuser]

On 3/29/2023 at 7:15 AM, iamthedotcom said:

Hopefully its okay to hijack this thread to broaden the question. What do you all think the minimum number of IRL friends would I need to do all the content required for trophies? Lets pretend for a minute that the grown man with a Sora profile pic is not the most extroverted person in world and would prefer to avoid having to voice chat with strangers during a stressful event like a hard raid. I played old school WoW, but I never progressed far as a solo player and hated having to try and work with guilds, etc. However, I love the chill/addicting gameplay loop of MMOs. I like to grind for gear, skills, etc. I just hate having to coordinate with large groups. 

 

If I had two or three additional friends who were committed to playing this game, would I be able to get 100% of all the trophies (including new content)?

 

It generally depends on how motivated your friends are. As one of only a few players with the 100% this patch, I would say it is extremely unlikely (though not impossible) that you would be able to get 100% of the trophies in an IRL friend group unless they are willing to take the content seriously and learn all of the mechanics in this game. Further, as someone who has all the Final Fantasy trophies, I can attest that the gold trophy they've introduced this patch is more challenging than the rest of the series combined.

 

This game is very different from other MMOs in that there is very little mandatory grinding and gear makes comparatively little difference. Any failed mechanic in a high-end encounter will one shot you (and likely wipe the group) regardless of how geared you are, so the mentality you've had in other MMOs will not work here. As Mako mentioned, if you're willing to take the game casually and not worry about trophies at first then you will have a much better time. I wish you the best of luck! 

Edited March 30, 2023 by Tentativeuser

[iamthedotcom]

16 hours ago, Tentativeuser said:

 

It generally depends on how motivated your friends are. As one of only a few players with the 100% this patch, I would say it is extremely unlikely (though not impossible) that you would be able to get 100% of the trophies in an IRL friend group unless they are willing to take the content seriously and learn all of the mechanics in this game. Further, as someone who has all the Final Fantasy trophies, I can attest that the gold trophy they've introduced this patch is more challenging than the rest of the series combined.

 

This game is very different from other MMOs in that there is very little mandatory grinding and gear makes comparatively little difference. Any failed mechanic in a high-end encounter will one shot you (and likely wipe the group) regardless of how geared you are, so the mentality you've had in other MMOs will not work here. As Mako mentioned, if you're willing to take the game casually and not worry about trophies at first then you will have a much better time. I wish you the best of luck! 

That's interesting to hear about the lack of grinding and gear requirements. What is the gameplay loop or is the game literally that massive that just from doing straight content you progress? That actually baffles me lol. Hopefully not to impose, but do you have any recommendations on someone I could watch stream the game or any particularly good Youtube videos you'd recommend me watch to learn more about the game? I fully asked my original question on the basis that I assumed that this was a grind bosses for loot, rinse, repeat style of game. 

 

My originalI thought was to not even care about the trophies until we beat all the content. That is usually how we play games. The last game we all played took about 1200 hours and 14 months to platinum. We wouldn't be going for trophies until we beat the content, but the last game we were able to just mindlessly grind. It sounds like this would be much more involved. 

 

We've done the platinum for Destiny, Fortnite, Path of Exile, etc. but never an MMO style game. Do we have a chance?

Edited March 31, 2023 by iamthedotcom

[MakoSOLIDER]

7 hours ago, iamthedotcom said:

That's interesting to hear about the lack of grinding and gear requirements. What is the gameplay loop or is the game literally that massive that just from doing straight content you progress? That actually baffles me lol. Hopefully not to impose, but do you have any recommendations on someone I could watch stream the game or any particularly good Youtube videos you'd recommend me watch to learn more about the game? I fully asked my original question on the basis that I assumed that this was a grind bosses for loot, rinse, repeat style of game. 

 

My originalI thought was to not even care about the trophies until we beat all the content. That is usually how we play games. The last game we all played took about 1200 hours and 14 months to platinum. We wouldn't be going for trophies until we beat the content, but the last game we were able to just mindlessly grind. It sounds like this would be much more involved. 

 

We've done the platinum for Destiny, Fortnite, Path of Exile, etc. but never an MMO style game. Do we have a chance?

 

Lot to unpack here but I'll try my best.

 

What is the gameplay loop or is the game literally that massive that just from doing straight content you progress? 

 

The gameplay loop is actually just playing the game. Story is actually king in this game, this is a story-centric MMO, especially since the first expansion where it hits its stride. It's casual and you can progress solo or with friends. There's a lot of content to go through as a new player and the game relies heavily on new players doing old content to keep it healthier. You can indeed progress casually from doing straight content. You won't be blocked by gear at any point until the end game of a current expansion. There is ofc a vertical progression loop where you increase your gear from content which increases your damage. The content ranges from the story which takes and gears you you from 1 to max level with no extra grinding. Gear is gained casually through quests, dungeons, raids, or just bought from other players.

 

The endgame:

High end gear is gained from extreme and Savage difficulty boss fights that are very difficult and where one mistake can wipe the group regardless of your gear. Gear is NOT the most important thing in 14, doing mechanics correctly is far more important. Gear only ever gives you a slight edge on current content in that you can kill bosses faster but you'll still be doing most of the mechanics.

 

I fully asked my original question on the basis that I assumed that this was a grind bosses for loot, rinse, repeat style of game. 

 

You only ever need the minimum gear lvl to do content so once you clear it's honestly up to you whether you want to grind for more pieces. 4 months after each of the hard content the gear is outdated and you can generally get equivalent gear just through casual content.

 

do you have any recommendations on someone I could watch stream the game or any particularly good Youtube videos you'd recommend me watch to learn more about the game?

 

Because of how important the story is in this game I actually recommend you go in blind and just play it yourself. The free trial takes you from the start all the way through the first expansion with no time restrictions. If u want to play it safe, the PS4 version of the trial doesn't add the trophies to your list. If you want to play with friends read up on the class selection section of the trophy guide to ensure you start in the same city. When you buy the full game unlocking the trophies is just "do 1 more of the action" and nothing is missable. You should only really need to watch guides on high end content. You WILL die in the story but that's okay. That how you learn and improve and the playerbase doesn't judge new players for it.

 

This covers the end game which you won't even get to for a long time 

 

 

 

My originalI thought was to not even care about the trophies until we beat all the content.

 

That's the correct mentality. I've seen a lot of people whose main goal is to go for 100% so they skip scenes, skip content, and then wind up shocked at how hard the end game is. The entire first 50 levels of the game serve as a tutorial for you to get your feet wet and playing the content naturally allows you to improve. This games endgame content is harder than the other games you mentioned but gearing wise there's no real reason for you to grind it out besides you wanting to. That said, most of it gets easier after every new expansion so all of the content is eventually approachable. The platinum is extremely easy and you can grind through it. The 100% difficulty comes from the content that is current which is updated every 2 months. You can play through content faster than they can make it though, always remember this and don't be overwhelmed.

 

Do you have a chance?

 

It depends on you and your group's mentality and if you're willing to take the time to improve. For now I'd say just use the free trial (don't buy the game you'll void eligibility) and see for yourself but go in being OK if you can't get the 100% because it's an incredible game.

 

Here to answer any questions. On the Midgardsomr (Aether) server if you need in-game guidance.

Edited March 31, 2023 by MakoSOLIDER

[SublimeHawk]

I have still not been able to solo the Alexander Savage raids. I've tried unsuccessfully as WHM, SGE and SCH. I was able to do the Omegascape Savage raids in PF. There is still demand for those because they drop mounts. Unfortunately there is no incentive for players to do the Alexander Savage raids because, as far as I can tell, there are no drops from them that people are still interested in. With this in mind, can people who have soloed A4S, A8S and A12S please specify what job they used? I think if I can't figure out how to solo them then I won't be getting their respective trophies any time soon. I actually had a PF up for over an hour a couple of nights ago and no one joined.

Edited May 17, 2023 by SublimeHawk

[oYazmat]

19 hours ago, SublimeHawk said:

I have still not been able to solo the Alexander Savage raids. I've tried unsuccessfully as WHM, SGE and SCH. I was able to do the Omegascape Savage raids in PF. There is still demand for those because they drop mounts. Unfortunately there is no incentive for players to do the Alexander Savage raids because, as far as I can tell, there are no drops from them that people are still interested in. With this in mind, can people who have soloed A4S, A8S and A12S please specify what job they used? I think if I can't figure out how to solo them then I won't be getting their respective trophies any time soon. I actually had a PF up for over an hour a couple of nights ago and no one joined.

 

You'd have far more luck with PF if you "Ask for Help", people usually will jump to help you even if they are not interested in the content it self (Many people are just hanging around and willing to help for whatever as long as it doesn't take a lot of time). It might be also good to look for a condensed Data Center.

 

I can help you later if you want. what server are you ? Add me on Twitter or Discord or send me a PM here.

[Griffon234]

On 5/16/2023 at 6:04 PM, SublimeHawk said:

I have still not been able to solo the Alexander Savage raids. I've tried unsuccessfully as WHM, SGE and SCH. I was able to do the Omegascape Savage raids in PF. There is still demand for those because they drop mounts. Unfortunately there is no incentive for players to do the Alexander Savage raids because, as far as I can tell, there are no drops from them that people are still interested in. With this in mind, can people who have soloed A4S, A8S and A12S please specify what job they used? I think if I can't figure out how to solo them then I won't be getting their respective trophies any time soon. I actually had a PF up for over an hour a couple of nights ago and no one joined.

 

As I only remember A12S I will only speak on that. I used warrior. It was incredibly easy even last expansion, the only thing I had to watch for was saving IR and Infuriates for Timegates. It would be even easier now with level 90.

 

Also A4, 8 and 12s do drop unique mounts and minions. I don't recall if A8S dropped a mount, but the other two do.

Edited May 20, 2023 by Griffon234