FFXIV: Mechanics: Beyond Memorization

[@WeskAlber]

Btw, Caption Users! Tell me if I screwed it up somehow! This video has custom captions, so you should notice punctuation and such. But also that means i could have broke things? idk plz feedbacks

[@seriodenoyarohi7403]

10:30 You wrote "Gire when used as a raid wide attack" instead of "Fire when [...]" That was the only mistake I could find. The rest of the captions look solid to me. Thank you for the extra work!

[@bandera_father]

Your videos are already awesome. You don't need captions.

[@orion6199]

it looked great n quite perfect. Thanks for the effort :)

[@sangahlolo]

It’s really Perfect 👌

[@daniepilar]

Thanks 🙏

[@Theaggyyu]

Another tip: Remember that latency exists! If you and someone else are running in the same direction with AoE markers, and you are slightly ahead of them, it's easy to blame them for following you. But due to latency delaying the reception of other players' inputs, it only appears that way; you likely appear to be the one following behind on their screen. So in such cases, it may be best to pick another direction and hope they don't pick that same direction as well.

[@Antiyoukai]

Ooh, that sucks!

[@innoillust]

I like to add that usually boss will introduce mechanics at first phase that are *"relatively"* easy to dodge or understood. So later on, when the mechanics are combine or getting more complex it's possible to get the grasp of situation and evade or clear the mechanics

[@amiablereaper]

An additional note I just learned the other day: cover exists for a reason. If you see a boss dropping terrain on the field, you're probably gonna need it. Just ran dusk vigil for the first time, and was the only not to get hit by every draw-in mechanic because I saw the boss drop a rock, so I stood behind it.

[@Salt_Mage]

Even better, the same rocks can block his roomwide AoE by standing with the rock between you and him.

[@amiablereaper]

@@Salt_Mage oh sweet, I'll be sure to remember that when levelling

[@iPlayOnSpica]

@@Salt_Mage Getting hit by it also gives you a vul stack anyway, so it's good measure. I can understand melees messing up, though, because you'd have to get out of cover to deal damage.

[@BlitzAce987]

it's always amazing how people with stack markers run around like headless chickens but if a mechanic that needs you to move away happens they just stand there like a deer in the headlights

[@andy4an]

good stuff. i really needed this a year ago! some things that helped me interpret fights: * MINIMIZE DISTRACTIONS. practice on dummies so you can internalize your skills and not look at your hotbars, put focus target on the hotbar so the game can help you keep track of what's going on, adjust your HUD so your eyes notice when something important pops up (for instance, by making the enemy cast bar bigger and more central). change keybinds so it's more comfortable to you, and you don't need to look at your keyboard... * GO IN BLIND and try to figure things out on your own, rather than using guides as a crutch. the guides are great when you're getting started and haven't learned the language FF fights speak, or need clarification, but relying on them stops you from learning to learn. * ALWAYS BE LOOKING/LISTENING FOR TELLS. covered very well in this video, but basically everything you can see or hear could be relevant. is there a piano in the room? it's there for a reason. * SEEK TO FULLY UNDERSTAND mechanics, not just a single way to stay safe. this will help you quickly understand what's happening when combinations of mechanics come out

[@innoillust]

Man, i feel that when I was a New Sprouts as a DPS and playing in Dungeon/Trials and just trying to focus on my Rotation and everytime there's new mechanic I haven't saw I will fail it immediately Running in as a tank helped me figuring mechanics a lot better since as a Tank in *"most"* part you are just standing with basic rotation, with that I could be more aware with my surroundings I'm looking at you Nier Raids

[@wadeslilson4385]

I'm very glad we have you in the community wesk. I try to spread your videos as far as I can, and this topic is a major one that annoys me. I see people in level 80 dungeons that don't even attempt to learn the mechanics, they just do the same thing every time and die to the same attack over and over. I assume it's because level 1-50 there really aren't mechanics to pay too close attention to, so people build up a bad habit. But at least from my POV I was trying to learn every mechanic to improve my gameplay, all the way through the leveling process. I don't mind if you try an idea and the idea was wrong, but to just not even attempt to solve it boggles my mind and very much annoys me.

[@pensive8552]

new player makes life changing discovery (other than finding your channel :-p) tldr: turn down other peoples spells. (can still see heal bubbles) I'm leveling DRG and this one boss in dun scaith kept seemingly randomly nuking me (and melee in general). Knowing from general mmo experience that games dont normally do that kind of dmg, without telling you about it first, I started looking for a tell. The problem was I couldnt see sh*t because of all the spells going off right in my face lol. Turned down other peoples spell effects and would you look at that, she does a shiney jab at the tank before she goes in the air and slams melee. I couldn't see it at all before, now it's hard to miss (as long as I'm not hyperfocusing my hot bar because I've only played DRG for 3 days and still kinda need that crutch lol) and on that note, also get your eyes off your hotbar! :-)

[@AmazingLube]

0:06 Did you just turn me into a convertible? LESS GOOO

[@PKcrash]

Really happy you decided to speak on this subject. Learning how a mechanic works and why it works that way, will separate you from the average player to an amazing player.

[@jacobhaines3306]

Doing my part for the algorithm

[@thegrandpotato217]

Thank you! This is so useful. As someone who is kind of flopping around and hoping that I do it right when it comes to mechanics this is very helpful!

[@Gizmo524]

The funny thing about the glowy eye mechanic is it is taught to you in the general starting areas by certain field mobs. No one ever notices it though because why would you care about a field mob glaring at you?

[@Sticklesticks]

Wanted to thank you for all the effort and time for making such informative guides and videos. I just started to get back into FF14 coming from a 7 year hiatus, and I must say the work you do is phenomenal. I rewatch your videos in almost a daily basis and even share it to others when I see other people on my parties struggling. Truly a hidden gem! Thanks again!

[@Subtended]

I really appreciate the video on the learning mindset of observing mechanics. Guides have definitely been useful for the harder/more complicated fights in FFXIV, but this would be reflective more of the mindset of progging or guide makers. That and understanding the rationale behind the mechanic will help when things inevitably go awry and the party needs to adapt. Extending the commentary on learning new mechanics within a series or even a single fight, the first instance of its use will likely be simpler and/or uncombined with other mechanics to teach the party, followed by more complicated permutations. Consider E10N (Shadow Doggo Normal), with left/right/forward/back hemisphere AoEs. First use or two is basic, read the name of the move "Forward Explosion" or whatever and react according to boss facing. After that, it starts mixing things up by changing its *effective* facing by projecting a shadow to what would be its new "rear", and later on, multiple shadows and AoEs in quick succession. Picking up on that first "teaching" use means the next time, you can focus on watching the boss' shadow and positioning accordingly.

[@Subtended]

Additional example on various effects even within a single marker and pattern recognition: Akh Morn. Common in Dragon and Dragon-adjacent fights, this is a stack marker, but one with several hard hits after the first. Party should stack and *stay* for all hits to share damage. So if you've got a dragon-related fight coming up, keep in mind that this is a very likely twist on the stack marker you may see (esp. on enemy cast bar, focus targeting the boss is your friend) and be prepared.

[@elsandont]

i always enjoy your guides. i’ve been sending them to some friends who just started the game and they love them! keep up the good work!

[@Cassapphic]

Argath for me is a very weird case where I think if I saw it blindly now I would be able to guess it correctly, but having someone explain what I was supposed to do did help me to learn how tells tend to work, it tends to require memorisation earlier on but after a while you start to notice patterns, and from there, can predict.

[@SunrisenStar]

Kefka in Sigmascape is another good example of reversed mechanics, if the AoEs have question marks, you can stand in them, there's even an instance where you want to do one half of a mechanic opposite, and the rest correctly.

[@andy4an]

i love seeing your thought process for figuring out new mechanics. a lot of the patterns have been invisible to me until someone points them out.

[@TheSuspira]

Thank you for this!!! I know most of them but having a clear explanation really helps.

[@callmeobsequious]

The only things I have trouble with are "don't panic" and "don't be afraid to be wrong". Because clinical anxiety go brrr and while my encounters with rude players are few and far between, the rude ones I've met are RUDE

[@callmeobsequious]

In other news. Ah, yes. My favorite primal. rawr And my second favorite. ooga booga. Oh, how could I forget? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[@lorafrost9628]

This video was incredibly helpful to me. I'm a returning player to the game and want to put more effort into doing my role well this time around. Thanks :)

[@Maken-X]

Echoing this as another returner who was starting to feel very overwhelmed after trying to catch up on content I missed. Your guides are invaluable, so thank you so much!

[@Elessar2417]

XD I'M a big believer in "If everyone else is running or standing over there, maybe you should as well" best example, the quaga clouds/Imperium VS Xande. Yeah bro just stay there shooting your arrows.....Disappointing you didnt do the Magetic +/- icons

[@Naotasenseii]

Just wanted to say thank you for this video very helpful. The captions all seem to be spot on from what I could tell!

[@RespheaI]

Oh gosh I think I was in that World of Darkness run with you in another alliance. Everyone on that run really needed this video for the gaze mechanic

[@tazersmurf4689]

For me one of the rarest markers that doesn't act like almost any other of its elemental type is the thunder marker from the five headed dragon. As that's a stack marker where almost any other time lighting is in the game you want to be spread out or move away from it. Unless the game gives you a tower/statue to focus the thunder on like the first boss of the Aery or Amdapor Keep Hard. The one mechanic that baffles me for when/which times people get it right is the Gubal Library stack/circles. Almost never get anyone who knows how to do it in the Library. Oberon and the few other places it shows up and some how enough people understand how to do it so that the voidsent that is supposed to spawn doesn't end up spawning. I tend to panic due to other people choosing to stand directly on me with their own aoe marker when it's one where you'll die if there's enough overlap.

[@solidghost4525]

Great lesson. I feel like a true hero is teaching me as he would an apprentice. That’s what I’m talking about.

[@lestats7074]

I appreciate this as a ff14 player with hundreds of hours played, I personally have issues with falling/being pushed off platforms. I’ve been watching a lot of vids so I can savage/ultimate content! Thanks

[@andy4an]

oh man, the ARR markers were atrocious... i had no idea what was going on. they are soooooo much better at communicating now.

[@feelsJman]

Your content is top tier. Appreciate you putting in the work to help newer players.

[@Xlayerful]

WeskAlber if you didnt exist i'd still be stuck in Stormblood.

[@Dkenhoney]

I think most of the issue with failed mechanics comes from the fact that most fights don't have much downtime between mechanics. You're simultaneously trying to figure out what just happened (presuming you even saw the clues to begin with, which many times aren't obvious), figure out what's about to happen, position yourself correctly, do damage/heal/use an ogcd, do previously said damage/healing/ogcd well (because you're trying to pull your weight)...and all of that within the span of 5-10 seconds (15 if you're lucky). When you add in a damage vulnerability debuff, it enforces that you HAVE to get these right, or the next hit you take just may drop you. If you're lucky the next hit you take doesn't drop you, but it often also means that you messed up a second time for a completely different mechanic, which means that you've got no room to make a third mistake. THAT is panic-inducing, regardless of the fact that all mechanics have a solution (and that there are more and less optimal ways of employing said solutions). Just to double down on the biggest issue with this, your casual player is here to do their thing (aka use their abilities). When they don't see (because they didn't know to look for it) what caused them to die (or take the damage that gave a vulnerability debuff), they don't have the time to reflect on what just happened in order to learn from it, they're on to the next mechanic and the next part of their rotation. Even when what happened is seen, most fights are so hectic that simply knowing what a particular mechanic does from seeing it once is actually EXTREMELY uncommon. Mechanics can be learned, and the attitude of not panicking and paying closer attention can also be learned, but there's a very far cry from learning after you've failed a mechanic five or six times and learning it after you failed it once. To add insult to injury, the vast majority of dungeons and trials are done via pug, not via premade groups. Pugs basically don't last more than a few seconds after the fight is over, so if there was some mechanic that someone just didn't understand they're not going to have someone there to explain it to them.

[@kiretan8599]

Just a pro tip as well for eye markers for melees, keep dpsing the boss and when castbar is almost finished just keep wiggling the camera around to maintain dps uptime

[@Edwinight]

One important thing for square enix is to make these markers universal and don't change them too much, there can def be some variance like with the line and standard stack markers. SE have updated many of the Crystal tower markers just to remove many of the confusion created by the outdated ones which are rarely used again if ever which is great.

[@ArchieGamez]

Thank you Wesk for this video

[@Seth6097]

Super helpful Thanks ❤

[@TOjJeto]

Slight correction, the linear stack can be taken at any distance, as long as people are in the general path of it. For the spiky red tether, you should mention the variation where you need it to turn purple to resolve the mechanic.

[@WeskAlber]

I don't think I even mentioned line stacks. You want to be in melee range anyway for heals. Plus angles are a thing. If you are far out you might not be able to reach the stack

[@keeponliving3585]

I really like the title.

[@cicisstormshelter1076]

This video is great. I had to learn mechanics a lot and it is easy to mess up. This is because stuff in story mode is really stupidly easy to avoid. If you keep wiping in Shadowbringers, use the Trust scenario mode. The Scions are programmed never to fail mechanics, so you can just follow their lead and learn mechanics that way. For example, against the first Lightwarden, when it does the spinning ring, they will run out of the AoEs as they appear and kite the boss, because they are bots that predict all of the boss mechanics. In 6.0, I think they are going to allow you to use Trusts in Stormblood dungeons so you can learn the mechanics there. This only works in dungeons, but stuff you learn from dungeon bosses can carry over to trials as the trials will use similar mechanics.

[@WeskAlber]

Trusts CAN fail mechs. Ali dies a bunch

[@cicisstormshelter1076]

@@WeskAlber Only used her once and she didn't die. Right now I wiped twice in Grand Cosmos because I didn't understand the mechanics of the final boss. Also, I died in the (spoiler) in the last quest of 5.1 even on very easy because I didn't realize I had to use Horrific Roar to destroy all the bits or else the boss would use a raid-wide wipe. OOPS. :(

[@Owl90]

Underrated video.

[@killermelga]

What about adds? How do you know when to focus them, when to ignore them and in which order to kill them? I don't think there has been an instance where I understood what to do regarding adds and always relied on team mates explaining/googling it

[@WeskAlber]

Every time there's an add, kill it. Almost every example you can probably give of "ignore the adds" its due to inflated ilvls, not intended mechanics.

[@endffxiv6678]

"People tend to see this on them and run away"

[@GorillaSki99]

Awesome video man! That's why I main DRG bcoz of U bro!!!

[@KaiSilverhawk]

Syrcus Tower last boss' black AoE is a stack marker, don't run away to the edge with it. And if you don't have it STAND IN ONE!

[@BlackDahlya]

Thank you for this video! I'll direct some friends to it! Also, now I just need to learn how to react fast. Usually, I will understand a mechanic but I will still be too slow to react. =(

[@christiangroff7116]

Great video.

[@baronvonboomboom4349]

Hey WeskAlber, your class guides have really helped me to understand the game better, but I still feel I can improve. Do you think you can do a video breaking down your UI and keybinds? Maybe a keyboard and mouse cam? Also any advice for playing on 2 comps? Me and my partner play , me with keyboard and him with controller, but it's such a pain switching between computer because the UI changes.

[@WeskAlber]

I do have a UI video. might not answer all your questions but try that first

[@baronvonboomboom4349]

@@WeskAlber thanks for the reply!

[@baronvonboomboom4349]

@@WeskAlber any advice for having ui on 2 computer?

[@WeskAlber]

Do you mean your game is across 2 screens? No clue, mine is all 1 screen

[@baronvonboomboom4349]

@@WeskAlber no we have a main computer and a laptop.

[@ShermTank7272]

Here’s a question for ya - for non-extreme content (i.e. for story content), should players look up mechanics beforehand? I try to go in blind because I personally enjoy the surprise, but I could understand that my teammates who have done this already might be frustrated if I die to mechanics that are new to me

[@WeskAlber]

Depends on the party. Fresh prog, guides are automatically optional. If PF says fresh, it means fresh. And they lose all right to complain because they said blind is ok. If the PF says watch a guide, watch one for that PF

[@StriderHoang]

I understand not panicking. It’s other people panicking in Duty Finder that makes me sweat.

[@Ep1o]

Which one of the three roles (tank, healer and dps) get to interact with the mechanics the most and which the least ?

[@WeskAlber]

They're all about equal really. People really over sell the responsibilities of a tank like they have more mechanics too, but other than tank busters, nope.

[@somerandomdudeable]

Besides E6S, is there another chain tether that you shouldn't break?

[@WeskAlber]

Those aren't chains by the definition I show in the video, but as far as I recall, no

[@luisa2000ful]

why does your intro remind me of devil may cry?

[@andy4an]

the overlap mechanic being rare is so weird to me. it's very simple, so it would be very easy to combine with other mechanics to make interesting situations. or maybe a small overlap just play out the same as a larger non-overlap, so what's the point?

[@CrimsonRipper]

I just realized how painful it's gotta be to a DRG with the Dragonsight buff looking striking similar to a chains/bramble debuff.

[@GutiSerenade]

When my FC mate links me with that, there's always a tense moment where I think "noooo I just set up my leylines :(" until it clicks lol

[@Sketchblopp]

Thanks for making this video! Maybe this will help me to not be a fulltime floortank when Endwalker is out and nobody knows what to do yet. :D I really try to see patterns and mechanics and tend to watch a guide beforehand when I am with friends, but remembering every mechanic in every single fight is hard, especially in fights where the game is not following a specific pattern or even does the opposite. Like in a raid (not sure which one) where you had two big bosses and it looked like one of those fights where the tanks have to keep them apart, at least to me. So I tried to be a good OT and did just that. Turned out it was just two big enemies and pulling them apart made it harder for everyone to hit them both. xD Well.

[@WeskAlber]

Was it the first Alexander Raid? If so, you did the correct thing. A1 you want to separate the bosses. People just DON'T anymore cuz of gear levels. Consider than DPS values are like, double what they were from 3.0 to 3.5 Your instincts were in fact, correct.

[@Sketchblopp]

@@WeskAlber I didn't know about that one actually, they just die so fast in the normal Alexander that mechanics don't really seem to matter anymore, at least in the first ones. :D No I think it was one of the Omega raids, but not the last one where you should indeed keep them apart. Or something Eden. It is a bit hazy bc. it was just a random roulette and a fight which I've only done once for the story weeks ago or so.

[@WeskAlber]

@@Sketchblopp Two big bosses in Omega... Nothing comes to mind. All the Omega stuff is single bosses. Was it E1 add phase? Or E7 add phase?

[@Sketchblopp]

@@WeskAlber I looked both of them up in a short guide and you are right, it was the E1 add phase. The two adds just looked so special and mighty that I assumed there must be more to that. :D

[@WeskAlber]

@@Sketchblopp yeah you would assume based on other raids. Even in Savage it doesn't tether. Meanwhile E7 doesn't tether but E7S does!

[@komosaq]

rawr

[@andy4an]

i highly recommend the xlplugins mods, because one of them is a little dot that shows exactly where your "hitbox" is, with regard to avoiding mechanics. anything that let's you spend more brain cycles on finding tells and analyzing complex mechanic interactions and fewer on guessing if you're in the right place or not, is a boon. and of course, avoiding mechanics is one of the best ways to avoid future mechanics, since things start getting chaotic if you're getting thrown around.

[@AaronWGaming]

Ramuh (Hard) in ARR has one of the tethers... I had a DPS almost try to kill me by coming closer to me... I am the healer

some people just want to see the world burn

[@coaster1235]

Ramuh's tethers work differently, it's not distance based. While tethered, the two players will take damage every time they use an action.

[@AaronWGaming]

@@coaster1235 point is the tether should have been broken

[@johannwitt1854]

I don’t know how I’m supposed to figure out what the boss is doing when there are effects from seven other characters going on as well.

[@WeskAlber]

Turn em down! Long as you aren't turning em off so you can see healer bubbles. But also apparently healer bubbles still show on "None?" I still get mixed reports and i've not tested myself

[@ray30k]

Broadly speaking: "Dodge by an inch, not by a foot." If you can survive a mechanic by standing on the edge of an AOE, there is no point standing a mile from the AOE. If you have to place the AOEs yourself, just make sure that it doesn't hit anyone else it shouldn't hit.

[@CamelliaOleifera]

ooga booga gang represent

[@StarshadowMelody]

"Mechanics? They are for Cars... AND YOU. You are a car now." Bow down overdweller.

[@DP-fq7iy]

*Sees Exaflare.* My brain: _A or C?!_

[@randompeo4521]

Brb going to fail that one Gilgamesh fight over and over because that tether is cleansed by getting close to your tether partner and is I think the only one of its kind at least in normal content 🤣

[@WeskAlber]

@@randompeo4521 Surprised they didn't go back and fix that one

[@AhriFae]

If only they didnt just delete visual info on savage for no fucking reason

[@waifuemblemenjoyer9938]

memorizing the markers isnt that crazy to do, i have a harder time memorizing the name of the moves the boss do in ex

[@pantherman8719]

Practice runs pretending to practice lolllll. Then get mad wiping.

[@BoP]

Unsubbed because of "rawr" but no "XD"

[@Relhio]

The game does an absolutely terrible job at teaching new players about mechanics because of the retarded way the base game and first expansion had ZERO mechanics that had something in common with very minor exceptions. I'm marked by a red pyramid and then a blue one, like what the fuck am I supposed to understand from this besides waiting to see if I die or not? Then starting from lvl 70 things start to shape up and they finally decided to add markers that look the same in most cases like stacking, proximity, etc.(I still can't tell if it's a pool or just aoe damage). But there's still things that will kill the vast majority of players when they first see it because it rarely is obvious. I always had trouble with being marked by an element or color and thinking if I have to match these or counter them? I always felt the vast majority of unique boss mechanics are a 50/50 when guessing what they might do. It's the same stupid mindset that Dark Souls applies to its game where you get killed by the most random thing because the devs think it's good game design to kill you with something you've never seen before or a "surprise" that you'll never ever see again. I just feel there's too many mechanics that function on "die so next time you know" (or die again because it switched at some point for whatever reason).

[@WeskAlber]

Try watching this video then! You'll benefit a lot

[@hannasaynwittgenstein-berl6931]

@@WeskAlber they should put your video ingame once player hit lv35 or your class guide even lol, honestly you did masterful job compared to what SE did so far