Can You Solo FF14? - Mastering The Vale

[@mitikozuki5295]

Way to go boss this is why you're the best.

[@ThomasAtlus]

Rhitatyn holmganging you in a fucking suicide pact fire pit and dumping everything he has on you is like one of the strongest moments i've ever seen in a video game ever and I fucking love it they finally gave him what we needed

[@iantaakalla8180]

I swear, Rhitahtyn may only exist for the part of ARR that deals with Gaius, and dies well before you meet Gaius, but he puts up a hell of a fight in service to Gaius, and I love that the battle demonstrates this. He very literally uses everything he has as a battler in Eorzea who is not a Garlean, from wide AOE’s to AOE’s that section off everything to passively helping a strong group of four to limit break to that last ditch effort.

[@fawkes6352]

As someone who only started FFXIV last month, I had no idea about Rhitahtyn's reputation in the fandom as a really easy boss that everyone pretended was really hard, so when I beat his solo duty for the first time I was like "holy shit this guy is a genuine chad and probably very beloved in the fandom." (And after his new solo duty, he honestly deserves to be.)

[@roxasdrayheart5561]

i came to 14 *after* shield bros update, i had no idea cape westwind was a meme. Kinda glad that I came when I did, the 6.0 changes made the ending of ARR really cool. WAIT I JUST HAD TO TURN OFF AMBIENT SOUNDS TO GET RID OF THAT DAMNED ALARM?! IVE BEEN MUTING THIS ENTIRE TIME WHEN THAT GOES OFF

[@TheLawliet10]

"How many times do we have to teach you this lesson old man?!" Shieldbro, a tear in his eye: Just once

[@robindabank9616]

Rhitatyn is by far still one of my fave moments in ff14, when I was first making my way through arr late last year I was just sorta going through the motions until I reached the parts where the game “got good” and all of a sudden I’m hit with this kinda difficult fight where I was barely hanging on by the skin of my teeth I had to use everything at my disposal to win and even then he tried to take me down in a fiery blaze with him. This instance and the steps of faith instance in post arr really helped give me a glimpse at some of the cool stuff that I would eventually see later on and I’m thankful for those reworks because I still hold those as some of my fave parts of ff14

[@agentshibe]

If you somehow make it to Stormblood, and you're insane enough, you could go for the Lone Hero title, which i think is far more fitting than Lonely Explorer. I don't think anyone would realistically expect you to do 0-100 HoH solo though.

[@rathgames]

That is actually the perfect one I want to get :^)

[@agentshibe]

@@rathgames At least there's comfort knowing that it's confirmed possible to be able to do :')

[@nuclearsynapse5319]

I hadn't seen Rhitatyn post changes until now, what a fight, he now actually has my respect

[@bananagher7555]

idk if it violates your solo only run, but getting a tiny crown for yourself : There's the Little Lady's crown from Mogstation.

[@snowpegasi]

I'm pretty sure he's used mogstation stuff in previous challenges, the Limsa only challenge if I remember correctly.

[@sunlightFrequency]

Man, the Rhitatyn changes are so cool, I can't wait to do this on my msq replay alt

[@torusorus7803]

Honestly, I might try and do a duo only playthrough. It would be actually feasible to clear most of the game without any extreme amount of persistence.

[@mitikozuki5295]

The theme song has to be 'just the two of us' for that playthrough.

[@RandoPassingBy]

I actually did it, with my bestie, or at least until up to Shadowbringer

[@caprat7357]

@RandoPassingBy How do you pass crystal tower? Don't you need at least three people, one per alliance, to queue up to begin with?

[@torusorus7803]

@CapRat I guess just skip anything that absolutely requires more than 2 people, just to make the run actually completable

[@caprat7357]

@torusorus7803 crystal tower is mandatory though. You can't finish post ARR without doing it.

[@TheMongral]

On one hand, I’m sad that Raw Intuition is so out of reach because it would make these clears less painful, but on the other hand my god does it make these clears feel so much more impressive because of its absence. Either way, the pure dedication and effort this challenge takes is impressive and mindboggling, and I’m looking forward to seeing Solo in his future mastercraft gear ready to put the Castrum in its place.

[@zirilan3398]

small sidenote for Coincounter: before 5.3 it had no ground-telegraphs and you needed to know his bodylanguage to know what he would do. I personally still think they should have let it as it was as it was a good introduction into looking at bodylanguage as a telegraph, which is used in harder content like Savage-Raids

[@StartouchArts]

Not only that, but even other bosses later on have markers so short-lived you can't react to, like the last boss of Holmister Switch and Weeping City of Mach. They could make Coincounter's markers SUPER short as preparation for those harder fights, though.

[@nixiedreamstar]

I shall also even extra add into this that enemy types are a thing in XIV. Many Cyclops enemies, Dragon enemies, Angry Manyuu (the bat floating 1 eye enemy), Chimera enemies. They all share the same moveset. Chimeras love to have Ram/Dragon's Voice/Breath. Many Cyclops have straight line laser beams and the Eye of the Beholder 270 degree donut, etc... If you know this you can predict later on what certain monsters or bosses might be able to do even without ever doing the fight.

[@a_forestghoul]

I remember when me and my friends did cape westwind together for the first time and everyone was like "oohh this is such a hard boss, good luck sprouts." so we were all rightly terrified and were absolutely bamboozled when the fight didnt even take 2 minutes

[@Ktjnn]

The fact that there is a tank sac strat for the first room and people are willing to do it is hilarious, compared to how easy every other dungeon is.

[@eternalspitfire9064]

I cant wait for the day you reach the point where WAR just has all the insane healing abilities and you trivialize almost all the dungeons from that point forward. Itll make this beginning seem so much more worthwhile. I look forward to that day with bated breath.

[@lukedavis3408]

The biggest issue of Aurum vale is finishing the first boss. And a large portion of the veteran community had bad experiences running the dungeon the first time. It really isn't that bad at all, the fear of doing the instance is worse.

[@jioyster]

Thank Hydaelyn you popped up in my recommended because damn this is the kind of content I never knew I needed. Absolutely loving this and can't wait for the next upload! What a genuine joy to watch. Subscribed ❤

[@rathgames]

Im glad you enjoyed it so much gamer. Thank you :^)

[@JohnCalsbeek]

This is a ridiculous project and I'm in love with it. I love learning about boss mechanics I've never had to understand before. Makes me want to try min-ilvl parties for older dungeons…

[@Kiki-ny7qr]

Dunno how you’ll pass through ARR alliance which is forced to play for msq, but I wish you the best. I’d give up from most of the problem you faced but you managed it some how so keep doing what you’re doing. Love your content 👍

[@canaanvang4361]

Just wanna say that if you have the endurance to do all this just for fun and youtube, I think you def have what it takes to solo potd. I hope you're able to clear floor 100 soon, I just recently did it and the title is one of my favs in the game. Good luck and I can't wait to see the next upload.

[@DrGrabAss.]

God, I love this series! i honestly had no idea you could solo this far with so many self-induced limitations. You must be the most knowledgeable ARR crafter in the game at this point. Can't wait to see if you can pull off Castrum and Praetorium.

[@SacredDaturaa]

It's interesting to actually learn about the intricacies of enemy design in fights I've done a million times. Like the Black Eft's adds being a certain amount of ranged and a certain amount of melees... I never knew that! All I see when I see this lot in regular duties are a bunch of blood bags to whittle down.

[@rathgames]

Yeah and other pieces of which mechanics are time based vs which are HP based. Its a lot of fun to figure it out :^)

[@bananagher7555]

I had no idea that the Black Eft's add summons were based on time and not HP percentage.

[@cris53x]

Solving problems alone in an MMO to tackle seemingly impossible tasks is such a cool concept; And you're on a roll! Looking forward to the next episode

[@miradrgn]

Fun Fact™, burrs isn't actually a dot. what it does is make you take more damage per stack when she uses burr burrow. still definitely something you want to cleanse especially in this context, but it at least means in situations like at 8:45 you're not taking extra damage from your burrs while trying to clear the adds

[@WTZWBlaze]

Genuinely, fighting Rhitatyn as a Black Mage who had never played an MMO this extensively before and was still learning what a “rotation” is was an actual challenge that I died to, like, 3 times (I refused to lower the difficulty because I’m not a coward)

[@Elunev]

glad this series got recommended to me, the Dragon Quest music is a great touch :)

[@SenipLuff]

I got recommended one of your streams the other day, and I've since binged all of your FF14 content - loving the series & the integrity!

[@Greg31558]

Good luck! I think there will be a few parts you won't be able to progress past completely solo (Crystal Tower and Susano Come to mind), but it'll be interesting to see how far you get.

[@pyrotius]

Good luck with POTD! Lonely Explorer has been my go to title for a while now and I can't wait for you to get it. Rooting for you!

[@danmorris3264]

A small thing about Miser's Mistress, the debuff she puts out is not a DoT, each stack you have makes the next one do more damage on cast. Awesome video as always, looking forward to the rest :D

[@mossyrocks3967]

This is literally the most entertaining xiv series i have ever seen. Good luck with completing the rest of the content! ❤

[@rathgames]

Thank you so much that's very kind of you to say :'^)

[@Angarato86]

dude idk how you do it but you make this series so interesting and its just so chill to watch. great work and great playing. you suprise me every video

[@TheSlickJaylin]

I share your videos to my ff buds every time you post a new vid. Your persistence is commendable. Keep it goin fellow warrior!

[@rathgames]

Thank you gamer!

[@smallj900]

I beat shield guy for the first time just the other day and after literally almost snoozing through the entire msq I suddenly had to scramble for potions in my inventory and lock in after dying repeatedly to his second phase. That shit was insane

[@joaovitorr3251]

This series is awesome, keep it going. I'm going through the campaign for the first time and seeing you do it alone is mindblowing.

[@zirilan3398]

I to this day miss Cape Westwind in roulettes. The rework does him more justice but the memes will live on. We did it once as 2 groups of 4 as a speedrun-challenge (racing against each other) on MINE and I gotta say, that fight was actually terrifying. And we are talking groups of purple and orange week-one savage clear raiders. Was a great time

[@SeagullsPokeStop]

Loved this video series! Keep up the work this is some of the best FFXIV content currently. Doing a great job boss! Excited to see what’s coming next!

[@TheRealGluey]

so i watched the whole series but this is just the one i have open rn, im very happy to have made you my first Channel Join/Subscription whatever youtube calls it. i really look forward to seeing more of this series if u continue it c:

[@rathgames]

Thank you so much gamer :'^)

[@keycakez]

I've done this before, albeit not with as many restrictions and you're making me tempted to go and pick up this challenge again! The issues I can see coming up would be the Ultima Weapon coming up, and Crystal Tower as well(mainly for it's inability to be soloed, almost.)

[@_ViIe_]

This continues to be an amazing source of entertainment. One of the best ideas for a series in FFXIV in recent memory for me. Good job and keep going.

[@rathgames]

Thank you very much gamer. Im glad you enjoy it :'^)

[@ArexanderClevor]

Welp, this has earned a sub. I'll need to go through your streams next since they seem entertaining as well.

[@Yrm1e]

I'm a big fan of solo content in games that aren't meant to be solo'd, glad to see someone doing 14. Excited to see more, subbed :)

[@PaigeingCy]

I've been watching since the beginning of this playthrough and you have done things I've never though imaginable. Keep on going!

[@shaterlemming2549]

What a mad lad when I first started watching this series I thought for sure the Vale was going to be what stopped you in your tracks

[@goztboy]

Just came across this in my recommendations and binged through the whole series. Keep up the good work 👍

[@rathgames]

Oh wow thank you so much. I'm glad you enjoyed the series :^)

[@theguymoney7675]

With the NEW thumbnail oh baby we got production VALUE in here

[@rathgames]

Oh my goodness thank you I spent an inane amount of time on it. Im glad it looks good

[@Scenery___]

If you have been watching this series, are reading these comments, and have not subscribed to this man yet: do it!

[@DrowningInDoggos]

oh wow this seems like so long ago, I remember the grind around all this but after The Hunt For Wootz it feels like years ago. great video!

[@Scorchlette]

We're so close to beating the Ultima Weapon and polishing off 2.0. It's just a shame you can't use Raw Intuition in these dungeons when using level sync, I bet that'd make things like ten times easier (though not a walk in the park). Also... I agree! Rhitatyn is a really fun and reasonably difficult fight now. Here's to another week of Solo Only- maybe next week you'll reach Porta Decumana or even beat it!

[@GodammmitKalcour]

You know, I've been playing the game since 2013, and I never knew you could...walk past the Diremites before Coincounter.

[@tallyho836]

something about you using dragon quest music for this vid is really soothing

[@Sensiav703]

Dropping in to say I just managed to clear Aurum Vale after trying all day in my own solo run. Fuck Locksmith LMAO I couldn't get the hang of using the roots to block line of sight so I ended up brute forcing it in the end. Went as far as making Potent Blinding Potions as extra mitigation as DPS wasn't an issue, it was just the healing and mitigation management that was the problem. My successful run managed to dodge most Hundred Lashings even outside of blinding thankfully :D

[@EchoOkami]

I just wanna say I love this idea and cant wait for your next video. You have inspired my wife and I and we have started new characters with two other people and are trying to play through the game as a group of four in a similar way.

[@amaressewastaken]

bro rhitahtyn was unironically a solid wall for my boyfriend when he started playing because he hadn't figured oht class quests yet, so to hear that there used to be a meme that he was really hard when he actually wasn't was a wild revelation

[@amaressewastaken]

also please keep doing what you're doing you madman this is prime content and I'm loving the suffering

[@Zaadin19]

I know you can do this. I know you've got this! I'm cheering for you!

[@hinth4322]

I'm getting surprisingly invested, really looking forward to your next upload.

[@GhostLP799]

I really love this series and i never would have imagined you would... you COULD come this far! Amazing ingenuity at work :D and Seeing you craft that crowned pie: If at all feasible, will you attempt to build yourself a lvl 50 relic? That would be pretty hype :D.

[@rathgames]

We'll take a look at it once we get there but it'll be a very long grind if we choose to do it.

[@GhostLP799]

@@rathgames At least that's not a definite 'no' :D! I'll stay exited for whatever comes next either way.

[@DacianGradaMusic]

"this is actually a fight, with real mechanics" yep, that's pretty much the duty reworks in a nutshell LMAO - I think they nailed the solo duties as well as the much needed changes on some of the ARR dungeons and bosses. I'm loving this series so much, can't wait to see the much anticipated Ultima fight!!

[@manesium]

i love your videos! they are a journey! i have the smallest of asks..... coul you number your episodes in that series in the title? it would be so helpful and easier to see we missed a video or not. thank you and may the ffxiv RNG gods be with you.

[@qamarqammar7629]

That Artisan gear from GC seals is very OP. But what a grind for seals! Even as the game updates the ARR experience (a good thing) still lucky for us they have left in outdated weird stuff (like GC gear and even squadrons....) that make the ARR experience a bit more customizable for those who are interested. Or for crazy soloists :).

[@MarbleOceans]

Binged the whole series so far, very fun and well edited. You go Solo! 🥳

[@rathgames]

Thank you so much gamer. Im glad you enjoyed it so much!!

[@KatrinaAmaxas]

I LOVE this series! Every bit of effort you put in to go just a single step is so entertaining!

[@snowpegasi]

I didn't understand the Shield Bro memes for a while because I started just after his changes, I just kept hearing how much of a joke his fights was and it made me feel like I was bad at the game because I thought his fight was reasonably difficult.

[@moayedalmalki8455]

I haven't expected to see Hardcore FFXIV here. Totally impressed :o

[@Blitzwaffen]

Out of curiosity have you heard of a guy called Settled? Your solo adventure reminds me a lot of his content where he does hardcore ironman runs in runescape for crazy goals and limitations. Your documenting style for your adventure is sorta simikar to theirs and im here for it.

[@rathgames]

I absolutely love settled.

[@Blitzwaffen]

@@rathgames Shame you can't unlock FFXIV, one tile at a time.

[@rathgames]

@@Blitzwaffen You never know.

[@Blitzwaffen]

​@@rathgamesIf you figure out a means, let me know (because I'd love to try a challenge like that), but an opening issue I see is the definition of a time as starting in any of the starting cities is an immediate soft lock on the ruleset if you follow xp rules, as there isn't much you can do in town to earn xp unlike RuneScape wher in lumbridge you can attack/pickpocket common men/women to start the adventure off. A thought I have is considering each named region of a map as a tile but that still can't get you free of the start zone, so there would either need to be a start clause (as in you must exit the closest city point to an area on a map where some form of xp earning can be performed) or redefine a system to earn tiles outside of xp.

[@miradrgn]

I don't know if they'll ever be relevant in this run again, but if you wind up needing more GC seals than daily deliveries and your spare dungeon gear will allow, it might be worth looking at Grand Company leves. The highest-level ones are lv.45 at Saint Coinach's Find, and completing one from your matching GC with +4 difficulty levels gives a total of 407 seals. I don't know if that's *better* than 270-ish per darkhold chest run, but at least it's... something different to mix things up? Just make sure not to do Science Shindig or any of the others with the card of an archer on an aldgoat over a purple background, because those have a mandatory 5-minute timer you have to wait out and it sucks ass FATEs around lv.49 will give ~280 seals as well, so if you can manage to clear those efficiently that's another possible route. But doing them fast as an on-level tank is iffy. Maybe as ninja it wouldn't be so bad though

[@NebulaHalo]

I always get excited when I see a new upload of this series.

[@miradrgn]

i'm still of the opinion that coincounter got needlessly robbed when they added telegraphs to his attacks way back when. and it would've been very funny for you to lose the first run to forgetting the difference between swipe and swinge

[@darkshadowsaver]

Hey when you are in PoTD stay on the walls when going through rooms to avoid traps. Most traps are placed in the middle of the room. Unless they updated the placement on them.

[@amethist6774]

just pointing out that elezen has the worst pose for sleeping, that shit's gonna get him some serious pain in the wrist and elbow by the end of the night.

[@mikeyparker961]

What’s so satisfying is doing this unsynced, the sync is awful so plowing through and stomping the mobs feels good.

[@fernandocalderon1595]

youre just ENJOYING THE FULL game ahhaha so cool tho!! keep it to ENDWALKER

[@SirVyre]

I woulda told you that Dzemael Darkhold was harder than Aurum Vale from my Blue Mage soloing while also learning spells without having access to spells from beyond ARR.

[@desdenova1]

Best FFXIV challenge run, period.

[@CptManboobs]

Fieldcraft Demimateria can be acquired from Rowena's Scrip exchange, with a crafter over lv 50 you should be able to access it I think, i forget if you need to reach Hevansward or not.

[@rathgames]

Rowenas scrip exchange does require heavensward

[@andreww479]

Im sorry you flinched Locksmith? Also there's flinching in xiv? I think all the random nonsense i have learned during this series that might be one of the most amusing things ive learned, usually its heres an odd interaction that no one would try or some low level thing that no one remembers and/or players just dont use. Wild stuff, kinda want to look for other bosses with broken arenas

[@Khatoblepas]

I am super impressed by this challenge run, I can't wait to see how you deal with the rest of the arr msq! once you're done with it, are you going to unlock blue mage? I feel like that is going to be vital in the dungeons to come.

[@coaster1235]

not the tree root line of sight 😭 the series continues to be golden

[@sarajohnsson4979]

I'm not saying this would be a good use of your time, but in theory you could skip some weapon upgrades by grinding for gold potd sacks for endless expanse/dead hive weapons (ilv 180). Now, it'd be a lot of effort, and as long as you're able to keep level sync turned on it wouldn't really be much of an upgrade (i70 rampager outlevels castrum/ultima, then there's ironworks for post-ARR, then once you get to ishgard you have i210 weapons available for centurio seals), but should you get stuck enough you have to turn off level sync it could be a last resort Also, you could pick up a SAM or RDM weapon in the process

[@bryanberrios2315]

I know this is probably a bit early. What's your plan for Crystal Tower? I thought it required at least 3 people to queue into, and perform any split path such as the buttons during the 2nd tier. Would you "break the rules" purely for this raid series since it's required to progress through MSQ? Not to mention Thanatos that becomes immune to damage. And Cloud of Darkness spawning 3 adds in cells that you can only ever be in one.

[@evsya7674]

I don't know if you consider this cheating or not, but if you do reach the end of 2.0, access to Blue mage is a game changer, actually makes doing synched solo 8-man content possible. If you do end up going that road, i predict 1st trial of SB to be the end wall on the challenge.

[@rathgames]

We'll definitely be doing blue mage once it's unlocked! I feel like it's in the spirit of the challenge to use the class made to solo things. It'll be a lot of fun leveling it solo and hunting down spells

[@cbanana665]

Looks like you'll soon be coming to a couple of big questions. Are you going to unlock and develop blue mage or is that considered too cheesy for your challenge? Mind you, 8 person trials are coming up pretty soon so it might be nice to have an equalizer for yourself. Also, what are you going to do about the Crystal Tower series? Some of the mechanics seem to require multiple players, particularly Atmos.

[@rathgames]

Exciting questions indeed. Blue mage is fine for the challenge as half of the difficulty with it will be leveling the thing myself after we clear the ultimate weapon quest, since its locked behind that.

[@KairahVTVods]

I've actually done exactly what you're doing, I know the answer of how far you can make it, but I won't say unless asked too. But I hope you enjoy the journey this is actually very fun, done it a couple times on different classes, to see how far you can really take it.

[@rathgames]

Very nice :^)

[@aegof]

Poor Coincounter, a shadow of his former self now that he shows his aoes

[@cyphi474]

Actually, Cape Westwind WAS hardest fight in ARR. Those Ads spawning waves were no joke. And obviously, people undergeared and generally less experienced made it tough fight(CT wasnt released yet, best gear you could get was ilvl50 AF gear). It was nerfed, with people quickly overgeared after ARR patches brought higher ilvl gear, turned to the meme. But that meme was at some time well deserved.

[@ShadowScotsman]

i think ive gotten shield bro like 1 time since the changes and my party still breezed through it, but seeing that its an actual fight now makes me so happy, i was so excited on my first playthrough looking forward to fighting the guy with 2 SHIELD CANNONS! only to find out it was a meme fight. i think im gonna back and fight him again solo like you did, i need him to be a real threat now xD i want him to beat me lol

[@aerievee]

goddamn, the new rhitahtyn fight looks crazy!

[@im_snoopyrs8947]

that shieldbro fight ruined me, and almost made my friend quit. Its a ridiculously hard fight at that point in the msq.

[@scorpiowarrior7841]

God damn LEGEND making it all the way to Castrum. It still makes me sad that this series can't go beyond ARR thou

[@jrsilva85]

I'm enjoying your journey.

[@antarath517]

Once you get blue mage, it's time for some fun. I wanna see 104/104 solo. I've been able to solo the Burn for its spell, the final boss is a fine time. I chickened out on the SB raid and trial bosses tho I do wanna see if it's possible I would also say you're gonna have a really bad time on BLU if you don't allow yourself to use aetherial mimicry on players

[@AZodiacCancer]

Yes, that's a huge reason they went back and made the MSQ dungeons have trust/duty support/whatever its called. The primals don't so you'll have an issue with that but it can be done.

[@rathgames]

We've actually already done the primals :^)

[@TheDaxter11]

7:36 You can _do that_ in dungeons?

[@consciousnesshidden]

Falling back on this video later on, since I'll need help from this I'm sure XD For context, I want to challenge myself with soloing all ARR Extremes on my free trial account. Should be fine with WAR levelled to max, but now I have something to refer if I get stuck lol

[@rathgames]

Best of luck gamer :^)

[@cj_skywalker]

"That's more defense than my current set." That's because's it way over your level at Level 76 gear. You'd have to be in Shadowbringers to use it. XD

[@nerdychocobo]

I understand that it'd be a lot to ask but tbh even after the point where you have no choice but to not be solo id be curious to see how often you'd be able to get away with solo afterwards

[@Darkrune365]

Considering the sheer insanity of this run I have to wonder... Will Blue Mage be considered at some point?

[@rathgames]

Yes :^) blue mage requires completion of The Ultimate Weapon MSQ to unlock

[@Yvanne]

Dragon Quest music again agh Ugh mmmmf yes please