Dawntrail Diary: Revisiting The Skydeep Cenote

I didn't get to play much last week due to real life on one hand and breaking gaming news on the other. But I did get to revisit a controversy from the launch of Dawntrail: the difficulty of the MSQ dungeons. Although looking back, a lot of complaining was done by those who thought the post-MSQ dungeons were too tough. But since I fall into the first group, that's how I will look at the controversy.

Still haven't finished the MSQ - That's right, I still haven't finished the MSQ. The Interphos is still out there taunting me, but after my experience struggling with the dungeons leading up to the final trial, I'm not going to attempt the content until I've conquered my fears.

In the rearview mirror - I had to complete one final run of Worqor Zormor, a level 93 duty, in order to level Thancred, Estinien, and Y'shtola to 95. And once again I did not have a clean run, dying once to the first boss Ryoqor Terteh. I must have a mental block because once I die once, the second time is easy. Overall, I had one clean run where I did not die, although Thancred and Y'shtola did.

In the glamour farming, I managed to pull two left side items to complete my gear for the Zormor set. As for the right side jewelry, I'm still missing the earrings. But as the outfit comes with a turban, the earrings aren't that important.

The scene of the controversy - For those who mainly do the duties and trials because they gate the content we really want to do, I think The Skydeep Cenote was the real beginning of the difficulty curve. From a story perspective, I understand why the developers made the difficulty so hard, especially the final boss. Basically the third boss, Maulskull, is the final boss before Wut Lamak wins the contest and becomes the Dawnservant. The fact that Maulskull is a wall boss taking up an entire side of the platform makes the case obvious in hindsight. 

My first run was, to put it mildly, a disaster. I managed to die only once to the first boss, Feather Ray. The boss shoots out bubbles. Lots of bubbles. The trick is to either totally ignore doing damage and concentrate on mechanics or, as a healer, only use instant heal spells which do not interrupt movement.

For the second boss, Firearms, I died twice. The secret to success with Firearms is to be totally alert and kind of jump some of the mechanics in order to reach safe places. I was a bit slow doing so. Reaction time and knowing the fight really helps.

Now for the final boss. I am used to needing one or two attempts to defeat a boss. But for me, Maulskull brought me back to Therion, the third boss in Shadowbringers' final 5.0 duty Amaurot. I just could not handle the mechanics of Therion, and I thought Maulskull would do the same. On Saturday I died at the hands of Maulskull 9 times. The run was so frustrating I called a stop to running the duty for the night.

But, the run was different than when I ran through the dungeon on my playthrough the MSQ with Wuk Lamat and Krile. I actually started seeing patters to the attacks and spent more time trying to read Maulskull's tells. On Saturday my mindset was different. When running through the content back in early July I just wanted to get through the duty because I was never going to do the content again. This weekend I was making the first of six runs through the content in order to level up my group of Trust NPCs. Because I cared about the content, I learned.

The learning paid off on Sunday. Once again I died once to Feather Ray and its bubbles. But I killed Firearms along with my NPC companions cleanly. Perhaps most amazingly of all, in my latest effort I only died to Maulskull once. I need to remember not to panic at the very beginning and not move until Maulskull knocks the group back toward the back of the platform. I forgot the circular damage markers on the characters don't execute damage for a good 3 seconds after the knockback occurs. Plenty of time to move away from the others.

Now, I need to make a point about my gear. When I ran though The Skydeep Cenote during the MSQ, I was using the iLvl 710 Archeo Kingdom Armor crafted set. I know the armor was adjusted down to iLvL 640, but perhaps the Broccoli and and Spinach Saute helped with my vitality (i.e. hit points). I guess just call me Popeye.

I should add another reason for the difference between my MSQ run and Sunday's effort. During the MSQ playthrough I entered The Skydeep Cenote as a level 95 white mage. On Sunday my level 100 job was reduced down to level 96. Level 96 is interesting because white mages get their Medica spell upgraded from Medica 2 to Medica 3. Was the additional 25 cure potency per tick significant? I did have a couple of times where I barely survived a mechanic. So I did have an easier time running the dungeon on Sunday than I did back in July.

A retain army update - My retainer army continues to march on, supplying my character with everything needed. After three months I still have 146 million gil, which is kind of impressive considering how much I've spent so far in Dawntrail. My one retainer I started the week before the launch of the expansion has hit level 86 and is contributing 4500 gil per day plus Shadowbringers crafting material. However, I really need to put the army on the backburner while I work on levelling my Trust NPCs and work up the skill (and confidence) to face Dawntrail's final boss.